Happy Sarah!

I have a friend named Happy Sarah.


My mom gave her that name almost 15 years ago when we were sophomores in high school. Before that moment she was just known as Sarah to me.

We met when I moved from my small private school with 20 people in my class to the HUGE AND SCARY public high school chosen for me by zoning and a school board. Sarah was in my choir but she became my friend on a choir trip to Six Flags over Texas. I'm fairly sure we sat together on the bus and she was part of the group of friends that first exposed me to the music of Les Mis.

Sarah and I grew closer during the summer as we endured driver's ed together. The class was less than entertaining, but we both enjoyed Rolos during our breaks. I remember being invited by Sarah to join her and her family to see "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at the Dallas Summer Musicals. We dressed up and went out to eat before the show. Musicals and Rolos... not a bad way to begin a friendship.

We both drove beaters. Her car was powder blue and mine was silver. I have fond memories of both of us singing "My Heart Will Go On" from that powder blue car. School dances, choir concerts, plays, birthdays... totally memory lane moment for me right now. I'm sitting with a cheesy grin on my face remembering walking out of "My Best Friend's Wedding" and feeling like adulthood was forever away.

My mom gave her the name "Happy Sarah" because I knew several Sarahs that might call me on the phone... but THIS Sarah has the happiest phone voice. She still does to this day. I love talking to Sarah on the phone because she is a fabulous conversationalist. She has the best response to good news, the perfect amount of pauses, and the most inquisitive questions. She makes me feel valued in every conversation because my goodness, the woman forgets nothing!

Next week I will fly to the Lone Star State to watch Happy Sarah become Mrs. Happy Sarah. She's found her lobster and I couldn't be happier for her.

I missed my 10-year high school reunion... and so did Sarah, for that matter. She was here in Arizona, watching me get married. I'm so excited that her wedding is bringing about an 11-year reunion of sorts.

Cheers to the ever delightful, Happy Sarah... lover of ducks, cheese, cakes, travel, romantic comedies, good books, gardens, purple, a worthy man named Scott, and living life to the full! May your marriage bring you as much joy as you bring to the rest of the world, my friend!

4th of July

The rule is that you can still write about the 4th of July as long as it's still technically July, right? Okay, awesome.

So usually I head to the beach house in Galveston with the family for Independence Day every year. I was bummed that it wasn't going to happen this summer, but my day in East Texas ended up being pretty perfect!

First of all, I took the day off and slept in until 10. HOLLA, y'all.

Second, I met up with Emily, Lacey, and Lori at Stanley's BBQ, a local favorite. As you can see, it was pretty epic.

Pictured: epicness. You need to go to there.

Lori with the famous Baby Wade

Lace is intimidated by her giant/delicious baked potato

Awwwww yeah

She is happiest when eating barbecue.

From there we headed back to my apartment for some serious pool time. Which included lots of talking, reading magazines, and sipping on sophisticated beverages.

This is how we roll.

We spent our evening with a group at Lori's house, eating way too much and looking way too cute, or at least I think so.

I mean, back me up here.

Future roommates! More on that to come...

Fireworks to wrap up the evening?

Boom. Shaka laka.

Even better: these are the fireworks from one of the best movies of all time,  THE SANDLOT.

Yeah yeah!

God bless America.

Since U Been Gone

Mom and Dad left for Italy approximately A MILLION YEARS AGO.

...Okay fine, it's been two weeks BUT STILL.

They have clearly missed out on a number of awesome happenings in the life of their middle child.

Like:

1. I got a new iPhone case! The silvery sparkle one has been good to me, but it was time for a less glittery one that left fewer jewels everywhere. The solution?

Texas Forever. (Sidenote: I miss you, Coach Taylor!)

2. Good? Tacos from "Fresh." Better? Tacos from "Fresh" with Lori and Emily. Best? Tacos from "Fresh" with Lori and Emily followed by "The Proposal" with Lori and Emily and Lacey and Chili's chips and salsa and ranch and also peanut butter m&m's and cherry coke zeroes. WE? Know how to party.

3. The first two times my air conditioner went out? Hilarious. The third time? NOT SO MUCH. Thankfully two of the nights of heat I got to spend in Lori's guest room, and the final fix resulted in my old-timey thermostat being replaced with this:

The 21st century feels good, y'all.

Good and cool.

4. What's better than celebrating Cinco de Mayo once? Celebrating Cinco de Mayo DOS times! That's right: not only did I get to attend a rockin' party at Andrea's on May 5, complete with fajitas AND piñatas, I also got to attend the CUTEST little bilingual Cinco de Mayo music performance you have EVER seen on Cinco de Uno thanks to Emily, aka the best music teacher ever, and her adorable first graders. Top THAT performance off with some Tex Mex at Posados? Done and DONE.

5. Remember that time at work when we surprised a camper AT HER HOUSE? Yeah. There's a video of that awesomesauce:



6. Maybe I saw "The Avengers" one times, and MAYBE I saw "The Avengers" two times. All I know is: it was awesome and I couldn't stop laughing or having to fight the urge to high five the screen.

