The Amp Promo Video 2008

Boring

I've decided that I can definitely be a boring person; that or I'm a lazy blogger. Either way, I have not posted a new entry in quite some time. Updates since my last post: 1. My parents visited a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time having them visit. We saw the Aquarium, they got to see a lot of the projects Joe is working on, and they got to see where I work. We had a blast! 2. We're going to a wedding next weekend. Our friends from NYC, Andy and Candice, are getting married. We're very excited for them!

Ok see, that's it. Aside from those two things I'm pretty boring. But you know what, I like it. I'm never bored, just not exciting to other people, and for right now I like the consistency. I know that God is moving in my life and I'm right where He wants me right now. It's pretty cool to be there.

Not a terribly long post. Just enough to last until the next time I think of something cool to put on here. Oh wait here's something...if you haven't checked out my husbands blog or promo for an awesome event with The Amp then you have to see this...

New Post

Ok, ok, I know. It's been like two months since I've had a new blog post. I am fully aware of this and my only response to that is that my life is so full of other stuff I don't have time for blog posts...or I'm just a lazy blogger (if I can even call myself a blogger).

Here's the update to get caught up:

1. My brother got married on June 14th to the best sister-in-law I could ever ask for. The wedding was beautiful and funny side story, it was a beach wedding and it was scheduled to rain that day. The rain totally held out for the ceremony, but as soon as everyone went inside for the reception it started to downpour harder than I think I've ever seen in CT. Praise God for holding out the weather for a beautiful wedding.

2. I hit a dog on June 23rd. It was the most traumatic experience I've had driving or riding in a car. There was nothing I could've done, so it wasn't my fault, but I still felt horrible. I stopped the car right after it happened and ran over to the dog who had managed to pull himself off of the busy road. He wagged his tail at me and licked my hand which made me feel better and worse at the same time. Joe was with me in the car and very supportive. The owners called about half an hour after we got back on the road and told me the dog didn't make it. Also, our car was in the shop for two weeks to be fixed.

3. When I hit the dog, I was on my way to KidStuf auditions at Northpoint Church. I wouldn't have gone if Joe hadn't been in the car with me, but he drove the rest of the way and held my hand and helped me feel better. He even brought the car to a Honda dealership to be looked at while I was in the auditions and then walked two miles to meet up with me. We got a ride home from a friend.
The audition I think went pretty good considering the circumstances. I had a great scene partner and the people at the audition were very nice. They didn't end up having a role for me, but the whole experience was fun and I'm excited I was even considered.

4. Joe is working at Northpoint a lot now, which is very exciting for him. He loves being a part of the team up there and loves the work that he does there. I'm very proud of him for working so hard at Northpoint and on all of the other projects he has going on.

5. I'm enjoying my work as well. Southside has been great and exciting because there is so much going on right now. There is a lot of construction happening on the new wing they're building here. Everyday more is done with the construction and it's cool to see the church grow so fast. I enjoy my job and I'm learning new things everyday which is also very exciting. The more I learn, the better I get (at least that's my hope).

That's about it in my life that's new and crazy. I hope I post more frequently, but who knows. If you're reading this blog thanks for sticking around, even when I don't post for a while!

Yesterday at Southside

Chrystina Fincher led worship at Southside. It is not a secret to most of my friends that I have a huge girl crush on her. (My husband knows and he's ok with it.) To tell the truth, I really think she's a great worship leader and is a great role model for any woman who is involved in worship at church. She really engages the congregation and leads them into a great time of worship to God. Off the stage she is no different. She is friendly to everyone and when I went to thank her and her band for coming down to lead worship everyone just thanked me right back for having them down to play.

As a woman who wants to eventually be singing on a church stage (even if it's BGV's) meeting Chrystina Fincher and the rest of her band and watching them lead worship was an inspiration. In my opinion it can be harder as a female worship leader to have the same effect when leading a congregation in worship as a male worship leader. For both men and women, not only does the worship have to be about God and not yourself performing on a stage, but you also have to live your life in a way that is holy and pleasing to the Lord. Otherwise your focus can be off and the worship is not genuine. It takes a lot of work and there is probably a consistent struggle of pride for many worship leaders. Meeting someone who I look up to as a role model and finding out that she has her focus on God and her pride in check was (like I said before) an inspiration.

