Surreal.

I was on my bed chatting with my Mom and my Brother, when my brother pushes the dog off the bed and she freaks out. She starts barking and my brother being the pain in the butt that he is: starts yelling "who's here Lola? Go get 'em!"
She flips out and runs out of my room, then the door bell rings. I jokingly yell "there's my boyfriend!" and start running with the dog to get the door. Then I look down my stairs and see a guy at my front door. My brother yells "They're trying to open our door!" I look closer and the man at my door starts shining in his flashlight and pounding on the door. I back up and yell for my Dad. He goes down to open the door to the out of control Police officer, that is pounding on our door at ten o'clock at night. My Dad opens the door and the officer looks in and is like "Do I have the wrong house? What number is this?" We tell him our number and he talks into the dispatch receiver on his uniform. The person on the other end corrects him, by saying the disturbance is at number 63. He runs across the street and starts pounding on #63's door, then another police car pulls up. Along with a fire engine. Our patio overlooks number 63's patio and we witnessed the whole thing.

The man who lived just across the grassy island that separates the houses, had a heart attack and died. Just like that. Right on his patio, the same place he sat every morning and every night.

From our patio we could see his wife crying on their bed, and the officer trying to console her. It was the saddest picture, I can't even imagine that feeling. Utter despair, fear, knowing you've lost someone you love and thought you couldn't live with out. As I write this, I can hear her crying across the way.

Please pray for this woman. That God will bring peace and comfort to her and her family. And ultimately, that he would reveal himself to her through this terrible time.

Speechless.

2 Corinthians 1: 3&4

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Rick, Rick, Rick

Remember that Rick?!
To all my fellow Kaitlin Lovers...

The original: (Excuse the commercials, none the less: totally worth the wait)




And here's a good one, but the embedding feature was disabled.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOHOqCvb-T0

Death by Computer Science

Last month, while choosing my classes and gearing up for the beginning of school my sister suggested that because I need a science, I should do an easy course. Such as: COMPUTER SCIENCE. "I like computers" I thought-- and my dear sister said her class was a piece of cake. Taking her words of wisdom, I decided to enroll. The first couple of weeks I LOVED it...then, as of late, things have taken a turn for the worse.

I signed up for the free software (upon my thick-accented teacher's request) so I can finish our in-class projects at home. Unfortunately once it finished downloading, I thought that I had wasted all that time downloading the wrong software...then I realized I just needed to burn the software onto a disc. Okay, I could do that. Then I realize I don't have any blank CD's. Shoot. So I go to class with out my project and realize that we have a quiz...which consists of basically a sheet of paper and we have to build a program to produce the content as its output. Great. I finally finish it, and give it to my prof...then he writes -4 on it. I ask him why he did that and he is like "You asked me 2 questions". Apparently questions asked on quizzes are worth two points each, which are taken off your over-all grade.He never stated this. Nice.

Then I miss my Thursday class due to traffic + NO PARKING. Now today I try to burn the program on the blank CD I stole from the church (Thanks Carrie;) and it does not have enough memory to retain all the information. GREAT. So I was resolved to just print the three problems I had already completed and call it a night, then I go to get it out of my email... and the email containing the project has magically disappeared.

Great, awesome.
Crista...thanks for the great advice.
Remind me to thank you for it when I see you!

Waaaaaaaaaa

November Rain

Late Last month My darlings packed their bags and headed(Via Train--yah, they're THAT cool) to Seattle, Washington. They set out in search of a new environment and an uplifting, spiritually enriched atmosphere. The answer to their search came by way of dove...the Calvary Dove to be exact (God usually uses doves, as you may know). They are now attending Calvary Chapel Bible College In Seattle, and LOVIN' it! However, since the last night I saw them--I have missed them dearly. Sometimes I'll get out of class early and think, "Oh, I'll see if B wants to go for a bike ride" or "Maybe Tita wants to come hang out while I clean my room" or "We should all go to the Coffee Klatch." (Oh, how I miss those late night chats over Chai)




Thankfully...




Come November 14th, I'll get to see these party animals once again!
AWOOOOOO




Can't Wait to see you Ladies!





P.S.
Thanks to Carrie for letting me tag along on her trip...
And I was kiddin' about the Dove, occasionally God uses donkeys and snakes.

The Cure

I am going to cure myself of awkwardness...
You watch. I'll do it.
By NOT acknowledging awkward moments, it is my intention to see them magically disappear.

Step #1: Delete blog that is dedicated solely to awkward moments in life.

