Saturday!

I don't know why I put that exclamation mark in the title, so far this Saturday hasn't warranted a "!". I guess I'll just leave it there expecting that the day will become very "!".
Right now I'm at Mokas enjoying a Strawberries and cream smoothie. Delicious! This was really just an excuse to get out of the house. I'm so used to being away from my parents away all day that weekends are kind of weird. Weekends mean overexpousure to my parents. I think Dad and I might go see a movie later so that actually might be fun.
Hmmm...It's always been interesting to me that I, and many others, go to coffee houses, bookstores, and the like to be 'alone'. What is it about these places that attracts the somewhat anti-social? I think I've figured it out. Obviously when one goes to a coffee house they will not be alone. However, they will most likely not be bothered by others who have also come to be 'alone'. In our culture being alone is feared because (duh) it can lead to loneliness. The allure of such locations is that you can be left alone without being alone. Ta da! My theory is that if people weren't so afraid of being alone, and didn't like expensive, unique beverages so much, that places like coffee houses wouldn't survive.

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Anyway....I also have this amazing song by Misty Edwards, my favorite worship leader at the I.H.O.P-KC, called I set my heart. Some of the lyrics are as such:

It's just a moment

Less than a minute

Life is a vapor

And there's more than meets the eye

So I will set my mind on things above

I will set my heart on things to come

I'm on my way!

I'm on my way to Zion!

You'd really have to hear it to get the full impact. It's based on one of my favorite Psalms,Psalm 84:5-7. It's definitely been on heavy rotation in my CD player and in my mind.

I heart my guy friends

I'm not exactly sure what prompted this post. Partly it's the fact that I haven't done an "I heart ______" post in a while and partly because though I haven't seen my guy friends lately I really do appreciate them. So here is my post of gratitude and recognition of my guy friends.

There is a time fore everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. Consequently there is a time when I get tired of hanging out with girls. Sometimes I've just had an overload of females and all that comes with them. Usually when I do get tired of them it is because they have moved from normal to crazy in every aspect of being female. It is at this point that I say "Anyway..." , politely bow, and walk (which turns into a run when I'm no longer in sight) away. Then I turn to the refuge of femaled-out people.

Males. Males are typically and hopefully opposite in behavior, priorities, and discussion topics than females. Instead of talking about feelings they would rather watch a movie or bowl; really anything that inhibits conversation. They don't often get involved in drama, although there are rare occurrences of it, and will end up treating me like one of the guys (mostly because they don't know what to do with me). Yes, this is just what I need when girls annoy me. After a 'season' of a few weeks I will be thoroughly unimpressed with the way guys talk, treat each other, and live and will return to my herd. After being starved out of talking about feelings I will return to those who talk about feelings and philosophize about life regularly. Females.

In one year this rotation happens a few times. Thankfully I have some great guy friends to turn to and well...hang out with. They help me maintain my sanity as well as allowing me to get rid of frustration without costing friendships, male or female.

Guy friends, I salute you!
Cue the montage!
Ok, so the picture uploader is being weird. More montage later!

Zoom!!!

There goes almost half of summer. Just thought I would remind myself to spend my time wisely.

I'm actually excited about next year. I'm starting to pray and brainstorm about my Prayer Leader duties as well as deciding where most of my time will be be spent. I'm really excited about being able to be together with my friends again. I miss the constant community at Sterling as well as the fellowship. I'm the only one of my female high school friends that actually is back in town this summer. My guy friends are all pretty busy. This combo of distance from female friends and the schedules of my male friends results in very little peer contact. Bummer. If you've ever gone to an event like a family reunion and been the only kid your age then you understand a little bit what this is like.

I'm really excited about having my best friend Ellen close again (K-State as opposed to Chicago). I really am going to strive to visit her regularly (Hold me to it Ellen).

I just realized that I'm going to be a sophomore in college. Jesh. Craziness.

My eye!!! Grrr...

My eye is annoying me right now. Well...not really my eye but the stitches near it that keep poking it. I had a minor procedure done on Monday. I had this tiny cyst that, if left alone, could've grown into a mole or something. I'm not big on any kind of surgical procedure especially if it's that close to my eye. It wasn't such a big deal. In fact the worst part of the whole thing was not the shots (which I hate) but the outrageously bright light that was positioned 6 inches from my face. The worst part about this light was not so much it's proximity to my face but that I couldn't do anything to keep it from my eyes. My eyes were already closed and yet it felt like I was staring into the sun. The light was more painful than anything. Jerks!
So now I have these three tiny stitches and the ends of them poke the skin around my eye every time I move or blink. Thank goodness they're coming out Monday.

P.S. If you see me and it looks like a spider has been squashed near my eye or you feel like you need to help me remove what looks like eye gunk please, I beg of you, do not in any way attempt to help me by touching, scratching, or picking at it. I will sue you and you will pay for my new stitches.

F.Y.I

Garage sales suck. Do all that you can to avoid them. If you've ever tried you know it sucks. Warn as many people as you can.
My advice: Give it away (possible tax deductible) or throw it away. Spare yourself the headache that is a garage sale. Also, take preventative measures like not buying crap.

Life, death, and the clean-up afterwards

My Grandma had very specific request regarding her death, some of which were a bit troublesome. She didn't want to be embalmed and thus had to be buried within 24 hours. Keep in mind that this was Memorial Day weekend and that 3 of her 4 children lived in California. Somehow it all worked out. All of her children made it to the burial. The children were joined that evening or the next day by their spouses. Wednesday we had the memorial. A lot of people showed up, not unexpected considering our family is pretty big and that Grandma helped a lot of people. We had a short service filled with a sermon by a long-time friend of Grandma, her favorite hymns, and tributes from family and friends.
Imbetween services the family was working at Grandma's apartment going through photo albums, old letters, files, clothing, jewelry, and anything else you can think of. Despite the sudden loss of a mother, grandmother, or mother-in-law the family seemed to be coping well. We aren't often all together, and though we wish it could've been under different circumstances, we enjoyed being together immensely.
The thing to remember is that mourning lasts more than the time before and during a funeral. I think it will be a long process once we allow our emotions to catch up to us.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support.