Wake Up

This morning was pleasant...or should I say afternoon? I knew I could sleep in today so I stayed up talking to Bryan and then reading until 3am only to sleep in until 11:30am. I love sleeping in. I really wish I was a morning person, but I'm not. Of course random work hours everyday make it impossible to regulate my body clock over the summer, too. Oh well.

I've been reading the paper every day and that's made me feel more insightful about the world I live in. Additionally, last night I picked up my bible to seriously read for the first time in weeks (ouch). I know this is the reason behind my poor attitude, apathy, and mood swings lately--I'm sure my family can attest to this. I was just talking to Heather the other day about how not seeking God daily just seems to produce a bad day and a flat-out terrible attitude. I've been thankful that my prayer life has thrived over the summer as I'm constantly remembering my friends traveling overseas, my high school friends in Greenville, and desperately asking for Christ to capture my heart again, yet still, prayer alone will not sustain me. It was so incredibly sweet to have that precious time reading the Word last night. The Word was truly water to my soul after my heart has been so dry lately.

Anyway, Andy had told me that Romans 14:2 reminded him of me:

"One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man,
whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables."

Funny, right? I wonder if that's God's away of telling me not be vegetarian... ;)

Well, I'm thankful for sleeping in, dear friends to constantly remind me about Christ, and for tasty vegetables. :)

I'm off to go for a quick run before I have to go to work. We re-opening our Starbucks tomorrow after being closed for two weeks for major renovations. It looks amazinggg! Ta-ta for now.

Good Friends

Yesterday was a fun day. I worked in the morning then went running around noon (when it's blazing hot outside...smart, right?). I tried out a new path, got lost, and ended up running forever, missing lunch at the mall with Mike and Bryan, who were visiting on the way back from Greenville. But I met up with them later along with Heather, Laur, and Quinn and we had good times frolicking around the mall. The boys left and we regrouped at my house to hang out with Baird, who was driving through town as well! Lacey and Yaron love Baird, too, so they came by. It was lovely to see my Greenville friends. I miss them lots.

After Baird peaced out, we were starving and went to eat at The Carolina Ale House, ventured around Target, and went to see Wall-e. Wall-e was SO cute!

So if you haven't figured it out already, I have incredibly awesome friends and I'm so blessed by each one of them! From Jersey, Raleigh, ECU, YoungLife...all over the place! I really do feel like I have some of the best friends in the universe. I love you all dearly; you know who you are. <3

Sometimes I feel hesitant to share every stupid, little detail of my life here because in the grand scheme of things it seems so minuscule, but maybe I do because it's just fun to share life with people you love (or whoever reads this thing). Also because I'm a poser of Baird, Mike, & Heather ;). On top of that, I already talk too much and this blogger will prove it well. Haha. I'm sure more inquisitive thoughts will venture here eventually, hopefully. We shall see...

Bagels, NYC, and OHOP

So our trip to Jersey has come close to the end. We venture back to sweet North Carolina early tomorrow morning. It's been loads of fun, as always. It's always a pleasure to spend time with family and friends here and always brings back memories.

Friday afternoon we had a long-awaited lunch at Livingston Bagel with Avi and Oreo. We had been preparing for this trip at least 6 months ago through our conversations on Facebook. Avi recommended his favorite tuna salad on bagel so that was what I got. Yum. That's one of the things missing from the south...good bagels, delis, and bakeries. We ended up sitting there catching up on life for three hours. Of course, with those two, we could probably sit there forever. Haha. The night was spent hanging out with our family, eating tasty Jersey pizza, and watching Transformers. A great start to day one of our trip.

Yesterday we ventured into New York City with our Jersey boys: Alex, Adam, and Oreo (minus Avi...sad). The city is only 40 or so minutes from Livingston. We usually go in at least once a year with our dad, but this time we took a new route with our native city-goer, Alex, who goes to NYU. We started off walking down Wall Street, SoHo, and then took the Subway to Southport and ate some lemon Italian ice while admiring the East River. Then we went to down to Canal Street where we made the boys suffer as we searched for new "designer" purses. After all that shopping we ate a late lunch on Broadway. I'm not sure where we ate but they served water in wine bottles and my tiny watercress, pear, and gorgonzola salad cost $10. Pretty nice. Our last stop of the day was at The Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker St. where their cupcakes are famously-known. I ended up with a mini-pumpkin cheesecake and let me tell you--we were all on a sweet sugar high on the ride home. Haha. I love the city...it's always so much fun, always new sights to see. Our whole family got together that night for a cookout. Friends, family, and food--the three F's that usually sums up our trip to Jersey. Haha.

I started our last day with a nice long run around the Circle before going to OHOP with all the boys. I can never say no to a breakfast meal at any time of the day. Later today we'll spend time with our grandparents and go out to a lovely Italian dinner, before we have to come back to my aunt's house, spend some more time with our cousins, pack up, and get some rest before our early departure.

It's been fun. So long, Jersey...see you again soon.

"We are from Jersey. Not New Jersey, just Jersey.
We say "yo" and we say it often.
We curse a lot.
We sure as hell don't pump our own gas.
We know what real pizza tastes like,
and we know that a bagel is much more than a roll wit a hole in the middle.
We judge people by what exit they are off the parkway or by what mall they live closest to.
We drive SUVs and we tailgate any chance we get.
We can navigate a circle with attitude.
All good nights must end in a diner, preferably with cheese fries.
I have a dawg, and I drink cawfee.
We don't go to the beach, we go down to the shore...
and New York City, is "the city."
We know 65 mph means 80 mph."

So true. Haha.

Wishes

We got to Jersey safe and sound this afternoon. It was one of our quickest trips! Just hanging out with my cousins now--TJ who's 10 and Lindsey who's 6. They're so much fun. We just played Candyland and are watching Spongebob now. Haha. Brings back great memories.

I leave you with my summer to-do list. Guess I can cross off travel now:

SUMMER TO-DO LIST 2008

Spend lots of time outdoors.

Get better at disc golf.

Complete more physical therapy job observations.

Memorize muscles of the body.

Memorize vitamins and minerals.

Keep up with online class.

Expand my vocabulary.

Re-read Knowing God.

Read lots.

Finish studying Psalms.

Pray for friends traveling overseas/missions trips.

Visit Greenville a few times.

Keep in touch with friends over the summer.

Write lots of letters/postcards.

Catch up with old friends.

Avoid sunburn and skin cancer.

Travel places.

Study for the GRE everyday.

Keep up with online summer class.

Keep personal spending to a minimum.

Work hard and save up.

Eat watermelon, strawberries, and popsicles.

Swim.

Run most days of the week.

Train for the Raleigh Oaks Half Marathon.

Go to the beach.

Go to Carowinds.

Play laser tag.

Get a $20 massage.

Learn to cook.

Drink lots of iced tea.

Spend time with friends.

Enjoy life.

Live love.

:)

From our trip to the Jersey shore last year.

Fresh

So, in attempt to start journaling my thoughts and meanderings more, I created this blogger. I had a Xanga for years and it's really funny to look back upon, but maybe it's time to start something fresh, something new.

Here we go...

Tomorrow we head out to Jersey bright and early in the morning to embark on our typical 8 hour drive. I'm defintely excited spend time with family and see my Jersey boys. I only wish our stay would be longer...we have to squeeze so much into three days! That's summer in general, really, trying to relax, vacation, hang out with friends, all over the course of three short months. I'm excited to start my junior year of college and all the fun that will come with that, but summer always flies by too fast. It's so great to be home, work, soak up the sun, and not have to worry about school. Ah, sweet summer time. I love it. Anyway, I'm off to pack!