I hate being sick. I hate being sick for quite a number of reasons, but since moving to Michigan and getting sick on a regular basis, I must say that my number one reason I hate being sick is...having to take care of myself alone. I never feel more alone than I do when I'm sick. The least fun thing in the world is to wake up in the middle of the night with a fever while basically hyperventilating because I'm having a hard time breathing through my messed up throat and have to figure it all out myself. And though it seems like it would be nice to be lounging around at home watching tv and reading all day, it is actually pretty awful since I have no voice so I can't talk on the phone, and work keeps calling me regardless because there are things that need to be done that can't be bothered by me being incapacitated. I currently have a mix of bronchitis and a sinus infection, which is actually the sickest I've been since moving to Michigan. I went to the doctor and she prescribed me some expensive meds, which are helping thank goodness. We also talked about the fact that I've gotten sick here a lot more than I ever did in Colorado, and she basically told me that I probably have allergies that don't get along with Michigan, and if I don't start naturally getting better and stop getting sick as often, I may need to be allergy tested and start getting allergy shots regularly, or find a better place to live heh. Seems like Michigan is really trying its hardest to get rid of me. This means I don't get to go to the Pistons playoff game tonight. But that's ok because instead I get to sit here all by myself and entertain Loki for the weekend. Oh and I can't drive because of the Codeine in the medicine. So I'm living off of whatever I can find in the cupboards...which is not much since I'm at grocery shopping time.
Mmm yummy baked beans and tomato paste...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
We're Going Housing...
My dad laughs at me. Why does he laugh at me? Because I like making spreadsheets. For everything. Why do I like making spreadsheets so? Because it's my thing. And they're just about useful for any scenario you need to analyze. Such as figuring out a downpayment for a house, and how much you could save by having "investors" loan you enough to cover a 20% downpayment versus paying a 10% downpayment by yourself. Why do I keep asking myself questions? Because yes, I am a quintessential nerd.
I've been throwing around the idea of buying a house the last couple of weeks. My reasoning is that I am happy with Dow and want to stay with the company, and with my career aspirations, I need production experience, and the best place for me to be getting production experience currently is...Midland. Which puts me here for about another 3 years. Which I've started coming to terms with instead of dreading. And with all of the incentives out there this year for first-time buyers ($8000 tax credit from fed, $7500 interest-free loan, <5% fixed interest rates, and basically the crash of the entire housing market...), it is just a bit too logical of an option to not consider. I'm giving myself until May before I actually contact a realtor, but I've already started looking at finances and houses that are actually on the market around here currently. The biggest downsides of owning a home: I have to maintain it, I have to take care of it, I have to fix it. No one to fix the furnace if it breaks (without spending lots of money at least), no one to shovel for me or mow my currently non-existent lawn. And if I don't have a roommate, no one in the same building besides Loki and I (and Loki is a scaredy cat!). So it's still up for debate currently...
Speaking of moving and houses though, it seems like everyone else is moving OUT. Jeanette and Dylan both announced within a week that they have put their houses on the market so that they could move as quickly as the market would let them. Dylan even had his house staged and everything (which meant that he now has lots of flowers and fake plants taking over his house). This means I am currently also holding his cats hostage on top of Mona, putting my current number of cats up to 5. Wait, did that math not add up? That's because I'm also watching 2 cats for other friends, however they live in the same apartment building, so I just walk down and take care of those ones... I think I would have to move out of my apartment if there were 5 cats living in there, too much!
Oh, and I'm going to a Pistons playoff game on Friday. Apparently they're going to lose, which I could care less about..it'll just be a fun experience =) And thanks to Dow perks, the tickets were only $10 each, so I really don't have to care how the game goes!
I've been throwing around the idea of buying a house the last couple of weeks. My reasoning is that I am happy with Dow and want to stay with the company, and with my career aspirations, I need production experience, and the best place for me to be getting production experience currently is...Midland. Which puts me here for about another 3 years. Which I've started coming to terms with instead of dreading. And with all of the incentives out there this year for first-time buyers ($8000 tax credit from fed, $7500 interest-free loan, <5% fixed interest rates, and basically the crash of the entire housing market...), it is just a bit too logical of an option to not consider. I'm giving myself until May before I actually contact a realtor, but I've already started looking at finances and houses that are actually on the market around here currently. The biggest downsides of owning a home: I have to maintain it, I have to take care of it, I have to fix it. No one to fix the furnace if it breaks (without spending lots of money at least), no one to shovel for me or mow my currently non-existent lawn. And if I don't have a roommate, no one in the same building besides Loki and I (and Loki is a scaredy cat!). So it's still up for debate currently...
