reverie

This takes the first sentence from the first post of each month for a fun little end of the year blog. Jan~ 2006. Feb~ Welcome to my favorite month of the year. :) Mar~ Monday we had torrential downpour which was lovely until I tried to drive home from work through streets that had morphed into streams. Apr~ I have decided that I don't want to blog anymore. May~ Spend more than about 5 seconds in a conversation about relationships and it's bound to dissolve into, "boys suck" and/or "girls suck" depending on the genders represented in the discussion. Jun~ I don't have much to say right now. Jul~ I got a call this afternoon from my dad that my Uncle OP (from India) had passed away last night. Aug~ There are some really great things about being an adult. Sep~ For all the melodies and choruses in the world, all the songs ever written, all the music about this earth, there is no greater sound than hearing a small child say your name. Oct~ I need a change. No

You may notice a few changes around here. I was finally invited to switch my blog over to blogger beta. The main change is that posts are now archived by subject. So if you find yourself thinking, I wonder what Azina has to say on "such and such" subject, you can head over to posts related to that topic. I haven't finished categorizing all the posts, but I will do so as quickly as I can. With over 350 posts this will take some time. I've added what I call the "Aziner" category under which will fall posts that I feel give you a good deal of insight on the inner workings of myself. Tread carefully, it could be dangerous. ;)

Christmas Party 2006 Photo Review good food good friends good friends named Rachel funny faces and baby Jesus I'd say it was a pretty successful party. :)

Jared Robert Routhier born 11-30-2006 10 lbs. 13 oz. 22 3/4" and every bit as adorable as you would expect

1. go to 30 Seconds to Mars concert check. 2. touch Jared Leto check. haha 3. have an amazing 4 day weekend check. 4. decorate for Christmas well this didn't happen yet, but that just means there's something wonderful to look forward to this week. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving day/weekend. I hope all of you did too! :)

I realize I have been rather delinquent in posting of late. I intended to respond to all of the comments on the previous post, but alas time has gotten away from me. For now I will just say, thank you & I love you guys. This has been a wonderful Thanksgiving week already, far better than I had even imagined. Sunday The afternoon was spent driving back from my church's young adult retreat. We got a bit off course and the trip took much longer than anticipated, but it was a fun ride back with friends. Monday I got my ipod back from Apple after I sent it in for replacement due to a dead battery. This was much quicker than I anticipated. And despite the fact that I can't get the thing to work (it doesn't seem to want to charge), it's still exciting. Monday also brought the release of 30 Seconds to Mars' video for From Yesterday . The video is a martial arts epic mini movie that MTV2 says is "one of the most ambitious music films in history." Tuesday

I am 24 years old. Today I did something for the first time in my life. I put air in one of my tires. Now, let's not be crazy it's not that in 8 years none of my cars have needed their tires inflated. It's just that there's always been someone else there who has offered to do it for me. Even a few weeks ago when I thought it was going to be the first time I had to do it by myself, some nice man offered to help me. Tonight there was no benevolent stranger. But I had no trouble doing it all by myself. Some girls would find that incredibly empowering. I hurt my thumb and got black gook all over my hand. I didn't found it empowering. I found it dirty and painful. I found that I don't like it. Secretly sometimes I wonder why I wasn't born 50 years earlier. I think I would make an excellent stereotypical 1950s suburban American housewife. Sometimes I really desire that. For some reason my life is really far from that. I'm a single girl in a hug

Thank you Shauna & Jessica for your comments. And thanks to everyone who is there for me either with encouraging words or in person. Things are going better now. A dear person in my life offered to take me out for coffee last night & we just sat & talked. Unless he reads this (which I don't know) he didn't even know that's all I really needed. He just saw a friend hurting & wanted to help. And even though the conversation was good, it was just that gesture of wanting to help & being there that made so much difference to me. I didn't need to cry anymore, but he did buy the coffee & listen & give me a hug afterward. It's hard to see sometimes. Life can get so hazy & frustrating, but I am really blessed.

I need a change. I need something profoundly good and surprising to happen in my life. It seems regardless of my circumstances, the end results are always predictable. I want to be wrong. I want to be so wrong. I can't explain specifically what I mean. Or rather I won't right now. All I can tell you is that I'm feelin' so stir crazy right now- emotionally, mentally, physically, locationally. I wanted nothing more today than to go to Starbucks with my mom. I just wanted to talk to her & maybe cry a little & get a hug. I didn't even call her. I didn't want to pour out my heart & at the end have no one to hug me. Or buy me coffee. ;) How can this be? How can it happen that after over 2 years in this city & after having built up an amazing community of friends I can still feel so alone, like I have no one here I could talk to?

