Christmas Party!!

OK, survey says...the 27th! I wish Chris could come too, but I'm booked for the 24th and 25th. Dang - you working girls must have it rough! I'm glad I'm still a student - I thing a month-long break will be sufficient! lol!! OK, so here's the plan...meet at my house around 12-12:30 and bring some sort of food side dish/salad/dessert whatever. I know it's tough with the long distance traveling, so if you can't do it that is cool too. Also, bring a gift worth $5-10 and we can do a little gift exchange. We can eat right away and you are all welcome to stay as long as you'd like. I'll provide drinks and the main dish (TBA). If you need directions call me. Apparently the blog-Gods don't like it when we put our address on here! lol! I can't wait!!!

You all are wonderful!!

I had no idea that my comments were being stupid! I don't know if I messed something up or what. I didn't intentionally turn on the modification and while it was on it wasn't allowing me to modify. So I turned it on and off again and now I can modify, but I don't want to have to do that - I'll approve pretty much anything anyway. Hopefully it will all be fixed now.

I was actually starting to freak out. (imagine that!) The last two really long posts I put up meant a lot to me and I was appauled that it seemed none of you had comments. I should have known something was wrong. You all had great comments - once I found them! Thanks!!

Christmas Baby!

This is Max. What more do you need to be in the Christmas spirit?!

Christmas Get-Together!!

OK folks, it's time to plan for a Christmas get together! My house is fairly centrally located, so I am inviting you all to join me there. I personally will be in Ohio from Dec 14-Dec. 27, so pretty much every day in there works for me, except the 18th, 24th and 25th because of family things. Laura mentioned that the 20-21 work well for her, but Abby won't be in Ohio until later, so let's figure this out soon before we get bogged down with other commitments. If you are reading this and you are a Blufftonite this is your invitation! My house, Minster, OH, date and time TBA. Call me if you need directions. Do you folks want to do any sort of gifting? There will definitly be food involved. OK, without your comments I'm at a loss of how to proceed, so give me a shout out with your in Ohio timeline, your prefered dates, and your opinions on gifting and possibly food bringing. I'm happy to provide food, but if you want to bring something that would be cool too. Let me know ASAP!! I can't wait!!!

Thanksgiving

Whew! Now that I got that heaviness off my chest I'll tell you about thanksgiving! I rode home with my cousin Tony. I figured I could live 5 days with no car and there was no sense in both of us driving 6 1/2 hours alone to arrive at basically the same destination. It was great, even in spite of his love for sports talk AM radio! I got home on Wednesday night just in time to help finish preparations for the big day. On Thursday my mom's whole family came over and it was really great. Even though I wouldn't choose to have a Cajun Thanksgiving, it went as well as one can expect even without the traditional comfort foods. Kate and Randy brought Max (he's 3 months old now), so I got to spend time with him and that was nice. I'm an official aunt now because he chose ME to puke all over. So much for wearing the new clothes for the occation.

Friday my Dad and I had our Thanksgiving at his place. We were supposed to go to Kate and Randy's to see Max, but apparently Max will not ever get to see his grandfather again because some people do not understand the value of forgiveness and love. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of my family's arguments, but I'm being delusional and it's really not like that. However, when I was sent as the bearer of this news I knew it wasn't my delusions - I really am forced to be there in the middle of the fire-fight. Thank God for God. Enough said.

So anyway, Dad and I actually had a wonderful day! We made a list, checked it twice and headed for the grocery store. We tried to avoid Wal-Mart for fear of the crazies that come for the Day-after-Thanksgiving sales, but when Krogers sold out of ginger and thawed turkey what is a girl supposed to do?! We ended up cooking all afternoon - turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, baked beans, wedding noodles, and pumpkin pie - it was quite a feast! And it actually tasted really freakin' fabulous if I must say so myself! We rock!

The rest of the weekend I laid around with my family mostly. We saw 4 deer swimming in the lake (Woah! I didn't know they could swim!). And we watched "Rent" the movie. I loved the stage play, but as a movie, I thought it was stinky. I can't fully relate to characters when they insist on bursting into song during conversations, they always face one direction, and they put their arms around each other all the time for no reason. On stage I see it coming and it's ok, but I'm not a big fan of musical movies I guess. Don't take my word for it though - everyone else I know has loved it.

Today I went to church with Mom and then Tony brought me back to school. I'll be back in Ohio in 2 1/2 weeks!! Woohoo! AND I bought a plane ticket to Oregon for New Years! Yeah!! What more could a girl ask for?

Do You Love Money?

I was recently faced with this question at a chiropractic seminar I went to and was shocked to find that I was the only one NOT raising my hand in agreement. At the time I was so shocked all I could muster up in response to "why?" was "because it makes people greedy." I've beaten myself up a bit for my inability to speak God's truth in this situation, but as I blog author I have another chance to voice my opinion to the masses and YOU, my lovely readers get to hear what I SHOULD have said. I actually e-mailed a version of this to the well respected, "successful" Dr. who led the seminar too. I'll also post a link to a monologue from "Atlas Shrugged" written by Ayn Rand which sums up his philosophy about money - you might want to read that first so that what I say makes more sense. Here goes: (slightly edited for the audience)

If I were given the opportunity again to respond to "Do you love money?" I would still refuse to raise my hand. I assure you, I am no moocher or looter, nor do I intend to obtain money dishonorably. While I respect the opinions presented by Rand, I do not see the world as she does. If this life was finite, her arguments regarding money would be precisely the argument I would hope to make with all of my being. However, with respect to God - the almighty power that made the body and the power I will rely upon daily in my practice to allow the body to heal itself again, I see money differently. Blame my "mother/father/teacher/preacher" for this one, but my world view is not finite. I try my best to see the world through the eyes of God, eyes of love, eyes of compassion. Sure, if I practice my art to the best of my abilities and succeed in helping people toward wellness I DESERVE MONEY in return for my efforts. However, I know that if all humans got what they deserved in life I would be looking forward to an eternity in the pit of hell. THANK GOD I DON'T ALWAYS GET WHAT I DESERVE!

