I'm not dead...

I promise. I just got back from Carli's today and it was awesome and I will probably write about it later but right now I'm completely exhausted and I have tons of homework so I'm not gonna. I would like to say that we randomly got to see J.J. and Morgan and Jessica and Matt and Big Brian and other cool people. It was great. And we got to hang out with homeless people and give them subway. And I love Carli.

We found these awesome water things. They were amazing.

It was right out here that Erwin McMannus got out of his car and we got to talk to him. Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

Carli in awe after speaking with Erwin. Just kidding. I think she was dazed after trying to open the water thing.

Me and Matt

Of course we couldn't forget our favorite twins.

This guy walked by us and thought we were really weird. I agree with him.

Me and Jessica

We found J.J. and Morgan! Yay!

Jamie, you blinked!

No trip is complete without coke zero.

72,780, 72,779, 72,778, 72,777, 72,776...

A thought just hit me. I really don't enjoy getting up early. I was thinking about normal people who have to be at work at 8 and I'm just not okay with that. I'm helping for Global Cafe at FSU at 8 tomorrow morning and it just occured to me that I have to get up at 6:30. I know, I know, normal people get up around that time but that's a depressing thought to me. I would much rather go to bed at 6:30 than get up at 6:30. See, the problem is that no matter when I have to get up in the morning I still go to bed at 2. I suppose if I decided to go to bed earlier getting up earlier wouldn't be such a problem. I just find so many exciting things to do at night. Like blog. Why do I feel the need to blog right now? I should be doing my homework so that I won't go to bed at 2. But instead I will sit here and blog and then I will go do something exciting like let the dog out or clean my room or email Lori or paint my toenails until about 12:00 at which point I will start my homework. It's a vicious cycle, I tell you. Each night you pass a further point it's impossible to go to sleep earlier than that.
But it is my own fault so I won't bore you with my woe. However, no matter how little sleep I get tonight I will still be plenty awake because I am pumped because I get to see Carli tomorrow! Yay! I get to see her in 20 hours and 13 minutes, which translates into 1,213 minutes, which translates into 72,780 seconds. So all I have to do is count to 72,780 and I will be with Carli. Gosh, who has time to sleep when they are busy counting down? I'm gonna be up way past 2... Gotta get started. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...

I went to the Wesley foundation tonight and it was awesome! (Except for the part where I had to eat and identify baby food, but I'll forgive them for that. I'm just glad I got the sweet potato one and not beef and peas. Sick. Why do we feed our children that?) I met some really awesome people and I'm excited about that. I would write more, but Russian literature is calling...It says, "Calyn, come read me. Come figure out what the heck I'm saying. Come decipher random archaic phrases that people in Russia don't use and you have surely never heard of." Except, it says it in Russian, which is much more difficult.
Arrivederci!

So Tanya and Zhenya are Pretty Much the Best Ever

Can't say that I've ever seen my name written on a frozen window before.   I love you girls!

Maybe we all are crazy

Tonight me, Shannon, Diane, Kenley, David, Lerah and Mr. Robbin went and saw "The End of the Spear" at AMC. (It's very good. I highly recommend it.) Watching a movie like that inevitably leads to me reevaluating a lot of stuff and that's certainly a good thing. The passion that Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and the others had for sharing Jesus with a tribe of people who were only slightly more famous for their life of killing than their intense brutality is absolutely inspiring. I sat there pondering what I would be thinking if I didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus and saw that movie. Honestly, I would think that those men and their wives were totally insane. And you know what? I'd be right. I think it was David Nasser who was telling us about how he was on a mission board for some organization and the board was considering sending a Christian psychologist on the field to kind of counsel the missionaries that were in remote areas and didn't have a lot of contact with "normal" surroundings. Most of the people on the board agreed that that would be a good idea. But when they got to Nasser, he basically told them that it was a terrible idea. He said that these were men and women who had given up every comfort, every friend, every family member for the purpose of sharing Christ with people who have no desire to hear about it. If you send them a therapist they will probably be on the next boat home.

