Disneyland Adventure.....

Whelp, i can think of no better time then now, when i feel as though i am on my death bed, to write about this past weekends adventure in Disneyland. I have a feeling Micky had something to do with my illness seeing as how a fellow traveler of mine, who also touch Micky is sick as well. I will show you this picture... Micky in the middle, Allison and I on the sides. Enough said.

So, as we beginning this adventure to the Happiest place on earth we first must get our tickets. You see, we found this place to get tickets for $60, instead of the usual $101. We had an appt at 8:45 to pick up the tickets, and so we were there promptly at 8:40. This is where the fun beginnings. There was a group of 3 other women, and a couple also waiting to get there tickets. They were there after us, but didn't seem to understand the concept of respect and wait for your turn. One of the women rudely blurted out "we have appointment!" and i believe all six of us said, SO DO WE. We were asked to wait outside because a group was already inside and one group at a time... so we did. we waited, and waited and finally we got in. So then Alli and i had to sit in this room with the other ladies to sign out the tickets, of course they didn't speak in English, so we assumed they were talking about us. Probably about how adorable we looked in Tye Dye. So we decided to text back and forth about how the girl of the couple was pacing in the hall way like she was about to go into labor. I mean really? Calm down!!!! So as Alli and i were chuckling we finally got our tickets but not without lots of laughter before.

So we are on our way to the park, but of COURSE there is a Marathon going on and of COURSE you can't exit off the normal Disneyland exit. So, more waiting. This time with some angry drivers who cut me off and honk their horn. "HELLO, do you not SEE the size of my 8 passenger burban that will crush your tiny Honda little girl?? Stop texting and pay attention!!!" So of course, we are humored. So finally we make a left, and find a vacant parking lot that belongs to this office building that is not opened on sundays. SO of course, lets park there. Its right across the street and really, who is going to complain? But just in case, i leave this happy little note... because hey, a heads up would be awfully nice! So did we get towed? Well you will just have to wait till the end of the blog to find out...

So finally, WE ARE IN. First mission, World of Color fast passes. 45 minutes later, mission accomplished. Second mission, obviously Micky ears, people NEED to know these tye dye shirts stand for something!! CHECK. Third mission, picture with Micky, which is conveniently located outside the Micky ears store. CHECK. (see picture above) Now, a ride? of course! So, after hours of waiting, some not so bright individuals and lots of laughter we hit up some rides! favorite of California adventure, Probably Tower of Terror. Alli had never been on it, which is neat. She had never been to Disneyland in general actually, just Disney World (spoiled) so it was all new to her! Allison was our Bride. P.S did i mention this whole trip was for a bachlorette party? If not, i just did.

This is us looking scared for the ride. Pretty fun. Did i mention this GIANT beetle that would NOT leave us alone in the Tower for Terror line!! Were we those girls who screamed and swatted at air, Yes. Were be probably annoying, Yes. If you would have seen the size of this thing you would of too, i can guarantee it. It liked the Tye Dye, seriously, it did. It found us in line even after we moved. Moving on....

We went on this rapid ride. Where you sit in a circle all looking at each other, thought it would be nice and refreshing, it was getting pretty hot. So we all sit and are getting excited, well we go down this slight downhill slope (not sure what else to call it) and the girls that were going backwards got SOAKED. Shawna, Alli and I on the other side weren't too bad. Just waist down really. Well as the ride keeps going and of course the raft keeps turning, we are about to go down another Downhill slope (i am beginning to think this is the technical term for it) that's TWICE as big. And of course, Alli and i end up backwards. So as females, we do what we know best, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, ahhhhhhhhhahahah, NOOOOOOOO"- this is a exact quote, from both of us, at the top of lungs. So what happened. A small squirt of water lands on my jean shorts. "we were perhaps a tad bit dramatic"-Allison. Yeah, she was right.

Then around 3:30 we head over to the magic kingdom, by this point we have been on every ride worth riding anyway in California adventure, Soaring over California is seriously the best. And we had not at this point sat down. We had though, eaten our lunch in line, so we were nourished.

To speed this story up lets just talk about how Space Mountain is the lamest for breaking, Splash Mountain is not fun when there is no Sun out, and Indian Jones is super awesome. So finally around 8:30 we decide to sit down and eat. Where, we ended up waiting in the longest line of the day. It was redunk how long it took for us to get food, and i was second in line. But we ate, and headed over to World of Color!!!! Waiting in line was amazing, because by this point 6 girls who had been practically running all day, and waiting all day, were officially what i like to call slap happy. Everything was funny. EVERYTHING. The lady in line that Couldn't control her balloon to the rather large and tall man that kept bending over in front of us and sticking his butt where it doesn't belong to the other man who kept taking off his shoes in front of us. REALLY SIR?? Your feet SMELL!! Then there was the Bachelor group with their matching wind breakers from Oregon and seemed to think Arizona was on the other side of New Mexico. I'm sorry did you graduate high school?

