Usually I hate getting my clothes soaking wet...

But a couple nights ago I didn't mind so much. I got to be a part of this:
Wildside went down to Salt Creek beach to Baptize four of our students and it was incredible. I was the person in charge of taking pictures of all the students getting baptized, which meant that I had to stand out in the waves (that were waste deep) and I wore jeans... oopsies. But, it was worth it. I love my job and I am so blessed to be a part of this kind of thing. I love watching Students fall in love with Jesus and take the next step with him. I love being able to watch them learn, grow and mature in their faith. And, even though I am just a small part of their lives... they have touched mine in a huge way.

I am SO blessed to be called into ministry and be able to experience God working in students lives first hand. I can't wait to see where these students will be 5 years from now.

This is my friend- Part 1

This is my friend Brian, he thinks his name is Bron (because that's how he say's it) But it's spelled B-r-i-a-n which means that is is pronounced BRI-AN. And not BRON.

Today Bri-an was running credit cards though our machine and asked me to help him load some new credit card tape into the machine. He went to get some new tape and it was too big to fit in the machine. So he said "Let's just unroll it until it will fit inside" to which I said, "Umm... really? Are you sure?" He nodded and just rolled it across the floor, and then i tossed it back. Then between the two of us this is what accidentally happened:

Ok, maybe it wasn't a complete accident. But then it just kept going... and going... and going...

Woops.

Seeing the big pile of paper on the floor (that reminded me of a pile of leaves) made me want to play with it... so I did. And I got BRON to play with it too. This is us dressed up in credit card tape:






I like you Bri-an. I'm glad that we're friends.

It was time...

In case you didn't notice... I have a swanky new blog layout. Sure, it's not as fancy as some of the other ones out there, but I like it. I especially like that I have all of my friends links back.

HOORAY!

And just when you thought I couldn't get any more talented...

Allow me to knock your socks of once again. Along with my many other talents including: knowing the lyrics to every Kelly Clarkson song, popping my hip out it's socket, being able to find whatever I'm looking for in pink, and perfecting the art of "the awkward face" in pictures... I also play tennis. That's right... yours truly LOVES the sport of racquet's and green spheres.

Tonight I played tennis with Becky... it had been about a year for both of us, so we were totally rusty, but it was very fun. Elizabeth came too, and she was our spectator/entertainer/cheerleader/time keeper/ball catcher. Thank you Elizabeth.

We all talked about getting out there at least once a week from now on. I can't wait until Tuesday next week!

Oh Disneyland... you never let me down.

Yesterday I went to Disneyland. And, as always... I had a FABULOUS time! I went with Wendy and Bethany and I can't wait to go back with them! Here are some pictures from our adventure at Disneyland...
In the parking structure getting excited about going to Disneyland... I feel like Wendy and I could almost be related in this picture.

An awkward interpretive dance. The lady who took this picture for us was giggling the whole time... I was worried that the picture was going to come out blurry.

Bethany was being Tinkerbell, I was being a soaring eagle, and Wendy was a chicken. We felt like we all needed to be a "flying" something because of the background...

A fun house mirror right outside of California Screamin'... always fun!

Wendy making an Elvis face and me trying to make an Elvis face...

This picture makes me laugh so hard. We were all supposed to make faces like we were afraid but Bethany looks like she just won a million dollars, Wendy looks like a scared Elvis, and I look like I'm about to cry...

It was such a great day! Wendy and Bethany... I can't wait to go back with you, and when we do... we need to have a picture scavenger hunt! I've already started a list of things to look for! Pink bangs (check), Hammer pants (check), fanny pack (check, check), family in matching outfits (check, check and CHECK.)

Gentle Reminders...

This morning I read this:

"Thanksgiving is possible not because everything goes perfectly but because God is present. The Spirit of God is within us-nearer to us than our own breath. It is a discipline to choose to stitch our days together with the thread of gratitude."

It really just reminded me of God's sovereignty and how little I am compared to Him. It reminded me that He's my Father and that He is going to take care of me through every single life situation that I go though; and He's got everything figured out already, therefore I need to be thankful and full of joy in Him. It reminded me that no matter how I feel, or how I try to take control of the situation... His will is going to prevail and its is going to be right. It reminded me that I need to be available to be shaped in every situation and not get caught up in my fears or emotions; but that I need to be ready to be molded though the things that happen in my life. And, hopefully I will have the chance to use that experience later in life and help someone in a similar situation.

