Current Obsession: Sonic

I go through phases where all I want is one thing. And right now, that one thing is Sonic. Ben brought home Sonic last night and we watched Law & Order. I was pretty much the happiest I could get at that very moment, and I wanted to make sure you all know about how amazing Sonic is.

I was also unconditionally devoted to Sonic three years ago when we got engaged. But then I was in love with mozzarella sticks. Now my devotion has changed. My absolute favorite thing to get is a junior hamburger with nothing but chili on it. It's a local dupe for Cookout burgers (found only in the south), and I am SO HAPPY. (So is my sister, because now I'm not going to drive her nuts every time I visit North Carolina until we get a burger with chili.)


Every day from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m., Sonic has "Happy Hour" where their beverages are 50% off - no matter how fancy you get or how huge your drink is. My pick for by the pool is a Route 44 Ocean Water - it's blue coconut and sprite and it's the size of a small child's wading pool.

Swing by Sonic this afternoon to cool off a little! I'll be there by 2:02 p.m.

It's hot and that's okay.

This heat wave that is taking over practically the entire United States is out of CONTROL. Yesterday at the barn, the heat index was 107. If I wanted it to be that hot, I would have moved to Arizona. Okay, actually, I probably wouldn't have but STILL. And the AC is supposed to be out at work for an entire week so that should be interesting.

I'm trying to make the most out of this, so let's look at the bright side.

- I have an excuse to eat dozens of those freezer pops.

- I have a pool that I can float in whenever I want. Which is pretty much every day.

- I got to leave work early on Tuesday because the power was out in the office. Kelly and I shopped, worked out and lounged around.

- I feel like painting my nails orange and coral and red (not all at the same time - but maybe I should) to match the heat.

- No one thinks I'm trashy when I walk around Meijer in my running shorts, bathing suit top, ratty boys' white tank top and flip flops. They're just jealous I'm headed to the pool.

- I lose two pounds every time I walk into the backyard to walk the dogs. Granted, it's just water weight and I'm sweating it all out. But still - at this rate, I'll be down to the size of an Olsen twin by August.

- I don't feel bad about running on the treadmill because it's impossibly hot outside.

- I'm so thirsty that I'm drinking all of the water I'm supposed to - times two.

Silver linings rock.

Weekend

A little weekend overview. I spent some time with that little floof above. Her name is Pippa! And I wanted to take her home.


Grace and I went to Sonic for happy hour! I got a junior burger and this huge lemonberry slushie. Yummm.

Ben came over to Grace's to play Call of Duty on their awesomely big TV. Please forgive the blurriness. I just love this picture.


In case you missed it, the US Women's National Team lost in the World Cup finals. Luckily, Jordan still likes America.

Kelly! We were so domestic. And by we, I really mean she. I was more like a sous chef, cutting and chopping and peeling. But I love this picture, too!

Weekend plans = WORLD CUP

This weekend's plans include:

- A birthday celebration for Kathryn Ford!!
- Pool laying. DUHTOWN.
- A girls' day on Saturday with brunch, shopping, pool and a sleepover.
- The Women's World Cup *hollllaaa* with Rachel (via phone)


I won't be able to be with Rachel for this momentous occasion. But if I were, this is what we would look like:

And if we were getting a little more crazy.. this:


We like being married/engaged to futbol playas

Pictures on Monday! Have a wonderful weekend and remember who you are and Whose you are. xoxo

A day at the office.

Obviously, my office is one of the places where I spend a ton of my time. Luckily for me, I am blessed to love what I do AND I have some great co-workers and students. I thought I'd take you through a little trip through my office.

This is what the front desk looks like when we're getting ready for the visitors who are coming to check us out tomorrow!
Here's Charity! She was an event intern for me, coordinated our housing for guests for two years, served as a student receptionist AND has given tours. PHEW. I'm so blessed that she stayed to help me this summer! She takes care of the front desk - and keeps an eye out for me!


