theres this band called "Blues Traveler" that is a mix of rock and blues and harmonica that I like a lot... I am listening to one of their older CD's right now (Save His Soul)- it just speaks to where I am at this evening.
I have just spent the last two hours or so going through more piles of stuff that clutter my house in an effort to reduce what I own. It's an interesting process going through all the letters, cards, bills, pictures and other things I have kept as momentos (a WHOLE lot of Hurricanes ticket stubs as an example) and trying to discern what to keep and what I can throw away. In a sense, its as if I am deciding what is important about my past and what's expendable.
It's on this cusp of turning 30 that in a very real way I am giving up everything I have established so far as my life and starting over. I am giving up at least the security and comfort I know and having to rely on faith and this ever present sense of call that has been pulling at my heart for so many years now. And I am so very excited to be heading to Austin and so very scared and so very sad to be leaving this shelter, leaving the people who have supported me in so many ways to head off to a place that I do not know, to be surrounded by people I do not know and to put myself in an academic arena which I haven't been a part of in 9 years. (and certainly not at this level of study either).
If experience has taught me anything I have come to know and accept that when I move away in a couple of weeks, this will be the last time that I will see some of the people I know and interact with now. I know that some of my friendships will begin to fade away and while I know this is bound to happen, it makes me sad.
And I know too that some friendships will (and have) sustain the tests of time and moves and fights and disappointments and life in general, and for those relationships I am forever indebted. I am grateful for all the people who come in and out of my life for however briefly of lenghty amounts of time and shared their lives with me.
this is just some of the stuff that is swimming around my head these days and I felt compeled to share - so there you go - and now I am going to go. Take care- C
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The numbers game (this time its about time)
One of the classes I took in college was Production and Decission Sciences 101, which basically was a statistics class that was required if you were going to major in any of the business degrees. Since I was considering double majoring in Marketing, I took the class. I have to admit, I loved learning how to manipulate and crunch numbers. I still do. For fun, I work logic and word puzzles, I do Soduko puzzles because they fascinate me. I can't also seem to help myself from running my own numbers game. (ala "By The Numbers" a column on NHL.com's website). Anyways here are the latest numbers running through my head...
53- That's right, 53. In the last twelve months I have spent a whoping 53 days traveling with/ for TAPC (my job)- That's seven days, or one week short of a full two months or 1/6 of the year spent in other places than Durham.
14- of those 53 days have been in the last 30 days and...
28- of the 53 have been on mission related trips.
12- (in comparison) days of the last year I spent traveling to see either family or a couple of my friends...
25- that's how many days left I have before my last day at TAPC which means that in...
30- days I will be moving to Texas.
1- its been one month since the Hurricanes hoisted the Stanley Cup and one month since we left to go to Belize.
3- the number of continents my chocos (sandals) have been in in the last two years (or ever for that matter).
----------
and that my friends is the numbers game, or perhaps better worded as "I spend way too much time in my head thinking about things that matter to no one except me" game. so until I post again, Take care.
-Carrie
53- That's right, 53. In the last twelve months I have spent a whoping 53 days traveling with/ for TAPC (my job)- That's seven days, or one week short of a full two months or 1/6 of the year spent in other places than Durham.
14- of those 53 days have been in the last 30 days and...
28- of the 53 have been on mission related trips.
12- (in comparison) days of the last year I spent traveling to see either family or a couple of my friends...
25- that's how many days left I have before my last day at TAPC which means that in...
30- days I will be moving to Texas.
1- its been one month since the Hurricanes hoisted the Stanley Cup and one month since we left to go to Belize.
3- the number of continents my chocos (sandals) have been in in the last two years (or ever for that matter).
----------
and that my friends is the numbers game, or perhaps better worded as "I spend way too much time in my head thinking about things that matter to no one except me" game. so until I post again, Take care.
-Carrie
Saturday, July 08, 2006
blink and it's gone....
Somehow it's already full swing July... how did that happen? My friend Susie has called me up a couple of times since we got back from Belize and she keeps asking "doesn't it feel like we never went"- that it just seems so surreal that our trip has come and gone, June has come and gone, the Canes have won the cup and everybody in the NHL world is already focusing in on the upcoming season, and I am short-timing it here and there just doesn't seem to be enough time to accomplish the growing list of things I have got to do before I move...
