well...it's official

To: Campus Community

From: Paul Ericksen, BGC Archives

Re: Noel's departure -- open house

Dear Colleagues,

Noel Collins Pfeifer, who has worked in the BGC Archives for three-and-a-half years will conclude her work for us is Friday, July 23. She has been a great and capable part of the team and has brought new efficiencies and her perspective to our operation and service to our researchers and others who call upon us. We will miss her contribution and friendship, but encourage her on her way. She and her husband relocate to Ambridge, PA, to begin seminary there. We'll be hosting an open house throughout Thursday afternoon, July 22nd from 2:30-4:30. If you have worked with, had contact with or are friends with Noel, we would be glad to have you stop by to add your farewell to ours.

Archives' online exhibit!

We've been working on this for a while now and I did the sound editing (believe me, it actually was way worse than what you hear now!) for it. It's our newest online exhibit featuring Billy Graham and we'll be adding a new talk everyday just as events unfolded at his 1949 crusade.

http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/la49.html

my Lenten trials...

Here's my recounting of what happened the day after Ash Wednesday:

So, I walk in this morning and there's no less than 3 kinds of girl scout cookies tantalizing me with their sweet goodness at the coffee cabinet right by my desk! So I go over to heat up my turkey sausages in the mail room and there are brownies on Jean's desk and then more Girl Scout cookies in the mail room right next to a scrumptious looking cheese danish! What the @()$&A@#(%&? Honestly, I've never seen so many sweet morsels in our offices...EVER.
So, I groan and a co-worker hears me groan and says, "Yeah, I know but you should definitely try the girl scout cookies- they have this yummy lemon on the bottom..."on and on. And I said, "Does no one around here celebrate Lent?!" And she said, "You're not Catholic..." sort of incredulously and then added tentatively, "...are you?" I said, "No I'm Anglican". Not that that is really the reason why I celebrate Lent either. But I was surprised and dismayed at the ignorance of my co-workers and everyone's disregard or ignorance to put it more positively for the Lenten season. I honestly can't imagine my life without the fellowship's seasonal calendar. How odd. So I'm praying for grace and not being judgmental...and thanking the Father that I made it through the schmorgasborg of tempting treats obstacle course this morning--I guess it really does build hope--what do ya know?

So there ya go, there's the full version story of my google away message that made you laugh :)
It's hard bein' female, lower middle class and anglican :P...

my so-called life

Do you remember that show? Ha! Anyway, my post isn't about the show. I just thought that perhaps it's time for me to just put down sorta what I do in my day, what I've been working on, etc.

Really that just means putting in links so that you can go see for yourself! :)
Now, these aren't all really CG but maybe if you just visit once it won't matter? I don't really know but given the place where I work it's hard to share and for the site to be completely CG ya know?
But maybe the other 2 of you who read this wanna go take a look :P

So, our BGC Archives Annual Report says a lot about what we do and how I spend my time during the year...you can also go to Year in Pics to just see pictures of where I work and how I spent my year on the job. One of the pictures is of a "Survival Guide" page I made for Freshman--there's a link to the actual page at YiP.

I also designed this promotional piece for our 1st ever BGC Archives Lecture which we are continuing this next year as well...so be looking forward to that! But don't hold your breath too much...

It's hard to show all of the other things I do but if you browse around the site you'll be able to find some transcripts and things. I really like the Bulletin Board pages...(my colleagues design those) they give cool stories and info without it being an overwhelming amount of information.

Hope you enjoy the glimpse into my life!

nothing to say

well, here I am trying to be a good blogista and a good friend but I really can't think of anything to say. how is my life you ask? hmm..."Same ol'" is the response you're likely to get. But, as that does not make for a good blog, perhaps something spicier.

--Well, here's a blog that the illustrious Mink introduced me to: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/
It's really the bomb diggidy schmiggidy and gets me through many days of work.

--We have a new President Elect which is all good and well and I'm happy for him. However, I really don't want to hear anything more about race. I think it's very cool that we actually elected a non-white president but I just hope that wasn't the leading factor for most people. That seems like just an alternate form of prejudice. But, in any case, good luck to him.

