Would a Little Boy Read the Princess Book?

Okay, this blog is just to vent. I have become more aware of gender equality, as well as being a human development major, I am more in-tune with the genderization (is that a word?) of children. Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I work at Barnes and Noble. I occasionally work back in the children's section-- it has it's good and it's very bad moments. However, I am here to vent on books that are on our shelves. Each one is a foam book, cut into the shape of the person on the front and the occuaption they have. There are 6 of them-- a cowboy, a fairy, a astronaut, a ballerina, a doctor, and a princess. I'll bet you can guess that the fairy is not a boy. I just look at those books and think, "No wonder girls don't think they can be doctors-- their earliest books are telling them they can't be!" It makes me angry! But I can't do anything about it. If I threw them away, not only would I get in HUGE trouble, but they'd just order more! Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest!

Missing Emergent Churches

Last Sunday at church, Michael had the honor of singing with the worship band. (He wouldn't let me take any pictures...) He was asked to sing the song "Fix You," by Coldplay as a solo because the key was too high for the worship leader. At the second service, he got a standing ovation! (It was weird because our church rarely claps after any song.) He absolutely blew them away! I was so proud of him. (I think he sang it way better, but that's my biased opinion... ;-)



So after that performance, our worship leader asked Michael to join him in playing for a conference that was being hosted here in town. Not thinking too much of it, he agreed. Well, it turned out it was an emergent conference where Tony Jones and Doug Paggit (sp??) were attending. (I shook Tony Jones' hand... there's my "emergent" claim to fame ;-) We were part of an emergent church, and had missed it. The church we go to now is somewhat emergent, but there are aspects that are missing that we really enjoyed. So it was so refreshing to be there and get to experience an emergent community again. It took a little getting used to it again, but once we did it was a supernatural experience. They had about 6 prayer stations set up, and each one spoke directly to something that was going on in my life. It was awesome!
After that was over, we discussed how the friends we are making at church are good friends, but we don't always see eye to eye on issues. Needless to say, we are definitely the odd couple out. In emergent groups, our way of thinking and living are "normal," not different or weird. We tend to butt heads with our friends who are not familiar with "emergent ideas" when it comes to ideas of missional, community, love, and church. Although we love our church and will continue attending, it was very apparent that we should get hooked up with the emergent cohort in Denver. Exciting! I'm sure I'll see some of you around!

Homosexual Hamburgers

It was my mom's birthday this weekend and to celebrate, my family went out to lunch after church on Sunday. Jill drove down from Fort Collins and we met up in Denver to eat. The restaurant we wanted to go to had a 45 minute wait (and it was already 1:00pm!) So we wandered down a few blocks and found a restaurant called Hamburger Mary's. As we walked past, we could see the burgers on people's plates which looked delicious, so we went in. Instantly we realized where we were-- a restaurant that caters to the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) community. There were peace flags on the wall, the names of the burgers were some sort of homosexual slang, terminology, etc. For example, instead of a BLT, it was a GLBT (guac, lettuce, bacon, tomato); there was also a Flamin' J Burger... That kind of thing. Needless to say, for some people, it would have been uncomfortable to be there. My family, however, thought it was awesome! We had a great time! Oh, and the food was absolutely amazing! (I'd actually recommend it for anyone wanting a burger in Denver... and isn't biased against homosexuality) On the table, there was an advertisement for "Slut Bingo"-- the picture was of 4 or 5 men dressed in drag and full makeup with bingo cards in their hands. It looked like so much fun! I love Denver!
The culture and variety around here is more than I have ever been around in my entire life! I've lived in the southern suburbs of Denver where there were maybe 10 kids in my high school class who weren't Caucasian. Then I went to Fort Collins where I think it was even less! I've barely seen 10 people who are Caucasian in my neighborhood in Denver! It's so exciting. Life is so different and there are so many different people, different cultures, and different views for everything. Way different than anything I have ever experienced. Michael and I are still determined to be missional in everything we do, so we have been trying to scope out where we will buy our groceries, get our liquor (there are a gazillion liquor stores within 5 blocks of where we live!), go out to eat, go to the park, get coffee, etc. Life is just beginning for us, and we have so much potential to reach out to the people around us. There is a family who lives just a couple of houses down, and I'm sure when summer hits, we'll be seeing a lot of them... who knows what will happen!

Married Life

Hello blogging world. I am no longer writing as Katie McKay, but as Katie Bennett. The wedding went beautifully! It was so moving and went off without a hitch. I'll get the pics soon, and post a few of the best on here! It's still really weird thinking of myself as married, not just dating or engaged. The apartment we're in is my house, not my parents', not my temporary college living situation, but my house with my things and my husband and our life! Crazy! It took us a while to figure out where to put everything we got, but we got it figured out and it looks like a livable house! We've been married for a week and 3 days and it's already been an adventure. It's great to have friends who have known us as engaged and then are there for us as we are embarking on our married journey. We can lean on them for support and encouragement and insight, as well as we can finally really understand and help them when they need it. Michael and I have tried to learn healthy things to do in our relationship, and are excited to pass those ideas along, even to our friends who have been married for almost 6 years. I'm so excited about our friends who we have made and the great relationships we will continue to develop over the coming months and years. I know marriage won't always be easy, but having a great support system makes the whole thing a lot more bearable.