All the riches of the kings end up in wills

So Christmas has always been a huge deal for me in every way, shape, and form. I love everything about the holiday. There's the obvious joy as a Christian in celebrating the birth of Jesus and pondering the infinite mystery of God becoming man. Then there are the little things about this time of year that also bring joy to my heart: seeing all the decorations at the malls, baking and decorating gingerbread men, my Dad's once-a-year Christmas breakfast casserole, iceskating, and scouting out which houses have the best light display are among the few.

I must admit though, however shallow it sounds, that a large part (if not the main part) of Christmas for me throughout most of my life has been about presents. My younger brother and I had a tradition of coming down the stairs with our eyes closed, in order to maximize the surprise of Santa's gifts that awaited us under our mantel. And I'll be honest, I didn't stop wondering what Santa was going to bring me each year until I was in sixth grade. Yes, that's right, I believed in Santa until I was 12 years old (laugh it up!). But even after the reality of Santa was exposed, I still eagerly anticipated what I would receive each year under our mantel.

It wasn't until my senior year in high school that pangs of guilt for my materialism started to happen. I don't really remember what the catalyst was, but it was at this point that I realized that my expectation of gifts was at times outweighing the true meaning of the holiday. I realized that if I didn't get what I thought I needed, I would be disappointed. Shameful to admit, but true.

Several years later, I feel that I have gotten better fighting the always present battle of materialism and über-consumerism during the Christmas season. I have found that truly the best gift of all is just spending time with family and friends during the holidays. However, the monster of greed does still rear its ugly head, showing me all the cute sweaters or DVD box sets or other things I "need".

And now I come to why I even decided to write about this subject in the first place. I was faced with an interesting question last week when I heard of the website Buy Nothing Christmas from a friend. The basic concept of the site is to rebel against our consumer society and spend nothing on Christmas gifts in order to direct ourselves to a larger, spiritual perspective. My immediate thought was "I can't do that! I like buying gifts and I like getting gifts!" And then I started thinking about why.....why is it so hard for me to break free from this feeling of wanting to have more when I already have enough? Why can't I just comprehend the simple words of Jesus:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Unfortuantely, this post doesn't have a neat little ending, but rather an open-ended one, because it is still something I am wrestling with. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts......

Give thanks

Pastor Jaime gave a sermon on 'giving thanks' this morning at church, and though it was nothing profound, his words were a reminder that we are to never cease in counting our blessings. I thought I'd put this concept into action, because I realize that more often than not, I am always thinking about what I want instead of rejoicing in what I have. Here is a list of things I'm grateful for (in no particular order):

-David
-the opportunity to go to college
-the women in my life who I can be truly vulnerable with
-our house
-access to any book I want to read
-full use of all of my body parts
-always having clean water to drink
-Yahoo Music Jukebox
-a family I can be honest with
-the chance to go on a cruise with my best friends
-the freedom to practice Christianity without fear of my government hurting me
-all the unique memories of Alpha Delta Chi
-my piano
-online chat friends that make 8 hour work days go by MUCH faster
- security in knowing that God created me for a purpose

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice!"
-Philippians 4:4

face/off

http://www.myheritage.com

This is what you call procrastinating at work.

it doesn't cost a thing to laugh

"So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun..."

~"Stop this Train", John Mayer

This weekend was non-stop action, so I'm taking some time to debrief at work by listening to Mr. Mayer, which always seems to calm me down.

I turned 23 on Sunday. It's kind of an anti-climactic age, but I had fun celebrating it none the less.

So the India.Arie concert was Friday and she is absolutely amazing in person. I know I seem to write this about every musician I see in concert, but what can I say, I just must have superb taste in artists that can knock your socks off when they perform live! Anyway, she played for over two hours and the most surprising thing to me was that after her second or third song, she prayed over the show and asked that God would use her lyrics to emotionally help people who were going through a hard relationship, just like she did a few years ago. When she sang "Wings of Forgiveness" (my fave song on her new CD), I teared up because you can tell she really does believe what she's singing. Sidenote: The Fillmore is a fantastic venue, if you have a chance to see a show there, DO IT!

Our Halloween bash was Saturday night and it was great to have such a random mix of friends there. And the winner for best costume? That honor goes to Brad Steiner and Kristen Jones for embodying (literally) "Fiddler on the Roof". Other costumes included Johnny Cash and June Carter, Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Captain Jack Sparrow, Robin Hood and his fair maiden, James Bond and his mistress, a Dodgers fan, a Sac-town thug, and Sydney Bristow from ALIAS! A full roster indeed.

