Sniffle

Many thanks to my kind and adoring husband. He's so great, he shares everything - even his cold! If only I didn't find him so irresistible, then perhaps I could have quarantined him during his sickness, throwing Gatorade, tissues, and medicine in every so often to "nurse" him through. But i didn't and so now it's my turn to be stuffed up. It's super professional to go to an interview like this, dressed in my suit and heals and a box of Kleenex under my arm. Why won't they shake my hand?

Not really though - no new interviews. I am waiting, semi-patiently, to hear back from a couple of places that want to hire me, but don't know it yet. In the mean time, I've been watching our DVD collection. We don't have cable and I've run out of things to clean and organize. Today was Audrey Hepburn day - it made me miss Natalie terribly! (both Natatalies that i know - ironically).

On to another topic - we hit the jackpot! We've found a church on the first attempt. This place is definitely my third favorite church! First being Morning Star, second Oak Leaf, and now Journey to Ecclesia ranks number 3. They do need to work on the name. They were just Journey, but then merged with a church called Ecclesia and so they just kind of stuck the two names together - oh well. This is the first church that I've been to in SO long that i feel like I'm fed gourmet spiritual food - I'm talking the Smith and Wollensky of steaks, high-quality, right-on theologically spun preaching that fills the soul and demands another trip week after week. LOVE IT! Oh, and the worship is not just good, or thrown together. We have a christian recording artist as our music pastor - Drew Cline. The worship there is sweet and fills the place thickly with the presence of God. You can check out the website: www.journeyecclesia.com

The horizon looks bright and filled with goodness. It seems like we will settle in well here. We're starting to make friends, we've found a place to worship, Kevin found his dream job, and soon I'll find a job and we can start to put down roots here in the "hills" of Tennessee. They call them hills - I call them baby mountains.

Easy Come Easy Go

Yesterday I was filled with both excitement and moral angst when offered temporary employment with a mining company. Excitement at the paychecks to come and so that bills can be paid. Angst because I have to say that I've never seen anything positive come from mining. They strip the land, raping it for minerals that we use in products we don't need. At least they are legislated here in the US but in Africa and elsewhere they pollute souls not just the land with their corrupt politics and Chinese influence -- don't' get me started.

But, I need money and so I agreed to work for them on a temp basis until I found a permanent position. I was open and candid about that fact with them and with the temp agency. I was to start work tomorrow. All morning while trying to sleep in all i could think about is how my entire career has been filled with positions that help people and tried to change the world for good and now I'm going to work for a company that rapes the earth for a profit.

Well, now I don't have to worry about selling myself to evil. The temp agency that arranged my temp work was also to arrange an interview for a permanent position. Long story short, they decided to arrange the interview for the permanent position but then take away the temp work. Moral dilemma solved - financial dilemma still here.

I'll just trust Alicia Keys that every thing's gonna be alright. Well, Alicia Keys, Kevin, and my mother. Oh, and that whole Romans 8:28 thing or for the more obscure reference Nahum 1:7 - read it. Ooh and Proverbs 3:5. Good thing I've had lots of practice at this trusting God thing.

"I'm smiling at you because you're crazy"

I've watched an entire season of Gilmore Girls in two days. I'm filled to the brim with spectacular quotes and no one to share them with. Kevin HATES the Gilmores, hate perhaps is too light, he loathes it, it fills him with ire, his feelings for Gilmore Girls rival those of the Unibomber and Oklahoma City. (Did I mention I've watched a lot of Gilmore Girls?)

Why so much Gilmore Girls? Easy. No Cable. No job. Our new house is pretty much put together and Ellie's tired me of making her dance for my pleasure. I need to make friends or become gain fully employed. I've alphabatized our dvds, our books, and our food. Ok, not the food but there's always tomorrow.

So, now without a great tranisition - I LOVE MY NEW HOUSE!!! It's as close to perfect as I could hope for. I shall take pictures once I get batteries and then I shall be posted. Ellie likes it too, except for the cows that scare her when they moo (or lowe if you will). That's right cows. We live a stones throw from several ranches. I assume they're ranches - they have cows, cows that become yummy steak and are pretty to look at before they become my next Strip Steak. I digress.

We live in a cute small town about 30 miles outside of the Country Music Capital. We have yet to meet anyone famous, but the people who used to live in our house know a lot of famous (to me) people. The wife works for INO records (Mercy Me, the Afters, and more) and the husband plays bass for the Afters and some other bands that I've forgotten. They don't know it yet but we have plans to force them to be our friends and introduce us to their famous musician friends. It's only a matter of time.

So tomorrow I shall find to find new ways to entertain myself between interviews. Hopefully I shall soon be employed and all my creative, crazy, energy can be put to use making piles of cash. Ok, maybe not piles, but at least a stack large enough to pay our bills.

Ta ta for now dear friends. (See, too much energy + Gilmore girls + boredom = craziness from Bridget. But you all love me for it.)

Extra Extra Read All About It!!!

Ok, so it's time for an update. I know I said that I was going to blog every day, but who actually believed that!

So the count down to the move is 20 days! We heard back from Kevin's job. He'll be one of the newest coaches at Let It Shine Gymnastics, a Christian gym in Franklin, TN. I'll be doing something. There's a church that wants to hire me, but not may be very good benefits and a bunch of other places I've applied. We're still debating where we're going to live. We found a townhouse deal that might just be fabulous. The question is if it's in our budget. The townhouse has two bedrooms and is two stories. It's got hardwood floors, a fireplace, and fenced in back yard! Plus there's a potential that they will lease to own it so that all of our rent payments will one day count as a down payment if we want to buy it.

