Thursday Thirteen: Movies

Thirteen Things about ANGELA

I figured this was an easy way to keep up since I have had little time to write. No water in our house...but the in-laws are gone, so at least we have a place to stay while it gets repaired. For now, I will do thirteen of my favorite movies. I have a very difficult time picking favorites, but these are top-ranked on my list.

1. Return to Me - One of my favorites of all-time. Just a nice romantic comedy. I'm a sucker for the romance, as I'm sure you will see. Great soundtrack, too.

2. Raising Helen - Again, a great romantic comedy. Kate Hudson is pretty funny, and the sisters were somewhat reminiscent of me and mine. I don't enjoy thinking about the people I love dying or anything, but it reminds you of how much they mean to you.

3. The Sound of Music - Come on. This is just a classic. I love the music and the gazebo seen with Liesl and...the guy. So great! I always wanted to be her!

4. You've Got Mail - I don't know what it is, but I could watch this movie repeatedly and never tire of it. It's so cute how he goes about befriending her in order to win her heart. I love it!

5. Diary of a Mad Black Woman - An all-around great movie with drama, romance, and absolutely hysterical to boot. Definitely worth checking out.

6. Pride & Prejudice - The new version with Keira Knightley. I just loved it; it's so witty and great all around.

7. Titanic - Haven't seen it in years, but it is the first movie that I remember really crying in the theater.

8. The Passion of the Christ - The most powerful movie I've ever seen. A pretty unbelievable experience in the theater when the church rented it out for a few showings.

9. Runaway Bride - Again, the romantic comedy just does it for me. Very fun movie, great soundtrack which includes Miles Davis, so it must be good.

10. The American President - The politics reeks, but the story is too cute. Another that I could watch over and over.

11. Napoleon Dynamite - How can this not be funny? Chatting online with babes? Numchuck skills? The dance!?!? It's a classic for our generation.

12. Center Stage - It's such a teeny-bopper sort of movie, but I can't help but love it. The dance at the end rules!

13. A Beautiful Mind - Great story, great acting.

I know I didn't include many serious movies or any action movies, which I really do like, but these are the ones that came to mind. Post your own list, too!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about ANGELA

I figured I'd give this a try - I guess you just pick a topic and write 13 things about yourself. So today's topic will be...13 places I have been.

1. Kansas City, MO. As kids, we visited Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun a few times for vacation. My Mom won tickets to the parks on a radio contest a couple of times.

2. Tijuana, Mexico. Pastor Jim took us on a missions trip here. I was 15, and it was the first time I flew on an airplane.

3. Branson, MO. I lived in Springfield for almost 7 years, and Branson is about 20-30 minutes south, so we shopped the outlets and watched IMAX movies during the college years and beyond.

4. Chicago, IL. I was on a traveling ministry team in college for all 4 years, so we visited many different places. My freshman year we went to Chicago for our Spring Break ministry trip. It was very eye-opening in many ways. We also walked down Michigan Ave. and ate great pizza.

5. Denver, CO. I went here with my family at a very early age; I have a few memories but not many. Pastor Jim also took us here for the national youth convention (I'm not sure what year it was, I want to say 1996 or 1997?). I remember feeling a distinct call to ministry at that time. I also visited for a work conference from the Assemblies of God youth department; interesting trip with my former roommate and co-worker (to say the least). Sing it with me, "I see your true colors shining through..."

6. Boca Raton, FL. Another Spring Break ministry trip in college. This was a beautiful area; very ritzy from what I recall. We walked on the beach, on a pier in Miami, and all the girls stayed together in one house (it wasn't too cramped or anything, though).

7. Orlando, FL. I had only been at my job in the youth department (Assemblies of God headquarters) for about two months when I was asked to go to the Fine Arts Festival and National Youth Convention in Orlando. I was so excited; my first big work trip, lots of overtime (= lots of moolah), a little bit of free time to shop, and experiencing my first General Council (it's a big deal for them...seriously). Very interesting trip; I loved carrying around a walkie-talkie and being all cool and stuff.

8. Detroit, MI. I drove up (a VERY long trip alone) for a very good friend's wedding. It was definitely fun. I think Shannon and I carpooled back together for yet another long car ride. But I really loved being in her wedding and sharing those moments with her.

9. Seattle, WA. I have visited Phil, Brenda, Kaitlyn, and Kramer three times in their city of residence. (To put a face with a name, Kaitlyn was junior bridesmaid at my wedding if you were there.) I love it there; they live RIGHT by the water in Kirkland, which is a very nice area. They have a boat, so we try to get out on the boat when I'm visiting, which is always so relaxing. Their home is beautiful and relaxing, and I love staying there. I hope I can visit them with Matt someday!

10. Washington, D.C./Dover, DE. This trip last summer with my parents and Tyler was so great. The ONLY thing I remember not liking was the fact that I wished I could enjoy it with Matt. We had just started hanging out, but I really wanted to share all those fun experiences with him. Going to my first race at Dover was so sweet.

11. Galena, IL. I love Galena! It will always be so special as the site of our first real date and as the place where Matt asked me to marry him. It's such an adorable little town.

12. New York, NY. Huge highlight trip for me; it had always been my dream trip. Originally I wanted to honeymoon there, but...yeah, I'm glad we didn't do that. We went in October and, well, here are a bunch of pictures if you didn't get to see them. Awesome trip with my baby (and Chris, can't forget that he came along :-).

