I'm older than ancient, apparently.

Teenagers have no filter when it comes to some things and their perspective is priceless. Yesterday was a perfect example of this when a wonderful, kind and normal 17-year-old exclaimed...

"Whooooa...I'm gonna have kids waaaaay before 28 - that's ancient!!"

Are we having fun yet?

Exhibit No. 1: Click here.


Exhibit No. 2: See below.

Snowlanta!

It's the third day in a row that students are out of school, classes are already cancelled for tomorrow and people are encouraged not to drive. The main streets melted and aren't so bad, but the side streets are still ice rinks. I walked to the Chastain Park with my camera and was as far from the bumper cars as possible, wondering what was so important that so many people had to drive.

The best part about wandering around an icy, hilly golf course: sliding down the hills on my bum. The 5-inches of snow is now covered by such a thick layer of ice that it was actually easier and safer to sit down and slide all over on my bum instead of try to walk. And, of course, it was way more fun.

Here are some pictures...oh, and what's your best suggestion for the last photo of the television? Yes, a television. Definitely the not something I expected to see on the pedestrian path.

Got Skates?

For my northern friends, snow and ice are a regular part of life. We're used salt trucks, pre-treated roads and turning into the skid. However, for Atlanta and those other parts of the country where these white flakes don't often fall from the sky, especially in such mass, it's more of a novelty. And on top of that novelty, we were lucky enough to get a freezing drizzle all day followed by temperatures in the 20s. Needless to say, Atlanta is closed. 

However, that did not stop one person from figuring out the best way to get down the busiest and well-known non-highway road in this city. 

The Prodigal God

I could probably count the number of books I've recommended on my blog on one hand. And today, I'd like to add another to the list:


A Prodigal God by Tim Keller

prodigal |ˈprädigəl 

adjective

1 spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant : prodigal habits die hard.

2 having or giving something on a lavish scale : the dessert was crunchy with brown sugar and prodigal with whipped cream. See note at profuse .

This book has radically rocked my way of looking at one of the most familiar parables Jesus tells. And I'm fairly certain that it will do the same for you. 

Snow Days

Little white flakes falling from the skies create some of the best memories. I woke up to 3-4" of snow in Atlanta. Yup, Atlanta, GA. It doesn't do this all that often in this neck of the woods, so it's pretty much a big mess...but it sure is a fun mess!

Jane, Ashley and I walked up the street to Chastain Park to find a parade of families using the closest golf course for their own personal sled hill. And it was awesome! We even asked some boys if we could use their sled for one ride while they were distracted by a snowball fight. And that was even more awesome.

I couldn't help but be reminded of some of the best snow memories ever...

Shoveling the side yard

Yes, you read that right. In the mid-'80s, one of our favorite winter past times was building snow forts next to the driveway. My parents would encourage us to shovel all of the snow into the biggest pile we could make. We did. It was probably their sneaky little trick to get us to shovel the entire driveway seeing as they bought a snow blower after we left for college, but we still had a great time. The forts were incredible! Of course, they were the best and biggest forts ever. I know we built at least one that included tunnels, tunnels that seemed dozens of feet long and were so high I actually stood up inside at least once (um...OK, I so I was unusually short as a young child, but it was still impressive in our world). Well, during one snowfall we didn't think we had enough snow. So, of course, we took the saucer sled and carried shoveled snow from our entire lawn to the pile next to the driveway. I'm pretty sure that we were the only people with green-looking grass in the middle of a snow storm. We were the envy of the neighborhood.

Cold Days

Growing up in Chicago, I had school canceled in the same calendar year for it being too hot and too cold. Yes, the temperature. I went to an old, brick high school with no air-conditioning, and during a summer class, we had classes canceled after too many days of 100something-degree heat. But that's another story. Back to the cold.

Three out of four Januarys, we had cold days. When the wind chill hit -40-degrees, it was deemed too dangerous for an elementary school child to walk to school or wait for a school bus. Therefore, the district shut down. WIN! Freshmen year, cold weather postponed finals for a week. Junior year, I thought it was a brilliant idea for this to be the one night I ever lied to my parents about where I was going, not factoring in the problem that cars don't always start in such cold weather. I remember sitting in that parking lot making deals with God about how if my car did start, I would never lie again. It started. (Mom & Dad...if you're reading this, remember that it 15 years ago and know that it wasn't illegal.) 

