For Friday.

I love this song. Reminds me of living in Cali and my ever talented cousin Jenna who created an old school slide show (you know like the clicky kind with the millions of little slides all in a perfect ring) set to this song. Rad. Just thought you might enjoy. Happy Weekend!

Mama Glaze & Don too! Thanks for giving for my birthday. You two are super rad cats! Can't wait to hopefully see you in November!!

Love.

Schenck...nearly 28 years down.

Today at work I had a great case of the "Schenck Spell". For the past 27 (nearly 28) years I've had this last name and let me tell you it has provided it's share of stories. I've gotten into a routine. When asked my last name I've noticed that I don't even say the darned thing. This is the drill...

Random person: And the last name?

Me: Let me spell it for you, it's S-C-H-E-N-C-K.

Sometimes, just sometimes, they ask how it's pronounced and then I go into the obligatory line of comparing it to something that sounds the same.

Random person: Ok, and how do you pronounce that? It looks German (extra points for them for knowing the country of origin)

Me: Schenck, like a shank of lamb.

Let me just say here that I happen to have no real concrete idea of what a "shank of lamb" is. I'm assuming that it is a body part, and that it may be edible, I may have seen it on a menu a time or two. The fact is that I've heard my mom say this line for years and so it just comes out without even a second thought. It was Madre's automatic response and she has passed it down. Poor lady, she married into the "Schenck Spell". She willingly took on the curse of never having a well known, easily spellable name. She denied herself of a life of luxury as a Jones, Smith, Brown, Green or Miller. I'm sure this is where she would argue that my dad is well worth the small sacrifice. But really, did she think about me in this? Oh, my sweet Madre.

I've noticed lately that I don't even write my full name. This is where today at work comes in. A new UPS guy comes in with a package. I know the old guy, I like the old guy. We have the same friendly banter every day, you know, about the weather mostly. So new guy comes strutting in complete with an extra short pair of brown shorts and let me just tell you he was working the outfit. He even was exposing a little chest hair with the first few buttons of his uniform shirt unbuttoned. Pure nast. Upon seeing him I do a mental eye roll. Yes, I was raised properly, we do not roll our eyes. But I've got my own little secret. I do it mentally all day. It's the equivalent of a "psh" out loud when something is ridiculous. Maybe even ridiculously awesome.

So, he walks up to my desk and announces that he has a package. Obviously. (More internal eye rolling). He hands me the handy-dandy electronic do-dat to sign for my package. I sign my name...ok, my signature which consists of only M and then three letters that may or may not resemble a S, C and fancy K. So, I've gotten lazy, I realize that. It's just so many letters and no one can pronounce it anyway...what's the point. And then I wait for the question, cause he has to ask, I know he can't read my signature.

Over-the-top UPS man: And what's the last name?

Me: It's Schenck, like a shank of lamb.

Over-the-top UPS man: Oh, like I'm gonna shank ya? (Said with a wink)
Yes, with a wink. I didn't even know how to respond to this. I had no words. This doesn't happen to me often, the no words thing. I've watched entirely too much Law and Order and CSI.

Sure, I've heard this before. I know (although I've never been to prison) what a shank is. But I don't like to think of myself as a "crude homemade weapon" like something you would see on Shawshank Redemption. Isn't that a coincidence. There was just something about his creeping, chest hair and over sized crisp white tube socks proudly worn above his boots that made the comment even more creepy.

What exactly does he know about shanks?
Does he have one right now?
What happened to the old UPS guy?
Is he dead in the back of the truck?
Is this package filled with anthrax?

I start thinking that if I die, if he really does "Shank" me, only my brother will be left to carry on the family name. Sure, someday I may get married and take my husband's name but there is always the option to hyphenate and keep the Schencks alive. I am suddenly fond of Schenck. I think of all the conversations it has started. The awkward times when I have met someone and they ask if I am related to so and so (only to find out that so and so spells Schenck like it sounds). Those were good times, times that a Jones or Smith or Brown or Green or even a Miller may never have. Suddenly I find myself spelling my name in a "sing-songy" little voice, 1. because I can and 2. because it does rhyme well.