Okay yes, I'm kind of mildly obsessed with Jared Leto. But have you heard his band 30 Seconds to Mars? They are incredible. And to be fair this post is about so much more than just extolling the virtues of one Mr. Leto. This is where my affinity for blogging and for him collide. Regarding the thematic elements of A Beautiful Lie , 30 Seconds to Mars' sophomore release, Charles Avelon writes, "Struggle may, at first, seem like an ill-fitting focal point for Leto. As one blogger put it, 'Jared seems to have been at the front of the queue for all of life's offerings.'" (Soundcheck Magazine Sept. 2006) No wonder according to theinquirer.net (a tech news site, not to be confused with the tabloid The Enquirer) Jared "said that he wanted blogging to die, suddenly" and that "the whole idea was ridiculous and just a playground for four-year-olds." The article continues, "And are we to suppose that Jared doesn't read them? Er no, h

For all the melodies and choruses in the world, all the songs ever written, all the music about this earth, there is no greater sound than hearing a small child say your name. I was able to be in Omaha over Labor Day weekend & spend time with my family (except Joe unfortunately) and had the distinct pleasure of hearing my youngest niece utter my name in a way that only she at this age will ever say it. And I am so pleased to report that Ashlee was right when she said a bond like what Jadyn & I had formed was not one that would be forgotten. Knowing that 4 months could pass and not break our bond makes the time between now & Christmas not seem quite so long. Don't get me wrong, I don't love or miss Alaina or Amber or the rest of the family any less. They are all very dear to my heart & I cannot wait to see them again. But Jadyn & I have a connection that I have never had with anyone else on the planet, nor am I likely to unless I have a daughter much lik

A teller at the bank today was walking around reading a pocket-sized dictionary. (Whose pocket that is to fit in I am quite unaware.) I can only imagine she was prepping for a lunchtime Scrabble tournament. It has come to my attention that Ravi & I are cursed with an affliction. Perhaps it is rooted in our deep love for the Red Sox. Perhaps we are irrationally violent. Whatever the cause, upon seeing someone donning a Yankees hat, we both have a desire to punch that person. Now I'm willing to admit that the individual may be misguided and simply needs to be re-educated, but still something about that NY logo just brings out violent desires in me. Don't worry, I've never actually punched anyone for this or any other reason, nor do I think I ever will. I punch like a girl, it's embarrassing really. A week or so ago, I went to Quizno's for lunch. They were unbelievably understaffed, and I considered leaving but I had time & the manager had already see

As for the car, I think I've decided to wait until I turn 25 to get a new car. Either that or I plan on winning a Saturn Sky from the Target survey I just filled out. :) The next few months are sure to be expensive. I'll have to buy a plane ticket to Houston for Christmas. Nicole & I will once again be hosting Thanksgiving. Then there's our famous Christmas party that will take place only a couple weeks later. And of course Christmas presents to buy. And a nephew on the way means I can be on the look out for cute baby boy items to purchase. Right now is probably not the best time to be tightening my budget. Plus it will be wise to wait until I get a raise so I know for sure what I will be able to afford. I am happy with this decision. Now I just have to hope the Neon will back me up on it. It is just a little over 6 months that I will be turning 25. 25! Seems old kind of. Seems like an age I should have a lot more figured out than I do. But you know I th

There are some really great things about being an adult. I have a lot of freedom. If I want to stay out until 4:30 in the morning, I can. You know it's late when you get home when the Sunday paper arrives before you do. If I don't want to eat green beans (and I don't let me assure you) there is no one who will make me sit at the kitchen table until I finally give in. And if I don't want to get a flu shot, I don't have to. But there are some really difficult things about being an adult too. For me I think the most difficult thing is trying to figure out finances. I'm not horrible with money, but I have decisions to make that I don't feel prepared to make. And to be fair I never thought I'd be making these decisions alone. The time is nearing for my car to say its goodbyes and be replaced by a younger, more spry (spryer?) model. But so many questions go into such a big decision. What do I buy? Can I afford a monthly payment? And how much? Do