Yesterday was our big family housewarming party and that was a lot of fun as well. We got to show off our place to various cousins, aunts and uncles, both of our grandmas, and the rest of our family. It really was a huge blessing to have so many people from both sides of our families there to celebrate with us.

Another dynamite weekend....all I can say is "L'Chaim!"

Our families celebrate our new home with us

Hello, old chum

Here's what I bought today:













Time to become reacquainted with an old friend. It's been far too long.

these are a few of my favorite things

1. Product (RED).
This is an amazing idea: getting a bunch of big corporations (GAP, Motorla, Armani, American Express, Apple) to create "RED" products and donate HALF of the profits of these products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa. Bono, you are brilliant....taking advantage of Amercian consumerism and spinning it into good! I proudly bought my Product (RED) shirt yesterday from GAP and I love the fact that all the shirts were produced in Africa, which also creates the added bonus of increasing economic development in the country.

2. A fun haircut.
I've been wanting to get a haircut for some time--I haven't had one since May. However, I wanted to make sure I could find someone who would share the same glorious vision I had for what style I wanted. Megan recommended her stylist, Dawn, to me and she was awesome! She gave me exactly what I wanted and she only charged $30. I think I've just permanently upgraded from my usual trim at Great Clips.

3. Surprises from my hubby.
So David and I were talking about doing something on Friday to celebrate my b-day and then he gives me this weird look and starts mumbling about how he has something to tell me. This was kinda freaking me out a little, and then after 10 minutes, he says "look under your pillow". Well by golly, there were two concert tickets to the India Arie show on Friday at the Fillmore!! He told me how he had bought the tickets for Amy and I to go, since he knew I'd have more fun at the concert with her since we are both huge India fans. How cute is that?!?! I love how he totally surprised me, and now I get to go to see one of my favorite artists in my favorite city!

My (RED) shirt, my new haircut, and my hubby = happy Kelli

Running to catch up again

I haven't had this busy of a week in a while. For the majority of the nights the last seven days, I've stayed up past midnight---which wouldn't be that big a deal if I didn't have to do the whole 'work' thing. Blast you, alarm clock and your tortuous beeping! However, the loss of sleep was well worth it. And here's why:

Monday- ADX Rush Tea => it felt so good to be back at DCCC with fellow alum Rach, Bron, Megan, and Jodie. And I want to give a big shout out to Mrs. Jackie Caro's amazing coffee cake...yum!

Tuesday- Trivia Night @ Sophia's => Who thought that spending two hours answering 40 trivia questions ranging from reality shows to Greek mythology would be thoroughly enjoyable? It was a DHS reunion of sorts: myself, Amy, Susan, and then two guys who I literally haven't seen since high school. I'm definitely looking forward to more Tuesday Trivia nights and who knows, one of these times maybe we'll even get above 10th place!

Wednesday- ADX Pref. Dinner => all I can say is that I chose a great year to be co-advisor because the group welcomed 8 awesome pledges. I also got to know several of the newer girls who pledged last year through random conversations over dinner....I can't wait to get to know everyone better!

Thursday- Steve drove down from Chico for (what else?) a concert and stopped by to see our house. He told me about how he's going to go to this film festival in SoCal in a few weeks and wanted my opinion on what seminars to take. Man, am I jealous. Oh yeah, and David's dad drove up to help David with the patio. He thought he was just going to stay the day and leave around 6, but let's just say the project took a little longer than expected....

Friday- David and his dad spent another full day working on the patio and it makes me exhausted just thinking of how exhausted they were after they finally finished. Exactly an hour after they stopped working, we were in the Woodland Opera house with our bible study peeps watching the community production of Fiddler on the Roof. Besides the uncomfortable seats, I was very impressed with the cast's performance and it quenched my thirst for some showtunes.
Saturday- had a mini-housewarming party with my parents and my Aunt Becky and Uncle Chuck from Huntington Beach. I felt so proud to show them our house now that some of the rooms are painted and we finally got a second couch that really makes the living room look all grown up. It was a fun evening.

Well just recounting the week's events makes me realize the blessing of being surrounded by incredible friends and family! But I'm tired. I miss my bed and the fun times we used to have. So it's time to go catch up and prepare for the upcoming week---at the end of which I"ll turn 23!

what happened to big petticoats and fancy gloves?

