After a long but beautiful day, we rested. I think this is such a sweet picture. I think he's wonderful. After services, we spent the afternoon at his grandma's house. Then we spent the rest of the day with his family. They are such fantastic people. It always amazes me how loving they are. They've made me feel like a part of their family. It looks like we're going to Seattle next Sunday after services and staying until Thursday. The furthest west I've ever been is SLC. The best part about going to Seattle will be meeting his mom's side of the family. We'll stay with his auntie. I love his dad's side of the family so I'm very excited to meet his mom's side.

Who knew life could be such a big blessing? I am in wonder of it. I never thought God would bless me in such an unbelievable way. I have trouble describing it, but the best way would be gratitude. God is so gracious! Happy Monday!

mush

I feel like my brain is a big bowl of mush...This is due to lack of sleep (the last week I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep a night or any real 'down' time), not reading enough good books (seriously...i've lost my groove), and giving blood today.

I thought perhaps if I took a moment to type out a couple of thoughts, maybe, just maybe, I could be less mushlike and more sblike. Please bare with me as I type out some random thoughts that may or not make any sense whatsoever.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a visually amazing movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think you will too.
2. I took a picture with a woman dressed as a large drop of blood today after donating. This is my new facebook and myspace picture. When I first saw her, I couldn't stop giggling. All of my giggling made the technicians giggle which I do believe is why my arm is currently bruising and super sore. (i have never bruised in any prior donating nor been sore.)
3. My hair looks crazy today. If you saw me, you might think I'm a baglady. It was really cute when I left my house but the strong winds have made it into something totally different. I don't have a single bobbie pin or hair elastic in my purse today either.
4. I really like Whataburger. It's so good...I mean, really, really good. It will never replace Tacos but I have underestimated it for far too long.
5. I love my boyfriend. I think he is the best guy in the world for me. He continually amazes me. He's supportive and thoughtful.
6. My boyfriend's parents bought me a lambie blanket for Christmas and I never want to be parted from it. I've slept with it the last two nights and now understand Linus' obsession with his blankie.
7. I am still in shock that my students got me Christmas presents. When I left the world of public education, I thought that would be the end of my gifts. Who knew kids got presents for church ladies?

Not as helpful as I would have hoped but the typing did help a little. Have a happy Saturday!

Merry Christmas!

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

This may just be my new favorite picture of all time...who knew Whataburger, a napkin, and Chris could be such a beautiful thing?

Christmas Video

Merry Christmas!

Thanks Preston for the giggles!

Rahab's Rope

Tonight I went to a benefit dinner with Erin. I didn't know anything about the organization other than they helped prostitutes. I was amazed and encouraged when I found out more...

Rahab's Rope is a Christian organization that equips women with the skills needed to live. It is truly love in action. These women are viewed as untouchable. Most are forced into a life of prostitution and never receive any education. Typically when these women reach my age (mid-twenties) they are considered 'used up' and can no longer support themselves. These women are also victims of abuse in most cases.

Through Rahab's Rope, women are shown Christ's love, provided housing, educational seminars, develop skills (jewelry making, seamstress, office skills, etc), and are given a sense of self worth. Last year alone they showed Christ's love to over 900 women.

I love this organization. Christ came for all, loves all, and died for all. No one should ever be 'untouchable' or viewed as 'unreachable'. If you are able, please check out their website and show these ladies some support!

Officially Finished

That's right my friends, I am officially ready for Christmas! I have each and every gift wrapped & under the tree.

I hit a wall with the amount of paper I had & the sizes of gift bags. I was not going to let that stop me from finishing...so not every present perfectly coordinates, big deal. The paper comes off anyway...right?

It's such a good feeling to have that taken care of--now all I need to focus on is Christmas services coming up. We'll have nine services to celebrate Christmas. I will teach 8 of those services in my room. I'm really excited for this opportunity. It's very nice to know I won't get distracted thanks to a very productive, very blessed day!

Now it's off to bed...

Finished....well, almost.

Today I bought each and every Christmas present I would need for the season. I'm a mere four presents away from having everything wrapped. Ahhh....the white, gold, and red looks so nice under our tree! I can't wait!

I also purchased my Christmas cards today: a box to send to my volunteers and a box to send to co-workers & friends. My volunteer cards are cheery & pink (they scream Sarah Beth) and my co-worker cards are "A Christmas Story" cards with four different scenes! I love both boxes so much. I think they are sooooo much fun. I've already addressed a couple to mail out in the morning....(i realize it's technically tomorrow but until i go to sleep, it's still today)

I am really excited to spend Christmas with Chris' family this year! I feel incredibly blessed & can't wait to share these fun gifts and make memories with both his and my family!

Routan Baby

You may have seen the Volkswagon Routan commercials. On their website you can make a routan baby. Chris suprised me today with two of them:

This is Elijah Benjamin and Evelyn Jane...the Routan twins. Cute huh? Ok...and yes, I realize it's a bit like 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'.

hello real world

he past five days I've been on vacation...really five and a half. After a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, I met up with my wonderful, handsome boyfriend thus beginning the much desired vacation.

I was EXCITED to go back to work--I couldn't wait! However, waking up was not so easy...my spirit was willing but my flesh was weak. Yesterday I easily woke up. Today I couldn't seem to get moving. Is this common?

To ease my transition back into the real world, I've had tacos three out of the last four days: crunchy, soft, and puffy. For some reason, tacos make everything better. I could eat them every day. Is that normal?

Maybe on the days I have trouble getting up, I should reward myself with a breakfast taco....that could be just the motivation I need to start the day off right. ;-)

Thanksgiving...new traditions

For the past fifteen years, things have gone a certain way on Thanksgiving:

1. Wednesday: head to Grandma Duke's house...stay the night, help make food while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
   
2. Thursday: have lunch with the Duke side of the family and head back to McAlester for early dinner with Mom and Sister.
3. Enjoy eating my second Thanksgiving dinner in a day...mmmm, mmmm, good!
4. Meet up with Katie K and either see a movie or plan out our Black Friday.

Good plans, eh? After fifteen years (well, point number four has only been since we could drive so, you know, a solid decade or so), you get used to it. I look forward to it and can't believe how awesome my Thanksgiving is ever year.

This year, it's a new tradition starting. Due to some ridiculous family strife on the Duke side of the family (not kidding--the family essentially split due to a dog's dish of water), this year I went on Saturday *pre Thanksgiving* to my Aunt Patsy's house in Waxahachie. It was a great day! I got to sit at the adult table by my Grandma, see my precious family, and it was nice to do something different (eat off of cowboy china, change of scenary, you know good times).

