@se certified!

A little known fact about me: Despite the fact that several people have suggested that I consider culinary training as an alternate career, I've always wanted to be an ASE certified technician. Seriously. If I woke up tomorrow and weren't doing what I'm doing, I'd want to know how to fix cars. Since I don't plan on switching tracks (and I love what I'm doing), I won't be dropping out of Southeastern tomorrow.

But today I did have a significant car problem...

I couldn't get my car in gear! The shifter was just stuck/jammed and I had to put my back into it to get it "unstuck." Even though the transmission seemed fine and once I was driving the car ran smoothly, I could see the bills running up as I thought threw what this repair might cost me! Oh, dread washed over me.

Instead of giving up, however, I made phone calls. Lots of calls. And I also called on Google. Unfortunately, nobody I called (3 Toyota dealerships included) had ever seen my problem, and Google came up empty as well. How could Google not know what I was talking about?

On my way to the dealership, I tugged on the center console, and it started to come loose! So I pulled over, and pulled it off.

Oh boy! This was more than I was probably prepared for.
Once at the Toyota dealership, I went to the Parts department, and told them what was broken. They said they only sold the ENTIRE gear kit, a whopping $640 (for the part alone, not to mention labor)! That's more than I can afford. I went back into my car, drove it over to the Service department and explained my situation.

I would pay money to have a picture of the expression on those technicians' faces when they saw my discombobulated interior - and realized that I had taken it apart! :D
We pulled off the last piece together (I was afraid to break it, so the foreman helped here), and we got to the source of the problem...
Ready for it?
A tiny 2" piece of plastic had moved off of a tiny 2cm notch! That's it! $640.


I drove my car home, still in pieces, and then put it back together again.
I think I made my dad pretty proud.
I might not be ASE certified, but I did do something impressive @SE (at southeastern)!

Musicians are fun!

I don't know what it is, but I do love when musicians cover others' songs! Here are a few I like...

Switchfoot covers Beyonce's
Crazy In Love


Alanis Morissette covers Fergie's
My Humps


Kate Nash covers Arctic Monkeys
Fluorescent Adolescent


John Mayer covers the Police
S.O.S. (Message in a Bottle)

In the Summertime...

After an exhausting first year at seminary, I've given my brain a couple days to relax over the last month or so of freedom. I'm not acutally free- I have two (very intense) summer classes going on. But I do enjoy me some FailBlog and Conan O'Brien on Hulu.
A couple weeks ago, Conan said one of my favorite opening bits so far. From what I remember, he said: "Fiat has bought Chrysler. This is actually a very good partnership because Fiat only makes 12 cars a year, and Chrysler sells 12 cars a year."

And then I saw this on Failblog today:Enjoy the weekend, friends! I'm off to Columbia, SC.

A visual treat

What a happy commercial.

Sometimes commercials just communicate the right thing. A good feeling. A happy product.
Plus, I'm kind of a tree-hugger now.
I almost want to go and buy a Prius. Almost.

A little obsessive

On Saturday I had nothing going on. No plans. No friends to hang out with. Nothing to do except study. I found myself wanting to go out anyway and I felt like shopping, so I did the only thing that would be cheap and responsible... groceries!
Only I wasn't grocery shopping; I just wanted one thing.
Mr.Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce! YUM! It's my favorite sauce, and it's amazing. It is also very hard to find. I went to Costco (that's where the website said it was carried) and then BJ's. No luck. Then I went to Fresh Market. Bad idea. Too many rich people with more money than sense.
On to World Market. I had my fingers crossed for that one. No such luck. Then Target. Nope. No Gourmet Sauce there.
Finally Kroger, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.
That's 8- count 'em eight- stores looking for this sauce.
And I still can't find it.
There are days when I wish Miami was a little closer.

Good Math, Bad Blogging

Remember that time I updated last month? Me either.

I have a confession to make. I have been a terrible blogger. Part of it is that I like micro-blogging, over at Twitter. But mostly, it's the state of my life lately.

A friend posted NewMath on her blog, and I think it's pretty great.



