Last night I got to help out my sister at a comedy event her radio station was putting on. It was a night of "clean comedy" featuring two Christian comedians: Chonda Pierce and Bone Hampton.
It was such a great night! I helped at the "merch" table, selling CD's, DVD's, books, and all sorts of other random stuff. (There was some great people-watching involved) And then myself and the other merch peeps would sneak into the concert and laugh our heads off.
Both Chonda and Bone were really funny. Chonda talked about some things I can't relate to (menopause, anyone?) but she also spoke on a lot of stuff that women of any age would love (she gave a shout-out to all the men who got dragged to the event by their wives...they were such good sports!) And then Bone got up and his energy and humor was rockin'!!! And through the whole night, I was appreciative of the fact that they were so funny and yet so clean. It was good to be reminded that you don't have to be dirty or crass to be funny (although I do admit I love a few comedians who aren't always so clean).
Anyway, if you're ever bored, you can go on YouTube and look up some of their sketches. Enjoy!
It's been a busy, busy week. In a busy, busy world. I have a feeling life will be at this pace until we return from our Mexico mission trip March 29th.
a few highlights at work:
* We started a new series at the college group. "Controversies of the Christian Faith". We choose a controversial topic, present both sides unbiasedly, and then the students get to choose which side they most resonate with. Then they get in small groups and have to answer questions to defend why they believe what they believe. At the end of the night, we come together as a big group and share. Our first topic....stem-cell research!! Nothing like starting off with the easy stuff. ha ha. I really love this series! It's not about teaching them what to think...it's about teaching them how to think.
* For fun one night, we had karaoke. Here's a 4 minute video of some of the songs. None of us are good singers...we just had fun. Which song is your favorite?
* Last week Jeff and I shared our testimonies. So hard, but so good. If we want our students to be vulnerable with us, we need to model that and choose to be vulnerable with them, too.
* Our group just sponsored a child through Compassion Intl. Otavio is 5 and lives in Brazil. The students will donate pocket change (or more) each week to pay his monthly sponsorship. We're all going to write letters to Otavio this Wed. night.
* Our final meeting before Mexico is next Sunday March 2nd. I'm supposed to have all the transportation (cars, vans, trailers, insurance, etc) worked out by then. Ask me if I have. (nope)
* Yesterday I had a Day O' Fun with our student leaders. It was rainy so we drove to a h-u-g-e nearby mall and got lost in it. For fun, we decided to dress some of the guys as the "opposite" of what they really are. For example, we took Jeremy and Brian (who are skater/alterna boyz) and dressed 'em all preppy with clothes from Express For Men. It was awesome! Then we took our intern Jeff (who actually is preppy) and visited Zumiez to dress him like a skater punk. He looked SO young! It looked like he had been stripped 10 years of his age. And then the ladies and I found a Jessica McClintock store and tried on hideous prom/bridesmaid dresses. We were making fun of them and then we realized how much they were....$500!!! What!?!? We took them off in a hurry.
* This week (Mon-Wed) is our staff retreat at a nearby conference center. I am so excited! It will be nice to hang out with people away from church. It's always very relaxing. And we get to rock out the volleyball court every night! Woot!
3 day weekends are bliss. Could every weekend be a 3 day weekend, please? Who do I need to vote for to make that dream a reality?
Well, my dumb cold has decided to linger on for week 2. But aside from that, things are going well. I've had a weekend of good friend time, swimming, some caught-up phone calls, sleep, church, and a new nighttime activity: watching LOST Season 1. You guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about LOST, but oh well. Saturday night a group of us watched the first 4 episodes with all the lights off to make it even more suspenseful. It was such a blast that last night we made pizzas and watched another 4! It's fun to go back to the beginning and see everything I've forgotten. But mostly what's so great is the people I'm watching with. Some of them are LOST addicts like me. Some are watching it for the first time. Either way, I really don't think it's possible for them to be any funnier. I think that makes the nights even more enjoyable.
Will we continue tonight with another 4 episodes? We shall see. I have my hip-hop class this evening, but maybe after that...
P.S. We just found out that one of our roomates, Jessica, broke her ankle snowboarding yesterday! Sad. We love you Ese and we'll take care of you when you get home!
For those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, you might remember that last May I had my very first car accident. I rear-ended a guy who slammed on his brakes when a light turned yellow for him. I took my car in to get fixed, paying my $500 deductible and sticking $1,900 to The Man for the rest of the repairs (thank goodness for insurance).
