Ranger game observations...

My friends and I have been to about 9 Rangers games this season (yes, it is only the end of May-quit checking your calendars).  During the attendance at said Rangers games, my friends and I have stumbled upon some bits of information.  Now understand that when I say "stumbled upon" that simply means that our own minds have created these things...they may not (and probably aren't) based on any hard facts, just our reasoning skills at work.  These bits of information include:

• Mike Napoli may stink in real life.  This is based on the fact that at a game vs. the Phillies, he went up to bat in the top of the 2nd inning and his curly locks were WET!!!  They weren't just damp, but wet people.  They looked as if either A) he just got out of the shower--which isn't the truth as he was playing a baseball game or B) he has been playing an entire game in Miami or Texas in July or August.  Again, neither A or B were true as they were in Philadelphia in May and it was the beginning of the game.  Based on this information we I have decided that Mike Napoli may in fact emit an unpleasant odor in real life.  To any one that may be reading this an know Mike Napoli please let me know if this is a true statement or not.   Also, his song when he comes up to bat is "Blame it on the Alcohol"--this is not helping his case in my mind!
• Mitch Moreland is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!  There are facts needed to back this statement up, just looking at him will tell you this.  Also, while on the topic of my boyfriend Rangers outfielder/infielder Mitch Moreland, let me say...Mitch, keep the scruffy look, it does you well my friend, it does you well!!!
• Apparently in Minnesota, when someone goes on the 15-day DL, 15 days is a suggestion.  My other boyfriend Twins catcher, Joe Mauer, has been on the 15-day DL since mid April.  Unless the Minnesotian (is that even a word??) calendar is different than mine, that my friends is longer than 15 days.  Just saying!  Also, since we are on the topic of Minnesota, I did find out that if I have my teacher certification through a university, I can take the certification tests in Minnesota and become a teacher there...just in case I needed to move there.  
• My friends and I have a favorite game to play at the ballpark that is totally unrelated to the actual baseball game itself.  Our favorite ballpark game is "How many beers has that guy had!?!?!"  I think the name of the game is kind of self explanatory so I won't go into details, but know that if you join us for a game you may be asked the question..."how many beers has that guy had!"
• For the record...this is not made up or based on other facts...this is a true statement!!!  I CAN'T STAND RANGER CAPTAIN OR THE "TEXAS HEROS" MASCOTS!  I could have put I hate that stupid horse (which is usually what I call Captain) and I can't stand Sam Houston, Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie.  But somehow I feel the last part of that statement may have cause folks to hunt me down, take away anything Texas I may own and sent me to another state.  So for the record I can't stand the mascots, the men themselves, while they each more than likely had their own flaws I am sure they also had some delightful traits. 

I am certain there are many more insights that have been gained by our attendance at the Rangers games this season, but as it is 9:20 a.m. on a Saturday and I have been up for a while, my brain is done.                         

something borrowed...

Last night I went with a few of my dear friends to see the new movie "Something Borrowed".  This movie is based off of the book "Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin.  If you know me, I typically read the book before I watch the movie.  In this circumstance I didn't get the opportunity to read the book first so I had no idea what to expect of this movie.  All that I knew about it was that it included one of my favorite people ever...

This guy....

And let me say...he did not disappoint in this movie! 

When I first started watching the office 7 seasons ago, I fell in love with Jim!  I adore his personality!  And then after I saw John in anything else he seems to play the same role as he does on the office...which leads me to believe that that is how he is in real life.  Can I just say...I WANT ONE!!!

Is it the fact that John is from Boston?  Is it the fact that he is tall?  Is it the fact that he is so mellow and chill?  I don't know what it is ol' John, but I adore him! 

And while I am at it, let me go ahead and talk about another adoration of mine. 

This guy...

In case you are unaware of who this guy is, this is Joe Mauer, catcher for the Minnesota Twins.  He is also number 7.  There are so many reasons that I adore this guy, I can't even begin to list them.  I recently read an interview with his mom regarding his perfect woman.  http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/121292429.html
I could probably fill those shoes!  Just sayin'! 

 

there are two things I can't tolerate....

One of my co-workers once stated to her students "There are two things I can't tolerate:  foolishness and lactose!"  Needless to say, as soon as I heard those words come out of her mouth, I lost it.  I was laughing so hard it was out of control! 

WARNING:  The rest of this post is complaining (or $*@#&ing and moaning--that is for you Kandy)

I have come to realize that I also have two things I can't tolerate:  ungratefulness and laziness.  While they are not quite as entertaining as my co-workers, they are true.  Now let me explain...

Ungratefulness:  I can not stand when you do something for someone and they can't say as much as a nice "thank you" or all they can do is complain about what you did wrong.  If you know me, I am not one that is big on receiving a lot of praise for anything that I do.  If I do something for you, I don't want a big production, I don't want a big announcement about it, I just want a simple thank you.  If it is something that is done and you have not even made an attempt to do it, then don't complain about the way someone else has done it. 

Laziness:  Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of times in which I don't want to do things, but if I know something needs to be done, by golly I am going to get it done!  I can't stand when folks are fully capable of doing things and just put forth no effort to do things!  I mean come on people, let's use some logic here...you have to do something, get it done and there there will be time to be lazy! 

