bed, basketball, tea & rain

last night to briefly state: was a night from hell. i had a moment where i thought i actually might die of pain. i dont know what it was- but my stomach was dying. or something had died in it. it must have been the mexican food i had eaten for dinner (although we have eaten there many times and never such a thing has happened). anyway. i was up throughout the night and was in horrible pain.

so lets just say when i woke up today- i didn't really go anywhere. i just stayed in bed. all day. luckily for me its saturday during basketball season. now i LOVE basketball. LOVE it. unlike my dear friend julia who HATES it. i love watching it, so fun. so much action. i LOVE playing it also. anyway. today was college gameday- so i laid in bed and watched basketball.

ryan came over and joined me- but he read and studied for a midterm while i continued to watch basketball and played on facebook (among other things). duke came on and we watched and celebrated the victory- all the while in pjs and relaxing.

throughout this time- sweet ryan kept making me herbal tea (which is a clear liquid- something i am drinking) to help settle the tummy. i ate toast. and laid around.

all the while- it was raining. so peacefullly. and it continues to. just loud enough to be heard inside my room- just pitter pattering away. (ps this is suppose to turn into snow?! yikes)

so today. ive relaxed in bed (except going to have a delicious bowl of soup at panera bread), watched a lot of basketball, drank lots of delicious hot tea, and listened to the rain. its been lovely.

::ps this is a lovely cup of green tea in japan, not what i had today, but a good picture::

peace & love.

name game.

thanks blair for this killer idea. go here and you too can find this crazy info out...

i am the only dani mac in the united states. even crazier there are FEWER than 336 people in the US with my same last name!!

• There are 227,883 people in the U.S. with the first name Danielle.
• Statistically the 288th most popular first name.
• More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Danielle are female.

intersting isn't it! maybe not be true, but sounds likely!! :)
i am the only dani mac on facebook... so i mean thats basically the whole world right? crazy! oh wait. i just remember... im changing my name!!! so the one and only dani mac will soon be no more!! :( and dang. there are 30 people in the us with my new name. im flying solo no more. :(

sweden.

so i could never get google analytics to work. ughh. BUT i got stat counter to work and i lOVE it. its crazy! i did see i have 2 uk friends. (2 different parts of the uk) margaret i assume is one. and guess where else. SWEDEN. how crazy is that. plus tons of people from all different states have stumbled into my blog. so crazy, and quite scary!

craving.

a soda.
and its only day two.

isn't funny how when you are actually trying NOT to do something- its so darn easy to do it? such as the fact at work i am surronded by soda. its everywhere. and i can just have one if i want it. did i ever notice this before. no not really at all. not until now. AND here at work we have a killer coffee maker that makes flavored coffees. did i use it before now? no. well once. and now all i think about is how good one would be.

ummmm. hello. what in the world.

anyway. today is my last of six days on. i have worked 6 out of the last 8 days. TERRIBLE when its 12 1/2 hour shifts - that most have turned into 13 or 13.5 hours. hopefully tonight ill get out of here early. i hope. but 3 days off... and they will be glorious.

duke won bball last night. thank goodness. for many reasons but #1- ry is/will be in a great mood. :) plus we are watching lost tonight (since duke was on last night; thank goodness of DVR).

also. ry and i are looking at apts/townhomes here in the durham. dude. thats so darn exciting! ill be moving in JUNE! so if you are free ill give you lots of good food and fun if you help!! :) speaking of if you know of anyone who is renting a house/town house for cheap fill us in!! id MUCH rather rent a house- but hello. im not made of money! but durham-ites out there. keep your eyes open.

ok. enough blabbering for now.

peace and love.

lent

Lent: Prepare the Way from Living Water International on Vimeo.

forty days.

lent is one of my favorite times of year... but it was not always. not until college anyway. Ryan is definitely a spiritual leader to/for me. way back since the beginning. He has always challenged me and forced me to think about my beliefs and thoughts. Anyway, lent was never a big deal to me, until freshman year when ry talked to me about it, and explained the season of lent in a totally different way. since then i have taken a whole new approach to this time and season. my friend blair is a divinity student (at Vanderbilt though) she blogged about lent and i really enjoyed it. its much more eloquent than anything i could write. so enjoy.

"The holy season of Lent is before us. One of my favorite times of the year. There is a calmness that ensues. The air is filled with a renewed focus. Concentration. Stillness even.

Maybe it is because people give up drinking coffee (or sweet tea) and eating chocolate.

Maybe it is because there is lots required of the faithful, of disciples during these forty days.

Prayer. Repentance. Forgiveness.

Remembering.

Going without.

Coming into peace.

Living a gospel of hope, even though you know what happens at the end of the story. The really sad events of death. Death of destructive habits. Death of grudges. Death of the one who loved neighbors, strangers, and enemies.

Living a gospel of joy, even though you know what happens at the end of the story. This is a different type of anticipation. This anticipation faces death, first. Yet, there is joy in that morning sunrise. There is a new creation.

A calmness. In the midst of preparation. Anticipation. A waiting that requires strength, will power and...hope. A longing for the moment of restoration. Forty days. Forty days to forgive.

Ash Wednesday is upon us, friends. A new calm. A time to remember. Going without. Yet coming into a...new...peace. "

Ash wednesday is tomorrow. due to work i will be unable to attend any service- i am highly disappointed, but perhaps i will have my own service tomorrow night. tomorrow begins a journey forty days long that will encompass many things, including a trip to Guatemala. I am going to take people water- so my focus of this lent is water. its going to be a journey for sure that will take me to another country, but its going to be a season of growth and for that i am excited.

enjoy your next 40 days.
learn. grown. be challenged. go outside the box.

love and peace.
d

ps. need an idea. here you go. join me in this journey...


Don't fast. from Living Water International on Vimeo.

1 reason i should DEF marry ryan.

he cooks for me the days i work. i mean that alone is a reason to marry him.... but there are 100s of reasons. :) but back to cooking. today he was at the bball game so he could not make me dinner. so what did i have you ask? cereal and bacon. delicious. yeahhhh. like i said. its a good thing i am marrying him and a good thing he cooks for me.

onto another note. today was a long and hard day at work. but there was a bright side. i had a hispanic patient. he only spoke spanish. he and his family are from Chile. He was awesome though. I had an AMAZING time talking with him and teaching him all I could about what was going on. Dont get me wrong- my spanish is weak- but compared to my coworkers I am top notch. haha. but not really. but being with those patients and attempting spanish is my absolute favorite thing to do. i leave the room feeling like i actually have done something. I can't describe it. I just feel alive when I am takling to them and teaching them and trying to help them understand their condition.

so. today i began searching spanish classes. im going to work on getting into some medical spanish classes at a tech school here... and see where that gets me. i think it will be awesome. who knows. i can't start classes until after aug (#1 im getting married. #2 after august ill be considered a NC resident! AH!!) anyway. who knows. but i mean i love spanish. i love hispanics. i should do something about this.

well off to watch some duke bball and get in bed. i work yet again tomorrow. lovely.

peace and love.