Librarian in Disguise

life & death

On Friday one of my college roommates gave birth to a baby boy. On Sunday one of my students here passed away very unexpectedly. I knew him, although not very well. Grief is a strange thing, you don't know when it will hit you. I have a lot of close ties with some of his friends and have been spending extra time with them. Keep our campus in your prayers. Especially the folks in the Campus Ministry office as we reach out to those who are hurting right now. And his friends and family as they mourn their loss.

He was only 19 years old. A freshman student who enjoyed his studies and was active in the theater program, and loved Halo. It is a significant loss to our campus.

John Donne’s words remind us that “No man is an island, entire of himself...anyone’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in humankind.”

Funny Video

Baby got Back...

I saw this video yesterday at a meeting with some fellow campus minister in Wheeling WV. It had us laughing so hard my side hurt. It is a very humorous rendition of the 90s hit Baby Got Back. I hope you enjoy!

knitting

Someone in my church gave me a sewing machine that's in great shape. I have it on extended loan. Only I can't sew. There is another woman in my church who is a costume designer and she said she'd teach me, but not until after her wedding. It's in just a few weeks and she's still sewing dresses for it. So in the mean time I decided that I'd refresh my knitting skills. In high school my German host mom taught me how. I made a scarf. I really wanted to make socks but she said that was too complicated a project to learn with. And so I knit my purple scarf over the course of a few months while watching Verbotene Liebe (a fantastic german soap opera! ). Anyhow I nevermade another thing. So today a bought a pair of needles, a little, How to book, and some cheap yarn. And I managed to start another scarf, I was amazed at how quickly I remembered the process. But I think the needles I started with are too small to learn on. Anyhow I completed several rows, I think 10. And well we shall see how far I get between now and when the next knitters group gets together. I'll let you know! Well, my eyes are tired so off to bed I go.

blog help

so i want to upload so photos to my blog. and well whenever i try the files are so big that when you try to vie them you see all my pores and my roots. What's up with that. How to change that so the pictures aren't ginormous! help if you can!

over the rhine

There's just something about Over the Rhine's music that moves the soul...I'm certainly no skilled music critic and I know a lot of folks who don't really care all that much for OTR but wow I love there music. And I can write run ons fairly well.

And then when they create tee-shirts like this and it increases their cool factor.

Anyhow, I think I need a CD line in my budget!

a sister story

This happened last week. My older sister suggested I post it for the blog world.

We went to the Mohun Hall, which is the Nursing home for Dominican
sisters. It's right behind the main building on campus. We take
students there once a month. We either play bingo or do arts and
crafts. Well in honor of Valentines day we painted flower buckets and
ate cookies. It was a grand ole time. This is a photo of me and Sister
Lillian. She is a clostered Fransican, since 1937! Very sweet lady.

I try not to publicize that I'm not Catholic in particular settings.
And well she was asking me where I am from. So I told her we moved
around a lot because of my father's work. She responded, "Well what
does he do?" And I said, "Well he's in the Air Force." And she said,
"Oh, does he fly planes?" And I said, "No, he's a chaplain." And she
turned her head and looked at me a bit puzzled and said, " He's not a
priest is he?!" And I said, "Oh, no he's a presbyterian minister." And
then she said, "Oh." And then she asked me again what I do? It was a
funny little conversation. I had such a sweet time with her. When I
walked her back to her room, she kept asking me more questions, one of
which was, "Are you dating?" And I said, "No not right now." And she,
"No hurry my dear, no hurry!" And then asked if she could give me a
hug. So cute, I think I'll go back and visit on my own some time!

settling in

So I've been in my new job for just over 6 months now. Last semester wasn't easy and I was generally consumed by the ministry I am invovled in here in Columbus. Over Christmas break I made a realization that I would continue to be dissatisfied with my work if I continued to allow it consume my life. So I have made a committment to myself that I would begin to allow myself to have a life outside of my work. And while it is important that I incorporate the students I minister to into my life I must first begin to discover what life outside of school looks like. And that my friends can be a difficult task.

