Beverly Hills

Hey! Remember that time
I went to Los Angeles for a concert??

Me toooo!!

And I've finally recouped and edited the photos to share with you all!

I absolutely love to travel! There's something fresh and adventurous and unknowing about it. Sometimes I embark on adventures and they're silly. Like late night excursions in unsafe neighborhoods. So, over the years, I've learned to run things by a couple of people who ask me questions that will help me map out some safe boundaries for my wild excursions, you know, so I don't get into some crazy unwarranted bad endings. So I planned a bunch of things out, and set out on my trip to Los Angeles to see the last show on the Something Corporate 2010 Reunion tour!!!

The ride down took about a day-and-a-half and I slept through most of it. One of the most interesting things to do on the bus is to listen and watch. I got to watch a bus of strangers bond over the ride down. I also got to hear a story about a woman who had just gotten out of prison after 9 and a half years. She shared about life inside bars and how hard it was her to adjust to the current world after spending so much time separated from it. It always brings perspective to my life to listen to stories that others are willing share. After time spent thinking, writing, and sleeping, I finally made it safe and sound to LA.

When I first got there, I hopped on the subway and headed to Hollywood Boulevard, so I could get close to the meet-up location and to get some much needed coffee.



I spent the morning walking down the Walk of Fame and checking out some of the local shops that were open.



Adam and Amanda S., friends of mine who attended Metroplex MC, came to see me at Starbucks and we got to just sit and talk and reflect on our lives and how happy we are to be where we are. We shared memories of MC life and stories about things going on in our lives currently. It was so refreshing to be able to hang out with them!


And as an added bonus, they treated me to lunch at In-N-Out!! It was SOOO delicious!! While we were at In-N-Out, Lisa K. met up with us and we talked about California and Seattle for a bit and then just talked about all sorts of random things.


After Adam and Amanda left, Lisa and I walked back up to Hollywood Boulevard and had a long, honest talk about some important things we were both dealing with. It didn't go quite the way I would have liked it to, but sometimes even in talking with friends, you just have to speak your peace and hope for the best. A little while later, we were joined by Jana and Barry B. and little baby Rowan!


We spent the afternoon walking around the Grove talking about a bunch of random things and then had dinner at Johnny Rockets (Thanks to Lisa for buying me dinner!!) where I realized that my recent cravings for chicken nuggets/strips is kind of getting out of control. Ha! They're definitely a comfort food. After dinner, Jana and Barry graciously offered me a ride to the venue so we could spend more time together—which I am incredibly thankful for!

The funny thing is, when we pulled up to the Club Nokia area at LA Live, we noticed red carpets and such and I had NO idea what they were there for. Well you know, turns out it was for The Emmys, which were happening the next day! Duh! And I didn't even take any pictures—what was I thinking???? :/

Once I was in the venue, I got to make friends with a woman who sat in the VIP section, as well as the security guard in that section. Because of that, I was able to sit in the VIP section for FREEEEEE!!! And THAT was awesome!! I was about 3 rows away from where Andrew McMahon's (the lead singer of Something Corporate) parents were sitting and I got to watch them sing along and dance to the music!


The security guard kindly let me move around the VIP area to get different angles for pictures. For the first song (which you can see in the video below) there was a light blinding me in that area that I hadn't noticed until I started recording. But then just after I finished recording and was headed back to my original area, he said I couldn't film. He said he wouldn't take my camera away, but I should probably just stick with taking photos. After moving back to my seat, I had SUCH a great view and I LOVED singing and dancing with all the fans around me! The set was SO good and they even played an extra long set because it was their last show. Andrew was full of energy and made the experience so fun with his wild piano stomping and sweet stories behind the songs.





Toward the end of the set, we were all treated to a beautiful rendition of the longest Something Corporate song, KONSTANTINE. It was beautiful and Andrew's voice was amazing. I even teared up a few times because of the beautiful sounds coming from the piano.


One of my favorite things about going to live music shows is that it encourages and inspires me to continue writing—to express myself creatively through words. After the show, I went to the nearby Starbucks and sat down to write. There were so many thoughts and emotions that needed processing after my trip down and I was glad I got to just get them all out of my head and onto paper.


