Once upon a time, Subway decided that three olives was enough for a 6-inch sandwich.  I don’t know who came up with this number.  But it’s the sad truth.

2. Ask for random meats

“I want pepperoni, and roast beef, and turkey…okay?”  Not okay.  We have computers…and formulas.  Computers don’t like random sandwiches.  So use the menu.

3. Get your veggies out of order

“I want olives, pickles, onions, bell peppers…and tomatoes and lettuce and spinach.”  This is annoying.  Please refrain from doing so.

4. Talk quiet

There is a glass panel in front of you…and some of us aren’t tall enough to see over it.

5. Ask “Can I have my tuna toasted?”

In the words of the health department: No.

6. Be obsessively picky

“I’d like a really soft honey oat.” “Can you pick some tomatoes with no white centers?” “Three really dark oatmeal cookies.” “That bread looks too dark.” “What?!  You put salt and pepper on it?!  Can you make it over?”

7. Yell at people who make mistakes

‘Nuff said.

8. Order a billion sandwiches during lunch rush

…and watch as the line heads out the door behind you…

9. Come into the store at 9:55 PM

Please don’t do this.  I mean, really, there’s better stuff to eat at that hour anyway.  Try Sonic. Or Whataburger. Or something with an “Open 24 Hours” sign out front.

Disclaimer: This list is certainly not exhaustive.  At all.  Nor should it imply that Beth dislikes her job.  Because really, Beth is having a good summer and enjoys the extra cash.  No hard feelings, Subway…even if you do smell weird.

I don’t have many words to describe the 2010 regional tournament.  In some ways, it was a pretty normal tournament—all the running around and fabulous friends and uncomfortable shoes.  But then, there were so many different things.  It all went so far above my expectations that I can’t even begin to describe it.

A year and a half ago, I posted about weakness.  A few things have changed since then—speaking doesn’t scare me anymore, and I’ve learned that there are worse things in life than participating in a debate round.  But one thing will always be the same: I’m just Beth.  I mess up, I stumble over words, I have illogical arguments, and I need all the help I can get.

That’s how I know that whatever artificial success I achieve on the outside…is all because of Christ’s success on the inside.

Talk about amazing!

But when it comes to “why,” two-year-old Hayden has me beat.  That child can fit more “why’s” in a conversation than I ever would have thought possible.

Me: “Stay on the driveway, please!”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “So I can see you.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “Because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “Because…I want you to say safe.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Things get rather circular from then on out.  Apparently, in a two-year-old’s eyes, everything in life has a big question mark after it.

Hayden: “Mama cat!”

Me: “Yeah, she is.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “Well..because she has babies.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “Those are her kittens.”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: “She…had kittens?”

Hayden: “Why?”

Me: *silence*

See what I mean?

I love holding your hand.

I love it when you ask to sit in my lap.

I love how you wrap your arms around your baby sister.

I love the way you smile when you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing.

I love it when you run up to me and hug my leg after I’ve been away from home.

I love how you come into my room every evening to say “good night.”

I love the way you say “I love you,” and it sounds like “I lub you.”

I love the way you say “Thank you, Bef.”

I love you.

Ruth,

I love it when you wrap your fingers around mine.

I love the way you laugh when I tickle your stomach.

I love seeing you hold out your arms for me to pick you up.

I love watching you learn to walk, and holding your hands and walking with you.

I love the way you hug your blanket when you fall asleep.

I love it when you lay your head on my shoulder.

I love dressing you up in adorable clothes.

I love showing you off to all my friends.

I love your beautiful smile.

I love you.

Unfortunately, the actual tournament wasn’t very well documented…I guess I just found too many other things to do aside from take pictures.  But I put together a slideshow of our adventures on the trip there and back, so for all you interested people, here you go:

In other news, it’s spring!

(See?)

I had hoped to put together  a video blog of the wedding shoot with Toni this past weekend, but somehow time has gotten away from me again.  Who knows—maybe I’ll come up with something in New Mexico.  We shall see!

Then I stop.  And laugh.  And realize how ridiculous that is.

What would a blog be without a life behind it, anyway?

Snowfall in Texas?  Major news story.

