I wouldn't read it if I were you

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends. You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules. Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives. You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart. You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do. You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

What's" Your Personality Type?

So...when people put these on their blogs, I never read them. Therefore, I'm not surprised if you didn't read mine. I have resisted taking this test for a very long time, on the grounds of feeling utterly convinced that it would be absolutely boring. I finally took it tonight because, well, I was absolutely bored.

I do want to point out one line: "You do break a lot of hearts." I hope not. If I have broken your heart, you probably don't exist or else you never asked me out...in which case, you have no one to blame but yourself for having a broken heart. And you're probably not reading my blog, either.

I really really really want a raspberry white mocha. A vanilla chai latte would do fine as well. I really really want one. (But it's 9:39 at night...don't know how much hope there is...)

Your Father knows that you need these things... (Luke 12:30)

Last night was one of those times where you get to the prayer room and you are so glad you did. When I walked in, they were singing these words, and I quickly copied them into my journal:

"All man's empty promises

Lie broken at Your feet

But You

Have never broken one."

which led on to:

"You give beauty for ashes

Garments of praise

You give infinite mercy

To those who fear Your Name"

It was a good set. :)

So, one of the biggest brain-space consumers over the past week has been trying to get water companies to donate hydration to TheCall. The first guy I asked a long time ago asked me if I was crazy (yes, he literally made a fuss about someone asking him to donate) and since then, I haven't quite found the person that will say that magical word "Yes." The funny thing is that two days ago was the first time (I am not kidding -- I have no idea how I forgot about this) that I remembered "Hey! Wait a minute! JESUS is in charge of this whole thing...He will get us water!" [Badoink!!]

And then I was able to share with others -- dude, God will provide. And ask people to pray. Which brings me to my second point of this post. I was working in the Staff office yesterday for a long while, and told them at one point that we are praying for water for TheCall. They totally took it to heart and were full on board. Yes, you're right: we will be praying for water! They remembered and I realized that there was a sincerity in their belief that I haven't been around for a while. When, in that little office, we talked about the assurance that God will provide, it was truly believed. It just makes me thankful once again to be here.

Suz and the kiddos will be arriving tonight. And they'll be staying. :)

Last note: I am greatly looking forward to the days when I have nine children, two dogs, and a goldfish. That goldfish is gonna rock. my. world.

Songs of the Week

Welcome to Episode Two of the Song of the Week!

Revelation Song

Justin Rizzo sang this song yesterday in church, and they sang it this morning in the prayer room and it's a great song to worship to (not my favorite to just listen to as listening music...but as a worship song, it's great!!) Enjoy!

Is it blue?

I just went out to get the mail and was met by The Insect of Terror (commonly known as the wasp) sitting on the lid of the letter-box. I gasped (very deeply), ducked back into the house, and proceeded to spy on it through the window. I decided to check the mail later.

Have you notice how Target can be your best friend and worst enemy all at the same time? Well, perhaps not your worst enemy, but it can definitely be quite a good friend. Yesterday I went purposefully, and needed nail clippers. I wanted to ask an employee but didn't and eventually found them. As I strolled around the store having everything I needed, two different nice red-cloaked people asked if they could help me find something. I smiled and declined my Target friends.

A few moments later, I found myself searching for a fly swatter (there is a terrible problem with flies in Kansas City and I am tired of watching Peter kill them with his hands and then carry them outside to feed to the spiders...different blog). This time I was utterly convinced that I needed an associate's aid to find what I was looking for. I went and searched out someone. Two associates were figuring something out with each other (movie prices or some such triviality) and I interrupted to ask about the fly swatter. The girl was very kind and cheerful and directed me to the "gadget wall". I looked up and down the wall and didn't find a fly swatter. Spatula, strainer, measuring spoons but no fly swatter. I went and interrupted a second duo that was trying to figure something out and the guy started to point me to the same place. I protested that I had found none of the wanted tool there, so he came to help me look. We stood there and looked and looked and got advice from someone else to look on the left side and that it "doesn't jump out at you. that's the problem."