First things first, I'm doing significantly better than I was when I wrote the last post. That hard decision that I talked about in the previous post, well the reasons for that were revealed on Sunday. I wouldn't have been around to cook for the cafe & I wouldn't have been around for church. God knew I needed to be there, so when He asked me to stay he had a very clear purpose. Honestly, I didn't really want to listen, but I'm glad I did. It was so much fun cooking for the cafe on Sunday. And the sermon was crazily dead on to what I needed to hear. "I have not forgotten about you" "sometimes unanswered prayers are the kindness & grace of God in our lives, sometimes the answer is slow, not yet. Not no." Mark also talked about how a few weeks ago he just found himself broken down and sobbing and feeling so alone. I thought, wow that is exactly me last week. One of the things I love so much about my church is the openness of the pas

Seems as though I've been a victim (as many of you have also) of the summer blogging lull. This week's been kinda rough. Not for any one specific reason but enough small-ish things have conspired together to weigh heavily on my heart. I've been feeling really alone lately & that's beyond difficult. Raj was out here over the weekend which was fantastic. But he didn't get into the internship/grad program for which he came out to interview. He says he's cool with it. I'm really sad about it. Maybe it's our shared middle child syndrome, maybe it's that we're the closest in age out of the 4 of us, I don't know, but I feel like I have this special connection with him. And even though we have our little tiffs sometimes and we manage to frustrate each other with the stupidest little things, I was really looking forward to having him out here. I know I can be my worst self around him and in a weird way that actually encourages me to be my

I got a call this afternoon from my dad that my Uncle OP (from India) had passed away last night. He is survived by his wife and two sons. I would appreciate it if you would keep the family in your prayers.

Wow I cannot believe how messed up my head can be sometimes. Maybe it's because I dwell in hope. Maybe it's because I actually do believe that one day life will sweep me off my feet in an incredibly unexpected way. I don't want to go through this stupid dance again. How can one version of clarity come across so cloudy to me? And why do I keep putting myself in this place?

Hooray for 100 degree temperatures and spending half the day in my non-air conditioned car. :P I was at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf this morning, waiting for my boss and enjoying a nice ice blended pomegranate blueberry tea latte. A few feet away from me there was a girl, just standing in Coffee Bean curling her hair! I thought, now I've seen it all. Okay so occasionally there are circumstances in which you find the need to primp once you've left home & do not have the option of returning home. I get that. But wouldn't you opt for the restroom for all your hair curling requirements? So bizarre. The funniest part of my day: someone found my blog by Googling "signs your guy is about to propose." They were directed to this post. hahahahahahahahaha :) An answer to the comments: Steve, I believe it is the camel which personifies heat, though not as adorably as the penguin personifies cold. Jennifer, thanks for commiserating. Joe, your comment was highly am

Shauna's here! Hazaa! Hooray! And all other manner of celebratory words! On occasion I like to think back on what my life was like a year ago. Aside from looking forward to Shauna being here, very little is the same. The friends I most regularly hang out with now, I did not know a year ago. My job situation is far better than I could have ever hoped for a year ago when I was still dependent on my parents' help. And I have found a church home. It's funny how I say I don't like change because I can't tell you how happy I am that my life is so different from what it was a year ago today. The journey's pretty amazing. Tonight was a fun girls' night. We ordered pizza, watched some Gilmore Girls, and made collages. It's nice how simple things and great friends can make for such a wonderful night. :)

To space heater with love, who knew you would find such use in June when it's been in the 90s outside? You bring me ample warmth in an office that has otherwise been penguinable. Don't get me wrong, I adore the creatures, but I wasn't made to survive in Antarctic conditions and seeing as there are no penguins in my office there's little sense in freezing. Raj & I wrote a penguin dictionary: Me: penguinable adj. 1. an environment suitably frigid for sustaining penguins: My office is seriously penguinable. Raj: penguinarium: The zookeeper had to fish dead penguins out of the pond in the penguinarium. Me: expenguination - the action of removing penguins from a habitat Raj: penguinautics: the study of launching or hurling of penguins. As found in the acronym for PASA (Penguinautics and Space Administration), the country's leading facility for low orbit penguin launches. And now it's time to go listen to some more Stadium Arcadium enjoyment and do laundry. Yay

I don't have much to say right now. Sorry for not updating for 2 weeks. I had a splendid weekend, but now my thoughts are swimming about my head every which way. It would be nearly impossible to try to organize them into something coherent let alone witty. I will try to write something more substantial soon.

I went on my church's women's retreat this weekend. It was completely amazing. I didn't go there with any expectations. I just knew I wanted to spend the weekend in fellowship with some wonderful women. There had been something pressing on my mind and I prayed about it, but I didn't expect God to move in the way he did about it, probably because I didn't realize what I needed from him in the situation. Thankfully He did know what I needed. It's a long story, thus the vagueness, if you would like to hear it, call me and I'll probably tell you. In other delightful news, they always do a raffle at the retreat. Women put together these amazing baskets to be raffled and the money goes to support our missions efforts in Jamaica. I actually won a basket, it was a cooking themed one & it came with serving platters & a cookbook & a giftcard to my favorite grocery store. Hazaa! The funny thing is that even though winning it was very exciting, whe

Nothing can quite break your heart like saying goodbye to beautiful children you won't get to see again for 7 months. 7 months! In that time Jadyn will turn 2 and forget everything about this past week. Alaina will probably remember at least some things & more than likely immortalize them in song. My favorites being the "Aunt Azina" song which consists of repeating Aunt Azina over and over again to the tune of the alphabet song and the "my bum hurts" song which similarly repeats the same phrase over and over again but this time to Alaina's stock tune. I love those girls beyond words. (And just so you guys don't think I love you any less, it is sad to say goodbye to the rest of my family, but you guys won't change as much until I see you next and barring any head trauma are not very likely to forget me.) Jadyn & I really bonded this past week. She & I are truly kindred spirits. Every time my sister would make a comment about Jadyn

That's how I feel about the Gilmore Girls season finale. It's very sad. I'm not just saying that because I don't like how things played out. The writing was genuinely sub-par. Quite disappointing. In happier news, in 7 1/2 hours I will be leaving for Omaha. What fun! I should probably go pack now! Very slim chance of doing any of that sleeping type stuff tonight, but uh that makes it easier to sleep on the plane. Yeah, that's it. :)

Spend more than about 5 seconds in a conversation about relationships and it's bound to dissolve into, "boys suck" and/or "girls suck" depending on the genders represented in the discussion. Relationships are frustrating, not being in a relationship is frustrating, but I think, no I know that cutting each other down like that isn't going to help anything. Don't get me wrong, both genders do more than their fair share of annoying & idiotic things, and have remarkably similar complaints about one another, but what if we made a serious effort to build each other up & encourage each other? It's easy to play the blame game. "All the guys I know are idiots." "I just can't seem to meet a nice, single, Christian girl." (Let me introduce you to about 20 of them!) "Nice guys never ask me out." "The girls I know wouldn't be into me." What if we tried something different? I think most of us who are sin

I feel like my heart is torn in 2 right now. I sat here thinking about what I was going to post tonight. I am a little nervous about the missions trip to Mexico I will be going on this weekend, so I was going to tell you about that & ask you to pray about it. And then I thought about what I had wanted to write about earlier today which is my frustration with the immigrant protests that will be taking place on Monday. And then it hit me. Maybe it was my brain waking up. Maybe it was God knocking on my soul. I can't say for sure. What I do know is that I am about to go spend the weekend looking into the faces of children who despite their impoverished circumstances I am sure are going to have some of the biggest grins on their faces you could ever hope to see. And here I am miffed about protests taking place trying to help improve the circumstances of those who have done their best to escape that same poverty. Do I agree with their tactics, their goal to "close d

Yes, that's right. I said pink sleeping bag. Bubble gum, completely girly, non-camping enthusiast pink. :) Next weekend I'm going on a weekend missions trip to Mexico with my church. I was told yesterday that we would need to bring a sleeping bag to you know sleep in. This presented a problem for me as I did not own one. Not being much of a person to sleep outside or on the ground for any sort of random reason, I had never had the need or desire to own one. So last night I went to Target to buy supplies for the trip. I ventured upstairs toward the camping supplies. (Silly 2-story Target) As I turned down the aisle I was met with 2 glorious things, a pink sleeping bag and a price of 9.99. (It also happened to be the right temperature & size.) I considered whether or not to purchase such a ridiculous thing, but I thought to myself, if I have to buy a sleeping bag I'm going to buy the silliest, girliest, non-camperiest one I can find. And so I did. Last nigh

