Three Down, Four to Go

Two weekends ago, my Cincinnati friends and I got to spend the weekend celebrating Adrienne’s upcoming wedding.  Allison, the maid of honor, organized a beautiful shower complete with delicious food, fun games, and awesome decorations.  Being the super-close friends that we are… we somehow all showed up in color-coordinated outfits.  This wasn’t planned at all, but it made for great pictures:

Left to Right: 

Jenn, Whit, Renee, Adrienne, Me, Allison. 

 I don't know where Shannon was when this was taken. 

That evening we all threw Adrienne a bachelorette party.  We told her it was going to be very low-key.  She thought we were going to spend the evening at Allison’s house making mixed drinks and hanging out.  That’s all well and good for the average night, but certainly NOT for her bachelorette party.  Instead we had reserved a hotel room downtown, made reservations at an awesome restraunt on the river, and had a whole itinerary of places to go out on the town. 

So, a few hours after the bridal shower, Allison and I kidnapped Adrienne from her house.  We made her put on giant, soundproof earphones and we blindfolded her.  We drove her down to the hotel where the rest of the girls were busy decorating the room, setting up her gifts and preparing food.  When we arrived at the hotel, Adrienne remained in the backseat blindfolded and ear-phoned while I explained to the valet guys that we were surprising her.  They simply LOVED this unusual interruption to their normal work day and provided us with a wheel chair, so we could wheel her on up to the room.  They even offered to take  pictures of the craziness. 

 Once we got her up to the room, we un-blindfolded her and revealed the surprise!  She was thrilled.  She opened a few more gifts, we had a few drinks, and then headed out for the evening. 

 This is our third wedding among our close group of friends, and each have been so much fun!  I love that we celebrate these milestones together and I could not be more happy for Adrienne.  Can't wait til the next four :) 

Wish List: The Final Installment

Wish List numbers 7-10:


#7 I want to get married.  Ok, duh… we knew this was coming on my list
of life goals.  I’m a 23 year old girl.  I’m not saying that I want to
get married right now… but it is definitely something I want for my
life.  The thing is, he would have to be very unique.  Someone who
loves the Lord deeply and above all other things, someone whose sense
of humor clicks with mine, so we can laugh together every day, someone
with whom I have spiritual, emotional, and physical chemistry.

Sometimes my friends tell me I’m too picky… but I think there is a
difference between being picky and having high standards.  I saw this
video not long ago, and the second half of it describes much better
than I could ever articulate, the kind of man I want.  It’s a long
video, but so worth watching! (To give credit where credit is due,
I first saw this when my friend Sarah posted it on facebook)

#8 I want to have kids.  This is something I want eventually.  Not any
time soon whatsoever.  I love spending time with kids, but I also love
giving them back to their parents after a few hours.  There are too
many other things on my to-do list that come before kids.

But, once I have been married awhile, I know I am going to want to
have kids of my own.  I want to raise them to love God, others and
literature… I had to throw that last one in there.  I have all kinds
of theories about how my kids will NOT spend hours in front of the TV
and video games.  They will read, and paint, and play with toys that
do not require batteries.  I will cultivate in them a love of
learning.

I can only imagine that this little dream of mine is probably
hilarious to mothers of young children.  I can just hear them reading
this and saying “Bless her heart… she thinks it’s that easy...” 
Apparently these figurative women are southern… blessing my heart 
and all.

#9 I want to always “be content whatever the circumstance” (Philippians 4).  
I think there are so many things to appreciate in every season and phase of life.  
Some more than others, but I firmly believe that the blessings in my life
will always outweigh any difficulties.  I am a HUGE believer in
positivity and the effect that it has on my life, and I want to always
make it a priority to recognize how blessed I am.

#10 I am actually not going to write about the last one… not because
it’s a big secret… but because I realized it’s very similar to one of
my others and it would be kind of redundant.

So… that’s it!  Those are ten things that I hope for.  Some for now,
some for the future, and some to remain constant throughout my entire
life.

Wish List: Continued

Wish List numbers 4-6:

#4 I want to live life in community with my best friends.  I want to celebrate all the major milestones like weddings and births together.  I also want to share the everyday things like barbeques in the back yard, church on Sundays and (one day down the road) play dates with our kids in the park.  I also want us to share in the tough times together…loss…disappointment… failures…because I believe that true friends should weather the storms alongside one another. 

#5 I want to always have deep intimacy with Christ.  I want an active prayer life and I want to hunger for scripture daily.  I want to wake up each morning, secure in knowing I am fully loved and sought after by the one who formed me and knew me completely before I ever came to be. 

#6  I want to be healthy. I want to live an active lifestyle, eat healthy and not rely on caffeine for energy.  I’m still working on this one….

