R!

The Great Wallace Church Search

Jason and I are looking for a church. Both of us grew up in church and since my father retired, neither of us really had a place to go. Lucky for us, the denominations we are familiar with are pretty similar. So, we're looking churches in both, and possibly outside our familiarity entirely. What we are looking for is a church that has:


An active church life i.e. groups, get togethers, non-Sunday things happening

People our age

A minister we like (duh)

A congregation who is nice (double duh)


So far, we went to a church right down the street from us. The minister was really nice, although he kind of scarily reminded me of my Dad, and the congregation was welcoming and nice. BUT everyone there was over 50 or under 5. There were maybe 2 other people there around our age. And, I didn't see a lot going on during the week. DOUBLE BUT, we're giving each church 3 chances. Maybe there are more people our age on other Sundays, and maybe I just didn't see the right bulletin board. So, we've got a few other places that look interesting, and we're starting as close to home as possible, just for a shorter drive. Wish us luck!

Internal Struggle

I'm having one. Jason and I live in a lovely little ( little being the operative word) half double. It's a great little place, good location, good landlord, big backyard, but, it isn't ours. If you've read from the beginning, you'll know that I did have a house, and I don't anymore (if you haven't read that look at posts tagged evil, and the big b). This brings me to my struggle and stress. We would like to buy a house, someday. Someday meaning in the next few years. With the economy going in a swirly pattern, I'm really concerned that this will be a real problem. We're working to pay off other debts, but we really don't have many. Just the cars, and one big student loan with my name on it( I worry about that one too). I may have found a forgiveness program for part of that, but I don't know yet. I'm just really worried that we won't ever be able to buy a house. I'm worried that this will de-rail the rest of our lives. I worry about it all the time. But then, sometimes, I get that little feeling, that maybe, just maybe things will work out and we'll be fine. I'm not at all sure though. We don't want a mansion, just a house. Something not in a subdivision. Something that has potential to be our family's home. And I feel sometimes, that through student loans and bad economy, it won't happen.

Chapter Four

I must have fallen asleep on the basement floor again, Bel thought. The grainy scrap from her sculpture scratched her face and arms. Mom’s going be mad that I made such a mess on the floor. I must have left the lights on too, but I don’t remember them being so bright! Bel was shocked awake in a second. She was lying on soft, tan sand, not her dirty basement floor. And that was no light, it was the sun! Guessing from its height, it must be close to noon. It all came back to her in a flash. The party, Jonathan’s assumptions, Brianne’s treachery. She had fallen from the boat, but they had been nowhere near an island, so where was she now? She couldn’t have swum there, she had never been any good at it, no matter how many times her father threw her into a lake.

Bel sat up slowly. She had to admit, the beach was beautiful, and, unfortunately, deserted. The water was a perfect turquoise blue, and she could see to the bottom for a long way out. Colorful fish darted between rocks and brilliant coral fans waved in the distance. The sand was indeed soft. The softest she’d ever felt between her toes. The beach stretched a long way both to her right and left. Behind her, there were large palm trees that grew into a thickly forested area. She could see nothing past those trees into the forest. Still, the sun shone down warmly, the waves made a beautiful sound and, if she hadn’t been insulted, ridiculed, and then thrown from a boat, she might have been glad to be there.

If she’d been asked what she would want on a deserted island, it wouldn’t have been her swimsuit and this damn purple t-shirt. She looked to her right and discovered on the sand beside her, a large leaf. On the leaf was a pile of slimy looking seaweed. Bel stuck her tongue out and got up. She kicked it onto the water, careful not to let any of it touch her foot. This place might look deserted, she thought, but through those trees there might be a road.

Sand burrs stabbed her in the toes as she made her way to the tree line. She wished she had some shoes, at least sandals. When she made it into the trees, no doubt, the ground would be rougher. Hopefully that road was right ahead. She made it to the trees, parted some brush, and stepped into the cool shade.

The forest was dense. Unlike any forest she had seen in girl scouts, vines grew thick through the tops of trees. At her level, there was very little room to move. Plants covered every space. The sunlight that filtered through the trees dappled leaves of every size shape and shade of green imaginable. Ants marched in single file over fallen branches. Bel took a few steps in, but she couldn’t see where she was putting her feet. Scared that she might step on something sharp or poisonous, she returned to the beach.

The sand that had been so soft just a minute earlier now seemed like hot coals on her feet. She ran to the water as fast as she could and didn’t stop until she was ankle deep in the cool blue. When it didn’t feel quite so much like she was standing on the stove, she backed up and sat down on the sand. With one foot in the water she massaged the burnt sole of the other. She switched and rubbed the other one. She collapsed backward onto the sand and blew out a long breath.

I’m completely screwed, she thought. I can’t make it through the forest, and it’s too hot to stay on the beach. She glanced up at the sun. Its rays were becoming stronger as the afternoon went on. She knew she would be even worse off if she let herself get sunburned on top of everything else. She decided to retreat to the shade at the back of the beach and think over what she was going to do.

In the shade, the cool, soft sand greeted her like the Egyptian cotton sheets on her bed at home. Just thinking about it made her tired. She tried not to go to sleep but in less than a minute she was out like a light.

RRRRRRR

p.s. if you don't get this, read last week.

