Shrooms

Sometime in April or May...

Me: Are you going to replace our stairs?

Construction worker: No, the apartment complex said that they were replaced a few years ago, so they are fine.

Me: Oh, okay.

--------------------------------

Today...

Me: Why do we have mushrooms growing on our landing?

And some change

Amos and I pick up the change we find in parking lots.  Last year, we decided to keep track of the money we collect for the year, rather than just dropping the coins in our red Nalgene change bank.

2016 Grand total: $3.02

2017 Total: $0.32

Honest Abe needs a bath...

Does anyone else know this song?

Lincoln, Lincoln,
I've been thinkin',
What can keep
Your feet from stinkin'?
Soap and water won't succeed;
Gasoline is what you need!

Myrrh, Percival, Jack, and friends

I made a bunch of little felt animals and ornaments during Christmas this year!  I love all of them, but they took so long to make, I'm not sure I'll be doing it again any time soon!  Some of the pictures are dark, but I figured if I didn't put them up now, I never would.

Here you go!  Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

For Amos

What do frogs drink in the winter?!

Hot croako!!

A white tiger for Gio

Me: Luke, what's your favorite animal?
Luke: Either a cobra or a scorpion.

A turtle for Brenda

Myrrh, for my mom

A horse for Alexis

A little penguin named Chip

A bear named Jack, for Amos

Percival, for my dad, based off a full-size stuffed animal

A little mixed up

Amos and I live off a street crowded with car dealerships and service centers. This is what went on this morning on the way to dropping Amos off at work:

Jennica, looking at an oil change sign: "Get ready for winter weather"!?  It's not winter!

Amos: It's November.

Jennica: Oh, yeah.  I keep getting mixed up.  I keep thinking that summer is coming, not winter.  It is going to be very disappointing.  Maybe I'm thinking of Kat's weather...in Papua New Guinea...she doesn't live in Papua New Guinea!  Oh dear.

Amos: Maybe it's time to go back to bed.

Fifty-first

I've started my fifty-first book for the year, Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace!

I love the illustrations by Vera Neville! :)

I've been on a Betsy-Tacy kick for a while now.  I read a few of these books when we lived in Santa Clarita, but the library didn't have the complete series, so I only read two or three.  I'm happy that I now have access to all of them via the Tulsa library system and Mobius. :)  The stories are set at the turn of the twentieth century in Minnesota, and Maud Hart Lovelace, who based these books on her childhood and young adulthood, mentions many now-unfamiliar things (floating island dessert, princesse style dresses, peas in timbale cases, jabots, Magic Wavers, chopping bowl hats, etc.).  I've googled most of these, and my favorite discovery was a set of old postcards or prints referencing Merry Widow hats.

http://prettycleverfilms.com/files/2014/04/The-Merry-Widow-Hat-Card-1.jpg

Haha!  The size is exaggerated, of course, but I love the old picture and the little poem. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving...but to Canadians it is just Thanksgiving.

Some of our downstairs neighbors are a little...volatile...today.  I was stalking watching them through the blinds this morning as they argued out on the lawn and then in one of their cars.  A while later our upstairs neighbor comes out on our shared walkway and calls down, "Can you guys stop slamming your front door?!"
"It's none of your business!"
"Shut ******** up!!"
Upstairs neighbor goes back inside without another word.
More stalking watching through the blinds and through the front door peephole...

Josh, Grace, and Jaden are coming to Oklahoma on Thursday and Friday!  I knew that but was reminded of it just now.
"Hmmmm, what will we do this week...we need to find a dentist...I should ask Amos about our insurance and going to the den - JOSH AND GRACE ARE COMING!  Whoa!  Only three days away!  Whoops!"
They will be our first friends to visit us, making a special stop on their way to Minnesota or Michigan or one of the other M states.

I'm listening to my Little Women audiobook, which I got for free from AudiobookSync this summer!  Little Women is one of my favorite books, but I am more aware of how preachy it sounds, after my Children's Literature professor made that observation earlier this year.
Oh well.
I still love the part where Meg loses her bangs.

Quite a bit of the house is set up now, but I feel like I need new eyes in order to see all the things that are still out of place.  Better be off to do that!

Odd, part 3

Continuing my series on weird Oklahoma, I have a few more observations to share with you.

Oil derricks. Oklahoma pumps a lot of oil, so oil derricks are everywhere.  I've seen derricks in grocery store parking lots, in the field surrounding our new church, and even at the State Capitol (the only state capitol with a functioning oil derrick; they are very proud of this).

Driving.  Oklahomans are very bad drivers.  People who say California has bad drivers have obviously never been to Oklahoma.

Tribal license plates.  Oklahoma is home to many different Indian tribes, each of which is actually a sovereign nation.  Each tribe has a unique license plate design.

Sidewalks.  Where are all the sidewalks?  Do they take them in during the day?!

Overalls.  Many men wear overalls here (though definitely not everyone).  When Amos and I go somewhere, I keep track of the overalled men I see; the highest score so far is three.  Amos says that we will be seeing more because the cool fall weather is coming.  (Amos and I went to the state fair back in September; I saw a grampa wearing overalls AND a fanny pack!)

Ma'am.  I work at a university now, so I get called ma'am several times a day.  It throws me off every time.

--------------
Part 1
Part 2

In the library

Setting: The local library on a warm Saturday afternoon.  Patrons are using computers, perusing the stacks, sitting uncomfortably in too-small chairs.

Indistinct voice from stage right, indignant: Mumble mum mumble my shoes! Mum mumble!!

[Jennica's ears prick; she moves down the stacks to get a clear yet discreet view of the offended party.  She passes Amos and catches his eye with a delighted grin.]

Indignant: He took my shoes!

Librarian hurries up

Librarian, amazed: What?! He took your shoes?!

Indignant, rising above a stage whisper: Yes, he took my sneakers and left these flip flops!  I told him to stop messing with them.  I just thought he was bopping to his music or something, but he took my shoes!!!

[Jennica secretly wonders why she removed her tennis shoes in the first place]

Librarian, amazed: . . .

Helpful patron: Yeah, she told him.  I heard her.

Third patron brings up pictures of the suspect on a laptop or phone

Indignant: No, that wasn't him.  He looked nice.  He was dressed in bright colors, with pink.

Librarian: Pink!

Indignant: And he took my athletic shoes!  And they were women's shoes!

Librarian: Those aren't yours? [gestures at flip flops]

Indignant: No!  I'm from Arkansas, so I can leave barefoot [smoker laugh], but he took my shoes!

Librarian: This happened before, just a week or so ago!


Amos and Jennica are done picking out materials, so they reluctantly exit stage left.


Moral of the store: Never remove your shoes at the local library!

Quite a bit

I have quite a bit of time, yet WHY haven't I written a blog post in two weeks?!  Oh well, at least I'm writing one today!

Last week I worked every day at the Christian school connected to our Oklahoma church.  The classes are tiny and, substitute experience speaking, the students are very, very well behaved.  I'm not getting paid much, but that's okay.

Our apartment lease is about to go month-to-month, which is great.  We haven't found a place to live yet, but we will hopefully find one soon.

Danielle gave me the code for a free Shutterfly book, so I'm making an Aptartment 29 photo book!  I worked on it a lot yesterday, and I hope to finish it today.

I'm not a big animal person.  Animals are fun, but they take a lot of work and it is really sad when they die.  However, Amos and I have talked about getting a little mouse (I will name him Speedy).  We went to PetSmart on Sunday to look at them, but we only saw gerbils, rats, and hamsters.  I went to ask a checker about this.

Me: Do you have any mice?
Checker: Frozen.

I guess we'll have to look at Petco!

Artwork

Since moving to OKC, I've found some little projects to while away the hours, one of them being watercolor painting!  I copy ideas from Pinterest or I just paint different color schemes.  All of these are on 4x6 pieces of paper.  Click to enlarge.

My anniversary card for Amos :)

I used a AAA sticker to make this one, haha!

This one is supposed to be vertical...

A sailor turtle with freckles!

New links

June isn't looking very promising as a month of many blog posts...oh well!  This weekend will be rather busy, with a family reunion and birthday party for Amos' grampa tomorrow, Amos' family visiting on Sunday, hurried packing and cleaning on Monday, and my flying out to Canada on Tuesday!

Here are some links, though...

Audiobook Sync
If your library has the Overdrive service, you can download two audiobooks for FREE every week during the summer.  Read the website carefully to find out how it works (it's pretty easy).  One of the books this week is a favorite, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein!  The other book is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill.