Then finally the coolest part of the day.

WORLD OF COLOR!!! It is so amazing. AMAZING! we were in the "wet zone" and i didn't notice till after the show how soaking wet we all were. But it was so awesome. GO GO GO (this is me telling YOU the reader to go)!! So finally, its about 11o'clock at night, and we had been going allllllll day. My feet were past the "oh they hurt a little" stage and into "i cant feel my feet they are killing me and my legs are numb" stage. So we decided to take the trek back to the car. Not without saying a prayer that it was still there. OF course to add some dramatic effect there was a huge fence in the way so you couldn't see where i parked till you turned the corner, and what do you know.. IT WAS THERE. i like to think they thought about towing it but because of my rather clever note they gave us a break.

Anyway, if anyone has read this whole thing you are amazing. Just like the weekend. Special shout out to my cousin who let us sleep in his living room, and mom who let us borrow the burban which we couldn't do the BURBAN SLIDE without.

As a side note this blog has major misspelling and grammatical errors and at time may not make sense. But i am sick, and i dont care. I am also to lazy to fix it.

Amen.

Musical Chairs

I have been meaning to write a blog for a little while now just haven't had the time to sit down and do so. Which is odd considering all I have is free time on my hands. Go figure.. why is that? I mean I feel as though this is something that happens to more people than just me. When I have 6 things to do I get none of it done, and spend my day with, well I am not sure what. Browsing the Internet, bugging my mom, eating, sometimes reading, well mostly reading, and listening to new music. Tis odd.

So anyway, back to my blog point. I am reading this book called "The Me I want to Be" by John Ortberg, a book suggested to me by a friend many moons ago. I have finally finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series so that relationship is over and on to bigger and better things, such as finding out how to be the best me I can be. I read this rather large paragraph in the book the other day and it really struck a chord with me, and I felt like sharing. What better way then a blog. Guilt is the word that came to mind, probably something more people wouldn't admit after reading such a "in your face" paragraph. But as for me, i am defiantly guilty. YIKES. The paragraph is in relation to closing the gap that is between God and I.

"Sometimes we manage the gap by pretending. We learn to fake it. We speak as if we had had deeper spiritual experiences than we really have, as though our sin bother us more than it really does. We pray as though our voice is throbbing with an emotion that we really have to generate ourselves. Sometime we play spiritual musical chairs, always searching for a different church or tradition or spirituality that has the magic key. Some people flit from one spiritual experience to another, continually rededicating their lives to God and then falling away, hoping to recapture the emotions they felt when they first met God. Some people quietly, secretly give up. They still hope they will go to heaven when they die, but between now and then they have been disappointed too often to expect change anymore. They have gotten used to languishing."

Now, I don't believe that I personally walk around and have secretly gave up, but I do believe that sometimes I think there is a right and wrong way to worship Him and i get so caught up in that i start playing "musical chairs" with tradition and new techniques to grow closer to God. Not sure if i am making sense yet. But this i what i mean. That sometimes I have been guilty of faking it, probably just so people couldn't see the hurt or pain i was secretly going through and the internal battle of doing what is wrong when I know what's right. iIhave acted as though some sins have bothered me at the time, when really it didn't, because it is what i thought i should do to "fake" my Christianity. Now, this wasn't yesterday or anything, this has been over the last 6 years, but there comes a time when I must Stop. So that is where I am now, growing in my spiritual maturity so to speak. Realizing that when I say one thing and feel another God is not pleased, and I am not fooling Him. I can not fake it with Him. Do I think he only hears what i say and doesn't know how i feel? DUH He is ALL KNOWING. It was a hump that I needed to jump over and conquer, realizing that I needed to stop falling away and rededicating my life and get my act into gear. The last 6 months have been a doozy, but I am finally on the right side of that hump pushing forward.

This book, although only 5 chapters in, has been pretty unique in that it explains God doesn't want me to be anything else but ME. When I die He isn't going to tell me I wasn't more like Noah, Moses or Peter. He is going to ask me if I was the me HE created me to be. Sometimes we think that in order to grow closer to God we need to change who we are. No, I don't think that's it, we are already who we are, who God created us to be, we just need to close the gap and become a better version of ourselves.

It makes sense to me....

Percy Jackson & The Olympians

Yep, that's right. I am reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The only sucky part is each book is only lasting me about a day or two. Already on the third one and i started last Thursday. This means one of two things.. they are that good and at a fourth grade reading level, or i have too much time on my hands. I am going to go with the first option.

