evangelical fun

Last night my little brothers and I went with Paul to a hang out night in Orem. It was with groups from 2 bible schools in California and there were a few kids there from BYU. It was really fun, I met some really cool people and had some good conversations. We also had dinner and a worship service. Good times. Taylor knew quite a few of the kids there from his interaction with them when they came to Utah when he was the President of Weber State Institute a couple years ago. Scott and I knew no one...actually, I knew 3 people and Scott knew one. But all we had to do was say we were Taylor Greenhalgh's siblings and/or we came with Paul, and we were totally in. You gotta know people who know people.

I loved it. I've been spending a lot of time these days interacting with evangelicals. (I finally know what an evangelical is.) I never get sick of hearing different opinions and views of religion.

Hot babes, huh!
Ok, that's all.

car guys, drug dealin' bums, 20/20 vision, and fish food...a day in the life...

I hate cars. I might become a bike or a bus girl. Ok...we all know that's not true. But every once in a while I feel like getting rid of my car. Nothing is really wrong with it. It's just dumb little things. My car is missing a little grate thing on the front, $10.80 -not bad. It's missing one hub cap, $43.83 - WTF. Are you kidding me. For one! Tail light, $4.49 -no prob. Cracked windshield, -free cuz I have a $100.00 deductible that'll get waved. -Sweet, just gotta find the time to do it. Oil change, 29.99 (yeah right) -not bad, again, finding time.

Ok, so I got an oil change last week. And EVERYTIME I go, (which isn't often) they tell me some other thing wrong with it. Like air filters, and blah blah plugs, and something something filters. Whatever. If it moves when I push the gas, I'm good. This time, for the first time, I said no to everything they said I needed. But he did of course tell me that my car likes super magic platinum high octane turbo charged awesomeness injected oil. And that it'll perform better if I use it. It's like 3 times as much as the normal oil. So in my mind I'm thinking, It's probably the exact same oil and I don't care that much anyway, so leave me alone, I just need a lube dude! But what comes out of my mouth is, "Sure, lets do that." But I figure, I let my car go about 3 times as long as I should between oil changes, so paying 3 times as much evens out.

Ok, yesterday I was sitting in a parking spot in Sugar house and a bum on a bike comes up to my window and tells me I have a tail light burned out. I thanked him for letting me know and then he said, "Do you wanna buy some oxy?" I said, "What?!" He repeated clearly, (like I hadn't heard) " Do you want to buy some oxy? (read that part really clear, it makes it more funny) I said, not thanks, and he rode away. What if I was an undercover cop?! I wish I was. So today I went to Auto Zone. *Sidenote* This is monumental. I fixed a car problem within 24 hours of discovering it. Huge. Anyway, I tell them at Auto Zone what I need and the guy was super helpful, looked up my model and went and got the bulbs. As I was paying, I said, What do I do now. He started laughing and said, I had a feeling you would say that. I smiled and he and another employee offered to come out and change it. I admit, I know Auto Zone is used to big greasy men shopping there so when a dumb blond walks in, its maybe a nice change. Needless to say, I wasn't worried about finding someone there to help me. (and no Kristin, thats not abusing my powers) I wish I was slightly mechanical and could figure little things like that out, but honestly its not on my priority list right now.

For the past couple days once in a while I see little black spots when I'm reading or typing. I squint a lot. I'm so scared. I'm deathly afraid of eyes. Seeing people putting in contacts, putting on makeup, scratching the corner, etc. It's a huge weird fear of mine. I will never wear contacts, and I will NEVER have lasik surgery. Unless I'm really drunk and I get put totally under to have the procedure. I have glasses, but I think I look weird in em. And they are pretty old, but I'm scared to go to the eye doctor. But I think I need to go. :( It'll probably take me a few months to get the courage up to go.




