Friday, July 27, 2012

high five for friday

it's that time again! linking up with from my grey desk for high five for friday. this week has been really stressful so i need to look back at my high lights.

one. wedding time. so saturday is my dear friends wedding. she has been like a big sister to me, and i'm so super excited to see her get married! it's up in grand island, ne, so my parents and i are driving up tonight and staying until sunday. (a little part of me wishes we were doing it in the one day that i know we could do it in. i sadly have personal issues about being there sunday). kinda wish my brother was going with us, but he will be working when we leave so he is staying here.

two. reconnecting with some friends. so it's really easy to stay connected with my girl friends, but more difficult with my guy friends. (i'm kinda awkward in this whole having a boyfriend for the first time in three years thing, so i never know how to act around guys anymore for a while) but lately i have been intentionally trying to reconnect with some of my guy friends. i have one in oregon, we used to talk all the time. the other night he said the oldest text from me was 7 months ago (that means we have only sent 1000 texts in 7 months, which coming from me is barely talking at all) and we are trying to get back to having a good friendship.

three. date night with dad. so in case it isn't obvious yet, i spend a lot of time with my dad. we go on "dates" a lot. wednesday we had a lunch date for his day off, thursday night we had a dinner date while mom went to her water aerobics. i always look forwards to dates with my dad, even though he always tells me i'm a more expensive date than my mom.

four. encouraging best friends. like i said earlier, this week wasn't the best for me. i have been having some issues and my friends have been encouraging me through it. this may sound weird, but right now i mostly wish i could move out just so i could have a desk to do my work/blog at. (right now the couch and my lap make up my desk and it's not working out so well) one friend told me it was perfectly okay. last night i was having issues about how i'm not really looking forward to a weekend alone in a hotel with my parents, and they told me i'm not a horrible daughter for feeling that way, and that i probably just need some time away from them all the time (except there is no probably)

five. extra hours at work. yeah, work made it onto the list. so despite the fact that i have some issues with my work, i am in desperate need of hours. thursday was a day when we had only one director in the building, and the only person scheduled was a newbie. so i was super stoked to get even four extra hours in this week. and ami made it sound like i will be getting some more hours in august, so i'm ready. i'm still looking for a new job, but taking as many hours as i can get at work in the mean time.

i hope ya'll had a better week than i did, or at least a less stressful week. now i need to go pack for our little trip so i'm ready when i get off.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

3. a book you love

so the obvious answer for this is the bible. and yes, it is a beyond great book, i thought i would go with one of my favorite fiction books.

little background: i hated reading growing up. it was very rare for me to find a book that i couldn't put down. the first book i can remember actually wanting to read was the giver. we read this book in seventh grade, and i just couldn't put it down. which is ironic because my brother hated this book. but it's not the one that i love.

so then when i was 19, and had to find something to do to fill the 13 hour drive to austin, tx, to meet my niece, i bought two books to read down there. it was when my sister's keeper and the time traveler's wife were made into movies, and i wanted to read the books before i saw the movies. ever since then i have finally enjoyed reading. and i found that i really love jodi picoult. it is now my goal to own all of her books. i have a fairly good chunk of them right now. my favorite one from her so far is house rules. 



i think one reason why i liked this book so much is because the main character, jacob, has asperger's syndrome, which is part of the autism spectrum. if you know me, you know i have this "fascination" with the autism spectrum. (i feel like fascination may not be the best word to use, but it has always been something that interests me and i want to know more about it) one thing i do know about a child with autism is that they are very literal, and a lot of them stick to rules word for word. (please correct me on this if i am wrong, but i'm just going with what i see in my kids at work) in this book, he has a social tutor to help him in different situations that he faces. (one of my favorites was when he goes to prom with a girl, and he sits in the back seat of the car instead of the front, and his mom and tutor are kind of embarrassed since they forgot to tell him about it) (also a person with autism sticks to a routine, like sitting in the back seat of the car) one day his social tutor is found dead, and he is the main suspect, his quirks look like signs of guilt to the cops who don't understand. 

