My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine...nothing?!

Pluto's been DEMOTED! You can check it out here.

*tap, tap*..."is this thing working?"

Apparently, my powers of mind control are on the fritz these days! UGH!!! Why won't people do what I want them to do! I'm gonna leave that vague and cryptic. Maybe it's YOU I'm talking about! That's right, YOU!!! So why don't you just stop right now and think, "hmmmm...what might Beth be wanting me to do???" You just keep thinking until you come up with something--nice of course!--and then you DO IT! ;) In the meantime, I'll keep working on it on my end. Who knows, maybe it will happen?! That's all I got for tonight, folks! Peace y'all!

done with reality...tv, that is

WHAT is the deal with all of these America's "something" type shows that seemed to multiply like rabbits over the summer??? I don't watch tv for a couple of months and I come back to all of these performance shows: America's got Talent, Rockstar SuperNova, So you think you can dance?, America's Next Top Model, etc. Not to mention the shows coming out this fall ranging from Celebrity Duets to another installment in the endless run of American Idol I'm sure. And then we have shows like Amazing Race, Fear Factor, and Survivor. I'm sure I'm leaving plenty out. When will it ever end? Why are these shows so popular? I don't understand the fascination. Feel free to explain.

one can only hope...

As I drove through the booming metropolis of Lafayette this afternoon, I marveled at all of the new construction around town. It's amazing how much things can change in the matter of a few months. Apparently, we have people with lots of money (or debt--my theory) who are just aching to move into high-end apartments, condos, and planned communities as well as spend oodles of money in cutsy little boutiques and expensive restaurants. I even hear we're supposed to get some sort of organic/whole food's-esque market. With all of this development, a small hope began to grow--more of a dream, really. I dream of a day Lafayette is home to a Panera Bread restaurant!! I've had the opportunity to dine at Panera Bread on a few occasions, but I fell in love with and promptly became obsessed with the place while in South Carolina this summer. Sadly, I have perused the site and their is nary a PB in sight! The closest in Houston--and while I love it, four hours IS a little far for lunch! So, my hope is that some ambitious local entrepreneur finds the same delight and seeks to open his or her OWN Panera Bread! I don't have the money or desire to do it myself, but I would surely be a dedicated customer!!

Home

i am.

Home from camp.
Home from the family visit in Missouri.
Home.

it's nice to be still for a moment.


...oh yeah, teacher days start tomorrow! uuuggggghhhhh!!!!

the ways God speaks...

I had to run an errand this morning and as I was driving back, flipping through the amazing selection radio stations in the greater Greenville area, I came upon a song that reminded me of the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness. I'm not sure if the song was a version of the hymn, or if it just shared a similar melody, but as I listened, I began to think about the words of that hymn. I think I often forget to just rest in His faithfulness. I'm so focused on what I am trying to do or what I want to happen...I forget to just trust...trust and obey, for there's no other way...;) well, i'll skip the "hymn sing" for now, but I thought I'd post the lyrics. I hope it can be just as great a reminder for you as it has been for me today.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

our BIG night out

At the end of our coodinator's visit, we always go out to a 'staff appreciation dinner.' This year, we went to The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. It was AMAZING!! It's so fun to see us all so dressed up...although i'm still undecided as to whether we should actually be seen in public! A group of 35 people is always a spectacle, but make that 35 fuge staffers, and you've got a whole new level of ridiculousness!

me and my date! dave and I were sitting across from meredith cromer and brian and she told me that brian was her date, so since i was sitting between a wall and dave, dave was my date! i think my date was the cutest, but shhhhhh! don't tell any of the others! ;)

me with ashley and kim, aka "mindy and wendy" in our am show


stephanie, tuba, cromer, and brian

mike, me, andy, and meredith

chase, acting like he owns the place! ;)

a lil' dance party errupted in the lobby as we were gathering to leave. you just can't take these people out in public!! and NO, we were not drinking! we come by this fun the good, ole' fashioned way! we create it ourselves!!

i only put this picture in because i know deanna will see it eventually and will absolutely LOVE it! ;)

ok, i've tried to add more pictures, but blogger isn't letting me. so this will have to do it for now and i'll post some more soon!

Get THIS!

Josh Groban wants ME to add HIM on my MySpace friends list! I just got the email this morning. In case you're in doubt, here is the text of said mass-generated email:

Hi beth,Josh Groban would like to be added to your MySpace friends list.By accepting Josh Groban as your friend, you will be able to send Josh Groban personal messages, view Josh Groban's photos and journals, and you will be able to interact with each other's friends and network!

