to find beauty

to do wish list for when i can drive without the woe of snow...

in no particular order

1. eat in restaurants! CPK, yummy Mexican food, even New Seasons!

2. go to chiropractor!!

3. go to beauty salon/spa and get eyebrows waxed!

4. visit friends! give them hugs!

5. go to work again!

6. go to the craft store!

7. see my small group girls!

8. shop for a now belated Christmas...

$1 a day? really?

Starting in February I will be learning proper budgeting lessons when both of my lifegroups (and the rest of the church!) go through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. For three years I've avoided FPU, and now I get it double and full-blast. Haha. I know it will be good (and won't be that bad either!), but I am a little scared. Will I be eating oatmeal and pb&j's now only?

Not sure if I could do this... but, maybe I could?

i have an awesome lifegroup

It's true. My Monday night lifegroup is pretty darn amazing. Me and three other gals who love Jesus and each other.

Kati
Korrin
Kristen

I must have a weird thing with names that start with the same letter. I'm the odd one out with Cori.

Anyways, we decided to serve at the Life Cafe (little coffee shop at Abundant Life Church, open during weekend services) the first Saturday of the month starting in 2009.

I'm a little nervous. Well, I was a little nervous ... before we were officially trained this past Monday.

The nerd I am, I took pictures to document the night!

  

Here's Kristen (blond), Kati (in the Penguin scrubs!) and myself in the back. 

   

We pretended to order our coffee drinks like real people do. (Maybe we're all nerds, not just me?) Kristen ordered a, hmm, I can't remember what kind, blender; Korrin made it for her. I sampled it and It was very delicious whatever it was!

 

That's Kati's foot in the background.

Here's another picture of Kati:

 

I made that caramel latte blender!

 

Here's our amazing leader Korrin workin' the blender!

Korrin made this caramel macchiato!

Anyways...

I learned several very important lessons during this training:

1. Don't touch the steamer nozzle when its doin' its thing. Very hot.
2. White chocolate mochas are pretty much amazing. Oh wait, I knew that already.
3. If you are learning how to make coffee drinks from 7 to 9 pm, do not feel like you need to drink all the yummy drinks you made- you will just go home completely buzzed and unable to sleep until 3am.
4. Serving with your lifegroup is the way to go!

Finally, a grande thank you to Rebecca for training us! ;)

before and after: no more naked tree

 

I promised myself I wouldn't decorate my little naked Christmas tree until I "finished" fall term.

(Don't you love the peacock painting? $1.99 at Goodwill. I love, love, love it Mom hated it. The bird's nest is my own work. Oil pastels.)

So, I've been tripping over this lovely box:

Guess what?

I finished. I emailed in the last essay. Took my last final. No more discussion boards... until January. I won't know my final grades until later. Until then, I will enjoy my newly decorated tree. This is the view from the right:

I don't really have a theme. Lots of Mary Englebreit, cowboys, santas & snowmen, and, of course, black- and-white cats. (You can't really see them though. The blue ornament in the front is handpainted and has cats on it. Was a gift from a co-worker. Actually, most of the non-Mary Engelbreit and cowboy ornaments are from co-workers. The log cabin is supposed to be Laura Engall's home. Just so you know.)

Here's the tree from the left side:

 

You can kinda make out the black-and-white cat face on the blue ornament! Can you tell I love the color red? The little girls in the popcicle frame are Ally & Colby, my fav kids from nanny days.

There you go. It's Christmas time.

list: things migraines robbed me of over the last three days

1. No work on Friday which means:

a) I had to call my boss and tell her I wasn't coming in which is on my list of most hated things to do.
b) having to decide whether to earned time off hours or go unpaid.
c) recieved text message from co-worker Val that her daughter made and brought in the BEST chocolate fudge cookies in the whole, wide world and I missed it.

2. No fun hike on Saturday when the weather was beautiful.

3. Missed the single's ministry "first Sunday" lunch which you never know, could have introduced me to my future husband. Then, again, probably not. But I did miss time with friends and yummy food.

