officially on SPRING BREAK (wooooo hooo) for eastern...too bad it doesn't line up with spring garden...

in other news i have officially lost my mind and if i forget one more thing I'm going to claim insanity.

also i am going to be able to graduate in TWO YEARS again!!! praise jesus

The Broad Street RUN

well..the new car is serving it's purpose, although it doesn't seem like "my car" quite yet. I suppose that will come in time.

Tonight Katie and I started our training for our half marathon, the broad st run, on May 3.



Yes, thas right. You read this post correctly. Carolyn Larrivee and Katie Fet will be running a half marathon in 11 weeks. And yes, we have lost our minds. Katie signed up for the gym tonight and we did 3 miles and our regular training with Gary who KICKED our butts..I don't think I've ever run 3 miles in my entire life. ever.

We welcome any other crazies who want to run with us too :)

But i found out it's all mental and switchfoot is a great band to listen to while running..any other music suggestions for this long haul for us?? suggestions very welcome!!

name the whip

welp...the week is over. And the highlights are:
a new phone
a new car
a new computer virus
a new kindergarten schedule
and no sleep.
I think overwhelmed doesn't begin to cover it...but heres the new car...any name suggestions??

RIP Thumper

I have owned Thumper since November 2007, so she has had a good run but yesterday she went out to the middle of no where, like a dog, to die as KAtie Fet so pointedly put it. She is currently in a Pathmark parking lot with the keys locked inside because only I could manage to lock my keys in my dead car...at least I can say with confidence that is the first time I have ever done that, and I always worried I would with this car...

As my new favorite singer/songwriter says...
you want to cry but you can't keep from laughing. deb.talan.

"You would be going 40 in a 25"

I got pulled over this weekend.

Let me rewind. I had an amazing weekend with awesome friends at Delaware first and then went to Dover, got to switch cars with my mom and then headed to the beach. My retreat. I had lunch with Schroder and then went to herring point...my favorite place to reflect on the east coast, especially in winter when no one is there.

Anyway, I spent an hour praying, reflecting, thinking..so when in my moms new feels like you're floating on air when youre driving car, I was speeding. 40 in a 25 people. So I get pulled over bby a park ranger. I pull over and look in my rear view mirror to see none other than park ranger manning...andy manning, a good friend of mine from when i worked in the park. I started laughing hysterically before he could tell who it was and then when he realized it was me the first thing out of his mouth was "you would be going 40 in a 25"...Needless to say we talked for an hour and he let me go on my merry way. It was the best time I have ever had getting pulled over in my life.

Here is a picture I took while I was sitting on the beach this weekend...i kind of want to make it an every week kind of thing...

there is a God

Every Tuesday Gary, the personal trainer at the YMCA, kicks my butt. And every week I bring more girls. Today was no different, however, I believe Gary "I have a ridiculous beard" trainer was overwhelmed by the excitement of one particular girl who will not be named, but shes blonde and lives with me...I'm gonna bring her every week. it was awesome!!

In a side note...there is something in the Philly water that is making all the kids in schools go crazy..this has been confirmed by more than one teacher and more than one school.

Also my ipod was stolen on Friday and I realized how much I need music and how dependent I am on it. Annie challenged me in this to show me how dependent on some material I am.I was talking to my roomies about this when I got a text from my assistant at school telling me she accidentally took it on Friday in her sweater...she had me sweating all day...I was so sad and nervous I had a klepto in my class. and to this i reply...there is a God.

Life isn't fair.

weekend highlights

Some highlights from my amazing weekend...

-Mike Cavaliere moves slow.
-my pastor and nick ferguson have the same weird hand motions when they talk, but im pretty sure nick is joking when he does it...maybe
-i found why "hes just not that into me" and so did 100 other women and about 7 guys
-there was a woman walking a horse in rhittenhouse square yesterday while we went for a walk in the beautiful 60 degree weather...and i got to wear flip flops and eat ice cream..AWESOME
-I saw a guy get robbed...but he was there so he chop sueyed the other guys arm and got his stuff back
-i became a counselor and i got counseled...
-i learned things in fake counseling that were not so fake
-figured out the people of philadelphia really go to the pro soccer games to watch the dancers...some of which are preggo...
-colorado came to me
-drank too much coffee
-had weird dreams
-found out you have to be a latino man to get a seat in dave & busters...my wait was an hour, but jorge got us in in 5 minutes..
-i have video chat capabilities for gmail on my computer! And so does Andrea..and we like to talk to each other while sitting directly across from each other at our kitchen table and laugh hysterically about it, hoping no one else walks in...
-i have a strong dislike for katy perry
-but a strong love for coldplay

pressure me that i may grow more human...

