Entertainer, Creator

I've taken the Myers-Briggs peronality test several times and consistently been ENFP.

Until now.

I took an online version of the test and here are the results ...



ESFPs are cooperative, "here and now" people-persons that enjoy excitement and love new adventures. Because of their highly social nature, they are especially lively when they are the center of attention and hate being alone. ESFPs have a practical side that allows them to finish work efficiently and are often good problem solvers.

So there ya go. What are you?

Alexa, Ingrid and Joshua

The other night a couple friends and I went to a little dive down on South Platte for a Tuesday night concert.

And I do mean dive. From the outside, the building looks like a crack house. I was a little skeered for my life as we waited in line. But inside, it's just a big room with a stage and a bar in the back. So we were just a few feet from the stage!

All three of them - Alexa Wilkinson, Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin[son] - were great! I have to say, though, Ingrid was my favorite. She's hilarious and flawless on stage. Her voice is amazing.

And, of course, my camera batteries died right as the concert began, so I'm stuck with a picture of Joshua Radin from my roommate's camera phone.


If you're looking for new music (with GREAT vocals) check any one of them out.

Hotel, Hotel

Okay people this is SERIOUSLY one of the funniest things I have ever seen. (Valeen I know you think I say that about everything, but this time I mean it.)

This guy's a youth pastor.



h/t: Skip

Once

I actually watched the Oscars last night. All the way through.
I don't think I've ever done that before.

Hands down, best win of the night for me ...



Incidentally, I don't know what the heck Colin Farrell is doing. Or what is up with his ghastly hair.

What was your favorite moment?

Marx for your Monday

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend:
and inside a dog, it's too dark to read.

-Groucho Marx

They're pretty good, I guess.

How about something light and fun for your Friday.
Watch this. It's un. Be. Lievable.

If you play the guitar, I dedicate this to you.

The Compassion Blog

So. Have you heard that Compassion recently launched a blog? It's just getting going, but I think it's going to be a really cool thing! Posts will be written by a variety of people ... our leadership, headquarters staff, field staff, and maybe even some formerly sponsored students!

So check it. Here's my first official post.

And bookmark it, because there's going to be some sweet stuff on here!

When Costco Came to Town

Costco is here.

If you were driving anywhere within 10 miles of the store last night, you would have known it. There were cars backed up for miles to get into the parking lot. Literally miles. Lines of cars from the South and from the North and from the West. (Probably from the East too, but I couldn't see them.) And that was just for the open house! To look at stuff. You couldn't even buy anything until their grand opening today.

So guess where I was last night? That's right! I joined right in the madness and went to sign up for a membership.

It took me an hour and a half to get there. (It's 3 miles from my house.) And I had to park at Hobby Lobby across the street. (A half mile walk.) And I didn't even step foot in the store. I just went in the entryway.

But I am now a proud, card-carrying member of Costco.

The last time I remember something as crazy as that is when the first Krispy Kreme opened. If I bought stock, I'd buy me some shares in the Costco Corporation.

Oh and one more thing. To the gorgeous man that signed me up last night (just in the off chance that you happen to somehow stumble on this blog): I'd love to take you up on that cocktail now!

Take a Poverty Quiz

A few of you have asked what I do at Compassion. Things are always changing here, so that's hard to answer, but for the past couple years I've been working on the Advocacy team. Our job is to educate people in the U.S. about children in poverty.

I wrote this quiz. Take it and let me know how you do!
Then post it on your blog!

Get this widget!

My Weekend in Photos

Friday morning very early I went went for a walk. There was a dense fog and visibility was only about a hundred yards. Everything was very muted and still. The only sound I could hear was the quiet squish of my crocs. The world felt very small and it felt like I (and my dog) were the only ones alive.

It looked like this ...
Then I got to work and was greeted by the fragrant smell of Stargazer Lilys (my favorite flower.) My amazing brother (and his amazing wife) got me a beautiful bouquet for Valentine's Day. Thanks, guys. Love you.

They look like this ...

Saturday was beautiful and the perfect day for a hike. The sky was blue the color you only see in Colorado and the sun was shining.

The view at the top looked like this ...
Not a bad weekend, huh? What did you do?

Wrap your brain around this one ...