7. Oh, a Rangers game? Yeah, that happened. In honor of sweet Jacey's birthday, we loaded up and headed to Dallas to watch our boys put the hurt on Tampa. And when Jacey asked me what happened because she accidentally missed a play, I replied very knowledgeably, OF COURSE: "Umm, he hit it and then that guy threw it to that guy. And now he's out."

Baseball! I know things!

8. Point of Grace had a... less than stellar album release day, poor gals. I mean, they are FINALLY back with some new music, and they get bumped from the #1 album spot in the Christian/Gospel Music section on iTunes by a CAMP?

Because oh y'all:

YEAH.

And I know I can't speak TERRIBLY objectively here, but I must note that the "Summer Lights" album is actually really great, and I think you should probably check it out. No really: go.

9. I saw one of my TOP 5 FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL THE TIMES on the big screen. It's true: I got to go see "A League of Their Own" at the downtown theater with Emily and Jacey. And it. Was. Awesome.

10. Oh look! I finished my Galveston trip video! Boom shaka laka:



11. John and Lori hosted a "Cutie Cute Dance Party," (my name for the event that John made known he did NOT approve of) that was completely sparkly and delightful and wonderful. I mean, sure there was way less dancing than some of the ladies were hoping for, aka none for those of us not in a couple or related to one of the dudes. (IF WE'RE BEING HONEST HERE, AND I ALWAYS AM MOSTLY.)

But there were also s'mores, sparklers, great music, amazing pulled pork (high five, Lori!), laughter, a rainbow, TWINKLE LIGHTS, and time with fun friends.

So yeah, it was fabulous.

Well, that's all for now. Still on the horizon: a return trip to Dallas for a friend's documentary screening and a certain EPIC Pre-Summer Bash that I basically cannot wait for.

Good night all, and ciao to the world travelers! Miss you and can't wait for you to come back.

Rain. Pizza. Eyeballs.

After work today I drove out to the ball fields, even though I knew full well that the game's cancellation was most likely imminent. Sure enough, five minutes after I arrived, the umpire DROVE BY the field, rolled down his window, and shouted, "Game's cancelled!"

Well.

The obvious solution at this point? PIZZA, of course! So the entire team plus the fans (hi!) loaded up and drove through the driving rain and HAIL to the best pizza joint in town (Bruno's, duh!).

We discussed auditioning for The Amazing Race, growing up with cows in the front yard (what?), and I probably talked way too much about Jimmy Fallon. But it was greatness.

Friends, laughter, and pepperoni. That's basically the three cherries lining up on the slot machine of FUN, according to Val. So shall it be written.

From there I braved a dark and rainy and lightning-y drive over to the grandparents' house, entertaining myself (and probably people in the cars stopped next to me at lights?) on the way by cranking up the radio and singing/dancing along, because sometimes you just gotta get your dance on to Cee Lo. (Or is that not a thing?)

Ginger was beat from a full day of speaking (did I already excitedly mention that SHE'S IN TEXAS???) and was working on notes for tomorrow, so the evening was pretty low-key. But just sitting in the living room with both grandparents, Mom, Dad, and sister, was enough.

We watched the end of the Lady Bears basketball game, which was MOST exciting, and even though I didn't go to college at Baylor or anything, I have enough family members who are DIE HARD FANS (and one who was there-- Hi, Aunt Kathy!) that I felt a swell of pride and ALMOST said "Sic em!" when the game ended. Almost.

Instead I just played another round of Draw Something.

Dad and I laughed about local commercials, I spent a bit too long writing a tweet about the song "Lucky", and Grandpa had just a little bit of trouble working the DVR (did I already mention that he has 139 episodes of NCIS saved up???). Mom told me about making Ginger's t-shirt quilt, Cousin Amy called, and Grandma talked about having surgery on the inside of HER EYEBALL during a discussion of phantom pains.

So that was my evening. How was yours?

Something Good This Way Comes

I had a good weekend. A lovely weekend.

A sparkling weekend.

One of those really low-key, but really fun couple of days. It would be more appropriate if I was sharing this with you on Sunday or Monday, but you know how it is. Sometimes... with the stuff going on... and the... yeah. Amiright??

Friday after work I hit up Jason's Deli with a big group of friends and families. It's true: I start my weekends doing some craaaaaazy stuff. Case in point: tomato basil soup. WHAT UP, WEEKEND!

After that I stopped by my grandparents' house to chill with them, my aunt and uncle, and some cousins, including newly engaged Hilary and her fiance Jeff! <insert girly squeal here> We spent the evening chatting, laughing, and hearing about wedding plans!

Saturday morning I slept in until almost 10, and then hit the park by my apartment for some walk/run time, accompanied by the sunshine and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.

Then before I knew it I was showered and in the car on my way to meet a college friend for lunch! Taylor is now a bigshot television anchor at the largest news station in my city, so it's always fun to turn on the TV and see my friend! It was great to catch up with him and hear ridiculously hilarious stories of getting recognized around town as well as some of the funny things that happen behind the scenes at a news station.

That afternoon I picked up Grandma and the two of us headed to the AZALEA TRAILS! I was so excited that we had such perfect weather and am so glad we got the chance to check out all the flowers.

(Keep reading: beauty ensues.)

