I went to Founder's Week in Chicago this weekend with a great group of people. There are only three words to describe it: Ah Maze Ing. It sounds like I'm speaking Chinese but what I mean to say is that it was absolutely splendid!

We arrived at the Moody Bible Church on Friday night in time to hear a wonderful lesson by Chuck Swindoll- many of you may have heard him and others on the radio. We had a full day of speakers on Saturday, as well. Some of us from our group wandered around Chicago all afternoon, which was very random fun. I captured some great shots which are pictured below.

Holly, Kristi & I showing our Blow-Pop colored tongues (Strawberry is the best flavor, by the way)


Our car passengers with the best driver ever and Holly's new hero (who rises above President Bush)- Janelle


Beautiful House of Worship


Interior shot (disregard blurriness- I was trying to capture the spectacular lighting)


One of my favorite pictures- Maks and I trying to take a "cool" shot with the 3-way mirror action- Paul looming in the background


In downtown Chicago, they have the coolest McDonald's ever: it has a table which reacts to hand warmth or motion when you touch it. Looks like Holly and I have a pretty strong connection.


Enjoyin' some refreshing Starbucks tasties


Imagine standing in front of a gigantous, blinking face made out of thousands of pieces of screen.


We're ice skating! Ok, not really. It would be hard to top the romantic level of that: ice skating outside in downtown Chicago on a brisk, winter day. Ahhh...


Our group shot in front of the columns


Chicago is so fun to photograph from 4-5... the colors are so vibrant and breath-taking...


...and fast.


What a blessed weekend! Thanks to all who went who made it a fun, enjoyable, and spiritually focused weekend!

I love you all!

T

Well, I found it difficult to find a "winner" for my top ten music list, because you all took the liberty to make up your own. I like hearing everyone's favorite, even if they don't coincide with my list, and believe it or not, I pretty much love everyone else you all added in addition to my list. So good job.

Anyway, I feel guilty right now. I skipped my geography class for the third time in a row this morning. Let me explain, though. The first time, I purposely overslept because I had been up until 3 a.m. the night before. The next time, I was driving to class from my house in Morton and I ended up getting to Bloomington really late and I decided to skip it to go to the career fair. So it was for a good cause! Then today, and this is for real, I drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking spot and never found one. I went to 4 different parking lots, and still wasn't successful. So I came back to my apartment and here I sit, watching Price is Right until my next class. This gameshow brings back many memories for me. I used to watch it ALL of the time during the summer when I was younger. I don't know what it was about this dumb show, but I loved it, and I still kind of do. Maybe someday I'll go on the show.

Wow, so many people get the chance to win cars on this show. Here is my dream car:



3 lessons I learned this week:
1. Never order chicken from Steak 'n Shake. There's a reason for the name.
2. If you hit a shopping cart in Walmart parking lot, it will fall over.
3. Never try to play a trick on Tracy while she is sleeping in the basement; she will retaliate before you even have a chance to make progress in your endeavor.

That's all I got. I love you all.

T

I went to the Chris Tomline concert last night in Peoria. It was awesome! My favorite part of the evening was when Louie Gigilio spoke about the Universe and how HUGELY gigantous it is. I love stuff like that, and it really put in perspective how very "small" we all are. If WE are small, so are our problems, struggles, and trials in which we usually try to blow up into a gigantic deal.... yet ultimately, we are here to worship Christ and bring glory to Him! Yes, we my be small, but we serve a BIG God, which is a BIG deal!

Aside from the great points, we had some great worship time in song, and even a little dancing!

While we're on the theme of music, Top Ten Tuesday #3 will gladly use that as it's topic. Here we have it, folks- the top ten music artistst/groups. I'll try to stay pretty diverse. As usual, no particular order.

1. Chris Tomlin (suprise)
2. Brad Paisley
3. Caedmon's Call
4. Norah Jones
5. Jack Johnson
6. Nickel Creek
7. Toby Mac
8. Dave Crowder Band
9. The Beatles
10. Rascal Flatts

Have fun. I love you all.

T

Results from this Tuesday:

Our winner was #3, breakfast casserole (eggs, bacon, ham, & cheese). Second place goes to Eggs, sunny-side up, with bacon and toast. Looks like you are all pretty hearty breakfast eaters, considering 75% of my list was made up of sweets!

