Office Olympics 2008

So, last week was motivation week at my office. In honor of this, we had an event known as the Office Olympics. You might have thought this only happened on the TV show 'The Office' - but the longer I work here the more I'm convinced that the writers of that show must have at some point also been employed by this company (which shall remain nameless). We kicked off the week with some (manditory) bowling at our annual off site event! My team was the 'West Side Ballers' pronounced...'Ballas'. We even had T-shirts made with big crowns on them, and headbands with a big WB on them - it was the closest I'll ever come to being in a gang (thankfully).

We had an event everyday, the schedule went like this

Monday: Last minute PI (provider invoice). This is the deadline that happens twice a month when all of the doctor's timesheets come in and we have to get them all processed in 2.5 days.

Tuesday:Recycle Bin super shot. basically this is basketball with balls of paper that you had to shoot into a moving trashcan. My team got the silver in this one!

Wednesday: The Name Game. This was a spelling bee of sorts where we had to correctly spell doctor's last names. this can be tricky, especially with Dr. Chrephabodi, or Dr. Llguilar-Sincabanti. My team got the bronze in this.

Thursday: Policy Trivia. This was jepordy with company policy and procedure. My team got bronze in this.

Friday: Chair races. In this event I sat in the chair with my legs up while my teammate was blindfolded and I had to tell her how to get around obsticals - such as paper boxes, bowling pins, etc. My teammate was also our team captain who happens to be the most competitive person I've ever met. She stopped listeneing to me after two 'Right, Left's' and just plowed through all of the obstacles and into a desk. Fortunately, I was not injured, she however tripped over the chair. We missed bronze by 1 second.

Overall in the closing ceremonies we got the bronze... not to shabby.
West Side Ballers - what what!!

963 Coffee

Our friends over at 963 Coffee have started this wonderful business to facilitate the fair trade of coffee so that you get your daily Joe and coffee farmers get their fair share of what would otherwise be a $5 cup of coffee. Instead of beans on the dollars, they get a fair wage, good working conditions, the right to organize themselves into unions, and a host of other benefits not afforded by other coffee companies.

In addition to what is already a great product, the 963 Coffee guys have set up an affiliate program through which all of your purchases made by linking from I Heart Community 4 Life will go into an account with the Buy Shoes. Save Lives. name on it. Buying coffee and helping South Americans and African will now fund heart surgeries for Iraqi kids to boot!

Here's our coffee campaign: We get 40% of sales from the store through this affiliate program. If you buy 10 bags of coffee for $10 each children in Iraq will receive $40 of your purchase.

If you are an addict, we recommend you to sign up for the Monthly Obsession (like a subscription to coffee!). If we get 63 friends signed up for 2 bags of coffee a month, that would be $6,000 to children in Iraq in one year alone! That's an entire heart surgery funded by drinking coffee!

That's a great cup of coffee!

So forgo your Starbucks today and drink some 963 Coffee instead.


I have personally been a 963 coffee customer and have been very pleased with the product... and I'm kind of a coffee snob (starbucks = gross). I also have written Starbucks (and spoken to several store managers) about brewing fair trade coffee in their stores. Due to the amount of money it would cost them to make a significant investment in fair trade coffee, they are currently unwilling to switch to fair trade. While they sell some fair trade coffee in some locations, they do not currently brew it in their stores. So - not that I'm saying Starbucks is bad or you should not go there...but maybe you could think about investing in the lives of coffee farmers and their communities simply through choosing fair trade, and while you're at it you can help fund a heart surgery for an Iraqi child. Have you had a better cup of coffee than that? ... I didn't think so.

pigeon problems....