It doesn't make any sense to the rest of the world. None at all. Why would Jim Elliot give up a life of ease in America to make his home among violent Indians in Ecuador who would eventually kill him? Why would Elisabeth Elliot go back and live with those Indians and devote her life to the people who killed her husband? Why would people like Hudson Taylor, William Carey, and Lottie Moon give up their lives of luxury to serve people with strange cultures, difficult languages and hard existences? Why didn't Steven just keep his mouth shut instead of preaching to an entire Jewish council? Why didn't Paul stay safe in Jerusalem instead of making voyages all over the world and ending up in a prison cell in Rome? Why did John have to get himself involved in Herod's affairs? Why didn't Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego just bow to the stupid statue?

It's because they all knew there was something more. It's because they were "sure of what they hope[d] for and certain of what they [couldn't] not see." Men like Jim Elliot had Matthew 28:19-20 stamped on their hearts. It wasn't just a verse to them. It was the meaning of their entire existence. In the movie, Nate Saint's son, Steve, who's about 10 at the time, asks his dad right before he leaves to visit the tribe if they will protect themselves with their guns. If they will shoot the Waodani if they attack them. Nate replies something to the effect of "No, son. We can't shoot the Waodani. They're not ready to go to heaven yet." As Mincayani is stabbing Nate Saint through with a spear, the only thing Nate says to him is "I am your friend."

Maybe the more crazy part of Christianity is the part where the God of heaven leaves his throne and comes to suffer and die to redeem a people who have only themselves to blame for screwing the world up. How crazy that the One who created us let us nail him to a cross. The One who formed our mouths let us spit on him and curse his name. God, who was more powerful than anything we could even imagine, subjected himself to death only to defeat it. To give us all a bridge to cross so that we wouldn't be under his judgment anymore. To give us hope and life and freedom. And that is why men travel to Ecuador to willingly sacrifice their lives so that those who've never heard about Christ can have a chance. Because the risk that they took to share that Hope with people was worth whatever the outcome. I can't think of a better way to put it than how Jim Elliot did: "It is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

The old-school Steven Curtis Chapman "Sake of the Call" CD is playing on my laptop. That's rather appropriate.

Nobody stood and applauded them
So they knew from the start
This road would not lead to fame
All they really knew for sure
Was Jesus had called to them
He said, "Come, follow Me" and they came
With reckless abandon, they came

Empty nets lying there at the water's edge
Told a story that few could believe
And none could explain
How some crazy fisherman agreed to go where Jesus went
With no thought to what they would gain
For Jesus had called them by name
And they answered...

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die for the sake of the call

Drawn like the rivers are drawn to the sea
There's no turning back, for the water cannot help but flow
Once we hear the Savior's call, we'll follow wherever He leads
Because of the love He has shown
And because He has called us to go
We will answer...

We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die

Not for the sake of a creed or a cause
Not for a dream or a promise
Simply because it is Jesus who called
And if we believe we'll obey.

I Love The Eighties

You know, VHI does a pretty good job, but I think we can do better. :0) We took pictures tonight after youth for our upcoming "Surfside High" drama we're working on. Todd's gonna make posters for us. I think these pretty much speak for themselves, so I'll just let them do the talking. You know it's tubular!



The kids at Surfside High and their principle, Principle Mucas. That's pronounced "Myusay" not "Mucus..."


















Best friends! Yay!









We went to Taco Bell after we took pictures. Good times. Me, Jenna and James went on a picnic at Lake Ella today. That was really fun. I think I might have gotten a sunburn...I mean, it's freezing here, Lori! As our friend Strongbad would say, I...I...I'm awesome!

Oh, and how 'bout them Steelers?

Just a word to the wise...

When people are asleep it does not necessarily mean that they are not listening...

Currently Watching
Lost - The Complete First Season

All that and they didn't even open the hatch! Well, they opened it, you just can't see what's in it. And I knew they were coming for Walt and not Claire!!! AHHHH!!! Now me and Jenna have to wait until season 2 comes out because we're behind. This is so sad.

*Please do not leave any comments telling me about anything that happens in season 2. I mean it. I like surprises.

Lions and Tigers and Camels! Oy vey!

