Here Comes Carolina

Here comes Carolina-lina.

Here comes Carolina-lina.

We hail from NCU.

We've got the spirit in it.

We've got the team to win it.

We wear the colors white and blue,

So it's fight, fight, fight for Carolina

As Davey did in days of old

As we gather round the Well

Cheer that Tar Heel team like hell

For the glory of NCU.

I might seriously wet my pants with excitement.

And, the Pack already has a L.

Whoot! Whoot!

College Colors Day 2008

Today is College Colors Day and I helped rally the Tar Heels at work to show our UNC pride!

BEAT McNEESE STATE!

Ticklin' My Ears: Eric Hutchinson

Ticklin' my ears with the lovely sounds of Eric Hutchinson. Check out his videos on youtube.

Melanie, thank you for introducing us. It's been crazy love since first listen!

Crushin'

On this super cute white peacoat for fall

The Cornhole Song

In honor of the upcoming tailgating season

*You might also want to take note of where it was filmed

Crib Cravings

Um, haven't really had one lately - until today!

I do have to say that this craving goes against my belief of new construction homes in Five Points. BUUTTTT, I can make an exception for a party porch and yard such as the likes of this!

Weekend In Pictures: Party, Party, Party, Party

Friday: ER Party

We took a trip to Rex Hospital ER with Amber to get six stitches for her foot after a water meter cover attacked her while walking her dog. My camera was left at home and pictures are not available. I hope the quotes of the night will suffice.

Quote #1 - Ashely to Amber circa 2 hours into waiting when discussing cows in India. "Well, they're sacred cows you know."

Quote #2 - (also pertaining to cows) Amber to Ashely and Karen circa 4.5 hours into waiting when discussing Chick-fil-a's marketing campaign. "I got a sausage burrito this morning. It totally ruins their no beef campaign. They wasted all that work."

Quote #3 - Kathleen (the ER tech lady) to Amber, Ashely and Karen circa 5 hours into waiting. "KY Jelly will get dried blood off of anything. And, now, you have an excuse for having it."

Quote #4 - Amber, Ashely and Kara to PA Pete circa 5.1 hours into waiting and during the stitching process. "Pete and Repeat were in a boat. Pete got out. Who was left?"

SaturDAY: Wesley's First Birthday Party

Saturday Night: Chenoah's Housewarming Party

Sunday: Stacy's Good-bye Party

The Olympics Have Left China...

...but, God hasn't. Those were the words a missionary friend of mine shared in a follow up email he sent to friends and family.

Read an article here about evangelistic efforts during the Olympics.

I'm Leaving You With This

It's Friday afternoon and I am short on witty/intelligent/profound words to share with you.

So, I'm leaving you with this.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND YA'LL!

This is the Kind of Day I'm Having

I took a shower this morning after I dried my hair. Yea. While drying my hair I realized that I didn't actually wash it when I took a shower the first time. So, I went back for shower number two.

I hope this isn't foreshadowing what kind of day I'm going to have.

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems

My boyfriend is coming into town this weekend. There's nothing like a good ol' boy ya'll!

What's your favorite Kenny song?

I've been a bit nostalgic lately and am leaning towards Back Where I Come From. But, it could change tomorrow.

My Deco File

Domino has this really cool new online tool called My Deco File that I can already see will become a new addiction for me. It's basically an online inspiration board that lets you organize all of your decorating ideas and images in one paperless space! Maybe I can throw out those GAZILLION magazine tears now!

Here are some pretty images from Domino for your enjoyment!

Mr. Postman

Did ya'll hear about this? A postman in Apex is facing charges for failure to deliver third class junk mail for the past seven years. They found mail in his house and buried in his yard. He says the pressure to deliver mail was overwhelming so he chose not to sort the third class mail.

In all honesty, while what he did was wrong, I sorta wish he was my postman. I think he did everyone a favor if you ask me. But, hey. That's my opinion.

Weekend in Pictures: Euchre Tournament

Tag! I'm it!

So, bloggers like to play tag. Melanie tagged me. I'm it!

1. My uncle once: taught me to snort my nose like a pig when I was a baby and he was probably in, say, 8th grade. He rode the bus to school so everytime I saw one I would snort!

