Airport Love

I'm convinced that I have written about this before... but just like benches (which I thought the same thing about), turns out I haven't.

Today I was at the airport picking up my parents and aunt and uncle arriving home from their vacation in Hawaii. I love picking people up from the airport. Not the lame drive-by pick-up from the side walk (although I have done that a few times lately due to time constraints). I love going in and people watching. It's like everyone remembers how much they love their loved ones in airports. Whether greeting someone who is just arriving or saying goodbye to someone leaving... everyone loves people more in airports and they aren't afraid to show it (although there was a couple in the airport today that could have used a little fear in them. Holy, PDA!)

I saw some military men in uniform waiting to get on their plane. It reminded me of my good friend Mary who recently left for Navy basic training. I saw a little boy dressed up in khakis and a tie with his mom. She held him up so that he could watch his dad (I assumed... I guess I made their story up in my head) walk off the plane. I really wanted to see them when they finally greeted each other but I didn't have a chance because the people that I was there to see got off the plane... Which is another part I love about airports... I love the initial hug when greeting the people you are picking up. It's just great... And then the stories that people have from their trips... I love hearing those. I just love it all.

People I want to hang out with in heaven...

The other day Cory made the discovery of a worship album put out by some of the members of my very favorite band, Mute Math. I knew that some of the guys were Christians but it was so cool for me to hear them worshiping. Which got me to thinking... I am so excited to hang out with them in heaven! Which got me to thinking... who else am I excited to hang out with in heaven?

Besides a lot of my family and friends, here is a list of a few people off the top of my head (it's kind of random...):
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
-Paul Meany (the lead singer of Mute Math)
-Kris Allen (the guy that just won American Idol)
-William Wilberforce (the man who abolished the slave trade in Great Britain, the movie Amazing Grace is about him and it inspires me and gets me pumped every time I watch it!)
-Johnny Cash

Now I know, this is a really shallow idea of heaven. It's not going to be a bunch of Christians hanging out, talking about the glory days (which compared to heaven are as far from glory days as can be...) It's going to be so much cooler than anything I can ever imagine! But, I think it would be cool if I got to hang out with these people while I'm there...

Cheesey Trees...

Have you ever noticed on the right side of Facebook there are sometimes adds that say something like, "If you like *insert artist's name here* then you will like *insert no-name artist's name here." Today I saw one of those that said, "Matt Nathanson fan? Listen to Mikey Wax." I looked him up and listened to his stuff on his MySpace. He's pretty good... reminds me of a mixture of pretty much every famous male artist but he's decent.

I got excited when I saw his album cover though... It's a tree! In every season! Now I will be the first to admit that it's done pretty cheesily. I mean, fake footprints leading to a piano in the snow? Really? Cheesey... But I like the idea of it and his album is called "Change Again" which I think is clever...

But I suppose I'm content with pretty much anything involving trees... :)

Cross it off the list...

Yesterday I got to cross something off my wish list for the summer: I was crafty with my lovely friend Sarah! Hopefully we will continue to be crafty as the summer goes on, but yesterday was the first of the summer.

Sarah is amazing. Earlier in the week she saw some cute sandals in a magazine that were $75. Instead of overspending, Sarah was creative and figured out a way to make basically the exact same sandals for $12! She blogged about it here. It's quite impressive so you should check it out.

Anyway... I was way impressed and wanted some of my own so Sarah was awesome and taught me how yesterday! We met at the fabric store and bought some fabric, went to Target to buy the base of the sandal (aka cheap flip flops), and then headed over to her house to make the actual sandals.

Here they they are! I have been wearing them all day today and I love them! I bought two different kinds of fabric that are easily interchangeable so I basically got two really cute pairs of sandals (with even more possibilities with every color of fabric I buy) for $12. So great! Thanks to Sarah for being so awesome and passing her skills on to me!

(What I started with and what I ended with!)

Records!

Last night, I hung out with my family in Olathe and my cousin Brad and I threw out the idea that we should go to the Plaza and play music on the streets and see if we could make some money. It was late so we decided to start planning for another night and started picking songs instead. He played guitar and sang and I sang and it was fun just being musical together. Singalongs are the greatest!