Is Jesus more pleased with a theologically-messed person who actually does the things he says, or someone who's got the right answers, but doesn't follow?

I've asked a similar question many times but never figured out where to land. Brant asks this after meeting a Muslim who loves and follow Jesus but does a much better job of actually articulating it.

Read his post and then help me figure this out.

The Meaning of Life

The Uganda blogging trip is wrapping up but the heart-wrenching posts just keep on coming. Here's some weekend reading for you ...

Crying for my Poverty

Do So Everyday

Meeting my New Daughter

And lastly ... THIS is what I call a sermon.


Sponsor a child.

A Valentine's Day Soundtrack

Here's a great little love song for your Valentine's Day.
And there's a fun surprise for you right at about 3:00.

Enjoy!

Why I will watch Idol this year ...

Be still my heart.

The Faces by BooMama

So I had a post all ready to go today. But then I read this one and felt like it was more important than anything I would say.

Read it. I DARE you not to be moved.

I knew taking bloggers on a trip would be a good thing for Compassion. I just had no idea how impacted I would be by reading these blogs.

I love my job. I seriously love my job.

You think YOUR family is green?

I grew up in a family that didn't waste anything.

We reused plastic and ziploc bags until they literally fell apart. We washed "disposable" plates and utensils over and over again. We never ever used paper napkins, even when eating something extraordinarly messy, like spaghetti or sloppy joes. I'm not exaggerating. I have stories, many of them.

Here's one of the weirder ones. True story. When my little sister was in high school, some of her friends TP'd our house. And they got us good, too. They must have used, like, 34 rolls of toilet paper.

So first, my dad decided to be funny. We live on the block next to an elementary school so a lot of people walk by our house every day. He hung a big sign on one of the trees along the sidewalk that said "First of the year toilet paper. You pick."

Very funny, dad.

So after a few days, he took down all the toilet paper. He gathered it up in some plastic bags. But then guess what he did with the bags of toilet paper. Did he dispose of it, like a normal person? No. He placed a plastic bag full of toilet paper next to the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. Uh huh. My parents actually wanted us to USE the toilet paper that had previously decorated our trees. And they did.

All of us kids used the upstairs bathroom for the next few months.

(Love you, mom and dad.)

These Words of Shaun's

I know lots of you that read my blog also read Shaun's blog, but this link is for those that don't.

Read it ... you won't be sorry.

I know he's known for his music, but he also obviously has the gift of writing.

Oooo it's growin' now!

Here's your morning laugh. Happy Friday!

Remember that hilarious little kid from that Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial ... "He was injuhed, injuhed bad."

Well here he is again.

Hey you! Yeah, you.

So apparently I missed the Official De-Lurking Day by about a month. [Who makes the laws of blog-world anyway?]

"Official, schmofficial" I say! I still would love to know if there are any of you out there who regularly check out this blog but, for some mysterious reason, have yet to leave your mark.

Don't worry ... I'm not expecting that there will be many of you lurkers out there, as most people I know wouldn't hesitate to speak up, but if you are there, why not take the plunge and finally comment? Then we can be "official" friends in Blogsville.

Leave it to Hong Kong

Remember my brilliant idea a few posts back?

Well, turns out it's not such a crazy idea after all. Or a new one.

Converting elbow grease into electricity has a long, odd history. The first telephones, in the 1800s, had hand cranks that generated an electrical signal to alert the operator when one wanted to make a call. Hand-crank flashlights have long been available. So have hand-crank portable radios.

And apparently it's not very efficient.

If all the exercise machines were in use 10 hours a day for a year, the gym could generate roughly $183 worth of electricity. At that rate, it would take about 82 years to pay off [a] $15,000 investment.

Read the article here.

But I say, if we're doing it anyway, we might as well use what we can, right? Who's with me?

Frozen

I saw this video on another blog I read. And I just had to share it with you all.

It's a group called Improv Everywhere. Their tagline is "We cause scenes."

SO COOL.

Comfortable

My pastor said something that really struck a chord with me today:

"Satan has changed his tactics. He used to persecute the Church. Now he just makes the Church too comfortable."

I totally agree.

Whispers

This was a recent post on one of the photography blogs that I love.

What a heartwrenching, beautiful ministry.
I wish I still lived in Grand Rapids.

Here's the blog post.
Here's the Whispers web site.