C'mon Allie, Where Ya Been?

For those of you who followed reading the title to this post with ""troubles on the loose again" to the tune of the 1980s Scooby Doo intro I applaud you because that's definitely what I was going for.

Its been quite a while indeed since the last blog update, but two weeks and six non-texas states(Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma) later here I am to greet you all once again! My family is huge on road-trips so this time around we took a journey through the Mid-West of the United states. Now now I know the mid-west is not known for its glam and excitement, but it was actually a pretty swell trip! Here's a quick highlight reel of the places I visited:

• Indianapolis, Indiana: Driving up to Indianapolis I wasn't very pumped. I mean what does it have besides race cars and cold weather, right? Wrong. Guys Indianapolis was cool. Really cool. I would seriously consider living there if it weren't for frigid winter-time temperatures. The downtown has such a great atmosphere and there is the canal district that is absolutely beautiful. Plus there were girl scouts who gave me ice cream sundaes and I had an almost-encounter with the Jo Bros(I know, way middle school throwback).

  

  War Memorial in the middle of Downtown

• Louisville, Kentucky: Louisville was grand because I got to see my Aunt and cousins that live there. They live in a beautiful historic neighborhood there. We also went to the Muhammad Ali Museum. I don't identify myself as a boxing fan at all, but this museum was actually pretty cool because it focused on the social-cultural issues going on during his career and the Civil Rights Movement. It was super well done.

  

  Super cool Muhammad Ali painting by Leroy Neiman in the museum

• St. Louis, Missouri: Not going to lie, I didn't get the best vibes from St. Louis, but seeing the Gateway Arch was awesome. Its absolutely an architectural achievement and innovation. However, there was a museum under the arch about Lewis and Clark and cultivating the West which was a complete disappointment because they COMPLETELY left out Sacagawea. Its like they forgot her crucial role as interpreter to the Shoshone people, finding edible plants for food, and a symbol of peace to the tribes Lewis & Clark met on their expedition. On top of all this she was pregnant AND gave during the expedition. It was an outrage. Lets get some girl power in there, am I right?

Don't worry Sacagawea, I recognize your significance.

For those of you who missed out on childhood:

Reading With Meaning: Matthew 5

"You are the Light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it out on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" - Matthew 5:14-16

This is the good stuff guys. Like the mind-blowing-so-cool-Jesus-rocks kind of good stuff. We are all filled with the light of Jesus. God hand picked each of us to be His and to be his messenger. He chose us to be the ones who would shine his light and bring him glory on the darkness of earth. He has put so much trust and love in us. Yet sometimes we shy away from this awesome role he has given us. We dim our light to please the world, to fit with our peers, to meet society's standards. We let the darkness of sin creep into the spots of our heart formally occupied by light and take over.
But we can't let this happen! We must protect our hearts because the truth is when we're not glorifying Jesus, we're glorifying the world and its sinful nature. There's no in between.
The world needs us be shining bright because the world desperately needs Jesus Christ. We can never turn our light off because we never know who will need to see God's love that day. God chose us with reason and purpose to be his people and we never know what his plans our for us to spread his love and bring him glory!

The Wonderous Age of 19

I went to the bank today and here are three reasons why it made me feel extremely old and adult-like:
1. I went to the bank. By myself. Sorry if I'm a late bloomer on this, but it was a new adult experience for me.
2. I was depositing a check. Not just any ol check that your grandparents send you for your birthday. This was a PAYCHECK from a REAL job. That's right, I'm a part-time working women. I also ordered checks, which brings us to...
3. My bank account is set up in both my and my dad's name, this is so he can deposit money in it if he wants and if I overdraft the money is taken out of his account and I'm not charged some outrageous fee. Anyway back to the story, it was my first time around the block for ordering checks too so the bank teller was explaining it to me, let me quote her, "The upper corner will contain the names of you and YOUR HUSBAND and your address....". That's right. I look so old that this lady automatically assumed the other name on my account was my husbands. I have reached the age where I look like I'm married. Great.

Update:
After the bank I went to Lowes this afternoon where I was denied my purchase of spray paint chalk board paint because I wasn't 21. So it appears that I have the stellar combination of looking like I can be married, but not being old enough to buy my own craft supplies.