Ok, this is random, but I’ve been haunted by this all week…

And it’s not really one thing that’s been haunting me, but there is kinda an overall theme…

I've been pondering, wondering, contemplating, brooding over a few things recently, and certain pieces of information, fictional and real-life, keep bringing these ideas into my head.

Like the fact that 31 SEALS died this weekend. I have two friends in the military. My family rented jet skis from a place RIGHT next door to an Air Force base. As we came off the freeway, I noticed that the overpass was covered with yellow ribbons, and right as we pulled up level to the street, I saw a soldier in uniform walking across the overpass. The scene literally made me catch my breath: a soldier walking next to a row of yellow ribbons. Wow.

And then there’s this whole thing with this guy…. God told me that he’s not the man for me, and I’m great with that, but I still think back to the 2-hour conversation he and I had about God and living life for His purposes or our own, and I wonder, how could I keep on living if I didn’t know Jesus? Seriously, life is depressing without the love of Jesus!

I guess that’s what’s been haunting me, the rumor of life outside of Christ. I think of the families mourning all the soldiers killed, and all the children around the world who have been sold into some kind of slavery, and all the people around the world simply existing because they know no other way of life. How do ordinary people keep putting one foot in front of the other without Jesus???

To the chagrin of my parents, I've been thinking about getting a tattoo. And although I’m not absolutely sure of how serious I am, I know what I would get. I want the word grateful on my left wrist, because I want to always be reminded of all the things I have to be grateful for, and because I know that there will be circumstances in life where I will have a choice, and I want to choose gratefulness. {Just so you know, Mom and Dad, the tattoo would be small enough to be covered by one of those Italian bracelets we have… and it was our lovely senior-most pastor’s wife who inspired the design.}

Change of subject: I miss my friends!!!!! My BFF is in England {!!!!!!!!!!!}, two of my friends are both in the military and, while thankfully still in the States, are far away, my adventure buddy is in the National Guard and had training for 2 weeks, leaving me one good friend here at home… and then my family went on vacation and I haven’t seen her for at least a week. Sigh. I guess this is the sucky side of becoming an adult. But I am choosing gratefulness, because my BFF will return in just a few short days, and I got to see my military friends this summer, and my adventure buddy is back and we’re hanging out on Thursday. Yipee!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Soon I’ll be back in school and the most dramatic thing I’ll write about will be the ginormous papers that I’ll have to write (knock on wood!). Anyway. Goodnight, dear readers! I’m grateful for you!

Family Vacation so far

Ohmygosh that was amazing! I did not think that getting soaked by a 48* river would ever qualify as “fun” but it totally was! The guide had one of my sisters sit in the front of the raft, to weigh it down, and so whenever we went into a really big rapid, the front of the raft would go way down and we would get soaked and the back of the raft would go up and then they would come down and be not so soaked. So fun. So wet.

We got the jet skis for tomorrow! Super excited… I guess I don’t come across as a speed demon usually, but sometimes it just comes out and we’re going 90. Ask my dad where I get it… or you can ask Mom… neither of them know. ;)

Well, we had an amazing pizza for dinner tonight, and now my sisters and I are going to walk it off before we watch a movie. The sun is setting and the temperature is still nice, and the dog is excited. It’s gonna be epic. Toodles.

Microsoft, I like you, but not that much

I’M FREE!!!!!

Microsoft, it’s a great thing that you pay so well; otherwise, I may have just walked off show site. Bleh. Glad that’s over.

God and I had some AMAZING times during this last show. I mean, seriously, incredible. He is so good! And I learned a lot about Him and about myself, and I think that even though I’m not proud of every single decision I made, He is still good and He is able to use my mess-ups for His glory, and that just trumps any and all shame that tries to creep in. So yeah. Eat that, shame.

I got to work with my sister during these shows, which was fabulous. My sister is great! And her friend, who happens to also be my friend, got to have a sleepover with me in my gigantuous hotel room, which was so, so fun.

