Bullet Point Sunday

Just enjoyed a yummy concoction of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans, corn, & feta cheese. Amazing! Still going strong with the vegetarian eating.

Got a bad 24 hour stomach bug earlier in the week. Not a pleasant situation. Felt pretty weak and thus haven't been able to ride my bike. Hoping to get back on track with that starting tomorrow.

Packing is pretty much on stand still since school has started back. Damaris did help me finish up ripping all our cd's this week. Hopefully we can go sell them used this week to recoup the cost of the external hard drive & hopefully a bit extra. She also helped me go through our faux-pantry this week & we're making our weekly meal plans to try to use up as much of the dried goods/canned goods stuff so we don't have to move it. I need to take pictures of some furniture pieces & rugs we have that we're getting rid of so I can get them posted on Craigslist & the garage sale group of Freecycle.

Damaris' last day of school was Thursday. We're adjusting to her being back home with us all day. I love it, but it is an adjustment. She'll be participating in some activities at Friendship House & I think she'll go spend a week with my parents as well before we move.

I'm going to try to do a little bit of knitting & watch some tv before I'm back to schoolwork tomorrow. Have a blessed week friends!

My Autobiography

I'd like to be blogging to share the podcast link for the sermon I preached a couple of weeks ago, but it's also not yet available.

I could blog a review of Christy Nockels' new album "Life Light Up" (which if you haven't bought it yet, go now, it's well worth your money), but I'm being lazy and haven't written up a full review of it yet.

But, I do want to blog something (I'm avoiding homework!), so I'm going to
stealborrow this from Crystal and share my autobiography in list format.

My Autobiography

Where did you take your Facebook profile picture?
sitting in the very recliner I'm sitting in right this second

What exactly are you wearing right now?
khaki colored shorts, a pink tank top, & a white bandanna in my hair

What is your current problem?
avoiding schoolwork, worrying about money

What makes you happy most?
my hubby & my daughter

What song are you listening to at the moment?
the aforementioned new album by Christy Nockels

Ever sang in front of a large audience?
so many times I cannot even count them

Do you still watch kiddy movies or kiddy TV shows?
not really unless I'm watching a movie with Damaris that she picks

Do you speak any languages?
sometimes I say English good, but not all the time :-)

Has anyone you’ve been really close with passed away?
yes, many people

What’s something that really annoys you?
people who go back on their word

Chapter 1:
===============
1. Middle name: Cherie

2. Nicknames: C.C.

3. Current location: Abilene, Texas

4. Eye color: Blue

Chapter 2:
===============
1. Do you live with your parent(s)? not for 14 years now

2. Do you get along with your parent(s)? most of the time, more with my mom than my dad

3. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Married.

4. Do you have any Siblings? a sister & 3 brothers-in-law

Chapter 3: Favorites
===============
1. Ice Cream: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

2. Season: Autumn

3. Shampoo/conditioner: usually something for colored hair, but not always

Chapter 4: Do You..
===============
1. Dance in the shower? nope

2. Do you write on your hand? not recently

3. Call people back? yep

4. Believe in love? Absolutely

6. Any bad habits? negative self-talk

Chapter 5: Have You..
===============
1. Broken a bone: yep, my wrist, a finger, several toes

2. Sprained stuff: we would be here all day if I told you everything I've ever sprained (I own my own pair of crutches if that tells you anything)

3. Had physical therapy: yep, see question 2

4. Gotten stitches: not that I recall

5. Taken painkillers: most definitely

6. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling: nope

7. Been stung by a bee: not that I recall

8. Thrown up at the dentist: No

9. Sworn in front of your parents: only one time that I can recall

10. Had detention: no

Chapter 6: Who/What was the last
===============
1. Movie(s): in the theater, I couldn't even tell you; at home, an old 1940's movie that I can't remember the name of

2. Person to text you: my mother-in-law

3. Person you called: my mom

4. Person you hugged: Damaris

5. Person you tackled: not sure I've ever tackled anyone

6. Person you talked to on AIM/iChat: Russ

7. Thing you touched: my pink computer mouse

8. Thing you ate: reduced fat vanilla wafers

9. Thing you drank: water

10. Thing you said: apologized to Russ for annoying him

Chapter 7: Future
===============
1. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? the mom of a teenager! (ack), married for 17 years, hopefully working as a hospital chaplain

2. Where do you hope to live? Colorado

3. Do you want to be famous? not really

Alrighty, if you
want to be lazyjoin in on the fun, post this & then comment so I can come check your autobiography out.

Bullet Point Sunday

Last free week before classes start again. Summer class #1 starts tomorrow & runs through the end of June & then summer class #2 is July through early August. 67 days until I'm done with school forever.

75.5 days until we move. I'm really excited. Even though we love it here in Abilene, I'm ready to move to on to our next stop in the journey. Found out yesterday that an old college friend lives in Lubbock, so hope to reconnect with her when we move. My sister who also lives in Lubbock called yesterday and we're already making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I have an addiction. I admit it. I've been having elbow pain since early in the week. Finally figured out that it's because I did about 10 times the amount of knitting that I normally do in the week. It's called knitter's elbow. lol! Russ thinks it's funny that I have a knitting injury.

I've been riding my bike this past week. I can't remember if I mentioned that my work will be 2.5 miles from our apartment. I plan to bike there as much as possible. But I've got to build up my distance and speed to be able to do that. I've been riding about 10-15 minutes each time I ride and I'm going a little further every time. Looking forward to riding again in the morning.

That's about it for this bullet point Sunday. Have a great week yall!

Russ' Presentation at NABPR

Russell presented a paper he wrote at the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion conference at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. The paper was titled "Theology as Participation: Trinitarian, Narrative, and Missional Praxis."

Damaris' 4th Grade Awards Ceremony

As most everyone knows, I homeschooled Damaris for 4.5 years. We put her into public school in November of last year so we could help her adjust before we relocate to Lubbock where she will also be attending public school. It's been a difficult adjustment not only for Damaris, but also for Russ & I. The rewards of how Damaris has adjusted were shown today.

I couldn't be a prouder mom! Last week, we received notice that Damaris was receiving some awards at school today. Of course, Russ & I attended.

The first award Damaris received was for the outstanding achievement in 4th grade music by a girl.



The second award Damaris received was for "A" Honor Roll.


The third award Damaris received was for outstanding achievement in reading. She was one of two to receive this award in her class.


The final award Damaris received was the most prestigious and highest award that could be received. It was for outstanding citizenship by a girl in her class.



Here is a picture of Damaris and her teacher Mrs. Cheek.


Here is a picture of Damaris and her good friend Tori.


Thanks to each of you who have prayed for and with us and journeyed with us on this new experience for us all. We are so blessed to have each of you as a part of our lives.

Bullet Point Sunday

Spent the week continuing to prepare for our move, went to Lubbock Monday & Tuesday and found a great 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment just 2 miles from the hospital I'll be doing my chaplaincy residency at, came back home & sorted through more stuff, had to call Goodwill for another pickup, need to get some furniture pieces listed on CraigsList & continue to purge some more stuff

Some frustration this week has occurred with Russ' job at Walmart. They are trying to force all employees into being available to work any time, any day. With people like us who are students, this doesn't work. There are 3 colleges & 2 junior colleges here in town & many of the students work for places like Walmart. In forcing employees to do this, they are cutting the work hours of those who aren't open availability. Russ' hours have been cut in half. We need to make it through the next 11 weeks until we move & we're very concerned about finances while we complete these weeks before we move to Lubbock. Please pray about this situation. It's affecting not only us but many of the employees at Walmart.

I was blessed to be able to preach for the first time outside of a seminary classroom today at church. I've been a nervous wreck all week about this. Those who know me, know that I'm very much of an extrovert, but get me up in front of a group to speak & I don't do too well. God gave me amazing words to say though as I spoke about my "addiction" to knitting & how God has knit each of us & how we need to knit ourselves into authentic relationships with people. God has made each of us unique & wonderful & we must understand that in order to be open to these relationships.

Russ & I head out for Waco tomorrow where he'll be presenting a paper at the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion conference. We'll be home Wednesday & then a few more days to get stuff packed before school starts a week from tomorrow.

Have a blessed week yall! I appreciate each of you who are journeying along with me.

What a Beautiful Baby

Russ & I made a quick trip to Lubbock on Monday and Tuesday to look for a place to live in August. We found a 2 bedroom & 2 bathroom apartment that they are willing to hold for us until we move in August. We had to put a deposit down & there is some paperwork I had to fax in today, but as long as everything goes smoothly with the paperwork, the apartment is ours. Russ still is looking for a job in Lubbock, but we were able to figure out that with the rent & utilities for this apartment, we can make it on my salary. It will be extremely tight, but we can make it. He'll look for a job though & that will definitely help us out.

Russ & I have another week & a half off school (we'll be going to Waco for the first part of next week so that Russ can present a paper at the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion conference). I'm also preaching for the first time (outside of the classroom) at our church on Sunday.

Our first summer class starts June 1st & our second summer class ends August 6th & then we'll move to Lubbock on Saturday, August 15th. Please pray that all the details with the paperwork for the apartment go smoothly, for a job for Russ, & for a good school situation for Damaris.

We stayed at my sister's house so of course we spent plenty of time playing with Lola. She's 8 months old now. She's saying mama and babbling alot. She is crawling everywhere. She can pull herself to standing and she's going to take off walking any second now. Carrie also showed us the last two puppies they had left from one of their dogs having puppies. Damaris wasn't able to go on the trip with us and we were told not to come home without pictures of Lola and the puppies. Thought yall would enjoy seeing them too.




2009 - May 19 - Lola Callaway Frink from C.C. Almon on Vimeo.