Currently Watching With Fire and Sword -- Ogniem i mieczem see related

So, I'm driving down the road in the middle of town (Old Bainbridge by I-10 for those of you who live here) and there's these random goats on the side of the road munching on grass. That pretty much made my morning. I just thought I would share that with you. It reminds me of the time when Lori lived in Graceville and she used to make the 2 hour trek back and forth every weekend and one time we were driving back from Graceville on I-10 and there was this little white goat on the side of the interstate just hanging out and I was like, "LORI! We have to rescue it! It's gonna get hit by a car!" But we were in the middle of nowhere and there was really no place for us to put a goat in her car and then we would have no idea who it belonged to because the goat would be in Tallahassee and his home had to have been somewhere that wasn't Tallahassee, and it was just complicated so we didn't pick it up. I guess I have a thing for goats. They're just so cute. My favorite thing to do at the fair is see the goats. Ask Shannon. I don't even like the fair that much, but the petting zoo is by far the best part and the goats are the best thing in the petting zoo. The camel is pretty awesome, but they're always unfriendly. My friend John is going to Egypt this summer and he gets to ride a camel and I'm pretty jealous. Camels are awesome. If anyone's interested in going to Egypt like at the end of the summer-ish, he's spending the summer in Moscow and then going to Egypt for a week and he's trying to find people that want to go. It's only gonna be like, about $700 dollars including airfare. (from Europe.) So, if anybody would love to ride camels and see pyramids let me know and I can hook you up. Come on, you know you want a picture of yourself on a camel. Arrivederci!

Dang It

Just my luck...I got this in my email today.

You have just received the Amish virus.

Since we have no electricity or computers, you are on the honor system.

Please delete all of your files on your hard drive. Then forward this message to everyone in your address book.

We thank thee.

Why do these things always have to happen to me?

I'm LOST without you...

Quote o' the day: "How do they have zoos in Canada?" -Mom
Quote o' the yesterday: "Uggg! My chaps are lipped!" -Chris Myrick

So after an exciting 2 episodes of LOST last night, me and Jenna are finally caught up and a lot of things became much clearer. Suddenly, life just makes sense.
Well, not really.
But now that we've seen the first four episodes of season one, we understand important plot points that we missed. I mean, how could we have missed knowing that Locke was in a wheelchair, or that Kate lived with that old Australian dude, or that that crazy U.S. Marshall guy had shrapnel sticking out of him and Sawyer tried to kill him? You see, when we started watching LOST, we kinda missed the boat that everyone jumped on when, say, it started. Instead we decided to wait until Lerah told us that it was really good and by that point they were almost finished with season one. So we started renting them from Movie Gallery, but they never had the first disc. However, our dreams came true when, Saturday night, they had it! It was very exciting. We got Chris hooked now as well. (Not my Chris, Jenna's Chris.)

I'd just like to give a shout-out to the Steelers. Most of you probably don't care, but my beloved Steelers have only to beat the Broncos and they will be in the Super Bowl. It's pretty much the best thing ever.



Wow, on the news they're talking about some lady that got stuck in a chimney for 6 hours. Every day I'm amazed at the stupidity of people. I mean, you think you've heard it all, and then, no. They come up with something better. Of course, one day I'm gonna be laughing at the T.V. over something like this and then find out Alec Waller was involved...It will happen eventually. Well, I'm in a rather uncreative, anti-writing mood, so I'm gonna do something more exciting now. Arrivederci!

At the Myricks Again, I Can't Wait to Be at the Myricks Again. Somethin' about makin' music with my friends...

Brandon Myrick is probably the funniest person I know. Like, seriously. He can just walk into a room and I start laughing. Actually, I think I did that a couple of times tonight. He has this random funniness that makes me crack up. Like, me, Jenna and Chris are talking about pedicures or something like that and Brandon just walks in and says, "So, there's a lot of possum stuff going on around here."
He goes to Publix this morning to buy some milk for his cereal and he sees these key-chain sharpies. Now, Brandon isn't really a impulse buyer per se. But he comes back to the house and goes on and on about how he bought these four key-chain sharpies. Their names are as follows: Will, Bill, Phil and Henrieta. (He wants me to make sure I only put one "t.") Green, turquoise, orange and fuschia( FEW-SHEE-YA!), respectively.

These are what Brandon has. They're amazing. I think we got some of those for Diane.