I have started the slow process of packing, that is, I am beginning to decide what I want to keep and what I need to get rid of. And I can tell you, I have a lot of stuff. Anybody need a Return of the Jedi poster? No? How about a Kevin Weekes one?
Anyways, this upcoming week brings the slide show that I have spent 3 days putting together, then I have to prepare to go before the Presbytery and tell two hundred plus people what I believe about God and what it means to be a Christian in three minutes or less to officially become a canidate for ministry- it's a pretty big thing for me- and I am leaving straight from there to head to Massanetta with a couple of my youth (and my friend Susie) for the Massanetta Middle School Conference. Hopefully I will also find some time to meet with my shepherd and get my stuff together for a yard sale at my mom's house the next weekend. BUT after this week, things should be a little more managable for a week or two (I hope).
It was good to spend time with so many of you this past week, Tom, I had fun whooping up in poker, Jared thanks for coming out to hear me Sunday, Goat- great meal the other night, fifteen years is a long time, and to the various TAPC people that I also hung out with this week, I am grateful for all of you. Mom thanks for lunch last Sunday and for all your support in general.
All right- that's it for me, I am off to bed. Take care one and all-
C
I have started the slow process of packing, that is, I am beginning to decide what I want to keep and what I need to get rid of. And I can tell you, I have a lot of stuff. Anybody need a Return of the Jedi poster? No? How about a Kevin Weekes one?
Anyways, this upcoming week brings the slide show that I have spent 3 days putting together, then I have to prepare to go before the Presbytery and tell two hundred plus people what I believe about God and what it means to be a Christian in three minutes or less to officially become a canidate for ministry- it's a pretty big thing for me- and I am leaving straight from there to head to Massanetta with a couple of my youth (and my friend Susie) for the Massanetta Middle School Conference. Hopefully I will also find some time to meet with my shepherd and get my stuff together for a yard sale at my mom's house the next weekend. BUT after this week, things should be a little more managable for a week or two (I hope).
It was good to spend time with so many of you this past week, Tom, I had fun whooping up in poker, Jared thanks for coming out to hear me Sunday, Goat- great meal the other night, fifteen years is a long time, and to the various TAPC people that I also hung out with this week, I am grateful for all of you. Mom thanks for lunch last Sunday and for all your support in general.
All right- that's it for me, I am off to bed. Take care one and all-
C
Saturday, July 01, 2006
The end of a very long week...
Tonight caps the end of a very long week for me. One that started off in Central America as the youth mission trip that I led in Belize wrapped up on Tuesday. And then it was back to the office on Wednesday to get the bulletin done and to start working on tomorrow's service.
There have been a lot of things that have happened in my life in the two weeks since I last posted a blog thingy. Mainly, the mission trip that I have been working on these past two years finally happened and the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup!!! Not only that, but they have re-signed a good number of their players from this current season (they have yet to sign Cole and A. Ward, but I am hopeful that they will soon).
Also, while I was in Belize I got some pretty scary news about my brother and the possibility that he had a tumor in his stomach. He had surgery yesterday and it turned out that it was a hernia after all. Which is sort of a relief, except that during the pre-op stuff his doctor said there might be something wrong with his heart and so now he has to have some more tests done. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is the only brother I got, I am kind of attached to him...
Today I watched my first world cup game of the year, I watched as Portugal knocked England out of the running. It was a pretty good game and served as a distraction for putting off the things on my "to do" list a little bit longer. Of the teams left, I think I will pull for Germany, since they are hosting the cup this year. (Since Brazil was eliminated today too).
