I absolutely HATE ants. Like… I abhor them. This picture above just makes me queasy.  I am a total massochist with ants. And I completely blame my brother for this hate and frankly, fear (yes, I’m afraid of ants, but my fear motivates me to kill, so I’m cool with that).  When I was little, I remember Matt making me–ahem forcing me– to watch the episode of MacGyver where the red ants ate the whole town. This exact episode and clip describes it all. I totally feel like I’m gonna puke and have nightmares about ants crawling all over me after watching that scene again. ugh. Ick. I constantly have a can of Raid upstairs and downstairs, plus special ant killers and powders that I put everywhere. Like seriously… I HATE them. I can’t even express in words how much I hate ants.

btw: in my book, white is NOT a color. I hate white walls, hence why not a single wall in my house is white. Most are tan and then every room has 2 accent colors. White can be an accent color. My kitchen colors are white, but the walls are yellow, the appliances are black and I have red everything (towels, knives, stand mixer, etc). I do not have a pic of that yet, but I will tomorrow in natural light. And you can wear white pants any time of year. I love mine. They’re my favorite pair of pants!

So, for this day’s photo post, I’m going to put a picture of me and my mom. It’s our relationship that I treasure the most. My mama is my best friend and my confidante. I call her multiple times a day just to say hello and be random and she puts up with it! Most days, anyway. God has certainly blessed me with an amazing mother and I am so thankful for her in my life. So she is my most treasured item. I don’t think I really have a physical item that would really bother me that much if it were destroyed. I mean, sure I’d be devastated if I lost my house, but it’s just a house. I’d miss my phone and my ipod, but oh well. They’re just things. They can be replaced. Family, people, relationships, experiences…those are the items we should be treasuring and cherishing in our hearts.

So may you treasure the ones you love, may you tell them over and over and over again just how much you love them, and may your eyes and heart be open to how the God of all creation treasures you above all else.

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Ok but seriously… I would love to trade places with someone who lives in Ireland or Paris and helps people. Not sure who those people are in real life. But that would be the best day ever. OR… I’d love to go back in history and have a day sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him teach the disciples and the people on the hillside. That would be brilliant. OR… sit in on the Declaration of Independence being signed. Or the Gettysburg address. I would rather trade places with someone who witnessed iconic events in history than really anyone alive today. I think it’s more about being able to say that I was an eye witness of that event more than the fact that someone else may have a cooler life than me. Because I must say that my life is pretty fab. I kinda like it. Of course there are things I would change, but I have a pretty great life with family and friends who love me and a job that I love doing.

So here are some ideas of who/what/when I would like to visit for a day:

Also, somewhere my mom has a pic of me feeding a giraffe at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I loved that! I’ll have to find that print and upload it.

Parenthood on NBC:Parenthood is wonderful. The chemistry and dynamics of the cast make the writers do a tough job, but a great one. I love a well written script and a well cast ensemble. Parenthood is great television.

Harry’s Law on NBC:Harry’s Law is hilarious and also wonderful. A legal drama that’s not too heavy, but still conqueres and slaughters modern day legal issues and topics with humor and class.

Psych on USA Network: is just a funny. I love Shawn and Gus and their friendship shenanigans remind me of me and my best friend! Just so funny and awesome. I can’t wait till the summer season starts in a few months! 

Ok, now those are my favorite shows CURRENTLY on air. My favorite TV of all time, is, of course, ALIAS! I adore Alias. I own all 5 seasons on DVD and I watch all 5 seasons at least once a year, usually 2. I have Alias marathons where I’ll watch an episode or two or a day. In college one year, I was really sick during spring break so I watched seasons 1, 2 & 3 in 4 days straight, while resting and sleeping on my couch in my dorm. My friends would bring me food from the dining hall or I would just eat goldfish and ramen noodles. I was that sick. But Alias cheered my spirits and helped me to avoid all the papers and homework I needed to get done over break.  So yeah… here’s the Alias. Long live Sydney Bristow.

So tonight I had a lovely dinner with Pastor and his family, Vicar Ryan and these 2 wonderful older German ladies. The spread was incredible! Cheese and crackers, chips & guacamole, prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe. Those were the appetizers. Then salad, beef roast, baked potatoes with all the fixings, broccoli, mushrooms, etc for dinner. Then cheese cake with cherries and apple pie for dessert! Amazing! So that’s why the pic above is of cherry cheesecake. It was so delicious that I do not think i will need breakfast in the morning, my stomach will still be full!  So… I hope you all had as great a night as mine was. I’m now going to curl up in bed with Harry Potter 7 and enjoy some Deathly Hallows.

this is NOT my bed, but it looks wicked cool!

So I chose this picture of me and my best friend, Stephanie. Steph and I have been friends since we met during Resident Assistant interviews in spring 2004. What a crazy time that was! Funny story, so that previous autumn, Steph had a horrible accident while practicing for Concordia’s track team (I believe she threw discus & the heavy ball thing… can’t remember what that’s called). So she fractured her ankle in a bazillion places and tore muscles and whole shebang. So she was in a wheelchair for a while that school year. I noticed her on campus, but didn’t really talk with her or get to know her. And sadly, part of it was, because she was in a wheelchair. I just didn’t want the “drama” that I guess thought came with people in wheelchairs (which is totally NOT how I feel today, btw…. so don’t think I’m prejudice or anything… I was very dysfunctional back then!). I don’t know what I was thinking. And this is a very small campus, so you pretty much know everyone. Anyway, so during RA interviews, Steph and I totally hit it off as friends. That’s why the Director of Residence Life chose the two of us out of the 4 in our group and also placed us on the same floor, but different wings, of the same building for freshmen, sophomore and junior women. The next year is one of my fondest years of memories of my life. Junior year was a blast and I don’t think i would have had nearly as much fun if I hadn’t met Stephanie. She has been the best friend I could ever ask for. She’s kind, generous, giving, loving, caring, trustworthy, loyal, loving and above all else, a wonderful example of Jesus’ love. She’s forgiven me for some horrible things I’ve said and done. She’s been there for me when I really needed a friend. Her door is always open and she’s always there to lend a listening ear. She has such a giving and missional heart that she spent 2 1/2 years as a missionary teaching english to Taiwanese children in Taiwan.  I missed her desperately those 2 years and I am so glad that she’s back now in the US. It’s wonderful to know that even though the miles separate two friends, nothing can truly get between you. Steph, thank you for being my bestie. Thank you for always being there for me and always doing what’s right. I am who I am today, largely because of who you are and who you have shown me a I can be. Thank for being Jesus with skin on to me. And here’s to 50 more years of being friends. Let’s finally go to Europe soon! LOVE YOU!!!

in January 2007 at the St Paul Winter Festival                                       @ Katie & Andy’s Wedding in 2006