However, since then I have had a few neck issues. I didn't think it was anything serious. "Oh it's just whiplash from the accident" etc etc. I had my roomate (who is a massage therapist) work on my neck from time to time. I thought I was fine.
But in the past month my neck was really starting to hurt. Like I would be merging on the freeway and I'd turn to see if any cars were on my left...and it really hurt to move my neck too far to the side. Ack! Everyone kept telling me to go see a chiropractor. But here where my hesitations:
1) If I go, I might never be able to stop going. I've heard that once you start seeing one, you have to keep going back to get re-aligned. I didn't really enjoy the thought of having to be dependent on someone to fix up my spine everytime it got out of whack.
2) Money - how expensive are these chiropractors? My auto insurance and my health insurance don't cover it, so it would be me footin' the bills.
3) Would it hurt??
But finally I couldn't take it anymore. One night last week I was at coffee with some buds and I got this horrible headache and felt like I was going cross-eyed. My friend told me later that the pressure from my out-of-place top vertebrae was pinching into my skull/head. Dude! This is crazy.
So the next morning I bit the bullet and called a recommended chiropractor in my area (Dr. Kerri). I made an appointment for the very next day. I was so nervous! I went to see her and she was very sweet and kind. I told her all my concerns and she was very understanding. Then she started feeling around my shoulders, neck, and back. "Sarah! You are SO tight!" she said. She definitely thought it was from my car accident. And since then my muscles have tried to compensate around the misplaced vertebrae and caused a mess.
So Dr. Kerri had me lie down on my back and started moving my neck around. "Tell me about your job," she said. "Oh, ok," I said. "Well, I work with college students at my church. I'm in my third year there and I was OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Because just at that moment, she quickly tweaked my neck from the far left over to the right. I heard this huge *C-R-A-C-K* right by my left ear. I was in such shock that she had done that without me knowing. So yes, the Lord's name was proclaimed quite loudly in her little office. (I might have freaked out the people in the waiting room)
But I have to tell ya: I immediately felt better! I felt a release of pain and could even imagine blood flowing back into my neck or something. It was so crazy! I started laughing and told her she had to do that every time...make me talk about something and then crack me when I'm not expecting it.
I am still a bit wary of this whole process, but for now I can say I'm glad I went. She taught me some stretching exercises for my neck to do at night. And I am going to see her once a week for four weeks to keep getting re-aligned until my muscles get used to the change. And then she thinks I won't have to go in after that.
After getting some sleep, downing tons of Emergen-C, and drinking lots of liquids, I am starting to feel a tad better. So I can finally tell you guys about my weekend in the snow with the college students.
It was fab. No accidents or emergencies. No car or road problems, traffic, snow shutting down freeways, nothin'. We just enjoyed our time up there and enjoying spending time with one another. It was cool because I brought DVD's and a video game system but they were used maybe once. Everyone just wanted to play games or have fun conversations and get to know each other better.
We drove up Thursday and got to our condo around 9 pm. Most people went to bed. Friday we split up into two groups: those skiing/snowboarding and those staying behind to play. I went skiing and it was the best snow I have ever skiied in! Yes, I know I've done my share of complaining about the rainy weather, but it was worth it for the snow. There is SO MUCH. I half-expected unicorns and fairies to come flying out of it and the angels to sing from heaven.
The crew back home decided to 1) build a snow cave 2) make snowmen 3) go exploring. Their exploring took them to casinos, shops, all around town. They took some funny pictures. That night we had dinner and played Mafia for 2 hours, followed by poker and Apples to Apples.
Saturday, only 3 went back to the slopes and the rest of us stayed behind. What a fun day. We also played in the snow, fed ducks right outside our back porch (our condo was on the marina), went shopping for random stuff in Kmart, a supermarket, and Ross, played more games, etc. I got to go on a long walk in the snow and talk with one of my girls who was dealing with some hard stuff.
In the early afternoon, one of the students (Rob) said he would let two of our girls wax his back. So gross but so funny! He fully did the 40-Year-Old Virgin bit where he screamed a pop star's name. Check out this video:
That night we ate enchiladas, ice cream pie, and played more games. (Catch Phrase, more Apples to Apples, someone whipped out Clue - yeah old school!) It was fun to see all the students and leaders getting so comfortable with each other, laughing, talking, learning new things about everyone else. Sunday we went to church and afterwards some random guy came up and introduced himself to me, and then asked for my phone number. Whoa! Are snow guys more forward?? We made a quick stop at Starbucks, said goodbye to the Tahoe, and headed home. We stopped at In N' Out for lunch (tradition) and were back at church by 4 pm. And then I went home and got sick.