Senior year, I was much smarter. Mary T (now Mary P) and I took her jeep and snowboard to a local sledding hill, without appropriate warm clothes, so I could learn this new winter sport. Being an avid skier and she being the only with a snowboard...we were brilliant. And freezing. At 10 o'clock at night. 

Teenagers are smart. Clearly. 

Trash Bags & Parking Lots

Senior year in college holds two wonderful snow memories. The first was sometime after midnight during finals week. It was the first snowfall of the year, and the four of us - Christie, Jessica & Kim, my three awesome roommates - were studying at our Ross Street apartment. Jessica had the brilliant idea to take trash bags and go sledding down the parking lot.  Yes, the parking lot. There was an 8-foot hill with a slight slant that made for much laughter. We went inside all cold and wet for some hot chocolate, and the next thing we knew, all the people who were giving us strange looks from our apartment complex were out there doing the same thing. It was an instant 1 AM study-break party. 

That same week, a few days later, I went sledding with Laura A, Matt H and Wethe (Matt & Laura are not married). We were in the field behind the ag school and decked out in so many clothes were were like young children who could barely move or walk. And, of course, it was about midnight. We slid down the hill so fast that we didn't realize that there were those cement dividers in between the parking spaces in the lot at the end. I hit one, got air and managed to not die. It was awesome. 

Closing Denver

It snowed 3-feet in less than two days. Starbucks even closed. I was living in campus apartments at Denver Seminary, so there were friends everywhere. The most impressive memory is that a group of grown men took huge plastic tubs to build a fort. And not just any fort. It was a fort big enough for these grown men to stand and sleep in. Seriously. It was that cool. 

May there be many more snow days in your future!

    

The Flip Side

Working at home has its perks. I get to stay in my PJs drinking coffee out of my favorite mug until 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I go running whenever I want and make a great, home cooked meal for lunch. I fold laundry in between emails and have no commute. It's a pretty good gig.

But it has its downside.

Every weather channel in this country is predicting 3-5" of snow in Atlanta tonight. It's a hilly city that does not know how to deal with such precipitation, so there's a certain level of panic in the air. Schools - including Georgia Tech - have already announced that they are closed tomorrow. Keep in mind not a flake has actually fallen from the sky' they just think that lots of them will. So, tomorrow, all of Atlanta will be shut down. Many people will not be heading into the office. But there'll be no snow day for me. I guess it's fair. The rest of the world has to sit in traffic.

Would you like to go on a walk?

One of the things I love most about many other cultures in this great wide world is their ability to walk. Yes, walk. They walk to the market, to the butcher, to work, to a friend's house. They don't always have to drive. Many times it's due to over-crowded cities that make owning a car nearly impossible or poverty preventing individual transportation luxuries. But still, they walk.

When I'm in other places, a mile or two walk doesn't phase me one bit. It'd be a close place to eat or a convenient visit. However, back here in Atlanta, the thought of walking a few miles to the bookstore and Trader Joe's on a Saturday feels like it's a bigger deal than it should be. But I'm going anyway. I can't think of a better use of some extra time on a chilly, sunny weekend.

Funny how location can change perspective so much?




  

   

A Different Kind of Change

It's a long story that's not worth retelling, but I've recently been chewing over the idea of being humble. The most challenging thing, to me, about this is not so much admitting wrong but rather changing course when it gets personal. It's hard to change. Some people thrive on change and new things when it comes to their surroundings, circumstances and interests, but it's hard to find a person on the planet who enjoys it when they realize that something about them, their views, their beliefs or their actions need to change. Change jobs? No big deal. Change hair color? OK. Change churches. Won't be stressful. But changing something about the core of who you are...um, no thanks.

So I'm learning. I'm continuing to learn more about myself, the effects of my own actions, other people and what God wants. And, not surprisingly, I've been wrong about many of these things in the past. I haven't so much minded realizing that I'm wrong...but it's changing something and reorganizing my thoughts and approaching life differently that is much more challenging and uncomfortable. Frankly, I don't like it very much. But it's good. It's very good.

