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Not quite antiques

Monday, August 28, 2006
With all the flurry of moving to Norman, I have had to put off posting about this. There is a dresser that has been sitting in our garage for about six years. It used to be the dresser in my brother's nursery and mine before that. It is sturdy and small enough to travel pretty easily, so I asked my mom about refurbishing it this past spring. She was excited about it, so we resolved to do it sometime this summer. I also found out that this dresser, along with the two end tables we ended up working on also, was made by my grandmother's brother as a project in his high school shop class. So they are family heirlooms! My mom had them in her bedroom growing up also; how cool is that?



The first obstacle was the FIVE layers of paint on the dresser, the youngest of which has been on for over twenty years.

We started out with some wussy acid remover, and had to move over to the gallon can of Tuff-Job in order to get the job done right. It burned our fingers something awful.

Then next step was sanding it all down. Not every scrap of paint was gone, but that was okay with me. I wanted it to have a rugged, worn look anyway. Cary bought a sander to do the big flat pieces, and the rest was hand sanded.


Midway through the project, Cary decided I was taking too long and he was tired of parking the porche in the driveway. He and mom pitched in and helped me get huge chunks of work done. We worked mostly in the evening so it wouldn't be as hot.

Here it is sitting in my room in Norman! Stained with something called Georgia Peach or something. It looks so great! The wood is actually a very nice color. The grains for each drawer don't match and it has a lot of character :)


Also notice the pretty pink painted walls. Thanks to all the lovely OURUF crew who came out and painted my room the day before I moved!

First Week!

Monday, August 21, 2006
I've been working for several days now. It is great! I definitely love my job right now. It has been lots of work, and it isn't going to let up for awhile.

Last Thursday, the Serven family took Jonathan and I out to eat at On the Border. Estaba muy delicioso.

Friday my job officially started. RUF had a table at a business/organization fair on campus. We handed out fliers, RUF cups, and pop ice. Here is a picture, courtesy of J Stu:



After the table-ing, Jonathan took J Stu and I to a pancake party a girl was having in one of the dorms. There, I met a couple of girls and got a couple of phone numbers to invite them to RUF later.

Saturday night Doug had his second RUF information meeting at his house, for people outside of the OURUF community to come and find out how to serve and get involved with RUF. I met some new friends and Doug reviewed RUF's philosophy of ministry.

Sunday. First time at Christ the King Presbyterian; Annie and I picked up a transfer student named Amanda to come with. She seems really excited about coming to RUF this wednesday and we are having lunch this week! A couple from the church had us all three over for lunch (delicious!). After that was another organization fair, specifically for student organizations. I got to see many other student groups, and lots of other campus ministries. I talked with a guy from Cru and a girl from Phi Lam.

Monday (today) I started the study program. On Mondays Doug, the interns and all the faux interns meet at a coffee shop called Winans to study and then eat lunch afterwards. I am reading a book called Getting the Message. After that Doug signed me up for a membership to the Baptist Family Life Center, which has a fairly nice gym, indoor track, weight room, and cardio machines. They give an incredible discount for ministers of the church, which I officially am, even if you are not baptist. Then we went to campus to get our vendor parking passes. These will enable us to park virtually anywhere on campus. I think it is some kind of loophole Doug has found.

I've done a lot! The greatest this has been the number of contacts I've made. Virtually everywhere I turn I am meeting new girls, getting their phone numbers, and inviting them to RUF or to hang out. I guess the real hope is that people actually come to RUF on Wednesday. Tomorrow we are going to follow up and call all these kids.

Please pray for us here in Norman! Pray that students come to RUF Wednesday night. Pray that RUF logistically goes well this Wednesday. We are having it outside in an open area, because the university will not assign us a room for another two weeks. Pray that I continue to have strength and energy to pursue relationships with girls.

God is at work!

Oklahome

Friday, August 18, 2006
I am moved in (mostly) to my house in Norman with Katie and Annie! I left a number of things in Dallas (including my camera) so no pictures of the new digs yet. Also my computer won't pick up the wireless signal for some reason; I am posting this from Annie's computer. Posting may be erratic until that is fixed. More to come!

Friends

Saturday, August 12, 2006
Time for some summer fun photos!



Anne and I at the Ranger game with my parents (her first official night living in the great city of Dallas!) ...those seats were awesome...




Rach and I on my last visit to Austin (tear). I don't know why we are leaning over, we are short enough as it is.



I did my mom's hair for game 6 of the NBA Finals; sadly it wasn't enough for a Mavs win.



Pamela, Me, Laura, and Springer on our way back from a night downtown in Austin.

Animals

Thursday, August 10, 2006
There was a gecko in my mailbox this morning. When I stuck the letters in he made a death-defying leap out onto the pavement then wobbled away unscathed. ¡Qué valor!

Watching "House" makes me so glad to not be going to med school. Too many diseases to learn.

Will anyone go see this movie with me. It's the best worst movie of 2006.

Who needs a gym

Tuesday, August 08, 2006


The Ironman 420e Elliptical Machine

EKG Pulse Grip and Oversized Blue LCD Window with 11 constant feedback windows, 16 tension levels, 10 preset programs and one custom user program. 16" stride, no reading rack but it does come with a water bottle holder and complementary bottle...

Priced by the manufacturer at $999 but the store sticker said $599 for pick-up.

Will I buy it?

At Week's End

Friday, August 04, 2006


I am all alone in the house this week - Mom and Cary are in Carmel, CA for vacation. This has enabled me to get a lot of good work done with support raising; I can make my schedule easily without distractions or opportunities to drop everything and go shopping with Mom.

Wednesday: Lunch with Dad at Ghengis Grill
Thursday: Lunch with Anne D. at Corner Bakery
Friday: Lunch with Aunt Jan at Chick-fil-a

I also had my last two personal training sessions at the DAC. Becca showed me how to do most of my workout with free weights and the big rubber ball. I may just buy myself the equipment and workout at home instead of finding a gym in Norman. I'm also looking into buying a cheap elliptical machine.

Thursday night Jerri and I went to see Brooklyn: The Musical. Diana Degarmo, who was the runner up on American Idol, starred. With a cast of only 5 and the creative use of just one set, it was cute and energized, but I wouldn't probably see it again. Only and hour and a half, with no intermission; the music was very over-the-top-diva-ish and actually became painful to listen to at some points when the singers are just oo-oooing way too much. To be honest, oo-whoa-aahing does not take a lot of talent, even when you are sustaining a long note. That kind of music has almost no dynamics in it (crescendo, etc) and is not all that compelling.

90% of my time is currently consumed with support raising, thus, this post is nonrepresentative of my actualy life right now.

About me







I'm Brittany Smith
From Mesquite, TX
Christian
Runner
Coke-a-Cola Lover
Puerto Rico Player
Bride-elect 8.2.08
Covenant Seminary
Former RUF Intern
University of Texas Alumna
bleard@gmail.org
Brittany Leard's Facebook profile

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