I wanted to look nice today. Which for me, meant wearing a knee-length brown skirt, and a cute pink tweed blazer with some champagne color 1-inch heels. I found it comical that throughout my entire day at the office, I was asked repeatedly "What's the special occasion?", as if looking respectable at work indicated that there must be some huge celebration occurring somewhere. I even got asked by one of my supervisors, "Did you have an interview somewhere else today? Because if you did, you can always tell me." And she wasn't saying this in a joking sense, she was seriously worried that because I wore a skirt and heels to work, I must be interviewing elsewhere. I guess this is indicative of UCD work culture, its completely normal to wear jeans and a sweatshirt to work (unless you work with the big-wigs in the dean's office). And this is just dandy, I love the fact that I didn't have to go out and buy hundreds of dollars of work clothes because I can still wear the clothes I wore during college to work. But every once in a while, a girl just wants to get all dolled up....is that cause for alarm? Sheesh!

P.S.- The fall mix for 2006 is completed. Just throw a blank CD at me and I'll burn it for you!

just keep me where the light is

----This is a post I started on Sunday, but didn't finish until now----

Went and saw Mr. Mayer on Saturday. He was co-headlining with Sheryl Crow, but I definitely thought he would be playing last. Sadly, Aubrey and I were dismayed when John came out before Sheryl, which we were almost certain would mean we would get no encore performance from him (which is the best part!!). Unfortunately, we were right, but he still played a decent length set and was worth every penny.
I have a particularly unique bond with John’s music because I feel like as I’ve matured and made the slow transition into adulthood, his music has simultaneously done the same. I first saw him at the Greek in Berkeley back in August 2002, just as his catchy pop single “No Such Thing” was becoming big. Heavier Things came out in September 2003 and showed a more introspective and musically diverse side of John. Last year, a huge change in John’s musical repertoire was concurrent with a huge change in my life---getting married. The John Mayer Trio album was released in November 2005, and it definitely didn’t sound anything like the same guy who did Room for Squares. Anyone who has read articles on John knows that his passion is the blues. The album with his trio clearly exhibits this, and it sounds like he has found his home in a musical sense.
Then comes Continuum. For me, it’s been an acquired taste. However, this isn’t a bad thing—it demonstrates that John Mayer challenges himself to grow musically and the end result is truly rewarding. This is the most stripped down of his records, and this allows him to really bare his soul, talking honestly about the reasons for our generation’s apathy (Waiting on the World to Change), his fear of aging (Stop this Train), and the brokenness experienced in past relationships (Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, In Repair, I Don’t Trust Myself). Now it’s in my cd player non-stop and I enjoy soaking it in, one track at a time. And I realize as I listen that this is why I praise God for music, it’s ability to help me process life and all of its changes. And I look forward to what stage of life I'll be in when the next Mayer album is released.

I'm ed-u-ma-cated

Classes at UCD began today. The round-abouts are full of amateur freshmen bikers, the Quad is lined with sandwich boards urging people to "rush this" or "join that", and the CoHo is back to being incredibly crowded. Another school year has begun, folks. And it's weird that I'm going on my second year of not being a student. However, I am posing as a student on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 12-1:30, where I'm auditing a US history class. I'm doing this for several reasons:

1) I realized that I miss the opportunity you get as a college student to learn about a specific area of study every quarter

2) I had terrible history teachers in high school; therefore, I want to become somewhat educated about our country and actually know about important things like the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement

3) I'm just a big dork.

In other news, we're about 2/3rds moved into our new house! We've unpacked the kitchen and the bedroom and we've got all of our furniture moved in. Now we're left with the fun part of cleaning our apartment. We spent our first night at our house last night and it was just weird. I think it will take a few more weeks of settling in for it to feel like 'home'. I continute to be overwhelmed with this blessing and I can't wait to share it with other people (in other words, come on over!)

Can I break the spell of the typical

Key-tars are cool

Went and saw the Mute Math show with my brother last night at The Underground. They are definitely one of those bands that make the crowd feel like they are part of the show versus just singing to the crowd. Definitely rockin'.

I first heard of Mute Math in Relevant Magazine about a year and a half ago and they seemed like just another Brit-rock band wannabe. But as we know, first impressions aren't always right and that was exactly the case here. Not only are the guys from Mute Math not at all British (they're from New Orleans), they're not wannabes of any kind---they have a unique sound that mixes rock, electro-pop, and new wave. And the lead singer plays a key-tar! I mean honestly, how nerdy cool is that? Anyway, if you're intrigued and interested to hear their CD, shoot me a line and I'll hook you up. To get a sampling, go here.