Sigh. Don't you just want to come visit me now?? I've got a floor with your name on it....

I spent the rest of the afternoon in my grandparents' backyard, soaking in the summer-y sun and listening to some pretty hilarious/adorable g-parent banter.

Grandpa: Would this fire pit look better with the lid on?
Grandma: Who are you trying to impress?
Grandpa (smiling): I'm trying to impress myself!

Grandma: I can't breathe with all that smoke! You know I have problems with my lungs!
Grandpa: That's not the only problem you have.

Heart.

That night Grandpa fried fish and shrimp out on the porch and all nine of us got to sit and laugh together over dinner together before watching "Father of the Bride" with the bride-to-be! <insert girly squeal here> So much awesome going on. Sigh.

Sunday morning I met the crew at church and then joined everyone at the grandparents' house again for lunch! (I know, I am SO SPOILED.) Oh, and special aside to all cousins reading who were not present on Sunday: Lunch was followed by Grandpa's chocolate malts served in frosted wine glasses. Zing!

From there it was on to movie club, where we watched one of my all-time favorite movies, "The Thin Man!" The other club members have received their instructions to be on the lookout for a real life Nick Charles.

I MEAN REALLY.

The weekend ended as all weekends should: with a party! Joanna's birthday was celebrated with balloons, streamers, cute kids, tacos, and best of all, a photo of our entire group! (NOT an easy task!) All in all it was a great little party with too many fun people.

It's always nice to talk and laugh the final remaining hours of a weekend away.

Now this kind of day has no night. Yeah, this kind of day has no night. And I ain't got much on my mind. I ain't got much on my mind. Cause I know something good this way comes.

The Book

My heart is exploding right now, because I am reading something extraordinarily wonderful for the first time in far too long.

The Book. (No, not that one.)

Background: I was ridiculously close to my roommates in college. Like, RIDICULOUSLY. I know I’ve alluded to it on here before, but I don’t think you realize the full extent of it. Julie, Dani, Kisha, and myself were friends ALL FOUR years of college, and lived together for a huge chunk of that time, including two years at our lovely little rent house dubbed "House 9." Also including our semester spent in Oxford, England. And if living in a foreign country with your BFF’s doesn’t bring you closer, I don’t know what will. (It’s either that or kill each other, and we very nearly did that too… (aside to the roommates: Camping Fusina. Am I right or am I right?))

At the end of our four years together, we had far too many inside jokes, stories, and tidbits about the people we had come across to ever hope to remember. We never wanted to forget and not be able to remember. So while they were still fresh in our brains, we wrote them down.* And put them in a book.

It’s 150 pages long.

Reading through it now, I know this is quality stuff, and honestly, it's not all inside jokes or things you wouldn't get! I think you'd like this even if you didn't know us. :)

There are sections on…
The Stars of the Show
Supporting Cast
House 9 Culture
Appendices
Etc.

The Supporting Cast is the people we came across, written in glossary style entries, complete with cross references. For instance…

John Doe**: aka Mystery Man, who Julie stalked from afar for a couple years. A design major who resembles the child of Lex Luthor and Shawn Hunter. His hotness is so overwhelming that Julie almost forgot that she had a boyfriend at the Graceland Too volleyball game in 2005.

James Smith: aka Magic James, who Valerie, Julie, & Kisha loved and hung out with for a chunk of sophomore year. James does cool magic tricks and once stole a squeegee from a Shell Station. He is friends with Robert Thomas and Richard Jones.

Guy Peterson: Famous for voluntarily sporting a very Brokeback looking GAP sweater around his shoulders during pledging his sophomore year. He is also Jane Smith’s celebrity crush. (Ex: at the grocery store…)
Guy: Hey! What are you guys doing?
Jane: Um… juice.
Val: We’re buying juice.

Joey: Handsome and adventurous descendant of Italian gypsies and Mexican Vaqueros with a political mind and a sensitive stomach. Boey fixes things at Houst 9 without being asked, writes magnificent blog entries, has been known to tame a mountain bike or two, and is half the reason why everyone in House 9 adores the Britney Spears song, Toxic.

David: Brother of House 9 who has been Supreme Chancellor of Christmas Decorations and basically one of our favorite people ever since Fall of 2004. D-Pok is the best, most responsible driver in Abilene and guards House 9 with an iron fist and an arsenal of airguns. When necessary, he can maintain a pretty fierce what-what face, and also has more cool points than anyone on record. D-Pok is engaged to Stephanie.

Lara: The baby and our 5th roommate. Truly one of the most creative and unique and awesome people you'll ever meet. Loves Ramen and stopped shaving her legs in 2004. (Umm... as of 2006.)

Katie: An English major, awesome scarf maker, other 5th roommate, realist, and Oxford junkie in every way you can be.

Jill West: ACU poster girl with big hair, perfect boobs, and a beautiful voice. Much to Kisha’s chagrin, she once washed her sweaters one at a time in the Gardner laundry room.

Bottom line: if you crossed our path in college, YOU are in this book!

We kept track of the sororities and fraternities (“Famous for being bubbly and sparkly, wearing yellow, and always winning SingSong.”), popular songs sung at chapel, broken down by category (ie “Chapel songs that you have to sing standing up or you’re a bad Christian…”), memorable professors, and landmark House 9 events, and so much more.

