On the next Arrested Development..

Sometimes, awesomeness needs to be documented.

I really wish I were better at blogging, but I hate blogging stuff that I feel are too insignificant - that's what Facebook statuses are for :)

However, every now and then, I think "I should blog about this", and then I decide halfway through writing it that no one will read it or care, so I have a dozen or so half written blogs saved in Notepad files all over the desktop of my laptop (some of those are entitled "Music", "Perspective", "Blergh", and "Crap" - clearly I need to get better at labeling these things).

But this.. This, I feel is worth blogging about. If not for other people to enjoy, then at least for (Kimmie and) me to remember the awesomeness that transpired until the day we die.

Because this morning, we were on the set of Arrested Development.

WARNING: THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS. BUT, THEY ARE CLEARLY MARKED!

If you're asking yourself what Arrested Development is, then please leave. Now. Okay, just kidding. Just know that Arrested Development is one of the greatest shows. Ever. (I'll explain a little more about it later as I explain how the evening/morning unfolded.. Or, actually, you can always just go read the IMDB or Wikipedia entries on it)

It was about 11:30, and I got a Facebook message from my dear friend, Kimmie - whom I had just left about an hour before from a girls night with some other friends. All the message said was "Kelsey... i may have just found the current arrested development set...." After several exclamation marks, TALKING IN ALL CAPS, and Kimmie doing some awesome super sleuthing.. She asked me "are you feeling crazy?" to which I responded with "always!".. And a quick hair blow dry, three outfits, and 15 minutes later, we were on our way!

Now, how did we know where to go? Let me just tell you that Kimmie is amazing at figuring this stuff out. We're both pretty good at finding our way around the internet, but last night.. She won. And I am perfectly okay with that. When Kimmie got home, she saw that her friend, Luke (more on him later) posted "They are filming Arrested Development down the street from where I live. I am there. It is amazing." on Facebook. Kimmie knew he lived in Long Beach. She then did a quick search on Google for "Arrested Development filming Long Beach" and got to a site that said "Arrested Development is filming at the Aquarium in Long Beach on Saturday". Also, a hashtag search on Twitter for ArrestedDevelopment lead us to another guy that was on the set and posted a picture of Jason Bateman about 5 minutes earlier. So we knew it was happening. Right then.

When we got off the freeway in Long Beach, the next question was "Okay, where exactly by the aquarium are they filming?". This question was almost immediately answered by the giant, bright light right in front of us. We parked the car and ran to the light (I know in movies they always try to run away from the bright light, as that tends to mean death.. But if I were to run into Michael Cera or Jason Bateman on my way to death.. I'm okay with that).

We walked into the round-about by the Long Beach pier, and saw video equipment, a catering cart thing, and some white vans with tinted windows pulling away - so it was safe to assume that they were either filming Arrested Development, or some kidnappers had some high quality ransom videos being made.

It was now 12:30AM, and when we walked up to the pier, there were lights everywhere and tons of props (**SPOILER** there were carnival booths, Mexican flags, and pinatas everywhere! **END SPOILER**). We walked up to the caution taped area, and met a Security Guard - his name was Darryl. Darryl asked us what we were doing there, and Kimmie and I then proceeded to overwhelm him with Arrested Development plots, characters, and opinions, and explained how amazing it was that this show was canceled after three seasons, and now 6 years later they're filming a 4th season AND a movie (personally, I think sixseasonsandamovie is a better catchphrase, but that's for another awesome show in another post). He stood there with his eyes wide. After we finished, we asked him if he'd want to watch the show. Didn't quite get the response we were hoping for (we got an "eh") - Mental Note: Must reign in the fan-girly-ness around non-fans. It was while we were talking, that I spotted the top of the Stair Car behind his head. I pointed at it and said "Oh my gosh, that's the Stair Car". He looked at me like I was crazy, and I then proceeded to explain that the family was really rich, and then lost all their money and lost basically everything - including their airplane, but they got to keep the Stair Car. He then took a few steps backed and peeked around the corner, and seemed a little surprised that yes, I in fact was telling the truth that it was a Stair Car, and I really did recognize it just by the top. At that point Kimmie and I **SPOILER** realized that the top of the Stair Car didn't say "Bluth Company" anymore, but it said "Austero Bluth Company" (photo by Luke) on it - Yes! As in Lucille 2's last name! **END SPOILER** tried to get a good picture of it, but we were too far away, and our (clearly not as close as I thought we were) friend Darryl wouldn't risk his job to get the picture for us. Psh.

At some point during our geeking out over being on the set, Darryl explained that the cast was on a lunch break (yes, at 12:30AM), and that they'll be back in about a half hour. So Kimmie and I decided to see if we could get a better view on the other side of where we were at.

We walked around, and walked right past Mitch Hurwitz talking with some other people (Mitch Hurwitz is the brains behind Arrested Development). I tried to take some pictures while "staying cool" and walking.. But that was a fail. We kept walking and ended up a lot closer to where the (picture might be a **SPOILER**) actual filming was going to resume. Oh. Excitement.

We walked back to where we saw Mr. Hurwitz, and Kimmie spotted Luke (who we first found out about this from - because of his Facebook), and we started talking to him. Conveniently, he was hanging out by his bike, which was about.. 15 feet from Mr. Hurtwitz (who was holding a ukelele or mandolin, which made Kimmie quite excited). Oh, and what? A closer look - he's also standing by Jeffrey Tambor (aka George Bluth)!!!!! I tried to take a few more pictures.. And was depressed by the outcome. Stood there talking to Luke, and he gave us the low down - he'd been there for FOUR HOURS already, and had only seem them film one scene **SPOILER** and it involved Lindsay and Lucille 2 giving speeches of some sort from the top of the Stair Car and throwing candy to the people down below.. And then Michael falling down the stairs of the Stair Car **END SPOILER**. He told us who was on set that he'd seen (obviously Jeffrey Tambor, but also Jason Bateman (Michael Bluth), Portia de Rossi (Linsday Bluth Funke), and Liza Minnelli (Lucille 2/Austero)), and that it looked like Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth), David Cross (Tobias Funke), Alia Shawkat (Maebe Funke), Jessica Walter (Lucille Bluth), and Tony Hale (Buster Bluth) weren't filming tonight. We then saw Mr. Hurwitz and Mr. Tambor head back over to the set, so we followed - from a safe, noncreepy distance.

Got over to (possible **SPOILER** in photo) where they were filming and stood there behind the caution tape. At one point, the caution tape broke, and Kimmie had to tie it back together - she can officially say that she was a part in helping keep back the masses (and by masses, I mean her, Luke, me, and the other random couples and people that would show up throughout the early morning). We started seeing a bunch of extras walk over. All in very 90's/Arrested Development type clothing - many sweater vests and business clothes (almost like workers from the Bluth offices). **SPOILER** Most of them were also wearing sombreros. **END SPOILER**

While we were standing behind the caution tape, this guy walked past and told us that he's "in charge of the truck". I assumed he met a food truck or trailer.. Learned that when he said "truck", he meant "Stair Car".. His job is strictly to take care of the Stair Car. Love it.

We saw Jason Bateman's stunt double way before we saw him. Then we saw Liza Minnelli climbing the Star Car. I decided that she is beautiful - even smoking a cigarette. We watched them do one take of Jason Bateman's stunt double **SPOILER** doing the chicken dance and then falling down the stars of the Stair Car **END SPOILER**.. And when he was done, he left the set walking right under the caution tape (that Kimmie fixed), and I told him "Nice fall!" and he said "Thanks!". 

