Quote of the Week

I was talking on the phone tonight with my friend Scott, who is graduating in two weeks from architecture school (CCA - California College of the Arts) in the bay area. His brother Mark is also graduating this month from UOP.

So I asked Scott: "Are you guys going to have a joint party?"

Scott replies: "Yeah, there's going to be a lot of weed there."

I have to admit it took me a second, but I got it and started busting up laughing. If you know Scott this is even more funny--totally his sense of humor.

That was a good laugh at the end of the day!

Thought of the Week

"Sin grows in the soil of an uncultivated heart."

Am I allowing the Lord to cultivate my heart? Are you?

Just One Example...Reason #127

My brother likes to bust out and sing lyrics from random songs. This is what my brother was singing yesterday when I was on the phone with him:

"Its a front when I write songs talkin bout havin ice on...I can barley keep my lights on..."

Reason #127 why I love my brother.

And people ask me why I sing random songs...hmmmm....

The Difference Between Men and Women....

This is just ONE example of how men and women are different. While I was at the gym the other night I overheard two men talking and one guys said:

"Yeah I have a lot of movies I want to watch but I can't watch them until I get my subwoofers, ya know?"

The other guy responds with, "Oh yeah, there is no way you could watch a movie without subwoofers. That would be pointless."

And they were serious!

I some how just can't see two women having this conversation...

Here's To Your Health: Super Foods

I researched what foods would be classified as "Super Foods" which are foods that EVERYONE should incorporate into their diet to help prevent various types of cancer and build a foundation for a long and healthy life. Here is the list of foods that I found:

Beans
Blueberries
Broccoli
Oats
Oranges
Pumpkin
Salmon
Soy
Spinach
Tea (green or black)
Tomatoes
Turkey
Walnuts
Yogurt

When incorporated into your regular daily diet, these foods, can stop some of the changes that lead to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), Alzheimer's, and some cancers.

I like all of the foods on this list--except salmon can be a little too fishy for me (no pun intended!) In the past week I've eaten 9 of 14 of these super foods!

How many of these foods are YOU eating?

4 Years Ago...

---------------4 years ago---------------

1.) How old were you? 18

2.) Where did you go to school?: Fresno Pacific University

3) Where did you work?: Small World Pre-School

4.) Where did you live?: Fresno, CA

5.) Where did you hang out?: at school a lot, church, with people...

6.) Did you wear glasses?: I had glasses--didn't wear them.

7.) Who was your best friend?: Jen

8.) How many tattoos did you have?: 0

9.) How many piercings did you have?: 2 in each ear

10.) What car did you drive?: My Escort.

11.) Had You had your heart broken?: Not yet.

12.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Single.

-------------2 years ago-------------------

1.) How old were you?: 20

2.) Where did you go to school?: Fresno Pacific University still...

3.) Where did you work?: At FPU as a RA

4.) Where did you live?: Fresno, CA (East Hall 4 to be exact).

5.) Where did you hang out?: School (I now lived, worked and went to school all at the same place), doing Campus Life stuff with high schoolers, with people...

6.) Did you wear glasses?: Still had them but still didn't wear them.

7.) Who was your best friend?: Jen

8.) Who was your crush?: Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez!

9.) How many tattoos did you have?: 0

10.) How many piercings did you have?: Still 2 in each ear

11) What car did you drive?: Still my Escort...

12) Had your heart broken?: Not yet...

13. Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Taken - Brandon and I were dating at this time. And now he's pretty much going to get married in the near future--but truly could not be more happy for him or his bride to be. They are wonderful!

--------------------Today--------------------

1.) How old are you?: 22

2.) Where do you work?: FPU - Residence Director

3.) Where do you live?: Fresno, CA

4.) Do you wear glasses?: Still don't, but I know I should.

5.) Who is your best friend?: Jen (Do we see a theme or pattern yet?)

6.) Do you talk to your old friends?: I think I'm fairly good at keeping in touch.

7.) How many piercings do you have?: still 2 in ear ear.

8.) How many tattoos?: 0 - and I'm pretty sure that will never change.

9.) What kind of car do you have?: Still the Escort...lol. It's still running!

10.) Has your heart been broken?: Not yet.

11.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced?: Single.

This was fun--it's fun to see how things change over time. Though things have changed, a lot still seems to be the same. In four years from now I'll be 26...who knows where I'll be or what I'll be doing then!

Still Laughing...

My mom called me just a little bit ago and I have to share a little bit of our conversation, because I'm still laughing from it:

Mom: Hi Honey

Becky: Hi Mom

Mom: You'll never guess what I found in the bathroom this morning!