There’s a section on who we’d be if we were _______, such as cars, office supplies, Disney princesses, or characters in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

There are yearbook awards (Dani: Most likely to never have her electricity shut off because she didn’t pay a bill) (Val: Most likely to marry a man with really nice teeth and a polo shirt), nicknames, and pages upon PAGES of general House 9 memories (The Fusina debacle- all of it, but particularly the morning from hell where Julie tried to by Macguyver and use pretend sign language to communicate with a man who only spoke Italian, and Dani, speaking of the pay phone, said, “I’m sure I can figure it out, it’s not like Julie’s a genius!”)

We scanned in notes we passed in class, the box art for our “favorite movie,” and an extremely sexist flyer: “Women of ACU, serve your campus by inviting young men to these free events!” Mocking. SO much mocking. (Jaded? Me?)

There are heartfelt emails, things we love about each other, and so, so much more. Someone should seriously publish this thing, because it's absolutely real, strangely intriguing, and frankly, hilarious.

It's a book that means so, so much to me, and I wish I had one of these things for every stage of my life. Not many people have such amazing catalogs of... memories they can just literally flip to whenever they want.

I can't believe I do.

*Actually, Julie did about 95% of the writing and ALL of the design/layout/printing, so infinite hats off to her!
**Most names changed to protect the (mostly) innocent!

Pal

Hey blog world, what up. What’d you do for lunch today? Oh, really? That’s cool, I guess. What did I do? Oh, not much. You know, just WENT OUT TO LUNCH WITH MY AWESOME MISSIONARY FRIEND AMANDA.

BAM.

What up NOW, blog world?

Let me tell you something about my pal Amanda. God most definitely knew what He was doing when He put her in my life. Amanda is one of the sunniest and most sparkling people that I have ever been around. I met her nearly three years ago when I first started working at my current job, but we didn’t become “besties” until a fateful trip to Six Flags.

Even though Six Flags is ALWAYS super fun, for me the best part of that particular trip was actually the drive home. Amanda drove our group, I provided the tunes, and we just clicked. Song after song, musical after musical, Amanda knew every. Last. Word. Moulin Rouge, Oklahoma, Chicago, and everything in between. We sang our hearts out to every musical you can imagine. But the best moment came at the verrrry end of the trip, when it was just the two of us in the car. And a certain song came on, and I started apologizing for the randomness even as I reached to skip it. That’s when SHE STARTED SINGING ALONG.

To this.

I know. I nearly died too.

After that it was OVER for us. We bonded over our love of musicals, our love of FUN, and our love of anything and everything CHEESY, including Glee, Twilight, High School Musical, you name it.

She constantly left sweet notes for me on my desk at work (notes that I saved and still have even in my new office!) and did fun things like call me and leave voicemails with her singing at the top of her lungs just to make me laugh.

Amanda and I also both LOVE to dress up in costume and, of course, DECORATE! Here we are last Halloween-- Veruca Salt vs. the pirate:

We LOVE going to midnight movies together! Here we are at the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last year:

Amanda is also an incredibly Christ-like woman, and last December she and her husband Shaun heard the Lord’s calling and packed up their lives and headed to Peru to be missionaries! They are so faithful to follow where He has led them, and I am constantly encouraged by their obedience and love for their Savior.

It was incredibly hard for me to watch her leave, but thankfully Amanda is a big time BLOGGER and also stays in touch over Facebook. And while I know she is where she needs to be, I still miss her loads every day! Even my college roommate knows how close I am to Amanda, and soon after A first moved we were talking on the phone she said, “So I know Amanda left… how are you doing?”

This past May Amanda made a SURPRISE visit back to the states and nearly gave me a heart attack when she popped up to give me the shock of my life! Apparently all I did was scream and not breathe for a while, and made her think I was going to pass out. Awesome.

Of course I wasn’t able to decorate for Amanda’s birthday this July like I did last year (a musical theme of course!), so instead I was able to get this little birthday box in the mail for her that included some American necessities, sure, but also some non-essential fun, like Twilight bracelets and a Twilight card game. Huzzah!!!

And she arranged to have a PINK LLAMA show up for mine, not to mention a SECRET MESSAGE in CODE. What more could a girl want???? OMG. Loved it.

I am so grateful that I got to have some one-on-one time with my pal today. She is one of the easiest people to talk to, and I always find that conversation with her makes the time go by in a FLASH. I am always able to lose all the pretenses with my fun friend and just be real and share things with her that I have not been able to share with many people. She is definitely a “haven” friend! I'll be sad to see her return to Peru again, but am blessed to have gotten time to hug her neck while she spent time in Texas.

I love you SO MUCH, Pal!

Please Be Our Friend.

After Movie Club this afternoon (today's movie: Contact), we kept the TV on, and after watching some ungodly amount of golf (?), we transitioned to our lovely local news station and were sucked in by the interesting circus that is small-town local news. Particularly the weekend edition.

They threw the story to a reporter who was standing by at the local TGI Fridays (approximately a mile away from where we were sitting watching the news), who was reporting the groundbreaking story of the expectation of a very large crowd to watch the Cowboys game in the bar area.

