Currently...

...listening to Imogen Heap's album Ellipse and loving basically every track.

...reading This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Grace Earl and her parents. Esther battled cancer for several years, was active in the Nerdfighter community, and wrote pages and pages in her journals. After she passed away in 2010, her parents published her journals, along with other stories and notes from friends and family. While The Fault In Our Stars is not written about Esther, John Green dedicated it to her and was inspired - in more ways than just his book - by Esther. 

TSWGO organization

...watching "Doctor Who" Season 8, Episode 3 tonight with Samara! I'm excited to see the interaction between Clara and Robin Hood :) And before tonight's episode, I will probably watch at least one episode of "Wonderfalls," a quirky one-season show with Lee Pace. Yes, I'm obsessed, but how can I not be?

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...working on a DIY project for a table lamp. I'm excited to share the finished product soon :)

...drinking lots of water. Feeling slightly dehydrated and I want to nip that in the bud. 

...wondering if I should have taken my sister up on her invitation to go to Wild Waves for one of the last nice days of the summer. She called this morning and I opted out - does that make me old?? Probably, but at least I own it, right?

...anticipating some packages in the mail. I ordered some clothing from Amazon and some sheets from Macys yesterday {thanks be unto whoever invented online shopping}, and both orders should be in here in a week-ish. {I think the fact that I'm excited for new sheets is confirmation that I'm old.}

...looking forward to a friend's birthday celebration tomorrow. Brunch, relaxation, and picnics in the park are all on the docket, and I'm thinking about making some sangria :)

...thinking that I should exercise and shower in order to fully appreciate this wonderful weekend.

Linking up with Bailey Jean today for Day Six of her Blog-tember challenge. Thanks for the prompt, Bailey!

On Being An Adult

You guys, life is hard. Being an adult is hard.

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Being an adult is hard. I mean, it's fun and awesome and there are definitely perks, but man. It can be rough, too. The month of June {thus far - there are 2 more days left} has been really, really hard. Tough. Difficult. Challenging. Like, pretty sure life used this template:

X all the Y

I'm not skilled sure how to make/edit a meme, but here's what mine would say.

MAKE ALL THE DECISIONS!

SPEND ALL THE MONEY {on medical bills and procedures and ER bills and haven't I reached my deductible yet?!?!?!!?}

CARRY ALL THE STRESS!

ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS OF LIFE!!!

So yeah. Totes supes fun. 

I don't think I can share all the details of this challenging time, a) because it's really personal and b) because it's late and I want to sleep and c) because typing it all out will make it all seem {more} overwhelming. Overwhelming is not what I need, want, or desire. Overwhelming means that I'm not fully trusting God, and that's not where I want to be. I am trying to trust and to listen, and I know that when He answers, I'll obey and it will all work out. But right now I feel bogged down by the logistics of every. single. decision. that must be made, and it's like my spiritual ears are clogged with worry. 

I don't want to not hear God because I'm worrying about what He's saying. I don't want to miss His leading because I'm freaking out over where He's taking me. 

Friends, if you would take a moment and pray for me, I would be most grateful. You can pray for peace, for clarity, for direction, for babysitting jobs to come through, and for God's will to be done. Thank you. 

Finish This: Week Twenty

Holy guacamole, Batman! We are at Week Twenty already!!

Linking up with Jen at The Arizona Russums, Becky at The Java Mama, Lisa at Coastlined, and Nicole at Three 31 to answer these fun prompts.

new image created by Becky!

My favorite recipe is crack popcorn to make myself, and my mom's enchiladas to enjoy without the work beforehand. When I'm a real live grown-up, I will attempt to make those enchiladas, but for now, I will just invite myself over when they're on the menu.

I believe in the grace of God to save me daily. I believe in long walks on the beach, wine recommended. I believe in Doctor Who. I believe in making my bed every day. I believe in dining outside whenever possible. I believe in friends and their ability to make me think more deeply about any topic of conversation. I believe in chai lattes. I believe in getting out of my comfort zone to make a difference. I believe in painted toenails. I believe in the ability of bosom friends to stay connected across 2,000 miles via a couple of phones.

I need to set boundaries when it's all work and no play. My tendency is to not turn away a job opportunity {babysitting or tutoring, etc.}, but I'm realizing that things that are important to me are actually important, and so I'm making them more of a priority.

I began living when I started watching Doctor Who. Just kidding! Life really began when I got serious about my relationship with Jesus around age 12. On a practical note, I realized I was an actual adult when I moved into my own place with my bestie.

There you have it! If you want to join this link-up fun-sesh, you can add your link on Nicole's blog or finish these prompts in the comments.  Thanks for coming!

