Mickey and Minnie Trivia

I got this email from my cousin Mike... I can't believe I didn't know this already! :)

i don't know how i didn't know this already, but i just found out that "mickey and minnie" are literally married in real life.

"Wayne Allwine (the voice of Mickey Mouse) met his wife, Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse, at a voice session for 'Totally Minnie.'.... "
http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1017



PS-- saw Meet the Fockers today-- I liked it SOOOOO much better than the first one.

Merry Christmas....

A few days late!
Yeah, it's been a busy couple of days. But, for the most part, good days. Yeah(!) for Christmas time! I got so many books it's ridiculous! I should open up a library! :) Well, maybe not that many... but I won't be borrowing from anyone for awhile (Cassi, Sara, Barbara-- this means you!)

Speaking of Cassi, my dear friend, I just have to give her and Sean a shout out. They gave me the most incredible early birthday present, I just have to share it with the world! Tickets to see Les Miserables. Can you belive that! I was totally blown away. We already went to see it, and I ment to journal about it earlier, but see above paragraph for lame excuse.

Anyways-- it was a GREAT, GREAT show (Laura-- GO AND SEE IT!!!). The cast was wonderful. The gal who played Fantine (Tonya Dixon), I had seen on Broadway in Ragtime (she played Sarah). It's always neat to recognize a great voice on stage. It was a wonderful show-- I, of course, bawled my eyes out (literally, my shoulders were shaking) and I LOVED every single second of it!

Ok, that's all... Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Love to all of my wonderful readers... ha ha ha... :)

The Grinch

It's hard not to feel like this when you work in retail:

"That's what it's all about, isn't it? That's what it's always been about! Gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts! You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I'm saying? In your GARBAGE! I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump. And the avarice... THE AVARICE NEVER ENDS! "I want golf clubs. I want diamonds. I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored and sell it to make glue!" Look, I don't wanna make waves, but this whole Christmas season is STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!" ~How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch

But then I remember this:

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary... Gabriel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ... Don't be frightened, Mary, for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. " Luke 1:26-32

It's all about perspective. And speaking of, it makes me think about a beautiful Christmas song that sums up how I feel when I put myself in check about the true meaning of Christmas:

"O Lamb of God, O Prince of Peace
What tribute shall I bring to worship Thee
I have no gold to lay at Your feet
So Lamb of God, I offer me

I bring You all my hopes
I bring You all my dreams
I give You all my soul
My mind and all my strength
I wrap them all inside my heart to give to Thee

Oh come, let us adore Him
Oh come, let us adore Him
Oh come, let us adore Him
Christ, the Lord"

~Lamb of God, Nicole C. Mullen

May the King of Kings, who resides in my heart, constantly be my focus during this holiday season and always.

Roller Skating

Instead of regular Club this week, we took the kids roller skating. I honestly cannot remember the last time I went. I was a tiny bit nervous that I would fall, but making a fool out of yourself kinda comes with the job of being a Young Life leader.
However, I was tearing it up out there! :) I haven't lost it at all! And we had so much fun! We were even playing tag! Oh, what fun it is to roller skate!

I'll be honest though, my feet kinda hurt a bit. :)

Update on Subbing

"Only by his qualification as a learner can he show himslef qualified to become a teacher."
~Karl Barth

Let me tell you-- I've been learning A LOT! :)

Today I learned how to deal with high school boys who hit on their substitute teachers.

That's right, I got hit on by a Junior in High School. Granted, I remember when I was in high school my friends and I thought certain young male teachers were cute (You North Alumni know who I'm talking about). However, I also vivdly remember never saying ANYTHING to their face! And I certainly never wrote it on the board! Well, both happened to me today. Yikes! What's a teacher to do? The only thing I could think of was to ignore him-- so that's what I did.

