Archives for April 2010

Crowder’s Mountain Part Deux

April 5, 2010 by Amy 8 Comments

Never say never. When will I learn? 14 years ago, my family, Scott and my uncle and aunt climbed Crowder’s Mountain. It’s a pretty short hike overall, only 2.8 miles up the mountain.

But last time it was a HIKE and I said I’d never do it again. Here’s my scrapbook page from back in the day. It’s like old-school blogging!

I was weeks away from graduating high school. Love that perm, doncha?

Well, Saturday we took to the mountain again, with 4 more people and 2 more dogs in tow.

I was most worried about Lexi who gets tired after about 2.5 minutes walking through the mall. And indeed, she was pulled

And carried

And carried some more

But she also did a lot on her own

So momma is proud! I didn’t even blame her when she passed out minutes after hitting the road.

Cause I was trying to do the same thing

But Emma? Emma bounced, ran, skipped up the mountain. She was proud that no one had to carry her and wanted to do it again and we hadn’t even finished yet.

Clearly she had a lot of energy left over on the way home

Scott of course made it up like a park ranger. This is after he worked 12 hours Friday night with only 4.5 hours of sleep Saturday morning.

No fear at the top, just swinging his legs over the edge. But that’s why I love him.

As for me, I enjoyed being with my girls

Taking pictures for everyone to remember

And challenging myself. It’s amazing how much easier (not easy!) it was since my C25K training.

And being so dang proud of the four of us at the top knowing that the last time we were there, we were just two kids in love with a bunch of dreams.

And so happy to share these moments with all my family

And let’s not wait another 14 years…I can barely handle the thought of Emma and Lexi being in college then…

There were lots more stories from that day (tailgating on Glenn’s truck, pulling dogs, Mom’s hurt ankle, too.much.pollen.)…check out more pictures here and here.

Sunday Highlights – imPOSSIBLE– Life After Death

April 5, 2010 by Amy Leave a Comment

I know it doesn’t mean much to have Sunday Highlights on Monday but I was at home for all of 1 hour yesterday and just didn’t get it done. It was a great service though and I don’t want to skip it so here we go.

Many of us view Jesus as one way to religion, often tacking Him on to our religious beliefs.

Paul was addressing gnostics who tacked on Jesus to their beliefs and says Jesus was “established to be the Son of God by the resurrection”. The word established comes from herizo, the word we get horizon from. It’s like the line that separates the sky and land. Jesus draws a line in time by the resurrection. He’s on one side and everything else is on the other. Which side are you on?

A Risen Jesus Changes Everything

A dead Jesus

Doesn’t have a story to tell. Nothing significant.
Means Christians are slanderers against whatever God there is.
We are still guilty and everyone will be punished.
v9 says we should be pitied. He’s not worth living for.
And certainly not worth dying for.

Risen Jesus becomes

A story you want to tell
Gives everything meaning and purpose
Deals with our sin
Offers us hope
Making life worth living
Takes fear out of dying

Question is are we alive? How has he changed us/

If your life or beliefs contradicts Jesus, you have to change. Stop tacking Him on to your life and let Him change everything. Get on his side of the herizo.

iPad Schmi-Pad

April 3, 2010 by Amy 6 Comments

iPad is all the buzz today and you’d think as an iPhone and MacBook owner, I might be rushing over to my local Apple store to get one. And I keep wondering if I should. But as far as I can tell, there are only 2 reasons why I should and lots more why I shouldn’t

I should

iBooks – Apple has basically released an iTunes for books. It’s an online store and reader and namely Apple’s answer to the Kindle. I, for one, am not in the market for a book reader. My friend Allison recently got a Kindle and she sings high praises of it but I’m not sold on them yet. My eyes are already on a screen too many hours a day. I like that I can loan and resell my paperbacks. If I were in the market for a book reader, I’d for sure be going for the iPad.
NetFlix – With the iPad you can stream movies from NetFlix. SO much better than carrying around a DVD Player and a bunch of DVDs. The problem is I don’t watch too many movies on the go. In fact, I’m not on the go for that many hours at a time very much. When I am on the go, I prefer reading one of those paperbacks. It just wouldn’t be worth it for me.

I shouldn’t

No phone – This is definitely not a replacement for your iPhone. No cell service.
No camera – Again, not a replacement for your iPhone or even your camera if you don’t have an iPhone.
Too big – Look, it’s 1.5lb and much larger than my iPhone. If I’m going to have to carry around something larger than my iPhone I’m much happier with my 13” MacBook.
Too expensive – In order to get wireless service you have to rely on WiFi but that seems silly as the two features I would be interested would be “on the go” and require a data connection. In that case, I’d have to add another $30/mo service plan. No thanks.
No flash – One downfall of the iPhone is you still can not view Flash web sites. Well, iPad doesn’t solve that.

So I could probably go on but I think I’ll rest my case and just say iPad Schmi-Pad.

It’s not for me.

If you’re on the iPad train though, convince me otherwise! I’d love a reason for another Apple toy!

Good Friday

April 2, 2010 by Amy 4 Comments

I’ve had a hard time coming up with a post for today. I thought about posting my Top 10 Referrers and asking you to go visit them:

Or I thought about posting a song that’s been in my brain all day:

Or I thought about posting a few quotes from this week’s Modern Family that was HIGHlarious. If you’re not watching this show you were CRAZEEE!!

Claire: They’re getting more in next week.
Phil: Next week? That’s like the worst thing you can say to an early adopter. [permalink]

Phil: I was 11 years old. I hit ten straight fastballs in the batting cage, then my friend Jeff Sweeney took one in the groin. I yelled "ball two!" Everybody laughed. That’s when I knew I was funny. [permalink]

Cameron: You’re so cute when you’re angry with you’re little fists. I just want to put you in my pocket. [permalink]

Cameron [to Mitchell]: Oh man, if a spider would have broken in here, he would have been in trouble. [permalink]

Phil: The iPad comes out on my actual birthday. It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together to say, "we love you, Phil." [permalink]

Phil: Touch it but don’t touch it.

But really I think I just want to say I hope you are having a GOOD FRIDAY!

Just Give Me a Pill Box

April 1, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

Why do bloggers feel a need to share such private information as their medical history? I don’t know. But we do. Or I do. I complained on Twitter Monday of having to do blood work and my results came back today.

Turns out I have hypothyroidism. And guess what? It makes me happy. And I’ll explain why. I’ve had so many of these symptoms, two of which I specifically talked to her about on Monday. Many of which I was simply blaming my aging, personality, stress, work load, even the season. And I’m sure that contributes but now, with a diagnosis and a prescription, I have the hope of change. Before today, I was really trying to deal with the fact that I was just getting older and I was going to live with how my body is different. And I know, my body is and will continue to change. But maybe this can slow the process down a bit and return me to a bit of normalcy.

My Vitamin D was very low as well and that scares me a bit knowing a deficiency can contribute to cancer or cardiovascular disease, two that are a big concern in my family. Scott already had some at the house since his is low as well. I’ve already started my dosage.

The good news is all my exercise has paid off and my cholesterol has decreased. My LDL has decreased from 135 to 115! I’ve gone from Borderline High to Near Optimal. Yay for C25K! No cholesterol pills for me!!

Overall I’m really happy that nothing else was of concern and that the things that were brought up were correctable. I still think I’m showing my age though…I’m gonna need one of those pill boxes for every day of the week now!