This morning I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4. Below is the whole chapter; if you don't want to read it all, scroll down to below it where there is a re-cap.

2 Corinthians 4

Treasures in Jars of Clay

1Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

That's a lot of Scripture... I looked at it to try to cut it down, but it is all so good I couldn't do it.

This is really encouraging, because it lays out a picture of what we are up against today. Those of us who are Christians and have taken advantage of Jesus' shed blood know what it is like to have God's mercy and grace upon us so that we may experience the Light of the World- something others are blind to.

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Yet it is not our responsibility for us of ourselves to teach others, because we couldn't do it. We must let Christ work through us to reach others, for that is the only way they can be reached.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

At ISU Bible Study last night, we learned about "struggle." We will struggle, but we are encouraged to take heart! Since when do we become concerned about ourselves in this life? If we are, no wonder we struggle... it is the Lord Christ we serve, and not ourselves. We need to make sure our "struggle" isn't just a "pity party." Yet even if it is, we know Who will understand where we are and what we need to do to have a change of heart. Everyone experiences struggles in their life, so let's make sure our struggling is getting us somewhere. What I mean by that is this: Let it result in a growth, a change, and a purpose. The only way that will happen is if we keep our eyes on His kingdom, and not our own.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Most of us don't know what persecution is, but even if we did, the Word tells me that we have a hope living inside of us that overcomes that!

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body."

Life is so short; last night, I had an epiphony that really kind of scared me. The speaker said we are on this earth for maybe 7 or 8 decades. I thought to myself, "Well, I've been here for 2 decades now." When I think that I only have 6 more to go and these past 2 have flown by, my life suddenly seems very short. That's besides the point, because I could die tomorrow, but with time comes aging. After awhile, our bodies start to show signs of this; wrinkles, gray hair, poor eyesight, loss of memory. But look at what the Word says:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

Something I have heard a lot lately is the importance of staying in the Word in a way that helps us to build upon what we already have established as a foundation, and not just as a "re-fuel." We shouldn't treat the Word of God like a gas station, going to it when we need to charge back up again. When I first heard that, Ii was like, "Why not?" Well, it's because we should be building upon what is already there. It should moreso be likened to building a house- there should be a definite foundation with a representation of progress, not just a full-to-empty sort of picture.

Some days, we really will feel like we are on "Empty" for whatever reason. Like I said before, we all struggle. We all have trials in our lives. A great way to keep "problems" in perspective is to get out a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. If the sheet of paper is your life, how big is the problem you are experiencing? If you represent it with a dot, it's most likely just a small little dot on the page. Even if took up half the page, nothing is too small for the Lord to handle. In this life, the only struggles worth having are the ones that further His kingdom (yet I know that through them all, we grow):

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Forgive the length... it has been awhile since I've posted spiritual including Scripture, so it was long overdue. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

I love you all! T

Top Ten Tuesday II

I went out to breakfast at Denny's this morning, so my topic today will be the top ten breakfast foods.

After this week, we will venture out and explore new horizons, shoving aside "food" as a topic for awhile. It will be hard, but I know it can be done.

1. French Toast, made with cinnamon, drizzled with maple syrup and powdered sugar
2. Pancakes with M&M's in them (seriously, you must try it- it's amazing)
3. Breakfast casserole- the kind with eggs, bacon, ham, and cheese
4. A big, gooey cinnamon roll from Java Tropics
5. A bowl of steaming oatmeal with brown sugar
6. Rice Krispies with slices of banana and a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top
7. Eggs, sunny-side up, with bacon and toast (the toast you get from restaurants that is soaked in butter)
8. Cinnamon rolls from The Confectionary
9. Donuts from Kroger- preferrably, the cinnamon twist (my dad always used to take me after the paper-route on Saturday mornings so that I had breakfast while I watched cartoons)
10. Fresh Krispe Kreme donuts, regular or chocolate-iced

Great. Now I'm making myself hungry. Figures. Anyway, I just want to note that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and *stepping up on soap box* I think it is so important to eat something for it. I personally feel sick most mornings but I try to force food down... sometimes, it's so convenient to skip it, but with all of the amazing choices above, why would you ever think of it again?

Eating breakfast helps you to preform better in school, at work, or doing whatever you are doing, as well as helping you to feel better and keep your mood elevated. It also aids us to maintain a healthy weight. Below are some facts I found from an article on BBC News.

