Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Young Victoria
Lizzy Caplan - Mean Girls, Cloverfield
Zooey Deschanel - Elf, Yes Man, (500) Days of Summer
Katy Perry - pop singer
I cannot prove it, but I think these are all the same person.
This past week I've been cleaning up the garage (the place we meet for college group). I've come across all sorts of treasures inside and under couches. Dust bunnies, nerf darts, coins, pens, mini marshmallows from a game we did months ago, old discussion questions, magnets, candy wrappers, etc. But none of them compare to this:
Yes, that would be a LIVING lizard. He was chillin' under a couch and started scuttling away when he saw light. 3 things ran through my head.
1) How long have you lived under there, buddy?
2) Good lord, could your tail be any longer? It's longer than your body. Dang!
3) Thank you thank you THANK YOU for not climbing out from under the couch and onto a college girl's leg during a teaching night.
I picked him up and took him outside to some tall grass. Hopefully he won't find his way back in.
Spoiler alert! Don't read if you haven't watched it.
So...what did you think of the season finale?
Before we say anything, let us take a moment and relive the episode's best Sue Sylvester quotes:
* "I have to be honest, Will. I'm having a really difficult time hearing anything you have to say today because your hair looks like a briar patch. I keep expecting racist animated Disney characters to pop up and start singing songs about living on the bayou."
* "Kiss my @$$, Josh Groban!!!"
* Will: "I should shake your hand."
Sue: "Not unless you got some hand sanitizer. I've seen that car you drive. I don't want to catch 'poor'."
* "But what kind of a world would that be Will. A world where I couldn't constantly ridicule your hair. A world where I couldn't make fun of you for tearing up more than Michael Landon in a sweeps week episode of Little House on the Prairie?"
* "I know you think I'm heartless, Will. And you may have a point. I spend large segments of each day picturing you choking on food. And I've recently contacted an exotic animal dealer because I had a very satisfying dream that the two of us went to a zoo and I shoved your face into one of those pink-inflamed monkey butts."
Honestly, the writers went all out for this final episode. As soon as Sue said these lines I would burst out laughing and then miss the next few seconds of dialogue. Why oh WHY is Jane Lynch so fabulous?!?
Ok, thoughts on the finale. LOVED the songs. Sometimes in episodes, I like a couple songs and the rest are just okay. I loved every song in this episode!
Faithfully - Fichel! (Finn + Rachel)
Anyway You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - awesome
Don't Stop Believing - how fun to see the other glee club members sing the song!
Bohemian Rhapsody - um, incredible. Some of those leaps and flips they did were craaaazy. I thought it was creative to go back and forth between the song and Quinn having her baby. However I wasn't the biggest fan of Jessie St. James being in the center of the group as if he's a baby being born. Do you know what part I'm talking about? Ew.
To Sir With Love - bawled my eyes out. If they could have held it together, I could have held it together. But no. They lost it so I lost it. Even Mr. Schuester lost it.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow - very sweet and tender. Loved Puck and Schue singing together. Again, teared up.
What are your thoughts on the finale? Do you wish they had won? Are you glad they didn't? What about the "I love you"s spoken tonight? Discuss.
Don't worry, I will not be replacing blogs with vlogs - I enjoy writing way too much. However, I thought I'd try out my first video blog. It's about a recent purchase I made that I'm stoked about.
When I was growing up (we're talking between the age of 10-17), I was TOTALLY into The Babysitters Club book series by Ann M. Martin. Oh man, those girls were the schizz. However, as every good mother should feel, my mom didn't really like me reading them. They were "too easy to read", "silly", and "full of things you don't need to think about at 11 years old." (ie. boys, makeup, shopping, eighth grade shenanigans, etc)
*my whiny voice* "But Mom! They're a BABY-SITTING club! Shouldn't I read them so I can learn how to be a better baby-sitter??" But deep down, we both knew I wanted to read them so I could learn more about boys, makeup, shopping, and eighth grade shenanigans.
So my mom and I made a deal. For every Baby-sitters Club book I bought and read, I had to read a challenging book. A book above my reading level. Extra points if it was a Newbery Award winner. So when I went to our local bookstore and bought "Island of the Blue Dolphins" I also indulged myself and bought The Baby-Sitters Club book #60 "Mary Anne's Makeover" (or whichever one was most recent).
Oh those books! Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, Mary Anne, Dawn, Mallory, and Jessi. They were the coolest. I spent many hours reading those books. I wished I could be a part of a baby-sitting club. I even made "Kid Kits" like the girls did and brought them to houses when I baby-sat.
My favorite character was Claudia Kishi. The Japanese-American vice president of the club who loved junk food (and hid it around her room), Nancy Drew novels, and making art (especially her own jewelry). The only bad thing was Claudia was not a very good student and a horrible speller. I meen, shee wood spel werds like thiz. And she was in eighth grade. (Maybe my mom had a point...)
What I loved most about Claudia was her outfits. She was the coolest dresser. The author always spent lots of time describing what Claudia wore and I'm sure every little girl reading these books wished she had her style.
Well the other day, I ran across gold in the form of a new blog. (Haley - I think I saw it on facebook or twitter from you?) It's a website called "What Claudia Wore". Holy crap, you guys. I read this blog for an hour yesterday and I was crying from laughing so hard. It's written by a girl named Kim (26 years old) who lives in Massachusetts. Like me, she grew up reading the BSC books and has dedicated the entire blog to going through Claudia's outfits from each of the books and adding her comments. Below is an example from book #36 - "Jessi's Babysitter" (the book is written from Jessi's point of view). All comments from Kim are in brackets and pardon the language.
Jessi: "My friends and I were dressed in typical outfits. Typical, but not necessarily traditional. For instance, Stacey was wearing tight black pants that reached just above her ankles, and sported a column of four silvery buttons at the bottoms. The buttons were just for show, I think. Over the pants she was wearing a long blue jacket made of soft material. Under that she was wearing a sleeveless blouse. Now that was unusual. [And by unusual, she means stupid. Keep trying, Stacey.]
Claudia was wearing a fake leopard-skin vest, a fairly tame blouse, and blue leggings. She had made her jewelry herself - five papier-mache [always with the papier-mache] bracelets that were painted in soft desert colors.
Mary Anne and Dawn had traded outfits, which they do pretty often. That's one nice thing about having a stepsister who's your best friend and also about your size. They were both dressed colorfully, and trendily, but not as wildly as Claud and Stace. [I love how Jessi kind of glosses over Mary Anne and Dawn...the author must have run out of steam after dreaming up the soft jacket and blue leggings. "They're colorful and trendy, okay? Moving on!"]
Then there was Kristy in her jeans and turtleneck [what she ALWAYS wears, dammit Kristy]. And finally Mal and me, also in jeans, but wearing (if I do say so myself) pretty fresh [fresh = cool, for those of you who've forgotten that the baby-sitters have not discovered drugs and alcohol yet and thus have to entertain themselves by making up annoying slang] sweat shirts. And Mal had been allowed to buy high-top sneakers with beaded designs on the sides!"
[Goody for Mal. I think we'll all sleep better tonight knowing that her high-tops are beaded. One small victory for fashion-challenged eleven year olds everywhere.]
As you read, Kim actually make comments on all the girls' outfits, not just Claudia's. I was swimming in a sea of BSC nostalgia and modern day snark. A perfect combo, I must admit. I seriously could not stop laughing.
If you want to read more entries, I would recommend going to the website and clicking on "2007" (when Kim began blogging). Start at the beginning (the bottom) and work your way up to the present. You will be amazed at the 80's and 90's fashion described in painstaking detail in every BSC book. And you will laugh at Kim's witty observations.
I am curious: who grew up also reading the Baby-Sitters Club books? (Or were you a Sweet Valley High girl?)
This past week has been so great. First of all, we don't have college group till June 16th, so until then I am working, but not having to plan for Wednesday nights. Ahhhh...a little bit of freedom. It's been so nice!
Last week I spent a lot of time doing "catch up". Ya know, all the stuff you put off till you have a break? I love feeling like I'm getting caught up at work (instead of always feeling behind).
On Thursday, my dad and I headed into the city to see the musical "In The Heights". I saw it for the first time in New York last summer and now they are on tour. Because my dad is losing his eyesight, they gave us amazing seats! Orchestra, about ten rows back, smack dab in the middle. I LOVED seeing this show again! Go see it if you haven't yet!
And now a lovely 3 day weekend! I went out to dinner and the movies for a friend's birthday yesterday and I got to spend all day today with my dear friend Jody who is visiting for the weekend from Colorado. Yeah! It was such a gorgeous day and we had so much fun.
Summer...I feel you...you are so close...
I just posted all my pictures from the GLEE road trip on facebook, but I thought it'd be fun to share some details/stories from the weekend in my blog.
We drove to southern california last Thursday and spent all of Friday in Hollywood. The highlight was doing the Walk Of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the Kodak Theater (home of the Oscars). There are a ton of people dressed up in costumes - Darth Vader, SpongeBob, Superman, Bumblebee from Transformers, etc - that will take pictures with tourists (and they're real happy if you slip 'em a dollar afterwards). One of the college girls, Kayla, and I started dancing and all of a sudden - Indiana Jones ran in and started dancing with us! So fun!
We drove to Universal Studios and walked around City Walk. We found the Gibson Amphitheater and bought GLEE t-shirts. Ahhh!! It's almost time! We went in and found our seats. There were all ages, an equal number of guys and girls (that was a surprise), families, friends - what a fun crowd. Everyone was wearing GLEE shirts, either bought or made. Ones that said "Finn-tastic!" or "I heart Puck" or "Property of New Directions". Two girls were even dressed up like Sue Sylvester in red track suits, sneakers, whistles, and clipboards (all they needed was a megaphone).
GLEE songs were playing in the background, quotes from the show ("I'm like Tinkerbell...I need applause to LIVE!") were up on the screens, and about 10 minutes before the show started, a bunch of Cheerios (cheerleaders) came out into the audience and started passing something out to people. "Wait, are those barf bags?" someone in our group asked.
The opening act was LXD (Legion of Extraordinary Dancers), a dance troupe and they were really good! The guy who plays Mike Chang is in the LXD so that was probably the connection. After that, the lights went out and Sue Sylvester showed up on the screen and told us we were all idiots to pay money to see these GLEE kids live in concert. She did us a favor and sent her Cheerios out with barf bags (yes, they were barf bags!) because we were definitely going to need them.
Then the camera panned out and Mr. Schuester was sitting next to her. That's when I lost it and started screaming like a 12 year old girl. He said, "Oh come on, Sue. I think the kids have already proven themselves..." After some banter between the two of them, Mr. Schue wished New Directions a great show and the screen went black. The lights went out. The first chords of "Don't Stop Believing" began, the curtains opened, and the 6 original members of the GLEE club (Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Kurt) were there!! As they sang, the other 6 GLEE clubbers (Quinn, Santana, Matt, Puck, Brittany, and Mike Chang) came out and joined them.
Let me see if I can remember all the songs they sang:
1) Don't Stop Believing (whole cast)
2) My Life Would Suck Without You (whole cast)
3) Push It (whole cast)
4) Don't Rain On My Parade (Rachel and cast)
5) Beautiful (Mercedes)
6) Sweet Caroline (Puck)
7) That Boy Is Mine (Mercedes and Santana)
8) The Lady Is A Tramp (Puck)
9) Defying Gravity (Kurt and Rachel)
10) Bust Your Windows (Mercedes)
11) Bad Romance (Kurt and the ladies)
12) Dancing With Myself (Artie)
13) It's My Life/Confessions mash-up (guys)
14) Halo/Walking On Sunshine (ladies)
15) Rehab (Vocal Adrenaline)
16) Mercy (Vocal Adrenaline)
17) Jump (whole cast)
18) Faithfully (Rachel and Finn)
19) Any Way You Want It (whole cast)
20) Just Like A Prayer (Rachel and cast)
21) Hello (Rachel and Jesse St. James)
22) True Colors (Tina and cast)
23) Somebody To Love (whole cast)
Their costume changes were crazy! For almost every song, they were wearing the outfits they wore in that episode. For example, for "Jump" they all wore their pjs. For "Don't Rain On My Parade", Rachel wore that black dress with the red sash. For "Bad Romance", the ladies and Kurt came out in their Lady Gaga outfits.
I loved hearing the preview of their regionals song. It's a Journey medley with "Faithfully", "Any Way You Want It", and "Don't Stop Believing". Another highlight was when Rachel came out on stage and introduced Jesse St. James. WE WENT CRAZY! No one knew he was going to be there. I heard he only is going to sing at the LA shows, so we felt very special. He and Rachel sang "Hello" by Lionel Richie. So dang beautiful.
Ok, let's talk about talent. I was wondering how they would sound. I mean, haven't we all heard albums and been impressed with vocals and then we see the band (or person) in concert and realize, "Wait, they're not as good live." Dang you, Auto-Tune and computer fix-ups! But seriously, these kids are just as talented as they are on TV! I was especially impressed with Kurt, Puck, and Mercedes' voices. Mercedes usually belts it out on her songs, but when she sang "Beautiful", her voice was very sweet and clear. I had never heard it like that before and I really enjoyed it.
And of course Rachel's voice is off the hook! She is a Broadway vet, you can tell. When she hit that super high note at the end of the ladies' Halo/Walking on Sunshine song, she opened her eyes real wide afterwards like, "Oh my gosh - did I really just hit that note?" And we all cheered. She also brought it during "Don't Rain On My Parade". And her and Kurt's rendition of "Defying Gravity" was especially touching.
Just overall impressed impressed impressed. Such a fun concert experience! It was so fun/strange seeing them live. I see them on TV and then, wait! They're right there! They're real! And they're so funny and sweet and friendly. I hope they do another concert tour next year, because this was just too fun not to do again. Here's their finale - "Somebody To Love". Thanks for reading, friends!
I am home from a road trip. A road trip to southern California. A road trip to southern California where I took 7 college students and we saw the kids from GLEE live in concert.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can say was the concert was amazing. I will be blogging a full recap with pictures and videos as soon as I catch up on my sleep. I'm so tired, but man...so worth it. I can't believe I saw the GLEE kids in person. So much fun!
You know what can make my day? Time with my nephew, Judah.
Sister, bro-in-law, and nephew were in town today so I left work early and got to spend the whole afternoon with my favorite little person.
Words I heard today:
* "ba-ba" (bottle)
* "money" (bunny he sleeps with at night)
* "cup" (self-explanatory)
* "arbash" (garbage - he'd go around picking things up to throw away)
* "hot" (fireplace, stove, etc)
* "wa-wa" (he becomes an animal anytime he sees water: a puddle, creek, water fountain, sink, his own drool. WA-WA!!! He loves water!)
* "moon" (my sister Amy said she read "Goodnight Moon" to him 8 times in a row one night)
* up" and "down" (as in, lift me up Auntie Sarah, so I can flip the light switches up and down)
* "Nii!" (as in, we are the knights who say Nii! from Monty Python. I think this one means no, or he doesn't like something, or when he can't think of what to say, he just says this)
* "Ahhh..." (this is a musical note he sings every time he sees a stereo, television, or microphone, because he knows music will come out of it)
* "Sare" (this is my favorite. It's what he calls me.)
He is so smart!!! I love watching him grow. He's almost 18 months. Here's a video from Mother's Day. We had just come from the park where he played with water and sand so we took his pants off. He was shuffling around in his sweater, diaper, and socks. Love it.
I was going to title this post "All The Single Ladies" (*cue Beyonce's swagger*), but I have no idea if guys read this blog and I don't want them to feel left out.
I've been having conversations with people about being single and the things they say are starting to irk me a bit. So I thought...what if I made a Top 10 list of what NOT to say to single people? I know dating or married people mean well, I really do. But they might forget what it's like to be single. And if I can be any service to help both parties from feeling weirded-out, I'm here to help. So without further ado...
WHAT NOT TO SAY TO SINGLE ADULTS
10) “I just don’t understand how someone as great as you isn’t married yet.” There is absolutely no way to receive this comment without feeling uncomfortable. As a single person, you KNOW it's meant to be a compliment...but how the heck do you respond? "Um, thank you" would sound awkward. "I don't understand either" would sound cocky. And saying "Well, I guess that's up to God" just sounds lame all around. How about just avoid this comment and instead tell your single friend how amazingly wonderful she is. No mention of a man needs to enter that comment. She is fabulous regardless of whether or not she's married.
9) "Are you putting yourself out there? Are you meeting people?" Don't worry...if your single friend wants to be married, rest assured he/she is doing that. We know the importance of meeting people. This question might make single adults feel like they are incompetent of finding someone and they need to be reminded.
8) "Oh, you should meet my friend ________________." We all love playing match-maker. I'll admit, I get a thrill if I set up two friends. When we know awesome people, we want to set them up with other awesome people, right? And then we secretly feel giddy if things work out. ("I brought them together!") But please don't set up your single friends with other single friends just because they're single. Does that make sense? Just because a guy friend and a girl friend of yours are both single, it doesn't mean they're compatible. They might have nothing in common, except that they're both single. If you really do want to play matchmaker, make sure you think about each individual and think if they would really be a good match.
7) "Gosh, this (holiday) season must be hard for you. I mean there's
Christmas with mistletoe everywhere. And then there's New Years Eve with
couples kissing all over the place. And then Valentine's Day after
that! Why are these holidays so close together? *chuckle*" Yes, this
has been said to me at a party. But I know you all are too nice to say
anything like this to your single friends. I think this married person
was a bit socially awkward. And a bit drunk.
6) Talking about how crazy life is and how sometimes you wish you could be single again. This is an interesting one. I've heard both sides - from single adults and married adults. Single people wish they were married and married people get so caught up in the business of life, husband, and kids that they long for their days as a single. It's a "grass is greener" contentment issue. I think both singles and marrieds should be sensitive with each other when saying things like this.
5) "Have you tried internet dating?" Yes we have.
4) "Maybe you're ready. But maybe it's HIM (your future husband) who's not ready." Again, I know people mean well - they don't want their single friends to feel it's them. Maybe God just needs more time to work in the heart and life of their future spouse before He brings the two together? But sometimes people date whether or not they've worked through all their personal issues. And also, we're not God. Only He knows what's going on.
3) "This weekend my husband and I went to...oh wait. Is it ok if I talk about this?"
Absolutely. Single people want to hear about your lives just your
married friends do. Please don't feel you can't talk about the fun you
have with your spouse or your kids. If your single friend is mature,
they can handle it. And since your spouse and kids are part
of your life, we want to hear about them. I had a friend who felt she
couldn't tell me anything about her and her husband's fun times because
she thought it'd make me feel bad. Don't worry! Single people have fun,
too. And we'll share our stories with you.
2) “If you stop looking for love you’ll find it.” Some people find love when they're looking for it. Some people find love when they're not looking for it. There's nothing wrong with looking.
1) "Lots of people didn't get married. Like Mother Teresa or Paul from the bible."
Ack, this is a bad one. Not only are you making your friend sad because
they think you're implying they will never get married, but you are
comparing them with SUPER uber-spiritual peeps that they will never be
like.
So, there's my Top 10 list. Married peeps, please know I am not trying to rag on you. I have many married friends and love them dearly.
If you've ever said any of the above, I know it's because you love your friend and want to make them feel better. If you want some ideas on how to encourage your single friends, here are some good things to say instead of the Top 10 above:
* You are amazing.
* I love how you find fun wherever you go.
* I always look forward to hanging out with you.
* I love who God has made you to be.
* If this is a desire of your heart, let's pray about this right now. (and then pray with them!)
Ok, now it's time for comments! Single peeps, are there any I should add to the Top 10 list? Either ones you've heard from others or ones people have said to you? Married peeps, were any of these said to you when you were single? Or have you said any of the Top 10 to your single friends? Was this helpful for what not to say to single friends?
P.S. And hey, feel free to forward this to your single or married friends. I'm here to help.
Facebook status updates are the best. Here are some of my favs recently:
(from a male college student) "When I grow up I want to be a cat. It would be awesome, I would just lay around and nap all day and eat and gets loves. Except I don't like cats that much, so maybe a dog then."
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(another male student) "If a cheetah and a 10 foot chicken got in a brawl, which one would you bet on?"
Another student's response: "A 10 foot chicken is basically a dinosaur, and i can't think of any cheetah that can beat a dinosaur. My money's on the chicken."
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(co-worker) "Summer is coming... I need some denim cutoffs."
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(my female cousin talking about her daughter) "So i let lola watch 'yo gabba gabba' today. So is this to prevent kids from doing drugs cause the whole show is like one acid trip. Kinda like, 'why do drugs... It's kinda like this...' (insert dvd)"
(another gem from my cousin) "Walked into a fart. For clarification... Someone elses."
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(guy friend) "When I become a parent, I plan on wearing Cosby sweaters for difficult decisions."
Ok, time to catch up on life. I woke up feeling yucky this morning so I took the day off work. I'm reeeeally glad I did. I need to catch up on life, in all aspects.
* 4 loads of laundry. I seriously did not have anything to wear. Unless I wanted to run errands in my flannel pjs, a sports bra, and a jacket. Um, no.
* Clean my room. Still working on this. But I finally unpacked from my past weekend in southern Cal and I can see my floor. I even vacuumed. Slowly making progress. I'll finish tomorrow.
* Work. Only two more weeks! Ahhh! The end of the semester is in sight. Hallelujah! When I'm tired and not feeling well, it's hard to get motivated at work. So hopefully today's charging of my batteries will pay off for the final-two-week-stretch.
* God time. I am bummed this always gets pushed to the back burner when I get busy. I was convicted last night during the talk at college group. A few weeks ago I talked about finances and the importance of giving our tithes to God first and not giving him whatever's left over (which sometimes is nothing). And our speaker last night shared the same principle with when it comes to time (the topic was time management). We plan out our weeks and get so busy and then IF we have time, we have time with God. That's me. When really I want to plan time with God everyday and not just give him whatever time I have leftover, as if he's just some passing thought.
Random things that have nothing to do with any of the above:
- Billy Jack's wedding was SO FUN! Seeing friends, hugging the bride and groom, dancing the night away, it was lovely. 
- Who watched Tuesday night's LOST? Who cried? I am a mix between being pissed and heart broken. You know why.
- Who is going to see Iron Man 2 this weekend?
- How the crap is it May already?
- Our Nerf Assassins game is still going on! Out of 20 people, we are down to 5, I believe. Here's a video of Michael (student) practicing what he will do when he finds his target.
On my plane ride home this evening, I happened to overhear a conversation happening in front of me. Myself and three other people were on the runway, about to enter the plane. (We were the last people to get on) It was an elderly gentleman and his wife (probably in their 80's) and a middle aged woman they had JUST MET. Keep that in mind.
Here is what I heard.
Elderly gentleman (speaking to middle aged woman): "When my wife and I had to go through security, I got chosen to be 'checked' off to the side. It was a trainee who did it and I think it was his first time getting to do a pat-down. His trainer was watching him like a hawk so I think he was trying to be VERY thorough. Best strip search I've ever had."
Middle aged woman: "Dang, he probably even checked how many testicles you had."
(UM, WHO SAYS THAT TO AN ELDERLY COUPLE YOU'VE JUST MET?!?)
But without skipping a beat, the elderly woman said: "Hopefully he didn't find more than two."
Me: *silent laughter (shoulders shaking) for about two minutes until I sat in my seat*
I am down in southern California this weekend for Billy Jack's wedding. I met Billy Jack at my first job after college 10 years ago. And he has been one of my dearest and closest friends ever since. I am so excited to see him get hitched!!
I'm dead.
Here's what happened.
It was a beautiful Saturday. I was sitting at our kitchen table, eating lunch, talking with a roomate, reading the paper, the sun was streaming through the window.
All of a sudden, I noticed some movement outside our kitchen window so I looked over and to my horror...I saw John, one of my college students. Oh crap. Two things ran through my mind in half a second:
1) Oh my gosh, John is my assassin.
2) Oh my gosh, he is going to KILL MEEEEE!!!
He said my eyes got as big as dinner plates as I screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" and jumped up from the table. I ran upstairs to my room to grab my nerf gun. As I came (slowly) back down the stairs, I heard him talking with my roomate. I cocked my gun and waited. I heard him come down the hallway.
"I hear you!!!" I screamed as menacingly as I could from around the corner. "And since I can't do any pre-emptive shooting, you're gonna have to shoot me and MISS so I can kill YOU!!" (that's one of the rules)
He literally walked right up to me and just shot me with his nerf gun. It was awesome. I should have ran outside and given him a run for his money. (Or I guess it would be a "run for his kill")
After some laughter, high-fiving, and explanations as to how he found out where I lived, we took a picture. 
Not only did John have a nerf gun, he had a nerf sword that he had cut down to dagger-size. This guy is in it to win it! Also, please note the shirt he is wearing. Three Wolf Moon. So classic. I hope he wins the game.
It's that time of year again.
Nerf Assassins.
If you ever want to play, here's what you do: Get a list of people who want to play (at least 10 or 15 for a good game). Everyone must buy a nerf gun. On the day the game begins, you are emailed a name. You must hunt down and shoot your target. You cannot kill them if they're at work or class. If you "kill" them, they are out of the game, and you receive their target. That is your new target to go hunt down and kill. The last assassin living WINS.
We play every year in the college group. It's hilarious. Everyone is SO paranoid. I see college students walking everywhere with their guns in their hands or on top of their books. They peek around corners, check around their cars before they get in, constantly look behind them when they're walking.
Usually I die the first day, first hour. I am proud to say I have made it through the first day!! Yessss. No doubt I will die very soon (these students are CLEVER) but I always try. I'm not a very good assassin though. For example, here's a facebook message thread between myself and my (unknowing) target today:
Student: "Hey Sarah, make sure Ryan (our adult leader who is leading the game) knows that i am the nerf battle."
Me: "Has Ryan sent you your target yet? He sent everyone's targets out by midnight last night. Do you have a weapon? Good luck!"
Student: "yeah i have a awesome nerf weapon :P. I am sooo ready!!!! :D lol. good luck sarah!! O ya how was last night i couldnt make it :/. I have a huge test on friday and yeah i know lame lol."
Me: "Last night was good. After the talk, we played Rock Band in the garage. We missed seeing you though!
Hey, I just realized I don't have your email address or any info to send stuff to you. Can you send me your address, cell number, and email? I'll put you in our database. Then you can start getting my weekly email I send out to everyone telling them what's going on with the college group.
Have a great Thursday. Good luck on your test tomorrow! Have you been studying a lot?"
Student: "Haha nice try sarah. i will give you my address when i want you to come kill me. But yeah I been studying my butt off like i always do lol."
DANG IT!!!!!!!! I was trying to be so suave. I have no idea where he lives and I want to kill him at his house this weekend. Was I obvious when I asked for his info? Dang it! And now he KNOWS I'm his assassin!!!
That cloud of volcanic ash halting air travel? It is sentient, evil, & wants to escape the island: 
I had such a great weekend. (I'm kind of sad it's Sunday evening and the weekend is over) On Friday, we had Girls Night Out with some ladies from the college group. We had dinner at In N Out (my fav) and then went to Comedy Sportz. It's like "Whose Line Is It Anyway" with players up on stage playing different improv games and the audience gets to shout out suggestions. It was SO funny! 
Then yesterday it was time for the monthly barn dance. Yeehaw! There's a farm north of us that has a work day, potluck, and barn dance the third Saturday of every month. We're big fans. We took some friends who had never been there before, so it was great to see their excitement. The caller was awesome, the barn band was rockin', and we danced the night away. 
Hope you all had a good weekend, too!
Oh my gosh.
I found the song "Like A Prayer" from next week's Madonna-themed GLEE episode. It gave me CHILLS. It is SO good. You can listen to it here. Let me know what you think!
After my last intense post, I thought I'd do a more light-hearted one.
A little over a month ago, I blogged about how one of my students (Travis) is going to be famous because he wrote, produced, and performed a song on a techno cd that had just been released.
Another guy in the group (Michael) wanted to make a fun video, using that song. And here it is! You can fast-forward to 0:45. Michael is just sitting at a desk until then. Enjoy!
We've all seen them.
The protesters with their signs.
Some are good - teachers who want to keep their jobs, nurses who work in hospitals but don't even have good health insurance, etc.
But no, I'm talking about those other protesters with their signs. The ones aimed directly at homosexuals. Or abortion clinics. Or people who aren't Christians.
I was in church today and our pastor was telling us how he took his kids to Disneyland during their spring break. As they were walking down the street to the entrance, there were some guys holding their stupid signs. On one side the signs said, "TURN OR BURN" and the other side said "REPENT OR GO TO HELL!"
As soon as the pastor shared this, I felt my face get hot. I could almost feel my blood boiling. I honestly don't think I heard a word the pastor said after that. I don't even remember why he shared that story. (Sorry, Mr. S) I don't hate many things in this life. But I HATE those signs. They make me so angry.
I mean, Disneyland is one of my favorite places in the world. And I was just imagining little kids holding hands with their moms and dads, wearing their Mickey Mouse ears, full of excitement, about to enter this magical place. And to see a sign like that...it makes me sick. I am ill.
Any time I see a sign like that, I want to go right up to the person carrying it and yell. "You are a JERK. JERK. How dare you. You are doing nothing but making people upset and angry. You are actually turning people AWAY from Christianity with your judgmental and offensive sign. GO.HOME."
Man. I just don't think that's how Jesus would share His love with the world. He didn't pick up the children, put them on his lap and say, "Repent or go to hell, Timmy." Jesus was all about love. He was the epitome of love. And these people with their stupid signs might think they're helping others see the light or change their mindsets or whatever...but they're NOT. Grrr.
I have not been blogging much the past couple weeks. This is the part of the year where things get really crazy as the end of the semester draws near. I only have 6 weeks left and then WE'RE DONE! (at least till our summer program begins) And I have committed to finishing strong this year, instead of going out with a whimper.
Last night we started a new series at the college group. It's all about the REAL WORLD and what to be prepared for. I spoke on finances. HUGE topic. Someone shared this with me: Jesus said more about money than about almost any subject. The bible offers 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,350 verses on money and possessions. Why have we never taught on this subject before??
Anyway, outside of work, things are going well. Still loving my roomates, my hip hop class, this sunny weather, the final season of LOST, and prepping a little side area for a garden. Oh, and some fun news: my friend Laura taught me how to knit. I love it!
I am going to leave you all with a request. My sister Emily is auditioning to be a new cast member on GLEE (for Season 2). If you have a MySpace account, can you go vote for her? (Or I should say "Can you go give her a gold star?") You can see her audition videos here. Thanks friends!
Last month I blogged about Progressive holding a contest to see who would be Flo's assistant in a new commercial. Well, I made my video and submitted it:
Sadly, I did not make the top 10 finalists, but that's ok (I didn't think I would). I had fun making the video and watching the other submissions. If you want to check out the top 10 and vote for your favorite, head over to helpflo.com. (Which one is your fav? I like the guy "Ri" on the bottom left)
This week has been super busy. It was the college students' spring break so we had a lot going on. Usually for spring break, we go on a short-term mission trip to Mexico (or last year we went to inner-city LA) but this year we decided to serve in our own community. We worked at a nearby camp, building a bridge that goes over their creek. And we also worked at a non-profit garden that employs homeless people to teach them job skills and help them get on their feet again. 
Everyone had such good attitudes and it felt so good to be out volunteering in our community. A personal bonus for me is that I've been getting the gardening bug, so to work at an organic garden was a huge highlight.
I hope you all had a great week and Happy (early) Easter to you all. HE IS RISEN!
I got to watch my adorable 16 month old nephew Judah the other day. Fun for Auntie Sarah! I swear he gets cuter each time I see him. Anyway, I wanted to get a video of him so I whipped out my camera after he woke up from a nap and was eating a snack. And without any prompting, he said my name! Ahhh! He can't say it fully yet, it's more like "Sahhhhr", but STILL. And the smile he gave me with it...oh my gosh.
Yesterday I led "A Walk in the Woods" (some students called it a "Frolic in the Forest"). We are doing a series in the college group about worship. What is it? Why do we worship? How can we worship? And we've been talking about how you can worship God in anything and everything you do. And yesterday we worshiped God in the beauty of His creation.
It was such a beautiful day and we had such a good time. We ate sheep sorrel and miner's lettuce. We stuck "sticky monkey" leaves on our faces. We put yerba buena leaves, douglas fir needles, and bark from a madrone tree into a thermos of hot water and made "Nature Tea". We explored a grove of redwood trees. We found 2 newts and everyone got to hold them. We climbed fallen logs and trees. We put charcoal from a burnt tree on our faces. We kissed many banana slugs. We smashed goldenback ferns onto each other's shirts and looked at the markings the spores left behind. We saw birds, a field mouse, and a snake. We rolled up bay laurel leaves and stuck them up our noses to clear our sinuses. At the end, we came back and drank our delicious minty Nature Tea and marveled at God's creativity.
1. THIS WEATHER! Sunny, breezy, 70 degrees. Windows down when I drive, sunglasses, hair going crazy, singing with the radio at the top of my lungs. Absolute bliss.
2. Hip hop class - this week we got the chance to choreograph a short dance with a partner. So fun!
3. St. Patrick's Day! Wore green, ate corned beef and cabbage, took college students to McDonalds to get shamrock shakes, and pretended to Riverdance.
4. My new favorite singer/songwriter/musician: Greg Laswell. Put him as a station on Pandora and you can thank me later.
5. Cherry blossoms on every corner. Those trees make me so happy.
6. The Sawyer-centric episode on LOST.
7. This picture I found:
8. Speaking of GLEE, the new promo video was released this week.
9. A Wednesday morning hike through the redwood forest. I stopped and had conversations with three banana slugs.
10. My sister Liz's birthday is today! Happy B-Day sistah!
This weekend, there was an engagement par-tay for one of my roomates, Jenn, and her (now) fiancee Nick. Jenn and I worked together at camp summer of 2000 and we've been friends ever since. And we've lived together for the past 5 years which I've loved. I am SO excited these two are getting married.
Nick's parents threw a Mexican fiesta at the beach, complete with decorations, food, and a pinata. The previous day it had been pouring rain, but the day of the fiesta it was gorgeous and sunny. Yeah! You know something I love about parties like these? People coming together. It's like a reunion of sorts. People from all different stages of life, coming together to celebrate, being surrounded by family and friends - it's like a preview of their wedding day.
But not only is it fun for them, but it's fun for US! I got to see friends with their husbands (I want one) and babies (I want one) that I haven't seen in awhile and it was so great to catch up with everyone. The food was soooo good, the weather was perfect, the kids went nutzo over the pinata, the faces of new and old friends was beautiful.
Congratulations Jenn and Nick!! 
1) This week I found out three girls in the college group are pregnant.
2) I want to go back to Maui.
Do you remember last month when it was "Doppelgänger Week" on facebook? You were supposed to post a picture of a celebrity who you look like as your profile picture. Mine was Flo from the Progressive commercials. Ever since those commercials came out, people have been telling me I remind them of Flo. Maybe not so much in looks (I currently do not own bright red lipstick or a Bump-It), but more in mannerisms and enthusiasm. So unbeknownst to her, Flo and I are doppelgängers and I think if we were to meet, we'd be BFFs.
AND THEN
I get a link from someone saying that Progressive is looking for someone to be in a commercial with Flo! Here's what you have to do to enter:
1. Create a video that tells us why you would be great helping Flo at Progressive.
2. End your video in 50 seconds or less with: "Now that's Progressive".
3. Submit your video at HelpFlo.com by logging in to your YouTube account.
4. Upload your video and then fill in the required information.
5. Click submit and you'll receive a confirmation email.
6. Once your video has been reviewed, you'll receive an email of acceptance (with a video link) or rejection (read all rules before you submit).
7. Then share your video with all of your friends and see what happens.
I AM SO DOING IT! Anyone else want to do it, too? We have until March 21st to submit a video. And then the top 3 finalists get flown to LA to tryout with Flo and the grand prize winner gets to be in a commercial with her. I know I won't win, but it will be fun to make a video anyway. I'll post it for you all to see once it's done.
"Now that's Progressive..."
Last night we had a GYFAD with the college group. GYFAD stands for "Get Your Friend A Date". Everyone got dates and we all went out together. My date was a friend named Luke and we had a great time. First stop - pizza. 
Second stop - bowling, mini-golf, arcade, laser tag, air hockey, and more at the Boardwalk. 
Last stop - ice cream at our favorite local place. 
It was cool seeing the guys in the group opening doors for the girls, refilling their dates' drinks, paying for everything, being gentlemen. We've never had a night like this before (I think all the students were a little wary of getting dates), but I'm glad it ended up being a fun night for all.
One of the students in my group is going to be famous.
He wrote, composed, played keytar (yes, keytar), and sang a song that is on a techno CD that got released yesterday. Last night at the college group, he played us a live version and we were so into it! It's super catchy and he has a great voice.
Today at work we couldn't get the song out of our heads. We were singing or humming it all morning. One of the guys in the office noticed I have a "touch lamp" on my desk - ya know, the kind that get brighter every time you touch them? And then another guy noticed that when you sit on my couch a certain way, it makes my halogen lamp go on and off (the cord is behind the couch and is halfway in the socket). We were inspired to play the song and have a mini-rave. Enjoy!
The GLEE kids are going on tour. Guess who will be going to LA to see them live in concert?!
I mean come on, every news I hear about this show makes me happy. Where do I start?
* Joss Whedon will be directing an episode this spring
* One of my heroes, Neil Patrick Harris, will be in that Joss Whedon episode!! I just read a quote about this: "One solid Glee insider shares that Neil is playing a character who is really funny and really mean. He will be much more of the Dr. Horrible variety than Doogie Howser, M.D. And the fans will LOVE it."
* The all Madonna episode with 10 of her songs. This is the episode my sister Emily got to be an extra in. Mercedes and Kurt sang "4 Minutes" in the gym with the cheerleaders.
* Idina Menzel (the original Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway) will be the coach of the GLEE kids' rivals - Vocal Adrenaline.
* More Kristin Chenoweth! She'll be back as April Rhodes. Could she and Idina possibly have a scene together? One can hope!
* Jonathan Groff (Lea Michele's [Rachel] co-star in the Broadway musical "Spring Awakening" which I've just started listening to and I really like) will be the lead male singer for Vocal Adrenaline. And a love interest for Rachel!
* Olivia Newton-John will be on the show to sing a duet ("Let's Get Physical") with Sue Sylvester. Not sure what her character will be, but who cares? Stoked.
* Molly Shannon is going to be Sue's nemesis! She will play "Brenda Castle, the busty 45-year-old new astronomy teacher and badminton coach at McKinley High School who is both an alcoholic and a pill-popper." I'm already picturing how flippin' awesome her scenes with Sue will be...
* the promo for the last 9 episodes of the year:
And now the cherry on top is the announcement made yesterday that GLEE is going on tour. They will be in LA on May 20 and 21. I don't know if I will drive or fly but I will BE THERE. And forget "Team Finn" or "Team Puck". I'll be wearing a "Team Schuester" t-shirt with pride.
Today was going to be a BIG day.
I was going to get my braces off.
This day has been on my calendar for weeks. As it got closer and closer, I got more and more excited. I was telling everyone - roomies, friends, family, the college students, facebook, etc.
February 27, 2010.
After a year and a half, they were finally coming off.
Last night I had a hard time sleeping. I just couldn't wait! Get these silver grillz off my flippin' teeth! I'll be able to eat whatever I want. It will only take 1 minute to floss instead of 15. I won't have to deal with rubberbands, brackets breaking, or wax for the wires poking into the inside of my cheeks. I will finally be able to smile and not feel self-conscious. I will look 20 instead of 14 (hey, any bit helps, ya know?)
After sleeping off and on, I finally woke up this morning and got ready. I drove to the office, all giddy inside. I said hi to everyone, sat in the chair, and my orthodontist came over to cheek everything out. I saw my retainers sitting on the tray next to me. This is really happening! Wheeee!
But then I hear him say, "Hmmmm."
Never a good thing to hear your ortho say.
Him: "Sarah, have you been wearing your rubberbands these past few months?"
Me: "No. You told me to stop."
Him: "Hmmm."
Me: (oh crap)
Him: "Well, one side of your mouth is perfect. Look in this mirror here. See how your teeth come down on top of each other so well? Now look at the other side. See how they are not fully brought together like they should be?"
Me: (dread creeping in)
Him: "Well, we can do one of two things. We take your braces off now and hope those teeth come down on each other properly. Or we can wait 3 more weeks and have you wear rubberbands on that side to do the job."
Obviously I chose the latter. In the grand scheme of things, I've had these on for 18 months. 3 more weeks won't kill me. And I want it to be ALL done so I never have to deal with this stuff again. But I was so sad. I had been expecting, hoping, waiting, I was ready! It's almost like a kid who can't sleep the night before Christmas because they're so excited and then they wake up Christmas morning and run into the living room and are told sorry, but Christmas has been pushed back 3 weeks.
It sounds silly but I got into my car and started crying. I was just really disappointed.
But then I got home and heard about an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile.
I quickly snapped out of it.
My worries and cares are so trivial compared to what is going on in the world. I think I needed to remember that. I'm off to pray for the people of Chile.
Ok, can I start off this blog by saying that this vacation could not have come at a better time?!? As you read before I left, I was a bit of a wreck. But the time in Maui helped me rest, sleep, not think, just BE. And because of that, I came back feeling refreshed with a clearer mind and a more peaceful heart. Thank you, God!
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP:
* The place we stayed in Napili. Good Lord, it was amazing. Our condos were right next to each other so we could pop in and out of each other's home. The view from our back lanai was of "turtle cove" (more on that in a minute), the beach, the surfers, the palm trees, the sunsets.
* Sleeping, napping, lounging, reading, eating.
* Riding bikes down Haleakala Volcano. This bad boy is on the south eastern part of Maui. Our tour van drove us to the top of the crater (10,000 above sea level) and then we jumped on bikes and rode 28 miles down the volcano and ended up at Paia Beach on the north shore of the island. I loved watching the scenery go by as we rode. Trees, fields, cattle, homes, small towns, smells of flowers and fresh ocean air, everything was green green green. I loved it. The ride was pretty steep and had some gnarly turns, but it was just part of the adventure.
* Making dinner and watching the Olympics every night with the fam. "Wanna go out tonight?" "No way, Apolo's on in an hour!"
* Ziplining with my sis, Emily. We got taken up into the mountains in ATVs, suited up in our harnesses, and zipped over the ridges and valleys! At times we were 500 feet over the gulches, zipping at up to 65 miles an hour. WOOT!! The longest zipline was 3,600 feet long. On one of them, they even let us go backwards. We had so much fun!
* February is apparently prime whale-watching month. The ocean was "humpback soup", according to one of our tour guides. He was not kidding! We saw humpback whales everywhere. They come down to Hawaii from Alaska because the water's warmer and the moms can birth and raise their calves. They were jumping out of the water, blowing out their blowholes, moms with their babies, tails slapping the water, tails coming up as they dove down. Mesmerizing.
* Playing with my 15 month old nephew, Judah. He is so big and cute and smart and I just want to kiss his cheeks all day long.
* Snorkeling! We took a boat to Molokini Crater out in the ocean. Fish fish fish! We rented an underwater camera and took some sweet pixs. At our second snorkeling spot, I had the option to "snuba dive" (a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving) so I went for it. I went 50 feet down to the ocean floor with my guide and she and another guide found an octopus! They let me hold it! Ahhh! I was giggling like mad the whole time.
* Ok, I must know share my absolute FAVORITE thing about Maui. Green sea turtles! You guys, I am seriously obsessed with them now. We noticed them the first day in the cove by our condos. First off, they are huge. Massive. Most of them are between 4-6 feet long. Second, they are not scared of humans. Probably because everyone snorkels down there, so they're just used to it. They would let us swim right up to them! It was magical. I couldn't believe I was swimming in the ocean with sea turtles all around me. Third, when they come up for air, they make the funniest faces. Ask me to do an impression of that next time I see you. It made me laugh every time.
I posted all my pixs on facebook if you want to check them out, but here are some highlighted ones. Enjoy! 
I'm home from Maui.
AMAZING trip.
It was very hard to leave.
Blog and pictures coming soon.
Translation: Hello and Goodbye!
Yes, friends. My family and I are flying to the lovely island of Maui for 10 glorious days and I can't wait to use that word as much as possible. Hmmm...what other Hawaiian words do I know? Mahalo. Poi. Luau. Lei. Hula. Koi. Ukulele. And my favorite Hawaiian word is "pupu". It's pronounced "poo-poo" and it's a snack or appetizer. I LOVE it. I want to see that on a menu. "Get your fresh hot pupus here!" (I am such an adolescent.)
Anyway, it will be nice to get away in the midst of all this craziness at work. On one hand, I feel like it's weird timing to leave - I should be staying to sort out all the chaos. And on the other hand, it's probably really good for me to get away and rest, begin healing, spend time with my family and heavenly Father.
And it won't hurt that it is SUNNY there (I forget what the sun looks like) and the ocean water is 78 degrees.
I'll share fun pictures when I get back. Love to you all. Aloha.
I think the New Orleans Saints won?
Let's be honest. I only like the Superbowl for the friends, the food, and the commercials.
We had a Superbowl par-tay at our house and it was great. Some peeps brought a big ol' flatscreen so we could watch in style. We had lots of yummy food - I ate a lot. I mostly used the time to chat with friends I haven't seen in awhile. That was my highlight.
As far as commercials, I didn't think they were as funny this year. Here's the ones I remember: two commercials with people not wearing clothes, Betty White playing football, 3 guys and a killer whale, a funny Doritos one, a guy sleepwalking through Africa to get a Coke, a few commercials dissing men for being wusses, KISS and mini-KISS promoting Dr. Pepper cherry, chickens screaming, and one with some guys and T-Pain using Auto-Tune.
Thoughts on the big game? Are you glad the Saints won? Any commercials you especially enjoyed?
My students make me laugh.
One of them took the picture of the hole in the wall (that the car ran into)...and revealed the TRUE culprit!
Today was very eventful. I pulled into the church parking lot today and look what I saw:
Whaaaaaaat?!
Apparently, a lady was meeting someone at our church (for the first time) and she decided to drive around and look at the campus a bit. When she was by the intern house (where we have college group Wednesday nights), I think she accidentally hit her accelerator when she meant to hit her brake and she drove through the wall! Luckily no one was hurt - no one was in the room the car crashed into and she is ok.
View from the inside of the house. This is our meeting room Wed. nights:
View from outside, once the tow truck pulled the car out of the wall:
