living the dream.

friends, i am in PORTLAND, OR.
it has been a long time dream of mine, and it has come true.
i'm here. looking at mt. hood off in the distance. (well not literally right now, but i spot it every chance i can get.)

rachel has been the best guide, despite being new to the place as well.
we've adventured around some roses, we've survived some heat, and we've traveled through the city of books.

it's funny to have such an idea in your head about how a place is going to be,
and then not have it meet those expectations.
which is definitely not bad, because it hasn't fallen short in any way...
expectations are so tricky. i should try to avoid them.

but portland has been a dream come true,
and as i sit here at a way too cool coffee shop with coldplay in my ears drinking perfect french press coffee with soy milk,

life is STILL perfect.

amen.

ladies and gentlemen, after paying the price (both physically and moneyly) - i have a new retainer.
it finally feels comfortable to go to bed again.

i have really learned these past couple days how important simple math is, and when you don't keep up with it you can forget the most simple addition. my remedy is to play yahtzee a lot.

today, my roommate and grand friend LAUREN totally had her golden birthday. we did birthday everything! birthday swim, birthday felicity (twice!), birthday dean&delucca, birthday sushi and birthday oatmeal cookie shot. what a good, good day.

also, that same friend leaves tomorrow for costa rica and she will be missed.

then the day after tomorrow i will leave to see my other grand friend RACHEL in portland. i cannot wait to see this city. and that gurrl too.

last night i was reading my journal from last summer when i was in spain, and i got so carried away i read the whole thing. i laughed about all of the hilarious things i had forgotten and got so nostalgic over everything else. it's weird to think that one year ago i was exploring a foreign country that i now consider one of my homes. i miss it tons.

viva la vida. amen.

happy twenty two of june!

even though chris martin and his gang totally ditched kansas city for a few months,
i can't hide my love for them...

the new cd makes me feel alive.
especially with the windows down driving on ward parkway.

at first i was just in love with the sound of it all,
but slowly the lyrics are permeating my brain
and it is AWESOME.


also i have a question.
what makes a road a parkway, drive, avenue, street, etc.?
tell me tell me tell me.

life is good.
to the core.
to the max.
infinity.
big time.

portland = five days.

amen.

.

today i made a lampshade.
no previous experience, just did it. and it looks fabulous.
it's made out of handmade paper from Bangladesh.
i think it will become my new trade.

yesterday was a great day for these reasons:
1. refund of money i don't deserve.
2. getting the JOB that i wanted.
3. swimming in my backyard pool for the first time.
4. saw a sign that said papa keno's will open again on friday.
5. served food at hope faith shelter and saw my good friend roy.
6. coldplay came out.
7. 50% off canvases at jo ann's.
8. lots of felicity episodes.

today was also a great day, but NOT for this reason:
1. my retainer broke. which doesn't seem that devastating to you, but it is to me. i've had it since 1999 and have worn it almost every night since then. we've grown close, until tonight the front metal part just decided to literally snap in half.

amen.

reservation rewards.

EDIT: reservation rewards has sent me an e-mail regarding my statements here on my blog and have graciously decided to reimburse my membership fees. I cannot say how amazing that is, considering it was 100% my fault.

i just want everyone to know that reservation rewards is a great company, and had i actually paid attention i could have received discounts on a lot of things.

God bless grace.

walley world.

hello blog world, it's been a while.
i feel like i usually intend on writing something most days - something quirky or intelligent or heart-felt, but then i just don't.

i'd catch you up on everything that i've been doing, but that seems like a lot of work, and frankly i just can't remember and you frankly don't care.
(the word frankly is amusing. i think i would really dislike being named frank.)

but one thing i will say is this.
today my family (whom my dad referred to as the griswold's all day) took a trip to world's of fun for father's day (which was referred to as walley world by guess who).
i got talked into doing the rip cord.
which actually isn't that big of a deal, it was like my 4th time, but you wouldn't have known it from my terrified face.

i think my brother should be a model.


yesterday i went to a flag day party!
today ate ice cream cake and listened to dashboard confessional. and kind of liked it.
tomorrow i will swim in my pool for the very first time. woo!

Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much freaking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our goshdarn smiles.

it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.

the Lord is faithful.
He has brought me to this new place where literally every step is in the dark,
but he doesn't let me fall.
He just keeps asking me to take another step.
Sometimes I stand there long enough to realize how in blind i am
and i get really nervous and refuse to move unless i hear his voice.
and he faithfully vocalizes every time, even though he doesn't have to.

i've been learning what it means to serve. actually serve.
with a truly humble heart knowing that these people are absolutely no different than me, but somehow they just have been dealt some bad luck.

kansas city has meant something different to me in this past week and a half than it has in my whole life, and it's so good.
i am confident i am where the Lord would have me,
and i think my eyes are getting adjusted to this blind following, and i am seeing Him more and more everyday.

so let go, let go. jump in.

_______________________________________________

You cause my heart to sing, You are always listening
You understand my dreams, You do

You cut away my lies, You see through my disguise
You are not so far away from me, as i thought You’d be

You love me as I am, even when I cannot stand
You whisper in my ear all the things I need to hear
from You

You are a mystery, You bring strong men to their knees
You change the hearts of kings, You do

You have names for all Your stars
You heal my wounds and kiss my scars
You sing a million songs over me

i bet i know it. i bet it's your address.

everyone has a kind of claim to fame - you know someone who knows someone famous, you've had a famous person encounter, you've posed for a picture with rafael nadal, etc.

mine is that my dad grew up being best buds with john mcbride - who became husband of martina mcbride (you know, the country singer). well it's pretty cool hearing about how my dad gets to visit them at their home, get into martina's concerts, go to john's birthday party and hang out with people such as tim mcgraw and faith hill, and all that high profile business.

so just today i asked my dad to send me the addresses of the people he sent graduation announcements to, so that i could write thank you notes. and who's on the list? john and MARTINA MCBRIDE. and although they didn't send me a card, martina mcbride knows i graduated from k-state. no big deal.

but the really cool thing is that now i have their address. maybe i will sell it to the "map of the stars' homes" and make big bucks.

well other than that, it just started hailing here in good ol kansas city. yikes. bad news for the vehicles out there.

stay safe, it's a wild world.