I've come up with an equation of my own:
GRAD SCHOOL + JOB + APT = COLLEGE - SLEEP + MORE RAMEN

I'm about to take my last two finals today, and let me tell you, there's about to be a whole lot more going on at annemaroo.com.
Come back soon!

Working for the Man

This week marks the beginning of my job working for the US Census Bureau. Yeah, I'm working for the man. But... I'm getting paid by the man. And I get to use this high-tech, nifty handheld computer that can only be turned on with my (whoa, Sydney) MY fingerprint and a password. All it's missing is an ocular scan.
Oolala.

I'm missing classes all week. (Aren't all my professors so lovely for excusing me from class so that I can eat again?) But, "Why do I have to miss an entire week of class?", you ask.
I'll tell you why.
I'm in training all week. 8 to 5:30 everyday. Training myself at night (our THREE manuals total about 800 pages of material). Beaucoup overtime. Not really anytime for studying seminary stuff, on top of the fact that I'm at the actual training sessions All. Day. Long.
But hey, they also have given me a super-cool official badge, messenger bag, and Oh Yeah- a cool little computer. I look pretty neat-o walking around all official with the 2010 Census gear. My parents have requested a picture of me at work. Maybe I'll put one up here. Maybe.

So... moving right along. Yesterday morning we were sworn in. That was crazy. I had to raise my right hand, pledge to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic... yada yada." The guy sitting next to me said that the last time he said that, he was shipped off to Vietnam.

Which brings me to the whole point of this blog. The people in training with me.
They're mostly my senior. I lie.
They all are. By a lot.
They don't understand "the Internets." Some of these folks do not own cell phones. (Fine by me, but track with me here... If they can't operate a cell phone, how do you think our training class is going? You know, the training to learn how to use a handheld computer that is state-of-the-art, satellite-synched, fingerprint-secure technology?)
I'll tell you. It's not going well. It's s.... l.... o..... w..... Oober slow. Almost backwards slow.
Here's something that happened today:
Leader: Now that you've selected the Address Canvassing from the Main Menu, use the stylus to open a new address and highlight the selected area using the YAH point on the map.
Student: Where's the main menu?

I'm not joking.

And, to add insult to injury, not only do I have to be there at 8 in the morning, but on my left sits the most talkative man on the planet. I'm pretty sure he wakes up talking as fast as an Olympic runner. I get three words in, and I probably look about as goofy as a speedwalker next to an Olympian. Yeah. He's just SO social.
On my right sits eat-and-whisper lady. I've decided to call her that because that is all she does. By 9:30 am, she had answered her CELL PHONE three times already! During training. It blew my mind. And she walked out around that time this morning to get Chick-Fil-A from someone who dropped it off (presumably the same person with whom she was coordinating this covert op via hushed cell phone conversations during class). It doesn't help that she eats fried chicken and pickles every meal. Barf. Pickles are just cucumbers soaked in evil.

I'm done with my little tirade. And very happy to have this awesome, awesome job. I just thought you should know how it's going :) I wish I had you (seriously, no matter who's reading this, I'm almost positive that I'd rather have you) as my neighbor in training class.

Cramming at the library

It's midterms week here at SEBTS. I've been studying a lot, and not doing much else. Last Saturday I spent several hours there, trying to get a thesis proposal worked out (because assignments don't take a break for midterm exams). I wasn't planning on doing anything that night, besides studying, so I took a study break just to say hello and let the parents know I'm alive once I left the library. Here's the conversation:

Dad: Hey buddy.
Me: HI dad! How are you?
Dad: I'm good. We worked around the house today. What did you do?
Me: Oh, just studied. I have midterms next week, and assignments. So I spent most of my day at the library.
Dad: Ok. You got tired of studying? It's only 5.
Me: I had to leave at 5. That's when the library closes.
Dad: Wow. How different from FIU.I remember when you would pull all-nighters there.
Apparently I was on speakerphone, because at this point I heard my mom laughing in the background, mockingly saying:
Mom: So, she pulled an "all-afternooner."

I don't know what it was, but it made me laugh so much.
Oh, this school that I go to. And this library that they have, with their odd "hours"...

Mis Padres

Latinos are more entitled to be attached to family. At least, that's my justification here in Wake Forest. But it's getting to be a little old. How often can a girl in her mid-twenties, living on her own, miss her parents?