13. Cancun, Mexico. Our honeymoon! Awesome resort that was very fun and relaxing. Pictures will be coming one of these days.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Nobody's a Nobody

I wanted to blog today, but I am not sure what to write about. So I will default and post a journal entry.

Nobody's a Nobody

Scripture: Romans 9:25-26 (MSG) "I'll call the nobodies and make them somebodies; I'll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, 'You're nobody!' they're calling you 'God's living children.'"

Observation: The world's definition of us is inconsequential. Other people's view of us does not matter. What God calls us, the name He gives to us is the only one with which we should be concerned. The world will try to confuse us and Satan will use anything to distract us from hearing God's voice and what He is saying to us.

Application: I can so easily define who I am by the things another person says or does. I can be persuaded that God's love doesn't matter unless another person can see that same value in me. But God never asked me to look into the eyes of someone else to find my worth. Others may choose to affirm what God says about me, but that's all it is - an affirmation, not a definition. And if someone sees me as a nobody, then I am in the place for God to make His move and call me the somebody that He sees in me. So my lovability is based on His love for me. And He has said that when I feel unloved, He wants to step in and call me beloved. He wants to call me His very own, His child. The love that He created in me pales in comparison to the love that He offers me each day.

Prayer: Oh, Father, forgive me for forgetting that You are the only One who can meet all my needs and be all I could ever ask for. I know there's a time and a place for harsh reality and a time to step up to the plate and take responsibility for my life. But today could You just wrap Your arms around me and be my loving Father? What I desperately need is Your unconditional love that sees me as I am, every ugly part, and still grabs me and holds me tight and has faith in what I can become. It's hard work to live up to all You ask of me. But it's worth the work because I so desperately want to make You proud, want to be the apple of Your eye. Will You step in today and give me Your peace even if I don't deserve it? I can't fully express what it means to me that You love all of me and are not turned away when You see the ugliness of sin in my heart. You still embrace me as Your daughter and see the beauty of Your Son in me. Make me into the beautiful image of You. Make my heart more like You and strip away all that does not reflect You. Let me be a true picture of Your love to others.

Two for Togetherness

I'm so excited to have been tagged for this! Thanks, Beefy!

2 things you compliment your husband on while in his presence.
1. His amazing computer skills (example shown below).
2. His cute legs.

2 compliments you make about your spouse to your friends.
1. His creativity that knows NO bounds.
2. He's a great writer and knows how to say incredibly sweet things in an eloquent manner.

2 traits you married him/her for.
1. His sincere desire to follow God.
2. His incredible gifts and the call of God that I know is on his life.

2 days you cherished the most with your husband being together.
1. The day of our engagement has to top this list. Since I've already written about it, I won't go into detail, but the entire day was full of anticipation for me, and I enjoyed each moment of being together and of the Christmas season.
2. Christmas Eve/Christmas Day 2005. Our first holiday together, being with our families, and being in church together. It was really special. (I would have written the wedding day, but it seems a little obvious; but I did cherish that day and the smart way we planned it so we could spend time together. Yeah for eating at Bourbon Street on our wedding night!)

2 material things you could give your husband if you just inherited a fortune.
1. A fiberglass body for a Batmobile (I could just pay someone to build it, but I know part of the joy for him will be building it himself).
2. This. And it would be a sacrifice for sure.

2 things you would miss the most if she/he left for two weeks.
1. Cuddling and talking and praying before bed.
2. His touch.

2 thoughts that crossed your mind when you first met/saw (or noticed in our case) your spouse.
1. I am sure we would have a great time together; he is so funny!
2. What could I do to get him to notice me?

2 favorite dates
1. So many of the first dates were so much fun, but if I have to pick two...definitely July 4 of last year. He had invited me about a week or two earlier to visit the House on the Rock for the holiday. He surprised me that morning with a single red rose on my car seat (the first romantic gesture he had made, and I was floored; I remember shaking as I tried to put in my earrings while we were driving away in the car). We visited, I got sick, I bought some medicine and napped in the car, he drove us to Galena, we walked around looking at houses and walking down Main Street, we ate at Vinny Vanucchi's, and we watched fireworks together from the top of the hill. And he hugged me for the first time that day. It was the most amazing day. My journal entry about it is pretty good. He wrote a little about it, too, in his proposal narrative.
2. It's so hard to pick! Since I already said New York is a favorite vacation, I'm going to pick a different date (even though the Queen concert day was awesome). How about my birthday? No, I'm going with our trip to Minneapolis. We went to "The Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie Theater. Then we hung out at the Mall of America in our dress up clothes. It was very fun. I just love road-tripping with my husband; most of them are pretty memorable in my mind. And I love doing different things, and the play and the Mall and dressing were so fun and different from the norm.

2 funny odd things you love.
1. His constant preoccupation with Batmobiles (and this website). Since it's my blog, I'll take a second to show you what he has done since he doesn't have a Batmobile to work on yet - desktops for all the guys who are in the process of building theirs! (Thank goodness we don't have a computer set up at home. The bathroom would have a projected finish date of April 2012. )
2. The way he snaps his fingers near his ears to see if they are cleared up (he has lots of problems with his ears being clogged up and can never hear just right, poor thing).

2 places you have lived with your spouse.
1. Our current church/home
2. My old apartment (for exactly one week).

2 favorite vacations
1. New York City, baby!
2. Our honeymoon near Cancun (we will get pictures up for you to see, I promise!).

2 people I tag
1. Could I possibly get Rev60 to do this? (I'm sure I'm not allowed to tag my own husband, so I'll see if someone else's will do it.)
2. How about T - I'd love to hear her comments!