the book goes through the course of the trial, from the perspective of him, his mother emma, his brother theo, his father rich, and his lawyer oliver.  (i'm trying really hard to not spoil the book if anyone wants to read it, but it's hard.) you learn the "house rules"..."1. clean up your own messes, 2. tell the truth, 3. brush your teeth twice a day, 4. don't be late for school, and 5. take care of your brother; he's the only one you've got." (these rules need to be kept in mind throughout the book.)  jacob has a fascination with forensic science. he has a police radio in his room, and shows up at crime scenes trying to help the cops. when his tutor is found dead, police go to him, but not for help. you learn more about jacob and his relationship with his tutor. you learn about his brother theo, and his habit of sneaking into empty houses and taking things. you see how his family is effected by this trail, and how jacob himself is effected. at the end of the book, after hearing stories from police and doctors going against jacob, he finally takes the stand and tells his side of the story. stop here if you don't want to know the end of the story

you learn that jacob's tutor was house sitting for a local professor, and theo decided this is the house to sneak into this day. when jacob shows up for his tutoring session, he finds her dead. being a fan of crime busters, he sets up a scenario for the cops to figure out. this raises suspicion. turns out she had slipped in the bathroom after noticing theo, hit her head on the sink, and bled to death. when jacob got there, he noticed theo's shoe print in the snow, and cleaned up the blood, and altered the crime scene to look like a bad kidnapping. after all, it's a rule to take care of your brother. 

sorry that this is possibly a horrible book report (i was never good at them) but this is a book i love. i highly suggest you go out and read it. let me know what you think if you do read it or have read it already.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

girl behind the blog numero dos

so i decided to do this link up again. i enjoyed it last time, and thought i would do it again. i'm still awkward/nervous with it, but i still had fun with it. pretty sure i will continue to do these. they are a great way to meet people and put a voice to the blog. (and yes i am wearing a hoody in the middle of summer when it is 87 outside. i don't kid when i say i'm almost always cold. and fun fact, this hoody was my dads when he was in pharmacy school. i love this hoody.) sorry for the horrible lighting. for some reason the living room always looks weird, especially with no natural light (darn me recording this so late)




5ohwifey

Monday, July 23, 2012

2. something you feel strongly about.

so last week i found this on pinterest and decided to do a post about each item. the first one can be found here. so this one was a bit harder, not because i'm apathetic, but because i needed to decide what topic i felt strong enough about to make a post on. due to recent events, i feel like capitol punishment or guns would be bad, although i do feel strongly about both of those. (if you want to know my thoughts on those, feel free to shot me an email and ask) i'm also trying to stay away from cliche topics, such as abortion and same sex marriage, because i feel they are over done. so i'm possibly going kind of out of the box with this one, but i'm going with rebaptism.

now before i start, let me say this is just my view on it. i know it's a big debate in the christian bubble, and just like everything else, it's a personal choice.

but in my opinion, a person only needs to be baptized once. (i do not count sprinkling as a baby as baptism) i grew up believing baptism was a one time declaration. never once did i think baptism was going to make my life perfect. (i did think it would make it easier some times) i was baptized at age 9, mostly because i wanted to make the declaration to everyone, but also partly because i was the baby of the family who wanted to be like my brothers who were baptized. i also know of some people who get baptized after reading the book of revelation. now these may not be the best reasons to get baptized, but i believe if they compelled you enough to do it, then there is no need to take it back or do it again.

being 9, i didn't totally know what i was doing, and some may argue that i should have waited a few years. but i didn't. and i don't think i need to redo it. whether i did it at 9 or 19, i still wouldn't totally comprehend the intensity of baptism. i think i did it at a time that was right for me. and every day is still a constant battle and always will be. if i got rebaptized today, nothing about that would change. i would still have this constant battle, and i would still need to stay consistent in my quiet time. (which i have been struggling with lately because of school and work)

every year, i go help at camp with the middle schoolers. and every year the topic of rebaptism comes up. when i have middle schoolers ask me what i think on it, i tell them i think baptism is a one time thing, and that you don't need to baptized more than once. Jesus was only baptized once, and the Bible doesn't talk about rebaptism. but i also tell them to not rely on just my opinion, but to also talk to their youth sponsors, their pastors, and their family.

what are your views on this topic? what is something you feel strongly about?

