interviewee becomes the interviewer

i am starting to do some interviewing at work and it makes me appreciate all the people who have interviewed me in the past. let's face it, the whole interview process stinks but it's always good when people actually ask good questions. while we were going over who we needed to interview my boss said "you are totally into this, huh?" i laughed and told him i was. i guess i am a nerd like that, but it's fun the first time around.

i think my best interview was when the interviewer looked up everything i had listed on my resume (blog, online store etc.). they knew exactly where i was coming from. it made me feel appreciated and i could talk more fluently about my strengths/weaknesses. the worst question i've been asked was "what is the worst thing that has happened in your life and what did you do about it." this was for a financial position (which i thankfully did not get) and i had no idea how to relate my worst life experience to financial sales. to make matters worse, i have been blessed in my life time and haven't had anything too terrible happen so i had no clue what to say.

what is your best or worst interview experience? have you ever bombed one?

(i have! on that same financial interview i made myself seem like an OCD nut case. i kept talking about how organized i was and started making things because i was getting nervous. thankfully i can leave dave to all the financial busines and can do creative things)

salvation is here.

this is mine and dave's family after his baptism on sunday. it was so great to have everyone together celebrating his acceptance and declaration of God's perfect gift of salvation.

how great the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure.

happy 50th dad!

(my cousins and i taped the balloons to the back of the chairs. it looks like a mad hatter party!)

it was my dad's 50th birthday today and his brother's 48th so we had a little family get together. since my parents just moved to maine to be closer to their family, i figured my dad should have a maine-inspired party.

 i think the hat was a great hit, although my uncle wasn't too pleased about wearing it.

go steve!

we had an awesome time on vacation! dave's brother is now an official law school graduate. i told him i would make him famous on the blog. the graduation was a lot of fun and we spent most of the long weekend floating in the pool and eating delicious food. i love the south. it is warm and there is A LOT of sweet tea. when we got off the plane we both looked at each other and wanted to run back on. it was way to cold here.

so...

Congratulations Steve!

now we get to make lawyer jokes every time we go out to eat with you.

DOW

well, as you might know, the DOW is down today. it had the largest decline in history (over 900 points) and is now up to a 400 point decline. so what does this mean for all of us?

well if you live in europe, you know that the euro is heavly declining, some parts due to greece's debt.

if you live in the US, lets just hope you took your money out of international stocks, or at least will do so now. you probably shouldnt travel to greece for a little while.

there is one thing we all shouldn't do though. don't stop buying and don't completely stop investing. when crazy things happen in the financial industry, our initial reaction is to hunker down. although saving money is a very good idea, shutting everything off kills the economy.

so...let's be wise with our money. maybe this is the time to buy clothing from online european websites now, since the exchange rate is going to be higher. most of all, lets try not to panic. 75% of financial crisis comes from pyschological mindsets.

ps. i am not a financial analyst but i did go to college for business. if you have any recommendations, comments, or issues lets talk about them!

taiji, japan

this weekend i wanted to watch a scary movie so dave and i stopped at red box and got a movie called the cove. needless to say it ended up being a documentary, opposite of a thriller, but was scary in a completely different way. the film won an oscar and its story is quite riviting. have you ever heard of the killing of dolphins in taiji, japan? every year approximately 23,000 dolphins are slaughtered in a small cove. the video showed the grueling footage and even had interviews with japanese officials.

you should check out the video if you have a chance. or at least the promo they show on the site. it blew my mind. especially the fact that japanese officials are paying small countries to back out  of whale saving conventions so they can continue with the killings. not only is it awful for the animals, but the meat has mercury which is poisonous to humans.

more interesting stuff:

- the restaurant "the hump" in santa monica was closed last month for selling fin whale meat in its sushi. gross.

- japanese officials were force feeding children dolphin meat in schools until this film was produced and the toxic effects of dolphin meat were brought to light.

- the old tv show flipper is assumed to have "the worst" effect on the dolphin population because of the enslaving of dolphins for publicity and money making. we should think about this kind of stuff when we make movies and shows. look out elmo (ok, just kidding).

hope.

sometimes we forget what Easter is. we love buying Easter dresses, eating peeps, and spending time with family eating delicious meals (i know i do). but that isn’t what Easter is.

as most of us know, Easter is the celebration of God giving up His most prized possession, His Son, and the miracle of Jesus rising from the dead. to many that sounds cliché and ritualistic, but open your heart for just a second to think about what that means.

when Jesus died for us, it wasn’t an act of selfish martyrdom, His death gave us the choice to live. we can all "live" and do whatever we want, but do you sometimes wonder:

there must be some purpose beside self edification...

