reasons to pray...

my roommate is right. we need to be praying for our neighborhood on a more consisten and regular basis. its only because of Christ that we are different from the people we live around.

it's been an eventful month for me and i'm asking you to pray for wisdom. not just for me, but for my roommates as we seek to serve those around us, wisdom for the police in dealing with crime and injustices, etc etc... there's much to pray for.

November events (so far... i mean, we still have this week to get thru, right?)
My friend Donna moved.
Kristin and I got to share some overseas experiences with a church out in Burlington
My Della died. (the dell laptop)
I bought a MacBook.
Someone rear-ended me when I had to stop at a green light for some college students who were playing around in the road.
My friend Jenn got married!
My pawpaw turned 96 years old.
Our house got robbed. (and yes, they took the Mac - as well as a few of Kristin's things (one of her cameras, some cash, her bike,) and a few of my other things (radio, ipod))
Thanksgiving with family
Happy Thanksgiving Saturday - which was a booming success!

Alright. That's all for now. Just pray.

back that thang up...

hi all.

it's time for an update... just about me.  not that i don't enjoy the random posts, funny videos or political commentary, but for now... just a story about my week.

Tuesday afternoon, I came home from work as normal and began working on a project I've been working on FOR MONTHS for my church ... our pictoral directory.

I've been doing it in Publisher and have had some trouble over the last few weeks with some editing, finalizing, cost shopping, etc... all those things... but finally, we were getting to the end, hoping to get it printed and ready to pass out at our member's meeting this coming Sunday.

Anyway, so I'm in the middle of working and suddenly, the screen is filled with blue...  that annoying "error blue."  There were tons of words on the page ... and I did read it, but all I remember is seeing "If you've never seen this screen before, restart your computer."  

I was a little freaked, and maybe should have been a little patient, but I restarted.

nothing.

it turned on, but it wouldn't boot. hmm.  let me try again.

nothing.

so, i confess, i spanked her.  Della.  that's my laptop's name.

yes, it was out of anger, but still... she was disobedient!

nothing.

I call Martin Graham.  I am still calm at this point.  We talk and decide that I will come on over.  Martin looks at it, does some fancy things, runs a diagnostics and says, "Hmm.  Nicole, how big is your hard drive?"

"I think it's about 70 or 80," I say.

his face doesn't make me happy.  

i was on the phone with Kristin C. at the time and I tell her that Martin looks like he has some news for me.  he does.

"Nicole, there's no partition."

I have no idea what that means... so he explains a little and then tells me that basically, he says that the diagnostics says that the computer has about 75 GB of free space.  

Yeah.

I know.

So, we talk a quick minute and I leave.  I was basically in shock and went on in to work at TCC. I talked to Julie W. about it and got a little quiver in my voice... then Travis W. comes in the room and I tell him what happened.  At this point, I'm seriously holding back tears.

Then Casey calls me... and  I lost it!

You see, three days prior, she and I were discussing what I should do about my hard drive... because it was within a GB or 2 of being full... and none of my pictures or files were anywhere else.  

I decided that I would take Della to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.  I paid 60 bucks, and almost 4 full days later, they tell me everything that Martin did... and that it appears nothing is on the hard drive anymore.  

Including Windows.

humph!

Then, 15 minutes later, I get an automated call that I need to come pick up my equipment because it's taking up space and it's a worthless piece of junk.

well, they didn't say that exactly, but still.  i felt like i was late picking up my kid from daycare, so i got ready and left.

I decided that for now, its not best for me to reload the hard drive with programs and special files of mine when we still don't know why it happened.  If it happened again, I just don't know what I would do!  Besides, what if the information is still in there somewhere?

They told me that the next thing I could do was ship it off to Data Recovery and pay anywhere from $200-$1000 (with no guarantee) for them to try and get the info.

humph.

no way.

meet Millie.  Millie the black mac.

I mean... WOW

seriously?

look at this.

don't get it?

read here.

now THAT is funny!

laughing is so fun

ahahahahaha

hilarious.

it is only the favor of God...

... that allows me to read things like this...

i'm looking forward to the series.

comments are welcomed!

who doesn't love a little pigskin?

i'm not a fan of either of these teams, but i had to share:

If You Need Some Help...

on beginning your research on the 2008 Presidental Race...

Here's a good place to start.

I am so thankful...

for this.
Following the trail... From Joe Thorn's Blog where he points to Puritan Richard Mayo's sermon on The Prevention and Cure of Spiritual Pride to Justin Taylor's Blog to Carolyn McCulley's Blog to mine...

Mayo says: “It is a big-bellied sin; most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.”

Joe Thorn summarizes some of the sins that pride gives birth to, and this should help anyone in their fight over pride (and laziness!):

Covetousness - because you believe you deserve something more than others.

Ungodly ambition - because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.

Boasting - because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.

Contention - because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.

Unthankfulness - because you deserve everything you get!

Selfishness - because others do not!

Self-deceit - because it’s easier to believe you are something, when in fact you are nothing.

A judgmental attitude - because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.

Gossip - because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is. Mayo said that the proud “endeavor to build their own praise upon the ruins of others’ reputation.”

Complaining - because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your day/life.

Hypocrisy - because you must hide the truth, your own failures, in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.

i'm on a hunt...

...for more blogs to read!

Some of the ones I keep up with don't post very often, and a girl needs things to check, you know?!

So ... comment back - on some of your fav's.

They can be friends' blogs.
They can be scholarly blogs.
They can be professional blogs.
... be creative and fill me in!

thanks!

There's a reason people dread this...

My 10 Year High School Reunion is less than three weeks away.

I am excited to see old friends, find out where they've been... who they married... what their kids look like, etc... But, there is a reason why people hate going to these things.

For one... most of us don't look the same.

Here's a prime example: this is me at Junior Prom with David Connor. I don't know that I've spoken to him once since we graduated... If so, it's been brief