Sitting, watching, waiting, wishing

My original plan, about two weeks ago, was to make a blog entry all about decorating our house for Christmas with pictures and all sorts of media... but as per usual, I make plans and God chuckles. So, instead, I'll tell you what I've been up to.

Whatever energy I've had leftover from STILL searching for a job, I've been thinking about law school and Washington D.C. and I think I've decided that D.C. is going to come before law school. I miss that city more than I've ever missed any place that isn't my parent's house. I miss the independence and the challenges and the constant motion. Besides, law schools are more likely to take students who have spent a few years in the professional world, so I'm taking the LSAT in February (and I'm GOING to get a fantastic score. Failure is NOT an option), and hopefully sometime in the next two years I can take a job in D.C.. I want to get the LSAT out of the way, since the score is good for five years and my study skills are still tuned.

Of course, after committing to sing (for the first time in public) at church on Christmas Eve (which is TOMORROW), I came down with a sinus infection. Again. I get them a lot because I have unusually large sinus cavities (which, ironically, make me a good singer) which are susceptible to infection if I miss dosages of my allergy nasal spray. Have I missed any of said dosages in the past month? Noooo... But that doesn't matter, apparently. I HATE sinus infections, because the only way to get rid of them is decongestants... all of which make me drowsy, even the non-drowsy variety. So I've been wandering around my house in a sudafed-induced fog for the last week. I'm finally starting to feel better, but my throat is rather dry and singing hasn't been so pleasant as of late.

Pending no more sinus disasters, I'm singing "I Celebrate the Day" by Relient K at our church's midnight service. I love that song, the lyrics describe perfectly how I feel about my faith walk, and for a long time I've felt like it was music I wanted to share with others on Christmas.

So I'll share it with you :)



Have a merry and blessed Christmas full of His love, joy, peace, and light.

The Holiday Family Saga beings

The holidays are upon us, and thus the marathon of extended family visits begins!

Last week, my aunt and uncle from Denver came in to celebrate my dad's birthday and to go through my grandfather's correspondence... When Grandfather was in college, the FBI, and the Navy, he wrote letters to positively EVERYONE and had the foresight to not only write in great detail about everything but to make copies of every letter he sent. So we have letters about everything from Harvard Yard to Pearl Harbor and Japan during WWII. And then of course, we have totally awesome documents such as his letter of resignation to J. Edgar Hoover. So my aunt and uncle and dad spent a weekend going through all of the letters and putting them in order. I'm not sure what they're going to do with them now, but ideas of a "The Letters of JRR Tolkien" sort of book have been thrown around.

So we had a few family dinners with them, and it was nice to catch up. We also talked about a family reunion in Mayenne, France, which is where we trace our earliest ancestors... and our name, for that matter.

On my mom's side, last night we had a MacFarlane family reunion. Now, as you might have guessed MacFarlane is a decidedly a Scottish name. Now, whenever my Scottish relatives get together there is usually kilts and haggis involved, and last night was no exception. Haggis is definitely an acquired taste... I didn't have any last night but I have in the past (at Papa's, my grandfather's, beckoning... "You're not Scottish if you've never had Haggis!!"). It's hard to describe. But it STINKS. All of Papa's brothers were wearing kilts. I love it. It's hilarious. I always threaten my brother and cousins with the prospect of a Scottish wedding just because all of the groomsmen and the groom have to wear kilts... I probably won't, but who knows?

Today is my mom's birthday, so we have another family dinner, and of course tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Busy, busy, busy!

Not a lot going on otherwise. I'm STILL looking for a job, but I'm optimistic. God will provide!

The blessing of time

I'm continually amazed by the way God answers my prayers, even though I often feel as though I am undeserving.

This week, my brother in Sioux Falls called me and asked if I wanted a ticket for his orchestra concert on Sunday. "Sure!" I said, not remembering that I had scheduled a youth group meeting for 7PM that night. About an hour later I checked my calendar and had to make sure the concert was early in the afternoon, which it was, so no problem.

