Technical difficulties and watching paint dry

There are some pictures that I would like to post, but for whatever reason, blogger is having a hard time dealing with any photos that are rotated vertically.  It either will take the picture and put it back to horizontal, so the person looking at it has to tilt their head to look at it, or it will leave it in the vertical shape (for lack of a better word), but the picture will still be horizontal and all stretched out.

So instead, you get to see how much my nails grew in a week's time.  Hopefully I can get this figured out.

Truly, I think he has a good heart.

In an effort to become a better grown-up, I watched this.  I liked it enough to want to share it somewhere, but am fearful of the negativity that could result if I shared on facebook.  So here it is, to my faithful blog follower(s).  Something positive about politics.

I don't know if I will be voting on Tuesday for the following reasons:

1.  I can't find my voter registration card (though, it is somewhere in this apartment...I'm guessing, if I were smart, it's lost somewhere in my purse, but more likely, it is in a stack of papers somewhere in the office/guest bedroom).
2.  I have class all day on Tuesday, not sure if I would make it back on time.
3.  Based on all of the advertisements on TV, I'm only sure of who I don't want to vote for, not of who I do want to vote for.

Will you vote on Tuesday?  (It is Tuesday, right?)

I am excited that campaigning against others will be temporarily over, but I am not looking forward to hearing all the complaining about the results (no matter what they are).  Can't we all just get along people?

Reminiscing

Man I used to have such good posts.

Appealing Simplicity

Top 3 Things That Currently Appeal To Me:
1.  Frugality.  
Not only in what we're spending our money on, but also for time and energy.  When I am too busy, I sometimes feel like I am merely surviving.  I can't imagine that being constantly busy and worn out is what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned living life to the full (John 10:10).
2.  Honing and selling a craft.
First, I need to come up with a marketable, artsy, crafty skill.  I think I would like to try my hand at sewing (not so much clothes, but little throw pillows or homemade grocery bags.  Or blankets.), since knitting/crocheting just hasn't agreed with me in the past, and writing snarky sayings on a piece of wood just doesn't seem legit enough to me.  Plus, I feel like we would have the space in our small apartment to accommodate for sewing (as opposed to a craft like woodwork, or ceramics).  Then, as soon as I get good, and have exhausted making everyone their Christmas and birthday presents, and donating to charities and silent auctions, I would learn what an Etsy was, or just go to good old fashioned craft fairs, and sell my wares.  I think I've mentioned on this blog before how appealing "selling my wares" is.
3.  Gardening.
Like sewing and being frugal, gardening also has a sense of taking care of yourself and others using the resources God gave you.  After experimenting with canning, I found that I liked it, but that it would be more cost effective (and satisfying) if the fruit and vegetables were ones that I had grown.  I also think that this might be something that I am romanticizing a little bit, because I am not sure that I can see myself out in the yard trying to determine which plants are weeds.  So maybe I should start out with sewing (I feel like I've got a bit of a start on frugality already)?


Ok.  I am clearly:
a) born in the wrong century
b) procrastinating in the form of blogging.  Apparently my homework is not doing itself?
c) all of the above


It also doesn't help that the last few blogs I've read cater to these types of interests.
Blah.  Homework now.

Big Picture

Ahh.  There is always more to learn about yourself, and today, I realized what I probably already should have known.  I am a big picture person.  While I am capable of being aware of details, I am not particularly gifted in that area.  I tend to be the most strung out when details are involved.  For awhile, I thought that that made me a detail person.  But really, when it boils down to it, details make me crazy.  The more I realize this, the more it becomes apparent to me.  The way I tell stories (skipping details that I don't think matter).  The way I stress out if I am in charge of planning an event (really, I should just leave this to people who actually like that kind of thing...the details just bog me down).  The way I remember the moral of the story, but none of the characters' names. 
Why haven't I realized this before?  I'm sure like all things, this can be both a strength and a weakness, but knowing is half the battle, right?  As always, I wonder how knowing this will look for me down the road, whether in whatever ministry the Lord has in store, or for how I will raise a family, etc.  (Shouldn't that "as always" be a clue that I am a big picture person?  I can be quite slow about realizing things like that though).

Now.  I'm torn about whether I should post one big picture here, or several smaller pictures?

I suppose I should stay true to myself:

Relistening

Listened to The Lighthouse and the Whaler again today.  Still love them.

Weaknesses

Awhile back, I found out my strengthsfinder strengths.

After quite some time of thinking about it, I've come to realize that my strengths are also my weaknesses, for better or for worse.

Here's what I wrote about my strengths last time, with my new thoughts in a different color.

Learner -- "You love to learn. ...whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning." This is true. I like to learn in all ways, but I am primarily a visual learner. If money were no object, I would go back to school and study a variety of topics.

As a result, I know a little bit about a lot of things, but I don't really know a lot about any one thing.

Futuristic -- "Wouldn't it be great if..." you are the kind of person who loves to peer over the horizon. The future fascinates you. ...a better product, a better team, a better life, or a better world -- it will always be inspirational to you. You are a dreamer who sees visions of what could be and who cherishes those visions." Hit the nail on the head. As of late, I cannot go to a restaurant or a church without daydreaming the whole time about ways to improve it.

As a result, I have a really hard time living in the present.  And don't even get me started on history.  In my Early Church class, which I really enjoy by the way, every once in a while I have to reign my thoughts in to think about what it meant for the people at the time...not how it will look for whatever ministry God wants me to do in the future.  And by every once in a while, I mean all the time.

Input -- "You are inquisitive. You like to collect things. ... Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity." I mostly collect information, facts, books, quotations, etc. I'm not really the type that has a collection of alike tangible objects.

I do however, keep a good amount of clutter around.  I'm trying to be better about it.  It helps that I never live in one place for too long, moving certainly helps one to keep only the important things in life. 

Intellection -- "You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the 'muscles' of your brain, stretching it in multiple directions. ...it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection." Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

I tend to over think things.  To dwell too much on stupid stuff, or to second guess myself. 

Responsibility -- "Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. ...Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should." My mom told me that even as a little girl, I had more of a sense of a responsibility than most adults. For better or for worse, my plate is always full (not my food plate). I'm trying to work on finding balance.

I take too much on, can't say no, hold unrealistic expectations of myself and others.  I am trying to be better at prioritizing my time and setting boundaries.  I hope I don't get too good at saying no to things though.  

Highway

A quote from my reading

“…the real challenge, which is to allow the central Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love, and the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, great-heartedness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, to have free course in our relationships one with another, and to discover, as they work their way into our lives, the corporate virtues of mutual submission and mutual recognition of God-given gifts of leadership, teaching, and so on.”

My apologies if there are any typos.  From the book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, By N.T. Wright...found on the top of page 214