In the mean time we're trying to get in all the sightseeing we possibly can. This past weekend we went to the Cherry Blossom festival, two of the Smithsonian museums, and tried to squeeze in the Holocaust museum but it was closing. We've got quite an extensive list; yet to be seen: the spy museum, the Holocaust museum, Arlington Cemetery, the Library of Congress, the rest of the 6 or 7 Smithsonian museums we haven't seen, the top of the Washington Monument, the National Archives (to see the Constitution), the National Geographic museum, Rock Creek Park, and an Baltimore Orioles game (they're playing the Yankees. )

Oh did I mention that we have to pack all our belongings, figure out where we're going to move, etc.

Busy, Busy

The Home of Country Music and The Home of the Delta Blues

And now it's time for a breakdown, er an update. So, for those that don't read Kevin's blog - ghetto life's gotten rough. We love DC. It's a cool city, there's tons to do and you really feel like you're living in a city of the world, not just America. But, it's also too DANG expensive. We're making about the same amount as we did in Tallahassee, but it's just not cutting it. After lots of thought and prayer we're contemplating leaving the bright, shiny city. We head off next weekend to Tennessee - the land of the Titans, the home of Elvis, the home of the Delta Blues, the birth place of Country Music (Please don't get me started on that!), and the Christian Music capital. Kevin has interviews with two gyms, one in Nashville and one in Memphis. I have an interview with a church (admin work) in Nashville. We'll see what happens. I've told my boss a little of what's going on and there's a chance he may promote me or give me a bigger raise -- then we may stay. We want to have a family and eventually own a home. Since houses in the DC area are on average 4 times the cost of houses in Tennessee we're thinking we'll have a better chance in the Volunteer State.

Why Tennessee? Well, the gyms Kevin's interviewing with are renown, professional, and Christian gyms. Tennessee is Southern enough to make Bridget happy, and Northern enough to keep Kevin happy. It's MUCH closer to home (8hrs to Tally and 11-12 to Tampa -- much better than 16 & 20). It's close enough to Asbury I can do their commuter option and perhaps finally finish my masters. My mad admin skills will score me a sweet paying job in one of the cities. So, hopefully next weekend will shed some light on the situation and we'll have more to report.

Saint Patty's Sick Day

Happy Saint Patrick's day ya'll. Saint Patty's day here in the DC metro area is, I must say, beyond ridiculous. People have been warning me of the craziness for days. As early as 9am there are lines out of the bars ready for the green beer and celebrating "everyone being Irish." I didn't believe it, that is until we got on the metro Sunday morning to go church. There, on the metro, at 10 am were people dressed top to tip in green, leprechaun hats and clovers galore. Crazy!

No green beer or clovers of celebration have been seen in the Thornton household. We've been recuperating. Sinus infections, the flu, and even a touch of potential bronchitis. Seems like we've been sick for a month now. Even Ellie's sick - she has an ear infection. Maybe since I am part Irish and it is Saint Patrick's day our luck will change.

Tell me all your thoughts on God

Actually, I'm thinking about Israel tonight. We're watching a documentary called "To Die in Jerusalem." Jerusalem is Hebrew for the "city of peace" or the "city of wholeness" HA! In Arabic it's just called "the holy ". The documentary focuses on a 16 year old female Palestinian suicide bomber who in her "operation" (as they keep calling it) killed only one girl - an Israeli girl of the same age. The creepy thing is when you look at their pictures they could have been sisters. It's really focused more on the mother of the Israeli girl.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those that are sent to you, how often I've wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (MT 23:37) [Complete sidebar: how ridiculous is it that this verse is used to defend the idea of God being a woman or gender neutral. It's called a fricken metaphor people!] This was (is) Jesus' prayer for Israel and his people. Even in Christ's time Jerusalem did not live up to the title "City of Peace." History shows it has never been peaceful and the Bible says it will never be until Christ comes and establishes his kingdom on earth. But America and the Britain decided that Christ's coming isn't soon enough and the Jewish nation must be created. Screw the Arabs and Palestinians that've been living there since the 400s!

All the way back to Genesis we see that modern Jews & Muslims are descendants of the same clan - Abraham's decedents that really do outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. All this contention over land and it's really just a big family feud. (Abraham slept with Hagar and had Ishmael which = Arabs then he and Sarah had Jacob who became Israel and had twelve sons -the twelve tribes) Oh the tangled webs we weave when we sleep with the maidservants.

There were 193 suicide bombers between 2000 and 2002 (when the documentary was made) the toll must be much higher now. Meanwhile, George W. thinks he can solve the problem by inviting the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to Camp David. Nothings solves centuries worth of fighting like S'mores by the campfire.

I don't have an answer. I know Biblically, God gave the land to Moses for the Jews -- but I also know that the Jews disobeyed God. A lot. (like all people groups) The result was the diaspora (to Babylon), then a reuniting, then the destruction of the temple and another diaspora. Now - we're all in a big mess and no history book, or holy book will solve it. Christians and Jews (OT) refer to the Bible as their defense and the Muslim to the Qu'ran. (I'm not claiming equality in the religions nor am I making a theological argument.) S'mores and hugs and kisses arn't going to solves the problems either. My realistic assessment is that it's all going to be a big crap hole until Jesus comes and truly makes it a City of Peace for the Prince of Peace. How's that for a positive spin ;)