Is Faith Delusional?

Last night, I had the priviledge of listening to Ravi Zacharias and John Lennox at the Atlanta Civic Center. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time.

As a 'life student' of religion and philosophy (doesn't that sound pretentious?), I was very intrigued by what these gentlemen had to say. I went in with no knowledge of who they are and what their messages were going to be. In fact, I didn't even know they were both Christians before I entered the auditorium. The title of the lecture 'Is Faith Delusional?' just piqued my interest.

All that to say, I highly recommend you listen to these fellows if you get a chance. I don't care if you are an atheist, agnostic, Christian, buddhist, etc. I don't talk about religion on this blog for a very good reason, but I believe that anyone who can stimulate additional thought in my head is worth mentioning. And both of these men did just that.

"Don't ever give up on something or someone that you can't go a full day without thinking about." (Author Unknown)

Martinis & IMAX

Well, one of the items on my 109 in 2009 list is to have a girls' night out. I've actually enjoyed a couple now, but I finally have one with photographic evidence.

Last Friday, I went with a bunch of girls to the Fernbank Museum for Martinis & IMAX.


The dinosaur backgdrop at Martinis & IMAX.

It was a BLAST! I highly recommend going. Afterwards, a couple of us went to Amy's house for a glass of wine and a Matthew McConaughey flick.

Here are a few photos from Fernbank.


Bridget, Raegan, me and a lot of hair!


Me and Jamie Leigh.


The best roomie in the world (a.k.a. Kole) and me.


Raegan and me.


Kole looking sassy!


Kole, Jill and Robin.


Me, Ashley and Amy.


Amy looking sophisticated. It was Martinis & IMAX after all.


It was Bridget's birthday!


Ashley looking lovely.


The first photo of the evening. Eh, who said they had to be in order.

New header for Winter '09

So, one of the items on my 109 in 2009 list is to create seasonal headers for this blog. Well, Winter 2009 is almost over so I got cracking. While I'm not a huge fan of the new header (totally envisioned something else in my head), it'll do.

More than alive... doing really well

So, I have found that having two other blogs (A Cooking Bird and The 109 in 2009 - which I update nearly every day) takes away my desire to post regularly on this one, even though this is my online scrapbook, where I am trying to keep up with events so I remember them years from now. And A LOT has been going on. BUT (there's always a but) I'm really busy with work and just trying to enjoy as much time as possible with Cam, my family and friends, so A Different Bird is not getting as much love.

And in lieu of Valentine's Day photos (well, for the moment - maybe I'll get around to posting them after I finally download them), here is a photo of me and Cam from December last year.



We'd been dating a month at that point. And believe me, we still look that happy. Maybe even more so.

A Different Bird Interviewed: Part II

My friend, Janet, blogger extraordinaire of Slice of Pink sent me the following questions (per my request). Janet is a sweet, sweet person and a great blogger - you should check her out!

1. If all the impracticalities were sorted out for you, what animal would you most like to have as a pet?

A dwarf hamster. It's not an impractical pet, but one I have wanted for many, many years. In fact, I made Cam (he was willing) go into a pet store the other day so I could go stare and squeal at the cute little hamsters. After visiting the store, I definitely want a Roborovski hamster, the smallest of all domestic hamsters.



And from what I understand, they live the longest of any type of domestic hamster. Maybe the impractical part would be that the hamster would have his own room with tons of space to run around and lots of piping and other hamster goodies. And he would have lots of dwarf hamster friends in the room with him, obviously.

2. What is your before-bedtime routine?

It's funny you ask, because I am extremely anal retentive about my before-bedtime routine. In this order, I floss, brush my teeth, wash my face (especially concentrating on getting the eye make-up off) and then slather moisturizer on. I change into my pajamas, get into bed, either text or call Cam and then read while on my back to stretch it out. Then sleep time!