In other news, I'm working on a fall mix....stay tuned!

your love is better than chocolate

Nostalgia hits hard tonight. One year ago, around this time, David and I were leaving our wedding reception and heading off into the unknown world of married life. I remember being terrified and overwhelmed, excited but also melancholy. I think I felt that all the events that occur on a typical wedding day were just too much to swallow and process in just a few hours. It's like I needed a 24 hour debriefing session immediately after the wedding so I could pause a minute and reflect on what just happened. But one isn't usually afforded this opportunity, you go straight from the reception to your honeymoon with some goodbye hugs and a trail of bubbles being blown. I think the melancholy emotion I felt came from two things. One, realizing that it would be a while until there was another chance to have all our closest friends and family together in one place again. A wedding gives you the best reason to have this happen, and there aren't many more reasons that come up in life where you can have the excuse to rent out a reception hall and fill it with 200 people who have shared life with you. Secondly, I think I was just plain scared of the uncertainty of what was ahead of me.

I describe all these muddled, somewhat sad feelings that I had leaving our reception because if I had known how incredible the next year would be, I would have left jumping and dancing with joy. I don't know if I have laughed more than I have this last year (my husband's a frickin stand-up comedian folks!). I've had so many memorable experiences over the last year and most of them would not have happened if David and I hadn't been married. Not like it's been a total breeze all the time, but being married and living with my best friend has definitely raised my 'happy' quotient in life. Couldn't imagine it any other way, really. All I can say is I don't know what the next year holds, but at least I know I'll be sharing it with with him, and in the end, that's all that matters anyway.

Dazed and content

More to come later, but just wanted to say we had a fantastic time down in SoCal this weekend hitting up lots of people: David's cousin, husband and their adorable 20 month-year old daughter, my aunt and uncle in Huntington Beach, and of course, Ashy and Mark and Kate and Chris. David went to his first modern dance performance (Ashley was awesome!) and I had my first experience with Indian food (delicious....can't wait to have it again). Also, exactly one week ago on Labor Day, I had quite an experience canoeing 10 miles down the Russian River with Rach, Kassey, and Jessica. Who knew it was in me? Haha, I sure didn't.

Oh yes, and we have our FINAL house walkthrough on Thursday. We are 'this close' to having our keys......I really can't believe the Sholer Shire is almost ours =)

Goodnight, and good luck.

Songs that I can't stop playing: 'How to Save a Life' by the Fray and 'You Are My Joy" by the Reindeer Section

hit the ground running

After 2,000 miles of driving, we returned back to Sacramento last Saturday. Included in those 2,000 miles were Nevada, Idaho, a bit of Montana, and Wyoming---not to mention several hundred bison, picturesque mountain views, a restaurant called Bubba's, and a lot of wide open spaces. To be honest, it wasn't necessarily a vacation I would have chosen on my own, but I'm so glad David suggested it back in June because it turned out to be a much-needed chance to unplug--from the Internet, my cell phone, and just life in general. It was nice to stop and enjoy the simple things like having s'mores at our campfire and watching the different birds on our hikes.
Now it's back to the busy life----we're moving into our home in less than a month! Before then, we'll celebrate both my mom and dad's birthdays (my dad is hitting the big 6-0!), go down to SoCal for a weekend to see Ashley dance, celebrate our one-year anniversary (crazy...), and see a Mute Math concert with my bro and a John Mayer concert with Aubrey. Sheesh. Seems like summer is winding down and the chaos of fall begins...bring it on =)

Tryin to fit the world inside a picture frame

Some pics from our trip:

Hoping I'll see the world with both my eyes

Just wanted to let you all know the view that I will have in just a week. It will be so nice to get 'unplugged' for a week from everything, jump in a car with my honey, and experience the divine glory of being in nature. Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, I look forward to meeting you!

So here's a brief overview of my life lately in survey format:

Last book read: Velvet Elvis:Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell

Currently reading: Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott

Last movie watched: The Killing Fields

What movie do I want to see next: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Who I've been listening to recently: Snow Patrol, India Arie, The Tempations

Last meal I made: Navy bean soup with ham (I love our crockpot!)

Looking forward to: taking a week off work and going to Yellowstone (we leave in two weeks)!

My latest guilty pleasure: Watching "SuperNanny"

My current mission: to read more and to convince my parents to get a dog!

This will be an everlasting love

We went to our last wedding of the 2006 'wedding season' (unless there is some huge surprise that I don't know about). Katie and John tied the knot, and it was definitely a memorable event. The bridal party ceremony recessional was set to the music from "Star Wars", Katie and John entered the reception on John's motorcyle (SO cool), a plane flew over the reception site with a banner attached that said "John loves Katie", and they had a photo booth (like the ones they have in a mall) so people could receive a film-strip of 4 pictures as their wedding favor ---I loved all these unique elements of the wedding. Then there were also the normal elements that I love about weddings in general--seeing so many people I haven't seen in a while, watching the older couples bust out moves on the dance floor, the slideshow shown during the ceremony, and watching how the bride and groom look at each other during their first dance.
I'm sad that we have no more weddings to go to this year because weddings are like a shot of pure joy, and it's not that often you experience that kind of celebration in everyday life. However, I'm pretty sure that next year will hold many more weddings (I won't make my predictions public however...). So until then, I'll look back fondly on all the weddings I got to take part in this year and in a few months, I'll be celebrating my very own one year wedding anniversary! I can't even believe it....