I'm sorry, Target, but there's no fly swatter on the gadget wall. That's okay. I love you anyways. What are friends for?

Anyways, the people were very helpful and kind. I like being asked if I can be helped to find anything, even when my answer is no.

This has turned into quite a pointless story. Bye.

Old Times

Today I have been looking through Elizabeth's thousands of pictures, trying to find good ones to make copies of and send to Sam on his floating city. It has been such a fun experience. Almost every time I have come to visit Elizabeth's house in the past I have gone through her entire collection of scrapbooks and albums at least once. They are just so fascinating! They range from the old G.O. days to the early IHOP days to our family gatherings to her wedding... I love seeing all the faces and places and memories. Some of the memories are mine and some aren't; those that aren't are still fun to see. I recognize or know some of the people in them, even though I didn't know them when the pictures were taken. The pictures that are my memories remind me of specific sounds or smells (seriously, I do remember how that Winnie-the-Pooh waterbottle I had smelled). Like, I remember that morning that we took Sam to the airport after church, sending him back to Annapolis. Or that time we were at the friend's house and I fell asleep while everyone was watching Runaway Bride.

But today I have especially loved seeing the photos of our family. There was one particular year (fall of 2005-summer of 2006) where our family saw each other an incredible amount. Ariel was born in September with MAS and everyone flocked to Tacoma to meet her (praise the Lord she went home a few days later! :), Sam and Dorothy got married in December and we celebrated Christmas and Peter & Liz's engagement in South Carolina; My grandma died in February, so we were all together at her funeral in California; then in May, Elizabeth got married.

Part of this whole good-memories remembrancing started last night, seeing lots of pictures of when we dropped Sam off at the Naval Academy. I was so little, and it was before anyone was married or had babies and it was just us. Something about it seemed so pure -- we were purely together. Don't get me wrong...I love the additions to our family -- Peter and OJ and Dorothy feel as if they are ones of us, as if there are eight Petersons instead of five. These pictures remind me that there is something so special about our family dynamics; I'm pretty sure no other family has it. (just kidding...I know other families have it...but nobody has our specific dynamics). I laugh hardest when my family is home. I cuddle the little ones and understand the jokes (actually, I don't understand a lot of them...but I laugh anyways). It makes me kind of sad that we don't get all together more often. At this point, we don't even have a holiday where we know everyone will be together again next.

I've never quite understood other people's families where everyone is in one place. I have never lived in the same city as an aunt or an uncle and I've only met my cousins at most three times each. Half of my family lives seven thousand miles away in Hawaii, and the other half just got back from living in Europe. Suffice it to say, my family doesn't all stay in one place. And that's interesting for me because I'm the little one. The older ones did have that cohesiveness of living in the same house for a good chunk of time with everyone else -- but it was kinda before I was born.

I guess this whole picture adventure of looking through the memories is leading me to another memory of who I am. In almost every one of the pictures I see that features me, I think to myself "I was SO little!!!" The odd thing is, I'm just know learning that that's okay. For a long time, there's been a reflex in me that criticized myself for being little. (Why in the WORLD didn't someone keep me from wearing that outfit... =P) I hope that is changing, though. This morning the Lord spoke to me about seeing it not as a handicap but as a gem. Like, you look a diamond ring and you know it's a diamond ring...and wow, that's a nice diamond ring. But then, you look at that diamond and the way it shines and is brilliant and you say "WOW that's a diamond ring!!!" Like, maybe the fact that I didn't come as part of the pack (in terms of years...I totally feel like I belong in my family) is a sign -- a huge blinking arrow sign that points me to that fact that I truly can believe that Jesus sees me as significant. Like, that big clue that helps the detective solve the case. It was like this morning Jesus pointed it out to me as proof: "See! Look how important it is to Me that you are on earth. Look how I planned you so specifically. You didn't come just as one of the children. You were that surprise. That one where I said "I need an Anna just like this in My creation." and I made SURE you got there."