Thanks so much to Chrystina and her band for coming down to Southside and leading worship for us!

Drive

It has been a long time since I've been a part of a worship service that has not only mad me cry, but has made me sob and pour my heart out to God and feel His presence not only in the room, but in the life of every single person in the room. Last night at the Drive conference here in GA was one of those worship nights.

It was the kind of worship session that made you realize that even if you work in a church and go to Bible study and attend every Sunday service that you possibly can you haven't been paying enough attention to God, your Creator... And then you realize that even though you haven't been paying attention to God and spending enough time with Him, He's been paying attention to you... And this thought makes you want to fall to your knees because you realize how not worthy you are to have the Almighty God care so much about you that He has blessed you with everything you could possibly want in life. That was Monday night for me this past week.

Today was a great day at Drive too. It was lots of fun and very educational and the whole night ended with a concert from the Bethany Dick Band and.......... a comedy show by Jeff Foxworthy!!! It was supposed to be a surprise, but I heard through the grape vine in advance what it was going to be and that made me even more excited!

Back to Monday, after the conference was over for the night, Joe and I, along with Tim Elrod, got together with a whole bunch of bloggers. We took a group picture and everything and found out the next day that Carlos Whittaker posted a link to all of the blogs that were represented at the get together that night. This means that I might be getting a few more readers than I'm used to. I've gotta say, I'm a little excited. I hadn't gone public with my blog yet, and I guess this is probably a great way to get more readers. Thanks to Carlos for posting an entry with my blog link!

Sunday

Just a short post to keep up:

-against all better judgment I finally caved to Twitter
-Sundays can be quite long
-Sundays can be quite rewarding
-Drive conference this week
-I love my husband!

That's about it. Sorry there's not more to be fun with. I will come up with a better post when I have more sleep in my system.

Fin

Captain Eo

When I was younger this attraction was a big favorite at Epcot Center in Disney World. My family and I used to love the 3-D special effects. It was replaced by what is now "Honey I Shrunk the Audience." Can you guess why they took it out?



Oh yeah that's right... it was staring Michael Jackson and it was filmed in the 80's!

PS Check out the Southside Church blog!

One Month

Ok, it has been exactly one month since my last blog post. I'm not going to apologize, because I'm not sorry about that. I am going to warn you, however, that this post may either be very long, or kind of sporadic.

New Job: I have been working at my new job now for about a month. It is the best job I've ever had! That may be because it's the only job I've had that hasn't been waitressing, or it could be because the people there are awesome a I love what I do. If you want to check out the church's website, go to www.southside.org.

Old Job: I love the family that I'm still working for. I babysit their one-year-old and I work in their office at their house. The baby is so cute and is almost to the point where she can communicate fully by talking.

Joe's Job: Joe has officially started contract work for Northpoint church as of last week. He helps out with the TenBefore. He is really excited to be there and loves working with the media team at NP.

Creativity: I have written a song. I won't expound too much, because I'm hoping to eventually record it and figure out how to put it on this blog so you can listen to it. (Little sidenote: It's hard for me to say that I wrote a song, because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about my ability to write music and also I couldn't have written it if I didn't pray a lot about it and really try to honor God with what I wrote. Anyway, that is my one disclaimer for any music that I write and post about in the future.) I'm still working on a couple of other songs. I don't know if any of this is going to be good, but I'm excited about them and I can also feel good about having done something with everything I've learned about music from school.

Ummm... I totally thought this post might be a bit longer, but I now realize that my life isn't interesting enough to have a very long update blog post. Maybe I'll get back to posting about what's going on in my head and my thoughts on life and stuff, and even though it still may not be very interesting, I'll have some longer posts. That's it. Oh, and thanks for reading!