Thank you Lord for your gentle reminders of how you are in control and that your will is perfect. Thank you that you that you know me better than I know myself and that you know what is best for me. Help me to be obedient, available, and ready to be shaped to be more like you.

Tonight, I love my job...

I am off to an Angel's game in about 2 hours with Wildside... oh boy am I excited!

GO ANGELS!!

Would you still be my friend if...

In my house there is one bathroom for three girls. It gets a little crowded at times so sometimes a couple of us will be brushing our teeth while the other one is in the shower. Tonight while Elizabeth and I were getting ready for bed she was taking a shower and I was brushing my teeth and Elizabeth says, "Let's play the would you still be my friend if game..." With my tooth brush in my mouth I said "OK! You first!" This is how the conversation went:

E: Would you be my friend if I had facial hair?

Me: Yes, but I would shave it in your sleep.

Me: Would you still be my friend if I grew out my finger nails and toe nails so long that they started to curl?

E: EW. Yes, but I would encourage you to trim them

E: Would you be my friend if I was a Paula Cole Impersonator for a living?

Me: Would you shave your armpits?

E: No.

Me: Yes, I would totally be your friend, and go to all your concerts.

Me: Would you still be my friend if I didn't know how to walk so I had to skip everywhere?

E: Totally.

E: Would you still be my friend if my boyfriend was Marlyn Manson?

Me: NO.

Me: Would you still be my friend if i made all of my clothes out of duct tape?

E: Yes, because I would love to have a friend that does that!

E: Would you still be my friend if I changed my accent every other sentence?

Me: Yes, totally.

Me: Would you still be my friend if I wanted to live with 50 cats?

E: Would the cats be wearing hand knitted sweaters?

Me: Yes, and I will have knitted them with rainbow yarn.

E: No, that's too much.

E: Would you still be my friend if I had sneeze attacks for hours at a time?
Me: Yes, I would just carry a box of Kleenex with me and always have a a face mask ready to go...

Me: Would you still be my friend if I sang show tunes really loud in my sleep every night?

E: Yes, I would just get awesome earplugs.

So... everyone... would you be my friend if every hour on the hour I sang It's a small world after all?

Reason 9,856 I love living with roommates...

My roommates are the best. I love them with my whole heart. Becky and Elizabeth are two of my best friends in the whole wide world and I am so SO blessed to be living with them. Sometimes I think that it would be fun to live in a studio all by myself in New York or Seattle, but then I would miss out on things like this...

Tonight when we all got home from our busy days, around 9ish, we decided that we wanted to go out. We ended up at the Harbor House... one of our favorite places. Not because the food is super delicious, or even because the waitresses are super awesome and nice... mostly because it is just always open, and we always seem to laugh the hardest when we were there. Tonight we saw a really big tall back man wearing a camo vest and tight black pants with cowboy boots. He was dancing all by himself and having an awesome time... how lucky for us be there while this was happening. AWESOME. The harbor house has a really big place in our hearts...

After two huge hot fudge sundae's Becky decided that she was craving cereal so we all piled in the car and went to go find a grocery store that was still open. Thank goodness for ALBERTSON'S! While we were there we did a scavenger hunt for the most random things that we could find, and also just took some other fun pictures...


Who knew that there was such a thing as Micky Burgers...

I love Becky's face in this one. I also love how excited Elizabeth is over these neon straws...

Awesome visors. If you're ever going to a themed visor party, Albertsons is the place to go!

We also bought these bug glasses at the store. 2 for $4... how could we say no!? They were way too good to pass up! We came home and had a photo shoot with them... this was the best picture.

I love my roommates!

Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me...

I am sitting in the Junior High tent right now and there are flys everywhere inside and outside of the tent. My friend Blair just had one in his ear and I just had one land on my face. EW.

List of reasons why I hate flys:

- They eat poop

- Evey time they land on you they throw up

- They were super rude in the movie A Bugs Life

- They get to have 3000 eyes, and I only get two

Highlights from Beach Camp...

- Driving a 15 passenger van for the first time ever...

- Listening to the girls in my van teach the boys in the back seat the motions to itsy bitsy spider.

- Driving past semi's on our way to Carlsbad and trying to get the semi drivers to honk their horn for us... then everyone exploding in "YEAH! That was SO awesome! He honked for us! Woo Hoo!"...every time. Awesome.

