Ignoring the white pants for Vegas and my diet

Sometimes a woman just needs to give in.  I mean afterall, some decadent things are good for us right?  Let me introduce my illicit love affairs this week.  Yes, you read correctly.  affairS.  As in more than one.

Let me introduce to you Joe.  Joe makes me happy, gives me what I want, when I want it, and makes me feel very good about myself.  Plus, he comes at at good price....

Let me introduce Mr Sun.  Mr Sun makes me feel warm all over.  He coats my body while I lie there, and brings color to my face.  It's a long cold winter without him, but how I enjoy these summer moments.

Let me introduce Frank.  Frank sings to my soul, makes me croon, and makes me feel like a woman.  He speaks to me the way any woman would want to be spoken (or sang) to.  He makes me feel classy.

Let me introduce you to Vino.  Just like Mr. Sun too much Vino will really get to me, but when Vino and I first meet after a long seperation, the reunion is smooth, tasty, bold, and everything you hope it could be.

Let me introduce you to Cocoa.  Ohhhhh Cocoa.  How would I like Cocoa to satisfy me today?  Maybe some toffee?  Maybe a little dark?  Maybe Swiss today?  Belguim?  Fine Italian?  Maybe some PA roots (like myself) with a nice Hershey Milk Component?  Who cares!  (Enjoy the nice email from my co-worker)

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CHOCOLATE!!!

Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Beans are vegetables; therefore, chocolate is a vegetable.

Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, it is further verified that chocolate is a vegetable.

To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If you eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, it’s a balanced diet. (Don't they actually counteract each other?)

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

REMEMBER: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts."

It's ok if you are jealous of my love affairs.  You can find your own and be just as scandalous as this good christian girl. ;-P

Life is so good.  And I do believe it's getting better. <3

What is a grown up anyway?

I have often wondered about how you get to that point where you feel like a grown up.  Do you need to feel like a grown up before you are considered a grown up?  Does the fact that I still say 'grown up' negate the fact that I may possibly be one?  (Just for the record, when I think about grown ups, I still think of Charlie Brown's teacher only saying "Wha wha whomp wha...")

One thought is that I feel like a grown up when I realize that money is there to be budgeted.  When you actually want to be responsible, pay off all your bills, budget accordingly, not just so you have fun money, but so you have future money too. 

Gulp... I'm there.

Another thought was when I don't immediately want to give back someone's baby or when I could see myself living in and fixing up a house and being happy with it, or when I see someone who is married or in a serious relationship and I think (if ever so briefly) "That doesn't look so scary.  I think I could do that." 

Gulp... I'm there.

Another thought is when you realize that more of your friends are older, married couples, and long gone are the single college and young professional friends that you used to be surrounded with. 

Gulp... I'm there.

Another thought is when you take a vacation.  Not because it's spring break, or someone's wedding, or a family obligation, but because you can and you want to.  You can tell work - Sayonara - and just go for an adventure just because you can. 

Gulp... I'm there.

Another thought is when you tell a teenager, because I said so.  Worst answer to a question ever, but when you find yourself saying that to a Younglife kid, it is a pretty sobering adult that is looking in the mirror back at you. 

Gulp... I'm there.

But I think the final and most accurate test is when you read a Dilbert Cartoon and you realize that that is your sad boring pathetic, grown up employee life.  When Dilbert and your Office 'Quote of the Day' calender, not only make you smile, but remind you of your daily life... this may be when you have officially reached grown up status. 

Gulp... I am definitely there!

For what it's worth, I still wear flip flops every chance I get, I still love the way my hair looks in twin braids, I still love rockin out to Taylor Swift, and drinking lemonade, singing in public, dancing with reckless abandon, making every hug and smile count, driving with my big sunglasses on with the music up and voice blaring, and drawing hearts in the dirt.  
Will I ever really be a grown up?  Probably not.  But I kinda like this pseudo-stage I'm in right now.  And plus... who ever said that 24 year olds can't play make believe?

Life is so good.  And I do believe, it's getting better... <3

new friends, old friends and everything in between

You know when you have a good weekend?  Just a great time with great smiles and great conversation?  Well I did.  It was great.
Friday I started the weekend at the car dealership where I was told that my tags were expired and I would be driving illegally.  Of course this was my concern on May 30, but the same mechanic told me that if I had proof of working on repairs (aka reciepts) than I should be fine in case I get pulled over.  Well apparently that was a lie, and I am not too excited about it, so my car is parked until I go to the MVA bright and early tomorrow morning.
But MH and her boyfriend came down from Philly for the weekend, and we hopped into Georgetown for the night where we met up with Joe, Dollar, and their girlfriends.  It was great to see Joe, who I haven't seen since college.  But a night with great friends, old jokes, memories, and just being around those familiar people that walked through four years of college with you is so nice, so like being at home again.  They put a sign on the newly renovated student union at Scranton "It's not where I breathe, but where I love, that I live."  I think that's beautiful, and you know what?  When I am with my old college friends, I love.  We went to a bar in DC, I met a nice guy named David, and we had a great night.  It was kinda a bummer that MH and her guy had to leave on Saturday but I still loved hanging out with them for the night.
Saturday night I went to Arlington for a house party for S's boyfriend's new house.  His friends are way different than the friends that I have, but were way interesting, and so much fun.  Yea it was a bit weird to one of 2 girls there for half the night, but I hung out with some of the most interesting, most down to earth people.  People who loved partying, people who don't believe in God, people who love life, and a person that loves Jesus.  We talked about jobs, travel, God, schools, work, and joked and laughed all night.  I hung out with a new African friend, learned some Hebrew from a Jewish guy who teaches kids and prepares them for bar mitzvahs (and obviously spoke to him about my own calling for high school kids to share the gospel), talked with a guy from rural Tennessee about being good stewards of the earth and of other people, different cultures, his testimony, dreams and passion for the future and for other people, and finally about traveling the world, serving others, and learning along the way.
Today I went to Eastern Market with Steph, walked all through DC, and just caught up.  I have to say that I love the relationships that I made with the people I have met at Younglife Camps.  Steph was my intern when I did summer staff at Lake Champion in 2006, and since she now lives in Arlington, we try to get together when we can.  Eastern Market is this great outdoor market in DC, and despite the sweltering heat, we had a blast checking out pearl jewlery, local and international photographs and artwork peices, local designs, large hats that would put the Kentucky Derby to shame, and sunglasses that cover the most varied shapes, sizes, and colors.  We had a delicious locally made lunch, and watched a newlywed couple dance around the ballroom and get their beautiful new wedding pictures.  And we did what Steph and I do best.  Talk about faith, friends, relationships, and the unfortunate disaster of having thick curly hair in the hot humid summers.   One thing I love about Steph, and about my other YL friends from camps, is that no matter how long it has been since we have last seen each other, we can dive right in to the deep stuff, encourage each other, and share what we know and have learned about following Jesus and derrived from the bible.  I love friendships like this that we just build each other up and encourage each other to draw closer to our great God. 
This weekend could not have been better.  I have seen more love this weekend than I remember experiencing in a long time.  And even though I spent most of my weekend drinking with people that don't know the Lord, I feel so encouraged, enlivened, and closer in my relationship with God than I did before experiencing this great weekend.

"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the spirit, because the spirit intercedes with the saints in accordance with God's will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:27-28

Life is so good.  And I do believe it's gettin better <3

Update on my bucket list!!

It's always good to cross things off a to-do list.  When it is chores/errands, it feels good.  When it is a list of things that bring joy to you... it feels great!  I revisited my list today, and I am making some sort of progress!!  Booyah!

1- Ride an elephant in the Jungle (Indonesia)

Alison is going in Indonesia for a year.  I am going to visit her, and I am going to make her go on an elephant ride with me.

2- Skydiving

This is something I might do in a few weeks when I go to Phoenix/Vegas, depending on my financial situation and my chiropractor's advice.

3- Missions trip in a foreign country

4- Hike to the peak of a mountain

Done!  And thank you very much Steven and Rag Top Mountain.  (I hope it's not the last one...)

5- Take a sailing trip

6- Go on a cross country road trip

7- Learn to drive stick shift

This has already kinda been done, but I am not good at it.  Not checking this off for now.

8- Kentucky Derby with a big hat

9- Ice skate at Rockefeller at Christmas

10- Ride on the back of a motorcycle

11- Give everything I have to someone (can be everything I can give, everything I have at that moment… I’ll know when it happens)

12- White Water raft on the CO River

13- Run a ½ marathon OR do a sprint triathlon

Septemeber 2010 maybe?!?

14- Worship with a different culture

15- Dance freely in front of at least 10 people

Done!  Thank you Ami & Angela and the drunk girl at the Enter the Haggis concert!  Also.. Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

16- Take a helicopter ride

17- Go rock climbing

18- See the Northen Lights

19- Visit and explore Rio de Janerio

20- See Victoria Falls

21- Visit all 50 states

22- Ride the biggest roller coaster in the US

23- Make my own wine

24- Read all 100 books (I have a list of 100 books to read)

25- Not be in control

26- Spend a weekend, just me and God

27- Do God’s will, not my own

28- Help build a habitat for humanity home

29- Spend Christmas at a shelter

30- Make a difference in someone’s life

31- Write and publish a book

32- Watch the 50 Greatest American Movies of all time

33- Be a loving mother and wife

34- Go on a safari

35- Spend mornings with my husband and coffee on the porch

36- Attend a professional tennis tournament

37- Act ridiculous

38- Live in the now

39- Start a collection of willow angels

40- Watch the mummers parade – live

41- Send my parents to a YL camp as adult guests

Guess who is NorthBay Bound in just a few weeks!! Momma and Papa Potts!

42- Drop everything to help someone

43- Have a life changing conversation with someone about faith

44- Go back to school

45- Stand out of the sunroof of a moving car

46- Grow a garden

47- Sleep under the stars

Weather pending... camping trip in a week and a half with Steph, Steven, and Yuco!

48- Build or fix something

I have a summer project planned...

49- Explore the beaches and ocean of Australia

50- Surf in the Pacific

Life is so good. 

And I do believe, it's getting better...