Voyage to India

Just thought I'd share some of my favorite lyrics from India Arie's latest CD...I love it!

I wanna go where the mountains are high enough to echo my song. I wanna go where the rivers run deep enough to drown my shame. I wanna go where the stars shine bright enough to show me the way. I wanna go...where the wind calls my name
~India's Song

There's hope
It doesn't cost a thing to smile
You don't have to pay to laugh
You better thank God for that
~There's Hope

Let’s shake free this gravity of judgment and fly high on the wings of forgiveness
~Wings of Forgiveness

Sometimes I’m alone but never lonely
That’s what I’ve come to realize
I ’ve learned to love the quiet moments
The Sunday mornings of life
~Private Party

Music to my ears

CD's I'd like to hear:

Keane's "Under the Iron Sea"
India Arie's "Testimony: Volume 1, Life and Relationships"
Dashboard Confessional's "Dusk and Summer"
Guster's "Ganging Up on the Sun"

I think I'll stop by Best Buy tonight and pick up the new India Arie CD...I feel like I owe it to her to actually buy her album this time since I've burned her last two. Her music is just so uplifting--I look forward to hearing her new songs!

feels like home to me

Here's another update from the Sholer Shire. We did the frame walk-through last Friday, which is basically walking through the house to get a good look at it's innards before they put the sheetrock on. It was really surreal going through all these wires and pieces of wood knowing that in a few months, we'll actually be living in it!

Mid-September is the estimated move-in date they gave us. That would be perfect, considering our lease at our place ends October 1st.

I'm so excited to decorate our house!! It's weird, but taking trips to Home Depot are now fun because we get to look at all the possibilities for what we could do to the backyard, kitchen, bedrooms, etc.

I ramble on...

My random ramblings are as follows:

-I love love LOVE making CD compilations for people. And this weekend I was definitely productive in my CD mixing. I made a new "catchy songs" mix of all the songs currently stuck in my head for myself, a Father's day mix for my dad, and a summer rock mix for bro to send to him in Santa Cruz. I've said this before, but if there was a full-time job making specialized musical mixes for people, I would be in heaven. I'd like to think of it as my artistic contribution to the world---so please don't hesistate to ask for me to create a playlist for you!

-This weekend was another wedding, Mindy and Cory's. It was fun and ADX dominated the dance floor (see picture above for example). Another one bites the dust, folks.

-So in our bible study, we're going through the book of Mark. We only go through about one chapter each time we meet, so that there's enough time to discuss the meaty questions. Well this week, we read the passage of Mark 26:36-74 and then split up into two group to discuss. Our group ended up being all the girls in our study, and two guys: Bill, the international ministries director at our church, and Frank, the post-doc from China who just became a Christian last fall. Frank immediately wanted to talk about the part of the chapter where Peter disowns Jesus three times.
You see, Frank is going to go back to his job in China soon. His job working for the government---the Communist government that isn't so keen on Christians. Frank wanted to know what he should tell his boss and his co-workers when they asked him if he became a Christian during his visit to America. It's a tricky thing, because if Frank answers 'yes' to this question, he has the strong potential of losing his job. And by losing his job, he wouldn't be able to be an example of Christ's love to his co-workers. And it's not an issue of Frank being ashamed of being a Christian because he is so desperate to share Jesus with his peers in China. But he was just openly asking if it would be the equivalent of disowning Jesus if he didn't give his co-workers a direct 'yes' when they asked if he was a Christian.
Bill had an interesting view on the whole scenario. He asked Frank what the members of the Chinese Communist party think of when they hear the word "Christian". Frank, in his broken English, said that Christians are viewed as a large organization. Bill asked if this 'organization' was seen as a threat to the government. Frank replied that the government thinks it could be a threat and that Christians want to overthrow the Communist party. Bill then asked if Frank wanted to overthrow the government and the answer was a definite no. So Bill then concluded that it wouldn't be wrong for Frank to say he wasn't a Christian, because the concept of a Christian in China isn't what Frank resembles. Rather, Frank is a Jesus follower--no religions or organizations involved.
This conversation prompted me to think of how in similar, yet different way, the term "Christian" in America has so many organizations, people, and doctrines associated with it that it has become a distorted term to label people who actually just want to follow Jesus. Plain and simple. I wonder how someone's reaction would be different if they asked you if you were a Christian and you answered, "Actually no, I'm a Jesus follower." Even though this would be redundant, since the term Christian translates into 'disciple of Christ', I think people would react differently. It would maybe clarify things ("Oh, so you want to try and love people like Jesus did?") instead of distorting them with an inaccurate term ("So since you're a Christian, that means you hate gay people and always vote Republican, right?")
But despite whatever we say we are, it will all mean nothing if we don't follow through with our actions. So I guess the best thing I can hope for is that people know I'm a Christian, or a Jesus follower, or whatever you want term you want to use, by how I act and not by what I call myself.

