One word

USING ONLY ONE WORD! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on.

1. Where is your cell phone?.....................nightstand
2. Your significant other?...........................non-existent
3. Your hair?..........................................POOF
4. Your mother?.....................................compassionate
5. Your father? ......................................handyman
6. Your favorite food?................................Mexican
7. Your dream last night?............................baby
8. Your favorite drink? ...............................coffee
9. Your dream/goal?.................................Him
10. What room you are in? ..........................bedroom
11. Your hobby?......................................baking
12. Your fear?..........................................bumps
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?.........serving
14. Where were you last night?......................parent's
15. Something that you aren't?.....................carnivore
16. Muffins?.............................................tops
17. Wish list item?.....................................friends
18. Where you grew up?...............................everywhere
19. Last thing you did?.................................dinner
20. What are you wearing?..............................cotton
21. Your TV?............................................borrowed
22. Your pets?............................................fat
23. Friends?...............................................amazing
24. Your life?..............................................blessed
25. Your mood?............................................indifferent
26. Missing some one?...................................usually
27. Car?...................................................dented
28. Something you're not wearing?......................socks
29. Favorite tv show?.............................Hills
30. Your favorite color?...................................amarillo
31. When is the last time you laughed?.................today
32. Last time you cried?................................wednesday
33. Who will resend this?..................................bloggers
34. One place that you go to over and over?..................work
35. Your favorite weekend activity?....................Wii
36. Your favorite place to eat?........................Jason's
37. The thing you hate most?............................pride
38. Your greatest challenge?...........................patience

That was maybe more fun to type than read, but I look forward to reading yours, so I tag Lauren, Kelli, Steph, Shan, and Shallan. Have fun my lovely blog friends.

One time I had a house

Some days I miss this:

Oh, and this: (the sofa and the girls)

Some days I forget that I once had a cute little house with things in it. 

It was clean. It was homey. 

Friends came over to share meals and good conversation. 

A little Austin storage unit now holds the things,

but I hold the memories.

So thankful for those memories.

Not saying I regret any decision I made or any turn the lord took my life, EVER, 

because these guys were completely worth it 

and I wouldn't be here in PA with family awaiting the arrival of our first baby Denholm.

I am blessed. In every sense of the word.

Just saying that some days I miss that little red couch, 

with those wonderful friends, in that cozy house, on Maple Avenue in Austin, TX.

Cheese with that wine?

So Pennsylvania's pretty cool. Sometimes I don't give it enough credit.

The history, the amish country, the mountains; all gorgeous and hard to find in Texas. Today I was able to see another side of it too: the wine country. It was overcast outside, but Mom and Dad have Brandywine Valley Wine Trail Passes so we decided to make the best out of the rainy day... 

Three wineries and three wine tastings later, I'd say we did. Nothing like some good parent hangout time over wine and crackers.

Dad (making his blog debut) made a delicious shrimp dinner then we watched Batman Begins as we all entered a food and wine-induced coma. Glorious.

Naked walls be gone

The newest addition to the barren walls of my room:

Thanks mom, it's perfect. I love it. I love YOU!

Eight icons of love

Followers warm my heart.

Not the 'jump-on-the-band-wagon-because-everyone-else-is' kind of follower, but the ones that hang out on the right-hand side of this page. The ones that are notified of my every blog move and faithfully read each post, maybe because blogging has become an addiction to them as it has me, but also because they love me.

Yesterday I gained a follower. Seeing that number increase from 7 to 8 made me happier than it probably should have, but, none the less, it made my day.

So, here's to you, Followers. I love you all and your little icons that live on my blog.

Early morning finger

Driving along this morning on my way to work, I was in a great mood. I woke up early, left the house early, and managed to run an errand before making my way to the office. Austin Stone's suday sermon was playing in the background and I was feeling great.

Until, that is, I decided to pass a rather slow car in front of me. Bad idea #1.

Noticing that no one was in the left lane, I politely signal, speed up to about 65 in a 55 and enter the left lane.

