Ke$ha

so i painted/glittered my nails like this last night:

so pretty, right? yes. but i made one mistake: i took a shower right after i finished them and all the loose glitter had not fallen off yet. there is a ton of glitter all over my scalp from shampooing it. it is really hard to get out. i feel like ke$ha. now normally this would be fine. except im getting my hair done today. my poor stylist is going to have to scrub my head so hard to get it out. inside im secretly glad, outwardly i feel bad because she is also going to have to remove my outgrown feathers that i am too lazy to take out. win, win for me. loose, loose for her. i am so looking forward to this.

MEET RANDALL!!

so i was going to post this when we first got him, but i got busy. meet our new kitty Randall!! this video happened like 3 nights ago and i have fallen in love with the crazy animal ever since. HE SUCKS HIS PAW LIKE A BABY. seriously so cute. seriously so weird. enjoy.

blah week

this week is a blah. it is gray and sad outside. i feel stuck inside and a little sad. so, to compensate i've been doing a little of this to brighten my spirits:

meet Randall!

WATERMELON! and a nap! two wonderful things.

Oh man, i love this place. Despite a few mishaps getting there, it was a lovely time.
AND on saturday i met one of my favorite bloggers in the whole entire world, Abi.
 or vanilla and lace. such a lovely lady! so exciting!!

so happy about this

Nigella Lawson's molten lava babycakes. so easy to make. so tasty in the tummy.

i ordered this book and it is taking forvever to get to me. but i read
a chapter at Salem Alliance, and OH MY WORD. amazing.

silly kitty.

run

i did somthing this morning i never do. run.

it felt good.

and cold and slushy.

WA

i dont really know what to say but i think i want to say something.

glad im here.
have drank (drunk??) millions of cups of tea
ate enough sugary yum-yums to keep me alive for three weeks
got flipped off by a man i tried to let merge into my lane
bought a pair of high waisted mom pants im a little apprehensive to pull off
was super excited to watch Titanic, and then fell asleep within the first hour
ate an entire bag of sour belts by myself
looked at the beautiful mountains that are being covered in snow
bought christy $6 frozen yogurt that was just mediocre
had christy paint my toes red
slept terribly good
watched "its kind of a funny story"
it wasn't funny. but it was still good
kind of missing my sister
learned i hate driving in places i dont know where im going

that is pretty much my day/last night.

work

ok. so i am done with packing but, of course, i cannot sleep. i now leave in 9 hours and im feeling very restless. so there is something that has been bothering me. this might not make any sense and i might not even end up posting this, but i feel like i need to say something. ok. here it goes.

so i sell clothes. before that i worked as a lifeguard and i taught swim lessons even before that. super rewarding jobs. in both of my previous jobs i had the important job of keeping people safe. it was a little intense. for many different reasons, i left my job doing swim stuff and started working retail. to put it lightly, i have struggled immensely with the past 5 months in this job. not because the work was difficult or the people were mean, just because i felt selfish and sneaky trying to sell people clothes when they clearly dont. all the interaction is very artificial and not personal. i was very unhappy with my current situation and i wondered why i was there. i had prayed for this job, i felt this was where i was called, i accepted it, yet i did not feel like i was being a productive in impacting others. then this happened.

i woke up and realized how broken people are.

last night work was very slow. there were only a few people milling about the store which gave me time to talk to them and figure out what they were looking for. in one hour i met three women who came in looking for some awesome business casual clothes and ended up telling me a lot more than i expected.

woman 1: newly divorced. undergoing tremendous financial loss. filing bankruptcy. sad eyes.
woman 2: missing a child who is around my age. tired eyes.
woman 3: army wife moving from nashville to alaska. has an adorable baby named ava. scared eyes.

it broke my heart. 3 different women. all within the same hour. these poor women. such tough stuff. then it dawned on me. this was my opportunity to love these people. i listened to them. i folded their clothes. i just tried to love them. there was not much i could do, but somehow they impacted me. i dont have some miraculous solution but i think i was blind to what i was called to do. and suddenly folding clothes or hanging pants doesn't have the same nasty appeal.

as i am writing this, one of my favorite gungor songs is playing. these are the lyrics:

Jesus, You're the one who saves us
Constantly creates us into something new
Jesus, surely you will finds us
Surely our Messiah will make all things new

ahh. i love that. i feel it. God is creating me into something new. He makes us all new. that just blows my mind.the God who made trees and mountains and the yellow-y orange color of the sunset chose me over all the beauty of this world.  what a strange, perfect plan.

so i dont know how to sum this up. this was really for my own thoughts to be sorted out on. im not even sure what i am saying. but my battery is dying and my cord is in my suitcase. i think what i am trying to put into words is the need to look deeper into the situations we are in. i feel that God is slowly revealing his plan to me and it is funny how things are not the way i planned, yet they are perfect.

