Thursday, July 30, 2009

Back Again



Last night's In-Store performance of Parachute was off the chain! The guys are so amazingly friendly and fun to talk to. I also got to meet some other Parachute fans and I'm so excited to have new friends :D






Things are starting to cool down here, which is nice. That 103 degrees yesterday was ridiculous. And when I got home, for some reason, I half expected it to be cooled down. Alas, it was still a sauna. But at least I got to sleep at a decent time.

FUNNY STORY BREAK:
I went to grab lunch at Pagliacci Pizza today and I guess when I sat down, the chair slipped my gauchos down just a bit. So I'm walking down Mercer St. . . .which is a busy street. And I feel a breeze and I look down and I realize my pants are down and I'm totally like flashing my underoos at all the passersby. And here I was thinking they were all checking out my Cons. Whooops. I actually pantsed myself. Who knew? ;)

I get to see Parachute again tonight with The Script. I'm really looking forward to rocking out :D

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Burning Down The House

Things are really heating up here in Seattle!

This morning I turned on the TV to watch the news (a rare occasion indeed) and the forecaster guy (i'm pretty sure that's the technical term for his position) was all sorts of excited and was like:

"And today, we may actually break a record! If we top out at 101 degrees, then we will beat the record of 100 degrees in Seattle from 1981!"

And never have I wished so much that i could reach my arm through the tv screen and smack that guy in the face. Seriously? That record breaking 101 is no bigee for this Texas girl, EXCEPT for the fact that, living in Seattle, most places here don't have Central Air, including my house. So my room is a sauna. I actually have to get a cold compress on my head before I go to bed to help me sleep. My little tower fan is working as hard as it can, but this heat is ridiculous. I so wasn't prepared for this. Oh well. At least my boss got me a box fan for my office today, so the shades are drawn, I got the big box fan running and two little mini-me fans. It's so nice to not be drenched in sweat. :D

In other news, I'm pretty bummed that Rachelle Lefevre is going to be replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard for Eclipse. :( Eclipse is my FAVORITE one in the Twilight Saga, and I was really looking forward to seeing Victoria's character step up her game into uber-fierceness. BDH just seems too sweet and innocent for the role. Especially after seeing her in Lady in the Water and The Village and in the Spidey movie. I know she's probably gonna get a lot of backlash from other Twilight fans, and to a certain extent, I feel sorry for her. But let's get real. Rachelle Lafevre is a fiercely bad mamma jamma and she really brings it to the character. I hope BDH can bring it as well.

In otro otro news, I GET TO SEE PARACHUTE AT A MEET & GREET/ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE TODAY!!

After work, I'm walking all 4 blocks to get to Easy Street Records to go see them and I'm so excited! They have an amazing sound and those guys are so funny! If you haven't checked out their website yet, you should. JUST CLICK HERE. I also get to go to their concert tomorrow night at The Crocodile and I can't wait! :D



Well my lappy toppy is in the shop. And it was funny, because Evan, the Genius Bar guy who helped me out was like, "Why did that other Mac Genius ask you to reschedule? That makes no sense. He should have just taken it in then and there." We were laughing so much at so many things, and we got to talk about macs and the upcoming stuff in September (which is when my apple care expires) and it made me smile.

I also got to have dinner with Cindy Jones, who is just such an amazing woman! She seriously refreshes me so much! I love being in her company. AND she made these pita pizza things that I've gotta get the recipe for! They were delish!

Okay well I will update again tomorrow and share some photos and such with you all! Peace!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Hammond Song

My birthday is about 4 months away. . .and I think I discovered a wondermous birthday present:

On Nov. 3rd (my b-day), the U.S. version of HOW TO BE will be released!! wheee!! I love it! :D









Okay so really i love Rob Pattinson, but hey it counts. It's a really fun movie :D

Sunday, July 26, 2009

When Love Takes You In


I had a great weekend at the Women of Faith. It was so interesting for me. I've always had this GIANT aversion to "women's ministry" type stuff. I just have. I've always seen it as this thing for ancient old ladies who sit around playing shuffleboard and singing "I'll Fly Away" until 5 p.m when they had to go to bed. However, being at this conference, laughing so hard at these amazing women who have gone through so many things, who were not afraid to open up their hearts and share their lives in such a relevant way, spoke to my heart so much.

