Weekend Whirlwind

Hello, bloggy friends! I'm writing my post a bit late today, but better late than never, right? :)

This weekend did not go at all as planned, but that was a very good thing! As I was getting ready to leave work on Friday, I noticed a few text messages from my dear friend Emily (who was my college roomie and maid of honor at my wedding), asking if I was going to be around that weekend because she was coming into town. She needed a place to stay for the weekend while she took care of some sorority business (she's on the advisory board for the sorority she was in during college). Even though I had a jam-packed weekend full of cleaning and grocery shopping, I was willing to let her ruin those plans and stay for the weekend! :) (I'm so thankful that I have a flexible husband who willingly goes along with spur-of-the-moment plans!)

Emily was going to be occupied most of the night on Friday, so Stephen and I were able to do what we had originally planned--go see Alice in Wonderland. I didn't have terribly high expectations because I never know what to expect with Tim Burton, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the movie and thought it was really well done, although I don't really think it is a movie for young children. We didn't see it in 3-D, but after not really loving the 3-D experience I had with Avatar, I didn't mind. Emily got to our place later that night, and of course we stayed up late talking and catching up.

Saturday morning we woke up at 8:30, got ready, and then headed out. We made a stop by the bank and then on to IHOP for breakfast. Yum! Then I took Emily on a special trip--grocery shopping at Walmart! Do I know how to treat house guests or what? Even though grocery shopping is not at all thrilling, it had to be done, and Emily was kind enough to keep me company.

The afternoon was spent playing Wii, which was hilarious and fun. Then we cooked a pizza Stephen had bought at Sam's and watched a movie that Emily had brought and that neither Stephen nor I had heard of--Fracture. It actually was a really good mystery/thriller. I can't believe I'd never heard of it. Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling were in it, so it's not as though it was a movie with obscure actors.

Sunday we got up and went to Bible Study and the worship service at church. Then Emily was kind enough to treat us to lunch at Zaxby's--score! Not long after, Emily had to head out again and it was time for me to face what I had been dreading all weekend--a 10 mile run. It took me 2 hours, and it was HOT (upper 60s is hot to me when I'm running) and uncomfortable at times, but I just stuck to my run/walk intervals. I made it through it, and while the run itself wasn't amazing, it did feel amazing to know I had completed my first double digit run! I only have 3 miles to go to get to a half marathon distance! Yeah!

The final event of the weekend was dinner at Moe's with our friend Marya (another college roomie) and her husband and ADORABLE kids. It was like a little reunion, and we had such a good time!

So even though I didn't get a lot of the things I had planned to get done, I am totally okay with that because time with friends beats time scrubbing the bathroom any day! :)

I hope you all had a good weekend and are enjoying the week!

Celebrate the Third of July

To celebrate the fourth of July, Stephen and I gathered at the home of our friends Jonathan and Erin in the booming metropolis of Oakland, TN.  (And by "booming metropolis" I mean town where everyone knows your name.  Kind of like Cheers.)  Always looking for ways to be nonconformist, we had our celebration on the third instead.  (Truthfully, we had it on the third because I had planned on going back to Knoxville on the fourth, but I like to think I'm a nonconformist, despite the fact that my keeping a Xanga completely disproves that idea.)  Stephen's dog Bailey made nice with the Hitts' new kitten, She Who Has Not Been Named:

Promptly after this picture, kitty hissed at Bailey, which ended the love fest.

Since it was soooo hot, we thought it would be fun to see if we could fry an egg on the pavement, so we went outside and Stephen did the honors.  Here are Stephen and Jonathan after the egg dropped:

 (It was kind of sunny, hence Stephen's oh-so-cute squinty look.)  Unfortunately, the whole event was rather anticlimactic, since the egg did nothing but splatter on the pavement and run yolk down the drain.  We kept watching it, thinking it just needed a minute or two, but to no avail.  Oh well, it was no MythBusters, but it was fun.  (Had this been a MythBusters challenge, Adam and Jamie would have found a way to make the egg fry, perhaps by torching the pavement to 400 degrees or something nutty like that.) 

After our little experiment that wasn't, Stephen and I took some pictures because we realized that up until then all of our photos involved us sitting on a couch in front of Stephen's window.  So we shook it up a bit with some outside shots.  (We're wild and crazy, I know):

That one's my favorite.  Stephen's a goober.

 
We weren't really sure when Jon was taking the pictures...

Here's the Hitt family.  Isn't their little girl a cutie?

Thus concludes my holiday narrative. I'm back in Knoxville, and I can see myself becoming bored very quickly.  If everyone I knew didn't have an actual job during the day, perhaps I'd have more fun, but as it is I'm stuck at the apartment by myself.  Honestly though, it's nice having a little time to myself since I haven't had that since I've been in Memphis.  It's just slightly dangerous when I'm bored, though, because when I"m bored I go shopping.  Resist, Erin, resist...

On a completely unrelated note, I would just like to say that Stephen is going for the Boyfriend of the Century award. 

I'm 60 hits away from 20,000!  If there was a way to figure out who the 20,000 visitor is, I would give that person a little prize.

One-Way Streets Are Evil

EDIT:  I made straight As!  Yay me!  Life has been so good lately, the pessimist in me can't help but wonder when the bad is going to hit.  But the hopeful part of me likes to think that whatever bad may come, life will still be good.

I was going to ask if you all have missed me, but since Xanga was down a good portion of yesterday, you probably didn't know I had gone anywhere.  But I did in fact go to Atlanta yesterday to see Jason Mraz in concert with Diana (yes, we did just see him in December).  On the way there we passed a billboard advertising the latest lottery total (100 million) and decided that if we won the lottery, we would follow Jason Mraz to all of his concerts because he is simply amazing.  So talented, and so entertaining, and so cute.  When he dances around, it's just adorable.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.  We were seated on the lower balcony, but The Tabernacle is designed so well that we were still really close to the stage.

 

He sang some of my favorites ("Life is Wonderful," "Unfold," "Please Don't Tell Her," "You and I Both," "The Boy is Gone"), but he didn't sing "Absolutely Zero" or "Plane," both of which I love.  Oh well, can't have it all, I suppose.  I was really glad he sang "Life is Wonderful" because he didn't last time, and I was bummed.  This time he even had t-shirts for that song, and Diana and I both bought one.  We wore them on the way home and stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch, where I relaxed in one of the fabulous rocking chairs (I think I was laughing when Diana took this):

All in all, a very fun trip, despite the fact that last night after the concert we got lost and spent an hour trying to find our way back to our hotel.  I had gotten directions to the venue from the hotel, but I hadn't thought about the one-way streets, so we couldn't just reverse them to get back.  Oops.  We even asked three different people for directions, and they told us three different times how to get where we needed to go, and all three times their directions put us in rather sketchy parts of midtown.  Fun times.  So let that be a lesson to all you: one-way streets are evil!  I don't understand why practically every large city in America has them.  Are they really that more efficient?  I'm not so sure.  But what do I know?  I'm just an English major. :happy: 

I'm off to pack to go home tomorrow (I get to see Stephen! Yay!) and later tonight I'm going to a party with other English majors to celebrate the end of the semester.  I still can't believe I'm through with my first year of grad school.  I deserve a pat on the back.  Any takers?

British Accents Are Fun, or, Adventures in ATL

For whatever reason, my fellow traveling companions and I thought it would be fun if we adopted British accents for the duration of the weekend. I was at first a bit resistant because I don't do accents well, but I finally said, "Hang it all!" and embraced my inner Brit. I have to say, it was a lot of fun. I think it made everything more enjoyable. Only problem is now I can't stop talking like that. I catch myself slipping back into the accent when I'm talking to people at school, and I can just see their minds whirring, thinking "What is going on with Erin's accent?" Oh well.

I have 3 pages of my 10-page paper written. That's pretty good, since I've only put in about an hour and a half of actual work. I should be working on it right now, but I needed a break. Without further ado, here's a rundown of my trip:

First, we stayed at this really posh hotel right in the middle of everything. It is called The Georgian Terrace, it has 18 floors, and it was lovely. So lovely, in fact, that our suite had a full-sized kitchen (complete with dishwasher) as well as a washer and dryer. I wish I had brought my laundry becuase I could have saved some money. Of course, we didn't exactly have time to do laundry and weren't even in our room long enough, so I suppose it worked out for the best. Anywho, after arriving late afternoon on Friday, we gawked over our accomodations and then prepared to go out to dinner. We went to this fun little place called Strip Steaks and Sushi (and I sure wasn't thinking about how googling "The Strip" would bring up a host of different results, some of which were definitely not food-related), located in Atlantic Station, which is basically several blocks of shops and restaurants and a movie theater, and it's really nice and clean.

After this we roamed around and shopped a little before returning around 11 or so. We then got locked out of our hotel room because I didn't realize that putting my room key in with my credit cards would de-magnetize it. Oops. The problem was quickly resolved, fortunately, and now I know to put the room key in a separate place. Let that be a lesson to us all. We wanted to go up on the roof to look at the view, but they closed the stairs leading to the roof at sunset, for whatever reason.

The next morning came bright and early, as we had the Georgia Aquarium to visit. It is a good thing we went early because there were swarms of people every where. The aquarium is apparently the largest in the world, and the setup was really neat, but not all that conducive to effective crowd control. At the aquarium we saw really large sea turtles, sea lions and otters, a myriad of fish, and (this is my favorite) beluga whales! They are just the cutest creatures ever, and I think I particularly love them because their noses remind me of that of dolphins, except that belugas have shorter ones. They were just really majestic and lovely. I also had the chance to touch a sting ray, and it was surprisingly soft and smooth, if not a little slimey. Aside from the crowds, it was a really enjoyable experience.

After the aquarium we grabbed a bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, and I have never had such a yummy meal, excepting the last time I was at the Cheesecake Factory. I do believe it is my favorite restaurant ever because they not only have amazingly scrumptious desserts, but they also have amazingly scrumptious entrees. (I probably gained back the 5 pounds I've lost, but I won't dwell on that.) We then went to the spa, where all four of us were scheduled for hour massages. There was one male masseuse, and as none of the other girls were particularly eager to have him be their masseuse, I said that I would even though I was secretly freaking out. He was extremely nice, though, and I do believe it was the best massage I have ever had. And really, after I quit wondering what he thought about all of my flabby skin, it was simply wonderful.

We were so relaxed after the massages that we decided to chill and see a movie. We saw American Dreamz, and it was hysterical. I haven't laughed that much during a movie in a while. I want to see it again, it was that good. Hugh Grant did a great job as Simon Cowell. Two thumbs up!

After the movie, we were starving, so we made a Wendy's run and then headed back to our hotel. We came back to our cleaned room, and I headed to the bathroom, where I saw something I've never seen before:

In case you're wondering, that is in fact a penny in the toilet.  I have no idea how it got there, and I'm not sure I want to know. Very curious.

Sunday we slept in and then headed out to go do some shopping.  I want all of you to meet my new best friend:

IKEA is surely the happiest place on earth. We only spent two hours there, but you really could spend the better part of a day there. It is just oh-so-much fun. I made several fun purchases for very little money. I do love a bargain!

Then we ate lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, and I had the thai chicken pizza. Even though it sounds a little weird, it was awesome. After browsing the shops of Atlantic Station some more, we were on our way back to Knoxville and back to the reality of schoolwork. Sad. But even though I won't be sleeping until sometime Thursday afternoon, it was all worth it.

If you made it through this entire post, congratulations! I'd give you a prize, but I'm broke now.

Just Like Middle School

I just had a 3-way call. I haven't done that in years. In fact, I don't know if I've ever done it, but it was fun. Emily , Kristin, and I were planning our road trip from Seattle to Memphis. I have to say, I am incredibly excited about it. We know we're going from Seattle to Cannon Beach, OR, then on to San Francisco to Las Vegas (yeah!), but then after that we're just going to kind of wing it. We really think it would be fun to see some random landmarks or attractions, like the largest ball of twine or something like that, but we don't know of any. (FYI: the largest balls of twine are in Kansas and Minnesota. Who knew?) Does anyone know of anything of interest in Nevada, Arizona, the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, or Arkansas? No idea is too dumb or too crazy!

Best moment of Gilmore Girls tonight: Lorelai dumping her coffee all over Lane's (huge and hideous) wedding dress. It was truly hilarious.

Because of GG, I wasn't able to catch much of American Idol, but I did see Kellie, Taylor, and some of Paris. I'm still reeling from the shock of Kellie, of all people, singing "Bohemian Rhapsody," but she actually wasn't that bad. What was bad, however, was her inability to understand Simon's use of the phrase "on paper." Good grief!

I'm Back!

I arrived in Knoxville last night at 3:30 am.  Fun times.  I was so wired that it was around 5 before I fell asleep, so needless to say I didn't wake up until almost noon.  Oh well. 

The Switchfoot concert was kind of weird.  The opening band was someone called Athlete, and I think they were British.  They were okay, but they tried to hard to be like Coldplay, and it didn't always work.  We felt old because there were a lot of younger people there who were on the floor jumping up and down, and all of the more "sedate" adults were all on the second tier with us.  The music was good, but they had these really annoying light shows that used strobe lights, and I was just glad I didn't have epilepsy because it would have been dangerous.  Overall it felt like Switchfoot was just trying too hard or something.  I can't really explain it, but after seeing Jason Mraz, who is a natural performer and entertainer, Switchfoot definitely didn't measure up.  Still, live music is always fun, so it wasn't a total bust. 

For all two of you who were wondering about my new toy (hi Stef and Lynette!), here it is:

In case you can't tell, I got a new iPod! It's one of the 30 GB models that plays videos.  I used some of my tax refund money to buy it, and so far I'm loving it!  My mini was almost two years old, and it has been acting up, so I recycled it at the Apple store and got 10% off this new one.  Now I don't have to pick and choose what songs to have on the iPod; I can upload all of them!  Yay!  (Diana also got a "new" iPod to replace hers because it broke and she was under warranty.) 

I have pictures from the weekend that you can see in this nifty Photobucket photostrip:

If you want to see an individual picture, just click on it and it should take you to my album.  Enjoy!  I'm off to play around with this whole new profile thing that looks suspiciously like a facebook profile thing.  Hmm...

 

Cheesecake, Camers, and Cappuccinos

How do you like my alliterative title? Aren't I clever? (Don't answer that.) I know you've all felt terribly bereft since I haven't updated in over 24 hours, but I'm hear to allay your sadness. :) Diana and I are at a coffee house that we are using solely for its free wireless, and there just so happens to be a guy giving a concert on his guitar. Pretty sure Diana and I are the youngest people here, except for the guy's daughter. Oh well, he's singing all of these great old tunes, and it's fun. I'm currently enjoying a yummy cappuccino chip muffin. It sounds weird, but don't knock it until you've tried it.

So far we've had a blast. We've been trying to document each aspect of our trip, and unfortunately I didn't bring my USB cable or I'd upload the pictures we've taken so far. My memory card can hold about 570 pictures, and we were going to try and take all of them, but as of right now we've only taken 24, so I guess we're not going to reach our goal, huh? But don't worry, rest assured that the ones we've taken will be up here soon enough for all of your mocking pleasure.

Cheesecake Factory didn't disappoint; our meals were delicious, and the cheesecake was scrumptious. Diana had white chocolate raspberry, and I got cheesecake called something like chocolate oreo mudslide. Suffice it to say it was divine. (Or close to it, anyway.)

The mall the Cheesecake Factory is in, Green Hills Mall, is probably the swankiest mall I've ever been in. There's a Tiffany's and a Louis Vitton in there, for crying out loud! I'm just glad we weren't wearing t-shirts, or we would have been slightly under-dressed. I bought a very fun toy in the mall, but I'm going to wait until I can show you the picture before I tell you what it is. Try and guess what it is. It's pretty awesome, I must say. Yay for tax refund money!!

Well, that's all for now, folks. Switchfoot tomorrow! I love concerts.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Thanks to those of you who prayed for my grandmother. Her surgery went relatively well, and she's still in the hospital but is stabilized right now. They're going to watch her for a few days to make sure there aren't any complications since there's always that risk with someone who is 80. She's got some long-term adjustments to deal with, but she's a trooper, so I think she'll be fine. I sure hope so!

Last night I ended up going to The Comedy Zone with a couple of girls, and then we went back to their apartment and watched In Her Shoes, which is such a good movie. It makes me want a sister.

In other news, this whole cartoon mess with the Muslim community is out of control. Yes, the cartoons were possibly offensive, but everyone knows pretty much nothing is sacred in the world of journalism. If the Muslims are so offended by it and demand that the image of Islam be protected, then perhaps they can stop slandering the name of Christians and Jews. And the reactions of the Muslims haven't exactly disproved the content of the cartoons. If anything, the violent outburts that resulted from the publishing of the cartoons, such as the burning of the Dutch embassy in Sudan, just confirms the fact that Islam is not the "religion of peace" ignorant people keep claiming it is. If Muslims want respect, then stop reacting in such volatile, hostile, and needlessly violent ways. And yes, I'm aware that not all Muslims are violent and hostile, but the fact that the ones who are get attention almost daily because of their radicalism does not help the cause of Muslims who just want to observe the more peaceful aspects of Islam.

Hello, 2006!

New Year's in a nutshell:

1. Facial masques
2. Five movies: Walk the Line (amazing movie-everyone should see it!), Wimbledon, Hidalgo, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, and Crash.
3. Sparkling cider in champagne glasses
4. Noisemakers
5. Roommate reunion (long live the girls of Craig 5!)
6. Playing Taboo and Life
7. Seeing my friend Shannon's baby girl
8. Late-night girl talk and Gilmore Girls
9. Good food
10.GREAT company

I am happy happy happy. I love my friends.

P.S. Eddie and Lynette reminded me that I left off one of the year's highlights: blogging! 2005 was the year I entered the blogosphere and made many wonderful Xanga friends. (Hi, Stef and Lynette!) I don't know what I did before I had a blog. It's such a great outlet for me. And one day when I've written the great American novel, you can all say, "I knew her when all she had was a Xanga." Riiight, Erin, riight.

I took my final. It was hard. I feel like I studied all the wrong things. I hope I at least will manage a B for the class. Any lower, and I'm dead. I've never gotten a B in an English class before. Boo. But at least I'm done!! And I turned in a project for my research class, so all that's left is to finish my Old English project by Tuesday, which I think I can do.

Now I must you bid you adieu for the weekend, friends. I am going to Nashville for the weekend with Diana, and here are just some of the awesome things we are going to do:

Tonight: Jason Mraz in concert, 2nd row seats
Tomorrow: Chronicles of Narnia, Christmas shopping
Sunday: Dinner at Amerigo's, which Diana says is the best Italian food ever, and then Andrew Peterson in concert at the Ryman Auditorium

Aren't you jealous? But really, after the h-e-double hockeysticks that was the past two weeks, I deserve it! Have a great weekend!!!

I got a surprise tonight! Last night Ashley (one of the girls from church) called and wanted to know if I wanted to go to dinner tonight with some other people, and I said sure and figured it would be some of the girls, and that was that. But then when I got there, I saw Daniel holding some balloons, and when I asked him who they're for, he said, "They're for you." And they were! Turns out Ashley and April and a few others had planned the whole thing as a sort of going away dinner for me! I even got to wear this totally snazzy flashing smiley face on my shirt. I felt so special! There ended up being about 11 people there, and even though we had to sit at 2 different booths, it was really fun. Then we went over to Alison's house and watched Mr. Deeds, which they let me pick out since it was "my night." I love that movie; it absolutely cracks me up. (If there hadn't been boys there I totally would have picked Sense and Sensibility, but I decided to be nice.) I love surprises! And balloons! And nice friends! And laughing! And feeling loved! And Jesus! That's all. (That's all of my post, not all that I love. I could go on forever about that.)

Well, this is my last real day in Seattle. I fly out tomorrow morning. Yesterday we went to Pike Place Market and walked around, and I bought presents for my family, this really awesome bag for me, and we visited the first Starbucks! (That was for you, Elizabeth!) Then we drove down to the waterfront before going to UW and taking a tour of The Purple Door (the BCM building where Emily works) and seeing parts of the campus. UW is HUGE and GORGEOUS! I would totally love to teach there some day. Then we went and had bubble tea (which is hard to explain, but it's really yummy) and headed back to Redmond. I got to meet one of Emily's good friends, Jodie, and we had chicken spaghetti and watched a movie. After that Emily worked on her VBS stuff and I read, and it was so relaxing and comfortable, and I am so thankful for this time I've had with her.

Today we are going to take the Underground Tour of Seattle and go to the Experiencing Music Project, which should be lots of fun, as well as going on a ferry ride! Yay! I love this town! Hope everyone else has a fabulous day, and let's all start praying now that my luggage makes it back to the right place tomorrow.

Stolen from Elizabeth!

F i r s t s
First best friend: Heather Cain
First car: 1991 Mitsubishi Mirage
First screen name: HetzPretz
First self purchased album: dc Talk, Jesus Freak
First pets: my psycho dog Sandy
First enemy: hmm, I don't really know...
First big trip: Gulf Shores in the third grade
First music you remember hearing in your house: Heart

L a s t s
Last car ride: with Emily coming back from Seattle!
Last good cry: Well, it depends on the context of "good." If by "good" you mean full blown sobbing, then that would be Thursday night when I didn't have my luggage and I had to throw down $200 for a rental car.
Last movie seen: Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason.
Last beverage drank: Diet Coke
Last food consumed: Raisin Bran Crunch
Last crush: Ummm...
Last phone call: Lindsay
Last time showered: This morning
Last shoes worn: my brown flip-flops
Last item bought: a UW sweatshirt

R e l a t i o n s h i p s
Who are your very best friends? Emily, Marya, Lindsay, Sarah

F a s h i o n | S t u f f
Where is your favorite place to shop? Target

S p e c i f i c s
Do you do drugs? no
What kind of shampoo do you use? usually some kind of Suave (it's cheap!)
What are you most scared of? failure and rejection
What are you listening to right now? nothing
Where do you want to get married? in a church (or in Italy, but I'm not holding out for that one)
How many buddies are online right now? I don't know, I'm not on AIM right now
What would you change about yourself? my weight, obviously

F a v o r i t e s
Color: purple
Food: grapes, ice cream
Subjects in school: English
Animals: dolphins and giraffes
Sports: basketball
Perfume: Tommy Girl or Body by Victoria
Cologne: Hugo

H a v e | Y o u | E v e r
Smoked? gag me
Made yourself throw up? yes
Skinny dipped? nope
Been in love? I'm gonna go with no.
Made yourself cry to get out of trouble? Probably, but I can't think of a specific instance right now
Pictured a crush naked? Eww, no
Cried when someone died? yes
Lied? yes
Fallen for your best friend? Yes, it's why I have no male best friends
Been rejected? many times
Rejected someone? Not unless you count random guys who asked for my number. And I guess dumping is rejection, so yeah, I've rejected someone.
Used someone? I hope not!
Done something you regret? Of course

C u r r e n t
Clothes: pajama pants and my UW sweatshirt (I've been freezing the whole time I've been here!)
Music: none
Annoyance: Seattle traffic
Smell: Cotton Blossom body splash
Favorite Artist: Thomas Kincaid (jk!) Monet or van Gogh
Desktop picture: picture of me and Elizabeth! :)
DVD in player: none

A r e | Y o u
Open Minded: I hope so
Arrogant: Probably more than I'd like to think
Interesting: to my mom I am!
Moody: At times
Hardworking: Yes
Organized:With the exception of my room, my life is very organized.
Healthy: HA!
Attractive: occasionally
Bored: not at the moment
Responsible: On my good days
Obsessed: I do have obsessive tendencies
Angry: no
Sad: no
Disappointed: No
Hyper: It's too early right now, but once Emily gets back from VBS, I'm sure I will be.
Trusting: Yes, to a fault.
Talkative: It depends
Legal: yes

W h o | D o | Y o u | W a n n a
Kill: Barney (jk)
Slap: Good grief, this is a violent section!
Talk to Online: Elizabeth, Eddie, or Meghan

W h i c h | I s | B e t t e r
Coke or Pepsi: Coke
Flowers or Candy? Flowers (daisies or tulips, please!)
Tall or Short: Tall
Thick or Thin: in between
Long or Short Hair: On guys? Short most definitely.

R a n d o m
in the morning I am: a little groggy and slow-moving
all I need is: Jesus and relationships
what do you notice on a person first: smile
last person you danced with: I don't even remember...some guy I went to Cardinal Ball with like 3 years ago??
who makes you laugh the most: Emily, Daniel, Steven
who makes you smile? my friends
who gives you a funny feeling when you see them? I don't know...
who do you have a crush on: no comment
who has a crush on you? Hmm, I'm gonna go with no one.

The wedding was beautiful. I cried unabashedly, but then I almost always cry at weddings, especially if I feel deeply connected to the people and I've witnessed their love story, and marriage is such a profound and beautiful thing and I get overwhelmed when I see that commitment being made and know the people making it are godly and serious and steadfast and wonderful. (I wonder what the record is for the longest sentence ever.) I'm going to share Becca and Matthew's story because it's amazing.

Six years ago in Boca Raton, Florida, Becca wrote a poem called "What the Heart Sees" that basically talks about how easy it is to judge a person's appearance rather than their heart, and she emailed it to a bunch of her friends. In Sumner, Washington, a guy named Matthew received the poem as a forward that had been passed on several different times. He was so moved by it that he traced it back to the original sender, Becca, and emailed her. They began exchanging emails and getting to know each other. Matthew knew long before Becca that there was something more to their relationship, but it took Becca a little longer (about 4 years longer, actually) to realize the same. Occasionally he would bring up the idea of that "something more," but Becca said she didn't feel the same. About a year and a half ago they began talking on the phone regularly, and God began opening her heart to the possibility of allowing Matthew to pursue her in a romantic way. Their emails and phone calls increased, and in April of last year, Matthew journeyed to Tennessee where Becca was in school (and living with me!), and spent ten days with her. After that, both Becca and Matthew knew this was it. Becca went to Washington to visit Matthew later that August, and she came back engaged. I remember picking her up from the airport and her showing me the ring and us jumping up and down, and I could just see the Lord in it. I watched Becca falling in love, and it was so beautiful, and so pure. They both love God so much and long to glorify Him with their relationship, and they've had several obstacles to overcome, but they've seen God provide in countless ways that told them He brought them together. Amazing. God is such a romantic. And the best thing is: poetry had its hand in bringing them together. Sigh.

My trip has been so much fun. Seeing Emily again is like being with myself, weird as that sounds. We just click. We can laugh hysterically and then the next minute we talk about God. It does my heart worlds of good. Tomorrow we're going to Emily's church and then we're going to Mars Hill Sunday night, which is some church in downtown Seattle that's supposed to be really neat. Then next week we have plans to go to the waterfront, to Pike Place Market, the Underground Tour, and various and sundry other tourist-y things. I am SO excited! It is absolutely gorgeous; every time I step outside I just want to applaud God because it's so glorious.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1