M-E-L-I-S-S-A....S-C-H-E-N-C-K

What I've failed to noticed during all my internal monologue and self reflection is that the UPS guy is still sanding there. And he heard my little song. He give me that look, you know the one your dog gives you. Head cocked a bit to the side, mouth open, eyes a bit squinty like "What the?????". He keeps the look on his face and does a slow pivot turn and is out the door. Lucky for me I'm pretty sure his conscience got the best of him...you can't shank a crazy girl.

Miss Sarah,
I stole your boyfriend in high school and you still love me...man you are just the best! :) Thank you for the birthday gift!

Love, love, love you!

The end of summer as I know it.

Just a bit of an update on where the summer has gone. I spent the weekend in Seattle with Caitlin and Erin at Coffee Fest 2008. I was on cloud niner. You can only imagine the amazing aroma and massive population of bearded baristas (my fav)!



The summer has flown by, consumed with work.
play.
paint.
design.
dream.
write.
work.

One of my favorite times was the "Girls Weekend '08". Madre, Mandy, Bre, Ness, Kenna, and Vanna came to spend time with me here in Mac. It was a great time filled with walks, ice cream, shopping and more shopping, food, painting pottery, drinking coffee and just being sarcastic in general (as is our style).

Speaking of clean water...

My GTG (Go-To-Girl, don't ask) Tracy is on the clean water train too! It has been wonderful to get to know Tracy (and Tyson & Kai!). Not only is she my neighbor and co-worker but also a great friend. We are at completely different spots but it is awesome how we seem to be going through some of the same things. I have no doubt that the Lord has this time planned for us and I know he must love watching our friendship grow. Tracy is like-minded when it comes to the causes I've been learning about. She listens to me go on and on...what a friend! Her mom-in-law is working towards providing clean water to those in need. Jump over to Trac's blog to check out how you can get involved.

Give like it's goin' out of style!
Cheers!

Miss Kelli! Thank you for the gift...you are such an inspiration to me!

Love.

BIG B!

Thank you, thank you for the birthday gift! You really are one of my favs!

Love you!

My sweet Glaze,

Love you! Thank you for the birthday gift...you rock the casbah. Clean water, woot-woot!

Yea!

Dad, Mom, Lanet and Marc...

Thank you so much for the birthday gifts! You all are such blessings to me, but more importantly to those who will now have clean water because of your generosity!

Love.

Happy Birthday....To Me!

The September Campaign Trailer - www.borninseptember.org from charity: water on Vimeo.

This morning my alarm went off at 7 a.m. Warm and cozy in my bed I had no desire to get up, get ready and go to work. I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth, took a shower, and brewed my morning coffee. Noticed that the laundry didn’t get done this weekend, started a load. Filled my mug, grabbed a water bottle and headed out the door.

How blessed am I that I get to do any of this. I hate the morning, yet my routine is rich compared to so many. More than a billion people in our world don’t have clean water, water that makes my world work right, water that I don’t even think about in my hurried day.

This year I am turning 28. This has been a year of changes for me. I’ve been so overwhelmed with what I can do to make a change with how I give to others. Please help me, and instead of giving me a birthday gift, give the gift of clean water to those who desperately need it in Ethiopia. And if you don’t usually give me a gift…good, keep it up, give it away!

Check out my site here.

To Write...

Look what I found today!


I may be the last on the "Wreck This Journal" train but I love it! Kari Smith...I must say, amazing. As if I don't have enough journals going right now. Random writer girl currently has four different journals. Yeah, you read that right. Just turns out that as random as I am like to organize my writing a little bit. Anyway, if you get a chance check out Kari's super creative book and blog. There's nothing like a little inspiration.

Cheers!

I interrupt this epic day of multiple postings (due to the fact that I am no longer on the couch) to bring you this bit of informational goodness...