My favorite speaker was Lisa Harper. I love her teaching style and her perspective on faith and it's intersection with life. I learned so much from the teaching she shared and it renewed my hope in a lot of things. Here's some videos of her talking about her new book:





Another great part of the conference was getting to see Steven Curtis Chapman. He sang some of my favorite songs from back in the day. It was also amazing to see the bravery and humility and realness that he exuded as he sang "Blessed Be Your Name." Seeing him sing the words "You give and take away" knowing that just a year ago he lost his daughter, after she was run over by the car that his son was driving. And hearing the cracks or tears in his voice, was so powerful. He wasn't trying to be strong, he wasn't trying to hide the pain, he was simply singing from his heart and from every thought and feeling that was contained in there. It was beautiful. He also sang "When Love Takes You In" which is a song I used to listen to when I felt unworthy of love, when I felt like my world was crashing around me. And it took me back, to realizing that I am valued and that even when my world crashes around me, God is unshakeable.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Possession

So, I took my laptop to the Genius Bar, in hopes that they would be like, "Oh yeah. Well let's get this fixed." Instead, my computer played the perfect angel part and they couldn't reproduce the constant error message that has been popping up for the past week. And by constant I mean every 3 minutes, and once it pops up, I can't do anything else until I CLICK okay. :(

So I made the appointment, went to the Genius Bar and since I didn't have my iPod Shuffle dock with me, he was like, "Well it might be the dock. So reschedule an appointment for the Genius Bar and bring the dock back." So now I get the *privilege* of picking another evening time slot where I can take the 1 hour bus trip out to University Village, go to the Genius Bar, and spend another 40 minutes on the bus ride home. And I even spent the night before backing up all my data on my external hard drive!

I think what made me the most upset was that this message has been popping up so much and like, at random times, so it's highly unpredictable, but still a pretty big presence on my screen. . . and the minute I take it in to the "doctor," it's fine. Just peachy.

It's like this:

Exhibit A> my computer in my home environment:



and Exhibit B> my computer when I take it to the Genius Bar to get fixed:



unbelievable. Thanks, lappy toppy. You made me look dumb. :(

i seriously walked away feeling like this guy:

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Crashing

Because your music education is all I care about.

. . . well that and a lot of other things.

Here's the music video release for the song SWIM by Jack's Mannequin.
My art didn't make it into the video, but the video is still AMAZING! So creativo!

Jack's Mannequin "Swim"


In other news, my laptop is sick and I'm taking it in to the Genius Bar to get looked at tonight, so I may not be as frequent with the blog updates if they take her away to get operated on. :(

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

My Secret Is My Silence

One of my favorite blogs to read is POST SECRET. [disclaimer: content is not always appropriate for younger viewers] I've always been kinda curious about what kind of lives people lead.
_are they like me?
_have the seen the things I've seen?
_have they gone on amazing adventures?
_do they struggle with the same things I do?
_what can I learn from them?
_are they funny?
_what kind of pets do they have?

. . . the list goes on. Even as a kid when we used to drive down the highway or through the neighborhood I would look at windows and see people and imagine what their lives would be like. I would run scenarios about family dinners and job promotions and dance recitals and lots of other stuff.

So when I read Post Secret, I feel more connected to the world around me. I laugh. I cry. I get angry. I get my imagination sparked. It's such a cool thing.

I've never actually sent in a postcard, but eventually I will. The guy who started it all, Frank Warren, posts new secrets that people mail in on postcards every Sunday and on Twitter also (@postsecret). There's a new PostSecret book coming out soon:


and so in honor of that, and inspiration to continue to share my life honestly with you guys, I've made some PostSecrets of my own. I'm not going to submit any of these to P.S. because they're officially not secret anymore, and that's okay, but eventually I will send in a REAL postcard creation of a secret of mine.

I wanted to share with you guys some of my secrets, not to be pretentious or sensational with it, or to cry out for pity, but just to share my life, to encourage others and to continue to grow past my past. So without further adieu, CUE THE INDIAN!