And lastly for today. Kristin gave me a Beta fish for my birthday last month. When she gave him to me he came with these little water food/cleaner pellet things. I ran out. And because I'm a good pet owner, I went to get more. But they didn't have any. I looked at the 5 fish isles at Petco. They have a lot of fish stuff. I finally found Bowl Buddies. I remember using these with my last beta years ago. And I remember that (as the box says) they are in fact 'fast, fizzy and fun!' But it's not food like the last pellets were. So I needed to buy food too. There's like a bajillion kinds of beta food. It's crazy. But I finally went with Betta Bio-Gold for the simple fact that it 'reduces stress and related illness.' Anything that will make my fish less stressed is worth $2.99 to me. Oh the joy of birthday presents that require continual maintenance. But I love Stephen Fillup. (thats my fishes name)

Ahh...a day in the life of Andrea. I'm glad I almost never get sick of hanging out with me. Oh and guess what else, a miracle happened and I found my lost scriptures at the U. They got lost like 6 months ago. It was weird. Now I can return the ones (that are still unopened) that my mom got me for Christmas.

i don't really have a type.

My mom has this (secret) hope for me to get married again. A few months ago she told me she wants me to pursue marriage with "vigor." She denies it now, but lets be honest, who says Vigor?? You can't make stuff like that up. I appreciate my moms concern for my happiness and I'm also glad that she sees that I'm very independent and happy being not married too. Maybe someday I'll get married again, and maybe not. But she'll love me anyway. (Right Mom??)

Anyway, a couple days ago my mom and I were talking about all the guys I've dated. We were discussing the ones she liked and disliked. The liked list was pretty short...One guy almost made it on the list. (Not that she didn't like 'em, just not for me.) Needless to say, I haven't had the best luck in the relationship arena. I've dated a lot (i guess), but I think as a general rule you could say I've found everything I don't want. But I've had some fun. You'd think that with the huge list I could compile of things I don't want that I'd have a good list of things I want. But I don't. I guess I could write one, I just never have. (Besides when I was 15 in a Young Woman's class and our teacher made us.) Back then it was stuff like: a returned missionary, an eagle scout, a BYU grad, wants alot of kids. etc. My list would be MUCH different these days. None of those requirements would be on it.

Here's some boys I wouldn't mind dating. If anyone knows someone who knows someone and could help me out.


George Clooney...what a total babe.

Jason Taylor...Miami Defensive End, currently on Dancing With The Stars. Adorable.

Gerard Butler...so innocent and cute.

John Krasinski...are you kidding me. Delicious hunk of man meat.

Liam Gallagher...Oasis...his voice hypnotizes me.

Ralph Macchio...(Daniel Son) Ok, I don't really have a crush on Ralph as Ralph, just Daniel Son.

As you can see, I don't even have a particular look I like. Let alone personality, etc. I thought it was maybe America that was my problem, but I did a little searching in Europe and South America and that didn't work out. I'm proving one country at a time that there's not a man in the world that's right for me! Maybe that's my problem, I need to narrow my search. Not that I'm in a big hurry, but if I want to see my 2008 predictions come to pass, I need to focus. I guess I have til December, but I'm not doing so hot on my other predictions, so getting a head start wont hurt.

(I really think John Krasinski and I would be perfect for each other. So, if you're reading this John, drop me a line. Let's make it happen captain!)

Sorry boys, I'm off the market.

Today was a good day. It was Easter and I got to spend time with my amazing family. Then I got to road trip to Logan to take Taylor home, and Paul came with me so I didn't have to drive home alone. He's great. (He didn't really have a choice because he rode with me from Salt Lake to my Grandparents house in Centerville, so he had to go where my car went. But he woulda done it anyway.) It was a good day, and a good evening. Anyway, I got a text message from Kristin on my way home from Logan that informed me that I needed to read her blog. I just got home and read it. Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better, I read THIS. How cute is he?!?! (Oh, and in case you're wondering, Greenho is what Kristin calls me.) I've loved Kobe from the day I met him. And now I know he loves me back! He's adorable. So, I'm sorry to my many male admirers. But I'm officially taken. :) ...by a 3 year old, but still... Oh, so cute!!

tagged

I got an email tag from Sonia. So here you go... everything you didn't know you wanted to know.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. I was a senior in high school, trying to get my s@#% together so I could graduate.
   
