Babies and Breakfast in Bed

I finally saw the twins!  Tirzah and Alayna are beautiful, petite and perfect!  I had the chance to hang out with Erica (the mom) and my aunt Teresa (grandma to the babies), and hold Tirzah all night long.  I'm so happy we have babies in our family.  

After holding the perfect little beings, I went over the the Comm boys' house (the guys from all my Communication classes last year) to carve pumpkins!  It was a perfect evening.  They had a fire going in the fireplace, and once our pumpkins were carved we turned off all the lights except for the pumpkins and the fireplace and listened to some very chill music.  Christy and I were so cozy that we spent the night on their couches and they made us breakfast in bed, or in couch rather since we were not in actual beds.  We had wonderful omelets and very smooth coffee.  It was a fantastic way to spend my first day off work in two weeks.

Now back to work.  

Happy Halloween!

Distractions: Pumpkin Muffins and Eaves Dropping

I'm at Sebastian Joe's in Linden Hills studying.  As I ordered my coffee, I noticed a cranberry pumpkin muffin in the glass case by the register, but I passed on the muffin knowing very well that it would put me over the calorie limit for the day.  I sat down to study, but all I could think about was that damn muffin.  I decided to get it.  The man gave it to me for 60 cents.  Nice man.  It is well worth the calories and 60 cents.

Also, I thought I should add this...So many of you may know that I am a terrible eaves dropper.  I can't help but stare at the people I am eaves dropping on, because I become so engulfed in their conversations.  I love to eaves drop in coffee shops almost more than anything else.  People's conversations - especially taken slightly out of context - are always so fascinating.  While I was sitting here, I was eaves dropping, and the people said something that made me laugh out loud.  The two couples sitting at the table heard my cackle and looked over at me acknowledging my eaves dropping.  I simply shrugged my shoulders and said,"Sorry, I couldn't help it."  Oh geez.

Now, back to the books.

I love you.

Surprised by Joy

I keep wanting to say, "it was one of those days."  You know, the days where there is so much to do, and not enough time to do it and where it seems that everything you think could go wrong actually went wrong.  The thing is, it wasn't one of those days.  Yes, I had a gazillion things to do (so many in fact that I made up my own number to count them, hence gazillion).  I also had a share of things go wrong (like loosing my keys, or the projector being broken in the room that I was supposed to "teach" a class).  Despite this, I couldn't help but be joyful, and I'm not exactly sure why.  It was a good day.

With that being said, this morning I got an email from my professor telling me that he had a doctors appointment or something of the sort and asked me if I would show the video and lead the class in discussion.  My communication professors love me, but let me tell you that students don't like when their peers become their authority, especially when there could have been a chance of class being canceled.  Lucky for them we couldn't figure out the how to get both the audio and visual working simultaneously for the projector (ironic since it was media communication) so I sent them home early.  Anyway, I just thought it was funny that my professor asked me to "sub" for him even though I'm in the class; it was pretty flattering. 

I graduate in exactly 50 days!

Fill in the ________

Steph found a mad lib in the front of her Metro Magazine:

FILL IN THE ______

Spending Thanksgiving alone.

by john paul burgess

Being alone on Thanksgiving is not so bad.  In fact, it's kind of adjective.  While everyone else is out verb ending in -ing  and verb ending in -ing with their families and friends, you can sit at home in your article of clothing  watching TV show on TV with a cold something cold in hand.  Or, take some time to finally check out the Minneapolis landmark while there isn't a line (if it's closed in honor of the holiday, try verb ending in -ing over to the St. Paul landmark). And don't even worry about the big meal.  Just adverb improvise with whatever you've got lying around the house.  Instead of a turkey, just fry up a noun.  Instead of stuffing, just cram some noun in a noun.  And instead of mashing potatoes, try verb ending in -ing some plural nown.  Then eat it all in the room in your house (not your kitchen).  For dessert? A noun with adjective cream.  Now doesn't that sound better than verb ending in -ing with your relatives.  When it comes down to it, you'll be happy not to have to hear another story about the time your great aunt verb ending in -ed that noun in the '50s.  Boy, she sure is adjective.

I think I'll write my own mad lib sometime.  Keep your eyes out for that.  Off to study.

