Open question

I seemed to have lost my tweezers several weeks ago. My question to anyone who might be reading is this: Where the heck does one find tweezers in Walmart? I looked all over the health and beauty section but came out empty-handed. So if you know what aisle tweezers are located, please enlighten me.

Wes

Pondering

I've recently been listening to the new Shane and Shane CD, Pages. One of the lyrics is "May the vision of You be the death of me." Do I truly think this way? I mean, I want to see Jesus desperately, but am I willing for that vision to mean the death of my desires? It's so hard to just let go and let Him be in control, but I think it's something that I'm learning to do.
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Here are some things that have made me happy lately:
1. A trip to Memphis and Columbus, MS to hang out with two of my favorite people on the planet, Jonathan and Jordan.
2. Getting a new car and not having to worry about it breaking down, thus allowing #1 to happen.
3. The weather.
4. Easily finding a new community group that I love.
5. My Sunday School kids...I seriously love them.
6. Bluegrass.
7. My friends - I wish I knew how to express how much I love them.

Look at me, I'm in Long Island

So I figured I'd follow the crowd and blog about my trip that I'm currently on. I'm at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in Long Island, NY. Long Island itself isn't very pretty (at least the little I've seen of it), but the lab campus is amazing. The weather is awesome, lower 80's...not missing Arkansas August weather at all. I'm rooming with this guy from Holland. We had kind of an awkward meeting because we didn't run into each other moving in yesterday and then he was asleep when I got back to the room last night. So we met after we had already slept in the same room for a night. He came out of the bathroom from his shower and I was brushing my teeth and we were like "Hi." Quite funny. Oh, and his name is Sake, pronounced "Shocka." It was hard for me not to laugh when he told me his name. Probably my favorite part of the meeting so far is when people give presentations when English is obviously not their native language nor are they fluent, and then people just as bad at English try to ask them questions. They totally just don't understand each other at all and it ends up being like 5 minutes of back and forth with no real resolution because neither side ultimately understands. Oh and hearing the Japanese people talk makes me laugh too because they pronounce their "l" as "r." For example, nucleoplasm ends up being "nucreoprasm." It's all I can do to not LOL all over the place. Anyway, maybe I'll post again before I leave. Goodbye.
::Wes (I decided to try the cool little thing Blake does at the end of his posts...hope you don't mind, my red brother)

Life is changing

So I feel like my life is changing a lot right now. A good 15 or so of my friends have moved away within the last year or will be leaving very shortly. I guess that's what I get for going to grad school at the same place I did my undergrad instead of being the one to leave everyone else. I definitely don't regret it though. I'm positive that God's Will was for me to stay at Arkansas. I got to make some incredible relationships that I otherwise would've missed out on. This fall will be my first semester without having to take a class (although I still have one class left to take in the Spring). My friends are getting "real jobs" and driving "grown up cars." I am so thankful for the friends that I still have here and the new people God is placing in my life (especially a certain lady-friend). I am looking forward to getting involved in a new community group and forging new relationships and community. With this transition, it has made me realize how much stock I put in my friends. At times I think I fall into putting my identity in people I respect and love, but this is a good chance to (yes I know it's cliche) work on putting my identity in Christ. I'm excited to see what and who this next part of my life will bring. I usually am resistant to change in my life, but I definitely think it can be a positive and healthy thing.

Only in Dreams

Dreams are probably one of my favorite things God has blessed us with. Mine are usually never scary or anxiety-filled, but usually bizzare and something that I can have a good laugh about the next morning. Last night though I had an amazing dream experience. I feel like I got to visit a place that no one else in the world has ever been to. It was so vivid and real-feeling and the dream seemed to last for hours. It started by me riding on a four-wheeler in a forest with my golden retriever. We crested a hill and looked down upon the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. The sand was pure and not littered with trash, and the water....oh the water. It was shallow and brilliant blue. There were lots of sandbars that gave texture to the ocean. Apparently in my dream I knew that this place was a volcanic beach - the largest in the world. Mountains arose dramatically just behind the beach, and there was an old temple/tomb thing that was built into the mountain. It seemed to be a relic from an ancient civilization. I got to explore it walk the ancient halls. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Even though this place most likely doesn't exist anywhere on Earth, it existed to me for that vapor of time and I probably won't soon forget it.

Loaded Down

Loaded Down
Originally uploaded by Peloria

I was feeling kinda nostalgic and thinking about my childhood, and I started remembering about the old barn that my grandma used to have that used to sit on the plot of land where her house is now. Life is completely different now from those days. Family dynamics have changed, everyone is older, some have passed. Life is a vapor and nothing material here is eternal. Things will change. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "Everything is meaningless!" Life, just like grandma's old barn, will someday pass. And I think I'm ok with that.


On a completely different note, I have been listening to The Weepies alot lately. I am in love with the girl's voice. It's so effortless and subdued, yet has a certain quality that just draws me in. It's so genuine. Their songs are great and I highly recommend both of their albums if you are into chill acoustic folky stuff.

Obituary Overhaul

So I was looking through the Sunday paper a couple of days ago and I came across the obituaries. There's some morbid part of me that has to look at all the obits just to see if I know any of them. I think the standard obituary is in serious need some revamping. They are so freaking boring. I mean, come on. Let's spice it up a little. For most people, an obituary is the last thing that will ever be written about them, so give people something to remember. I think that obits should be a celebration of the person's life. Tell funny anecdotes, favorite foods, hobbies, etc. And the main thing I think obituaries should include is cause of death. It makes me so mad when I read those stupid things because I just want to know how they died. Maybe when we check the little box to become organ donors when we get a drivers license we can have an option of releasing cause of death on an obituary. I don't know, these are all just random thoughts.