Thinking about money

I have been thinking a lot about money lately. Not as in, “I need money”; in the past few months, the L-rd has made it abundantly clear that He is fully able to provide for me. What I am thinking about is more along the lines of how believers should steward their finances.

I have been reading several personal finance blogs lately with that question in mind. As I browsed discussions of “money hacks” and debt reduction, I picked up some great tips and advice, especially on frugal living. I’m learning some practical strategies for managing money. Yet this alone isn’t enough. Living frugally/spending wisely in and of itself is great, but I need my economic lifestyle to have a greater purpose.

Vacation’s almost over

Vacation’s almost over; I leave for KC on Wednesday. I’ve had a great time with my family. I watched Dylan graduate (I’m so proud of him! He’s all edumacated and stuff!), went shopping with Mom, talked Harp and Bowl with Dad, and went hiking with my sisters and the dogs.

I’ve been spending the rest of my time here going through our old family videos, transferring them from VHS to DVD. Back in the day my parents would rent a camcorder and take like 30-minute shots of me chillaxing in my high chair. I gotta say, I was a cute kid:

It’s been fun to see how our family has grown and changed. I am thankful for the way the L-rd has led us. I bet my dorky ten-year-old self would never have imagined how my life would turn out.

Pack it up

I am getting ready to drive home tomorrow to see my brother graduate from college. (Go Dylan!) I was supposed to leave today, but I got sick last week and am still feeling kind of tired because this stupid cold is lingering. I did have a moment in the prayer room this afternoon where I said to myself, “I’m just going to leave anyway, in fact let’s go right now,” but then I remembered I hadn’t even packed yet. So I went home and watched some baseball and procrastinated for a while, and now I am packing. I must remember to bring a pair of flip-flops in case spring suddenly arrives while I am there.

As I am packing I am thinking about finances, martial arts, developing a heart for Israel, and graduating from college. Two of these are related in an extremely significant future-impacting way that I might let you guys know about in a few weeks. (Hint: it is not the last one because I have already finished college.) *

Meanwhile I am still trying to figure out the weird dream I had yesterday, which involved me flying jet fighters to earn American Express cards inscribed with the names of World of Warcraft dungeons, and there was some sort of Disney-like song involving all of this. I woke up still hearing the end of the chorus ringing in my ears: “…and I’ll see you in Karazhaaaaan!” **

* Amy is not allowed to guess because she already knows which two are related.
** Karazhan: a place in an online game where you send your virtual avatar to kill virtual creatures and gain virtual loot, all for the sake of virtual bragging rights. It’s a big deal to some people. Me, not so much.

Deep

You ever have those days where you wake up with a deep craving for chocolate? I have a bag of chocolate chips on my desk to sustain me throughout the day. They are helping immensely, even though they are not dark chocolate.

In other news: if you have the prayer room webstream with archives, check out the 8pm set from last night. Around 9:00pm Misty’s team did a spoken-word piece. It was fantastic. “Deep calls out to deep,” indeed. If I knew how to breakdance, I would have been back in the dance area doing so. Instead I just sat in front and grinned my head off, grateful for prophetic music.

Thinking

I’m working from home today. Got some Coltrane playing and am editing away. Nothing of interest has happened lately, aside from me buying a little black dress and then wearing it in public for a girls’ outing. (My friends were shocked since I am not the dress type. I was surprised my own self.)

In lieu of any deep insightful thoughts, funny stories, or meditations on the Word, I present to you a list of randomosity:

• Weather, I am giving you an ultimatum: no more of this rain/snow stuff. It is spring and you need to act like it is spring.
• A coworker gave me a free Mr. Coffee espresso maker. What a blessing. Buh-bye, Higher Grounds. I like you but you’re too expensive.
• I am not very good at spoofing the hard-boiled detective genre. (See my other blog.)
• I have decided Sunday afternoons are my favorite times to go to the prayer room. Nobody I know is in there, it’s not too crowded, and there are two sweet sets by Jon Thurlow’s team and David Campbell’s team. I am going to start recording Campbell’s 2-4pm set for the LE.
• I have a dentist’s appointment coming up next week. It’s been a while since my last one. I am afraid.
• I have very wise friends. (Crystal, I’m looking at you!)
• Also, I pwn so hard in kata that I might hurt myself. (Not so much with the breakfalls and rolls.)

“Run away!” (EDIT NOTE: now with epic fail picture!)

Today I am going to learn how to run away from things and move efficiently while doing so. (I.e., parkour.) This may prove to be a useful skill.

After long, considered thought…

…and some random clicking on Youtube, I have concluded that Jon Thurlow could be the Rick Astley of IHOP.

Skinny white guy? Check. Amazing deep voice?* Check. Now I just have to start a Thurlow-based Internet meme….

* Go here and click on “Your Word” to listen to a Jon Thurlow track. Go to Youtube and click on any featured video today to see Rick Astley. It is April 1, after all.