Speaking of moving and houses though, it seems like everyone else is moving OUT. Jeanette and Dylan both announced within a week that they have put their houses on the market so that they could move as quickly as the market would let them. Dylan even had his house staged and everything (which meant that he now has lots of flowers and fake plants taking over his house). This means I am currently also holding his cats hostage on top of Mona, putting my current number of cats up to 5. Wait, did that math not add up? That's because I'm also watching 2 cats for other friends, however they live in the same apartment building, so I just walk down and take care of those ones... I think I would have to move out of my apartment if there were 5 cats living in there, too much!
Oh, and I'm going to a Pistons playoff game on Friday. Apparently they're going to lose, which I could care less about..it'll just be a fun experience =) And thanks to Dow perks, the tickets were only $10 each, so I really don't have to care how the game goes!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
To Thai or not to Thai
My love of Thai food and my body's complete hate of anything that even looks like it might be remotely spicy is coming to a head once again. I am eating yummy yummy leftover curry from my dad and I's Thai escapades in Detroit this past weekend, and although I asked for very very little spice, my mouth is burning and I'm close to tears. It is SO gooood! I cannot resist the burningly scrumptious food. My dad left his behind, and although he claims that it had absolutely no spice whatsoever, he can also eat some of the hottest spices in the world (apparently you learn that trick after living in Thailand for 5 years in high school...he did at least). I'm going to eat his food regardless, and hope it doesn't kill me, or at least my mouth.
Oh yummy Thai food, why do you entice me and burn me so?!
Oh yummy Thai food, why do you entice me and burn me so?!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Easter weekend
Everyone is gone this week for a strange phenomenon they call "Spring Break". I know not what this holiday is any longer, so I sit in my office with nothing to do during lunch but blog my life. What did people do by themselves during lunch before there were computers?? Those were sad times, I can only imagine...
Luckily, this week is only a 3 day week for me since Friday is Good Friday and Thursday is my Friday off. Yes, that is correct, do not question it. My dad is flying in on Thursday to spend Easter with me...or rather, he won a Red Wings package and is flying out for that, and I badgered him until he agreed to spend Easter with me also rather than flying out early Sunday morning. The Red Wings package includes sweet seats to the game, dinner for two at their exclusive hoity toity restaurant at the stadium, a signed puck by one of the Swedes, and a ride on the Zamboni, which my dad quickly passed off to me. All week, friends have been encouraging me to practice my awkward Zamboni wave and loudly contemplating how uncomfortable I will look as we circle back around the rink for the 10th time and everyone stares. Oh joy of all joys! I'm not going to complain, it's all free. I'm considering wearing Avalanche gear, just to make sure I blend in better...
We're also going to the opening game in Detroit for the Tigers on Friday. Apparently, opening games are all that and a bag of chips because every single ticket was sold out for Friday's game, yet Saturday and Sunday only have about half the tickets sold...and they're not even giving us a lousy promotional item! This meant that I had to scour StubHub for tickets, which were looking to cost approximately $100 for you're-not-good-enough-for-a-seat Standing Room Only. I watched ticket prices for about 5 days before I realized yesterday that tickets were starting to disappear fast and I had better suck it up and pay the $300+ bucks for 2 mediocre seats before they went up even higher. I found some seats that I was begrudgingly about to buy...in fact, I had entered all of my credit card information and was ready to press the button when I figured, what the hey, we'll look one more time at this other section (because I suffer from paranoia, which means I check things obsessively, *just in case!!*). Somehow, to my amazement, two tickets had popped up for $50 each for center Upper Deck 7th row. Now let me tell you kids, this was the cheapest set of tickets I've yet seen for the game, not even the auction block tickets were that low. I nearly fell out of my chair, but held on tightly to the keyboard only by sheer will in order to pray that these were real and not a figment of my imagination and buy them as quickly as humanly possible. And I got them. I then printed them off quickly to ensure that they did not evaporate before my eyes like I knew they should. I then started considering putting them back on StubHub and reselling them since every seat around them was selling for $125 each, but I chose not to anger the Baseball angels that saved me from a horrifyingly expensive ticket. Long story short, don't go to Opening Day, what a waste. The Tigers aren't even good!! No wonder Michigan is tanking.
We are also going to church Sunday morning, followed by Easter brunch, which I sure hope is somewhere good... I just haven't found any place yet. That is my next task following the organizing of my apartment, which is going quite well despite the increased mess I have made by pulling everything out of the place I had kept it. I have high hopes...now if only work would stop getting in the way...
Luckily, this week is only a 3 day week for me since Friday is Good Friday and Thursday is my Friday off. Yes, that is correct, do not question it. My dad is flying in on Thursday to spend Easter with me...or rather, he won a Red Wings package and is flying out for that, and I badgered him until he agreed to spend Easter with me also rather than flying out early Sunday morning. The Red Wings package includes sweet seats to the game, dinner for two at their exclusive hoity toity restaurant at the stadium, a signed puck by one of the Swedes, and a ride on the Zamboni, which my dad quickly passed off to me. All week, friends have been encouraging me to practice my awkward Zamboni wave and loudly contemplating how uncomfortable I will look as we circle back around the rink for the 10th time and everyone stares. Oh joy of all joys! I'm not going to complain, it's all free. I'm considering wearing Avalanche gear, just to make sure I blend in better...