Anyways, I will close with one story from my trip and then I am off to bed (I have been extremely tired since my return). This one is about the "after hours" craziness that ensued in Belize. To frame the story though, you need a few details... 1) Belize is hot and humid and we were there at the beginning of it's rainy season. 2) The house we stayed in did not have air conditioning. 3) Due to the number of people we brought there were not enough beds for everyone so me and Carolyn and Katherine slept in the living room on couches. 4) The living room is connected to the covered porch where people tended to congregate. 5) There were two windows that had glass slats (sort of like blinds but bigger/wider) that you could sort of direct the wind with. 6) The front door was always opened, and at night they would simply close the iron gate and lock it so no one could leave or come in without a key. 7) My couch was directly under the windows and was warped and therefore the most UNCOMFORTABLE couch I have ever slept on. All right so anyways (did I mention this is a long story???) every night there was always something going on that kept Carolyn and I up (somehow Katherine could sleep through most of the stuff) or woke us up if we had managed to fall asleep. After two or three nights of this we decided to keep a journal of which we entitled "Carolyn and Carrie's Nightly Mayhem" journal. Some of the "highlights' from our nights included (but not limited to) one of the Connecticut boys shooting a BB gun off the porch swing, apparently they liked to try to shoot the rats. There was also the two dogs that barked anytime someone walked by or the other dogs on the street decided to bark. The dogs hung out outside our windows... Then there was the nights that it rained, and when it rained we got wet, one night in particular, the wind was blowing at least 30 mph and we were getting soaked, I couldn't help but laugh as we scurried to try to shut the windows and the front door to keep from continuing to be poured on. The rain also brought mosquitoes in, and oh yeah, the cat peed on the couch during the day (the one that I slept on). And then there was the guy who passed out on the side street with his foot somehow still on the pedal of his bike (ok so that didn't wake us up but it sure was funny). By the end of the trip we were anticipating what nightly "merriment" was coming our way and had accepted the fact that a good night's sleep is just a myth when you stay on couches in the living room in Belize.
Yep. Crazy stuff. Well on that note, I am off, maybe next time I will write about driving in Belize and how I am pretty sure that I lost at least 4 years of my life because of that... Anyways, until next time, be good and be safe.
There have been a lot of things that have happened in my life in the two weeks since I last posted a blog thingy. Mainly, the mission trip that I have been working on these past two years finally happened and the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup!!! Not only that, but they have re-signed a good number of their players from this current season (they have yet to sign Cole and A. Ward, but I am hopeful that they will soon).
Also, while I was in Belize I got some pretty scary news about my brother and the possibility that he had a tumor in his stomach. He had surgery yesterday and it turned out that it was a hernia after all. Which is sort of a relief, except that during the pre-op stuff his doctor said there might be something wrong with his heart and so now he has to have some more tests done. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is the only brother I got, I am kind of attached to him...
Today I watched my first world cup game of the year, I watched as Portugal knocked England out of the running. It was a pretty good game and served as a distraction for putting off the things on my "to do" list a little bit longer. Of the teams left, I think I will pull for Germany, since they are hosting the cup this year. (Since Brazil was eliminated today too).
Anyways, I will close with one story from my trip and then I am off to bed (I have been extremely tired since my return). This one is about the "after hours" craziness that ensued in Belize. To frame the story though, you need a few details... 1) Belize is hot and humid and we were there at the beginning of it's rainy season. 2) The house we stayed in did not have air conditioning. 3) Due to the number of people we brought there were not enough beds for everyone so me and Carolyn and Katherine slept in the living room on couches. 4) The living room is connected to the covered porch where people tended to congregate. 5) There were two windows that had glass slats (sort of like blinds but bigger/wider) that you could sort of direct the wind with. 6) The front door was always opened, and at night they would simply close the iron gate and lock it so no one could leave or come in without a key. 7) My couch was directly under the windows and was warped and therefore the most UNCOMFORTABLE couch I have ever slept on. All right so anyways (did I mention this is a long story???) every night there was always something going on that kept Carolyn and I up (somehow Katherine could sleep through most of the stuff) or woke us up if we had managed to fall asleep. After two or three nights of this we decided to keep a journal of which we entitled "Carolyn and Carrie's Nightly Mayhem" journal. Some of the "highlights' from our nights included (but not limited to) one of the Connecticut boys shooting a BB gun off the porch swing, apparently they liked to try to shoot the rats. There was also the two dogs that barked anytime someone walked by or the other dogs on the street decided to bark. The dogs hung out outside our windows... Then there was the nights that it rained, and when it rained we got wet, one night in particular, the wind was blowing at least 30 mph and we were getting soaked, I couldn't help but laugh as we scurried to try to shut the windows and the front door to keep from continuing to be poured on. The rain also brought mosquitoes in, and oh yeah, the cat peed on the couch during the day (the one that I slept on). And then there was the guy who passed out on the side street with his foot somehow still on the pedal of his bike (ok so that didn't wake us up but it sure was funny). By the end of the trip we were anticipating what nightly "merriment" was coming our way and had accepted the fact that a good night's sleep is just a myth when you stay on couches in the living room in Belize.
Yep. Crazy stuff. Well on that note, I am off, maybe next time I will write about driving in Belize and how I am pretty sure that I lost at least 4 years of my life because of that... Anyways, until next time, be good and be safe.
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