fitting room fiasco

As I have previously mentioned, I have worked on and off at the limited since my senior year in high school. Today is one of my last days at the limited for the year.  (I may or may not work there over the month of may, depending on whether or not my parents agree to let me go to south africa.)  Anyways, as soon as I came into work at 3 today I started working on the "go-backs".  go-backs are all of the clothes customers try on in the fitting rooms but decide not to purchase.

shortly after i began putting the go-backs away, my manager, debbie, asked if i would work the fitting rooms.  basically, this job entails putting the clothes in the room for the customers and getting additional items at their request.

today was an especially busy day at the limited.  many customers sought to take advantage of a substantial sale.  by the time i went to work the fitting rooms, about five or six women were standing in line to receive a room.

a few "excuse me"s later, i made my way to the fitting room.  i knocked on every door to see if any women needed additional sizes or items.  a woman opened the door and walked out to show a dress to her shopping partners.  the woman was debating whether or not to purchase the dress.  i, personally, told the woman that the dress looked great on her, but i tell everybody that because it's usually true (and i'm not eager to find an alternative to their outfit if it isn't cute!).

as the woman was deciding to purchase the dress, another lady snipped aloud, "you know there are other people in line, don't you.  come on, i mean you're not a pageant beauty!"

yup, i have witnessed many things at the limited: prostitutes looking for birthday presents, clueless husbands searching for the perfect gift, but never, ever had i witnessed a fight in the fitting room.

UNTIL TODAY...so how did i resolve this issue?  i apologized to the customer in the dress and walked out of the fitting room to ask debbie's advice.  she told me to shrug them off.  as i returned to the fitting room, another lady in a wheelchair waiting outside told me she had also been insulted by the aforementioned meanie!  and the insult was about being in a wheelchair nonetheless.

after this incident, as i was working on more go-backs, many customers told me how strange their fitting room experience was.  a woman's husband mentioned that he was so surprised he couldn't speak--and was too scared to speak in front of the harsh audience surrounding the fitting rooms.

yet again, my life gets weirder.

Flowers, Christmas Eve, and the best gift ever!

A few things I must share with you all!

• I have decided to apply for a part-time job when I go back to Clinton.  In addition to working at the writing center, I am going to ask a few florists in Clinton if they need any part-time help.  Why?  Because I love flowers!  I would be satisfied if they paid me in flowers...ohhh I am excited just imagining the beauty...and can't believe I haven't thought of this sooner!
• Merry Christmas!  Hope all of you are enjoying Christmas now that the shopping, traffic, and stress is over!  Now just wait until the day after Christmas.  I have been working at The Limited over break (a job I also had in high school) and can vouch that the day after Christmas is almost as thrilling for those of us working retail as, say, walking on hot coals.

I have been thinking of what Christmas means.  It is slightly tragic, I think, that an entire country can make such a huge deal of this holiday while missing Jesus.  Amidst car-to-car traffic and shopping bags galore, it is so clear that we can't provide each other with the "perfect gift".  Why?  because the scarf WILL develop a pull on it, the new nintendo WILL someday cause the TV to stop, and the chocolates WILL go bad.  

God gave us Christmas because He looked at a sad and broken world--his children--and decided that something needed to happen so that His relationship with them could be restored.  THIS is why we celebrate!!  Through Jesus, we can know God.

I confess that even I try to make this season perfect for others.  But I am so thankful that I can rest in receiving the gift of Jesus.  Christ is eternal.  He never fails.

quote from my dad

my dad just broke this one out:
"i've always thought i was a cool dad, but recently I've had the realization that I'm just a middle-aged white guy"

a day on harbison blvd.

As ash and I have mentioned before, we are now finished with exams and home for christmas break!  Along with this season comes sleeping late, arts and crafts (of course), and trips to the mall.  If you're from columbia, you are familiar with the two or three miles that cut right off of I26, affectionately (or not so affectionately) named harbison boulevard.  This stretch of traffic includes almost everything a shopper could need: wal-mart, best buy, target, sam's club, 2 movie theatres, various small businesses and restaurants, in addition to a mall with a belks, sears, dillards, jc penny, and other attractions.

