I was sick...Days 7 and 8

Sorry about missing a day. I had an unshakable headache last night and could do absolutely nothing. Not even post a simple blog. So here I am tonight, ready to post 2 quick blogs in one (I know..you all are so lucky) and then head to bed so I don't get a return headache.

Day 7: Bible Verse....

Haha. I'm going to say Psalm 137:9...you have to look it up though. If you don't have a bible just google it. It is priceless!

Day 8: Something you miss

I miss college. I miss it SO much.  If I knew what a real job was like...even with the perks of having a real paycheck...I'd stay in college and get further in debt and just go to class to learn and work at the coffee shop. I miss the coffee shop.  I miss my friends from college as well. I often wish I had taken a job in Des Moines so I could be closer to friends and could still visit the college area. Then I remember the horrific winters. I have really bad seasonal depression and I definitely DO NOT miss that.  That's the short version.  I won't bore you with all of the things I miss about college until maybe another post.

Best place ever!

Day 6 - A place I've traveled to. 

I'm going to go with Peru. I've traveled to a lot of different places, but this has been the ultimate trip for me.  I think that pictures speak more than any words can so here it goes.

Beach in Lima, Peru.

Hot springs in the mountains of Peru - doesn't look that great but felt very refreshing anyway heh.

Helping out some local small businesses...here we were visiting a bee keepers who sold their honey.

We hiked a mountain up to a waterfall - I got altitude sickness after this.  Mate de coca is very helpful for altitude sickness. I snuck some back into the states in my suit case too ;) 

Got to see llamas on our way out to a small village in the Andes!!! I LOVE llamas.

A Peruvian delicacy.  Yes...I ate what I could...I couldn't eat a head though. I felt like such a bad guest, but my first "real" death in my life was my pet guinea pig Jitters...and this was a bit much.  Tastes like bland chicken.

I called these stoves "poop stoves". We went to a secluded village far into the mountains and helped teach them how to build the stoves and provided them the resources to build them.  The mud was literally mud and poo mixed together. Yuck - but very rewarding...they didn't ever build chimney's with their stoves so many of the women and children were getting sick from smoke inhalation in the home.

Machu Picchu! By far the most glorious thing I've ever seen in my life. I don't even know how to adequately describe how awesome it was.

Machu Picchu

And ....more Machu Picchu!

Best trip I've ever taken and I would LOVE to go back and live with a Peruvian family this time (I was staying with the group I went with so I wasn't immersed in the culture like I would have liked).

Pictures of things that make me happy :)

Today is Day 5 of the 30 straight days of randomocity and it is a fun day! I get to post pictures of things that make me happy! ENJOY :)

Now - this list is obviously not representative of EVERYTHING that makes me happy...but it is a good start.

Men's Beach Volleyball - enough said.

Getting a fresh pedicure.

Eating a double double and fries from In N Out (I don't always feel happy afterwards - but definitely DURING!)

Seeing Brad Paisley live in concert - or just hearing him in general...usually equals happy me.

Jasper as a baby - I miss those days...he was soooo small!

Adult Jasper - I love him soooo much because there isn't a day that goes by where he doesn't make me smile!

Oh yes...Yuengling. Why I can't get it in Arizona I don't know - but it is very upsetting.

My first TRUE love :-) 

Song to match my mood? EASY!

The song to match my mood is EASILY "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds.



I think it's how I feel about him. I love him and couldn't be luckier!

Also,Jonathan Coulton's "My Monkey" because I love the song and I love Jo Co and I love this music video that someone did for it :)



And while we're on the topic of Jonathan Coulton - if you have never heard him you should and if you get a chance to see him live - go to the concert! Some song suggestions:

re: Your Brain


Code Monkey


Skullcrusher Mountain


That's all for today. I am having a "It's-been-one-year-in-my-new-house" party tonight since I never was able to have a housewarming party and I am excited about it. I need to finish cleaning up the house. Leave me lots of comment love because I like you all and love hearing from you!

Hi Mom and Dad...

I have been avoiding "Day 3" of my "30 Days straight of randomocity" as I'm not really sure what to write about "my parents". I don't even understand my parents to this day. All I know is that I love them and they have grown a pretty amazing young lady if I do say so myself ;) haha <---just messing...kind of.

If you would have asked me on the day of my high school graduation I would have said that my mom is my best friend - hands down. I would also say that I love my dad but we just never "clicked" in the way I have seen other father/daughter duos "click". I think I felt he was always fairly hard on me and he didn't seem to understand me very well.

Today - things have changed slightly. I love both of them, but they have gone through craziness since I have left the house and seem to have become completely different people. Sometime when I was at college - they moved away from southwest Kansas where we had lived in that same house for about 17 years I believe. They are now residents of a small town in the panhandle of Texas. They went through a major life crisis and came out of it stronger people and much closer in their relationship than I've ever seen them. I am happy for them.

In the meantime, I got caught in the middle of their crisis somehow and my relationship with my mom seemed to have lost it's closeness. I still feel close to her - but not like I used to when I was younger. She is more of my mom than my best friend now. I don't know if she feels the same way - but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is just different. My relationship with my dad isn't that changed - even though he is significantly changed and he seems more open to seeing me as a person these days. It is just too late now that I am all grown up and moved away.

All in all - I am lucky for the mother and father life gave to me. They raised someone who made goals for herself fairly young and has almost achieved those initial goals in her mid-20's. I feel very stable and very fortunate in my life. I can't imagine how much harder it would have been to get where I am today without their support and love and faith in my abilities.

Whew. I'm done with this one. Hopefully I can get into lighter - more fun topics from now on! Thanks for sticking with me :)

Words of Counsel

I have been a member of a church from the time I was very small - who believes in ongoing counsel received from God. It has been an interesting concept for me to grasp as I grew into my own beliefs and thoughts on religion over the years. I won't go into what I believe and what I don't here on my blog...but back in 2000 there was counsel given to the church and I happened to read it today as I was contemplating how we as humans treat each other. This has been on my mind since the happenings down in Tucson on Saturday. I also have other struggles I have been dealing with in my mind regarding friends who are struggling to make it as a family and pull themselves out of poverty. I just wanted to share the words in case any of you needed to hear them as well. If not - at least I have documented my feelings tonight.

"Open your hearts and feel the yearnings of your brothers and sisters who are lonely, despised, fearful, neglected, unloved. Reach out in understanding, clasp their hands, and invite all to share in the blessings of community created in the name of the One who suffered on behalf of all.

Do not be fearful of one another. Respect each life journey, even in its brokenness and uncertainty, for each person has walked alone at times. Be ready to listen and slow to criticize, lest judgments be unrighteous and unredemptive.

Be patient with one another, for creating sacred community is arduous and even painful. But it is to loving community such as this that each is called. Be courageous and visionary, believing in the power of just a few vibrant witnesses to transform the world. Be assured that love will overcome the voices of fear, division, and deceit."

I don't know...

Today I am supposed to tell you about my "first love". I know who it is - but not quite sure what to write about it or him.

It was high school of course and I already knew I was going to be going away to college so it probably wouldn't work out. I remember driving home from his house one night coming up with the ultimate plan that would allow us to stay together. He was older than me and didn't go to college - he entered the work force right out of high school. He worked for a company where he could transfer up to a town close to my college town. I didn't know if I should ask him if he'd consider it. I was head over heels in love with him. However, I was young and not as mature as I claimed to be and one day I was hanging out with a friend from church and the guy ended up kissing me and I didn't stop it. I was to say the least very confused about the whole situation but decided that I loved "first love" enough to not say anything and to stop hanging out with the other guy friend. I then went about my life living happily ever after with my first love. Come to find out they had a mutual friend (small town) and she found out about me and "other guy" kissing and told "first love" who had been cheated on before and was not going to put up with that crap. He wouldn't even look at me after that. I remember once I sat in his pick up and PLEADED that he give me another chance and that I loved him more than anything and the other guy incident was an accident that would never happen again.

Of course looking back it obviously was petty and "first love" obviously wasn't my "true love" as you always believe at the time. He is still living in the same house (which was his parents house back when we were dating...not sure if his dad still lives there or not) and he has married another girl from the area. According to my facebook stalking - he seems content. I am content too - knowing that he was my first love but not my true love and that he will always hold a special place in my heart because I always wanted amazingness for him. But I do now know that I doubt there'd be any way we would have stayed together.

I could even venture to say that my current love is my "first TRUE love". He is amazing and loves me for the crazy person we both know I am. He takes care of me and Jasper and I have no doubt in my mind that we could live together forever in this love that we have. I am excited about the future with him and this is nothing like the childish feeling I had with my "first love" - this is definitely my "first true love" and it is beautiful.

That's all. Said more than I thought I would...hopefully it made sense. Quick change the subject now!

Love all of my readers. Just to give some shout outs to a couple of my "blog loves":

Ryan: Duke fan, but I forgive him because he is a pretty awesome guy. I hope to visit him and the wife sometime soon in New York!

Little Silk Dress: Does not like the idea of having a recliner in a motel room. I still think she needs to sit in it for a picture op for her blog!