After watching this young reporter, with his loose tie, electrical taped-microphone, and devil-may-care attitude, we came to the very logical conclusion that he is probably a lot of fun to hang out with in real life. And I then took the very logical next step of looking him up on Facebook to get some further info on this local newsman. Well guess what- he is totally our age, and has awesome taste in movies (Inception! Moon! North by Northwest!), television (Whose Line! Lost! LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON!) and general interests (Film! Television! Theatre! Deloreans!). Yes- this guy was definitely someone we want to hang out with.

Also: he looks just like hilarious Alex from Alex Reads Twilight.

We got another sign that we should totally be friends with this guy when we arrived for dinner at IHOP (Yes- it IS open during daylight hours! I was shocked too. Aren’t you only allowed to go there when everything else is closed? (Apparently not.)) and saw the news van driving away from TGI Fridays back to the studio! This is totally meant to be.

After that we talked about him like it was a foregone conclusion that we’d all soon be fast friends. “I bet Casey would think that’s funny.” “Casey would probably love to come to Galveston with us.” “Casey would never call me sweetheart.”

I don’t know how often reporters Google themselves (probably pretty often, right?), but Casey Claiborne, if you’re reading this, we totally want to hang out with you.

And to the young waiter who accompanied handing me my drink with a “Here you go, sweetheart”: No.

Band

One time when I was a junior in high school, band class was a little bit extra boring and slow. So my awesome Mormon friend Johnny decided to put his extraordinary powers of hilarity to good use and entertain the band.

He organized it with the entire trumpet section ahead of time, and then just waited for Mr. Reynolds to get mad at one of them (a regular occurrence anyway). Then Johnny just said "I'm sorry Mr. Reynolds" and another trumpet guy sang "oooo!" in a falsetto voice and all of the trumpet guys sang "I am for reeeeeeal!" (Do you remember that song? "I'm sorry Miss Jackson?" Well it was very popular when I was in high school.)

But Mr. Reynolds was not in a jolly mood that day, so he just threw his baton on the ground and stomped away from the podium for a little bit. I tried not to double over laughing (that was my usual reaction around Mormon Johnny) because COME ON, Mr. Reynolds. You have to admit that was funny. And it took planning, so.

No Really, I'm Totally Laughing

Now that I’m in my new office, a nice side bonus (in addition to having a door) is being in a suite with a new group of people, including a few friends of mine.

Everyone in our building that needs to talk to someone and doesn't necessarily want to, you know, walk, uses the office’s communication tool of choice: the blessed gchat. I had just gotten off the phone when Stephen told me that it was kind of creeping him out that he could hear my voice from his office. (Sidenote: I don’t think a girl can hear enough that she sounds creepy.) Later on I absentmindedly typed “lol” in the chat box to something that he said, but didn’t actually laugh in my office. He noted that he liked being able to tell whether I was actually “lol-ing” or not, which naturally made me genuinely laugh out loud. Then I heard the laughter coming from his office, and naturally then REALLY got the giggles.

It’s true, though. I am definitely guilty of overusing “lol” (which, for the uninitiated, means “laugh out loud.”). You’d think I’d be stingier with my useage of the phrase, but truthfully I just use it mostly to acknowledge that I find what the other person is saying is funny. Then I just try to alternate its use with that of the very eloquent “hahaha.”

Very occasionally I really am laughing out loud, in which case I attempt to tell the other person this fact, usually by typing out “I really am laughing out loud right now!”

It certainly would be nice to know when people are truly laughing.

They should really invent an acronym for that.

Swish.

I just got my hair done, and getting it done always makes me feel like I have cartoon Disney princess hair, so when I’m driving home from the hair salon, as I look left, and right, I find myself looking left, right again- left, right, left, right. Was that something over there? Better check. Swish! I think I saw something over THERE! Swish again.

Julie once told me she wanted to spin my hair into gold, and now whenever I get my hair done I feel like I’ve just been to a nice golden hair-spinning appointment.

-

I first met Annie at Julie’s wedding in Nashville. The next time I saw her was at Joey’s wedding in Austin. Now in two months I’ll get to see her at Ginger’s wedding in Phoenix. They should totally make a movie about us, and call it “Wedding Crashers 2: The Invited.” Or "RSVP Me." Or "Hustle Bustle." Or "Val and Annie and 17 Weddings*."

*Hat tip to Joey for the awesome movie title ideas.

-

I feel like there’s a "Veronica Mars" renaissance going on right now. And I love it. I keep hearing about it all over the place! For instance: a friend of mine wrote on my Facebook wall to say she was getting into the show and was letting me know that it made her think of me. (Now whether she thought of me because she’s heard me talk about it before, or because Veronica reminds her of me remains to be seen. I like to believe it is the latter.) My friend Amanda even managed to get her hands on a copy all the way down in PERU! And Joey and Sam just watched it and-wait, what was it? Oh yeah- loved it.

Now best of all, my group of friends has been getting together once a week to watch- about four episodes at a time! Heav. en. ly. It’s times like this that remind me that my love language is indeed sharing the things that I love with other people. I love watching it with my friends, and love even more to know that they are enjoying it. So when I hear that they are excited to watch more episodes, or see them “Like” it on Facebook, I do a little happy dance and clap my hands and maybe even swish my hair a little.