"Did you know koalas aren't bears?" -Brandon
"yeah." -Me
"I was devestated after i found that out. I mean, your whole life you grow up thinking that they're bears and then...gosh." -Brandon

Anyway, here's a couple pictures of some kumquats (sp.?) imitating Brandon's sharpies and some other random stuff we did before we watched LOST. Arrivederci.





Bill, Henrieta, Phil and Will





Playing with the "coupling" feature on my camera.



Deer in headlights look.



Yeah, i don't know.



My personal favorite. WATCH OUT, BRANDON!

I forgot the Alamo

I almost fell asleep in class today as my geography teacher bombinated on about how many continents there were and the intricacies of plate tectonics. My favorite thing she said today was, "...You know, like in the Cold War when the United States and the USSR were kinda, like, opposed..." (CCCP, Jenshka!) Oy vey.
I think it's going to rain. But, for once, I have come prepared and brought an umbrella. That never happens! Of course, now that I have an umbrella safely tucked away in my purse the chance of rain goes down considerably. (The chance of rain is proportional to the chance of one having an umbrella. Everyone knows this.) It goes like this. Person A brings an umbrella to school. While the rain chance that day is 80%, the rain will stop for the 20% of the time during the day that person A is outside. If person A walks to class from 11:00-11:15, it will rain from 10:30-11:00, stop from 11:00-11:15 and then pick back up as soon as person A walks in the door of his or her building. Likewise, if person A sees that the chance of rain is a mere 10% and neglects to bring his or her bulky umbrella, it will stay dry up until the moment that person A gets out of his or her car in the parking lot. Then a deluge will sweep him or her through campus.
I think that I would make a good candidate for the witness protection program. When I'm at school, I'm constantly seeing people that I recognize from elementary and high school but every time i do the whole, "I'm not gonna say 'hi' because that would be kinda weird, but I'm gonna do the whole 'make eye-contact' thing and if that goes well then I'll say something" deal everybody acts like I'm really strange. They just don't remember me. Like, last night. I see this guy that I went to elementary school with (we were in the same class in 5th grade) and we went to Leon together. Granted, we weren't tight or anything, but I know his first and last name and usually if you can remember someone's last name they should at least recognize you, right? So I see him in the hallway and I think I actually bypassed the whole "I'm not gonna say 'hi' because that would be kinda weird" thing and said "hello." I got a look like I was some kind of idiot and he had no idea who I was. I'm just gonna stop. Maybe if I would have done something memorable in school, like, gotten malaria or something people would remember me. There was this girl in 6th grade named Abby Jennings whose leg constantly shaked. Like, all the time. Everybody remembered her. "She's that girl who's leg shakes." Of course, that's not something that I would really long to be remembered for, but hey, at least it's a conversation starter. Maybe then that guy last night would have been like, "Hey, you're that girl who always got out of 24-minute runs in P.E. 'cause your leg was always spasmming." At least it would have been something. But at least now I know that if I get put on a death list and I have to enter the witness protection program I will be perfectly safe. "Mr. Celophane should have been my name..." huh, Lori? Arrivederci.

Quote o' the Day

"Whoa, international stamps. Where did you get those? The post office?" -Jenna Myrick

I just wanna say that Jenna Myrick is pretty much the best ever.

Tonight was so fun. We didn't even do anything exciting. That's what's so great. You know you have a great friend when you can do absolutely nothing (well, except sit in a winn-dixie parking lot and running inside an hour later hoping it's not closed and that the bathrooms aren't in the back of the store. [they were.]) and it's a blast. We'll get to Wesley eventually, Jenna. I love you.

What's lung got to do with it, got to do with it?

So, tonight I'm coughing out my other lung (the one that still remains) and Dad's like, "Calyn? Aren't you taking some medicine for that?" I said, "Yes. And it doesn't work. I might as well spare myself the nasty cough medicine taste because it does me about as much good as sunscreen on Mercury." (Or I guess sunscreen doesn't do me much good anywhere I am. The shade of lobster I turn anytime I'm in the sun for more than 10 minutes testifies to that.) Anyway, about 36.5 seconds after completing that sentence, a little news bit comes scrolling across the Fox News...uh-um, CNN... ticker. "New studies show that cough medicine does very little, if anything, to relieve cough." Wow. They could have saved themselves the time, $, and effort and come and talked to me. I would have told them that for a fraction of the price. But as soon as it had scrolled across the screen I gave Dad the "you wanna revisit this topic" look and he did the "touche" chuckle. So, people. If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we fix a common cough? Or better yet, if we can put a man on the moon, why can't we put them all there?

