Casa Messina

Five Years Ago....

2009-01-03T12:44:00.004-05:00

At this moment 5 years ago I was getting ready to walk down the aisle. Wow, can it really have been that long? I remember it was a fabulous day. So many of our friends were there, the reception was really fun, and I think everyone had a great time. I am still so grateful for all the fabulous people who helped make it possible. To celebrate Carl and I are getting SCUBA certified this week and are planning to take a trip this spring. Perhaps I'll blog more about life and marriage later, but for now let's celebrate! Check out the slideshow to see some more pics.

Christmas Memories

2008-12-24T13:28:00.003-05:00

A few Christmas memories to share...
10. The Lego Christmas video shown at EBC in 04. It was amazing and shocking all at the same time, I mean the Mary lego had no pants on in the birthing scene...
9. Blaring Rich Mullens' "You Gotta Get Up" outside my parents' door one Christmas morning.
8. Making the Pampered Chef breakfast braid on Christmas morning.
7. Unwrapping all the little presents my dad's mom would individually wrap and put in the stocking she crocheted for us with our initials on them.
6. Having stockings from my mom's mom that were so huge and overflowing that she finally one year made us burlap sacks with our names on them to hold our loot.
5. Getting a tent for Christmas that was already assembled, fun to play with and something we would have never expected or thought to ask for. PS: It was never used for camping.
4. Sitting in the back of my rents Corolla hatchback on the way home from my Grandparent's house on Christmas Eve night and scanning the sky for Santa.
3. Singing in the Singing Christmas tree at EBC, especially my senior year with Daybreak, and of course playing on the underside of the giant tree junglegym.
2. Making ornaments and craft presents for my family and learning how to wrap presents for the first time at a kids day at EBC before Christmas.
1. We had this little matchbox when I was a kid that had pieces of brown yarn, a little yellow scrap of fabric and a little baby Jesus. I was allowed to put in one piece everyday and of course Jesus was last on Christmas. I always looked forward to putting in the next piece and knowing I was one day closer to Christmas. Then I looked forward to Christmas, and not that I don't now, but my expectations have changed. Now I look forward to when what Jesus started on Christmas is completed and there is truly peace on earth and goodwill to all people.

Merry Christmas Ya'll!

Santa Claus is coming to town

2008-12-15T10:39:00.003-05:00

Doesn't Santa visit your neighborhood on a firetruck?

Black Friday (err Thursday) Madness

2008-11-29T22:48:00.004-05:00

So let's just share a little story...

It was the Messina's turn for Thanksgiving this year so off to Jacksonville we went. It had been a while since we saw Carl's Owens side of the family. Good times had by all and I have definitely rubbed off on there family as there was WAY too much dessert. Yes just enjoy the majesty for a moment of the Chocolate trifle with Ghiridelli brownies, pudding, cool whip, and Heath pieces, and then of course the Apple pies with hot caramel, pecans and vanilla ice cream. Mmmm, but I digress...

So Carl sees an add for a laptop that he just NEEDS for school. And of course it's like $300 off and just within our capabilities. But of course there's only 15 per store and they start handing out tickets at 3am for the 5am opening.

We go by at 8:30pm just to check the line...oh just kidding get in line! We were totally unprepared, but the fabulous Gavin went and got us supplies and even stayed with us all night. Praise the Lord there were port-o-potties nearby. Our favorite line was when the rent-a-cop came by the frat kids behind us and jokingly asked if there obvious beer pong table, with beer laden cups and case nearby was apple juice. And then told them to at least put up the case. We actually just missed the cut off for tickets due to GREEDY people and ill-trained employees, but once we got inside we were able to get a ticket from one of the Greedies who decided they didn't need to spend $5000+ on electronics. So yeah mission accomplished.

But for the record, we are not doing that again!

PS: While I joke about our experience, I was APPALLED to find out a man was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart that same morning and then people were more upset that they closed the store and they could get their precious things. We should all be collectively ashamed and repent. How can we live our lives in such a way to change our society so that something like this not only doesn't happen again, but isn't even imaginable?

White or Colored?

2008-11-24T19:54:00.004-05:00

I can't remember when it first started. We always had the fabulously tacky Christmas tree with the scary Santa on top (Why not an angel or star? No idea.), chubby colored lights, the silver icicles hanging off and the ornaments I made when I was three. Then one day my mom decided she wanted a nice "matching" Martha Stewart tree. It had to have matching ornaments and ughh white lights.