With love,

me

Drowning

Laying in bed last night, I realized I got myself in over my head.  Classes, work, auctions, TA-ing, sleep, maintaining any sort of social life, etc.  I'm trying not to worry, because I know what the Bible says about worry, and I know that worry ages my skin (bad news).  I just came from a long, busy week, and now I'm diving head first into another busy, stressful week.  Pray that I have the focus to get things done.  

You are wonderful.

XOXO,

Sarah Jean

Indian Food

Bare Escentuals GRAND OPENING!!!  It was slow at first, but by mid-afternoon it was busy.  There was one point we were even on a wait!  Southdale is a slow mall, but I think we can help revive it.  The mall manager came in and talked to Elsa, our boutique manager, and said, "You're the 50 yard line."  I'm assuming he was trying to make a sports analogy, which was a dumb decision given that we are a MAKE UP STORE.  But whatever, he got the point across.  I told our girls that we can bring Southdale into the end zone (I'm not sure if that is a correct way to continue that analogy because I know absolutely nothing about football).  All this to say that it was great!

I just returned from getting Indian food with the Sims (lifetime family friends).  Good gracious, my digestive system is screaming swears at me right now.  If all that grumbling could be translated into real words I think it would be saying, "Why the H-E-double hockey sticks, did you let yourself eat all that fudgin spicy food!?!"  Seriously, my tummy sounds super angry.  The food was well worth the stomach ache.

SIDE NOTE: Someone is lighting fire crackers in my neighborhood right now.  I can hear it.

Now, I must go and finish my Bible study for the day.  I'm doing The Patriarchs by Beth Moore with the women at church.  God is so good.  He uses mistake-makers...like me (and Abraham).

Shhhh

Okay, I have a guilty confession. As I write this, I am home alone at my parent's house which I have mentioned before has a sense of comfort that nothing else can give. I am drinking peppermint hot chocolate, I have a candle lit which I can see out of the corner of my eye, and I am listening to Christmas music. Please forgive me. I am not making a habit out of this, mainly because I don't want to be sick of Christmas music by the time Christmas actually rolls around. I understand that it is not even Halloween yet, but I just need this moment now. I do not feel the need to be traditional just for the sake of tradition. After tonight, however, I will try to get through the next month and a half with out Christmas music. Okay, except a song by Laurence Juber just came on Pandora, and I'm totally diggin it. Well, maybe I can listen to his non-Holiday station on Pandora.

I am thankful for my friends who read this and choose not to judge me.

XOXO

God and Politics

Let's commit to pray for this election.  I'm sure some of you already are, but it's something that too often slips my mind.  Sometimes I think there is more going on than meets the eye.

My first day of training was wonderful by the way.  If you have ever visited me at the MOA store, you know how small and busy it is.  The brand new Southdale store is huge and luxurious!  Grand opening is on Friday! Ya'll have to see it.

TMI

Sometimes I think I post too much.  Not TMI, but just too often.  Maybe I post TMI too, but whatever.  

I feel like prayer is a common theme throughout many of my posts.  Probably because prayer is a constant necessity.  Here I am again, finding myself trying to focus enough to engage myself in desperate prayer, not really sure what sort of answers I'm looking for.  I know I want God's best, but I'm not really sure what that will look like.  Vague enough?

Side note: Kate comes home this weekend.  I am so excited I could wet myself (now that is TMI)!

XOXO

New Shoes

I got new shoes for my new job that starts tomorrow.   That's right I will be Lead Trainer of the Southdale Bare Escentuals Boutique.  Woot woot!  I have to skip a week of class to do training, but my professors all understood since I'm a senior in sophomore level classes and I because am the trainer and therefore must attend the training days.  The only downer is that I am likely to get behind in my schoolwork and I can't really afford to do that right now.  Oh well.  I'm too excited to care.

I'm off to the seminary Library to check out some Bible Commentaries to write my exegesis paper.

Life is busy, but God is good.

Funny Face

I love the movie Funny Face.  Audrey Hepburn is so classy.  

I've been home (mom and dad's) all weekend, but now I'm back at school.  Poor Steph has been by her lonesome all weekend.  I made her spiced cider and cookies tonight to make up for it though.

Back from Camping

So I went camping. I think I had romanticized it a bit. You know, I would be the good big sister...no, the BEST big sister, and take them camping. Then we would get there, they would quickly make a fire the way boy scouts do, and pitch the tent. Then we would sit by the fire, play cards, go for a hike, make s'mores, and call it a trip and go home.