One of my good friends called tonight & I got to talk to him for awhile. I always really enjoy talking to him. He's just one of those people with whom I click really well. He knows me well enough to know if I'll probably like a movie or not. We work really well together. And he usually makes me laugh. Sometimes I wish LA wasn't quite so far away from the midwest. Somedays I wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed in Omaha. I read this article recently that said it was detrimental for young single women who wanted to get married to be moving away from home and pursuing career paths. The article suggested that without the parents there to help guide relationships and limit a man's access to their daughter, which would then force him to marry her in order to spend the kind of time with her he coveted, without these boundaries relationships wouldn't have the proper guidance to help usher them into marriage. I think that a family's input on a r

So I was sitting in the little food court area of Target today having a late lunch (yes Target, only due to a great lack of parking at Sharky's and the stupid rain) when I overheard a 6-year-old boy question his grandmother about her knowledge of jujitsu. The grandmother had clearly never even heard the word. The little boy started into his explanation, pleased to have something to talk about & I think a little pleased that he could teach his grandma something. I had gone to Target to buy a few things for Easter - grass, plastic eggs, candy, extra forks as we are going to have about 4 more people here for dinner than for whom we had forks. Nothing too spectacular, nothing too expensive. I also purchased normal Target stuff that I needed. My total came to $83. As I paid the cashier said, "$83 just for Easter?" Just? JUST? It was clear from the way she had been talking to me and to the customers ahead of me that she does celebrate Easter & not in the bunny

Waiter Rant is my new favorite site. Oh the joys of working in a restaurant. Speaking of restaurants and food and the like, I can't even begin to tell you how many guys I know are on diets right now. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great if people want to be responsible and try to eat well, but the way some of these guys talk about it is the girliest thing I've ever heard. And for the record, I would just like to point out that a lot of girls don't mind a guy with a few extra pounds on him, it makes him very huggable & it makes a girl feel safe. So if you're doing it to be healthy, that's great & we applaud that. If you're doing it because you don't think you can get a girlfriend otherwise, you're just asking the wrong girls.

Is it just me or is it wrong for animated vegetables to be peddling vegetable seeds? Seems kinda like we're promoting vegicide. Anyone else disturbed by this?

Check out the iTunes free single of the week this week for a song by Plumb off her latest album "Chaotic Resolve." I'm stoked they picked one of her songs, but it's kind of annoying to me that they call her an "up-and-coming pop artist" (she's not pop, she's rock/alternative & she's been around awhile) similar to Evanescence. I myself have often compared Tiffany Arbuckle Lee's vocals to Amy Lee's (no relation so far as I know), but come on Plumb has been around way longer. Anyway, check it out it's a great song. In other good news, even though it has been raining quacktastically too much here lately, I got new windshield wipers last weekend and they are fantastic. That's pretty exciting for me. What can I say? It's the little things. :) I'm cooking for the cafe again on Sunday, I'm glad about that, it's one of my favorite parts of the week. And the week after that Nicole & I are hosting Easter Dinne

Here's a little photo love from the piratical party we went to this weekend in honor of our friend Chris' birthday. That's a real sword I'm holding!

I have decided that I don't want to blog anymore. This is it. I just don't get the joy out of it that I used to, and I don't want to feel bad when I don't post as frequently as I feel I should so I'm done with it all. We've been through 2 years together. We've laughed and cried. Some of you have probably wondered why I'm not locked up in a mental institution. That's fair. Some of you have probabaly thought, wow she's so cool I wish I could date her. If you're a cool guy in the 23-29 age range, let me know. ;) And some of you have probably wondered why in the world you find yourself reading the strange words of a stranger in a strange city. I know this blog holds some mystical allure over many of you, but today I am breaking that spell. It has been fun, except for the aforementioned crying, and I will probably miss you all from time to time but I must bid you adieu.

I want a guy like this. If I could dim the lights in the mall And create a mood I would Shout out your name so it echoes in every room I would That's what I'd do, That's what I'd do to get through to you I want someone who is so excited by the idea of being with me that he'd do anything, think up crazy scenarios, try whatever it would take, when really all he'd have to do is ask . . .