YembiYembi
A really cool video about a couple who served with New Tribes Mission in Papua New Guinea.

A Modern Confession via Mike Gaston's blog
I thought this was really good.  Mike is the missions pastor at Grace Baptist, one of the churches in Santa Clarita.

17 Famous Literary Characters Almost Named Something Else via Mental Floss
Puny Pete.

Homemade Naan via Budget Bites
I made this naan with a few adjustments (subbed out some of the regular flour with 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour and 1/3 of a cup of potato flakes, plus needs more salt).  It turned out really well; the potato flakes and the egg made it more pliable than other naan I've made.

So, you now have...something to listen to, something to watch, something to contemplate, something to laugh about, and something to eat!  Have a good weekend!

Odd

Here are some strange things about Oklahoma...

There are LOTS of drive-through restaurants.
Panera Bread, Subway, even donut shops!

A lot of men have long hair.

There are no helmet laws.
If you are riding a motorcycle, you have to wear some type of glasses or goggles, but you don't have to wear a helmet!

E-cigarette stores are on almost every street.
I don't know why, but e-cig stores and "vapor lounges" are very popular here.  There are also cigarette butts everywhere.

Lakes and ponds are ubiquitous.
I don't know where all the water comes from, but I like it!  I also like all the pondlife.

Center turn lanes/suicide lanes are rare.
The vast majority of streets here in OKC don't have a middle turn lane.  People just stop in the left lane and put on their turn signal.

No one runs when it is raining.
When it rains, there is no hurrying to the car, hurrying to the house, hurrying to the grocery store entrance; people just stroll along at their regular pace.

People spit in public.

People really like their rims.
There are suped-up cars everywhere, even Suburbans and old Lincolns!

There are no dog poop pick-up laws.
Dogs just go wherever their owners let them, and no one picks up after them.

Discarded mattresses and box springs are everywhere.
Twice a week people take their garbage out to the curb, and mattresses and box springs are always included.  I'm not sure if a sleep store had a huge sale or what!

Memoria de Cinco de Mayo

I'm not a fan of Cinco de Mayo.  I'm not sure what is being celebrated, and I don't like mariachi bands; mariachi music sounds like Polish music, which, coincidentally, I don't like, either.  The only redeeming factor is the food.

For the past nine years, Cinco de Mayo has also conjured up a college memory from freshman year.  On certain days of the week, I would eat lunch with my friend Sherrie, fellow teacher ed major and later roommate at aptartment 29.  On this day, we were eating Mexican food in the caf, serenaded tortured by the sounds of a mariachi band.  The band had been hired for the Cinco de Mayo themed lunch, which was actually happening on Tres de Mayo (I think our school was trying to save money by having the band come on a different day).

Sherrie and I were talking about our P.E. for Teachers class or finals week or something like that, when our attention was arrested by Caleb*, an upperclassman.  He appeared next to me holding a glass vase with a Gerber daisy (decorations for the lunch), and as he looked at me he said, "I just wanted to let you know, the beauty of this flower is nothing compared to you."  Caleb set the vase and flower on the table, I said a very pinched thank you, and he walked back to his table.

Awk-ward.
Awkward.
So awkward.

Sherrie and I now had something new to talk about.  What did he mean?  Was he serious?  Was I supposed to take the flower with me?!

I was bothered by this interaction for several days.  I saw Caleb around campus, but he never said anything.  Once I saw him walking along, throwing a football with some friends, and I decided just to ask him what the Cinco de Mayo flower had been about.  He said that it was dare from his friends.

Okay, not as nice as a sincere compliment, but at least I didn't have to be paranoid any more, and I was very glad I hadn't taken the daisy with me!  I was glad that our paths rarely crossed after that.

------

I was a sophomore in Israel when Cinco de Mayo came around again. While there, I heard that one of the girls from my freshman wing was dating the same Caleb.  "Weird!  Remember what happened on Cinco de Mayo last year, when..." I told Michelle, who had also been on my wing that year and had heard the story.

Sara and Caleb have been happily married for several years now, and I am stuck with an awkward memory from when I was an eighteen-year-old freshman.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  At least I have a funny story, even if I don't like the holiday. :)


(Yes, his name really was Caleb; if you do something dumb, you forfeit your name change, haha!)

OKC

Well, we made it to Oklahoma City!  Some of you are probably still wondering why we are here.

