Aug 26, 2012

Mowing the Lawn and a Summer Breeze

The title above doesn't sound all to bad. Working hard in the yard but having a nice cool summer breeze to assist you. Well, you obviously have not done much yard work if you think that! In renting a house one of the many responsibilities is mowing the lawn with what has been given to you to mow with. Thankfully I did not have to learn how to purchase a lawn mower. Not so thankfully I was blessed with a legit push lawn mower. You see, in the past I have helped my dad mow the lawns. He would drive the lawn mower and I would use the push mower. This was however 4 years ago and further into the past... The push mower at home was great for a tall lanky girl like me because you could control the speed of the motor that helped with the push. SOOOooo for fun you go as slow as you would like or you can push the speed so you are jogging around the lawn. Just picture it for a min. A tall girl with brown hair (pigtails or pony tail) jogging around the lawn with the mower. oky idk about you but i had a silly pic in my mind. :) 

ANYWAYS... I enjoyed the yard work. Im outside, being productive, helping my dad. Well here I am in a house where we take turns mowing the lawn. I stepped up to the plate to mow the lawn this weekend! I'm actually excited to contribute to the overall appearance of the house. So I go and spend 15 awkward confusing minutes figuring out how to start the mower...there is a primer button to push 3X, the string/cord you yank is by the handle, and, what I correctly guessed to be the lever to start the blades, was a simple 1/3 inch metal lever with a cord draping down to the engine. So I finally figure out that you have to push the primer 3X, then yank the cord WITH the metal blade starter pulled all the way back in order to start the engine. And off I go! 

sort of...

Like I said before this was a legit push mower... I had to push the little red grass eating machine over every bump, stick, root, dip, hill, ant hill, with as much effort as pushing a boulder up hill. Arms outstretched, legs stretched behind, pushing with all my might. Oky in all honesty I figured out that I could go backwards with the mower and the silly little pose of pushing a boulder uphill lasted only 1/3 of the yard HAHA. Once I figured out that i could steer the  mower by tillting the thing (it needs a name...) on the back wheels I was flying around the yard, at certain points, like in corners or around trees, I looked like a housemaid vacuuming the yard. You know forward at one diagonal, backward, forward at another diagonal, backward...

So back to the original topic! Mowing the lawn was not too bad and like I said before the addition of a summer breeze must have been nice... Maybe if there was a grass bag attached to the mower... but there was not. The lovely summer breeze took the lovely fresh cut grass and gently picked up the new clippings and threw it at my face with velocity and purpose! After another 15 minutes my whole right side, face, and front was covered in a variety of grass, dirt, weeds, and I think a candy wrapper (idk how!). Sooo in short I became quite filthy. 

One great thing about mowing the lawn is the ability to think:

1) Why do we mow lawns so frequently? is it from a social norm? it there much of a purpose? I understand not letting it get to the point of a jungle which attracts snakes, mice, frogs, bobcats, etc. 
2) why do people care so much about how their yard looks? our lawn has spots of pure weeds and dandelions. Why the focus on lawn beauty?
3)Why the effort to follow social norms if it makes us so dirty? 
4) What other social norms makes us dirty? literally or figuratively?
5) Why are we not as motivated to get dirty for something worth so much more such as God? Why are people afraid of getting out of their comfort zones and being vulnerable for God and spreading the Good News? Are they not the same people mowing lawns in their "wife beaters" white dirty shirts, becoming sweaty, not at all looking presentable yet outside for the world to see? 

I mow the lawn because it is an assigned chore for us to do and I love to contribute in anyway possible. I only want a place where people feel welcome to enter. Now I am settled and here in this house for a few years. I feel open and excited to see how God is going to use me. Where I need to go get dirty, because, as we noticed, getting dirty can create BEAUTIFUL results. How true is that?! Think literally with me: an artist covered in paint, a gardener covered in dirt, a mechanic working on cars covered in oil, I think we the list goes on and on if we think about it. A missionary in an orphanage, a woman helping at a pregnancy center, people serving at a soup kitchen, working/volunteering at a chemical dependency clinic. Im sure you can add to this.

Dirty actions can create beautiful results. And a summer breeze, though might feel good, will only make you dirtier... :P 

Aug 22, 2012

Kickboxing and toilets don't mix

So one advantage of my new school is the free workout classes I can take whenever they fit into my schedule! I have always wanted to try kickboxing and yoga classes and now I have the chance to try them multiple times!!  So this past Monday I got to experience Kickboxing first! And I loved it. So many squats, punches, kicks, and to fast paced music. I was already feeling the burn in my legs and buns by 3/4th of the class. Wow it was a great hour!... that's right an hour.... I honestly felt my cheeks pulsating and twitching in the afternoon... I was a little bit sore...

Well Tuesday morning comes along and I get up, fairly sore, and I head to the bathroom. I really did not notice how sore I really was until I tried to sit down on the toilet. Then the soreness hit me. or surprised me. I was so sore (in my thighs, butt, and arms) and sooo off balance from the shock of having problems sitting down on the low toilet that I started tilting sideways and forward off the toilet! And there I go about to fall when thankfully and fell against the wall sticking out from the shower instead of the floor. I used that helpful jut of wall to not only prevent face and shoulder from hitting the tile, but to also adjust myself back on to the seat....

Its not too often a workout results in both benefiting your body and health and causing dangerous/hazardous encounters with common household appliances. Either way I loved it, it was worth the entire day (Tues) of thigh and butt pain, and I cant wait to do it again!

More house-loving stories I'm sure will follow!

BEWARE OF BLEACH

This morning I made an oopsie...

First of all I have moved from an apartment in one state to a house in another state about to start grad school in Occupational Therapy! Whoop Whoop! So I am in a house with 3 other medical girls. I've only been here 4 days and so far we are getting along great!

So my oopsie. I took a shower this morning after my run. I got dressed for class and returned to the bathroom to blow dry my hair... and i noticed two things. 1) there is mildew on the shower curtain. 2) LOOK! Mildew cleaner!

So I spray some on the curtain thinking that all mildew cleaners were like the mildew cleaner I had at the apartment... Then I read the front of the bottle... Easy Scrub Mildew cleaner with BLEACH... and then i looked at my pants... 

sure enough I found three yellowish white splats/dots down the bottom half of one leg of my favorite long bootcut tan trousers... great. I was panicky at first and thought WATER! that will help... note to self: once bleached, always bleached. Water...of course...did nothing! Well poo bunnies! I basically thought to myself that these pants were ruined! then I went to the mirror... They weren't too bad...in fact in a casual way, kind of cool looking... I think i might spray an old pair of jeans with the cleaner... or add a few more drops to this pair... 
 What a way to turn bleach into Fashion! (strikes a pose in her chair) hahahaha!

oh and I discovered that I am too lazy to change but not lazy enough to sit down and write this... so Im just going to wear these to class! 


Aug 4, 2012

Model's life.... NOT FOR ME

Hey ladies! Ever wanted to be a Victoria Secret Model? Who wouldnt?! The fame, money, knowing you have a culturally defined "hot" body, the attention from everyone. Yea sounds really good doesn't it? Well even if you don't have the best "genes" you can still be a Victoria Secret Model! I found the secret and the truth as been revealed! SO now every woman around the world can be a Victoria Secret Model!!