As I was I believe in high school at the time, I was old enough to know this was unacceptable and must be remedied. So the Clark family started to have 2 trees. Mom's ugly one in the front living room (that we never go in) and my glorious tree in the den where we can daily bask in it's beauty.

Needless to say when I moved out, I had plenty of Christmas decor. And it was made abundantly clear to Carl upon our engagement, that we will ALWAYS have a real tree. I will sacrifice for the starving children of the world all year, but I will purchase a real tree, every year.

I also have an affinity for chubby trees. They just make me smile. So here is the Christmas tree poll to your right. Which do you prefer, the ugly white lights or the beautiful colored ones?

My majestic tree, it's so hard to capture the true beauty here...

Mom's ugly one

Cool Thing about Living in FL...Night Shuttle Takeoffs

2008-11-20T19:59:00.001-05:00

So here's the latest shuttle takeoff from my driveway. You can even see the tanks drop off!

My cat is so weird

2008-11-20T18:52:00.000-05:00

So notice that she picks up her dry food with her paw, puts it in her water, then eats it.

She's quit going for the feather birdie thing, but the flashlight has been working great.

The Power of an Apron

2008-10-28T18:34:00.003-04:00

So Sara gave me this fabulously cute apron for my birthday. And I've been on an apron high ever since. Who knew the culinary powers that can come by having a cute apron? So here are a few of my treats: Pumpkin Pie Cranberry Scones, Candied Pecan Bleu Cheese Sandwiches, Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Bread, and although it hardly counts Ghirardelli Box Brownies (the best!). So if there are any fellas reading this (which I seriously doubt), get your woman a cute apron and yummy food will come your way!

My new workmate

2008-10-23T12:19:00.000-04:00

A month of Birthdays

2008-09-15T20:10:00.005-04:00

So if you are one of the 7 people who read this blog, you know that last January we inherited Gypsy from my sister-in-law. Well sometime this month would be her 4th birthday, and I decided that in honor of my beloved childhood cat Dumpling, they could share the 15th as their birthday.

As a present we got her a new birdie toy, as (real birds beware) she completely destroyed her last one. Check out her mad flying skills as well as the LOL post I made out of our adventure to get a photo of her with a birthday hat on!

35 and counting....

2008-09-03T21:34:00.005-04:00

So just a little ode to my fabulous parents who celebrated 35 years of marriage Sept. 1. They met when my dad went to work with the youth group in East Point, and a few years later he married one of those "youth"!

They've survived a house fire, traveled around Europe and the Caribbean (China...2009...with your eldest...), supported each other through various jobs and financial ups and downs, and raised 3 spectacular daughters among other things.

But mostly, they've been a wonderful example of love, patience, caring and perseverance I mean 35 years folks!

So here's to you Larry and Pam!

Uga VII meet Athens

2008-09-03T20:42:00.012-04:00

Last weekend I had a fabulous time in Atlanta and Athens, let's review. The Clark clan first visited a cute little Columbian restaurant on the Marietta Square called Kiosco.

We had yummy empanadas, platanos maduros, carne asada and a scrumptious Bourbon cake (which after one bite Katie said she needed a DD to take us home) and a Coconut custard cake type things. We practiced our Spanish with the waitress and even taught my dad a few words.

Check out Katie's gigantic chicken! My sisters are hilarious. It's so nice that we are not chasing each other all over the house and locking each other in and out of rooms anymore. I'm sure my parents enjoy our maturity as well.

Fall quarter...Macroeconomics...Freshmen Wesley I met my college BFF Meredith. Alas she lives in Charleston now, but we both decided to make the drive home for the game and Uga VII, and of course just fun hang out times. We spent the night at Jamie's in Decatur and were ready to head to Athens at 7am, but wait. Her neighbors blocked us in!! After repeated knocking led nowhere it looked like Mer or myself would have to drive. No way! I happened to notice the car was unlocked...and a stick...and I had flashbacks to high school when I would find my truck across the parking lot from where I left it...wait, WE can just push it. So we did and off to Athens we were.

We met up with friends Wayne and Inge for breakfast downtown, then scoured campus for tickets. We hated to admit to ourselves or anyone else, but we had our doubts that we'd get any. Mer actually laughed in a scalper's face who told her $150. We did have a plan though ( I won't post the super secret strategy here) but we did indeed get 3 tickets, for face value, and 2 were on the 10th row, 30 yrd line behind the UGA bench and we all 3 were able to sit there.

