Just Drama

It's been rough around here lately.

School started back up last week and the first day with kids was the day from the Devil.  Today wasn't a whole lot better. 

Just drama.

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my job and my freshmen.  But there are some things that are really frustrating about working at a school. 

And some of those things are issues that are only things the nurse has to deal with.

I guess I shouldn't say only...I know other people have a hand in them...but some days, being the only medical professional, and being the only person with a closet full of clothes, and being the only person doing whatever it is I'm doing in the building, makes you feel like you are the only person dealing with those specific issues.

Anywho...needless to say, it's been kind of rough the past few days.

Plus, there's other stuff going on in my life that is truly ALL DRAMA!

Things that we get caught up in without meaning to be or wanting to be.

Things that can't be avoided, no matter how much we desperately want to put them aside and pretend like they don't exist.

I'm trying really hard not to let this drama effect me in a way that it shouldn't...especially because it's not my drama to really be dealing with to begin with.  But it still does.

So say a prayer for me...

That some day soon I'll be completely drama free!

A Week Ago Today

A long awaited day came to the Elliott's last Wednesday!



We're Homeowners...well, we're homebuyers!



Chris and I are excited to finally have purchased our first home.

Many of you may remember that the house we are living in was my Grandparents.  Chris and I were blessed to be able to purchase the house and make it our home. 

Here we are, signing our lives away ;0)

With Mom and Dad after all the paperwork was done.

It's officially ours!

Right now, at this moment...

It's obviously been a while since I've blogged...and it's almost been equally as long since I've caught up on the blogs I follow.

I was looking over some of them just now, and saw an old post on one that was about what that person was thinking, doing, feeling, etc, right at that moment.  I thought it seemed quite interesting, and decided that since I didn't really have a specific blog post in mind, but knew that I hadn't blogged in a while (so of course the probably 2 people who regularly read my blog ;0) are most likely super annoyed) so I need to, I will blog about my "right now" happenings.

Right now...

~ I am waiting on my super awesome husband to get home from work, or to call me and let me know if we're participating in Thirsty Thursday!

~ I'm missing my Grandma W.  In one of my old posts I had mentioned how last Christmas was the first one without her...it made my heart ache :0(

~ I'm hungry... ;0)  Sheila, the fat girl inside me (in case you weren't aware that she now has a name), has not been fed in quite a few hours!

~ I'm excited about our upcoming vacation with D & K!  We'll soon be on a beach, visiting wineries (hopefully), relaxing, eating yummy food, and no doubt laughing often.

~ I am happy that summer school is over at Hamilton Heights.

~ I'm a little nervous about second session at Noblesville tomorrow.

~ I am sad that it took me so long to update my blog...it's a little odd too, since I've had more time at home since school got out.

~ I am stoked that after reading over my 2011 Hopes post I have stuck to many of my hopes for the year, and am moving right along.

~ I should be unloading the dishawasher and folding laundry...but that's not fun ;0)

~ I wish that we were going to the lake this weekend...

~ I want to water ski!

~ I don't want to replace Tiki!  I love her and will cry if we do.

~ I LOVE my husband! ...

~ I hope he didn't spend a ton of money on fireworks.

~ Just got off the phone with him...

~ I'm pretty sure he spent a ton of money on fireworks.

...Game over

A "Funk"

“The heart of Psalm 63 says, “Give me a thirst and a hunger for You, God. Not just a discipline. Give me an ache and a longing to know You, to be with You, to abide in You always.” ~Beth Moore from: A Woman and Her God





I’ve been in a bit of a “funk” lately…which may explain the fact that it’s taken me so long to update my blog.


I don’t mean a “funk” with work or home. Because honestly things have been going relatively good lately.


We’ve been revisiting our Craziness at Crosspoint.


A year ago we did a Crazy campaign to move forward with finding a permanent space for Crosspoint. So a year later we’re revisiting that and looking at how Crazy we were and are for God.


This past week Curt spoke about us being Hot/Cold or Lukewarm.


God wants us to be Hot or Cold…He says if we’re lukewarm for Him he’ll spit us out.

YIKES!!!!!



Ya know how sometimes you sit in service and you’re thinking, “Man I really wish _______ was here. They REALLY need to hear this!” ? This week I was thinking how glad I was that I was right there where I needed to be.


