Worship with Sight and Smell :)

The Mall Manhunt! What a fun idea!

Grace Fellowship takes its youth to the Circle Center Mall once a year ... usually early in December, for a game of "hide 'n seek." And I got to go with them last night! It was super fun! :D For three reasons! :)

#1 - I love young people! I got to hide from the youth all night ... and I got to hang out with Paige and her friends on the way to the mall and all the way home. Always fun to listen to teenager's conversations. ;) ... And we listened to Radio Disney. Ha! Always hilarious!

#2 - I love Grace Fellowship people ... and I love that I am a part of this Body ... even though I'm not. GFC is my second church family, and it is a blessing to call the amazing people of Grace just that ... my FAMILY. :)

#3 - While I hid in the mall, I spent most of my time in the calendar store. I headed straight for the "nature" section. I spent nearly the entire game "hiding" in that store! I looked at calendars full of pictures of sunsets, landscapes, mountains, clouds, rainbows, moons ... all kinds of stuff. I'm a big nature person. Being outside is one of my favorite places to be. I love simply sitting and watching the sun set, sitting in silence listening to the wind blow through the trees ... I love taking pictures of the sky ... of mountains ... of cool nature sites. It's one of my favorite things to do. ... The whole time I was in the store, I kept thinking, "Wow, God! You really knew what you were doing with this rainbow!" "Oh, Lord! This mountain range takes my breath away!" "Whoa! That cloud design in the sky is incredible!" ... It was a huge blessing to just stand and bask in God's presence through His creation. I couldn't leave without buying a calendar! :) ... And then I headed over to a candle store and bought a candle named "fireside." So now ... my room smells like my favorite scent in the world - a campfire! ... And I have a calendar full of rainbows hanging on my wall in my room! :D

It was a simple blessing ... basking in God's presence through my senses! Praising God with sight and smell ... good stuff! 'Cause ya know ... complimenting God on His handy work is worship. :) Take a look around you today ... use your senses to worship the Lord! :D

"Especially your giggle."

So I'm sitting in my mom's bookstore ... I WAS doing homework - honest - but the conversations of the customers are keeping my mind from my reading. I don't read well anyway ... and with all the noise - it's impossible. But my mind CAN focus on writing at the moment ... especially blog writing! So I'm gonna go at it until the customers leave. :)

Here's a story for ya. :)

A couple weeks ago, I was standing at a computer outside the entrance of the University Library on campus, and all of a sudden I heard, "Mical Masterson!" I recognized the voice immediately and turned around to find Hannah Baker walking towards me. I was more excited to see her than usual because I hadn't seen her on campus yet and I had an awful night the night before. (And she's one of those people who always makes me feel better! Hannah's pretty amazing!) :) ........ We hadn't gotten to talk much in the previous couple of weeks, so we were both excited to see each other. We stood and talked for close to a half an hour. We talked about all kinds of things in that half an hour - things that made us sad, things that made us super excited, things that made us laugh. It was a really fun conversation. :)

Well, we must've had a bit too much fun because about 15 minutes into our conversation, a guy in a blue vest came over and stood next to us. He had his arms crossed, and when I finished my sentence, we looked at him ..... and he said something to the affect of ... "Could you guys either lower your voices or go somewhere else to talk because your voices are carrying all the way up to the 4th floor ... especially your giggle" - that part was word for word. .... "Especially your giggle." Ha ha! ....... Hannah and I both coured a bit and apologized. When he went away, we saw that his vest said "Library Security." Oooo ... ;) As soon as he was out of ear shot we started laughing (more quietly, of course ... we didn't want our "giggle" to carry up to the 4th floor again! Haha!). Too funny!

It was pretty much the highlight of my day! I am loud and obnoxious by nature ... and my laugh is probably the loudest part about me. It always makes me laugh (harder) when people tell me to be quiet. I get told that every now and then .... not too much, but probably more than the average person. ;) More than once, when I've been out with Mags, I'll be traipsin' around a store with her talking in my loud Mical voice or laughing about something that is not really all that funny to a "normal" person, and she'll "shhh" me. She doesn't like to be the center; I do. It's as simple as that. Ha ha! And I remember one time in the library with Ben ... we were on the 4th floor .... he was interviewing me for a project he was working on ... and he "shhhed" me more than once. It was pretty funny. I can't help it. I'm loud. I don't know how to change that. But at times, I'm proud of it. .... Like that day with Hannah in the IUPUI library. .................. Too much fun!

Alrighty .... well, that's my story. Do YOU have any fun stories to share??? :D

One of the Best Inventions Known to Man (okay ... to Mical)!!! ;)

You guys!!! I experienced one of the coolest inventions I've ever seen - today - at 4:45pm!!! Listen to this! .........