2. Never in my life: have I tried a cigarette! Yea, me! Not many people can say that, you know.

3. When I was five: I was Little Miss Bladenboro. And, I had a rotten tooth.

4. High school was: ten years ago! GEEZ!

5. I will never forget: the time I asked the worker guy in Harris Teeter where the "get hard topping" was. Just to explain, a certain someone I know refers to Magic Shell as the "get hard topping" because it gets hard when it gets cold hence you put it on ice cream. Absentmindly, I asked the guy in Harris Teeter where the "get hard topping" was. His expression was priceless! Mine probably was too. (Maybe I shouldn't put this on the internet.)

6. Once I met: a man named Jesus. And, He turned my world upside down!

7. There’s this girl I know: named MeMaw and today is her birthday! WHOOT! WHOOT! Birthday shout out MeMaw!

8. Once, at a bar: I made Vin Diesel's bodyguard mad because I tried to take his picture with my cell phone. But, then I passed ol' Vin going to the bathroom and I did the 'nod.' Much to my surprise, he did the 'nod' back. Fast and furious ya'll!

9. By noon, I’m usually: ready to get my grub on!

10. Last night: we checked out Solas which Niall deserves kudos for! I was impressed. Raleigh's moving on up! AND, I hung out with a group of UNC buddies! Brooks, John, Karen, Gary and Raj! I hadn't seen Brooks and Raj in at least no more than a year (as they no longer live here). Re-living freshman year! Do ya'll realize that was 10 years ago!?!?

11. If only I had: more hours in the day.

12. Next time I go to church: the Getty's will be there and we will rock it out to some good ol' hymns.

13. What worries me most: is that I STILL haven't finished my mission trip thank you notes.

14. When I turn my head left I see: a gray cubicle wall.

15. When I turn my head right I see: a white board hanging on a gray cubicle wall.

16. You know I’m lying when: I give you conflicting details. Yea. I pretty much don't lie because I don't do it well.

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is: not having to pay bills, work or cook. Being a grown up stinks!

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be: um, I dunno. Like I'm in to Shakespeare. Not Juliet though. Homegirl died. I saw that movie.

19. By this time next year: I would like to be leaned out more. As in you'll need tickets. To the gun show.

20. A better name for me would be: Jessie. Eddie thought that was my name for the entire first semester of freshman year of college.

21. I have a hard time understanding: Ozzie Osbourne. I never know what that dude is saying.

22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll: be shocked because I can pretty much guarantee that's not going to happen unless it's like cooking school or piano school or dancing school or pottery school or some other equally fun school.

23. You know I like you if: I make fun of you.

24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be: dependent on the award. If it's an award for being loud at work, I would thank my partner in crime Melanie. If it's an award for playing Euchre, I would thank my coach Kara. If it's an award for consistently knocking on the wrong condo door, I would thank Mark for living in a confusing complex. If it's an award for having the most random comments, I would thank Angela for keeping track of them.

25. Take my advice, never: fill a cake pan all the way up with batter when you're baking! Apparently, the batter rises!

26. My ideal breakfast is: the one my mom cooks when I'm home. Doesn't matter what. It's always great when mamma fixes it!

27. A song I love but do not have is: well, I've thought and I've thought and I've thought, but pretty much if I like a song I download it. So, I can't think of anything. But, on that note (pun intended), I'm going to give you the Top 5 songs on the iPod right now (in no particular order): Better in Time by Leona Lewis, Forever by Chris Brown, In the Ayer by Flo Rida, Wood and String by Vintage21 and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz.

28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest you: don't blink. Or, you might miss it.

29. Why won’t people: love thy neighbor as thyself.

30. If you spend a night at my house: I hope you enjoy your stay!

31. I’d stop my wedding for: absolutely nothing. Chances of me getting married are slim so we're not stopping a miracle! Can't do that!

32. The world could do without: Nextel phones. Doo-loop! WHERE ARE YOU? Doo-loop! WE'RE IN BELK! Doo-loop! WHERE? Doo-loop! BELK! Doo-loop! WHERE? Doo-loop! BELK! UPSTAIRS! IN THE BRA SECTION! Yea, I still have bad memories from my retail days.

33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: mow grass. I HATE mowing grass. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach. For reals.