I wanted to post something as I have been delinquent for the past 10 days, but all the words in my head refused to submit to any sort of logical order so instead you get to enjoy this comic that cracked me up. :)

As promised here's a little birthday related photo action getting my paint on at Color Me Mine yay pottery! (it's much darker now that it's been fired) birthday lunch at Red Robin (what? that's how I always dress) Sean & Mike reminiscing about when they used to be mannequins Dad & I fitting in with the mini golf scenery

I think this is my new favorite video. Don't judge me for laughing. :)

I met Kathy, my Bible Study leader, last night for coffee. I told her what had been going on in my life and how I was sad that my parents had left & that I was having a harder time with it than I expected. I told her that I really want to be a wife & a mom and that's been on my mind a lot lately. She had some very wise things to say. And as I drove away from Starbucks I took a few deep & cleansing breaths and it was as if my lungs were getting oxygen for the first time ever. I can't quite explain it and I don't know why it happened, it's not as though I felt particularly breathless before last night, but as I drove down Foothill Blvd in Sunland on a bit of a trek back toward my home one of the main thoughts in my head was, I can breathe again. Strangely amazing.

Monday we had torrential downpour which was lovely until I tried to drive home from work through streets that had morphed into streams. The last two days have been quite delightful though. As most of you know, the parentals are in town which has been fun. Today we went to the Farmer's Market in Santa Monica. We picked up all kinds of lovely produce- so many strawberries! And my parents bought me some flowers- freesia, which if you know me well you know is one of my favorite scents & the flowers are quite pretty. I got red & white ones so they match our decor and I arranged them in the milk pitcher I painted (with the intention of using it as a vase) at Color Me Mine. Someday I will have a digital camera and will actually post pictures of these things. But most of the joy is in the scent anyway, which sadly I cannot capture for you here with any technology that currently exists. If I had enough money I would make sure there were bouquets of freesia in every room of

Nicole brought to my attention today an article on MSN called "A Guy's Guide to Proposing." What you will see now is the abbreviated and editorialized version of the article. (My comments in parentheses.) What fun! For some, a public display of affection is the ultimate intimate gesture. (Umm okay sure or uhh no, isn't public and intimate almost opposite of each other?) Most movie theaters will let you buy a slide that plays onscreen before the feature. You can design your own and watch as the entire theater strains to see the lucky proposee's astonished expression. (Yes which is great except if you're dating me, I'll be looking around too to see what rube decided that buying AD SPACE in front of a movie was the best way to propose. Nevermind the fact that I'm almost always the only Azina in the room.) Have your proposal painted on a billboard en route to her office. Park beneath it or await their arrival at work, armed with champagne ready for toa

Wow, I can hardly even begin to explain how much fun I had this weekend. Thanks to all of you who helped me celebrate whether near or far away. I felt so much love this weekend & that fills my heart. Sunday at Red Robin was so delightful. 13 people were there. Nicole bought me a tiara and a pink & white feather boa. I felt kinda silly but it was also fun. I'll have to post pictures after I finish this roll of film. Yes yes, again I continue to find myself technologically stagnant. But lack of sufficient funds necessitates remaining in the 20th century. Monday night was of course karaoke. A good group of people showed up. I was this close to singing (imagine me holding my fingers quite close together), but I kinda chickened out. Maybe next week . . . Sean & Benn sang Piano Man, it was amazing. And of course there was Nate's rousing rendition of Livin' La Vida Loca. Good times. Sad that the weekend had to end, but I get to look forward to my parents b

Delicious chocolate chip cookies from my sister! Girls' day out with Nicole, Jodi & Rachel! I had so much fun going shopping, to Color Me Mine ( watch this video ), to Panera, and to Barnes & Noble. Mmm. :) Coming home to find fun birthday greetings, including this one from my friend Nate who had left this comment this morning, "Happy Azinamas Eve! Have fun shopping." aww, how nice :) I also had this message from Yahoo, which is my homepage, "Happy Birthday, Azina! " It's silly I know, but I liked it & the little cake is a nice touch. It has been a marvelous weekend so far & tomorrow is Red Robin! Hazaa!

I'm not a particularly superstitious person, so when I woke up yesterday morning and saw that it was Monday the 13th (which should seem more ominous than a good ole Friday) I quickly dismissed the thought that something strange or bad would happen. I'm not blaming it on the day, but such a thing did happen last night. I received a call from a friend and he told me he'd been in a pretty bad accident earlier in the day and he felt fine but his mom really wanted him to go to the hospital and get checked out so he wanted to know if I would take him. Of course in complete disregard to our "no hospital" policy I said yes. Thankfully aside from some soreness and pain he is fine. Still when I got home and thought about posting the Valentine's stats as I had intended to do, I thought how could I post something so ridiculous when something so serious had just happened? But this is the kind of friend that heartily embraces such things as made up statistics and he w