Due to my sister's custody situation, she doesn't get the children until Friday evening so my traditional Thanksgiving dinner is now a lunch on Saturday at my Mom's house. Good times.

Today Chris & I are having fajitas at his grandma's house with his aunt and uncle from Colorado. Tomorrow I will have Thanksgiving with Chris' family. :-)

So my three Thanksgivings aren't happening on the traditional Thanksgiving day. Non-traditional? Perhaps but I love it. I'm excited for the new tradtions starting this year. Pictures to come soon my friends...Happy Thanksgiving!

brown bird

As often as possible my college roommie & I like to catch up on life. As I have a pretty different work schedule and she's teaching as well as attending grad school, that doesn't happen as often as either of us would like. It is a blessing though to go months and be able to pick up like we saw each other an hour ago.

The plan was to meet at our usual Starbucks. I couldn't wait to see Maggie & enjoy a peppermint mocha. Due to traffic (thanks 820), I arrived before she did. I ordered my extra large drink...mmmmm.

I waited outside for Maggie and tried to not eavesdrop on the conversation a table away. I noticed a brown bird hopping around outside...I watched it for a minute or two when it stopped hopping, turned, and looked at me. I made eye contact with the bird...then it started to hop again until it was perched on the chair next to me. The bird looked at me a little longer then hopped to the chair across from me. It lingered for about thirty more seconds before it flew away.

Two minutes later another brown bird started hopping around me. This one had a broken wing. Symbolism anyone?

Twilight

So let me tell you a little diddy about how I turned back into a tween girl....

Last winter my friend Deanna told me I had to read a book called Twilight. I was pretty hesitant...I mean, vampires? werewolves? dumb...dumb...dumb. I noticed in every class I had at least three students with one of the books from the series. So in an effort to connect with my students, I borrowed Deanna's copy. A day later I finished the book, returned it to Deanna, and promptly bought the series. Within a week I had entirely devoured the series.

We had a book event in the spring for Twilight. I did whatever I could to help...and did a significant part of the planning and pretty much led the event. I dressed up as Esme (too many Alices and Bellas around & you know I like to be different) The event was a huge success! Over one hundred of our students stayed after school for it. It was awesome--we had prizes, vampire cupcakes, and a prediction board for Breaking Dawn (the last book in the series).

When I left CMS, I didn't leave my love of Twilight. I preordered my copy of Breaking Dawn & marked it on my calendar. I was bummed to not be able to attend the midnight release (i was at camp) but was excited to come home & find my copy.

At midnight, the Twilight movie opened. I didn't go as I have Fridays off....so today at 10:35 am I left my house. I parked my car at Tinsletown and forced myself to not run into the theatre. I bought my ticket, a large cherry coke, and a box of sour patch kids and as calmly as possible walked to my theatre.

Due to the limited amount of cars in the parking lot, I thought I would be one of a handful of people for the 11 am showing. Wrong. A solid 40% of the theatre was full. I was very fortunate to get a good seat by some twilight moms. I scanned the theatre: very few teenagers, mainly moms, and a few couples around my age. One man came by himself; he sat two seats down from me & I kept waiting for his wife to appear. Nope...no wife--just a twilight fan ready for some awesome.

As the preshow entertainment flashed on screen, my excitement continued to build. The previews started & I was hooked by The Half Blood Prince and Bride Wars. I still can't decide if there were more previews than usual, but it seemed to take FOR-EV-ER!!! My anticipation continued to build and then: Bella's narration began!

I was hoping my beloved book would translate on film...so many books are ruined when they make the jump to the silver screen. Sure several things weren't the same but the general feeling, message was accurately portrayed.

I loved it! I can't express how much I loved it! I immediately called my Katie K to discuss it when I left the theatre. Oooh....so good!!! I can't wait to see it again! I plan on taking Chris so he can understand why I love it oh so very much.

Well done summit & catherine hardwicke, well done!

Confessions

It's good for the soul...

1. I have The Lion King Soundtrack on my itunes...
2. I made fun of guy friends in college for having 'man crushes' on their professors; I now have a 'man crush' on Dr. Evans. I want to be his friend & soak up everything he could say. creepy much?
   
3. I wish I could either eat tacos or hot dogs every day...not chocolate but tacos or hot dogs.
4. Mice freak me out. With the recent articles about them coming into houses in my county, I'm scared I'll find one in my house.
   
5. I once read a book of confessions at Barnes & Noble. I realized I don't have such a dark side after all. ;-)
6. Kelly Clarkson's song "You Found Me" always makes me think of Chris.
7. I want to grow up & be like my Grandma Duke. I have never met anyone who automatically and unconditionally loves all she meets. It's the most beautiful gift.
8. I get frustrated with the people who go 50 mph on my 30 mph street...
   
9. I miss all the reading free time...I have several books just waiting to be devoured.
10. I am counting down until my vacation...Wednesday, November 26 is going to be a very exciting day! During my five days off I plan on seeing my Mom & sister, Katie K, sweet pea (the dog), and spending each day of my vacation with my wonderful, amazing boyfriend.
11. I'm desperately trying to find a cutesy nickname for him...so far all I've come up with have made it: dino, t-rex, huggy bear, grizzly bear...maybe I need to stay away from animals.

jobby jobby job job

I love my job. I can't believe I get paid to creatively tell children about Jesus, get up on stage & act/sing, and write curriculum for my classroom. It's amazing. I am very blessed.

Every now and then, I take stock on life...what would I want to do if I weren't here? Seriously how could I best utilize my abilities outside of the church? Sunday night I found it: World Vision. Yep I would be a representative for World Vision, organize events, and tell people why sponsorship is such an important part of my life.

I volunteered at a World Vision Concert & got to see 96 children get sponsored. It totally filled me up with joy and excitement. I loved it. totally loved it!!

If that didn't work out my second choice would be: Toms Shoes. I own three pairs...I wear them all the time. In fact, I wore them so much over the summer (minimum of three times a week) that my original pair is starting to wear out. So on Tuesday at our ladies' event, I bought two more pairs. I love them!!!

Election Day

Remember this on election day: the electoral college determines not the popular vote. Don't forget what happened a couple of elections ago...

For more information check this out, it should answer any additional questions you may have about today's election process.

My first big holiday...

Chris loves Halloween! It's his absolute favorite holiday. :-) I was very excited about dressing up as a couple. Every year I think of about fifty to seventy-five halloween costumes. I just love brainstorming different ideas! We settled in on the idea back in August. Why not go as the dynamic duo? We saw the movie together three times this summer; we both watched the 1960s show; we know useless facts about the series...it was the perfect costume for us. We've decided it's never too soon to think of what to go as for next year. The front runner so far is Glinda & Elphaba from Wicked. hehehehe....if we go with this idea, we won't have a Fiyero for obvious reasons.