Now, meet what I like to call reality: It was dark. We hiked a mile with the stuff. We had to saw our own wood. We had to pitch a tent in the dark. The moon was lovely, huge and orange. The wood didn't burn. The stars were glorious. It was cold. The next morning was foggy. The day was gorgeous. The leaves were colorful. The food was prepared by 14 year old boys so it was pure sugar. The St. Croix river was beautiful, and the day-time hiking without carrying stuff was awesome. The people who had our site after us came early and kicked us out. All in all, it was way more work than I anticipated, but well worth it.

My alarm didn't go off, and I missed Bible study. Off to church!

This is nice

I just got home from work. Not Bethel home, but home home. I always stay at home on Thursday nights because I close at work then have to open on Friday morning. I have a feeling that schedule will change starting next week as I begin my new job. Have I mentioned that I have a new job? Well, I do. It is actually still with Bare Escentuals, but just a different position. I will be the Lead Trainer at the Southdale Boutique when it opens next week. I'm excited about it. I needed a change of some sort. Something more than a new haircut (which I also received today, but it's not much different).

Back to being home home. This very moment feels exactly the way I imagine home to feel (except for the fact that I am the only one awake, because generally when I imagine home I imagine my family along with it). There is a fire going, I have a glass of wine in my hand, and Neil Young is playing in the background (I'm not sure why I always associate Neil Young with home, but I will always love him because of it). I would say that only cookies could make this more enjoyable, but I just found cookies on the Kitchen counter. I love my life. I love home. My hope is that I can make my grandma's house feel a little like home when I move in with her again after graduation. You see, my home is warm and cozy. It makes you want to dim the lights, pull out a good novel and cuddle with the cat. My grandma's house, on the other hand, feels like a bright townhouse with some remnants of a 1990's Maui hotel. Needless to say, it's just not what I know to be home.

I leave to go camping with Max and his friend, Evan, tomorrow. I'm excited because they are wonderful fun. However, it feels weird that both my parents and Evan's parents think that I am grown-up enough to be the only grown-up on a camping trip. I was informed today that the site near Stillwater was full, so we will be staying at Afton State Park where we will have to carry our stuff a mile from our car to our campsite. Who doesn't love a good hike. I still wished I there was someone else my age to come with us. The offer still stands, folks.

Once again, I am thrilled to be at home. I am going to take in all the wonderful comforts.

XOXO,
SJW

Camping

Who here loves Max Whitson? I do!

He just called me a couple minutes ago and asked me if I wanted to take him and his friend Evan camping on Friday night. So guess what I'm doing Friday night? That's right. Camping with two 14 year old boy scouts. I am so excited. The nice thing about camping with boy scouts is that you don't have to do a thing! They cook, pitch the tent, and keep the fire going. I'm looking for someone my age to go with. So if you're free Friday night and can get to my parent's house or Stillwater...give me a ring-a-ling.

Max is precious. That's all I have to say.

Sticky

My keyboard is sticky. I know that's a little gross. Here's the deal. I went to Target yesterday to just get out of my apartment. It was such a groggy day and I had nothing to do so I literally stayed at my apartment all day, well until 6pm. After dinner (around 6pm) I decided to go to Target and enjoy the sky that had cleared up. I bombed around Target for a while. I got socks, a dishtowel, paper towels, coffee (desperately needed), iced tea/lemonade mix, carmel, a pitcher with a lid, honeycrisp apples (a big box for seven-something), and some candy bars for Steph and me. I was there way too long for what I got, but it was a nice outing. When I left the moon was gorgeous! It was full, and well, Ashley, you know what that means. Okay, back to the sticky keyboard...I was eating the apples with the carmel that I picked up at Target yesterday, and it got on my keyboard. I'm getting a moist paper towel to wipe it down.

That was a terrible story, but eh.

This semester has been go go go, and I don't know when I will be able to catch a breath. That's my life as of now.

Networking

Oh boy. I just called someone to ask about possible opportunities with their company. It was one of those things where I had a script written out so I wouldn't babble on and on (sort of funny: Babylon). Then as my phone was ringing I was literally saying "please go to voicemail, please go to voicemail," and then praying at the same time that if someone did in fact pick up that it would not be in the middle of me saying, "Please go to voicemail." It went to voicemail and I read off my voicemail script, but still managed to "um" and "eh" and "er" like a fool. I also talked way to fast. Now my palms are sweaty, and my hear rate feels like a drum roll. The worse part is that I didn't get to talk to anyone and now I just wait. Anticipation kills. This whole finding a job thing is so scary.