A little mid-afternoon snack is a necessity. Meijer had cherries on sale. So.. I was all about that. Note doodling from a long phone call on the paper behind it.

I am legendary for having empty and half empty cups sitting around my office. Here's my water cup (Go Gators!) AND our campus coffee shop was open today so I had to grab an iced drink to stay energized this afternoon.


In the corner of my office are beverages that we offer our visitors. We've run out of room in the fridge and in our storage room. So my corner is holding them for the next week or so.


This is my fave jacket. I found to use for our Christmas admissions video last year.. and it's still hanging on the back of my office door. I wear it in the summer when I'm too cold from the AC. Also, check out that poster of JFK and Jackie O. behind me. It's one of my favorite photo series.


What's that? You want a closeup of my bulletin board? Okay. I have homecoming pictures, cards from my mom & dad, pictures of family and encouraging notes. And a ribbon from a horse show last year. Because it's pink and I like it. Some dogs at the shelter where Stella's from did that painting. Talented canines.


At the end of the day, there's always more to do. At least I have cute office supplies!

Peace Out, Insecurity.

Two of my dearly beloveds and I are going through Beth Moore's book "So Long, Insecurity" each Monday night. Reading the book and answering the questions on Beth's blog has given us a lot to think and talk about. I'm starting to notice more and more not only how my insecurities affect and shape my thought patterns, but about how this epidemic has infected America.

I see it at the pool, when I hear men bragging about the DUIs they've gotten away with, the girls talking about how much unseen weight they've gained that week and the people who are obsessed with making others look less than themselves by acting immature.

I see it in people who crave attention so much that they force other people to give it to them by their selfish or demanding behavior, instead of waiting for others to love on them.

I see it in the soccer players and basketball stars who come for athletic camps, pushing, jostling in the cafeteria, desperately wanting to be liked and accepted - not just for how they perform on the field or the court, but for who they ARE.

I see it in those who close their eyes to Truth, who won't let others speak to them about it, who are both miserable with their lives but refuse to let God do anything to change them or their situation.

I see it in the people who are constantly sure that someone is talking about them behind their back. I think of the quote my mom shared with me years ago - "If you knew how little people talk about you, you wouldn't worry what they say". Humbling, but true - and something I long to share with these people that I encounter.

I hear it in the voices of the students who call me at work, preparing to come for their freshman year. I hear it in their parents, who want to be able to stay cool in the middle of preparing to send their most precious possession into the world. I want to tell them - and sometimes do - that they are going to love it, that God is going to change them in the next four years, that there are people here who will invest in them in ways that they can't even imagine.

Lately in the mornings on the way to work, I have been praying for these people as they come to mind - so that their insecurity won't be anything that will keep them back from seeing and serving Him. I am more patient through the day, seeing through the bravado that people display a little bit, hurting for them a little more. I'm praying that He continues to reveal both the insecurities in me and equips me to meet the needs of others in this area.

Energy Vampires

A phrase I heard at a work conference last year that has stuck with me is "energy vampire". Energy vampires are things that drain you automatically just by being near them or dealing with them. They can be situations, tasks or even people.

Figuring out what my energy vampires are has been invaluable to me. It has helped me figure out why some days are so much worse - or better! - for me than others. There's a flip side to them, too - "sunshine sources". When I interact with more "sunshine sources" than "energy vampires", it's easier to have a great day.

Some of my energy vampires are...

- Drinking too much soda

- Manipulative people

- False guilt/guilt tripping

- Overscheduling myself

- Inflexibility from others

- Feeling controlled or micromanaged

- Negative people

- Burger King

- Feeling like my house/laundry/car is OOC

- Surprises (I know, I know.. I just like to plan ahead).

Sunshine sources include...

- Getting sleep and drinking a TON of water

- My dogs & pony - including walking them and cleaning stalls

- Exercising
- Music that fits my mood

- Sonic, Starbucks, Oreos - all my favorite food groups

- Time on the phone or in person with my closest friends and my family

- Vacuuming and doing laundry (but NOT folding it)

- Being able to spend lots of time getting ready in the morning

- Checking things off of my to do list

- Laying around - by the pool, watching a movie with my college roommate, in the grass with my nephew, in front of the fire in the winter.

As Dr. Brown likes to say "One day, I woke up and decided that I would never have another bad day. And I haven't." I love that attitude! But avoiding those energy vampires certainly helps, too!

Dear Photograph

I stumbled across this gem of a website yesterday. The premise is that you take an old photograph and hold it up in the same location today to see how it's changed. Their tagline is "take a picture of a picture from the past in the present". It's only been going on a month or so, but I LOVE it. It has quickly become one of my favorite stops in my journeys around the world wide web.

I'm thinking about doing this at my parents' house in Connecticut when I'm home for Christmas. Now I just have to find the right embarrassing photo...

Some favorites:

Dear Photograph, Thank you for everything we had.

Dear Photograph, Thank you for reminding me of how lucky I am to have my Dad.


Dear Photograph, Her love was my chemo. I beat cancer.

Dear Photograph, When will I have this much swag again?

Quiet Streetlights & Loud Fireworks

Every few nights, Ben & I will put on real shoes (we live barefoot and in sandals all summer long) and make the 3.5 mile walk to our local Starbucks. I'm usually the one that wants to go, but he's never turned me down. We leash up the dogs - red for Snow, turquoise for Stella - and set out. When it's hot out and 92% humidity, we wait until the sun has dipped below the horizon until tomorrow. Rarely, inspiration strikes early in the morning and we make the trek before I go to work.

There are so many reasons why I love these walks, but the biggest one is nostalgia. They remind me of when I first got Snow, and he had to live outside. To spend quality time with him, I was either sunbathing on the back deck or taking him for long walks in my sleepy college town. We had a 1 mile loop for the early, fog-filled mornings and a 4 mile journey for after I got out of school or work. When we got on campus, I would take him off his leash and let him run to his heart's content. I hated seeing him live in that kennel, and it did both of us good to get him out and stretch his legs.

When I got up in the morning for work, I would peek out the window of the Big Nasty (a tiny house I shared with three other girls with a landlord we called the Warlord). Without fail, Snow was standing outside his Igloo filled with cedar chips, staring intently at the house. His alarm clock went off a few minutes before mine, and he was always ready first. He repeated the process at 5:03 every evening, waiting to greet me when I got home from work.

Those times with Snow filled me with purpose. In the midst of an unhappy relationship, he was ecstatic to see me without fail. He loved me unconditionally. He made me commit to something that was hard and he held me accountable. When baby opposums made their way into his kennel and died of heart failure, he watched with interest when I suited up in gardening gloves and had to toss it out of his cage. Every time I dropped it and squealed, he looked at me inquisitively, like "What's the big deal?" He did the same thing when I would let him run through the cornfields and he would come back with groundhogs. I would scream bloody murder at him and he would drop them at my feet as gifts. He never understood why I wasn't as excited as he was.

When someone let him out of his cage at night as a prank, my roommates let me bring him inside because I was so upset. He was uncomfortable being inside and kept us up all night with his nervous antics. A few weeks later, he was shipped off for five months of R & R in Connecticut with my mom and dad, where they did the majority of his housebreaking and all of his spoiling. When he came back to live with me in Ohio four and a half years ago, there was no more separating us.

He's getting older now, and I don't know how many more summers I will have with him. But when we wander up to Starbucks and get iced coffee and a venti cup of water for him - and Stella - Ben lets me walk quietly. The streetlights flicker and sometimes go out, which startles all of us. Tonight, and other times throughout the summer, fireworks boom from behind the air force base and on the other side of a hill. None of us notice. Stella is watching Snow intently, Snow is watching me, and I am lost in my own thoughts. Sometimes Ben will grab my hand and I know he is saying to enjoy tonight because we don't know what tomorrow holds. And I grab back and he knows I am saying that I wish this could go on forever.