What I failed to notice, however, was that the car about a quarter mile back in the left lane was going 85 in this 55 zone -- boy, my 65 miles per hour was not going to fly with him. And within seconds he made that clear by riding my tail and flashing his lights at me for a good 20 seconds.

Feeling bad, I sped up a bit more to quickly pass the car I had originally set out to pass and get back over into my lane. All in all, I maybe slowed this guy down (considering his slow was still speeding) for max 1 minute.

My bad or not, I decided I was going to suck it up and wave when he passed me as a little "I'm sorry; cheer up buddy" gesture.

Bad idea #2 of my morning.

He didn't appreciate my apology and responded with a nice middle finger as he zoomed past me. I wish I could say that his reaction surprised me, but unfortunately, that behavior seems so normal around here; it seems like a habit to react with anger rather than with understanding to bring someone else down rather than bless them.

Normally I think this reaction would upset me; normally I'd be mad and bothered. But today I was thankful. Thankful that I have a car and a job to drive it to. Thankful that I'm able to slow down and appreciate every day--the people and the moments that fill those days. Thankful for a life so blessed.

Thankful that today, I can pray for this morning speedster.

Delicious gift from heaven

That grilled cheese with chips and a pickle; those little black muffins; that free ice cream!!

Oh how I've missed it.  But today I found it...

Beautiful. Delicious.

I've been craving Jason's Deli, oh, since the day I left Austin. And with the Texas weather we had today, the craving was out of control. So I finally drove myself 30 minutes out to the ONLY Jason's Deli in the entire state of Pennsylvania.

Don't these people understand how good this place is?!? These babies should be all over the place. But no, not here, all the restaurant space is taken up by mom & pop italian restaurants (more than you'll ever see in your life), irish pubs (refer to 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish' for more background on this issue), and pseudo-Mexican Restaurants.

The place was empty with the exception of a few families; sad that people around here have no idea about this delicious gift from heaven, but fine by me-now I could savor my grilled cheese in peace.

And that I did. Savored every bite of that specially 3-slice cut sandwich. SO GOOD. For a moment, just a moment, I thought I was in Austin and it was sweet.

Two little black muffins, a grilled cheese, chips & a pickle, and free ice cream later, I left Jason's Deli one happy, full camper. 

(Thank you God that you put the only Jason's Deli so close to me and not hours away. That would just be a tease...and I'd probably, sadly drive hours for it.)

Walmart has clothes?

They sure do. 

And thanks to Lauren's 'Sick Shopping' post, I have discovered this wonderful known fact.

Tonight I purchased these comfy t-shirts for weekend lounging, that also follow my new wardrobe guidelines. I like them a lot; the one on the left reminds me of Hayley and the one on the right of James. (Who, side note, is coming to visit in 15 days!! My first official visitor! Wooooo)

The other guideline these precious finds happen to follow? My wallet's guideline. These puppies were only 5 DOLLARS. I know, I didn't believe it either, but I have proof (don't mind the XL size, I like to be able to dry them without shrinkage and they run real small, i promise, i hope :|)

Also in this walmart purchase were some real comfy lounge pants and an $18 off-brand cell phone charger which probably would've been around $40 at the verizon store. 

I deem it a successful night at the Walmarts (shout out to Donniqua). 

Nothing like a 7am praise session

Upon first buying Andy's CD from Austin Stone over a year ago, I played it non-stop. Literally non-stop for a good two months or so. And as expected, sadly got sick of it shortly after purchasing it.

I always do that with albums, and I know I do, but I just can't control it. I get so excited I want to listen to the tracks over and over again. This was a particular tragedy in the fact that Andy is such a talented musician and his album is amaaazing.

But not to fear; after a year, sans Andy, something in me craved that album on my drive to work this morning. I don't know what it was, but I liked it. The truth of his lyrics is motivating and powerful. Innocent passers by probably thought I was nuts, but no big thing, I was jammin' with Jesus.

I'm glad I craved this this morning; I needed it. I'm also glad this album is back in my life (note to self: listen in moderation).

Tribute to George

Thanks to Mr. George Matthews, the one-and-only, oh-so-hilarious father of my wonderful friend Allison Matthews, every year around this time I start to crave King Cake.