This is just part of what the Lord is doing in me right now. I hope this made sense and I very much hope to soon be able to articulate more of my crazy journey with Jesus that is happening as I type... Now, however, I am off to get a baby up from a nap and escort her to a barbecue.

Happy Sunday! :) Much much joy to.

Rude Awakening

Now that I am laying down I just had a chance to notice that yes, I did get guacamole on my cream-colored shirt tonight. Oops.

Yesterday was quite a day for me. As you already know, I found out that I'm going to DC. There were a few other happenings, however. One is that I was awoken by a strange rumbling that was actually quite startling. I was groggy and just heard this loud rumble and then "REVVVV REVVV" sort of like that and then more very loud rumbling. I finally got it together to look outside and find the nemesis of sleep, a shiny blue vintage car. As I watched, the guy got out of it and just left it running there on the driveway. If this had happened in the middle of the day, I probably would have wondered what the sound was, maybe gone and checked it out, and not really cared that much. Seeing as how it kept me from sleeping, however, I feel that I have a permanent animocity towards this blue car. The morning is no time to be disturbed by noises that resemble a tyrannosaurus rex tearing up your street. Now that I've confessed my dissatisfaction with this noise here, perhaps I can move on.

Take me out to the ball game...

I am going to DC. I am going to DC. I'm Call Staff and I'm going to Washington, D.C.

I cannot tell you how excited I am right now. Jesus is so so good. I had a moment after waiting for a long time to hear back from the powers that be about whether I could go or not where I realized... "I haven't asked!" (On the note of you have not because you ask not) So I asked God for it. And I asked a couple more times.

And finally, the decision came in! And I'm going, and I can't even imagine how amazing it will be. I have a hard time believing that it won't be the week of a lifetime. I'm sure that while I'm there, I will be stunned by the Lord's coordinating hundreds of thousands of people to cry out for His heart for our nation and our world, and I'm sure that the Lord has crazy things that He will do in my heart through it, and I'm excited for those... at the moment, however, all I can think about is how simply good He is to me and how crazy it is that He enjoys me being happy. That part that typically fits into the "deeply spiritual" category will be there, but at the moment, I just feel very simply loved on. Like, as if Jesus did this just to make me smile. =)

So here I am smiling. :) :) :) 19 days... I can't wait to be around great people and to be tired out of my brains from working hard and to pray with two hundred thousand people. I can't wait.

Ouch Ouch Ouch

I really don't have much to say except that:

1. I miss you. You need to come to Kansas City. Yes, you.
2. My back hurts really really bad. Like, come run a truck over it so maybe it will crack it into place or something so that I can stand up like a normal person again and ride in the car for more than 20 minutes without feeling like I'm going to double over in pain (except that I can't double over becuase that would hurt too much).
3. I really don't have much to do. And I think I'm pouting to myself, which is a sad state to be in. I really needed something productive to do today. Really needed something...

Faster Posts!

A few minutes ago, I installed 1GB of RAM into my computer. It was exhilerating, scary, and neither anti-climactic or earth-shattering. So far I've seen a few improvements:

• My start menu comes up instantly when I click it.
• The web pages download faster.

I hope to see more developments in the future as my computer and it's new buddy we like to call "Giggy" get acquainted. Happy Faster Computer Day, people!

Song of the Week

I think I've decided to create a weekly spot on this blog known as Song of the Week. Being exposed to a new iPod (Liz and Peter's) with some pretty cool music, I get inspired by many news songs and kind want to share them. So, hopefully every Monday I will post a new song known as the Song of the Week. What do you think of this Song of the Week idea? Are you excited about listening to the Song of the Week? Do you think you will wait expectantly every Monday, morn till dusk, just waiting for the Song of the Week to be published? Are you sick of hearing about the Song of the Week? (My guess is that your answers are It's great. Yes. OF COURSE. and "with all my heart" on that last one.)