Friday we got ready, headed out to Southwest Airlines corporate party, and had a couple of gigles on the way. While at the party we went through the Haunted House. Chris had not experienced me in a haunted house. I don't think he was prepared for it. I am apparently a big disappointment to all haunted house workers. Greeting them, saying excuse me, and complimenting their masks is not what I'm supposed to do.

We also watched his mom rock the house in her show. She was an "Ikette" aka a back up dancer for Tina Turner in a telethon skit. It was the most wonderful thing I'd seen in a while! She did a great job! :-)

That evening we went to his grandma's house to spend the evening with the rest of his family. It was fantastic. We took them trick or treating. His youngest cousins were too cute for words: a fifties girl and a pink cheetah. Too precious!

We had some pecan pie while the kids evaluated their candy stash. It was a fantastic holiday!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! We'll have three celebrations in two days. Thursday we'll have lunch at my grandma's and dinner at my mom's house. Friday we'll come back to Texas and have Thanksgiving at his grandmas! :-D Holidays with Chris are definitely something I can get used to!

my gift

A couple of Christmases ago my sweet cousin Holly decided to give me a 'teacher-y' gift. I couldn't wait to see what it was--after all cousin Holly has about a decades worth more so whatever gift she would give had to be amazing. Thoughts ran through my head: maybe it was a book to foster creativity, perhaps it was some little known classroom tool that only super teachers had, or perhaps it was something so insightful that I couldn't even begin to guess what it was.

Cousin Holly gave me a very practical gift: sweater socks. Yes, sweater socks. The socks are black, white, gray, and deep red. They fold over to reveal a snowflake sweater on the fold. These are quite possibly the ugliest socks I've ever seen...yet I can't get rid of them.

It's not due to sentimental value; while being the ugliest socks ever, they also happen to be the WARMEST socks ever. I LOVE them sooo incredibly much! I want to wear them all the time. :-D I'd post a picture of them but I don't want Chris to see them on here before he has the opportunity to see them in person. hehehe There's just something incredible about seeing these things in person which doesn't translate on film....er pixels.

Now that the temperature has dropped I'm wearing these babies all the time. Wahoo!!! In fact, when I pick up Chris from the airport on Thursday, I think I may have to wear them.

obsessed?

We weren't the type of family that had family game night. I'm not sure if it was due to us only owning three games or if we only owned the three as we weren't game people. We owned trivial pursuit, pretty/pretty princess, and monopoly.

All three of those games are near and dear to my heart. I am pretty bummed that I lost most of my jewelry from pretty, pretty princess. I jump at the opportunity to play any of those games. So when McDonald's brought back the Monopoly game, I was pumped! This weekend with Chris we went. Today I've been twice. TWICE!!! What's my problem?

The chance of winning is so minimal yet I'm gladly trying. I think this contest will surely be mine--I will win a million dollars...as well as a free sausage biscuit. ;-) At present I have nine game pieces (i gave my duplicates to Jonathan).

I won't go tonight for dinner--some yummy soup is going to satisfy me. I'm hoping that I don't go the Morgan Spurlock way...I don't need any added health problems. I also don't need thirty additional pounds. I do, however need some more game pieces such as Ventor Avenue, Boardwalk, and Mediterranean Avenue.

State Fair

I grew up in town that most would call small. The state fair never came to it but usually a couple of times a year a carnival would come through. In middle school it was a big deal. I'd go as often as possible and then the awesomeness of it would wear off...no longer did i want to go to them. When I heard people talk about state fairs, i thought, 'ahhh no big deal'. Then I moved to Texas.

Wow. The state fair is a big deal hear. The first two years I thought about going but never did. It didn't seem like it was that important. This year I could no longer ignore the news stories. Chris and I went to the closing day of the Texas State Fair.

As you can tell by his handsome face, we were stoked! The last time he went he was nine. We set a few ground rules: 1. we'd share all of our snacks 2. we would not ride anything that would make us vomit 3. we had to take pictures to document the experience.


Ahh the Texas Star, the largest ferris wheel in the western world, I couldn't get the whole thing in one shot. It was so much fun!!! We saw sooo many pretty sights from the top. I loved it--we could see how busy everything was. We could check it the cotton bowl. I loved it! I loved it! I loved it!

We of course had a few snacks.
Alligator sausage, fried coke, and my personal favorite: donkey tail. Yes, that's right, a donkey tail. Picture it: an all beef frank, wrapped in cheese, wrapped in a tortilla, and deep fried to perfection. As the guy told us what it was, my face lit up! Next time Chris is in town, we're going to try to make our own. Hopefully it will be yummy!

We also really enjoyed people watching. One grandmother told her grandson, 'come on fat head. solid boy. come here!' in a very endearing tone. Did any of your grandparents call you solid or a fat head? Mine never did.

Chris & I didn't want to leave. We decided we needed to go to about seventy-five more.

Fun Give Away!

A fun fall give away! Check it out!

Also look for State Fair of Texas pics to be posted later today! It was my first state fair ever.

Bruce

Ahhh that would be my sweet, wonderful boyfriend & I at a pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. I'd never been to one & really wanted some type of frame-able picture of us for my desk at work. We've got some pretty fantastic pictures together (they mainly include us making ridiculous faces or doing something ridiculous) but nothing that quite fit the frame & display at work category. Please know we didn't miss any ridiculous photo opportunities as you can plainly see:


We had a great time! We also took the time to really think through what our pumpkin would become. We weighed our options--we bought a pumpkin carving kit (mainly because i think the tiny tools are cute)--we looked at patterns. My wonderful Chris decided it was too easy to use a pattern & we were far too creative for it.

So he free-handed a lovely design on our pumpkin & we got started. I was pretty nervous about it; I wanted our first carving session to go well...I wanted to impress anyone who would see our beautiful pumpkin.

Meet our beautiful pumpkin, Bruce:

Isn't he beautiful? I'm very proud of him! This weekend Chris & I are going to give Bruce a sibling. I'm really looking forward to our next carving project.

breathe

ahhhh...the roller coaster ride is over. I'm breathing again. My mom is doing much, much, much better. Thank you for the prayers.

crazy week

What a crazy week it's been since my last post! My world has been shaken since the no coffe lesson. I'm currently in a learn & grow season. I'm being broken, excercising trust, and trying to learn so much in a short amount of time.

My mom blacked out, collapsed, and went to the er. She's cut up badly & we're doing a series of tests again. It looks like she may have her sixth brain surgery in two years. It's been a very interesting time...I have no idea what God will do through all of this but I know He's going to do what's best.

The boyfriend has been so supportive. My coworkers have been incredibly supportive also. I can't believe I am surrounded by such wonderful people.