Becky: What did you find?

Mom: A frog! It was underneath a towel by the bathtub.

Becky: Oh my goodness

Mom: Yeah, I just put him in a little bag and let him go back outside. He was kind of cute, you know.

Becky: Hmmm, no I don't know. A frog? Cute?

Mom: And I didn't know how long he had been in the bathroom, so I figured he must be hungry and thirsty.

Becky: Yeah, he probably was.

Mom: So after I let him go, I went back inside and got him a little bowl of water and some cat food.

Becky: What? Cat food?

Mom: Yeah, you never know, he might like it. But he was long gone by the time I went back outside to bring it to him.

Becky: Wow mom. Wow.

Mom: I just want to help take care of God's creatures.

That's my mom--and that is one of many reasons why I love her.

This and This

Last night:

J.lo and I met here and hung out a bit.

Then we went here for dinner and hung out some more

We drove back here and sat in the car and talked some more

As always, our time was filled with lots of this and this.

Spontaneous Friday nights like that are the best.

"Open Up...It's Fresno PD"

Tonight I had coffee with my dear friend Steph at Koffeeheads in Riverpark. We were sitting, laughing, chatting, enjoy our lattes when all of a sudden we hear "Open the door, this is Fresno PD." An officer was pounding on the bathroom door of the women's restroom, where a women had been in there over a hour.

She came out of the bathroom and the officer put her hands behind her back and proceeded to escort her outside. While he was escorting her out he asked her, "Do you have the stuff on you?" And the woman replies, "What are you talking about officer? I was just using the restroom..."

Apparently she either had a really bad case of diarrhea OR something else was going on in the bathroom...

After all that happened, I needed to use the restroom, but for some reason I decided to just wait until I got home.

I Ate It...Again!

This morning, on my usual morning run with my lovely friend Emily, I ate it and fell...AGAIN! Emily said, "Becky, how do you fall?" This time the culprit was a piece of uneven sidewalk...grrrrr.

Good question Em....good question. Needless to say I keep hydrogen peroxide on hand and I used it this morning to clean up the nice bloody knee.

I'll be okay--I was able to get back up and keep running.

Just like in life, when you fall down, you gotta get up and keep going.

Okay, sorry if that was kind of cheesy!

Maybe Soon?

Can we do this again sometime soon...???



I hope so! Love you ladies!

"Drive Safe and Be Good..."

I was at my parents house tonight and as I was leaving, I gave my dad a hug and kiss good-bye and he said, "Okay, now drive safe and be good."
Reminded me of when I was 16 and Jen and I would go to Riverpark on a Saturday night--looking fine in our boots and jeans and cute sweaters.

I said, "Okay dad, I'll be sure to drive safe and be good."

Gotta love the parentals.

This Made Me Think...

"What Fount of Wisdom Are You Drinking From?" If you have a little extra time, check out this blog written by Brad Bell, the pastor of The Well Community Church.

Many of the issues he addresses are ones that I have been wrestling with lately.

Good stuff.

A Call To Pray...

Pray for Virginia Tech. I can't even begin to imagine the thoughts, feelings and emotions that so many students, parents, faculty, staff and administration are going through or will be going through in the days...weeks...months and years ahead.

Hearts are filled with mourning and I believe Christ mourns along side of those whose hearts ache.

There always seem to be more questions then answers and we don't know why this happened, but we trust and cling to the promise that Christ is in control--even in the midst of utter chaos.

Please be in prayer with me.

10 Things You Will Never See Me Eat/Drink

1. ANY Pig product (we're talking bacon, sausage, ham, hot dogs, pork chops, etc...)
2. Coconut flavored candy, cake, or cookies
3. Any type of raw (or almost raw) meat or fish
4. Sauerkraut (even though I'm German, the smell alone makes me a bit queasy)
5. Jalapenos
6. Whole Milk
7. Peeps
8. Banana Flavored Slim Fast Shake
9. Turkey Bacon
10. Pizza with anchovies.

That's A Lot of Zeros...

Today we found out that someone donated $2,000,000 (yep, that's two million dollars) to our church, The Well, to help purchase a permanent location in Fresno. And as if that's not enough, the person who donated this money has never even been to the church--he simple continues to hear how God has been and continues to be at work at The Well and believes in the mission set forth.

God is faithful--and once again, I stand amazed.

And so I say to myself: "But Becky, God is ALWAYS faithful, so why so often do I stand in awe of how God provides?"

I guess I'm still workin' on that.

This Can't Be Good...