And thus completes my random ramblings. Peace.

every new day

Today was a good day, plain and simple.

First, we went to Knights Landing (a small town of about 800 people 10 miles outside of Woodland) to help Cody and Diana paint their house. This couple is ambitious folks---not only are they painting the entire exterior of their house, they are ripping out a few walls in the bathroom, redoing the flooring in their bedroom and living room, and converting a small storage shed behind their house into a guest cottage. Holy crap, I'm glad we're buying our house new because I'm just too lazy and impatient for a bunch of house projects. Anyway, they treated us to a meal at the local Mexican restaurant, Los Yaquis, and I got a delicious burrito with marinated pork...mmmmm.

Then David and I took a trip to Trader Joe's, which always brightens my day. We hadn't been in a while, so we ended up buying a good amount of things we needed, but mostly things we didn't need but really wanted. The Cuban Mojito Simmering Sauce sounded too yummy to pass up. And I had to buy another box of the Vanilla Cake mix because honestly it is the best tasting white cake I've ever had. Throw in some tomato/basil hummus, Frenchberry lemonade, gorgonzola gnocchi, and butterscotch morsels, etc. and we finally dragged ourselves out before we did anymore monetary damage.

Later in the evening, I went to Mindy's bachelorette party and it's always fun to see a random assortment of ADX girls. I can't believe Mindy will be Mrs. Champagne next weekend!

So all these things together amounted to a great day. And now, on to what the next day brings...

the sholer shire

DAVID AND I ARE BUYING A HOUSE!

That's our big news. And yes, it's ridiculous that I'm just posting this here now since we reserved the house in April, but better late than never right? To make a long story short, we were not at all expecting to buy a house this soon. We were thinking that we would start looking for a house maybe in a couple years. But David just happened to be at the KB Homes sales office at the right time, learned of a cancellation of a house in our price range, and we decided to snatch it up since it was such an amazing deal. Seriously, this was a toal God thing, such a blessing. I still can't even fully believe it. Like when we had to go to the KB home studio to pick out countertops and carpet and tile, it didn't feel like we were picking out things that were going to be in our very own house.

So the specs on the house....3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a combined living room/dining room area, a good size kitchen, an attached garage, and a cozy (aka tiny) backyard. It's located in east Woodland, where all the new housing developments are going up, so that will make both of our commutes shorter...a huge plus. I'm just excited to be able to have more than 6 people over without feeling totally crammed. I'm excited to have a guest room to offer people to stay in when they come to visit us. I'm excited to have a separate room where we can put the computer in, so I can be online while David is asleep. And most of all, I'm excited to have a place of our own.

As the house goes through it's different building phases, I'll be posting more pictures. Here's a few pics of what our house looks like now!

Truly, madly, deeply

Kate's wedding was beautiful! It was so awesome to celebrate another one of my closest friends tying the knot....her and Chris were absolutely radiant the entire day, despite the rain. Of course, that would be the one day it would rain, but the photographer was great and got some really artsy shots of us with umbrellas! It was also really fun to get to know the rest of Kate's bridesmaids. The night before the wedding, Kate wanted to have 'girl time', so the six of us all cuddled up on a bed under a blanket and talked for hours, like we all grew up together (even though I had just met some people for the first time that weekend). It was something straight out of "Little Women". Overall, it was a fabulous weekend. David and I took a quick tour of downtown Santa Barbara and had one of the best meals we've had in a long time at Pascucci on Friday, we had a wonderful bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner on Saturday, and of course, the wedding on Sunday. Pictures of the Kate and Chris Schwass weekend below:

Who would've though we'd all be married within one year of each other?

Some of the bridesmaids

Chillin with Mark and Ash at the rehearsal dinner
Awww, Kate is such a gorgeous bride!