I was in the UWC (the IUPUI University Writing Center) helping make copies of some of our handy handouts .... we headed downstairs to room 313 to make 20 copies of each. I went to learn how to use the copier ... so the fellow tutor I was with was gracious enough to let ME press all the buttons and put the paper in the appropriate places - in other words, I got to do the fun stuff. :D I mean, who doesn't like to push buttons? Seriously! So ... as if copying double-sided pages wasn't enough, I found out that this creative machine STAPLES THE PAGES FOR YOU!!!! Can you believe that?! ... I was flipping out! I had everyone in the surrounding area laughing at me because I was so awed! Who thought of THAT?! Someone amazing ... that's all I'm saying. Wow! AND ... as one last amazing note - this copier hole punches too! Wow! I told my fellow tutor, "Soon they'll be cooking our meals for us!"

Wow. Technology is advancing! Crazy! And oh, so much fun! (I'm sure this invention has been around for awhile - I'm out of the loop ... but it is one of those inventions that deserves praise - not the Jesus kind of praise, of course ... but the "wow, that's pretty cool" kind of praise!)

Too much fun! ............ I know I'm waaay too excited. But ya know, it's the simple things! ;)

That's all for now. :)

Sheesh Maneesh! The Typos!!!!

So only an English major would care enough about her typos to write a whole blog post about 'em! This is short .... I just have two things to say about my typos.

#1: They drive me crazy! ... and yet I am too lazy to go back and fix all of them. (I guess I'm not TOO crazy in my Englishness. Ha!)

#2: I "proofread" all of my posts, and I still miss some obvious errors. You'd never know I work in the IUPUI Writing Center! Ha ha! What a hoot!

Okay ... that's all. ... Continue reading my blog, please! More to come! - About God's faithfulness ... about amazing friends (mine!). :)

An Afternoon with Barrett

Whew! What a long morning! Getting up at 5:30am to exercise has been good, but man! The mornings seems so much longer! I am wiped out already ... and falling asleep in my classes - eek! I think my body still needs time to get used to getting up so early! Whoa! ... But anyway! I'm taking a break from my busy morning to post about a little guy I've been thinking about a lot this week. :)

Yep, I'm talking about Barrett Nilsen - my favorite little guy in the world!!! I got to spend the afternoon with him on Sunday and had the time of my life! The Higher Ground/Grace folks went to Q'doba for lunch on Sunday afternoon, and the Nilsens came too. :) Yay Mike, Judy, Alec, and Barrett! ... Barrett was super fun at lunch - being the crazy-fun 6 year old that he is. :) He was jumping from lap to lap and talking non-stop! Way too much fun!!! ... He sat on my lap for awhile, and when Mike and Judy left, he told me he was going to the Children's Museum with Ben. He said, "You can come with us if you want to." And pretty much from that moment, I was determined to go! ;) When your favorite little guy invites you to come along, you go! ;) I've been wanting to get to know Barrett better for a long while, so I knew I was going with them! :D And a funny note - later, during lunch, Barrett and Ben were getting ready to leave, talking about the Children's Museum ... and Barrett looked at me and said, "I don't think you're coming." I laughed and told Ben that he must've changed his mind about me coming. Ha! It was pretty funny. ;) So Ben, Brittney, and Barrett left for the CM, and I finished chatting with some folks. After I dropped Tiff off at the church, I called Ben and asked if I could tag along on their adventure to the CM. :)

By the time I got there, they had seen much of the place, so we only stayed an hour or so longer. But during that time, I had Barrett nearly all to myself! I let Ben and Brittney talk, and I followed Barrett all over the building. We crawled under the train displays, ran through the black light maze, sat in a submarine, ran from a "bomb" on the main floor of the submarine (Barrett pushed a button; it started flashing ... we decided the submarine might blow up, so we ran away!), and my favorite event - we had a sword fight with the funky-shaped glass creations in the basement of the CM. All our adventures were the highlight of my week ... but my favorite part (hands down!) was when we were walking to the parking garage at the end of the day. We walked out the doors of the CM, and Barrett ran to me and grabbed my hand. He held my hand the whole way back to the parking garage, until he kissed me on the arm and Ben pulled him away saying "Girls are gross, Barrett!" *Another side note .... what exactly is Ben saying here? Is he really saying that GIRLS are gross or that MICAL is gross!? Ha ha! Either way ... I was bummed that he pulled my new little friend away! Barrett put up a fight though. He grabbed my hand again and wouldn't let go! ... It truly was the best part of my week - kisses from Barrett? What is better!? ;) *Yet another side note .... I think I lied to you, James Nilsen - whoops. ;) I DO love it when littlun's grab my hand as we walk ... and hugs from 'em ... and, in this case, kisses! .... Okay - back to the point! ;)

My time with Barrett on Sunday afternoon was one of the best times I've had in awhile. :) I keep telling Ben that I want to steal him, plop him down in my room, and just talk with him all day long! Some folks may not see the joy in hanging out with little kids ... maybe it's one of those simply joys in my life ... but really - try it sometime! Kids are incredibly fun and can teach you a lot!