Please keep my mom in your prayers...the 'adventures in surgery' journey isn't finished just yet.

quick thought

I learned my lesson this morning. In an effort to save time and not be late for prayer meeting, I stopped at the gas station nearest church for some coffee. The station didn't have coffee but did have "cappuccino" and "cocoa".

Please, friends, if your gas station doesn't have a coffee maker, don't buy their "cappuccino" or "cocoa"...be cautious.

26

Ahhh finally it's here. My birthday. I'm not a quarter of a century any longer...I'm in my last year of being in my mid-twenties. Ahhh...good times.

So far the day has been fantastic! My circadian rhythm seems back on track (the last two days I've taken naps & been totally exhausted) as I woke up refreshed at 6 this morning. I am wearing my favorite black skirt & my cute pink bow shirt along with my fabulous new shoes. I had a breakfast of champions courtesy of starbucks: pumpkin spice latte with a cranberry/orange/walnut muffin. I've been in my own little world all morning...jamming out to my random music mix. At lunch I get to attend Flavour--our monthly ladies luncheon. And wait for it, I've even taken some silly pictures. This day is going to be incredible--I can feel it!

Happy my birthday everybody!

party highlights

Ahhh...what a fun night!

many blessings

I am continually blown away by the blessings in my life. I've been wanting to sing the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings" for the last several days. It's hit me again how I am so undeserving of these crazy awesome blessings!!!

1. My job is unbelievable. I actually get paid to share God's love with people. I am allowed to be creative & have very few limitations on what I can do.
2. My coworkers are so fun. Today in staff meeting I was thankful for the talented, caring, creative people I get to work with.
3. My roommates are throwing me a birthday party this weekend. Their evite was hilarious! I have two Godly, thoughtful, fun ladies for roomies...and it's incredible!
4. My boyfriend's family is amazing. Saturday night we had dinner with his parents & brothers. Yesterday we went to a cook out at his uncle's. I was able to hang out with an entire side of his family. They are Godly, funny, and just remarkable people.
   
5. Chris is the most wonderful guy I've ever met....simple as it is.

That's just a HANDFUL of blessings God has decided to rain on me. :-) I could keep going but I need to do laundry before my karaoke night with Linds....yep, you can put that on the list too.

birthday

my birthday is in eight days. if only i had been born eight days earlier i could have been a labor day baby. i love the irony of being born on labor day...for the last twenty years or so i've wanted to be a labor day kid.

i love having a birthday in september. i love it! by the time it rolled around to my birthday in school, i'd made friends & they would all be able to come to the first birthday party of the year. the best part was people were really still trying to find a good present rather than just pick something up--after all, it was the first birthday party of the year & of course, the kids in my class wanted to make a good impression. if the other kids saw that old brian didn't give a good gift, he may not be invited to one of the october birthday parties. no kid wants to miss out on an october birthday party as they usually afforded another opportunity to wear the halloween costume again.

usually my parties were either at the pizza place or skating rink in town. a couple of times i had a party at my house but it just wasn't the same. next year i think i'm going to have my party at a skating rink--i'll be 27 & my birthday will be 9/9/9. i've got to pull out all of the stops for that birthday. this year's party will be low key--ice cream cake, games, and of course, karaoke at my house. nothing elaborate...just an opportunity for giggles & a batman cake.

baseball

This is apparently my "I love baseball" face. It's nice, huh? Last night we had the opportunity to celebrate Kenneth's birthday. I worked for Kenneth for six months when I started at church. He is one of my absolute favorites. He's an incredible man & I'm so thankful to have him in my life. He's also one of Chris' favorites so that's really convenient.

Before the game began Chris asked if I knew the rules of baseball. Last summer I nannied for one of the Rangers & I did play softball as a child so you would think I would... After asking one simple question it became obvious I had no idea what I was talking about when it came to baseball. whoops...

The Indians won by two runs last night...but the game was a lot of fun. It was very reminiscent of me attending the Stars game. I observed, made mental notes, and then towards the end started to awkwardly cheer. I thought my deep love for basketball would naturally transfer to other sports but it did not.

I'm looking forward to learning more about sports--Chris loves them & I have a feeling I will soon be a huge sports fan. :-) Or at least a girl who does know the mechanics of sports & can cheer at events.

success!

Highlights from our trip:







It was a success! Not only did we have a fun time on the 200 mile car ride & take silly pictures, but my family loved him--even the dog! AND he loved my family! :-) It was a wonderful day!!

boyfriend

It's official: I have a boyfriend. :-) This is very exciting news! I haven't been able to say I have a boyfriend since I was sixteen....sure I've dated guys since then but this is the only one who's made it through to the boyfriend stage.

Sounds a bit like a game show, huh? Maybe a little like the dating game meets ninja warrior. hehehe

Tomorrow I take him to my hometown to meet the immediate fam & see the glories of small town Oklahoma. I've explained to him in detail about my childhood, adolescence, and what to expect about the town as a whole. I can't wait to see his reaction to all of it. I wonder if he'll LOVE Roseanna's the way I do...after all, it is my favorite restaurant in the entire world. I wonder what he'll think about some of my favorite places in town & what he'll think about my family. It's going to be so much fun to see him experience it.

I am planning out our music for the three hour drive. I've planned out what to do while in town. I have all of these fantastic ideas for him & my hometown. I think it's going to be the perfect opportunity to take silly pictures too. He hasn't quite realized my deep love of silly pictures....or of small town Oklahoma.

We're going to have a wonderful day & my family is going to be blown away by him. Thursday is going to be an excellent day! :-D

It's raining, I have the day off, Now & Then is on tv, and the summer season is officially finished at work. This, my friends, has the potential of an awesome day.

Some of you may be curious as to what all I've been up to the last couple of months. Let's see...fc kids took the summer (and me) to places I never imagined.

Highlights include:

• Teaching 'special effects' to second and third graders for two weekends...translation: mentos + diet coke = a messy/good time
• Dressing up as a spy
• zipline
• headfirst backwards down the slides

Good stuff all around...so many stories! As I have a fantastic afternoon awaiting me, I will only share one little for now (i know--i'm such a tease).

1. Last week sweet Bonnie held the swim center open for us on staff. Steven masterminded a FIFTEEN person chain for the slides...hahahaha. I was person number two on the chain--right behind Big Jim. Big Jim is probably 6'5" and weighs about 265 lbs. We went fast & furious down the slide. It was fantastic! How we didn't break the slide, I'll never know.

It has been an amazing summer & I am looking forward to catching you guys up very soon.

returning soon

Tomorrow I head out for the last week of children's camp at Allaso Ranch. This will mark the end of the summer and my return to the blogging world. :-)

I can't wait to blog again...actual posts. My thoughts, feelings, silly songs, all of the good things I love to type will soon be back.