Of course I agree that money is necessary for civilized society to relate the trading of goods and services. I shop, I consume, I spend and earn money too. I enjoy seeing those extra digits in my paycheck after a long weekend of overtime. However money is not my absolute. I have met lazy rich people who spend frivolously and I have met hard-working poor who pour out their lives into their work and still can't feed their family. As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, I fear that the time of the glory days of the American Industrialist and the American Dream are slipping away from us. As Rand states..."watch money...it is the barometer of society's virtue". Sadly, I have seen corruption rewarded and honesty becoming self-sacrifice. I have seen force be used by "decent" men, rather than money as a means to get what you want. Though it pains me to see, I suppose it too is what we deserve living in this fallen world in need of redemption.

I cannot say that I LOVE money. To "love" something/someone is to be passionate, to seek it always above other pursuits, to enjoy it fully, to make it my heart's desire. I have only one true love - Jesus Christ. He is my heart's desire and I will not let anyone or anything detract my pursuit of his perfection. Jesus himself stated “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)

The question posed “Do you love money?” took me by surprise. The response from my peers in agreement shocked me more. It is very sad to me that people’s loyalty seems to be more to the paper currency they expect in return for their efforts, rather than to the God of the Universe, our Maker, our Sustainer, our Redeemer, our Healer who gave us the gifts, talents, and abilities to perform these tasks in the first place. My words were less than adequate at the time to describe my opposition, but my intentions were true. “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Maybe having money won’t dictate our desires, but our selfish will is difficult to contend with without the guidance of God’s grace.

Someday God will hold us responsible for our actions. If we can stand before Him and say that in fact we did use our gifts, talents, abilities, and money to serve His kingdom and His people to the best of our abilities, then Hallelujah!! If we strive to treat every person around us as Christ, we will know we are blessed. For me that means feed the hungry, give drink to those who thirst, welcome in strangers, visit those in prison, and care for the sick. This is not something I strive to do on holidays or in my free time. This is my life’s ambition. Call me crazy, but I will work my hardest, I will use my education and talents to help to heal as many people as I can AND I WILL WORK FOR FREE IF I HAVE TO for the sake of God’s Kingdom and for the wellbeing of those in need. As a Tri 1 I know I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know where I will draw the line between earning money and giving it away later as I feel I am led, or working in a free clinic to directly give back to my patients like Patch Adams. I want to do missions work too. I don’t know if that means I’ll have to charge hard-working Americans full price for adjustments so that I can save enough to travel around the world living my dream. I realize that this is probably the LEAST “profitable” business venture ever, but I know I will receive my reward in due time. I don’t have all the answers. I just am beginning to see my chiropractic philosophy come into being. Thank you for encouraging each of us to seek it out. I cannot expect those outside Christ’s Church to act as I act, or to believe what I believe, but for those within the church I see no other way. It is in giving that we receive. There is no eternal reward for saving money.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my opinion.

-Abby Monnin

“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
Mother Teresa

REBA!!

For those of you who wonder about the vital things in our good friend Rebekah's adventures in Bangladesh like..."Do people call her "Reba"?" or "Does she still make those great faces?"...I have your answers!! YES and YES!! I read part of her friend Carolyn's blog and she refers to her as Reba. Also, she captured a GREAT example of those classic Reba faces we've all come to know and love...and miss!! So check it out!
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/feliz_carolina/bangladesh05/1131437340/tpod.html

She has a ton of awesome pics, so check those out too!

Sorry Reba, I couldn't resist!!

What's your story about His glory?

As some of you may know, there is a song on Christian radio that has this line in it. I have no idea what song it is or who sings it, but I really like the sentiment. So, if you noticed, I put that as my sub-title on my blog recently, but then I realized that all I've been blogging about is myself, which is somewhat cruddy of me, because the best part of my life is getting left out - the part about what God is doing in my life. Although that might be implied if you know me, I just want to make it 100% clear how things are here in my neck of the woods.

So...things have really been going well lately! Since I moved to Missouri, I've been looking for an awesome church that I could really call my own (at least for a while) and get involved in. I was looking for one where I could sing (like in Bluffton), somewhere that had people my age, and somewhere where I could work with youth. I know that might sound odd, but it sounds odd to me too! I'm not really a kid-person, but for some reason, I feel that God wants me to be a role-model type to fellow Christians - particularly Catholics. I really wanted to teach CCD (the Catholic version of Sunday School, which is generally on Wednesday nights and only for people ages 7-18-ish.) But as it turns out, most of the churches around here are connected with Catholic Schools and they are pretty particular about who teaches religion class to them (and I moved after class started for the year).