2 Corinthians 12:10

COME ON.

packing is the most frustrating thing to me at the moment. i have been trying to pack for the past 5 hours. so far my suitcase has pajamas, a scarf, and underwear. i am getting no where. so i am blogging in hopes to regain my focus. oh then this happened:

ok. this picture sucks. but my mom and i went to get manicures this afternoon and i got this lovely color and perhaps the most awkward experience of my life, but i dont want to talk about that. anyway, like 10 minutes ago at the peak of my frustration, i look down an my middle finger has a hefty chip. chipped nails don't bother me. except for when i get them done to look nice on vacation and then the chip 4 hours later. seriously. 4 HOURS. so not okay. sorry for being such a diva, but i am super frustrated and this is just the icing on the cake. 4 HOURS LATER. ok. i feel better. there are so many bigger things to worry about. ok. i leave for seattle in less than 11 hours. and i only have pajamas and underwear. not good.

birthdays, baked goods, and other pretty things

this past weekend has been hannah's birthday weekend and valentines day. that means lots of crafting and baking. i loved how the wrapping of her gifts turned out. and the yummy ice cream cake. but so much work. i am so tired.

אבינו

שבשמים יתקדש שמך תבוא מלכותך, יעשה רצונך כבשמים כן בארץ.                             אבינו את לחם חקנו תן לנו הים, וסלח לנו על חטאינו כפי שסולחימ גם אנחנו לחוטאים לנו. ואל תביאנו לידי נסיון, כי אם חלצנו מן הרע.

done!!

i am seriously about to bust into happy tears. i just wrote the last sentence on my art history research paper. that is seriously a combo of my two least favorite things. art history and research papers. i love writing, but i loathe research papers. it kills my imagination. i have spent days writing this beast and now i am done. it is a glorious feeling.

so random

oh my goodness. so much life has been happening. i dont know where to start, but i know this will be really random.

okay lets start with today. superbowl day. i really dont care about football unless it is super intense and really close. i mainly watch football for the food. so much good food was eaten. cakes, cupcakes, tacos, tons of guacamole, 7 layer dip, brownies, and soo much food. ahhh. soo good. we had quite the little party and it was full of friends, and food, and crazy games of dutch blitz. oh yeah. so good.

and while we are talking about food, i have been having these creepy dreams about frozen yogurt. i keep dreaming im in this certain fro-yo shop (which ive never been in real life) and the dream feels hours long and it is just me eating fro-yo and the fruit/candy toppings. and when i wake up i can taste the candy in my mouth like i really ate it. i have no idea what it means but it is kind of scaring me with how delicious it is.
oh. this morning. this morning. so hannah and i "teach sunday school" in the baby room. i put that in quotes because we dont really read Bible stories to them. We just rock, and cuddle, and change poopy diapers for these little angels. But I do try to pray over them while cuddling them that they will grow up to be boys and girls who love Jesus. Anyway, we had a this little girl who was incredibly fussy and would not stop crying. So I fed her a bottle and put her in the crook of my arm with her head facing in a "football hold" so I could walk around while still holding her. All of a sudden my leg felt warm. I looked down and there was white spit-up ALL over my leg. really? yeah. it kind of all went downhill from there. i was such a nasty mess. needless to say, Hannah and I treated ourselves to straight from new york for lunch. nasty pants/cardigan and all.

then i fell in love with a cat. more on this later.

and like one and a half weeks till seattle. oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeaaaaaahhhhh.

and holy provision! so i have this massive paper due that has been a pain in my butt to write. i seriously cannot write it. anyway, i decided last minute friday to skip aerobics because i NEEDED to write it. i was a little bummed because i can only miss 3 classes in order to keep an A. so with seattle and skipping last friday that uses up all 3 of my freebies. but i checked my email like an hour ago and saw that my instructor cancelled the class and it doesnt even count. seriously?! this was wonderful news.

oh and Hannah came home with grapefruits from work yesterday and i cannot eat enough of these. so, since i have no fantastic picture to attach to this, enjoy me enjoying my grapefruit.

it is so good.

i want summer.

i want summer.

hot springs

huntington beach

intense camping

hot california weather+being tan/burnt

fair+blurry strangers

sunny days and birthdays

today was beautiful and sunny. my insides feel like little fairies danced inside of them and poured cotton candy and sugar all over. i honestly think i developed winter weather depression. i cannont handle the dreariness. but today was beautiful and sun-shiney and wonderful.