- Getting to go to Lifeguard Headquarters with a student because he got stung by a stingray... then going to the Emergency Room with him. FYI... if you ever go to the hospital without shoes on they give you awesome fuzzy socks to wear... and keep! I was a little bit sad that I had sandals on.

- Having a spoons tournament and listening to Matt Hall and David Hughes do running commentary. HILARIOUS.


- Playing capture the flag at night with glow necklaces... then dressing up with them!



- Going to the store in our glow necklaces and buying tons of ice cream. We also made friends with the cashier and gave him a couple of glow necklaces to wear. After getting the longest receipt ever, we danced in the parking lot.

- Singing "Don't build your house on the sandy land" with motions in front of all of our students...

- Going out into the water with a ton of our girls and doing ridiculous "YOGA" positions. We tried to stay standing when the waves crashed against us... but the crazier the positions, the easier we fell. We also made our hair look like George Washington and jumped up when the waves came so that our hair would stay "George Washington-ish"... I love junior highers.

- Playing Egyptian Rat Slap with awesome water proof cards on sandy towels with a bunch of students.

- Backing up a cargo van down a steep dirt road. Bethany was standing in the back of the van yelling, "Right, Left... now strait! OK, left... more left... watch out there's a wall!" I feel invincible now.

- Singing in my van on the way home with students and making up dance moves to Unwritten. Then watching every single one of them in my rear view mirror dance when the chorus comes on. Including the guys.

- Listening to Breaking Free (High School Musical) nine times in a row on the way home. The boys in my van DEMANDED to sing solo at the beginning... then we all joined in and sang together. So much fun.

- Getting home and taking a long hot shower...

I'm sad that our camps are over for the summer... but it's good to be home. And, I have something to look forward to next summer! Only 362 more days to go!

... and I'm gone again

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I leave for beach camp. I am so excited because I love the beach and I love camp... so both of them together is going to be SO much fun! Another thing that I am super excited about this trip is that we're only taking about 50 students... so hopefully I (and all the leaders going) will get to know all of them by name!

Hopefully when I get back I will be a lot tanner than I am now...

I'll be back Friday... with pictures!

Being 12 again... and loving it!

The very last night up at Thousand Pines Bethany, Stacey and I decided to take some crazy pictures. Taking awkward pictures (where you look super uncomfortable in them, or just plain ridiculous) is one of our favorite things to do.

This was the "Pretend like you're the worlds wost model" Pose

This was the "Pretend that you're trying to be sexy... but you're horrible at it" Pose.

Such an awkward pose... we were laughing so hard. It might be one of those things where only the people in the situation think that it's funny... but I was just giggling while downloading the picture up to blogger I think it's so funny. Also, if you look at the girl in the background it looks like she has no teeth... which is also super funny.

This picture makes me laugh super hard because if you just glance at it it looks normal... but look at our hands. It's the most awkward hand pose ever. We were laughing pretty hard in this one too.

Good times. Stacey and Bethany, you guys are so much fun! I love you both and I'm so glad that we're friends!

I feel like this is a cheesy slide-show... BUT, here are pictures from Seattle.

Our first bus Metro Bus ride. We were on our way to the Mariners game... you can't tell, but we were SUPER excited! We didn't have tickets, but we were hopeful!


This is the guy that sold me his ticket for a dollar less than he bought it. I was SO excited that I got to go into the game!


The cutest player on the whole wall full of pictures like this, so of course we had to take a picture with him.


Who can go to a baseball game and not eat a hot dog... not us! It was our first stop!


The DUCK tour! We payed $2 extra and got "wacky quackers"... totally worth it!


The bus driver who who said that her name was "Helen Wheels" was a little crazy. OK, a lot crazy... she had Barbie's hanging from the ceiling of the bus that she would take down every once in a while and swing them by their hair to the rhythm of whatever song was playing....


Meet our crazy "Duck" Driver Helen. This is her boxing with pink floaties right before we went into the water...


Becky and I freezing in the back of "Helen Wheel's" Duck Bus


The ferrie ride over to Bainbridge Peninsula. SO MUCH FUN!


Becky and I at the top floor of the tallest building west of the Mississippi... supposedly. I don't know if it's really the tallest building... but the view was amazing!


My Aunt Barbara and Uncle Daryl.


This placed used to be an old factory, but it shut down 50 years ago; now it's just a park where anyone can go. It was pretty fun walking around and looking at all of the old gadgets and big machinery.


