100 years late

Thanks to those of you (Alicia & Brooke) who voted at the Vote For Your Favorite Poll, your photo won by an overwhelming two votes to one*. The one vote was mine, which doesn't count, so technically everyone voted for the first photo. Anyway, hope you still like it now that it's actually up there. I am totally uninspired blog wise. I don't have any pets or kids or plants (anymore) to be inspired by or take pictures of. You know from experience I can't put up pictures of myself.

The photos I posted, which are of some of the most unsightly parts of St. Louis, are part of a collection that Jonathan took which he calls "100 years late" in reference to when the city was at its grandest during the 1904 World's Fair. I wanted to put one at the top of my blog to represent my title/description. There are many beautiful places in Saint Louis, but also many not so beautiful places, which is a bit depressing, but such as life. Anyway, as I was looking through them for my blog I could hardly decide which ones to consider because there are many cool ones to choose from. Therefore I will post some more for you to look at and then you can be relieved of my rambling.... Enjoy.

*This just in... another voter, Kelly, for the second photo. So I guess it's 2-1 now :)

Comment to Vote

The Blog Poll thing I put at the end of yesterday's post sucks. So if you want to vote and it's not working, please just leave a comment.
Thanks.

Vote For Your Favorite

I was getting bored of my blog's "look". There are so many choices to choose from for blog layouts I want to try them all. Also I wanted to put a photo at the top. Below are five photos I am trying to decide between. Obviously it is hard to know what it will look like without seeing it at the top, but give it your best guess. All of these pictures are taken around St. Louis by Jonathan. View them all and vote at the end! I won't guarantee that I'll pick the most popular, but it sounds like fun anyway.

The Procastination Gene

Does anybody else have this gene? This week I was swamped with a ton of homework that I have been putting off all semester. And I am going to be swamped until the first week of December. That is why I have not been a faithful blogger. Excuses excuses... I know.

I don't have anything interesting going on in my life right now. Hence I will write about house plants. In fact, I will charm you with a poem instead. Even better.

Ode to House Plants
My heart has been broken six times
obssesive crush in 7th grade
one christmas bonsai
one valentine day orchid
one birthday orchid
one jade
and now the sago palm
oh why do you torture me so?
I bought you
I adored you
I loved you
I watered you
I sunned you
And this is how you repay me
Into the trash you now must go

Ode to the Plant Killer
Why do you even bother?
Six down
Three to go
find a new hobby


Is plant killing a gene too?

2nd Day

The second day on the job wasn't too bad. It certainly has been the easiest start to a new job I have ever had. Usually the first few weeks I go home crying (or maybe that was just that devil place Nadoz; I had a horrible start there). But I haven't cried yet, which is a good sign. Everyone is really nice and so are the customers. I seem to be catching on pretty well therefore that always helps. I even count back change! It's harder than it looks, especially for a dumb blond like me.

If you think of it, please pray for our home church, New Hope Baptist, which has been experiencing a lot of loss the past couple weeks. Each week they send us a bulletin with prayer requests, and this week I read that Julie Piper, a wife of one of the pastors of the area Baptist churches died. Also, two members of New Hope died, Shirley Bentsen, and Mason Jenkins. Shirley Bentsen was an older lady who was always so nice to us and helpful to everyone. I heard about Mason from Alicia's blog. Mason was only three years old and suffered from Hurler's Syndrome. You can learn more about him here.

P.S. Thank-you to you commenters for taking the time. All your comments on the last post made my day!

The Job

The inevitable happened. We ran out of money. At about the same time we ran out of money, I

decided that none of my clothes fit properly and that I hate them all. I rampaged my closet in

fits of anger, shoving into a box all the clothes that make me feel uncomfortable when I wear them. What was left in my closet and dresser drawers were gaps and holes needing to be filled. Having no money and no clothes that met my expectations, I decided I better get a job. And that's what I did. I am now an official employee of the Jefferson National Parks Association, more specifically and better known as, the Gateway Arch. The arch has two stores. The Museum Store is like a souvenir store, but different in that its purpose is to educate. Therefore, you will not find shot glasses in our store. But we do have the typical postcards, key chains, magnets and the like, which supposedly have some educational purpose behind them. Across from the Museum Store is the Levee Store, which is designed to be like a General Store from the olden days. I will be working in both stores. I am basically a guinea pig because I am the first person they will "cross train" to work in both stores. Anyways, my first day was Tuesday. I am going back tomorrow. Am I thankful to have a job, finally? Yes. Am I excited about working retail? No. Am I going to complain about it? No. Thank you for your prayers in this matter. Thanks be to the Lord Who has blessed me with this job.

P.S. Please tell me I am not the only female to go through fits of anger about her clothes declaring that she hates all of them and swearing she will never buy a piece of clothing that she is not absolutely positively sure that it fits and she likes it?

P.P.S. Sorry this is hard to read. I couldn't get it to be double-spaced.

The Deliberation

Thursday morning we heard the rest of the evidence. Then we were dismissed to lunch and were told to be back in the deliberation room by 1:30. We still were not allowed to talk to each other about the case, so we sat in a room together trying to entertain ourselves and avoid talking about what was on all our minds, until the judge called us back into the courtroom at about 3:30. For two hours we had to wait like this. By that time everyone just wanted to go home. But we had heard all the evidence and there was still some time left, so we heard the concluding arguments of the defence and prosecution. Then we were shut back into the room until we could agree upon a verdict. No more than two hours later did we find the defendant guilty of all charges: two charges of first degree assault with a weapon, one of the charges being domestic. Going back into the courtroom was overwhelming, knowing that everyone was just waiting for us and the whole time had just been trying to predict what we would decide. I just looked down at my lap while the verdict was read and tried not to cry. I sneaked a peek at the defendant's face after the verdict was read, but it remained unchanged. However, it won't be a face I will soon forget. I was so sure when I voted that he was guilty, but afterwards I couldn't help wondering if we were putting an innocent man away for a long time. The whole experience was very trying and seemed very foreign. It took me awhile to recover, and all the details and people involved in the case keep popping back into my head. My only comfort is knowing that God is the decider of all "fates," not men.