Good Recent Things

I feel like I've been showered with more than my fair share of fun/happiness/good things in general lately.

Here look:

Passed 7,000 FANS on the Facebook Page I help run for work. Seven. Thousand.

Family game night... THREE games of person/place/thing. I nearly passed out from laughing. And there may be videos of all that excitement floating around somewhere....

Dad smoked/grilled ribs/sausage for dinner... my absolute favorite food.

Family water volleyball game... Mom and I dominated.

Early birthday present from parents: Satellite radio!!!!!!!!

Kyle cooked dinner for our whole group (chicken and veggie stir fry!) followed by Veronica Mars.

25-minute Chair massage. At work. Holy heavenly relaxation, Batman.

Celebratory end of summer lunch at Rudy's BBQ with my department, plus some of the fun summer leadership staffers. Paid for by NOT ME.

The dentist and hygienist both complimented me on my great teeth. nomnomnom.

Dinner with cousins and (cousin's awesome girlfriend) at Olive Garden.

Ginger's wedding invitation came in the mail!!

See? Blessings. I have them in abundance.

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. -Psalm 126:3

OC-versary

I didn't watch the pilot episode of "The O.C." when it premiered exactly seven years ago today. I vaguely remember seeing the commercials for this new FOX drama, something about a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, some sort of fight breaking out at a coming out party, and lots of teenagers. I'll admit, I didn't go seeking out this 90210-lookalike, despite the fact that the critics were already declaring it a winner.

It wasn't until about six months later that I started to take notice. I was spending the semester in England, and I specifically recall one of my fellow students, Joey, petitioning his housemates to come gather in the common rooms to watch this awesome new show. He swore that it was funny, and interesting, and we wouldn't regret it. And since Joey was one of the decidedly "cool" students, I had no choice but to believe this mysterious show to be "cool" as well. I settled down to watch, and was intrigued. Nearly every Sunday evening thereafter we'd all gather together to savor this small bit of American culture coming to visit us through the television set and remind us of home.

Upon returning to the states, my roommates and I kept the tradition alive by watching every episode togther, laughing at Seth's quick wit and sarcasm, feeling bad for the cards poor Ryan was consistantly dealt, aww-ing over the sweetness of Sandy and Kirsten's marriage, and maybe also yelling and throwing things at stupid Marissa.

I now find myself going back to the DVDs and feeling particularly nostalgic about those first few seasons that I watched in community. I feel so tied to the show and the characters; everything that happens comes with a wave of memories, both of what happened on the show and what was simultaneously happening in real life. Every character, every twist, and every storyline feels somehow weightier, more realistic, and more... SOMETHING because of its reminders of that period of time in my life.

I'd originally intended to use this space to write about why The O.C. really is a good show, no really, I'm being serious. I was going to talk about the vivid characters, self-aware storylines, and laugh out loud (lol, if you will) moments. I planned to talk about the genius of the show not only being a somewhat soapy teen drama, but also simultanesouly making fun of soapy teen dramas.

But I can't convince you to watch the show, or expect you to love it like I do. My personal biggest draw to this show is in its reminder of the days of watching it with my friends, sometimes screaming at the story developments, and creating inside jokes about the ridiculous fringe characters.

So here we are, seven years later. I find myself bizarrely grateful for... a television show, of all things. I'm delighted to find that The O.C. conjurs up more warm fuzzies and fond memories than I ever could have expected.

Here's a look at the start of the show that somehow got wrapped up in my own story:

The Lawn Party

Last weekend a few friends and I turned a hankering for croquet into an entire themed party. Because... that's how I roll! Invitees were asked to come enjoy dinner and croquet dressed in their "Gatsby Casual" best. Here's a look at some of the fun:

Snapshots

Confession: I drive to work like this about once a week. I take the rollers out before I walk into the building. I wear sunglasses... it makes me feel invisible in the car.

I really enjoy spending time with this couple. They just celebrated 10 years together and they give me something to aim for: laughter. Even in the most challenging times, Jon & Erin always seem to find something to smile about.

These are the many new faces being added to my family tree. The dogs wanted nothing to do with the photos... until we set the timer.

When I moved to the valley almost four years ago I was afraid I would never find community to rival the one that I left in Texas. My prayer the first year here was for lasting and true friendships. God is greater than our hearts and he seems to love to exceed our expectations... time and again! I am so blessed by these women.

And finally... 12 weeks from "I do." (But who's counting?)

The Cream Gravy of Reality

I was all set to write a normal, this is about something, grown-up-like blog. But my mind was not really cooperating.

Then I started talking to Joey. (We decided that we were going to buy a big hotel or some sort of building and we’re going to live there with all our friends and cool people.) And then I never stopped laughing and my mind REALLY turned off. It ended up being more like Joey doing stand-up and me being the laughing audience member and less of an actual conversation.

So forgive me, but I am now resorting to list format.

1. Saw “Despicable Me” over the weekend- loved it. My friends and I were the only ones laughing at the witty references to "Annie" and "The Godfather." Why is that?