Then Jason Bateman got up there and gave a speech **SPOILER** where he repeatedly said "Sally" (as in Sally Sitwell!?!?) **END SPOILER**. They did quite a few takes of this, and while he was up there, Luke spotted Tony Hale - not doing a scene, but standing with the crew. And then someone said something about doing the next scene over on the pier, and we heard them say "Portia".. And they started moving everyone around. 

At this point, Jason Bateman came up to the level where we were standing (there were a few different ground levels over there, and we were up a few steps from where the shots were taking place) and was about 15 feet in front of us. I snapped a picture real quick, and the PA standing by us (who had already warned me once about taking pictures) said "hey friend, I saw that.." and I apologized and said that I just couldn't help myself... I then gave Kimmie my phone to hold, since apparently I have no self control.

After standing around for a little bit longer, we decided to head over by the pier to where they'd be shooting the next scene (which is where we met Darryl earlier in the night/morning). On our way over there, we walked passed a guy in a red shirt and baseball hat, and I didn't think anything of it, until about two seconds later, Luke said "That's Tony Hale!". Kimmie and I turned around, and sure enough - Buster! A few other people were around us, and they ran after him and asked for a picture. He did (it's about 1:50AM at this point). He started walking toward the white van, and I was torn between getting a picture of Tony Hale, and letting him go. I let out a little "Mister Hale??" but he was far away at this  point, and snuck into the van and was on his way.

Slightly disappointed, we turned around to keep walking towards the pier, when Luke again said something amazing, "It's Jason Bateman!".. And sure enough, walking right towards us was Jason Bateman! Kimmie and I mumbled back and forth "Should we ask?" "Let's ask.." "Luke, you ask for us!" "Okay.. Let's ask.".. And in unison we were like "Mr. Bateman.. May we get a picture?" And he said sure! He was walking with another guy, who took my phone to take a picture of us. And I know this might not mean as much to anyone else as it does to Kimmie and me, but I was so touched by the fact that the guy took a picture of us, looked at it, noticed that the lighting was all funky, so he repositioned us so that there were no shadows, and he took another one (even though we would have been BEYOND happy with just the first one)! We told Mr. Bateman that we thought he was amazing and thanked him.. And then felt bad because other people saw that he took pictures with us, so they wanted them, too.. And he took them - but you just know he was tired - it was 2 in the morning!

Kimmie and I walked away with that feeling of "Yep. I could die happy right now." It was amazing.

After that, we hung out for another half hour waiting for them to start filming again. There was a sign that says **SPOILER**"Cinco de Quatro"**END SPOILER** hanging over the pier. I have no idea what it means in regards to the episode, but I am so excited. At 2:30, all I could think was "I have to teach Sunday School in almost 7 hours"... So we headed to the car.

BUT, on the way to the car, there was a group of very happy, very intoxicated people that thought that Luke was famous, and asked to take pictures with him. It was so funny. Luke kept saying "Why are we taking pictures?" and they were like "Hahah - you're funny!".. hahaha Maybe they thought he looked like David Cross.. Not sure. But it was funny.

Finally got home around 3AM.

Best. Late. Night. Spontaneous. Adventure. Ever.

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Movies that are based on books..

I am a huge fan of books.

I am a huge fan of movies.

I am a huge fan of movies that come from books.

And, I am a huge fan of midnight showings.

Over the last few years, I've learned that there are different types of people that view these movies that are based on books (from now on referred to as MTABOB).

The first person, is the person that wants the movie to be EXACTLY like the book. They want every giggle on paper to have its appearance on screen. They want the dress to be the exact same shade of mauve that they imagined while they were reading to appear on the girl. And, heaven forbid, a character is omitted from the silver screen.

The second person is someone who has read the book and is just looking for the movie to tell the story. Get the characters and plot there. Help them visualize the things that are happening. And if a few not-so-important details are left out or are change to help it be conveyed better on screen... No big deal.

The third person has never read the book. So they really don't care how it compares. They just want to see a movie. People tend to fall into this category without even realizing it (A Walk to Remember, Friday Night Lights, The Princess Diaries, Harry Potter.. Wait, you probably knew that last one). I try not to fall into this category. If I know that a movie is based on a book, I'll almost always read the book first.

I'm the second person. And because of that... I've found that I enjoy these MTABOB way more than some of my friends. I love MTABOB because... 

1) I have little to no imagination. Okay, that might be an exaggeration.. But when I'm reading books, I've learned that the characters end up having the faces of my friends. When I read the first Harry Potter book, Hermione looked like Michelle (even though Michelle doesn't have crazy hair), Harry was Harrison (even though Harrison's half Japanese), and Ron looked like Alex (Alex's only resemblance is that has red-ish hair). I never read the books with the characters having British accents until the movies came out! As soon as they assign an actor to play a specific character, I have an image and a voice to go with it. I love it.

2) It clarifies things. I was watching Hunger Games the other night (**not a spoiler**), and this "cornucopia" plays a part in the "games". While I was reading the books, I was visualizing this Thanksgiving table sized cornucopia on a raised platform (which made the fighting scenes a little confusing in my head). After seeing the movie, I realized that it was way, way, wayyyyy bigger than I had thought.

I'm okay with random characters or certain things not making an appearance in the movie. For example, in the Harry Potter movies, I know some people didn't like that the Dumbledore's Army Galleon didn't make an appearance. It played a part in the books, but they found a way around it in the movies, because it really didn't matter. 

I just understand that the studios only have so much time and budget, that certain things need to be cut. There was one thing that I specifically remember being different in the Hunger Games. But I realized that by adjusting how something happened, they got rid of a not so significant character.. So they saved money on an actress and were probably able to spend that money on something more important to the storyline.

Plus.. Everyone's interpretation is so different. You know how I mentioned the mauve dress earlier? If you go to Google and look at the Google Images for mauve, you'll see how not everyone agrees on what mauve is. And that's ONE word. One color. A book has thousands upon thousands of words.. How is everyone supposed to visualize it the same way? Give the studios a break.

I'm not saying I always love every single MTABOB. Sometimes, the storyline of the movie is awful compared to the book. At that point, I try and look at the movie from the third person perspective. Was I able to understand the story? If I had never read the book, would I have liked it? 

The first movie that comes to my mind that was an awful, awful adaptation isn't a MTABOB.. It's a movie based on a TV show (which may be based on Anime?). Avatar: The Last Airbender. Oh my goodness. That sad, sad, M. Night Shamalan movie was.. I have no idea what I watched. A little guy with tattoos of arrows and people could control the different elements? I tried to enjoy it and follow. I really did. But holy cow.

I'm a huge fan of MTABOB. And I'm sure you'll enjoy them a little more, too, if you just adjust your perspective. And yes, because this is my blog.. I'm going to say that my perspective is the right perspective :)

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Decorating: Kelsey style.

If you know me at all, "girly" is definitely not an adjective that you've ever used to describe me. I don't do the girly.. I don't get all dolled up just for fun.. I don't get excited for going shopping.. I don't like chocolate.. And I'm not a fan of decorating or doing arts and crafts.

However, for the last two weeks, I've had to dig down deep and find some of those girly genes.. And figure out how to decorate a room.

It all started awhile ago when my mom and I were talking about a new bed for me. The wonderful neighbor girl down the street happens to conveniently work in the bed department at IKEA, so two Tuesdays ago, we headed to IKEA for my own, personal tour of the bed department.