All in all, it was a GREAT trip for me and I'm entirely grateful that I did it! It fed my adventurous side and indulged my love for travel, all while giving me some MUCH NEEDED time to catch up with old friends!

To Lisa, Barry, Jana, Adam and Amanda:
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP!

Holiday From Real

After a fun day of learning great insight from Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel at Catalyst One Day, I am headed off on a great adventure!

I'm about to board a Greyhound bus to spend a day in Los Angeles hanging out with awesome friends, eating some yummy In-N-Out, and rocking out at the final show on Something Corporate's 2010 Reunion Tour at Club Nokia!

I probably won't update the blog until I get back on Monday, but I wanted to share this today:

I love adventure and I love being spontaneous and impulsive. Just as much as I love those things, I love that I have people in my life that inspire and encourage me to "go for it" and do fun, daring, adventurous things! I mean, this trip in and of itself may not seem like a big deal . . . but all the encouragement and love I've received in regards to the trip as the details have unfolded has ben so refreshing!

I know that not many people my age would travel on a bus for 2 days just to go see a band. I've definitely gotten the "you are so weird," and "girl you are insane" comments. Maybe I am, but my desire to embrace adventure and to experience life to its fullness drives me to board this bus with a huge smile and a full heart. Many say that I will grow out of this "wild impulsive phase," but deep down inside, I hope I never do!

_____

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

- Auntie Mame

Taffy

Ahoy from Denver, Colorado!

I have a 3 hour layover at the Denvy airport, so I figured I would blog, y'know, since I've neglected it for the past 2 days ;)

Today has actually been kinda sub-par on the flying side of things. Normally I enjoy flying and exploring different airports, but there's just something kinda crummy about the morning flight today. (careful, I'm about to get real whiny and pretend I'm entitled to things)

Maybe it was because I requested a window seat on my online ticket purchase and instead got an aisle seat at the back of the plane. (I'm freakin' Glenn from The Wedding Singer :O ) In my attempts to sleep after irresponsibly only getting an hour of it since yesterday, I was jolted out of my sleep about 5 times for the beverage cart, 3 times by people using the bathroom, and about 25 times by the fidgety little girl sitting next to me. In between my zombie phased drowsiness, I had to make sure that the cuppy cakes that I'm bringing home were safe. Don't worry though, they made it through the first flight A-OK! :D

Then as we were taxiing and waiting at the gate, the mother of the girl sitting next to me, who was in my row as well, started puking everywhere. Some made it into the bag, some not so much. The smell was overwhelming. In those moments, I am ENTIRELY grateful that I don't get sick at the sight/sound/smell of vomit. It was miserable. And people around me were holding their nose saying they were about to puke. All of a sudden, I remembered the Lard Ass scene from Stand By Me and I panicked—I HAVE TO GET OFF THIS PLANE NOW!!!!! :O

Luckily, I made it out of there safe and sound, cuppy cakes in tow and ready to get some grub. And in an airport filled with tons of overpriced food, where does my heart wander but to the Pizza Hut. It really is criminal the way I love pizza.

So now I'm just chillaxin in the Denvy airport waiting for the next flight. I find myself conflicted by the attraction of the Denver airport though. I went to use the restroom and was excited to see the numerous stalls that I could choose from . . . mainly because this cuts down the odds of someone sitting in the stall next to me . . . which is a weird pet peeve—i feel like i have more "guy" habits than "girl" habits sometimes. So yeah, excited about the number of stalls, NOT excited about the fact that over half of them were either dirty or out of order, thus negating the glory of having all those stalls and also increasing the line. :(

Then I got really excited because I found out that they have free wi-fi here! Woot! And then I realize that it automatically refreshes my web page every few minutes to show me a new ad. This part actually kind of pissed me off. I was trying to answer a trivia question on Twitter to win a free CD package of Something Corporate's new 'best of' album and I didn't win because every time I tried to @ reply, the page automatically refreshed . . . and someone else won :( Don't get me wrong, I'm getting that album one way or another, but I'd like it for free if possible . . . especially because I got the answer right! I know I should be grateful that there's even an option for free wi-fi. I just get annoyed when things are offered, but they're janky and are seemingly not worth the hassle.