We were able to see the super cute and huge Uga VII receive his collar (he is so cute!) and root on the Dawgs in the first game of hopefully a National Championship season. Calling the Dawgs is music to my ears!

Only in Florida

2008-08-24T11:08:00.003-04:00

Carl and I had lunch Saturday in the flooded Black Hammock area a few miles from home. The fun of this off the beaten track little place is it is home to several gators, a parrot named Mike (who talks sometimes and bites too), and other assorted animals. Carl had a buffalo gator sandwich, which I thought did not taste just like chicken, maybe a little more gamey. Anyway, fun times in Florida!

It's Kristin's Fault

2008-08-11T22:31:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure who made up this "meme" thing or what meme really means, but I am a girl who plays by the rules. Here are the rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Deep down I'm really a super hero spy. I dream of round house kicking bad guys all in a really cool costume. I do actually have dreams where I'm flying...and they are SO REAL!! I often remember my dreams.
2. If you ask me my favorite color I say that I like them all except for white. But my husband has figured out the truth that it's lavender...well I do gravitate that way frequently.
3. I get a thrill out of being in like 12 places at the same time. I love to multi-task and check things off a to do list. Yes, nerd alert.
4. I have an excellent sense of direction. I can visit a city once and figure out how to get around. Google Maps was made for people like me. I'm never lost...just exploring!
5. I have a piece of graphite in my knee from when Erin McLaughlin accidentally stabbed me in the first grade.
6. If I could have a skill I don't already have, I'd be a songwriter and dancer. I feel like I have songs or just thoughts stuck inside me that I can't express. Matthew Perryman Jones is very cathartic for me. And the dancer thing I didn't fully realize until the obsession with dance reality shows, but you know when I think about it, I use to love to watch the dancers on Star Search.
7. I have really fat knees, and for some reason in the 8th grade my friend Lindsey Snyder and I named them my farms. Like I "need a longer skirt because this one shows my farms."

Ok so now my problem is meme-ing people who have not been already, let's see...and sorry if you've done this already...how about the ever witty Becky, the crafty Kara, the fabulous Jamie, the super fab photographer Caroline, and the inspirational Anayelsi.
I can't think of any one else to tag!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

2008-08-10T12:02:00.003-04:00

In honor of the fabulous Amber's birthday, we rocked it at Rising Star Karaoke (formerly CityJazz) at Universal's CityWalk. It's not just your dive bar karaoke, here you get to sing with a live band including back up singers! Check out my stint as a cheesy pop star.

Christianity in China

2008-08-08T13:51:00.000-04:00

China Trip

2008-08-04T23:22:00.009-04:00

God is moving in mighty ways in China. If you'd like to find out more about my trip or see photos just shoot me an email.

With the Olympics upon us please pray with us for the many ministries in China and the

who are reaching out to Chinese during this time.

These are deaf children that we came across in a rural village. A woman had started a school for these children who would otherwise have no opportunity for a "normal" life.

Johnny 5

2008-06-11T12:02:00.003-04:00

I just had to share...his name is actually Gamblore (a Simpson's reference maybe?), and Carl and the robot boys drove from Orlando to Michigan and back (straight through the night both times) to compete him in Robotfest 2008 (not the real name, but should have been). Alas, he didn't qualify for the main event, but he won $500 for...doing something, I forget.

Gypsy's Mad Skills

2008-04-14T22:11:00.004-04:00

Most of you know the Carl and I have a little one now. And like all the proud blogging parents out there, I thought I'd share. Here's some video of her mad skills. Oh the joy of jumping freely in the air and not having a care in the world where you land.

Friends are Friends Forever

2008-04-11T16:17:00.004-04:00

I love my friends. People should pay for friends like mine. Unfortunately many of them live in other states/countries. After a rough 6-weeks (commencing with the ring debacle) I just had a fabulous week and a half, let's review.

So a fabulous friend gets Anayelsi and myself into the sold out Paramore show at Hard Rock for free. And yes, I was the oldest person there who wasn't a mother, but hey the show rocked. The next night I hung out with some friends in Orlando and talked about Jesus a little. Then I saw the long lost and now engaged Amber Bello that Saturday.
Then last weekend I went to Nashville to see some of my girls, Anne Marie, Jamie, and Meredith. Fun times were had by all, including seeing the fantastic Matthew Perryman Jones play (click here to see a new song), the annual dominos game, watching Jamie act out kitty litter (I'll start taking bribes to post the video of it), and eating ourselves into oblivion. That Sunday Anne Marie and I saw Sixpence play. It actually made me feel really old. We've been seeing Sixpence play since I was 16 and we've all aged a bit. And I must confess that the more I watch What Not to Wear, the more I feel like I have a right to change people's clothing choices.

