wild weather

It snowed here last night and today! It wasn't in the forecast, so it was weird to look out the window around midnight last night and see it dumping and already sticking. It was still around for most of the day today, and it's in the 20's tonight. What crazy weather up here the last couple months! It snows every time I come. I'm not sure what that means.

Christmas Pics

Trying to get four people to all smile at once... :) This is my sister Lindy, her husband Nate, me, and our ("little") brother Travis... I AM the big sister!! :)

After a morning of brunch, presents, and a lazy afternoon we went to visit my grandpa in the home he lives in. My grandma is on the left. I grew up about 5 minutes from them, and they still live in downtown Bellevue. Her condo is about a block from the nursing home so she's able to walk there each day. My mom goes about 4 days a week and I go a few times whenever I'm in town. Grandpa (middle-right) has M.S. but has lived a long full life! :)

Sis, me & Mom

Around 8pm we went to my cousin Dan & his wife LeeAnn's place for dessert and games. We stayed until after midnight! We always have a blast playing games and just hanging out with them. Lots of laughing. :) This is me and Dan; we grew up together and were close through high school.

Now I have a few more days to try and relax and sleep until I return to "the gates of Hell," according to one particular uncle that I see once a year (right around this time). Yesterday morning at brunch he asked "How's life down in the gates of Hell?" I suppose he meant L.A. ... ?? What is that supposed to mean?? I looked at him for a second before replying, "Umm...I kinda like it down there!" Bring me back to the pit of sin! LOL. :)

happiness and cheer...

Merry Christmas!Dad making his best pirate face, in my cousin's pirate hat

I've been trying to relax some up here. We all went to the Christmas Eve service at church last night, and opened family presents this morning. Brunch with extended family, and now it's just us again, laying around and watching movies. More fun and games tonight with the other side of the family.

I hope you are enjoying time with family and friends! It's good having our family together, for now, for a couple of days.

2007 Races

Look out, I'm coming after you to start training...

Feb 25. Brea 8k
June 3. Danskin Triathlon

If I can find another triathlon to do on my own this summer, I'm considering doing this June 3 one (the one I did last year) as part of a relay team. I figure that is the only realistic way I'm going to get my friends to join me. :) So let me know if you're ready to start training!!!

I'd still like to do a half marathon this year too...hopefully in January I can focus on getting well and running longer distances again. I'll see in a month or two how realistic the half is.

Winter Wishes

Despite the fact that I just canceled out my kickboxing class with the macaroni and cheese I have been craving all day, I am feeling a lot better! I've been sick for almost a month now, two colds and a general run-down feeling. But the semester is over, and I now have six weeks to celebrate my laziness!!!

'Tis the season for...Holiday Cards??? I went to pick up a box of CHRISTMAS CARDS last week and in the section now renamed Holiday Cards, I was hard-pressed to find one that actually said "Merry Christmas." I found an abundant supply of Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, and Winter Wishes. Nothing wrong with that except for the fact that they have all but replaced the whole reason we send cards anyway. The only "Christmas" cards I found had Santa Claus or snowmen on them! There were plenty of "Feliz Navidad" packs...why don't they have an issue with Christmas?? Just us, I guess.

Imagine a big round conference table. Then imagine it COMPLETELY covered with all kinds of Christmas baked goods…all kinds of cookies, breads, brownies, fudge, cakes, and everything in between. Oh and a fruit basket. :) NOW imagine that your desk is ten feet away from said conference table, and all this food is in your direct line of sight all day long.

This is not good...

just a little break

I am alive! It's finals week and I'm trying to muster up motivation to get everything done. I'd rather just watch TV for 6 hours in a row right now. (I may have done that on Saturday...hmmm...I'm sick again/still, so that is my excuse.) Things are busy busy busy. I will be back soon with something more intelligent and exciting to write about! :)

One note, I have decided not to go to the Philippines in January. I feel much more settled with that decision than when I was going. I also am already looking forward to having the month of January off. I am not going to take a class, just will focus on rest and maybe personal study. I am still working on the Disciplines stuff, and I look forward to having more time for that.

'Tis the season...working on cultivating all my Christmas cheer...fa la la la la la la la la. :)

I've always had this understanding of evil and pain in the world that's sufficed for my own faith and relationship with God as reason for the bad things that happen. Sin, evil, free will, and the understanding of "already but not yet" - God's kingdom not yet fully realized here as it is in heaven.

