Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

-5 airport runs (4 to Texas, 1 to Vegas). I still hate flying.
-Too many cycling races to count.
-3 top 10 finishes.
-2 teaching contracts.
-1 Master of Arts in New Testament Language and Literature scored!
-1 Master of Arts in Educational Leadership begun.
-1 acceptance to Ph.D. program in Ft. Worth, Texas.
-1 health scare with Drew's dad.
-1 health scare with me.
-1 bicycle crash that scared ME more than Drew.
-5, 101, 1: highways to drive up the beautiful California coast to San Luis Obispo.
-1 registration with Central Casting.
-1 background acting job on Cold Case!!
-4 celeb spottings: Rebecca DeMorney, Lauren Conrad, Sean Penn, & Marg Helgenberger (who I sat next to)!
-An estimated 250 cups of coffee...but who's counting, right?
-105 new 6th graders
-1 novel begun.
-5 chapters currently finished.
-1 poem/children's book written.
-1 life-altering discovery of French-pressed coffee.
-2 games of tennis before I got frustrated.
-5: number of rumors about how I fell and was taken to the hospital one day at school (the best one? I tripped over a stray dog in the middle of the quad, breaking my neck and bleeding everywhere).
-2 trips to Las Vegas.
-4 Twilight books read (I finally gave in).
-5: number of times I watched the movie (I really gave in).
-20+ number of times I listened to the soundtrack. (Um, I love it ok)!!
-2 anniversaries under our belt. I still love being married.
-3 Ph.D. program applications: Baylor, Wheaton, Notre Dame
-2 homes. I miss Texas when I'm in California and I miss California when I'm in Texas.
-1 New Year's Eve on the couch with my best friend. :)

Ok, so my numbers don't quite add up to five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred, but I tried. By this time next year we will be living in a new place, although we have no idea where that will be yet. I honestly don't want to think about it right now as it makes me sad and a tad stressed, but God has taken care of us so far and I have no doubt that He plans to continue...something we can ALL agree on (whether Armenian or Calvinist...haha).



"How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets?
In midnights, in cups of coffee?
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes?
How do you measure a year in the life?"

Drew's Favorite English Solecisms

Here are a number of grammar, syntax, meaning, and spelling miscues that I have run into over my years of tutoring non-native English speakers, though some of these are from native speakers!

1. "We should be thankful for church volunteers, because the church runs on sacrificed volunteers."

I'd hope someone would be thankful for such a selfless act.

2. "No one, not even professional race car drivers can drive fast without hitting goats."

Every time you speed God kills a goat.

3. "Jesus scarified himself to seal the new covenant."

Look out for that scary Jesus costume next Halloween!

4. "It was just a simple miss spelling."

Who is this Miss Spelling? I'd like to meet her!

5. "The priest is raping the mummy."

Wrapping the mummy, perhaps?

6. "Send it to me until Thudesday."

And on the eighth day God created...

7. "I know a primary document: the...the...the CONSTIPATION!"

Perhaps the framers of the Constitution needed Ex Lax.



That is all I can remember for now. I will add to this as I remember and discover more.

Another Day, Another Chance

So a few weeks ago I found myself sitting alone in a doctor's office trying to take in the words I'd just heard. I'd gone in for a routine checkup but she found something she was "worried" about. The next minute or so sort of blurred together in my mind as a state of worry and panic began to infiltrate my thinking.

How long had I had that? Two years? That really concerns me. We're going to do a biopsy right now. I need to rule out cancer. What else could it be? I don't know.

She left to go have the nurse prep a room for biopsy and I was left alone, hugging my knees to my chest, not knowing what to do or think. I was numb...in a state of quasi-shock I think. I mean, I'm 25...who just goes into a checkup and 10 minutes later is having a biopsy? It's just so unexpected-seeming.

As I sat there, the only thought that came to mind was that I should pray. I immediatley told myself that I didn't know WHAT to pray...I could hardly THINK. Of course I instantly answered my own question and knew that it was ok to not know what to pray...so I just kept saying "Jesus..." over and over until they came and got me.

The biopsy wasn't so bad.

The waiting was a different story.

I finally found out today that all the tests came back clear.

No cancer.

I started to cry.

So now, reflecting back on the past two weeks, here's what I've been reminded of...

There are very few things worth truly getting upset about...very few things.

I love my life and I love my family...the somewhat mundane feeling I'd been having towards everything has been replaced with a sincere gratitude just to get up in the morning.

Despite all the pain and suffering in our world, God is still good...

and, in the words of Nicole Nordeman (b/c she says it best): "we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream, in abundance or in need..."

I'm sure I will need to be reminded of these things again...but for now I'm so thankful that today, everything is ok.