Goin to the chapel

Kate's wedding is only a few days away! She got engaged right before my wedding, and it felt like her engagement was dragging on forever...and then the last two months flew by and she'll become Mrs. Schwass on Sunday--I'm so excited for her!!! David and I decided to make the occassion into a mini-vacation down to Santa Barbara, so we leave tomorrow and will be back on Monday. It'll be good to see Ashley and Mark, Amy, Susan, and of course, the newlyweds! Here's a pic of Kate and I from my bachelorette weekend in Laguna Beach last August (back before I was married and she was even engaged):

Slip slidin away

I went to ADX meeting yesterday, and it was a good time. But it does feel like the group has changed so much in a year, just with new faces and all. It's weird that in just a couple years, there won't be anyone in the group that was part of ADX the same time I was in the group....it will be a whole new era.

So after meeting, Laeya and Laura tried to convince me to participate in the "slip-n-slide" activities in their front yard. So after debating for a minute about whether I should go to the gym like I had planned or if I should ditch the gym for some slip-n-slide fun, I went with the most logical choice. The Walmart slip-n-slide of course!! I don't have the pictures yet, but until i get them, here's what we looked like (sort of, not really at all):

i heart harry

It's here! Two of my favorite things: Harry + broadway showtunes!

Sing us a song, you're the piano man

I first started playing piano when I entered 1st grade. I think that's where my love for music was born---playing "Hot Cross Buns" on a Casio keyboard. Several years later, my piano teachers would suggest that I train to play professionally, but I never wanted piano to become a job or an obligation. I just loved to play. So while several of my friends learned to play difficult classical pieces through the Suzuki method, which emphasizes repetition and memorization, I just played whatever I wanted: classical, new age, jazz, songs from Broadway and movies, etc.
I think just having the freedom to learn and play songs in my own way, instead of following a certain technique, really allowed me to connect with the music.
I stopped going to formal lessons in high school, and I definitely didn't play as much in college, since I was more into playing the guitar. But occasionally, I would get the urge to revisit certain songs, so I would get out the books of sheet music and start playing and realize that piano will always be my first love musically.
Now I'm waxing nostalgic here for a reason--I'm usually not this much of an emotional sap. My parents decided to sell their piano, and like Joni Mitchell sang "you don't know what you got till its gone". I mean, it makes sense, I didn't really come over to play that much and my mom wants their to be more space in the living room where the piano was. But now knowing that I won' t have anywhere to go play, when I do get the urge, is kind of sad. Fortunately, my parents were generous enough to give me the money they made from the piano...unfortunately, I think they under-sold it on Craigslist for $300. However, my parents said they would give me the money if I promised to put it towards a nice digital piano when David and I eventually move in to a house. So until then, maybe I'll just have to sneak into music stores with my sheet music and play a few tunes.

Here's a picture of the piano we had since I was 6:

Sneezing into spring

Earlier this week, I wore my peacoat to work. Now, I'm in a short-sleeved shirt and a skirt. Spring has finally arrived. As glorious as this is after what seemed like non-stop rain for a few months, I remember why spring and I have a love/hate relationship. Spring brings everyone out from their caves and makes the quad a happy, lively place. Spring brings out all the cute capris and tank tops I've been wanting to wear. And spring also brings out the allergy demons (aka the itchy throat, watery eyes, runny nose demons). I'm taking action this year however, I've made an appointment to see an allergist next week! Its actually quite ridiculous to avoid being outside in this beautiful weather because I'm afraid of becoming incapacitated by all the pollens floating around. I think this would come in handy. Anyhow, that's my rant on allergies.

So last weekend was absolutely delightful. I held out hope, against everyone else who was sure it was going to rain on Picnic Day, and it turned out to be a perfectly sunny day. Besides the weather, it was just so fantastic to see so many people I haven't seen in a while. Aubrey hosted a wine and cheese soiree at her place on Friday, and it felt like an ADX reunion. Rachel and I talked later about how it is such a blessing to have a certain group of girls that you will always have a connection with, no matter what different paths our lives all take. It was really cool to hear where life is taking everyone---some to the city, some across the country to nursing school, some to marriage. I really enjoyed getting to catch up with everybody.

This weekend looks promising as well. We're taking off to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon to hang out with David's brother Jeff, and his cousin, Katie. Somehow we're going to cram in Jeff's apartment for the night, and then David and I are hitting up the ADX semi action and going to see "Fame Becomes Me", the pre-Broadway run of the new Martin Short musical. I'm excited!!

Oh gosh, I feel another sneeze coming on......why must you tease me this way spring?!

I'm a busy bee

This post was inspired by Google Calendar, the latest invention from the masterminds of Google. After Krystle informed me about this wonderful creation, I of course had to add everything into my calendar right away.