Fiercy Piercy

Last night a group of us headed up to the Hollywood bowl to see radiohead. Carrie, Stefanie, Pierce and myself were in the furthest possible seats from the stage. Fourth bench from the back of the amphitheater. If you've been to the Bowl, you know that the air may or may not be thinner up there. One girl was trying to find her seat and remarked that her " nose was bleeding", seemingly due to the altitude. Alright, I'm exaggerating...but they were pretty bad seats. The show was still amazing, bringing me near tears at times. Even though I have been repeatedly criticized for not being the biggest fan of radiohead. However, things took a turn for the better when we decided to stick around in our seats to wait for the crowds to disperse. That delay allowed us to find ourselves in front of the "Artist Entrance" just as a small crowd began to gather. Rumors of the band's possible exit through the mentioned door, began to circulate through the small cluster of fans. Soon Phil the drummer was gracefully making his rounds up and down the guard rail, signing shirts/tickets anything sign-able and taking pictures.

Our foursome decided that the only way to prove that this miraculous event took place, was to snap a picture with Phil. He graciously consented and we all gathered in, my head blocking his view of the camera and Pierce mistakingly clutching Phil's shoulder instead of Stef's. Someone offers to take it for us, but around the time the camera SHOULD have been flashing: the lens recedes back into its place and the camera shuts off. Someone else steps in and heroically attempts to fix the camera and take the picture. After what seemed like an eternity, the camera still was not working. Finally, some random kid is like "Here I'll take it!" and FINALLY we get a picture. (Carrie, if you're reading this: Email him!). Anyway, super awkward moment. Everyone staring at us, waiting to get their stuff signed and pictures taken. And us, holding this stupid pose for seriously at least two minutes.



Then, the security guards announce that Thom is coming out...we all have our tickets, albums, ipods/iphones out and ready to be signed. At that moment, the realization hits: Thom Yorke is coming out through the door directly in front of us. After several false alarms, he walks out, black velvet in hand (A drink Bono introduced him to: Champagne and Guinness) and graciously makes his way to the crowd. Everyone of us, are in awe. Completely silent. However, leave it to Pierce to say what he thinks. He remarks, rather loudly, "Wow, he's a little guy." Every head turns in our direction. I am not sure if Thom heard, but...needless to say: awkward moment number two.



This is Pierce. Pierce is probably one of the most enjoyable people to be around, simply because Piece is: awkward. Entertainingly so. He is one of the founding fathers of the wolf-pack, former barista to the stars, and the guy you hope makes your non-fat vanilla latte every morning...just so you can hear his stories. Beloved Pierce managed to make something so amazing into a comically awkward situation.

Anyway...awkwardness at a radiohead concert: dedicated to Pierce.

Harvest (Not the Holloween Festival)

This years Harvest Crusade topped the charts, if I may be so BOLD as to say. I have attended the crusades with my family since I was five. Every year I'm touched by the mass amount of people that flood the field to receive the gift of salvation, through Christ Jesus. This year I attended both Saturday and Sunday night(I was not planning on either one). It totally slipped my mind that we were taking the High School kids to the youth event on Saturday night, and I was charmed into going with Carrie on Sunday night. Anyway, Saturday night was really great. Not because of the bands, although P.O.D and Kutless (My two favorite bands--;) totally rocked, but because of the lives that were changed all over the stadium. It is an amazing thing to watch the packed stadium empty out as people flood the field.

However, the second night was, for me, the most touching. I ended up having to go with Carrie onto the field for follow up counseling, even though I didn't have a badge. So...yes, as Carrie stated--people thought I was getting saved as well. But whatever, it was seriously worth it. I have never been on the field during the alter call, and I was so astounded by the sudden change in atmosphere. When you are looking up at the stands and watching the rows of broken hearted, humbled people, stumbling onto the lawn in a daze of tears and emotion: it is a completely different scene from the one witnessed in the bleachers. As Pastor Greg gave the alter call on Sunday night he stated that those who's hearts were softened should do what over 7 THOUSAND PEOPLE, had done in the first two nights and make a commitment to Christ. As I stood there, I realized the power of the gospel message. The power of the name above all names, that can shake the hearts of thousands of people and draw them to himself instantaneously. This verse came up on my DBV and it seemed to be the most appropriate verse to include in this post:


"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:9-11

Just to make things clear, the statement in the first line of this post was simply a personal observation. And the event did not "top the charts" because the Harvest team did anything different, or because the bands were any better, or the message any clearer...it simply impacted my life this year, more than any other year that I have attended. It was my own personal perception of this year's crusade, and it was truly an amazing gift to be a part of it.