Friday Facts

I am going to interrupt my Wish List posts for some Friday Facts... the continuation of my Wish List will be back next time.

Fact: I love Fridays!  I know everyone loves Fridays, but here is why I love them:

a) I let my self “sleep in” til 7 a.m. instead of my usual 6 a.m.

b) I get to wear jeans to work.

c) The promise of the weekend is ahead!

Fact: I’m obsessed with piano music lately… it’s all I want to listen to.  My favorite?  Hymns.  I know that makes me sound like a 90-year-old woman, but I don’t care.  The other day I admitted to loving these dishes:

So if you take into consideration my love of hymns, my desire to own these dishes and the fact that cardigan sweaters make up roughly 40% of my wardrobe… one might think I need to go join the Red Hat Society at my local senior center.  And I will… just give me another 50 years.  They are some classy ladies those Red Hat Society members. 

Fact: I don’t curl my hair.  Everyone seems to think I wake up at an ungodly hour of the morning to curl my hair each day.  That is false.  A hair dryer and round brush is all I use. 

Fact:  “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss may be my favorite book. You should read it... people think I'm kidding, but I really, really love the message of this book.  I think it was secretly written for young adults. 

Fact: Speaking of books I’m currently reading a biography on the Royal family.  Embarrassing as it is to admit, the Royal Wedding sparked my curiosity about these people.  Months before the wedding when it was all over the media, I was completely irritated that everyone cared so much what Kate was wearing, who was invited and what flowers they selected for the church… but then once I watched the wedding, I realized what an interesting, historical event it was, and wanted to know more about the family’s history.  So I checked out a couple library books.  They’re very interesting!  Although I will say I’m surprised by the amount of drama in that family…

Fact: I have been spoiled by free manicures every two weeks for the past couple months.  My friend Jenn’s family owns a nail polish company, and I get to be a product tester for them, so that means free manicures!  I love it.  I do not look forward to the day it ends.

Wish List: Simplicity and Growth

In continuation of yesterday’s wish list, today I’m going to write about two more things that I want in life. 

#2 I want to live a simple life.

I don’t want to be attached to a blackberry, I care very little about having the “latest thing” whatever it may be, and I would be perfectly content without a TV in my home.  I want to read lots of books and have lots of meaningful conversations… I want to take long walks (I suppose I’d have to relocate out of Cincinnati for that one…), I want to wake up early and watch the sunrise and I want to laugh a lot.    

#3 I want to always continue to learn and grow.

Whether it’s learning to cook new recipes, learning to play the piano or reading lots of medical articles and freaking myself out…  I always want to be expanding my knowledge. 

Wish List

Over the next several posts I’m going to write about things that I want.  Not things that I want in a demanding or selfish way, but more like things that I strive after in life.  I wrote a list in my journal of 10 things that I hope to have, do, or continue to do over the course of my life and I will introduce them one or two at a time over several blog entries.  They will be in random order… not in order of importance whatsoever, lest anyone think my priorities are out of line. 

#1 I want to see the world

I have had the privilege of visiting several countries outside the US.  One was for a study-abroad trip and the other two were for missions trips. But that only left me wanting to see more! I want to see more or Europe, I want to go to New Zealand, I want to hold orphans in Africa, I want to go to Israel and walk the streets that Jesus walked, I want to float in the Dead Sea, I want to go on a Mediterranean cruise, and I want to lie on the beach in Belize.  I dream of seeing/doing these, among so many other things, and I want to do them alongside people I love.  Unrealistic?  Possibly… but a girl can dream…

Blue and White

I am currently obsessed with all things blue and white.

Like these dishes:

And this bedding:

and this dress:

I want a house so that I can decorate a room entirely in blue and white.  I want to fill my closet with blue and white clothes... although I'm sure I'd regret that one as soon as this phase ends... 

I had an extremely fun weekend.... which I will post pictures of as soon as I steal them from Jenn. Tonight I'm having dinner with some relatives from out of town and I'm looking forward to it. It will be a bright spot on this cold and rainy Monday.  

Friday Facts...Again

I think I like organizing my thoughts in list form on Fridays.  I've had very busy, full weeks lately and making a list at the end of the week is easier than trying to write a whole post that flows together nicely.

Fact: I am extremely excited to spend this weekend celebrating Adrienne and Nick's upcoming wedding!  Tomorrow afternoon is Adrienne's wedding shower, and tomorrow evening is her bachelorette party.  I can't wait to celebrate with a number of my favorite girls.  I won't give away any of the details on here in case Adrienne is reading... but it's going to be fun :)

Fact: I am spending my Friday night doing laundry and could not be more thrilled.  I have been so busy... I cannot explain to you how wonderful it is to spend the evening in sweats, organizing the craziness of my living space.