And it hit me. The next two months are going to be crazy busy--but in a good way. It just wouldn't be spring if every weekend wasn't packed now would it?

The main events of April and May include (in chronological order):

*Aubrey's wine and cheese soiree
*Picnic Day (no rain please)
*Bronwyn's birthday dinner
*SF hang out with Jeff and Katie
*ADX Semiformal (can't resist a Broadway musical)
*my mom and dad's 25th anniversary party
*Katie Shockey's bridal shower
*Kate and Chris's wedding weekend (so excited)
*Memorial Day weekend is still unbooked--I'm thinking it'd be cool to take a day trip somewhere outdoorsy


On another completely random note, I've been checking out different musicians and bands on MySpace since this week has been slow at work. Here are my current findings:

Schulyer Fisk
Molly Jenson
Sonya Kitchell

Enjoy!

drowning in puddles

dear rain,

go away. it's utterly impossible to enjoy SPRING when you're still around. you have had your time to be the center of attention all throughout March, and you need to leave April alone. thank you,


me

Lobbying for some gelato!

David and I went to go see 'Thank you for Smoking' with Dan and Krystle in the newly renovated Varsity Theater in downtown Davis this weekend. I was especially excited about the gelato that was being served inside the theater---at least that's what I thought was indicated by the marquee that had "Gelato"written on it. However, no gelato did we find. I guess they will be serving it at the theater 'soon', whatever that means.

The movie, though, was great. Definitely a witty, comical take on the world of lobbyists. And the cast, for the most part, is stellar. I think Katie Holmes was totally miscast, but it doesn't ruin the film.
So go see this film and support smart cinema instead most of the mindless crap (I mean really, did they need to make a Scary Movie 4?) they are showing right now.

Viva Las Vegas

David and I took a 4-day trip to Las Vegas last week, since neither of us had been before. We had gone expecting it to be a mini-vacation, and came back exhausted and sick. Not to say that the trip wasn't fun-- I'm glad we went and got a taste for the Vegas experience. However, after 4 days, I got tired of the smoke constantly blowing in your face, annoyed with all the people on the street handing out stripper fliers, and sick of the incessant "bling bling" sound of the slot machines. It was one of those trips that you were happy to be home at the end.

Main highlights:

-Getting free tickets (from one of my dad's friends) to Lance Burton, an amazing magician performing at the Monte Carlo
-getting to visualize what the Eiffel tower looks like at the Paris hotel
-walking through the 'Italian streets' at the Venetian hotel
-playing for 30 minutes on TEN CENTS at one of the penny slot machines

On a more serious note, I have to say that spending time in Vegas really made me realize how easy it is to fall in the materialism trap. I found myself envious of the couples who were eating at all the posh restaurants we passed (we ate at the fast food court instead), or wishing we had endless money to spend at all the shops we walked by (our only purchase was a $1 souvenir magnet). Even though these thoughts were fleeting, I had to remind myself that all of it is temporary--and why invest in temporary things?

In the book of 1st Timothy, Paul sums it up quite nicely:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Make your ears happy

Hey all,

Here's my newest compliation creation, entitled "Songs you'd listen to...while chillin at your favorite coffeehouse". Let me know if you'd like me to burn you a copy!

1. Stiched Up -- Herbie Hancock w/John Mayer
2. What Did I Get Myself Into -- Kyle Riabko
3. Upside Down -- Jack Johnson
4. Breathe In -- Frou Frou
5. The Sound of Settling --Death Cab for Cutie
6. Closer to Mercury -- Wheat
7. 1963 -- Rachael Yamagata
8. The Remedy -- Jason Mraz
9. Catch my Disease -- Ben Lee
10. Best Imitation of Myself -- Ben Folds Five
11. Hey Julie -- Fountains of Wayne
12. Sometimes -- Abagail Washburn
13. Top of the World -- Marcus Eaton
14. Black Sheep --Martin Sexton
15. Son's Gonna Rise -- Citizen Cope
16. Fools like Me -- Lisa Loeb
17. Tell Her This -- Del Amitri
18. Winter -- eastmountainsouth
19. She Says -- Howie Day
20. Trouble -- Ray LaMontagne
21. Boston -- Augustana
22. Poetry and Aeroplanes -- Teitur
23. Closer -- Joshua Radin
24. Lonelily -- Damien Rice
25. I Was Just Thinking -- Teitur
26. Fair -- Remy Zero

Numero uno

So the first entry in a new blog can be intimidating. "How will I draw people in?" is usually the main concern. Well, since I already know that probably only a handful of peeps will read this, I'm not too worried about keeping people entertained. I just wanted to take my shot at the whole blog scene. So here it is....