For the past two years that I've known Allison, Mr. Matthews never failed to send a King Cake for Mardi Gras. As her family's from Louisiana, Mardi Gras is a pretty big deal for them. I didn't so 

much worry about Mardi Gras, as much as I did the cake. That moist,   

cream-cheese-filled, icing-topped, purple, yellow and green cake was hard to resist; every bite was a fun mystery to see if you'd be the lucky one to find the hidden baby.

This year, without fail, my body senses that

 Mardi Gras is here and sends on that

 unrelenting King-Cake craving. But clearly I'm not in Texas anymore and the

Mr. Matthews King Cake is not in Philadelphia, which means I have been forced to resort to making an attempt at replicating the mardi gras-goodness myself.

It turned out pretty delicious. Nothing like the Matthews original, but a satisfying substitution.

Hheeyyhhaayy

Yesterday, my computer died at work. It was a pretty big piece so it's day was coming. The fact that I opened an e-mail containing a virus might have sped up it's dying process, but maybe it was all part of my plan to get a new one. And I did. It's beautiful, I can have more than two applications open at once, and I can close the internet browser without the computer freezing and self-destructing. It's wonderful.

So, RIP old computer. Adios. Hasta la vista. I cannot say that I'll miss you.

After the initial day of installing my computer and all that good techie stuff yesterday, I was able to start restoring all my old preferences. Which, of course, involves a personalized desktop background. I like to update my background picture weekly with different pictures of friends in an attempt to miss them less.

My weekly desktop picture change today, though, had a bit more in-store for me than I expected. 

Going through all my pictures, I stopped on this one:

My sweet friend Hayley and I on our roadtrip to Boston. I picked this picture for two reasons: 1. the amount of color is on track with my recent decision to add more color to my life and 2. Hayley's smile is contagious and she's just wonderful. 

She's a beautiful woman with a heart for the Lord that's evident and infectious. She knows her Jesus and chooses to live for him every day. She encourages, inspires and loves those around her constantly. She's simply an amazing sister.

I hadn't talked to this lovely lady in over a week but no more than a couple hours after I decided on my new computer background, I received a random text from her about our time in the DR.  

To know that we were both thinking of each other at the same time, half-way across the country is so sweet. These are the little moments that keep me going. The little moments that the Lord sends at precisely the right time.

Hayley and I always talk about doing mission work together again sometime in the future, which we will, but we'll be patient on the timing of. So for now she'll be on my desktop, her and her contagious smile.

roloC, backwards.

In honor of my recent decision to re-vamp my wardrobe, I have decided to temporarily re-vamp the blog for inspiration.

It's a little overwhelming, both the blog background and the thought of a new wardrobe, yet much needed.

Anyone who knows me knows my entire closet consists of white, black, grey and tan; safe colors and very easy to match when I'm half-asleep getting dressed for work in the morning.

But no more! I need COLOR. Serious color. And so begins the re-vamping of my wardrobe. 

Kiss me, I'm Irish

St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, not until nest week, right?

Wrong.

Not in Philadelphia at least. Here, St. Patty's day is treated as a month-long celebration for the entire month of March.

Sure there's a larger Irish population here than there was in Texas, but Irish or not, you better be sporting ridiculously bright green shirts, necklaces, sunglasses and hats at all times. Not wearing green and drinking beer? Well then, you must not be Irish.

Don't get me wrong, I'm Irish and all, and I appreciate the day we've set aside to celebrate Ireland, but an entire month of blinding-green garb, pub crawls, and St. Patty's Day Festivals? I don't know about that. What about the hundreds of other countries that go uncelebrated? If we gave each day in March (except the 17th, of course) to one of these sadly unrecognized countries, we'd have 30 more very-loved countries instead of 1 overly-loved country.

There are, however, plus-sides to this highly-exaggerated holiday. One, I get a good laugh at all the huge green top hats, cloverleaf sunglasses, green argyle knee-highs, ridiculous t-shirts, green pants, green mardi-gras beads with plastic beer mugs attached (sometimes all of these things are worn at once, making for a REAL good laugh) and even, in the best cases full-out leprechaun costumes. Two, there are always things going on in and around the city. Always big groups of people and new things to explore. Festivals, parades, all sorts of stuff. 

