Just another day...ho hum

Well....I feel like I have nothing to say. Today we had a potluck at Ryan's office. Lots of food, mostly dessert, lots of women. Other than the three doctors, all ladies. Which I suppose is normal. But wow. To get them all together, look out. Sometimes, actually most of the time, they just pretend like there's no men around and just talk about all kinds of stuff. it's actually kinda funny. Pot lucks are interesting...usually people bring things slightly unhealthy, except for the fruit or veggie tray....so you don't really wanna gorge yourself, but it is very easy. Anyways, I had fun. Tomorrow is my first 'initial exam' and Ryan and his assistant, Deb, will be working on me. Not excited about it. That's the one when they just dig around in your mouth and tell you all the things that are wrong. I'll tell you what's wrong, I'm missin a tooth. hahaha. He's workin on it. But I can't seem like a wus cause he's my husband. But I'll probably freak out. I already told him. So that makes for a visit to the office every day this week. I need to apply or something. Sheesh.

Also last night we went to "Connection", which is like the core group of Storyline Church starters and in the in depth studying that doesn't happen on Sundays- since Sundays is geared more for the unbeliever... It was really great, there's always snacks and worship songs and then like 1/2 an hour of talk. Jim, our main speaker, (I don't know if he has a title or not, they're not really into titling people here) talked about the mission and the purpose of the church...I thought it was AWESOME, since you guys reading my post from a week ago saw my questioning mind firsthand. Pretty much everything that he said made perfect sense, very clear, like this was the 200th time he's had to say it. And with a little side note, he also added things about the staff always having to answer questions like 'When will you play worship music on Sundays' and 'When will you build a building' and 'When will you start passing the offering plate'....all those things that would direct Storyline church back towards 'tradition'....which is a reason they started the church-to get away from traditional services. One thing he said is while staff is focusing on answering or defending, really, why they do what they do, they are unable to fully focus on moving forward with the church, as a whole, with everyone taking part. I picture a giant group of people moving in a blob with a few leaders....and think of how slow going it is for the leaders to have to stop, turn around, and keep trying to explain and encourage the followers to keep up and stay with the program.... Good picture for me. The blob can move FAST! if everyone is on the same page and focused and working together! And that's what every church wants really....unity.

SO, it was a great meeting, and obviously there's much more to it than what I just wrote, but Ryan and I had lots to talk about after we left. Also a funny story...since my sister was here this last weekend, my little honda decided to sound pretty much like a car about to explode....poor little muffler had all it could take. So I will have to take it in to the shop tomorrow am to get that fixed. It sounds like some people make their cars on purpose- you know with those huge doubley big mufflers comin out the back, but then when we drive by they see a little hole of a muffler a bit bigger than a quarter. hahaha. wow. Kinda embarassing. At any rate, those are my thoughts, and now I will finish up the laundry and think about some yummy supper to be grilled in a few hours. =)

Professional Pics yesterday!

Yesterday we had some pictures taken, mostly of Ryan, but some of the two of us for Ryan's work - advertisement purposes. I was looking at their website today and just randomly clicked on their blog and saw my man front and center. kinda cool! Check it out!

http://harringtonpix.blogspot.com/

Church??

What is church?
Does it have to be on a Sunday?
Do you have to sing 'Jesus' songs?
Does it matter where you meet?
Do you have to open you bible every time?
Can it be Wednesday night instead?
Can Sunday morning be more of an outreach?
Who decides what church is?
How do you know if you can't grow somewhere or if you're just not giving it a chance?
Should church be 'me' centered or 'others' centered?
Do I have an idea about what church is only because of the way I was raised?

Here are some things we're trying to figure out as we try out some new places to belong up here in the big M. I dont' really think anyone can understand this one particular church by just my description, a few visits would definately be necessary. And even then, I'm not sure it would be a church that you've ever experienced before. It's that for me. An new experience. Here are some thoughts.

1. It is really neat to get in on a 'new' church in the early stages, because of the direct impact you can have on shaping it for the stable church it will become in the future years.

2. It is not so neat to get in on a 'new' church in the early stages, because the church feels like it is searching for direction and could take years before it has a stable 'mission.'

3. Some people in the community that Ryan really respects as solid Godly men go to this church, so there has to be something there that would keep them attending...

4. Could we even find a church that we are both 100% into, or is it something that you just have to do for a while and eventually grow to love every part of it for what it is....

5. I've run out of things to type.

Anyways....tell me your thoughts, my dear readers....really think about those first questions too, because it's a good way to decide, with your significant other also, what you do think about church as a couple. Good discussion stuff...hmmm...