2. Glee is in reruns right now. Man that show used to be SO good and funny and witty. What happened, Mr. Shue??

3. Community is in reruns right now. How did that show not get a SINGLE Emmy nomination? RUDE.

4. My cousins and I have been plotting our appearance on “Family Feud” for a while now. We’re talking about who in the family gets to play and who is out. Because let’s be honest: there’s only so many buzzers, people. We’re pretty cut-throat.

5. I’ve recently been DVR-ing “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and watching it while I get ready for work in the mornings. I had forgotten how HILARIOUS that show is. And you probably have too. It’s airs late on ABC Family, people. Look into it.

6. Joey just said that someone we know is “the cream gravy of reality.” Am I sure I know what that means? No. Did I laugh anyway? Yes.

7. I spent a good portion of this evening baking and preparing snacks for the media summer staff at work. Last time I told them there was unicorn eyelashes in their dessert, and this time it’s going to be fairy tears. Man, people will believe ANYTHING!

8. I hadn't been sleeping very well recently and I think I managed to trace it back to watching some pretty dark episodes of Veronica Mars as I was falling asleep. I’m back to Gilmore Girls now, though, and resting easy. Murder before bed? No thanks. A thousand yellow daisies? Yes please!

9. I’ve been going down to my pool nearly every day for the past few weeks. Okay maybe not THAT often, if you’re going to be all ACCURATE about it, but… a lot. And I love it. It’s what you have to do to survive the summers in Texas!

10.Tomorrow is FRIDAY. Wait… do you hear that? Is that… Why yes, I do believe it IS the hallelujah chorus.

Four Years Later

About a month after graduating from college, I accepted my first GROWN-UP job out of college and got ready to move to Tyler.

Today is the four year anniversary of making that decision, and I praise the Lord that I am still here!

I’ve now lived in Tyler longer than I have lived anywhere since we moved away from my childhood home when I was 15. (BAM. Milestoned.)

My first job here was through a temp agency, but I upgraded significantly after that, though it was to a position I cared nothing for because: I worked with sports. (Yes! ME! Sports. SPORTS.)

I hung up my… sport belt after a year of the…sports, and after a short stint working at a book store, I was in the dreaded “in between” phase. Where to go? What to do? For a time it looked like I would be moving back to Houston, but it never felt right to me. I didn’t want to leave Tyler. How glad am I now that I stuck it out and stayed here?

(Answer: very.)

During my first year-ish in Tyler, I had virtually no community to speak of, a fact that is now completely and wildly reversed, amazingly enough. (Look, Mom! FRIENDS! They let me talk to them in public and everything!!!)

So let's review.

Then: Sports (?) job, two friends if you count my grandparents.
Now: Awesome internet job with a Christian organization, more than two friends. Like, three or four even. (OKAY, more than that.)
Jesus: Always knows what He's doing.

I’m so glad I stayed.

things.

“The Bachelorette” is mostly really great this season. You know what makes it even better? Joey’s recaps. (Ahem. You want to click.)

Also: have you heard of “The Bachelor Pad?” It’s a new show that… you know what? I can’t even tell you. ABC? Take it away: YOUR FAVORITE ALL-STARS FROM THE BACHELOR AND THE BACHELORETTE BATTLE IT OUT FOR A CHANCE AT LOVE AND A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS, ON ABC'S HOT NEW SUMMER SERIES, BACHELOR PAD!

You can't see my facial expression right now, but let's just say it's one of OMG CAN'T WAIT BECAUSE THIS WILL BE AMAZINGLY AWESOME AND ALSO AWFUL. Something like that.

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Ginger didn't like my suggestion that her bridesmaids wear hot pink jewelry at her wedding. New idea: we wear DIAMONDS instead. Bought by the bride and groom. Yesh? Nudgenudgewinkwink? Or: better yet. All groomsmen will be single, taller than me, and under the age of thirty. Good? Good. I think that would be a fair compromise.

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I love unexpected laughs. Like when stumbling across one of my all-time favorite Annie Parsons-isms. Good Lord I love that girl.

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Guess. What. I moved into a brand-new office yesterday! It has walls and a door and everything. However: I miss my office mates! HOWEVER: walls and a door. I may have lost a window, but I got an honest-to-goodness door. (That's like a saying, right? Something like that?)

Live Together

I’m processing a lot today. My seniors are graduating and moving on, my small groups are ending, and the future holds so many new doors… new family, new friends, new city, just about new everything.

I spent yesterday morning at work before heading home to change for a funeral. The woman whose life we were celebrating was a dear friend of my soon-to-be-in-laws. They had spent the last 20 or so Thanksgivings with her family. Sadly, we never had the chance to meet. I rode to the memorial service with my newly extended family and entered the church. The tears were prevalent. The photo slide show brought chuckles to those grieving. The music was comforting and the eulogy was beautiful. I’m not sure if I can describe to you all of the emotions I felt during this funeral for a woman I had never met. I found myself deeply moved. I hugged family and new friends as person after person told me they were so glad to meet me, but how sad they were at the circumstances surrounding our introduction.