Somewhere along the way the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" came up and we were discussing who it was originally by. Brad knew all along that it was Marvin Gaye (and Tammi Terrell) but my aunt Cindy was convinced it was the Supremes or someone of the sort. She started looking through her old records to see if she had it and it was so fun for me to see the records and album covers. With each album she pulled out she discussed memories and we would sing a few lines of each band's classics. She had Jackson 5, Carole King, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, James Taylor, the Supremes, the Mamas & the Papas... you name it. (Pretty much everything except for Marvin Gaye, ha...)

Anyway, it was so much to walk down musical memory lane. It made me a bit sad because what will I do when I become an aunt or a grandma? "Here kids! Take a look at my computer screen. When I was a kid we bought files on iTunes..." Definitely not as much fun as looking at records.... Maybe I'll start investing in some!

Just out back...

This past week I decided to be active and go for a bike ride. I was so pumped because I was actually excited to work out! I took my brother Joel's bike which was a little too big but I decided to go for it anyway. As I started out, I thought to myself, "Man, I know I'm out of shape, but I never remember it being this hard to pedal!" but I kept going because I needed to push myself. (Some of you may be thinking, "Did you try to change the gears?" The answer is yes... but they didn't change.) I got pretty far and then I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to humble myself, hop off the bike, and walk it back the 15 minute walk home. (I later find out that the bike is broken, but that's not the point of this story.)

On my way back I walked by the lake behind our house and I had completely forgotten how beautiful it was! People drive distances to visit lakes that pretty and I have one just out back! Although I was still getting over the humiliation of not completing my bike ride, I completely enjoyed the beauty of this peaceful lake.

I went on a walk with my mom a few days later to take pictures and try to capture the beauty that I had experienced before. I went around dusk, the same time that I had been out before, but it was a bit cloudy so it wasn't quite the same... But I still enjoyed the nice breeze, the pretty lake, and my mom's wonderful company...

(Some pretty flowers on a fence that we walked by...)

"See what you love. Love what you see."

Life has slowed down quite a bit since moving back to Kansas City for the summer. It's been nice but has taken some getting used to. I feel like because life is so slow that I don't have as much to blog about... which is crazy because you would think that as I slow down I would begin to notice more things that I love. But truthfully I've just done a lot of sleeping (which I do love...) Don't get me wrong I am loving living at home and being in Kansas City, it's just different than college life. So anyway, I am trying to notice the little things in this slow pace of my summer.

On top of sleeping, I, unfortunately, have started to watch a lot more TV. I have discovered that the island blew up, Pam is pregnant, Kris Allen is a rock star, and The Fashion Show on Bravo is a sorry excuse for a second-hand Project Runway (yet I still watch it...) The invention of DVR has saved me from watching countless commercials but there is one commercial that I have seen a few times that I actually love...

It's a Lenscrafters commercial. Kind of random... but I feel like it is all about appreciating the little things. I found two on YouTube. Here they are:

The Royals!

Tonight I went to the Royals game with a fun bunch: my brothers Joel and Cory, my cousins Julie and Anthony, and some friends Sierra and Armando. The game was fun throughout... a little slow at times, but fun. We were down the whole game. It was 2-5 at the bottom of the 9th... then Jacobs scored a home run! Then Teahen went to bat and scored a home run! Then I think there was a walk, then a triple by DeJesus, then a pop fly... and all of a sudden we flippin' won the game! It was THRILLING!

I love Royals games... I love the cheers, the cheesey hot dog races, the Kiss Cam, the breeze, the sea of Royal blue, the concessions on the rare occasions that I have enough money, the company, and most importantly the baseball. I love it all...

Tonight's win made it even greater though! I literally got goosebumps when we finally tied the game and everyone was cheering, "Let's go Royals! (clap, clap, clap, clap clap)!" I was surrounded by thousands of people who were proud to be from Kansas City and cheering on their team... It was just great.

Ace of Cakes

I randomly started watching the Food Network last year when I moved into my apartment. I don't know why, but it became a ritual to watch it every day while eating lunch whether it was The Barefoot Contessa, Everyday Italian, or Paula Dean... BUT, my absolute favorite show on the Food Network is Ace of Cakes.

