Archive for July, 2007

I cannot believe that all my vacation time has flown by at such a rate. Yesterday was wonderful, I got to see my preferred brother again (he came home even!), had some friends over for a steak dinner with the rents (how else would we be able to afford a steak dinner?) and basked in the glow of vacation-ness. Tonight Cecilia and I will be reunited AT LAST after a very, very long, seemingly unending 4 weeks and 4 days apart. Before I left on vacation I mentioned to her how funny it is that things are so reversed. We would only get to see each other for a month at a time and spend the rest of the year apart and NOW we spend the whole year together and a month apart. I like this way much, much better.

I’m sad to see my vacation go but then I remember that I don’t really have “real” job persay, so I shouldn’t be getting all nervous at heading back. I want to do so much better this year with the boys than I did last year, so that’s my goal, in a nutshell. It just feels like I’m leaving all over again, of course. Leaving for college each year, leaving last year to make an insane non-stop drive to DC, leaving in general. I suppose leaving home will always feel strange and intimidating. I’m just glad that it still feels like home here!

So who knows when I’ll next be able to update. I bet I will from Cecilia’s former residence fondly named “Casa de Crazy” in Alabama. Hopefully I’ll be able to supply you with fun roadtrip picture because seriously what’s the point of a roadtrip if there are no fun roadtrip pictures so display?

LOVE!

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After I left for my freshman year at JBU I had a really hard time coming back to Word of Life when I was home for breaks. It was hard in that I was no longer involved in youth group, plays or my circle of friends at WOLC. Some of my friends went off to college as well, some got married, some I just lost touch with, but we all sort of stopped being able to identify with each other. It was extremely difficult to walk into church on a Sunday morning and feel like I knew NO ONE. Seriously, at a couple of points in the past I felt as if I lived in that big building with the blue roof. My world had revolved around church and the friends I had there and suddenly I was a stranger to it all. Things never really got better while I was at JBU as far as feeling like WOL was the same second home to me as it had been. I guess I just felt out of the loop. The funny thing is that now I feel back in the loop, thanks to XANGA! haha. The sense of community I had missed is now back. I live a thousand miles away but now people give me hugs and say it is good to see me. You know what? It was good to see you guys too! Thank you for making me feel like Word of Life is a second home again.

Mom and I were talking on the drive home from church about friendships. How I had finally let go of some friendships I’d had at Word of Life because the Lord had told me to let go. In my mind, all friendships last a lifetime, I assume I will know and love you til I die, and I’m learning that isn’t the case with everyone. I really think God has placed us in certain friendships at certain times for a reason and when the season of that relationship is over, it’s over. So yeah, I’m working on that!

Last night we developed a little plan as there is a Starbucks on our way to church and goodness knows I love a reason to stop! So we decided to leave the house a little early so I could indulge myself. I walk in, make my order and recognize the voice of the barista. I thought to myself, “that sounds like Terry ____”, I look up to see her nametag claiming her to be Terry. I then asked her if her last name was _____ and she replies that it used to be! I think the last I had seen this girl was 8 years ago, we had art class together and would joke around. She moved away, but I remember her once in a while when someone tells a joke that reminds me of her sense of humor! I didn’t even know she lived nearby. So we reminsced and caught up as much as our 5-minute increment of time allowed. I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact people make on our lives without their realization that they are doing so, and our impact on others. I brought my friend Scarlett home to show her around and had forgotten that I have on my door a nametag she made me when she was my RA. She exclaimed at its presence and once again I was reminded of that impact. Is someone out there holding on to some tiny relic I made for them? It’s all about radical love, as Pastor Shea reminded me today.

LOVE!

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Just got back from the Royals’ game and OH MY GOSH THEY TOTALLY SPANKED THE YANKEES! CHECK this out

I saw Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in action, but I must say, I’m not impressed, seeing as the Yankees couldn’t even score ONE run. Sorry, I just gotta gloat here, the Royals are MY team, I’m faithful to them, I LOVE THEM. And they are extremely underappreciated, in my opinion. The last two games the Yankees have whooped us, but TONIGHT was our night. It was amazing, I would be completely embarassed if I was a Yankee tonight.