Ok...I am done with my rants and raves for today.  Thanks for sticking with me! 

i have been blessed...

I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way
I thank God for all I've been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones that love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed...

These are the lyrics to the chorus of Martina McBride's song "Blessed"

I can't think of any better way to describe my life right now. 

A year and a half ago, I made a decision in my life to change churches.  I had been attending the same church for about 5 years and without going into all the details, it was time for a change.  I began attending First Baptist Church Arlington and immediately felt at home.  Ove the year and a half that I have been there, I have made some great friends.  Friends that I can be myself with and not have to fear judgment.  Friends that love & accept me despite my flaws.  Friends that share my interests and have interests of their own.  Words can not express how blessed I am to have these people as a part of my life. 

I think the only thing that would make my life better at this point is if my (excuse the slide back to 7th grade for a second) "BFF" would move closer so that we don't have to drive an hour and a half to see each other. 

hug me like a mom would...

For those of you that know me, the title of this entry may seem a bit odd, but for those of you that don't know me, let me assure you the title of this is a bit odd.
Let me first clarify for everyone involved: I am not a big fan of hugging, being touched, etc. I don't know why this is, but I feel it has always been that way. And as luck would have it, I have an unusually large number of children this year that feel the need to hug me. There is one female student in particular that HAS to hug me EVERY time she sees me. Now don't get me wrong, I am not going to be that person that totally pushes you away if you try to hug me, I typically will hug you but not be overly excited about it or be very into it. Today this student gave me the customary (for her at least) "I am leaving class so I must hug you" hug. I did my customary thing and put one arm around her as she fully embraced me. But this time she said something that really struck a heart string. As she was full on hugging me she told me "Oh, come on Ms. Harris, just hug me like a mom would!". Clearly this student and probably several other of my students are just longing for someone to care about them, to love them, to hold them like a mom would and let them know everything is going to be alright. So as I write this, I am telling myself..."Come on Ms. Harris, just hug them like a mom would" it may be the only time they feel loved and accepted! I just need to step out of myself and do it!

What is something that you can do that will cause you to step out of your comfort zone but might just change the life of someone around you?

more than just words on a page...

So often we say words or read words and rarely give any thought to what they really mean.  I feel this is far more common in the realm of "Christianese" than in our everyday language. 
Take for example the phrase "Jesus is Lord".  We say it frequently, we put it on our cars in the form of bumper stickers, we wear it on our lapel pins, and some even carve it in stone and put it in their yard.  But do we really know what it means? 

Lord (as defined by dictionary.com) is a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler; a person who exercises authority from property rights; an owner of land, houses, etc.; a person who is a leader or has great influence in a chosen profession: the great lords of banking.; a feudal superior; the proprietor of a manor.; a titled nobleman or peer; a person whose ordinary appellation contains by courtesy the title Lord or some higher title.

So is Jesus really Lord in your life?  Does he have authority, control, or power over you?  Do you say that he does, but when it comes time for him to actually exercise that control do you take it back and tell him "I can handle this"? 

At my church through the week we have been reading through Romans.  Last night I read Romans 6-7.  **Side note:  if you have never studied Romans I would suggest it...there is some amazing stuff in there that you miss if you aren't careful**  In the chapters it made mention of the word holy: 

"...so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness." (6:19)
"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." (7:12)

I was raised in church and if someone came up to me on the street and asked me to define holy, I don't know that I could.  So while reading, I decided to define it. 

Holy (as defined on dictionary.com) is specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated: holy ground.; dedicated or devoted to the service of god, the church, or religion; saintly; godly; pious; devout; having a spiritually pure quality; entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred; religious; inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress

I have discovered that you can't simply take words and assume that you know what they mean.  You also can't go around using terms and not have a clue what they mean.  It just doesn't make sense, especially since we have such a wide array of resources avaliable. 

Don't just see the words as words on a page, learn them, use them, love them!

I resolve..

Here it is, the beginning of a new year. If you are anything like me, it snuck (is that a word) up on you! We are starting a new decade, so I have decided to actually make some resoultions this year...it just felt like the thing to do. So here are some:

1) Grow in my relationship with God. I feel as if over the past few years I have been making my relationship with God an after thought. It is time to make it a priority! This may mean that I need to really evaluate some people and things in my life, but I am up for it!

2) Don't be afraid of change! All of my life, I have had many constants and have never really had to deal with a lot of changes, but I feel this year in my life there are changes coming. I don't want to be afraid of them, but embrace them and realize that all things happen for a reason and that "He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20)

3) "Grow some ovaries" (I can't use this phrase without giving credit where credit is due, so thanks Kandy). Now I realize that some of you may be terribly concerned by this statement and feel that you don't know me at all, so before you go starting rumors, let me clarify! When Kandy and I lived together in college she would tell me to "grow some ovaries" when I needed to buck up and do something that I may not have wanted to do. She would tell me that because she felt it was pointless to tell another girl to grow some balls. So I say this as my 3rd resolution because I feel that too often I keep my feelings bottled up and then explode. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to "grow some ovaries" and be able to tell folks what I am thinking. This applies to so many areas of my life! 

I feel this is a good start for my resolutions, I will come up with a few others and post them later this week, so stay tuned!