As it turns out, I sort of had my prayers answered! My search for the perfect Catholic Church has been going well, but not outstandingly. I started strong by going to different churches each week and scoping out the area. I found a lot that had certain good qualities, but not one that stood out about the others. Recently I've been slacking and just going to the one closest to my apartment, which is a bit strange because I told someone I went to St. Clare of Assisi and he said "Oh! The potato chip church!" (it's oddly enough shaped like a potato chip) And now I can't get that out of my head. Anyway, back to the answered prayer thing...I went to church and sunday school with my roommate at a Baptist Church and it was great. The worship is awesome just like chapel and the pastor is really great too and really missions minded (for example - the church just adopted a 400 member community in Kenya!) Also, they are soooo welcoming! Not just saying Hi and smiling, but really caring and someone even invited me and my roommates to their house for Thanksgiving if I wasn't planning on going home! That first Sunday I went with Katie and their sunday school class was talking about doing a "service project". Things fell together and we all started helping out with their youth group on Wednesdays! Actually a lot of people gave up already after 3 weeks, but I still go and I LOVE IT!! It's a little weird beacue I don't really know people and I'M CATHOLIC! but it's cool. The students are SO excited about God and they know their stuff! I'm more inspired by listening to them than they will EVER be of me! This week I led a small group and we discussed the lesson they just heard about the cannon. I was freaked out because my cannon isn't the same as theirs, but it turned out really great. This one girl had a bunch of questions, which I think God handled quite nicely through my mouth. Afterwards she stayed for 20 minutes to discuss Catholicism with me because she is dating a Catholic. We had a great talk, especially since my boyfriend is protestant. (Woah! Did that "my boyfriend" thing sound weird to you too? lol!)

Yup, so things are good. The Bible study we started with our class is crapping out, but everything else is looking up. I'm headed to confession tomorrow, so I'm psyched! (Especially since I don't have any "biggies" weighing me down for a change! Robb is sooo good to me!) It's always good to have a "check-up" occationally, especially with that whole "we ALL fall short of the glory of God" thing! So I hope you all have great confessions soon too - however it is that you see fit to do that.

In closing, I was wondering...What's YOUR story about His glory? We've all got them, it's just up to us if we are able to see them and if we are willing to share them. God Bless you all!!

Sweet book

Since Maria's blog reminded me, I wanted to tell you all about a fabulous book I read this summer. It's called "The Beginner's Guide to Changing the World" by Isabel Losada. The story is a factual account of one woman's effort to support Tibet. Even though you may or may not know a darn thing about Tibet (like me!), it's a really great book. This picture would make a lot more sense if you read the book, but I don't want to steal any of her thunder by explaining all the details. Hint: That's Trafalgar's Square (London) and that horizontal line is a man! It's awesome, but don't take my word for it...you should all go to your local library and check it out!

(Yes, I watched a lot of "Reading Rainbow" as a child! Can you tell?)

Happy AND healthy!

So the weirdest thing happened this week. I'll spare you all the details, actually maybe I should just spare you the whole story, but I think it's fascinating and it's MY blog, so just deal with it. Anyway, as some of you may already know, I have been sick for the past 2 1/2 years straight - every single day. My mom always told me it must be because of stress, but I just blew her off because I am too stubborn and proud to think that ANYTHING is too stressful for me - even though most of you understand the depth of my crisis in the last few years. Everyone always complimented me on how well I deal with everything (a lot of which I brought on myself), but nonetheless I didn't want to ever show that I was weak.
I still don't like to admit that I'm weak, but in a way I was forced to recently. A few weeks ago, my chiropractor-in-training insisted that diet must be at the root of my sickness, so he told me only eat plants and animals that eat plants. (Yeah - that's right, no bread, no dairy, no alcohol, no sugar!!) I managed a week and the sickness was still there - however, I was very hungry all the time and grumpy without sugar (who knew I was so dependent!)
The thought of losing chocolate, Mt. Dew, and ice cream forever scared me straight, so I figured I needed to hurry and get to the bottom of why I'm so sick, so I broke down and went to the counselor. We talked a lot about my family stuff and boyfriend stuff and I bawled my eyes out the whole time, but it was really good to get it all out there for a change. I even cried on Robb all night because I couldn't stop thinking about stuff.
I have just really felt so happy since then. A huge part is because things with Robb and I are going so well. It's so nice that I have him to talk to and he's always there for me - even when I've been so ugly to him in the past. He's so sweet and he hurts when I hurt. I've never seen that kind of love before - it's amazing!
I gave up completely on the plant diet thing too. Actually I ate more UN-healthy this week than I probably have any other week in my whole entire life. HOWEVER, I'M HEALTHY! My sickness went away completely! It's fabulous!
So, I've ruled out the diet mattering - unless my body is strangely allergic to veggies. But why else would I get better? I'd like to think that I got sick because it was my body's way of telling me who I shouldn't be with *cough*Alan*cough* and that now that I'm with Robb and happy and appreciated and treated SO well and SO loved that my body is affirming that choice.
Am I being a silly delusional girl, or do I have a valid theory here? Let me know what you think!

...and they lived happily ever after!

It's official!!!!

Robb and I are FINALLY OFFICIALLY DATING! Can you beleive it?? (Ok, that was probably a big unanamous YES!, but it is still surprising to me at least!) Robb flew out to St. Louis on Saturday and we had a great weekend together. We toured to Budweiser Brewery, went up the Arch, toured Union station, saw the St. Louis Cathedral/Basillica, ate more custard from Ted Drewes, went to church together, and just REALLY enjoyed every minute of it! He is so wonderful! Why didn't I realize this before? He is just so good to me in every possible way. I couldn't imagine not having him with me. It's funny though because we are so used to fighting people and convincing them that we are "just friends", so we still can't stop saying "This is my friend Robb". It will definitly take time to get used to! He's flying home today, but I have a real peace about the whole situation. God is totally in the center of our relationship and it is just amazing! (And I get to see him again in about two months, God willing!) Yea!!!

