.: Self :.

Having a blog to write about myself seems a little narcissistic. I'm taking a new spin on things... Please see ishowerdaily.blogsot.com.

.: Whirlwind :.

So... about a month and a half just disappeared into thin air. Did May really happen? Some highlights... (reconstructed memories through photographs... a fun journey through May!)













Lake Tahoe (end of April) - MH staff retreat!

Every spring, the full-time MH staff get to go on a sweet retreat- this year we went to Lake Tahoe! We stayed at Zepher Point Presbyterian Conference Center (in Zepher Cove, NV), where we run a week of family camp when the JEMS are at Mount Hermon. It was amazing! Ingrid (who's hubby wasn't able to make it this year) was a fantastic roommate, and everyone just had a great time.















Tyrone Wells & Jason Reeves Concert in SF



















DISNEYLAND!!















Sunny CA days

.: Today's Worship Set :.

Infinite Divine - Ish

Infinite Divine
With all my mind I praise You
God I thank You
Lord of ancient days
To You I raise my hands
To worship You
For all my days
Your name I'll sing
To give all glory to my King

Lord of all that's right
With all Your might
Please hold me
Father take me into Your arms
Save me from harm
Be Thou my God
Keep my steps right
To Your glory
I will live by Your word only
Bound to Thee

(Repeat)


Song of Hope ­- Robbie Seay

All things bright and beautiful You are
All things wise and wonderful You are
In my darkest night, You brighten up the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know that You are near is enough
God of heaven come down, heaven come down

All things new
I can start again
Creator, God
Calling me Your friend
Sing praise, my soul
To the Maker of the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know You and be loved is enough
God of heaven come down, heaven come down

Hallelujah, sing
Hallelujah, sing
Hallelujah, sing


Everything - Chris Tomlin

With rain, with sun
With much, with less
With joy, with pain
With life, with death

The only things that satisfy come from You
They come from You

Everything that's beautiful
Everything that's wonderful
Every perfect gift comes from You

Your grace, Your heart
Your voice, Your touch
Your word, Your peace
Your hope, Your love

A thousand words could not explain
A thousand worlds could not contain
Every perfect gift comes from You

It comes from the Father of Lights
It comes from the Giver of Life
It comes from the Heavens above
It's coming straight from Your heart
To the people You love

.: Brian Regan :.

The man is funny.


Emergency Room Part 1


Emergency Room Part 2


Doctor


Food Labels


Pop Tarts


Working Out


Moving - UPS Boxes


I Walked on the Moon


Walkie Talkie


Airports Part 1


Airports Part 2


Airports Part 3


Horses / California / Driving / Bilingual


Etch-a-Sketch / Baggage Claim / Greeting Cards / Dora


Reading to Babies / Butterfly / Dinosaurs / String Theory


Antiques / Golf / Politicians


Kennedy's / More Politics

.: Disney! :.

Okay, so I'm a sucker for Disney movies. I loved all of the princess movies growing up (my favorites being Beauty & the Beast and The Little Mermaid, of course)... one of my new favs is definitely Enchanted.

This song is stuck in my head (which I think I'm okay with).



Me gusta mucho!

.: Coffee Worth Paying For :.

Saturday. Berkeley. The Western Regional Barista Competition.

My taste buds will never be the same. Have you ever tasted a latte and thought to yourself, "meh." Not acceptable. Some coffee shops consistently offer better quality coffee and service than others. I have officially become a "coffee snob". If I can't order a Cappuccino and thoroughly enjoy it without thinking "well that's a little bitter" or "the milk's not very creamy (I'll give a little grace w/ soy, which doesn't froth nearly as well as milk)" on a pretty regular basis, chances are I won't be ordering coffee there anymore.

Part two of this train of thought...

I spend a ridiculous amount of money on coffee in any given month. I have recently been challenged with many social justice issues. We live in a very broken world that needs help, and I choose to spend my money on not-so-great to downright crappy coffee. What the heck!

One thing I really appreciated about the WRBC was the emphasis on the origin of the beans. In many developing countries, coffee is a main source of revenue. Many job opportunities exist in this industry; farmers grow the coffee cherries and hire people to pick them, then extract/dry/prepare the beans to be exported to other areas. One really cool program that was featured is called Bikes to Rwanda. Their goal is to "improve quality of life in these communities through a bike workshop and maintenance program that provides transportation resources for basic needs and enhances production of quality coffee."

Seeing things like this prompts me to really look at what I support simply by living life the way I do. Being patient and seeking out quality is important. I can feel good about going to a coffee shop that supports farmers in these countries and is willing to pay them a fair price for their beans. I appreciate the Baristas' willingness do their best to produce a great cup of coffee that will make customers want to support their business and prove that it is worth it to provide quality product and service.

I am challenged to think twice about what I choose to purchase - is it really worth it?

Shameless plug - check out the Verve Coffee Roasting Company in Capitola. They're great!

.: Affection :.

Gosh, who would have ever thought that adding the "C.S. Lewis quote of the day" to my Google homepage would wind up being so thought-provoking?