It's a show about a pastry chef who owns his own cake bakery, Charm City Cakes, and has all of his friends there working with him. The people on it are kind of funny. And as you know I have a thing for baking... And the cakes that they bake are incredible! The show as a whole pretty much combines three of my favorite things: funny people, baking, and creativity. Perfect, huh?

While I was on the site looking up stuff so I could blog about it, I saw this video. It's the bakers of Ace of Cakes visiting the set of LOST (my very favorite show) because they made a cake for their 100th episode. Here is the cake:
Even if you don't like anything I've mentioned above, if you like LOST I think you will enjoy this video. Check it out...

Letters.

My best friend Mary recently left for basic training for the Navy. I've been missing her terribly but her absence has led to something exciting... writing (and receiving a few...) letters! It has been so fun writing her every day. Letters are her only contact with the outside world and knowing that makes me so much more eager to write her.

Anyway, e-mails, texts, phone calls are all fine and dandy but there is something special about writing and receiving letters. I think I may turn over a new leaf and try to do it more often. So fun...

Weddings...

It's that time of year when everyone is getting married. I don't think I'm even going to any weddings this year, but my family has received quite a few invitations in the mail. It has got me thinking about my possible future wedding...

I remember one time at Veritas, Ryan gave a talk that basically said, "Guys, you shouldn't fantasize about women's bodies. Girls, you shouldn't fantasize about your weddings." I'm not fantasizing about my wedding but when being surrounded by weddings it's hard not to think, "I want to do that... and I don't want to do that..."

Today's post on Design*Sponge got me thinking about weddings even more. This couple's wedding is pretty much my dream wedding. It looks so quaint and artsy, I love it. If I could somehow pull that off really inexpensively, my wedding would totally be like that. I also really like this couple's wedding. I love this bride's wedding dress... (above is a picture of their wedding, taken by a Holga for those who care, aka Joel).

Anyway, I'm not fantasizing about weddings when I don't even have a boyfriend. I'm just acknowledging what a cool, artistic representation they are of the beautiful union of two people in love through Christ. Pretty cool...

¡El verano está aquí!

Summer is here! Today was my first official day in Kansas City and it feels great! I slept in, spent the afternoon with my wonderful friend Jessie and her boys, ate dinner with my family, went to a movie with Cory (Star Trek... it was SO good!), and dominated playing Rock Band here and there. It was a nice blend of relaxation and people time. For all of those who are thinking, "You lazy person... get a job." I got one! I will be working at my church but I don't start until Monday so I have a few days to relax.

Here are some things that I am hoping to do this summer:

1. Read at least 5 books (one being the 4th Twilight book, and the other four I'm looking for suggestions)

2. Visit Valeria in New York

3. Watch all 10 seasons of Friends (I need something to do after 10:00 when everyone else goes to bed)

4. Catch up on some shows that I'm behind on, mainly Heroes and Big Bang Theory (possibly Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl, if I have time and if I'm up for the drama)

5. Watch lots of Wheel of Fortune with my family as well as hanging out with them all the time

6. Spend lots of time with Jessie and the boys (if they'll have me...)

7. Be crafty with Sarah

8. Hang out with my cousins, aunts, and uncles as much as possible (maybe going to some concerts with Anthony and starting a band...)

9. Learn some more songs on the piano or maybe even write my own (doubtful, very doubtful)

10. Spend lots of time with the Lord and grow more into the woman that He's designed me to be

So there it is. My wish list for the summer. I can't wait...!

Erin McCarley

Like I mentioned in my last post a girl named Erin McCarley opened for Matt Nathanson and Jack's Mannequin last night. She played guitar with a guy playing piano and a guy playing drums. Her sound is pretty similar to the female sound that is popular right now (e.g. Sara Bareilles) but I liked it anyway and her songs were pretty catchy! I am thinking about buying her album next time I get paid!

One of the highlights of her performance was when she sang the "Do do do do" song (which after a little research I discovered it is called "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega). It was pretty fun and the keyboardist busted out some beat boxing which is always a good time. Click here if you want to see a video of her singing it. Below is a video of her most popular single right now.

Concerts.

I went to a concert tonight! Erin McCarley opened for Matt Nathanson and Jack's Mannequin (pictured above). They were all very good. I just love concerts...

I love being there, seeing the music being produced right infront of my eyes. I love how I feel completely engulfed by the music. I love how the beat vibrates your body way down deep to your soul. I love watching the musicians dance around stage playing their instruments. I love dancing to the music myself (concerts are one of the few places I will sort of dance in public...) I just love everything about concerts (except for the people who crowd your space and take your spot).

Everytime I go though, I also have this ache in my heart that makes me want to be a musician. Does that happen to everyone else? Doesn't everyone dream of becoming a rock star? I will always dream of being a musician... probably because I love concerts so much.

Balmorhea

I've talked about this band before, but Balmorhea is quickly becoming one of my very favorites. I bought another one of their albums last night, All Is Wild, All Is Silent, and it exceeded my expectations by FAR. Their music combines all of the things that I currently love about music. I say currently because it seems like over time my taste has changed, but currently I love:
1. Acoustic guitar
2. Strings
3. Piano
4. Kind of vocals- meaning they sing but it's not really about the lyrics, it's about the sound
5. Harmony

So, thank you, Balmorhea... for giving me a reason to get excited about writing papers because that means I get to have alone time with your music.

Here is a video of a combination of two songs from their newest album. (I know sometimes you're too much in a hurry to a watch video, but just click on this and go check your mail, or Twitter, or Facebook and have it as your background music. You're opinion of good music will be transformed...)

Happy Mother's Day!

Sadly I am not home for Mother's Day this year. I am heading home on Wednesday and had a lot of homework to do, so I thought it would be more practical to stay here for the weekend. I was going to send my mom a card but I don't really like cards and I know she says she likes my blog, so I figured I would write a little something here!

My mom is one of the coolest women you will ever meet. Actually, she is probably my favorite person alive, no lie. (Sorry to everyone else who wanted the title, Mom's got you beat.) Here are some things that I love about her:
1. She's an incredibly wise, Godly woman and a great role model to me.
2. She is an amazing mom and wife and is, once again, a great role model.
3. She loves to play games.
4. She and I have a similar sense of humor so we find each other funny.
5. She's a great listener and people really feel loved by her.
6. She has incredible self-control and I hope to be as skinny as her someday. :)
7. She's good at what she does at her job and does it cheerfully even though she doesn't love doing it.
8. She's so encouraging and finds the good in just about everybody.
9. She remembers details and will follow up on the little stuff that everyone else forgets.
10. She's my best friend.

The list could go on and on but I bet you she's a little uncomfortable because she generally doesn't like a lot of attention. (Humility, that's another thing I love about her.) So, thanks, Mom, for being a wonderful mother and friend! I love you so much!

I actually decided to make my mom something this year. I can't give it to her until Wednesday but I thought I'd take a picture. It's a clock! I know it looks kind of funny, but it makes more sense if you see it in person. I think it will go well in my mom's bathroom with the other tree paintings that I did. This clock was inspired by a project on one of my new favorite sites, Design*Sponge. Here are the directions on how to make your own!

Saturday's Post

If I blog today that means I will have blogged every day this week which I think is maybe a record for me. I don't really have much to say today but I want to write something anyway...

Matt Wertz recently made a music video for my favorite of his "Everything's Right"! (This is the song I blogged about a couple weeks ago.) I saw the video for the first time last night... It wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for a scene with some windows down driving, and that didn't happen. The whole thing is a little stereotypical in general but fun nonetheless...

While searching for "Everything's Right" I came across a video of an acoustic version of another one of my favorites of his "5:19". Because this post is lame and lacking a little something I thought I'd include that one too. Here they are:

P.S. "You've Got Mail" is on Bravo. I LOVE this movie! "152 insights to my SOUL!"

Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop

I'm pretty sure everyone has seen the commercial (I think it's a phone commercial?) with the mellow male voice singing, "I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you..." Guys hate it, girls love it... and I'm one of those girls. So I looked it up last night and it's a song called "Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg. Falling in love at a coffee shop... could there BE a song more perfect for me? I mean, it's kind of my dream.

Anyway, the find kind of made my day. Maybe I will fall in love with my husband at a coffee shop and we can dance to this song at our wedding. Maybe not... but a girl can dream.

"I never knew just what it was
about this old coffee shop I love so much
All of the while... I never knew
It was you."

Crazy Cat Lady

My roommates are out camping tonight and I couldn't go along because I have to work at 3:30 tomorrow morning! (Yikes... right?) I am kind of bummed but I am trying to use the time to be productive and get a lot of work done on my papers. But...

My roommate Sarah got a cat today! He's a boy but he doesn't have a name yet. Sarah is thinking about Hunter but I'm still pushing for Queso. Anyway, he's keeping me company tonight... which has made my lonely evening a bit more bearable. I have even found myself talking to him...

I now understand why crazy cat ladies are crazy cat ladies... It's just kind of fun!

Ma Fleur Photography

My brother Joel blogged about The Cinematic Orchestra this past weekend and I fell in love with their song, "To Build a Home"... SO good. I listened to the samples of their other songs on iTunes and they sounded good so I decided to buy their album Ma Fleur. I like the album, but I must admit that I'm a little disappointed. I bought the album because I love "To Build a Home" and unfortunately it isn't very representative of the rest of their music. There are many instrumental (don't get me wrong, I love instrumental) songs and a few with this ethnic sounding female vocalist. They are good... but not the low-key male vocal accompanied by a powerful orchestra that I was hoping for.

There was a redeeming factor to the album though, and that was the "digital booklet" (aka the book thing that comes with CDs if you actually buy CDs anymore) that was filled with some beautiful photography. The first page of the booklet says:

"The photographs you find here have been chosen to accompany the songs contained on Ma Fleur. Inspired by but not tied specifically to any of them, these largely unpeopled studies in light are meant as an aid to the listener in reconstructing or creating the narrative contained at the heart of this suite of music."

Here are a few of the amazing photographs...

Noticias buenisimas!

(My future roommate Sara and I!)

As most of you know I was all ready to study abroad in the Dominican Republic next semester when at the last minute (not THAT last minute, but kind of...) I changed my mind. Because I was planning on being out of the country next semester (my last at MU) I, of course, didn't make any plans for life here: meaning I didn't enroll in classes and I didn't have a place to live. So when I changed my mind and decided to stay here that added a little craziness because I was about a month late in figuring all that stuff out.

The classes issue was kind of crazy. I stressed more and prayed less than I should have, but eventually I met with this wonderful woman named Flor Zephir who solved all my problems. The next issue was finding a place to live. I got my hopes up and things kept not working out. Once again, I stressed more and prayed less than I should have, but this morning I got a call from my Bible study leader Sara offering me a place to live with her and her husband in their beautiful house... for free. So I officially have a place to live!

My trust in God wavered throughout this whole process. At times I felt at peace that God would take care of everything because I knew that I decided not to study abroad for a reason. Other times I got so frustrated and wanted to scream, "Why can't You just make this easy!" But God provided. I just need to learn to trust Him more consistently... because He seems to keep His end of the deal every time.

Sunny weather...

I love sunny weather. Of course it only makes sense that since I have been complaining about the rainy/cloudy weather for the past week, then by default I must love sunny weather. And it's true... I do. On Friday when I was driving to the Ozarks with Valeria the sun came out for a few minutes and I was so excited that I actually said out loud, "Sun! Oh, it feels so good!"

Today the sun has returned! I woke up this morning to clouds and looked at weather.com to see if I needed to prepare myself for another week of torture but it promised me sun at 11:00 am and when I walked out of my class at 11:15... there it was! So wonderful!

(P.S. I realized that some people may think that I have taken all the pictures on my blog and I thought I should let ya'll know that they aren't all me. Like today for example, I Google Imaged "sunny weather" and this is what came up. I have only taken the pictures that I have claimed. Just didn't want to be getting credit for someone else's work.)

The lake...

I have fond memories of visits to the lake growing up. I don't know what it is... I just love everything about it. It's been a few years since I've made it to the Ozarks but my Bible study spent the weekend there and it was quite wonderful!

The place the our leader rented was BEAUTIFUL! It was right on the lake which was fun to look at. It had a dock so we got to dip our feet in. We played games, watched movies, sat by a fire, and ate a lot. I loved it!

It was just a great weekend. I don't have much else to say about it other than that... but I had to at least give it a mention (because I loved it, you know...)