34. My favourite blonde(s) is/are: Lauren, MC and Karalyn!

35. Paper clips are more useful than: wait. That is a loaded question. I'm going to refrain from answering this one.

36. If I do anything well it’s: procrastinate.

37. And by the way: I'm thinking about developing a coffee table book of pictures of little country church signs that have quotes on them. You know things like "Need a lifeguard? Ours walks on water." Or, "Prayer is the ultimate wireless connection." They make me laugh. Sam, Angela, Kara and I continously report into each other on our findings.

All right Brantley! Tag! You're it!

I Paid Money to Read This

I'm debating whether or not I want to cancel my subscription to Shape magazine based solely on this article. I mean really. I paid money to read this. And, the other 150 or so pages are full of similar hard hitting journalism.

Seriously.

Three easy steps to save money at the pump.

Two duhs - find the lowest prices and drive less. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

At least the third option was the semi-decent suggestion of ordering your groceries. Yea, you'll save money at the pump. But, your grocery bill is going to at least double.

And, what does my sanity have to do with any of the three steps?

Any thoughts on said subscription status?

Shimmer!

My friend Eric took the picture below of the shimmer wall, a 9,284-square-foot piece of art that adorns the McDowell Street side of the new convention center downtown.

The shimmer wall depicts an oak tree - Raleigh's nickname is the City of Oaks - that dances in the wind. The effect comes from 79,464 aluminum squares that flap in the wind.

Read more about it here.

The Right Words Will Be There

My company has a quarterly all company required meeting that is a basic catch up with what's going on with the company for the employees. A new element was added to the meeting this quarter. Employees who are involved in their community are being featured to show how our employees are diverse, come from different backgrounds and bring a uniqueness to the company. At last week's meeting, I was asked to speak for five minutes about my mission trip to China.

I immediately said yes to the request. However, after giving it thought and prayer, I went back to the girl who coordinates the meetings and mentioned to her that the trip was a mission trip with my church (which everyone knows anyway) and asked if it was okay for me to mention that or talk about religious topics. If not, I wasn't sure if I would want to talk about it because the trip had nothing to do with me or any personal agenda of mine and in no means should bring me any type of recognition. She assured me that it was okay and mentioned that part of the goal of this new aspect of the meeting was to showcase the diversity among our employees.

So, I was really nervous about the whole thing. I put a bunch of prayer warriors on the case! And, most of those warriors think it's odd that I say I was nervous because I'm a loud mouth, but really. I don't like talking in front of large groups.

My presentation was about two hours into our three hour meeting. Out of the two employee presenters, I went first (of course). We were given five minutes each and as my normal presentation of the China trip is a hour long, I decided to show a video clip and do a high level overview of why we went and what we were doing. I didn't really prepare that much since I've done a five minute spill probably 20 million times by now. But, I knew that I had to share with my company that it was more than a mission trip with my church. I had to share my faith. I felt as if God was saying "all right, Miss Clark. Let's see what you're made of. You can talk the talk now walk the walk."

During the meeting, I was praying and telling God that I knew He would give me the words to say. I was nervous beyond explanation. When it was my turn, I first mentioned that I thought it was great that our company would let us share our extracurricular activities with each other without persecuting us. The use of the word persecuted garnered quite a few laughs.

Then, I launched into it. Brantley had sent me Luke 12:11-12 as an encouragement last week:

Luke 12:11-12 (The Message) "...don't worry about defending yourselves—what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes."

How true are God's promises! I'll honestly admit that I've thought people who talk about having these surreal-out-of-body experiences were a little quacky, but I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit took over and spoke in my place for those few minutes. It was surreal and the weirdest feeling I think I've ever experienced. I don't remember too much of what I said. I do know that I said before I could share about the trip that I had to provide a background of my faith and what I believe and why I went. Then, I did a quick probably two sentence summary of the Evangelism Explosion gospel outline (yea for EE!). By the way, using the outline as a method of sharing my faith during the presentation had not crossed my mind prior to the meeting. It was a true testament to how the right words were there when the time came. He gave me a voice bigger than mine.