It wasn't until we were standing there, surrounded by beds of different colors, styles, and sizes, I realized where my problem was going to be: colors.

My bedroom has light blue walls and white trim. My dresser and shelf thing is white, too. So with light blue and white, the colors that you can choose are suddenly a lot more minimal. I knew I didn't want a black bed frame, and getting white made me nervous (what if it doesn't match my current white!?).. And then we found this bed that's this "gray/brown" color - and I loved it!

Then came the most difficult part: the bedding. If I was getting the same size bed that I've had for years, then the bedding wouldn't have mattered. But I'm going from a twin to a full, so it's time for new everything.. And maybe some girls can figure out the right colors just by imagining it (heck, maybe some girls even get EXCITED over this).. But oh my goodness, I couldn't.

I spent HOURS online and in stores trying to find the perfect bed spread. Comforter, duvet, pillow cases, sheets. What the heck is a sham and do I need them? I hate decorative pillows (WHY do I need pillows that are purely for decoration!?), but my mom wants me to have at least one. Do I need a frilly bed skirt thing? No, no, no!

I finally found everything on Amazon one Sunday with my mom, and it was such a relief. We got the bed all set up on Thursday night and it's been beautiful since then.

BUT... What's been the awful, unexpected part about all of this... Is that I'm suddenly in a matching mood.

On Saturday morning, I was sitting in bed, and I looked over to my shelf thing.. And the drawers didn't match my room. I never cared before: the drawers were pink, green, blue, yellow, green, dark purple, and a pink hippo - they had personality!.. But this didn't work, now. So I went to Target, and happened to find six new drawers for the shelf that match perfectly with my new bed!

Then on Sunday, I was in my room, and I noticed that all of the pictures that I've had on my closet door were from high school to the present.. And I decided that I no longer need pictures from OB in 2006 or other stuff.. And I suddenly thought how lame it was that the pictures were just taped onto the closet doors (I could SEE the tape), and there should be some sort of frame to them.. So I ran to Target, found construction paper that matches my new bedroom colors.. And I love how it looks now and color coordinates.

 

The most entertaining part of all of this has probably been the fact that I am NOT creative.. But I've been TRYING to be creative.. And the trying has been so entertaining.

 

I'm a nerd. So how do I figure out how to be creative? I use PowerPoint.

Yes. PowerPoint.

I was trying to figure out if I wanted to rearrange the furniture in my room (my entire three or four pieces of furniture). And I can't picture it. So this is the PowerPoint slide I made with the different items (to scale, yes) and I've been able to rotate them and move them around... I still can't figure it out.

Then, there were the closet doors.

First, I had to figure out what pictures I wanted. I searched through Facebook and the photos on my computer, and found about 50 of them that I liked. 

Second, I knew I wanted them to have a border of some sort on them, so I headed to Staples to get some purple, brown, and gray construction paper. Lesson of the day: Staples closes at 6 on Sundays. So I went to Target.

Now, the adventure in Target was so ridiculous. Why? Because I'm not creative.

I knew I needed construction paper, so, naturally, I went straight to the kids coloring section. I was disappointed when I found the Crayola paper and there was no purple or gray. So I decided I could use the brown, black, and maybe the white (hey, I can color the edges purple, right?).. I'd just have to get like, 3 packets of it because there wasn't enough of each to be able to use for my pictures.. Then I had to find a way to secure the photos to the construction paper, and then the paper to my closet doors.. I spent way too much time standing in the tape aisle, and I landed on double sided tape and tacky stuff. As I headed towards the cash register, I spotted the gift wrapping bags and tissue paper, and I got the most BRILLIANT idea.. I found purple and gray tissue paper, and I decided that I could cut the tissue paper to fit the construction paper, then glue it to the construction paper.. So I wouldn't have to color it and I wouldn't have to buy as much construction paper because I could glue the tissue paper to colors that I wouldn't want to use........ Then I happened to look down the next aisle... SCRAPBOOKING! 

Why in the world I didn't look for that aisle in the first place.. I'll never, ever know. But in that one aisle, I was able to find purple paper in three shades, brown paper in two, plus some others. Plus I was able to find better sticky stuff and just.. I felt so dumb. But I about died laughing when I realized what I was PLANNING on doing before I stumbled upon the scrapbooking aisle..

Anyways.

I got home, cut all of my paper, taped all of my paper to the pictures.. And then realized I had to make a plan for putting the pictures on the closet. Randomness wouldn't work.. Even though I wanted it to look kind of random. So what did I do? Hello, PowerPoint, take 2!

Everything's to scale.. I made my closet doors, and the different pictures (with their color frames).

Then I moved them around the doors so that I could visualize it.

This is what my doors looked like before..

And this is how they look now.

 

And after all of that.. This is what my bedroom looked like before..

And this is now :)

My comforter has two sides.. And I can't decide on which on I like, so I've been switching it every night..

 

And now, my project is done. Mostly. I need new pillows. And I still can't decide if I'm going to move around my furniture. And I want a new bedside table. Oo, and maybe a lamp. And Bethany mentioned I might want a new trashcan..

This is why I don't decorate, and why I will forevermore surrender any decorating to my super creative sisters.

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We welcome you to Munchkin Land.. #5

These might only be funny to Jenna and I, cuz we were in the room.. But I'm still documenting it.. :)

Today, I brought donut holes for the kids..

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They started not pay attention so..

Me: Remember, we have a special treat at the end if you listen! You'll get a donut!

Munchkin: I don't want a donut. I'll get fat.

A kindergartner!

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Later on, the munchkin who didn't want to eat the donut decided to eat one.. The other kids noticed that he was no eating..

Munchkin 2: Remember when he said he might get fat?

Munchkin: It's not funny. It's serious.

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In the middle of memorizing a Bible verse, I look and see that the same kiddo from earlier had found a piece of tape on the carpet and put it on his nose..

Me: can you take that off?

Munchkin: I'm an elephant.

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While coloring..

Munchkin: I'm spelling "good"... And a y is coming after the o's.

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Cancer sucks. God rocks.

Growing up in my house, we were allowed to say that two things "sucked".

Vacuums.

And cancer.

TV shows didn't suck. Dinner didn't suck. Even traffic didn't suck. 

But vacuums and cancer. They sucked.

21 years ago yesterday, our family learned to trust God in a whole new way.

21 years ago yesterday, could have been the beginning of the end of me having an older sister.

21 years ago yesterday, was our family's introduction to the world of childhood cancer.

21 years ago yesterday, my older sister, Selah, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Yes, you may be looking at "21 years ago" and realize that I'm only almost 23.. So at 2, I didn't have much of any comprehension of the craziness that our lives were going through at the time.. But cancer isn't something that you just go through for a time of your life, and then move on. I mean, Jenna wasn't even born until 2 years later, and even she has stories. Cancer lingers.

Back in November, one of my favorite people had a journalism assignment, and she decided to interview my mom, as a "mother of a child with cancer". 

I've heard my mom tell the story of Selah's diagnosis a million times.. But hearing her tell the story from start to the present was really cool. And then I got to chime in with some of my memories, and Jenna came home halfway through the "interview" and got to throw in some things, too.

Here's just some of the random, "stream of consciousness style" thoughts that have been going through my mind this evening..

- Cancer's different when you have faith. Actually, everything's different when you have faith. And not just faith, but what.. WHO you have faith in. But because of our faith in Christ, our "cancer experience" was different than those families going through it with the sole reliance on doctors and each other.