--We just got back from Alabama for our friends' wedding and it was fun. Spent a lot of the time in the car. I just realized that driving is one of those things I get really frustrated about (just ask Henry or Jenn or Greg). I don't like people commenting on my driving, I don't like being lost, I don't like having to u-turn and I especially don't like when the GPS takes 10 minutes to find my location in Birmingham. And for some reason all of these things happened very frequently this past weekend. I try not to be frustrated but hate turning the wrong way--just one of the multitudinous ways in which my perfectionism manifests itself? I don't know what you're talking about.

--Dancing. I love dancing, my heart feels fulfilled when I dance. Today, my abs feel worked out from the dance. Never happened before...ever. It's pretty awesome though.

--Pumpkin pie. My heart also feels fulfilled by pumpkin pie and I'm pretty freakin' excited that we still have a giant $6 Costco one in our refrigerator.

--Getting engaged. Better the second time around...most definitely. Today marks exactly one year since the esteemed Greg Pfeifer (now my husband) begged for me to be his wife. If you want to read the story again (or for the very first time), go here. If you don't, then well, you're not my true friend. Jokes. I mean really how many times does someone really want to hear their friend's engagement story?

--Will post more pics, happenings and tidbits soon. This was just to get Katherine off my back :)
tata

Happenings

I always think not much has been "happening" but then I come here to blog and realize, "Wow, time has really passed by and I have not had a moment's peace." My biggest issue at the moment is that I have not had time to clean my room and once again the clothes have proven themselves to make a great carpet. One day I will get to cleaning, I promise! That's what I tell myself anyway. It's funny because it seems that so long as I acknowledge it's a mess and make sure others know that I know, I feel like I don't have to clean. It makes me feel better, anyway. :)

I've had kind of a hard week, all joking aside, my room is merely one of the many ways in which I feel life is out of control right now. I don't usually like to share anything too personal on this blog or any blog, I guess. However, I'm not sure that many people read it anyway and those that do can just deal.

2 weeks ago, I went in for a lady doctor appointment. We all know those are thrilling in the first place.... But, I was going because my PCP had told me I should because some of my results were "off". Sooo...I went and she says I probably have PCOS. You can read about it here. I'm partly bringing this up because if anyone reads this and has firsthand experience, I'd love to know more about their experience. So, feel free to comment! Anyway, my new doctor was nice about everything and didn't seem to be worried so I wasn't either, she gave me a pamphlet said to call her at the end of the month and we'd go from there. There's nothing life threatening about it if it's treated and it seems that a lot of the symptoms get better through different medicines. Basically, my journey here has been hallmarked by not having a cycle for about a year and a half. So, ya know, best to get it dealt with.

But, here's the rub, doctors always seem to think that if you're overweight, that's where your problem started. That obviously my overweightness incurred the PCOS. However, the more I read, it's sort of a chicken and the egg problem. That those with PCOS find it really hard to lose weight because they're producing more testosterone than they should as well as other hormones and lacking some of the others. And, you're much more likely to get Diabetes with PCOS which also adds to the possibility of weight gain. So, I thought at first that this would be a liberating discovery; here was the answer to my mom's, coaches', dad's, my own questions about how I can exercise tons (especially in high school when i was a Varsity athlete), eat normally and still always have a roll around my waist and still struggle to get weight off. But, this week, it has not been, because the more I read, the more I learn that this is just a symptom of it and that none of the meds used to correct PCOS actually have any bearing on weight whatsoever unless you're determined to have an insulin deficiency.

So, from one medical alert to another, I looked up a condition that I had when I was a kid called Precocious Puberty. This is the first time I've ever shared about it in this public a setting. Apparently, it is sometimes linked to PCOS...so it would have been nice to know that and to watch out for it. (Incidentally, we've always contributed a lot of my weight issues to that because it makes you basically go from baby fat to puberty fat with no break in the middle like most kids have...but apparently that may not be the case).