But more and more, as I see hard, ugly things, and I see how my own explanations don't suffice for others' personal understandings or questions, I ache more for this "kingdom" to come. For the victory to be full and for complete victory over sin and death. We grow weary of struggles with sin and pain; longing for God's kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.

home...sort of

Me with mom & sister, Lindy @ T-giving dinner

Happy Thanksgiving! (again) Thursday was eventful...I arrived home in Seattle around 2pm, hung out at the airport until 3ish when my dad arrived on his last minute flight he was able to get from San Diego (originally wasn't going to be able to come home, but he was able to get a flight!) and came out to the new house in Redmond that my parents moved into last month, for about 20 minutes, then back down to Kirkland to meet up with the rest of the Talbott clan for dinner.

It's a little weird to be staying in a different house; I lived in the other one my whole life, so this doesn't quite feel "right" yet. My mom has made the adjustment well and feels right at home, but for me who is just home for holidays, I now don't even know how to find this neighborhood from the freeway! Not sure what needs to take place to make it feel like home, perhaps having Christmas here next month will help. I'm glad I got to stay for a couple days and start getting used to it. :)

Happy T-day

Happy Thanksgiving!
I fly out in the morning, home to the new house in Redmond, WA...barring any traffic or airport issues, I'll make in time for the Talbott turkey dinner. We've rented out a community center to hold the 50+ of us that can make it. :) Looking forward to seeing everyone and spending a long weekend with mom! (Shopping anyone??)

Overload

Here is what I am thinking and feeling in bullet form, since that is about the only way I can make sense of it right now, because:

• I am really sick, just a head cold, but a miserable one that my drugs are not touching. Bad headache, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, need I go on... and this is no doubt affecting how I am processing this other information...
• I got some really difficult news earlier today that I am not sure what to do with, how to respond, how to react to this person that I love very much but who is really hurting others with their actions, including me. I'm at a loss to know what to do, and long term prayers that have no noticeable answer yet seem to add to my confusion. I don't know how to deal with this this time.
• I just gave my full name as it appears on my passport for my ticket to the Philippines in January.
• An idea for a possible full-time missions opportunity for after school has been floated, and the ministry, language, etc. seem to be a great fit. Something to pray specifically about, and possibly take a visit to in the next year!
• I found out today that the vacant position at work that I have been sort of filling in for has been eliminated. My added responsibilities are now going to be permanent. This is hard in the sense that I'm not sure how things are going to work without someone in that position. But it's good because I now will get to learn new design programs and new things for my job! This is exciting.
• I am really not feeling good and I have no sick days left. The day's almost over...and I have a test tonight.

prayer

Discipline #2: Prayer

"To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us."

"We must hear, know, and obey the will of God before we pray it into the lives of others."

Rather than despairing at what lacks in our prayer life compared to those "giants of faith, we should remember that God always meets us where we are and slowly moves us along to deeper things. Occasional joggers do not suddenly enter an Olympic marathon. The prepare and train themselves over a period of time, and so should we. When such a progression is followed, we can expect to pray a year from now with greater authority and spiritual success than at present."

"We must never wait until we feel like praying before we pray for others. Prayer is like any other work; we may not feel like working, but once we have been at it for a bit, we begin to feel like working. Our prayer muscles need to be limbered up a bit and once the blood-flow of intercession begins, we will find that we feel like praying."

(From Celebration of Discipline)

Homework that is thought provoking! Imagine that.

I have had the song "Lion of Judah" in my head for weeks. We've been singing it in church a lot and I learned it on the guitar so I can play it whenever I want. But I think it has become stuck there because over the last week and a half I've been consumed with a big project on Revelation 5 for my Daniel & Revelation class.

The song is celebratory and extols the Lamb as I imagine the scene in Revelation 5, of ten thousands upon ten thousands of angels and all the heavenly host, plus every created being, worshiping the Lamb who was slain:

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

Working on this project I was convicted: everything said here applies to our worship of Christ. I have heard of a book I think called "Your Jesus is too small" or something. I don't know what it's about but I think we suffer that syndrome. We easily lose the sense of the Jesus of Revelation: there is wrath, there is glory, power, and all authority. He is our friend and our brother, yes, but he is also the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! He is worthy of all worship from every created being.

