busy-ness!

Wow, days go by recently and I can't tell if the days feel like they are whizzing past me, or that time is dragging on at the pace of a snail.  When I think about my life moving as quickly as that fast forward button on the old VCR, I feel like I am missing out on the chipmunk voices that real life tends to lack when it goes by that quickly.

Fall is here in DC.  It is beautiful, sweaters and jeans are my (somewhat) daily attire, and every time I drive through my neighborhood I am speechless about the beautiful colors of the trees and how many more leaves are littered all over the street.  The night is falling earlier, and for some weird reason I like the fact that it is getting dark at 7:15pm.  Younglife club is going great, I have met a few great new high school friends this year, and am excited about a lot of different life events coming up soon!  So far we have already gone through homecoming, and fall sports are coming to a close.  Did someone say winter weekend?  Oh yea - because we are going there.  WHOOOOOOOOOO.

Also, I will be posting pictures soon of my living room.  This living room has been transformed in the last few weeks.  It is so exciting to see the little details come together, and see our room transform from a collection of all our stuff into a homey little hang out.  Mhmmmmm..... love it!

The daddy-o came down on Friday, and so we went to go grab dinner with him, and then seester came down for the Redskins v. Eagles game!  Goooooo Eagles - great seats - and SO THANKFUL the birds pulled out a win.  Gives me hope for the rest of the season. 

Work has been crazy, and I believe I am going to Africa for a week.  So all around business and craziness and a lot of stress.  But all wonderful exciting new adventures.  I just need to remind myself sometimes to slow down a little bit!

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

For every time there is a season... and blessings...

It's true!



Summer brings sunshine and holidays and long days and warm weather.




Fall brings beautiful colors, leaves, orchards, haunted hayrides, apples, sweaters, costumes, and hiking.

 

Winter brings Christmas, christmas music, peppermint mocha at starbucks, mittens, sledding, cozy fires, and winter sports.





Spring brings birds, and flowers, graduations, rain boots, big puddles, cherry blossoms, baseball, and shedding layers.


But in the biblical sense - we all go through seasons.
Currently I am in a season of refreshment with God and excited for Younglife and my small group to start up again, and I love those seasons.  The new exciting fresh seasons are always the best :-)

And I am currently in a season of working hard.  There is a LOT on my plate at work right now, and while I am not complaining about it, I do have to admit that it is a significant amount of work, and it's challenging to even just keep my head above water.  (To give you an idea, I disabled gchat and facebook for a few weeks until I can get a handle on all this work - it's an unnecessary distraction!)

But yesterday I came home - after a Tuesday that felt like Thursday.  I had been working very hard, trying to get everything done, and then powered up my laptop at home for another couple hours of working.  It wasn't horrific, but I can think of a thousand other things I would have preferred doing.  ... Like hanging out with the boy.  Fortunately for me, I am kinda blessed to have a great guy who made my day easier by picking up groceries, cooking a delicious meal for me (while I worked at the table - girlfriend fail, I know!), and then finally sitting down to eat (I did finally put the laptop away!).  Did I mention he brought me some beautiful flowers?  Did I mention that after dinner he helped me clean out all the expired stuff in my fridge?  Did I mention he also did the dishes?  Did I mention that he took me out for frozen yogurt?  AND THEN, as if the boy hadn't done enough, sat down with me to help me plan out Younglife club this week.

I know what you are thinking.  And yes, it is ok if your head is swirling with 'awwwww's' and you are giggling that our glamorous date night looked a lot less glamorous and more chore-tastic.  But yea... I am pretty blessed to have this guy in my life.  And a guy like that?  A girl's gotta hold on to!  This dreamy choretastic guy is all mine, and I am pretty thankful for that :-)

Things I owe you...

Recipes from friday night dinner.
My recipe and story of a SERIOUSLY long overdue friend and boyfriend over for dinner.
Stories of my trip home and long weekend.
An update on my bucket list (yes!  another item bites the dust)
An update on Younglife starting up again!

I am also preparing more home stuff!

But... all of that will have to wait because at the current moment, work controls my life.
c'est la vie!

Life is SO good, and I do believe it's getting better.

September starts!

There are a lot of new things in my life right now.

Last weekend I had the extreme blessing of going to, and being a part of a wedding for two dear friends.  The wedding was really nice and a lot of fun.  They have some great friends and it was so nice to make new friends, and have a great night celebrating their new life together.  The reception was held at the Tidewater Inn in Easton, MD which is this charming, historic town close to the bay in Maryland.  The hotel is extremely dog-friendly, which allowed the couple to put their adorable kids dogs in the wedding, since they really do function like a little happy family.  The bride looked stunning and put each of us bridesmaids in cute short purple dresses that were very girlie and fun.  The best part, was that all the girls and guys in the wedding (bride and groom included!) had their own customized Chuck Taylors.  Greg Keyser was the amazing photographer who captured some of the happy moments here - check em out!  Also, one of the other bridesmaids is a photographer, and even though she didn't edit the picture or anything, I thought I would share the picture she took of Kev and I, and direct you to her website, because she is just THAT AWESOME.  Not only is she a lot of fun, but a great photographer too!



Most likely senario:  Him "blah blah blah, some smart comment."  Me... 2 seconds away from smacking him

Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead CAKE!

THE kiss!

Monday I spent the day with Kev down near the water in Annapolis.  Literally, it was like all we did was walk a few blocks, look at a few places, and eat a salad.  Aside from that we just sat on the pier looking out on the water.  Watching the drawbridge, the paddleboaters, the sailboats, the interesting people decked out in boat shoes, khakis, and polos.  The amazing thing is that he was ok with just sitting there with me, watching the water.  I mean, for me it's water, so freeing, exciting, lovely, wonderful!  For most people it is water.  Sailboat in, sailboat out.  But I could have sat there all day, and it was really nice.


Paddle-boarders out on the bay



View from the pier

This weekend I had a full house dinner on Friday evening.  It was a nice dinner, it's always fun to get old friends and new friends together.  Saturday morning, Inch and I headed up north (almost to PA) for our Church retreat which was relaxing and nice.  It was good to have no cell reception and have no agenda, chores, people to rush around seeing - FOR A WHOLE WEEKEND.  I got to know a few more people, made some new friends, developed better relationships, and really enjoyed myself.  I went for a hike, played some volleyball, and talked with people around the bonfire.  Unfortunately, they served tacos for lunch on Saturday and I scooped in without realizing what I was doing.  When was the last time I ate beef?  Especially fatty, greasy, ground beef?  Yea... I don't think my body wants it anymore, and so I am actually considering going back to being a vegetarian again.  More on that later, along with a recipe post!

Sunday was Football day.  Yes, I know the season officially started last Thursday, but MY season started Sunday.  So from the church retreat, Kev and I and another couple from church headed to Glory Days in Frederick, MD to watch the games.  I love sports bars with at least 15 TVs.  That's  how going out for meals should be on Sundays between Sept-February.  Sam is a diehard steelers fan which was hard since they had a not-so-amazing season-opener, and poor Mandy suffered a loss for her chiefs as well.  I feel bad admitting this since they were so upset, but I had a really good day.  The Eagles pulled out a win against the Rams which left me beaming (they had me scared when the score was 7-0 Rams leading within minutes of the game starting!!) I also met an adorable 'less-than-one-year-old' with a Dawkins jersey on.  True story: he was named Dawkins.  Like, that is his first name.  After the football player.  Now, I admit that I named my Hyundai Sante Fe "Brian Dawkins" at one point, but a child...?  That may be a bit excessive on the fan-front...

Ready for another exciting season!

My bible study group started this week and Younglife starts up again on Sunday.  Between Younglife, bible study, football, church, fall, and marriages, I am just so reminded that we have new starts all the time.  We have seasons of newness and seasons of staleness.  I am excited for new things, new starts, and the freshness that comes with summer storms and changing leaves.  It's all so romantic I can hardly contain myself.  Soon it will be time for sweaters, orchards, pumpkin patches and corn mazes, boots, footie pajamas, and then ugly christmas sweaters!  Muahaha.  GOODIES TO COME!!

Best friend and I at Butler's Orchard

Mid-20s going on 4

A little lost in the corn maze!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party!

Life is so good.

Making the office a Greek Getaway...

Ok, so the plights of the working professional can range from traffic, job stress, work life balance, eating healthy and working out, crazy co-workers, and everything in between.

True fact about me: I love Greek Salads.  One of my favorite fast food options is the Panera Greek Salad.  But even that will earn you a whopping 600 calories, 58g of fat, 2050 mg of sodium, and only 8 g of protein (which is derived primarily from the feta cheese).  And that doesn't even include the (delicious) side of bread they provide or the option to add meat!



Still... it looks amazing!

 But this week I have been on a Greek kick, and the next best thing to packing my bags and heading for the islands myself, is to survive this dreary rainy week with Greek salad lunches.  Yum yum!

So simple and with some slight variations.  My thought was to add some extra protein, I would throw in some shrimp, and replace the classic Greek-salad-romaine lettuce with some dark fresh spinach lettuce to add more vitamins and iron into the meal.  I threw in some basic Greek Black olives, sliced cucumbers, and red onions for some explosive flavor.  The best part of about this is that you are pretty much done!  You don't even need dressing on this salad because by the time you've added the rest of the ingredients you've thrown in a tremendous amount of flavor!  I simply sprinkled some pepper on top and - viola! - I have my own healthier Greek getaway without ever leaving my office.


Still having odd trouble with rotating some pictures, but if you get in a handstsand to look at the salad, you will burn more calories when you eat it!  (I'm sure that's scientifically proven)

  While updating I finished my delicious greek salad, so I am going to get back to work.  But looking forward to heading home, and avoiding the rain by wrapping myself up in my Eagles snuggie and enjoying wine and cooking night with a friend, and -oh yea - the really great amazing beautiful flowers the boy got me yesterday.  Updates about Walter and Yelena's wedding and Labor Day weekend to follow soon!

So pretty!

30 before 30

I feel like a kid most days!  I feel like I am on top of the world, ready for any adventure, and that I am not only invincible, but I have the rest of my life to live.

or am I?

25.  It's older than 24.  But is it old?  Mini-crisis of feeling like life is passing by and reminding me to take advantage of every day that I have to live, love, and laugh to the max.
So it's about time I scrub up my bucket list a little bit (You may have seen this posted in my blog a few times in the past).

1- Ride an elephant in the Jungle (Indonesia)
2- Skydiving May 2011
3- Missions trip in a foreign country
4- Hike to the peak of a mountain Spring 2010
5- Take a sailing trip
6- Go on a cross country road trip
7- Learn to drive stick shift (I CAN drive a stick shift, but I want to feel comfortable at it)
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 (Signed up for one in October.  It will be a run/walk, but still a 1/2 marathon nonetheless!)
14- Worship with a different culture
15- Dance freely in front of at least 10 people Enter the Haggis concert January 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 2010 - the whole year
26- Spend a weekend, just me and God
27- Do God’s will, not my own Younglife again this year!!  Whoooo
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- Create an art project I can proudly display
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 Northbay Camp June 2010
42- Drop everything to help someone
43- Have a life changing conversation with a stranger 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
48- Build or fix something
49- Explore the beaches and ocean of Australia
50- Learn to surf
So since I made this list a year and a half ago, I  have gotten rid of 6 of the 50.  That's not bad momentum, until you realize that most of them were done a year ago.  I am ready to tackle a few more.  And narrow down the list of my life to the list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.  (Some are new and some are borrowed from the list above)

1.  Build a recipe book
2. Spend a whole weekend with just me and God
3. Sleep under the stars
4. Take and survive a yoga class
5. Start my willow angel collection
6. Refurnish/re-upholister a peice of furniture
7. Ice Skate at Rockafeller Center
8. Move out of Rockville, MD
9. Grow a beautiful garden
10.  Lose 20 lbs.
11. Learn to surf
12.  Break 100 bowling
13. Take a gorgeous photo
14. See the Mummer's parade live
15. Join a book club
16. Take a dance class
17. Go to Indonesia or Thailand
18. Do a missions trip in a foriegn country
19. Carve a great jack-o-lantern
20. Fingerpaint with kids
21. Get married (I don't think I get to choose when that happens...?)
22. Do a photoshoot with balloons
23. Go white water rafting on the CO river
24. Wake up looking at the water
25. Manage my time and relationships better
26. Have a real snow day
27. Have a great date day with just my mom and sister
28. Get paid to be creative (even if it's a one-time thing)
29. Take a trip on a whim
30. Buy a house

The Ashley House

I have the hiccups while I am writing this.  Just thought you should know.  I've been getting them a lot lately.  I would google or webmd 'constant hiccuping', but I feel as if I will self-diagnose myself with stage 4 fatal-something rather and be paranoid about what it means.  So instead, I'll ignore it for now.  This may just be the beginning of the end for me.  You may see me on a talk show in a year or two talking about how my never-ending-hiccups started.  

But I love my house.  I currently live in a house with 4 other girls.  All between the ages of 23-27.  All awesome.  All beautiful.

I have lived with 8 girls in this house so far.  It's a revolving door of christian girls who come and go as their life stages ebb and flow.  It has been a catalyst to new friends, a bonding agent for current friends, and bridge to strangers who never really were...

Like the day I moved in 2 years ago (just temporarily between leases) and was greeted by a girl we quickly found out was from PA like me!  ... from the Philly area, like me!  ... from the same town as me!  ... from my graduating high school class!  Small world.

Or like how I can go to a party and someone finds out I live at the Ashley house, and people automatically start talking to me about another girl they know/knew who lived here, and what their experience was with the Ashley house and the Ashley house girls.

The joke is that you don't move out unless you are leaving with a ring on your finger (which is not necessarily true!)  This is a sisterhood type bonder.  A non-greek, non-partying your face off sorority.  One where you can always expect an open invite to include great food, great friends, and a great time (so... when are you stopping by?)

But this weekend was just a great weekend of enjoying living at the house.  Our living room and dining room walls needed to be repainted because it was just too beat up.  The walls looked sad and pathetic.  Kev and I taped, sanded, and painted the walls.  I was able to help get everything squared away for the hurricane (which did not hit us hard at all - thank goodness!).  I even came home tonight, looking at our living room and dining room mid-transformation just excited and at peace.  

I also had a great pow-wow one of my housemates, followed immediately with singing a lullaby to another one.  I shred with these girls, cook with these girls, talk about boys with these girls, clean with these girls, run with these girls, and so much more.  

Any Ashley house girl will always hold a special place in my heart.  I am really blessed for my home.

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

Friday Funshare and silly Hurriquake week...

So in between Earthquakes and Hurricanes, it does give us a glimpse into the unknown.  The fact that we don't control much in this life, much less, natural disasters.

Yes I felt the Earthquake.  Yes I felt the aftershock.  And while it was pretty exciting, once I realized that I DIDN'T run over the curb, I had complete peace of mind.  And while I think the entire DC area is about ready to unnecessarily prepare to bury themselves in a waterproof steel hole for this hurricane, I am still hoping that my kayaking trip tomorrow doesn't get cancelled....

See... he can do it!  I'm sure I could too...

Because I believe that life is ours to be lived.  To be lived loudly.  With love, laughter, passion, and faith.  I love being inspired, and challenged, and living life to the fullest.  I hate to miss out on anything, because each new experience enhances who I am. 

Steve Job's in an innovative, determined, hard-worker who has been on the cutting edge of technology for most of my lifetime.  However, finding things like this:  His Commencement Speech for Stanford University captured me and inspired me.  I hope it does the same for you.

It is definitely worth reading.

Life is SO good, and I do believe, it's getting better... <3

whatcha been up to...?

Weddings, parties, trips to the beach and to Philly and all over the place!  It has been a really busy and really great summer.  And the best part?  It's not even over yet... :-)

Kickin off the summer right with good friends, s'mores, bonfires, and LOTS of sparklers!

Lil Wave all wrapped up.  This was the only picture I managed to take of my small group beach trip... but I promise, we had a complete blast!

Most of the fam out for lunch in King of Prussia <3

Trying to rally out a win in our Derwood Bible Church softball tournament.  (It didn't work)

My love.

My current adopted substitute love

Lil CarBar's wedding!

In her Disney princess gown

P-ville bridesmaids!

The happy couple - post wedding

Phillies v. Nationals in Philly.  Look at that extraordinary view.  Mhmm.... Philly

Chillin with the Fanatic pre-game

One of the many reasons I keep going back.  <3

He answers us :-)

Younglife leader.
That title enthralls all types of thoughts and images. Some are good, really good. And some aren't.
A Younglife leader is strong. They are fun. Funny. Crazy. Christian. ALWAYS THERE (like seriously... don't they have grown up friends?!?). Tired (although you may not know it). They always know what is happening at the school, with your friends, on your team. They come to games and check out your art projects just because they want to. Not because they have to.
To some, a Younglife leader is a grown up friend who cares just as much about making them laugh as they do getting real and talking about life and God with them to make sure they are movin in the right direction.
Younglife leaders don't take no cr** and tell it how it is. Life is great and a gift, but some things about high school suck and we get that.
Younglife leaders live with passion, and intention, and love, and adventure in their hearts and a desire to show the love of Christ though that.

I am a Younglife leader.

Last year was supposed to be my last year leading. I have been leading for 3 years now, and while my relationships have gotten better and better, life has gotten more and more tiring. Having a full time job, maintaining relationships with friends, family, a significant other, and younglife friends is exhausting. Add to the mixing bowl trying to stay fit, trying to do things like cook to save money, and going to bible study, and living with some adventure in life - and that is a full plate!

This summer I took off Younglife. I didn't take off time with my kids, just time with Younglife events. I didn't go to camp, or summer campaigners, and didn't stress about the planning or thoughts or logistics for younglife. it was nice. Almost too nice. I enjoyed the extra free time. I was worried that by the time this fall rolled around I would still be enjoying my little sabbatical from younglife. I was worried that my heart wouldn't be in the right place for another year of service. That I wouldn't be ready for the energy, the passion, and the dedication to be the type of leader we are called to be with teenagers.

Last week that changed. It was like I woke up one morning and realized how much I missed club with my kids. I wanted to plan activities, club talks, and figure out new ways to encourage my high school friends to reach out to their friends. My heart and changed - suddenly, drastically - and I knew it was only of God. Within a few days of my wheels starting to turn, and the call in my heart pulling again, I pulled up my gmail to find out some great news. We were going to have a new leader. A guy. JUST what we needed in our club. JUST what we have been praying for even when all else seemed for loss.

He answers us. He answers us with perfect timing. He answers us with better answers than we asked for.
And my friends, I AM a Younglife Leader.


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