no surprises here

These are my Amazon Quick Picks over the last two days. I think they've got a pretty good read on me, don't you?

Also, these movies remind me that the Christmas movie season is just around the corner. Yippee! The Hallmark Channel will begin showing Christmas movies on November 1. Two months of Christmas movies ... I can't wait!

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celebrate my drive--help my school win $25,000 or $100,000

Much of my life has revolved around Nebraska Christian Schools. First, I was an NC student (grades K-12!). I even lived on campus for six years during elementary school, as my parents were the boys' dorm parents. Then, after graduating from college, I got a job at NC as the superintendent's secretary. Nine years later, I'm still at Nebraska Christian, though my role has changed many times! Nebraska Christian is a special place to me, and I hope that if God blesses me with children, they will be able to attend NC, as well.

As a small Christian school in a farming community, Nebraska Christian's finances are often tight. One area where we seem to be perpetually "behind" is technology. Sure, things are better than they were when I was in high school, but if you saw our computer lab, you'd probably laugh. Or cry.

That's where State Farm's Celebrate My Drive comes in. This program, which promotes safe driving, is also a competition between schools. We are competing with schools with student bodies of 750 or fewer, and the schools with the most safe driving commitments from October 18-26 will win a $25,000 or $100,000 grant. If we're the top school in our division, we would also win a concert with Kelly Clarkson! If we get one of the grants, most of the money will go to updating the technology on campus ... which we desperately need!

Here's how you can help: Each day from today through October 26, go to http://celebratemydrive.com/RegisterStudent.aspx and commit to safe driving. You'll enter your email address and birth date first. When it asks you for the state, select Nebraska, then select Community Member, and enter Central City for the city. Then it will pull up a box where you can click Nebraska Christian Schools. You'll take a two question quiz and then check a box to commit to safe driving. That's it! All it takes is one minute of your time. (Well, I'm actually asking for nine minutes of your time, as I'd like you to vote each day!) Please vote!

Update: I just learned you can vote through Facebook, and it's a lot easier to find Nebraska Christian that way! Just click here and enter the requested information, typing "Nebraska Christian" in the school name blank.

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girls' weekend!

My mom and I just got back from a weekend in Omaha with Blendy. It was unexpected and fantastic! I thought I'd tell our story through pictures ...

We're excited to see Blendy!!!

As soon as we got to Omaha, we headed to Chick-fil-A. It had been way too long since I'd had their delicious chicken!

Then we headed off to the Omaha Symphony. We were given free tickets to see Play!, a video game symphony (the unexpected reason for our trip). I'm not a gamer, so I figured I wouldn't know much of the music. I figured right.

Here's what I learned: most video game music (at least the music played by the symphony) sounds like it was composed by Hans Zimmer. Also, whoever wrote the narration seemingly tried to write it using only cliches. By the end, we could barely contain our giggles! 

As the performance ended, I did find myself feeling a little cheated. This picture from the program, while not promising anything, certainly seemed to imply that the Mario theme would be part of the performance. But Mario was nowhere to be found ... and now I have an incredible urge to play some Super Mario!

Dad got us a hotel room so we wouldn't have to drive home late. We stayed at the Comfort Suites, and, though they were in the middle of a major renovation, the rooms were nice. Sadly, though, the breakfast left a lot to be desired.

One of the highlights of our trip was being able to attend Blendy's church this morning. It's very small, and the people are so nice and welcoming. I think she'll really thrive there. Then we headed to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Our server, Alex, was one of the best ever! If you're ever at the Council Bluffs Cracker Barrel, look for Alex—he'll give you the greatest service! I also had perhaps the best fried chicken of my life. It's the Sunday special—two boneless breaded and fried chicken breasts. I could only eat one, so now I have lunch for tomorrow!

Following a rather extended trip to Walmart, we took Blendy back to the dorm and headed home. What a fabulous weekend! (And the icing on the cake? My cats, who were left alone inside for more than 24 hours, didn't destroy anything or relieve themselves anywhere but the litter box!)

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