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I forgot a lot >_< but it was fun to try!

Thanks, lyricalisse!

And this one was amusing:
41% Geek

Check out this neat online game that sent me:
Free Rice

I can't remember the last time I posted here. I've been so busy lately...

- Work is very demanding and stressful right now. I had to work last Saturday (3/3) and I may have to work a crazy schedule during the eight days following 3/16.
+/- My group at work is moving buildings. This doesn't make sense, because our lab will still be in the same building, and it will require a lot of going back and forth for us. Right now, however, I'm so anxious for CHANGE, that I'm just hoping the new atmosphere will be better, even if more inconvenient. One good thing is that I'll no longer be responsible for facilitating a Bible study on Fridays at lunch. It was always a source of stress for me to have that responsibility, and felt so ritualistic. The fact that besides me were only guys was another stress factor. There were great times of being uplifted as well, but it's really kinda hard for me to share with a group of older men.
+++ Going off the Pill and switching to Fertility Awareness Method. I've been taking the Pill for seven years, and for the last several months, I've really been resenting what they've done to my body. I'm so thankful that Erik is supportive of this change. I want to feel like *me* again and just be natural--the way God made me. This is really exciting for me.
+ I've been attending Alpha on Sunday nights at my church. This is my first session doing it, and I'm at a table with a couple of my girlfriends, who are my age. It's a lot more comfortable than when Erik and I tried going to one night a year ago, and ended up sitting with older men. It's great food, and I love Nicky Gumbel's videos. He's a great speaker, and he uses great illustrations. He always brings up things I didn't quite grasp before. The only downside is that it's a Sunday night thing, and my Sundays are already pretty busy since I go to church and lunch with my dad in the mornings. I don't get to see Erik a lot on Sundays.
+ Cats! I finally got to head over to Erik's family's place yesterday for dinner. I got to pet kitties. I wish we could have cats...I'd love to have one just curl up on my lap whenever I'm home. Erik wants a kitten, though, and with both of us working so much, no one would be here to supervise it.
- Loneliness. Some days, I really feel my lack of close, intimate friendships. I love my husband so much, but we don't share my faith. With home and work responsibilities, although I make it to church events and see my girlfriends, I have a hard time ever calling them or going out for coffee. I don't do much email or chatting anymore, so I generally feel disconnected. (lyricalisse and boonychica, I miss you guys!)
+ Books! I love books. I've read so many great ones lately. My introverted self finds a lot of comfort in books, but I wonder if I'm allowing them to take the place of real relationships? Lately I've been reading Corrie ten Boom, Philip Yancey, Joel C. Rosenberg, Francine Rivers, and L. A. Kelly.
- I miss having a library at church and helping out there. My favorite service in the church was shelving books, checking them in and out, at the little library we had. My church is doing some building now, so the library is closed. When the construction is all done, I hear the library will be different, but maybe there will still be an opportunity for me to help out there.
+ Discovery channel. Erik and I like to watch Mythbusters on Wednesday nights. Fun, crazy stuff.
+ 2 Corinthians 5:17
+ Hymn: Till the Storm Passes By
+ Cinnamon rolls. Yum!
- Lack of long-torso shirts. I need to find some time to go shopping.
+ www.stuffonmycat.com
- Taxes. :p

I suppose that's all for now. Might go curl up with a book for awhile... :)

I just heard from International Justice Mission, that there's a new movie coming out, Amazing Grace, that tells the story of William Wilberforce, who led the abolitionist movement in the UK (200 years ago) to abolish slavery.

Slavery is not something I think much about these days, but it does indeed happen, in very real ways and to very real people, ranging from bonded slave labor to forced prostitution and children abducted to fight in wars (read stories of freed slaves here).

When I first read about this last night, I came away with a movie I'd like to see when it comes out at the end of February. I didn't think much more about it. Then I had a dream about a little 10-year-old boy named Braden, who had been kidnapped. I tried to rescue him, but I couldn't trust any authorities. I got him out of the place, only to have him return later because of Stockholm syndrome. I work up remembering what I'd read in IJM's book Terrify No More about the importance of aftercare facilities for girls rescued from forced prostitution.

Because this doesn't happen near us, it's easy to pretend it doesn't happen. But everyone out there enslaved deserves to be free, like we are. The Amazing Change has a petition they're circulating to "call upon global leaders to commit themselves to abolition." Please take a moment to go have a look here.

Also, for anyone who attends church, there is an Amazing Grace Sunday planned on Feb. 18, to sing Amazing Grace and pray for the end of slavery.