In other news, I have this habit of calling to update my parents every time I fly. I call them before I leave for my first flight, and every time I land, and every time I get ready to take off for the next one. It's just a small request they have so that they know I'm alive and I've grown to enjoy it. Except today one of my parents called me and put ME on hold! (WHAT?!?) And then they called back and I said, "Hello!" and they said, "Hang on, let me call you back." . . . right after THEY called me. Shenanigans I say. I'm blaming this one on April Fool's.

In any event, I'm glad to be out of the puke ridden plane and on my way home to soak up the sun! It was weird packing flip flops and shorts, but I'm so stoked for some quality time at the beach!

---------
ps: I tried to attach pics to this post, but the internet here is shoddy and after about 15 attempts to upload the photos and seeing the failed upload screen, I'm giving up :( I'll post pics later. Sorry.

That's What Friends Are For

My old housemate, Geizel, was on the bus this morning on my ride in to downtown. :D She and I had planned this summer to go to New York together, but due to her needing to take medication not covered by her health care plan, she's not going to be able to.
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But not to worry, this change of plans just makes things EVEN BETTER!

I talked to my best friend, Sarah, this morning. She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland but now she and her husband live in West Virginia. So, in our talking, the loose game plan right now is to fly into Baltimore, and meet up with her there and stay the night with her folks, who just bought a swanky new townhouse. Did I mention that this townhouse has a game room? With board games and video games and all other types of gaming goodness??? I'm SO stoked!

From there, we'll spend some time in Baltimore with the family and then she and I will road trip it up to The Big Apple and check out some fun stuff together! I'm super duper excited!

Then we are gonna head back to Baltimore and spend some more time enjoying each other's company.

I'm really excited to see what kind of silly goodness we can add to our time together!

The last time we saw each other was over a year and a half ago. This visit is LONG overdue!

Can't Believe It

Yesterday was my FIRST ever time to ride First Class in an airplane!
No. Joke.

It was pretty much amazing! So, for the trip home, my dad worked a deal for me to ride standby and on both my flight from Austin to Dallas & my flight from Dallas to Seattle, I got to ride First Class. It was crazay!

But don't you know that no day is complete without me doing something completely ridiculous?

It's true.

On my flight from Austin to Seattle, I woke up once because I felt movement. Apparently I fell asleep and was leaning my head on the strange guy next to me. I quickly (and groggily) apologized and leaned my head against the window, so that I wouldn't 'land' on my neighbor's shoulder again. ;)

Since I'd never flown standby, I went up to the counter each time (i had to wait through a series of 4 flights) and told the attendant that I was here for the standby list. I figured they prioritized you based on how quickly you 'checked in.' I was wrong. ha! Apparently, they have their own system. I got to the last one, and out of curiosity, I asked the attendant: "Do I need to check in for standby?" She said: "No. We put you on the list and then you just wait to hear if your name is called. You don't need to check in." Almost immediately, the scene from The Wedding Singer popped into my mind where Adam Sandler tells his ex-fiance:

AGAIN, SOMETHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION YESTERDAY!

It was quite humorous. :D

Then, on my flight from Dallas to Seattle, I got into my seat and after we stabilized after take-off, the flight attendant offered me some mixed nuts. First of all, you have NO idea how hard it was for me not to throw in a "that's what she said." So I quietly chuckled and said yes please. I was expecting a bag of peanuts. She brought me a warm dish of mixed nuts. So I picked one up, not knowing it was hot and dropped it on the lap of the guy sitting next to me. Embarrassing.

This guy sitting next to me just deserves like, a free ride on another flight where he doesn't have to sit next to anyone. Seriously. I was THAT girl.

I was really excited that the flight attendant kept refilling the snacks and the drinks—the only thing better than my standard in-flight Orange Juice with ice is FREE REFILLS of my standard in-flight Orange Juice with ice!!! :D But on about my 3rd refill, I started chewing the ice and there was this one chunk of 3 cubes melded together, so I decided to try to hold one of the cubes while I bit off one of the others . . . i think you know where this is going . . . I bit off the one and one of the others fell to the ground and the other shot off to the side and pelted the guy next to me on his arm. That ice cube then fell and worked its way to the fabric of his seat. I apologized frantically and he was just like, "It's okay." as he wiped his hands of the splashed orange juice tinged ice cube.