I just thought it was kinda funny! ;) Of course I'll add him (or whichever publicity intern is managing his MySpace account)!! I mean, why wouldn't I?! It's Josh! Oh, maybe I could get free tickets seeing that we're "friends" and all. Ha!!

In other news, I actually took some pictures recently and I'll be posting those as soon as I don't have a million other things to do. (or when I just need the break from the million other things!) And look for a new blog design coming soon, I hope! My suitemate and dear friend Amy Haywood is not only a fabulous videographer, but is also a html savvy web page designer as well and she's supposed to help me create a new template for my blog! :) Let's hope we just don't get too busy in the days ahead. ttfn! I'm off to save the world one excel spreadsheet at a time!!

My random thoughts on hammocks, husbands, and a trip to Lake Nelson

This was a great weekend! After camp on Saturday, most of our staff went to Mooresville, NC, to stay at the home of our own Christie Craig. Said home being conveniently located on lovely Lake Nelson in North Carolina (which I'm liking more and more every time I visit, folks!) It was beautiful and Christie's parents are most gracious hosts!! Within minutes of our arrival, people were relaxing with chilled drinks (Cokes, people...not THOSE drinks!!) , roaming the Craig's beautiful home, checking out the dock, and vying for the great hammock that was hanging gracefully between two trees. (I'll discuss the hammock in more detail in just a moment.) We were soon served hamburgers with all the fixins and had a grand ole' time just being together in a relaxed, home-y environment. During some casual tv viewing, it was discovered that I gave a decent back-rub (I'm being modest here folks, the praise was overflowing but I don't like to brag!! ;) and had many customers, but eventually it was time to hit the sack.

The next morning brought more incredible food, this time in the form of Panera bread bagels and freshly ground coffee, which was followed by more dock-lounging, card-playing, lake-boating, and general loafing. I really wish I'd brought a book! (I brought many books to camp and haven't cracked a one yet! I'm a little busy these days.) I left just before a very bountiful lunch was about to be served. Those Craigs...they know how to do it up right!

I wasn't able to stay for lunch because I needed to get over to Ridgecrest Conference Center to pick up my dear friend Emory. Emory went to camp at Ridgecrest last week with her church's senior high group and was supposed to return to Nashville on Saturday, but one of the middle-school chaperones backed out and she was needed to fill in. The middle school group is coming to North Greenville this week, so instead of driving home only to drive back again, she stayed at Ridgecrest and I brought her over to North Greenville. We had a wonderful late lunch at My Father's Pizza and coffee at the Dripolator in Black Mountain, NC, and then came back to North Greenville where we did a little laundry, had a little dinner, and spent a whole lot of time just catching up! We've both had pretty eventful summers, it seems--or maybe we're both just really long-winded--so there was indeed alot of talking, folks! But we're all caught up now and winding down for a long summer's nap...I don't know why but I'm feeling very narrative at the moment!

Anyway, that was my weekend. Full of fun and relaxation. Only three more weeks of camp left! It's winding down and that makes me a little sad...

As I leave you, I feel it necessary to talk just a moment on the subject of hammocks. I have always been a fan of the hammock. I don't know why, but they fascinate me. Perhaps it's the potential danger of sitting incorrectly and therefore causing acute embarrassment and potential bodily harm to one's self? Maybe it's all those slap-stick comedy routines involving unfortunate hammock incidents? I'm not sure, but I've always been fascinating by this lounging ensemble. Well, the fine folks who raised Christie to be such a wonderful woman also had the incredible foresight to invest in one said hammock! I must say that it was much appreciated by all who chose to swing in it's delicate embrace, myself being one such person. Alright, I'll quit with the Austenian dialogue. I loved the hammock! So much so, that I managed to take a lovely nap in it Saturday afternoon...well, lovely except for brief moments of fear when I opened my eyes to find Sarah Edwards standing over me with an evil glint in her eye and then later when she felt it necessary to take somewhat unflattering pictures of me sleeping in said contraption! I did get made fun of a little for monopolizing the hammock, but it didn't bother me one bit! It was a great nap!!