A lake filled with lily pads that we saw right off the freeway. It's such a different view from our freeway in Southern California!


Of course we had to go to Starbucks in Seattle. We couldn't have avoided them if we had tried!

Home sweet home...

I got home tonight from Seattle, and I miss it already... but I missed my friends back here even more. Some friends cam over tonight and we all made spaghetti and then watched a movie... so much fun.

I'm excited to sleep in my own bed tonight and wake up in my own house... but one day I hope that I can say that I am home in Seattle.

Pictures from Thousand Pines...finally!

Here are some pictures from Thousand Pines. I meant to post them forever ago but never had the time before I took off to Seattle. Bethany has more pictures on her blog too from summer camp. But here mine... finally... ta-da!

Some of my favorite things at camp are...


Hanging out with my favorite people. Bethany is one of them...



Getting serenaded by Germans on the piano in cafeteria.



Making new friends...


The bus ride home... always sad at the end of a fun week. But, also very great to be going home so that I can sleep in my own bed!

On the Escalator today...

I heard this conversation with Becky:

Guy #1: YO! MY BROTHA... WASSUP!
Guy #2: YO!
Guy #1: HEY WHERE YOU BEEN... WHERE YOU AT NOW?
Guy #2: OH YOU KNOW! I'M, YOU KNOW... GOIN TO THE 12-14. 350.
Guy #1: YEAH YEAH, WOAH-KAY. I BE THERE.
Guy #2: YUP.
Guy #1: YEAH YEAH, THIS (points to his elbow). IT AINT RIGHT.
Guy #2: UH-HUH... UH-HUH. WE DO IT. YEAH, WE DO IT RIGHT!

Guy #1 was one step ahead of us on the escalator and almost to the second floor, and Guy #2 wasn't even on the escalator, he was on the floor below us. They could have easily been the loudest people in the whole entire mall. I'm pretty sure that you could hear them on all three floors...


Oh Seattle... how I love you for all of your interesting people and fun moments.

Who let the ducks out?

I did. That's right.

picture this: Crazy lady (driving a huge bus swinging a Barbie by her hair) singing "WHO LET THE DUCKS OUT?!" and about 40 people in a buss with her echoing "QUACK... QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!"

It was easily the most entertaining hour and a half of my life.

I can't wait to post pictures about this adventure in Seattle when I get home and hook up my camera. GET EXCITED EVERYONE...

Here's a couple (not) fun facts...

According to my Snapple lid today, Snapple True Fact #31 says: The average human will eat an average of 8 spiders while sleeping.

SICK. I can't think of anything that grosses me out more than having a spider crawl into my mouth... except maybe a grasshopper jumping into my mouth.

Also, according to Becky's Snapple lid, Snapple True Fact #53 says: The average women consumes 6lbs of lipstick in her lifetime.

Thank goodness I don't wear lipstick. That's 6 pounds I don't need!

Germans call it an "Ear Worm". I call it "Having a song stuck in my head".

So, there is this awesome music store right down the street from my Aunts house (where I am staying in Seattle) and its called Easy Street Records. I have been there probably 5 times since I have been up here just because I love to walk through it and look at all the old vintage records that they have along with the new released records. Honestly, I didn't even know that Records were still being made. But, when I walked by a shelf and saw some JET and Shins records sitting out I realized that records aren't as 1950's as I thought they were. Anyways, every time I am walking out of the store I see the sign that says "Easy Street Records" and I start singing the song "Easy Street" from the movie Annie. All day long that song has been on repeat playing in my head. I can't get it out; I have been humming it all day long. The song was gone for an hour today when I heard the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive" at Johnny Rockets. But that didn’t last for very long… because as soon as I walked by Easy Street I started singing that song again.

This is what I have been singing under my breath ALL DAY LONG:

(BUMP BUMP) Easy Street... (BUMP BUMP) EASYYY STREEEEETT... Where the rich folks plaaaay! Yeah, yeah, yeah, (yeah yeah yeah...) UH! Move them ever-lovin' feeeeet... to eaaaasy streeeeet. That's where we're gonna (UH) - THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOOONNAAA... BEEE!!

What's the worst song you have ever gotten stuck in your head? …I think that this is mine.

I went to a Mariners game!

