Mama will be proud...

Every once in awhile it is nice to rest and relax from studies and oftentimes for me, this means cooking an edible meal that does not look like it came from the cafeteria. Also, I have been experimenting with recipes and learning some of Mom's favorite recipes. A few weeks ago I decided to get creative. For anyone that's ever had Mom's apple pie...it's probably the best. I am not a giant fan of apple pie, however, this is a picture of the 1st apple pie I have ever made on my own - in Canada - at college.

Everyone I shared it with, had an enjoyable time eating. I think I appreciate baking pies...more than eating them. (Yes, it is homemade crust!)

matching friends

So one day we were at church and realized we matched, minus Evan, but Zach and Sarah both wore colors that my Sunday attire brought together. We had a good time observing this.

the splendor of the King

Last evening I was trampsing up the hill to Prez's house for our weekly meeting. I was running a few minutes behind due to a busy day of schedules activities and a late rehersal. I was not worried or irritated in the least, simply at rest and fairly content though I was being soaked by the freezing cold January ice rain. Clad in my sweet yellow rain boots I splished and splashed through puddle galore, clinging to my bible and notepad- hoping they would survive this endeavor.

I cannot quite recall what my thoughts were the moment I began speaking with the Lord but all of a sudden the entire sky lit up with a brilliant overwhelming tear color. At first I wondered what had happened, but my spirit lept with glee and I began to giggle. "Again, oh please again" I squealed with delight - and surely enough another brilliant thunderous bolt illuminated the sky. "Wow Lord! This is SO sweet" I exclaimed (out loud- and yes I was talking to myself but that made little difference-I was completely captivated.)

Finally as I neared the top of Prez's hill, nearly at his housea final burst came forth, a brilliant aqua color. I was so blessed and thankful. I love how the Lord uses His creation to capture our attention sometimes. We get so caught up dodging the puddles of life and keeping our faces down to avoid the rain, we miss the splendor that may be found right before us.

the joy of good thinking

A few wonderful quotes & thoughts I've come across in the last week that have allowed both my mind and heart to think and pursue the Lord with great joy and dependency:

1. "If God asks you to cut down a forest, your first responsibility is to sharpen your ax." -Prez

2. "I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." -Lamentations 3:24-26 NIV

3. "To be silent with another person is a deep expression of trust and confidence and it is only when we are uncomfortable that we feel compelled to talk. To be silent with another person is truly to be with that other person." - John Main

4. "Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give your your heart's desires. 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." -Psalm 37:3-7

'Ramos' family cousins - Christmas 2007

Sherri, Shelly, Christy, Becca, Chris, Gracie, Jessica, Manny, Josh, Kathi, Kyrstin

results from my MRI

We got the "unofficial" reading of my MRI results - it was negative. This is a good thing because it means I do not have cancer or need surgery or anything extreme like that. While it does not explain the pain and offers no avenue for a suggested recovery - I will simply continue trusting God will continue to make we well and heal whatever this silliness is growing in my ankle.

thoughts on getting an MRI

I had my MRI on Thursday (for those who are wondering, I've had a lot of pain in my ankle for the last month, and a growth of sorts on the side of my right ankle - it's soft and tissuey, yet restricts my range of motion) and I'm pretty sure the experience lacked any traceable element of fun.

I enjoyed a sense of peace and time to chat with the Lord about things to come in the new year and whatnot. I'm quite excited to see what God had instore in all aspects of my life. This was the only good part.

However, like I mentioned in the first sentence, not only was this experience lacking fun, but it was quite unpleasant as well. The man doing the MRI had little personality, and seemed like he was rushed (or was it just slow?? -- I waited in the waiting room with NO other living being for close to 45 minutes and read magazines.) Once I got into the actual MRI place, there was a giant tube looking thing. He stuck some yellow dot to my ankle and then locked my foot into some gaget that was supposed to help them take pictures inside the MRI. I didn't realize an MRI took pictures, so that was fairly interesting.

As soon as I laid my head down, he pushed me in the tube and told me, "Okay I'm going to take some pictures...hopefully that will work...but if not, and the doctor may have me inject some dye in your arm."

So imagine me, laying on some strange table, halfway in a giant tube with my foot strapped down in some big magnetic contraption, looking up at some man who has just suggested shoving a needle in my arm and injecting dye. I was not okay with this idea. Three thoughts when he said this:
1) Who is this "doctor"??
2) Why would he want to inject dye in a place very far away from my ankle- in my arm?
3) Is this really necessary?

To make things even better --- my foot went numb after the first 5-10 minutes of laying in the tube and every few minutes the numbness would travel a little further up my leg until most of the right side of my body was tingly and/or numb. Yeeh...what an 'amazing' experience. It was extremely uncomfortable.

Let's just say when I finally got out of the tube thing 40-50 minutes later, I was quite cranky and it made me mad that I was cranky. I hate being cranky. I also hate when my legs go numb. There was a bit of humor tied to this, I was so anxious to get out of the tube/table thing that I hit my foot a few times, jumped off and speed-walked into the changing room. Then I grabbed my sneakers and it hit me, my whole right leg was giving way, tingly and all...oh fun...wouldn't it have been lovely to jump off the table and fall because my leg was all the way asleep??? I am quite surprised that I even made it to the changing room without realizing my leg was asleep - I suppose it's a good example of *mind over matter*. I was cranky and didn't want to take it out on the poor MRI guy with no personality, so I hurriedly fled the scene - and overcame the physical restraint of a sleeping leg. (Thankfully, they never injected me with dye).

