Friday, October 31, 2008

Paris- Versailles

One of the things I was most excited about seeing in France was Versailles, which served as the royal palace for the monarchs of France. The last royal family to live there was Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and their children. Then the French Revolution happened.

In case you go to France and want to see Versailles, be forewarned that it takes a very full day to see even most of it. I think to see all of it would take more than one day. Be prepared to walk a lot! I figured out (thanks to Google Earth) that we probably covered 6+ miles that day. Ross and I just collapsed once we got home that night, but it was absolutely worth it. Read a little bit about French history before you go so you can appreciate it more.

Here are pictures!


It's pretty bright. And pretty big. And pretty gaudy.


Apparently Louis XV was very religious. This looks just like my church. JK!


Marie Antoinette's bedroom. And apparently a few ghosties are still lurking there.


This is the Hall of Mirrors. The entire banquet hall is lined with mirrors. And this is the obligatory photo.


Random statue in the gardens of Versailles.


More of the gardens. They sprawl. And they're gorgeous.


We trekked out to Marie Antoinette's private estate. Clearly the Versailles castle was not enough for her. She had about 8 or so cottages on her estate. Isn't Paris in the fall gorgeous?


Another of her cottages. Great light. We were out there at dusk.


She had lovely gardens throughout her estate. This is a flower in the foreground with a pumpkin patch in the background.


Another lovely home.

Versailles- two big thumbs up! I highly recommend you take the day to go out there if you're in the area.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Paris- The Eiffel Tower

So guess what I did last week... I went to Paris! My friend Ross lives there so I went to visit. There have to be some perks to being young and single... right? Here are some pictures. Expect more in upcoming days.

THE EIFFEL TOWER

Call me a typical tourist, but I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Eiffel Tower at night. It was all I hoped it would be. Pictures can't capture it... but I tried! :)


Me and Ross


I loved it! So happy.


This is DangeRoss. :)


I loved it. It's blue because France is currently head of the European Union.


And on the hour, it twinkles. :) Magical!


I imagined it to be taller and narrower. But it was perfect.


We smelled cotton candy and followed it to these carousels down near the base of the tower, and got a ginormous cotton candy. You can see it shadowing over Ross' face here. :)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

And sometimes you get a sign

I wrote this blog on signs a few months ago, and still believe what I wrote.

Then about a month ago I was praying about what felt like a change of seasons in my life, and I wasn't sure whether my perception was being led by the Spirit or skewed by my selfish motivations.

And the next day, as I cleaned out the dark corner of my closet for the first time in maybe 9 months, I found a bag. And inside the bag, this sign in the photo. I wasn't praying for a sign, but I guess the Lord thought that's what I needed.

God is good. :) Good to provide, good to teach, and good to humble. And most of all, so good and faithful to love. The name of this blog is feeling pretty appropriate right now.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Yeariversary!

Today marks a year that I've been at my job! It's hard to believe. Those who knew me last summer know how gut wrenching it was to not just find a job but think about a career post-Brazil and post- the realization that I didn't want to be a public school teacher.

I remember one friend in particular kept telling me that he had complete faith it was going to be not just okay, but great, and how hard that was to believe at the time. But now, that is so true and then some.

I am blessed to work for my alma mater, Oklahoma Christian University, in the marketing department as a web editor/writer. I love what I do, I love who I work with, and I love the mission of the university.

It is such a blessing to be excited to go to work everyday and look forward to interacting with your coworkers. They are not only incredibly talented, but such good people who I consider my friends, so let me take a minute to brag on them.

Risa (Dean of Marketing)... I honestly believe she is my biggest fan at the school. It gives me so much confidence to know that someone so knowledgeable and experienced in this field has so much faith in me. And she not only cares about my work, but she has been my biggest cheerleader personally and spiritually, as well. She is one of the women I most want to be like "when I grow up."