Not good, people. It's 10:58 on the first day of school and I'm already bored...This could be a long semester...

It's that Time Again

Well, it's January 7th. You know what that means. Other than the fact that it's Orthodox Christmas (Happy Christmas to those in my favorite place in the Eastern hemisphere) it's about the time when 90% of us have given up on our New Year's resolutions and have jumped into that secret chocolate stash that we've been saving because we knew eventually that the resolution would be broken. I, for one, did not make any resolutions this year because I knew that I wouldn't keep them. I figure my chances are higher of keeping something like a resolution if I don't actually make the resolution and just do it on my own. Work with me here; this is how my thought process goes. Plus, let's face it, January isn't the time to be deciding to work out more and things like that. I mean, gyms raise their membership prices in January just because they know that everyone will be registering. If you're gonna make a committment to work out more, throw everybody off and do it in March. That's a great time. By then no one's left in the gym and you can have it all to yourself. Plus, memberships will probably be cheaper.
I was talking to Susanna Wright the other day and she had made a great resolution. Her New Year's resolution was "to gain 20 lbs." I was rather compuzzled by this and asked her why that would be her pick. I mean, I know she wants to be on the wrestling team and all, but... She said that since she never keeps her resolutions and always ends up doing the opposite, what better resolution to have than gain 20 lbs? Hopefully, she said, that will mean she'll actually lose 20. Smart girl. If only I'd come up with something that brilliant. But, some people have more willpower than me and will actually be able to keep their resolutions. And I salute them.
Micah and Cameron are sitting here playing world of warcraft and I asked them if they made any resolutions. Cameron said, "no." And Micah said, "Uggg, my armor's crap. I need better armor." I don't know if that's a resolution or not. Actually, I don't know if they even heard me at all. Well, there you have it. Arrivederci!

The Adventures of Calyn, Jenna, Sarah and Carli

It's that time again. The time of the day where I post a gazillion pictures that only a few people probably have the time to look at all of them although I do not fault them for that because I take an ungodly amount of pictures. So, yesterday me, Jenna and Sarah drove down to Gainsville to meet Carli and we hung out at the Oak Mall.



This is us plopped down on one of those huge beanbag-pulls-into-a-bed things. I waaant that.



We ate some Chinese food.



No one will ever find me.



Jenna, Sarah and Carli at the kid's table.



I could so take that guy.



Sarah found this awesome kiss sticker somewhere.



We wrote Lori's name in the little kid sand machine.



People in Gainesville are sickneningly obsessed with gator paraphenelia. Gators everywhere!



It's okay. We tomahawked this one and left it in pieces.

Next we called Mr. Robbin and found out where that church that Jenna had her little accident was. Most of you who know Jenna know that she has a huge scar running down her left leg. That was from the bike trip when we stopped at Countryside Baptist church to sing 3 years ago and she jumped out of a tree and a picnic table jumped up and bit her.



This is the tree.



It just looked so real.



Why, Carli, what long arms you have.



Jenna with her blue lollipop teeth.



Sarah and Jenna having a little too much fun with their lollipops



We looked for the "oklahoma" guy but he was golfing that day.

Next it was off to find a playground. We tried for quite a while and eventually stopped at "Play it again sports" to ask where one was and also to see if they had pink kleets for Sarah.



This was the best playground ever!



We love swings!



Awwww, Carli pushed me.



Next it was off to the merry-go-round.



We all felt like we were going to throw up after about 20 minutes of that.



Sarah's going to eat us all.



Yeeessss.



I wish we had a playground like this at home...



We bullied all the little kids out of the slide...just kidding.



Yay.



I think this is my absolute favorite picture of Carli.



Don't worry, I have one that's just as bad...embrace the ugly pictures, embrace the ugly pictures...



We never really could get all of us in...



Oh well. "E" for effort.



Maybe 3's the magical number.



Yup, that's it.



It was huge. See that little white thing? That was a house, Lori...



Well, that's one way to get everybody in.

Arrivederci!