I've been spending a lot of time on harbison lately and encountered a few notable adventures during this time:

• i have been reminded of how much i hate driving, especially in columbia.  for example, the other day i was taking a secret route behind petsmart to avoid traffic (because it stresses me out) while also talking to my friend lauren.  an older couple passes along the secret path perpendicular to me, and next thing i know an older lady in the passenger seat is motioning something to me.  i squint my eyes and realize she is motioning in giant gestures and screaming for me to get off the phone!  i didn't know what to do next so I just continued to drive home
  
• i have also had several run-ins with the hair straightener people at the mall.  they try to get me every time!  the italian-looking men always say to me "sweetie, can i ask you a question," at which point i either run, laugh, or tell them i have to go to work.
• also...today at the mall an old man in a wheelchair mumbled something unidentifiable to me and shot me a giant stare!
• shout-out to my summer roomie brooke, who escaped from LP and paid $2 to stand inside a hurrican simulator!  i, too, noticed a HURRICANE SIMULATOR in the mall today.  whatever happened to gum ball machines?
• also made the GIANT MISTAKE of going to lowe's to find my dad a christmas present.  usually, i wouldn't consider going to lowe's a mistake, but this time i went without any idea of what to buy him, so i strolled down every aisle and even the garden center looking for a present for my dad before i got overwhelmed and peaced.

moral of the story: avoid harbison at all costs.  and if a lady motions at you to get off your phone, smile, lay it aside, and consider how many other numerous weirdos exist on our planet :).

ghost hunting or house hunting?

seeing as it is christmas break, i am using my time to rest and catch up on some quality reading and television.  i'm not usually much of a tv fan, but a few shows have caught my interest recently, especially sing off.  what a great tv show!  i, personally, am rooting for the beezlebubs.

i'm also catching up on a few classics, namely cake boss, say yes to the dress, and house hunters.  my most recent house hunters exposure proved to be...interesting.  three minutes ago, i was about to call it a night and retire to my cozy bed that has become increasingly appealing after a semester of dorm sleep.  that is, until i saw a teaser i will never forget.

the teaser went a little something like this:
"next on house hunters, this newlywed couple discovers an older, spacious house within their price range.
"'realtor: the local village built this home.  this house was originally intended as a family home, but it also served as the community's funeral parlor.' "

yup, i've seen house hunters las vegas, even house hunters international...but just when i thought i had seen it all...i see house hunters FUNERAL HOME edition? 

if you are as curious about this home as i was, take in a few of the house's details:

• 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath
  
• the house is located in a town just outside of madison, wisconsin called black earth (ironic??)
  
• the house's large living area, which has crown molding and wood floors, once served as the gathering space for "small gatherings" aka FUNERALS
  
•  the family room was once used as an embodiment room
  
• the house includes a CASKET ELEVATOR, still functioning, fyi, inside the second bathroom

so thanks house hunters, because just as i was finally about to get a night of shut-eye after a long day of lunch dates, shopping, and watching sing off, you caused me to lose a good half-hour's rest. (that figure doesn't even include the multiple night spooks which will inevitably result from the needless inclusion of this house on what was once my favorite show.)

the one redemptive factor in this segment: the newlywed couple didn't choose the funeral parlor.  they actually chose another ranch in black earth instead...a testament that though television programming isn't superb, HGTV hasn't lost all its marbles yet.

ALL-NIGHTER

Appearantly PC's unofficial declaration of "dead week" is indeed a false statement.  This week, our last week of classes, is supposed to be free of tests, papers, and assignments.  Instead of dreaming right now, I am in the library, where I will be for oh...the next 8 hours, at least.  Yes, it's true.  I'm pulling my first college all-nighter.  Updates to follow...I can only imagine how good the posts will be at 5 am.

1:32 AM: John Solms tells Ashton she has soft hands.

1:37 AM: I just stubbed my toe while sitting down.

2:02 AM: Brittni just punched me.  (It's ok brittni you're forgiven). No worries: I thumped her head really  hard back.  ALSO: done with holocaust paper.  Going to buy a drink in a few minutes.  About to try to get a total of 3 pages in German.  This will be a challenge.