The Week of Little Sleep

Last week I didn't talk to anyone I didn't work with other than my baby niece (who is now nine years old...how crazy is that?). I wasn't on a let's be exclusive kind of kick and no one except Alissa was out of town. We had this little thing called install week.

You may remember me posting about working at the warehouse a couple of months ago. Every year my church changes out the entire children's wing of the building. About a month before install, we take everything down. It's weird to see the bare walls....then we spend one week putting up all of the new decorations.

Now you may be thinking, 'my church does this for vbs or we do this periodically also...big whoop'. Please let me clarify: we make new walls. We go HUGE....gigantic...it's something like you've never seen before.

Our current theme is "FC KIDS Studios" so one hallway is decorated with a red carpet, cut out papparazzi, and palm trees; one hallway looks like a backlot; one hallway has movie posters with working light boxes. Each room front is decorated to look like a movie theater: drive in, majestic, and Chinese. It's incredible!

Last week my shortest day was maybe thirteen hours. Each day I stayed progressively later. Friday night I went to bed at 5am at the church. Good times....

So that was last week.

Yesterday I slept until 11, got ready, had lunch with Lindsey & her mom, hit up Sam's, and then was disappointed with the bachelorette.

Today I woke up at 5:15 so Alissa & I could be running by 5:30. I decided to listen to music today while running & I could tell an improvement. Don't get me wrong, I'm still horrible at pacing myself but when I wanted to stop, OK Go would urge me on...or TobyMac would yell at me. I think I'm going to listen to my ultra running mix every morning. For cool down I had "Fancy" by Reba McEntire.

Ahhhh now it's time for a shower & then it's off to work.

As soon as my ability to spell and formulate sentences return, I will have a LONG update!

Install week....whoa.

what a toy!

It's no secret that I LOVE whataburger! It's one of my favorite things about moving to Texas. It's fantastic. From time to time I've been known to get a kids' meal--the portion is excellent, it comes with a random toy, and you get a bendy straw with your drink. What's not to love?

I'm currently wearing the Wrist Launcher that came with my dinner. It's green, blue, and orange. I've been practicing launching my discs at the guys this morning. I finally feel prepared in case of a random office attack which has been known to happen with nerf guns.

I've decided this wrist launcher needs to become a part of my everyday look. I mean it's fun, happy, summer-y colors and extremely practical. Since I'm running alone, this could be much better than wearing a whistle or carrying mase. Just think about it: some skeeze tries to ruin my running rhythm and bah-bam! here comes a brightly colored mini flying disc. That puts fear in the heart of anyone.

Thanks whataburger for making me even more productive at work and safe all at the same time!

music & me

I've always been a huge music fan. As a little girl I would constantly make up songs. As an adult, I still make up a few songs every now and then. They're nothing profound, always surface/slightly ridiculous songs that are good for a chuckle. Despite my lack of musical prowess, I am still deeply moved by music. It can be something as beautiful as a complicated symphony or something totally different like a Violent Femmes song. I love how much and how often I tend to hear God in music. Not surprisingly, God has used two bands to speak to me in big ways recently: Switchfoot and Mae.

I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me...

...I'm not copping out. Not copping out. Not copping out.

"24" by Switchfoot

The last ten days have quite possibly been the most interesting consecutive days of my entire life. Without going into a lot of detail, let me say that God is moving in a HUGE way. It's almost as if I've had a watershed moment which has resulted in a complete turnaround in my thought process. I have no idea what's going to happen but I know that I'm excited. I can't wait until things come into a clearer focus & I can start shouting from the rooftops the awesome work that God has brought about in my life.

Lately I'm alright
And lately I'm not scared
I've figured out
That what you do to me feels like
I'm floating on air
I don't need to know right now
All I know is I believe
In the very thing that got us here
And now I can't leave

Say anything, but say what you mean
'cause I'm caught in suspension...

....It's enough for me to get excited.

"Suspension" by Mae

week

"It's Friday night, I feel alright; the party's here on the west side." --Montell Jordan

What a week! I had my eight year old niece with me this week and I'm not going to lie: it was wonderful. I focused on her all week. We went to the zoo, saw Prince Caspian, played video games, cooked, got a little freaked out at Chuck E. Cheeze, you know tons of good times. Highlight of the week: Jasmine praying to receive Christ in my living room.

Having her all week definitely helped put things into perspective which led to several epiphanies. I won't go into them but God used that little girl to teach me some truth this week. I'm excited to put it into practice....and a tad nervous.

I'm also nervous about the half-marathon that I signed up for today at Luke's Locker. I joined the "fit club" and will be in a running group for the next SIX months. I've never run more than four miles at a time so this should be a very....ummmm....character building chapter in my life.

In preparation for the training, tomorrow I'm running a 5k with Alissa for Summer's Guatemala trip. So to prepare for that fun run, tonight I'm going out with an assortment of people. Makes absolutely no sense yet somehow makes me feel productive. I invited some people that I don't so much know but think we should be friends. I doubt any of them show but you never know if you don't ask.

So random post...poor sentence structure...bad punctuation....looks like I'm getting back into the groove of blogging.

drama!

long time, no post.

I've officially worked myself up....over stupid boy drama. I'm currently trying to decide how much is my fault of the awkward, sticky situation. Am I making this into a bigger deal than it actually is? I have no clue.

Usually I would call a couple of my guy friends for support, advice, and affirmation but I've decided since I'm twenty-five, I need to do this one myself. I need to fix the problem rather than run away or ignore. I've got to step up and clear out the drama. The question is, how do I do that?

Do I just jump in & fix it? Have a confrontation to clear it all out...is that too bold? Could I even do that? Do I just wait for an opportunity to present itself? Do I manipulate the situation to make him bring it up and then strike? Certainly not the last one, that's a little too New York (aka tiffany pollard) if you know what i'm saying.

I'm trying to look at the situation from every possible angle. I think the solution is obvious: take Hamlet's advice and get myself to a nunnery. ;-)

Strawberry Coke

I'm really excited about today! :-) This day has such potential for awesomeness: 1. it's Friday 2. it's picnic day 3. the spazmatics are in town tonight 4. i'm wearing my puff paint shirt to the concert hehehehe 4. i get to see some very fun folks tonight 5. i'm dogsitting

My good mood is a tad infectious. So far I've greeted every kid with a huge grin. Some of the kids are thrown off by extra-cheeriness (it's way more than usual-it's cranked up to fifty). During this period, one of the boys asked me what I was on. My first response: Strawberry Coke. Some of the kids started to ask questions about the drug. whoops....I meant my drink from Sonic. I quickly held up my cup....yikes.

