Fresh and Warm

This has been the best Spring ever.



Gardening.




Sun tea.




And marriage.


Pure bliss.

This has been the best month of my life. I feel like Will Ferrell in Elf when he screams, "I'M IN LOVE AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!" So, meet Michael.


He's everything I need and want. Silly, gentle, patient, kind, weird, hilarious, lovable. He loves the Lord. He makes me laugh harder than any person ever has. He affirms me. I'm completely myself around him-- and he still loves me! He sacrifices. He's humble. He hates to see people hurting. He's passionate. And I love him.

Things are moving quickly and I love it. This is all new to me. I trust him. And I trust the Lord.


So, I'm bringing him home next week to meet the family. I've never been so excited.

Check List= Completely Nonentertaining Post.

So I've got a cold. yuck. it's not the best timing seeing how I will be driving home super early Wednesday morning. Which means I will be home sometime in the middle of the night. My mom thinks I won't be home till Friday at some point... so I'll be quite the Christmas surprise!

This cold has thrown me off. I couldn't fall asleep last night so finally at 6 AM I took some benadryl and was obviously delirious from not sleeping because in my right mind I know that's a bad choice. So I slept until away most of the day. And apparently, now I'm blogging away the rest of it.

Seriously, I don't know why I'm on here.

clean room.
clean bathroom.
do laundry.
pack.
get Huck roadtrip ready.
make roadtrip CDs.
make christmas presents.
drop clothes off at the donation center.
oh and plan a wedding.


I'm excited to see my little nieces and nephews. I need a nap.

The weather is incredible. Straight up Portland weather today. Why don't I live there? One day.

The Drummer Boy is my least favorite Christmas song. Hands down. And then Feliz Navidad. And Feliz Navidad sung by Celine Dion? Hello. She's Canadian. It makes my ears bleed. But for some reason I still sing along... and then the lady sitting across the couch from me at a coffee shop looks at me like I'm crazy. Now it's Jingle Bells. But sung by dogs. Like they're barking Jingle Bells.

Get me out of here!

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I'm finally home. drinking wine, baking cookies, watching Grey's Anatomy and looking up really awesome houses on Craigslist. Houses where? Tulsa. It's official. I'm moving back to Tulsa sometime around May. Maybe sooner. But definitely not later.

Here's the thing- I want to be a cool Aunt. Not the Aunt that comes home for the Holidays. And not the Aunt who sends you birthday money in a card. I want to be there-- for all things, good and bad. At least for a little bit. So, Homeward bound!How could you not be around to see this messy brownie face? See what I mean?

Speaking of homeward bound, I'll be home for Christmas by next Friday. Until then I've got finals, wedding planning, Christmas present making, and lots of haircuts to do!

yippee.

• My dog likes to sit as close as he possibly can to me and lay his head on my computer as I type. Cute, but invasive and somewhat handicapping.

See what I mean? Cute. Invasive. Handicapping.

• I've realized I'm a selfish friend. I don't like to share my friends with other people. This is obviously wrong. God is showing me some dark parts of my heart. I asked Him to so I'm glad He's following through. It's all a part of the refining process, I guess. Speaking of refining, I read through old blog posts from 3-4 years ago... man, oh man. It's crazy how much one changes over such a short time. But I'm so glad I did. so glad.

• I seemed so optimistic then. I feel much more realistic now. And sometimes reality is optimistic. Just not always. This probably isn't making sense to you and that's ok. I'm still processing all of this.

• It's crazy how one can be a product of another person. I guess that's what rabbis did/do. I just need to do a better job at choosing a rabbi. That sounds harsh and ungrateful. and I'm not. at all. again, still processing.

• I love the weather right now. The high is in the upper 60s all week. Winter has hit. SELAH.

• I miss sitting at the table with these faces.

I Really Can't Stay, Baby It's Cold Outside!

I'm sitting in my creative writing class and I'm suppose to be doing research, but since I've already done it I'm blogging.

I'm excited about Thanksgiving. Since I've lived in Tucson I've never been excited about this holiday. The first year was hard because it was my first Holiday away from my family. And my family actually loves each other so I like spending time with them. And the second year was my first holiday since my dad had died and that was, of course, hard. But this year I feel like I've settled down in Tucson and it finally feels like home. And although holidays will probably always be hard without my Dad here with me, I've come to terms with the fact that he isn't here anymore. So all that to say, I'm excited about Thanksgiving. I love cooking yummy food while listening to Christmas music and getting together with wonderful friends and drinking wine.

Anyway, I'm trying to think of creative, unorthodox thanksgiving recipes... so if you have any, share the wealth.

alright, class is over.

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I'm watching Elf. This is probably my all-time favorite Christmas movie now. Probably. I'm not good at picking favorites.

My small group is having thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night and for some reason I got assigned stuffing. Anyone can make stuffing. Oh well. I'm actually kinda relieved. Nikki told me this recipe that has sage flavored sausage mixed with celery, onion and then the Stove Top stuffing. I don't know what it will taste like, but she says its pretty great.

today was my friend Steve's birthday and we threw a surprise party for him. I was the one who had to pretend we were doing something else and show up with him. He was so surprised. I don't think I've ever had a successful surprise party for anyone.

I really love my church.

I Made it Through the Wilderness

Last night I had a dream that the area behind my headboard and underneath my bed caught on fire. I put it out but not quiet in time. My walls got all black, my new bedding(which, sadly, only exists in my dreams...) was ruined and my dog burned his face. It was sad. And my dog talked to me(in English) in this dream. So weird. I'm pretty sure the fact that I've left my curling iron on for the past two day has caused the dream. Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night and my room reeked like burning plastic. I checked my curling iron and found a plastic bag melted all over it. sigh... I need to be more responsible or I'm going to burn my house down.





Kelsi is getting married in like 7 weeks. It's crunch time. The majority of my free time is consumed with this wedding. Which I'm ok with... it's just feeling a little insane. I love it though... it's been fun.

I think winter is finally going to hit here in Tucson. Last week-- highs in the mid 90s. This week-- low 70s. Heck ya!

God is teaching me a lot right now. I feel like I'm eating my words from about 6 months ago. That's good though. I want to be progressing and changing.

I miss photography. And I want to learn to make pottery. I've always said this... but I want to really do it.

I learned tons of self-defense moves last night. A friend of mine is a sheriff.... he's super intense and way cool. He's from Oklahoma(ya don't say) and we were instant buddies. He wants to taze me just so I know what it feels like. I think he's insane if he thinks I'll ever let him do that. Kelsi wants to. She's also an idiot. Between him and my friend who's a black belt, I'm going to acquire quite the skills.