A rose by any other...

What is in a Name?

Thanks for the laugh Em...

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father's middle name)
Lynn Alan - nice and nondescript

9. NASCAR NAME: (name of your mother's dad, fathers dad)
Roy Jack or Roy John which ever you prefer!

8. STARWARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, any 2 letters of your first name) OBREL

7. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, fav animal)
Green Tiger (ka-chow!)

6. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Michelle Pt. Arthur - sounds aristocratic, no?

5. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav alcohol drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Blue Margarita

4. FLY GIRL/GUY NAME: (1st letter of 1st name, 1st 3 letters of your last)
L-OBR (Don't think this works for the Irish!)

3. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Chocolate Thumbprint (not very intimidating if you ask me...)

2. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pets name, current street name)
Tailer Royal
(she was my last pet, and I think I could actually get by with that, Hannah Montana move over!)

1. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Fresh Vanilla Skittles! (ooo baby!)

Die Leafblower, Die! -- and Other Thoughts on the Environment

In an effort to educate our fellow bloggers on environmentalism and its impact on Christianity, I'll start here:

If you know me pretty well, you know my abhorrences for leaf blowers. This probably started when I was a poor little freshmen in search of quality nap time, but always interrupted by leaf blowers around campus. In short - they are noisy, smelly, gas-guzzlers and pretty much pointless.

Along those same lines, I think a lot of what we do is pointless towards "saving the planet." Yes, we recycle plastic and paper and coke cans. But is there a better way. Is there a way we don't need everything we get to be in disposable containers? Most of these easy-to-use, disposable containers don't get recycled or crushed, they wind up in our landfills or along the side of the road and do nothing but sit there.

As Christians, I think it is about being conscious of what we do. First and foremost, we are children of God and we are hear to spread the good news and help those in need. Second, we are also charged with being good stewards of the earth. What I think this means is be aware of your global impact.
Simple things:
- do you need all the lights on
- can I get a copy of the paper online
- should I use the "fine china" - aka paper plates - or use regular
- do I do lots of little loads of laundry or a couple of big ones

Then bigger things:
- do we really need another pipeline in Alaska
- do we really need another stupid office park instead of a wildlife preserve
- do people overseas really need to hunt animals to their extinction
- organize city planning better for mass transportation or pedestrian routes

I think when we finally realize our larger global impact, probably tied to the reason God put US in charge, I think we will experience a changing tide in what we are doing to our planet. Till then the radicals get mocked, and we keep buying Sonic drinks in massive Styrofoam cups.

What I plan to do:
- Start with the little things - reduce and reuse!
- Do my bit to replenish the world with a little O2 through landscaping at my house
- Get a puppy and a kitty - for natural fertilizer of course!
- Not drive as much - um, yeah right - it's Texas - but we do walk to church or the store on occasions
- When I can, do my part to clean up or protect the environment and the animals who call it home
- Not use a leaf blower ever!!!!!

First day of freedom...

Wowzers...It's my first day of my new and confused life. And what does one do when they are looking for a new life?

- Make breakfast - toast and coffee
- Clean tub - scrubbing bubbles and commit, because I was not convinced the scrubbing bubbles worked as well as they say.
- Clean clothes - one load drying, one load washing
- Look online for new job opportunities
- Get depressed about looking for new job opportunities
- Check out peoples' blogs - man, you guys need to UPDATE!
- Make grocery list
- Debate on what to eat for lunch
- Prepare for house hunting with hubby and the realtor later
- Think of more things to do later...

Let's hope tomorrow's better...

Big Changes!

Well, wanted to fill you in if I haven't already told you my big news. We've got big changes ahead in the O'Brien household, as I have decided to leave my current job...

It's a little scary, but my family has been so encouraging, especially Joe, and I just know God has something crazy fun out there for me.

I really want to feel needed and most importantly where God wants me and that I am somehow furthering his kingdom with the little bit of whatever I have that He gave me.

Please pray for me, please refer me, please humor me!

On a lighter note,
Here is a slide show of our Seattle trip! It was awesome!

An update on life...

Ugh, I am glad it is Friday, as I am tired! So here's a little update on the O'Briens.

1. We celebrated our 1st Anniversary! Go us!

2. To celebrate we went to Seattle and we had a BLAST! (I'll post some pics shortly)

3. We are still house hunting - took a bit off for the trip and depression over our first failed attempt.

4. My sister has a date buddy -- and it makes me smile!

5. We are run/walking in a race tomorrow sponsored by our church to benefit Water is Basic - www.waterisbasic.org - this is a great organization started to raise money and fund the purchase of drilling equipment and then the wells to provide clean water for the people of Sudan. The whole O'Brien clan is participating!

6. It's fall and that always makes me happy.

Ummm, I think those are the current highlights...more to come soon!

A bit of Joe - as tagged by Emily

1. Who is your man? Joseph Daniel O'Brien
2. How long have you been together? 6 years (Our first wedding anniv. is Sunday!!)
3. How long did you date? oh gosh...about 5 years
4. How old is your man? 25
5. Who eats more? that would be Joe
6. Who said "I love you" first? I think we both did this while we were yelling at each other. Had to get our blood boiling to find out how much we cared! Awww...
7. Who is taller? Joe
8. Who sings better? I think we both sing pretty darn good. Sundays are the best!
9. Who is smarter? I'm with Emily. Depends on the topic.
10. Whose temper is worse? That would be Joe - he's Irish - what can you say...
11. Who does the laundry? Mostly Joe, yeah he rocks
12. Who takes out the garbage? Both; or we let the stupid apt service we pay $15!!! take it from our step - but they don't come on weekends!
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. But sometimes we swap just for the heck of it.
14. Who pays the bills? Mostly me.
15. Who is better with the computer? I'd say we hold our own.
16. Who mows the lawn? No one at the moment.
17. Who cooks dinner? That would be Joe (my superman). He gets home first, so he gets things rolling
18. Who drives when you are together? Either, but mostly Joe
19. Who pays when you go out? Joe
20. Who is most stubborn? Both
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We're both working on that one. It's not easy, but it's always better.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Joe's - they are 10 mins away
23. Who kissed who first? It was Joe, but I didn't say no! =)
24. Who asked who out? He stalked me for a while, then finally talked me into it after a study date or two, then I had to find him again after the engineering building sucked him in Junior year.
25. Who proposed? Joey - it was so special - besides the fact that Hurricane Rita had caused everyone MASSIVE travel delays (including me!)
26. Who is more sensitive? I'd say both - I get sad about somethings more than Joe and the same for him.
27. Who has more friends? I stay in touch more, so maybe me. But we have awesome friends!
28. Who has more siblings? we're equal - one Jennifer, one Sarah
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Joe - he's my best bud, and I know he looks out for me always