I'm used to this kind of thing happening. It happened at every debate tournament. Think about it: I'm skinny, I have a freakish amount of energy, and 95% of the time I'm inexplicably happy. I get why they think I'm on something. So now I'll be waiting to hear the rumors about me...usually they're pretty creative.

Man I'm going to miss this place in the fall!

cute

8th grade girl: You like nice Miss.

me: thanks!

8th grade girl: Do you have a date tonight Miss?

me: no

8th grade girl: Then why are you dressed up?

me: I'm building some stuff for my church tonight & won't get to be cute later so I thought I should be cute now.

8th grade girl: Ooooh. So there's men there?

me: well, yeah.

8th grade girl: Then why don't you wear this?

me: I don't want to get it dirty.

8th grade girl: Are you wearing cute sweats?

me: no. Just shorts & a t-shirt.

8th grade girl: Are they cute?

me: They're ok--they aren't gross or ratty.

8th grade girl: Hmmm...are the men cute?

me: They're married.

8th grade girl: At least two of them are single, right Miss?

me: um......yeah I guess so.

8th grade girl: You should wear the cute sweats then Miss! I've got to go to class but wear your cute sweats. *walks away*

me: Have a good day. *perplexed look*

Round 2

Most people don't realize how I spent many an afternoon as a child: hula hooping on either the front porch or the backyard while Lucky (the greatest dog of all time) would watch. I can hula on my hips, waist, ankle, arm. I can walk forward & backwards while hula hooping. I can turn while hula hooping. I'm a little rusty on working the hoop up to my neck....

Last night the volunteer, Keith, and I had our hula hoop challenge. I'd given him close to a month to prepare. He bought a hula hoop & practiced. I gave him a warning before the competition began. I tried to give him an easy out. I showed him some of my moves but he still wanted to compete. Poor guy couldn't even hula hoop for ten seconds. I told him we could do best of three...which we did. Unfortunately Keith wasn't any better the second go round. I let him know I'd be up for a rematch any time if he needed some more practice.

Keith gets to name the next challenge. He said he wants a bake off. I have yet to warn him that this boy crazy girl has baked many a good in attempts to sway a young man's heart or two or thirty. I think he wants to beat me at my own game.

I now feel bad for the guy and wonder if this cockamamie competition should continue. If I beat him two weeks in a row, I doubt he'll recover his pride anytime soon....and I wasn't as gracious of a winner as I should have been. I might send him an email telling him we can quit now but I think that may be like rubbing salt in his wounds. Tricky choice....tricky competition.

hair

Sometimes I worry that I'm becoming more of a guy (what with build team *i can now use power tools*, video game tutorials with Chris, and my deep love of american gladiators) until a moment like this comes along. One of my students wanted to open the window on this glorious, waitin-for-a-storm-to-hit day which of course I let him do (i really like storms). However I didn't fully weigh the consequence of opening it up. My hair is now a mess...a frizzy mess. It's starting to curl in random places & I feel it getting bigger. The humidity is striking & I'm powerless. I was running late this morning and neglected my anti-frizz products....foolish girl. I could shut the window but the damage is down so I might as well enjoy the weather. At least my dress and shoes are still cute....maybe people will see that rather than my huge hair.

change

Big life change awaits me...

Career Change: It's official: I won't be returning to the public school system for 2008-2009. No joke. My resignation letter was turned in last week in lieu of my contract. I will be working at my church no longer as Kenneth's assistant but as the discipleship coordinator for the elementary department. I get to decide how we run the service, what curriculum we use (ie i'll be writing it!!!!!!!!!!), and planning some service projects (i'm already thinking). As of June 6, I'll no longer be an employee for iisd. Crazy stuff....crazy exciting stuff.

I have a notebook of ideas that I'm using for the style of the room, curriculum ideas, etc. I am setting up a filing system for receipts, volunteer info, and what we've done...I'm going to try to tackle that today. I'm learning about video games b/c we have some the kids play with before service. Chris is teaching me and I've got to say I'm really bad at this. We played on the wii & I'm best at bowling and worst at golf. I think we're going to have weekly tutoring sessions so that by the end of the summer, I'll at least be mediocre.

It's pretty bittersweet at school. I haven't told the students yet that I won't be returning. I've told some of my friends but not everyone. I'm trying to decide what the best way is to spend my time is...how can I make the most of the last few days of school? Certainly not by blogging while having my students read silently....hmmmmm......

Grumpy Pumpkin

It finally hit...and it hit with force!

My allergies have decided to make up for lost time this season...and I'm a grumpy pumpkin. :-( Last night at church during a sermon about waking up (note the irony) I started to nod off....it's important to note that I've never been a church sleeper. I went home, ate some dinner, brushed my teeth, and went to sleep by 8:30. I woke up this morning at 5 but decided that was a tad too early to get up so took a quick nap & got up at 6. All morning has been in a fog...I keep wanting to go back to sleep. I'm not hungry but am dying of thirst.

Apparently I have a certain allergy glow--so far this morning I've had two vps, several students, and about five different teachers ask if I'm feeling ok. As soon as first period is over, I'm hitting up the eye drops, nose spray, and popping some allergy pills. Hopefully this will get rid of my allergy glow and help me to not be a grumpy pumpkin.

nalgene

I just got some good news: my new nalgene bottle and replacement lids will be at my front door tomorrow. A volunteer at church "broke" my old one. He wanted to prove they weren't indestructible. He threw it multiple times but it wouldn't break. He kicked it but it wouldn't break. He had Preston run over it with his truck--it DIDN'T break. The then repeated the throwing and kicking. A tiny crack appeared on the bottom of my bottle. He gloated about breaking my bottle. Thankfully I had already ordered a new one. I have felt out of place without it for about a week. I take with me almost everywhere I go. When my new one comes in, I'll have two. Hopefully the volunteer will make good on his word and give me a replacement one so I can have three.

You may be thinking, "why does one girl need three nalgenes?" Quite simply, they are the best bottles in the world. Since I take them everywhere, it's great to be able to have multiple ones in case one is in the dishwasher. It's also a good feeling to know I can bring them all to frisbee in case someone forgets their water. Plus it's important to stay hydrated.... ;-)

wonderful weekend

I'm sure you've heard the phrase: "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation"? That is certainly not the case for me today. I had a beautiful mini-vacation this weekend. :-)

I spoke with Kenneth about taking the weekend off from church so I could recharge. It was perfect timing-- this last week was one of the worst weeks I've had in about fifteen months. Everyday this week something went awry...seriously bad news each & every day.