Blog Every Day in Feb: Day Nine - A Day in the Life

Linking up with Bailey Jean as we continue with her February challenge!

This prompt reminds me of one I wrote for Victoria's October challenge {see Creative Writing tab for those posts}. Just to keep things interesting, let's use this style. 

5:43 AM - alarm goes off. Snooze is promptly hit.

Nine minutes later...

Alarm goes off again. Decision time: hit snooze again? The answer is almost always yes.

Another nine minutes later...

Doesn't Apple know how to make an adjustable snooze time??? Seriously. 

With this thought, I get out of bed. With either a worship song or the audio Bible playing, I get dressed, put on make-up, fix my hair. Shoes, scarf, purse - check, check, check. Grab water bottle and lunch from the fridge, and out the door I go.

Driving to work = audio book! This makes my commute so much more peaceful, it's unbelievable. 

7:00 AM is the official start to the workday. Emails receive responses, phone calls are answered, clients are cared for. 

Noon brings a lunch break, usually with my parents and I stealing the newspaper and interrupting each other to read whatever headline we're engrossed in. 

12:30 PM - back to work! More phone calls, some typing, a bit of editing, lots of reading and searching for share-able material {I manage our social media}.

Monday-Wednesday, I leave the office at 3:00. Thursdays are my volunteer day, so I leave at 1:30. Friday is done whenever the phone stops ringing, which means between 2 and 3.

After work, there is usually a Zumba or dance class to rock out work out. Dinner with the bestie, maybe some classic Doctor Who, and then reading before bedtime - all of these are important. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I type out this description of my days, it sounds boring and uneventful and life-less. But there is life here, in each day. There are conversations with my parents {perks of working for them}, there are conversations with my bff, there is laughter with my co-worker, there is gentle teasing of clients. 

At home, there is the rhythm of household activities: laundry loads through the cycles of wash and dry; dirty dishes arranged carefully in the dishwasher; checking the mail and feeling like a grown-up for taking care of bills {online bill pay = hallelujah!}; coordinating dinner plans and deciding how adventurous tonight's meal will be. 

My life is full of life and I love it. This season is really wonderful, and while I can see changes ahead and have vision for things to be different, still each day soothes my heart and I must declare: 

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Finish This Week 2

Linking up with Jen, Lisa, Nicole, and Becky!

Check out the links here :)

If I could make anything grow on trees, it would be instant manicures. Pick one off the tree and BAM! Your nails are done. No waiting, no chipping, no clumping. Done nails, just like that.

I can't stop smiling because I've seen Sherlock Season 3. Because it's almost my birthday. Because zumba is tomorrow night. Because there is a Tardis blanket on my bed.  Because I'm in the middle of two good books. Because January has been awesome {and hard and wonderful and challenging and stretching} and February is shaping up to be pretty darn awesome. Because today is a good hair day. Because tomorrow is Volunteer Day. Because God has great plans for me.

I get back to nature by admiring Mt. Rainier. Ahh! 

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I dread washing the fridge. I can clean the bathroom and the rest of the house until the cows come home, but please dear Lord above don't make me clean the fridge. Please distribute grown-up points here, though, because I have actually cleaned the fridge since moving out on my own. Once. Moving on. 

There ya have it! See you next week for Version 3 of Finish This. 

Finish This

Jen is such a gift! Right when I'm thinking "I should blog but I forget how," she posts this lovely little link-up that has the prompts. All I have to do is finish the story. Pressure = gone.

I first felt like a grown up when I got my first job that was not babysitting. The summer before my senior year of high school, I applied to work in a Christian bookstore, and while on a youth retreat, I got a phone call from them. I was hired! Such a cool feeling.

I am one-of-a-kind because I have a passionate love for my Wat Bot. Seriously, my water bottle is with me more than my bff is with me, and that's a lot because we live together. If you want to know the full story of my Wat Bot, here ya go.

Spanx is a life saver... and the one item of clothing that my mom steals from me. Samara and I were just discussing how some outfits give you confidence while others require confidence to pull off. Spanx is basically instant confidence!

My favorite family tradition is opening pajamas on Christmas Eve, after listening to days and weeks of my parents telling us "you're not getting pajamas this year. You're too old." Yeah, right, Mom and Pops, yeah, right :)

The last thing I do before bed is put on chapstick. I've weaned myself to not really use it during the day {these winter-y months are challenging my resolve, though!}, but I put it on at night after brushing my teeth. So soothing!