If you're stuck for ideas for Valentine's day, check this out. I completely love the idea. :) I talked to Ravi yesterday, tickets for the Red Sox vs. Angels coming up in Anaheim in 6 months and 16 days should be on sale soon. Woo! And from what he tells me I should be able to afford some rockin' good seats for us. Ravi-o visiting + baseball + Red Sox = more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Literally. There have been tests done proving such. My parents booked their flight today! They're coming out the first week of March & I'm taking time off to hang out with them. I can't wait! :)

GREAT game today, go Steelers! Woo! I also found out tonight that my parents are planning on coming out here for my birthday! I'm very excited about that. :)

Welcome to my favorite month of the year. :) Well it's really tied with December for #1, which I realize is silly, making 2 months stand at the top of the gold medal platform together, but it's just too close to call. There's all the Christmas goodness December has to offer. And then there are all these wonderful thing in February: ~ Groundhog Day, good times full of complete hooey but amusing just the same ;) ~ Valentine's Day, which isn't really a favorite holiday of mine for various reasons including the one wherein it just seems a day on which to relegate romance & to give chicks an excuse to freak out if their guy forgets or doesn't live up to all the crazy things in their heads that they never even mentioned to the guy, but this year it is a Tuesday which is full of goodness and it will bring the return of my bogus Valentine's Statistics. I know I failed you on this one last year, but I will make up for it this year. ~ it's unique in it

So hard to describe yesterday, I was torn between the title I picked (props if you can name the band without cheating) and Manic Monday (name the band = props again, still no cheating). Overall it was a good day, thus the title I went with. First of all, I got a comment from Joe (the brother-in-law) so I feel very special about that since he either rarely enters the blogverse or he is a lurker extraordinaire. I'm very amused about awnkeum and shall and it to my vernacular, you know in case I ever have the need to talk about the noise a duck makes right before flying into a wind farm. Which uhh, what is a wind farm? Onto other events of the day, we have a friend staying with us right now and she had gone down to the garage to get something out of Nicole's car but when she tried to get back into the building the key broke off in the door. Thankfully it broke in the unlock position. I was asleep at the time, but later in the day when I found out I offered to get new keys made whi

Tonight I went to the women's Bible study at my church for the first time. I loved it! I already can't wait for next Wednesday. This is very exciting for me! Our table leader is wonderful. I have friends my age there. A girl I went to college with in Iowa was there. And an amazing woman leads the whole thing. I'm so stoked about this I can hardly contain myself! :) I called my mom on the way home from it tonight because I just had to tell someone how great it was. She was very happy for me. It's great to be at the place where I can talk to my mom as a fellow adult. That's one of the very cool things about growing up. :) So very strange dream last night, there were all these people who had superpowers and I was part of some government agency and we were trying to discern who were the heroes of the group and who were the villains. I started dating a guy named Adam who it turned out had these powers and I was fairly certain he was good, but then he was s

Sorry for the lack of updating, between being sick & a million things going on in life & in my head it's been a bit crazy over here. The subject of dating has been in the air quite a bit lately, as it tends to be among the single twentysomethings crowd, so I've decided to start what we'll call a supplemental blog to post about and discuss that topic. It should be filled with all the humor & wonder you've come to love here, the topics will just be slightly less random. If it's not a subject that interests you, feel free to stick to the good ole blog here. You won't hurt my feelings. Really. Have a wonderful week! I promise to grace you more frequently with my presence in the near days. :)

Tonight was remarkably fun. I went to a rockin' bbq for my friend Jon Mark's birthday. And I got to ride in my friend Nate's Porsche on the way to the party! It was very cool. I think every weekend should be a 3 day weekend. Such good times. :) as I recall it ended much too soon

God whispers in our pleasure and shouts in our pain. God whispers in our pleasure and shouts in our pain. God whispers in our pleasure and shouts in our pain. Church was amazing yesterday. I was mad at a friend and angry/frustrated with God. And we sang one of my favorite songs & a song I definitely needed to hear- words below. And then the sermon was great. And through it all I just heard God saying, hey I'm here & I haven't forgotten about you & I love you so much. And oh how I felt it. And then the cafe last night was great, I laughed a lot. Break through, break through all my doubt Break through, break though all my fear Break though that I may worship you Break through, break through all my pain Break though all my guilt & my shame Break though like only you can do You are brighter than my darkest night Stronger than my toughest fight Just one touch from you my king my friend And I'll never be the same again God is amazing. :)

I am still waiting for the day when I am surprised by life in an intensely good way. Okay, well that's not completely true, I have had many wonderful blessings that have taken me completely off guard, but there is one that I am still waiting for. And every time I hope that this time might be different . . . well it's just not. Anyway onto a completely different subject that's happy & not annoying, I just found out tonight that there is a canal in Venice, CA! I have been to Venice a hundred times, how did I not know this?!? Go here to see how cute. It's not as beautiful as the real Venice of course, but it's still pretty cool to know that such a thing exists in my city. Sometimes LA is fun because there are still things to discover about it after 2 years.