I didn’t spend my WHOLE day at the game though, if I had maybe I would’ve scored a free pink Royals hat, but oh well. I got to see these precious girls, Gracie and Ella;
I LOVE my cousins!

Okay I got about 5 hours of sleep last night, MUST get to bed. Thanks for all the votes, I’ll make my mom and dad take a look at this!

LOVE!

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Reasons this dog is perfect for my parents;

1. He’s so amazingly cute

2. His name is Jaeger, as in Jaeger Schnitzel, as in German and guess who lived in and loves Germany? THE RIESTERS

3. He is house-trained, how perfect!

4. He has a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in his mouth, I believe it is Raphael, which shows that he too shares a love of the TMNT.

5. He’s adorably cute

6. He needs a home

7. My parents need a dog

8. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but he’s cute, so cute, in fact, that it is actually PHYSICALLY painful for me to know that he is not here, in his rightful home.

All those in favor of my parents adopting this dog please comment “Ay”. Thank you and goodnight

LOVE!

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Oh man, I’m getting old.

I’ve been on a massive mission to clean/purge my room. I inherited certain genes from my mom which cause me to save anything and everything of even the minutest sentimental value. This is good in that I never discard something that is of the UTMOST importance to me accidentally. On the other hand, when you decide to clean/purge you have a LOT of junk to sort through. For instance, I’ve saved every check account statement since I opened my checking account when I was 16. This, in itself, wouldn’t seem too daunting except my bank of choice sends back every check I wrote in a monthly period with the statement. So I spent two days shredding 7 years worth of statements and checks, I could make a pillow out of the shredded paper! I realized that the majority of my checks were made out to; WOLC, Wal-mart, and fast food joints, lovely. Needless to say, nobody’s stealing MY identity…well at least not from those old bank statements. Another high point of cleaning is that you find silly things, silly things you might wish you hadn’t kept. I was going through my desk when I found a guitar pick. Not just ANY guitar pick mind you, but one initialed by my crush freshmen year at JBU, I am EXTREMELY embarrassed by myself. That’s when I realized I am the hugest dork I’ll ever know. As if the last post hadn’t sealed that fate.

LOVE!

ps at least my room is looking better

pss and I didn’t even throw the guitar pick away, gah!

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Disclaimer: This entry may cause you to lose a lot of respect for me.  That is assuming you had any respect for me in the first place.  I’m a very silly girl, but I would hope you knew that by now.

Today I spent around 30 minutes hiding in the bathroom at our house.  I was peacefully and pleasantly napping as I hoped to do ever since we left church when my mom woke me up to tell me I better move it upstairs because a certain guy was coming over.  Here’s the thing; I’ve known this guy for 10 years and he is from a different country and has frequented our house on many occasions.  I think he is lonely and my mom is so welcoming that he likes coming over to chat.  Fine.  About 5 years ago though, things started feeling a tad fishy.  He would always get really excited if I was home from college and would hug me for just a bit too long.  I started getting a “vibe” as cliche as that is.  The “vibe” was that he was “into me” (I’ve opened the flood gate of cliches and now cannot stop).  I kept it to myself until others started mentioning it, “others” being my mom and good friend.  Not to promote ageism but this guy is over 40 years old, old enough to be my father, and I have a strict rule about age (no younger guys and no over more than 7 years older than me), and I’ve stood by my guns despite some very tempting younger men.  The guy starts talking about wanting to take me to his home-country and whatnot.  Thankfully I was in college and therefore not home all the time.  Now I live in DC and get to hear about his lamenting my absence from afar (thanks mom).  So, back to today.  Mom wakes me up and NOT ONE MINUTE later the doorbell rings, about the time that panic sets in.  If you are familiar with the layout of my house, you know that there is no one to sneak upstairs once someone has come in the front door.  Now, a smart person would have snuck downstairs to the basement or into the garage.  A mature person would have put her big girl panties (sorry C) on and chatted no matter how uncomfortable the impending hug.  But I am not smart or mature in crisis situations so I hid in the bathroom for half an hour.  It seems to incredulous to me now, but I had a book to read and a prayer to repeat (”please don’t let anyone need to use the bathroom”) and thus was entertained. 

Just in case you thought I wasn’t really as silly as I seemed…

In other news, I got to meet two fellow WOLC Xangans, and let me say, it was the highlight of my day!  Thanks for the warm welcome Libby and Beth!