Eggs, Wrappers, Steeples and a lot of Easter Fun!

2008-04-03T19:00:00.007-04:00

Well on a not so sacred note, I thought I'd share some photos from our Easter festivities. For our culture lesson the week before we dyed Easter eggs. It was so cute to see how fascinated they were at how the little wrappers suction on to the eggs. Then I took 9 Chinese scholars to church on Sunday (the first question was in response to an announcement about the steeple getting delivered for the new sanctuary being built, "What's a steeple?") and my fabulous friends Jimmy and Jackie had us all over for lunch and cooked us a feast! One Chinese PhD student told me the next week about the email he wrote to thank them for their hospitality. In his very broken English it was so hard for him to express the depths of his gratitude for being invited into his first American home, and celebrating his first Easter. Maybe this is a glimpse of the sacred, the welcoming hospitality of humans all over the world, longing to share the most sacred thing of all to those who've never had the chance to hear. If you are interested in reaching out to the Chinese scholars in your community let me know!

What is Sacred?

2008-04-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

A while ago I was reading Leviticus in the Bible. Normally this is a book everyone skips over as it's fairly boring. But this time, I just felt God speaking to me as I read. I thought about how God was using these new laws to transform the Israelites from slaves to a free, self-governing society. God's purpose for this "chosen" people was to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" they were to illustrate to the rest of the world who the one true God is. One major theme in the laws is the separation between the common and the holy. Keeping things, times, places, people, sacred.

So in today's society, where we bask in slaughtering all sacred cows, what do we still hold sacred in our lives? What should be sacred? Life, marriage, any ideas?

As a follower of Jesus, there is the constant tension to be "in the world, but not of it". "In the world" enough to be cool and relateable, so perhaps others around you might want to follow Jesus, but not too much that "in the world" that you get sucked in and forget about following Jesus. Not of the world in that you reflect how Jesus showed what true humanity could be like, but not so much out of the world that you lose all connection to real people.

The Catholic church and other religions keep many things sacred, but worse case it can sometimes this is to the detriment of the humanity of others and other times just silly. But then like me in the Baptist church, there wasn't much held sacred other than don't drink and get baptized by immersion. So leaving aside cultural differences, and even religious preferences, are there some things that all of us as humans should consider sacred?

So anyway, just some thoughts I've been kicking around. I'd love your ideas!

Did this really happen??

2008-02-28T22:13:00.006-05:00

So I have a little story to tell, and make sure you read to the end.

In the summer of 2003 my friends Joe and Mindy were preparing to go to Sierra Leone as missionaries. They had to read this book called Blood Diamonds which chronicled the worldwide diamond trade and its severe repercussions in Africa. Carl read this book just before proposing to me, and while it made him want nothing to do with diamonds, the social pressures and expectations of diamond engagement rings won out. He figured he'd give it to me and let me decide after that. So he proposes, and soon after I read the book, and about want to throw my ring away. If you've seen the Leo movie Blood Diamond, it actually does a pretty decent job of conveying the basic principles of the book.

It's been 4 1/2 years and I've always wondered what I should do. I've thought about selling the ring and giving the money to the poor. I've thought about doing that and then buying a man made diamond to replace it. But then, Carl gave it to me...and it's pretty...and even a man made diamond would still look like a diamond and perpetuate the whole diamond engagement ring thing. So anyway, I hadn't done anything. I've also wanted to educate others about the whole diamond racket. There's even a class action lawsuit being settled by DeBeers right now. But it's hard to take your stand against the injustices and oppression of the diamond industry when you've got one of the rocks on your hand.

Last Wednesday I had a really busy day preparing for this retreat thing we had over the weekend. My boss was really sick, and it was an overall stressful week. I was excited though to go to my first tennis lesson Wednesday night. Just before I left my house, I had to use the bathroom (not unusual in my life). It was a "Florida" cool day and my rings were a little loose. Now for the unbelievable part. As I flush the toilet, my diamond engagement ring falls into the toilet and is flushed away (the MUCH cheaper wedding ring clanged on the floor). And that was it, it was gone. I skipped the tennis lesson and waited forever for a plumber just to confirm the unbelievable truth. It was gone, just like that. I flushed my diamond engagement ring down the toilet.