I meant to write about my airport adventures last week as I was returning to LA from the holidays, but I apparently forgot to. Two of the things I like the least in this world are flying and talking to people I don't know. They're right up there after needles and spiders. {cringes} So when my plans necessitate hopping aboard an airplane the last thing you'll see me doing is striking up conversation with the person seated next to me. Just doesn't happen. And generally the other people keep to themselves as well. Not so this time around. Four people talked to me. Four! That's completely unheard of in my world. And that's okay, they were all very nice, but it definitely shoved me out of the realm of comfortable silence. The odd thing is I wonder how all those people are doing now. Did the one lady enjoy her trip to Las Vegas where she was meeting up with her sisters? Did the couple from Oklahoma enjoy their time in northern LA county? Has the girl bound for a missi

Many a day hast waned since I last bestowed upon my fair readers the gaiety of the middle of the week, so without further dawdling I wish you a very happy hump day! I've been thinking recently about how soon I will be turning 24. I will have lived a year for every hour that is in the day. It's quite a strange notion. And as I've been reflecting on this I thought back on the post I wrote last year about how soon I would be turning 23. It turns out that post was written last January 11th. I can say with such joy and confidence that I have come so far in the year since I wrote that. A friend asked me this weekend what I am looking forward to out of 2006. Even though there are specific things I am hoping for and expecting out of this year, I didn't really answer him. Instead I told him that I got everything I needed to out of 2005. This year I am excited to see where God will lead me next. I plan to do more in my church- to volunteer to help out with kid's church and m

seems so long since Christmas waved its goodbyes the sun here betrays any proper sense of season yet I still can't help but imagine if I could go to sleep and wake up to this city embraced in white anything can happen when the world looks new all the dreams that dance about my thoughts awaken uncertainty and ambiguity replaced by brilliant hope it may sound silly but I believe it can happen here who knows? maybe we'll see snow this weekend

Tonight marks the happy return of Taco Tuesday, a new episode of Gilmore Girls, and 2 new episodes of Scrubs! That's right kids, Tuesday has gotten even better. Scrubs is back! (It was actually back last week, but I forgot to write about that in a timely manner.) And next week Tuesday could get even better. I know it's hard to imagine, but Love Monkey premieres next week & with a title like that & Tom Cavanagh in the lead, Tuesday could reach new heights of awesomeness previously unimagined. Yes, sometimes it's just the little things. :)

sometimes the only way is jumping I hope you're not afraid of heights . . . Sometimes I wonder what would happen if you could hear what's behind my words. What if you could read into my eyes and see what I really want you to know? Would I find the same thing in the depths of your soul? God knows that for which I am praying. He will answer me in time. I'm hoping you will too . . .

soon it will be time to undecorate the twinkling will be stored away and somehow the wonder seems to get boxed up with it I'd like to say this year will be different maybe it will be I have a lot of hope for this new year determination that life has so much in store I cannot picture the upcoming days without imagining all kinds of growth and dreams finally fulfilled will it all happen? will any of it? I really can't say but I'm going to do my best not to lose sight I'll try to stretch out the wonder a bit longer if I'm careful and extra passionate I think it can last the whole year

2006. 2006. It doesn't feel like it fits yet. so this is the new year and I don't feel any different The New Year - Death Cab for Cutie It's been a really good time here in Omaha, but in some ways I am so ready to be back in LA. It is only the impending goodbyes that make me wish for the remaining days here to take their time in passing. Sadly Ravi had to go back to school tonight, so one goodbye was already said. I didn't like it. But that aside this trip has done something very good for me, it sort of closed the one remaining door here that I still felt my heart clinging to. I sat in church this morning and realized that even though there are still some things that have not changed in the 19 years since I started going to that church, there are many things that have, such important ones that I know I don't belong there any more. It's a strange realization, but mostly not a sad one. I really think of my church in LA fully as my home church now. That's actua