My Chevy Cavalier: February 1998 - July 2012

The first and sole car I've ever purchased and it only had 11 miles on it when I pulled out of the dealer's lot. That was in February of 1998. This past Sunday we put my beloved Cavalier to pasture.

Last summer I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen in quite awhile and he laughed when he saw the Cav, "You're still driving that thing?!?" Laughing along with him, "I haven't had a car payment in years and it gets me where I'm going with good gas mileage. Why get something else?"

I'm not a "car guy." In my worldview they are just a means to get from Point-A to Point-B, so I've never really cared about them or been overly impressed by any. Yet 190,000+ miles later I have a ton of great memories with this car. Youth group rides, family stuff, late night drives up and down Lakeshore blasting the Pumpkins, and road trips to Indy, St Louis, Florida, Cleveland, Bair Lake Bible Camp (countless times) and a ton of other places from over the last 12 years. My favorite memory is definitely when Jeannette and I drove to South Dakota to see the Badlands and Mt Rushmore.

But on Sunday it was laid to rest. It's in Indiana now at my dad's to be used for parts. The AC doesn't work, the parking brake is shot, the drivers seat doesn't stay up on it's own, the trunk won't open, the cigarette lighter is broke (hence no phone charging option), the headlights only stay on if you keep the control bar on the steering shaft pulled back slightly and even then the front left headlight was out, oh...and this is all separate from the fact the car was actually declared totaled after someone pulled out and hit me back in November. I'll be curious to see what parts dad is able to pull off it.  =)

A few weeks ago Baylee was getting into the car with me and said, "Daddy, your car is nasty." 

"Yes baby, yes it is. It's old and beat up, but it's done us good. Lots of good trips in this car."

"Well why don't you get a new car and we can take that on a trip?"

Pretty soon. Pretty soon. 

Anyone have a good story about my car to share in the comments?

Hearing Commanding Army General Francis Wiercinski speaking to chaplains

I'm at an US Army Chaplaincy Annual Sustainment Training right now where almost 200 chaplains are being equipped. It's been a really phenomenal experience being around these men and women.

At one point in the schedule this morning things got quiet, someone called for attention, and Commanding General Francis Wiercinski walked into the room. Though I've obviously never heard of him up till this point, it was pretty amazing to sit and ease drop as this level of leadership in our military shared with the chaplains.  

As he spoke it was the only time in the last two days that the room was dead quiet. Partly I'd imagine this was because of his rank but in realty I'd say it was also because his words were really profound. Straight to the point, but empowering. Here are a few things that stuck out to me:

Never been to Canada? Here's pics to show what the weather in February is like

As an American, my preconceived idea of Canada is that it is cold 365 days of the year. Supposedly it's not, but February isn't the best time for someone to try and convince me otherwise. When I found out in the fall that I'd be coming to Winnipeg this February my host told me over the phone, "You're basically coming to the coldest place in Canada during the coldest time of the year."

Yay!

It's super cold here! I've been through intense Chicago winters, and this is colder!!!

Never been here? Don't believe me? I took these pics of downtown Winnipeg to show how cold it is here in February: 

Baylee didn't know she was being filmed

Sharing a laugh here. On our flight back home yesterday Baylee and I were playing with Photobooth on the Mac. Her favorite picture effect is the Mirror. She didn't realize as she was being goofy with it that I'd switched the app from image to video:

Pearl Harbor Reflections: Unrecorded Heroism

Two trips to Hawaii for work in the last three months have each given me the privilege of visiting the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites park. Both experiences were very moving, with new sections of the sites being explored each time. This part of our country's history is something I've known of but not about. Like sitting down with a person you've known for months and being amazed after finally hearing their story, the history of Pearl Harbor feels new to me. Intriguing and fascinatingly new, the type of place you keep thinking back to, even days after being back home. Hence, this first post of others to follow.

The Reflection Circle is located toward the southern end of the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites park. Standing in the middle of its ring, you are able to look out over the area where the devastation occurred 71 years ago. Across the water on the other side of the harbor the USS Missouri is docked. It stands guard over its neighbor, the USS Arizona memorial. Of the 2,402 who died in the Pearl Harbor attacks, 1,177 of them were on the Arizona when it was bombed. The mental jarring your mind takes from contemplating everything from this vantage point make it easy to understand why it is called the Reflection Circle. 

Week in review #27

One week of 2012 down, 51 one to go. The last time I did a week in review post (#16) was a few months ago. That lost time was summarized in a post last week, so things continue on with #27. This one is coming right from a trip to the nation's capital:

Me & Baylee at 39,000 feet

A blog post while in midflight (thank you Southwest). 

Baylee and I are entertaining ourselves on the plane with Photobooth:

The Bears lose, but the buddies win

Sunday night the Bears destroyed the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 39-10. My sister was at the game, so yes, I was incredibly jealous. Break the 10th commandment and ask for repentance jealous. Why? Because the week before, on Monday night, the Bears were destroyed by the Detroit Lions with a final score of 13-24. And that was the game I was at.

Week in review #12

So this week was one of getting caught up on things. A process that never seems to end. From the last week:

Learning perspective from a 4yr old

Walking the Ocean City NJ boardwalk, Baylee and I were headed toward Wonderland at the north end of the dock. It's a kid's amusement type place. A local I'd met earlier in the day told me about it, but also said they thought it might be closed (does that even count as giving help to someone)?

Week in review #10

It's hard to believe that summer is over, but I am indeed one who prefers the weather of fall. Such is life, and we keep rolling on... 

I get to live here!

This was the view from my window last week when flying to Connecticut:

Over the last year I've traveled all over, 

visited many of our country's major cities. 

Have met all kinds of different people, 

seen all kinds of different places, 

and eaten all kinds of different foods.

No skyline is more beautiful than this skyline.

No streets more exciting to explore than these streets.

No city more incredible than this city.

And I get to live here!

Learning from a hectic travel schedule

This has been the busiest, craziest summers of my entire life. Lots of work, lots of travel. I'm always on the move with my job, but mid-June through the beginning of August was abnormally intense. We knew going in it would be as such. Jeannette and I talked beforehand and agreed the sacrifice of time this summer would be worth it in the longrun. The experiences would help us with some of our moving expenses, plus it would allow me to get Companion Statues on Southwest so that she can travel with me. August 6th marked the end of the marathon, and things are finally going back to some type of normal. Whatever that is.

So here's a rundown of my summer marathon:

Week in Review #7

An entire week back in the city with no traveling! Huge wow!!!

Moments when they made me laugh

My children are as entertaining as they are adorable. From our time in NY, here is proof:

Week in Review #6

I'm sitting in LaGuardia airport, waiting to catch the flight back home with the fam. 10 days in NY was amazing, but we're ready for being back in sweet home Chicago. Just the same, here's the past week:

Me & N.T. Wright

Yesterday I was fortunate to have met N.T. Wright. For those who have never heard of him, he is one of the top Biblical scholars in the world, a prolific author, and great speaker. For me, this interaction was the equivalence of a junior high girl meeting Justin Bieber. Except I didn't scream like one.

When you see a leader like this from afar you wonder what they will be like in person. He was incredibly kind and engaging. We were able to chat for about 10min, talking about when he came to the Theological Lectureship at Wheaton, a little about Logos, and also his current work. Yeah, pretty awesome.

Is anyone else as cheap as I am?

Last night we traveled two hours north of New York City to Bard College in Annandale, NY. This was our first venture out of the five boroughs, so we were in need of gas.  Making it through the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey, after the skyline was behind us, I started looking for a gas station. 

The first couple stations were passed by because they didn't look to have much of a food/beverage selection. Finally seeing one that seemed to have plenty of coffee, I pulled in. Upon stopping, a guy came up to the car and asked, "How much?"

"Oh, I can do it myself. Thank you though." 

His look let me know how dumb he thought I was. "It's full service. You can't pump it."

Week in Review #5

"Live from New York...it's my blog entry!!!" Sorry, that is incredibly cheesy, but I couldn't resist. This week's stuff:

Week in Review #4

This week...

• ... can for the most part be described with the words travel & unpack, though in an unrelated manner. The first half of the week I was in Baltimore for a conference. The rest of the week was spent unpacking the condo. Unpacking doesn't take as long as packing, but it can still be exhausting. 
• Yet another trip to IKEA - this one being returned from with a larger haul. Such is moving I guess.
• Lion was released by Apple. Got things installed Thursday, but haven't really been able to play around with anything of sort yet.  Launchpad is pretty cool, but Mission Control I need to get acquainted with.  If you are an Apple person, this is the best collection of stuff I found on getting things set up in Lion: OS X Lion How-to's and Tips Roundup: Everything in One Place. Highly recommend checking it out!
• If you do any type of graphic design, this is an amazing app: FontBook
• Another great Michael Hyatt article: 5 Reasons Why You Need to be Better at Saying "No"
• I was sitting at a table in a pretty quiet room looking at blogs and such earlier in the week. When I saw this Google+ joke I erupted in laughter and the entire room turned to look at me. It was worth it.
• Very pumped about the Hunger Games movie coming out next year, and the online movie poster only adds to the anticipation.
• Blog posts from earlier in the week:
• Maybe you're the one who needed to read this
• My 2yr old and G.K. Chesterton
• And the Pic of the week: Baylee & Jaxon showing off Baylee's new bed: