Ode to a Fat Cat

Our family cat Sylvester is sadly being put down this week. He is the last remaining cat that our family had after my parents moved out to Pennsylvania. Before they moved, we had four cats: Molly, Simon, Cindy and Sylvester. Molly and Simon were given away to other homes, and Cindy came to live with me at Oma's house while I finished up my college career. She died within a year simply of old age. Sylvester, however, survived the move and went to live in PA with my mom, Frank and Oma. Since then, he has enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of being the only cat (and a very spoiled one at that), and generally being the "king of the house."
Sylvester, in his prime, weighed close to 20 pounds. I used to call him our little cow, because of his black and white coat. The vet used to scold my mom for letting him get so "overweight." But we knew he was happy and he was definitely spoiled!
Sylvester had the wimpiest meow you'll ever hear. Here's this 20 pound cat and you would expect a deep, booming MEOW to come out, but all that came out was this faint "ow" whenever he spoke. It was just funny.
Recently, Sylvester started to get sick. He couldn't keep any of his food down, and was constantly running to the litter box. My mom took him to several different vets, and none of them could really help him. He was on meds and special food, but nothing was helping. He was losing so much weight, he didn't even look the same anymore. So, last week, my parents made the tough decision to end his suffering.
This week, we say goodbye to our beloved family cat. It's never easy to let go of a pet, especially one that has been through so much with you and your family. We will miss Sylvester for sure, but the fond memories we have of him will live on in our hearts. Rest in peace sweet kitty.

Remembering September 11th

Today I said to someone, "I don't think anyone will ever forget where they were and what they were doing on September 11th."
Eight years later, I haven't forgotten. The images I witnessed are scarred on my mind forever. Though I did not lose anyone close to me in the tragedy, that day was not any less sad and horrific. My heart genuinely goes out to those who did lose a loved one in the towers, and those that have lost loved ones in the war resulting from that day, and have been suffering ever since.

I had a rough start to my day. I had an 8:00am class, and my car was not running very well. I managed to get it started and drive to my Oma's house to ask if I could borrow her car for the day, just so I knew I would be safe getting to and from school. She graciously allowed me to borrow the car, and I left mine in front of her house. Off to school I went.
I arrived right on time for my morning class. Groggy and tired, I sat down at my desk and awaited the boring lecture that was to come. Thankfully, class let out early, so I had enough time to go home and come back for my afternoon class. I hurried out to the parking lot to find Oma's car. Now, Oma's car does not have a CD player, so I was listening to the radio. 95.5 PLJ to be exact. I NEVER listen to the radio, but this day, I was forced. When I turned on the car, the announcers had a very somber tone in their voices, and they were talking about "something terrible" that just happened. I think they were trying to get a look from outside their studio window. They mentioned something about planes, I couldn't really make it out. Then they said it..."A plane has just flown into the World Trade Center."
WHAT??? I said outloud. Kean University is quite close to New York City, and on my way home, I get a quick glimpse on the skyline before turning around on Rt. 22. And there it was, I saw black smoke billowing from the skyline. And, suddenly, I saw what looked like a raven coming out of the sky and into the 2nd tower.

It was so brief, but so memorable. The smoke, the 2nd plane, the horror. I couldn't believe it. I could barely drive, but I turned the radio up and listened very intently. They talked about another plane, which I had just seen. I raced home.
My brother Brad was home. I screamed, "Turn on the TV, something terrible has happened!" He was confused, but did so. It didn't matter what channel you turned to, it was on. The terrifying images of NYC, and the faces of people who were actually there - we saw it all. Brad and I were in shock. We watched together for a few more minutes, not saying a word to each other.
Suddenly, I felt the need to go to the video store where I worked at the time. Evan, who is now my husband, had been in the city the night before with his cousin Linda. My heart sank. "What if he's stuck in the city? What if he's hurt? What if something happened?" We weren't even dating at the time, but I prayed and prayed that he was ok, and I had to get to the video store to find out. When I pulled up, I saw his car there. I breathed a sigh of relief. All of our other colleagues were there as well, exchanging short sentences about how awful this was. We decided to head up to Washington Rock, where we might be able to get a good view of what was going on. We were able to get up, but only shortly because they closed the park soon after we got there.
I went back home soon after that to exchange cars with Oma again, and talked briefly with her about the tragedy. We cried together, and I thanked her and gave her the keys back.
I wasn't scheduled to work that night, but I knew that Evan was. I knew that he would be there alone, and I wanted to keep him company because I knew he was extremely upset. So, he and I worked together, almost in total silence. Out of boredom, I had made a paper airplane and threw it at Evan to kind of break the silence. Bad idea. "What are you trying to do, reenact it?" he snapped at me. "Sorry," I sheepishly replied. We decided to close early, mainly because of what had just happened, and virtually no one was coming in. I was planning to go to KFC for dinner, and asked Evan if he would like to join me. He declined, saying that he just wanted to be alone. So, I headed to KFC, he headed to the diner, and that was that.
Later that night, I was hanging out with my then boyfriend John and all of our friends. We were all talking about what had happened, and what we had been doing when it happened. There was a sad overtone to the group that was usually upbeat and cheery. We were trying to make predictions for what might happen next. Would we go to war? Would we fight back? Would any other buildings get flown into? How many lives were lost? Everything was a big question mark.

Our lives have never been the same since that fateful day. September 11th, an otherwise normal Tuesday is now immortalized as one of the greatest American tragedies. It is hard to believe that eight years have passed since that day.
God's love and grace be with all those who were affected in some way by that event.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Just realized that today is my 1 year anniversary of being a blogger! Yay!!

What The....?

As a youth leader, I am exposed to many many things that quite frankly, I would rather not be exposed to. But it comes with the territory, and I love my job as a youth leader, so I grin and bear it.
But recently, a new "phrase" has come on the scene in the form of an abbreviation known as "FML."
FML stands for F*** My Life. Students use this phrase when they are frustrated, angry, upset, or generally ticked off at something. You will mostly find it posted on their Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter pages. Something perhaps to the effect of: "Had to walk to school in the rain today. FML." "My boyfriend broke up with me. FML." "Mom made me clean up my room. FML." You get the idea.
Now, as a youth leader and as a Christian, I don't like the idea of my students using such words and phrases to describe how they're feeling. It's ok that they are upset or angry about something, but to sum it all up with "FML," to me, is a bit extreme and rather silly.
What I see is that students will use this phrase when things generally don't go their way. This seems to be the norm amongst students these days. What I am also seeing is that when things don't go their way, they quit or run away. Something got too hard? I quit. Getting too frustrated with something? I don't want to do it anymore. Things didn't work out as you planned? FML.
And there you have it. All of life's frustrations summed up in three little letters.

What really upsets me about the usage of this phrase is that it is being used by students who regularly attend either church or our youth group program. At church and at youth group, they are taught solid biblical principles that can be applied to their everyday lives. We try really hard as leaders to drill the points home and to challenge them to step up their faith at home, at school, wherever they are. We try to remind them that God is there for them no matter what, and even when they don't know where to turn, they can turn to God.
When we see things like FML being used by these students, it kind of deflates us because it feels like our words are falling on deaf ears. Rather than saying, "Had a bad day today, but God is good!" they resort to FML as though their life were falling apart at the seams just because something didn't go their way.
Do they even get it? Do they even realize that there is a gracious and loving God just waiting for them to come running to His arms? Do they realize that even if their life really is falling apart, that God is right there to put them back together? Do they just see it as the latest "cool" thing to do on Facebook?
Maybe I should just wait it out, because sooner or later, something else will come along, and FML will be DOA. Haha.

The End of an Era

I haven't done any "normal" blogging in a while because I have been so busy with New Jersey Fresh, but there was something that I just needed to blog about. And here it is.
Tomorrow (Friday), a student and good friend of mine is moving due to her father's job transfer. "What's so bad about that?" you may ask. Well, for starters, she is moving clear across the country to California, so there's slim chances of her coming back often for a visit. Secondly, I feel like a little part of myself if leaving with her. Her name is Alexandra, or to many of us, Alge (yep, like the stuff that grows on ponds). Alge reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age. She is a free spirit, friends with many, and always has her man, Steve, by her side. I've only known Alge for about 2 years when I first met her at youth group at our church. At first, I was just an observer, noticing that a lot of the students gravitated toward her. Not only is she pretty, but she is a fun person to be around and is generally just a likeable girl. Once I started to get to know her a little better, I realized how much I liked her as well.
It really started last year after we had taken the youth group paintballing. On the way home, we passed by Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville and another student, Becky, and I wanted to stop there. Well, we were out voted and were forced to go to McDonald's instead. So I said, "Becky, I will take you on a special trip to Hot Dog Johnny's someday soon, and we can make up for this." Becky enthusiastically agreed, and asked if her friends Erin and Alge could come along as well. "Of course!" I replied, and thus the Aubrey Adventure was born.
Since then, the Aubrey Adventures have included more people, like our friend Charlie, Alge's boyfriend Steve, the twins - Charlie and Joshua, our friend Jenn, and some others. They are always a good time, and all the while, we are building relationships with each other.
I am really going to miss Alge when she moves. I feel so privileged to have gotten to know her over these past 2 years. Thanks to things like Facebook and e-mail and cell phones, it is really hard to stay out of touch with someone, so I know that we will continue to keep in tough with Alge and look forward to the next time we see her.
I wish Alge the best of luck out in California, and I hope she knows that we all love her and care about her and I hope that God blesses her life the same way she has blessed ours.
Bye Alge!!!