A few rants

So the boy is in Texas this week to check out his school and look for a job and apartment. Needless to say, I really miss the boy and am not happy that I won't see him until next week at the earliest, and with my schedule it probably won't be til late next week. This whole barely seeing each other thing is way worse than I thought. And it's only going to get worse after he moves. Also this weekend I realized that for some reason I am jealous of my brother and his girlfriend and I have no idea why.

Also I'm annoyed that I am not able to go to small group tonight. Every month we have these meetings at work, to kinda just do some housekeeping and let us know of things we need to be aware of that are coming up. Normally I am able to go to the afternoon meeting, but wasn't able to this month so I have to go to the evening one. I'm annoyed about it because small group is pretty much the one point of the week that I look forward to.

Somehow I was able to spend almost the entire weekend in my room except for a few hours a day. I think the worst part about it was my family didn't seem to care that I spent the whole weekend in my room watching one tree hill and playing lots of solitaire. I mean yeah I'm kinda anti-social sometimes (mostly because my friends don't live around here any more) but not for the whole weekend. It just makes me wish even more that I had the resources to move out and get a new start.

I'm trying to have a good attitude about all of this, but it's getting harder than I can handle. I feel like the few friends I have here are either moving away or in a totally different stage of life. I feel alone even in my own house. Small group at least lets me feel connected for an hour or two each week. I've been trying to be strong, but I'm running out of strength. I keep praying for it. If y'all could help pray I would greatly appreciate it.

Friday, July 20, 2012

high five for friday

man, the weeks just keep getting shorter and shorter. and it's not helping that i've been a hot mess for the past like month. (stress from school and haven't seen the boy in all this time. it's killing me) but it's time for the link up with from my grey desk for the high lights of this week.

one. county fair. so i love the county fair. i grew up going to the derby with dad, so that is the exact thing we did thursday night. saw a first this year. a car was going backwards across the field, hit the car it was going for, and then continued going, over the pit wall and into the safety area. all right in front of me. it was crazy and scary. one guy got hit, but was able to say he only got a broken foot and scraped up out of it. thank the lord it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked like it was going to be. and my neighbor got second in his heat, so it was great to watch him. tonight is the mud marathon and saturday is the tractor pull. i'm hoping i can go tonight also. i sure do love fair time.

two. yet another coffee date. sarah and i have been trying to be more consistent with hanging out and having coffee dates. we are having one tonight and i am super excited. i miss spending quality time with her and knowing what is going on in her life. plus you can never have enough coffee dates in my mind.

three. my small group. i have said it before and i will say it again. i love my small group dearly. it's such a great group of girls who are always willing to encourage me and pray with me. i know i can go to them about anything. plus this session i'm really liking the book we are doing. it's called "ephesians: finding true love" and it connects chick flicks with God's love for us, and the ephesians. it's been a great book so far, and i am excited to continue going through it.

four. my grades. we just had mid-terms and i found out i have an a in both of my classes!! this may seem crazy, but it's so hard for me to ever get an a in college. that fact that i still have them after the first half of the term is fantastic to me. it makes me feel like i actually have a chance at this. dad has always told me i'm smart, but lazy, and i'm trying to disprove the "lazy" part, not just when it comes to school.

five. glow run 5k. i know i said this last week also, but now it's on here because i actually finished it! i didn't feel good after about a mile, so i wound up walking the rest of it, and it took me longer than i had wanted, but i was still about to do it! it was a fun time, minus the feeling like i was going to pass out. i'm hoping to be able to do it again next year and do better. (also my brother asked me wednesday if i wanted to do the susan g komen 5k in august. having some mixed feelings on this one)

so that's my week. it was a good one for the most part. (really wish i could have seen the boy. it's killing me that i haven't seen him in a month) now i'm going to ice my wrist. hope ya'll had a great week also!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