Date Night and a New Job

I want to start this post off with date night because the place Joe and I went was pretty cool. We went to go see the movie Semipro tonight on a much needed date. We hadn't been to the movies in a while so we were pretty excited about going. Afterwards we were going to top the night off with a bite to eat. It turned out when we got to the movie theatre that we could combine our whole night into one experience! The movie theatre was also a restaurant and waiters served food to patrons who sat at tables in their selected movie theatre. Granted the food was pretty standard quality for a movie theatre, but the prices were lower, there was a wider selection, and it was served to you at your own table! That meant no missing any previews to stand in line for just a bag of candy that cost double what it does in the store! Joe and I now have a new standard for movie theatres. =)

Alright, new job. Yes, I have one! Today I received a call from Martin Huggins, the service programing director at Southside church which is a Northpoint Strategic Partner church to let me know that I got the job. I had a phone interview with him yesterday and today received the call letting me know that I will be working at Southside! My new title is service programming assistant, or SPA. =) It's only a part time job, like 15 hours a week, but it has a lot of responsibility and I'm really excited about it! I will start this Tuesday and hopefully pick up on all of my responsibilities pretty quick. Another great part about working there is Joe has already done a few freelance jobs for them and so we already know most of the people in the offices there and so I'm excited about working with people that I already know I like! Tune in again Tuesday for a post about my first day as a SPA!

Auditions

Yesterday Buckhead church hosted auditions for Northpoint's KidStuf program. Just an FYI for people reading this who aren't familiar with Northpoint church in Georgia, Northpoint Church has three campuses, Northpoint, Brownsbridge, and Buckhead. Joe and I attend church at the Buckhead campus.We've only seen the amazing KidStuf program at the campus we attend, but we've heard that the other campuses are amazing also. Think Christian Disney program on stage.

My friend Malorie and I had the opportunity to attend these auditions. Needless to say we were pretty excited about them because both of us have studied acting, but have decided that we would rather use our talents for ministry work in the church. Fortunately with the contemporary Christian church of today we have more opportunities to do just that.

So we went to the audition together and spent a good two hours there. It was a great experience. First we went in separately and performed our monologues and songs, that we had prepared for the audition, for the people in the audition room. They were all very friendly and encouraging and even laughed at my monologue. Then they had Malorie and I read a scene together. Let's just say I was very thankful that I auditioned with Mal because the chemistry we had together made the entire room laugh the whole time we were performing. At one point Malorie started singing a song for the scene (Fat Boy by Jewel) and everyone started laughing so hard they couldn't stop. My friend Erinleigh, who's in charge of KidStuf at Buckhead, started laughing so hard she was crying! After we finished that they had both of us read another monologue each and then we were done.

Neither of us know if we got a part at any of the campuses, but it was such a fun audition and really encouraging that it will be ok if only one of us or neither of us gets any part. I been very insecure about my talent recently and this audition helped me feel more confident in my abilities as an actress and a singer. Thanks to all the auditioners at Buckhead for a fun audition!

One more thing that has nothing to do with the audition, my husband is a very hard worker and is working very hard right now on a project that is a little stressful because it's pretty complicated. Prayer request for the week is that I could be a good support to him while he's working on this and that he wouldn't get too stressed with it and that he would get it done quickly. Thanks!

Parents

I had a great talk on the phone with my mom yesterday. She is a very wise woman and very good an encouraging others. Since Joe and I moved downed to Georgia and further away from both our families, I've been thinking more about family and about my growing up. Because I'm now married, I'm also thinking about my future family, like when Joe and I have kids. That in turn has made me think about what I was like when I was a kid and what it will be like when I'm a parent. There are so many things I realize now about myself that I could have never thought of when I was a kid and I know I'll be able to observe from the other side (when Joe and I actually do have kids which we're aren't planning on right at the moment in case all of you reading this thought that this post sprouted from some unexpected news which it didn't). For instance, and I think all children do this, I took my parents for granted all the time right up until I graduated college. I'm sure I still do it, but I still have a lot of growing up to do. Like for instance, one thing that has stuck out in my mind a lot recently is a treehouse my dad built my brothers and I when we were younger. It was a freakin awesome treehouse and everything, but for some reason my brothers and I only played in it a little bit. I don't really know why. We really liked it. Another thing that I know I took for granted was every night during high school, if my brothers or I had homework that was taking us a long time to do, my mom would sleep on the couch in the other room, just so we wouldn't be working alone downstairs. I know we appreciated it, but I don't think we understood the sleep and time sacrifice that our mom gave us. I think the biggest sacrifice for them was me and my brothers going to college. Especially me because looking back at college I'm sure there was a lot more I could have gotten out of it. I had a great time in New York I just also know it was a big sacrifice for my parents.

