spinning.

I've been talking about going to a spinning class for a few weeks, and today I finally did it. We spent the first hour on the bike, and then 30 minutes doing some strength training.

(By the way, this takes care of #14 on my 2009 goals list).

The first part was great - hard work and my butt is killing me, but I still liked it. I didn't feel I was so far behind everyone else that I couldn't keep up (which was something I was worried about), but it was also challenging enough that I can see plenty of places to grow.

The second part...not so much fun. I have a lot of trouble doing ab work, because I can't figure out if I'm having trouble because of the back surgery I had when I was 13 (the lower half of my body just does not bend) or because I'm out of shape. And then, when we were raising weight bars over our heads to work our triceps, I got dizzy and had to stop for a while. I was embarrassed, but the instructor was great.

I'm planning to go back - hopefully next time won't be as bad.

spring.

I found this bucket at a thrift store and spray painted last year.


This year I added the Spring sign I found on clearance at Michaels.


I had to call the plumber today and delay my planned trip to Frederick until tonight (for the record, old houses and garbage disposals do not mix). He asked me, "What's your last name, Spring?"

I said, "No, it's O'Neal."

"Then why does it say spring on your door?"

"Because it's spring."

"So you have to change that four times a year?"

peru.

Several of my friends from church are going on a short-term missions trip to Peru in July, to help build houses for the poor. I so wish I could go, but I don't have enough vacation time saved up yet, and its just not the right time. And, well, as Kelli reminded me, "You don't have to fill up your passport in one year."

So instead I'm helping out as coordinator, and just finished sending off a super-long email filled with details about airfare and fundraising and passports and immunizations. And strangely enough, I actually enjoyed researching and writing it.

I still wish I could go, though.

So Robbie and I agreed that we're going to plan another trip, for next summer.

back to monday.

It might sound strange, but I'm glad that Monday is here.

I had a wonderful weekend, full of lots of great stuff to celebrate Easter, but its also been a busy week. I'm ready to get my house back in order and start working again on a few of the projects I have on my list. Then, this coming weekend, I'll be heading to Frederick to hang out with family (my kid brother is home from college this week) and celebrate my cousin's wedding.

The church Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success. Most everything ran incredibly smooth, with just a few minor hiccups we'll make note of for next year. We had almost 50 kids come out, plus their parents. We gave away lots of candy and hot dogs, and the forecasted rain stayed away until the second (literally) that I got in my car to leave at the end of the day. (I'll post pictures later this week).

And, our Easter service was fantastic. Worship was a blast, Nick did a great job on the sermon, the church was soooo full, and Bridge Kids had three brand new kids.

On my schedule for today - clean up the kitchen, do some serious laundry, and get started on fixing up a thrift store chair for use in my office/guest room. Plus, you know, work.

bridge kids brochure.

I thought I'd share the Bridge Kids brochure I just created. I feel so out of my element doing nearly anything with graphics, but after wrestling with it for quite some time, I'm finally done with it. And I really like the way it turned out.

I originally planned to do a traditional tri-fold brochure, the truth is, I just don't think there's that much that needs to said. So I made it smaller and called it artsy. My friend Melissa made the logo - I've been bugging her for stuff ever since I found out she could do stuff like this.

Click on the images below to see them full-size.

(front)

(inside)

(back)

dance upon injustice.

Dave chose Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble as one of our worship songs for yesterday, and we're singing it again this coming Sunday for our Easter service. As often happens, the song has been playing in my head over and over since then. I love the imagery of this.

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Even though I've heard this song, I wondered at the image of "dancers who dance upon injustice." I wondered if this was from Scripture, so I started looking around at BibleGateway.com and other places online.

What I discovered is that, no, it's not a direct quote from Scripture, though the idea is certainly there. What I think is even more meaningful, though, is that it speaks directly to the fact that we must put feet on our faith, that God is praised and glorified not just in the songs that we sing on Sunday morning, but the lives that we lead.

One of the posts I've found online put it this way:

"All the happy-happy singing within the Church doesn't amount to anything, and is arguably harmful, if our joyful worship doesn't spill over into everyday actions of justice...Just as the song says, let's make our noise of worship be heard by singing it with our lives."
- from The Noise and Impact of Worship at EGBDF

before and after.

I thought I'd share a few before and after photos of recent spray-paint projects.

(Before - Bedroom Dresser. I already started removing the door and one of the drawer knobs.)

This dresser was my mom's baby dresser. I first took it with me to college, and then painted it white and added the stencils when I lived in Chicago. It was the first time I had ever attempted refinishing anything, and while it looked okay, there were definitely some mistakes.

(After - Bedroom Dresser)

I love how it looks now, and I love the way it looks in my room. I used spray paint to prime and paint it, and replaced the knobs with "vintage-like" knobs I found on Ebay. I've considered doing something more to the door, maybe something like this, but I'm not sure yet.

I found both of these at Ross, at different times. I was saving the white tote as a gift holder, until I was rearranging my office and jewelry supplies and realized it was the perfect size to hold all my current jewelry projects. I use the blue file holder to store the stuff I need to keep on the top of my desk.

Even though I liked the original blue color, it just didn't really work with the other colors in my office.

With this one, too, I liked the original color, but it just didn't work with the other things on my bookcase (where this now lives). I like to use different things I find to store items, whatever is cheap and fits the stuff it needs to store, but I think all of it works better together when its the same color.

I heard a designer once say that every room needs at least a little bit of black in it, to ground it, so its an easy choice for color. Plus I almost always have black spray paint laying around.

bribes.

My sister Katie and my nephew Jacob are here visiting the weekend, and one of the two things Jacob wanted to do was ride the ferry. We had planned to just do it was a round trip tonight, but it was late when we got to the landing, and pretty cool and windy. And, we hadn't brought jackets. So we asked Jacob if we could plan to ride the ferry tomorrow, and he looked so disappointed he was about to cry. Katie leaned down to whisper something to him, and he cheered right up and said, "Okay, let's go."

Me: What did you say to him?
Katie: I told him that if we could wait and ride the ferry tomorrow, I would take him to Walmart and he could pick out a new toy.
Me: So you bribed him?
Katie: Yep.
Me: That's funny - I was going to suggest going to Sonic for ice cream if you hadn't said something.
Katie: That's what we do, we bribe with food or toys.
Me: Yep, and that's why we're all poor and fat.