I NEEDED to hear this message.




Until sitting there in that seat with my yummy coffee in hand, I hadn’t really realized the “funk” I was in.


Things had been off…I knew that much.


But what?


What was it that wasn’t fitting or connecting in my life?


Sitting there, listening to Curt talk about how God wants us to be Hot or Cold really sunk in. I want to be Hot for God.


I’m not purposely setting out to be lukewarm or cold…but I just am.




I’ve had moments in my life, like anyone else, where I feel so incredibly connected to and close to God.


I’m HOT!


I’m on fire for Him!


I see his beauty and work in everything around me!




And then there are times like now.


When I’m in a funk.
I’m stuck in a round-a-bout!


I can’t seem to get in the outer lane to get to my exit.




Monday at LTG we were asked the question of what we’re going to do this week to get out of our round-a-bout.


I didn’t answer because in my head I was thinking, “Good gracious, if I knew how to get out of this round-a-bout I’m in I would’ve done it already!!!!!”


We’ve been getting ready for the State Rd 38 garage sale. Last week Chris and I were going through the bookcase and pulling books out that we are ready to part with. There were two books on the shelf that I decided I’m ready to sell but realized there were quite a few dog-eared pages.


*As I read books if a quote jumps out at me I dog-ear the bottom of the page. When I’m finished reading the book I go back and write down those quotes in my Quote book notebook.


Apparently I never wrote down the quotes from these books. No big deal…I took them and my Quote book notebook to work with me on Tuesday.


As I’m flipping through these pages, writing these quotes down, I’m realizing that a lot of these words that jumped out at me when I initially read these books are striking me again.
They are exactly what I need to hear.








So here I am…round-a-bout bound.


Searching for my exit.


Trying desperately to get into that outer lane.


Horribly tired of hearing the clicking of my turn signal!


Pissed off at the idiot (Satan) who’s taking up that whole outer lane.






AND THEN…


I look up into my rearview mirror.


God’s there!


He’s right behind me.


He’s been following me.


Chasing after me.


Seeking me.






I look to my right


there’s an opening in that outer lane.


I move over, and just ahead…






I see my Exit!

Church, Life, and Airports…they’re all one in the same!

This past Sunday we celebrated Crosspoint’s 4th Birthday!



4



I can’t believe we are 4 years old.

 I say “we” because we are part of the Crosspoint Tribe!




We Are Crosspoint!






So on our 4th birthday, Curt mentioned during his message how the church is like an airport. (stay with me here).


When you go on vacation, and you fly, you have to go to the airport.


Then you get on a plane and where does it land?


…Another airport, right?


But you don’t stop there…you continue on to that sandy beach, or the snowy mountain, or possibly even Disney World.






The point is…the airport isn’t your destination.


Just like church…Church isn’t your destination.

 Church is your connection.




So, Today I was looking at the newspaper and recent obituaries online.


It got me thinking.


A lot of times they mention that his/her “final resting place” is Something Something Cemetery.



That’s not really the case though!



Because the truth is, for Christians, we have eternal life!



When I die, I’m going to heaven.

 My life will continue in the presence of God.


My body will still be here, and it will have a final resting place here on earth.


But it will just be my body…


I won’t be there.

 I’ll be partying it up in heaven with my Buddy Jesus and his Dad.




So REALLY, it’s not just church that’s like an airport…


Life on earth, in general, is like an airport.


My ticket was purchased LONG ago…


And, although I don’t have the flight information yet, I know I’ll be flying First Class.







The truth is…

We’re all just waiting for our flight HOME!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By NO means was I expecting to have a snow day today.

My alarm went off at 4:05 for me to start my treatments....I took my phone off bedside mode and had 3 emails, no missed calls.  This is how I expected it.  Any time we have inclement weather there's always a little bit of hope that my voicemail will tell me we have a 2 hour delay (at least)...but I'm never really surprised when it doesn't.

So, I reset my alarm for 5:35, put my vest on and shook my way back to sleep for the next 45 minutes.

I snoozed a few times after the alarm went off again and when I did finally decide it was time for me to drag myself out of bed and into the shower, I checked my phone again.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear...

"1 missed call"

2 HOUR DELAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I reset my alarm and promptly fell back asleep. 

At 7:45 it buzzed again, and I hit snooze.  9 minutes later I decided to get up.  I grabbed my phone to take along with me and lo and behold, there on the screen was an open box that said, "1 missed call."