What might you need to change?
   
   

  

Crock Pot

My mom bought me a crock pot for Christmas. And it's wonderful. This is my first of hopefully many delicious meals.

Uh-oh...

Egypt 2007

It only took three about three years, but the adventure has finally been documented in book format!

My 2011 Calendar

If this video works, it'll be a slight miracle. I've never managed to accomplish such a technological wonder on my own in the past. The only glitch is that the cover should read 2006-2010. Oops. Sharpies were made for such corrections...and besides, who ever looks at the cover page? It's the months that hang up there for 28-31 days at a time...right?

My latest list

Relocating to Atlanta has opened up several opportunities in my life in the past almost-year. One of them is time. I have more to do whatever I want to do than I have had in the past. So this morning, seeing as it's a new year and all (but this is not a "resolution"), I made a list of all the things I'd like to do with this time. It's amazing how motivating and productive a simple list can be. Yay for coffee, candles, Sharpies and new days.

My Christmas Vacation

I haven't been home to Chicago for this long since 1999. I'll admit, I was a little worried it would feel that way, too. I had grandiose plans to visit somewhere else right after Christmas...but those all epically failed and the plane ticket purchased as bookends the proposed adventure ended up being an odd decision.

Nonetheless (one of my favorite words), the time flew by leaving me with people I missed and chores not completed. Strep throat knocked out the first week, but I never felt that sick, so it wasn't so bad. 

Here's my Christmas vacation. In pictures. With my new camera.

The Nativity under the Christmas tree at my parents' house. It's been there for as long as I can remember. 

The Tree. It's been standing there since 1972. 

My Dad opening up his present from me. Some of his favorite treats.

Michael: Opening up the Egypt tour book. I made a scrapbook of our 2007 trip as a gift but needed him to look at it on my computer before ordering it, so wrapping up the tour book made sense.

My mom's Italy book. Same as above.

The next two pictures of my dad's brilliant Christmas wrapping idea. He had several gifts for my mom to wrap...and stacked them to make it simpler. Awesome, Dad.

BOCHOX: Chocolate. Yum. Make this picture bigger and read the text. It's funny. 

The angel was replaced by a different tree-topper this year, so my parents "hung"her near the top of the tree. She looks like she's taking a flying leap off of the tree in response to being demoted from the top position.

Christmas Morning Casserole: YUM.

The centerpiece.

Michael read the manual to my new camera much more intently than I did. I'm not so great at reading instructions but had to promise to read it. I will. I also signed up for a class to learn how to use it. 

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Riverside

Annette's Village

 The hutch all five of us nieces and nephew want to inherit.

 Thank you Valerie, now I have a dancing, singing Christmas Tree.

Me & My New Toy

 

Hello Mr. Turkey! You look delicious!

Hi Mom!

The Werles. My face is awkward here because I was laughing so ridiculously hard. It took about 17 takes to get everyone not talking when the camera went off. You'd think it wouldn't be so difficult with six adults? Apparently, it was.

Playing with my new toy outside the Riverside Werle House 

Riverside Werle's

Elmhurst Werle's

Lilly...the morning I hung out with Tracey.

Aunt Jackie...texting?!

 For my dad's January 8th birthday, I took him out to lunch at Braxton's.

 Amber. Where? Starbucks. Of course.

On New Year's Eve it was so warm outside that my dad grilled the steaks. He is a little bit of a pyro, using the leaf blower to get the coals hotter. 

No trip to Chicago is complete without Portillo's Italian Beef. This is what beef sandwiches will taste like in Heaven.

The puzzle Valerie sent to Jackie & Annette. We're taking it apart and sending it back to her to have all the fun herself.

Getting back to Atlanta turned into quite a fiasco. Saturday evening, the plane broke, so we were delayed in Chicago. A new part was flown in from Ohio to fix it, so we took off, about 4 hours late. Then when we were about to land, in what we thought would be Atlanta, the pilot announced that there was a fog problem...so he was taking us to Birmingham. Thank you to Delta for the hotel for the night...and for Laura's phone call the next morning. The glitch in the iPhone had me oversleep an hour, and I almost missed my flight getting back to Atlanta.