I find that blogging is a very successful way for me to procrastinate doing things that are actually necessary, like homework or my Bible study.

I just want to be auctioneering full time.

Please pray that I can go to Faithwalkers. I really want to go, but I am already scheduled that week at Bare Escentuals. I'm not sure what to do.

Really, I am off to do something productive. Sort of.

Welcome new Whitsons

We had babies! Well, not me personally...obviously. My cousin Drew and his wifey, Erica, had twins yesterday. Alayna Joy Whitson (4 lbs and 13 oz) and Tirzah Lorraine Whitson (4 lbs and 14 oz). My first reaction was "Tirzah!?! What kind of name is that?" I've always loved the name Alayna (however had never thought to spell it that way), but Tirzah seems so out-there. It means "pleasant." Knowing the meaning of names always makes me like them or dislike them more. Name meanings are so important. In the Old Testament, God would often rename people with names that were heavy in meaning. Abram for example means "high father," but God decided to up and choose Abram to be a leader and prophet and make is descendants more numerous than the stars so he renamed him Abraham which means "Father of Nations." So cool! I can just imagine God cringing at Juliet when she declared, "What's in a name?" God was probably like, "YOUR IDENTITY!" God has so many different names, and in the Bible his names are always in context with what he's doing. I'm not saying that all of our identity should be wrapped up in our name, because our identity should be in Christ Jesus, but names were a powerfully permanent way for God to identify his people with himself. Names are important. Lucky for Tirzah, I love the idea that it means "pleasant" and that Tirzah is just a beautiful sounding name. Alayna and Tirzah...beautiful names for girls that are destined to be beautiful!

Congratulations Drew and Erica!

A thought on Weddings

Kirsten got married yesterday. It was way out in the country, but it is so fitting for her. I must say that going into it I was not too excited, but by the end of the night much of my cynicism towards the tradition of weddings had faded. Here's the deal (please remember that this is my cynicism speaking, and it does not reflect my true feelings or beliefs). Many of my girlfriends from college are getting married this next year. Yes, they are in love and I am so happy for them, but I am in such a different stage of life that it's often difficult for me to relate. It's hard for me to see all of the planning aspects because it sometimes seems like people get so caught up on things that aren't important rather than focusing on what matters. I don't need to go into detail, because it will just sound angry. The point is, being at Kirsten and Adam's wedding softened my heart.

Also. It has been a nice weekend. There are so many wonderful people in town: Aunt Marisa, Ashley, and Nate. All people I love dearly, but rarely see. I would only be better if Kate and Amanda Kogle would have been around too. I wouldn't have had time to see everyone if they had come in town though, so it's all for the better. Plus, Amanda will be in next weekend, and Kate the following. It's all wonderful.

Spencer's message was good today. Download it if you didn't hear it.

terrible at coming up with titles for posts

Notice that the title of my blog is "Sarah Jean is..." Often what I try to do is match up my posts so that it finishes that sentence. Examples: Sarah Jean is Hungry, or Sarah Jean is done with hypothetical questions, or Sarah Jean is terrible at coming up with titles for posts. However, this is not working out for me. I think it may limit my title possibilities. I may need to change the overall title of my blog. We'll see.

A handful of reasons why I'm ready for Christmas:

Reason 1: Stephanie asked me to put on Christmas music today, and I did. You must know Steph to realize how big of a deal that is. Ashley, if you're reading this, you understand even more so than I. Steph generally lives by the strict rule that you absolutely cannot under any circumstances listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. She cracked. The stress of her final semester impaired her judgement and she demanded Christmas music. I played her favorite: Mary Did You Know?

Reason 2: I want to use my Minnesota cookie cutter again.

Reason 3: I could use the relaxation that I get from lying on my living room floor with all the lights off so I can watch the shadows created on the ceiling by the changing lights on the tree.

Reason 4: Faithwalkers is only a couple days later.