For real?! Did that really happen?! Well, I guess now I can get on the anti-diamond bandwagon without being a complete hypocrite! That was actually just the beginning of a pretty sucky week, but I've now gone 48 hours without a crisis, so hopefully it was just a freakish week.

Eating Dirt or Free Rice

2008-01-30T15:36:00.001-05:00

So I read this article, "Poor Haitians resort to eating dirt" and felt this overwhelming sense of, "this is so wrong, but what can I do?" Carl and I give away money, and both of our jobs involve helping people, but still PEOPLE ARE EATING DIRT!!! So to pacify my conscience until I can think of something better, www.freerice.com is my friend. If you haven't checked it out, it's a fun and addictive way to improve your vocab and with each word you get right 20 grains of rice are donated to people like the Haitians who are EATING DIRT. So procrastinate the work, cleaning, homework, whatever and earn some rice!

An Instrument of Thy Peace

2008-01-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

I love this. It's been a great source of prayer and meditation over the years and I thought I'd pass it on. What an overwhelming challenge and privilege that God wants to use me as an instrument of His peace in this world. As Kristin would say, "it rips my face off." How can God use you to bring peace to your world?

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi - 13th century

I Have A Dream...

2008-01-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

Today's MLK's actual birthday. Listening to this speech makes me cry every time. And all who know me know I'm not a crier. I think it's just how beautiful it is, how it captures the heart of God. I have a dream...free at last. It is amazing to see how things have changed since Martin Luther King gave this speech, but for many people, it's still just a dream. There's still plenty of slavery, persecution, and oppression to go around. In many ways MLK's life echoed the life and death of Jesus. In Jesus' first known public speech he quoted the prophet Isaiah with

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

In honor of MLK, what are your dreams for this world? How can we work together to see them happen?

Welcome to the Family!

2008-01-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

As of last Sunday we are "officially" pet owners! Of course we've had Jane the damsel fish for almost 4 years, but you can't actually pet her, so how can she be a pet? Due to my nephew's allergies we have taken in the aptly named Gypsy. Isn't she cute?!

Other than the new meow meow in the house, let's see what else there is to report. We got Rock Band and it's cool, especially the drums, but the guitar doesn't work as good as Guitar Hero's and I wish there were more songs I could sing. And finally, I'll be heading to Atlanta next week for my friend of 18 years Jamie's wedding!

Harmonica Heaven

2008-01-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

Thank you in-laws for Carl's new Christmas present. At least the recorder has been put away.
Gotta be quick on the draw folks...I've been censored...

O Christmas Tree

2008-01-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

O Christmas tree

How chubby were thy branches.

O Christmas tree O Christmas tree

you served me well this year.

Your lights so bright, your smell so sweet

My mom’s fake tree, you’ll always beat.

O Christmas tree O Christmas tree

O I can’t wait, til next year.

"If you could see me now.."

2007-12-20T12:59:00.001-05:00

My Granny died last Sunday night. My dad's mom and my last living grandparent. She'd had Alzheimer's for the past 10 years, so it was kind of strange in that we've been grieving her loss for a long time now. We had the funeral Wednesday and now it's final. When I think about my Granny, I remember that she was always there. Here's a picture of her with my grandad (who died when I was 3), so this photo is about 30 years old, but it's how I remember her. When he died, she moved 5 minutes away from us, so she was always there to babysit, gives us rides, and be there for every holiday.

Granny loved Christmas and would decorate her little apartment with these cute snow villages she made in ceramics. She would give us crochets stockings with our initials on them and each little present inside was wrapped. She gave great hugs. She loved Ricky Van Shelton and we would clog together while watching Hee Haw. She made great layered salads, pound cake, and potato salad the way dad likes it with TONS of onion.

Granny was quirky about of a lot of things, and so when I think of her with Jesus now (she loved Jesus for a long time), I'm glad that she doesn't have to be afraid or worry anymore. I'm collecting songs for my dad for Christmas, and I came across this old Truth song, "If you could see me know" FYI don't listen to this when someone in your family dies, it's totally cheesy but it'll make you bawl. I would like to see Granny with Jesus. Maybe she'd fly for the first time, or paint with Him...I'm so thankful I'll get to one day.