Then, I decided that I wanted to bring treats to the youth group meeting. No big deal, if I would have only gotten my act together. Long story short, I didn't have anything together by the time I left for Sioux Falls on Sunday. No hot chocolate or cookies as I had promised... I was in trouble.

After the concert, I raced out to my car to find that it was exactly 5PM and it takes an hour and a half to get back to Sioux City, putting me in town at 6:30. Exactly one half hour before youth group. So I hit the road and said a little prayer that I'd have enough time to get everything done.

Lo and behold, halfway home I was ahead of schedule and it suddenly occurred to me that Panera Bread, which is halfway between my house and the church, caters. I looked up their number on my BlackBerry and asked if I could order hot chocolate and two dozen cookies. "We'll stick the cookies in the oven and they'll be ready to pick up in 45 minutes," said the assistant manager. To which I replied "You just made my day!". I got into Sioux City at 6:10, tore across town to my house, ran inside, changed my clothes, got my books, ran back to my car and drove to Panera just as the cookies were coming out of the oven. I made it to the church with 20 minutes to spare.

It was all my fault that I wasn't ready when I left for Sioux Falls yesterday. Last night should have gone down in flames for me, but one prayer changed the course of the entire night. God is so good to me. Especially when I don't deserve it. Last night's meeting was great, I met some really nice kids who are genuinely interested in fellowship through faith, so I'm excited for what's to come, challenges and all.

I'm still looking for a job... hoping to find one I enjoy soon...

The daily grind

So I am apparently blogspot-stupid and couldn't figure out how to "follow" people until just today... It's not straightforward as it is on livejournal.com, you just "Add as friend" and BAM! They're on your subscribed page.

Four years of college and it takes me a week to figure out blogspot. Nice.

Well, the past couple days has been more of the same... looking for a job with little success. I feel stuck. Previously, I had wanted to go to law school. I'm even signed up to take the LSAT in February, but after working on the campaign I thought I might want to work on a campaign again (and amusingly enough, I will not have to wait long). I still want to go back to Washington DC...

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My pastor asked me to head up the middle school and high school youth groups until the PNC can identify someone to lead the Christian Education branch of our church, so where my heart and my head needs to be is in Sioux City, looking for a job. Finding a job that ties into my degree, however, is proving to be difficult. I wish that hiring Republicans was "in" this season...

I'm really excited to be working with the youth groups at 1st Pres, though. I swept through our local book stores yesterday and today picking out books to read that will have good devotional material in them and highlighting and marking passages in said books, along with corresponding Bible passages... One book in particular is amusing to me, "The One Year Daily Grind" by Sarah Arthur... it's a daily devotional and most of the devo's discuss coffee (and God, of course). It's so appropriate for me... though I think most of it may be lost on the youth group. Caffeine addiction is something that most of them have yet to discover ... ... ... I hope.

I met with a bunch of the middle schoolers tonight and when I explained that I had been working on a campaign for the past three months, they all immediately declared that they had wanted Obama to win and then eagerly asked: "Who did you vote for?!"

Oh, God has a sense of humor indeed.

Of writing and reading...

Recently a friend inquired why I wasn't participating in NaNoWriMo. Now, for those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Write a novel in one month. Puh. I wish!

Previously in my life, I LIVED to write stories. These days, it's more of a "when I have time" occurrence... So with the election and everything else writing fell off my radar for a while. I have to be in a mood to write. And that mood usually includes listening to a lot of piano music and A Fine Frenzy's "One Cell In The Sea" album (strange combination? Yes). I aspire to NaNoWriMo eventually, but I'm really more of a short story girl. I think it's my ADD manifested in my creativity. I can only run with one plot line and character set before I'm bored.

It's times like this that make me miss my creative writing class. I'd never taken one before college, and senior year I decided that it would be a fun credit to fill those last few slots I needed. Writer's block was not a problem... probably because I actually had to turn things in or my GPA would suffer... but it was still a good incentive, and I learned a lot about writing and motivating myself to write. Perhaps it's time to break out "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott... Great read, by the way.