Some of you may remember my last comical encounter with a pigeon - better known as Fran (check the June 05 archives)
Well, this past weekend when Elyse & Stephen came to visit all was wonderful - except for the pigeon...
Jeff & Stephen had gone to check the mail and Elyse & I were just sitting on the couch talking when we hear this really strange noise right outside the door. It sounded like some kind of animal grunting and I began to suspect that the Cat Lady who lives downstairs let her cat out while it was in heat or something...then right when I was about to get up and check outside I hear this loud cooing noise (this was actually Stephen impersonating a bird - but I didn't know he could do that) and wings flapping up against the door. Then the guys come inside and tell us there was a pigeon nesting on the door mat! We all laugh, go out to eat and forget about it.
Well, the next morning we wake up the door mat is in the living room and Stephen & Elyse have been awake since dawn because the pigeon (Elyse named him Potipher) came back. At first Elyse would just open the door and it would fly away, but then it kept coming back and eventually when Elyse would open the door it would just turn it's head all the way around awkwardly and look at her with those creepy, beady eyes like 'What? Get out of my nest.' She had to run at it to get it to fly off the mat so she could take the mat inside. Remove the nest -problem solved right?....
If only it were that simple, it continued to return and make it's cooing, grunting noises ALL DAY long. Jeff finally got his knife out and put it by the door so he could storm it and kill it... no such luck yet.
It has visited us every morning since Saturday. I saw it on my way out the door to work this morning, it was just waiting there at the bottom of the stairs for me to leave so it could return to it's nest. This is baaaad news, I'm thinking about getting some of those big, plastic owls they put inside O's in store signs to keep birds from nesting there and putting them around our door. Any idea where you buy those? Jeff's idea was to break a bunch of glass bottles and leave the shards on the doorstep... pretty sure I have to be able to get in and out the door as well. If you have any pigeon trapping, murdering, or repellant ideas. Let me know, otherwise I might have to bail Jeff out of jail for illegally using his shot gun.

To add to the comedy of the whole thing - we went to the Fort Worth arts festival this weekend and as we were walking down the street a bird crapped on Jeff's arm ... after we had a conversation about being crapped on by birds. I think this one is out to get us - or maybe just Jeff.

Reflections on 100 days...

Well, not to overwhelm you with lots of posts this week (this is Erin), I guess Spring is bringing us out of hibernation. Today is 100 days that we have been married. It seems longer and shorter at the same time - but I think mostly longer =o). I started looking back at my journal a couple weeks ago and reflecting on all I've 'learned' (I use this word really loosely, we are on a really high learning curve) since we've been married. I thought I would share with you all, and Jeff might add some of his reflections at the end.

- respond in thankfulness, to God and to my husband

- when in doubt, choose grace, love or patience (preferably all of them)

- Proverbs 1:33, don't fall into the trap of complacency - it is deceptively easy, but it will steal your joy and replace it with fear.

- seek FIRST the Kingdom, before anything else - or I'm pretty worthless

- fear the Lord! A healthy fear of God can help you respect your spouse.

- From my journal on 2/7 "If there was ever any doubt, I'm definitely married to the most wonderful man in the whole world."

- Jeff is my ally, Satan is my enemy.

- Being Mrs. Priour is a lot like being Erin Walker, but it is still vastly different ... and that is okay.

- I need to be able to find beauty/romance in the everydayness of life

- Every day is an opportunity to worship and no one can steal that away without my consent.

- the entirety of the Bible is like one long list of reasons why God should have destroyed everyone and instead He made a path for forgiveness - proving that love ALWAYS wins

- Jeff is hilarious, beyond generous, and SO fun to be with every day

- Pray! There can be no victory where there is no prayer

- Marriage kicks dating's ass (there really is no better way to say that)

- some 'things' don't always come naturally - I mean, it takes some practice (I'm being purposely vague)

- Shut your mouth! Seriously! It is not necessary for me to express every single time my feelings get hurt.

- laughter and sense of humor are absolutely necessary.

- I have the capacity to hate and love in the same moment, but like Jesus said 'blessing and cursing should not come out of the same mouth' I must choose.

- 'To learn you must love discipline, it is stupid to hate correction' Proverbs12:1. Jeff can sharpen me if I will be soft and moldable and accept correction.

- I snore sometimes. Jeff even recorded it because I didn't believe him.

These are Jeff's reflections:

- Every moment you have a choice to make about your attitude, words, actions, and feelings.

- The hard times do not compare to how great the good times are!

- Everyday is an opportunity o make life long memories.

Please feel free to share your own reflections and lessons you have learned.

Randomness in the mind of Jeff

Hola Como estas me llamo Jefe! I have been encouraged to make a post on the blog. I am still not sure exactly what I will say hence the title Randomness in the mind of Jeff. I have read many blogs and enjoy reading so hopefully whoever reads this will enjoy it and possibly get a laugh or 2 out of it.