Oh, but I do.
Today, I miss them so much it aches.
I hope this goes away for good (but I also kinda hope it never does). They're such amazing people.
Last week (Mar.10), we had a chapel speaker talk on the cost of following Christ. I'm not gonna lie... I wasn't too crazy about some of the things he had to say, even though they were true.

The Godfather of Church Planting

Ed Stetzer.
He's kind of a big deal.
Not that he would ever say that. Or even think it.
But he pretty much wrote the book on church planting. Technically, he's written several. I've only read "Compelled by Love" but I follow him on Twitter, we're friends on Facebook, and I subscribe to his blog... I guess it started with a couple of posts of his that just really resonated with me-
When he spoke with a church planter working in Moravia
When he explained Why Europe
When he wrote about Mark Driscoll
I don't know. I just like him.
Imagine my excitement over the fact that he'll be here on campus tomorrow. Southeastern is hosting a Lifeway conference, and seeing as how he is Lifeway's President of Research, he'll be talking in Chapel.
So, my question to you is, should I ask him to sign my copy of his book? I would kind of be really excited to even meet him.
What a dork I am.

Social "No-work"

Facebook. First, to the lovers of all that is Facebook: Calm down. I won't say anything terrible about it, nor you. Second, I like Facebook. I do. Maybe a little too much.

Three weeks ago today I got off of Facebook. I just stopped logging in. Stopped checking people's statuses, becoming 'friends' with people I've only met once, scanning dozens of pictures and chatting with people with whom I could easily have face-to-face conversations.

The idea was that I would stop getting on Facebook all the time, and start a habit of doing more worthwhile things more often. It's basic really. It's the Principle of Replacement, and it's found in Ephesians 4. A few years back, A pastor and friend of mine encouraged me to "Put off, put on." Put off the things that hinder. Put on the things that encourage. Put off the attitudes that undermine. Put on an attitude that raises up.

While I have spent a lot more time on worthwhile things, I found that it has been just as easy for me to do equally wasteful things. Just because I got off of Facebook didn't actually make me crack open the Bible. Just because I stopped checking statuses didn't actually mean that I walked across the street to visit a friend. But it has made those things more likely. Even if just a little. And not because I haven't had a choice, but because I have become more aware of my desire to make the right choices. So I did. I've gone on nice walks and drives. I've spent great quality time with beautiful people. I've started memorizing the book of Ephesians. I've just enjoyed the quiet. And I've also enjoyed music, having a chance to just listen to lyrics.

I'm not saying that Facebook is a hindrance. Well, not per se. I just saw it becoming too huge of a distraction in my life. It probably still would be. When one of my favorite bloggers took a blogatical, it was a real surprise to the web community because he was always twittering, blogging, texting, uploading, facebooking. What if that didn't lead anywhere? What if it caused him to miss out on greater things in life?

I'm a huge fan of the internet, and the awesomeness of the web2.0 community... but what if it was a hindrance to community? Ironic that I choose the internet as a platform for communicating these thoughts.

I'll be back on Facebook soon enough, I'm sure. But for now, I'm content to just not know when, and to instead focus on what I can do today instead. Like study for exams :/

Gratifying Ourselves to Death

Originally, I had just one post in mind for this. But things keep coming up. It started with a mom who was just unashamedly initiating a pattern of unhealthy lifestyles for her sons... and brought home for me the whole epidemic of child obesity we placate by slapping a 'No Trans Fats' or 'Organic' sticker on foods. The solution to which, of course, is a healthy video game.

But then, I was struck by how often I rely on Google for information. It seems I am remembering less and less information, and taking in more and more. What I take in through various mediums, sadly, is becoming like upwardly mobile suburbanites crowding an otherwise peaceful and enjoyable beachfront neighborhood. In an effort to facilitate the 'crowding' I just lower my standards. Maybe this is the one that bothers me the most, as a grad student and... well... as a person. I am convinced that 100 years ago people my age were much more intelligent. We are inundated, watering down our intellect and stripping us of our successful utility of valuable and worthwhile communication. Still, we are blissfully ignorant, referring to our Wiki App on our iPhones in everyday conversation. It reminds me of one of the most compelling secular books I've ever read- and I can only imagine how the author would react to 2009 (since he was raising these issues in 1986 when TV was the issue).

One of the books I've been reading here at seminary is called 'Lies Women Believe And the Truth That Sets Them Free.' It truly is an excellent book. I happen to think that the lies she addresses affect all mankind - not just half. One of the striking issues she raises points out our need to meet our own needs. Even if we don't actually believe it, we sometimes make choices on the premise that God isn't meeting our needs. The bane of our conscious. And our conscience. The proof of this is in the 5,000 books on 'Finding God's Will' which he already makes so clear to us, or the money we spend on the next cool gadget that will distract us from our real lives, or the 13-billion dollar porn industry. You name it. We do it.

Like a dog returning to its vomit, we keep trying to gratify ourselves. Feeding kids junk that end their lives sooner. Entertaining and informing ourselves enough that we understand a little about a lot, but not a lot about a single thing. Asking stupid questions, and chasing after the wrong answers.

When did we forget that we could be perfectly content in Him?

Why I Heart Wake Forest

There are starting to be more reasons than I can keep track of. At the top of that list are the people and the climate. But I have added another reason, as of last night. Behold, the Party of the Century:
They made a schedule. They've calculated the times. I think that's my favorite part. I love that they're going to sing Happy Birthday (not to a person, by the way) exactly four times at precisely
4:43 pm
5:28 pm
6:13 pm
6:58 pm




What's not to love about these people? I feel like I live in Punxsutawney.

Mi Abuelo

God gave me the two greatest grandfathers. In the world. I miss my dad's father terribly.
I love my mom's father very much, and am so glad I still have him in my life.
I call him Tati.
I honestly don't know how to describe him, but I'm going to try. If no one else cares, at the very least I'll come back and read this some day...

He's not warm, or touchy-feely, or nurturing, or open. Nope. Tati's more the tough-love type. He's probably the only tough-love family member I can think of. My grandma (Mamita) says that she came from a well-off family, and that she married for love. Me entiendes? She had money; he did not. But they were happy together, raising my mom in Caibarién.
When things started to take a turn for the worse in Cuba, my grandfather did a very brave thing. Tati left everything he knew. He came to this country with his tiny wife and young daughter without anyone else to provide for his family. And he somehow pulled it off.

He became a screen-guy. I don't really know what the title is, but basically he installed screens. And in a city like Miami, where there are many pools, and even more apartments with screened-in patios, there was plenty of work.
One of the buildings he was working at had him installing a screen with the ladder leaning on the building. It fell backward while he was working, and he landed on his head. In a pool. An empty pool.

Things haven't been the same ever since. He had major head trauma, from which he still suffers, and it's a miracle that he even lived. I've only known him after the accident.

I wish I would've known him before. Because this injured man is so amazing. I can only imagine what he was like before.
Tati is generous.
Tati is proud.
Tati is opinionated.
Tati is strong.
Tati is selfless.
Tati is loved.

Self-defeating much?

I'm talking in third person in hopes that it makes self-observation a little easier...
Anne Marie thinks she is a wall. A tall, deep, dug-in wall that can't be taken down. No one can really know what's going on inside. Only when Anne Marie lets down the little drawbridge so someone can cross the moat can anyone get past the gate.
But lately, the guard has been sleeping on the job. She wears her emotion on her sleeve, and it's a little harder to keep people out. Inside there's quite the wretched storm, but outside... well outside has to stay outside. So having the guard falling down on the job makes it a little easier for people to know that the proverbial poop has hit the fan.

And I just hate it.

And I equally hate the fact that I'm supposed to just share it with people that care about me. Can't the solution to my loneliness be to shut everyone out? I wish it were so. Against my will, God has kept nudging me, and people that love me have stood at the edge of the moat. And it seems that some of them have been hurt by what I thought was only hurting me.

For that, I am sorry. I never feel the need to be completely open, but it seems that I have to now... more than ever.

My name is Anne Marie, and I'm self-defeating.
What do you do, that you wish you wouldn't?