Wednesday, October 10, 2007; 9:06 pm by Not Suzi.

I will not be held responsible if you continue reading and experience any adverse health effects from the contents of this blog post.

Lomee and I have been going to church.  Yes, me. I’ve gone to church and the place didn’t burn down nor did I get struck by lightning.

I have not attended church regularly since 1982. Previous to that my mother forced my little sis and me to go to church every Sunday. Whether she was trying to save our souls or gain a few hours peace, I’ll never know. The church was missionary baptist and very strict. Sunday school sucked; same old teachers, students and teachings every year. It was very “clique-y” and being the poor kids whose parents did not attend, we never quite fit in with all the kids whose parents were “good Christians” and active in the church. I hated it and spent most of my time daydreaming. The service entailed the preacher on the pulpit shouting about salvation and saving our souls from eternal hell fire. Organ music and singing the same hymns from musty song books every Sunday. As you can probably guess, this was the time when I was able to catch a quick nap.

Once we moved south in 1982 we went sporadically with friends from school, trying a few different churches but never really settling anywhere for long. At college, I went to church once or twice with a friend but never felt comfortable there either. All together, I doubt I went to church more than 30 times in those 10 years.

I didn’t go to church at all during my marriage to my first husband. He was catholic and there was no way I was gonna get involved with that shit.

Around age 30 or so (coincidentally during a rough time in my life), I started reading about various spiritual and religious beliefs. Mainly those faiths that were non-western in nature. Maybe my involvement in the massage therapy world and exposure to “new age” culture made me think there may be something out there that resonated more than what I had been exposed to. I started reading books on just about anything that was different than what I knew: Paganism, Buddhism, New Age, meditation, astrology, energy work, conscious living, etc. However, I still thought like a western taught Christian and felt like one despite the fact that I could not claim a “religion” or church.

My spiritual beliefs have pretty much been in limbo the past few years. That is, until last year when Lomee came into my life and he introduced me to his church. He went to an awesome church which showed me that church didn’t have to be stuffy & boring. I was definitely interested.

Fast forward to last month. We had been talking about trying a few churches in the area but wasn’t sure which ones to start with. After a search we narrowed it down to 3. The first one was eliminated because they had recently moved and were mainly doing online ministry now. The second one is one of the largest baptist churches in the area. They are a little more modern than where I had gone when I was little, but it still did not feel right. The last church we were considering Lomee was unsure of because the head Pastors were a husband and wife team.

Ultimately, the last church was exactly what we’ve been looking for. It has a lot of similarities to Lomee’s church he left when he moved here last year, and for me it is very different than any church I had ever attended. I had no idea church could be this way…it is almost fun.

It is very progressive and quite large with nearly 3,000 members but it is so well organized and the people there are extremely nice. We felt right at home from the first service and have started attending their 10 week class to become members. They have many ministries and outreaches, and there are classes for children that are broken out into 3 categories by age group, as well as a specialized program for young people interested in going into the ministry. They have different groups based upon your interests and they give a lot of money to missions each year throughout the world.

The service this morning was very cool with upbeat, modern music. There were some people jumping around and singing. I thought maybe there was gonna be a mosh pit down front at one point. Everyone was so excited and happy to be there and the energy just spread throughout the sanctuary.

If you’re interested in reading more about them I will post a link to the church’s website in my “Contact” page of this blog (this is to preserve my location anonymity). Use the same password you have been using to access.

So, are you still with me or did you pass out from shock?

Posted in Church, Life | 1 Comment »

Friday, October 5, 2007; 7:13 pm by Not Suzi.

I know it has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened but I will get to that later. Right now, here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Here is Dimps. He is getting so big and really starting to look like a bulldog. He was sick a little over a week ago and we had to take him to the vet. He is 8 months old and weighs 70 pounds! He’ll start to fill out and look more bully within the next year or so. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gains another 20 by the time he’s finished growing. I know he looks either like a demon or robot dog with his eyes glowing like that, but he really is a living, warm, sweet puppy!

Here’s a pic of our fridge after a trip to Costco and Kroger. It’s nearly disgusting how full it is.

Lomee made fried chicken. Actually, since I don’t eat meat on a bone he uses chicken breasts cut into chunks. The new Emeril pan is great for it. Absolutely delicious! Marinates them in buttermilk and then rolls them in flour, egg, and panko before frying them in a rosemary & garlic, peanut oil. Creole mustard rubbed on the chicken before rolling them makes the chicken very juicy without leaving a mustard flavor behind. You’ll have to either dry off the buttermilk or use the mustard instead, or I supposed you can mix the mustard in the buttermilk if you’d like. The buttermilk is great for making the chicken tender and juicy. Panko makes it very crunchy.

I’ve been eating so much meat this week my gout is flaring up again. This totally sucks! I love meat; animals taste yummy.

Posted in Food, doggie | No Comments »