Anatomy Genius!

The past two weeks were midterms for me. It's surprising to realize that I'm halfway finished already, when it seems my classes have just begun. "Cummulative" is my least favorite word right now, but you get used to it I guess. Cramming isn't exactly effective though, so I'll have to change my ways - no more all nighters in Shoker Science Center for me!

As you may have guessed, I kicked all THREE of my anatomy midterms' butts (Gross Anatomy written and lab practical and Spinal Anatomy)!! No one here cares to hear about my genius, so I thought I'd share it with you all. Aren't you lucky??!!

Also, I've been learning to adjust quite a bit recently. I joined this club called "Motion Palpation Institute" (MPI) and it rocks. I can adjust your TL junction, thoracic region, occiput, SI joint and induce counter-nutation in your sacrum. Woohoo! It's such a beautiful feeling to crush someone's TL junction for the first time - you have NO IDEA!! I'm going to make myself a table over Christmas break, so I'll be ready for you all next time I see you! (not you Abby - you are coming too soon...but that's great!)

This weekend my rommate and I are hosting a picnic at the park by our house. We announced it to the whole class and told them they were free to invite pretty much whomever they wanted to, so it should be interesting...we are aiming to feed about 100! good thing I have all that quality banquet/picnic experience!!

Cardinal's Bat Girl!

SWEET!!! I figured out how you all can enjoy my new favorite song - "Cardinal's Bat Girl"! I linked this radio station, so hopefully it works! (You can find the downloadable mp3 if you scroll down past the soldiers and weapons pictures - Creepy!!???) I hope you all enjoy it!

AND I GOT PLAYOFF TICKETS!!!! My roommate and I got tickets for Thursday's game against the Houston Astros. It will be the second in the series for the National League championship - sweet!

Robb sent me a Cardinal's hat about a month ago. I don't usually wear baseball hats, especially with short hair, but I've got to support the team. Hopefully I'll get a picture up so you can all enjoy it. GO CARDS!

Great week

As the title implies, I have had a really great week! A lot of it has to do with Ramadan. The fast is going really well and I really feel that I am growing closer to God (Jesus) because of it. It's awesome (not that lent isn't, but this is extra awesome) because:
1) I'm doing it because this is what I really feel led to do (not just because the liturgical calandar says to or because everyone else is doing it - I only really know one guy who is, but he's Muslim...obliously)
2) it's challenging (And overcoming that challenge makes me feel powerful because I know that God is powerful and it is apparent that He is on my side because otherwise I would have given up by now)
3) It is helping me be consistant in my faith (since it is a daily thing I can't have "good days" and "bad days" like I often do)
4) There is an element of semi-instant gratification (Unlike lent which goes on FOREVER, every day you get to break the fast! It helps to remind me daily that a LOT of things ARE worth the wait, and that I will enjoy them SO MUCH MORE when the time is right. *cough*like SEX!*cough* lol!)
Yeah, so it's been a really good week.
ALSO, I found out for sure that Robb is able to get off of work and come here to visit, while is super exciting, and we've been talking a lot lately and it has been really good and fruitful I think. AND the cardinals won the series last night! (I know I'm not really that huge of a sports fan, but the spirit really gets you here!) I'll try to post a related song, but I don't know how. It's a rip-off of "Holla-back Girl", but it says "I wanna be a Cardinals bat-girl" and it's HILARIOUS!!

Ramadan - Day 1

Happy Ramadan!! OK, so you are probably wondering why I'm so hyped up about a Muslim holiday, right? Well, I have a couple new friends who are Muslim and I've been learning a lot about it and I'm psyched. I was just thinking the other day that I wish lent was coming up because I really could use a time like that to focus hardcore on God and strengthen my faith and trust in Him. Since lent isn't until March, I'm joining in with my Muslims brothers and sisters in Ramadan. For those of you who are still very confused about what I'm talking about here is my pathetically Christian attempt to explain it. Ramadan is a time of fasting in the Muslim faith. It's about 30ish days long (1 lunar month) but depending on moon stuff it changes from year to year. It starts today and ends Nov. 4th. Everyday you don't eat or drink or do anything bad when the sun is up. (Not that you are bad when the sun is down, but you can eat whatever you want at least.) It's also a time of no drinking, no smoking and no sex (Yikes!!). (Unless you are married, then you can have sex, but only when the sun is down.) the whole thing is just a good time to focus on God, to help others who are less fortunate, to worship extra, and to read the Quran more.
My version will be slightly different. I'm doing the fast, but with a few exceptions. When I work out during the day I'll drink water (but I'll try to work out at night). And I will be praying 5 times a day (at least) like a Muslim, but to Jesus because He's the coolest. And last but not least, I will be stopping early (Oct. 27th). The last 10 days of ramadan are supposed to be super intense and all excited about Mohammed receiving the Law, but since I'm not into that I'm out when that all starts. The 27th is a really holy day - some people stay up all night praying. I don't know if I'll go all night, but I definitly will have that as a climax to the whole adventure. AND THEN...
Robb is flying out to visit!! (OK, so this is definitly part of the reason why I'm quitting early.) He finally was able to take a few days off of work so I'm going to show him around the great city of St. Louis! I'm so excited!! (And after fasting and being so extra pure for a month hopefully, God willing, it will be a holy visit.)
So since I'm skipping lunch for the next month hopefully I'll get a chance to keep up with all your crazy blogs!! lol!
P.S. Feel free to join me if you feel so inclined! The Bible say "when you fast..." not "if you fast...". In the least, please pray extra this month for our Muslim friends around the world.