We're also going to the opening game in Detroit for the Tigers on Friday. Apparently, opening games are all that and a bag of chips because every single ticket was sold out for Friday's game, yet Saturday and Sunday only have about half the tickets sold...and they're not even giving us a lousy promotional item! This meant that I had to scour StubHub for tickets, which were looking to cost approximately $100 for you're-not-good-enough-for-a-seat Standing Room Only. I watched ticket prices for about 5 days before I realized yesterday that tickets were starting to disappear fast and I had better suck it up and pay the $300+ bucks for 2 mediocre seats before they went up even higher. I found some seats that I was begrudgingly about to buy...in fact, I had entered all of my credit card information and was ready to press the button when I figured, what the hey, we'll look one more time at this other section (because I suffer from paranoia, which means I check things obsessively, *just in case!!*). Somehow, to my amazement, two tickets had popped up for $50 each for center Upper Deck 7th row. Now let me tell you kids, this was the cheapest set of tickets I've yet seen for the game, not even the auction block tickets were that low. I nearly fell out of my chair, but held on tightly to the keyboard only by sheer will in order to pray that these were real and not a figment of my imagination and buy them as quickly as humanly possible. And I got them. I then printed them off quickly to ensure that they did not evaporate before my eyes like I knew they should. I then started considering putting them back on StubHub and reselling them since every seat around them was selling for $125 each, but I chose not to anger the Baseball angels that saved me from a horrifyingly expensive ticket. Long story short, don't go to Opening Day, what a waste. The Tigers aren't even good!! No wonder Michigan is tanking.
We are also going to church Sunday morning, followed by Easter brunch, which I sure hope is somewhere good... I just haven't found any place yet. That is my next task following the organizing of my apartment, which is going quite well despite the increased mess I have made by pulling everything out of the place I had kept it. I have high hopes...now if only work would stop getting in the way...
Thursday, April 2, 2009
MIA
Thank you for your call (view?), Sarah is currently out of the office. Well, actually, Sarah is currently in the office, but out of the blogger office. She is overwhelmingly busy and, although your call is important to her, she just doesn't have time for you.
Rest assured that she has lots of updates and would much prefer to sit down to write a nice long blog post, but no such opportunity is in the foreseeable future (which is subject to change by the day). Thank you for your time, and we look forward to meeting your needs again some other time more convenient to us.
-Sarah's Computer (NOT known as CADIE)
Rest assured that she has lots of updates and would much prefer to sit down to write a nice long blog post, but no such opportunity is in the foreseeable future (which is subject to change by the day). Thank you for your time, and we look forward to meeting your needs again some other time more convenient to us.
-Sarah's Computer (NOT known as CADIE)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Am I in Jesus's Way?
Spoken in Casting Crown's "What This World Needs"...
"People aren't confused by the gospel,
They're confused by us.
Jesus is the only way to God,
But we are not the only way to Jesus.
This world doesn't need
My tie, my hoodie,
My denomination, or my translation of the Bible-
They just need Jesus.
We can be passionate about what we believe,
But we can't strap ourselves to the gospels
Because we're slowing it down.
Jesus is going to save the world,
But maybe the best thing we can do
Is just get out of the way."
I don't think I am in Jesus's way, but I definitely wonder if I hinder Him sometimes. I'm so human, so sin-bound and full of flaws, I know I mess it up. But I also know God loves me so fully, and I love him, that I work harder each day to focus on Him and turn away from things that I let lead me astray. I'm so glad I have Him, and I want so badly for others to see this too. And to see that all of the silly arguments over denomination, squabbles about the imperfectly human translations of the Bible, all of the things that make us so human, mean absolutely nothing in the light of Jesus Christ.
PS. I'm obsessed with Casting Crowns lately. "Praise you in this Storm" speaks to me so much, I feel like I could have written the song myself if I had a single creative bone in my body. And "Slow Fade" and it's video put a lump in my throat...in a good way somehow. I'm not sure how Casting Crowns got in my head and wrote so many songs that are so applicable to me...but they did. First actual CDs I've bought in a long long time now...
"People aren't confused by the gospel,
They're confused by us.
Jesus is the only way to God,
But we are not the only way to Jesus.
This world doesn't need
My tie, my hoodie,
My denomination, or my translation of the Bible-
They just need Jesus.
We can be passionate about what we believe,
But we can't strap ourselves to the gospels
Because we're slowing it down.
Jesus is going to save the world,
But maybe the best thing we can do
Is just get out of the way."
