Adventure Weekend Part I: Hip-Hooray for Hollywood!

It really is true what they say: 'When it rains, it pours!' Luckily, I love the rain...especially when 'rain' is a metaphor for out-of-town adventures!!
This past weekend I ventured over the grapevine for the second time this month (two weeks in a row!) This time, not only did I have a travel-buddy...but I was also relieved of any and all driving responsibility. I literally didn't have to do anything but sit back and enjoy the ride! And enjoy it I did!! A good friend and some good music and we arrived in no time! Our destination: Jess's apartment!
Jess had a beach day planned...so after getting settled, and gathering our beach gear we were off to Malibu...but it wasn't nearly as warm as we were expecting (but that didn't stop us from having fun!)
We decided to leave the beach and head back for a little tourist action. Jess lives pretty close to Hollywood, so after she gave us a tour of the studio she works for...we headed into Tinseltown.
I had seen parts of the Walk of Fame before...but it's always exciting to look for your favorite star's star!

'The Producers' have adjacent stars!!

We wandered down the boulevard a bit and all of a sudden there it was:

Grauman's Chinese Theatre!! 

It is so much fun to see all the hand, foot (and sometimes hoof) prints of so many movie legends. I was having a hard time containing my excitement...I mean, almost all my favorites were there: Doris, Bing, Julie, Dick, Danny, Frank, Johnny, Rock...and then there were these three:

The hand, foot & wand prints of Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe & Rupert Grint (aka Hermione Granger, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley!)

The newest addition to my personal Walk of Fame mug collection

We ended the night with delicious burgers at Mel's Drive In...
...the weekend was much too busy to contain to one post, the adventure will continue in part II

It's the perfect blendship!!

Best friends + Lunch + Shopping + Coffee + More shopping + Pizza (& cheesy bread) + At home-spa night + Mani/pedis + Drinks + Chick flicks + Giggles + Brunch + Celebrity sighting + Antiquing = Perfect weekend!

I got to visit two of my 'fristers' (friend+sister) this weekend. I haven't seen the girls since October, so this visit was long overdue!! It was like college all over again (in a good way). After a quick stop at her lab, Kathy took us to a giant mall...where she tested our shopping stamina (Kathy's shopping skills cannot be matched). After mall walking (which was good training for my 5k!) we decided to stay in for the night. We ordered a pizza and we were all in jammies by 7:30! We had an old-fashioned, no-boys-allowed slumber party...just like the old days!

This morning, we drove to downtown Orange for brunch, and there just happened to be a car show happening. It was like stepping into a time machine! And of course, no Southern California experience would be complete without a celebrity sighting! We noticed Milo Ventimiglia (Jess from Gilmore Girls) checking all the cool old cars.

At first we thought it was just a hipster taking pictures...then we realized it was a famous hipster. We didn't want to bother him...but I kinda wanted to. First, seeing celebrities is still kind of a big deal for me. I am from the central valley, we don't have many celebrities in these parts. Second, Gilmore Girls was what these girls and I bonded over all those years ago in the Freshman dorms at CLU!! In part, we owe our friendship to that show!

I just love that even though we spend a lot of time apart, we always pick up right where we left off when we get back together!!

I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it

By nature, I'm not a big risk-taker. When it comes to making decisions that will impact my future, I will hem and haw and go back and forth. I don't gamble, mostly because change will somehow be involved. If there is something I want...I can either sit around and wait for it to happen to me (low-risk) or I can go after it (high-risk). If I sit around and wait, chances are I will never get to experience whatever it is that I'm waiting for...however, if I pursue it, things could go one of two ways:

a) I get what I'm hoping for! Things change for the better and I'm happy! (Unlikely)

b) I put myself out there for nothing. Things change for the worse, (and potentially get awkward) and I could end up worse off then I was before.

I have been known to tell my students after nap: "if you take too long to put your shoes on, you will miss out on story-time" and I feel like I need to start taking my own advice. If I take too long, if I don't take initiative, I will miss out on so much.

I wish I could just let go and let the dice decide...

Seriously. These are the things that keep me up at night.

Promises, Promises

Every year, during Lent, my church makes a devotional booklet filled with a daily story or reflection written by members of the congregation. This year, I was asked to write a little 'sumthin-sumthin' and if you don't mind, I would like to share it here! (If you do mind, you don't have to read it!)

When God makes promises, God keeps promises. When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, God kept that promises. However, the promise was not fulfilled the way that Abraham envisioned. God fulfills promises in very creative ways. Just as Abraham was surprised that his wife Sarah --who was very old-- would give birth to a baby, I was surprised when at 25 years old, I was faced with a career change.