2. I was probably spending a lot of time shopping for my senior cotillion dress and accessories...you know, the super important things in life.
   
3. I was packing up everything I owned so I could move to Germany right after I graduated.
   
4. I was spending most of my free time with Melanie, Shane and Taft...eating corn dogs and orange juice...and bowling.
   
5. I was also on Laural Legacy staff for the 3rd year in a row, so I was going to a lot of meetings and preparing a lot for that. I thought I was so smart and spiritual back then.
   

5 things on my to do list

1. Pack up all the dishes that are covering my dining room table that won't fit in my kitchen.
   
2. Pay bills...I started to do that yesterday, but in the process I found a gift card from David and Neally, so I went shopping instead. Oopsie.
   
3. Book my flight to California
   
4. I have ALOT of books to read, but I'm kind of always reading so I don't know if I'd say it's on the list.
   
5. Vacuum my house.
   

5 snacks I enjoy

1. Crushed ice
   
2. Swedish fish
   
3. Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips (it took me so long to get the spelling of cheddar right.)
   
4. Grapes
   
5. Nectarines

5 places I've lived

1. Germany (Weisbaden & Mainz)
2. Louisville, Kentucky
3. Roy, Utah (for the longest time)
4. Utah (Washington Terrace & the SLC)
5. Ukraine (Sumy & Kiev) ...ok, so I didn't really live there. But I rented apartments in both places for a short time. I think I'm adding this to the list to see how I feel about the thought of maybe actually moving there...

5 things I would do if I became a Billionaire

1. Pay off mortgages for family and people I love.
   
2. Buy a house.
3. Go on a lot of awesome vacations with awesome people.
   
4. Spend my life doing humanitarian stuff (I guess thats what I'm doing now, but with billions I would do more and it would all happen faster.)
   
5. Take a couple friends to Wendy's for dinner.
   

5 bad habits

1. Swearing.
   
2. Staying up too late.
   
3. Procrastinating.
4. Eating candy.
   
5. Being too sarcastic.
   

5 jobs I've had

1. Supervisor at a retail store (PX) in Germany.
   
2. Undercover Security. Also in Germany.
   
3. Feature Films for Families. (Quad F)
   
4. International Down and Feather Laboratory. (IDFL)
   
5. Director of International Relations.
   

5 things people don't know about me (this one is hard for me, my life is an open book)

1. I've never been a reader, I get too easily distracted. But the past couple weeks I've been plowing through books like crazy. About a book a day. Go me.
   
2. I’ve never felt like I could, or was living up to the expectations that were expected of me in my religion.
   
3. I secretly want to get married again. Don't tell anyone. But at the same time, I'm happy and independent and enjoy my single life.
   
4. I'm the listener and the fixer. I always have been, and I love it. But for the first time in my life I have a listener and fixer. I thought I was good with putting my stuff and the back burner and focusing on other peoples stuff. But now I know that everyone needs a listener, the fixer part isn't so important. But there is definitely something healthy about hearing yourself talk and knowing that the person you're talking to cares.
   
5. I don't ever want to let people down. I'm scared of hurting people I love.
   

I'm not tagging anyone, but feel free to steal and share and tag away.

sometimes i think what i think i think, i think...i think...errr...

I read this philosophy book called "Do you think what you think you think?" It was written by a couple of atheists. I kind of liked some of the book, it was interesting. I got bored and just read through it without doing all the little "tests" that determine if I have tension in my ways of thinking, or if I contradict myself, or if I'm dumb. Here's what I learned before I got kinda bored.


I'm either an incredibly subtle thinker or a mass of contradictions!
-and-
I am so logical that people tend to stare at my ears and call me Dr. Spock. (I aced that test)
-and-
I'm no fool, but I really need to pay more attention! I should try omega-3 oils.
-and-
My blueprint for God is a logical mess. Maybe I should consider becoming a mystic.
-and-
My ideas about God and religion are not clear and consistent enough for their liking, but I seem redeemable.