- When Selah was diagnosed, our church family enveloped us with prayer. And love. And just anything we needed. I was two years old and couldn't camp out in a hospital all day and night with my parents, so I was immediately taken care of by some of my adoptive "aunts" and "uncles". Some siblings end up being excluded because all of the focus turns to the patient, and by the time the patient has pulled through their battle.. The siblings are off the deep end and it's a whole different battle. Luckily.. 1 - I was two, so there wasn't much of a deep end for me to fall off of.. 2 - Even if I were older, I know that my parents, with the help of our church family and awesome neighbors, wouldn't have let that happen.

- The specific memories that Jenna and I have all of this tends to relate to two specific organizations: OCF-OCF and Camp Ronald McDonald.

- OCF-OCF (most commonly referred to as just OCF) is a group that was started by some parents that had children with cancer that wanted to be able to go to camp. So the parents started it in 1982, and it's still running to this day. Our family was really, really involved with this group for a long time. Once us kids hit high school, it was harder to stay involved because of band, drumline, and winterguard, but OCF still holds a special spot in our hearts. Because of OCF, our entire family got to camp twice a year. We were all in cabins with other kids our age, and it was a mixture of patients and siblings of kids with cancer. It was a special place where everyone could get away from the hospitals and the problems down the hill, and just be kids. The parents got to bond with other parents that were going through or had been through what they're going through. We played silly games, sang typical camp songs, ate horrible food, made arts and crafts, had camp fires, dances, and laughed way, way too much. OCF had events other than Summer and Winter camp.. Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Christmas Party, Ranch Day, Teen Camp.. 

- Camp Ronald McDonald was also an opportunity to go to camp another two times a year (for just the kids, once we reached a certain age). The camp sessions were a little different.. Selah's sessions were just with other patients. My sessions were just with siblings of patients.. Which could get very, very emotional. Because not everyone's patient sibling had survived their battle with cancer. But we also had fun. Horseback riding, ropes course, camping in Tee-pees, archery, radio show.. 

-- I remember when my class at school got to go to Outdoor Ed in 6th grade, for some of my friends, it was the first time they'd spent a night away from their family. By the time I was in 6th grade, I had been going to Camp Ronald McDonald twice a year, on my own for like, 5 years.. Outdoor Ed was nothing.

- If you go through our closets at home, you will find shirt after shirt, sweatshirt after sweatshirt from OCF and CRMD from all the different sessions that we went to. As we got older, they definitely became sleep shirts/paint shirts..

- I have friends that are now in their 20's that are lucky to have never been to a funeral yet. Because of how badly cancer sucks, funerals and death are a part of life when you're involved in organizations like that. 

- Selah was granted a wish from the Wake-A-Wish Foundation back in November of 1991, so the 4 of us (Jenna wasn't born until that next March) got to go on the "Big Red Boat" (the Disney Cruise) and then go to Disney World and Epcot. Jenna will proudly tell you that she swam with dolphins before any of us, because my mom swam with the dolphins at 5 months pregnant :)

- We met some amazing families by being involved in these different groups. Families that we were able to rejoice with in the remissions, and pray with through the relapses. We would spend countless hours with these people, outside of "events".

- I mentioned our awesome neighbors earlier (and actually, I blogged about them awhile back because they're crazy, ridiculously talented and amazing).. Let me explain that. So, three doors down are our neighbors. And while Selah was going through treatment, their awesome mom committed to keeping the kids (Matt and Becca) healthy so that Selah and I always had friends to play with (including adventures to Disneyland).

- When Selah was in remission for 5 years, we had a "Selah-bration". A huge party at our church Selah-brating what God had done. Because when you look at her diagnosis, and you talk to the doctors.. She's here because of One Person. God's hand was in it all.

- Disneyland is loved by Selah, Jenna, my mom and I. We all spend a lot of time there. While Selah was going through treatment, we also spent a lot of time there. Why? Because no parent wants to bring a sick, snotty nosed kid to Disneyland. So for Selah and her weakened immune system.. That's where we got to play.

- On the anniversary of Selah's diagnosis, my mom used to take her back to Kaiser (my family LOVES Kaiser) to visit her Doctor (Dr. Ruki) and the nurses and Selah would walk in carrying balloons.. One for every year since then and then she'd hand them out to the kiddos in the clinic. However, walking in with that many balloons would make Selah float away.. So now Selah goes in with a tank of helium and empty balloons.. Then fills them out there to give to the kiddos.  When Selah walks in, Dr. Ruki and the nurses get so excited. She's a reminder that kids can get through it. And she's a breath of fresh air for the parents sitting there, watching their kids going through treatment in the blue leather chairs, and then turning around and seeing someone who was once one of those kids.

There's way more I could say. There's way, way more that my mom could say.

But I'll close with this..

I'm so thankful for my shorter, older sister. I can't imagine the last 21 years of my life if God hadn't healed her.

Cancer sucks. But God's bigger than that. Way, way bigger than that.

Cancer sucks. God rocks.

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We welcome you to Munchkin Land.. #4

Some adorable quotes from the munchkins at AWANA tonight..

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Earlier, this munchkin had said that he didn't need to listen to me, and that I told him that I could probably scare him into listening.. Later on..

Munchkin: You know, you don't scare me

Me: I don't? I bet I could..

Munchkin: No, you're too sweet.

Precious.

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Whenever we're transitioning from one game to the next, the kids ALL want to play dodgeball, so they start yelling and chanting "Dodgeball! Dodgeball!". When the dodgeball ball came out, and they starting yelling in excitement, 

Munchkin: *Points to house on the other side of the wall* It would stink to be that house.

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One munchkin didn't want to play the steal the bacon game, because he was "horrible" at it. After he made two really good plays...

Me: 2012 is gonna be your year!

Munchkin 1: No it's not.

Munchkin 2: My sister got married on 11/11.

Munchkin 1: Oh no!

Me: Why is that a bad thing?

Munchkin 1: How is it a good?!

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There was absolutely no context for this quote..

Munchkin: I'm basically awesome and I'm basically honest. Mostly awesome.

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Munchkin: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, pray without sneezing.

Posted via email from Thoughts to fingers, for all the world to see..

Some details are important..

*When calling 911 just now, I wasn't as clear as I should have been..*

Me: Hi, you might already know this, but there's a Road Closed sign on the 405 freeway.

Dispatcher: M'am, there's nothing I can do about opening the road.

Me: But people are swerving and slamming on their brakes to avoid it, it needs moved.

Dispatcher: If the road's closed, the sign needs to remain.

Me: Oh. I mean there's a Road Closed sign lying in the middle of an open lane on the freeway.

Dispatcher: Now that's something we can help with!
*****
Sent from my Blackberry :)

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We welcome you to Munchkin Land.. #3

So tonight at AWANA, we had some missionaries from Germany talking to the kids...

Missionary: What continent do we live on?

Munchkin: Irvine!

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Showing a picture of their infant son

Missionary: This is our baby.

Munchkin: What's a baby?

Missionary: Uh, who's your mom?... We'll cover that on our next visit.

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Showing a picture of the skyline of Koln, Germany..

Missionary: What's this a picture of?

Munchkin: Seattle!

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Looking at the same picture, the missionary points right off screen to where "more city is"..

Missionary: And right here is where we live!

Munchkin: On the wall?!

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On Sunday, one of the kids was trying to read the memory verse on the white board, and Jenna and I were helping him sound out the words..

Jenna: What does this word say? *pointing to "right"*

Munchkin: R-I-G-H-T.. Trust!