5 ways to win my heart



so i found this on pinterest. i figure why not make in into a blog thing, like where i do each item as a new post. so that's what i'm going to do =] feel free to join along if you want to. so number one on the list is "five ways to win your heart". this one was kinda easy for me lol

one. go to church with me. and genuinely want to be there because of the people and the church, not just because of me. many times i've invited some guy friends to church, and it is always a fear of mine that they are there only because i asked them. i feel better when i know they guy genuinely likes the church and is connected to the people there, besides me and my family.

two. sing songs with me. music is a huge part of my life, and if i can find a guy who is big into it also, it's great. i love a guy who is willing to bust out a song with me, no matter what he sounds like (cuz Lord knows i'm not the best singer). a bonus would be if they actually sang to me besides just with me.

three. take pictures with me.  i love to take pictures, but can't seem to find a guy who will take some with me. as you may have noticed, the few pictures i have of the boy are ones that i have snuck in. it's not that he won't take pictures with me, it's more that we never see each other. (praying that changes soon) it would be great if i wasn't always the one who wanted to take pictures. maybe someday....

four. cook for me. i love food. and i enjoy cooking, although i really don't like cooking for just myself. but i have a fantasy of having a special date night in and have him cook for me. cheesy i know, but i am a self declared hopeless romantic. and for me it's the little things that mean a TON.

five. cuddle. i'm a cuddler 100%. touch is one of my love languages, so that has a lot to do with it. (i think me being the baby girl of the family may also play into this a bit) a perfect night to me is cuddling on the couch and watching a movie. (a light rain would be nice too) also i'm a huge pansy when i'm cold, and i'm usually colder than most people, so if i can steal heat from my boy then i'm all up for it haha.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Summer of 5Ks

so this summer i decided to sign up for my first ever 5k. and then i wound up doing three of them. my last one was last night. (it was also my niece's third birthday) it was the first annual glow run in kansas city. it was really crowed and it was a blast. about 5,000+ people signed up for it, which i think was more than they were anticipating. i went with a friend from church, her sister, and met some of her friends from work.

before the race they had a face painting area. the line for it was ridiculous. but i got a pink bow on my arm for my nieces birthday. my friend and her sister got stars on their arms (i didn't get a picture of all our arms)

then it was just time to wait in a giant glob of people and wait for it to start. it was cool to see some of the costumes some teams had. (we didn't dress up for this one) a few teams had tutu's (a really common theme i've noticed) some had fairy wings. one had white shirts that had highlighter yellow type on the back that said "will run for beer". those ones made me giggle. one guy had a giant mouse head with a huge bright light on it. i'm not sure if he actually ran with it on, but it was crazy cool. besides that it was mostly people in their normal running garb, with glow sticks all over. (i had quite a few necklaces on) 




so the race was scheduled to start at 9, but it wasn't quite dark enough yet, so we waited an extra 15 minutes. no big deal. because of the huge amount of people, we had to do waves with about 500 people in each wave. i didn't start untill about 25 minutes into it, and a good chunk of people had finished by the time i had even started (crazy i know) but once i got going it was pretty good. it was another hot and humid night in kansas city with no breeze, so it was hard to run for me. again, i wound up walking most of it. i had started to feel kind of light headed and by the end i felt like i was going to pass out. but i stuck with it and finished it safely, so i'm okay with that. 

it was a fun time, and i was super happy to see my mom close to the finish line. (she wasn't able to make it to my first two runs) i think i may have scared her though when i said i didn't feel good after. this was the first time i had actually gotten anything for running. they gave us medals for it, and good golly it is actually pretty heaving. my brother and i were joking that you could sling shot it and knock someone out. 


i had a good time. and i will do some more 5k's next summer. but i think i'm done for the summer, and will train better for next year. hopefully then i can run the whole time, and not feel like i'm going to pass out at the end of it haha. hope ya'll had a great weekend!



