25 Things

I am cracking up at how this has taken over Facebook these days!  By now you all know what to do … tag me back if you do it!

1. I was once held at gunpoint while the gunman tried to steal my car.  He couldn’t get it to start, however, so he stole my friend’s car instead.
2. I was an only child for eleven years.  I used to refer to myself as a “lonely child.”  Even though technically I am now the eldest, I still maintain my only child personality in many respects.  As does my younger brother, despite technically being the youngest.
3. I don’t have a sister, but my cousin Jayme might as well be … we grew up fighting like sisters.  These days I never get tired of having her around.  I love her SO much, and I am so thankful that as of this year we get to live in the same town!
4. My best friend growing up was also named Sarah.  And we have the same middle name.  And it’s spelled in a semi-unusual way … Kaye.  And we’re both named after our aunts.  On our moms’ side.
5. When I was in middle school I had a fanatical crush on John Travolta.  I was obsessed.  I would record episodes of Welcome Back Kotter on Nick at Nite.  I still have my Saturday Night Fever t-shirt.
6. I am not a fan of root beer, but I absolutely love root beer Dum Dums.
7. If I had a bucket list, I would be able to cross off “Run a marathon” and “Jump out of a plane.”
8. I am a multiple sneezer.  I hardly ever sneeze less than five times in a row, and I believe my record is twelve.
9. My hair is an ever evolving entity.  My mom never let me color it growing up, so that has become my benign method of rebellion.  Over the past four years or so I’ve gone blonde to dark, dark brown and everywhere in between.  I also like to grow it out long and then cut it super short.  Drastic changes usually coincide with major life changes, i.e. breakups, graduations, etc.
10. I don’t consider myself to be especially feminine, although I am somewhat girly about certain things.  Like nail polish.  I love it.  I usually paint my nails once a week, and I have a huge tote with almost any shade of red and pink imaginable.  (I’m not usually a crazy color girl, although I do have teal!)  I also really like makeup.  I have amassed quite the collection of Clinique Bonus samples.
11. It is my goal to see every movie that ever won the Academy Award for Best Picture.  Out of 80, I’ve seen 48 … and a half.  I still haven’t made it all the way through Lawrence of Arabia. 
12. I have a couple prerequisites for my future last name.  1) I would like to move up in the alphabet.  2) I would like a name more unusual than Reed.  I would also like to still have double letters, but that may be getting too picky.
13. If I could choose for myself any giftedness, it would be to sing uniquely and well, to play an instrument with true talent, and to write music and lyrics with life changing potential.   Really, any of the three would be nice.  I suppose I’ll just have to settle for being an appreciator.
14. My three favorite instruments in no particular order are the harmonica, the mandolin, and the cello.  My cousin’s is the triangle.  I got her one for her birthday.
15. I am convinced that music is an incredible didactic tool.  As much as effort as I put into memorizing scripture, it somehow falls out of my head after awhile.  Scripture in song, however, is there forever.  How fitting that the Psalms were meant to be sung!  I always try to incorporate music into my teaching, and I plan to do it as a professor someday as well.  You know, I can’t name a single character from The Scarlet Letter, but thanks to my senior English teacher Mrs. Whitaker, I sure as heck know that Heathcliff and Cathy are the stars of Wuthering Heights.  For four plus minutes of ever increasing hilarity: 
16. I’m really good at “Don’t Forget the Lyrics.”  If it weren’t for my fear of singing in front of people, I would totally try out.  I would have won $200,000 if I had been on the show one of the nights I watched.
17. I did win a computer for college at Project Graduation.
18. My first car did not have reverse.  I had to get really creative with parking.
19. I am conflicted about having children.  Sometimes I want four – two boys and two girls – so that everyone can have a sister AND a brother.  Other times I think, “I hope I’ll love my OWN children.”  However, when my friend Stacey had her first child Molly, that fear was pretty much alleviated.  I love that kid so much!
20. If I could perfectly emulate anyone’s style & wit it would have to be Lorelai Gilmore’s.
21. I am a firm believer in the power of words.  Life and death, friends, life and death.  To this day I can remember very vividly words people have spoken to/about me, both for the good and the bad.
22. I really like to be right.  Sadly sometimes I prefer being right over being liked.
23. The first rated R movie I ever saw was Stand by Me.  My family was watching it and allowed me to stay with them in the living room if I covered my eyes during the throw up scene.  I peeked.
24. I thoroughly enjoy reading things aloud to others.  If you and I are at Blockbuster, you can be pretty sure I’ll try to read you the back cover of at least one movie.  One summer at volleyball camp, my friend Tracy was reading a John Grisham book that I had already read.  She had about fifty pages left, and I convinced her to let me read them to her so I could see her reaction to the twist at the end.
25. I love, love, love being on the roof.  I wanted to have my 13th birthday on the roof of the Grace Museum, but it was too expensive.  When I was a dorm director my building had a flat roof, and when the weather was nice I would go up there during the day to lay out (I lugged a lawn chair up there all by myself) and at night to pray.  I took my staff up there a couple times (shh … don’t tell) and got caught by the UCO police once when I took my cousins and aunt up there.  To commemorate my last week as a hall director, a friend of mine and I spent the night up there.  It was SO uncomfortable (read: sleeping on rocks, literally), but totally worth it.

