Snowballs and Kumquats

So, lots of exciting things have happened since you've heard from us last. Well, maybe exciting isn't the right word, but we haven't been completely bored anyway. We had a snow day last week and it was lovely. Well, we got Thursday afternoon and Friday morning off, so I guess that adds up to a full day. We had a gigantic snowball fight in our backyard and all ended up soaked.

Jo, Stacie, Holly and I all had fun standing around in the kitchen and laughing one night. It was late; we were being silly and enjoying kumquats. If you've never had a kumquat, you should try one. They look like miniature oranges, but the rind is sweet and the inside is extremely sour.

This evening Jo decided to learn how to French braid. Stacie taught her and I was the guinea pig that she practiced on. On a somewhat related note, Jo absolutely hates to have her hair touched. So don't touch it if you want to survive.

Now we're watching the Olympics again. We turned it on earlier but decided that watching people ski for 30 km is not quite as exciting as it sounds. Nevertheless, we sat and watched the hour and fifteen minute race.

JoAnna just got a text message and her text alert sounds like the little TV Land bell sound. I think of TV Land and M*A*S*H every time she gets a text. And now she keeps showing me pictures of dead albatrosses. Very morbid and sad.

Two College Students Share Life of Wisdom, Wit, and Wonders through Blog

Here's a thought. With all the negative media out there - the U.S. missionaries charged with trafficking children out of Haiti, the Colorado missionary charged with sexually abusing 18 Haitian schoolboys, the mother who overdosed her 4-year-old daughter, Facebook's site re-design (we all knew that one was coming, though) - Rebekah and I found it prudent to get something positive out there before we all become depressed zombies with no hope for humanity. Why don't we share the truth that there are still good things to think about in the midst of all this calamity?

So, I propose that we have a feature in every major news media outlet about us. Yes, Rebekah and I deserve to be at the forefront of the news. We are the poster children of goodness. Absolute goodness. And we're interesting to boot.

But seriously though. I'm tired of all the horrible stories being featured in the news... yet, it seems that whenever something good is in the spotlight, such as a New York taxi driver who returned $21,000 to one of his passengers, it must be pulled up through the miry depths of violence, hatred, debt, and disease. (Here is where I found that story. A single page dedicated to "happy, positive news.") However, I must admit, nothing gets my attention quite like that very same violence, hatred, debt, and disease of which I speak with such aversion. There seems to exist this tension among what we find interesting, what gets our attention, what holds our attention, what entertains us the most, and what makes us feel pity for others - which helps us be confident that there is someone "worse" than us.

Of course, this is not the case across the board. I just wanted to share my two cents about why we may be so attracted to negative news. And this actually was an update on an insignificant, two-minute conversation that Rebekah and I had about this topic. Mostly it was about how I wanted us to be in the spotlight because we are the epitome of good news. Oh wait. That's Jesus...

P.S. Rebekah just thought this was soooo funny. I guess there's not much else to get excited about in the middle of a freezing cold nowhere...

LOST!!!

I'm sitting here watching Lost with JoAnna. We've been waiting for this day for ages and I'm so glad that it's finally here. We're already very confused. And I might have to hurt someone if we don't get some answers this season. I'm a little ashamed, because I just hung up on a friend so that I wouldn't miss Lost.

It's been an awfully long time since either of us has posted, but I decided to take a little time to jot something down. Unfortunately the excitingness of our lives has seriously declined. Though I have had some fun playing with the toy horses that Jo gave me for Christmas.

School is back in session and Jo and I actually have a class together. We wake up early, walk to school and grab a cup of coffee before class. It's not quite so fun when it's as cold as it was today.

For some reason we still have Christmas decorations up. Our house is full of Christmas cheer with stocking on the wall, lights around the windows and bows stuck to the wall.

Yet another lovely quote:

"Why would I ever suck a cow?"

Gobble Gobble

So, in between the last post and this one, I tried TWICE to do a mobile blog post... obviously neither of those panned out. Ah well. Maybe someday I will figure it out.

Tonight I had my first of four Thanksgivings this year. At work we had a potluck and it was yummy. I gave thanks for being able to eat a free meal that wasn't McDonald's food. Thursday I have a potluck for the Student Social Work Association, and Friday we're getting our Oxford group together to celebrate (2nd Annual Oxford Thanksgiving). And, of course, there's the real Thanksgiving holiday, which I am privileged to be spending with Rebekah's family. :)

I went to the British Shoppe yesterday! It was incredible... real imported goods from the U.K. I called Rebekah and left a message, because I was staring at IRN-BRU, Ribena, Digestives, Hob Nobs, Walkers crisps, and real Cadbury candy. I just wanted to make her jealous. Too bad I have no idea if it had its intended effect. I've only seen her for about 2 minutes since then!