D and I made our way to the home of the family and I stood speaking to my soon-to-be-father-in-law about mourning those we love. I told him that pleasant words are always spoken at funerals – but sometimes those words are a stretch. This funeral hadn’t required any stretching of the truth. It was apparent that her love for others had dominated every aspect of her life. The celebration at the house was open to everyone who had attended the service, and it was packed. I stood against a wall and just observed the way that this community had come together in their grief and out of genuine love and I teared up again. I wept for all of the good-byes that are yet to come, and I wept for the hurt of these lovely people. As D and I left, he made the comment that this was his least favorite experience of life. I concurred and said that I didn’t know anyone who enjoyed saying good-bye.

We drove straight to a LOST season finale party with 25-30 members of D’s church. We walked into a rowdy crowd of Suns fans who were cheering on their team as LOST was recording on the DVR. Everyone brought food and hugs to share. The kitchen was full of people helping themselves to the fridge, cutting the roasted pork, and marveling at the amazing cake creation. Again I stood against a wall and watched. I watched them laugh and connect. I witnessed community in action. We snagged appetizers and D and I found a spot in the packed living room to watch the two hour recap. Although I entered this group just in January, this collection of friends has been watching LOST since the very beginning. The faces have changed, but the standing appointment remains year after year… until now.

We gathered in the kitchen and held hands to pray over the feast that awaited us. Our host started off the prayer with the sentiment, “God, oddly enough… we thank you for a television show.” He wasn’t thanking our Father for entertainment or good writing. He was thanking God for community. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what LOST has conveyed since the opening sequence of chaos and wreckage. Live together… die alone. I clasped D’s hand tightly through the end of the prayer and found that I had tears in my eyes. I looked at my new faces of community and I said a quick prayer of thanks for all the ways God was providing for me.

We watched the finale together. The floor was uncomfortable, the desserts were incredible, and the commercials were chaotic (I would not take the role of DVR fast-forwarder even if you PAID me)… but the experience of viewing those last 2 ½ hours were meaningful. I cry at Hallmark commercials – so I was impressed with myself for making it as far as I did. (WARNING – ending spoilers) As Jack lay down among the bamboo my thoughts traveled to the memorial service. I thought of the families that surrounded each other in the darkest time. I looked at this character on the screen that we had all grown to love and my wish for him was that he not die alone. And just like that, Vincent the dog ran into the scene. I’m not really an animal person, but as I witnessed the golden lab lay down gently beside the sacrificial hero, I began to weep.

Just over a year ago I discovered something unexpected about myself. I determined that I had a huge fear of being alone. This wasn’t the surprising fact – I’ve always known that despite my adventurous spirit and independent nature – I long to be connected to others. What surprised me was the realization that at some point I had come to believe that needing company or community showed spiritual weakness. I had skewed things to the extent that I thought God was holding out on giving me the love I desired in my life because I couldn’t be satisfied just in him. Obviously he desires that I would find fulfillment and ultimate satisfaction in Him alone – but he also didn’t place us here to fight the fight as a one-man team. I had twisted his best for me to be a self-made punishment. Because you can't get this right, you will always be alone and you should learn to suck it up.

When God created the world he declared it to be good, and that Adam was very good. That could have been it. God and Adam until the end of time. But God looked at Adam and decided it was NOT good for man to be alone. God gave Adam the companionship of Eve.

What I witnessed at the memorial service and at the party was beautiful. I was trying to put words to it today – and that’s as close as I can get. I witnessed the Body of Christ in action; weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice.

Thank you Lord, for the gift of others, for the love of friends, and for the chance to live together. Thank you for life and thank you for a t.v. show. Thank you for your love and your grace.

I once was lost, but now I'm found... twas blind but now I see.

Vignettes

When Lara went to England for eight months, we agreed that neither of us would watch our beloved “A Goofy Movie” until we were reunited again. Sometime while she was gone, though, I found myself holding the DVD case and contemplating the cover art.

“Do you think it would be cheating for me to just, like, watch the trailer?” I asked my friend David.

He considered for a moment. “I don’t think it would be cheating. I just think it would be like if you had a boyfriend and hugged another guy for a little bit too long.”

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Once late at night, my college roommates and I realized that both of the bathrooms were out of toilet paper. Not wanting to go to the store so late, we discussed our options. Someone suggested we just pee in our backyard until we could replenish our supply. There was a beat, and then Kisha snapped us out of it.

“Guys,” she deadpanned. “If we peed outside, we would still not have toilet paper!”

I think we laughed for about five days after that one.

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Sitting in our boring Literature for Children class one day, Lara and I took a break from our regular note-passing when we noticed our fellow classmates were squealing and screaming at something at the front of the room. Apparently there was a particularly large spider crawling across our professor’s desk, and none of the girls in the class would go near it. Finally, one popped up, dashed to the desk, and dispensed of the spider. The room was quiet with awe, until Lara broke the silence by meekly yelling out, “Bravery!”

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I hoodwinked the group into watching yet another movie- this time “High School Musical.”

At one point in the movie, a heartfelt Troy Bolton asks, “Have you ever felt like there’s this whole other person inside of you, just waiting to get out?”

“Yeah,” David responded. “It’s called being pregnant."

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And these are a few of my favorite funny moments from college.