The short answer is:
We moved here.

The long answer is:
Amos has wanted a new job for a while, so he contacted a friend that works for Voss Lighting, a Christian company that Amos' family has worked with and known about for many years.  Said friend got him in contact with an office manager in OKC, and in January, Amos flew out for an "interview" for the office manager position. Amos had a good time, and we decided we would go, if they wanted to hire Amos.  God had had lots of opportunities to close doors, and He seemed to keep opening them.

Voss only hires managers from within the company, so after the general manager looked around the other branches, trying to figure out where Amos would fit best, he decided to offer an inside sales position to Amos at the OKC branch.  Four weeks later, we arrived in Oklahoma City!


In between receiving the job offer and arriving in OKC, several things happened...

We met up with Doug and Mike, our pastor friends from Nebraska, at Stonefire
I went down to Brand Books in Glendale to use up the rest of my store credit ($20.00 is nothing to sniff at! I got two Freya Stark books.)
We gave our two weeks' notice at Alpha and Rio Norte
I gave my two weeks' notice to our pastor, Pastor Todd (he just about fell off his chair when we told him what we were doing, haha!)
I went to coffee with Danielle a few times
I attended my last Ladies' Informational Coffee, providing info on missions to ladies who are new to Crossroads
We went to dollar scoop night at Baskin Robbins with Josh and Grace; Josh flies down to SoCal every week to work at his music studio, and Grace came along to say goodbye
I finished up ALL of my missions stuff and handed it off to Randy, the guy who took my place as missions coordinator, at least temporarily
I said goodbye to Pinkie and gave her a very pink gift
We went to NorCal for an open house thrown by my parents; I got to see Lydia, Julia, and Elizabeth again (I hadn't seen them in a few years!)
Amos and I took Luke and Gio to frozen yogurt, then I took Brenda and Alexis back to frozen yogurt; it was really good to spend time with them
On the way back to SoCal, we surprised my cousin Magenta at school; she hadn't been able to come to the open house
We stopped for dinner at the Thomases' house in Lebec
Amos got a few teeth removed!  He healed up very quickly!
We watched "Frozen" and "Joe Versus the Volcano" with Luke and Danielle (Danielle warned us beforehand, "'Joe Versus the Volcano' is dumb." She was right, haha!)
Adrienne came over to help us eat our CPK gift card and Magnum ice cream bars
John, Peter, Tim, and Shaunna came over to help us pack some stuff and load our truck
We went to a SoCal open house thrown by our beloved small group leaders, Jeff and Denise
We said goodbye to all of our friends at Crossroads (the hardest part of this whole journey)
We went to In n' Out one last time
We stayed up too late cleaning our house and packing our last things, with lots of help from Luke and Danielle
We hitched up our tow dolly and car at Master's and said goodbye to our friend and former professor, Todd Bolen
We finally hit the road!

On the way to OKC, we stopped in Flagstaff and Albuquerque.  We spent one day at the Grand Canyon, which was wonderful.

We arrived in OKC on Thursday, moved in on Friday, and had our first visitors, Amos' sister Grace and brother Theodore, on Friday night!

Now Amos is off at his first day of work, and I have a few goals for today...

1. Do laundry
2. Arrange the bathroom
3. Find the library
4. Deliver Amos' passport and/or SS card to his work

And that is how...

we came to live in the South, y'all.

Hilarious

Amos and I are leaving SoCal for Oklahoma City in just ten days, and I'm not sure if our apartment is throwing a party or staging a rebellion.

Last week
New termite site discovered on our bedroom floor
Another occurrence of the on-going saga, "the kitchen sink is fine until the pipes unscrew themselves again and flood the cabinet"

Monday
Tiny grease ants in the almond flour and the shortening (I'm not sure why it took them this long to find the shortening)

Tuesday
A new termite hole found in the wall along the top of wainscoting

Wednesday
Tiny grease ants in the candy, in the homemade hot cocoa mix, and in the cookies I was saving, coffee chocolate chip cookies from India!

Thursday
Overflowing toilet tank and the resultant flooded floor (water gushed from under the linoleum when stepping near a seam)


Oh, my.  What will the little house do next!

Not much to say...

so I'll let a few authors speak for me.