I just realized in the past 5 days, I've had an iced latte from Starbucks everyday. That can't be good for me. Now granted, all of these iced lattes have been accompanited by good conversation with different people, but that sure is a lot of coffee and milk--and latte goodness.

Next week, 4 will be my max. Ha.

Keep On Swimming...

According to Google Maps the following directions tell you how to get from New York City to Paris, France. It will take you approximently 29 days and 7 hours to travel the 3,800 miles from start to finish. Be sure to read line 23...it's pretty funny the directions they give!

1. Head southwest on Broadway toward Warren St 0.2 mi
1 min

2. Turn left at Park Row 0.1 mi
1 min

3. Slight right at Frankfort St 0.3 mi
1 min

4. Turn left at Pearl St 56 ft

5. Turn right onto the F.D.R. Dr N ramp 0.4 mi
1 min

6. Merge onto FDR Dr N 7.7 mi
12 mins

7. Take exit 17 on the left for Triboro Bridge/Grand Central Pkwy toward I- 278/Bruckner Expy 0.4 mi
2 mins

8. Merge onto Triborough Bridge
Partial toll road 0.4 mi
1 min

9. Merge onto I-278 E via the ramp to I-87 N/Bronx/Upstate N Y/New England 0.6 mi
1 min

10. Take exit 47 to merge onto Bruckner Expy/I-278 E toward New Haven 1.9 mi
2 mins

11. Take the I-278 E exit toward New Haven 0.3 mi

12. Merge onto Bruckner Expy 5.0 mi
6 mins

13. Continue on I-95 N
Partial toll road
Entering Connecticut 62.1 mi
1 hour 12 mins

14. Take exit 48 on the left to merge onto I-91 N toward Hartford 36.8 mi
37 mins

15. Take exit 29 for US-5 N/CT-15 toward I-84/E Hartford/Boston 0.4 mi

16. Merge onto CT-15 N 1.7 mi
2 mins

17. Merge onto I-84 E
Partial toll road
Entering Massachusetts 40.7 mi
38 mins

18. Take the exit onto I-90 E/Mass Pike/Massachusetts Turnpike toward N.H.-
Maine/Boston
Partial toll road 56.0 mi
56 mins

19. Take exit 24 A-B-C on the left toward I-93 N/Concord NH/S Station/I-93 S/Quincy
0.4 mi
1 min

20. Merge onto Atlantic Ave 0.8 mi
3 mins

21. Turn right at Central St 0.1 mi

22. Turn right at Long Wharf 0.1 mi

23. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 mi
29 days 0 hours

24. Slight right at E05 0.5 mi
2 mins

25. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto E05/Pont Vauban 0.1 mi

26. Turn right at E05
Partial toll road 17.3 mi
22 mins

27. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto A131/E05 heading to
A131/Rouen/Paris/Evreux
Partial toll road 9.1 mi
8 mins

28. Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road 20.3 mi
17 mins

29. Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road 56.5 mi
47 mins

30. Take the exit on the left onto A14 toward Nanterre/La Défense
Partial toll road 12.5 mi
16 mins

31. Slight right at N13 1.4 mi
3 mins

32. Turn right at Avenue de Neuilly/N13 269 ft

33. At the traffic circle, take the 4th exit onto Avenue de la Grande Armée 0.7 mi
3 mins

34. At Place Charles de Gaulle, take the 5th exit onto Avenue des Champs-Elysées
1.3 mi
3 mins

35. Slight right at Voie Georges Pompidou 1.4 mi
3 mins

36. Slight left to stay on Voie Georges Pompidou 440 ft

37. Slight right at Quai de la Mégisserie 377 ft

38. Continue on Quai de Gesvres 0.2 mi
1 min

39. Turn left at Place de l'Hôtel de Ville 194 ft

Get Buff...Have a Baby

I babysat last night with a 3 1/2 year old, 2 year old and 8 week old. I now know why a lot of mom's have really buff arms. I was holding the 8 week old with my left arm while putting the 3 1/2 year old and 2 year old to bed (and both HAD to be covered up entrielry by three blankets each). They were hillarious and so cute.

So after two hours of holding that sweet baby, my arms were feeling the burn! Mom's get a workout everyday just by being a mom!

I admire moms...and that admiration grows as I get older.

I Admire You

So tonight for my weekly meeting with my RA girls, I decided to have an Easter egg hunt in a few locations. We did one egg hunt outside and one inside. The eggs outside had a "would you rather..." question inside of it and once everyone found an egg we gathered back together and read them out loud to each other--very fun.

