I've moved!

Hey y'all ... I've moved over to WordPress ... come follow me at:

http://www.atincupchalice.com

I'll keep the blogger account for a while to get everyone acclimated to the new location. Thanks for keeping up with me ...

Quick update ...

Tonight I repaired my washing machine all by myself with no instructions and no clue how to do it and still in my work clothes ... I ROCK!!!

P.S. I promise I'll post pics of Chicago soon ...

It all began with the Esther study ...

The Esther study is a Beth Moore bible study and it's fantastic! Beth Moore is amazing and I've loved the studies I've done of hers and this one is perfect ... couldn't have had better timing in my life because It's Tough Being A Woman! I was invited to attend the bible study at Southpoint Community Church via my friend Becky. It was not her intention to have me join the church but just that she thought it'd be something I'd like to do and she'd enjoy my company. Well, from the moment I stepped through the doors something said, "home".

Let me start of by pointing out a few things about this church: First, before I even started I received a call from my small group leader telling me who she was and that she was excited to meet me. Second, when I came that first meeting she asked me some things about myself and then encouraged me to meet up with Tracy who is in charge of the Single Young Professionals group. Third, Tracy contacted me and said, "I was told to contact you." No lip service here ... real people who follow through. I was quite pleased right from the beginning.

At the end of that first evening of bible study, after watching the video, the pastor's wife got up on the stage and said a prayer over us and then talked about this new website they were utilizing called Women That Lead. There are two websites the church utilizes to help their congregation build connections and in addition to the women's site they have SCC 600 which is the men's equivilant. This church is all about technology. They encourage you to build connections through the computer which really helps you to become more active despite your busy schedule.

My small group leader had mentioned that I should meet Tracy, the leader of the SYP group. I registered myself on Women That Lead and that next day Tracy had sent me a message! She said that Kim had told her to get in touch with me and that she was interested in meeting up. We decided to meet up before the Esther class that next Monday. Needless to say she was very friendly and invited me to the SYP event at the church that following evening. I showed up Tuesday night and had a great time! Everyone was so real and friendly and Christ-centered ... it was refreshing. I met a few girls and a few new facebook friends that evening.

The first Sunday I went to a service I came early and hung out in their coffee shop, Doc's. This is located right in the main rotunda where you can see all the worshippers felowshipping together before and after the service. This church has a large area right in the center of the building (the rotunda) where everyone gathers and it truly helps to create a sense of warmth and community. It's always packed and you're bound to run into someone you know even if you're new. While I was seated drinking my coffee I watched another great bit of technology being utilized. A mother walked her children over to a small bank of computers against one of the walls and proceeded to check them in. The computer printed out a bunch of stickers which she placed on each child and then escorted them back to their various classrooms.

It's so awesome to be surrounded by forward thinking people who aren't afraid of technology, people who when they say, 'you should meet so and so' they follow through and actually introduce you to that person, people who are genuinely interested in fellowship and being real in their faith. Stacey and Tracy have both remained friendly and in continual commnication with me and we've chatted outside of our SYP events and Esther study. This Thursday I'm meeting Stacey and some girls at YogaBerry at the Town Center. I'm super excited to be making these new connections and building new friendships and establishing this as my church home. I had thought great things about Crossroad Church but I never really felt connected. This church is a whole new experience and I'm really thinking this is a good fit.

Some random thoughts and updates ...

I have such great intentions ... always ... in all aspects of my life.

I'm a starter definitely ... enthusiastic, full of ideas, raring to tackle whatever it is head on. And then it fizzles. I get exhausted with too many other projects I'm trying to tackle.

I'm in a book club that meets every other Sunday evening now, and of course there is work throughout the week, and I'm a member of Beaches Rotaract which meets every other Thursday, and I'm in the Single Young Professionals group at church which meets every other Tuesday, and I am doing the Esther bible study on Monday nights, not to mention the various volunteering that comes with being a part of the various groups.

This past weekend I was at the beach Saturday morning bright and early for a beach clean-up. It was rewarding to do something selfless but it was super windy outside and my face received a facial because of the sand blowing around. That evening I went to my friend, Renee's to help her celebrate her birthday. It's great to be a part of all these things but it sure is exhausting. I think I've mentioned it before but I love all of these things, I do, I just wish I had more time.

This past Sunday I went to The Grotto for a wine tasting with a few friends and we decided that we liked it so much that we're going to move our book club meetings there. It was $10 for 6 glasses and each glass was more than just a taste but rather almost a full pour. Nathan, the manager and sommelier, was super friendly and knowledgeable. We tried a 2002 Bridlewood Syrah that was amazing and Nathan said he knew people at the vineyard in Santa Barbara so he's going to hook me up when I go out to see my sister in Los Angeles in June!