Seriously?  It was the Noblesville School number again.

"Due to the weather, we have re-evaluated the road conditions and have changed the school status from 2 hour delay to CLOSED."

Woo Hoo!!!!! 

I had to replay and put it on speaker phone so Chris could hear it: 
A. Because I wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming/imagining that we were closed. 
B. Would he really have believed me if I'd just told him?!?!??!?!?!?!?!


So, today I will be doing whatever I want...

Which probably means I will be cleaning most of the day because I really need to, and the last thing I want to do is clean over the weekend!!!!

Also, tonight I'm going to dinner with some of my High School friends to celebrate Crystal's birthday!  Yay!

Here are a few snow day pictures of our back yard.  These were taken January/February 2010.

This picture was taken through the kitchen window.  The snow and frost had built up on the window and I thought the tree in the backyard looked neat behind it.

Grandpa collected Railroad Memorabelia.  Heather and I have long threatened to take the RailRoad Crossing sign and cement it in the ground at the cemetery...who knows, it still might happen. ;0)

My wind chime off the back porch.

I love the fence gate and bell!  It makes me smile.



Enjoy your Snow Day...regardless of whether you get the day off or not.  As much as I'm ready for Spring, you can't deny the fact that God's blanket of snow is one beautiful creation!

Why Football doesn't make sense to me!

Okay, some of you may have been a little “put off” by my status after last nights Super Bowl.
Here’s what it said if you didn’t see it, or don’t remember what it was:

“Nice job Packers…but seriously, 40 seconds left in the LAST game of the season and you take a knee????? Pussy’s!”


Before I explain, I need to give you a little background info…


I was born and raised in Indiana…

I have 1 sister, no brothers…

The Whetsel side of my family is a Basketball family through and through!


My Grandpa was on the 1940 Lapel Basketball team that went to State…


My Dad played Basketball in high school…


Heather and I played Lions Club Basketball growing up…


My cousin is the Lapel Boy’s basketball coach that won the State Class 1A championship in 2005, and his son was on the team…


That same cousin’s daughter works for the Pacers…


Another cousin was Miss Indiana Basketball in 2005…


Her Dad is a basketball coach in Alexandria…



Let me just shorten this to say that multiple family members have been/are players and/or coaches of basketball!




I distinctly remember being moved out of my Dad’s recliner and having the remote taken  from my hand because Basketball was on TV…not Football, BASKETBALL!


If I stepped in front of my Dad during a basketball game on TV, there were no words that came out of his mouth! He would clench his teeth, get wide-eyed and then there was a full body, full arm wave that we knew meant “GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE TV, THE GAME IS ON.”


My Dad is not a mean or scary person (much to the disbelief of all of my ex-boyfriends), and none of this was done in a mean/angry way…he’s just an Indiana boy who LOVES Basketball!


"Some people say that Basketball is a Craze in Indiana.  It is not, because a craze is used to describe something brief."

Basketball makes COMPLETE sense to me!




So…the point of this is that, while I went to EVERY football game in high school, I didn’t understand a darn bit of what was happening during the game. It was a social event for me, NOT a sporting event! The actual game of football meant nothing to me.

Here comes a shocker (that was said sarcastically by the way)…

I had never actually watched a football game (not even a few minutes of one) until the Colt’s Super Bowl win a few years ago.


*I can just hear the collective, "Oh My Gosh!"'s right now!


Since then I’ve watched more games, and Chris has been extremely patient with me and has taught me what’s going on, and what the rules are (well, as much as I’ve wanted and been willing to learn).

I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on things now, and as I’ve said before, sometimes I yell at the TV and players more than he does when watching a game with him.




Now, let me explain my status, and a few other frustrations and things I don’t understand about Football with you.


And before you become a hater of me, please understand! I really do get the game of Football…maybe not every single in and out, but I get it, and I do love it now that I know what’s happening! And while I understand why these rules exist in Football…they still don’t make sense to me!






It irritates me to NO END when they take a knee at the end of the game!




Yes, yes, yes, I know why they do it. So they don’t run the score up inappropriately against the other team. And so the players don’t get injured in a last ditch attempt when they’ve already won/lost the game and don’t really need the extra points at this time. And so they don’t accidentally fumble the ball giving the other team the chance to score a last touchdown and ultimately win the game.






