Turning 40: 40 Fun and Personal Facts About Me (part 1)

Dear Lovely Reader, 

It is now May... which is my birthday month. And as I am turning 40, I thought I would share 40 random facts/stories about me!

1. Born in Oklahoma City

One of my favorites from childhood 

2. Favorite drinks: tea, vanilla latte, Dr. Pepper

3. Favorite foods: Chinese, Italian, Pizza (though my doctor told me with some liver issues I have to go Gluten light -- not sure exactly what that means). 

4. Least favorite foods: eggs, seafood, cilantro (yes, I am one of those people that it tastes like soap) 

5. I have lived in 3 out of the 4 continental U.S. time zones, and have yet to live in the Mountain Time Zone. At one point, I thought about retiring to New Mexico (and while that still might happen... God can do mysterious things), but I think right now I want to retire in one of the Carolinas. Also, I have thoughts about getting a property (currently have no idea how to buy one), building a tiny home, another tiny home for a library and writing work area, and a third or fourth for ministry workers to come and rest. 

I don't know if this truly counts as a tiny home, but it is cute
Though not sure about the salmon color
Link

I currently reside in Houston. But I was born in Oklahoma City, then when I was 10 going on 11, my mom and I moved to the west coast, first living outside of Seattle for 2 years, then we (with my stepdad) moved to outside San Francisco, and for college I moved to Boston. I attended Suffolk University for undergrad and Simmons College (now Simmons University) for grad school. 

From my prom... I still love that dress

6. First concert saw (without parents): *NSYNC. Can't remember the first concert I saw. My mom worked at a college when I was growing up, and we frequently went to jazz performances, but when we lived in Seattle, we saw Bette Midler and Billy Joel, just not sure which one was first.  

7. First CD owned: Spice World, my Grandma PJ accidentally bought me the Spice Girls' second album. 

8. First Broadway Musical (On Broadway): Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters. I grew up watching musicals from Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Gigi, White Christmas, and others. But seeing a musical on stage was very cool, but I remember thinking how small the theaters were in New York compared to those I had been to on the West Coast. First live musical (Off-Broadway) — my mom might have to correct me, but I believe it was The King and I. But I do remember once in one of the college plays we saw Our Town. 

9. Favorite childhood memory: playing dress up with a friend or cousins and sister

See, this is the level of dress-up I am talking about.
Yep, this is my grandparents' (probably) 1960's kitchen

More to come... 

It Feels Like Summer… But I’m Still Sitting with Advent (Honest Advent Review)

 Dear Reader,

In my previous “Book Blurbs,” I wrote about what the book was about and how I felt about it.

From Amazon (link):

Has the joy of the holiday season become painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life? Do you feel weary from the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand? You aren't alone. For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. What if we stopped treating the Christmas story as something that happened a long time ago and started believing it's still happening today?

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From celebrated artist and storyteller Scott Erickson comes Honest Advent: 25 days of illustrations and meditations to help you rekindle the wonder of this season. Honest Advent creates a space for you to encounter the Incarnate Christ in unexpected places: like a pregnancy announcement in an era of political unrest and empirical bloodshed, the morning sickness of a Middle Eastern teenager, and the shocking biology of birth that goes far beyond the sanitized brand of Christmas as we know it today.

Through powerful benedictions, prayers, and questions for honest reflection, you'll discover how the wonder of God-with-Us is still happening today: in your unexpected change of plans, your unaccomplished dreams, your overcrowded lodging, and your humble stories of new beginnings.

I will agree that Christmas has sometimes lost its wonder, not just because it is March, almost April, but because Christmas is a busy season in my job, there is an end-of-year giving campaign, and outside my job there is just a busyness in the rush of a season, but there is also a feeling of that things should be right in the world, and they aren’t, but as Advent is a time of coming I am looking forward to the second coming when Christ will set all things right.

I will say this book did its job of highlighting God showing up in the hardest parts of humanity, and while I would say parts of it “rekindle the wonder of God-with-us.” Mostly, it made me think and ponder: Where is God? What is he leading me to? How am I embracing the God-with-us? How is He embracing me?

The book does a good job of exploring what it means to seek meaning or inspiration during times when life doesn’t feel particularly full of wonder. However, a couple of aspects felt awkward. As both an artist and an author, Scott Erickson included some of his own artwork throughout the book. While some pieces were interesting, others came across as distracting.

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Above pic based off of
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I did like this one of Eve placing her hand on Mary’s belly—in the picture, Eve is experiencing the hope and grace from brokenness she never thought she would see. Also, he used chunks of the page to highlight a quote he wanted to draw attention to, but sometimes it was in the middle of the page, making it nearly impossible to read. (But that is not so much about writing but about the publishing format).  

Not sure if I’ll read it again next Christmas, but that is still 9 or 8 months away (I’m not good at math).

One of the more distracting pics 
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Overall, the book offers valuable insights into navigating spiritual searching during difficult times, even if some artistic choices occasionally detract from the reading experience. Despite these minor distractions, its thoughtful approach to seeking meaning makes it a worthwhile read.

Something to think about: 
What might change if I stopped looking for wonder in the way I expect it to appear, and instead learned to recognize God-with-us in the places that feel unfinished, uncomfortable, or quietly ordinary?