Letters Between Friends: AT THE STORE

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LettersBtwnFriends

It’s been three weeks since Lindsay wrote me a letter, but she MORE than makes up for it with this video tour of her new store (and for promising to give my Peoria cat Rory some food).  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLXTbxEbsaY&feature=youtu.be

Lindsay, here are my reactions, please leave a comment answering the questions.

  1. You are so cute being all nervous about small-town shame-glances!  Princeville peeps could only dream of being cool enough to vlog (maybe you will start a trend).
  2. WINEINGER TRUCK.  Here come the feels.
  3. Your store is so cool, and it’s YOURS, and I definitely thought there was a live horse standing by the doorway when you walked past.
  4. Forest!  I love that your college cat has a new place to live and explore, and honestly, I am 400% more likely to frequent a store with a resident cat, so GOOD JOB.
  5. Why can’t you kiss the baby chickens!?  
  6. What in the world is Mint Udder Cream?  Is it…milk-based shampoo?  Is it a soothing cream to rub on cow’s udders?  Is it a food!?
  7. You look exactly like Ruthie when you are apologizing, and it made me laugh out loud.

Thank for the vlog, Friend!  I loved getting a glimpse of your new life, and I can’t wait to buy (not the expensive gluten-free organic) animal food from you when I’m home for the holidays!


!!   UPDATE  !!
Lindsay responded to my responses
with a SECOND VIDEO that you can see over at Wild Ginger!  
“So you thought the horse was real…”

Cappadocia is a Fantasy World Come to Life

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Last weekend I went to Cappadocia in central Turkey.  My brother and his partner are on vacation, touring through the Balkans and visiting Idil’s family in Turkey.  My belated Christmas gift from them was the chance to meet up for a weekend in Cappadocia!

AND IT WAS AMAZING.

Seriously, Cappadocia is one of the most unique, beautiful places I’ve ever visited.  Idil said that it feels like you’re walking through a Star Wars planet, and she was right.  It was also exactly like wandering through a fantastical setting in a Final Fantasy game.  As someone who THOROUGHLY enjoys escaping the mundanity of real life in favor of fantasy books, movies, or games, it was amazing to realize I could have the best of both (real and fake) worlds!

I may or may not write a longer post about Cappadocia with pictures, but for now, I’d rather leave you with this video!  I did a much better job this time with actually filming the things we were seeing, and WHAT THINGS THEY WERE.  Fairy chimneys, underground cities, and cave churches!  Check it!

Kindred Spirits

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When I attended the Greek mission conference last weekend to promote HD to the northern half of the Greek Evangelical Church, I expected to be refreshed from the fancy food and living that I have come to associate with Greek conferences (discussed here and here).  My battery was already running low; I spent the first half of our five-hour roadtrip with earbuds in, and sneered, “You don’t know what a podcast is?” when my sweet friends attempted to engage in a conversation with me.  So when we showed up to a campground, to a room with four beds, to a dirty bathroom, to a cafeteria full of strangers…I had nothing in me to pretend to be happy.   Continue reading →

Sunday Summary #33: What’s on the Internet

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ARTICLES

1|  Lol lol, here you go – a user’s manual for befriending INFJs!  The whole thing is hilarious, but I especially enjoyed the sections on “Advanced Interactions” and “Troubleshooting and Support.”

Q: What if I think my INFJ suffers from “special snowflake” syndrome?

A: Many INFJs grow up feeling misunderstood and embrace the uniqueness of the INFJ label when they discover Myers-Briggs. If you attack their sense of individuality, the INFJ will react defensively (often by shutting you out of their life rather than direct confrontation). Let your INFJ know you understand that they feel rare, unusual, and out of place, but remember they may also need a reminder that they really are part of the human race. Healthy INFJs won’t insist that they are better than other people or push you away for reminding them that they’re human.

2|  This review of Captain America: Civil War is AMAZING.

The Catboy mourns his dad. Handsome Soviet Assassin Husband buys plums. He is an innocent boy. He just likes to eat fruit alone in his gross bed. He is so sad. He is arrested for being sad. Everyone is arrested and in trouble, even The Catboy even though he is a king. Maybe they are in trouble for destroying Romania. I think it’s because they are sad. Sad handsomes. 😦 Handsome SOviet Assassin Husband has Handsome America picture in his journal. I faint. I want them to be together so bad. I clutch my face in the dark. I flex and relax my muscles. They are so handsome and unhappy.

3|  The Mary Sue does a fun look back (and wish forward) at Disney princes and how they evolved into having personalities.  I was most interested in the idea that as women started contributing to the creative process, the princes stopped being Cardboard Cutout Providers  and started being Floppy Haired Fun Guys.

VIDEOS

1|  Alexander Skaarsgaard has the biggest crush on Stephen Colbert.  Seriously, I have never seen anyone make heart eyes at someone so hard for so long, and I am HERE FOR IT. (Bonus:  watch their follow-up clips in which they have a little slap-fight over food and Stephen tries to convince Alexander to take off his shirt).

A Week in Greece #24: Got My Passion Back

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I’m writing this blog on my phone, so it will be short!

Basically, I’m feeling rejuvenated! This was our second Celebration Week at HD, and we had a team from North Caroline come to teach our program participants how to make leather bracelets. It was so great to talk with Americans (so fast, without worrying if they could understand my vocabulary), and it was lovely to get a break from teaching and catch up on office work. 

In particular, Dina shared a dream with me that made me GIDDY. I don’t know if I can share it yet, but it epitomizes my love of providing extravagantly good gifts to women who have grown used to abuse. I want to do everything possible to make this a reality, and it reminded me of why I love working with HD so much. 