Then, when I decided that I didn't want to chance any more fiascoes, I told the attendant that I was done with the drinks . . . while I had my headphones on. So it was at a louder level.

I think it's safe to say that I'm the most bizarre First Class Passenger ever. But it was WAY fun and totally cool :D I still haven't decided whether or not I'd ever fly Standby again though. We'll see.

Sleigh Ride

Hey everyone! Well, I'm finally here, home in the ATX! I kept a journal while I was on the trip, so that I could share the memories with you! So here they are:


ROAD REPORT ONE:
I'm sitting here at the Greyhound Bus Station in Billings, Montana, happy to report that everything went well on the first leg of the trip! I got halfway through reading SLEEPERS and when we get back on the road, I'll read some more. Aside from some random texts to my dad to update him on where I am, I've been 'tech free' for a whole day! :D

It's amazing how freeing a lack of technology can be. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to reconnect . . . see what I did there?!? ;) but in the meantime, I'm enjoying reading, writing, and drawing on the bus.

I'm actually quite proud of my on-the-road eating habits. I've predominantly been snacking on Granola and Clif bars. I slept most of the morning away, but when we stopped for lunch, I had a hot dog and a big container of fruit, and lots of water! It's been really nice enjoying the countryside. Mostly it's been mountains and snow, neither of which I'm a huge fan of. Most people on my bus have been really quiet and have kept to themselves. Even the little baby on board has been seemingly chill. I think she cried once, for 5 minutes 'til she got her bottle . . . of course she could've been fussier and I could've just slept through it. ;)

One funny thing I saw on the ride from Seattle to Billings was a TACO JOHN'S . . . one simple name, SO many jokes! ;) But the slogan was: THE BEST WEST-MEX! I really don't even know what to think. Growing up on Tex-Mex has spoiled me. I cringed and laughed all at the same time. I imagine it tastes really fishy and like it's trying too hard, much like most Mexican food I've had in the Pacific Northwest. But once again, I'm biased and spoiled.

The next leg of the trip leads me to Denver, Colorado. I know it sounds silly, but I can't wait to get back on the bus. Each leg of travel brings me closer to home—to the friends and family I miss and love so dearly.

Well, my hand is cramping up from the writing, and it's almost time to load up for Denver!

. . . UNTIL NEXT STOP . . .


ROAD REPORT TWO:
The Denver Greyhound Station is what nightmares are made of. The people working the station are so unaffected and rude. A simple question is seen as insubordination of sorts, as if every passenger should already know the inner-workings of the Greyhound system.

I was sitting at the phone charging counter and there were 2 metal chairs already at the little bar lined with power outlets. After sitting there for about 10 minutes, one of the station guards came by and demanded that we get off the chairs because they weren't to be used at the charging station. So he took them to a nearby table, where no one sat in them.

The good news is that I'm now on the bus, on my way to Dallas to see Chad and Katie . . and then—HOME TO AUSTIN!

Dear Denver Greyhound Station,
GET OVER YOURSELF!
Love, Amanda

PS: There's a guy on my bus that is originally from Louisiana. His voice reminds me of Remy LeBeau's! It's quite awesome! :D


. . . UNTIL NEXT STOP . . .


ROAD REPORT THREE:
I finally finished reading SLEEPERS! I love the book just as much as I love the movie now! Though I DO wish the movie had included the Pizza Parlour scene. This mentally handicapped kid comes into the pizza parlour and, out of habit, puts all this pepper on his pizza, and this tough older guy comes in and picks on him and teases him. Then the guys (Michael, Tommy, John, and Shakes) all gang up on the bully and totally rescue the kid. It's sweet :D

Well, I'm here in Amarillo, TX and I finally caved and got some 'crap food' to eat. I know, I know, sad. But I DID hold out for a while. And although I know I shouldn't have dipped my chicken strips in that nasty thick truck stop gravy, I did. I'm 99.9% sure I'm gonna regret it, but oh well. ;)