After a brief moment of Googling, here is what one random website had to say about the history of the expression "Sicker than a dog":

There are several expressions of the form sick as a ..., that date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Sick as a dog is actually the oldest of them, recorded from 1705; it is probably no more than an attempt to give force to a strongly worded statement of physical unhappiness. It was attached to a dog, I would guess, because dogs often seem to have been linked to things considered unpleasant or undesirable; down the years they have had an incredibly bad press, linguistically speaking (think of dog tired, dog in the manger, dog’s breakfast, go to the dogs, dog Latin — big dictionaries have long entries about all the ways that dog has been used in a negative sense).

So, who knows. I think it needs to be changed. But the jury is still out on what exactly is something that we are able to legitimately be sicker than or at least as sick as.

If this bitty post makes no sense to you get caught up already...I've been writing all day! :)

Cheers!

Daisy K Design! Woot-woot!

My sweet friend Kelli is one of the most creative people I know. Kelli and I met on my very first day at NNU & hit it off instantly. She is that friend that I can not see for the longest time but when we get together it seems that no time has passed. I'll never forget when she came home and told us that she had met Josh and the times that I got to spend with the two of them while they were dating. Kelli also had great faith in me and asked me to be a candle lighter in their wedding. Bad idea. I wouldn't say I ruined the day but I sure ruined the candle lighting portion. That's another story for another day.

Kelli has never been one to sit around. We are like minded in needing to stay busy and always having a million projects going. I wish we lived closer so we could work on a few together! So, although she has her hands full with two boys (and Josh!) she somehow finds the time to create these amazing bottle cap goodies!




Her stuff is great, magnets, clocks, jewelry, etc. I love it all and I know you will too!

Check, check out Daisy K!

She's on ETSY too! Click here.

Love you Kel!

It was touch & go.

I've been sick. Real sick. I told a friend yesterday that I was sicker than a dog. As soon as I said it I wanted to take it back. What the heck? Sicker than a dog, really? What does that mean exactly? And where did it come from. I think I need to go ahead a refrain from using old school expressions that I have no idea where they came from or what they really mean. So, one more thing to Google. I'll get back to you on that one.

While I laid on the couch for three days (in and out of consciousness), not even wanting to read (which is really weird for me)I watched a whole lot of TV. I'm cheap and refuse to get cable so the couple free, fuzzy channels I do get don't exactly provide hours of amazing entertainment. But I did find myself transported back to the good old days with a couple of shows.





Yep, that's right...Bob Ross and his "happy little clouds" and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper. "COOPER, COOPER!"

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Of course most of my TV watching was commercials. I've discovered that a majority of day time commercials are for colleges and trade schools. Did you know that you can graduate in less than a year and have an great career in the medical field, computers or business? It truly is amazing. I'm wondering how many people watching the Tyra show at 1p.m. on a week day actually see that commercial and think "whoa, me, a massage therapist in just 9 months?! That's it, today is the day, I'm putting down my plate of Totino's Pizza Rolls (another great commercial) getting off my butt and going back to school!"

So, my life the last three days has been consumed with commercials and I thought I would bring a couple to my blog today. I think these are a bit more worthy of your viewing time. I have a couple friends involved in some rad stuff so I'm going to be sending info your way. Brought to you by the letter M and the color green. Don't change the channel...we'll be right back.

Happy Friday!

I'm an idiot...obviously.

I like maps really I do, I pride myself in being good with maps and directions, knowing my north, south, east and west wherever I am. Never East Shredded Wheat is a phrase to live by. I'm not that go by landmarks girly-girl. I like to know "turn right, south of blah, blah, blah". Basically you could call me a human compass (although this nickname has never been tested by an unexpected wilderness adventure where I am forced to rely on my skills for survival).