I also got to hang out with “A2” a little more, although we can only communicate through broken Greek (for both of us). We all had a big lunch after the program, and she snuggled into my side, tired of our guests, I think. But it meant so much to me that she’s starting to feel comfortable. And a couple days later just the two of us went out for a hamburger, and it was so fun (and exhausting) to communicate as best we could. 

Yesterday was the graduation ceremony, and once again I was blown away by how much they’ve learned, and how deeply they are internalizing their lessons. “A” made a leather plaque that says “Lack of Trust >> Anger >> Fear >> Lack of Trust.”  These are three different classes, and she personalized them and put them all together on her own. 

“D” told us what she’s learned in our Self-Esteem class, and she confidently told a room full of people that she is kind, giving, and spontaneous, good qualities that took forever for her to identify two weeks ago, because she’s so unused to thinking she has good qualities. 

“A2” made a beautiful painting, but even more touching was how she ushered Luciana and I into her room after the ceremony to show how she’d hung her certificate and medal on her wall, and also she had painstakingly arranged some knickknacks on her desk. She’s making the room her own, and it’s so lovely to see. 

I’ve still got culture shock running through my veins, but I feel SO grateful to work for HD. I honestly love it, and I am NOT ready to leave anytime soon!

Now… A weekend in Turkey with Roy and Idil! But you can read more about that later!

Rory’s 5th Birthday (w/ VIDEO)!

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My perfect cat turns five today, and I am not even in the same country!  Who will give him extra snuggles and coo, “You’re the most perfect creation on the entire planet,” to his blank little face?  Well, my mom, who is the best long-term cat-sitter I could have asked for.  She sends me regular picture updates on how cuddly he is with her or with their dog Riley, assuring me that he’s still living his best cat life.   Continue reading →

Top 5 Wednesday

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top5wednesday

Welcome to my first, and possibly only, Top 5 Wednesday!  I saw this over at My Tiny Obsessions, and since I couldn’t think of anything else to write about today, I ran with it.  This week’s theme is Favorite Videos/Posts, so let’s get real meta and have ME talking about ME and MY work.  I love narcissistic blogging!

img_81781|  I Can Die In Peace, Because I Saw Hamilton on Broadway

I will always enjoy remembering the INTENSE joy of seeing Hamilton on Broadway last December, and of getting autographs from the main casts, including Lin-Manuel Miranda himself.  This post captures my raging emotions very well, I think, which is necessary because I must always remember that I was in the room where it happens.   Continue reading →

#menaremorethan | MIKE

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Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 5.15.09 PMMike is Libby‘s husband, and their early inclusion in this series showcases how much I love them as individuals and as a couple (and why I spent so many Sundays crashing their family time).  Mike was one of my favorite people in Dallas, since we shared a love of theological conversations, video games, and writing stories.  He is a pastor whose sermons are always my favorite, he is a small group leader who values group unity and loving debate over arguing someone into the ground, he is a talented fiction writer, and he is a devoted husband and father.

In a day and age where women want to “have it all” we forget that men might want that too!  In pursuit of career success, too many men fall into a trap of believing that work is their primary identity (just as women forget that they are more than a wife or mother).  I so admire Mike for creating intentional space to be with his children and for supporting his wife’s professional aspirations.  Both Mike and Libby have roles in the home and out of it, and their co-leadership of our small group demonstrated for me just how beautiful a marriage of partnership can be.

Although he is incredibly intelligent, Mike always made me feel like my opinions were worth considering.  We occasionally disagreed about things pretty significantly, but he always valued me enough to listen and to subtly alter his opinions, just as his thoughtful critiques altered mine.  And sometimes!  Sometimes he really latched onto something that I value highly, and I will forever scream about how he is the ONLY pastor I know to preach about singleness from the pulpit in a way that actually appreciated and uplifted singleness as its own thing, and not as a stepping stone to marriage.

Someday he’s going to be a husband/father/pastor/YA author, the combination of which definitely makes him a man who is #morethan.

Cross-Stitchable Hamilton Quotes

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Hamilton is infinitely quotable, and this lends itself very nicely to cross-stitched messages on pillows and wall decorations, of which there are MANY.

However, the ones that are available are too obvious!  Although my suggestions start with some obviously inspiring quotes, I’m proud to say that my ideas get increasingly ridiculous.  Someone get to work on these, stat!

And if anyone designs the Domestic Burr or Mulligan’s Butt patterns, please alert me.  I need them decorating my apartment YESTERDAY.

For the earnest fan:

“What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”
Pictured:  Seedlings beginning to sprout from the ground.

“Just let me stay here by your side,
That would be enough.”
Pictured:  Eliza and Hamilton walking away from the viewer, hands reaching for each other.

“Dying is easy, living is harder.”
Pictured:  Hamilton climbing a mountain, carrying a burden made of books.

For the adults struggling with grown-up life fan:

“Domestic life was never quite my style.”
Pictured:  Burr in an apron, looking harried.   Continue reading →

Sunday Summary #32: What’s on the Internet

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1|  Hamilton fan Arielle Jovellanos inspired 45 artists to create Ham4Pamphlet, a compilation of artwork uniquely designed for each of the songs on the album…AND I WANT ONE SO BAD, why is it not for sale!?

And now a lot of videos!  Click through for an eating disorder-inspired dance, a think piece on online vs. offline self that avoids the too-easy anti-technology perspective, and a hilarious fake advertisement for a Hamilton-cure.  Continue reading →