I have now decided that I need a hammock. I like them too much to allow this enjoyment to elude me. But in order to have a hammock, it is necessary to have two trees...and in order to have two trees with which to hang such a hammock, I need to NOT be living in an apartment...and to have two such trees would mean that I'd need to be living in a house with a yard...and having such a yard would mean one of two things: 1. I need a better job so that I could afford to hire someone to take care of said yard or, 2. I need a husband who can do the yard work (ok, I'd help!)...and bonus! HE could hang the hammock!!) So in summary, I have decided that I want a hammock and a husband to hang it...or a better-paying job! ;)

I managed to not charge my camera batteries, so I have no pics from the weekend but lots of other people took pics, so I'll try to nab those and play them off as my own a little later! ;)

Missin' my boys!

This was a picture of David and Grayson's first time to "meet" (well, not literally in that moment--but the first visit amongst cousins.) David saw Grayson within a few hours of his birth, but they were heading back to Missouri and didn't get to stick around for all the NICU fun back in December! Kyle, Katie and David came in early May for a visit and the boys hit it off just fine.

I believe I may get to go with Erica and Damon to visit our Missouri folk at the end of the summer and I must say I'm kinda excited about that...and just thinking about them makes me miss them all so much! This going to camp gig is much different now! Erica says Grayson has changed so much since I left and I believe it. He would change so much in a day or two when I was there...I can't imagine what almost 10 weeks will bring! He's sitting up now and I can hear all of the fun new sounds he's making when Erica and I talk. He has yet to make many of those sounds when Erica holds the phone up to his face! She says his eyes just get big and then he tries to eat the phone!

I'm also excited to visit with David! He's a fun kid...and I can't believe he's old enough to be a kid! He has quite a Thomas the Train collection now, and I'm looking forward to some introductions! [I've been giving him Thomas the Train trains since he was born and Katie says he has a different voice and personality for each of them.]

And of course I'm missing Kyle and Katie and Erica and Damon...but they don't change quite as much! I am having a great time in South Carolina but I must admit I'm missing the fam just a little!

In unrelated news, this past week was our Christmas week and we capped it all off with a tent camping trip and rafting on the Nantahala in North Carolina. It was my first tent camping experience and I will say that it was kinda fun! I can't imagine tent camping in South Louisiana would be quite as enjoyable, but in the mountains of North Carolina, it was a great experience. We were on the grounds of Ridgecrest conference center and spent a little of Saturday afternoon in Black Mountain which is such a cute town! And then the river was absolutely breath-taking! It was like canoeing on the Ouiska Chitto, but about a million times better! This whole area is just so beautiful! I'm thinking I could live over here. Just a thought...no plans as yet!

Alright, I'm rambling like a fool so I'll end this now. I know I've done a horrible job of posting this summer. I do actually work, ya know!! I took a few pictures this weekend and I know some of the others took rafting pics so I'll try to nab some of those for all of my avid readers! ...hmph, yeah all those avid readers that as yet have NOT taken my very subtle hints about care packages!!! Well, except you Patty Marx--I KNOW you love me!!! :) Thanks for the cookies and the letter, Patty! It was great to hear from you! And yes, I know that the care package jokes are getting old...it's just that I so love to make them! :) I'll stop now...would have stopped sooner had I actually gotten some, but oh well! ;)

howdy folks!

Well, week 4 is about to begin! I can't believe I've been here for over a month now! Time flies, but it also feels like I've known these people forever. It's so cliche to say, but it's true. I have really enjoyed getting to know my staff this summer--and it helps a whole lot NOT to be in charge!! My job this summer is very behind-the-scenes and I really don't get much of an opportunity to get to know many of the 800+ people who come through here each week, so the relationships that I have with our staff seem all the more significant this year. I have not been doing a very good job of taking pictures but this one is a shot of (from l to r) Amy, Zack, Christie, and Jason at Waffle House. For anyone who'd be interested to know, I think Jason's eyes kinda look like Daddy's-- feel free to chime in with your own opinions! ;)

I'm sorry I've not done a very good job of blogging. Camp is also kinda strange in that I have lots of neat experiences, but 98.2% of them are "guess you had to be there" kind of moments! This is Christmas week so we'll be having lots of fun after hours. I'll do a better job of taking pics so that you can see all sorts of pictures of people you don't know! ha!!

For those of you who might be curious as to how quickly you need to be mailing in those care packages (eh-hem!!), our last day here is July 31, so I should be home August 1...with one week to spare before the teacher days start at school! Well, we still have a little while, so lets all try to enjoy it!!