"They found that people who ate breakfast every day were a third less likely to be obese compared to those who skipped the meal.

In addition, they were half as likely to have blood-sugar problems, which increase the risk of developing diabetes or having high cholesterol, which is a known risk factor for heart disease.

The researchers believe that eating first thing in the morning may help to stabilise blood sugar levels, which regulate appetite and energy.

They suggest people who eat breakfast are less likely to be hungry during the rest of the day and are, therefore, less likely to overeat."

A couple weeks ago at church, Ted Witzig was saying how we often go on diets to lose weight. He was comparing how we eat physical food to feed our body to eating spiritual food to feed our soul. He commented, "You should never go on a spiritual diet."

So true! If we do, our spiritual life will start to starve. We were actually talking about this at girl's bible study last week, and a girl noted that often when we are starving physically, pretty soon we get so hungry that we don't even feel hungry anymore. That can also happen spiritually- if we cut off devotion and prayer for too long, we start to become numb to it and we don't even desire it anymore. Sad, but true.

The answer to this problem: Don't skip breakfast!

I love you all!

T

At about 2:30 p.m. today, our house became an orphanage.

My Grandma Kaiser has a time-share in Florida at Sea Club V, and every year, my sisters and their husbands go down there to stay for a week. This year, my mom and Aunt flew my Grandma down, and now my sisters (Tonya & Brad, Tasha & Tom) flew down tonight to stay w/her (and enjoy the warm sun and time on the beach!)

Needless to say, the kidlets got dropped off here. Actually, we only have three: Domniq & Sophia, and then Naomi. I got to watch them all afternoon, and I truly do love them SO much. I just want to note how blessed I am. As the baby of the family, I have enjoyed the best of both worlds throughout the years: the world of being the spoiled baby sister in a time of sibling rivalry when we all lived at home, and now a time of being an "only child" with some great brother-in-laws, a sister-in-law, and adorable nieces and nephews. *sigh* Could life get any better?

Guess what else I did this afternoon? I watched half of "Forrest Gump." Normally, this wouldn't be that exciting, but it is, because I've never seen it. *GASP* I know. It's sad. Anyway, I enjoyed what I DID see. Totally wasn't what I expected, but I liked it. I now know why the two famous quotes are "Life is like a box of chocolates" and "Run, Forrest, RUN!"

Here are some pictures of my prides and joys:

Lola


Domniq


Sophia


Domniq & Noah


Oliver


Naomi

The is it.

The results are in.

Coming in at first place is number 3, a homemade skillet cookie with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and a cherry.

With only one vote less EACH, second and third place goes to:

6. A Strawberry Cheesecake blizzard from DQ, and
10. A Mocha Moo Latte from DQ.

An exciting piece of news for the week:

The inhabitants of the T House played their first game EVER on Wednesday night. While this is sad and almost unfathomable, we intend to make it a more regular practice.

The game of choice was Trivial Pursuit, only because that is one of the only games we have. It was again confirmed that I dislike the game, mainly because I am so bad at it. I am not the type of person who can store random bits of information in my head and readily retrieve them in a minute's notice. That's just not how my memory works. My dad, on the other hand, could tell you the weather forecast for all the cities in Illinois if he checked weather.com that day. Obviously, I didn't inherit this important trait from him.

Anyway, there is some about playing games that is just so FUN. Tracy ended up dominating Trish and I completely (we made up our own version of how to play), but it was still envoked laughter and happiness. AND it gave me an excuse to beat up Tracy. Tammy joined in on one round, and then diligently went back to her homework.

Last night was great: some U of I people made the trip to ISU Bible Study! I miss those guys. We had a great praise singing, packed full at The Fish Bowl. And, we ALL got to take home a gold fish! It was so great, the T House now has 4 fish. Just kidding, I made that up. But it would be cool if they did that.

Next, a test:

Most of you have probably seen or heard this before, but I came across it today and it made me smile, so here is to all of you who have never been enlightened by these 4 questions:

Q1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?









Correct Answer
Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.

This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.



Q2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?









Wrong Answer:
Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.

Correct Answer:
Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.



Q3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend, except one. Which animal does not attend?










Correct Answer:
The elephant, since it is still in the refrigerator.

This tests your memory.

OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.



Q4. There is a river you must cross, but it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?









Correct Answer:
You swim across. All of the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting!

This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

That's all I got for today. I love you all!

T