The people on my bus have been quite interesting! This one guy on my bus keeps reminding everyone that he's a "JUGGALO" . . . which is a reference to the Insane Clown Posse, for those who don't know. The only thing that sucks is that this one guy who sat next to me on the last leg of the trip totally farted halfway through the ride. It was RANK! :| I mean, even compared to some of the MC van rides with the guys . . . it was nasty! So, he claims the farts, and then proceeds to pull out a medical mask to protect HIMSELF from the stench! Un.real. :( I guess he never heard about bringing enough for everyone. Needless to say, I'm going to search for a new riding buddy for the next leg of the trip. All in all, things are going well. I've been sleeping A LOT! I guess I needed it. ;)

. . . UNTIL NEXT STOP . . .


ROAD REPORT FOUR:
I got an early Christmas present, in the form of Chad Sherlock and his girlfriend, Katie, meeting me at the Dallas Greyhound Station dressed up as Santa and an Elf! LOVED IT!! We got to hang out and eat some McDonald's . . . after driving around for a while trying to find this elusive cafe I found on Google Maps—YOU FAIL, GOOGLE MAPS! ;) I was really hoping to get some breakfast, but after ordering a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Meal (the #4), the lady asked if I wanted large fries with that and I was like, uhmmmm. . . then we realized they weren't serving breakfast at 3 a.m.—who knew? ;)

I had SO much fun hanging out with them and hearing all sorts of fun stories and just sharing with them about life in Seattle. They reminded me of just how blessed I am to have amazing friends, with such big hearts and the ability to just warm your heart with a simple smile! I love them! :D

The only thing that sucked is that I thought my bus was leaving at 5:25, so I was like, frantic about being back at the station at 5:00. But in reality, my bus wasn't even scheduled to leave until 6:45. BIG DIFFERENCE. Well, I just waited in the station, and did some reading from my Creative Screenwriting mag. I was really excited cause they did a feature on THE LOVELY BONES, which i want to see SOOOOO bad! It's one of my favorite books and I can't wait to see what Peter Jackson makes of it! Also, they mentioned a blip about how Peter Jackson and his team are joining up with Guillermo Del Toro to make THE HOBBIT. I'm so JAZZED! Man, if I could intern under someone in the film industry, it would DEFINITELY be Guillermo Del Toro. His creativity and style astound me. So yeah, THE HOBBIT is a must!

My dad met me at the station and it was SO good to hug him and to just get re-acquainted with Austin, this city I love :D Now I'm home and just chillaxin, having taken a shower to get that Greyhound stench off of me, and for dinner, we're going to RUDY'S BBQ! Then, tonight I get to go have coffee at Mozart's with Stephanie Bailey Cole, who I haven't seen in years! :D This is gonna be a great vacation!

IT'S SO GREAT TO BE HOME!

Last Train To Clarksville

Alrighty folks!

It's time for me to officially hit the road! That's right, it's me, all this stuff, and a bunch of Cliff Bars and Yogurt Granola Bars heading to the ATX on the Greyhound over the next 3 days!! Whee!

Look at all the stuff I'm bringing with me to keep me occupied on the bus:



My first stop is in Billings, Montana. From there, I hop on over to Denver, Colorado. Then, I'll get to have a long layover in Dallas, Texas—Chad and Katie are meeting me there and we're gonna get to hang! The coffee and laughs will be flowing! And from there, I head on to Cedar Park/Round Rock where my dad will meet me at the station and I'll finally be HOME SWEET HOME!! I'm soooo looking forward to hugging all my friends & family! :D I miss them a lot!

I've seriously got to find a way to make 3 trips home per year, instead of 2 . . . but we'll see how that all pans out. One of the first things I'll probably do, aside from tackling my family with GIANT hugs, is to eat my weight in Chick-Fil-A! Just kidding, but that WILL be my first meal! :D Oh sweet sweet #1 with Large fries and a Sweet Tea and some honey mustard sauce, how I have missed you!

Between here and there, my tweeting and facebooking will be minimal because

1. there are no outlets on the busses and i they don't guarantee power stations to charge electronics.