...and in case you were wondering, Zack does look like a normal guy when he's not making a funny face! ;)

Bitter

Yes, that's me. I'm bitter! Why, you might ask?! Well, not only have the care packages and visible expressions of love NOT been pouring in (except for my sister--who sent a few cute pictures of Grayson and my camera pouch that I left at Jerry's house before I left for the summer) but I am the one who checks the mail and gets to cart everyone else's huge, overflowing care packages back to the staff office when I check the mail--and on a staff of 36, there are alot of care packages!!! So where's the love people?!?! Alright, I'm just kidding. I would feel really really horrible if I started getting guilt care packages. It was just really funny because it took two trips to bring all of the boxes and mail back to the office. I was having a good ole' time composing this post in my head while I was carting the boxes over. I did get something...a dell printer cartridge! yip-ee!! ;)

Bring on the flowers!!!

My physical address:

Beth Hintze--Fuge Staff
North Greenville University
7801 N Tigerville Road
Tigerville, SC 29688

Well, since you asked for it...

Hey! This is the staff picture that I was looking for the other night...aren't we precious?! And since I know so many of you are DYING to send letters and care packages and large bouquets of flowers (not you Jonathan! ;) , here is my camp address:

Beth Hintze--Fuge Staff

North Greenville University

PO Box 1892

Tigerville, SC 29688

Bring on the packages!! (And I am afraid I have alot of competition around here! These people are always getting stuff in the mail!)

Here we are!

Well folks, here we are! These are the neat people I'll be working with for 9 1/2 weeks. They're a great bunch of people and we're all rather photogenic if I do say so myself! :) This isn't the picture I wanted to post, though...there was another one that I liked more, but I apparently saved the wrong one. Sorry! I would give names, but there are just too many of them this year! If you are curious about anyone, lemme know and I'll be sure to spill the beans! Oh yeah, and this is the Ya-hoo who's serving as our camp pastor for the next two weeks! ;) I'd tell ya more about him, but apparently he reads this every once in a while, so I should probably behave! ha! Just kidding. It's been good to visit with James and I'm looking forward to hearing him in worship.

We've had a great time so far. Busy beyond belief, but having a good time while we're at it! Camp starts tomorrow! YIKES!!! The first week is always a little scary, but we're looking forward to it. We have so many neat people and I'm excited to see how God will use them this summer. Well, it's late, I'm tired, and I have a ton of things to do tomorrow, so I'll make this short and sweet!

Falling...

I fell today. The fall was from a 4-foot ledge and I fell straight back. Fortunately for me, there were several people waiting below the ledge in a zigzag formation to catch me when I fell! :)

I know I haven't blogged in a little while but I'm at camp now and we're about half-way through training week. Part of the regular camp schedule is recreation so we've been training on all of the rec games as a part of training week. Tonight was when we had the trust sequence. This may not sound like a big deal but you need to know that this is my sixth year of camp and we've had the trust sequence in our rec rotation twice since I've been working and I've NEVER fallen! I can do the starter moves: see-sawing back and forth and "wind in the willow" but I have never been able to do the trust fall. It's not that I don't trust my staff. I just absolutely hate the sensation of falling. It's miserable and awful and I try to avoid it when at all possible. Heights don't bother me but I completely freeze up when I feel like I'm falling. And according to my mom, I've been that way since I was an infant.

Anyway, back to the story. I think it's also important to note that I've been dreading these trust falls since I decided that I would work again back in September! I knew it was coming and I was nervous all day. When we finally made it over to the ledge for the actual falling, I was sick to my stomach. I was hoping that people just wouldn't notice that I hadn't fallen and I could get out of it...but I'd already run my big mouth too much about how I was dreading it, so of course my group was very encouraging. Pushy is more like it! They wouldn't let me back out!! just kidding--they were very kind and truly encouraging and had it not been for all of their encouragement, I probably would have chickened out again. But they didn't let me give into my fears. They supported me and made me as comfortable as I could be and I knew that if I fell they would catch me...but all of that didn't matter because ultimately, I would have to be the one to let go. And I did! It was horribly wonderful! I will never like falling but I was able to push through my fears and in doing so, conquer them.

Trust falls are a beautiful expression of faith and trust and a wonderful metaphor for salvation...and I've always recognized the power of the lesson, but until tonight, I'd never experienced it. So many students will be coming here this summer with questions and issues that I can't begin to understand. Some may have been raised in Christian homes and have gone to church all of their lives and will know how to play the game to a tee--they will know all of the right answers, but until one experiences the love of Christ, all the head knowledge in the world will not do.

