huh?

One of the greatest joys of being married and sharing a bed is that you get to hear the other person's last incoherent ramblings while they are half asleep.

Micah swears that the other night i started to sing "how much is that Hippo in the window" but then stopped and asked what sound a hippo made. I do not remember this. I think he is making it up.

Last night Micah said to me "you should call the Superbowl people" we have talked about watching the game a number of places so i asked him which people he meant...it went downhill from there.
Micah: call whichever ones you can get a hold of.
Me: what should i tell them
tell them that you like ice cream
huh?
and tell them that rice cakes don't taste good but they are good for you. but if you eat them with milk they fill you up so they're good if you want to lose weight
ok then, should i ask them anything?
yes, ask them where Polaris is located in the winter sky

oh yes, married life is all i thought it would be and more!

Hey I put my new shoes on!!

YAY!! a happy theme song for my tuesday!!

well, Technicaaly, they are socks, but look how cool they are!! and i guess they weren't NEW today, they were a christmas gift thtat accidentally got put away in the wrong place and it's the first time i've worn them. they are soft and wonderful!!!!



and i put on a pair of sneakers that had gotten burried with my flip flops.

and suddenly everyhting is right!!

GERMANY!!!!

Ganz Meine Meinung!!!
:) :)
this is my new favorite phrase (in german)

it means "i agree COmpletely!"

my cousin Sarah taught it to me

i am using it every chance I get.

Micah would like to learn how to say contemptable. i think my enthusiasm is overwhelming to him!!

I am a moron

I just said "have a good" evening to someone right after he told me that he was going to a funeral.

Take Luck...and care....take care....of your luck....You too!!



Micah introduced me to Brian Regan (not literally). He does not look like anime in real life. please, pretend that it is an audio clip.

thinking in Slovak

I speak English differently when I am thinking about Slovakia or to a Slovak person. When i was over there last year I worried that I might permanently loose my already precarious grasp of the proper usage of articles, proper verb conjugations and prepositions. (Mrs. Pringle would be so disappointed in me)
I was writing a short e-mail note to the YFC/MPK folks in Slovakia just to wish them all a merry christmas. i found myself typing things like "...wish very much that we can come..." and "we are having trouble to raise" and "please tell everyone in MPK office"

In other (kind of a downer) news: In spite of the fact that, over the past 5 days, we have celebrated Christmas in all the places we might ever consider home: our apartment, my grandmothers house, my parents house, Micah's parents house, I am feeling homesick for the place that i have never lived. I honestly thought we'd celebrate our first Christmas in the Low Tatra mountains at the YFC Ranch this year. I have to remind myself that sharing our first christmas with all our relatives is a huge blessing and that God's timing is never wrong.

Marriage Changes Your Perspective

Micah has started cutting Blondie cartoons out of the Sunday paper and attaching them to the fridge. He says that Blondie used to be his least favorite comic but, since we got married, it is quickly becoming his favorite. I dont know what to think about this. I might have liked it better when his sense of humor had less to do with married life and more to do with cars. Unless his old favorite comic had more to do with marriage than i realized....

The Year in Song

Can you spot My and Micah's lines?

(To the tune of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel)

True confessions, Resignation, Lots of prayer and restoration
Bathroom renovations, Camping on the beach

Accountability, Gratitude and humility
Family reunions, Gobs-no gluten, Lots of tea with peach

Chicken dance, Songs to sing, Manifests and tracking
Resumes, Interviews, Business meetings in canoes

Tie your shoes, Comb your hair; Do you have the dog in there?
Getting Alex out the door, I can’t take it any more…

We didn’t see this coming…
Yes, it caught us nappin’
Now it’s got us rappin’
We didn’t see this coming…
Didn’t plan to do it,
But God saw us through it.

Blogspot, iPod, Control freak, Trusting God,
5K, Rainy day, Run around the block.

Movies at the Guthrie, Dinosaurs at Carnegie,
Full-time, Over-time, Work around the clock.

Mother of the Bride dress, Could I have any more stress?
Wedding days, Pirate games, Jose, Jose, Jose.

Labor and delivery, Grandma Brenda, GB.
Whimsical Tuesdays, What else do I have to say?

We didn’t see this coming…
Yes, it caught us nappin’
Now it’s got us rappin’
We didn’t see this coming…
Didn’t plan to do it,
But God saw us through it.

