So Much Shopping

I was going to blog about the huge shopping trip I took at work yesterday, but I think my boss did it more justice than I could have done.

Go read about it here.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

I have decided that the sweetest sound in the world is that of a baby laughing.

Live.
I hate those ringtones of babies laughing.
That is NOT what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about when you tickle a baby or play peek-a-boo with a baby or clap its feet together and they just laugh their little heads off. If I'm ever mad at you or about to rip you apart for some reason, bring a laughing baby into our confrontation and I will be putty in your hands.

And I will leave you with this on this fine Sunday:

Next Sunday, or even this Sunday if you still have time, go out of your way to encourage a minister or his or her family. Growing up as a preacher's daughter, I thought I understood what made Sundays hard for ministers. Come to find out, I had absolutely no idea. Sundays are literally the longest days of the week for ministers and they involve so much more than you could ever imagine. Sweet, passing words from friends, or even strangers, make so much difference on these hard days.

So, all 6 of you readers, that is your mission for today if you choose to accept it.

Blue Fingers and Free Food

What do you get when you combine a cheese grater, 

a box of blue crayons...

peeled,

and grated?

The answer:

Really blue fingers.

In other news, tonight I got a delicious pizza, a 2-liter bottle of Sprite, and a piece of cheesecake for $5. 

Apparently, the very sweet Italian men at the pizza place that just opened on Tuesday were so appalled that they had to deliver my one pizza 5 minutes late that they not only gave it to me for free, they also threw in the Sprite and cheesecake. They were so embarrassed when I insisted on at least giving them a tip. 

If this was a ploy to create loyal customers, then, well done, Manny's. Well done. I will definitely be eating at this fine establishment again. Not only was the pizza delicious, the people were precious. 

Ok. Enough about food. Time to get back to the surprisingly cute movie that happened to be on tonight. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. And eventually my brand new book. 

Life's pretty good tonight. 

What a Day

I got my hair cut today. I love getting my hair cut. Probably more than I should. Sometimes I wish I could take some kind of magic potion to make my hair grow extra fast just so I could get it cut once a week.

So, needless to say, I am in a fantastic mood. Hair cuts just do that to you.

And I got to do service projects with precious, precious children today.
And I got to have 3 adorable 1st grade girls fight over my lap while we were watching maybe my favorite children's movie, Chicken Little.
 And I got sweaty hugs from too-tough 5th grade boys.
And I got to tutor an amazing 16-year-old in math for an hour. (Yes. I am aware that it makes me a nerd for loving this.)
And I got to eat a fantastic wild rice and chicken, peas, edamame, grapes, and raspberry brownies meal.
And I heard two phenomenal stories of the Lord working in lives and completely changing them.
And I got to teach a sweet 11-year-old piano.
And I got to witness a beautiful sunset.

All-in-all, a pretty precious, adorable, sweaty, amazing, fantastic, phenomenal, sweet, and beautiful day.

I loved it. And desperately needed it.

The Lord is so faithful.

Science Camp

I never knew I could be this worn out. If this post doesn't make sense, blame it on the 40 chocolate covered strawberries in my fridge. Or the giant pile of laundry next to me. Or the fact that I have sunk so low as to watch back-to-back episodes of Sonny with a Chance. 

Anyway. Humor me. 

Before Science Camp:

My feet were literally buried in supplies. And that spot by the door (below) was the only place in the entire office where you could see carpet.

This might not look that much better to you, but I cleared a path to my desk. It was a big deal.

After Science Camp was over, it was my great pleasure to put away all of the office-cluttering supplies.

All of these tubs were full at one point. Apparently, Science Camp requires lots of supplies.

And a little sneak peek for this week: Teddy Bear Tea. Complete with wrapping paper hats.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into??? (Part 2)

Remember this?

Well...

Here she is, folks, the 2011 Spring Sing Club Coordinator!

Yes. I know. These pictures are way cheesy. But I felt like I should try to reproduce when I told y'all about being one of Pi's Spring Sing Directors. I'm feeling a lot of the same things as I did when that happened. But with a little less pressure, I guess. I'm mostly way excited and so honored that Meagan (the executive director) asked me to be a part of Spring Sing in this way. So once again, Spring Sing will be SUCH a busy time of year for me. But also such an exciting time! I can't wait!! 

Oh yeah. 

Post to come soon about Science Camp, Teddy Bear Tea, and sewing my little heart out. 

Plans and Rainstorms

Whew. It's been a whole week since I blogged. That tells you how busy it's been. Today ended our Science Camp and I had a whole post planned with pictures and everything to show you how it went. But God had planned a different post and let me in on the secret on the way home today. Science Camp pictures to come soon.

I love it when God teaches you things by words that come out of your own mouth. Like when you're not even expecting Him.

Last week, I was helping plan the lessons for our VBS. ****Spoiler alert: For those Memorial (Houston, not Edmond) readers out there, I'm about to spoil the VBS points. Read ahead at your own risk.**** We're studying Noah and needed a different "lesson" for each night. Maybe it's because I've grown up as the daughter of two frequent public speakers, but I came up with things right off the bat.
Each night as its own point:
1. God's plan is bigger than us.
2. God's plan works.
3. God's plan takes time.
4. God's plan is good.