creation amazes me.

on top of it all, today was my grandpas 82nd birthday AND my cousin Katie's 1st birthday. thats right they share a birthday. i love both of them so oodles of much.

floral nails again.

so i think i may have just watched the best movie on netflix:

thats right. thats so raven. actually, it was terribly great. much like bride wars, father of the bride (part one and two), and wedding daze (the 90's version. honestly one of my favorites). i needed something to watch while i painted my nails and this was the perfect thing. now i am trying to stall so they will dry and i can sleep without getting sheet marks on them. or maybe it is because i am going with ehlana to do an engagement photoshoot tomorrow.

now that my movie is over, i am listening to this weirdly amazing collection of music christy gave us around christmastime. i love tracks 4, 10, 6, and 11 makes me want to cry happy tears. you should listen to this with me. i am thrilled out of my mind to see her in a few weeks. thats right. im spending a super long weekend in seattle. so excited.

oh my goodness. such a funny thing happened today. i ran into one of my best friends from like second grade. i honestly have not seen her since the last day of 2nd grade when i was 7. seriously. im so glad she stopped me. how crazy is that? it kind of made my day.

but yeah. i think i am going to force myself to sleep because i am hungry. and i dont want to make food. and i have a lot to do tomorrow.

ok. my nails are pretty much dry. here. see for yourself. i feel like i keep posting my floral nail patterns. trust me. ive only painted my nails like this once. and i guess i always feel the need to report. so enjoy. i liked how i did ehlanas so i did them to myself. original. i know.

ignore my "wheres waldo" pants. they are really comfortable...

and this post makes no sense but i am going to post it anyway because it took me almost 35 min to write because i am slow in the head.

toast

you know you need to move out of your parents house when you have to start making toast in your bedroom in fear of waking people up with the smell/sounds of toast being made.

moon pies

i was introduced to these tonight. so weird. yet delicious. and they are laying all over the house half eaten because i keep getting distracted. they also make good objects to hit people with.

good things come to those who wait.

so i think things are finally coming together in terms of school. i was looking over the classes i need to take to transfer at the end of my 2 years and this is good news: i only need 6 more classes to fulfill my general education requirements. holy cow. that is amazing. how did this happen, you might ask? most of it has to do with taking college classes in high school and then strategic planning the past 2 terms. but here i am. this means after i finish this term, i only need two more terms (spring + fall). that also means i will be given junior status at that point. that is so intense to me. so, you might ask, what on earth am i going to do with the rest of the year? lets just say i have a few fab ideas. im not going into detail now about what im thinking because i want to decide if ill do it for sure or not. but ill keep you posted.

also, take a look at my bff's nails. i painted them last night and let me tell you, they were a dream to paint. her fingers are long and elegant and pretty. just like the little girl they are attached to.

(i stole this from her blog cause im lazy. my bad. read her blog here)

let me take a moment to tell you how blessed i am to have my friends in my life. ehlana, for example, is one of those people who is the truest of friends. true and blue. i love that little girl. she is one of the loveliest people i know and she just makes my little heart beat with happiness. what would i do without her? i dont know. i dont want to know. if i were to draw a picture of my heart, she would take up a hefty chunk of it. i love her.

enjoy this picture from our youth. ahh middle school...

sun

i think i have been in a winter slump. things have kinda just been sliding by and i have been feeling sick, tired, and blue. today was so good to me. a good dose of sunshine, nice people, exercise, and relaxing was just what i needed. aerobics kicked my butt, then an intense game of tennis with ryan and aaron topped it off. here is the thing: im terrible at tennis. i only keep trying because occasionally i do hit the ball back and then i get so excited. it is satisfying. but ryan and aaron are patient. in fact, that is how we made it work with 3 players. ryan and i played against aaron. it was nice of them. they are nice boys. im proud to call them my brother/cousin. then we came home and ate the most satisfying yummy dinner. then it was game time. my plan was just to write my paper while we watched the game, but for the first time in my life, i got into football. i kinda hate that i said those words. but it happened. the end of that game was so intense. i dont know what it all means, but something crazy went down. im so tired now. all the exercise ive had today makes me so sleepy. this post does not make sense. but that is ok. all i know is i am content.

i feel like this guy today.



baby brother

the fact that my little brother can't talk to me right now because he is reading his Bible makes my heart melt a little bit. i worry about boys loving Jesus.

Christmas 2010