Slovakia, Airports, Wedding plans, New York
Wedding jars, I do, Mrs. Micah Henry

Malibu honeymoon, Grove City - two rooms
Drive across the country, Quarter of a century

Student teaching, College grad, Move back in with Mom and Dad
Big Apple, All of us on a New York City Bus

Grandma’s pearls, La Maze class, Phipps bride, Chihuly Glass
Claire Marie the Fabulous, Now Jimmy’s one of us.

We didn’t see this coming…
Yes, it caught us nappin’
Now it’s got us rappin’
We didn’t see this coming…
Didn’t plan to do it,
But God saw us through it.

Greg Holland, boyfriend, Yes they’re dating once again
PennDOT, Internship, Construction worker tan.

Car wreck, Bridesmaid twice, Canada was pretty nice
Junior year, Fancy House, Geneva Marching Band.

Twenty years looks like fourteen; he said so in Counseling
Drove the roller, and the paver, Her first College B.

Sister-of-the-Year award, Roadwork makes her really bored
First-time aunt, wait I can’t, make this rhyme with anything…

We didn’t see this coming…
Yes, it caught us nappin’
Now it’s got us rappin’
We didn’t see this coming…
Didn’t plan to do it,
But God saw us through it.

PanoryFest, Big success, Harry Potter, DS
Swimming lessons, Tennis camp, Down the water slides

Uncle Alex, Frog rock, Shower days, Alarm clock
Camp Invention, No detention, Brother of the brides

Black Belt, Tae Kwon Do, keeping Mom on the go
Mahaffey Camp, Wildwood, Principal’s Office

Sixth Grade, Journaling, Suicide, Counseling
Paper route, We’ll find out, if ’08 can top this…

We didn’t see this coming…
Yes, it caught us nappin’
Now it’s got us rappin’
We didn’t see this coming…
But when we are gone
God will still go on and on and on and on…

Things....

Things I like
~Vacation on the beach with fireworks each night.
~Street Luge with two old men and a broken car.
~Driving my "Cute Lil Thang" Roxy down the Highway.


Things I do not like
~Having my car stolen.
~Caravanning with truckers.
~Doing the dishes for a beach house full of people.
~Waking up from all these weird dreams.

*edit* yes, all of these were the contents (that i remember) of a night worth of really weird dreams.

PS does anyone know if Giraffes have an aversion to standing on level surfaces? or did my brain make that up last night.

If You're Happy and you know it.....

Go Around Twice!!

It's time to start getting into the Spirit!! And being in the Christmas spirit doesn't have to do with red and green or lights or ornaments or spending $150 on the perfect little black dress, or getting 25 gifts for under $50. It's certainly not about going broke (but if you are, be sure and flash your lights)
The Christmas spirit is all about Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men"
I'll share pictures of my christmas decorations and thoughts about Peace and Glory to God in later posts, but for today, have some good will. Good will toward men is all about attitude, it's letting someone ahead of you a crowded store, not yelling at your kids about glitter all over the living room carpet, and sometimes, it might be going around twice just to let the Happy out. So here's my little attempt at good will in case i don't see you in person today. Because making someone smile goes a long way toward Good will.
So i hope you aceept my good will for what it's worth and then go out and share some of your own with someone else...if you do that, you might come a long way closer to Peace on Earth and Glory to God than you might think.