Incoming!

So I wanted to put some pictures up that Ry took of the tulip festival and of the lovely sunset....we've watched it over the water almost every night we've been here. =) BUT, the lovely Kodak program on our computer likes to just freeze the second you open it. seriously pissed. I would like to get on it long enough to just put all our pictures onto cd's then just get rid of the program, but it won't even let me do that....so I'm afraid we might lose all our pics, which would be very unfortunate.

Right now, I'm sitting on the couch trying to look busy, there are two older strange men in here- maintainence people...checkin the place out cause I filled in some things on the apartment papers I turned in last week. wow. I have a towel on my head and Ryan's sweat pants and a fleece zipup and no makeup. I am a site. Not to mention I have been blowing my nose and coughing every few seconds. I could hear them pounding on the door right when I was exiting the shower. Awesome. And then of course it's ok for them to just enter when they don't hear anything after a while. So I was scrambling to find some clothes while they were coming closer down the hallway. WOW. That was a close one. But now they're gone, and I guess they fixed what they came here for. Good! I'm always unsure if I should be offering them a beverage or a snack of some sorts....but it is before 10 in the morning. I didn't. hmmm....

Now, I can finish getting ready, well, start really...I have a dentist appointment at 12:10 today with Ry and Dr. Smith to fix my 'frenum'. ow. with a laser. ow. really scared. but I would rather it stopped hurting you know, so might as well go get it over with. Other than that, maybe a few more kleenexes and possibly a movie are in the schedule for this afternoon. I'm not really feeling up to the organizing stuff, plus, I have all the time in the world for that. =) This shall be all for now. Scipp- which books should I go purchase?? I need some good ones, you know what I"m talkin about. Bye for now!

Nearing the end of Week One!

Well, now that Amber had to make the trip home, we received a random phone call of one of Ryans close bball buddies and said he was passing thru the area and would like to stay with us. AWESOME! That's what we like to hear. So, Ry had to work yesterday all day, Adam Bohac arrived shortly after Ryan got home and we went down to Clementines, which is a restraunt right on the water where many loaded Chicago (and some local I'm sure) people get to park their gi-normous fishing boats made for the ocean- that's the kind of boat you have to have for Lake Michigan. And you just get to eat some awesome food and check out the view. Really cool. We took Bamm there earlier this week and it was still fun to go back again last night. Then we headed over to the inlaw's place and chatted it up until the wee hours. Right now Adam and Ry went to Dale's Donuts, a fab place that is conveniently located accross the street from our complex. I'll just let the men go and stay here and hang out with myself. Kinda fun...Spose I'll have to get used to that.

I've been feeling a whole lot of different things this week...Amber was a good distraction for me- I felt like I was on vacation too, but now that she's gone, I have to do the sorting and organizing that no one wants to sit through....hmmm. Yesterday while Ryan was at work I got a lot done, cause I knew we were going to have company...but on a scale of 1 to having energy, I was a zero. I was hungry, but not really, tired but couldn't sleep, I had some errands to run, but as soon as I was out and about I just wanted to be home....wierd. So I just forced myself to do all those things cause it had to be done. Also, it's surprising how little effort it takes to keep up with the laundry when it's right here in your own apartment. Dang. Not even a load a day. It's incredible. Before we had to stay at Scipp's for about 5 or 6 hours and then still have some loads left at home. hahaha. sheesh. Everyone should really think about getting a place with laundry included. Totally worth it. =)

I'm thinking I'm going to have to take up a new hobby....maybe reading....I've many books here at my disposal, but as most of you know, that's not one of my favorite pass times. (spose I should have just picked up a book yesterday when I was trying to take a nap) haha. Also the waves in our backyard were rediculous yesterday. Very loud and pretty huge. Amber, the water was up so far that it pretty much cut the beach in half yesterday. Dang. But we did see some people down there having themselves a little bonfire....so I'm totally doing that sometime with the next visitors or maybe just with Ry. I was wondering if we could...right down there next to the water in the sand. So much fun. Love it!

This is getting to be pretty long...not leaving much for myself to write about tomorrow. =) Just kiddin. Hope all is well, as most of my readers are spread far and wide accross the states. Have a great weekend!

Michigan!!!

well....we survived our goodbyes and the 8 hour drive out here....its a beautiful place to live and the beach is about 30 seconds away if any of you would like to come up for a relaxing day at the ocean-like Lake Michigan where the sand is like tan salt. =) AWESOME!

More to come, I'm very tired. Good night all...