I often forget this and my worship is nowhere on the scale of the worship Christ receives in Revelation. I am guilty of not offering him the level of worship that he deserves and demands. He is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! Do I give him that in my life?

meditation, callouses, and other goals

I figure since I'm going to be teaching on the disciplines in January, now would be a good time for me to study them and practice different ones for myself. I ordered a few workbooks and study guides on the subject to see if any of them might be worth using in the Philippines, and also of course for myself! First I am turning back to Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
Last week I was challenged on the issue of living by faith. I was having a hard time identifying any area in my life in which I'm currently being required to live by faith (as opposed to madly holding everything together on my own). So here is where I begin... disciplines require faith for God's grace for inner transformation. It's his work, not our own, which is good, because my willpower can only get me so far (especially when you put a piece of chocolate cake in front of me).

First up: meditation.

Davette and I have decided to memorize 2 Corinthians. We are in week 2 of four verses a week. Foster suggests spending an entire week on a single passage for the purpose of meditation. I can memorize without meditating, though I'm not sure what the purpose of that would be. So I already have my passage chosen for me each week. I am internalizing the reality of God's comfort in troubles and suffering, which is for the purpose of then turning to comfort others. I've already been able to share that message with someone this week!

A central purpose of meditation is "centering." It is balace, peace through activities of the day, ability to rest and enjoy beauty, and ability to pace oneself. Again I can exercise faith in God's grace as I engage in this discipline regularly, and expect not only a growing desire to engage, but to see that balance and peace rule my day rather than hurry and noise.

On another PAINFUL note, I have been encouraged to start playing my guitar again regularly. I used to hide in my room for hours a day playing this baby, but it's been months. This week I feel a regular throbbing in my fingertips and horrible pain everytime I touch the strings. I have to build my callouses back up! It's the familiar mantra, "play through the pain." I want to lead worship again, and I want to improve to a point of feeling comfortable doing that. Hopefully I can be disciplined in this area too. I once heard someone say in response to a student expressing frustration about a plateauing rate of improvement: "Have you prayed over it?" So, for whatever it's worth, I prayed over my guitar today. :) It's not a spiritual discipline, but a physical one, one that I hope to engage in regularly as well...

I'm giving up

on the spacing for the post below...silly. It never looks like it's supposed to after you push "post." Pictures, captions, words, all over the place. I'm trying not to let it bother me. :)

We feel warmed!!

Kristin & I (roommates!)




We had a little gathering on Sunday for our "housewarming" ... it's feeling a lot like a home now (it better, with all the money we've spent on this place!). Yay for fun with friends...















Oh yes we did...










Noah thinks it's not cheating to strategically "arrange" your apples before you bob for them.














Aaron is the current record holder. 6 apples in 17 seconds equals very wet floor.









My band (hey, it's Halloween isn't it?!)
























We couldn't get Aaron to take this mullet wig off all night.












Me, Janell and Ramesh...my friends from the complex next door. We go way back (to Seattle!) :)




(Hmmm, apparently Blogger has had enough with uploading pictures for the day...)

The Too Good to Hurry Kelsey

I got forwarded a link to an advertising slogan generator some time ago. You might have seen it before... recently it was sent to me again and this time the person suggested we put our name in. So I did, and went through the different options...

A Kelsey a Day Helps You Work, Rest and Play
Let Your Kelsey Do the Walking
I Like the Kelsey In You
Just What Kelsey Ordered
Silly Rabbit, Kelsey is for Kids
Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Kelsey From the Oven
So Easy, No Wonder Kelsey is #1

Ok and on and on they go...but I liked "The Too Good to Hurry Kelsey." I am always in a hurry of some kind. Work, driving, homework, devotions, conversations, I can find a way to rush anything. Most of those things are too good to hurry. I can miss out on a great many rich experiences and opportunities by rushing through them. I really should be the Too Good to Hurry Kelsey. :) All that from a slogan...what's yours?

Busy weekend!

I'm stiff today! :) We climbed Mt. Baldy yesterday. "The tallest mountain in LA County." Haha. They don't know what real mountains are around here. Anyhow, here is a smattering of snapshots from our day...what a good climb and we had perfect weather. There were some really funny shots, I'll just share these...and I slept really good last night.

more weekend activities...

Beach bonfire Friday night with some church friends...

I'll take the economy pack

It was a brutal week...I used up 5 bandaids per run. I think we're improving now, blisters are going away, new socks, new running shoes...whew.