burn out bright

Christmas has come and gone. So has New Year's Eve. So has our 4-day cruise. So has my two weeks of glorious vacation time.

Usually, after big events like these pass, I experience a "post-event" melancholy where I become sad and disappointed that it's over. I've found that this is rather useless, because then I tend to miss the full joy that the event brought in the first place.

However, it seems that for once I am actually content with all of the holidays and vacation coming to an end. I enjoyed every moment with family and friends over the last few weeks, but I must admit that I am relieved in a way to be done with all the hurry and flurry and look forward to getting back into the normal flow of things.

As for New Year's resolutions, I don't have a long list this year. Of course, I could definitely come up with a long list as I've done in the past, but I've realized that perhaps it would be more effective to have one main goal for myself that could apply to several areas of my life. In the last few days I've pondered what I really want to accomplish this year and the answer came to me in the lyrics of a new song off of the new Switchfoot album:

if we've only got one try
if we've only got one life
if time was never on our side
before i die i want to burn out bright




In essence, I want to start living more purposefully. I feel that I have been stagnent in my spiritual walk for too long and I'd like to take steps to change that---studying the Bible and praying consistently would be a good place to start. I want to take action in serving others and seek out opportunities where I can do so, instead of just sitting around and thinking about it. I want to be purposeful in my friendships, in figuring out what I want my next career move to be, and in constantly pursuing a stronger marriage. I don't want to get stuck in the mud of complacency, I want to be able to say that in 2007, I moved forward.

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