Without further ado, let me introduce you to....[CURTAIN]

This week's Song of the Week

It's Green Eyes by Coldplay and I feel special every time I listen to it. :)

*I reserve the right to have more than one song of the week, a phenomenon that will be happening this week.

My Second Song of the Week

This song I had heard sung by Tim Reimherr (who will probably be appearing on this Song of the Week deal himself a few times in the future) in worship sometime and only recently found out that it was Phil Wickham's song. Listen to it. A couple times. It's amazing. "You take my breath away..."

BREAKING NEWS

Two Young Lasses are Enjoying the Sunshine in Kansas City

After surviving being chased by a flock of wild geese who really really really wanted the bread they had, these two ladies are happy once again. Safe and sound inside their own house and having left the geese at the park where they found them, Annie and Glorie had a pleasant and productive afternoon.

The Hair of the Mad Scientist

Everyone knew she was brilliant, but today Glorie showed it through her hair that resembled scientists of such great fame as Albert Einstein and Steve Martin.

Annie Looks with Great Hope Towards Installation of Memory

The famed memory upon which the hope of a faster computer rests finally arrived today. The Annie Chronicles will keep you posted on how it turns out. We look forward with great expectation and hope for a speedy and successful installation process.

Special Editorial

On Kind Employers: by Annie P.

I have to share my joy. The other day when I babysat for a mother who lives nearby, she called during the day to ask what kinds of things I would like to snack on and what I'd like to drink while I would be babysitting that night. This was amazing. Not only did these amazing circumstances blow my socks off with how thoughtful she was, but it also led to my first experience of having a Ben & Jerry's carton all to myself. This stuff is amazing.

Really amazing.

The Annie Chronicles

Written by: Annie P.

Chief Editor: Annie P.

Secondary Editor: Annie P.

Tertiary Editor: Annie P.

To Contact Us please write to

i'd_like_to_make_a_comment@anniechronicles.org

Ellipses...Ellipses

The elliptical machine is a wonder and a mystery all at the same time.  It's definitely kinder than a treadmill (wondering what I mean by that?  Try taking your hands off the heart rate sensors on the human ear-torture machine for 2 seconds and then tell me you didn't know treadmills could be unkind).  But ellipticals are funny.  I mean, I'm not really sure whether I'm supposed to be on the balls of my feet, all bouncy [bounce bounce bounce] or keep my feet flat on the pedals [feet leaving annie - feet running away from annie].  I can go much faster on an elliptical -- over three miles in 25 minutes.

The victory of this morning was, though, that I used the weight machines!  Peter walked through them all with me, showing me how to use them, and then I did them, all on my own, after my cardio.  What a pleasant time!  Picture dorky me, in the middle of all the huge weights that the guys come in and use, pumping my little 5 pounders, trying to tone my triceps.  Ah, well.  Little bit at a time. (My dad will be happy to read that sentence. :)

Here's my problem, though.  My back hurts.  A lot.  I've been stretching, and that makes it feel better for a little bit, but then it hurts again.  Take now for instance.  I am sitting in a nice cushiony chair and it aches just a little.  If I try to move to get up, though, it's intense pain and, well, I don't like it.  I have the back pain of a 67 year old and I am...not 67.  Eek.  I need a free chiropractor. :(  I need something!  I read that for sciatica (that's what we assume I kinda have) it's better  to do exercise than bedrest (not that I would go on bed rest anyways).   But my back hurts.  Like mad.  Ouch.

Tonight, I am babysitting.  The baby is so, so cute.  He woke up and I had to go put him back to sleep.  It took a while but I sat and rocked and sang and held and, oh, I miss babies.  The little ones that you hold and rock and sing to.  The other day, in the midst of small-child craziness, my sister asked "You still think you only want to be a mom?!" and I thought "Yes.  Yes I do."  It's what feels so right and so good.  I hold a baby and it's like I've suddenly found what I was made for.  I am totally serious.  That is exactly what I think to myself.  "I was made for this."

