2007 moments.

I’ve been at my parents’ home (the land of dial-up) so I haven’t had a chance to update. For now, here’s my favorite memories of 2007 in chronological order.

Baptism - My mom had me baptized before I knew what that meant as part of the Catholic tradition. I became a believer in 2001 and thought, “once baptized, always baptized.” Something always nagged at me that maybe I should look into getting baptized again, so I did. Actually, I wanted to become a member of The Village and had to complete that as a requirement. I took the mandatory baptism class which made the experience richer. I had my good friend Courtney baptize me as I stood in front of the congregation and my friends and declared my faith. We also had Palio’s pizza beforehand so it was a pretty good day.

The Band - My friend Megan and I always talk about music and our rockstar dreams. She found two other girls with similar passions and we rocked out for a month or so. At first, I thought it was a joke, but then I realized the drummer, Z, was amazing and Megan and the singer, Steph, were passionate about getting this thing going. We had a date set for Memorial Day to play a gig and practiced a lot, getting a few cover songs down. We goofed off a lot, but we also had fun piddling around and even hitting up church together. It was an unlikely combination, but it worked. Sadly, the party did not happen so we did not play, and when I came back from Asia, half the band started their real world jobs. We haven’t played since, but I’d be up for it again anytime.

Week before Asia - The week before my Asia trip was a hectic one. All the packing, planning, working, and my birthday was squeezed in there. All the encouragement I received from friends, family, and strangers was God sent and totally helped me get through the preparations and last minute hesitations. As a birthday gift, my friends helped me out big $$$ time and my bandmates put together a care package, complete with compact toilet paper and hand sanitizers. These gifts and the time spent made my heart happy.

Last night in Asia - I spent almost two weeks in east Asia and met some amazing people. During our last week, we dedicated our time to two of our new friends - seeing the sights, eating new food, and just getting to know one another. For our last full day together, we went to see the incredible fountain night show (while eating KFC!) then just sat outside and talked. I had a crazy moment of peace sitting out there, staring at the neon lights of the city and smiling at the entire experience. I want to go back.

Afternoon in Portland’s Living Room - After reading Don Miller’s books and falling in love with Oregon, I finally spent a week in Portland with my friend Megan. We hit up some hotspots like Powell’s Books and even went north to visit Mars Hill Church in Seattle. But hands down, my favorite moment was sitting in Pioneer Courthouse Square. We bought some lunch from some food carts (I think I ate a Philly Cheesesteak) and popped a squat on the steps. There were loads of people just sitting and chatting and the sense of community was welcomed. Megan and I engaged in some great conversation which topped off the moment. Dallas needs one of these.

Chantanapummas + Wii - I bought a used Wii for a fantastic price just in time for my holiday trip to Stephenville. My brother has been encouraging me to buy one, thinking the whole family would join in perfect harmony to play together. Well, he was right! After all those times my brother and I would play Guitar Hero on my PS2 while my mom danced, we finally had something all four of us could play. I have never seen my mom laugh so hard in my life. She ended up kicking our butts at bowling and laughed every single time she hit a strike (which was almost every time!) Even my dad ended up trying it out and determined to beat my mom at bowling (which he did at 3am once my mom was tired!) It’s my first game console since the PS2 I bought in 2001 and it has already earned its keep. I can’t wait ’til the next family get together and am contemplating buying one just for my parents!

Bring it on, 2008.

Head west, young girl!

I am killing a little time in my layover in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I should be enjoying some coffee under the Portland, Oregon clouds right now, but God decided it should rain and rain terribly hard yesterday so my plans were thwarted. My flight from Dallas to New Mexico would not make it in time for me to catch my connecting flight to Portland. So they secured me a ticket for today.

Nina Goes to Portland: Take 2.

I wasn’t exactly happy, but I didn’t let it wreck my night. If you like people watching, the airport is a great place to do so. It was interesting to see how people handled themselves when their plans were thwarted as well. Some merely booked the next flight out, and some people muttered mean things about Southwest Airlines as if they control the weather. (Southwest Airlines, if you do, please send sunshine my way, thank you!)  I thought it was even moreso interesting that I happened to read this as I finished up Blue Like Jazz today:

“The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me.”
~Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

Anyway, just wanted something to kill some time. It is terribly hot in the neat little laptop area they have setup at ABQ so I think I’m going to pop a squat at the gate. In the midst of the ticket switch, I only managed to be in the B group. I’ll be ecstatic if I get a window seat.

“Alone.”

I’ve been re-reading Blue Like Jazz for the past week because…

1) It’s weird to recommend books (or movies or music or anything, really) when I don’t remember much of it. I read Don Miller’s book when I first arrived in Dallas almost two years ago and it changed my thought process a little, in a good way. I can’t even tell you why anymore. But, I still recommend the book so I might as well refresh the ol’ peanut memory.

2) I’m hitting up Portland, Oregon soon - this city that Miller writes so fondly about. I like to say it’s a “magical” place although I’m sure no Oregonian would describe it in that way. It’s Miller’s fault that I’m in love with a place I’ve never been to before. Oregon should hire Miller to whip up an advertising campaign to encourage people to visit. I’ve been writing down places he mentions in hopes that I can visit these places and say, “Hey! Don Miller was here!”

Anyway, all that was not the point of this post. The point is that I’ve been reading the book for those two purposes… but I think God used it to remind about something. Last night, I ended on the chapter titled, “Alone.” Miller is big on community which lines up with the pastors I listen to, and shoo, Jesus kinda liked crowds too, yeah? Even I shoot my mouth off about community, probably because of all of the aforementioned people said it’s a good thing. And my brain agrees.

Miller writes: Rick [edit: Imago Dei Community pastor, Portland, OR] told me, a little later, I should be living in community. He said I should have people around bugging me and getting under my skin because without people I could not grow - I could not grow in God, and I could not grow as a human. We are born into families, he said, and we are needy at first as children because God wants us together, living among one another, not hiding ourselves under logs like fungus. You are not a fungus, he told me, you are a human, and you need other people in your life in order to be healthy.

I read this last night and felt that twinge. Like, “Oh man, I’m not doing this right.” I harp on people about community, but when it comes down to it, my whole body revolts because shoo, community is hard. Community is hard because it’s a synonym for “a whole bunch of sinners, living life together” and that can get ugly. People are different - they are strange, awkward, loud, quiet, obnoxious, paranoid, messy, stressed, stressful, and have the power to hurt you.

I’ve been living by myself in Dallas for almost two years. I understand the crazy thoughts Miller admits in the chapter, “Alone.” Living by yourself definitely has perks — your mess is your mess, the TV is always on the channel I want it to be on, and I’m on my time. I don’t doubt this has socially stunted me though. It’s put me in a very “me-centered” state-of-mind all the time and I’ve become very selfish with my time at home. I’m not dissing time alone at all because that is definitely needed, as Jesus even found time regularly to be alone and with the Father. But I think living in community forces you into thinking about others more than self.

Long story short, I went to bed with that on my mind last night. Then tonight, someone asked me if I’d be interested in moving into her house.

Weird.

I’m not sure if that’s going to go anywhere, but right now, I’ll take it as a reminder from God that I need to stop paying market price for my single bedroom apartment, and go forth and face some fears.

Tomorrow my bro flies in and we’ll be enjoying some John Mayer and Ben Folds action. It’ll be a busy weekend, so keep it cool, cats.