As I'm saying these 4 points out loud, it feels like I have had the breath knocked out of me.

"Karissa? Are you there? Are you listening to the words coming out of your mouth? Are you living like you believe those words?"

Nope. Not at all. I'm in a constant state of worry about how I'm going to survive the rest of my summer without my friends. Or how I'm going to convince myself to eat a proper meal. Or how I'm going to manage this or that relationship. Or how. Or how. Or how.

Today as I was getting on I-10 to start the drive home, there was SO much traffic. Now, it's Houston so that's not a completely unusual thing. But it was 4:20. And it is never stopped where I get on to head back. But it was stopped today. So I just assume there was a wreck. Well I finally make it on to the highway in the horrible stop-and-go traffic and notice some smoke rising up ahead. But it looks like it is taking up the entire 10 or 12 lane highway. As I got closer, I realized it was rain not smoke. However, it was 100% dry where I was at. So I keep driving and eventually make it into the middle of this rainstorm. It is POURING. No wonder traffic was stopped! It's the kind of rain where it's hard to see in front of you. About 2 minutes after I enter this storm, the sun starts shining. And I mean shining. I can't possibly describe to you how bright it was while it was STILL pouring. A few minutes later, I pulled out of the rain and onto a completely dry road.

The whole experience was bizarre. It was completely dry all day long at work. Completely dry all day long at home. But for that 5-10 minutes, it was pouring amidst sunshine.

God tapped at my heart again as I thought how bizarre it all was. God has a plan. And, just like that little rainstorm, it often doesn't make sense to me. Well. It hardly ever makes sense to me. In my own stupidity, I usually think that I somehow know better than the all-powerful being that created me and that I can handle my life in a much better fashion than He ever could. How incredibly wrong I am.

God's plan is bigger than me. It really does work. It often takes so much time. But, in the end, it is so good.

As I was writing that last sentence, I heard the sounds of rain on the roof of my house. I went to the window and, sure enough! It's as sunshiny as can be, but man oh man is it pouring.

What Really Happens in the Office

Yes. That is a man wearing a pig costume. We get a lot of work done. 

Exhaustion by 4-year-olds (and newspapers)

I am, in a word, exhausted. I'm pretty sure Sundays and Wednesdays are going to be 12-hour-days from here on out.
At least for the next 10 weeks. 

Today started our 3-day preschool day camp. It went so well! 

Cute quote of the day:

Me: "So what were Jesus' twelve special friends called?"

Cute 4-year-old: "The Apossibles!" 

After Creation Station, I spent the rest of my day like this:

(Please ignore how exhausted I look. That's what I get for staying up way too late talking to friends the night before I need to wake up at 6AM.)

I needed a small nap after ripping all that newspaper.

There are now newspaper ink spots on my computer, shorts, and any semi-white surface I touched in the past 3 hours. 

I was going to quote a song then realized it was inappropriate

I have now experienced my first Houston weekend. Let's just say there might be some room for improvement. It wasn't horrible by any means. I went to my first true flea market. That was quite the experience. I also ventured out to maybe the best mall I've ever experienced. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about it as soon as I make multiple purchases. 

But the most important thing that happened this weekend:

I taught myself to crochet! 

Blankets, scarves, and headbands coming soon. 

Crafts and Cakesters

It is officially the weekend. For me, at least. I am celebrating this particular momentous occasion by sitting on the couch in my living room, eating Oreo Cakesters, and watching Friends. 

Speaking of Oreo Cakesters. I know it looks like they fixed something that didn't need fixing. But let me be the first to tell you, you just didn't know it needed fixing. These things are so good. So so good. (And just because I'm having some now does not in any way mean I'm going to pass up on the cookies and cream brownies M and E made today. No way.)

Ok. Back from the land of desserts. I successfully finished my first week of work. Granted. It was only a 3-day week. But one of those days was a 12-hour work day. 

Lemme show you how it went:

I made crafts. 

And made crafts and made crafts and made crafts.

And then once the examples were done, I had to get started on the prep work so all the kids could also do the crafts

You really haven't lived until you've put faces on 300 popsicle sticks.

But the crafts were all made. Everything got finished. And we're all ready for Creation Station next week (our preschool mini-day-camp). And I'm all ready for the weekend. Maybe I'll explore Houston. Or sew. Or just veg. So many options. So little time. 

What a way to make a livin'

I survived my first day of work. I know you were all insanely worried about me. Thank you for the concern. Besides TONS of traffic (welcome to Houston, I guess) the day was uneventful. Scripts were proofread. Tents were rented (or at least priced). Copies were made. Success was had by all.

And then when I got back to the house, this sweet thing was waiting for me:

She made me a picture!! Thanks, E! It made my day. I can't tell you how exciting it was to be in a completely unknown city with unknown people all day long but to come home to find a picture painted just for me. God sometimes does big things with small packages. Today was a perfect example. 

Then I proceeded to introduce E to the wonders of Macbooks and Photo Booth:

She's just great. I think it's going to be a good summer.