Free adjustments!

For all of those who are interested in free adjustments - listen up! I am totally willing to get as much practice as possible with all of the knowledge I currently possess, but be warned... So far in my class we've been "palpating" each other (it's a nifty word meaning touch and feel for stuff). So we give each other exams daily - checking for balance and symmetry. My personal favorite has been when we palpate each other's gluteal folds (the bottom of their butt cheeks!!) Yesterday we even got the pleasure of palpating the top of the gluteal cleft - aka the top of our buttcracks! I love my school! Apparently the Logan philosophy of chiropractic involves a LOT of butt touching - more than any other philosophy or technique. By the end of three years I will probably have seen the naked butts of everyone in my class (and they'll see mine too!) So much for modesty! It's cool though. They are huge about professionalism, so if anyone laughs at all they have to go before the professionalism board. We all feel equally weird though, so it's all good!

So...if you all want your butts touched - give me a call - I'll even let you borrow my patient gown!

Sorry offer excludes Derek, Bob and Isaac.

Weekend in Kentucky!

I'm here in Louisville, KY in Maria's room typing on her SWEET computer! I left St. Louis yesterday after class and made the 4-ish hour drive to Louisville to visit Maria. We went out to a coffee shop (fair-trade of course) and then we came back and attempted to watch the movie "I heart Huckibees", but since I woke up at 5:45 that morning I didn't see much at all. Maybe we'll finish it tonight. Rachel Yoder likes the movie, and I liked as much as I saw, so it was cool. today we went to some park and ended up accidentally in a car show (in the Corola!!). It was pretty funny - some guy even wanted us to stop so he could take a picture of our car! lol!! Now we are getting ready for my friend (Grace's) wedding. She was from my camp in Ohio and her fiance came to work for a week too, so I know him - a little at least. I'm excited to see my friends again that I haven't seen for a year. I don't know who is all coming, but I'm bringing Maria as my date. The wedding is at 5:30 and then after the reception we are heading back to Louisville to stay (the wedding is about an hour away in Lexington). Then Sunday I'm heading back home to have my weekly house dinner and then a fun night of Biochem.

I've been doing a pretty good job this year of keeping my goal of keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest. I love looking forward to Sundays instead of dreading the cram session like in undergrad. I highly recommend it! I have to study on Saturdays which is sort of sucky, but it's ok - and since you folks don't have to study you should be set! OK, I'm done preaching.

Logan College of Chiropractic

I'm already in week 3 here at Logan and it has been going well! I am really getting along well with both of my roommates, and we met a lot of nice people in my class too. I'm in a class of 146 - the 2nd largest ever. My 2nd cousin actually is in my class - (Tony Monnin), but we had never talked until we got here! He's cool though. There are a bunch of southern boys here and I'm fighting off the accent, but it's so tough!! The classes are going well thus far. We hadn't really gotten started on anything really new or tough until this week. I'm not overwhelmed yet, but I could see it happening around midterms. Just so you know, our school year is divided into three sections: Fall, Spring, and Summer. We go pretty much year-round with 2 week breaks in between terms, but we get about a month off for Christmas. By doing year-round we can stuff 5 years worth of semesters into 3 and 1/3 years. We call the terms "Trimesters", so don't freak out and think I'm pregnant, OK? So now I'm refered to as a "Tri 1". (Trevor Thomas is a Tri 4) Yesterday I was in the cadaver lab for the first real dissecting day. It was alright. I NEVER want to be fat though - there is NOTHING on the planet grosser than removing handfulls of adipose tissue! WE get free gym memberships though - so that's a plus! I did cardio kick-boxing today and all the 40 yr. old ladies kicked my butt! OK, that's all for now - I have to go to Histology lecture!! (Don't you all miss school??!!)

P.S. Abby - that would be awesome!! I'm so excited that you are coming!

Home Sweet Home

I am an official resident of the "Show-Me" State. lol! I don't have internet or cable or anything at our house yet, but I am here and things are going well. My roommates are awesome and we've been touring the area and finding some great places. My house is right next to this great park where they have trails and concerts in the summer. I love it already. We even met some Logan upper-Tri's at the video store and they were cool! Today we made it to the library and we are headed to the bookstore next - that could be painfull! I'll try to blog again when I can use my own computer.

I just can't get enough!! 

Max 

The Happy Behr Family! 

MAXWELL ROBERT BEHR

Kate and Randy had their baby!!! Max was born last Wednesday (Aug. 17th) at 4:15am. He weighed 7'15" and was 21" long. Kate was induced on Tuesday and was in labor all day, but he didn't want to come out. She was doing fine until about 3:30 when she started to get a fever, so they did an emergency C-section. My mom and brother were there and they got to hold him and he was doing just fine for the first two hours so Mom and Joe drove home. Max got some sort of infection though and he started turning blue so they put him in the Neo-natal ICU. For a while he was all hooked up to a ventilator, an IV, a feeding tude, a blood pressure cuff, and a pulse monitor and a bunch of other stuff too. He had to stay in his incubator for a few days on antibiotics to recouperate. I guess the incubator makes babies turn orange and Randy said that he looked like a cheeto for a while, but he is doing much better now. I saw him yesterday but I wasn't allowed to hold him, but I got to rub his head and he feels like a little peach! He should be coming home on Thursday or Friday hopefully and then I'm going to see him again. Sorry I don't have any good pictures yet, but he was looking a little scary for a while. He's cute now, but my camera isn't digital. I'll post one ASAP.

Part 2: Germany / World Youth Day

The central location for World Youth Day was Cologne, Germany (Koln in Deutsch). However, since there were so many people making the pilgrimage ("Pilgrims") our group along with about a thousand others stayed in a little town near there called Pulheim.
We thought that we would be sleeping on a gym floor and not showering for the next 6 days, but instead we got to stay with host families in their homes. I lived with a cute little German grandma lady named Freyja. She was so sweet and she even left packs of gummy bears on our pillows! So we ended up with soft beds and warm showers - yeah!!!
Remember how I said that we weren't allowed to drink at all? Well, that sort of went out the window when we got to Pulheim. The people there threw festivals for us every night at the Church hall with free beer and brats. One night the festival was out in a field and they even had a DJ playing music - a lot of which was American music and it was just like a festival back at home! (except there were people from all over the world there and the legal drinking age was 14!) It got a little out of hand that night, but it was alright. (Who gets drunk and grinds on a pilgrimage!!???) Whatever - stupid high schoolers!
Apart from that there was a lot of good stuff too. We had catechesis (the Catholic version of Sunday school) and mass and one day it was all done by an archbishop from Nigeria who was next in line to be the Pope! It was extra awesome too because someone asked him about justice and he replied that justice will come when rich countries stop selling guns to poor countries and poor countries can feed all their people. It was great - Perry would have loved it! He's not all that old either, so maybe he'll be Pope in a few years! Yeah!!
When Pope Benedict XVI came into town he rode down the Rhein on a cruise ship waving and blessing us. I had a great seat on the bank and it gave me chills. My picture is pathetic though, but I will include it only for your amusement (Hint - Papa is the white dot on the front of the boat against the tree in the background. lol)
We got to see the Cologne cathedral where the bodies of the 3 kings are kept. That was the theme of the trip "We come to worship him" - and at the end the theme verse was "and they returned home by another way". It was cool because I really feel that a lot of people (myself included) are going to live life differently because of this experience. (Another huge blessing)
The weekend festivities were at this field in the country called Marianfield. They built a "Pope Mountain" in the middle and there were just people for miles - literally. We were supposed to have sweet seats, but by the time we went to mass and then walked the 18 miles from Pulheim to the field our patch of grass was taken, so we sat in the back in a mud pit wrapped up in these aluminum foil emergency blankets - who knew Germany was so freakin' cold in August!! Everyone else spent the night there after the vigil service, but we headed back to Pulheim. Our train was scheduled to leave an hour and a half after the end of sunday mass and we heard that it would take approximately 12 hours to get out of the field when mass was over because of all the people there, so we played it safe and went to the city.
I actually ended up watching Sunday mass on a TV in Cologne while drinking beer in a pub at 10:30am. It was great. It was mostly in German, but we followed along in our books in English.
About those straw hats...they were just as ugly as I thought (maybe even uglier), but surprisingly enough everyone else LOVED them! Everyone wanted to take our picture or take their own picture wearing them and they wanted to trade us for them. (Trading a huge thing at WYD - you get a bunch of random stuff from other countries - we traded Pope pins). On Sunday we were finally allowed to trade our hats away. I gave mine to a lady in Mc. Donalds and she gave me beads from Tahiti. The best trade of all though was one girl in our group who gave hers to the pub owner who bought our first round of beer for the mass - for 8 of us!
It was such a wonderful trip with only a few exceptions. Our chaperoens treated us like fourth graders and held our passports, airline tickets, train tickets, and subways tickets at all times. Also, I can only take so much High School B.S., but it definitly increased my prayer life - if for no other reason than needing God to grant me patience, so overall it was great. Now I'm hooked on curry-ketchup and NUTELLA (Sorry for not appreciating it last time - I totally understand now!)

I'm home!! (Part 1:Rome)

It was wonderful!! The sightseeing in Roma and Vatican City, a train through the Alps, staying in Pulheim, Germany, the crowds from all over in Cologne, Mass with 1 million fellow Catholics, and THE POPE - who could ask for more??? It was awesome! I wish I could post ALL of my pictures, but that isn't exactly efficient, so you will all have to come visit me in St. Louis soon!

There is just so much to say! I'll split up all my writing into separate entries, but I'm sorry - they are going to be long anyway!

Part 1: Rome
OK, so we started in Roma (Rome in Italian). 97 people total from about 6 little towns - 16 of which were from Ft. Loramie. My friend Aaron from Ohio State was the only one in my class, but in Ft. Loramie we are pretty close with everyone, even though we haven't tlaked since graduation. It worked out REALLY well though. The group got along great and I haven't laughed that much all summer. (Blessing #1 of infinity)
We saw a ton of sweet churches which were each special in their own way, the Pantheon, the Colloseum and Trevi Fountain. The Vatican was gorgeous. I'm sure it was 100% sweeter because I'm Catholic, but it was just gorgeous. I got to stand in the place where all those people waited for the announcement of the new pope and I saw the little pipe where the smoke came out and the bedroom window where Pope John Paul II waved right before he died. I saw his grave too and Saint Peter's grave. They were beautiful. Then we walked all the way to the tippy top of the dome and got to see the whole city - I'm pretty proud of my picture from up there!
While in Rome we stayed at a church and slept on the floor in the basement. They made "showers" for us outside in the yard which were freezing cold, 7 of them in a row, all together with a semi-see-through curtain between us and the people sitting in the yard - so much for modesty!! We all took shifts between guys and girls and fought for night showers so it was dark and less weird. I had flashbacks of volleyball showers. It was hilarious though. We got to go to mass everyday (sometimes in English and sometimes Italian) and we prayed a lot too. It was really cool to talk about faith with people who have grown so much since you last saw them!!
They we took a train to Germany through Austria and the Alps. It was a 15 hour trip with three differents trains. The one we were on all night was a sleeper car though, so that was awesome.

Papal Mass via pub 

Camp Ohio 

Chaos around the Papa Mobil 

Welcome to Germany! 

St. Peter's Square 

American pride gone wrong. 

Papa!

Trevi Fountain 

Germany or bust!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Europe! I'm flying from Detroit directly to Rome. We get to stay there and sightsee for a few days, check out Vatican City, and then we are headed for Germany. I really don't know the details, but I will attach a link if you are interested. All I know is there will be about 1,000,000 people there - including THE POPE! There are 97 people from my area going and the leadership has decided that we will all wear straw hats with the american flag on them so we won't lose anyone. Great idea! (Someone should tell them it's not "cool" to be from America.) We also aren't allowed to drink at all (not that I need it or anything, but who can resist a pint of Strongbow at the pub?) I'm really looking forward to the trip though.

My sister is having her baby on August 16th. I'll miss it! But I'll post pictures when I get back.

Last week was pretty exciting. I went to MI and cooked dinner for Brad. He kicked my butt in Putt-Putt and then we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We both agreed that it was the best break-up date EVER! lol I also saw Alan last week. It was weird. I probably won't ever see him again. He's actually dating someone else now (Sarah, a girl from Oxford/Iowa).

ANYWAY...I'll miss you all! I'll be home in two weeks!

The Werner Wedding

Randy, Kate, and Max-to-be

Baby carrier demo

Kate and Randy's

I'm at Kate and Randy's for the week and it is interesting. I've never lived in a city before, so I'm amazed at the fact that I can walk to church AND to the library. I got a library card just to check my e-mail. lol I figured I could come up here and help around the house since Kate is huge and they probably don't feel too motivated after a full day of work. These two are crazy though! Their house is immaculatly clean - they really clean the whole house EVERY week!! (Cari and I didn't even vaccuum twice this whole YEAR!!) LOL. So I cleaned anyway. then I fixed their mini blind that were about a foot too long. And now I'm done. They said they have NOTHING for me to do. At home my mom has a to do list that rivals the Bible in length. This is crazy! So I've been running a lot and tonight I will attempt to cook for them. Yeah for vegetables!! (Reba, I'd never thought I'd say that!!)

Party?

OK, so you might be wondering what ever happened to that brilliant party idea Abby had that was supposed to be soon. Well, with all the Grandpa crisis and now the fun PA roadtrip coming up I think I will continue to put it off a little while longer. I'm going to say July 31st officially. It can be a Happy Anniversary to Laura and Bob/everyone soon-to-be going away party. Bring swimming suits and your drink of choice and I'll provide the food. I can't wait to see you all again!!

I really am enjoying my summer, but I do get a bit of cabin-fever every now and then. Last week I memorized where every country is in the whole world and then I started learning capitals. I know all of Africa, Europe, the Canadian provinces, and central and South America too. This week I redesigned our system of attaching our boats to the dock. It took 3 trips to the hardware store and about 70 feet of rope. Next I intend to re-finish the swing. EXCITEMENT!!! It's like living inside HGTV!!!!! LOL.

P.S. I never made it to that Chris Tomlin concert. It was raining ...and I went on a date instead!! His name is Brad Brumm, he's a Sigma Chi from Michigan, he's Filipino, he's super sweet and funny, and...he works for the ARMY! BOO!!!! But like I said, he's super sweet and fun and he drove down here a day early just for me (he had some big Sigma Chi party to go to in Cincinnati on Sat.) and we went out to eat and bowling and then boating with my friend Sarah and her fiance Craig (also a Sigma Chi). It was so nice! Then on sunday on his way back home he came over again and we canoed and swam. It was great! AND we didn't even kiss!! It was fabulous - no pressure!!! (However, I'm a little nervous with date #3 coming up for Sarah's wedding at the end of July - if you've seen "Hitch" you know what I mean!!) He's just such a great guy...why the Army???? :( The picture is of Brad and my friend Sarah - disregard the random shape and newsprint - I ripped it out of my scrapbook temporarily. lol!

My new house

99.9% Missouri Bound

OK, so my temporary insanity has now worn off and I'm pretty settled back on St. Louis. I prayed about it a lot and St. Louis feels like the best decision (even though Oregon is very, very awesome!!) WSCC never sent me the info I requested so that was a downer. I'm still waiting to see if I was accepted though - if I hate Logan it will be my first choice to transfer to! LOL! Actually things with St. Louis are going really well!! This really nice Christian lady called me and said that she was looking for roommates to live with her daughter in this sweet townhouse. (Her daughter is currently in Ethiopia doing mission work for the summer!!) The place is sweet - 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 stories, a balcony/deck thingy, a fireplace, a bar, a walk-out basement, a park in the backyard with trails and occational concerts - what more could I ask for????!!! The rent isn't terrible either. I'm psyched! So I'm going to sign a lease next week!!! Ahhhh!! So yeah, no more Oregon for me...but with the GladRags headquarters there how could I resist?? LOL!!