I wasn't offended by the way the writers think or present ideas, but at times I felt like the way the options in these exercises were worded kind of trapped people who believe in God. Not always, but sometimes. Also, I didn't always agree with either choice, but to get an "accurate" result all questions had to be answered and some of it was just weird and I kinda felt forced into thinking in a way that I never would in the real world. Which I guess isn't always bad, but I hope I'll never be in a country or religion where I have to decide (or care) if its ok for people to have intercourse with frozen poultry. And I assure you I'll never eat my pet cat. (Read the book if you're intrigued, or accept my apology if you're offended.)

I understand that the point of these exercises is to open up my thinking. And I realize that it would be pointless to think the unthinkable if I never allowed for the possibility that the unthinkable might sometimes be true.

The writers do make a good observation or analysis about Wittenstein who said that philosophy leaves the world as it is. While the meaning of this statement is not obvious, the writers say he could be suggesting that the main purpose of probing our ideas and values ever deeper is not to change them but to understand them. Interesting.

I like philosophy (even though I don't know much) and I like the way some atheists think. Sam Harris ("The End of Faith" and "Letter to a Christian Nation" ) is a really smart man. But, I still have a healthy amount of faith, and I still believe in God. Maybe book reports on Sam Harris' books will come later. I'm reading alot these days, actually nights.

Kiss Me, I'm (pretending to be) Irish!...seriously.

When I was a chubby little kid in school I used to think I could wear a sticker or a pin like this on St. Patrick's Day and get boys to feel obligated to kiss me because I'm "Irish." Ok, so I'm not really Irish. But, I thought that because my last name has the word "green" in it that they'd believe me...and then kiss me. It didn't ever work.

Fortunately, I've recovered from those sad grade school days of multiple St. Patrick's Day rejections. And, I've even convinced a boy or two in my later years to kiss me. And I didn't even need a stupid sticker to do it! Hah!

But I think I might try the sticker thing today...I could use a little lovin'.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...with or without kisses.

My thoughts are too short lived to not remember them with numbers.

I was gonna write this blog without numbering everything, because I know I do that a lot. I was gonna be creative with cool segways into each new topic, but it was just too much work. So, here are 4 thoughts/events/complaints/whatever that are carefully numbered and have nothing to do with each other.

1. I've self-diagnosed my car as having a transmission problem. I don't know the exact problem, but I'm almost positive there is one. The problem is that the boys down at VW won't fix it. I think its cuz its still under warranty and they wanna wait until I have to pay for it before they'll fix it. What to do, what to do...I think this may turn into a hostage situation. Like John Q. But with no sexy black men and no hearts in coolers.

2. I wish there was a form of punctuation between a period (.) and an exclamation point (!), because sometimes I want what I'm typing to seem a little more intense than just ending it with a period, but I don't want it to be as exciting as an exclamation point. Maybe I should invent one. Like a -* or a + or a {> ...I think just the + might be good, it'd be the short way a saying plus a little intenseness, but not quite exciting. I'll experiment.

3. I cooked dinner Sunday for my mom, Taylor and Scott. Dad and David were both out of town. It was good. My mom hadn't seen my apartment all put together so that was fun. Everything I cooked was a first timer, one of the dishes I made up. But I didn't have any complaints. We also played Phase 10 and proved yet again that that game really makes everyone hate each other. It's weird. We don't still hate each other, it goes away fast. Scott just needed to throw some things around the room and I tried to tip Taylor over in his chair and somehow ended up getting pinned on top of the table. No serious injuries. And I won the game...but that's not important.