...there must be some thing I have a purpose for.

our purpose lies, not in ourselves, but in the One who died so that we may live.

the only way Christ could show us how much He loved us was by sending His Son to pay a horrible death. if He had done it any other way, we would not see the miracle. many religious figures die for the sake of their beliefs but none have risen from the dead with 500 witnesses.

if you are interested in what this all means you can email me. but know this:

if we were created without a purpose, life would be pointless and boring. we were created by God to accept Him as our Savior and serve Him with our lives. when we do this, life is peaceful and purposeful.

think about the true Love you can find in Christ.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.- Romans 10:13

stolen update

if you live in massachusetts, you can get your glass fixed for "free" on your car because it is included in your car insurance. isn't that great? i was really nervous i would have to spend a lot of money. they are even coming to my house. God is good.

i started using a new purse (trying to figure out what i can fill it up with) and got my new license yesterday. now i am just waiting for my credit and debit cards to get here. everything is working out well. thanks to my dad, uncle, and dave.

thank you for all your support. it puts a smile to my face.

scamming and stealing

this is going to be an un-exciting post but after everything that's happened in the last few weeks i thought i would share. let's do a timeline.

two weeks ago: dave and i put some things in the car and then went to a movie. when we got out someone had stolen his GPS that was hidden in the glove box. they didnt steal anything else so they must have been watching us put it away.

last thursday: got scammed into agreeing to an interview with a company in boston. thought they were very prestiguous (the website looked great) but realized they were a door to door sales company. nothing wrong with that, but they claimed to be a business to business agency. thankfully i read this blog post before i actually went.

sunday: my friend matt, rachel, and ashley, along with 6,000 other people got scammed into the Boston 411 Spring Home and Bridal Show they have been preparing many months for. thousand's of dollars have been lost. read more about it here.

monday: my purse, camera, special jewelry, wallet, and glasses were stolen from my car while i was in the gym. the theft smashed the window and took everything in my purse and a DVD. i was parked under a light in a "secured" parking lot.

moral of the stories....

- hide your valuables in the trunk -

- research online as much as you can -

i am not going to be doom and gloom but be careful out there. people aren't as nice as we would like to think.

rambo

i would like to introduce you to my new pet, rambo. it's actually dave's but we are going to share him. we named him rambo because dave left him for a week in his apartment by himself in an 8 oz. cup. all poor rambo lived on was crushed up goldfish that dave's roommate fed him.

we are supposed to get him a new tank this weekend. he is a beta and is a really cool blue. i will take a better picture this weekend.

i thought this was funny and wanted to share it with you. my friend was trying to take a picture of us and had it on video instead. i am sure this happens to everyone once in a while. we look so awkward.

hope you had a good weekend. new post coming soon.

frustrated

for some reason the white box keeps showing up on my blog picture. if you can see it leave a comment. when i orginally created the new picture, it didn't show up.

i'm at dave's nursing him back to health. he is doing pretty well, considering he had all his wisdom teeth out yesterday.

have a wonderful weekend. i am:
hanging out with dave

going to a memorial service

singing at church

relaxing in front of the fire place

did you have a good weekend?

i hope so. i had a wonderful time. we went tubing, shopping at the wrentham outlets, out to dinner at red stripe in providence (yum!), and dave got me tickets to see the blue man group in two weeks! i cant wait. we even got to hang out with my parents, watch the olympics, and i met dave's brother. now i am exhausted and still recovering from my stomach flu. but i am happy and so blessed.

stomach flu

sorry everyone. i have the stomach flu and have been doing everything possible to keep myself together (i will spare you the details). the only thing i can say right now is try brioschi if you have a stomach ache. its a natural antacid that helps and actually doesnt make die when you drink it. thank you dave for the suggestion.

i have to go for now. my stomach sounds like a T-rex. and i wish i was kidding.

have a wonderful weekend

(last weekend at the basketball hall of fame. isn't he handsome?)

i can't wait for tomorrow.

this weekend i am...
singing at a women's conference

meeting dave's parents

hopefully sitting on the couch, doing nothing for at least an hour

superbowl party

traveling yoda

i gave dave a little yoda figurine this weekend while we were at dinner (and he still asked me to be his girlfriend after!).  long story short he always makes fun of me for being a "trekky" since i like star wars, lord of the rings, etc. we decided it would be fun to take pictures of yoda when we go places to remember what we do. so this post will mark the start of his adventures (and a lot of laughing from passersby).

this was before he asked me to be his girlfriend. i think the godiva chocolate cheesecake convinced me to say yes...

we went to the basketball hall of fame on saturday and a hibachi restaurant. thankfully he didnt make me show off my (terrible) basketball skills. we also got in trouble at the gift shop. but we are mature, i promise. 

say hello.

to dave. he is the reason i have been so happy. unfortunately, he is absolutely perfect which makes my life a little difficult. we met in college, but he was much cooler than me because he was on the baseball team, so we didn't talk much (i hope he is reading this). he asked me to be his girlfriend this weekend and i must say i couldn't be happier. i will keep you all updated on our excursions.

i'm very happy.

i'll tell you why soon.

have a good weekend.

i am...

catching up on forgotten God

practicing with the band for a conference next week

going to the basketball hall of fame and osaka

church

ps. the giveaway ends tomorrow. make sure to leave a comment!

have a good weekend.

(my birthday week is officially over now i can say i am 23!)

i am blessed.

sometimes i feel like situations are helpless so i don’t let my mind dwell on them. but then i don’t learn the lessons i need to and i don’t pray for those in need.

today i was taking pictures for a post about decorating, but when i uploaded this picture, all i could think about was how blessed i am to have this faucet at my finger tips. and to know all of my family are sleeping in their beds.

we have all heard about Haiti at this point. its terrible. its mind boggling to even comprehend the depth of sorrow these people are facing. the amount of children instantly orphaned is heart wrenching.

but there is one thing i know. i have a Father to the fatherless and i need to turn to Him in prayer when I feel overwhelmed.

lets let our heart’s break for these people. there is hope.

psalm 51:17

the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

psalm 34:18

the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.