4. Had to write the final essay for my Marriage and Power class while "migraining." (Migraining: hot flashes, sweaty, pounding headache, sharp pains in eyes, nauseaus, y'know migraine things.) I can only hope the professor will remember how great my other essays were and know I am not an idiot. (Am more concerned with that than getting a bad grade! Hmmm.)

5. Still have another essay to write, a personal reflection and a final to take. Ugh. I was robbed of good weekend time to get these done! Hopefully, my head will feel better tomorrow!

This is the first time in a long time I have had a migraine last this long. So, its really just annoying and getting in my way. So, dear friends, if you felt neglected by me this weekend, understand it was not because I don't care!

paperdoll event!

Yeah for fun, crafty projects to do with friends! Thats what I say! I got this email forwarded to me the other day and wanted to extend the invite! :)

 

["Paperdoll" is an awesome little stamp and card shop in SE Portland. My friend Joy (and I, through Joy) know the owner well and we want to support her as much as we can!!]

 

paperdoll is offering private “Collaged Christmas Cards” workshops!

Never made a card before? Don't worry, there will plenty of supportive and friendly helpers at your disposal. If you are an experienced card maker, we welcome your inspiration and spirit.
 
Invite your mother, sister, or girlfriends…spaces are limited so register soon!  

Saturday, December 13^th, 2008
12:30 - 2:30  or  3:00 - 5:00pm

 

$10 per person ($5 for paperdoll girl club members).

Participants will receive a bag filled with unique items to create as many Christmas cards as you wish ($12+ value) and a ‘buy one get one’ coupon pack worth over $200!!!

Please bring adhesive (glue stick) and a pair of scissors and/or small paper cutter.

Additional supplies (rubber stamps, ink pads, glitter, paper, decorative scissors, punches…) will be provided for you to share/use during class. We will be serving tea, coffee, and cookies.  

Make beautiful Christmas cards, get free gifts, eat, drink and be merry!  What more could you ask for?!

Stop by paperdoll or call the shop at 503.408.6867 to register.

 

[Let me know if you want to go-- Joy and I are thinking of going during the later shift.]

paperdoll

buy a card or make a card

7909 SE Stark Street

Portland,  OR 97215

Ring 503.408.6867

www.paperdoll-co.com

my name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 28 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

• Thats with using my full name. (I like that the number is 28. 'Cause thats my magic number.)
• Only 7 others who go by "Cori Fisher."
• There are 9,174 people named Cori.
• 36,696 named Corinne.
• Cori is the 1951st most popular name.
• Corinne is 941st.
• Both names are 99.9% female only.
• My last name, Fisher, is the 113th most popular name.
• 235,467 other folks share my last name. Big family?

 

I typed in some of my best gal pal's names... and just as I thought: they are the only ones out there. One in 68,650,650,888*. ;)

 

*The actual number of people in the world. Although the number goes up and down. Its pretty addicting to watch. People being born. People dying.

what i am learning... in my sociology class

So, I am reading the last assigned chapter of "Essentials of Sociology" for my intro to sociology class. The chapter is called "Globalization in a Changing World" which includes a lot of great stuf like the influence of religion on social change and whether or not the postmodern era has arrived.

Words like "historicity" [which is actually quite interesting. Its Alain Touraine's explanation for why there are more movements in the modern world than in earlier times... the answer: now we in modern societies, us individuals and groups alike, "get" that social activism can be used to achieve social goals and reshape society. We didn't "get" it before.] and INGOs (not with B) [which are international non-governmental organzations, ie Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, not to be mistaken with IGOs which involve the government.)

See, I am learning so much. Ask me about transnational corporations! I dare you!