VOTE

I really love giving out voter registration forms, and I always make sure they know exactly how to submit them, because I don't care how you vote, I just want everyone to. I want people to care. It's not the best government ever, but it is only what we make it. Vote.

Chapter 3

READ IT! COMMENT! Really, I want to hear it, good, bad, or in between.

Chapter 3

Bel found herself on a lower deck with a balcony. The water was so choppy now that she had fallen against the walls in the hallway a few times, but she had held on to her drink, and her tears. She felt lucky to have found a little solitude on the crowded boat. She had to come through what looked like a bedroom to get there, and she was pretty sure that she wasn’t supposed to have, but she didn’t care.

How stupid could she possibly be? Jonathan liking her? That was about as likely to happen as it was for the pope to be struck by lightning. But on top of that, he thought she was a lesbo? Well that was just the vomit icing on the dirt cake. What had she ever done to make him think that? And why had she even come to this stupid party anyway. She knew she didn’t fit in here. She took a huge drink from her cup. She should be at home, working on that piece in the basement, hanging out with her cat, and being ignored as usual by her parents. Instead she had the stupid idea to get on this stupid boat and hand out with the stupidest people on this stupid planet. She took another sip. And Brianne must have known what would happen, after all, why else would she have invited her. I’m just some big joke for people to laugh at. She finished off her drink. No wonder people call this liquid courage she thought.

It’s not fair! Bel told herself. I’m a person, not just some toy for her to play with. I might be a little chunky, but I’m no circus freak! Just because I don’t fit her perfect little mold of what’s “normal” doesn’t mean I deserve this! I’m going to go let her know that Isobel Dane is no pawn for her to play with! Bel leapt to her feet.

At the exact same moment, the yacht hit an especially rough wave and Bel was thrown against the balcony railing. She thought for a moment that she would be able to just put her feet back down but another wave rocked the boat and threw her over the side.

She clung to the railing with all of the strength she had ever had. She could see the party going on several levels above and screamed for help, but the music was so loud that she wasn’t heard. He fingers slipped on the damp railing. The hull beneath her feet was completely smooth, nothing for her bare feet to grab on to. She couldn’t hold on much longer. She took a breath to yell again, but before she could the boat rocked once more and her hands no-longer held the railing. Her head struck the hull of the ship with dull thud. She fell toward the black water. Before she lost consciousness, she saw was Jonathan, calling her name from the balcony door.

My Husband ROCKS!

He is indeed the best part of my life. I really like my job, and friends are great, but Jason, he's just above and beyond anything I deserve. On this past random Thursday, I was on my way home, so I called Jason, who had been off that day, to ask what he might like for dinner. He responded that he had dinner "covered". I came home to this:

It was a 2 pound porterhouse steak, marinated for hours in dark Mexican beer, onion, line juice, garlic and peppers ( fill me in if I'm missing something here). It was grilled to perfection with scallions, and giant jalapeno peppers. Under the steak is a mixture of peppers and onions and garlic.
It was delicious. That little brown thing? It's a baked potato. It was huge! Take a look at this picture of it before it was cooked.

That' my second largest pyrex dish. It's big. I opened it up later, and it smelled delicious in there. Now, if you've read about our grilling past, you probably know that Jason doesn't eat beef. So, this was all for me. Yeah, some of it is still in the frige, I think it's for enchiladas later this week. So, it was amazing. Like my hubby. Wow.

Random Thursday

Does anyone else remember college schedule planning when the letter "R" meant Thursday, because Tuesday had already selfishly taken up the T? I do, and what better "R" activity than an random picture. We take a lot of them, and I know they don't all end up here. So, without further ado, Random Thursday!

Chapter 2 (A short one)

Chapter 2

Jonathan said “I thought that back here we could observe together.” She thought she heard him say that they would observe the “females” together, but that must have been whatever was in the cup talking. She sat next to him, elated, just to be with him, and wondered if he would kiss her first, or if she’d had enough liquid courage to make the first move herself. She had a hard time staying upright, the boat had hit some rough seas. She let herself lean just a little bit on Jonathan, and he didn’t push her away. As they sat, a pack of wild dogs, also know as Brianne and her two best friends strolled by. This time, Jonathan made no effort to hide it when he looked them up and down.

Bel was a little offended. Get me drunk and bring me back her just to ogle other girls? No, I must have been wrong, she thought. He was just watching the sunset, or intrigued by something he heard them say. She was still trying to work it out when Adelaide (that was her name!) walked past on the arm of one of the football players. Jonathan turned to Bel and said “I’d give my left arm for a piece of that action, how about you?”

Bel barely recognized the voice coming out of her own mouth as it said “What?”

“I mean, she’s got a great butt, and you can’t argue with what’s going on up front either. Man what I’d give to lay my hand on one of those. Maybe she’s going through an experimental phase, who knows, you might have a better chance than I do.”

Bel didn’t know what else to say. Apparently thinking completely independently at this point, her mouth said, “I thought we came back here to hook up”

Now it was Jonathan’s turn to look shocked. “What?”

“I’ve had a crush on your for weeks”

“I thought you were gay! Oh Bel, I’m sorry! If I’d paid any attention…”

But Bel didn’t hear the end of the sentence, she was on her feet already, headed anywhere but there.

Once again, please share share share. I want as much feedback as possible.