2:28 AM: Why is it that when I'm typing a German paper I can't even notice the typos?  Oh yeah...because I hardly know German at all.  Period.

2:59 AM: 1.5/5 pages in German.  It's looking impossible.

3:39 AM: Considering dropping German on the Internet next semester.  A minor isn't worth this pain... 2 pages done in German.  Calling it quits for the day.  About to head over to the drawing room.

5:30 AM: there is charcoal all over my hands.  I drew 1 pastiche (copy of a famous person's drawing) of a Van Gogh city garden landscape, I sketched 1 cute dress, and drew 1 abstract piece I am going to title "grace."  the theme of my project is "my favorite things" ... yeah...like the song.  maybe some pics can go up later.  can't decide whether or not to go to the library and knock out some germ or take a shower and a power nap now...

6:37 PM...thursday: two naps later, don't feel quite as bad as I could.  The worst hour was between 8 and 9.  Slept so hard that I could have been unconscious.  Art professor told me my drawing was ominous and creepy.  Don't know what that means exactly.  German up to my eyeballs.  Shakespeare objective exam tomorrow.  So glad my life doesn't depend on this.  Praying for God to give me rest even as I'm studying.

11:57 PM...thursday: how does it feel to ring in another sleepless night?  what a vast question.  currently there is some entertainment in the library.  our friends paul and james are taking pictures in christmas sweaters with everyone in the library...even people they don't know!2 more pages left in german, already done studying for shakespeare.  then it'll be a wrap!  PTL

Here's a picture of james and paul with a lady who works in the library.  check out even more pictures on facebook!

confessions

whenever i go home for an extended period of time, i never think to pack certain items, because it seems like home should include everything i could ever need.  confession: i've been wearing my brother's deodorant since wednesday.

a picture of me and my brother, evan.  thanks for the antiperspirant, bro!

giving thanks, post turkeyday

inspired by my roomie, decided to make a list of things i am thankful for:

• i am thankful to know a god who is bigger and better than anything i can imagine, a god who wants to be my friend and know my thoughts and laugh at silly things with me.  i am thankful for true grace and joy that come only through christ.  i am thankful to be able to come to him when i'm angry or mean or want to hide from the world, and find peace.  i am thankful for his word, how it is always true.  i am thankful, too, that he chose me and trusted me to be a character in his perfect story of redemption.
• i am thankful that my life isn't about what i study in college, the job i have over the summer, the career i may or may not someday pursue, the girls who befriend me, how great of a hair day i have, or how well i drive.
• i am thankful for christian community at pc...for friends who come to my room at midnight to listen to me freak out and remind me that god is always good.  i am thankful for friends who love to pray and talk to jesus with me on long car rides.
• i am thankful for the sophomore girls at pc who constantly challenge me to know more of christ and give my life away so that others may know more of him as well.
• i am thankful for a roommate who loves jesus, is always honest, and loves me even when i make our room messy.  ashton has taught me so much this year, including how to eat ice cream the real way: by the gallon.
• i am thankful to be able to live life with girls in my sorority.  i am thankful to walk into their rooms, talk with them about things that are important in our lives, and cry with them on the floor.  i am thankful to be able to study the bible with them and watch say yes to the dress with them and eat with them and giggle with them. 

• i am thankful for a family who makes me laugh a lot.  i am thankful that they love to play scrabble and care for each other greatly.
• i am thankful for other things that make me happy: walking around cities, sleeping with the alarm clock off, danskos on pin attire days, sipping coffee during class, sitting in a beautiful church, having plenty of time to get ready in the morning, a new tube of mascara, hot bubble baths, knowing that the art museum in columbia is free on sundays, and pretty flower bouquets.
• i'm thankful for god's perfect plan, and delighted to know more of it each day.  god extends his faithfulness to me, a fact i consider unreal, but a truth he delivers every morning.  no matter what my future entails, be it pain or suffering or messiness or grunge, it is for him.  that is better than anything else i could live for, or anything else i could be thankful for. 

