Just a few thoughts....

Yesterday was a day filled with all sorts of thoughts. Some very Happy. and some that just made me mad!.... here are a few i thought i could share with the blogging world.

"Head over Heels in Love"
So in thinking about this statement i began to realize that it is a VERY interesting statement. If i were wearing heels(it's rare, but been done)my head would already be "over my heels"... so what does this mean? If it was "crazy" love you would think it would be "Heels over Head" as if someone were doing a backflip in heels. I have come to the conclusion that it must mean you have your senses about you. You know what this Love is. You are standing (in heels) and you know which way is up and where you want to be and go. I for sure think it has it's moments of backflips, but then you land and you are back to the beginging. HEAD OVER HEELS! I can say for sure i am only head over heels for Jesus. I know what my love means. I know what his cost, and i'm willing to go forward with this relationship. No Matter what! sometimes however... i wish i could do a backflip in heels for him! He sure is AMAZING!

"Did you ever Die?"
This is my shout out to Corey Parnell. Last night at emerge he was talking about endurance and Hoopamonie (it's greek) and was giving an example about someone who can pole vault. He asked if anyone had ever done it.. and i have so up went my hand. Evedently i was the only one in the room who had. Corey turns and looks at me and says, "Cassie you pole vaulted? Did you ever die?" I was laughing so hard! By the fact that i am sittig here writing this blog and was at emerge...Pole Vaulting did NOT steal my life!

"Make sure it's Eberhards 2%"
This was a startling moment for sure. I am house sitting and hanging out with 2 high school girls. Last night as i headedout the door to Safeway for Milk, one of the girls hollered out the door after me, "Make sure it's Eberhards 2%" Upon getting to the Dairy Dept. I was hit with a choice; spend $1.26 more on a gallon of milk just so it's got a green cap and a cartton cow on it, or just save the $1.26 and buy the "general brand". Seriously does it matter? So what did i do? grabbed one gallon of Eberhards and one of "Dairy Glen" and compared the Table of Contents with my dear friend Heidi. GUESS WHAT? THEY have THE EXACT EXACT same thing inside; MILK. All the grams of Fat, Sodiem, Colesteral, Carbs.... exactly the same... all the words i can't spell or pronouse that make up the process it goes throug between udder and Safeway.... exaclty the same! SO WHAT THE HECK IS THE DEAL?????? I bought the "Dairy Glen" Milk and head for home, knowing a volcano would for sure erupt when the girs saw that i had not bought the name brand. Bummer. Sure enough i was right. So here's what i did. Poured milk from the Dairy Glen into one glass and some from the Eberhards into another; time for a taste test. Unfortunatly they wouldn't even taste it. SOOOO it was time for Babysitter Gone Wild; I emptied the last of the Eberhards from the container and poured the whole gallon of Dairy Glen into the empty Eberhards containter!!! Yes. Yes i did. You should have seen the look on "Sally's" Face (name changed)!! Horror. I then returned to the taste testing. I had just taken a sip of milk and 'Sally' asks "Did you stop for Margerita's on your way home? What are you snortting." of course i busted up laughing. Milk went everywhere. Out my nose. Out my mouth. And EVERYWHERE on the floor. In conclusion; Milk is Milk. It does the body good. However it does hurt coming out the nose.

have a GREAT day.

OH and Happy Birthday Carissa and Lindsey; My Best Friends and AMAZING SISTERS!

Backporch, Oh Backporch

I wish i could paint a picture of this morning in Backporch. Perhaps brown would be the color for the coffee, blue for the sky i see out the window, white for the snow on the ground and the 4* weather outside. Yellow and red would help discribe the conversations i am overhearing and purple could be the color of laughter. There are about 25 people in here this morning; all of whom are sitting in little groups, drinking coffee and chatting about this and that. There is a gentleman and lady sitting directly behind me.They are not talking. He is reading the newspaper, evedant by the "krinkle-krinkle" of the pages turning... and i think she is reading a book. Towards the counter there is a group of 5 "older" ladies probably in their50s and 60s but then again i am not good at guessing ages; They discuss Disneyland(one has never been), skiing, churches, and dogs. The 2 young ladies to my right are friends from church.They are talking about the reality of life, changes and struggles. There are 2 guys sitting at one of the tall tables discussing real estate.

Lauhing. Someone keeps laughing.

I hear the quiet "hmmmmmm" of the coffee machine, the "pshhhhh" of the steam wand and the "WAAAAAANNNNN" of the esspresso grinder. The random clinking of cups and sausers. Oh and the music. Ever so often the music comes into focus and i hear the jazz/indie/ "backporch" music. Right now it's more like a fading noise.

Noise. When i stop listening to the specifics it all becomes Noise. ssshhh pppsss ttsshsssmm hmmm wannna krinkle swish muus ha ha ha ha kolk hmmmm. Just Noise.I love Backporch in the morning. I love the noise and craziness. The frantic seach for a table for 2.

Oh Bachporch.......

An hour later;

The newspaper man and lady have been replaced by 2 ladies drinking the uncommon and small 8oz drinks and talking about "carma". They "older" ladies have been replaced by a younger man in a business suit and his friend in jeans and a North Face jacket... they speak to hushed to hear. My 2 friends have been replaced by a young mother, her baby and possible the grandma. They are talking about life as moms. The guys discussing real estate at the tall table have been replaced by 2 other friends. I can't hear what they are talking about, but they are smiling. The music is more in the background than it has been all morning.

Another hour later;

A friend has joined me. All other conversations and noise is now a backdrop to an amazing conversation. We talk about so much! Single living and the pluses and minuses. Dreams and desires. Churches and "un-churches". Brothers and Sisters. Moms and Dads. Tears. We share our crying stories. Movies. JUNO and PS I LOVE YOU. REality. We talk about real things. deep things. The working of God in our lives and how far we have each come since moving to Bend. We laugh out loud at a very funny video she recieved in an email.

