I finally have proof that cockroaches really are from the devil.  One tried to disrupt our department pray time this morning when it came within inches of first climbing up my foot, and then my friend Alison’s while she was praying.  See how Satan was sending his little minions to interrupt our blessed communion with God?  Thankfully the Spirit was working through Peter and he cast the evil out of the room with a heavy foot and a wad of tissue.  Praise the Lord!

Categories: Humor, Randomness, News
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Last night was an epic night. A night to go down in history, or to be made into movies like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars…or maybe Dumb and Dumber. It started with a wayward squirrel and ended with a drunken Swede. In short, a night to be remembered.

Last night was the American Idol Live! concert that my family got tickets for me and Pam to for my birthday. I’ve been looking forward to it for months, and was not disappointed in the least! The whole night was memorable on several levels. I knew when we narrowly escaped running over a jaywalking squirrel after realizing that once again Google Maps had lead us astray, that this was going to be, if nothing else, and eventful evening. And I was right.

The concert was amazing, and there’s no one else I would possibly have wanted to go with other than my sister, and fellow AI addict. After getting slightly lost (but able to return to the right track thanks to the wonders of modern technology) we made it to our seats 3 rows from the top of the nose bleed section. Never ones to accept our lot in life so easily, we immediately started scoping the lower levels for empty seats to sneak into. After waiting the appropriate 45 minutes, we trekked down three levels to the seats we had selected and agreed upon from our high altitude seats. I’m so glad I have a sister as delinquent and willing to break silly rules as I am. With an air of confidence and utter lack of guilt we found ourselves 6 rows from the stage, and a few steps away from being able to touch, fawn, and ogle our favorite Idols. All inhibitions aside, we threw ourselves whole heartedly into enjoying every minute of our concert experience, joining in with the screams of the prepubescent girls around us. We got pictures of each of us just feet away from various Idols, and Pam even got to touch David Archuletta. She may not admit it now, but I’m pretty sure I heard her say something about never washing that hand again. For my part, I distinctly heard David Cook propose to me, but Pam keeps telling me that it was just part of my daydream as I gazed into his eyes. I’m still not convinced. So David, if you’re reading this, the answer is still yes.

After the concert we decided to wait out the traffic jam of people leaving the scene by heading across the street to a Marriot hotel to find some water and possibly some Olympic coverage. It wasn’t long before my sister’s smokin’ hot mama-ness attracted a throng of Swedes, in particular a young drunken one. After half an hour or so of hilarious conversation, which we only understood about half of (apparently drunkenness impedes ones ability to speak and understand English when you’re from Sweden), we finally ended our amusement at Sven’s expense and began our two hour drive home.

I laughed (until my stomach hurt), I cried (from laughter), it moved me (to act 10 years younger than my actual age).  All in all it was a fabulous night to be remembered.

This girl and her friend had the best sign of the night, we had to take a picture of it.   David seemed to like it, too.

Categories: Humor, Family
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So I learned today that I shouldn’t complain about natural disasters until they have actually finished running their coarse.  Last night I complained about Fay, and this morning I got a call from Pam saying my room was flooded.   Lovely.  Thanks Fay.  Point taken.

Categories: Life, News
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Now I’m not one to complain (those of you that are regular readers of this blog can stop scoffing now!), but I have to say that hurricane or tropical storm (or whatever) Fay has been disappointing me all over the place.  First of all, I wasn’t present for the 2004 hurricanes, so I was kind of looking forward to experiencing for myself  a real life Florida hurricane.  I know, that’s probably blasphemous to you who were here in ‘04.  Sorry ’bout that.  But here I was, all excited and ready with my hydration supply (read soda), emergency rations (read pizza and ice cream), and prepped hurricane shelter (read living room and most comfortable couch).  All that preparation for about as much rain as I would have expected from a Florida summer.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I wanted houses flooded and general mass destruction (thank God we didn’t have that), but is some light debris blowing down the street, or cats floating on trash cans too much to ask for? 

Secondly, Fay seems to have sadly seduced what I’ve decided are delinquent TV stations into interrupting my Olympic viewing experience at the most interesting points (ie. during the last point of the US women’s volleyball game.  Would it really have killed them to wait ONE MORE MINUTE???) for weather updates that really don’t tell me more than what I already know (or to be honest, even care about).  

But like I said, I’m not one to complain… 

Categories: Humor
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I had the amazing opportunity to have a miniature reunion last night with 2 of my classmates from Rosslyn (

Kenya’s most outstanding school), Rachel and Imtiaz. We went to

Orlando’s only Ethiopian restaurant, Nile Ethiopian.  I highly recommend the restaurant to everyone, by the way.  The food was amazing, and the price was even better.  It was so fun getting to hang out with old friends again, and be able to pick up where we left off 7 or 8 years ago.  If I left off the story there, you’d think it was an amazing, flawless night.  While it was amazing, flawless it was not.  I think it all started with the decision for me to do all the driving.  For anyone familiar with my propensity for getting lost everywhere I go, you should know this was probably a bad idea from the beginning.  I thought that I had permanently vanquished my alter ego by learning how to use the map my mom gave me last year, but I found out last night that she was just temporarily in remission. Just hiding in the dark, waiting to strike fear and consternation into the hearts of unsuspecting passengers in my car. Last night Directionally Challenged Amy (or DCA, as I like to call her) showed up with a vengeance.  But I had Googled directions, so what could possibly go wrong?  A lot, apparently.

I did learn a few things, though.  For instance, if miss your exit on I-4 and choose use the Disney exit to turn around, you might want to rethink that idea.  Disney is an evil abyss, and there is no escaping it without driving through the entire park, which cannot be done in less than 20 minutes.  Also, Google Maps is no longer to be trusted when trying to navigate through the attractions area.  By following the directions (with only minimal inadvertent diversion on the driver’s part from said printed instructions) it took us half an hour to go 3 miles.  In then end, I found that the best way to find your way in Orlando is to just go the direction that has the most palm trees.  Just as the yellow brick road paves the way to Oz, so palm trees line the way to Universal Studios when lost on International Drive.

Categories: Humor, Friends
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Location: Department break room

Time: Approximately 12:13 pm

Cast: 6 women, 1 man, and a microwave.

Setting: 5 of my female friends and I were eating lunch in the break room when one of the men from our department came in to microwave his food. He looked a little worried at first upon entering a room full of woman, but bravely continued of his quest for mid-day sustenance. We all greeted him, and then proceeded to ignored him while we carried on our conversation/s. About 5 minutes later as the man is leaving he stopped in the doorway, gets all of our attention, and says one of the funniest things I’ve heard all week:

“Ladies, I’ve spent the last 5 minutes in here listening to your conversations, and I’d like you to know that I haven’t understood one sentence of it. Not one sentence!”

Categories: Humor
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The the rude driver that tried to run me off the road and then proceded to flick me off - I’d just like you to know that I’m not judging you, but God is.

Categories: News
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Categories: News
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Well, I’ve been back for 2 days now, so I suppose it’s time for me to at least write something about my trip to London. I had an amazing time, and there’s way to much to say for one post alone, so I’ll probably break it down into a few posts over the next few days. For now, though, I thought I’d just post a few pics and do a brief highlight of what went down.

Basically, I accompanied 12 high schoolers and 5 adults to Southall, London to do ministry with the huge percentage of Southeast Asians there. We put on a week long Kids Klub that attracted nearly 150 kids, most of which were either Hindu, Sikh, or Muslim. It was so amazing and encouraging to see so many children of these other religions coming to hear Bible stories and sing praise songs. God is definitely doing some big things in that area with the help of World Harvest, Mission to the World, and London City Missions missionaries. The opportunity for our kids from UPC to be immersed into these other cultures was great. We were given tours of temples and mosques, and lectured on the 3 main religions represented there. All of us learned so much, and more than one of us definitely walked away with a renewed Kingdom mindset.

At the end of the week we had 2 1/2 days to see the city, which for someone who loves history as much as I do, was oh so exciting. It was a crazy, rushed couple days, but we got it all in! I don’t think there’s one large monument or tourist sight in London we didn’t hit. Yeah, I agree. We’re pretty amazing. The highlight by far of that was getting a private tour of the actual room in the Westminster Abby where the King James was translated, and part of the Westminster Catechism was written. It was so neat to be standing in such a historical place.

Now I’m home, suffering from jet lag, missing London, but so happy to have my comfy bed back. The number one thing I won’t miss about London: feeling every single spring in my mattress at night. I’m pretty sure that’s actually an ancient form of Chinese torture.

Categories: Life, News
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Hi all!  I just thought I’d write a brief post to let you all know that I am alive and well in London.  The high school missions team and I have had a great first two days at the Kids Klub, with about 90 kids showing up every day.  We’ve also been able to visit a Muslim mosque, Hindu temple, Sikh Gurdwara, and manned a book table on the streets of Southhall, where thousands of Indians, Pakistani, and Somalians live and work.  It’s been a great opportunity for all of us to interact with these other cultures and religions, and learn more about them, while showing them the love of Christ.  Thanks for your prayers!!!  If you want more details on our time here, you can read the blog that the teens have been updating daily at http://www.londonmission08.blogspot.com.

Categories: News
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