Friday, February 15, 2008

New Shoes





Woke up cold one "Friday",
I'm looking tired and feeling quite sick,
I felt like there was something missing in my day to day life,
So I quickly opened the wardrobe,
Pulled out some jeans and a T-Shirt that seemed clean,
Topped it off with a pair of old shoes,
That were ripped around the seams,
And I thought these shoes just don't suit me.

Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It's so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I don't need an excuse,
'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.

~Paolo Nutini

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Nothing Else Matters...

Vanden's first winterguard team performance earned a score of 88% and 1st place!

Very cool!


Friday, January 18, 2008

How cool is that?



Did you ever imagine we could look so cool?

Or that we would BE so cool?

But cool we are, no doubt about it! We've cut an EP, our bio is done, and the world is waiting.

How cool is that?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I like knowing things...


This is a picture of my boss looking through the MicroPET II


Today I toured the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMGI) which is in the basement of our building. Simon, my boss, is the director. It was very cool. There are various imaging machines down there such as CT scanners, the MicroPET II (which Simon holds the patent on), Optical scanners, and ultrasound. I learned about such extraordinary things as functional vs. anatomical modalities, flood histograms, in vivo functional imaging, and mouse phantoms, to name just a few. There is a cyclotron down there also. A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate charged particles using a high-frequency, alternating voltage (potential difference). A perpendicular magnetic field causes the particles to spiral almost in a circle so that they re-encounter the accelerating voltage many times. Cyclotron beams can be used to bombard other atoms to produce short-lived positron-emitting isotopes suitable for PET (positron emission tomography) imaging, which is mainly what our lab does research on.

Anyway, it was all just more pieces of the puzzle that make up my new job. At first it was really hard to say all of these things let alone have even a clue about what any of it meant, but slowly but surely I am beginning to absorb stuff. Between editing research articles and dissertations, and things like today's tour, my knowledge base is growing.

I like knowing things...

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Funny things about....

I've noticed that I have some funny habits when it comes to Starbucks. For instance, without fail, I say out loud after every first sip, "That is fairly tasty!" It doesn't matter if I am alone or with someone, if I don't say it, I at least think it. Funny.

The other thing I do, is line up my java jacket. The little circular starbucks logo on the java jacket, has to be exactly on top of the one on the cup. And then the sip hole has to be exactly in the middle of that.

Anyone else have any weird Starbucks hangups?

Monday, October 22, 2007

Lilies from Julia


This is the second time grad student, Julia, has brought me lilies from her garden. Aren't they beautiful?

I'm blessed...

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Gratitude


I was reading about gratitude in Reader's Digest (been a loyal subscriber since I was a teen), and I thought, "I am going to start posting about things I'm grateful for." They might be BIG things or little things, but just being aware of what you are grateful for on a day to day basis is pretty good. So here goes for today...

David Crowder's new CD blasting out of the speakers on my way to work...

Just enough time to stop by Starbucks for a mocha...

The three white lilies (oh so fragrant) that a grad student picked for me in her garden this morning (just in time, as my storebought flowers from two weeks ago, were just about done).

What are you grateful for today?

To be continued...

Monday, October 08, 2007

God is good...


Here is what I do know for sure.

God is good, but that doesn't mean He owes me something.
Even when I am doing the right thing, He doesn't owe me anything.
There is no dance I can perform to get what I want/need from Him.

He knows our needs.

He knows our hearts.

I want to respond in faith, not fear.

I'm borrowing these words from someone's blog. I don't know them and they don't know me, but the words were just so full of truth, and they seemed to come straight from where I am...

Monday, September 24, 2007

Still sad...but so blessed.



Today we celebrated the life of a beautiful man, Jim Scheuermann. He had the purest soul. His wife, Julia, children, Kyle, Karissa, and Savannah, will carry him in their hearts forever, as will we all.



Jim, you touched so many, and you leave behind "shoes" that will be impossible to fill, but in dying, you have taught us so much about living. Truly, we will attempt to honor you by striving to simply be more like you.



Til we meet again...




Thursday, September 20, 2007

I'm sad...



Joy and Sorrow


Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Khalil Gibran

Friday, August 31, 2007



I love my friends...I love that I have such GOOD ones...that's all.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

I got the job...:)

Psalm 65:1-13
Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth's farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.






Thursday, August 09, 2007

Which Way?


Is the Lord Jesus Christ being abundantly satisfied in your life or have you got a spiritual strut on? Never let common sense obtrude and push the Son of God on one side. Common sense is a gift which God gave to human nature; but common sense is not the gift of His Son. Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son; never enthrone common sense. The Son detects the Father; common sense never yet detected the Father and never will. Our ordinary wits never worship God unless they are transfigured by the indwelling Son of God. We have to see that this mortal flesh is kept in perfect subjection to Him and that He works through it moment by moment. Are we living in such human dependence upon Jesus Christ that His life is being manifested moment by moment?


Oswald Chambers


So, I am right now being pulled in a couple of directions.


I have made it through the second round of interviews with a major electrical/datacommunications supply company for the position of receptionist/general office manager. The company is reputable, there is room for advancement, and the pay will allow us to pay our bills and get a new vehicle for Mark, but any other projects on the horizon would have to be put on hold yet again.


