Day 4- Your views on religion

Ooohhh. The religion question. Also an easy one to answer.

I have been raised the daughter of a preacher man. :-) And it was a pretty good life. My parents weren't religiously conservative or liberal, and once I was old enough to make decisions, my parents let me choose where I stood with church. And I always chose church.

In college, I was a church hopper- I didn't commit to one specific church, but had 2 or three i visited regularly. I also worked for a camp that was extremely ecumenical (open to all religious groups, and incorporated them all in worship. So, I have a religious smorgasbord. I don't have a problem with denominations, and I think its great to have options for people to find what they like. What I don't like is when people get caught up in the nitpicky details of denominations, or fight with other groups and cause huge divides between people. The basic teachings of Jesus were simple enough for people to understand. The rest is important, but is what adds to the drama.

So, I am a Christian who believes that my actions will affect people more than quoting scripture at them. Jesus hung out with the outcasts of society, and just loved them for who they were. People end up becoming hypocritical most of the time when you throw the other stuff in.

And that's it. Love God, love people, any questions?

Day 3- Your views on drugs and alcohol

This topic is really easy for me to comment on.

Drugs- Not a huge fan (unless they are legal, of course) and even then I don't like taking them. Unless I feel like total and complete crap (which happens rarely, with the exception of my lovely dose of pneumonia this summer) I won't really take it. I have been around people who don't abuse medicine, but will pop a pill for any little ache in they have. There are times when I think that people use medicine just for the sake of using it. So, that is also something that I don't agree with.

Now...onto the topic of alcohol. I will be honest and say that there were a few times in college when I partook in some alcoholic beverages. However, I got it out of my system, and now I don't really drink. Every once in a while I'll have a drink with some friends, but definitely get more frustrated with drunk people than I ever did. Even when I was in college, I didn't like the party scene. I would go because my friends were there, but I gladly volunteered to be the DD 97% of the time (and that's a legit statistic).

So, drugs= not a fan of legal at all, and most of the time legal ones either.

Alcohol= I don't mind having a drink now and then, and am in favor of drinking, as long as its in moderation. As long as you drink responsibly and realize the consequences of your actions, then don't be stupid. Always make sure you have a DD and don't do it just to try and fit in.

Day 2- Where I'd like to be in 10 years

I'm not a big fan of this question. Although I am a type A person who likes to have everything planned, I am also an indecisive person. Not a great combination at times. I will say, that in 10 years I will be 32 years old. I will like to have graduated seminary with my master's degree, maybe working on a doctorate degree. I would love to be married, and maybe have one or two kids. Definitely a dog. I would like to be working in a great church, or religious organization, that will support having all types in ministry.

If I could pick a place to live, it would be either in North Carolina or Virginia, but I wouldn't mind anywhere else. Just as long as I'm able to drive to visit my family, wherever they are. Surprisingly, I would love to move back to Danville, VA, where I was in college. I think that the town is going to come a long way in 10 years, and have a feeling that I wouldn't mind raising my family there.

So...that means that in order for all this to come true, I have to start seminary, meet the man of my dreams, get married, have a kid, and find a job in the next 10 years. I better stop typing this blog and get started. Which will I tackle first?

Day 1- Your Current Relationship

The second part of this post says "If single, describe the single life." So, that is what I will be doing. I am currently single, and have been for a little over 3 years. I dated a guy in high school, and a guy in college, but both of those ended, one on good terms, and one that I wish I could go back and end differently. I hurt this person more than I ever wanted to, even though I knew breaking up was for the better for the both of us.

So, that being said, I enjoyed being single in college. I had quite a few guy friends that meant a lot to me. And I was so involved with college activities that I didn't miss being in a relationship (most of the time). I would be lying if I said there were times when I wish I had a guy around, but didn't resort to the "different guy every weekend" approach that I witnessed some of the fellow students taking.

So, where does that leave me now? I am living with my parents, have a new job, and want to star grad school in the next year or so. I don't keep in touch with any of my friends from high school, so going out on the weekends has not been something that I've done. I'm not brave enough to go to the local hotspots on my own, and don't think that I'm going to find my future...whatever...by doing so. However, even though I am in this weird transition place, I feel like I am more ready than ever to find that person. But, without joining eHarmony (and I don't think I'm at that stage yet) I'll just have to take it one day at a time. Sunday through Friday, I don't mind my single life. Fridays and Saturdays are a little different.

So, stay tuned for a later post that will have what I look for in a significant other. Who knows, maybe it will catch someone's eye!