My birthday is on Saturday. This year - because of the crappy economy - I'm going to stay local. I'm headed to Disney with my sister, Lauren. This year Disney is letting you in free on your birthday ... woo hoo! So, we're going to get park-hopper passes and try and hit up all the roller coasters. We'll spend the night at the Dolphin on property and I'll travel back to Jacksonville on Sunday for my party at The Lemon Bar. I'm meeting my Jax peeps at 3:30 pm ... sure hope I can make it back in time!

Miss Dior for Miss Caron?

I think I'm in love with this perfume. The last time I went to Sephora I smelled both this and Ralph Lauren Romance which I also love but I sprayed the Romance instead and after walking around a bit realized that I smelled a bit like my grandmother. I just tried the Miss Dior Cherie tonight and I can't stop smelling myself ... YUM. I am in love with the way I smell. Of course, I don't have a man to tell me if I smell good and what smells good to a woman is not necessarily what smells good to a man so alas, I can do nothing about this obsession but wait until I have an unsuspecting man in my midst to smell me and tell me if he wants to promptly rip my clothes off. ;-)

hmmmm ...

I'm really bad at this blogging thing ... I think of clever things to talk about all day long but as soon as I get home I really don't feel like using my brain. I suppose that this job I have is to blame. I have to know almost everything concerning Financial Aid, Admissions, and Records & Registration and with that much knowledge stored up there ... there really isn't much room for much else. Not to mention that I speak with complete idiots all day long. No, really. Working in Student Services at a university really shows you how idiotic people are.

For example, I actually had a student yesterday complain to me that she couldn't access her unofficial transcripts through MyWings under Guest access. GUEST access. I said, "Ma'am, you have to log in under your student number in order for the computer to access your information." You've got to be kidding me! She logged in as a guest and then couldn't for the life of her figure out why she couldn't see her academic record. WOW. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm being overly critical but that seems like a pretty simple thing and this is just the tip of the iceberg folks ... I'm not exaggerating.

Okay, so I've started twittering ... good times. It's a lot like updating your facebook status but oh well, still fun to post and it is much easier than having to write a whole post for the blog ;-) Maybe I'll actually be good at it, especially when I figure out how to do it from my phone. Last night I sliced up a whole cucumber and dipped each slice into hummus and YUM I love it so much and eat it regularly and wanted to post to twitter but I was too lazy to open the computer ... so I just thought it to myself. I figure ... it'll be a lot easier for me to post a quick message about what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I'm eating, etc through twitter so I might be a better twitterer than blogger. Man, my brain really is fried ... I'm rambling on and on ... Okay, I'll stop now. Have a good weekend! :-)

Friday Funnies ...

Hey y'all! I've decided that from now on each Friday I will share with you actual conversations or emails I've encountered here at the University. Please keep in mind that these students are "adults" and I will always leave their messages intact with no spell check, etc ...

First up ... an email that was mistakenly sent to a friend who has a name in common with a professor at the university:

I just wanted to share this email that was obviously sent to me by mistake. I looked up the class that this "Cinnamon" (poor poor girl) is apparently taking. It is a Rhetoric and Writing class. She is apparently in great need of the course. Not only is her spell check turned off, but her persuasion skills are quite lacking. I mean can't you find out if this so called "red id" is necessary and, if so, can't you get one for yourself? Must be a freshman.
-Anna

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: cinnamon Date: Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 11:15 PMSubject: RWS 100, Sect

In reguards to the homework:This is Cinnamon. I am in your class from 10:00 to 10:50. I have the home work done but my printer is out of ink and I don't have financial means to buy a new ink cartridge at the moment. I would go to the library to print it out but I do not have a red id. I'm not even fully sure if a red idea is needed. I was wondering if I could maybe bring in a cd and print it out in the class or at least show you on your computer that it is doneon time. I greatfully appreciate you taking the time to read this and hopefully you understand my situation
-Cinnamon

Photo Meme

Rachel tagged me for a photo meme.

The Rules: I was supposed to open my photos, choose the 6th folder and then the 6th photo in that folder. Then I was told to post the photo with a description about it and then tag 6 friends to do the same.

This photo was taken at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans ... here I am with my cousin Matthew. We spent Thanksgiving weekend there a couple of years ago. It was good fun and good food and good hurricanes!

I'm tagging: Erin&Joel, Sara, Vicky, Susan, TheVogelzangs, and Shay. Have fun!