Related Post: DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

Monday, July 20, 2009

Know Your Enemy

I came across this article today on MSN. . . and I seriously almost threw up in my mouth. The article is about

TOP TEN MOST UNUSUAL STATE FAIR FOODS
[click link to read article]

So, I've worked at a fair before, and the thought of even smelling half that stuff was gross.

I think after checking out [thisiswhyyourefat.com]
(linked from twitter via Nate McFarland from Parachute)
I've become EVEN more picky about food.

I watched this the other day:


and seriously, I don't think I could ever eat a donut again. sick.

I'm starting to regret all those "Beef Fritters" we ate when we worked the fair in LaGrange :( boo.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Open Your Eyes


Happy Sunday everyone! What? What do you mean the day's almost over??? Schwat?? Un.believable. So, I'm finally starting to feel better (can you tell???)
hint---> all the unnecessary "???'s" that keep escaping from my mind onto the screen

Yesterday I actually got to get out of the house and get some fresh air. PS: being cooped up in your room for 2 days with strep throat is lame. Seriously. And no amount of Facebook, Twitter, TV, or yes, even James Morrisson's amazing voice could keep me from going batty. It was ridiculous. But yesterday I got to go downtown and do some shopping. Got some new makeup from Sephora. . . and I don't know HOW I WAS SURVIVING without Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Really. I also got to go to Pike Place Market, and bought some honey and just took in the beauty of the flowers in the stalls and was so quickly reminded of just how much i LOVE this city! Also, Blockbuster was going out of business in Crown Hill so I stopped by and got 4 movies for $20. And I got a coupon for a book at Barnes and Noble and bought SLEEPERS, which is one of my absolute favorite movies. I've been reading it on the bus and it hasn't made me fall asleep yet! :)

A really crazy cool thing happened this morning during Sunday School. Okay, so the fact that B— was the only one to show up wasn't that cool, but still I had a great talk with him as we played 3 rounds of pool. We talked about "disciplism," which was something I learned in Master's Commission from Dan Matlock. [more about "disciplism" here] and to start off, I asked B— what "discipleship" was. His reply was, "Something to do with being a disciple?" And we talked about discipleship for a bit. Then I asked him what "evangelism" was and he was like, "Evangelism? I've never heard of that. What's that?" And he was being dead serious.

I was astounded. It's so crazy the things I've taken for granted. Growing up in the "Bible Belt," you go to church and it's like, everyone knows EVERY Christianese word ever. Kids in 3rd grade know what discipleship, evangelism, prophetic, warfare, and the like all mean. They memorize verses about this stuff. But being up here in Seattle I've learned that there's so much that young Christian teenagers don't seem to know about. It really challenges me to put it in a way that makes it easily understandable and will help make it not a "churchy" thing. It gives me an opportunity to change the bland term "evangelism" into something that actually makes sense and doesn't teach a lifestyle of leaving trcts instead of tips and that a hand-out is meaningless without a hand-up. We had a great talk about how living an authentic faith-filled life that will help him leave a positive influence in his class that is made up of 95% athiests and how to develop habits that will help him live as a reflection of Christ.

I personally get hung up on some of the terminology used in Christianity, because having spent most of my life under a cynical perception of faith, certain terms have already left a weird impression on me. It was interesting when he said he'd never heard of the term "evangelism" before because it left me to wrestle with myself as to whether or not to continue calling it that or whether I should just lay it out there with a different catch-phrase. I ended up sharing a little bit about the misconceptions of that term and what I believe the Word of God means when it mentions evanelistic instances. I loved hearing what he thought and learning about some of his struggles with connecting faith and life. Being a mentor to these students is helping me grow just as much as it's helping them grow. I love where I am and what I get to do!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Gonna Make You Sweat

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I'm stuck inside, with a contagious strep throat.
boo.

The plus side to being sick is the *MASSIVE* amounts of soup you get to eat (note sarcasm). Just kidding. But I do enjoy the fact that even though I can't go out to the gym for fear of contaminating everyone with the plague, I've learned enough various exercises in Master's Commission to keep me fit, in the comfort of my own room. So as I was working out last night, I thought it would be cool to post a playlist of my usual workout tunes. So here it is. You may be surprised by the amount of hip hop songs I incorporate into my workout tunes, but I mean, c'mon. I've always been a G!