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Friday, July 13, 2012

high five for friday (plus one)

week number two of this link up with from my grey desk. i've been busy this week with homework and spotty internet, so that's why i've been kind of out of touch this past week, but on to my high points. (i'll be honest, i have more than one this time that hasn't quite happened yet)

one. royals game.  so this is going on tonight. it's yet another daddy daughter night. my royals are playing the white sox, and i love going to these games. my cousins from chicago and london will apparently be at this game too, so i might try to see them at some point in the game. (and yes, i do have a cousin who is living london and has been for the past few years) so stoked! PLUS....there are fireworks tonight no matter how the game turns out!

two. glow run 5k. another that hasn't happened yet. tomorrow night i am doing my last 5k for the summer. (i originally signed up for the dam to dam in the start of june, and wound up signing up for two more...how crazy!) it's a night run, and we get all this fun glow in the dark stuff to plaster all over us, and i'm super stoked for it! i'm doing it with a friend from church and some of her co-workers. and how awesome is our team name....the flux capacitors. can't wait for it!

three. VBS. this week was vbs at the church i grew up at, and my parents still go there. mom said she would do crafts, so last night i went out and helped her. i was kind of useless with the big kids, but was able to help with the younger kids. i felt really old that there were only like 3-4 kids that i knew. but it's great to see that there was actually a good turn out for it. 

four. breakup with facebook. so tuesday i finally admitted to myself that i was spending far too much time on facebook, so i decided to take a little break from it. i'm actually really proud of myself that i have been able to go this long and not worry about it. i am also doing it because next term for school both my classes are online, so i needed to prepare myself for getting rid of distractions online. and saying bye-bye to facebook had to be the first one.

five. bff plans. so this one is kinda weird but totally exciting for me. so my best friend of all time lives in jefferson city, a good three hours from kansas city. she is also moving to georgia in october (the same month that the boy is leaving me to move to houston for school) so i'm needing to get another good hang out with her asap before she leaves. so we decided that in august i'm going to go out there for a long weekend for her bday. i know it's still a ways off, but it was definitely a highlight of my week to know that this is gonna happen.

plus one. time with a long lost friend. okay, so she's not really a long lost friend, but i haven't seen her in like forever and a decade so it was great to spend the day with her. she is working on loosing weight (and succeeding at it! down 13 pounds in just a few months!) and so we decided to work out together. it was great to actually have someone with me and help push me. (my work outs with partners last way longer than a work out by myself) after our work out, we came home and she helped me darken my hair again. first time since september that i've put chemicals in it. so happy with it haha. she also gave me this really awesome painting that she did. the reason she gave it to us was because after my grandma died, grace got almost all of her art supplies. so this oil painting was done with grandma's oils and she wanted to give it to us. it's pretty rocking. 

sorry this one was so long, i like talking about my high lights haha. 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

life lately

life is catching up with me again. school is going pretty well, but it seems to be never ending. i'm just so ready to graduate and not have to do homework all the time. (i even have my homework up in another tab as i write this)

i'm looking for a new job yet again. it seems to be a never ending battle. but i got a message today from a place i applied to. calling them back after this and hoping it goes well. (please pray)

i have one last 5k this saturday night. i'm super excited for it. the other day my friend and i worked out together. sadly, it was the first time i had done anything more than running in a long time. still a bit but it feels good. =] hoping i can work out with her again soon.

so i've thought about doing weight watchers online lately to help me loose weight. my goal is to be at least 150 by my best friends wedding in june next week. and my end goal is to be down to 130. i talked with my parents about it and they said they would be willing to pay for it if i was serious about doing it. i think if i tell others about my goals then they can help keep me accountable and help me stay on track. (so please help with this. i will keep ya'll posted as i go)

also i finally darkened my hair again. first time since september! love it =]