Judson (Director of Marketing) is a great example of servant leadership. He sets the bar high for not only quality of work but in attitude through his own daily interactions with us and the rest of campus. I like that he really seems to love to learn, and he likes to hear my opinion on things, even though he doesn't always agree. :)

Stephen (Webmaster and my direct supervisor) gave me a chance. I had no web experience (other than this blog) and he believed I could learn and gave me a great opportunity with this job. He's a fantastic teacher, very patient, and remarkably talented. I've known him for years, and the reasons I respected him before have only been proven by working under him.

Wes (the lead editor) is a great writer, and I have learned so much about media writing from him. He works well with all kinds of people and all kinds of hours to do a great job for our university. Plus he is one of the wittiest and funniest people around.

JC (graphic designer) is the creative genius behind so much that looks great at OC. Like Risa, he's really believed in me and trusted me with projects that I didn't think I could handle. He also watches my back, and I appreciate that.

Micah (web team) is one of the hardest working people at our school, probably. When she does something for someone, you know it is top quality. She is also great at working with different people who need help figuring out what is what around our office.

Rachel (graphic designer) is such a pal. She cracks me up and has helped me learn so many of the ins and outs of working in marketing, especially with the technical stuff I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone else.

Scott (graphic designer) calls things like he sees them, which is needed in our line of work. When I see his work, my jaw generally drops because it is so dang good. His skill raises the bar and makes us all want to be better.

I could go on and on to list all the people I work with across campus who I adore and respect. I really do lead a charmed life and am so grateful for this opportunity the Lord has trusted me with. Here's to many more years! :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Blog Action Day- Poverty



Poverty is so hard to see when it’s only on your TV, or 20 miles across town.

Where we’re all living so good we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
Where He’s hungry and not feeling so good from going through our trash.

He says “More than just your cash and coin I want your time, I want your voice,
I want the things you just can’t give me.”

So what must we do? Here in the West we want to follow you.
We speak the language and keep all the rules, even a few we made up.

So come on and follow me. Sell your house, sell your SUV,
Sell your stocks, sell your security, and give it to the poor.

"What is this, hey what’s the deal? I don’t sleep around and I don’t steal."
But I want the things you just can’t give me.

What you do to the least of these, my brothers, you have done it to me
I want the things you just can’t give me.

-Derek Webb, Rich Young Ruler

May we all do one thing today to be better to our brothers and sister in poverty.

Monday, October 13, 2008

I support this message

I'm not going to say much at all about the election. It seems like this year maybe more than others people are getting carried away in mob-mentalities and de-humanization.

Sadly, prejudice and hatefulness is bi-partisan and equal opportunity, so as the campaigns wear on, I encourage you to stay in your right mind. Don't forward hateful emails, don't make blanket statements about either party or their supporters, don't burn effigies (I wish I could be entirely kidding about that statement), don't judge a person's quality of faith or morality or life by which candidate they support.

These are the moments when character is proven, so be holy and be nice. And remember, in the words of Derek Webb, we'll never have a Savior on Capitol Hill.

I'm Sojochick, and I support this message. :) God bless you and God bless the blog-universe!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Through the years

I know this website www.yearbookyourself.com has made the rounds, but I finally got around to playing with it tonight.


1952

1954

1962- The greenhouse effect probably started right about this year... thank you hairspray.

1966- Mousse has been very good to me.

1968

1978- Oh yes.

1986- Who couldn't rock a jerry curl?

1994- Uh oh, starting to hit a little close to home...

1996- Hmm, is this the Jenni Garth look? I think the platinum hair dark eyebrows were common.

2000- WAY too close to home! This is the year I graduated! :) Dear, dear bangs.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Make yourself comfortable

I haven't abandoned the blog, I promise. I have three blogs in the queue. One of which I can't figure out how to finish, another of which I can't decide if I really want to post to the intercyberweb, and another that is scheduled to come out next week.

In lieu of actual thought and content from me, enjoy a video of me with the cat. Gotta love photobooth! If you know how much of a cat person I am not, then you might find this amusing. Trust me, these moments with Penny Lane are rare. PS- For vanity's sake, I look awful because I had just come in from running.



Penny getting comfortable from Ann W on Vimeo.




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