Christmas Eve "dress up" fun

After returning home from an evening of fun with our family, my sisters and I decided to gather every gown, shoe, hat, and accessory we could find to play a little dress up. Our main goal was to "look like a princess with a hint of humor and fun" - here are the results of our Christmas Eve creativity and fun. Who knows, maybe I'll sport the blonde wig in the New Year...probably not, but perhaps.

a yankee swap project...

Apparently the family is doing a "yankee swap" at our gathering tomorrow...I decided to get a little creative and make my contribution...here's my documentation of the project.







Yes, that's right...Hershey's Pot of Gold has become Zibby's Pot of Gold thanks to a little glue and magazine letters...also the contents have been changed. I hope my *creativity* is appreciated.

At one time the box was decorated with delicious caramels, chocolates, and turtles...but now is the home of : prunes, peanuts, apricots, walnuts, macadameas, peanut butter/white/chocolate chips, a few pieces of 'other' chocolate and the all famous cashews. I hope no one is too disappointed.

an 'indulging' weekend...

Indulging..
First of all this word makes me think of the film about Martin Luter and all the crazy priests who tried to convince people purchasing pieces of paper, and other various "religious" whatnot (indulgences) would somehow buy their way and others ways into Heaven. They were wrong...and this isn't a good idea.

Secondly...it reminds me of the word "hedonism" which someone drafted in my original support letter to Jamaica.( I know, I know, what were they thinking?) Trust me, this word just recently became part of my vocabulary. Seeing the word and realizing I had no idea what it meant my apartment mates and I looked it up to find it means "self-indulging"...so essentially, another not so good thing.

LASTLY...and my original purpose for this blog...the word "indulging" reminds me of last night...and a trip to the grocery store with my sister Sherri (we were attempting to find something extra delicious to mix up in honor of my return home after final exams). This is how our adventure went:

Christy and Sherri stand around in the baking aisle weighing up options.
"Brownie ala mode or cookie ala mode?"
"Browinie ala mode!"
Choosing of the icecream...
Wait for turn in check-out line.
(now this is where things get interesting)

The cashier rings us up and doesn't say two words to me, so I say "hello, how are you?" He looks into my eyes for a few seconds and a little distracted says, "Sorry, well. I'm doing well. I assume you're doing well as well. So you're having an indulging weekend I see?"

(a glimpse inside Christy's mind) "Pardon me...a what? what in the world is this guy...ooh he didn't...talking about???"

Of course I never voice my sarcastic thoughts so I politely said, "No actually, I just got home so we're making dinner and dessert." (Thinking of course "Like any other normal person buying brownies and icecream in line!!! Indulging? Really?"...since when do guys assume a woman is indulging herself because she purchases a little junk food?)

As soon as we left the store I voiced my thoughts to Sherri and she decided we were on the same page. Her comments at the time made me chuckle. We gave a unanimous vote that he should work at McDonalds and ask people if they are indulging themselves there. (I'm sure it'd be an interesting career move for him.) All I can say is I'm thankful I wasn't offended, otherwise, I probably couldn't see the humor in this. Also, for all you who are wondering, next time I decided to buy icecream and he's working...I'll try my best to go through his check-out line.

Christmas Banquet fun!

The Lady RAs on campus: Katey Merriman, Christy Zbylut, Karen Kay, Amy DeMings & Brittany Prime

My lovely roomate Sarah and friend Zach.

Evan and I

Testify courtesy of a little photo editing. :)

Caught being silly with the camera...I don't remember what we were laughing about but we laugh often about life, so I'm certain it was a good time.

The boys wanted us to pose creatively...so we crouched down in our puffy dresses and pretended like we were telling secrets - they always complain about girls telling secrets...so once again, this was fun.

Amy and I

Flowers...roses actually. (Yes, I finally got flowers, not a potted plant.Yippee) ahha The flowers are from two of my guy friends Anthony and Evan for Christmas banquet and helping coach soccer. Very sweet.

Testify (minus photo editing) singing "All That Thrills My Soul"

Mikey and I at the banquet table. (He commented that he likes this picture because our eyes match - I have to agree about that.)

Mikey is a superhero, EVEN at Christmas Banquet...Isn't that a sweet belt?

The gang or "team" as Sarah would say: Evan, Sarah, Zach and I.

Kathy Shanks and Joette (a.k.a- Hershey's Kisses - they worse size 72 pants together and 'hobbled' (I believe that would be an appropriate term) around at banquet.It allowed for some good hearty laughter.)

RA ladies with photo-editing.

Our group for the evening: Christy, Evan, Ally, Zach & my wonderful roomate Sarah

Roomate fun again...we decided to kick up our heels and have a little fun.

My amazing prayer partner Carly Kruse and I.

Me smelling the pretty flowers from Banquet.

Natalie Pendell from Randleman, North Carolina. It blesses me everytime I think of how God has brought her to Bethany. One year ago she was laying in a hosptial bed dying, of an unknown disease, untreatable to human knowledge and quite hopeless. We prayed for her on Chorale tour last year when we traveled down south and God healed her body. Bless the Lord for restoration power!

textbook insight

I was reading in one of my counseling textbooks today and I stumbled across a quote I found both interesting and in my opinion quite eye opening and truthful:

"Change is inevitable, growth is optional."

Do I hear an Amen?