A rut...

Have you ever been in just a big stinkin muddy rut?

I'm there.

Problem is...{and I hate it when this happens} I don't know what got me there.

Bummer.

How do I fix it if I don't know what it is?

Sleep?

Sounds good to me.

And a lot of inspirational quotes, as such:

"Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capactiy to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept your effort."

- Gordon B. Hinkley

Love that man. He has great spirit.

Oh...and another way to fix it....Which is most appropriately demonstrated in another inspirational quote:

"When life gets too hard to stand; Kneel"- Unknown

I'm there.

God vs. Science

I love this! So I had to share it.

'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.
The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'
'Yes sir,' the student says.
'So you believe in God?'
'Absolutely.'
'Is God good?'
'Sure! God's good.'
'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'
'Yes'
'Are you good or evil?'
'The Bible says I'm evil.'
The professor grins knowingly...'Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'
'Yes sir, I would.'
'So you're good..!'
'I wouldn't say that.'
'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. 'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'
'Er... yes,' the student says.
'Is Satan good?'
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'
'Then where does Satan come from?'
The student falters. 'From God'
'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'
'Yes, sir..'
'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'
'Yes'
'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'
Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'
The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'
'So who created them?'
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?'
There is still no answer.
Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'
The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir.. I've never seen Him..'
'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'
'No, sir, I have not..'
'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'
'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'
'Yet you still believe in him?'
'Yes'
'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist... What do you say to that, son?
'Nothing,' the student replies.. 'I only have my faith.'
'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God.. There is no evidence, only faith.'
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat? '
'Yes."
'And is there such a thing as cold?'
'Yes, son, there's cold too.'
'No sir, there isn't.'
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet.
The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.
Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'
'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'
'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'
'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'
'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains.. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.' 'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'
'Now tell me, professor.. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'
'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'
'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed..
'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. 'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'
The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter. 'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir..' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'
'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues.
'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'
Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'
To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'
The professor sat down.
If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you finished, mail to your friends and family with the title 'God vs. Science'
PS: the student was Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs. Science in 1921...

Projects

I built this cute little bench for my Entryway with the plans from http://www.annawhite.com/-- it used to be The Knock Off Wood Blog, but now she's changed it into a website. It was my first woodworking project for quite a long time. It turned out so cute. I was very proud!!

Cracks...

Update: So Wednesday I hurt my left wrist playing volleyball. It snapped when I hit the ball and hurt Pretty bad. Of course I kept playing on it through that game and then a second game. I expected it to quit hurting sometime the next day. It didn't. So I got worried. I called the Chiropractor (P.S. it's the cheapest way to get a quick X-ray and they'll tell you if you're broken or not, without going to a hospital or Doctors office.)

They couldn't get me in until today @ 10:30 so I waited...and I kept expecting it to stop hurting. I'm a person with an incredibly high pain tolerance. I always have been. But this stinker hurt!! So I go in today and he says it's cracked and bruised, and it's right on the thin part of my arm which is where the nerves are close to the surface, which is why it's extra sensitive. He offered me a splint if I was worried I would over-do it and not let it heal properly.

I assured him I would do my best and was on my way....

So glad I didn't break my life long record of no broken bones.

Cracks don't count-- but they do hurt.

More Great ideas....

So...I absolutely love this Mantle Shelf. I have seen so many like it in pictures and have wanted one so badly! So...I finally decided, I'm going to make Justin help me make one, lol. I've seen tutorials on them before and it's just a bunch of trim glued/nailed together and painted and distressed.

I know it will take time, but this is one thing I've loved forever...so I'll sacrifice and just do it :D

If....of course...I can talk Justin into ditching some of the (millions of) things he has to do, so he can help me.

P.S. We have had tornados for the last 2 days. My dad saw the first one on Wednesday around 5 and it went right over town, only about half way down out of the sky so it didn't damage anything. The wind and hail were horrible though.

Then again last night, we were at Pratt's for dinner and building fence and another tornado warning came on the radio so we stood in the back room {right by all the windows that they adivse to stay away from} and WE SAW IT! It was insane, the wind was blowing so hard, we were watching the clouds just whip around until they started spinning in a circle and formed a huge funnel. SCARY!!!

So we went in the kitchen and ate pie and played chickenfoot...haha.

Oranges and browns and reds Oh My!

I forget how much I absolutely love this time of the year. The jackets and wheat decorations. I always look forward to it, but nothing beats it when it gets here! I love sweater and boots weather (minus the snow).

I am trying to stay motivated and keep moving along in my college courses. I usually get my assignments done at the beginning of the week so I have the rest of the week to finish the readings for the classes I don't have assignments in.