Anywho. This really doesn't have to do with maps, as much as it has to do with my lack of attention to my school work in my younger days. And, therefore my lack of knowledge now about the things on these maps that I have stared at all my life. In fact, in elementary school maps were everywhere. We even had one painted on the concrete slab on the playground. I never really saw anyone play with it, and we never used it in any sort of educational activity but it was there. Sort of worn looking, reminding us to be proud Americans with Alaska and Hawaii floating out there mysteriously both south of California, grossly out of proportion to the rest of the masterpiece. I vaguely remember learning some song to help us memorize the state capitals and all the conversation about how the size of a city does not automatically make it the capital; i.e. Seattle in our 3rd grade minds was the obvious choice for Washington, but no...Olympia. Olympia is where it's at!

One thing I have no memory of is learning the abbreviations for each state. Sure, they were printed on probably more than half of the maps we used in elementary school but we never addressed it. Or, I was too busy playing M.A.S.H or contemplating my tetherball strategy for our next recess during this crucial instruction time. What I do remember is that some of them are tricky. You know like Colorado and Connecticut, both start with CO, how did Colorado come out the winner on that one? And Georgia, there is no GE but it can't be that easy, let's make it GA just to throw 'em off.

So I'm at work today working on some billing. I call an insurance company in Nebraska to get their mailing address. The oh so sweet lady on the other end of the phone, across the map, in Nebraska gives me the address and I ask, "That's NE, right?".

Insurance Lady: "obviously."

Me(being the cheerful phone-talker that I am): "Great, I always get confused. I mean, it could be NA. Just checkin'."

Insurance Lady: "Where are you calling from?"

Me(now not so cheerful voiced): "Oregon."

Insurance Lady(Mrs. High and Mighty, I paid better attention than you in school): "Oh, Orea-gone. That's OR"

Let me just tell you it took everything in me not to correct her pronunciation.

She didn't care.

She's confident in her abbreviation skills...she wins.

Today...

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

I've been struck with this question posed by Mary Oliver in her poem "The Summer Day". What do I plan to do with my one wild and precious life? Thinking about knowledge and responsibility, willingness and action.

I'm learning, expanding my knowledge. With this knowledge comes responsibility and taking responsibility requires action. What I do with what I know reveals my heart.

I am called to action by these words...

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
~Edward Everett Hale

Geez

Seriously, this guy is fast, I will give him that. But I've had all I can handle. Really, he's out of control. Geez. And the pose, what's that all about? Does he think he is some sort of super hero? Whatev.

What the no ETSY is going on?!

Yeah, if you haven't noticed my etsy site has been MIA. You know me, I can't concentrate on any one thing too long. I'm working on that little character issue. Anywho, don't give up on me (or Simple Spiel). We've got a change a-comin', a little something to go along with all this injustice I've been thinking about and working through in my heart. So, stick with me!

Love.

The search is on...

Someday, yes someday I will attempt the monumental task of taking up quilting as a hobby. I love quilts, they speak history, tell stories and model cozy. Last summer while visiting our family farm in Penn. I was able to come home with seven amazing quilts, which have been handed down over the years within the Schenck family...what a gift!

A couple weeks ago Tracy and I hit up our local quilt shop to find just the thing for our current room re-dos. Tracy and I live in condos with identical (but mirrored) floor plans and are trying to tackle the same room! I gotta give Trac a little bit o' credit here, she started the whole thing. :) So, while Trac transforms her space into a guest room/office I'm working on turning mine into "the studio". We were on the hunt to find fabric to make throw pillows (Trac) and slipcovers for chairs (me). Just stepping into the store makes me happy. The colors overwhelm me, I love it. All hopped up on notions and color and texture I left the store ready to take on the world. Designers like Amy Bulter, Anna Marie Horner and Heather Bailey. I just love, love it all!

I'm still searching for the perfect print for the studio. It a trick to find decor weight fabrics that are fun. I'm thinking maybe I should design my own. But really, how does one get into that sort of thing? Until then, enjoy some of my favorites from these amazingly creative ladies...

It's raining in Mac today...

Love it!

This is how I feel today...