Sure hope I did the right thing... :)

First Day of Subbing

Well, it finally happened! I had my first day as a substitute teacher (at King HS for those of you familiar with Riverside). It has been such a drawn out process, but I'm glad it worked out.
In case your wondering how it went, let me tell you! :)
I was scheduled to only work a half day (King has the oddest block scheduling I have ever heard of). The three classes I had before lunch went well--only some minor acting out occurred. The kicker was when another teacher popped in to ask if I could cover his later classes and work a full day. I said yes (what else did I have going on, nothing!). BTW-- being called Miss Stock is not my idea of fun. I feel so adult--yuck!
So, seeing that I had some time to kill until I went in for the other teacher,I went and hung out with a friend who teaches at King.
So far-- great first day subbing!
Well, I go into sub for the other guy (he had to leave early so I was covering the second half of his class). The students were watching a movie so I just sat in the back of the classroom at a chair that was conveniently positioned so that I could watch all the students. When the movie finished, I stood up to turn on the lights and realized that I had SAT IN GUM! It was stuck to my butt and I couldn't get it off! So, being the quick thinker that I am, I quickly took off my jacket and tied it around my waist. Of course this looked ridiculous because it was a down jacket, but at this point, I wasn't that concerned with how I looked.
I made my way up to the front of the class and sat down at the teacher's desk--only on one cheek because I didn't want to push the gum further into my pants nor get it stuck to his chair. The students were just hanging out (the movie had finished earlier than the teacher estimated and had left me with no lesson plans).

Fast forward about 10 mins.

The students are still talking and hanging out. The bell is going to ring in about 5 mins.
I am still sitting, one cheek on the chair, anxiously awaiting the end of class so I can try and clean up the mess on my pants.

And then I fall out of the chair.

Yup, that's right, I fell out of the chair onto the floor.

Of course, the students immediately begin laughing. One student said, "Did she just fall out of the chair?"

So, I get up. Pick up the chair. Turn to the class, smile and say "Well, at least I provided you with a little bit of entertainment!" And then I sit down, praying for time to speed up so the bell would ring.

Finally, it did ring. The students left. I left.

The end.

New Music Group

For those of you who are looking for a fresh, inspiring sound, I recommend Casting Crowns. They are a Christian group and they are great! :)

Here is a sample lyric from their song, Voice of Truth:

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out his hand.

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says, "This is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will chose to listen and believe the voice of truth

They really are fantastic.

WIND

Man, alive! It's been super windy and COLD lately! It might sound like I'm complaining, but I'm only half complaining... I LOVE that we are having cold weather and that snow is showing up on our local mountains, but at the same time-- I HATE WIND! :)

And this is why-- I sleep on the second story of our house. Our house borders a canyon. The wind really likes the canyon and by liking the canyon, it likes our house. My bedroom window is in the path of the wind and, at night, it feels like I'm Dorothy in the flying house being blown away to Oz (minor difference that she was caught in a Tornado). Of course, this is when I'm trying to sleep. Sometimes, it even wakes me up in the middle of the night and I have to cover my head with pillows to fall back asleep.

So, to sum it all up: cold--good, wind-- bad!

Things I am Thankful For

Well, technical difficulties would not allow me to post this on Thanksgiving day. However, I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by!

So here they are:

1. My Family-- Immediate and extended. They are all amazing people that I continue to learn from and enjoy life with.
2. My Friends-- you know who you are and you know why I love you. (If you don't, we should really talk about that!) :)
3. Literature-- Yes, I am thankful for literature. Not just because it is the foundation for my future career, but also because it is SO SPECTACULAR! Let's have a moment for literature.
4. American Soldiers (Past, Present and Future)-- Even if they are not in the greatest branch of the military (Marine Corps), they are still fantastic because they risk their lives for the safety of our country. What a noble group.
5. Music--Do I really have to explain this one?
6. Disneyland-- The Happiest Place on Earth! :)
7. People who use their blinkers when they are changing lanes and/or turning-- these people make me a very happy driver.
8. My health--So, maybe I'm not in the best shape, but being around people who are very sick in my family made me realize how blessed I am that I don't have health problems.
9. Games-- it's not just about competition here.
10. The ability to make others happy-- seeing the expression of joy fill someone's face is priceless.

There's always more than what you want to write down... but I'll leave it the way it is.
Happy late Giving Thanks Day!

New York and Company

Well, since I am STILL not substitute teaching, I decided to apply for a seasonal job at NY&CO ( my favorite clothing store). What better way to earn some cash and get your favorite clothes at discount prices! :) And, yeah, I got the job. How could they not hire me? I'm a walking, talking model for their company already!

In case you are wondering-- NY&CO used to be Lerner New York... the name switch is recent. In fact, I still refer to it as Lerner's-- I'm working on changing that. :)

So, that is what is new in the job area of my life.

Seriously, I would so much rather be still going to school than being forced into the real world. Yeah for grad school!