Before either of us realize another hour has passed. I look around and realize that there are now more emtpy tables than taken ones. The "WANNNNN" of the espresso grinder is the loudest noise by far. And the music is... funny? Hard to discribe the music, but i laugh when i hear the song that is playing. Not because of the words, but because of the sound. As i gather up my things to leave i sigh... oh Backporch.

Backporch Oh Backporch; Oh Lavendar lattes.

Snuffleupagus

Snuffleupagus. yup that's what it says. Snuffles, Snuffy, Snuffleupagus. this is my newly dubbed nickname, and i am quite fond of it. Mostly because it's hard to say with out smiling! Oh wait did i just say "hard to say"? weird cause that's how i got the nickname... so here's the story;

I love my last name and over the years i have defiantly enjoyed some funny spellings and pronunciations of it. At track meets, baseball games, college classes, and other random events the was guaranteed to be a laugh from the D family when the announcer got ready to say it! It's a great name. It's quite a name. D-I-A-C-O-G-I-A-N-N-I-S. It's pronounced more like this Dee-yakie-anis, but not so harsh. Well most people have a hard time saying it until they practice. Spelling it is the real test. Diacogiannis. It's easy to me. I've spelled it at least 1,000,000 times in my life and I'm sure there will be many many more; D- as in dog, i- as in ice, a- as in apple moments in my life. When i stepped in to 180 HS ministry Casey(youth Pastor) was determined to not only say it right but spell it as well. After only a little while he had it down, spelling and all. Props to Casey. However for some reason he and a few other staff member continued to call me things like, Asodofolous, Hippopotamus, Deahwhatever etc. It was consistently a different name until one day; i was walking down the YLD staff hallway and someone said, "Hey Snuffleupagus!" and not a few moments later someone else said the same thing!!!! I thought, "hmm thats interesting, the same nickname in a matter of moments." Coincidence? oh no. Casey had found the BEST substitute for Diacogiannis and was determined to make sure it stuck... and it has! I am even linked on a friends blog as "Snuffleupagus".

If you would like to hear more about my amazing name sake and his Sesame Street days.. check out this link(thanks Joann);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Snuffleupagus

It's awesome. Joyness.

bless you in your day,
~Snuffleupagus

Excitement...

ex·cite·ment[ik-sahyt-muhnt]–noun
1.an excited state or condition.
2.something that excites.
3.the feeling of lively and cheerful joy; "he could hardly conceal his excitement when she agreed" [syn: exhilaration]

this is me in a moment of excitment:


i'm not sure why this is the word that fascinates me tonight, but it is. I assume some think I can be a fairly overexcited person; however, I love to laugh, to see others laugh, to be HONESTLY surprised and see the amazing, often unexpected blessings God gives us.

So come on people, lets get Excited. God is good. His mercies are NEW every morning and He hasn't forgotten about us!!! His timing is PERFECT, His love is NEVER-Ending, He DANCES over us and meets ALL our needs! What a GREAT God we have, what's NOT to get EXCITED ABOUT?!?!?

Yes i know you are all wondering what i am opening in the picture... but let's have some fun; leave a comment and GUESS!!!

***Mom, Dad, Carissa, Lindsey and other family members who were there... please don't give it away!***

Christmas Love!

I love my little; J., Sarah and Rachel and i have yet to meet them.... check it out... don't you just want to hang out with these amazing people?!??!?!??



i am so eager to meet them.

Please Jesus, let things go smooth and sail quickly from here on out! Amen.

Good-bye 2007

Goodbye 2007
Let's start this post by reviewing 2007 and all the great things that happened!

January:
-Confirmation that i was indeed going to move to Bend Oregon
-The Edge had over 100 students on a Wednesday night!!! woot-woot!
-North County Christ the King Annual Kid's Ministry All nighter= 194 kids!
-I gave my notice at NCCTk; i'm moving! So many tears at the staff meeting and with all The Edge students!
February:
-Happy Valentines Day to me; I spent a lot of money on myself, and got a new Car!!!! Oh how i love my 1999 Honda Passport in top-notch condition with only 88,000 miles on it!!!!
-lots of prayer about moving to Bend; main question= timing?
March:
-Visit Bend to find a job and place to live!!!! Red Robin hired me without so much as an interview!
-Came home from Bend and told everyone the news; I'm Moving in A MONTH!
April:
-packing, shopping, packing
-goodbye parties at Church, the Edge and a surprise from Lindsey at home!!!!
-April 20th; the cars loaded(to the max) and we are off to Bend!!!!
-April 21st first weekend at Westside!
-April 23rd Start work at Red Robin
May:
-Emerge Spring retreat!
-Summer at red Robin in full swing!!! crazy business
June:
- Jeremiah, Tim, Matt and Jared come for a visit!
July:
-Adventures with Hood River begin!
Happy Fourth of July!
-CRC with my family!
August:
lots more Hood River Adventures, including but not limited too: falling off a cliff, breaking my foot, being "stuck" in HR for 8 days!
- Coure d' Alene Lake in Idaho with my family!
-home to Lynden for 2days
- my car hits the 100,000 mile mark!
- Gregg comes home for a visit!
September:
-Happy Birthday too me! 22 years young!!!!
-searching for a new place to live!
-loving Bend Oregon all the more
-my first Above the Noise Concert!
October:
-New Roommates and life in apartments!
-Jump into 180 high school ministry
-Start serving at Red Robin
November:
-Happy Thanksgiving! CRC with my family!
-LOVE LOVE LOVING 180!!!!!
December:
-Merry Christmas... home to see the family a week before!