new car...yet to be named

it's snowing. the "feels like" temperature is currently 25. i belive it. the low tonight is supposed to be 29 degrees. it is cold. tomorrow's high is 36.
this seems like the perfect time to blog about our new car. it is a convertable :)
a new car might seem like a frivolous thing for two newlyweds leaving the country.
a convertable might seem like a rediculous thing to have in WPA in the late fall.
but Micah's car.....well it currently resides in Mercer Auto Wreckers Land. The rear bumper was hangin on by sheer will and a few zip ties (and maybe some bubblegum). and the muffler (well, technically the entire exhaust system) stopped hanging on a while ago. He had to take a route home from work that didnt go through any towns. Darn cops and their enforcing the state laws and all. So, the car needed replaced before Micah went to jail.
Also, we bought the car salvaged in September and we (micah & my dad) worked on it in my parents driveway for weeks. and when we got it all spiffied up (new headlights grill, muffler, tires, and scrubbed all up) we took it to get inspected. I got a call asking if there ws a trick to staring the car. the starter failed. So Micah and I drove to Connoquenessing, push started the darn car and took it back to my parents. and then we left for a month.
when we came back, Micah fixed the starter in the living room. with a Soldering pen. in the LIVING ROOM. The "fixed" starter ran long enough for the darn thing to pass inspection. Abi & Claire spent a day driving me around to get all the paperwork and stuff done. Then the next day, when Micah and i came to take the car home, the starter failed. We push started it agian, (Micah's really good at this) and drive it home to Grove City.
Micah put a new starter in and new speakers and a fuel filter. there is also talk of a new thermostat. I set the clock.and anyway we now have a convertable in Western PA in November. I never even got to drive it with the top down. i did dream that i did the other night though (seriously) I like it. we may lookinto shipping it to Slovakia.

Bold FLY!!

well, it took almost a month but i finally got a picture of that darn bold fly.
i swear i will update again soon....keep your eyes open for the cross country road trip, our new convertable, and Abi's wedding.

bold fly

in my appartmment, we have no hot water. we also have a very bold fly. it woke me up this morning buzing in one ear and then the other. it lands on my hands while i type and it will not leave mmy hot chocolate alone. once the plumber comes to fix the water heater, i am going to wal-mart and buying one of those hanging fly sticky thingys that I hate. because i hate this fly immmesurably more. ("bold fly" sounds like a great name for a band) (a really annoying band)

--

Most people would wait to scrub their kitchen floor until the hot water heater was fixed huh? especially if "scrub kitchen floor" wasn't even on the 29 item to do list for the day. I am not most people. the kitchen floor was grossing me out. I am not mmost people, i am distractable, procrastinating, compulsive people. it is hereditary.

CAMPFEST 2007!!

In spite of my prayers and VERY strong desire, i wasn't at Campfest this year. But it went on without me. So here's the rundown on the "Event of the Year."

More than 4500 young people from Slovakia, Czech republic, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, USA, Poland and Romania visited the festival. They created a "tent city" where they lived for the weekend.There were 160 total volunteers, and there was a group of volunteers from Holland who came helped us a lot with manual work and publicity. A miracle for us was the group of Americans from Italy who came with willingness to do some of the less pleasant work. The rest of the volunteers were Slovaks who worked very hard before, during and after the festival. There was also about 80 spiritual counselors, a thirty member team dedicated to prayer in addition to the technical and organization teams.

The program was very rich and each person could choose something according to the style they liked - All styles of music bands, pantomimes, dramas, talks, seminars, childrens programs, movies with christian themes, soccer, beach volleyball, a jump house for the kids, and an inflatable water football game. There were bands from Great Brittan, Poland, and Germany in addition to bands form Slovakia. All that helped to create good time for the visitors of CampFest 2007.

What was happening behind the stage was not always visible to the participants...but it was no less important. The Lord was at work, He touched hearts and changed lives. We got some feedback from counselors who had discussions in special tent that was set aside just for that purpose. Altogether there were about 550 discussions and from those about 50 the people decided to accept Jesus into their lives. About 150 discussions were about going deeper in relationship with God and confessing their sins. About 100 people searched for help with problems in relationships- family, friends.

Wedding Photos

a few at least and then a link to more





here's the link to the set.
I'm in CO again for MTI training, it's going well.
we've been married 3 months, we arent dead yet.
my to do list is long, the promised blog subjects are coming.

Can you see it?

Well, here's the photo of my new hair. I'm the one on the left. Alex, my baby brother is the one on the right. When I was his age, my hair was that blonde.

My mom always said that Alex looks like me when I was his age. We have the same face, the same stubborn cowlick, and the same goofy smile. Looking at pictures of me when I was little I could see it. But it turns out now that he's grown up and especially with my new haircut and glasses Alex looks like me...now.

Looking like other family members is nothing new for me. Ami and I once got the same haircut in different states. Another time I dyed my hair the same color as my mom's. And for two years our glasses were really similar before I got these new ones. I consider my mom and sisters when i change my appearance, I just never thought to consider my 11 year old brother.

I like my new haircut even if it does make me look a lot like my 11 year old brother.