"Oliver slept late and no one woke him as it was Sunday.  He came down at nine fifteen, hungry as a wolf, and indulged in a waffle orgy.  Randy sat beside him to keep him company, though she herself was waffle-logged by that time."

Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze

"'If there was only one tree like that in the world, you would think it was beautiful,' said Katie. 'But because there are so many, you just can't see how beautiful it really is.'"

Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

"'...and I thought, as I often have, how many people a person is!  A human being is more many-sided than a prism; he has sides he shows the world, sides he only shows to special others, sides he doesn't know he shows to others, sides he doesn't even guess he has.  No, nobody is simple, no matter how he'd like to be.'"

Elizabeth Enright, "Morgan's Rest"

"She knew the general principles of life - that compromise wins respect from no one, but a straightforward testimony does."

Isobel Kuhn, By Searching

"People would say, 'If you had enough faith, your daughter would be healed.' That had the opposite effect of what they intended.  Instead of looking to God, it put our eyes on ourselves, trying to drum up faith."

Marti Smith, Through Her Eyes: Perspectives on Life from 

Christian Women Serving in the Muslim World, 

Sick sheep

"...men, when they are in love, invariably manage to look like a somewhat sick sheep.  If a girl is attracted to such a man she feels flattered by this appearance, and does not hold it against him; if she has no interest she dismisses him from her mind."

"I was puzzled...wondering what was the matter with him...I should have known by now that when a man looks like a sick sheep, completely bemused, stupid and unable to listen to what you say to him, he has, vulgarly, got it badly."

::Agatha Christie, An Autobiography

I just finished Agatha Christie's autobiography, and I thought it was great!  She was a very interesting person and a good storyteller, even in her autobiography.  There is a lot of controversy surrounding her, I'm discovering, but this is an engaging account of her life from her own perspective.

In Class

Student: Try not to smell. I'm sorry mumblemumblemumble.
Me: What?
Student: Try not to smell.  Someone puked, and a little bit got on my backpack.  I'm really sorry.  Try not to smell.

Science teacher: You guys get to go home at 1:00.  I have to stay for two more hours.  It's not fun.  I have to go to meetings.
Student: That doesn't sound that bad.
Science teacher: The meetings are boring.  How would you feel if you had to sit somewhere for two hours and you didn't want to?
Other student: I do it all the time.  It's called SCHOOL.

After math class...
Teacher: Lexi, will you switch seats so John can see?
Lexi: Maybe.  Where does David sit?
-I show her David's seat, right next to her future seat-
Lexi: I don't know.  David always stares at me in class and keeps saying, "'sup?!"

Around the web 4

Here are some links I've enjoyed recently:

Believing That Which Is Hard To Believe by Mike Gaston, small group and outreach pastor at Grace Baptist
"Wouldn't it be arrogant of me to assume that God would only do that which I am capable of understanding?"

My Dad's Impromptu Challenge by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Ever thought of making 50-year goals?

Listening to Young Atheists: Lessons for a Stronger Christianity by Larry Alex Taunton for The Atlantic
This just in (okay, it's old news), but Christian youth turn from the church when they sense that the teaching is neither genuine nor able to answer their tough questions.  Interesting study.

How to Read a Book by The Art of Manliness
I haven't read this article yet, but I plan to soon!

Crockpot Peach Chipotle Chicken at thefrugalgirls.com
This recipe was just for inspiration.  I made peach preserves and mixed it with a little bit of honey barbecue sauce, onions, and bell peppers.  We ate it over grilled chicken breasts with brown and white rice, green beans, and avocado.  It was really good.

Song of the week by Michael Buble': It's a Beautiful Day

And a funny video that Danielle showed me on Monday, when I invited myself over to her house:
Cat Jump Fail with Music

Tea Rex

I admit it: I am nearly twenty-seven years old, and I love picture books.  I'm pretty sure that the librarians think I'm weird for always checking out picture and chapter books, but I try not to pay attention. :)

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

Tea Rex by Molly Idle is my most recent favorite picture book, though I've also enjoyed I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin, and One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and David Small (more on this one later, perhaps).

Anyway, Tea Rex is a book about a sister and brother who invite a t-rex to their tea party.  The medium is beautiful colored pencil, and the illustrations interact with the text in a hilarious way; totally worth any weird looks. ;)

Serving himself some tea with the help of a hapless teddy bear!

I think this is hilarious...a "tea rex" tea infuser!