I shared that as a follower of Jesus, I am commanded to share the Gospel with others and that James teaches us that an example of true Christian sacrificial love is to care for orphans and widows in their distress. He has given me a passion to serve others. To love those who aren't loved. To be a friend to the friendless. I explained that was why I went. Then, I shared a high level explanation of what we did and showed the video.

This was by far one of the scariest things I've ever done. I believe that God uses every experience to teach us if we'll let Him. His mercies are new each day. In all honesty, I've never stood up in front of a large group of non-believers who are my peers and proclaimed the Gospel. Stick me in front of orphans, prisoners, elderly widows, abused women or the homeless - no problem (well, almost no problem). But, there's something about the average, middle class, normal, everyday working American that terrifies me. And, God's revealed to me that it is a fear of rejection. A fear of not being accepted. A fear of being made fun of. I like for people to like me. I also think that sometimes I make assumptions about the average, middle class, normal, everyday working American and assume that since they are like me, they're probably a believer and maybe they aren't just bearing fruit and maybe it's okay to ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit to witness to them. We're a Christian nation, right? But, I'm learning to throw those prejudices and stereotypes and beliefs and fears away and give them to Him because I'm no better than the orphan, the prisoner, the widow, the abused or the homeless and neither are my peers. We all need salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

It's been awesome to see how God used me to encourage other believers in my company last week. When I started sharing the gospel, I looked up and caught eyes with a lady who works with me and she was smiling and nodding. Right behind her, was my friend Jared who is a believer, and he was smiling and nodding. It was so calming and reassuring to see them doing that. After the meeting, I received a nice email from the lady thanking me for being bold. I've also received words of encouragement from other believers and in return have been able to encourage them.

And, I have no doubt that God planted seeds in my coworkers last week. I've had quite a few people mention that I inspire them to do more or that they really enjoyed the video. I just pray that the words got through and they understand that I'm not the inspiring part. Jesus is. I'm just a servant. The Parable of the Seed in Mark 4 is perhaps one of my favorite passages.

Mark 4:26-29 (NASB):
26And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
27and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know.
28"The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.
29"But when the crop permits, he immediately (A)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

We are commanded to spread the Word of God and we might never see the results of our labor on this side of eternity, but He promises that the harvest will come. And, I pray that God is working in the soil of my coworkers hearts and until they are ripe, I'll continue to sow everyday.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 (The Message): "...I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands."

Can We Work Outside Today?

Um, will you look at this!?!? I love that they indicated today as being "nice" because Mister, it sure is! I wonder if the wireless will pick up on the patio of our office building. Maybe I could work out there today.

I'm ready for fall. I'm looking forward to breaking the North Face fleece back out.

Forecast from nbc17.com.

Weekend in Pictures: Holden Beach

Two days of looking at this and playing UNO!

Caleb's first trip to the beach!

Beijing 2008

It's August 8, 2008 and the Games of the XXIX Olympiad are beginning!

I can't wait to watch the opening ceremonies and have already been sneaking a peek of the photos online as Beijing is 12 hours ahead of us. The Olympic opening ceremonies are probably the closest thing to heaven that we'll experience here on Earth - the nations coming together peacefully in one place with the same goal and enthusiasm.

As the games continue for the next 16 days, remember to lift China up in prayer. It is a country full of people hungry for the Truth and my heart has been broken for them! May the Holy Spirit move in a mighty way in 中國!

Aug. 8: The Olympic Rings are raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium. Photo and caption via foxnews.com.

What do you do? Take two.

I found a new youtube link that works for the video that was embedded in the post What do you do? Make sure to check it out!

Danielson55.net

Mr. Brad took Melanie and I to Daniel's today for lunch. They have an awesome weekday lunch special - $7 for a salad and a bowl of the featured pasta. I had a caesar salad and a yummy Pastability of Penne alla Casa - a heavenly concoction of red sauce and cream, garlic, Romano cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach. On the way out, I noticed the web address was Danielson 55 dot net and thought it was hilarious! Oh, Danielson. Wax on. Wax off.

Fast forward three seconds...I came to the realization that it was actually Daniel's on 55 dot net. As in being located on HIGHWAY 55. I can be such a dodo sometimes!

Are you ready for some football?

Heck, yea!

We've got tickets to UNC's opener on August 30 against McNeese State. I'm thinking about picking up one of these sweet little tees for the game!