Sadly, Rebekah has about 4 huge assignments/projects due this week, all of which are a sizable portion of the final grade in each class. I can't imagine what that must feel like, but I know I'd be stressing too.

After much debate in the household, we decided that we would decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, since we only have two weeks in Abilene after it. What do we have to show for it? Absolutely nothing. haha. We're so awesome. I love us.

Favorite semi-recent quote:

"I don't actually want to be a boy."

- Rebekah

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

I’m proud to announce that JoAnna and I now have a very special friend: Havar. That’s right, we made it too the zoo today! It’s about time, since we’ve been planning this trip since February or so. Anna, JoAnna and I finally went to the Abilene Zoo to meet the white tiger. Unfortunately, Havar quickly noticed that we hadn’t made t-shirts of him and was very disappointed with us. In fact, he mostly just stared us down or pointedly ignored us.


Yep, folks. There he is.

The giraffes and bears were fun and we fed them some yummy crackers. We know they were yummy because we tested them out just to make sure. The poor female lion was spurned by her man, so that was kind of sad. Oh yeah, and I won a stare-down with a cobra, so you better watch out.

See, we really did test out the crackers.

After tons of fun at the zoo, we had lunch at Sharky’s. Tragically, I threw half of my burrito away. This was going to be my dinner, and Jo happened to think it was absolutely hilarious. She really does just like to laugh at me.

Our activities this week included visualization exercises. They are a lot of fun and very relaxing. JoAnna visualized the person she will end up with: a medium-armed dark-haired gentleman with brown shoes. It worked too, cause within minutes he showed up. Unfortunately she didn’t get his name, so if you fit that description, please come forward and identify yourself.

We’ve both taken up watching Flashforward, and we try to watch it together when possible. However, last week we had to watch it separately, but were both overjoyed when “Charlie” showed up at the end of the episode (well, that’s not his name in this show, but I don’t think that’s really important).

I had a crazy dream the other night and wrote down some key words, so that I would remember it. Now all I have is some strange words that don’t make much sense: museum, trumpet, tornado, walking, cheese sticks. Now I really want to know what that dream was about!

I'll leave you with a lovely quote from JoAnna:

"You look cuddly. I just want to lay down on you."

Midterm

This just in:

There is a new store in the Abilene Mall. At 4 PM on Thursday, October 29, The British Shoppe will be celebrating its grand opening. It sells imported food and gifts from the UK! How awesome is that? Right here in little o' Abilene, Texas, where I would have least expected it... But of course, this makes Rebekah and me very pleased. We may even go to the ribbon cutting ceremony and listen to Abilene's own bagpipers (who knew?)... and possibly win something at the giveaways. Not to mention free samples... Click here to learn more.

Also of note, this past week Rebekah helped me with a video I had to record for my direct practice (social work) class. I was supposed to be demonstrating confidentiality and other contractual notices and different levels of empathy, and she was my client. I don't know how well I did, but I can say that it was funny because the scenario I made up actually described Rebekah during freshman year, apparently... I'm glad she has friends now.

A Knight's Tale

So, just to affirm Rebekah's statement that she and I need to hang out more - I couldn't agree more! We did have some time last night (an hour and a half...) when we were supposed to be doing homework but ended up talking and Wikipedia-ing (just like old times). Really now, are we not the only ones to wonder what Mick Jagger and Elton John ever did to receive knighthood? I understand Bono becoming a "Sir," but really - why is everyone receiving honorary titles? Rebekah and I got into researching the people who have become knights, and I wanted to know if women could be knighted as well. Turns out, they are labeled "Dames" (not very pleasant to the ear, if you ask me). Also, if you are a female married to a man who is knighted, you get the title of "Lady." I have decided that I want to either become a "Sir" or just marry a knight so that I can be a "Lady." I still think that "Sir JoAnna" sounds cooler though. So it's like... Sir Bono, Sir Spielberg, Sir JoAnna... cool, huh? (Actually, in order to have a Sir or Dame title I would need to be either British or a citizen of the Commonwealth... so I'll have to get a move-on on that.) [An incomplete list of honorary British Knights]

Fortunately, Rebekah and I get to spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday chapels and lunches together. Today while we were sitting on the bench in the Hall of Servants that we usually sit on, she tells me to move because she has to lie down and there isn't enough room with me on there. I tell her that I won't move, as she proceeds to lay her head on my lap. Then, I proceed to bop her on the head with my social policy textbook (this is NOT a light book, folks). Anyway, all this to say... she misses me and loves me a lot. :)

Also today at lunch we discussed how history will be preserved if technology keeps advancing. For example, floppy disks are basically obsolete because many computers aren't even capable of reading them anymore. And since we don't want to kill any more trees in the name of being green and saving the planet (which I like, because the tree is one of my favorite creations in the whole world), we won't be printing or writing everything out. Will we just forget everything that is happening? I think maybe we will have to revert to the storytelling of the oral tradition. That would be fun.