My family is officially on vacation right now! It started around 1pm today, after church and a meeting my parents had to attend. We came home and had leftover fajitas {and when I say leftover, I mean what survived our feast last night, not some nasty oh-we-should-either-eat-these-or-throw-them-away leftovers} and we watched a movie and my mom and 2 sisters and I went shopping and I got 4 CUTE tops that were all on sale and tomorrow we’re going river-rafting! Score! It’s going to be so much fun; my family is amazing. We all like hanging out with each other, and we all love to laugh and we’re all big smart alecks and so it’s great. We just crack each other up.

I fly back to school in exactly 3 weeks. My friends there are counting down with excitement, my family here is counting down with sadness, and I’m counting down with an ever-changing ratio of both. Sigh. At least it’s not all one or the other, right? This means I’m well balanced and stuff, right? Big sigh.

Well, friends, we have a 2 hour drive to get to our river tomorrow, so I’m going to say goodnight for now. Peace out!

New Songs

I hope that everyone enjoys new worship songs as much as I do, and I hope you don’t mind me sharing two that I’m basically in love with and can’t get out of my head the past few hours.

The above is by this new artist that tobyMac discovered and helped produce. My dear friend kept singing this song one weekend, and last night I had it on repeat. Enjoy!

The below is one that my church has done for worship a few times, but this is the live version by Jesus Culture. Enjoy this one too! {Sorry, this one just has the lyrics. I’m sure You.Tube has other live versions with better visual.}

I <3 Home

I LOVE MY CITY! Ahhh…. I’m in the middle of downtown right now, and until just a few minutes ago, there was a guy playing the keyboard and singing on the corner nearby. The sunset is beautiful, the street lights are glowing, and the water is just a few blocks away…what else do you need?

So remember the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? Great movie… really cute. Well, I totally feel like Beks (and not JUST because of the name!) because I’m working with this cute British guy named Luke (“Fluke” ;) ) and his uncle owns the company yet he just works as a grunt, and this is definitely not the career choice I have in mind, but it’s kinda turning out to be fun. Anyway. Just thought I’d let you in on the funny thoughts floating around my head. Don’t worry. He has a girlfriend back in England, so no worries there. But if I find out she has super long legs, I might just die of laughter.

P.S. His accent is so nice to listen to, even if it’s just about computer stuff!

Oodles of nothingness…

So as much as I would love to write one succinct post on one clean topic, nothing is coming. There are starts of posts in my head, like what is up with our culture obsessing over looking young? and I think I’m going to get glasses tomorrow- fun! and ohmygosh I go back to school in less than 5 weeks! and gee, if I were to make a list of all the things I “should” do in the mornings, I would never get on with the rest of my life! Oh, and then there’s an updated list of books I’m attempting to read in those short 5 weeks…

Well, that pretty much gives you an update about the thoughts rolling around in my head. I’m off to the doctor’s right now… my back hurt so badly last night I could barely walk. Please pray for me and for my doctor, that we know what to do and that my muscles heal fully and completely. I appreciate your prayers, and I’ll hopefully post again soon!

June!

Hello, friends!

There are several things on my mind, things that have been ruminating as a post or two, but as I sit here at work, scanning til my eyes fall out, I think I'm just going to post them all together. So please forgive the randomness and chaos of this post, but I really need to both get these ideas out of my head and distract myself from the retarded scanner behind me.

So the other day I drove my grandparents to the cemetery. (Told you this was random!) They wanted to see their future "spot," and since we were out and about, they asked me to drive them there. It was very strange at first... I can't imagine wanting to go visit, as they put it, my future spot. But as Grandpa and I sat in the car and looked down the path that divided one section from another, I felt a strange sense of peace and wonder. It wasn't overwhelmingly the Presence of God or the peace of God, but it was a calm that was both honored and at rest, much like the persons in the ground. It's hard to describe, but it was comparable to visiting Arlington National Cemetery, only the awe and reverence was to a lesser degree. I think there's something about knowing that life is finite that inspires awe for those who have gone before us.

Ok, next thought. It's way lighter than the first. My sister teaches swim lessons, and one of her students is autistic. He's always complaining about swimming, although he honestly loves the water and has improved greatly under my sister's instruction. One day she told him they were going to swim across the pool and back. After they had done this several times, the little boy exclaimed, "Dude!!! I'm NOT a mermaid!!!" Hysterical, I know.

Third thought- MY SISTER GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!! That's about as far as I've thought.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm going to throw the scanner out the window at this time. Please be advised.