On Monday, I submitted an application for a position with the Solano Board of Education for the position of Executive Assistant to the Superintendent. It would combine all of the skills I have acquired both in education and administration. Almost tailor made for me. Although I have not yet been called for an interview, I felt really good about the application process. AND, the pay is such that all of our financial concerns would cease to exist.


The question I have been battling is: "What if Rexel offers me a job, and then the Solano Board of Education calls?" I've pondered this a great deal (you know how I like to ponder) and have sought outside advice, and the answer I have gotten most is that I have to think of my family first, and even if I take the first job, if something better comes along, I should take it. It is tempting to believe this, but deep within myself I have felt that if I take the job with Rexel, I am making a commitment that should be honored for at least as long as it would take to repay them for the time/money spent to orient and train me. It will be different if the job just doesn't work out, or other circumstances intervene, but I shouldn't just trade one for the other because the pay is better.

I called my sister, Becki, this morning, and just basically laid it all out for her. I told her of the two jobs, and the advice that seems overwhelmingly in favor of quitting one for the other if necessary. Her response was, "What does God say about this?" Without hesitation, I replied, "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no."


Common sense would dictate, that all other things being equal, I take the job that offers the most money, even if I have already begun a different job. But as Oswald Chambers so eloquently points out, common sense is not the gift of His son, Supernatural sense is the gift of his son. Yes, from a worldly point of view, I would be foolish to not take the higher paying position, even at the cost of letting the lower one down. However, if I am indeed transfigured by the indwelling Son of God, it would not be the right thing to do.

All of this to say, that this morning I was able to be completely honest about the dilemma I am facing, both to myself, and to the branch manager with whom I was interviewing. No decision on either job has yet been made. Heck, I haven't even been called for an interview for the executive assistant job. However, I am at peace that if and when the time comes for a decision, my yes will be yes, firmly. I have gotten out of the way, so that God can get to work. It may be that neither of these jobs is for me, but still, the lesson, I think, has been learned. Peace is a good feeling...

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Sweet Sixteen

He IS a sweet boy...
Happy Birthday, BeauBeau!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Boys of Summer




Nobody on the road

nobody on the beach

I feel it in the air

the summer's out of reach

Empty lake,

empty streets

the sun goes down alone

I'm drivin' by your house

Though I know you're not home


But I can see you

Your brown skin shinin' in the sun

You got your hair combed back and

your sunglasses on, baby

And I can tell you

my love for you will still be strong
after the boys of summer

have gone


Monday, July 23, 2007



SANCTIFICATION

Oswald Chambers


"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us . . . sanctification." 1 Corinthians 1:30


The Life Side. The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me, not gradually, but instantly when by faith I enter into the realization that Jesus Christ is made unto me sanctification. Sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus being made mine manifestly.
The one marvellous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is "Christ in you." It is His wonderful life that is imparted to me in sanctification, and imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God's grace. Am I willing for God to make sanctification as real in me as it is in His word?
Sanctification means the impartation of the Holy qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience, His love, His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness, that is manifested in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is on a different line. In Jesus Christ is the perfection of everything, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfections of Jesus are at my disposal, and slowly and surely I begin to live a life of ineffable order and sanity and holiness: "Kept by the power of God."


I am currently on a journey of discovering who I really am in Christ. Not who my neighbor thinks I should be, or my best friend, or the church, or anyone else. It is very difficult to let go of what others think this looks like. I have let others influence my journey with Jesus in too many ways, and the real tragedy in that, is that it is very difficult to hear HIS voice through all of the clamor. Don't get me wrong, it is clamor that I have allowed. It has not been forced upon me, because I have a choice in whether I will be forced. The fallout of listening to so many human voices, is that now I have trouble discerning God from all the others. I WANT to trust what He is saying to me, but it is clouded by the other influences.


But I will tell you, when I do trust, and I let myself hear Him, it is quite wonderful!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

07-07-07


It's a boy!
Ten little fingers and toes,
Eyes locked on mine as he nurses.
Little cotton nightgowns made by Grammy.
1st Christmas, Daddy in Panama.
Learns to walk in the Philippines.
Mt. Pinatubo!
Preschool, Kindergarten, in Ft. Walton Bch.
Golf clubs cut down by Grandaddy, just his size.
Learns to fish and kneeboard.
A new sister!
Okinawa, snorkeling, soccer, and baseball...
Friends, Kevin and Jason.
4th grade, move to California.
More soccer, church, more friends, Brad & Michael.
Jr. High, Chris, High School, pilot!!!
You are 18 today, and my heart is full to bursting.
Daddy & I love you, Zack, and we are so very proud of the man you've become...
Happy Birthday, Zachary Tyler Helton!

Friday, July 06, 2007


So, you remember a few posts back when I mentioned my Grandma's chocolate cake? Well, Zack and Jessi came home from Florida this morning, and you'll never guess what they had, oh so carefully packaged, in their suitcase. That's right. My grandma REALLY loves me. Fluffy white cake, dark chocolate, crunchy, fudgy icing... Yummmmmm...

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

I LOVE my new iPod!

And I LOVE Alex Crockett's generosity, and I LOVE Alex's music, and I LOVE...well, I just love it! It's like when I finally got my new Chuck Taylors and entered the "cool" world. Now I have the oh so cool, white earphones hangin' from my ears. YEAH!

PS I just bought a new 48 count box of poptarts yesterday, Alex...:)