I don't think I am in Jesus's way, but I definitely wonder if I hinder Him sometimes. I'm so human, so sin-bound and full of flaws, I know I mess it up. But I also know God loves me so fully, and I love him, that I work harder each day to focus on Him and turn away from things that I let lead me astray. I'm so glad I have Him, and I want so badly for others to see this too. And to see that all of the silly arguments over denomination, squabbles about the imperfectly human translations of the Bible, all of the things that make us so human, mean absolutely nothing in the light of Jesus Christ.
PS. I'm obsessed with Casting Crowns lately. "Praise you in this Storm" speaks to me so much, I feel like I could have written the song myself if I had a single creative bone in my body. And "Slow Fade" and it's video put a lump in my throat...in a good way somehow. I'm not sure how Casting Crowns got in my head and wrote so many songs that are so applicable to me...but they did. First actual CDs I've bought in a long long time now...
Monday, March 9, 2009
Restless
The restlessness I've been feeling has definitely been growing lately. Garrett led a discussion on anxiety in Small Church this weekend too, which actually tremendously increased my anxious feelings. I assume it's because God is preparing me for something, though I've begun realizing that that doesn't mean it will be anytime soon. I just feel like something is supposed to change, and I keep waiting for it to happen. Plus I'm watching everyone change around me. During House Church, it was brought up that Bruce is retiring from Dow Corning and taking the package they're offering, Karin is finishing her internship and leaving, Jon Fields is leaving for YWAM at the end of March, Shannon is putting her focus on Cambodia and the sex slave issue, and Jen just got back from her Russia mission trip. And I have nothing but restless feelings. It's really difficult sometimes to wait on God's timing. Maybe that is part of what this is.
I did get a call from Christina this weekend. Leadership in Texas has their eye on her, she's deemed fast track material. However, she has expressed the fact that she's not very happy down there, and they told her they were willing to move her to Midland if she felt she would be happier up here. She asked if it would be possible to have her friend in Midland moved down there. This coming from the fact that I had expressed to her that I had thought about moving to Texas, or putting my resume out and seeing what happened. However, I've thought about it quite a bit, and first, I feel like I wouldn't be transferred because of my own accomplishments, but because Dow loves my friend and therefore is willing to move me. I talked to my dad about that, and he said not to think of it that way because it gives me the opportunity to prove myself and puts me in contact with leadership down there instantly because they were willing to go out of their ways to put me in a position I want. But that leads me into my second reason. There is not a position in Texas I currently want. Mostly because the place I am in right now is the best opportunity I could have; I love my job, Ag is doing the best in the company, and there are a million opportunities for me here. I am not excited about jobs in Texas at all. I wondered if maybe this was the sign I keep waiting for God to flash in front of me, but the fact that I don't want to do it and that it hasn't even come up as a point of conversation again indicates to me that this isn't the next step. But it is a definite possibility if I want it to be.
I have realized that I can't complain too much...even if I'm waiting to figure out something that seems more permanent, in the interim, I wrote down my travel for the year and was quite surprised to see how much I'm really doing:
Feb: U.P. Michigan, California
April: Texas
May: Minnesota
June: Georgia
July: California
September: South Carolina
...That pretty much covers all sides of the country; so I guess I feel better knowing that I'm at least doing something...
I did get a call from Christina this weekend. Leadership in Texas has their eye on her, she's deemed fast track material. However, she has expressed the fact that she's not very happy down there, and they told her they were willing to move her to Midland if she felt she would be happier up here. She asked if it would be possible to have her friend in Midland moved down there. This coming from the fact that I had expressed to her that I had thought about moving to Texas, or putting my resume out and seeing what happened. However, I've thought about it quite a bit, and first, I feel like I wouldn't be transferred because of my own accomplishments, but because Dow loves my friend and therefore is willing to move me. I talked to my dad about that, and he said not to think of it that way because it gives me the opportunity to prove myself and puts me in contact with leadership down there instantly because they were willing to go out of their ways to put me in a position I want. But that leads me into my second reason. There is not a position in Texas I currently want. Mostly because the place I am in right now is the best opportunity I could have; I love my job, Ag is doing the best in the company, and there are a million opportunities for me here. I am not excited about jobs in Texas at all. I wondered if maybe this was the sign I keep waiting for God to flash in front of me, but the fact that I don't want to do it and that it hasn't even come up as a point of conversation again indicates to me that this isn't the next step. But it is a definite possibility if I want it to be.
I have realized that I can't complain too much...even if I'm waiting to figure out something that seems more permanent, in the interim, I wrote down my travel for the year and was quite surprised to see how much I'm really doing:
Feb: U.P. Michigan, California
April: Texas
May: Minnesota
June: Georgia
July: California
September: South Carolina
...That pretty much covers all sides of the country; so I guess I feel better knowing that I'm at least doing something...
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