{adventures of an old car}

today's post is about my lovely car.

her name is brownie (due to the hue that covers her inside and out... and she's from brown honda so she's got it tattooed on as what i refer to as her 'tramp stamp' )

if you can't tell from the pictures, she's an old girl... older than the freshmen and some of the sophomores in college to be more exact.  she would prefer to live in florida where it's nice and warm (although i'm glad we don't because she doesn't have ac) because in the winter, her joints get bad.

example a: as of recent, i've noticed when brownie goes over some bumps, she does this nice little creak, not totally unlike your grandma's joints.  it's not horribly loud, but i try to be a good car owner, so i took it somewhere in lex to get it looked at.  i took her in thinking 'oh, just a simple spring problem'. ha. jokes.  the nice young man (probably younger than brownie herself) came out and started rambling on and on about all this and that wrong with her.  all i saw was the end total: $2019.71.

i about passed out on the floor.

i wanted to say "did you see the sweet pink duct tape holding her siding on while the epoxy dries? have you ever looked at a kelly blue book value for a 92 honda accord?  have you looked up the top stolen cars in the united states?"  the answer to all those questions is: brownie's simply not worth $2019.17.

thankfully i have an amazing mechanic here in lexington... i probably see him more than i see some of my friends from back home, but that's fine.  if you ever have car problems, he's really the best.  he never exaggerates prices, is super quick, and honestly tells me when i don't need to have stuff done.  if you ever find yourself needing one, just ask me.  he's awesome and i would love to give him more business, i just can't keep giving him as much of mine!

say a prayer for brownie... she's an old girl.  i'm very thankful to have her, and one day, she'll make me appreciate a more reliable car so much more (although i will miss the character... just look at her one more time!)

{return to childhood}

last night was movie night.

rookie of the year was the film of choice

please note this is from 1993...

it was a blast from the past... gosh.  the choices in hairstyles, clothing... hilarious!  it also got me to thinking about favorite movies from when i was a kid.  i LOVED the mighty ducks series (as far as i was concerned, i was all the girls in that movie kicking the boys' butts) , apollo 13 (i wanted to be an astronaut until i realized no one really lands on the moon anymore... lame), and of course, all the disney movies (but i never wanted to be a princess... think more mulan here).

watching it and just reliving a piece of childhood was interesting.  it took me back to being 6 years old and having the world at my fingertips.  my backyard turned into everything from the wild west and little house on the prairie, to a spaceship to an ocean.  i would sit in my basement and pretend i was bob ross painting 'happy little trees' and cleaning my brush by smacking it all over things (also add i sprayed paint EVERYWHERE... the things my parents did to let my creativity flow!).  i was an olympic gymnast AND equestrian rider all thanks to the family couch (the back made a great balance beam and the arms made great horses...) and i was outside so much it wasn't even funny.

don't get me wrong... growing up is kinda fun.  i get to make my own choices (cake for breakfast anyone?), i feel responsible and on top of things and like a 'real' person, but gosh... being a kid was great.  i guess all i can do is hope that i can still maintain child-like awe and wonder, trust God like i trusted my parents to just take care of things when i was little, and hope that i can give my own kids (one day in the far far future...) the same kind of exciting, innocent childhood i had.

{being still}

we live in a world that's rarely silent.
streets are constantly filled with cars, we drive around with music playing, when we're home, we are watching tv, and especially being a girl, we like to talk a lot.

noise isn't bad in itself, but lately i've been wondering if i'm quiet enough.

i don't sit well.  i like to be doing things.  i would rather be busy than not.  i work 3 part time jobs, i am a full time grad student, i try to get involved with lots of things, and i don't think that these things are inherently bad.  i actually think it's good!  still, i've been realizing more and more i need to be quiet more often.

i think i miss things.  i wake up to the sound of the alarm clock and drive to work with the radio on.  i miss sunrises, i miss the sound of falling snow, i miss the sound of the rain.  at school, i like to talk to my friends, but i think sometimes i miss what people are really saying.  i like to get home, turn on pandora or watch tv, and i wonder if i miss some of my own thoughts (and i'm aware that's kind of weird to think about, but even that idea... are we missing ideas and inspiration?)

finally, i think sometimes i miss things God is trying to show me.  the verse 1 kings 19:11-12 comes to mind:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by."  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.


i don't think i give myself the opportunity enough to be quiet and hear God's whisper.  i think of how much i'm missing out, and realize i need this.  i need to be quiet and still.  now just to figure out how to do that....

{class of friends}

i have such a unique group of people i go to school with.

it's great because we are not just classmates, but we're friends.
that doesn't happen a lot with school.  sure, you spend a lot of time with those people, and you obviously have similar interests since you're going to school for the same thing, but i'm very blessed... at eku, i feel like our class has something special.

we like each other.

like genuinely we like hanging out, laughing, and being weird together.

it's totally normal to come into the workroom that we're constantly in and see a group of girls huddled around a computer laughing at youtube videos.  before tests, we come up with transformer names for each other because that's totally normal.  we do things like go out to lunch, hang out at each other's houses, and be so loud and obnoxious people stare at us as we go down the hallways.

it's great.  it makes school more than just a place to come and learn.  i feel like i have girls who back me up, challenge my thinking, help me to become a better therapist, and just be there for me.

i'm so blessed with the girls i get to spend all day every day with and i'm so thankful for all the joy they bring to my life

{confession}

i have a confession to make.

it's slightly lame, so don't make fun...

a while back, i tried this stuff that was on sale at cvs.  it's called organix self-heating coconut oil and it was supposed to make my hair more moisturizing or something.  it did make my hair feel good, but better than that, it smelled amazing!

fast forward to monday night...

i had to sit through a lovely, lovely (emphasis here) night class and had just been in a mood all day, and i had to stop at walmart to get some stuff for therapy.  i found the coconut conditioner on sale!

you can call me lame and make fun of me, but it seriously turned my day around.  i used it and the whole bathroom smelled like an island, and considering ky is seeing it's fair share of snow right now, that was all i needed to smile!

let's hope i can find this on sale again!  preferably after another fun day... :)

{birthday weekend}

disclaimer: i am not the biggest fan of birthdays...

this is not to say that i don't like celebrating my birthday, BUT i tend to feel like your parents should be congratulated... let's be honest, they're the real reason most of us make it through another year!  they did the work!  still, it's nice to be congratulated on another year of life!

with that being said, last friday was my birthday and it was wonderful :)  on friday we got tons of snow, resulting in me being able to sleep in AND i don't have class so i was a lazy bum alllll day
that was followed with dinner with the boy at applebees (add to this we BOTH got free sundaes because our server didn't want to sing, and i was perfectly ok with that!) and then on to csf for the "coolest dance party ever".  i felt quite old being officially 24 and being surrounded by 17-18 year olds, but i got to hang out with friends, eat some snow cones, and made people (specifically ian) play 'just dance' and it was hilarious! *the boy who 'can't dance' even beat me and we all know how competitive i am... someone's been hiding sweet dance moves from me for the past few months....*

saturday came my birthday present: anberlin in columbus!!!!!

i love anberlin.  they have very few songs i don't love and we were supposed to see them at ichthus this summer but their bus broke down :(

they were in columbus which also means i got to be home for my birthday!

the concert was amazing...  hello sold out concert!

beginning the long, long wait for anberlin!

not the best shot, but one of the best bands to see in concert!

the concert was great... anberlin doesn't have bad songs to play and they did a great mix of old and new songs.  it was such a great way to spend my birthday, and i'm so thankful for great people in my life that i got to spend friday and saturday with!!!!

thank you everyone who made my birthday special!  i have the greatest people in my life hands down :)

I Love Snow!

ok.  so i know a lot of people in lexington are done with snow.

little known fact... i turn into a 5 year old when it snows.  and i love it.

have you ever looked at snow?  and i'm not talking about the 'ugh... it's snowing again outside' look but really looked at it... it's beautiful!  each one is different, each one has it's own little shapes, sizes, and design.  

you can't argue with anyone... God made snow really cool.

i also love snow because you get to play in it like a 5 year old and no one will say a darn thing!  recently, my roommates and i took advantage of a snow day and made a desperate plea for a certain uk player.  the ncaa failed to listen to our wonderful creative appeal, but whatev.  they're dumb, we're awesome.  enough said!

finally (and anyone who goes to uk will hate me for this one...) i get snow days when it snows.  

and to earn these snow days, i do snow dances, sleep with my pj's inside out and backwards, and throw an ice cube over my shoulder out into the yard.  yes, like i said.  i am 5 years old.

while i don't like the cold, i love the snow.  it's perfect and amazing and wonderful and i am so very very happy when it comes!

in addition, tonight it's the reason i'm missing dysphagia!  and i won't explain what that is (you can look it up if you're really intrigued) but it is a very, VERY wonderful thing i don't have to go to class tonight!!!!