LOVE Y'ALL.

ditched...

blogfans, what an eventful two hours ash and i have just spent. 

we had this thing called prayer tonight at 9.  ash and i hang out almost every sunday before or after this time.  today, we decided to go for a little adventure...aka a ride through clinton and surrounding areas.  sound harmless?  you just wait.

the beginning of the adventure starts as we load up with some cherry limeades (light ice) and tater tots from sonic, drive to laurens and find the cutest airport ever.  who even knew there was an airport near pc?  we pass several other factories, including one named anderson  (anderson what?  i'm still at a loss for the rest of the name of this place, but at least it provided some amusement).  we also pass the sterilite factory and hickory hills barbeque, a delicassy in these parts.

we start talking about something really interesting and continued our voyage through clinton.  passing pc again, i decid to take a left before whiteford's (another restaurant famous for burgers and old people).  noticing some cute houses and swings, ash and i continu chatting until all i feel beneath my car wheels is muddy goo and all i see ahead of my windshield is scary, large branches. 

"stop, amanda, stop, stop, we're in the grass, stop, stop, stop," i hear ashton yell.
i'm pressing the brakes all the way and the car just keeps on going and going and then i press really hard and it finally stops.  yes friends, i steered us straight into a dead-end ditch.  and not just a ditch, mind you, but what i soon learn is a creek!

so then i very quickly put the car in reverse and rev up the engine.  yup, you guessed it, all we got was spinning wheels.  very loud spinning wheels.  very loud and obnoxious and hopeless spinning wheels.

so what next?  ashton decides we need boys to help.  she calls brinck (who was about to enter into a deep slumber).  i give him directions to our current dead end location and we wait.  for about 15 minutes, i start to freak out.  when i say freak out, i mean i'm pretty anxious but not yet at tears. so here's the dialogue that ensues after 5 minutes of pure, hysterical laughter, no words:

Ashton: "ok, ok, it's ok."
Amanda: "no, no, no, no.  I AM SO STUPID!!!"
Ashton: "what are you worried about??"
Amanda: "that my car is messed up, that this ditch is messed up, that my parents will be mad, that my friends will consider me a liability, that i will never finish my take-home german test that was due a month ago, that we'll get dirty..."
Ashton: "ok...well i promise you we won't get dirty"
Amanda: "please pray.  just pray ashton AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Ashton: "god, thank you for being sovereign even over this moment.  and for planning for us to end up in a ditch.  and for cherry limeades from sonic.  and for keeping us safe, even right now.  and for guy friends who are willing to get out of bed to pull us out of the mud.  amen"
Amanda: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ashton: what's wrong?
Amanda: MY LIFE IS A JOKE

right now i'd classify this occurance as a bigger deal than when my car got towed in greenville but less of a deal than say the time i almost slid down a mountain into a rock quarry.

conversation continues.  we wait a really long time.  i give the wrong directions, appearantly, but brinck and travis (an experienced firefighter, mind you) finally find us.  it is during this time that the boys inform us that not only are we stuck in mud, but we are stuck in mud only inches away from a creek.  thankful again for our lives, we get out of the car (althought we do get a little dirty...one compromise i'll make for my own stupidity). the boys put a long string/rope from their jeep to my poor baby stuck in this hellacious mud pit, they press the gas on the jeep a lot, a lot of noise happens, and low and behold, my car is magically returned to concrete!

problem solved!  except for one last unanswerable question.

"so amanda, how exactly did you end up in that ditch," brinck asks.

my reply--there was no dead end sign.  and it was dark, a little rainy, so of course my brights are off.

after the boys peace out, ashton drives my car to the end of the road when we notice the boys stopped beside the stop sign.  we both wonder what else this night could possibly entail.  i roll down my window, they point to the stop sign, and underneath that red familiar octagon lies a yellow diamond square that reads "dead end."

i am humiliated.  God is good.  the boys will receive brownies and chocolate milk tomorrow. 

and that my friends, is the story of how we got ditched...

our tracks, and our creek, just for your perusing pleasure :)

BJC vs CNBC

there are two terms necessary to understanding me and ash's current state of singleness.  oh, blog fans, a few quick definitions before this post begins:

BJC- acronym for the "Bridgette Jones Club".  based on the movie Bridgette Jones' Diary, the BJC is a club that celebrates singleness and the life of women without men.