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We welcome you to Munchkin Land.. #2

Before I head to bed.. I have three new adorable quotes to add from the munchkins this evening at AWANA..

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Since it's the Wednesday before Halloween, it was "Pumpkin Pandemonium".. The kiddos all brought pumpkins and we played games with pumpkins on the game square. When the first game was played with pumpkins, two of the kids turned and looked at me and said..

Munchkin: I hope we aren't using pumpkins for dodgeball, too!

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During council time..

Teacher: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new... what?

Munchkin: Pumpkin!

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The same munchkin from last week who was telling me how he listens to KISS..

Munchkin: I like the new song from Pitbull called Bon, Bon!

(I looked up the lyrics.. It's a song in Spanish? And the English version is not appropriate..)

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Praying at the end of the night..

Munchkin: Dear Lord, please let us be proud of our pumpkins!

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Untitled

On Saturday, I deactivated my Facebook.

Now, to those of you that have never gone through the process, let's just say that Facebook really, really, REALLY doesn't like the idea of you leaving.

First.. There's no "delete" button. But if you go into Account Settings then choose Security, you'll see something like "Deactivate account".

Once you find the deactivate (notice that it is not delete) and click it, it takes you to a page where they want to know why you're leaving.

Now, the best part isn't that it asks you why (more on that in a second), the part that made me laugh is that at the top of the page, it shows you pictures of 4 of your friends (for me, it happened to be the four people that I interact with the most), with the blurb "So-and-so will miss you.. Send them a message!" under each of them.

Below the pictures of your bffs that will miss you, because they're only you're digital bffs, and you'll never see them in person (please pick up on the sarcastic tone in that statement).. It lists like, ten reasons in the "why are you leaving?" section.

Of course, they don't want you to just say why. When you click one of their reasons, they then try and convince you to stay! When you select the reason, a little pop up appears to defend and help!

- "I don't feel like my information is private enough."

- Did you know that you can control your privacy settings? Click here and we'll show you how!

- "I spend too much time on Facebook."

- Did you know that you can control how often Facebook emails you notifications? This will help you not jump on Facebook every time you get an email about it.

And there were tons more. It cracked me up that they really didn't want you to leave!

And.. Even after all that.. They tell you that "you can log back in at any time and your account will reactivate, and it will be like you never left!".

I've read online that apparently if you don't log in for 14 days, then your account is deleted.. But, that's in contradiction to what Facebook says.. So I don't know what the deal is there.

 

Now.. Why did I decide a detox was necessary? There's a plethora of reasons..

- I am on it all the time. I'm on it on my laptop, my phone, my iPod.. And honestly, I didn't really notice how often I'm on it on my phone until I deactivated my account. It's the default thing I look at on my phone (while I'm walking, while I'm on the phone at work, and, if I'm honest, while I'm driving), so I kept picking up my phone and going to the browser, and realizing "Wait a minute..". It was really weird to realize.

- I don't like being known for being on Facebook all the time. I don't mind people knowing things about me because they read my statuses or see my pictures - that's why I post them anyways, right? But I had someone make the comment that they "always know exactly what's running through my mind" because of it. And I can tell you that that is not true - I am very, very aware of everything I post, and I keep most stuff to myself. But I didn't like that they thought I posted so much that they knew everything.

- I get so frustrated when people post stuff about drinking, or relationship drama, or when they cuss every other word. I don't like that the things that my friends post are changing my view of them, just because they hide behind the keyboard and are totally different than who they are in real life.

- I've LOVED being surprised by things this week. I have no idea what's going on in the lives of people, unless they or I have specifically reached out to them (ah, this is what life was like before!).. Today, I was working in a small room in San Diego all day pretty much by myself.. And it wasn't until I was on my way home that I realized "hah, if there had been an earthquake in Orange County today, I would have absolutely no clue" or "If a celebrity died, I'd be the last to know!". It was a cool feeling.

There's more reasons, but that's three of them.

Anyways. Yes, I'll be back on Facebook. If for no other reason than to keep randomly posting picture from Friends, Community, and Big Bang Theory to introduce the Facebook people to the beauty of Tumblr..

I found the below photo earlier.. I think it's pretty insane..

I'm totally not against Facebook. I just needed to pull back for a few days. Maybe some people have enough self control to just "not log on".. But I know myself, and this was the way to do it! :)

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We welcome you to Munchkin Land..

I teach munchkins at church twice a week now (1st graders on Wednesday and Kindergarten on Sunday).. And they're so adorable.. So I shall share some of their cute/silly/honest moments as they happen. Here's all the things since the beginning though..

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1st grade boy while saying his Bible verses..

Munchkin: Do you listen to KIIS FM?

Me: Sometimes. Do you?

Munchkin: All the time!

Me: Do you have a favorite song?

Munchkin: "If you're sexy and you know it"

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Same kid.. We play games on a "game square" with them, and as the leader, I have to decide who plays when, and when it's a relay, I have to decide who goes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.. And while I was deciding..

Munchkin: If you don't pick me, I'm gonna show you my belly button!

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I was trying to explain how it's impossible to understand how big and awesome God is...

Munchkin: I know what's bigger than the whole world! A baby turtle!

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Jenna was holding up a sea shell and it was supposed to be something "beautiful" to show how we should be like without sin..

Jenna: What does this sea shell look like?

Munchkin: A porcupine's quill!

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Jenna teaches the Kindergarteners with me on Sunday mornings, and on the first week I was explaining that Jenna was my sister..

Munchkin: I have two sisters! They're both girls!

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There's absolutely no context. The munchkins are quite random sometimes. 

Munchkin: I didn't know C**** was a boy!

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On the playground..

Munchkin: I told E****** he was cute, and he said "No, I'm not!"

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One of the kids was reciting Matthew 22:37 ("Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'")

Munchkin: Love teh Lord your God with all your heart, with all your sin..

Me: Eh, not quite..

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The Wednesday night group is AWANA, and I help with the "SPARKS". In "SPARKS", each letter stands for something (S is for Saved, P is for Power, A is for According to the Scriptures, R is for Rose Again, K is for Keeps, S is for Savior.. Or something like that).. And when they're saying certain verses, they're supposed to say what the letter stands for.

Munchkin: P is for Rose again.

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A munchkin closing us in prayer for the night..

Munchkin: Dear Jesus, thank You for this day. And please help everyone wear pants.

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Coloring pictures of Adam and Eve..

Munchkin: A**** colored his people blue!

Me: Well, that's okay. God cerated people in all different colors!

Munchkin: Like black people? Or dark brown?

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One of the kids defending my honor after a puppet tried to eat my hair..

Munchkin: I'm gonna put a hole in the back of your head for being mean to my teacher!

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Choosing to trust your cabin..

I was talking to a dear friend last night about some stuff that God's been doing in our lives, and it really got me thinking about how doing something out of habit verses doing something intentionally can be very different things. This can apply to anything.

Out of habit.. Every single morning, my alarm goes off, I hit the 5 minute snooze button, reach over to the side of my bed, turn on my hair straightener, sleep for another four and a half minutes, and spend ten minutes straightening my hair (yes, I am so "gifted" in straightening my hair that I can do it sitting in bed, instead of going into the restroom. No mirrors necessary to turn my bed head into what everyone's used to seeing!).

Intentionally.. Sometimes, I plan to straighten my hair, I intentionally make sure I get every single kink out. I'll even look in a mirror, spot the "bad" spots, and focus on those areas.

I always feel better about my hair on intentional days instead of habitual days.. Even if, to the non-Kelsey eye.. You can't tell the difference.

