Wedding time

This past weekend was one of my best friends from high school’s wedding! It was my first experience being a bridesmaid, and I’m a fan. It’s fun to be a part of someone else’s day and just be there to support your friend. My sweet husband (who graciously attended with me and read Hunger Games in the hotel room all morning while I was at the church getting ready) and me

Carlin was calm, cool and collected the entire time. Which is more than I can say for myself at my wedding. But I also don’t deal as well with being the center of attention, and well, Carlin has the ability to embrace it. ;-)

The wedding was beautiful and one of the most fun parts was getting to hang out with all my best high school friends in one weekend. I loved being around Noelle, Calli and Carlin all weekend and getting to see a bunch more at the reception. It was really relaxed and just an enjoyable time to celebrate Carlin’s big day!

All my high school friends with the bride

The ceremony was perfect for them because it was relaxed and lighthearted, but still Christ-centered. We got to hear their story from each of their perspectives which was a really unique way to do a ceremony, and I loved it. It got everyone laughing and smiling, which gave the ceremony the feeling of just being together with friends and family and celebrating Carlin and Jordan and the joyful commitment they were making.

Anyway, I really enjoyed being a part of it! Now back to secretly noting ideas for certain friend of mine’s future wedding (since I have no more wedding of my own to plan for) while we patiently await a proposal…wink, wink, nudge, nudge…;-)

Things that have happened, vol. 2

I’m getting so far behind in blogging things I would like to blog about! Here are the highlights: 1. Sunday night we had a going away party for our good friend Jason. I met him because I creepily found him on Facebook my freshman year. But I have a good reason. I had just gotten to Belmont and needed someone to go to a Chasing Victory show with me. But I knew like three people, and I was pretty sure those three people weren’t into Chasing Victory. Enter Facebook. The rest was history.

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This is us with Jason at his grad party a week or so ago. We’re clearly just excited to know him.

We will miss him a lot! We played Telephone Pictionary (which we learned from him) one last time and sent him on is way. He’s going back to dumb ol’ Minnesota, but he’s got a cool internship so I guess it’s okay. Hopefully he will return one day. (I mean, who wouldn’t? Basically Nashville is the most alluring city in the country right now, with the stormy weather we’ve been having for a week straight and the serenade [read: screeching] and gentle “hellos” [read: dive-boming kamikaze-style] of the cicadas. Seriously, the rain seems to only provoke them and make them come back with an even more vengeful determination to creep out an entire city.)

2. We made s’mores with the Cartee family, and I would say it was a huge success. We have the privilege of getting to hang out with them a couple times a month, and we love it.

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3. My plants are growing so tall! Too bad they haven’t seen sunshine in about 10 days. Please don’t die, little ones…

4. This weekend I am in my first wedding besides my own (and besides being flower girl when I was about 4). One of my best friends from high school is getting married on Saturday! Should be a fun time! Pictures to follow, I’m sure. Happy almost-weekend!

Disturbing headline of the day

Man Who Stabbed His Lawyer With A Pencil Stabs Another Lawyer With A Pencil First of all, why was he not in a jail cell being punished for his first pencil-related incident?

Second of all, why are we trusting him with a pencil and a lawyer simultaneously? Clearly he does not have a good track record with this kind of thing. This is not a time for second chances. If you stab your lawyer with a pencil, it’s not judgmental for authorities to question whether or not you should be allowed to be in the same room with a new lawyer and a new pencil.

Clearly a lesson has been learned today in the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office (real name).

Don’t trust Stabby McGee with pencils or other writing utensils and a lawyer. Except maybe a Crayola marker, if he’s really being impossible.

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Things that have happened.

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Here are a list of things that have happened recently that I’d like to blog about, but now am too far behind to write individual posts about: 1. I went camping with three of my favorite people last weekend. I love camping. Sometimes I sleep well, but this was not one of those times. Other than that it was super fun! S’mores might be one of my love languages. Plus I got to wear my headlamp. And eat the only kind of hot dog worth eating: one roasted over a fire.

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This picture serves as proof of why I like them. Self-timer for the win.

2. My plants are growwwinnngggg. I’m so proud.

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Green Beans

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Cherry Tomatoes

3. I finished another book! Bossypants by Tina Fey. Seriously, if you are a female and like Tina Fey, or SNL, or 30 Rock, or…sunshine…you should read this. Hilarious. Every other line is quotable.

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Also just in my own defense for taking this long to read another book, I have started about three other books besides this one since finishing my last one. This is how bad I am at finishing books. But I have now finished two, which was my goal for 2011. (You read that right.) Bite-sized goals work.

Happy Friday!

Meeting Clara Li

Remember how we were all working together to bring our friends the Phipps’ baby daughter Clara Li home from China? Well…she’s here! She came home Easter weekend and we finally got to meet her last night. It was so great seeing her be so happy and interacting with her sweet brothers. This is her drumming up a storm on the ottoman. :) Such a precious family! So thankful that God brought them Clara Li. [Click here to read their story & see photos of their journey.]

Things that don't help you if you're being arraigned.

Brought to you by my friend Noelle’s experience interning at a District Attorney’s office. 1. Not showing up.

2. Having your mother kindly explain your absence by saying “he in a chain-gang.”

3. When the judge calls you because your lawyer isn’t present, you answer “which one is this?”

4. When he replies that it is the meth-related case, you say, “not the grand theft auto?”

5. Responding to your name with “yo.”

6. Dressing like a criminal.

7. Having your family members try to get you out of it by complaining to the DA’s office receptionist.

8. Bringing your two-year-old (and/or baby) to court.

9. Requesting a new public defender. (Beggars can’t be choosers.)

10. Asking if the District Attorney’s receptionist knows who your lawyer is.

EDIT:

11. Talk incessantly when it is not your turn.

12. Suck your thumb.

Gardening, Part 1.

So I finished my gardening project the other day. Here are some photos to prove it: Photobucket

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The one on the right is a cherry tomato plant (I bought a seedling because Real Simple said that was the best way to go about it), and the one on the left will be green beans (hopefully).

I’ll periodically post pictures of the progress, just in case you’re interested in watching plants grow. :)

More dirt, please.

Yesterday I began my foray into gardening. Remember how I said I was going to? Well, I actually did it. That’s not entirely true. Yet.

I’ve never grown anything before. As evidenced by the fact that I was 1 bagful of soil and a tomato spiral short of actually planting my mini-garden last night. But hopefully after one more trip to Home Depot I will be well on my way to having vegetables I grew all by myself! Tomorrow there will be pictures.

P.S. For reference in your future gardening endeavors, the 20-something guy with a spanish-speaking accent who works in the nursery part of Home Depot 30 minutes before they close is not always as interested in helping you plant your first garden as you assume they will be. [Like the commercials imply.] Probably why I’m missing 1 bagful of soil and a tomato spiral. In his defense, I didn’t call him back over after the green bean discussion to help with my tomato quandary, so he couldn’t have known about the spiral. But if he had been more helpful with the bean situation [and not thrown me off by contradicting what I’d read online about bean-growing] maybe I would have asked for more help. So there. And yes, I read online about bean-growing. How else do you learn things? Thanks, Internet. None for you, Home Depot Guy.

Happy Wednesday!

6 Months of Marriage

Today Craig and I have been married for 6 months! Crazy. In honor of that fact, here are some things I love about Craig (in no particular order):

1. He will watch just about anything I want to watch (except Gilmore Girls. it stresses him out.). I think I may have converted him to a Wizards of Waverly Place fan, but that might be a secret.

2. He takes out the trash. Every time. (Score.)

3. He makes me dinner more often than I make it for him, even though no one said he had to. Which is great because now that I work a 9-5, I am pretty much starving by 5:30 (not sure how that happened), so we eat early like old people now.

4. He is super talented. He produces, he plays guitar, he writes songs, he does it all.

5. He loves kids. And he’s better at entertaining them than I am. He’s totally going to be the “fun” parent.

6. He’s a camp person.

7. He understands the concept of “The Valley” and life having gone to the same small school for 12 years, and the effect that has had on my life/personality/flaws (or should I call them quirks?).

8. He likes the corner brownies the best. (I like the innermost brownies the best.) Signs of a meant-to-be-relationship, I tell you.

9. He supports me and encourages me.

10. He doesn’t judge me for listening to Justin Bieber.

Well, there are other things, but those are the ones I just came up with. :) Happy 0.5 year anniversary, Craig! (That counts, ok guys?)

Tidbits

I haven’t updated my blog in a few days, and since the obviously-not-as-fascinating-to-others-as-it-was-to-me hamster post didn’t seem to pique anyone’s interest, I will try to write about something less obscure. I went home for Easter weekend to go to one of my best friends from high school’s wedding shower on Saturday. My brother and his girlfriend were going home too, so we made a roadtrip out of it and had fun driving down & back together.

It was fun to see all my girlfriends from high school (whom Craig graciously hangs out with when I’m home, even though we end up talking about high school 75% of the time), and never to be outdone on a holiday by anyone, my best friend’s mom organized an extensive Easter egg hunt complete with lottery tickets inside several eggs. (I won a grand total of $2.) We also dyed about 36 eggs (and my fingertips). Note: the “speckled” eggs do not turn out speckled. Especially if you use red. They end up looking like what would happen if Lady Gaga turned into an egg after her performance of “Paparazzi” on the VMA’s that time.

“Terry bunny” (read: mom) came to see us and gave us Chaco flip flops (yay), and we ate lots o’ turkey. Which is pretty much one of my top 5 favorite foods.

One of my favorite parts, though, was listening to Craig read out loud the Easter story and some other verses that talk about redemption through Christ’s resurrection on the night before Easter. It really gave me a sense of anticipation to celebrate the resurrection the next day. Reading the crucifixion and the time before the resurrection creates such a pit in my stomach, making me want to skip it and get to the resurrection. But I know it was all necessary for our redemption, and when the resurrection is finally here, it makes me celebrate all the more in my heart.

Anyway. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

P.S. I am so thankful for God’s protection throughout all these crazy storms, and I am super ready for summer to come so that the craziness will cease. It seems like all I do lately is watch the weather radar! Maybe that’s because I check it like every 5 minutes. But still. Come onnnn, summer.

On the origin of hamsters

I have recently become interested in the origin of hamsters. This came about because of a conversation over coffee with my friends Nicole and Jennifer. I mean, think about it. Have you ever seen a wild hamster? Are they just genetically engineered from some other types of rodents to be pets? Did we capture all the wild hamsters left in 2001 and force them to do the hamster dance on our computer screens for our own amusement?

I decided to investigate.

So I went where all good sleuths go: Wikipedia.

There I found a plethora of information about hamsters.

Here are some fun facts about hamsters:

1. They were first described scientfically in 1839, but it wasn’t until 1930 that researchers were successfully able to breed and domesticate hamsters.

2. They originally came from Syria.

3. Wild hamsters (they apparently exist!) burrow in the ground during the day to avoid predators.

4. Wild hamsters (i love that phrase) are considered a “vulnerable species” on the scale of endangerment.

Thus begins my campaign to save the wild hamsters. Because, let’s face it, now that I know that the phrase “wild hamsters” is legitimate, I don’t ever want it to be inapplicable or cease to exist.

So there you have it, folks. Things you didn’t know about hamsters. You can find out more fun facts about hamsters and their eating habits here.

NOTE: This is a real picture of a wild hamster that I found on the internet. Look how sad he is because he is vulnerable! Also probably because a giant human is taking a picture of him in the daytime, where he is obviously exposed to predators. Save the (sad) wild hamsters!

Internet Speech I've Grown to Dislike (or Don't Understand)

Here are some internet speech trends I’ve observed and now I would like to make stop if I could: 1. The “Oh, hey” phenomenon.

Sure, we all had a good heart-smile when we saw it the first few times on our news feed. “That’s a cute way to announce where you are or who you are seeing,” we thought. Not so much anymore - at least to me. You may not have focused on the prominence of this phenomenon, but I’m sure you have seen it.

Exhibit A: “Oh hey, Chicago!” This person has just arrived in Chicago. Seemingly unexpectedly, as the “Oh hey” implies the whole, “didn’t see ya there” thing.

Exhibit B: “Oh hey, James Franco!” This person has just unexpectedly seen James Franco on the street somewhere. Possibly Chicago.

Exhibit C: “Oh hey, Pizzafest 2k11!” This person has just arrived at Pizzafest 2k11. If this existed, I would probably attend.

I apologize if you do this frequently, but I see it about 12 times a day on my news feed, and I wish to pat it on the back, tell it “you had a good run,” and send it on its way.

2. Facebook “awareness” for awareness’s sake, particularly bra colors for breast cancer awareness and whatever that children’s-cartoon-as-profile-picture was all about.

This is perhaps one of the most perplexing internet phenomenons I’ve come across. I’m just not sure how posting what color your bra is on your facebook status makes any sort of contribution to the fight against breast cancer. I understand if the topic is something no one has heard of, how doing something out of the ordinary like that would attract attention and raise awareness. I also understand if a company is donating money for each person who posts it (then I’d probably post it, too), but I don’t think that has been the case with that particular phenomenon. I think the most constructive way to help breast cancer patients is to donate money to researchers who are discovering ways to defeat it. (If you’d like to do that, I know an organization doing some good work!) Anyway. I don’t understand this and also wish that this would to be put to bed.

3. Hashtag word vomit.

I realize having an opinion on hashtag etiquette to begin with is a little frivolous, but it falls in the category of Internet Speech I’ve Grown to Dislike (or Don’t Understand), so here it is.

In my opinion, hashtags are not for writing a second sentence. Or even a long sentence fragment. Hashtags are, in essence, to categorize what you just wrote. 3-5 words will usually suffice. #thisdoesnotsufficeasanacceptablehashtagbecauseyourwordsruntogetherandnoonecanreadit. You might as well write another sentence so you can at least use spaces. #internetspeech is an acceptable hashtag. It categorizes what I am talking about. Also I think the brevity allows for creative and witty humor, which I like. Of course, you’re free to use hashtags however you like. And there are always exceptions. But that’s just my opinion.

Guess that’s the end of that. Feel free to add to the list if you have internet speech pet-peeves of your own!