CNBC- acronym for the "Christian NoteBook Club".  based on the movie The Notebook, the CNBC is the Christian version of a man who is committed to love all of his lover forever.  (note that the CNBC has a few major differences from the NBC.  One of them being sexual faithfulness, for example.  another being the exclusion of pre- and extra- marital affairs.)

so how do we reconcile the differences between these two equally valuable clubs?  and how can we remain members in good standing of both of these clubs simultaneously?  is such a feat even possible?

let me speak from personal experience my friends, while one can be an advocate of both the BJC and the CNBC, membership in either or both of these clubs does not define you.  i am also learning that my membership status actually doesn't belong to either of these clubs, but instead it belongs to my first lover, my lasting lover: Christ.  though it may be easier to claim total allegiance to the BJC or the CNBC, i have to remember that in trusting God to be enough to satisfy me, whether that means for me singleness or not, he will be faithful to his promises.

dirty laundry

even though this confession may seem ridiculous, in learning how stupid and careless i act at times, God is teaching me that i will never measure up to this perfect, smart, put-together girl i sometimes fool myself into believing i am.

ashton and i just returned from a 2 am run to the wal-mart in laurens. on the 15 minute ride to laurens county's favorite late-night hangout, i remembered how much i need laundry detergent. last week was the first time i've washed clothes in a while; i had almost 4 loads swirling through the washers across the hall for a few hours.

as ash and i are walking down the detergent aisle, i am trying to decide which detergent to purchase. (a small side note: i HATE making decisions. i'm very awful at this process. i have to make a check-list in my mind or really examine pros and cons and, oh...it's a terrible thing for me to have to do!) for some reason, the only detergent we see is downy, so i ask ash where the box detergent is located, thinking, for some strange reason, that this type would somehow be more economical.

so we're strolling down the box aisle, and the incredible diversity of these detergents begins to overwhelm me! there are boxes and containers of detergent, all boasting varying scents and clothe-washing abilities when it hits me: i've been washing my clothes in fabric softener for the past 40 loads.

what does this mean? am i that ditzy? that dumb? that careless? how can i possibly ever take care of myself if i can't even wash a load of clothes correctly? and my clothes--i mean, i guess they're soft now--but have i been stinky since i last bought this stuff, spring semester of my freshman year?

and so yet again, i fail...fail to take care of myself, to be savvy, thoughtful and perfect. even at something as insignificant as a load of laundry, i see my need for a savior. and what a comfort to know that jesus never has dirty laundry.

McAwesomeness

A cool and somewhat obscure past Ashton and I share: a history of working for the world's largest fast-food chain--McDonalds! Yup, both of us spent this past summer working at different McDonalds in the Southeast's Mecca of all tourist attractions: Myrtle Beach. Speaking from experience, I think I am about as knowledgeable about the eating habits of travelers from across America as one could be! For example, a Canadian once asked me if we had any berry sauce for our chicken nuggets! If only you could have heard his reaction when I explained to him through the drive-through speaker that no such dipping sauce existed. But let's be real, friends, though McDonalds does sometimes get a bad rep, it isn't such an awful place to work. My hatred of the job during first few weeks of ruining people's lives (aka giving them a Double Cheeseburger instead of a McDouble) evolved into a sort of endearing tenderness towards the restaurant! I now even visit the McDonalds in Clinton instead of hitting up Sonic. Not to mention, I and a few of the girls I worked with stashed up on those Beanie Baby happy meal toys. Let's just say if I ever have children they won't be aching for those precious little stuffed delights. :)

bovine bath

just when we thought our lives were the weirdest, we found out tonight on the news that a lady in greenville woke up to a cow in her pool the other day. more details to come.

UPDATE: you can view reports of this insane incident at http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/cow_rescued_from_anderson_county_swimming_pool/29840/. i encourage you all to investigate this strange occurrence.