If you could see me now; I’m walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now; I’m standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now; You’d know I’d seen His face.
If you could see me now, You’d know the pain’s erased.
You wouldn’t want me to ever leave this perfect place.
If you could only see me now.

Thanksgiving Country Cow Chase

2007-11-27T16:33:00.001-05:00

Howdy ya'll!

We just returned from a delightful Thanksgiving in Atlanta with my family. Click here to see the adventures that ensued. We spent Thanksgiving in Rome with my mom's family. Carl, Sara and I got there first and just in time for my cousin Amy's husband Reg to pull us in a hayride through the nearby cow pasture! Other than freezing our patookies off, we did get to see a nice little view, but the best was that the cows that reside in the pasture CHASE anyone and everything. They would get really close too. Just know that Carl still has both his hands and probably had the most memorable Thanksgiving experience in his life thus far. We also got to visit with a few friends, the Prices, Meredith and Jamie, play a little tennis (or really at this point try to hit the ball back to my dad), play football with Katie's friends, and watch a lot of football. Blast you Kentucky!! My dad even got to have all 6 of us on a pew at Eastside. All in all fun times and praise the Lord the leaves were beautiful! I miss that so much living in Florida. We stopped on the turnpike driving home and were welcomed back by an 80 degree blast of air, to Carl's delight and my dismay. I enjoyed my brief autumn! I'll of course be singing a different tune when ya'll are freezing in January....

American Idol....a threat to communism?

2007-09-27T13:49:00.000-04:00

I just thought this was an interesting article about the how reality voting shows encourage democracy.

China Orders Strict Curbs on 'Idol'-style TV Shows

China has ordered strict curbs on "American Idol"-style TV shows, including a ban on voting via the Internet, telephone or text messages, state media reported Saturday. The rules also say participants must be healthy and mature, while hosts of the reality TV programmes should not flirt with each other or be nasty. Such talent shows have become hugely popular in China, with new programmes based on the same basic concept proliferating on TV channels right across the vast nation. Inviting the public to cast votes had been seen by some observers as, in a small way, education in democratic procedures. But when the latest rules from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television take effect October 1, only the studio audience will be allowed to vote, the Xinhua news agency reported. Also, the shows will no longer be broadcast during prime time evening hours between 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm, Xinhua said, presumably a measure meant to curb the viewership.

Maduros and Moonwalks

2007-09-24T12:19:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

When I say we've been busy, that just doesn't seem to mean anything anymore as we're always busy, but here's what we've been up to. Let's see I told you all about China, then Carl was in Costa Rica with the youth one week, I joined him with another team of youth for a second week, then he was off to Alabama with the Mid High at SIFAT's base for mission training. And during all that time we became and aunt and uncle again as Carl's sister Jennifer had her 2nd son Parker (as in Parker Lewis Can't Lose).

Costa Rica was again fabulous. By the time I got down there, Carl was looking much tanner and speaking way more Spanish than I could have imagined. It was wonderful to see our friends Gerson and Cindy again, and also to deepen relationships with others there. Next time we come, I think we have at least 10 invitations to stay in people's homes! For me, I just saw that last year wasn't a fluke, Grecia is a cool place with really cool people. We worked around the church again, went to a children's home, and thoroughly enjoyed aerobics...err I mean the church service. One kid said it all, "church was actually fun today!" It was also wonderful to see the reciprocity of how our kids came to serve as "missionaries" but the Costa Ricans were the ones who were "missionaries" to the students. Their devotion and passion for Christ was a clear and challenging witness to them. They powerfully prayed over the students one night, and I know they will never forget it. So for all of you who have wanted to go to Costa Rica at some point, I can assure you we will be going back and would love to have you come! To see our Costa Rica photos click here. Carl spent the last week at SIFAT where the kids learned how to build fires, make sawdust ovens, and purify their own water. It was like having a taste of being on Survivor, but your stuck with a tribe full of middle school girls.

After returning from the trips Carl started to work on the youth video and I quit clocking at 100 hours put into it. He also started his one Masters class at UCF, I think it's called Pattern Classification or Recognition or something like that. But he's liking it and getting all kinds of "I told you so"s in as he uses his old college textbooks that I thought he should get rid of. Because he's a student he's also able to play flag football with Wesley again, grrr jealousy...

I've been really extraordinarily busy, but in a very good way. This fall 65 new Chinese graduate students enrolled at UCF. We have been fortunate to make friends with half of them. Because of this, we decided to start an additional English/Bible class on Thursday nights and it has taken off!