That was a pretty shallow example..

Out of habit.. I meet up with friends throughout the week to grab coffee or get food. Nothing better to do, so we go do something random.

Intentionally.. Sometimes, we plan a time to get together. Compare schedules and find a block of time that works for each of us. Catch up on life. Talk a million miles a minute. Cram weeks of life into a two hour car ride.

I'm the queen of spontaneity, so I love the improv coffee dates.. But there's something special about knowing that you're going to be seeing someone, knowing that you're both planning a time to hang out. (I have two of these dates planned for next week with two of my favorites and I can't wait!)

And just because three examples are better than two..

Out of habit.. I read my Bible before I go to bed. Some people choose to start their morning with it.. I've always been a night time devo girl.

Intentionally.. I'll wake up early sometimes. Or I'll run to Starbucks during my lunch break and just soak up some extra time reading.

There's nothing wrong with having a schedule with reading your Bible, because for some people, if we don't have a set time (and if we're honest about it) it'll get lost in the busyness of the day.. But I love, love, love the times that I intentionally plan to throw in an extra or different time to spend time in the Word. It's just different. And because I know it's not my "normal" thing, I have a different attitude about it.

I've really been thinking about trusting God. Am I trusting because I'm supposed to and because it's "just what I've always done".. Or am I trusting God because I'm choosing to trust God. There's a pretty big difference when you think about it.

It makes me think of all the times at Camp Ronald McDonald or OCF-OCF that we did the "high ropes" course or the Courage Course. Before you got to tackle the big climbs, you always ran through a bunch of trust exercises with your cabin. 

Standing on a pole three feet above the ground being told "Okay, fall backwards and the eight, 12 year old girls below are going to catch you!".. Climbing to the top of the poll, you think "Psh, this will be easy. It's only three feet if they drop me. Plus, I don't really have to go through with it.". But once you're up there, and you've actually chosen to place your arms across your chest and fall backwards.. That's choosing to trust your cabin. It's a leap (or fall) of faith.

Once you've gotten safely back on the ground.. You're glad you chose to trust them. You wonder why you ever doubted them. You've had an experience that you probably would have never had if you hadn't chosen to trust them. And, if you're anything like me.. You can't wait to do it again!

I get those same exact feelings when I've intentionally chosen to trust God about something.

There's been so many times when I'm going through something, and I decide to trust in me - cuz I know best for me, right? And oh goodness, do I get taught a lesson in humility. I'm thinking of getting a tattoo of "You are stupid. God is not. Don't trust the idiot.".. Or something like that.. Just to ingrain in my head and remind me over and over and over again that I'm just a dumb human who sins and doesn't know what she's doing.. And that He does. And that's all that matters.

The default "trust verse" sums it up quite nicely: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6

I don't think it really gets much clearer than that.

Must trust God. And trust Him intentionally.

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By default..

I love it when there are one or two lines from a sermon or Bible Study that just won't leave you alone.

Brian asked the questions"What are you an expert in besides the Bible?" and "What would your friends say that you love most?".

When it comes to the first question, I don't think I would actually call myself an expert in ANYTHING. Maybe I'm an expert talker? An expert laugher? I can't exactly put that on a resume. 

But an expert in the Bible? I think that'd be a pretty awesome title to be able to give yourself. Granted, by default, I assume that in order to be an "expert" in the Bible (or anything), you probably have a few diplomas on the wall and a couple of letters after your name proving your expertise. I don't have any extra letters after my name (however, my last name has 12 letters, so I could probably stand to remove some of them and add them afterwards - maybe I'll fool everybody!), so I'm not at any official experience level.. But I like to think I've got a little bit of knowledge under my belt, and I'm always game to learn more. So while I'm not an expert in the Bible, I tend to hunger after learning more in that area of my life than in, say, computers or cooking.. If that makes sense. So my expert-ness (official word, there) is ever growing.. Hopefully exponentially, especially in comparison to other skills and areas of my life.

The second question though.. In complete honesty.. It made me nervous.

What would my friends say? I sat there thinking "Well, I think some of them would say something faith related.. But maybe some of my friends would say that my friends are what I love the most. My job. My random adventures. Disneyland. And it might depend on what my mood was like the last time I was with them. I might have been venting, so that wasn't necessarily very God-love-affirming.. I might have proclaimed my love for Chipotle during dinner.. Oh man, I hope they wouldn't answer with THAT..". 

So to solve that problem, I thought "Okay, make sure to have some sort of a God-related conversation with everyone you come into contact with at least once over the next week, because you want them to know that HE is what you love, just in case they've forgotten".. You know, because that would be pleasing to God - have conversations about Him with an ulterior motive of making yourself look better!

And then I started thinking "What would I say my friends love? Do they all love God? I know these friends would want me to answer the question for them as God, but is it true? Would I be saying that because I know they want me to, or because I really think that's their strongest love? And what about my non-believing friends? What DO they love most? Their boyfriends? Their family? Their car, their job? Clothing?"

My pulse was rushing. My head was reeling. (My face is flushing. What is this feeling? Fervent as a flame... Wicked, anyone? :-P)

Honestly though, my mind was going a million miles a minute trying to figure out what the answer to that question would be.

It was hard. Because even as I was thinking about what my friends would say I love the most.. I started thinking "What would I say I love the most?". I know what the answer should be. What the answer NEEDS to be. But, if I'm completely honest, there are times when other things take priority. There are times when my love for Christ is still there, but things like my love for socializing or relaxing take on a higher priority.

It was either John Piper or CJ Mahaney that made the statement that God shouldn't be "riding in the trunk of your car, waiting for you to need Him like you need a spare tire.. He should be riding with you, IN THE CAR, the whole time." I'd even go as far as to say that He should be driving, not just riding shotgun (Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel" comes to mind..).

He shouldn't ever be "just there".. He should be THERE. My response should come as a default reaction - not because I respond that way out of habit, or obligation, but because by default, it's true.

We always joke at church that "Jesus" is the answer to EVERYTHING (and, as discussed today, whenever you're asked "where in the Bible does it say.. *fill in the blank*", if you answer with "Romans", you're probably right). 

Jesus needs to be my answer to that question. Not because it's expected, not because it's what we want to hear.. But because it's true.

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For the very first time ever..

I defriended somebody on Facebook.

People say things all the time that drive me crazy.

They post about how often they drink.

They post about how mad they are at someone and give information that we don't need.

They constantly post about how much they love the boyfriend they've been with for a week.

They cuss more than they use normal, civilized vocabulary.

When people drive me crazy, I use the lovely little "hide" button.

But this time, I just decided to delete the person. This isn't the first time that they've posted something that bothered me. And honestly, if we were "real" friends, and not just friends online because we once knew each other.. Then I probably would've stuck to hiding (or at least explained it to the person before deleting).

But I haven't talked to this person in.. Gosh.. 4 years? I don't think it's going to cause any problems. There should be no awkward fall out because of it. Unless this person secretly stalks my Facebook and realized that they no longer have access to view me..

This deletion is not because of their lack of faith in God.

It is not because of their sexuality.

It is not because of their partying habits.

I have a problem when you call my Savior what you called Him.

And the things posted below.

And I even read the article.

And it made my blood boil.

Quoting Luke 14:26 (If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple) as an example of Jesus telling His disciples to join in a gay lifestyle?

And of course, an article like this alludes to the David and Jonathan "relationship".

And even to Paul "being gay".

This is not me bashing homosexuals or passing judgement.