LOVE!

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Since this seems to be vacation’o'travels, I greet you from Fraternity Land, Kansas.  I’m currently having a sleepover with my brother so I can get some quality time with him before he goes off on his backpacking trip and I go home.  How is it that I have so completely forgotten what college was like when I’ve only been out for a little over a year?!?  This may be tmi but I just showered…in a fraternity…in a communal shower…with razors and beer cans on the floor.  I don’t know if I would have the courage to do this during the school year, thankfully I had a sign I put on the door that made everyone aware that there was a “girl in shower”.  GAH!  I would take a picture of the shower but I’m afraid it would make you all toss your cookies or flinch in digust. 
Alex and I have been having a really good time, I’m so thankful for him, his GREAT hugs and enthusiasm for life, it’s contagious I tell you.  Last night after he got off work, we watched The Prestige and I must say, it was QUITE good and threw me for quite a couple loops.  I must recommend it. 

LOVE!

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A story through pictures for your viewing pleasure.

the escape vehicle (with our financial backer)

my accomplice

the destination

the activity

the result

isn’t that the most awesome convertible hair you’ve ever seen?  that’s what i thought

okay i’m settling in for pizza and a movie with ash, so I must go.  Don’t let me forget to write about what an amazing night we had last night, kay?  thanks

LOVE!

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So today was day’o'laziness.  We slept in, lounged around, ate junk food and surfed the net.  We did get dressed for dinner at Sparky’s though, go us.  We are currently watching From Here to Eternity and I don’t know how I feel about it yet as I’m pretty sure some characters just came across what is possibly a “classy” gentleman’s club, hmmm.  Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed, frankly, I expected more from you, especially since I know you from An Affair to Remember and It’s a Wonderful Life respectively. 
Tomorrow I shall accompany Ashley as she works at Crescent Moon Beads, I love that place!  Growing up I always wished I lived in Eureka Springs so that I could work at CMB like all the other cool high school girls.  So pretty much I’m living vicariously through Ashley, what can I say?  I plan on taking some neato pictures around ES tomorrow too!

PICTURE TIME
this are just for laughs, so that you know why I loved the Knapps’ home so much

Here’s hoping that your friday the 13ths were filled with naughty waltzes and being merry while eating and drinking!

LOVE!

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I am absolutely completely exhausted and it is 2 AM, so logically I thought I’d update.  After being in the car for what felt like FOREVER yesterday, we finally arrived at the Knapps’ new house in Eureka Springs.  It was an eventful, if long drive down.  I will spare you the details but mention it involved a Jerry Springer-esqe argument between strangers on the road, getting lost, seeing the same statuary place twice and a story-on-cd that said some bad words, which embarassed me because I was with my mother.  
Today Ashley and I trekked to Siloam, my ole stompin’ grounds (okay that is just too funny, I don’t even know what it means, but it seemed like the right thing to say).  First stop was Cathy’s Corner, the BEST food ever.  I should have taken a picture of every place we stopped, but alas, I did not.  Needless to say it was AMAZING and just how I remembered.  Next stop, the VIP Salon and Day Spa, where I spend many an hour playing receptionist.  I love those girls so dang much!  I got some color put on my hair and some employee discounts then we were off to JBU to see Phillips.  Next we headed to Andrea’s place to catch up and hang out til Katie got into town.  Katie got there and we went to Callahan’s.  I cannot believe how cheap a filet was there, so, of course, I had that.  I’m a total snob, I know.  Can I just say it was at least $10 cheaper than DC.  Dinner was just what we needed, if I may speak for the other 3 girls there.  There was an insane amount of laughter, especially over goofy memories.  Seriously, my cheeks hurt by the time we left.  Next was a stop at Corrie and Brandon’s place to chat.  Yeah we didn’t leave until 12:30, we’re so wild.  I really, really miss these people.  It did my heart SO good to be near them again, laugh with them and listen to them, to fall into things as if no time had passed at all.  These are my kindred spirits (not the only ones, just a lot of them) and I love them!

PICTURE TIME!

my girls

and the Knapps’ puppy/dog Smoky

k…must…sleep!

LOVE!

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