I GET IT!






But it still frustrates me…


I mean really?!?!?!?!?!? You have 40 seconds left in the game…



40 SECONDS!!!!



Just kick or run the ball!


I just kinda feel like it’s the easy way out!


I mean 40 SECONDS!?!?!?!?!? COME ON!


Hence why I call them Pussy’s!
*P.S. I was happy the Packer’s won last night. I was rooting for them!






And while I’m at it…What’s with having the option to run out of bounds????



Okay, why do we even have boundaries in Football then?


In Baseball, if you hit a ball outside of the foul line (aptly named I think)…what happens?


You go back to home plate and you hit again!




Let’s parallel football rules to baseball for a minute.


Let’s say the foul line is called a foul line, but (as in football) apparently means nothing.


In football…the quarterback throws you a pass from the 50 yard line and you catch it at the 35, and run out of bounds at the 20…Where do you start the next play? At the 20 yard line!


NOW, here’s our baseball parallel…you hit the ball down the 3rd baseline, it’s a foul ball and because the foul line means nothing…you go straight to third base…because that’s where the ball went out.




WHAT?




Makes absolutely no sense, does it?




In Basketball, you dribble down the court and step out of bounds…what happens? The other team gets the ball!


The ref doesn’t come up to you and say, “Three point line, time to shoot, let’s go! Ball in!”


That would be ludicrous!






This is why having an out of bounds area in football confuses me, because they don’t have any kind of penalty for running out of bounds.


Yes, I understand why they do it. It stops the clock. In many cases it keeps the big bad 250-350lb man chasing you from tackling you!



But come on, it’s the easy way out!




Why not call it the “Safety Zone?”




Or better yet, let’s take it a step further and plant a tree at each 30 yard line out of bounds and call it "BASE". When the player runs out and touches it, they’re safe cause they’re on base!




No more tackling him, He’s on BASE!







And this whole thought of running out of bounds so as to not get tackled…


Okay, I get men not wanting to be pounded into the ground by another man who is significantly larger than themselves (though you’re more than happy to get smacked on the butt and given a “Good Game” multiple times in a 3 hour period, WHATEVER), but you’re paid MILLIONS of dollars each season to run a ball up and down the field. Take one for the team!


When you started playing football, you knew it was a CONTACT SPORT! You didn’t go into it without the idea that tackling was part of the game! You knew this and the idea of getting to hit someone else and not have the Principal and Dean of Students involved afterwards was probably part of the appeal!






When you play “Red Rover Red Rover send Tom Brady right over,” do you pull your arms apart upon his approach, because you don’t want to hurt the precious Quarterback?


Does he have the option to run around the line, instead of trying to go through it?




NO! You grasp each other tighter and make him fight for what he wants!




And in my book, if he stops just short of your “Hands Across the World” gesture, then he’s the one labeled a Pussy!


That’s just how the game is played!






Let me be clear! I am an equal opportunity name caller when it comes to these things! I LOVE the Colts…but when Peyton takes a knee I call him a Pussy just like everyone else that “wimps out!”


I understand there are reasons for every rule and everything that they do…and there has to be rules and reasons behind them for every game that is played!


And like any good, empathetic healthcare worker, the last thing I want is for someone to get hurt, especially if it’s so severe that it takes them out of their career for life!




But I grew up and understood that when you choose to play a game, and be a part of a team, you choose to go ALL IN! You give 110% percent!  You don’t take the easy way out.


I was taught to follow and understand the rules of the game, and they made sense to me!

I guess my idea of rules for games fall in this box that the rules of Basketball and Baseball portray...

…you have a specific area of play and you don’t go outside of that area of play without having some sort of penalty.


...and when there’s 40 seconds left on the clock, you play that full 40 seconds.


...and if the other team intercepts the ball, you don’t hit the basket, or you don’t make that last run needed…well that’s just a chance you take!






That’s part of the game!



It’s how the game is played!






So, my dear football…as much as I love you, and understand you now…there will still be some of your rules that just don’t make a darn bit of sense to me!


But you know what?


That’s okay!


I’m sure that there are some things about me that just don’t make a darn bit of sense to football!




And with that…






PLAY BALL!