Kidding, but I do like to add some dance beats and stuff in there, to counteract all the intense rock tunes. So here's the list and underneath it, I'll break down the sections for ya :)



The Warm-Up
All Star by Smash Mouth
Walk Like a Man by Franki Valli and the Four Seasons
One Time by Justin Bieber

The Workout
G is for Girl by Ciara
1, 2, Step by Ciara
My Heart by Paramore
Silhouette by Thrice
Live Your Life by TI feat. Rihanna
Superstar by Lupe Fiasco feat. Matt Santos
Single Ladies by Beyonce
Numb by Linkin Park

The Cool Down
Creature Fear by Bon Iver
Use Somebody by Kings of Leon
Under Control by Parachute
Shelter by Ray LaMontagne

What do you listen to when you work out?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Fire Burning

That's what my throat feels like right now. :(



So, truth be told, for the past oh I dunno, 10 years or so, I've rarely gotten sick. But let me tell you, when i DO get sick, I turn into this sad, pathetic little creature. I get real whiny and emo-tastic. I dunno why, I just do. Maybe cause I HATE the feeling of being sick. Having to take nasty medicine, gargle with salt water, not be able to go and do the things I want to do, and having to eat soup at every meal :( sucks.

The bad news is I don't get paid time off until I've worked at my job for a year. . . thus the panic of making up hours. The good news is that this upcoming paycheck will be good sized, and it will truly be an "excess" check, because I'll get another one right before I have to pay rent. So I can use that excess toward the initial HMO deduction, copay and medicines. Plus my boss is letting me do some work from home so that I can still make pretty decent hours.

I'm pretty sure it's strep throat. My throat is so swollen and it seriously feels like it's on fire. :(

I go in to see the doc tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. and I'm hoping I can at least go to work on Friday, after taking some antibiotics. That would be amazing! :)

But for now, I'm going to lay down and sleep off the sickness.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow :)

Monday, July 13, 2009

Stay


I feel like lately Seattle is having a love/hate relationship with the sun. Cause just when the sun starts to show some lovin' to the Seattleites, Seattle gives the sun the boot and then they kiss and make up and it's this never-ending cycle.

Now that the vacations are over, it's nice to get back into a normal schedule. . . or at least one I can mildly control. Gosh. I'm realizing how much of a control freak I am. Sad. :( Gotta work on that.

I love that things are starting to mellow out. :D Things are going really well with the Junior High Students as well. I fall more and more in love with them every day. They really do have a special place in my heart.

Two days ago I spent some crazy quality time mapping out curriculum and events all the way through December for the Student Ministries and man oh man—that was madness. . . but a fun madness that was actually quite fulfilling.

What's also quite awesome is the concerts that I'm going to go to this summer! Parachute (touring w/ The Script) and Jack's Mannequin + The Fray! Woo hoo!! And what's extra awesome is that the DAY BEFORE the Parachute concert, they are doing an In-Store acoustic set and signing at Easy Street Records, which is 4 blocks from my work! :D These guys are seriously awesome and talented, and quite hilarious! Every Friday they post a fun video and here are some so you can kind of see the hilarity that ensues :D





You should also check out their music! I love their sound!




I'm still waiting for Jack's Mannequin to release their music video for SWIM to see if my artwork made it into the video (fingers crossed!). But I'm so excited to go see them with The Fray! It's like freakin' Christmas in the Summertime here! :D

Also some new music, if you haven't heard or downloaded it yet is Paramore's new single: IGNORANCE . . . it's uh-mazing!


Now if only Seattle would let the sun and cool breeze hang out together here :D

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Friends They Are Jewels

Reflections from the "4th on the 5 Adventures"


I am really really glad that I have friends who are willing to travel up to see me and see this beautiful city that I live in. I learned so much from our "4th on the 5 Adventures."