Sure, I’d had several jobs since graduating from high school; camp counselor, sales associate for the Gap, office errand girl…but in terms of an actual career, there was only one for me. I was going to be a youth director! I had majored in Religion, I had interned here at Christ Lutheran and after many interviews I had finally landed a position at a church in Southern California! This was pretty much all I had ever wanted.

As with most things that seem too good to be true…this was. After a year and a half of working for this church, I ended up losing my job. I felt like I was taking a huge leap backwards. True, I wasn’t happy in SoCal…true, I wasn’t finding my footing in youth ministry like I thought I would...but facing the fact of moving back in with my parents wasn’t something I was ready for.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” So I know God promised to take care of me…I just wasn’t sure how. God always has the plan, and I had to trust that…I just couldn’t see how God’s plan would fit in with my plan. But, God doesn’t work that way. God fulfilled His promise to me when I was offered a job at ChristKids preschool. A job that has all the components that attracted me to youth ministry: sharing the love of Jesus Christ with young people. God continues to take care of me, and God continues to teach me that His plans are not my plans….and that’s probably a good thing

When life hands you lemons...

The other day my dad brought home a bag of lemons. Evidently, someone he works with at the credit union was giving them away, and he felt the need to snatch up at least half a dozen.

After telling me this he added, "I wonder how many lemons you would need for a lemon meringue pie?" which we all know is dad-speak for: "You should make me a lemon meringue pie!"

So today I made my very first lemon meringue pie! The crust wasn't too hard (since I'm pretty much a professional pie crust maker). The lemon part was a little trickier, and as for the meringue? Well, this pie was a bit of a collaboration between me and my mom (and my mom's stand mixer!)

I'll admit, it's not the prettiest pie I've ever made (chalk it up to following the recipe for an 8 inch pie, and putting it in a 9 inch pie pan!)

I can say, though, that of all the pies I've made...this is one of them!

I tried a slice and I wasn't sure if I severely messed up, or if I just don't like lemon meringue pie, but according to my target audience (my dad, whose favorite pie is lemon meringue) it was a bit tart, but not too bad. I'll call that a win!

PS...my hands will probably smell like lemon zest for about a week

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Just when I thought I had conquered the cold/flu bug that swept through the preschool, I was brought down by a bad cold...that turned into a sinus infection...that has now evolved into an ear infection. :(

I'm currently on my second round of antibiotics. I feel like I have been sick in one way or another for the past two months...and I'm ready to be done with it!

I've dealt with these issues my entire life, so a few years ago my doctor ordered a CT scan of my face...she found out that my super narrow sinuses are all crazy and curvy and weirdly shaped, and my eustachian tubes are kinda flattened (and also super narrow). Apparently these parts are essential to life and cannot simply be ectomy'd.

The fact that I live in the second most polluted area in the country really doesn't help this situation. Add my allergies and my deviated septum to all this, and I basically don't stand a chance when it comes to staying healthy.

I just want to feel better, and for my ear to stop hurting.

And maybe some mashed potatoes...

#ChristianConcertProblems

Last night I got to experience The Rock and Worship Roadshow

The experience included driving about an hour or so to Fresno, waiting in line for about half an hour, and then rocking out in worship for about 4 or 5 hours...with about 15,000 or so other Christians!

I love going to concerts, nothing beats a live show! My favorite thing about Christian concerts though, is the array of people you see there. From the very young (we're talking actual babies) to this old couple who were probably in their 60's. People of every race and background, soccer moms and punks with mohawks...all coming together because they all worship the same God! Plus, if you see a cute guy at a Christian concert, you've automatically got so much in common...which leads me to #ChristianConcertProblem numero uno:

Is it a wedding ring, or a purity ring?

"Maybe it's a purity ring, we are at a Christian concert"-my friend, K!

While waiting in line, there were three people in front of me and K. Two guys and a girl. One of guys was very obviously in a couple with the girl...so K and I snuck a peek at the left hand of the other guy. A ring, but no wife.

This ties in to my second #ChristianConcertProblem

Sitting by an entire high school youth group, instead of a couple of cute Jesus-loving guys

Right? And then when there are some cute guys in the row in front of you, one of them is just goofy enough to be cute (but inexplicably has a super pretty girlfriend*) and the other, well...how do introduce yourself to a random stranger without him thinking you're a brazen hussy?

-sigh-

Then K and I ended up 'window shopping' for our future husbands while bands of cute musicians occupied the stage ("and he's a Christian!"). I decided I'm going to marry the guitar player from Disciple and K is going to marry the keyboardist from Tenth Avenue North...no rings on either! So we're just going to live happily ever after as the wives of Christian rock stars!

*re: the goofy guy with the pretty girlfriend. This combination always confuses me. For one, the pretty girls should leave the goofy guys for girls like me. For another, you never see the combination in reverse...for this reason I know I will never have a super duper hot boyfriend. Or, apparently a goofy one...since they seem to be snatched up by all the pretty girls.