Happiness is laughter with all 4 sisters home. Staying up waaaaay too late talking with the bestie. Stories in the round. A good hair day. Painted toenails. Visiting my favorite Southern state. Painted nails. Phone dates. A new book.

And that does it! How would you finish these prompts?

Link up here!

A Real Live Grown-Up

We all that those things, I'm sure, that we told our younger selves "You'll be able to do this when you're older/more mature/an adult." And some of those things have happened {I trust}. For example, when I was younger, I told myself that I would one day be able to fix my hair into something not resembling an alien trying to be beamed back up into its mother-ship.  And some days I actually told the truth. Other days... well, Dahlia told me that I don't have used-Barbie-hair, so I feel like I've accomplished something in my life.

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But really, there are some things that you can only do when you're an adult. Like drive a car or wear make-up without looking like a drag queen {ahem, Miranda!}.

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Well, I've compiled a list of things that I should be able to accomplish as I approach a quarter-of-a-century years old, but no cigar for this old lady. Please laugh and groan along with me as I lament the possibility of ever growing up into a fully mature adult.

1. Painting just fingernails...and not the surrounding finger. Or fingers. Sigh.
   
2. Using scissors to cut a straight line. Straight lines are the bane of my existence. Also, as #2.1, paper cutters are also quite intimidating; they should be available to help with the problem of crooked lines, but this has not been my experience.
   
3. Cooking. Are more words necessary? In case they are, here's a poem I wrote about the whole situation.

Well, fortunately I can only remember think of three tasks that I've not matured into yet. If you think of more, please don't remind me. Ignorance is bliss, you know. Just let me pretend I'm an adult. Pleaseandthankyou.

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On Being a Grown Up

First off, the inspiration for this post is coming from two places: Miranda Hart's book Is It Just Me? for the humorous parts and the beginning of this post from Samara. Hat tip to both of you ladies.

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Or bow-tie-in-hair tip to you...whatever works.

Let's be real. Being an adult has its perks. For example, you can stay up as late as you want reading awesome books {like the aforementioned, hint hint} or you can put vodka in the fridge and not worry about a) your sisters drinking it {ha!} or b) your grandma finding it. You can also have people over when it works for the both of you, without having to check with the rest of the household {or you do check with the rest of the household and since it's only one other person, it's really fast}.

But there are some...shall we say challenges. When you're making your own decisions, you have to actually make your own decisions. Ironic, isn't it? Or is it just reality? Anyway. There's no one making decisions for you; you have to determine what's a priority, and then you have to make it happen.

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This can be a plus. For example, I made the very mature decision to not listen to Christmas music until November 1. Now that it's November, I have executed that decision by selecting the Christmas station on Pandora. Grown up points abounding here.

But sometimes this can be a negative {or minus, if I were to continue the literary devices consistently}. For example, I'm dying to go visit Kentucky again. It doesn't help that I just missed a dear friend's wedding, nor does the fact that my dear family in Nicaragua are in the States this month. So the question is, do I visit now while they're not abroad and while it's been 7 months since I've been in the Bluegrass State? Or do I wait and visit Kentucky in May for AJ's son's 2nd birthday {I was there at birth and his first birthday-good tradition!} and also go to Nicaragua in July? Can I even afford that? Will I be able to get the time off work?

These are grown-up decisions that need to be made, and like Samara's post discusses, priorities have to be made and then acted upon. The challenge is prioritizing and making decisions that will keep you moving in the grown-up direction you want to be going. Which of course presupposes that you know the direction you want to go. Sigh.

But that's why we have Jesus and parents and disciplers and friends... and Miranda. :)

31 Days of Writing: Day Four "Wild Card"

Since I get to make up my own prompt today, I thought I would share last night's adventures. Be forewarned: the subject of this adventure is a toilet.

The Little Toilet That Dripped

When Bek moved out to her Very Own Grown-Up Home, she felt very grown up indeed.

Change a light bulb? It only takes one Bek to change a light bulb.

Replace the smoke detector and batteries? Stand clear.

Buy a broom? Stick that sucker in the closet.

Re-seal the grout in the showers? Watch out.

Fix the toilet that drips? Um....Dad!

So Bek's dad kindly showed her the ways of the toilet, and just when the water was ready to be turned on, there was a CRACK from the toilet and a "CRAP!" from her dad.

A washer was weak; Dad was strong; the toilet was torn between the two. And so it cracked in three directions.

Bek and Dad made a phone call and a new toilet is on its way. Little Toilet That Drips, it's been real and it's been fun, but it ain't been real fun.

**linking up with Victoria today. Join us!**

Grown-Up Weekend

Sometimes being a grown-up is fun, like when you get to move out with your bestie or go to shows that you appreciate more as an adult, or even go to Nicaragua! And then there are the average times of being a grown-up, like grocery shopping.