I learned:

- that differences can be bridges to stronger friendships
- it's okay if things don't go according to plan
- more about how to "roll with the punches"
- even the seemingly strong, independent people have deep insecurities
- not everyone shares my view of the world, and that's okay
- I have beautiful friends
- I pick the lamest karaoke songs
- despite picking lame songs, I LOVE karaoke
- years change people, and change is a good thing
- Twilight should have been filmed at least partially in Forks, WA or at least closer to it. I guarantee that Olympic National Forest had some amazing meadows
- I'm a careful driver and obeying the law is a big deal for me, and I'm pretty glad about that
- Don't park your car on the street in front of my house
- Don't leave your iPod adapter in a nice new rental car
- My friends have good taste in music too
- I need to get over myself
- The years I spent in Master's Commission building friendships is something I will NEVER regret.
- Stay on the 5

To P.Lo and Joy: I adore you both :D I miss you already and though I wish I could have gotten over myself at various moments in the trip, you should know that you make my life better. :D

Friday, July 10, 2009

Northwest Highway

Day 4 Report from the "4th on the 5 Adventures"


This is the blog post that explains why I chose the title, "4th on the 5." My friends came up for the 4th of July weekend, and we spent the majority of our time on I-5. Whether it was driving to and from the airport, or getting lost in western Washington, we spent some truly quality time on the 5. ;)

We woke up Sunday morning in Forks, Washington ready for a fun time at La Push Beach! We weren't expecting it to be quite as chilly as it was. It was really cold. :( But we went anyway. But first we decided to do a little bit of driving around Forks. We went to the visitor center and took some photos near Bella's truck and then came upon some friendly looking guys. We were hungry and didn't know where to go, so we thought we'd ask:


Hahahahahahhaaha!

Then we went down to the beach and me and Patsy drove to First Beach, while Joy walked the length of the beaches from Third to First on a path. Patsy was cold so she waited in the car and I decided to get out and enjoy the beauty of the overcast beach. Yes folks, it doesn't matter if it's sunny or not—i LOVE the beach. Being near the water is so freeing to me. I don't know why, it just is. Give me water over mountains any day! I got to climb on the rocks and sit along the water and I just got to take in the beauty of the scenery. I also got to relax and sing some songs that I made up while I was sitting there and just allow the words in my heart to come out of my mouth. I had such an amazing time! When Joy finally got to First Beach, we decided to re-walk the path she had taken and then go fly kites down near Third Beach. What she failed to mention was the hiking that took place to get there. The path led to a trail, and for those who REALLY know me, you know that i DESPISE hiking, climbing, etc. I'm not so fascinated with spikey leaves and bugs and rough terrain. Just. Not. A. Fan. At. All. But I did it and we got there and I got to fly my kite. :D I also got to take a swim in the frigid water! I kept debating whether or not to do it, but then I was like, "How often do I get to come to the beach?" So I did. And thought it took my breath away (literally) at first, it got better and I really enjoyed it.

As a recap of our adventures, here is a video blog:




















PS: Stay on the 5 !

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Long Journey

Day 3 Report from the "4th on the 5 Adventures"
i apologize that i haven't learned how to open my eyes yet. ;)

After we got back from Karaoke (around 2:30 a.m.) me and Joy had a long and productive conversation about our respective attitudes and differences and miscommunications. Though there is debate about it, I do believe that time has changed us, and that who we thought we each were is not the same. This isn't a bad thing though, just an interesting thing that brings new challenges and opens new insights. I don't remember what time we got to bed but I'm assuming it was close to 5 or 6 am. I could be wrong though.

In any event, we woke up around noon and began our long drive to Forks, Washington—The Twilight Zone. :D

When we were first planning the trip, Joy's big thing that she wanted us to be sure to do was to go to Forks to check out the roots of the movie "Twilight." Joy and I are BIG fans of Twilight, so I was pretty excited to go as well. Patsy enjoyed the movie but wasn't nearly as besotted as we were. We got lost a few times, but we made our way. :D

Joy and Patsy really wanted to stay the night, so we found a hotel (by some major miracle) and got to catch the fireworks show in Forks! It was amazing!

Here are some photos and videos of our time there:





taken from the ferry :D
patsy loved the ferry
car shot of the scenery around Olympic National Park
taking in the beautiful scenery

jacob black's house on the Quileute Rez!
we ate here twice—yummy food!

I went out on a limb (quite literally) to get this shot and it was SO worth it!






our hotel in Forks
Fireworks on the Fourth in Forks


Joy in front of our motel door