So update. For starters, for the first time in a long time i am settling down. whoosh. I cant remember the last time i could say, this is where i am going to be and staying for the next year and a half. But tis true. I landed this super sweet coaching job that is going to test my patience, plus get me back into the volleyball world a little bit. i am coaching Freshman at Paradise Valley High School, cant remember if i discussed this is the last blog or not. I will have my official team by Thursday, but i really already have the girls picked out. I just got to give the new incoming freshman to the school chance to figure out there are tryouts and what not. This is going to be rough. I am used to girls with ability to play already.. these girls, out of 12 about 2 have played before. Yep, 2!!! When i say, "line up for serve receive" they look at me like i am growing a blueberry out of my forehead. Long story short, it is going to be a doozy, but i am excited.

For another update I applied, and was excepted to do a year internship at my home church here in the valley. CCV. I will be working in the children's ministry starting in Jan! This is such a huge opportunity for me to grow in so many different ways and i am so excited. The way this just worked i could really see God in it. There was a huge difference in this and the other things i was trying to do. I now know God really wants me to be right here with my family. It is amazing how quick things happened and i am ready to get started!

Anyway......................... that's that. just a bit of a update because i felt like blogging.

Also so you think you can dance is over. now i don't know what the heck i am going to do wed and Thursday nights. dang it.

Friendships...

Lately i have been wanting to write a blog about Friendships, i even wrote it on my to do list. Sadly that was a couple days ago and i really don't remember what exactly i wanted to write about on Friendships.... So why don't i just start writing and just hope something significant comes out of it.

I have as of late, come to the realization that some friends you just have to let go. I am the sort of person who actually values my friends, regardless of what he or she can do for me. When you are my friend i am going to call to see how you are, stay in touch, knit you scarves, listen when your angry, buy you dinner and so forth. When i say i want to hang out i want to hang out and not wait for a better option, when i say i will call later, i call later. I make my friends my priority, but too often i am finding myself as only their option. Its just super lame. I mean really, when will everyone just become adults? haha. When i am talking to you, and you give me a line of Bull, i KNOW you are giving me a line of bull. When you make excuses its embarrassing, wouldn't it be nice if we could all just be honest?

So i have decided that its okay to stand up for myself, to not put effort into "those" friendships anymore. Its a bit hard at first because you realize there is so much history with certain people and at times i feel like its a waste, how much effort i have put in, and for what, a bunch of pictures and a few stories? the answer is yes that's exactly it, and i need to be okay with that. The friendships i am making now at 25 have been more meaningful then any relationships i had before. Sometimes it just takes years to find the right friends, who value you as much as you them. I think a lot of people hit this point, when you realize you have nothing left to give............

I am back in AZ and for awhile. My sister is home, my brothers are home, and i am home and i couldn't be happier. I just need to be okay with my decision and hope that God has a plan for me right here in Glendale, AZ. I am now the freshman coach at Paradise Valley High School. That happened pretty quickly, and just a part time thing, and then we will see what else happens.

Today is Aug 1st and for the next 30 days i am trying this new thing. For 30 min everyday i am going to sit in prayer. A Time to talk with God, but for the entire 30 min i have to be smiling. I did it today, and it was interesting, because sometimes what we talk to God about is not necessarily the happiest of conversations. It was odd, i laughed a few times thinking how ridiculous this may be. But i honestly felt happier, and after i kept smiling for probably another hour... I am hoping to accomplish something from this, what, i am not so sure. I am really hoping my demeanour changes, that maybe i will actually start smiling more in my daily lifestyle... who knows........................................

Lots of things....

California is a beautiful place. Many times i sit and stare, thinking about the weather, the ocean, riding my bike, wishing i just had a million trillion dollars so everyday i could ride down to the beach, read, pray, eat and spend the rest of the day with people. I have spent most of my life thinking i am not a people person, but i beginning to think that's not true. I am learning to love relationships with people. They can effect so much of your life, what you do, say and how you feel. I think this might be because at 24 years old i have found friends. Real friends. I love my family and really cant imagine living in a place without them, and i do miss them dearly when i am away. But then again.... California is a beautiful place.......

I am going to spend the next weekish traveling around California seeing some friends, family until back to Arizona at the end of next week. I have a lot to think about. My life keeps taking this wild turns where again i have packed my car and pretty much living out of it minus the fact that i have friends houses to sleep in. This seems to happen quite often to me, i spent significant time laughing about that today with a friend. People get married, have babies start careers and my constant is living out of a car. ha. Oh life.