This is me having a problem with lies of Jesus being shared.

And lies about the Bible.

Context, personality, and an understanding of the culture in which the Bible was originally written is important to understand when trying to find inaccuracies in the Bible. 

Or trying to change Truth.

Or trying to make the Bible fit your choices, instead of changing your life to being a believer.

The Bible doesn't change. You can, though.

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A woman of what?

I am a woman of Christ.

I am a woman of laughter.

I am a woman of love.

And recently, I've become a woman of frustration.

Boy, do I not like that.

I've been getting frustrated with myself, with friends, with coworkers, with family, with boys.. And dare I say it.. Frustrated with God.

Actually, maybe I've had moments of impatience with God.

Definite moments of tapping my foot at God.

I don't like saying I've been frustrated with God.

Ugh, I am not proud of that.

Can I use the excuse "I'm human, I sin"? Sure, I can use it as the opening of a sentence.. As long as it concludes with ".. but I am not okay with that and I need to get that attitude out of here".

Being a Christian is recognizing that sin is a part of this world, but a big part of being a believer is striving to remove it from our lives, and to not be okay with it. You can't ever be satisfied with the sin you find in your life.

John Owen said, "Know the associates that Satan holds in your heart". I'm recognizing this hold he has on me (these moments of "I know better than God"), and I'm determine to make them less and less frequent in an effort to destroy it completely.

I'm fully aware that that's easier said than done. But, boy, am I going to work on it.

I've decided that in order to not be a "woman of frustration", I need to decide what type of a woman I'm going to be. 

By default, my instinct was to go to Proverbs 31. Every godly woman that I know strives to be a Proverbs 31 woman. In my Bible, verses 10-31 are titled "A Woman Who Fears the Lord".

A woman of fear.

Doesn't that sound lovely? Hah. We tend to associate fear with dark rooms, haunted houses, and spiders. 

But this fear is different. 

A fear of the Lord is a sign of wisdom (according to Proverbs 9:10), and Proverbs 1:7 says that a fool despises wisdom. I don't want to be a fool.

It's a fear of recognizing what I deserve, and realizing that He has all the power over that.. But that I'm trusting He'll keep His promise to me.

A woman of fear and wisdom.

Not a bad thing to strive for.

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God is good. All the time.

Not just sometimes.

All the time.

That's so mind boggling to me. To be good all the time.

I can try and be good sometimes. But then I'll roll my eyes. Or think a not so nice thought about the guy that cut me off on the freeway. Maybe I'll even swear at someone. And there goes my attempt at being good ALL the time.

I don't think it's a bad thing to strive to be good all the time. But to be good compared to whose standards?

Good compared to the world? Well heck, if I compare myself to some people of the world, I think I could say I'm doing pretty good. I don't get drunk on the weekend. I haven't killed anyone. I go to church every Sunday. I've never smoked a cigarette.

But everyone can find someone that they're better than. It's really not that hard. But your life isn't supposed to be about making yourself feel better when you compare yourself to your best friend or sister. It's not even about making yourself better when you compare yourself about who you used to be.

How are you doing compared to Christ? As Christians, we're called to be like Christ.

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

Be imitators of me, as I am Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1

You shouldn't be comparing yourself to the people that were able to go down to Japan to help after the earthquake, or compare yourself to your friend that is away at Bible school. Just because that was in God's plan for them doesn't mean that your current path of going to Community College and working is any less important or any less displeasing to God. It's not about them. It's about Christ - isn't that all it should ever be about? That's the relationship and comparison that you should be striving to strengthen and draw nearer to - you and Christ.

Anyways.. Just a little something that's been on my mind recently.. that I'm writing down more for my benefit than for anyone else's when I start struggling with this as talks of the future, school, and missions trips start to arise...

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Untitled

There's a relationship that only certain people get to experience in life.

This relationship, is the relationship between stand partners.

What's a stand partner?

A stand partner is the person that, as a musician, you share a music stand with. Most of the time, you share the same sheet of music. You sit next to each other, rehearsal after rehearsal. Day after day. And, if you're lucky like me, year after year.

My first stand partner was Nancy.

We both started playing the flute in fifth grade. We played together from fifth grade through twelfth grade. The only times that we were not stand partners was when I was on oboe, or when we were playing different flute parts. Seriously, from fifth grade until twelfth. If you think about it, that's at LEAST two concerts a year for eight years (add an additional concert/festival for seventh grade through twelfth, except for one year). Two years of marching next to each other for every field show for ninth and tenth grade (then she became the amazing drum major and I switched to pit). Plus marching next to each other for parades our ninth and tenth grade years. And sitting next to each other for football games. Plus performances at assemblies, open houses, memorials, and graduations.. PLUS, for fifth and sixth grade, we had two one-hour rehearsals each week for fifth and sixth grade, and then five one-hour rehearsals a week from seventh through twelfth grade.. And then add night rehearsals in high school and sectionals.. PLUS, we shared a marimba for drumline our senior year of high school, so that's even more hours.

Basically.. We've spent a lot of time together.

Seriously. If you look at pretty much every single concert video, every single concert picture that her parents have taken.. You'll see me in the background. I think it's really entertaining. There's always the redhead in the background.

Anyways, there's just something that stand partners share. I know some stand partners were competitive with each other. Some probably even hated each other. Nancy and me? It just worked. Nancy was always first chair, I was always second. And I was beyond okay with that. So there was never a competition, it was always just a genuine love for the music and the fact that we could groan and complain about the same complicated measure. She was always so natural and amazing at playing anything and everything, that I think wanting to be like her pushed me more than any grade or lecture ever could.

After spending so many hours, days, and years playing together, our friendship is more than just musically based. Over all the years, we also had real classes together. And we'd talk about real things, real life. Life outside of our wonderful world of bandos.

Since we've graduated from high school, we've seen each other regularly when she'd come home from school (oh yes, p.s. my talented stand partner is also incredibly gifted academically, and went to Harvard). And even though she is WAY smarter than me, we've always been able to get together for dinner or a drive, and just talk and talk and talk.

And we got to do that tonight. She's home from Harvard (actually, GRADUATED!). And we got together and talked. For four hours straight. I really don't think there was more than 10 seconds of silence. And it was just so awesome to be able to think about all the time we've spent together. And how we can still find stuff to talk about, after twelve years of friendship, and being from two totally and completely separate roads of life!

Anyways, for those of you who didn't get to experience the bond between stand partners.. I hope you have something you can compare it to. I will forever be grateful for my stand partner and friend :)

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I think it is physically impossible..

For me to type up a short blog post.

Of the things that God has blessed me with.. The gift of "short and sweet and to the point" is so not one of them.

And if you've spent any amount of time with me.

You can attest to that.

I read quite a few blogs and I always love how in 4 sentences they can post the perfect post.

I, on the other hand, post a 4 PAGE post.. And all I want to do is go back through and edit it  or delete it all together.

But, I don't.

I hate deleting things.

I'm a hoarder.

A digital hoarder, apparently.

But, I am going to end this blog post with saying..

I love that it's summer. Friends are home. People want to do stuff all the time. The sun is coming. Resolved is a month away (!!!!!). And I feel the love of my Savior everywhere.

And.. I haven't mentioned this before.. But.. I just want to say..

I love having my best friend back.

P.S. Hey look, a short-ish post :)

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My ridiculously talented neighbors.

I've developed  a new hobby.

And I love it.

No, it's not a hobby for fishing. It's not a hobby involving playing a game. It's not a hobby for stalking celebrities.

It's hobby of watching people do what they love.

I think it's actually a rekindling of an old hobby.

I used to LOVE it - watching Catie play water polo, watching Carrie play basketball, watching Cory perform at a concert, watching Craig play in competition, watching Mae, Michelle, and Steph do guard stuff.. I loved it.

And it's been awhile since I've been able to do that.

Until recently.

My neigbors are ridiculously talented.

I have lived in the same house my entire life. And during this entire time, three doors down, has been this amazing family. Dad, Mom, Son, and Daughter. Bob, Carol, Matt, and Becca.

With us kids, it worked out great, because when you throw Matt and Becca in with Selah, Jenna, and me, we're all only about a year or two a part - it goes Selah, Matt, me, Becca, than Jenna - so we all always had someone to play with.

An extremely large percentage of the stories involving anything between the time of birth until junior high involve this family. And there's a less percentage as we've all gotten older, but they're still there.

When we were younger..

Disneyland. The beach. Wild Rivers. Mary Kate and Ashley movies. Playing video games. Trips to Palm Springs. 4th of July. New Years Eve. Thanksgiving. Christmas afternoon catch up. Matt's baseball games. Birthday parties. Swimming in our pool. Being baby sat by Amber across the street. Walking to Taco Bell. Climbing in the apricot tree. Dressing as twins. Synchronized swimming in the pool. Playing house.

And now as we're older..

Talking about school. Talking about life. Talking about God. Talking about music. Talking about boys. Talking about girls. Going for walks. Going for drives. Catching up for hours and hours and hours. Thanksgiving (still!). Disneyland (still!).

It's been fun to watch our friendships go from being friends because we lived close together and since we couldn't drive, it was either us or no one.. To actually being friends because we like each other, and get along.

There's been times over the years, where we'll go months and months and months without seeing each other.. And then sometimes we'll see each other every week or so - it really just depends on our schedules.

But recently, Matt and Becca have shown me these amazing talents that they have. They are musicians. And very gifted musicians at that!

I've known about Matt's music for a few years now.. I even have a couple of songs on my iPod that he probably wishes I didn't have.. And I remember when he first started getting into music, all I really kept thinking was "Matt loves video games. He's not a musician." and boy has he proven me wrong!

And Becca.. Well.. I have this vivid memory that took place at one of her birthday parties YEARS ago. We were playing a game, and all of us guests were supposed to guess answers to questions about Becca. And I remember that the answer to "What does Becca want to be when she grows up?" was most definitely "a singer". So I think it's always been in her blood - but never did I imagine she'd be as amazing as she is.

I absolutely LOVE watching Matt and Becca perform. Matt's been performing longer than Becca, but they're both amazing up there behind the microphone.

Oh, and for the record, they don't just perform covers. They perform their own music. Which is always something that is so hard for me to comprehend (give me sheet music, and I can play it, no problem. But give me a blank sheet of paper with no words or filled in staffs.. And it will remain that way.. Except maybe a few doodles..). Their covers are freaking amazing, too. But their original music is so awesome, I can't explain it.

I just love watching these two people (siblings of mine, really) use these gifts to get up there and perform and share their abilities with other people. I don't know if I could ever do that. But they can and do, and I love it!

Anyways, I love those two (and their parents) and I love what they're sharing with the rest of us these days :)

And I love watching people I love.. Doing what they love.. So that other people can love it, too!

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Jealousy, contentment, thriving, and some rambles.. :)

I've learned recently that there are two different types of jealousy.

There's the type of jealousy where it's purely selfish. You see someone, and all you can think of is "I really want that purse" or "I would look so much better with that jacket than her". There's nothing attractive about that. It's a typical "me, me, me" attitude. Not cute.

Then, there's this other type of jealousy. And I can't figure out if jealousy is the right word.. But it's a jealousy when you hear something about them, and you're jealous.. But for a good reason. And in the midst of your jealousy, you're so stinking excited for them! You don't want them to not experience/have whatever it is you're jealous about.. But you do wish that you could experience it along with them.

Maybe I should give an example.

I've had this same scenario play out with a bunch of my friends in the last few months. A friend is going on a missions trip. They're going somewhere else, outside of their home, city, or country, and they are going with the purpose of helping others, showing them Christ's love, and just fully dedicating every ounce of their being to the Lord for a certain (or uncertain) amount of time. And when I hear this, my response is typically "I am jealous of you in the best way possible". 

Now, I don't think I've ever thought the thought "Ugh, I wish that was me instead of them". I'm always just full of happiness and excitement for them (and promises of prayers for safety and opportunities flow from my lips), and then I think about how badly I would LOVE to be able to just drop everything I have going for me here in comfortable, routine, Orange County, California.. And just go.

Go. Go. Go.

Not go on vacation (even though I did just go on vacation and it was amazing).. But go somewhere, anywhere, and just talk with people, get to know them, share God's love with them, and see where that takes them and where it takes me.

Now, I know that jealousy is not a good thing, but, I think I've decided that I'm kinda okay with the second jealousy, because it's kinda encouraging to the other person, and also kinda a motivation for me.

On the vacation I just went on, I got to spend a few days with just my grandparents in Tennesse (my mom's parents). We spent hours just talking about life and Jesus. And it was ridiculously encouraging and just an amazing time all the way around. I can't remember how many times throughout our few short days together that I pretty much just sat there, hands in the air saying "I don't know what God wants me to do. I don't know where He wants me to be going. I don't know what He wants me to be focused on. But I'm ready. And He knows I'm ready. And just in case He doesn't know.. This is me telling Him - I am ready!" 

I've been trying really hard to not have an attitude of being content with just "floating" right now. I'm at a spot in my life where I should be quite happy. I have a job that I love.. But.. I really don't think it's something that I'll make a career out of. Don't get me wrong, I love the people, but I don't get excited about working with computers. If anything, I love the fact that I spend every day helping people (even if I moan and groan sometimes).. And I'm in school, learning stuff.. But I'm really bored with it. I don't get excited about math. I don't care about geography. I tend to sit there thinking "anything that I don't know now.. Well, that's what I have Google for." And I just feel like I'm wasting my time sitting in a class learning things that I really don't care about. I want to be learning about Christ. I want to be out there, talking to people and sharing what I'm learning.. I have way, way, way more conversations about Christ and what He's doing in my life and in the lives of others than I do about who fought what battle in the Civil War and why 2 + 2 = 4.. I try to take "interest classes" to help spark an interest in what my major should be.. But I find so much more joy in pulling out a book I got from the Christian Book Store and reading that than listening to a teacher talk about something.. It's just so boring. If I'm filling my head with something, I want it to be good, Biblical stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I am content with life - actually, I love life! And I know there are people that are far worse out there than me - that might look at my life saying that they wish their only problem was not knowing their major, that I should be happy with just a job, a roof over my head, and family and friends that love me. And I am happy - I know that I am extremely blessed, and I try my hardest not to take it for granted. But I don't want to just be "happy" or "content". Because being content can oh-so-easily turn into complacency. And I know that this life I'm living isn't because of me.. It's because of Him. And I want that to remain my focus.

Jon Foreman (from Switchfoot) has this song out there.. It's not on any of his CDs (yet), and you can't buy it on iTunes. It is on Youtube though (click here!).. And there's this one line from the song that resonates in me.. "I want to thrive, not just survive".

I want to thrive. Not just survive.

And I don't want to thrive by THIS world's standards. I want to thrive by HIS. Because that is all that matters.

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