New Blog!

Hey family, friends and devoted readers! I have been inspired to start a new blog. This one is all about one of my favorite things...FOOD.
Each post will feature a recipe of something that I have decided to make, a picture of the food, a little story to go with it, and a bible verse for inspiration!
Please check it out, and let me know what you think! I have also set the blog to automatically feed to Facebook, so you can check it out there too - although the pictures don't load, so you will have to check out the blog to see the pictures.
The new blog is called "Jersey Fresh - Downhome Jersey Cookin'" See it here.
Stop on by, and I hope you enjoy it!

Adventures at Drew University

It has been a while since we had an official "Aubrey Adventure," and so we had to make sure this one was a good one.
I got a text yesterday afternoon from Becky asking if I wanted to go see her friend Charlie at Shakespeare camp. Charlie was doing his final performance in a play they had been rehearsing all summer. Excited for the opportunity, I jumped on it and told Becky to rally up the troops, and we would head up there. This Shakespeare camp was being held at Drew University up in Madison, NJ. I had never been there before, so this was going to be an adventure all right! I quickly printed out the directions, and it seemed fairly easy to get to - right off of Rt. 287 North.
An hour later, I picked up Becky, Alge and her boyfriend Steve to head up to Shakespeare camp. It took us about 30 minutes to get there - Mapquest predicted 45 - and we pulled into the parking lot near the theater. Or, so we thought. We walked up to the Kirby Theater at the University and saw all these elderly people milling around the entrance. We weren't sure if we needed to buy tickets, so we went up to the window to find out. We thought maybe all the elderly people were the grandparents of the students in the play. We overheard someone saying that tickets were $10 for the performance. I was stunned. It was only to be a 45 minute play...$10 seemed outlandish! But we found out that the play was going on at another theater across campus, and it was free....phew! So we trekked over there and were immediately greeted by a smiling woman handing out programs. She somehow knew we were there to see Charlie, and another girl named Rachel who they were also friends with. So, we walked in and took a seat in the top row.
The play was called "Troilus & Cressida," a little known Shakespeare play, and the team was doing a 45 minute version of it. Charlie and Rachel were Troilus and Cressida, respectively. This was basically a play about the Trojans and the Greeks, and the battle between their two camps. The love story is interwoven between Troilus and Cressida, and she ends up betraying his love by running off with someone from "the other side." The acting was very good. You could tell the students worked really hard to get the play to what it was. I was very impressed by how well they interpreted the words of Shakespeare. Charlie had the last line in the play, and he did an exceptional job, as did Rachel. We went down afterwards to hug Charlie and he was so happy we came! We pretty much had to scoot out of there because they were doing reenactments of some of their scenes so the parents could take flash photos.
After the play, we took a slight detour because we found this AWESOME tree on the University campus. It was one of those trees where the branches hang down like a weeping willow, but it wasn't a weeping willow. So we poked through the leaves, and Steve, Alge and Becky tried climbing it. Steve got really high, and then had a hard time getting down. It was a really cool tree. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures because my camera battery was dead :(
After the tree, we stopped at Friendly's for lunch - even though it was practically dinner because it was already 3:30. I forgot how good Friendly's was. I got my old standby - a chicken quesadilla. And then for dessert, another old standby - the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae. We had lots of fun hanging out and talking. Sadly, Alge is moving away in August, so any time we get to spend with her is valuable and sweet.
We headed home, and Becky mentioned that she still had not seen our new house, so I took them all over to the house. The last time Alge and Steve were in the house, it was completely empty, so they were remarking how different everything looked now that we have stuff inside. We hung out on the front porch for a little while after they "sampled" all of my herbs. They said the basil numbed their tongues, the rosemary tasted "piney," the parsley tasted like breath freshener, and the thyme tasted a little lemony. What possessed them to eat raw herbs, I will never know. But it was still fun!
This certainly was an Aubrey Adventure for the history books. I am so glad these students are part of my life. We have so much fun together! Who knows what's in store for next time...