4. I've been talking religion a lot for the past 8 weeks or so, with a lot of different people from all over the world, different religions and different walks of life. I've had some amazing spiritual conversations and experiences. I've had some stressful and intense moments. I've been happy and sad and enlightened and confused. I've also at times felt like my faith was shaken. I guess right now I don't really know where I am spiritually, but for the most part I feel happy and peaceful about where I'm headed. I'm just trying to learn. But today I was talking to an old friend of mine. We were just catching up on life and its happenings. Surprisingly, (especially surprising for me these days) we weren't talking religion at all. But out of the blue he said, "Drea, you're not Mormon enough to live in Utah." I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult. But I took it as a compliment. There was a moment of slight awkward silence...cricket, cricket... And then I smiled and said, "Thank you+" (Please note the use of the plus sign. Effective?) Maybe I won't go into all the details of why I took it as a compliment because I don't want to offend my faithful Mormon readers...not that my reasons would, but sometimes (I'll admit) I come across a bit harsh. I like to say passionate, but whatever. I'm thinking and digging and researching a lot. (not typical "Utah Mormon" behavior) I have a real desire for more knowledge and understanding of God and what this whole earth life thing is all about. And I thoroughly enjoy...(sometimes prefer) spending time with my non-Mormon friends and acquaintances. I've always done things a little different and gone against the grain, I think I even tried to exit the womb the wrong way. And I don't have a problem admitting (for lack of a less annoying way of explaining it,) that I broke the Utah mold years ago. Having said all that, I love Utah. Lets stop there for now.

Andrea Greenhalgh Councelling Online

I have had several friends over the past year or so, and more as of late who "google" me. I always thought we just Googled people who we though might be rapists, child molesters, registered sex offenders, or serial killers. But apparently my life is a closed enough book that my friends feel the need to google me to see if they can learn more about me. No one ever finds anything about me, but they always tell me about this other lady, also named Andrea Greenhalgh who does some sort of online counselling from North West, Lancashire, UK. Well, she was in the UK, but now she lives in Tenerife. Gotta be honest, didn't even know where that place was...maybe I still don't. Anyway, you can see the other Andrea Greenhalgh's website here. I emailed the other Andrea Greenhalgh and she responded. She was happy to meet another Andrea Greenhalgh. I not only learned that she moved from the UK, but that she is living in Tenerife with her partner, daughter, and 3 dogs. Andrea's cost per face to face 60 minute session is £30. The cost for email counselling starts at £5 (min 10). (Sounds like a pretty good deal.) Also, There is no cancellation fee chargeable if more than 24 hours notice of a canceled appointment is received.

Areas that Andrea covers are:

Marriage Counselling

Relationship Counselling
Family Counselling

Abuse Counselling

Rape Counselling

Domestic Violence Counselling (female)

Domestic Violence Counselling (male)

Parental Alienation Counselling

Stress Counselling

Life Counselling

Adult Counselling

Teenage Counselling

Debt Counselling

Online Counselling

She sounds good.

Well, I am not a C.C.C Registered Counselor, and I do not work within their Code of Conduct. But I am an Andrea Greenhalgh, and I'm here to do the same thing for you for FREE.

Except I'm only going to cover:

Life Counselling

Online Counselling

And, there WILL be a cancellation fee. (case by case basis)

I'm here to cyberly fix you.

And as Andrea Greenhalgh always says, (not me, the other one) "Don't suffer in silence. Talk to somebody who really cares."

More random thoughts in the late night hours.

1. I hate how Paula claps. Her fingers are all spread out and it looks stupid. Having said that I need to add that I'm not an American Idol fan. I've just heard so much about this unstoppable kid from Murray Utah that I finally just DVRed one show so I could zip through it and see him. He is talented and absolutely adorable. And...I'm still strangely attracted to Simon.

2. I have two friends getting married next week. Ed and Jeremy, (not to each other, they're both marrying girls.) I hadn't seen or talked to either of them for months. I knew they were both getting married because I've talked to mutual friends. This week I randomly ran into both guys! One at Noodle & Co. and one at Smith's Marketplace. They both thought I was still out of the USA, which is understandable because generally I try to keep it a secret for as long as possible when I return and I also leave last minute most times. So who really knows where I am. Anyway, now I have to buy 2 wedding gifts. But I'm really excited to see these guys and other friends that I haven't seen in a while.