An afternoon with Barrett ... the highlight of my week! And I'm still excited about it 3 days later! ;) .... My advice to all you fellow bloggers ... spend some time with Barrett - and soon! :)

Smiley Face Fruit Snacks :)

Too much fun! :)

Okay. Simple joys. Do you have them? Do have something (or somethingS) that is so simple (and maybe even silly) that makes you happy? I have lots of those things. It is fun to have simple joys in life. Something I find myself saying to my friend James Nilsen a lot is "It's the simple things." 'Cause he gets excited about little things all the time ... like goldfish crackers, for example. ;) (It's one of my favorite things about him!) But anyways ... I have lots of little things that make me happy. ... When people I don't know say "hi" or smile at me, I get really excited. I was telling my youth at Calvary that I "stare" people down when I walk on campus. Ha! I put "stare" in quotation marks because when my youth heard me say that I stare people down, they thought I literally stared them down (ya know, the creepy "you better look at me, or I'm gonna eat you alive" kind of staring). They all gave me the most hilarious, freaked out, "Mical, you are weird!" kind of looks, and then I told them that I simply don't look down or look away like everyone (and their mom) seems to do. Do you know what I mean? When you walk by people ... no matter where you are ... most people will do everything they can NOT to look you in the eye! What is up with that? ... Okay. Chill out, Mical. So to say all of that ... I really like it when people smile and say hello to me ... especially when I don't know them. It is a simple joy in my life. I also really like it when people sing ... whether they are good or not ... I love to hear people sing. Especially if they are in a public place for everyone to hear! And I like sweet tea. Oh, man! Do I like sweet tea! It is like heaven in a glass. It is one of those "comfort" drinks. It just makes me feel better. A simple joy.

Okay ... so those are some examples of some simple joys in my life. Don't you love my tangents? ;) ... Well, today I had a "simple joy" moment. I was at Wal-Mart picking up something for my mom, and I passed by the snack isle. ... Another side note - I have been on an emotional roller coaster for a really long time ... and today has been kind of an up and down day ... I'm good one minute and bummed out the next ... just a lot on my mind. - So yeah ... I was really needing a pinch of joy ... in the form of a smile, actually. And I got it. I passed the snack isle and I saw these smiley face fruit snacks for $1.44. (Don't you love Wal-Mart's "always low prices"?) ;) I got really excited! Yep, my heart jumped for joy! I was needing a smile ... and I didn't get just one, I got a WHOLE BAG OF SMILES!!! So I picked up the bag and grinned all the way to the check out counter. ... If you don't know why that is such a great story, then I think you need to start appreciating the simple things in life. 'Cause it's a really GREAT story! :D

Goldfish?

Ha ha! So let's take a break from CCF. :)

I wanna tell you about some special goldfish!!!! The BEST goldfish in the world!!! This is a very simple story, but it is one of my favorites ... and always will be. Yep, it's true, James Nilsen - always will be! :D

So we (me, James, Hannah, Tiff, and James Cranny) all went to Hannah, Tiffany, and Maggie's apartment after a Calvary-Grace softball game one night this summer. ... Or was it one Sunday night after youth group? Sheesh. I don't remember. But anyway! We were heading there to watch School of Rock or Napolean Dynamite ... man, I don't remember that either!! (Some of the BEST movies EVER!) ... James and James and Hannah and Tiff stopped for snacks, and I met them there after youth group was over. (I help out with the youth at my church ... for those who don't know.) :) So we get there and settle in. Then James (Nilsen) pulls out a bag of goldfish and asks if anyone wants some. James (Cranny) and I both took a handful. About 5 minutes later, James turns to me and asks, "Hey, Mical. Do you want some goldfish?" I smile at him (since he asked me not too long ago), and said, "No, thanks, James. I'm good." ... Or something to that affect. About a minute later, he asks again, "Hey, Mical. Do you want some goldfish?" ... As he points the bag in my direction. I started laughing (as I often do). Then about 10 seconds later ... "Hey, Mical. Do you want some goldfish?" I started laughing harder and probably called him a "goof" or something similar. This went on for a couple of minutes ... eventually, he got the hint that I did not want more goldfish. Good times.

Later that night, as we were pulling out of Settler's Run (their apartment complex) ... James was heading one way, and I was heading the other. As we turned to leave the stop sign, he grabbed his bag of goldfish and held them up to his window ... gave a huge grin ... and then I got a text message that said, "Goldfish?"

A few weeks later, he got me a present. He wrapped it in a Starbucks bag and told me I couldn't open it until 11pm. He said, "You can't shake it or tip it or move it around." And he made me grab the bag from the top. Hilarious. I opened it at 11:01pm. And whatta ya know? It was a bag of goldfish. ....... One of the best gifts I've ever received! And ya know ... I think it always will be. Because it was a GREAT inside joke ... but more so because it is from James Nilsen!!! One of my favorite guys in the whole wide world - for always. :)

And that's my story about James Nilsen ... a guy who's right up there with his brother, Ben - on the most amazing guys ever list! He may not know how much I love him (in the non-scary, friend/we're spending eternity together kind of way, of course!) ... but he should now, right?! ;)

You are a picture of Jesus in my life, James Nilsen! So glad we ARE friends!

...... Hey, James! Want some goldfish? ;)