So my first task was to give up watching TV for Lent. That has freed up a lot of time in life, time that was being wasted. I asked a friend at church if I could borrow her sewing machine for a while, I just signed up for a library card. And even though I don't know how to Knit I am going to go and do my own yarn craft (weaving Mandalas) with some ladies from church who knit together once a month. And I go even though there is a really cool Mardi Gras party on campus. Because at some point I must give myself boundaries. I'll let you know how it progresses.

Now it's time for dinner!

Disturbing information from Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity Founder & Former-President Milard Fuller Terminated

How to help

My cousin sent me the following e-mail today. Very Sad.

"Hi all! As most of you know, my hometown is Americus, GA, the hometown
of Habitat for Humanity International. There has been drastic recent
news this week. On Monday Jan. 31 Millard and Linda Fuller (along
with his office staff) were fired by the executive committee of the
board of directors. This action could have terrible implications for
the future of Habitat. As founder, Mr. Millard Fuller has such a
magnificent vision of spreading Christian love and providing
everyone with a decent place to live. I urge each of you to check
the situation out for yourself. Many local affiliates
are petitioning to reinstate the Fullers. If you support the
reinstatement of the Fullers, I urge you to show your support by
signing the online petition.
The press release from the Habitat side can be found at
http://www.habitat.org/ under "Habitat for Humanity president
terminated." To sign the petition and to see that side of
the story check out http://www.habitatpartnersunite.com
Whatever you do, please at least pray for Habitat International. The
Fullers have made such an incredible difference in this world, and I
think they each provide such an example of the type of servants
Christ calls us to be. Grace and Peace to each of you, Melanie"

the photo

I look weird in this photo because A. I was making goofy faces, while trying to take a self portrait and B. I couldn't get Fuller to look at the camera...he was only like 10 days old. It made for an odd photo!

more stuff...

This is my nephew Fuller. And I love this little guy so much! I especially love being his Aunt!

Some may wonder, who is this Stina woman. Well I've had a covblog for over year now but I just never really thought much about posting stuff. Well anyway I'm fasting from watching TV (I get free cable so it's easy to get sucked in) so I now I have lots of extra time on my hands. So you'll probably be hearing from me more often.

See ya around!

Spring Break

Some of you may know that I work for a private college in Columbus Ohio. Well this spring break March 12-19 I am leading a group of students on a trip. It is going to be interesting, especially because I'll be in charge of 18 students, along with my trusty co-worker and CCO side-kick Jana. We are going to be working with Habitat for Humanity in Opelika Alabama! I am so excited. It is going to be a challenging Spring Break, but I think working with Habitat will be a great opportunity for the students.

I just went on the Greater Columbus Habitat for Humanity Orientation Bus tour. Habitat does amazing work! We had the opportunity to meet a woman who moved into her Habitat home just over a year ago. She said she was so excited to finally have her new home that they wanted to sleep there the first night she had ownership. So they slept on the floor with blankets! Talk about a thankful woman!

She was committed to staying in the neighborhood that she was originally living in and so in an effort to protect her building site she made sure to let the neighbors know who she was and she befriended a lot of the neighborhood kids and let them know it was her house and asked if they would keep an eye out for it. And during the year while it was being built she never had any thefts and hasn't had any problems sense.

She also became friends with the one of the patrol officers who worked that neighborhood. He told her to let him know when the dedication was. Not only did she let him know she invited the whole department. There were so many cop cars and police the day of the dedication that people in the neighborhood kept asking if there was going to be a raid on the house!

So it was great to learn about Habitat here in Columbus. I hope that the students will return from spring Break with an excitement to give to their own city!

shhhhhing librarian

My brother-in-law Nat made this gingerlibrarian cookie over break. He made a lot of crazy cookies that night. And I had forgotten about it and thought I'd share the photo with the blog world. Enjoy!

age

What is age anyway? I'm 25 in actuality, but according to that little test I'm 33. I tested older than my older sister. I'm not sure what I think about that!

wow, I'm old!