Until next time fellow blog readers...-KK

30 day Challenge

I borrowed this from my best friend's Tumblr account, but liked the idea. Maybe if I get in the habit of doing this challenge, I will blog about more serious things in the future. So, here's the assignment for each day.

- Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.

• day 02 - Where you’d like to be in 10 years.
• day 03 - Your views on drugs and alcohol.
• day 04 - Your views on religion.
• day 05 - A time you thought about ending your own life.
• day 06 - Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.
• day 07 - Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality.
• day 08 - A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life.
• day 09 - How you hope your future will be like.
• day 10 - Discuss your first love and first kiss.
• day 11 - Put your ipod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.
• day 12 - Bullet your whole day.
• day 13 - Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.
• day 14 - Your earliest memory.
• day 15 - Your favorite websites.
• day 16 - Your views on mainstream music.
• day 17 - Your highs and lows of this past year.
• day 18 - Your beliefs.
• day 19 - Disrespecting your parents.
• day 20 - How important you think education is.
• day 21 - One of your favorite shows.
• day 22 - How have you changed in the past 2 years?
• day 23 - Give pictures of 5 guys who are famous who you find attractive.
• day 24 - Your favorite movie and what it’s about.
• day 25 - Someone who fascinates you and why.
• day 26 - What kind of person attracts you.
• day 27 - A problem that you have had.
• day 28 - Something that you miss.
• day 29 - Goals for the next 30 days.
• day 30 - Your highs and lows of this month

Don't forget to breathe...

Whew. What a day. But first, a life update.

Last Sunday, I got a call from the chair of the search committee at Yorkminster Presbyterian Church, a church that I had interviewed with for the position of Director of Children and Youth Ministries. Bill (the chair of the committee) offered me the job...and I accepted. Last week was filled with excitement, and nerves, and lots of "What am I thinking?" and "I can't wait for what's ahead!" I enjoyed my last days of quiet around the house as my parents got back into their regular routines with church and school. And I prepared myself for what I had signed on to do.

This morning finally arrived. My alarm was set for 6:30am (the earliest it had been set in...a really, really long time). My dad had made enough coffee for me to take some on the road. My outfit was hanging in the closet, and I was ready to go. As I drove the 30 minute commute to Yorktown, my stomach was filled with butterflies, but more because of the excitement about all the people I was getting ready to meet than because of nerves. As soon as I walked in the door, I saw some familiar faces from the search committee and lots of new faces. People welcomed me, and once I introduced myself expressed their gratitude and appreciation about me being at the church.

Two worship services and one Sunday School kick-off later, I met more people than I could imagine and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. The church had a Fall Festival after the 11:00 service, that unfortunately had to be moved indoors because of the weather. However, as I sat and ate my lunch with the Associate Pastor and his family, and a few more families from the church, I looked around and couldn't help but smile. I listened to the conversations around the table, learned things about families and started to pick up on some of the things that give each church its personality.

As I drove home, I rode in silence for the first few miles of my trip and thought about the morning I just experienced. Even though the morning was full of new faces and I was on mental overload, I was full of excitement for this new journey I am headed on. So, I head back across the water on Tuesday and will start to learn about and do this job I've signed on for. But I am so excited. :-)

Save the earth...or your ears?

I watched the Today Show for the first time in a long time the other day. There was a story about the new Sun Chips bags, which are completely biodegradable. However, these new bags are loud and some people find them annoying, despite their positive outcome. 3 1/2 mins were spent talking about how enough people are complaining that it is causing Sun Chips to change their bags to a more "user-friendly" one while still trying to keep the bags biodegradable.

For some reason, this really got under my skin. Maybe its from working camp all summer and having campers come up with ideas about ways to start changing the world, or seeing a campus in Massachusetts that provides recycling in each room for students, or just being a part of an organization that tries to do as much as it can to lower its carbon footprint. I don't see how some people can be as shallow as wanting their bags to not make a little extra noise, even at the expense of increasing pollution. Although this is just the first attempt at Sun Chips to help clean up the earth a little more, I for one think that it is a great one. I would rather listen to the rattle of a potato chip bag, then have to swim around in environmentally unfriendly potato chip bags in 20 years.

Sorry if I have offended anyone, but I needed to blow off some steam about these people who have taken the time to make YouTube videos of their complaints. I hope that eventually everyone can be happy and there will be silent, biodegradable chip bags at some point in the future. Enjoy your evening.