and i'm home from grand rapids

what do you get when you add snow + pizza + the skit guys? you get an event for youth groups in grand rapids that is a whole lot of fun.

we (ys) along with the skit guys and compassion hosted a free event for youth groups. free pizza and lots of laughs with the skit guys. it was sort of a "launch party" for their new dvd series called you teach. volumes 1 & 2 have just released and volume 3 will be out in august.

there were a few hundred people there, lots of pizza and mostly a lot of laughs. seriously, the skit guys are a hoot. "have you ever heard how dodgeball started? it started as dodge rock. you knew when you were out." and then there's the need harmony video (i'd link to it, but it's not available yet). i'm still laughing when i think about it. as someone who's dabbled in online dating, it is just painfully funny.

oh, and the snow. it snowed--a lot--while we were there. it was snowing when we got off the plane monday afternoon and didn't stop until mid-day wednesday. much to the chagrin of the michigan residents who are completely sick of the stuff, i really love the snow. it's so pretty and i love how everything is so clean and sparkly and still in the midst of a snowstorm. of course, it's much easier to love snow when you're only visiting and you don't have to shovel any of it.

and finally, in case you're unfamiliar with the skit guys, here's a video of them i found on youtube.

excitement!

so there's been a little excitement going on in my work life lately. recently i was promoted to marketing manager, resources. i'll still get to work with our denominational and network partners and the youth specialties academic support network. the rest of my time and energy will be focused on connecting people with our resources: books, curriculums, dvds, etc. i'm really loving the new role.

tomorrow morning, i head to grand rapids to sit in on sales conference. we'll be presenting about 20 new resources to our sales team so they can start working with retailers to bring the resources to local bookstores. i'm so excited about this new batch of resources--there's great stuff for youth workers: new bible study curriculum, some encouraging words from one of my favorite people, some cool new stuff for teens... i should stop for now. anyway, i'm looking forward to this week in michigan. except for the cold. that i could do without.

oh happy shopping days

yesterday i stopped by borders just to browse for a bit and they had a huge clearance section, and there tucked away on a top shelf in a corner was a copy of Rhett Butler's People. it was a hardback copy marked 75% off! and all of the ones at the front of the store were regular price. i took it to the register and asked if the book had something wrong with it or if it was just mismarked. there wasn't anything wrong with it, and it was mismarked, but the border's associate honored the discounted price anyway! i brought it home for only $7! i've had to hide it from myself because i was reading it instead of getting my chores done! gone with the wind was the first "grown-up" novel i read and i fell in love with it immediately. i read the entire thing in just two days as a freshman in high school. and i've seen the movie a ridiculous number of times. i'm so liking reading more about rhett. the funny thing for me is that when i read what he's saying, i totally have clark gable's voice in my head.

these shoes were my other happy shopping moment of the weekend. i found them marked 1/3 off in the clearance section at my local dsw shoe warehouse. they were just so fun i couldn't resist trying them on just for kicks. and then they fit perfectly so i decided to splurge. as i walked away from the clearance section, i saw a whole stack of the same shoe for the regular price. a sales associate was there so i showed her the shoes that were marked sale and pointed out the display of regular priced ones. apparently my pair was from a previous shipment so it didn't matter they'd received more at the regular price, mine were still on clearance. so yes, i now own these adorable and fun shoes. they're therapeutic in my recovery from the recent loss of my favorite knee-high, high-heeled, black boots that died due to irrepairable heel breakage while in chicago o'hare.

it's been happy shopping days. and now i'm stopping while i'm ahead.