Justin has started playing flag football. He's having fun. I am really starting to see a lot more of all the city sports in our future. There is a sport that we like to play almost year round, and it keeps us active and {mostly} outdoors, so I'm liking it.

His team is doing well so far, and I hope they're enjoying themselves, So far they've been scheduled for 3 games:

1- Won

2- Loss

3- Cancelled due to weather.

I played my first two womens volleyball games in probably 8 years last night. I had so much fun. I remember how much I LOVE that game. I'm still very rusty, but we'll take a little while to get back into things I'm sure. Even though we lost both games, I had a great time!

It's a weird feeling to have Justin be the one sitting on the side lines doing the cheering while I'm the one playing. Our entire relationship has been the other way around, or he's at least playing with me. This will be interesting.

When I'm not doing homework or playing volleyball or watching Justin play football, or working.... I'm wishing I was decorating my house with cute little benches I want to build...

{like this one}

I also love this picture of this entryway because my entryway is in the exact same layout. The door, the wall, even the little black table in the far left of this picture.

I am planning on making a board similar to this one to hang on the wall above a bench

{Like the one in the picture above}

I think it would be so adorable!!!I've also slowly gotten a few autumn decorations up and around. I found this free printable online today and saved it. Now I just need to go home and print it and frame it to add to my {very small} autumn collection.

I'm also very excited to go to an upcominggame.

We are going with my coworkers from Anadarko. It'll be so much fun. I know Justin is excited to go. We always have fun at Jazz games. We are going to go to Tucanos (YUMMY) first for dinner, then walk over.

I'm also SO EXCITED at the CHANCE that Justin MIGHT let me stop at....

TAI PAN on Saturday before we come home.

He's always sweet and lets me, so I'm super excited.

I love this store more than I should probably.

This way I can pick up some more fall decorations

Like these:

Or these....

And maybe get a few Christmas Decorations so I can start getting all prepared for

THIS:

I know it's a while away and I'm not even close to being ready. But I'm excited to go to Tai Pan so I guarantee if they have Christmas stuff out already, I'll end up buying something.

We are so incredibly blessed and happy with our lives. We are incredibly fortunate to have all that we do and especially to live in this free country!!

Count your blessings....

And have a good day!

I can't believe it's OCTOBER!

In 9 days...it's going to be 10/10/10...Crazy huh?

Just a thought!

I am so excited for conference this weekend! It's always such a comforting and cozy experience to cuddle up on the couch and watch and listen to the speakers. I try to soak up everything they have to say and always come away refreshed and inspired. I'll be the first to admit that I have a hard time staying awake through ALL of the talks...but that's what DVR is for right :D

I have my first quiz in my PSY 1730 class today and I'm kindof nervous. I have a perfect 100% in that class so far and DON'T want to screw it up....and I'm not quite sure what to study. It's a very basic class so it's hard to absorb things that seem like common sense...i.e. to have sufficient time to study, you have to have good time management skills and set that time aside.

Easy right? That's what I thought...So we'll see how this quiz goes.

Tomorrow Justin and my dad are going to lock themselves away in the "man cave"/shed and work on his truck ALL DAY LONG!

That's all Justin wanted from my parents for his birthday, was one full day of undistracted dad help. It's going to be fun and interesting to see how much progress they can make!

I just got finished with a major 'change the way you eat' rehaul...I don't like to call it dieting-- I don't like calling things 'going on a diet' because a diet is an everyday thing. It is the way you eat...so you can't necessarily go on a diet...if you get what I mean.

Anyway I did a 3 day cleanse (so hard!!!) that consisted of water, Juice, and apples and beets. They are the super fruits and are known for their body cleansing abilities-- plus beets are GREAT for your complexion...Nice little perk.

Anyway...I realized that- I don't need soda. I've never needed soda. It's why I've gone for years at a time before without drinking any and not really noticed. What I do crave however...are carbs...Yummy. I am a Carb-o-holic.

I love breads, and pastries and pastas. I love cupcakes and brownies. I was craving Eggo's SO BADLY! It wasn't even funny. Anyway-- found my weakness :D Now I get to continue 'cleaning it up.'

So I lost 2 lbs. doing that. In just 3 days. And amazingly- I feel great.

Justin and I have been going to Freedom Fitness and exercising after work for the last week and a half, and it's been fun! And oh MY it feels SO good to actually use machines and lift weights instead of just running! It actually feels like a workout!

Yesterday, we went to the rec. center and practiced some volleyball for me I am playing on a team and our games start next Wednesday so I needed to go get some rust off. It was really fun! My arms needed reminded what hitting a ball felt like-- thus the bruises all up my arms and broken blood vessels in my right hand today... But they were so worth it! I had a great time.

Anyway... That's a wrap! I'll get back to my first working day in October :D

Have a good one!