Tonight Tom Gorman, full name please, came and took me and a couple friends out to dinner at this place downtown called the Belgian Cafe...they had about 6 pages of beer..it was overwhelming and beautiful.

but TODAY we went to the aquarium for a field trip at the Jersey aquarium and I must say this may be the first good thing I have seen Jersey ever offer...because they had HIPPOS!!!!! And I realized that I had never in my life sen a real live hippo before..only Sammy, who I sleep with everynight. (as pictured before) And they are HUGE! (thats what she said) and one kept following me everywhere I went...it was kind of creepy when Miss. Caretta pointed it out.


Speaking of Ms. Caretta...she told me she was going to make a bubble and post it above my head that read Ms. Carolyn: "I forgot!" "I feel like the worst person ever" because apparently thats all I say...

For now I leave you with my favorite reminder ever...a poem from ted loder that emily boston sent me so long ago but i still read it all the time....

O persistent God, deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.

Pressure me that I may grow more human,
not through the lessening of my struggles,
but through an expansion of them
that will undamn me and unbury my gifts.

Deepen my hurt
until I learn to share it
and myself openly,
and my needs honestly.

Sharpen my fears
until I name them
and release the power I have locked in them and they in me.

Accentuate my confusion
until I shed those grandiose expectations
that divert me from the small, glad gifts
of the now and the here and the me.

Expose my shame where it shivers,
crouched behind the curtains of propriety,
until I can laugh at last through my common frailties and failures,
laugh my way toward becoming whole.

Deliver me from just going through the motions
and wasting everything I have
which is today,
a chance,a choice, my creativity, your call.

O persistent God,
let how much it all matters pry me off dead center so if I am moved inside
to tears or sighs or screams or smiles or dreams,
they will be real and I will be in touch with who I am and who you are
and who my sisters and brothers are.

less than a month until the launch meeting for the south philly church plant.
i am so pumped...but we talked a lot about fasting tonight at the meeting in preparation for it, which i would love to get some feedback/stories/humor/insight/enlightenment or any other sort of tidbit you may have on the subject

...and 2 more days until the weekend, also which i am so excited about....lots of visitors, lots to do, not much homework. could life get better?? i submit that it cannot!

SNOW!

there is so much snow in philly. and i am in love with it. it actually makes me like the city. so i get a text message (mass text to the south philly biddies) about scott wanting donuts....and i interpret this message as dunkin donuts and i am ALL about it. As the girls and I are headed out to Scott's car, I ask why no one else is bringing their wallets...and they proceeded to inform me he did not want to EAT donuts he wanted to MAKE them...in his jeep...in the snow. So we went to a parking lot, made donuts, watched a snow plow make some SWEET donuts to show off, drive up the steps of the art museum, jump around a lot, and then ended the night with some amazing dunkin donuts, just for me :)
here are some of the pictures capturing the best night I have had in philly to date.

wanna spice up your monday?

today andrea, dano and i helped out in front of the library feeding a bunch of people who came out to get a nice warm meal. it was so so so great and it reminded me so much of my time in denver with the people, the thank yous and the conversations. i think you should all join me as i start to make it a weekly tradition here in philly. every monday between 3:30-5ish.

on a side note: I LOVE SNOW. I want to be covered in it all the time. But i live in philly, so i get ice and slush.
i mean look at all the cool things people in colorado do with their snow...these are legit snow sculptures. crazy

the list.

Withdraw from facebook is a hard thing, but it has been good. I have been really productive for the past week. I have starting writing snail mail letters and getting things crossed off my "to-do" list that have been on there for months!!
don't worry people, me and the pictures will be back up may 1 2009. Its not that far away when you realize that its already FEBRUARY!!! We'll have a party.

Haley inspired me to make a list of 7 things you may not know about me. Facebook has taken on to this idea as well (or so i hear) but they have the lame 25 and this idea is definitely pre facebook jump on the band wagon.

1. Before I get on an airplane, I have to touch the side of it (like when I step in) or else I feel like it will crash...maybe its to check its real and stable or something, I have many other weird quirks or routines like this

2. My dream growing up was to be a stunt pilot. I love flying. Being up high and jumping out of planes

3. When I was younger I lied to the eye doctor about "better one or better two" so I could get glasses (3rd grade) and when I lost them I told my mom my sight was magically better and that I didn't need them anymore..I think God's punishment to me for that is my awful vision now.

4. When I was in 4th grade I had labels on the chest at the end of my bed that said "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday" and I would lay out all my clothes for the week on Sunday night.

5. When my friends are talking about something intelligent and everyone knows whats going on I nod my head and respond with things like "yea" or "uh huh" like I know what they are talking about or what that word means when really I have no idea and I'm too scared to ask people in fear of being labeled dumb

6. I'm dyslexic.

7. I have a crazy sense of smell, and it can really affect my mood.