Living in Oregon????

I just applied to Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC) in Portland, Oregon. lol! I don't know what I'm thinking! I could tell you some B.S. about how they have a good program that integrates nutrition and about how Portland is beautiful and how fun it would be to live in a "green" city, but you would probably tell me to shut up. The truth is...Robb talked me into it - applying that is. I probably will still go to Logan in St. Louis, but I'm at least concidering it. Feel free to let me know what you think.
So this probably leads you to ask what the heck is going on with me and Robb. I don't know really. Obviously we are talking again. He also stopped drinking after I left and is now REALLY on fire for God. Why didn't he figure that out earlier????!!!! I've been praying a lot about it and even though his stats are greatly improved now, I'm still not so sure that we are right for each other. Feel free to let me know what you think on that too!

Grandpa update: He still didn't have heart surgery. He got a really bad infection from the last time he was at the hospital, so it will be several weeks before they can re-schedule. He is in the hospital now, but he'll be home tomorrow. Please keep praying because his Alzheimer's is getting really bad.

Chris Tomlin 

The end of the saga...finally!

Well folks, you can all relax - I will NOT be marrying (or dating) Alan. He sent me an e-mail earlier this week saying that he has thought a lot about everything and he just doesn't think it is healthy for either of us to keep trying to make this work. THANK GOD!!! It's about time, don't you think???!! He won't be coming home for a month, but it is really finally officially over.

In other news...Grandpa decided to go ahead with the heart surgery, even though it will very likely worsen his mental capabilities. It is scheduled for next Tuesday.

I heard about a free concert in Dayton coming up. It's Chris Tomlin (I don't know how to spell) and he's an awesome Christian singer. If anyone is interested let me know. The concert is on Friday, June 24th at 7:00pm.

Update

Grandpa didn't actually end up having surgery. They are worried that while making his heart healthy, they might damage his overall health with the anesthesia. They are going to wait and think about it this weekend and then he'll be back on Monday to make the decision. Please keep praying for all of my family.

On a more positive note...Dad got a job!!!! It's a weird temp-ish maintenance job, but a job is a job and it pays pretty well. Praise God for that!!!

The week started well and then...

Last week I went to visit Brett Fisher at Wright State (former Bio Beaver, yes Laura - he's the one with 1 1/2 legs). I got to say hi to my brother too while I was there. We saw the movie Kingdom of Heaven (I didn't know what it was before I went). The story line was good and Orlando was as beautiful as ever, but I had to watch half of the movie with my eyes closed!!! So much blood and guts!! I suppose it was necessary with a movie about the crusades and all, but wow!!
This week started out going really well. Mom is home from school now, so that is nice. (Joe will be home tomorrow.) I put my graduation announcement in the paper to appease my mom. I scrapbooked a lot. I made an attempt at organization in my room, but you wouldn't beleive me if you saw it right now. I went canoeing too.
Yesterday was the official "women's" cleaning day at church. (Apparently the male anatomy renders them incapable of sweeping or something?????) Anyway, I figured that since I am generally a bum I should go. It actaully turned out to be really fun. However, I was the youngest one by about 30+ years so I got nominated to crawl around under all the pews and scrub the floor and then go back and wax. I was very impressed how flexible some old ladies are!! They fed us too, so that was cool. Right before we were finished I accidentally dumped the dirty mop bucket all over the clean floor. So I don't know if they will invite me back again, but it was fun while it lasted!
Today was not so good, however. My grandpa has been short of breath, so he went in for tests. To make a long story short, he will be having open heart surgery tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for him and for my family. Laura and Reba have met him and he's just the sweetest old man ever. The doctors were so surprised that he hadn't come in sooner, but he just never complains about anything. That is just the kind of man he is.
Maria: I'm sure you can understand how I feel right now. I'm sorry that I didn't really understand what you went through last summer with your Grandpa. Where is Dylan when you need him? TOTALLY KIDDING!!! I love you.

Grandma's computer lesson

Today was quite exciting. I gave Grandma her first ever computer lesson! She is borrowing my computer (ahhhh!!!) for the summer to see if she likes it. She doesn't have internet yet, but that is ok considering she had never used a "mouse" before today. It was actually really fun. She paid me with Mexican food - I could get used to that!! However, she let me walk around all day with a super absorbancy tampon hanging out of my back pocket. NOT COOL!! No wonder why the Mexicans looked at me funny!

P.S. I'm throwing a party! If you have date preferences or "please-don't-schedule-it-for-that-weekend" suggestions I'd be interesting in hearing them. I was thinking about the end of June/4th of July-ish. We can go boating and shoot off fireworks. If Maria comes, husbands will be welcome. That's my rule.

To the self-appointed "cool" Abby: let me know when you'll be in Ohio and I suppose I could make an exception for Derek to come.

I was so busy...just kidding!

I finally have a blog. Yippee! I was just so busy and...HA! - I don't even remember what busy means! I have no excuse. I'm just exceptionally lazy.

So things here have been really nice. I've been relaxing, reading, sitting in my lawn chair, looking at the lake, and pondering life. It has been a great relief to the stress of exams and life in general. My schedule is free, so let me know if you want to come and relax with me for a day (or longer!)

That is all for now. I wouldn't want to strain myself with all this writing. ;)