Bottle it up and it spills over
And over again
Through the pages
Onto the happy
Saturating the sticky
Causing mess

"Studio" Update....

Here's where we are folks:

Pottery Barn Table

$499.00

Slipcovered Pottery Barn Chair

$329.00

Grand total for completely ridiculously overpriced furnishings: $828.00

Don't worry I didn't do it. Oh, come on, seriously.

I'm a craigslist junkie. There is something I find amazing about scouring the Internet, visiting strangers homes, handing them cash and loading up your new loot. And, we are reusing things and saving money all at the same time! Wa-hoo!
Here's what I found:

Sweet table ready for some paint: $20.00
Two perfectly shaped armless dining chairs to be slipcovered: $10.00

Melissa's grad total thus far: $30.00

Now if I can only convince my madre to do some sewing for me! Pics will be coming soon!

No big deal, just savin' THE WORLD.

This is my friend Matt. If you haven't already checked out his website go here and read all about his adventure. Matt set out a couple months ago to spend time in Africa with his little bro (Ryan) and missionary friends (Joey, Destiny and their daughter Mercy). I'd tell you all about it but the guy is a much better writer than I and it is truly better in his own words. Let me just say Matt amazes me. Filled with faith, this tall cat left his job, peeps and all that he was "comfortable" with to travel around the world to Africa and learn all he can about poverty, injustice and such. He is in a place, faced with dirty, sickening, horrific situations that most of us will never even begin to relate to. Talk about bold. Turns out he is the contagious type. Since Matt left I have found myself being "that girl". The girl looks around her and sees the amazing amounts of resources that we squander away on a daily basis. I am so guilty of it myself. Last night my friends and I watched the Olympics. I love the Olympics.

Side Note: Why is it that when I watch I feel the need to judge each athlete's performance? Like I know anything! Don't we all get so into it that we suddenly feel like some sort of sports authority. When, truth be told, the Olympic games are the only time we see some of these athletes. Anywho...

I'm watching with new eyes, looking at the amazing buildings they have constructed to hold tons of people. State of the art facilities that are not only functional but also super artistic. I wonder how much was spent on this stuff...so I get my Google on. 3.4 billion! Seriously. I all of a sudden find myself as somewhat of an Olympics hater. Torn between loving the event and wishing that those dollars could have been used in other ways. I have no idea how many starving children could be fed with 3.4 billion, or how much that amount of money would help AIDS research. All I know is that the number is huge. This is just one small example, one that happened to get me. I'm overwhelmed with examples around us all the time. I'm that girl.

So, I'm sitting there, getting fired up. Fired up about something that I can't do anything about. I'm not going to change Olympic history. I'm not going to convince "the powers that be" to give sacrificially to others and dive into stopping all the world's gross injustices. But yet I'm left with a guilty feeling. I know I don't have much, but what am I doing? It is not fair to sit around and complain about how others are using their resources without first checking my own situation.

When Matt left, everyone asked me what he was going to be doing in Africa. I mostly replied, "Oh, you know, saving the world, no big deal." Mildly laced with sarcasm, this comment eats at me now. Matt is doing what he can to save the world, he has stepped out and the Lord is totally using him. Yesterday I was sharing with him about some stuff going on in my heart and I said that, "I guess this is where it's time to be bold." Matt's response: "It's not so much about being bold as it is about being willing." Geez, the guy has a way with words. But it's true. What are you willing to do for the Lord? What am I willing to do?

Just a glimpse into where my mind has been lately. If you hated this post you may want to stop reading my blog. I have a feeling that there will be a lot more of this sort of thing to come...

Cheers!

Pick it!

Yesterday after church my buddy Caitlin and I set out on the grand adventure of picking blackberries at a park here in Mactown. I chose to wear flip flops which proved to be a really bad idea but working through the pain had great rewards.





Yum, yum, yummity, yummster.

Side Note: Office/Studio space has been painted. Work table has been acquired (more on that process later) and shelves has been purchased. Pics coming your way soon!