Friday night I went to a cook out which was tasty & delightful. I was able to see my kindred entertainment spirit, Courtney, whom I haven't seen in weeks (unfortunately we aren't schedule kindred spirits). We have decided our art day isn't going to come soon enough.

After the cookout, I decided I needed a new coverup for my swimsuit. Things looked a little bleak when all of the cute ones weren't in my size but thankfully the little girl section (you never knew i was size husky little girl did you?) had a fun, semi-frilly one. I was also very impressed by Burt--he now has sunblock. I honestly think one day you'll see Burt's Bees Cure for Cancer. I found a very bright, very yellow purse too!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, finished packing, and made the tough calls on what music to bring. Megan picked me up at 7:30 & we were off to the lovely town of New Braunfels. The drive was as close to perfect as a drive can be. We had lunch at a tiny diner in Canyon City before renting a raft.

Megan & I took on the Guadalupe. Sounds menacing huh? It's not but I wanted to sound tough. The river was pretty shallow so at almost any given point of our 3 mile trip you could hear one of us saying, "tree!" or "ROCK! BIG ROCK!!!". I think we may have found each and every large rock in the Guadalupe. We kept wiggling our way off of rocks (yes i literally mean wiggling) with the occasional jump out of the raft & push in addition to the wiggling. We met some friendly fellas that did help us a couple of times....one guy even picked up our raft with us in it to get us off a rock. I told him he was my new hero.

The company picked us up in an old bread truck. This was something else. They had wooden benches around the interior of the truck. We weren't the only ones on the truck either. It was packed with a variety of people. The conversations were interesting--prison stories, mall trips, and a lot of laughing at a dog.

We headed to our nonghetto hotel next. It was only a dollar more to have an "executive room" so we ponied up the dollar. We prettied up, bought gas, and headed to the Gristmill. It was prom night & tons of highschoolers were out in their best.

After dinner we went to the amphitheater on the horseshoe to hear the one and only Spazmatics play. I don't know how they do it but they're better at every show. Each show I have an even better time than before which blows me away. It was a family show so the guys now have the affection of about thirty teenage/elementary age girls. These guys took the time to talk to the girls & take pictures with them. How nice are they?

Sunday we hit up San Marcos. I got three pairs of dollar sunglasses. Best deal ever. They're ghetto fabulous & I love them! We met Ryan & Sandy for lunch(these girls are incredible--guaranteed to make you smile) before we headed home.

I learned a little lesson about 35 that day. Sometimes people decide to brake for no reason. I don't know if they just wanted to slow down & enjoy the day but it took us about an hour longer to get home. To avoid any frustration, we did opt to stop at a dairy queen. *Turtle Blizzards are absolutely wonderful.* After all, ice cream is the answer to any problem (fyi tomorrow is free cone day at Ben & Jerry's).

This was a wonderful weekend. I hope your weekend was great; if it wasn't, have some ice cream.

what's that say?

Today I busted out my bedazzled shirt. All day students have asked, "What's that say? Spongebob?" No, no precious children, it says Spazmatics. This leads to "what?" I then explain about how I'm a little bit of a groupie for an 80s coverband out of Austin. The students then give me a look that expresses exactly what they're thinking, "my teacher is a dork."

storms

I feel like I'm back in Oklahoma. All of the local tv stations have weather coverage on, the tornado sirens are blaring, and my next door neighbor is out in his driveway checking out the sky. I joined him for about twenty minutes watching the sky. We exchanged tornado stories. It was good times. The rest of the neighbors were inside. The storm should hit in the next ten to fifteen minutes. Part of me wants to just hang outside while the storm comes in....memories of wall clouds, making a mad dash to the cellar, and carrying a weather radio are flooding my memory. ahhhhh....a slice of home in my new life. Good times. :-)

gillies girl

On second thought, if I were ever in the position to choose one of the amazing musicians to date or marry or you know spend the day with, I would pick *drum roll please* Ben Gillies of Silverchair. Not only could he give me the drum roll but he's got a crazy mustache which just intrigues me. Seriously check that 'stache out. Isn't it crazy? I love it! Why would he do such a thing...who really can pull off that kind of facial hair? hehehehhe Don't you think we could be quite the pair? He could rock his crazy mustache & I'd rock my crazy bedazzled t-shirts.

Silverchair

I think I should meet these boys...and one of them should fall madly in love with me. Sarah Gillies, Sarah Johns, or Sarah Joannou all sound pretty lovely. Although, I am a little partial to the way Sarah Joannou sounds....but really any of those three would be incredible last names. ;-)

If you're not sure who these very rock-n-roll looking men are to my left, let me introduce you to one of my all time favorite bands: Silverchair. They're amazing!!!

I bought The Best of Silverchair vol. 1 on Thursday & have probably listened to it fifty times so far. I can't get enough...seriously, I can't get enough. I remember when I found a copy of Young Modern & all I did was listen to it for a month.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the same thing with this one too. Lately I want to hear the same song over & over again: Pure Massacre.

People dying for no reason at all
Age is no difference or if you're large or small.
Families being torn apart.
Doesn't have to be this way.
Some people, just have no heart.
It's happening every day.
Pure massacre,Pure massacre...
Machine guns pumping, hearts thumping,
Death is all around.
People crying for freedom,
No one hears the sound,
[Chorus]
There's people crying.
There's people dying.
But someone's taken it all, yeah.
[Repeat Last Verse][Chorus]
It's gonna be a pure massacre.Yeah!

Good stuff right? This song pumps me up and makes me want to go to Africa really bad....which, ok isn't that hard to do, but it does increase my longing. Couldn't you see me with one of them in Africa? I think it could work...

razzle dazzle

Since I work at my church, weekends are always interesting. Doing something on Saturday nights isn't always a viable option. So last night I was very surprised when a very random but sincere dream came true!!!

As I was leaving church, I stopped off at wal-mart to pick up some milk but let with so much more. I picked up some t-shirts for Alissa, Amanda, Lindsey, and myself. I went home, dropped off the milk, and grabbed my puff paint.

Lindsey & I started to make our Spazmatics t-shirts when we realized we needed a bit more of puff paint. We head back to the store and go to the puff paint section. As we were debating the finer points of speckled puff paint vs. day glow, I saw it.

It was on the shelf--unassuming and completely awesome. A ghetto fabulous, off brand bedazzler!!!! I've wanted a bedazzler since college as I'm a lean, mean t-shirt making machine.

I bedazzled a fantastic Spazmatics shirt--it's so funny. I didn't have a catchy phrase, just not enough of the same "gems" which makes it look ridiculous. All of the consonants are in a silver except the t which is gold and the vowels are jewel toned. I LOVE it!!!