All that to say, my life is keeping me rather busy lately.  Hayden and Ruth have been with us for more than three weeks now—isn’t that amazing?  It’s hard to get into a routine, but we’re managing somehow.  Hayden has settled in to pretty much everything except eating.  Apparently he likes McDonalds, but not much else.  Ruth is popular wherever she goes, and not surprisingly—that child continues to astound me with her adorableness.

Speech and debate is much the same as usual.  Still fun, still busy, still amazing.  In less than two weeks, we head to New Mexico for our last qualifier of the year.  I’m looking forward to a fabulous tournament…not to mention a pretty epically long car trip.

It’s cold and white.  What is this stuff?

Next week, my sister has her first photography gig shooting a wedding out of town.  I get to be the backup photographer.  That means I get to spend the next few days learning the ins and outs of my borrowed Canon 30d.

There’s also this thing called school work, but we won’t talk about that.

What can I say?  Life is in the way.  But I’m cool with that.

There are so many good things!

For me, tournaments are tiring on the outside, but incredibly rejuvenating on the inside.  Through this magnifying glass, all of God’s blessings, big and small, show up in all sorts of different ways.  Maybe that’s through awards, or maybe it’s through a conversation in the hall, or meeting new people, or learning to trust him all the more.  Whatever it is, it’s truly amazing.  And being with other people who see and are thankful for those blessings is even more amazing.

My first thought about the National Open last week is that it was a tournament filled with ups and downs.  Really, though, it was a tournament filled with ups, and smaller ups.  In competition, it’s easy to look at what God has blessed you with, and then compare it with someone else’s blessing—but why do we have to look at it as something relative?

If you had told me before the tournament that I would compete in speech finals for Persuasive, I would have been overjoyed.  That was just too far beyond my expectations.  But when it happens, and I go into the round to give my speech for those five judges, my standards suddenly get a little higher.  Instead of realizing how amazingly blessed I am just to be there, it gets a whole lot easier to worry about the outcome.

Human reasoning tells me to be just a little disappointed at getting third place—one rank below what would have qualified me directly to Nationals.

Reality says that I have been given more than I could ever possibly deserve.  And that is amazing.

On a less personal note, ARC has done it again and completely blown me away with its awesomeness.  So much talent, and so many blessings!  Thank you, God!

(Pictures courtesy of Toni)

We started working on our foster care license last fall, but didn’t get everything done till this past week.  And just today, we got a call that two little kids needed a home: Hayden, a toddler, and Ruth, a baby (no, those aren’t their actual names, but they’ll work for the purposes of this blog).

Hayden and Ruth came home with us this evening.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this.  Little Hayden had a hard time at first—I can only imagine how confusing all this would be for a child.  He didn’t say much at the beginning, but by the time we got to the house, he had opened up a little.  As of this writing, he is thoroughly enjoying all the attention (and is completely enamored with our dog).

Ruth is the [almost] perfect baby.  She’s all smiles and giggles, and, of course, doesn’t really care what’s going on as long as it involves interesting toys and room to crawl around.  She found a best buddy tonight: a stuffed teddy bear almost as big as she is.  They hit it off right away.

I am beyond thrilled to have these kids be part of our family, for however long they get to stay.  What an incredible chance to show love to two children who have never experienced it!

…of course, I’m enjoying it, too.

This was written last year.  I’m not a poet, or a song writer, or anything close, but I guess this is more in the style of song lyrics than anything else:

Broken
An empty body, useless hands
Weakened
No one sees me; I’m alone
My sightless eyes are open
But I can’t see where to go
I am frail
I am nothing without you.

If you’re my rock and you’re my fortress,
All the world sits at your feet
If you can free the lonely captive
Set the raging waves at peace
Then help me to be nothing
Make me small so you may grow
Give me the weakness to be strong.

I feel you
Your power shines in my defeat
I wonder
Have you shown yourself to the weak?
When I lose myself in arrogance
Your face becomes obscured
So I wait
And I see you through the pain.

Forgotten
They pass you by, don’t see you there
Troubled
They’ll try harder, pretend they don’t care
Still they don’t understand the beauty
The paradox of God
At their weakest
There is one who will make them strong.