Reason 5: As of now, this may be the biggest reason for my anticipation of Christmas: I will be a college graduate and I will be done with all of this nonsense. I'm sorry that I feel it's nonsense right now. I am so thankful for my education, but my semester of 200-level classes that were required for the classes I already took are driving me nuts. I am so done with this stage of life. Talk about contentment.

God bless us, everyone.

done with hypothetical situations

I feel like since Sunday I have had so many "If Only..." thoughts pop into my head. Just when I thought I was content, I am finding that I am not. I'm trying...praying. It is just like God to test me on what he's teaching me. Doesn't he know midterms are coming up?

smelling pumpkin bread

I'm baking pumpkin bread right now. It has about five minutes left. I just checked on it, but I could tell the top was still a bit doughy so I'm letting it sit for a bit more. My whole room smells like the spiced fragrance of fall. I should have brought home the cider that my dad bought for me this weekend. I forgot. Oh well, hot cocoa will be just fine.

I've been job searching lately. It's really an intimidating thing to do. I think the most difficult part is having enough confidence in my own abilities so that someone will feel assured by hiring me. It's tough when I don't really know what I want to do, or what I would be good at. I have some ideas, but it's all scary to me. Will I ever be ready? I don't feel grown-up enough to have a real grown-up job. YIKES! I'm just chasing all the open doors and trusting God to close the ones that aren't right.

I just checked on the pumpkin bread again. It's super doughy on the inside. I think my pans were a bit too small so I had to make it deeper. I really hope I don't burn the edges. Oh goodness.

I have a date with Jenna tonight. She's one of my closest friends and I haven't talked to her in nearly three weeks. It's very sad. I am too busy for my own good.

XOXO

functional

Tonight Stephanie pointed out to me that I am a completely functional being. She was not referring to the fact that everything about me works, but rather that I make decisions based on the fact that it would be the most sensible or functional option. Some examples that she brought to my attention:

~I said I don't want a lot of sides or dishes at Thanksgiving this year, because we just don't need all the options. No one likes feeling obligated to eat a little bit of everything anyway.
~I threw away a candle because the wick broke off, instead of leaving the candle around for decoration.
~I want to elope someday because I can't justify spending that much money on a wedding. Steph and I have had to hear too much about weddings lately.
~Tonight I wanted to heat cider on the stove, so I opted for the tea pot to heat it rather than a regular pot so that it would be easier to directly poor into our mugs when it was finished.
~I don't like having random vases with nothing in them sitting around.
~I go through my clothes multiple times a year to weed out things I don't wear anymore so that I only keep in my closet what I will actually wear.

The list goes on. Yes, it's a little quirky, but I like this about myself. I think it will save me a lot of money, time, stress, or annoyance in the long run.

Jaded

I have a headache from thinking too much about nothing.


I had a lot to say about work tonight, however none of it needs to verbalized. I'm jaded, and that's all there is to it.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
~Matthew 11:28-30

crashed

Well, I crashed during class. I was shaky up until class started, and then when some students began a completely unnecessary debate on Calvinism versus Open Theism, I hit the wall. I just hate when people talk themselves into circles. It's discussions like this that tear the church apart. People fight over things that, in the end, don't really matter because no matter how much it is discussed, we still won't know the answer. During class I turned to the guy next to me to tell him that I was annoyed that people were talking about things off topic and that can't be concluded in a three-hour class. He took out his pen and wrote, "A God that is big enough for us to understand is a God that is not big enough for what we need." I took out my purple pen and wrote, "Amen." I take comfort in the fact that the realm in which God acts is far more than I can ever fathom.

Caffeinated

Today I have been much more productive than normal. Meaning, I achieved everything on my "to do" list. The past couple weeks I have been too stressed/preoccupied to focus. However, today I am focused.

Also I ran out of coffee today, so I had to make a target run to pick up some more. I do all my grocery shopping at Target because Market Pantry is the best generic brand available. Side note: I just remembered that I forgot to pick up new socks while I was there. Drat. Resume point of story. Anyway, I noticed that they had CityKid Java which is very exciting. When I had my internship at Cooks of Crocus Hill, I wrote a couple pieces on our relationship with the Community Design Center which is the organization that puts out CityKid Java. It's a great organization, and because it was the same price as my Dunkin' Donuts coffee and has a real smooth finish, I decided to pick it up. Whenever I get something new I feel the need to try it out immediately. So I just had a pot of coffee. I think that's enough for the day. I just hope I don't crash during class.