2. i need to take some time to take a step back and disconnect for a bit. This trip home will be a great time for me to reflect on life and to dream new dreams :D

So I'll have my phone off while I'm on the bus, but I'll turn it on when I get to each station. If you NEED to get a hold of me, you can text me or Twitter DM me or email me and I'll get back to you faster :D

In the meantime, pray that it's a good, safe trip for me!! :D

Brick By Boring Brick

For the record, i disgust myself with the lack of bloggage (ew . . . what a terrible word).

Alas, I am here! I am still alive! Wheee! (and there was much rejoicing)

Things have been super busy lately . . . no lie!

It's officially 10 days until I embark on the 3 day journey back to Austin for Christmas!! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to see my family—they are COMPLETELY worth every single crazy encounter I might have on that bus!

A lot of people are a bit concerned that I'm riding greyhound, but I see it as an opportunity :D It's an opportunity for me to sleep (which i REALLY need) and to write (which i REALLY need to do)!

I've been really excited about some of the songs that I've written lately and the melodies that keep me company while I do. Here is a snippet of some lyrics I've written lately about a friend of mine who has been going through some stuff lately:

and I will do the unthinkable
oh I will feed this chameleon.
I'll be whatever you want me to be
but when I get lost don't come after me
you might lose yourself between the thorns
I'm gone
and I've never missed me more

I haven't recorded it in Garage Band yet, but the story is really teaching me a lot personally.

In other news, tomorrow I get to be part of an AMAZING movement! It's called Help-Portrait and we're going to be taking pictures of people at a housing project in Lake City and I'm SOOO excited! I'll be sure to post pics here tomorrow! :D

PS: I called my niece on her birthday a few days ago and she said the cutest thing:

"It's my birthday, but don't tell anyone, okay."

They were having a family only party and they're gonna have her main party in January as a double party with her sister, Annabelle. I guess she doesn't want anyone to know they weren't invited to the family party ;) too cute!

Back Again

Amanda Martinez is a fan of

Parachute

Create your Fan Badge

It's SOOOO true! I'm a fan!

I LOVE this band so much! So much so in fact, that I'm thinking of singing their song, Winterlove for my work's Holiday Party! I know it's gonna be this huge brave thing, but since moving here to Seattle, I've noticed that a lot of the things I do lately are huge brave things. So why not, y'know? The great thing about the people I work with is that they are not as judgmental as others, so I'm sure that even if I suck they'll at least pat me on the back. ;)

Here's the song (i would of course sing a girl version subbing the "her" for "him" and sounding slightly less manly ;) heheheh)


In other news, Kelley gets here on tomorrow and I'm SO excited to have her here!! She's been such an amazing friend and I really really really love spending time with her! :D And we get to have lots of fun together for the next 2 weeks!

Here's just some of what we got planned:

- Space Needle
- Experience Music Project
- (maybe) Ride the Ducks
- The Aquarium
- Exploring Neighborhoods
- Parachute/Kelly Clarkson Concert
- Justin Nozuka/Sam Bradley Concert
- Pie Night

and that's just the beginning! We're gonna be having sooooo much fun!

And then, in just a few more weeks, I'll be heading home to Austin for some much needed family time :D

I can't WAIT to hug all my friends and family! :D They make my heart happy!

Defying Gravity

Hey look! It's me! That one girl who neglects her blog at times :( boo. Bad. Amanda. Bad. Lame.

Currently I'm looking at the floor of my room . . . well, I dunno if you'd consider it a floor. Basically it's a mass of paper and clothes . . . and bags and boxes . . . and a pumpkin carving book? how did that get there??? What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been!

My latest thing to report is how much fun I had taking the youth girls from Westside down to Portland for the Revolve Tour! It was phenomenal! I'll write more detailed stuff later, but just know that this weekend totally rocked for these girls (and for me)! A lot of people wonder How and Why I would ever be able to mentor junior high kids. I just CANNOT imagine doing something else! These kids TOTALLY captivate my heart! I love being able to bring life and as much wisdom as I can as they navigate the tough parts of growing up—peer pressure, boys, zits, popularity/unpopularity, stress, love, friendship, zits . . . oh wait. mentioned that one already ;)

But really, these students just WIN in my life! It was so awesome seeing them smile so big and to hear their stories and share life with them.

One really fun thing we did on the way up was that Cindy J. brought some foil with her (i recommend doing this on ANY road trip—instant fun!) and we made foil creations in the car! So what I made for myself was antennas. And then I would put them on and as we passed by cars on the road, I would look out the window with my antennas on and my head poised on top of my hand, senior portrait style, and just smile and wave at people. It was awesome! Most people did double takes, lots of people smiled, and one girl even mouthed, "OH MY WORD" as she saw me. :D Here's just a FEW pics of our time. There will be many more to come!

On The Road Again

I went to see Away We Go today with my friend Becky and her relative (can't remember which), Kaarin. It made me really want to go on a road trip. Being in MCA, we did SO much traveling, and I know that for most people, spending days traveling in those 15 passenger vans was no joyride, but I LOVED it! It was seriously so much fun for me. I've had so many fun experiences (and some not so fun) in those vans. So I figured I would share some with you:

1. BLEEDING LOVE
On one of our many road trips, I was driving and Kelley was my co-pilot, in charge of keeping me awake and being the guest DJ at times, and shuffling through my iPod, Leona Lewis' BLEEDING LOVE came on and we played it on repeat. And we looked back at the other peeps in the van and noticed they were all out cold sleeping. So we started hand motions to the song and stuff to keep ourselves entertained and as we were doing them, Jonathan Robinson (J.Rob) totally just randomly popped up and started doing the moves with us! Apparently he wasn't asleep. hahaha! So then we played it again and he videotaped us doing all the motions and stuff. It was so funny!

2. THE SLEEP SHACK
The MCA Staff worked the Fayette County Fair (yes, we were carnies for a weekend!) in LaGrange, TX and on our way, the van broke down. But it was like 3 a.m. when it happened and we were somewhere between the outskirts of Austin and LaGrange and we had pulled over right in front of a Shed selling business. So everyone ended up sleeping in one of the sheds until the morning when we were rescued!

3. THERE'S A BOGIE ON YOUR SIXER
My first year in MCA we made the long trip to Phoenix for MCIN Conference and I was co-piloting for one of my classmates, Davin, during the late night shift, and in one of the other vans, Josh was co-piloting for Bryan. To make sure we were all together on the road, we had walkie talkies in each van. Well we were pretty sure that Josh had had ONE TOO MANY Red Bulls cause homeboy was going nuts! He kept getting on the walkie and going, "Attention Vans. There is a bogie on your sixer." and it was to either signal that there was a cop or a water puddle. And we could never tell the difference. He just kept saying it at random times during the shift. Most everyone was annoyed, but I thought it was hilarious. . . mainly cause I'd never witnessed someone have such an extreme reaction to Red Bull.

4. ARE YOU THE DAIRY QUEEN?
My 2nd year in MCA we were making the long road trip to Phoenix again for the MCIN Conference and the best part of the trip was being able to film joke segments for the road trip video with Jeremy Barnes (Barnsie). Barnsie is just straight up hilarious. So we stopped at a Dairy Queen to eat lunch and as part of the fun video, we wanted to interview random people along the way. So Barnsie goes up to one of the waitresses and asks her a bunch of random questions. One of the first questions he asked her was, "Are you THE Dairy Queen?" (but like over and over again, stressing different parts of the question) and she was just laughing so hard. After answering a bunch of randomly funny questions, he put his hands out like so:

and said, "Do me a favor and would you milk me? Just pull on these little finger udders and pull." It was so funny and so disturbing at the same time!

5. PARKING LOT PICNIC
I lead a team of MC students doing some outreach stuff with a church in Toronto, Canada and for our fun day, we all agreed that we wanted to go to see Niagara Falls. So we got directions off of Google Maps and were on our way. Well, after spending a considerable amount of time on the road, that didn't seem to figure into the time it would ACTUALLY take to get there, Google maps lead us to a random rural street with like houses and such. We were completely lost. So we went to the nearest parking lot and ate our lunch there. . . nothing like a picnic in a parking lot! After that we asked around and FINALLY found our way to the falls. But it was quite the detour. We were waaaaayyy off!

Road trips always bring about some amazingly unique memories :D

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 !

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