Today's quote:
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."

Profound on several levels. I was having a conversation with a friend today and she is one who LOVES physical touch/affection. I have always considered myself to be on the opposite end of that spectrum - I don't like to be touched. As we discussed this, she said something really hit me; she never feels quite as safe and happy and at rest and at home as when she is being held by another person. I suppose this may be true of all people (after all, there is that whole study about the chimps who gravitate toward the soft cuddle mom-robot with no food over the stark cold mom-robot who provides food... as well as other studies).

What I realized was that she and I are actually very similar in this way - I do get a safe/happy/restful feeling from physical touch - but only with a select few trusted individuals. Our differences come in frequency and variety.

This is not to say that physical touch is the only form of affection, but it is the one that comes to mind most readily.

Anyhow, that was my thought-of-the-day.

.: Cabin Time :.

I should have posted this one a while back but... oh well.



(P.S. Thanks for your help w/ this Austin!)

.: August Rush :.

This is amazing....



My favorite part of this movie.

.: Dear Mr. Sir :.

First off.... this blog is solely for the amusement of Amanda Mackay (and, apparently, maybe Jenna... and Adam?).

The reply that would have been sent if only, if only...

"Dear Mr. Sir Lloyd,

Clearly, you are on crack. I sent the email to my own personal email address, and it worked fine (not to mention that no one else reported having an issue with this "jibberish" you speak of; by the way, if you are referring to the email's content, consider yourself excommunicated from the community entirely). You should plan to update your obviously crappy system immediately to prevent further delay of important (and dare I say well-written) information.

Thank you, have a nice day.

- Amanda"

.: Mr. Lewis :.

C.S. Lewis never fails to surprise me with some little nugget of wisdom.

On my Google homepage (get one, you won't regret it), I have a widget (I think that's what they're called) that gives a C.S. Lewis quote every time you log in.

Today's quote:

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one."

I love this for a variety of reasons. Several friends lately have blown me away with similar stories/experiences/feelings that I thought no one would really understand. It amazes me how God can bring two people together at any given moment to share life and enjoy each other's company.

.: Daylight Saving Time :.

This observance is probably my least favorite thing about calendars. We should all be like Arizona and Hawaii and just say forget it. The following are reasons why DST should not exist:

1. Confusion.
- "Spring forward, fall back" - sounds simple... not so. Try adjusting a small child's sleep schedule to an hour time difference. Then there's always those conversations that go something like...
"Wait... spring forward... so we gain an hour, right?"
"No, we go forward an hour, we lose the hour."
"So when it would be 6:00 AM, it's now 7:00 AM, so I have to get up earlier... but when it's 8:00 PM, it's really 9:00 PM, so I need to go to bed earlier?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
(side note - the only legitimate fight my mom and I have been in was over DST.)

2. Lack of sleep.
- "Just go to bed earlier the night before," they say. Not that simple. We stress so much about whether we set our alarm clocks right that we don't sleep well for half the night, then go into a deep sleep and over-sleep...

3. (I feel like there should be 3 reasons, but the first 2 are good enough for me.)

.: Recap :.

Dang, it's been a while. Recap:

January:
- It's been too long and I don't really remember.

February:
- I re-joined YoungLife.
- I turned 23.
- I LOVE going to the snow. Cabins are amazing. I have some pretty rock-awesome friends.
- Men's groups (those from churches who attend retreats at MH that I have worked with) can be surprisingly high-maintenance.
- High winds can lead to javelin-like branches shooting through ceilings and into closets.
- I discovered that my cell phone has a calendar feature, which reminds me of important things I need to do.
- I have a mentor - she is amazing.

March:
- I discovered that I quasi-enjoy dancing.
- I have sworn off drinking (again).
- I really do have some pretty amazing friends - they are totally a gift from God.
- Wild Oak's front lawn is pretty much one of my favorite places on earth.

More to come...

.: Back :.

So... I moved back to this Blog from my Wordpress one... it was too fancy. I like this one better. :o)

.: Goodness :.

So, there are a lot of things I have been processing through today. This is all over the place, bear with me.

The day started off well, with a really good conversation with a friend I haven't really talked to in a long while. I had no idea what to expect from our coffee date but it became obvious very quickly that God brought her and I together for a specific purpose. In talking with her, several things came up that I realized I have never really processed through, and that lack of dealing with these things is making current situations difficult to work through.

Rainy afternoons are good for doing laundry, making cookies, and being with people you care about.

Young Life. Some things will never change, and some things will never stop changing. I actually have no idea about anything, I haven't been consistent with it at all, but I just have thing feeling about it...

Church. God is good. I have been taking the Spiritual Life classes at Faith Community Church in Santa Cruz and it has been an amazing experience. Passion is contagious. It's one thing to go to church and listen to a message and sing songs; it is quite another to talk with your pastor and hear his heart for the change he wants to see in our community.

Friends. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life right now.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the sovereignty and wisdom of the Lord our God.

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all the is in the heavens and the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all." - 1 Chronicles 29:11