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Granted, half the times I've gone grocery shopping have been with my bestie, so it turns into an adventure {she's afraid that she's going to lose me in the store when I don't bring my cell phone}, but when push comes to shove, we're buying toilet cleaners and ladles and an iron... tad on the boring side.

same link...seriously the story of my life

But it's ok, because after our grocery shopping and writing times {beteedubs, I'm super proud that Samara and I were able to sit side-by-side on the couch and actually get some writing done...we've matured since high school, to say the least}, we decorated the condo!

As in, we put one thing on the wall. *pathetic surrendered defeated sigh inserted riiiiight here*

Oh well. We're getting there, slowly but surely. If you don't get invited over in the next month, it's because so far our track record of decorating has been one item per 7 day period. And it's partially the fault of our schedules {we be grown-ups, yo} and partially the fault of Doctor Who {can anyone resist? didn't think so} and partially the fault of getting the wrong sized curtain rods. But we are overcomers, so watch out, world!

That's not all the excitement we had this weekend.

No, Sunday nights are officially busy with foot....foot...foot game. Last night, our dear friend Cami hosted the watching-of-the-game; it was really fun! How can you go wrong with great people, yummy food, fantastic music, and a lightening storm!? Oh, yeah...the football game had to pause due to lightening. Sad day. But we still won... I heard. I didn't actually stay until the end of the game...and I didn't actually know what was going on during the game...in fact, I was playing pool for the first half. But it was still totes fun!

In case you need a laugh reminder, here's my vast experience with football...

via {thanks for sharing, Ash!}

Anyway, this weekend was totes fun and relaxing and productive... isn't it funny how being productive {up to a point} can be relaxing? The perks of being a grown-up :)

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Following Up

So yeah, I'm moving into a totes adorbs condo with my bestie :)

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Samara wants to be the giraffe, mainly because of its cute accessories...idk. All I know is that means I'm the cat? monkey? creature partying it up in the back, totally unsupervised as usual. Such is my lot.

So let me share some deets with y'all. Because you have nothing better to do than read about my life. I know.

Details That I Will Share With You:

• We're moving into a seriously awesome condo- first floor, 2 bathrooms, sliding door, and our own little patio!
  
• Our place is about 2 minutes from church! And like 1.5 minutes from the freeway! And like a stroll down the block to water! Praise the Lord!
  
• Since we are so close to said water and because we are nerds, we came up with a name for our little homey-home: Bright Shores... it's got a reference to Austen and all the named estates, "Bright Star" our favorite movie about John Keats, and of course it starts with a B... as in, 221B Baker Street. Gotta bring Sherlock in there somehow :)
  
• We wanted to share {oh my gracious, how badly we wanted to share!} the news with you all sooner, but we also wanted to make sure all the legalities were taken care of first. Gotta stay legal.
  
• I'm pretty sure that Samara and I lived on Pinterest for a few months.... gotta love private, shared boards.
  
• As soon as we are settled, we will be taking pictures and sharing them with you! Something to look forward to, because, as noted above, you have nothing better to do... ;)

I'm serious about those pictures. Actually, it will be wonderful when I can post pictures, because that will mean that we're both unpacked and getting settled, and that will be a wonderful moment. 

Alright, I'm off on an adventure across the mountains to pick up my grandmother's dishes from my cousins. Long story. The short version is, my grandma is giving me dishes! And I'm getting them tonight, so peace out, yo. 

A Little Announcement

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Yes. It's true. It's finally happening. My bff and I are getting a place together and going to be real, live grown-ups.
This is us together...Watch out, world!


We started talking about getting a place together in January. We plotted and schemed and chatted and talked and emailed and discussed and watched Doctor Who and researched and budgeted and plotted some more, and now it's finally happening. As in, my stuff was moved in on Sunday, and Samara's stuff is coming on Saturday, and WE WILL BE MOVED.

I know that this is the beginning of a new and exciting chapter, one that will bring a lot of maturity and responsibility and wisdom {hopefully!}.


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Look at how responsible this person is. Grocery shopping: nailed it.
{To read the full story of my life comic, including some profane language -consider yourself warned- check it out here}

And then sometimes I still feel like I'm pretending to do this whole "grown up" thing...

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And I'm pretty sure that this will happen at some point.

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Anyway, the point is, Samara and Beks are setting off on an adventure that will change their lives forever...it might even change the world. And it's already changed something... one white wall is now Frolic Green :)

P.S. Check out Samara's point of view on our excitement!