Lastly, I have a friend in this babysitting.  His name is Malachi and he looks like this.

Only with pointier ears.  He is massive.  But it's kinda cool having this gentle giant walking around.  Someday maybe I'll have a dog that my kids can ride until they're eight.

Victorious (I Should be Singing the Rambo Song)

I love working out. It feels good.

This morning I dashed out the door to work out and be back in time to shower and be totally ready at 10:00. Liz said she had to leave right then to go to Costco and make it back by Glorie's nap. A little friend was over for a playdate with Glorie, and 10 was when they would be done and we would leave. So I dashed to the gym (Grandview really needs to raise its speed limit) and did the elliptical like super-woman for twenty minutes (2.34 miles in 21 minutes...not terrible) and then dashed home (Grandview really needs to raise its speed limit). I got home around 9:48 or 9:52...somewhere around there. I was downstairs, ready to go, hair clean and put up, even with cute earrings on at 10:02. 10 minutes, people!

And then Glorie started to meltdown and had to take a nap and we didn't go to Costco.

The end.

On the Wonder

Glorie has now been in bed for her nap for over two hours; I may or may not have just heard her singing to herself upstairs. I plan for long naps, you know. We are sure to do something tiring outside and then consume a good, full lunch so that she sleeps well and long. It's my time to clean up and get stuff done for theCall. (And eat hummus. I love hummus.)

This morning I was laying on the floor and Glorie dropped her full plastic sippy cup right on my lip. It hurt and swelled. She later felt bad and used her stuffed penguin as medicine, coming up and dabbing it on my lip. :)

Every day I love her more. I love finding the new fun things to do that make her smile. I love it that I can choose to be joyful and be delighted with hanging out with her, and it makes our day so much better. I love putting on "Lunch Tunes" for her to dance to while she eats her favorite things. I love teaching her how to "finger dance", an art I learned from Dora. It involves taking your index finger on both hands and waving them in the air, thus doing what some might call an inside-dance, toned down and comparable to an inside-voice.

She loves the pool. And ducks. And her B. And Mom-mom and Dada. And woof-woofs.

And I love her.

Observations about Kansas City

Here are a few thoughts I have formulated during my time here in Kansas City (okay, well, maybe I'm formulating them right this instant, but they're still about Kansas City)

• It gets really hot here.
  
• The prayer room is always open. Did you know? It's actually quite a revolutionary concept when you suddenly realize that you can never be late. Well, actually you can be, because if you're on staff, you have to be there at a certain time... And maybe the Lord told you to go and you're dilly-dallying. My point is...if you get there at 8:15 or 9:23....it's not really late.


• There are lots of spiders. And they like to eat me. Ewww.


• There are lots of women here who are always dressed so so cute. And most of them are married to musicians. So maybe I should marry a musician so that I can be stylish. Hm.
  
• It looks like Florida to me.
  
• Gas is cheaper here. But still expensive.
  
• I look forward to going to church! I totally miss that Saturday night services at New Song were the hightlight of my week. I got excited on Wednesday that it was closer to Saturday. Now, I like going to church again! Just last week, I got to, in person, hear Lou Engle preach a crazy awesome message that was so so encouraging. I love being here.


• Everybody goes to Target. And the Targets, they have grocery stores in them. Duh-duh-duhhhhhh....
  
• There are too many IHOP families to count within a one-mile radius of where I live. Wait...try half a mile. Too many to count.
  
• There is lots of air conditioning. I believe I've commented on this situation before.
  
• All the streets are curvy. It's so confusing to a little Chicago brain that is used to everything being a grid. Somebody needs to learn how to plan streets better and they should take a little lesson from their good Windy City friends up north.
  