Then last weekend was the Birthday Extravaganza. I figure you only turn 30 once and I'm actually excited to have 3 decades under my belt, soooo.... I rented a moonwalk for the backyard and we had an 80's Party! The moonwalk was great, although we did get tired a lot quicker than we did as kids! A lot of people had costumes, and the best was that several people, 1. Didn't recognize Carl, 2. Gave him funny looks, and 3. Asked me where he was! Now hopefully that's gotten you curious so click here to see the photos.

Other than that we're just working, enjoying college football season, trying to stay/get in shape. In the next few months we'll be celebrating Carl's birthday (he's camping with some homies while I make a quick visit home), Katie and Jamie will be visiting Orlando, and then we look forward to Thanksgiving in Atlanta and Christmas in San Francisco and getting to see the nephews.

We love and miss you all!

Never thought I'd cheer Clinton, but...

2007-07-25T15:14:00.000-04:00

So while Hillary's fending of Obama, ole Willy seems to be engaged in more interesting affairs in Africa. I've never been a huge Clinton fan (either variety) and who knows, this is probably just for publicity now, but he did have a great quote I thought I'd pass on.

"If you ever get satisfied, that means it's OK with you that some kids die," Clinton said in an interview with ABC News. "It's OK with you that some people live in poverty who could have a decent life."

Well said Willy, well said.

2007-06-13T21:03:00.000-04:00

Casa Messina Summer Update

Well friends it’s been about 6 months and I’m long overdue for an update. Our 2007 summer of insanity has already commenced.

Since Christmas, Carl went skiing for the first time in West Virginia with the youth group and came away unscathed. Then we had a couple of trips to Atlanta to see my girls & baby Asher and to celebrate the 60^th birthday of Papa Cluck, Lamar, Lars, or just Dad.

Memorial Day weekend was spent fishing, boating, and hanging out with friends and family, all fun and games until someone gets hurt, Carl that is. He did a great front flip off a tree 30 feet above water, but alas over rotated and hit the water flat on his back, hard. After coughing up blood, five hours in the hospital and three cat scans later… he’s fine. Remember kids, feet first!

The next weekend we were off to Atlanta for a wedding. Again fun times with friends and family, including the newly engaged Jamie, and my sister Katie as she returned from her first mission trip in the Ukraine.

Last week was super busy for Carl as he had VBS, youth week, and preparation for IHN (when homeless families stay at our church for a week). I, on the other hand, have been preparing for my third trip to China. This will be my first time to go to China without Carl, so especially pray for my communication skills!

In July we’ll get to spend the 4^th with the Clarks in Long Boat Key, FL, and then get to see my old roommate Kristin Keen and visit friends in Jacksonville on the 7^th. Kristin serves with Word Made Flesh in Calcutta, India among the women trapped in the sex trade. They’ve started a Sari Bari (saribari.blogspot.com) where women can leave the trade and make blankets that are sold in the US. Get yours today! Then Carl leaves July 23^rd for Costa Rica with the students from our church. I’ll come down on July 30^th with the second team of students for another week, then Carl will go straight from Costa Rica to Alabama for another youth trip August 5-11. Three weeks of back to back youth mission trips, wow. We are so excited to see our friends again in Costa Rica. I was able to chat with some of them yesterday and boy do I need to look over my Spanish!

The big news is what happens after these trips. Carl is going back to school for his Masters in Electrical Engineering! He’ll just start with one class in the fall while continuing to work at the church. We’ve always wanted to serve in China, and feel like Carl’s going back to school and getting engineering experience is the direction God’s leading us to get there.

On a less spiritual note, Carl (the perennial hobbyist) can play Freebird on expert with 5 stars on GuitarHero. He’s also tremendously proud of graduating bronze 1 in ballroom dancing, oh wait... J We’ve also found a new local coffee shop that we love. It reminds me of my days at Cormier on the Marietta Square, ahh. After spending a couple months with us over Christmas, Carl’s sister Jennifer, Eric, and Royse and the 3 cats moved to San Francisco for Eric to work at Yahoo. Jennifer will also be providing us with another nephew in July, and we’re excited to get to see them all in December.

I’m trying to transition to putting these updates on casamessina.blogspot.com. Carl is also hoping for us to make video updates to put on there, so stay tuned!

Carl and Laura Messina

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