I've had several friends who've engaged in quite interesting conversations with non-believers in the past couple of months on their blogs and such and the interchange has been quite interesting. In those conversations, such interesting questions and responses have been posed and have erupted into some beautiful verbal fireworks. But intellectual discussions have as much to do with recognizing the need for salvation about as much as adding oil to a car that's out of gas. Yes, the oil is needed (and so is the biblical knowledge that's discussed) but gas is what gets the car moving. We do such a great job of distracting ourselves--believer and non-believer alike--from the essentials. I believe it's the power of the Holy Spirit to convict, but it's our responsibility as Christians to live a lifestyle that honors and points to our relationship with our Lord. And in doing so, exhibit the love of the One who died, taking our sins upon himself and then rising three days later, having conquered death.

Well, it's late and I don't quite know where I'm going with this. I really just wanted to say that after five years, I've finally managed to fall! It was scary but there is power in overcoming fear...and in letting go. I've definitely learned a lesson that I shall carry with me for a long time to come.

Way to go Louisiana! We've done it again!!

Well, it looks like we're in national news again! According to ABC News:

The FBI's raid on the office of Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) was the first such raid on Capitol Hill in history...

At least we're making history while we're at it!! They found $90,000.00 in the freezer at his house! Oh brother...it ain't lookin' good!

And in other news, guess who's the Mayor of New Orleans again??? We Louisianians sure know how to pick 'em, don't we?! I find small comfort in knowing that neither distinguished gentleman was elected in my voting district.

And, if all of that isn't enough, NOAA is predicting an "above normal" hurricane season this year...which is exactly what they said last year! Hmmmm...so perhaps moving wouldn't be such a bad thing?!

Fun with languages!

That's my name! Well, at least that's what this nifty Japanese translator I found online said that it was! :) It even tells you how your name would be pronounced in Japanese! In my case, Elizabeth would be pronounced: "ERIZABESU". (Consonants are pronounced more or less the same way as in English. "A" sounds like a in father, but shorter. "I" sounds like ee in meet, but shorter. "U" sounds like oo in hook, but with less rounding of the lips. "E" sounds like e in met.) Just in case our relationship has reached a more informal level, you can just call me "BESU" and write my name as:

Beth, the gardener

Hahahahahahahaha! :)

Do we have something on Thursday?

I'm finding that there are simply not enough hours in the day!!! I am leaving for camp in less than two weeks and I am at a point where I wonder if I will actually get it all done before it's time to go. Maybe if I give up sleep? Hmmmm...

I've not really talked about it much on here, but I am doing that whole camp thing again! This will be my sixth straight year of camp. I will be serving on the North Greenville University team. It's a combo camp so we'll have both Centrifuge and M-fuge going on simultaneously. Actually, it'll be Centrifuge programming but during the day half of the students will be leaving campus to work at ministry sites. While I completely enjoyed every part of directing last year(please note the sarcasm!), I have decided to go back to being an AD--Administrative Director. I will be handling the paperwork and the business of camp. This year will be much different because I'm finally back at on a stationary team (please note the relief!) and we will have a total of 38 on staff!! That's as many as my last three teams combined! It will be a kick to work with so many people again. I was a little worried that I'd be the old lady on staff, but I'm finding that while there are many young 'uns, there are also quite a few that are near my age and maybe even a couple that are older than me!!

But all of that doesn't happen for a couple more weeks. Right now I am neck-deep in preparing finals! Yeah, we all hate to take them but a lucky few of us (again, the sarcasm) have the exciting opportunity to 1.) prepare them, and 2.) grade them!!! Bleh! It's taken me about 5-6 hours to prepare my Church History final...but it's done! So one down, three to go!!! [And here's a happy little thought for ya...It probably took me longer to prepare the final than most of my students will actually spend studying for it!]

Once the finals are finished, there are still a hundred other tasks on the ole' "to do" list! And I think I have something going on every night until I leave...which brings me back to my original question. Does anyone know what I committed to do on Thursday night? I know I told someone I would do something, but for the life of me I can't remember who I was talking to! Oh well...I guess I'll figure it out eventually! Until then, there are finals to prepare and clothes to wash and things to pack and places to go and people to see and ring ceremonies to attend and classrooms to pack up and...the list goes on!