• Glorie is really really really cute. I could munch her up. In closing, here is proof of those two facts. (Wait, no...there aren't any pics of me munching her up. Just kisses.) These pics are from the other day when she found out how FASCINATING it was to watch herself make faces in the camera. Liz and Peter's camera screen flips out so that you can take good self-portraits...and Glorie went wild with it.
  
  
  
  

I totally copied her on this smooching one. She did it, so i did it.



Happy Thursday! :)

A Song Just for Me

So apparently, in an old making of the Lord of the Rings, there was a song about Frodo of the Nine Fingers (remember, Gollum chomped one off).

OJ began singing this song and inserting "Judah" into it resulting in a catchy little tune known as "Judah of the Nine Fingers."

Ariel, being the genius that she is, quickly picked it up. And began serenading everyone with it. Suz and OJ thought that this might not be the best idea, and not wanting to curse Judah with the idea of having only nine fingers, added a line to the song, thereby bringing it to it's pinnacle of perfection.

"Judah of the nine fingers....and also one more."

Ariel was delightfully singing this song in the Kids' Museum we visited the other day and I decided to record it. Upon being prompted to perform a rendition of the song, she came up with this little beauty dedicated all to me.

I am honored.

And I love her. To pieces. And to the moon and back. (Did you know that that phrase "to the moon and back" came from a book??! Guess How Much I Love You. Yup! I found that out when I read it to myself before bed the other night, in a moment of terribly missing my snugglebugs who I could cuddle at every opportunity given).

Small Taste

The morning after the wedding, Peter's family got together again for brunch, and I talked to one of his family members who is a doctor.

The good news is: I can major in history and still get into medical school.

The bad news is: residency is still really really long.

Brown, meet Blue

Say hello to what has been my obsession (almost) for the past few weeks. We repainted the room and I began the stencils around the wall. Then we were interrupted by the week to Minnesota then got back and went double-time, working on finishing it. I felt like I had to had to had to have it done before Suz and OJ got here (they are staying in there). Monday night I stayed up until 3:30, and the stenciling is finished, and we found the comforter last minute at TJ Maxx. I finally found a box for all my office-type stuff (seen on desk shelf) and I decided to buy a pretty brown plate to hold lotions and stuff, rather than spend $8 bucks on a box. That is ribbon around the doorways, and I am just so so happy with it all.

Meet my dreamy brown and blue room. Something about working on making something beautiful feels so so great. :) :) :)

Explosive Simplicity

In my last post, I noted how I have thought of millions of things to write but have remembered none of them. I also do this with thoughts: I forget them in half a second...but still start a sentence to ask the person whatever I was going to ask them. That sentence usually remains unfinished and I admit that I have the short-term memory of a ninety-year old. A ninety-year old whale, that is. But I digress.

There is one thing that I have wanted to blog about for a while and I have remembered it and remembered it and now finally I can write it down.

There is a cd that Elizabeth and Glorie have by a group called Plumb. The whole cd is lullabies and there is one called God Will Take Care of You. Go listen to it. Listening to this song, I was so struck by how it takes the simplicity of a children's song to pierce your heart. One day on a drive to some place or another, I realized what the song was saying and realized that it was something I had totally forgotten. Maybe not totally, but somehow the reality of God's simple care for us had left the forefront of my mind. I wonder how many times in our life we will have those little reminder moments where God whispers something to us that is just so simple. We were off trying to attain holiness or happiness (or happy holiness) by deciphering the deepest thing we could possibly find and instead Jesus has to whisper "I'm happy; so you can be too" or "I will take care of you" or "I like you" and you're on the top of the world.

Something about that song and how simple it is shocked me. How could I have forgotten that Jesus will take care of me? In the way that Elizabeth and Peter just want to take care of Glorie...simple things...God will take care of you.

Check out the Pictures

Here is why I was gone this week.

I have had so many thoughts of fun things to write about and, what do you know, I've forgotten them all. We'll see if I can recall them on my short trip to TJ Maxx. I am praying that we find the perfect bedding for the new room!! =) More later...