Wow. This is the second day in a row where the sun has been out. After weeks and weeks of clouds and rain and wetness, I forgot what it felt like to have the sun shine on my face. Ahhh....what a lovely feeling. Even if it is 52 degrees...the sun is still shining and that is what makes me happy.
Well friends, much has gone on in the past couple weeks. It's at times like these that I pull out the ol' ** bullet points **. None of them have anything to do with each other, but it helps me organize my thoughts. Feel free to comment on one or all.
* LOST IS BACK!!! For those who caught the season 4 premiere last Thursday, what did you think? I am in love with flash-forwards. Ok, so we know Kate, Jack, and Hurley got off the island. Who are the other 3 of the "Oceanic 6"? Any guesses? (I have some hunches) Also if you had to choose, would you be on "Team Jack" or "Team Locke"?
* Superbowl Sunday. What did you guys think of the game? I'm not necessarily a Patriots or Giants fan, but it sure was exciting, especially toward the end. I am glad the underdog won. As far as my favorite commercials:
* I can officially say that I saw "dead people". A couple weeks ago I went with some friends to the Tech Museum where Body Worlds 2 was on display. You pay 22 bucks and spend 2 hours looking at the muscles, bone structures, internal organs, and nervous systems of "plastinates" (dead bodies that are preserved using a technique involving plastic. Crazy!) After about 10 minutes of being weirded-out, I actually became quite fascinated. The human body is so beautifully intricate.
* I saw Cloverfield. Some people love it, some people hate it. I loved it. The shaky-camera wasn't as bad as I thought, or maybe I just got used to it after awhile. If you haven't seen it yet and want to, hit a matinee. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen with surround sound.
* Last week, the student ministries staff went to Tahoe for a retreat. We stayed in a fun cabin near Tahoe City. You could see the lake from our window. Gorgeous! Even though I am tired of the rain, I have to admit...it meant for GREAT snow up in the mountains. They powder was fresh, soft, new, perfect. We had so much fun playing in it - sledding, snowballs, snow angels, sliding on discs. We also had some great talks and bonding time as a staff, which was much-needed.
* We came home from our retreat and I went to my office to drop my stuff off. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a mini-refrigerator. Huh? Who put that in there? I opened it up, and guess what was inside? Watch the end of this video for a clue:
My students know I love The Office, so they decided to leave me some gifts, based from the show. They are too kind.
* My computer is possessed by the devil. It's an old laptop that my dad gave me when he got a new one a few years ago. It has a touch-pad for the mouse right under the keyboard. I won't even be NEAR it, and the mouse arrow on the screen will start going crazy. It's seriously goes nuts. It flies all over the screen and I just stare at it with my mouth wide open. What the heck is going on. I either need to learn how to exorcise the demon within, or get a new laptop. And since I don't know much about computers, I would love any advice or suggestions on what I should get. Mac or PC? What design?
* Because of the aforementioned demon-possessed laptop, I went to Costco to buy a back-up drive (so I can save all my pictures and music in case it crashes). As I was perusing the options, a dad and his 3 year-old son came walking by me. I have no idea what they had been talking about, but just as they passed me, I heard the little guy say in a hushed whisper, "Dad!!! I know what a 'buttock' is!!" And then he smiled real big. That kid made my day. Nay...my week.
* Music: Paramore. I am obsessed with them. Older sister Amy gave their Riot! CD to younger sister Emily for Christmas. I listened to it once with Em and dug it. I have been listening to it non-stop in my car. Hallelujah is my favorite song.
* I just finished a book and am looking for a new read. Any ideas?
* I voted today.
* I leave on Thursday to go back to Tahoe...this time with 15-20 college students. College Snow Trip, son!!!
Ok, enough typing for now. I need to go out and enjoy some of this sunshine! =)
Hello and welcome to my blog. A little about me: I'm a thirtysomething who lives near the ocean and redwood forest and works at a church. I enjoy writing, telling stories, and sharing life. Hence, this blog. And yes, I really love to laugh.
Both Chonda and Bone were really funny. Chonda talked about some things I can't relate to (menopause, anyone?) but she also spoke on a lot of stuff that women of any age would love (she gave a shout-out to all the men who got dragged to the event by their wives...they were such good sports!) 
And then Bone got up and his energy and humor was rockin'!!! And through the whole night, I was appreciative of the fact that they were so funny and yet so clean. It was good to be reminded that you don't have to be dirty or crass to be funny (although I do admit I love a few comedians who aren't always so clean).