Most importantly, though, it shows a different side of Philadelphians; which for me, is refreshing. Coming from Texas, people here seem a bit colder, a bit more stand-offish, a bit quicker to anger. But when everyone gathers for one reason, to celebrate the same holiday, they're different; this commonality transforms them into a group for a cause rather than individuals for themselves. They're accepting, they're friendly, they hope for the best rather than assume the worst. 

As comical and over-the-top as I sometimes think the Philadelphia's celebration of St. Patrick's Day is, it's wonderful to be out and around people in times like this. As I miss Texas more and more, I need times like this and God knows that; he gives me these little pieces of home here in Philadelphia when he knows I need them most; and I'm thankful that he always knows.

Flowers flowers in my hair, flowers flowers everywhere

I have been very remiss (SAT word) lately in making time to hang out with my roommates; with opposite schedules during the week, it's hard to find time when we're all available. So when my roommate Alexey (pictured to the left courtesy of facebook and appropriately pictured with flowers) asked me and my other roommate Ryan (pictured to the right also courtesy of facebook) to the Philadelphia Flower Show today, I was so excited one, that I didn't already have plans and could actually go, and two to hang out with my roommates while looking at pretty flowers. Not to mention it was 70 degrees outside, a wonderful day to get out of the house and take a train ride to the city. 

Turns out the Philadelphia Flower Show is the largest indoor flower show in the nation and it's a pretty big deal. Who knew? We followed the massive crowds of people through the convention center to the show entrance; not knowing what to expect at all, I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it was exactly what you'd think of when you hear flower show. A huge room of flower exhibits, flower contests, and vendors. So colorful and fresh, very easy on the nose. A few of my favorites:

An entirely hand-painted tree. INSANE.

Pretty glass walls with test tubes of single flowers all up and down them.

What I like to call the 'Old Man' cactus.

One of the exhibits.

Judging tables.

Lovely.

After the flower show we ate at a little restaurant in Chinatown then rode the train home right before dark. 

Wonderful roommates, awesome flowers, a beautiful day in the city; no complaints from this girl.

Sad story

Wednesday night poker at Kildare's has been cancelled. FOREVER. 

They still have poker tournaments around Philly, but wednesday nights 2 blocks from my house was just so convenient.

So here I sit. Wondering what to do with myself.

Time to look for a new hobby.

This is my morning

Hot cup of coffee, book in hand, space heater on, tucked in my bed while it  blizzards outside.

This is my morning all cozy and warm. 

It was monday as usual today since I forgot it was supposed to snow last night and into the morning; I didn't even think to look out the window. So not until I opened the front door, all dressed, showered and make-up on for work, did I realize there were multiple inches of snow covering the ground and still more coming down.

Since I was all ready to go, I decided to gear up and attempt the drive to work anyways. Being in the North, where no amount of snow phases anyone, usually once you make it to the main roads, they're pretty clear. 

Except today.

I attempted to make it to the office, but failed and decided a day at work was not worth my life. Sorry work.

So I turned around and came back home; delicious cup of Dominican coffee and book in hand, I tucked myself back in to bed where I will wait out the storm in the comfort of my gloriously-warm (thanks to space heater) room.

AND I got to test out the Ice-Scraper my parents gave me for Valentine's Day (it works a lot better than my credit card which I was previously using.) Double bonus.

To buy a Wii or not to buy a Wii...

They're just so amazing.

After a rousing game of Mario Kart at Kyle and Steph's against Kevin & Shannon (in North Carolina) and David & Lisa (in Virginia), buying this addicting console is very hard to resist right now.

But, my main dilemma: if I were to get a Wii for Mario Kart, I would also want Guitar Hero and Wii Fit, which would increase the cost drastically.

Definitely not a necessary expense right now (or ever), but very tempting. For now, I'll mooch off of Kyle and use his while he's busy being a dad (hah, suckerrrrrr...) :)