3. What are you wowed by the brilliance of?

Maybe this seems like a shallow answer, but stand-up comedians who kill at improv. Cam and I went to see Rich Hall at The Funny Farm Comedy Club recently, and I was awed by how quick and funny he was on his feet as he interacted with the audience. (If you haven't seen him, you really, really should!)

4. What were you like as a six year old?

I was extremely inquisitive and a bookworm. You would sometimes even find me reading in the bathroom for hours on end because I couldn't manage to put the book down. Not even for two minutes apparently. I loved playing on the swing set with my sisters but also coming up with new games inside the house, like crock pot (weird name, I know). I had a huge imagination and I would make up episodes of Beverly Hills Teens (an 80s cartoon) and tell them to my sisters at night. I loved to draw and color and play Barbies. I remember taking the blame for some things, even though I hadn't done them, just to keep the peace and get past interrogation from my parents. I was a very loving child, always snuggling up to my parents and I remember hugging my Kindergarten teacher a lot (Mrs. Fox), but not my first grade teacher (Mrs. Christopher) because I didn't like her. I remember, even at 6, wanting to be the best in the class. After reading this back and thinking about it, I really haven't changed all that much. Life's funny like that.

5. You win $5,000, all of which you must spend in only one store. Which store do you choose and what do you buy?

I would actually choose Target, because I could get an assortment of items for reasonable prices.

Now, I want to go all out for #5, so I am actually going to fully answer that in another post. Thanks for reading!

Too much good stuff to write about!

I had a wonderful weekend, and it actually began on Friday when I finally (FINALLY!) met my friend, Andrea, blogger of Forever is Tomorrow is Today, for lunch. Cam asked me how it was possible to be friends with someone I have never met, but I have felt such a kinship with Andrea since we began commenting on each other's blogs over three years ago. We are about the same age, were in very similar situations when we were in England, are both from the Atlanta area and we have both moved back to the Atlanta area recently.

I've never met a 'blogger friend' in real life, so I was just a tiny bit nervous, but I really shouldn't have been. Andrea is even better in-person than I imagined. I am so grateful for the friendship she and I share, and I look forward to many more regular visits, in addition to our regular comments and emails.

My only regret from the fabulous lunch? We didn't take a single photo. Not one. Not even of her unbelievably adorable son, Finn, who I have decided must meet my nieces, Ava & Nola. When they are all 25, of course.

Andrea's story is very compelling and she is an excellent writer, so I highly recommend you visit her blog if you haven't already. (her blog updates always show up on my 'Who's Updated Recently?' and she is on my favorite bloggers list - both to the left)

On Friday night, Cam took me to Romano's Macaroni Grill for dinner. Very tasty! I hadn't been there in quite a while.


We were posing at the corner of the table, hence the awkward-looking position of our bodies.

As if Friday wasn't enough, on Saturday Cam took me to see Cirque du Soleil!! (which I crossed off my 109 in 2009 list!) It was a special Christmas present, and we went with another couple, our good friends Allan and Amy.

We started the evening at the wonderful Six Feet Under. I highly recommend you visit this restaurant if you are in the Atlanta area: cool atmosphere, great service, delicious food and fabulous drinks!


I love how I look pregnant in this photo because of the way my left arm is positioned beside my body.


We were really excited about the upcoming show!


Newlyweds. Aren't they really, really, ridiculously good looking?

We went to see Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA show, and I can't recommend going enough. It was INCREDIBLE. The Atlanta run of the show ends on March 1st, so get your tickets soon!


Cam and me in front of the huge tent after the show.


You can't see it very well, but that's Cam, me, Amy and Allan in front of the KOOZA logo.

On Sunday, Allan, Amy and I went to brunch at The Flying Biscuit (soooo good!), Cam joined us after church, we fixed some snacks (well, Cam and I fixed snacks, Amy fixed some homemade chili and Allan grilled some hot dogs), and then we watched the Superbowl with a bunch of friends. Such a great weekend!