All of this has resulted in my being upset with the Father--mad even. I finally pinpointed this a couple nights ago which is definitely a good first step. But, just being upset about having so many physical disorders through my life and for being given so many things that stack up to make me have a terrible self image. And sometimes I wish I were the kind of personality that would just give up. But, no, I still work out (nearly) everyday, eat well and try to take care of myself. And sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle against Father which isn't right probably but it's how I feel sometimes. And I'm finally being honest about that. Anyway, so, that's something to lift up.

Well, I didn't mean this to be such a downer but I must return to working now. I feel a little better for having written this out though.

Hope all reading this are well and don't be a stranger, comment me!

Winter Highlights

A few things have kept my soul alive in the cold, bitter Chicago Winter this year...here's some highlights:

Exhibit A) HOCKEY!!!!

Greg and I celebrated actual Valentine's in a traditional manner with a possibly PMS-related depression (me, not Greg :) ), no flowers, dog-sitting (exhibit B), me sending him chocolates which arrived at work, he buying Qdoba for us and watching Lost, then to bed since he had to open the store the next morning. Romantic, eh?

So, to actually celebrate we bought tickets to a Blackhawks vs. Avalanche (woo-hoo) game for that weekend. It was a really great game even though my Aves couldn't pull it together. But, we got to part of a record breaking amount of people to attend a hockey game at the United Center...hooray for us and the 21, 763 other people! It really was awesome. What a great Valentine's present to us :)

Exhibit C) Getting away from Chicago
3 trips thus far this Winter: Baltimore, San Antonio, North Carolina.

Baltimore Holiday (exhibit D)- 4 days, get in get out, kinda tiring, kinda hard occasionally, but good overall. had fun visiting with G's grandparents whom I'd never hung out with much before.

San Antonio Holiday (exhibit E)- sea world, scene it! 2nd edition, family!, warm weather, wedding dress shopping, no fights, bliss pretty much



North Carolina (exhibit F & pic at top)- ocean, short sleeves, sun, a tan, and Tim's mom has a hot tub :)






Exhibit F) Ethan
Every other day I get more pics of him and that gets me through.


Exhibit G) Pretty Snow
Took these the other night when it dropped 6-8 inches on us.



Exhibit H) Friday Ladies' Lunches
Getting together with the other Rez women who work for the College. Like today how we discussed Rez's stance on feminism or lack thereof and about what really matters to the kingdom message. Keeps my mind sharp and on the importance.

Exhibit I) Greg
Our dates, talks, we've recently taken up playing Magic the Gathering (yes, yes, we are dorks), mini golf cuz we can't go outside, playing with invitation ideas for our wedding, having friends over, moving him out of his old house in the middle of Winter, making a list of things I'm thankful for even when I'm not very happy with him at the moment, laughing, singing, hoping.


Exhibit J) Knowing that in 6 months and 8 days, I'll be on my honeymoon in beautiful Vancouver!

tagged by george

Tag I'm it

Tag! You're it!

tag. i'm it!

The rules are: Once you've been tagged, write a blog with 10 weird or random things, facts or habits about yourself. At the end, choose 10 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "You've been tagged!" on their profile, and tell them to read your latest blog.

Weird/unknown things about Me:

1. I'm terrified of frogs

2. I love the smell of old film reels.

3. I have low tolerance for disorganization and miscommunication.

4. My room is totally disorganized.

5. If I didn't study theology, I would've studied forensic science.

6. I saw the Challenger blow up, we lived in Florida and I was outside and I was watching the launch like we often did; I was only 2 and I remember it.

7. The doctors said I would only be 4'8"...I'm a whopping 5'2" (and 3/4)

8. I won "Best Overall" in a lip sync contest when I was 13, four of us girls did "Shake your Groove Thing" (you can check out the Priscilla:Queen of the Desert soundtrack for details). I wore a silver crushed velvet dress, a vest and go-go boots (we also won for best costumes).

9. My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...

10. I am not a pretty girl, that is not what I do, I ain't no damsel in distress...(name that tune and musician while you're at it)

11. I baked 48 Texas-sized cupcakes last night for Greg's party tomorrow...exciting but today I'm leaving work at 3 pm to get some rest because of it. If ya know him and didn't write me a card or something to include in his journal yet, send it on over!