Don't get me wrong, my brothers and I loved our parents and we really did appreciate the things they did for us. I just think that we didn't understand what they were doing for us everyday. It kind of makes me stop and think how all of us, old, young, man, woman, take our Heavenly Father for granted. Especially in America He has given us so much. God loves us unconditionally the way that my parents love my brothers and I and even our new spouses (well my brother's getting married on June 14th, but his fiance, Alyssa, has been in the family so long that it's like they're already married) unconditionally. When Joe and I get to be parents we will have the same privilege of unconditionally loving our children, even when they take us for granted.

As a closing note I just want to say thanks mom and dad for unconditionally loving me and raising me to know a Heavenly Father. I love you!

Worship

Tonight, Joe and I went to Southside Church to watch a video, that he edited for an Inside Out event (the North Point name for their high school ministry), on the big screen. The video opened the event and the crowd loved it. (To find out more info on this awesome video and performance by Joe and the Southside high school director, Greg, click here.) After the video was over the high school students participated in a time of worship together. The worship leader was great. He had a lot of excitement and it was obvious that his focus was praising God. What really impressed me, though, was the fervor and passion of the high school students. There was quite a number of students there and I think about 30 of them had their hands in the air and were singing loudly. Now, I know that outwards actions are not necessarily a reflection of the heart, but let me just say that it would be hard to find 30 adults, at either the church we attend now (which has a congregation of thousands) or the church we attended in New York (which has a congregation of over a thousand), that would feel free enough to lift their hands in praise to our Lord. (Just so you know I'm not judging I can be included in those that do not feel comfortable enough to lift their hands.) This isn't the fault of the worship leaders, who at both churches gave their all trying to lead the congregations into worship of the Creator of all things. It was so inspiring to see students all under the age of 18 years being so enthusiastic about praising God with their hearts and their bodies. Maybe it's because "grown-ups" have more stuff on their mind that prevent them from entering into complete surrender of worship, or maybe it's because some have been jaded by friends, family, the church, or life in general and so are afraid to become so vulnerable in a place with so many people. Whatever, the reason, all I know is that I felt more comfortable worshiping around these passionate high school students that do around most adults. They were able to surrender to God and show Him that He was their focus for the evening and nothing else. That to me speaks true worship.

Audition Dreams

No, not dreams like hopes and goals for an audition to go well, actual dreams in my sleep about auditioning. I should mention that I dream a lot. There was even a period in my life where I would have frequent nightmares (sometimes every night for a week). Fortunately the nightmares are gone and I am having normal dreams again.

Last night I had two separate dreams, one in which I was auditioning for American Idol and I was trying to pick out the right song to sing, but just couldn't find it, and the other one in which I was trying to find the right monologue for an audition I had coming up. I know why I had both of these dreams. The church that I am attending in Atlanta (Buckhead Church) is holding auditions for their KidStuf program. I am hoping to attend these open auditions and I am pretty excited because it would mean that the four years of music theatre classes at NYU would be helping me serve God at my church. Unfortunately, apparently I am also anxious about these auditions; probably because I haven't had an audition since attending NYU. I know there's not a lot of people that read this blog, but if anyone reading this has a suggestion of a funny kid appropriate monologue and rock song that I could use feel free to let me know!

This audition and these dreams last night also got me to thinking about auditioning in theatre again. Now, here's the thing, I really feel that God has called me into ministry for Him. And yes I know that ministry can be anywhere you are and everywhere you work, but I'm saying I am really passionate about working in the church and I really believe that I'm being led to work in the church. However, that time may not be right now and I may be starting to get the theatre itch again (I was bitten by the bug ever since I was young). I don't want to make theatre my career and there is definitely a limitation to which shows I would even audition for, but lately I've been perusing the auditions in Atlanta more and more and wonder how I would do if I went to one. Just thought I'd share my auditioning thoughts and dreams. =)

Romantic Husband!