Things that need (to be) said....Who knew?

It was my Senior year of College!! before anyone said anything about the absence of "to be" in my grammar: "Can someone cover for me tomorrow, my paper needs written", "This tape needs labeled", "The schedule needs filled in-do it now!"

It seems to me like the kind of thing that your English teacher, or your parents would tell you before you left the state to pursue higher education. But then again, it also seems to me that you parents wouldn't let you make it out of Kindergarten before telling you that the sleeves on a shirt are not called "arm-sleeves"! (pant legs, arm-sleeves it made sense to me)

What follows is my edited (read: stolen and chopped up) version of what yinz would find over on Wikkipedia

need, like, or want + past participle

Examples:
“The car needs washed”; “Babies like cuddled”; “The cat wants petted.”

The Right Way:
“Babies like cuddling” or “Babies like to be cuddled”; “”The car needs washing” or “The car needs to be washed”; and “The cat wants petting” or “The cat wants to be petted.”

Useless Facts:
Need + past participle is the most common construction, followed by want, and then like. The forms are "implicationally related" to one another. Put another way, the existence of the least common construction implies the necessary existence of the two more common constructions, but the existence of the most common construction does not necessarily entail existence of the two less common constructions.

Origins:
like and need + past participle are Scots-Irish, want + past participle could be from Scots-Irish or German, but it seems likely that this construction is Scots-Irish.
The distributions of all three constructions are implicationally related, the area where they are predominantly found is most heavily influenced by Scots-Irish.

(Murray, Frazer and Simon 1996; Tenny 1998; McElhinny 1999; Murray and Simon 1999; Montgomery 2001; Johnstone, Bhasin and Wittkofski 2002; Murray and Simon 2002; Wisnosky 2003; Johnstone and Baumgardt 2004; Johnstone, Andrus and Danielson 2006; Crozier 1984).

Look at me gettin' all fancy with sources n'at.

breakfast & blogs

Usually, I go back to bed after micah leaves in the morning. This mornign i stayed up and ate a bowl of Corn Pops. I bought 3 boxes of cereal on Sunday. Buy 2 get 1 Free! There are now three times more boxes of cereal in the appartment than there are people living here. I do not know what I was thinking. I blame genetics. Visit Miss Brenda's blog and ask her how many boxes of cereal she had last week before the Great Cereal Purge of '07.

While I was eating my cereal, I redesigned the template on Miss Brenda's Blog. She compared me to her plumber. I am pretty sure that was not flattery. I expect the flattery will begin once she sees my handiwork.

Coming Soon...to a Blog Near You!

(the title needs read out loud in your most dramatic voice)

I have a whole list of stuff to blog about.
in the upcoming days you can look forward to reading about:

- strange things in the doctors office
- my new hair=my brother's old hair (with pictures!)
- our new car
- a link to wedding photos (better late than never, eh?)
- Henry-Slovakia Update
- to be homesick, you have to have to define home
- Campfest 2007!!
- driving across the country
- proper omission of "to be" (i.e. "this entry needs lots of quotes and parentheses")

not guarentteed to appear in this order.

how do you spell garinteed?

geranteed?

garentead?

gaurantteed?

garentteid?

garunteid?

gahrunteed?

geruntead?

geruntteed?

I believe there's a "U" somewhere.....and a few double letters....i dont know why i'm convinced that double T's seem right....it's a lot more fun to play with it than to look it up.

Maybe learning to read with phonics will turn out to be a problem after all. But making those letter snakes out of my dad's old tie was so much fun in kindergarten. (Miss Brenda, do we have any pictures of my snake??)

gettin' all science-y here

Has anyone else noticed that the ammount of perishables in your grocery bag and your need to get to the bathroom directly corrolates to the ease with which your key fits into the lock and also the ease with which it turns? it also seems to be related to how far the kitchen table juts out into your path, but that may be incidental

Nick the Amazing

loook!! Nick the Amazing strikes again!! he fixed the T in my header!!!
Hi Nick, i didnt even know you were reading :)
I made an apointment today to get my hair cut on monday. I'm going back to the short style i had last september.
in spite of having internet, i am rather dull.
We spoke to a missions comittee on Tuesday and Micah's COusin;s church is going to support us to go to Slovakia!!
YAY