3. Everyday I try to present Kristin with an "If it makes you fell better" story so she won't be tempted to have a pity party over her broken foot. Today's was kind of intense. I was at Smith's and I'd seen a young guy and girl pass by me. I noticed them because he was on crutches and then I noticed he only had one leg. I thought that was a good enough story for the day. But a few minutes later I saw them again and he was holding onto the girl under her arms. At first glance I wasn't sure if he was falling or what, but I quickly realized it was she who was falling. I ran up to him and asked if I could help. He thanked me and said she'd be ok and that she was having a seizure. He layed her on the floor and held onto her. A couple minutes later she was able to get up and was ok. But man! Some people deal with so much stuff. And they seem to handle it all so well. I'm always impressed by peoples strength. No pity parties for me.

4. I got a new bed yesterday. I love it. It's name is Kareem. My friend Paul named it. "Kareem is where I dream!" I don't know why I'm still awake when Kareem is waiting. Which brings me to #5...

5. I just looked at my laptop clock (that automatically changes) and then the clock on top of my entertainment center and remembered that it's daylight savings tonight! Damn! It's 3:18am, not 2:18am!! Oh well, I'll get over it and then it'll be light outside longer and I'll be happy. But I really should go to bed now.

6. Last one. If you read this within a day or 2 of it's post date you'll see on my sidebar that I'm reading "Bridging The Divide." It's a good read, for anyone. I'm almost done with it and maybe I'll write a book report when I finish and post it. But for now, the last part I read tonight got me thinking. It was said by Rev. Gregory Johnson. (He's an Evangelical Christian and also the founder of an organization here in Utah called "Standing Together.") Anyway, he said, "Here's a fascinating thought. It is said that there are approximately 700 million Evangelicals in the world and approximately 13 million Mormons. If we could just get 13 million Evangelicals to develop a deep friendship with one Latter-day Saint, every Latter-day Saint in the world would have at least one Evangelical friend." I agree. And I think Mormons should put forth that same effort. It's ok to have friends of other faiths. In fact, President Gordon B. Hinckley actually encouraged it. I quote, "I admonish members of the church to reach out to neighbors and be friends with people of other faiths without ulterior motives to just converting them." I think some (not all) Mormons forget that.

Good night/morning.

Watch out for the grass in West Valley.

Kristin broke her foot last night. I was at California Pizza Kitchen with Steve. I'd put my phone on silent so Steve and I could catch up with no interruptions. Anyway, when we finally left the restaurant Steve noticed that Kristin had called him. So I checked my phone and had 5 missed calls, some voice mails and some text messages...from Kristin. Sorry! She'd broken her foot at work and needed my moral support, and possibly a ride to the hospital. And also someone needed to pick up Diz from clinicals. So I went and picked up Diz and we headed to the hospital. Kristin's employee had taken her to the ER. We sat in the waiting room waiting for her to get released. A few minutes later a nurse wheeled her out.

Nurse: Ok, where to?
Kristin: I'm with those 2 idiots over there who are laughing.

...again, Sorry.

Breaking bones sucks. The world doesn't stop for 6-12 weeks while you recover. You just gotta figure out how to do all your normal everyday stuff while slightly abnormal. I feel so bad for her. She's coming to the end of her last semester of college and now she has to do it all on crutches. What a bad time to break your foot. But really, when is a good time to break your foot? And it was her right foot, so no driving.

I wish I could tell you she was base jumping or telemark skiing or on an insane ghost hunt with me and we were running for our lives. But no, she was walking on the grass outside her work carrying a microwave. Just walking. Watching her hop around and take 3 times longer than it normally takes to do anything and get all annoyed about normal should be simple things reminds me of when I broke my ankle 5 years ago jumping on a trampoline...way more dangerous and exciting than walking. I'm a risk taker, always have been. Anyway, I don't envy her.


...this post was gonna be about my thoughts these days on faith and God and spirituality and people and the world and religion and some amazing experiences I've been having lately. But maybe its good for now that it just ended up being about a foot...