The eggs that were hid inside each had a name of someone in our small group. Everyone was told to find one egg and after everyone did that, we grouped back together. We sat around and I told the girls they had to say three words that they would use to describe the person who's name was in their egg and say something they admired or had learned from them by working with them over the course of the year. I know, it sounds a little cheesy, but really, it wasn't and some good stuff was shared.

So, I decided I would do the same thing and share about five people--three words to describe them and something I admire, so I decided to use the last five people I talked to on my phone as a starting point...

J.lo
Three Words: Whitty, Compassionate, Personable
Admiration: Her ability to be honest with people without making them feel judged. Also, her ability to see and go beyond the surface with people she meets.

Derek
Three Words: Reliable, Caring, Persevering
Admiration: His ability to get things done--if Derek says he going to do something, he does it. He is one of the most reliable and dependable people I know.

Jason
Three Words: Giving, Sincere, Honest
Admiration: His sincerity and honesty when speaking--Jason won't just give compliments to give them, so when he does, you know he's being honest and you can really value what he says.

Neen
Three Words: Sweet, Loving, IncluderAdmiration: Her sweet spirit and desire to include everyone. Neen never wants anyone to feel left out and she is always looking out for other people. She also has an A-ma-zing memory...much like J.lo does.

Eric
Three Words: Relaxed, Humorous, Caring
Admiration: His ability to be laid back and take things as they come. He's relaxed and is able to look at situations and not be overwhelmed by them. I admire his calm spirit and assurance that things will always work out.

More To Come: Art, Steph R., Steph M., Emily, Court, Kris, wow...the list could go on and on...!

When I Walk, I Think...

Tonight after the Easter festivities were over, I went back to the house where I'm house-sitting and decided to take a long walk. It was a beautiful evening tonight, so I set out walking. I took my ipod with me, but didn't end up using it at all. I just walked and thought--some thoughts really random, some more deep but all in all there were a lot of things swirling around in my mind. Here is a glimpse of some of them...

Editors Note: Beware...you're about to have a glimpse inside the mind of Becky Kruse...

My thoughts: (In no particular order...)

--I shouldn't have eaten so many sweet potatoes at dinner.

--I need to get a pedicure

--I wonder how I'll raise my kids

--Why can't every Sunday be like this morning--church with j.lo, good lunch and good convo.

--Does anyone mow their own lawn anymore, or does everyone have a gardner?

--I wanna buy U2's latest CD

--I kinda miss Sunday morning church

--I need to do laundry

--I'm really glad I live on my own

--I love the smell of spring/summer night air

--Where will I be living in 10 years?

--Is the focus of Christianity really supposed to be all about who "gets in" to heaven and who doesn't?

--I should look into taking at least one grad school class/seminary class in the fall.

--I'm going to wake up early and get a latte in the morning

--Tomorrow is Monday--Monday's are crazy busy.

--I hope to marry into a large family.

See, told you they were super random and all over the board. I guess that's just who I am and how I think...

You + Me = Wii

I played the Nintentdo Wii for the first time tonight and it was so much fun. A few of my friends and I got together tonight and one of them just bought a Nintendo Wii yesterday. I don't know why, but I was a little skeptical at first, but once I started playing I LOVED it.

We played for a few hours and played a whole bunch of different games. We played a billards game, ping pong, some kind of shooting game, bowling (which I rocked!) and I wasn't too bad at tennis either. It's so interactive and I would even venture to say it's a form of exercise because you move around a lot.

I have to say I was actually tempted to buy one for myself...I haven't yet, but it would be a ton of fun. And what a fun thing to have and be able to invite people over to play...!

If I got one, would YOU play with me???

When A 3 Year Old Is Asked About Monsters...

I watched this video and couldn't help but laugh--this little girl is adorable!

Flashback...

J.lo when was this picture taken? I'll give you a gold star if you can remember. Maybe two!

Dust off the BBQ...Summer is a comin'!

This past week I went to a friend's house and had dinner. We fired up the BBQ and had some hamburgers--some good hamburgers. And actually, I should say that he was the one who maned the BBQ--gotta give credit where credit is due.

The smell of the BBQ reminded me of summer nights and made me wish summer was that much closer.

Summer: Cool nights, BBQing, swimming, road trips to the beach, iced tea and fruit salad...

Can't wait!

$3.55...$3.65...$3.75...!

I went to the bay area this weekend and at one Chevron gas station that I drove by in Oakland gas was $3.55/gallon for regular unleaded! And $3.75 for the super plus stuff!

Outrageous? I think so!

Time to dust off my bike...and buy a helmet.