My husband is very romantic! Valentine's day is the anniversary of our first date so it is very special to us. This past Valentine's Day was kind of low key, but we had a very nice dinner at home where we actually sat at our dining table and had music playing. Joe got me the best presents I could think of. He got me two seasons of "Gilmore Girls" (which is the new show I am currently addicted too) and a gift certificate to a spa for a message (or facial or whatever I want to use it for). =) I just wanted to say what a good and thoughtful husband I have. It was a very nice relaxing Valentine's Day and I hope everyone had as good of a Valentine's Day as I did!

Blogging

So, as I said at the end of my last post, I am really bad at posting on my blog. I thought when I first started it that I would be writing for it all the time and expressing my feelings and thoughts and it would be open for the whole world to see. Turns out, I am not good at keeping this thing updated and not too many people read it. (Although, that's probably from me not telling anyone about my blog and from not keeping it updated so that people want to read it.)

Why is it that I don't post a lot and why is it that I don't tell anyone about this blog so they can read it? I think I'm embarrassed. I don't know if people are going to want to read my blog. What if what I post isn't good reading material for someone's time spent on their computer? Now here is my predicament. A blog is a place for expressing your feelings and whatever you think about the world and life and other stuff. I shouldn't have to care about what other people think about my blog because I can just get over it by blogging about it and expressing my feelings through my words to other people who might think my blog isn't good. Hmm, I think I'm confusing myself right now. Let try this again.

I could keep just a journal and keep all of my thoughts to myself, but the fact that I have this blog means that I want people to know what I'm thinking about. On the other hand, the fact that I haven't told anyone about the blog means that I'm not sure if I want people to read what I'm thinking about. What if they think it's boring or stupid? On the other hand, it's a blog and they're for being boring or stupid or funny or sad or deep or whatever your feeling at the time. I'm also afraid to have people know about my blog because I don't update it that much, so people would just be looking at the same thing over and over again. However, maybe I don't update it that much because I don't have that many people reading it! I doubt this though judging by the amount of time I spend on facebook where I actually have a lot of friends that comment to me without me even posting anything personal.

Oh well. My conclusion of this entry is that I will just post when I do and when I feel like it and what I want to post. Maybe I'll get up the courage to share this with more people someday.

Don'ts for Wives

My friend Abi sent Joe and I these two books for Christmas. Mine is called Don'ts For Wives and Joe's is called Don'ts For Husbands. Mine is one of the best books of advice I've ever read for wives. I was reading a little of the book last night and stumbled across this gem that all women need to hear (I know I did).

"Don't work yourself into a fever every time your husband omits to turn up
at the expected time. He is in all probability neither run over by a motorcar,
nor robbed and murdered on his way home, nor lying in a lonely land with
a sprained ankle, nor in any other of the terrible predicaments your
imagination pictures. Probably he stopped at the bookstall to buy an
evening paper, and so missed his train. So don't greet him hysterically
when he does arrive."

Now, I know I'm not the only woman out there that goes over every possible worst scenario in our heads if our husbands are late coming home, or (and this goes for women who are dating or engaged) if our men haven't called us when they said they would or when we thought they should have.

I must say that Joe is very good at saving me the worry by calling and texting me a lot and that's something I really appreciate. In spite of this, I still worry sometimes if I know he's out driving and the roads are slippery or if it's dark. This piece of advice was something that I needed to hear, even if I knew it anyway. This advice reminds me of the Bible verse, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) Both text are bits of wisdom that I need to listen to more.

Thank you Abi for the books! I'm loving mine and I know that Joe has been enjoying his too!

(Just as a side not at the end of this entry, keeping a blog is hard! I'm so bad at writing in it frequently. Hmm, maybe that will be my next blog entry?)

Best Husband Ever!

My husband hinted to me tonight, while I was at a babysitting job, that he was making dinner for me for when I got home. I thought that was so sweet and couldn't wait to get home and see what he had prepared. When I did get home not only had he made me dinner, but he had also made peanut-butter cup brownies for dessert, set the dining table for a nice sit down dinner, and cleaned both the kitchen and the living room, which I have been tackling this whole past week to try to clean them up. It was the best surprise to come home to. Not that I want to brag, but I really do have the greatest husband ever!

2008

Joe and I just got home from our holiday travels and I just wanted to say...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!