1. When I go shopping and am pushing the basket out of the store and I see there is a decline in the parking lot I usually hold myself up on the bar and let the decline take me to my truck or I end up stopping sooner than I would like cause I'm about to hit someone, something, or get hit myself. However, it is important to remember to only do this when stuff is in the basket otherwise the front 2 wheels come up and you fall over. (This happened today).

2. Erin got employee of the month this month which comes with several perks including a parking space. Way to go honey I'm so proud of you!

3. If nothing sounds good to Erin for dinner I can always make sausage and rice and the problem is solved.

4. I haven't been feeling great the last couple of days so I went to the quack shack yesterday and they gave me lots of medicine and told me not to operate heavy machinery and some other stuff that I forgot. (side note- to me heavy machinery means construction machinery or perhaps a huge farm tractor) So, since I have been at the house today I have been bored and decided to do the dishes. Well...I reached under the sink to grab the soap for the dishwasher and before I grabbed it I remembered we were out so I went to the store to buy a few things and while I was at the store I found myself talking out loud. No one else was around so I had to be talking to me but it made me wonder if it was the medicine or if this is a normal thing for me. I'm going to hope its the medicine cause I don't want to be crazy.

5. The country radio station I listen to plays much better music during the day than when I usually get to listen. This is a little disappointing to me cause I want to hear the good songs with I'm in the car stuck in traffic.

6. I've been looking around the apartment at all the decorations on wall and am really thankful for a wife who is a talented artist and has a knack for turning an apartment into a home. Thank you Erin!!

Well folks I think that about wraps things up for today. If you want me to post again leave me a comment cause if you don't I probably won't (that rhymes)

In honor of 40 years...

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr. He is someone I GREATLY respect, admire, and want to learn from. In his death (and because of his life) he accomplished something that changed America forever. Much like the Saints worldwide who have died for their faith and convictions, the people who knew their lives and their deaths were changed, which changed a community, a culture, and sometimes even a nation. I wanted to share some quotes from this man, both from letters he wrote and speeches he gave. If you've never studided MLK, I encourage you to read a speech, read some letters... he will challenge you not only as a follower of Jesus, but also as a human being created to love God bring glory to Him.

- An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

- Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

- History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

- Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

- A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

- I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Foolishness

Jeff & I are trying to read through the Bible in a year. It is something I have tried to do annually for the last 7 years. I don't think I've been successful every time - but each time there are very familiar passages that come alive in a new way. I love that about the Word - that it is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12 ... and I had to look this up, it seems no matter how many times I read these verses memorizing references is not my thing). I've used a different translation every year for the last 4 years of doing this and this year we're using the NLT, it is more of a paraphrasing of scripture in more modern day language than it is an exact translation of the original language. I remember being strongly cautioned against using such 'fluffy' translations in one of my freshman religion classes at Baylor - but I decided to take my chances, and I really like it. It makes the old testament much more readable (for me).
One of my favorite themes throughout the Bible is foolishness - I mean really, if Jesus Christ isn't who he said he was, then this whole thing is pretty dang foolish. The Bible is full of fools who obeyed God in his seemingly foolish requests.
I was reading in Deuteronomy about generosity:
'Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need. ' Deut5:10-11.
I like this passage because God acknowledges that the poor will always exist but instead of it being a point of resignation he commands us to give generously to support them. To not do so is to be 'hard hearted' and 'tight fisted' according to verse 7 of Chapter 15. All that we have is God's provision in our lives anyhow isn't it? I am reminded that 'He owns a cattle on a thousand hills' said the Psalmist. I've seen a lot of poverty in the Dallas area (like any major city I'm sure), it is on the news, co-workers talk about it (usually in a negative, dangerous kind of way), and in this time of economic crisis I'm reminded that it is okay to be foolish and 'give to everyone who asks you, give and do not hold back' (Luke 6:30). All I hear on the news are tips for protecting yourself and your finances, and this was a good reminder for me to not become 'tight fisted' or fearful because God has always faithfully provided everything that I've needed and I've never given to someone and not had what I needed for myself. So, my advice is get a little foolish, don't buy into all the media hype about protecting yourself and your money - we can trust Him to satisfy every need we have, but how will we know unless we respond in faith and let ourselves need Him?