This morning I saw the guys & told them the great news. They weren't excited; when they get their bedazzled t-shirts, I bet they'll go crazy...hehehehe :-)

fyi

I think cherry yogurt may be the greatest yogurt of all time!


The Spazmatics are playing at the Glass Cactus tonight--it should be a fantastic show! I've recruited several people to come & check them out. Sean asked me if I was employed by them because I am always inviting people to their shows. Silly Seanny...I'm just a fan...a slightly crazed fan.


We lost power last night...I had no idea it stormed until I saw the news. I have slept through tornadoes before.

I like to drink my coffee black...it's bad coffee if I have to doctor it. Don't get me wrong, I love some fancy coffee but my favorite is straight black coffee. So good!

Ultimate frisbee makes me happy.

I love Earth Day. Shelly has an adorable Earth day t-shirt on today & I love it! It's super cute...I may just need to get one.

I love, love, love lime in my dr pepper. It always slightly bothers the good people at sonic.

I freaked out yesterday about something no normal girl would really freak out about...but at least it was only a very minimal freak out. It passed very quickly. I'm thinking the next time something like this occurs, I won't freak out at all.

Today is Abby's birthday! This will be her last birthday in Africa for a while--she'll be stateside in a couple of months!

Which one...

I came to the realization that I am not strictly a modern day Emma Woodhouse. I am a hybrid of Emma Woodhouse & Marianne Dashwood. :-) It's shocking how that works but trust me, it does.

This brings me to the question: should I end up with a Mr. Knightley or a Colonel Brandon? Which one is best for me?

I must say that I would gladly choose Mr. Knightley over Colonel Brandon for fear of walking all over him. The thought of someone so willingly do anything for me is scary. I'd hate to take advantage of the situation. I'd love to think that I would be a big enough person to not do this...but I probably would.

Mr. Knightley, however, wouldn't tolerate any of that. He would cause me to be a better person--he would sharpen me.

Of course, they are fictional characters...and these are my own musings. I could be better off with a Colonel Christopher Brandon. Maybe I would love him & NOT take advantage of him. But then again, I don't have to worry about this as there aren't any modern day Mr. Knightleys and Colonel Brandons fighting for my affection at the moment...so it doesn't actually matter.

If there are any who do begin to vie for my affection, well, that would make me a very lucky lady....

gone

The weirdest thing happened to me today...ok maybe not THAT weird but for me, it's different. For the last seven/eight months I've wanted one thing. I've focused on it, prayed about it, cried over it, and BEGGED for it and today I no longer want it. It's so strange to me that something I intently desired for so long is no longer what I want. It makes me think of Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord and HE will give you the desires of your heart." God has transformed what I wanted and I am so incredibly thankful. :-)

ghetto

setting: A girl in my class was writing on the board without permission.

me: Stop writing on the board. Girl, what you think you doin? *pause* You caught me by surprise and my ghetto voice came out.

girl: That's not ghetto.

me: Well, look at me. How ghetto am I?

boy: a negative five

me: I'm a negative five on the ghetto scale?

class: *in unison* yes

Good thing the class didn't hear me listening to Timbaland, Jay-Z, & Kanye last night on my way to the coffee house; that may have bumped me up to a negative three...

daisy

As vanity seems to be creeping in on me, I've decided to reread one of my FAVORITE books of all time: The Great Gatsby. I have trouble explaining why Daisy is one of my favorite literary characters of all time--she's so intriguing. How can anyone lack such sincerity and be such a "prize" at the same time? I love that zero character development occurs for her. I love that she symbolizes so much about the culture of the roaring 20s. I love that she appears to have a moment in which she is capable of SO MUCH MORE but the next moment she returns to her true self. I love how I can't really draw any parallels with her but still LOVE her. I think I may love her even more than Jane Austen's Emma--which, if you didn't know, I am the most like her out of any other female character in any genre. There's just something about her...maybe this reread will enable me to articulate just what that something is.

dress week

Waking up yesterday was a piece of cake. :-) This morning was a struggle. To be quite honest, the only thing that really motivated me was the thought of wearing one of my new dresses. The weekend before Easter, I went shopping for a fantastic Easter dress. I work at my church so I had the mission of finding the greatest Easter dress of all time. Of course this was a self-imposed mission--they could have cared less what I looked like.

It's important to note I don't particularly like shopping. Coming from a town of 18,000 with limited shopping options, I never really got into the "mall craze" or "shop til you drop" set. Having a mission helped me out a lot. I decided I should start with my favorite & go from there. Banana didn't let me down--tons of dress options. I found the greatest Easter dress of all time plus a really fun spring dress.

I needed new shoes to go with the dress so my quest continued. I went into various stores and was pretty unimpressed until I came to the Gap. I found shoes and three more fun spring dresses! I was so excited. :-) When I went to church that afternoon I showed all of the guys my new dresses and they were very kind to feign interest.

I think the reason I went a tad crazy with the dresses is because I spend so much time with the guys at work. Don't get me wrong--I love it. They crack me up & it's like having four older brothers. I just feel like I need to assert the fact that I am a lady & I love being a lady!

This week has been dubbed dress week. I wore my purple dress yesterday & today I wore my striped dress. Tomorrow I won't wear a dress as it's warm up Wednesday aka the best day of the week. I may, however, wear a tennis skirt to keep the femininity level up. ;-)

sweet 16

The guys at church invited me to pick a bracket for March madness. I've never done this before so I went with my no fail oscars picking strategy: cool names & big biases. Sounds pretty good right? The team I picked to take it all is out...completely out. Apparently it would have been prudent to do some research before picking my entire bracket in less than two minutes. I'll know better for next year.

chips & salsa day!

Spring Break officially begins at 3:45 today. As this is our last day for a week (a beautiful, glorious week) some of the sweet office ladies decided it was important to go out with a bang. It's chips & salsa day!!! :-) Fresh, delicious salsa...spicy & wonderful...mmmmmm....

depeche mode vs. the violent femmes

I have a tendency to have a song stuck in my head on a weekly basis. Usually it tends to be a certain band that I can't stop listening to...*i go through music cycles--currently i can't get enough of maroon 5...but i feel a fiona apple kick coming on next* This week, however, I keep hearing 80s songs *2 in particular* over and over again. "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Blister in the Sun" are on a loop in my head. I'm very surprised by this.

I saw this band on Friday night called The Spazmatics. They are an 80s cover band who dress like spazs & do some ridiculous dance moves on stage. They are a total entertainment experience. This was only my second time to see them but they are quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love how much I laugh at their shows but more than that, I love that they're actually talented musicians.

I thought about singing to the students today in an attempt to get the songs out of my head, but then I realized I like that they're stuck in my head. They are great songs!!! I just can't get enough...I just can't get enough.