I am reading along, highlighting away with bright yellow goodness, and I begin reading this:

In December 1999 (According to Wikipedia, it was November 30, 1999. Hmm.), more than fifty thousand people from around the world took to the streets of Seattle to protest during the WTO's so-called Millennium Round of trade talks. (blah blah blah) The trade unionists, environmentalists, human rights activists, farmers, and representatives from hundered of NGOs [now, we know what these are, see above] were triumphant--not only had the demonstrations succeeded in disrupting the talks, but internal disputes among delegates had also risn to the surface. The Seattle protests were heralded as the biggest victory to date for campaigners for "global justice." (blah blah blah) In the months following the Seattle protests, similiar demonstrations were held in other cities around the world, such as London and Washington DC. These events were much smaller than those that took place in Seattle..." (Giddens, 471)

So, at the time I had no idea what the WTO was-- I may have even thought it was some sort of WWF spin off. (WWF was gaining a lot of popularity at the time, despite my total disinterest.) But I was living in Seattle at the time, attending my freshman year at Seattle Pacific University and I remember when the demonstrations took place.

Mayhem!

I wasn't down on the streets (I think I was cautioned to stay inside by school officials??) but several classmates did partake in the festivities and, later they shared with us their animated stories and wild photos. I also saw the tell-tale signs of something Big on the streets later. It was crazy. Of course, now (especially after reading my soc book, which is hardly slanted at all) I understand better what WTO (World Trade Organization) and what the big deal was... and still is about. The book goes on and on about WTO and the fight for free trade... its fascinating.

Did you know industrial countries own 97 percent of all patents worldwide (according to my text book), but the concept of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS is alien in the developing world? So we weed through the jungles of developing countries and take their good plants and make our money-making medicine and they get squat because we've patented the medicines. Oh I could go on. I am learning. Am I the last to realize all this? Has my head been in a mole-hole?

Going back to school is fun.

on listening

Last week I had a terrible, weird dream. I am not sure how it happened, but the right side of my head was sliced off and the exposed area was melted like Jason. If that is not creepy and weird enough, my right ear was intact after the slice. In the dream, I went and picked up the ear (because I was fine otherwise) and was holding it and wondering how I could put it back on my head.

I am not sure what I ate before I went to bed either.

According to dreammoods.com, "to see ears in your dreams, suggest that you need to be more responsive or receptive to guidance and assistance from others. You may be relying too much on your own judgment and intuition. You need to listen more closely to what you are being told. Alternatively, it signifies your immaturity and lack of experience." There were no matches for "melted face."

Now, I honestly do not look to dream interpretation websites for my wisdom—a little too Ouija-board-fortune-teller-astrology-ish for me—but sometimes it's a little interesting. And in this case, it was a little insightful.

I have been wondering lately about my listening skills. So, the fact I dream my right ear is sliced off in some grotesque-horror-movie fashion has me a little unnerved.

I complained to some close friends a couple Fridays ago that I was frustrated that "people" didn't want to get to know me. Now, I fully realize how completely ridiculous this sounds, and I realized this as well about five seconds after I said it, but ergo, I made the grand announcement so I couldn't rewind. I complained that I would listen to people, but the road didn't always go both ways. (Then, lightening struck me for lying.]

Again, I realize how ridiculous this sounds. So, I have been pondering this… and I gave myself a little challenge—scratch that—a big challenge. I would be intentional about listening to others, and not sharing all my fun-and-can't-wait stories until they've exhausted themselves verbally.

It has been very hard. I have failed more than I have succeeded. [I love to talk and share.] But I feel like if I want to be the good friend I want so much to be, I need to boost my active listening skills. No more ridiculous pity parties. (For the time being.)

So far, I have learned a lot.

1. One friend was bit by a spider and now wonders if he will gain super powers like Spiderman. He hopes his superpower will be to "control energy." I texted him this afternoon and he has yet to see signs of a superpower.
2. A different friend of mine wants to study anthropology… someday. She is also very lonely.
3. One friend was excited about her "first kiss" with her new boyfriend. He had perfect lips.
4. Another friend was really upset that the Beav's lost. (Okay, so this was a given, great listening skills not required.)

Hmmm. So, I think that's all. Your turn.