Yesterday Becky and I went to a Mariners game... and it was SO FUN! It took us forever to get in because tickets were completely sold out. This is our story of how we got in: Before we got tickets there was a Safeco employee standing out by the ticket window and this is how our conversation went:

Me: Hi! What are the chances of you wanting to sneak my friend and I into the game with you?
Him: Sorry, I can't.
Me: I'll give you $40.
Him: Well...
Me: You need to live on the edge every once and a while... PLEASE.
Him: Will you go on a date with me?
Me: Yes. Just get my friend and me into the game.
Him: Wow. Well, I would love to go on a date with you, but I would loose my job. Sorry.
Me: Boo. You're no fun at all.
Him: If I hear about any tickets getting released I'll let you know... If I get you in that way will you go on a date with me?
Me: No.
Him: Ok, well, I'll still look for tickets for you.
Me: Great, thanks.

No luck with that guy... so we moved on. One lady had to leave early so we ran over to her and she gave us her ticket. One down... one to go. We then talked to this other guy and convinced him that he should give us his ticket (that he was saving for a friend but never showed up). He caved in and even let me buy it off of him for a dollar less than he paid for it! I was so lucky because there was another guy standing right next to me offering SO much more than I could have paid, but he still gave it to me... for a dollar less that he paid for it! Sometimes it really pays off to be a girl.

... I will post pictures when I get home. I can't believe that I forgot my camera cord!

Tag, I'm it!

I got tagged by Elizabeth... who I miss very much since I am in Seattle.

Dear Elizabeth,
I miss you. I miss falling asleep at night having our bunk bed conversations and watching movies with you. I really am not sure what I am going to do without you when you move away from me. I wish that you were here.

Here are my answers to these fun questions...

Famous person from History: Anne Sullivan. What an incredible women to be able to teach someone who is both blind and deaf to communicate. I would have loved to help and have a relationship with someone like that and watch them blossom. I can't think of a more rewarding job... way to be awesome Anne Sullivan. You are my hero. I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been at times... way to stick to it and get rewarded by your diligence and hard work.

Celebrity: Jessica Alba. She is totally cute and isn't in all over the cover of magazines and tabloids. She seems to have it all together, seems very personable, and like she would be fun to hang out with.

Athlete: Tiger Woods. Not because I love golf... I actually think that it's the most boring sport ever. And, I would also argue that golf isn't even a sport at all, I think it's so ridiculous when I see it on ESPN (but that's another blog altogether). I would want to be Tiger because he gets to travel a lot and play on beautiful golf courses. Also, golf is the kind of "sport" that you can play even when you get super old... so he won't have to retire soon unless he wants to.

Famous Christian Mover and Shaker: I am with Elizabeth on this one; I would say Donald Miller. He is one of my lit hero's and the most encouraging/motivating/challenging author that I have ever read. Donald Miller if you ever read this... I hope that one day I get to meet you. You are amazing. I want to be just like you.

Musician: Does the former Spice Girl Posh (Victoria Beckham) count? I'm going to say that yes she does count, because this is my blog and I do what I want on it. My rules say that The Spice Girls are totally musicians. I would want to be her because not only is she gorgeous, she is also married to a total stud, has an awesome wardrobe, her kids are super cute and she seems like she is a great mom.

Fun at the Airport

This morning my roommate/best friend Becky and I took off for Seattle. We left our house this morning at 5:00, stopped at Starbucks, and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight. Once we checked our bags we walked over to the HUGE line of people waiting to go through the metal detectors... after being in line for about 20 minutes we heard a weird noise. I figured that it was music being played in the airport and that it was the beginning of a horrible song... nope. It was an alarm. There was a security breach and so the airport had to stop the line and no one was allowed to go through the metal detectors or check any more bags. The whole airport came to a stop... it was really weird. About two minutes later this short little women starts walking next to the line of people who were waiting to go to their terminal and starts yelling at everyone to "MAKE SURE THAT LIQUIDS ARE IN A PLASTIC BAG... A PLASTIC BAG. PLASTIC BAG. PLASTIC."

Becky and I were getting bored at this point and tired of standing so we pow-wowed on the floor and played Blink. One of the best card games ever. We were only there for about 30 minutes, thank goodness. Then we got to take off our shoes and walk through the metal detectors. Always a good time.

Once we got on the plane we had the best time ever. I love take off's and I LOVE sitting on planes with people that I love and just being able to spend time talking to them. Becky and I had a lot of catch up to do since we hadn't seen each other in about a month. We talked the whole time about everything that has been going on in our lives and then for a solid hour and a half on the plane we did this: