Gasoline

Last night we ran out of gas.  First time in my life.  It was sort of exciting.  I think my favorite part was when Jake said, "Our accelerator is not working!" after he started slowing down on the highway.  I'm really amused that we both thought there was something wrong with the accelerator before we realized that maybe, just maybe, we were simply out of gas.  I think we might need to get our gas gauge fixed soon.  We have apparently been guessing for too long.

Free Stuff & The Old Lady in Me

I am pretty excited about the free excitement we have had this weekend.  This week is the Denver Art & Culture week, so there are lots of free events going on around town.  Last night we got to sit in on a rehearsal for a dance company.  We went partly because it sounded fun, but mostly because it counts toward my immersion experience for my social/cultural class.  It was pretty exciting.  We also went to Sam's yesterday to taste lots of free samples.  I left completely full.  We went back today. :)

Today we also went to the botanical gardens and the Denver Zoo!  That zoo is humongo.  It served about 3 hours of entertainment this afternoon, and we didn't even get to look at everything.  While we were at Sam's today, we watched a demo for knives and we got 4 pairing knives for free.  I love free fun.  Sometimes I think I'm already an old lady; when Jake tried to get me to go anywhere where we would miss a free sample, I'd make sure we went back.  I'm not gonna miss free stuff.  Nuh uh.

Tonight we're going to a club called Jazz at Jack's.  It's not free for the drinks and appetizers, but if we go in before 8pm, then there is no cover charge.  I'm REALLY excited about the group that is going to perform tonight.  It is a quartet of African American guys who will be singing Motown, Classic Soul, and Old School Rhythm & Blues music.  It's gonna be good.  I'm go take a nap now so that I can stay up late.  Seriously...I really am turning into an old lady.

My husband

I have a great husband.  This morning, he went outside and scraped the car because there was some serious ice hanging out around the windows.  He often makes a good portion of our dinner. He hangs out with me a lot, including playing the game "Sorry" with me tonight.  He does things to help me out without complaining (i.e. this afternoon he came to my work-study location and took something of mine to the car since I didn't have time before class).  Last night he went to the grocery store TWICE, and there was a shooting at a WalMart close by and he didn't even complain.  What a guy.  He also thinks I'm funnier than most other people and constantly makes requests for certain things I do he thinks are funny.  He drives me around most of the time, and he is my personal "google maps" for when I am going to crazy places in Denver and I can't figure out how to get there because there are diagonal streets that make me go crazy.  And then he puts up with my anger on the phone when I can't figure out how to get anywhere.  AND... he waits patiently in the morning for me as I desperately try to get everything finalized before we head off for a long day at school.  So... I think it's safe to say that he's pretty great.

Immersion

I'm in a social/cultural foundations of counseling class this semester, and for it I have to do an immersion project.  The purpose of this project is to immerse myself in another culture that I have not had much exposure to.  Obviously another portion of this project is to work through some of the biases that we have held about that culture.  I chose to immerse myself in the African American culture, mostly because there were about 3 black individuals out of about 1,000 people in my high school.  So I think it's fair to say that I haven't had much exposure.  I also knew that I have been holding some stereotypes that I wanted to break. 

At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted to learn to see other cultures as God sees them.  Boy has God been showing me pieces of that!  It's interesting how the views I had been holding about African American (primarily women) were SO wrong, and they were also a reflection of the stuff that I have been trying to work through on my learning contract.  There are SO many things to appreciate about the African American culture, but the one that stands out most to me is how deep their faith runs.  I met with a pastor of a primarily African American church yesterday, and I asked her what the role of faith in counseling the population should be.  She said without a doubt that faith is primary to who they are.  They as a culture have experienced so much hardship that they have quickly learned that without God, they are nothing.  I was astounded at how much more faith they have than me.  I am so thankful for this project, and I actually wish that it was not going to be over after this semester.  I have been so blessed by the time I have been spending in the African American culture- not only have I gained a better picture of how God sees them, but also I have gained a better picture of who God is through them.  Thank you Lord for such a special time.

Distractions

It's 10:45pm and I have yet to write a single word for my 4-5 page paper that is due tomorrow at 1pm.  I just finished the book I have to write the paper over, and I'm having a hard time getting motivated to start writing.  Let's just say I've been a been distracted over the past couple of days.

Jake and I are going to be moving soon.  I'm really excited about it, but also confused at the same time.  I am going to be applying for an on-campus apartment managing job, but we also have a deposit down on a different apartment.  I really like the idea of living in a place where I have absolutely no responsibility to anyone else, but I also like the idea of cheaper rent and living on campus in a beautiful apartment.  Jake also needs to find a full-time job, so we could use prayers for our situation.  Muchas gracias.

I've also been distracted with this stupid sickness that is hanging around.  I realized today that I have not been feeling well for over 6 weeks, which is a major bummer.  The biggest piece right now is this cold that has turned bronchial, and I'm trying desperately to take supplements to prevent it from turning into full-blown bronchitis.  I hate having to cough so much, because I know it's got to be really obnoxious to everyone around me, especially Jake.  He's been such a blessing though and has not complained once... yet. :)

White House Press Briefing

Somehow I managed to stumble across the press secretary's briefing from yesterday morning.  Since I have never been able to read one of these, and never seen one outside of the show West Wing, I found it pretty interesting.  It was also interesting to see how she portrayed President Bush's term in the White House, and has really got me thinking.  Check it out.

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/11/20081103.html

p.s. I'm still awake, but I think I'm going to try to go back to sleep now. :)

Early morning randomness

It's 1:49am and I'm awake.  I couldn't sleep because my throat is practically swollen shut and my nose was so clogged that I couldn't breathe.  Fun stuff.

I can't believe that tomorrow (actually today) is election day.  After the longest election of my life, I can't wait for it to be over.  We receive lots of phone calls every day for political reasons, and it just gets old.  Sarah Palin called us about 3 times over the weekend, Joe Biden once, and Obama finally called us yesterday.  I almost feel as though we're missing out on McCain, but I think I'll live if he doesn't end up calling us later on today. :)

I cleaned our shower on Sunday after we got home, complete with new inner shower curtain.  I think our bathroom is my least favorite part about our apartment, simply because it never feels like it is clean.  However, it was pretty amazing how it felt after this particular clean.  I haven't done quite this extent of a scrub-down since we've moved here, and I think it paid off.  Yay for softscrub!