Speaking of reading, currently I'm making my way through "The Constant Princess", by Phillippa Gregory. I'm probably one of her only readers who has never read, and who never wants to read "The Other Boleyn Girl". I started out with "The Queen's Fool" and LOVED it. I entertained the idea of reading "The Other Boleyn Girl", but after seeing the movie decided against it... not because the movie was bad (but believe me, it was) but because it was FAR too depressing. But I am under no illusions - Katherine of Aragon's story won't end well either. But at least she doesn't get beheaded. But so far, I'm LOVING "The Constant Princess". Tudor Fiction fascinates me. I can't help it.

Well, tomorrow is another busy day of errands and sending out my resume to anyone who will take it. Good night!

Cellists have more fun

First of all, I would like to observe that Winter arrived in unexpected haste and frigidity this year. Last week, I was in Indianapolis and it was nearly 80F. Now I'm back home and it's barely breaking 30F. Je n'aime pas.

Tonight I went to the Sioux City Symphony's performance with my mom. I suppose I went with my dad, too, but he plays the cello in the symphony so I didn't sit with him... though God knows I would have LOVED to have been down there on that stage. After not playing my violin for a few months, I find that I miss it more every day. I'm hoping to audition for SCSO as soon as possible... which may be a while since they're auditioning new conductors.

The conductor of tonight's performance was Alexander Platt of Chicago. He was a spectacular conductor; animated, concise, and professional. He did, however, talk a lot. He introduced each piece with background info which could have been found in the program notes. I don't mind a little recap of the notes, but a five minute introduction seems slightly unecessary to me. Also performing tonight was Augustin Hadelich, violinist. He played Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, op. 26, g minor, the last movement of which I'm certain I heard at Luther in violin seminar. Hadelich did a magnificent job - the solo sections were gorgeous and he played with such gusto I thought he might leap off the stage.

Going to SCSO, or any musical event for that matter, makes me realize just how spoiled Luther's music program has made me. That isn't to say that SCSO is awful, but certainly LCSO has a certain edge to it that some professional orchestras can't have because their members don't have the time to spend an hour a day (or more) holed up in a practice room. I haven't experienced clapping between movements in four years. Agh. Ech. Blah. Of all of the things that drive me crazy, clapping between movements is at the top of the list.

Also, it seems to me that cellists have more fun... At Luther and at SCSO, the people who move consistently and who appear to have the happiest demeanor are the cellists. Except my dad, who is as serious as the plague, as always. :)

Well, it's now 11:20 and I am EXHAUSTED. It is definitely time for bed. I'm excited to attend 1st Presbyterian for the first time since summer tomorrow!! :D

Post-election reflections

Well, here I sit writing my first blog post. Where to begin...

I suppose I should mention that for the past few months, I've been working on a Republican campaign, which will lead you to assume certain things about my current state of happiness. I can assure you, while I am not pleased with the outcome of the election that I am certain that I will support our President-Elect, Barack Obama, one-hundred percent. Though I am bound to disagree with him ... more often than not.

One thing that people tend to forget during election season is that while we may not agree, we are all Americans. And no matter what happens, when Barack Obama takes office we must all get along to work towards a solution for the many problems we face. I am resolved to work with my friends and neighbors no matter their political affiliation, and I hope many others will do the same. It would be a disgrace to all those who fought for our sovereignty not to.

But, on to other things...

Now that I'm done with the campaign I'm on a job search... I had planned to be looking for a job while on the campaign trail but I severely overestimated the free time I would have. Hopefully I find one soon, as much as I enjoy having time to myself I find that I am incredibly bored. Go figure. I've been working on my website in the meantime, updating my resume and watching "John Adams", the HBO mini series. I'm rather enjoying the portrayal of every character... the actors the directors picked were SUPERB. This series comes highly reccommended. Though, I am very sad that when the painting done by John Trumbull was presented to John Adams, he didn't notice that Trumbull painted Adams stepping on Thomas Jefferson's toe.

I love American history!