Fact: Next week I am going to the Children's Hospital Celestial Ball. I think it's going to be a good time. What girl wouldn't be excited to wear a beautiful dress and be taken to a ball?

Fact:  For memorial day weekend I am going to Nashville.  This month has been amazing so far, and is only going to get better with all of these exciting things to look forward to.

Fact: As proud as I am of myself for refusing to ever go to a tanning bed again... sunless tanner is just not the same.  Not. the. same.

Fact: My parents celebrated their 26 anniversary this week.  I am very grateful to have parents who still love each other after 26 years.

Fact: I think Anthropologie has the greatest catalogs.  I don't even particularly like their clothes (although I do like the eclectic dishes and house-ware stuff they have)... but I LOVE their catalog.  The pictures are awesome and the writing is even good.  There was a page that I ripped out and hung in my cubicle that was a painting of abstract, summery things, with this quote on it:

"If I could dream up the perfect summer day, it would be a combination of time and place. I would be able to move around from Long Island Sound to Harlem, from when I was younger to now, with people who are here, and those who are no longer."

I think I agree with whoever said that... well, excluding the Harlem part... Harlem probably wouldn't be included in my perfect summer day... but the combination of time and place... absolutely.  I think I could write an entire post about this quote detailing exactly what times and which places would be a part of my perfect summer day.  I think I'll write that post one of these days.


Well, there's this weeks facts.  I'm off to put in another load of laundry and then probably go to bed.  I'm wild tonight. Simply wild.

Mended

Every so often I hear a song that really moves me.  I was listening to my go-to Pandora station (Kari Jobe) this week while I worked, and I heard this song by Watermark. It's called Mended and the words really spoke to me.  I wish I could post a video so you could hear the song, but it isn't on youtube.  It's worth posting the lyrics though. I bolded some of my favorite parts. 



You repair all that we have torn apart and
You unveil a new beginning in our hearts and
We stand grateful for all that has been left behind and
All that goes before us

You've got all things suspended
All things connected
Nothing was forgotten
'Cause your love is perfect
You are our healer
And you know what's broken
And we're not a mystery to you
to you, oh Lord, to you

We will dance 'cause you restore the wasted years and
You will sing over all our coming fears and
We'll stand grateful for all that has been left behind and all that goes before us

You've got all things suspended
All things connected
Nothing was forgotten
'Cause your love is perfect
You are our healer
And you know what's broken
And we're not a mystery to you
to you, oh Lord, to you
Lord, you mend the breech
And you break every fetter
You give us your best, for what we thought was better
And you are to be praised
You are to be praised 

You are to be praised
You are to be praised
You are to be praised

You've got all things suspended
All things connected
Nothing was forgotten
'Cause your love is perfect
You are our healer
And you know what's broken
And we're not a mystery to you
to you, oh Lord, to you

Meet My Best Friends

I figured since I talk about my friends in a lot of my posts, I should formally introduce them to those of you who don't know them.  I have to start by saying that I am blessed with more wonderful, close friendships than any one girl deserves.  I have way more than my fair share in the best friend department.  First, we have RAAWKS. I realize that RAAWKS is about as cheesy an acronym as you can get... but that's entirely the point.  We are Renee, Adrienne, Allison, Kristen (me), Whitney, and Shannon.  Anytime we go out to dinner together we tell the hostess that the last name is Raawks, and try to do it with a straight face.  I can never do it without laughing.  Allison and Shannon are champs at keeping their game face on. I have known most of these girls for over 10 years, because we went to elementary, middle and high school together.  We have remained close since high school graduation, despite being scattered around the country.

This is all of us at Renee's wedding shower about a year ago.  From left to right we have Shannon, me, Renee, Adrienne, Allison, and Whitney. 

Next, we have my college friends. We were roommates and all in the same sorority.  Basically these girls have been my family for the past five years... living together bonds you in a way nothing else can.  Between the 9 of us, we had two residences, but we went back and forth between the two constantly.  We did everything together and had the time of our lives during our college years.  We're scattered all over the country... well globe really...in December we were scattered to four different continents!  Keeping in touch isn't always easy, but it's worth putting the effort into to keep these friendships alive.  

(Left to right: Amy, Alyssa C, Savannah, Becca, me, Laci, Alyssa S, Elyna, & Danielle)

This is us at Thanksmas.  A holiday we made up that takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Since we all had to part ways for holiday breaks, the week between Thanksgiving break and Christmas break, we cooked a giant holiday dinner and exchanged gifts.  It may be my favorite holiday.  

So there they are!  My beautiful best friends :)