I am wondering where God wants me, where he is going to take me next. I am ready for anything. I was discussing today about the second coming. It could happen any day. Why am i not shouting at the rooftops trying to witness to people, where is my urgency? where is any ones urgency? Sometimes i act like we have all the time in the world to find Jesus Christ as our personal savior.... but this isn't true. Nothing is guaranteed. I believe this is something my dad says..... This conversation was brought on of course by first talking about death. Living with my grandparents has brought me face to face with the idea and reality of death. We had our neighbor die Tuesday morning. I couldn't believe it, it really happens, our earthly life really ends, and quicker then we know it. I think we spend so much of our life worrying and over thinking and before we know it it has passed us by........ when do i stop trying to run my life and give it over to God and really start living for Him.......... hmmmm... just thoughts really. Jumbled together....

Anyway... of to reality (college church group in carpenteria cali) tonight with my bud. I missed reality... its a great church doing great things. I enjoyed my weekends at rock harbor, also a terrific church. Excited to head back to CCV............. Also really would like to take the missions trip to Austria. I should just do it and stop talking about it. Give it to God.


blah.

The girl with the.......

So here is my issue. I was supposed to be starting this blogging series on Crazy Love.... the issue, that i also started the book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the same time. Obviously a book i didn't know i would like as much as i did, then need to read the following two books after that. The good news. I am halfway done with the 3rd book, it has taken me about 2 weeks to get through them. Yippee. At least i think its good news, so then i can start Crazy Love fresh. As my mom stated this weekends its not a book you can just read a few chapters and put down. It takes awhile. This was encouraging. Because its true, this is not a book i want to fly through. Take in each sections slowly, and understand what i am reading. Good times.
So in that case i will update the 3 of you that read this on my life's happenings.
First off Happy Late 4Th of July. I spent this year with a couple girl friends down in Newport Beach. Probably wont be doing that again, so many crazy people. Something to do once, and probably not again. Many highlights from that short 2 day vacation i took with the girls. It was a great time, and a nice break. But it did take me the whole day today to recover. Apparently my grandparents were recovering from something too because we all spent all day in our pj's.
It is getting so much better living with them. I enjoy it. I enjoy most making dinner then sitting and talking for at least an hour after hearing stories, who did what, where it all happened. The simplest of stories. Hopefully i will have another couple weeks here then who knows whats in store for me.
I had 2 interviews in Texas this past week. I will find out and make decisions on those within the next two weeks. Its just interesting where life's brings you. Its never quite where you plan. I am enjoying it but at the same time i am ready to start something new, fresh and something i can be doing for a long time. I don't care where, that's all up to God. Putting myself in His hands.

anyway, i am off. Got a new watch and it is awesome. ask anyone.

crazy love: preface

When preparing to read a book like Crazy Love there are a few musts. first, is prayer. for God to open my heart and for my mind to understand the words on the page, and to begin to understand more of who God is, and who i am. second, no distractions. This is the hard coming from the person who forgets what i am saying as it is coming out of my mouth sometimes. A.D.D to the Max... a Kleenex can be a distraction. Third, my notebook, bible, and comfy cloths. this is a must. fourth, silence. so i have nothing but my thoughts.

The preface opens with a quote.. "to just read the bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins-- is this passionate, wholehearted love for God? I read this a few times, it took me awhile to really realize what it was asking exactly. To me it says just because we go to church, read the bible and don't rob a bank does that mean we have a personal relationship of our father?

I filled out a couple application these past couple days and i kept seeing the same question over and over. Asking, what is a christian, how does one become a christian? and i thought about that question, before putting what i believed. That anybody can call themselves a christian, and almost anybody does. Its true! I think that in some way calling yourself a "christian" is different then having a personal one on one relationship with God. is this making sense? maybe only in my head. Sometimes we can get so caught up in going to church, singing worship songs, reading the bible... in the "doing" part of it that we forget to stop and have a personal relationship with him. We want so badly as humans, i believe, to be loved, to have relationships with people. Meeting at coffee houses to talk about life, going out on a friday night with friends, dating, joining clubs........ should we not want that same desire with God? I know i lack that, most of the time i get so caught up in my earthly friends i forget about the one relationship that counts the most, with my Creator.

I believe the preface throws it all out there, so i know what i am getting myself into. If you don't agree with this, you might not continue reading. I have no doubt that if i "...surrender myself totally to Gods purposes He will bring me the most pleasure in this life and the next."


I think Chan says some memorable things throughout the preface:

"i think its far to easy to blame the American church without acknowledging that we are each part of the church and therefore responsible."

"... to be a part of a body where radical living is part of the norm."

"we forget that God never had a identity crisis." ---classic!

" come with me on this journey. I dont promose it will not be painless, change, as we all know, is uncomfortable. It is up to you to respons to what you read. But you will have a choice: to adjust how you live daily or to stay the same. "