Friday, July 6, 2012

HIgh Five For Friday

so this week i've kinda decided to join in this link up on a blog called from my grey desk that is done every friday, and you talk about five highlights of your week. most of this week i've been a bit of a hot mess, and i have no idea why. i've been trying to figure that out, but for now, some high points of my week.

one. small group. i absolutely adore the ladies in my monday night small group. they have become dear friends of mine and they are all so encouraging. there is no doubt in my mind i would be lost with out them some weeks. kinda makes me wonder how i survived without my small group. plus this week we started a new study called Ephesians: Finding True Love. i'm excited to go through it.

this picture is from last session, and three of these girls aren't in it this time around, but we have a lot more who fill up the living room

two. fire works. i love the fourth of the july and the family traditions we have. every year we go up to see my grandparents and the community band that grandpa directs and dad plays in. after, we go hang out at grandma and grandpa's for a while. after we got back home my parents stayed in, and i went over the the lake and watched fireworks over there.



three. daddy daughter time. i love wing night but more than that i love my dad, and last night dad and i went out to bww before his small group. mom had text me earlier in the day and said she wasn't going to our small group, and since i am not wholly sure how to get there, and beside her i only know about two other people, i went to group with dad. there was one other friend around my age, and the rest were my dad's age, but boy was it fun. they definitely know how to have a fun time, and it was nice that i already knew a good majority of them.

four. coffee date. this is actually happening later this evening, but i am going to have a coffee date with my childhood best friend. i haven't seen her in a long time and i can not wait to see her! we are far behind on catch up time. i'm so excited and hope my afternoon at work goes by fast so we can get to hanging out.

five. class. i know it's odd of me to put school on this list, but i am really enjoying it this term. this is the first time i have ever had classes in the summer. but i'm really enjoying my classes. for those who don't know, i am taking pharmacy technician classes at NAU, and it's fun because i am able to get even more daddy daughter time and talk about class with him. (he's a pharmacist) it's great that i am able to spend time with him talking about pharmacy stuff. one night we were talking about it and my mom was laughing at us saying it was like we were talking a whole different language.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Color Run

so yesterday was the color run. (if you've never heard of it, check it out. so much fun and for a good cause) i went with my friend josie and oh goodness it was quite the adventure to even get there. the race was scheduled to start at 730, so i left and got her around 630. we made it about 20 minutes into the drive and then my car decided to break down. so then i had to call my parents are pray that they hadn't left for the airport yet. (thankfully they hadn't) i only had my license with me, so dad had to give me all my aaa info and i had to called and get towed.

poor bruce had to get towed back into town. won't know what's wrong with him until tomorrow. (and yes my car is a man)


my brother, the rock star that he is, came and picked us up, running on just three hours of sleep. so we took like three different wrong exits in attempts to get to the stadium, had to go to a few different gates before we could get in, and finally parked in the furthest lot from the starting line.

once we got there and got to the starting line it was fine. it was really hot, and i wound up walking most of it because i felt like i was getting dehydrated, but i wasn't being timed so i was okay with it. it was a lot of fun, and i'm really glad i had josie there to do it with. she finished a ways before me, but i still had a good time. i'm glad i had the opportunity to do it. they partnered with ronald mcdonald house, so it was nice to know i was helping out a good cause.

i was calling my brother after the race to try to find where he was

josie and i walking to the starting line


going toward the yellow. the first coloring of the race.





the blue

the orange



they were running out of pink by the time i got there, so if you wanted pink you had to get creative

i made it to the finish!



josie and i at the end of it all.

that afternoon my friend invited me to her house and we chilled at the lake for a few hours. it was a nice way to end the day. needless to say, yesterday was eventful and i was close to tears for the majority of the morning. (for some reason i've been a crybaby lately and i don't like it) i have one more 5k left for the summer. it's been fun to do them. and hopefully i can continue doing them when it's not so stinking hot out.

what did you guys do this weekend? do any of you do races or fun runs?