2008: Another Illustrated Year in Review

Last year I started a new tradition.  Rather than sending out a Christmas card letter, I wrote a Christmas card letter blog … 2007: An Illustrated Year in Review.  It was a great way to reflect on the past year (good times and bad) and share my experiences with others, not to mention giving myself something to look back on and remember 2007.  So as 2008 has come and gone, I am attempting to answer Jonathan Larson’s melodic question, “How do you measure, measure a year?”

IN JOBS

2008 was my last year in residence life after three years as an RA and four as a Hall Director.  After deciding (finally) to go back to school in the fall, I closed down West Hall for the last time in May.  I have so many great memories from my years at UCO, and it was certainly hard to leave.  I especially miss all my RAs (my favorite part of the job was leading the staff) and fellow HDs.  Soon after moving to Wheaton, I began working at Bath & Bodyworks and then in the fall picked up a job watching a couple boys after school three days a week.  About midway through the semester I also started tutoring a girl for the ACT.  I didn’t necessarily plan to work that much, and it was definitely a hard balancing act with the demands of graduate school.  I hope to cut back or at least balance a little better this spring.

IN MILES

Hmm, I guess this applies in more ways than one!  If I hadn’t completely uprooted and driven over a thousand miles across the country to begin school this fall, I would certainly count running a marathon as the year’s highlight.  Back last fall my good friend Jamie volunteered to train and one my first marathon with me in April.  We logged many a mile over our five months of training, becoming quite1450 familiar with almost every street in Edmond and on a few long runs, Oklahoma City as well.  We had a good race and met my initial goal of breaking five hours with a time of 4:43:34.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t beat Oprah, but there’s always next time … the Chicago marathon is calling my name!

IN GOODBYES

After graduating from OBU in 2004, I immediately moved to Edmond to start my job at UCO.  For four fun years I lived there, and deciding to move away brought a lot of sad goodbyes.  I had the best friends!  A few weeks before I left, my friend Melissa arranged a “slumber party card night” for a few of us that usually got together on Sunday nights.  When I got to her house, it turned out that it was actually a surprise Chicago themed going away party!  Sydnie (one of my very best friends who moved away at the beginning of the year) drove in from Tulsa, and a couple other friends were in from out of town as well.  We played cards (of course) and ate Old Chicago pizza while listening to Chicago (the band) and then watched Chicago (the movie).  The highlight of the night was when the doorbell rang and Candace and Melissa were nowhere to be found.  Everyone looked at me as if it was my responsibility to answer the door.  When I opened it, Candace and Melissa were standing beside a brand new bike with a bow on it!  My sweet friends had all gone in together to replace my bike that was stolen earlier in the summer.  Yeah, did I mention I have the best friends?  The young adult pastor at my church also threw a going away swim party, and I was incredibly blessed by the prayers and encouragement from my brothers and sisters I had so grown to love over the past few years (not to mention being blessed by the amazing bible software I got as a going away gift).  Several of these same friends also showed up to carry boxes and furniture down a pretty narrow stairwell come moving day.  I tried to cram in as much quality time as possible my last night there: dinner with Stacey, prayer time with Conversation Cafe friends, a Wal-Mart run with Rodney, one last game of cards with Melissa, Candace, AnaLeah, and Michelle, and then a goodbye to Todd, Jeanna and Caed (in utero).  I think I cried at each goodbye.

IN FAMILY

I love my family so much, so I’m pretty excited for any occasion that brings us together.  I can count on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this year my cousin Ericka graduated from high school thus bringing us all together again.  I couldn’t wait to see my uncle Jay and give him the Tim Duncan jersey I got for $3 at a garage sale with Sydnie!  He wore it the next Spurs playoff game which unfortunately they lost.  This year also marked another momentous family occasion … Jayme & I getting to live in the same town!  Man, I love that girl; she’s the closest thing I have to a sister and I get to see her all the time now as we’re both at Wheaton.    My sweet, sweet parents and brother helped me get up there, and on the way we stopped in at my great aunt and uncle’s home in Iowa.  Of course we had to watch Field of Dreams.  The last time I’d visited there was about twenty years ago, so it was so interesting to see my grandfather’s home with grown up eyes.

IN CLASSES

The biggest change in my life over the past year was definitely my return to the classroom.  After tossing around the thought for several years, I finally decided on Wheaton and began their Biblical Exegesis program this fall.  This past semester I took Intermediate Greek, New Testament Theology, and Principles of Interpretation (the level of difficulty increasing respectively).  Principles was certainly baptism by fire.  I made it through my twelve page exegesis paper somewhat unscathed, however, and funfetti cupcakes have become my new celebratory indulgence.

IN VISITS

One of the best things about living in such close proximity to Chicago is people’s willingness to come and visit!  A couple weeks after I moved to Wheaton, a couple HHBC friends stopped in for a couple days on their way back to Oklahoma from Michigan.  I had such a blast with Rachel and Jenny and got my first chance to play tour guide … walking tour guide that is.  I bet we walked fifteen miles in one day.  In October my sweet friend and marathon partner Jamie came for a visit.  I gave her a jogging tour of Wheaton in addition to the soon to be trademarked “Sarah’s Walking Tour o’ Chicago.”  We entered our name into a drawing to win vouchers for discounted front row tickets to Wicked, and we won!  My aunt Kaye came up a few weeks later to bring my cousin her car, so the three of us put in the Chicago miles as well.  My last visit of the semester was from three of the card girls.  I was so happy to have AnaLeah, Michelle and Kelsey with me on their fall break.  They came to my NT Theo class Thursday night and then we spent the rest of the weekend in the city.  I won Wicked vouchers AGAIN, so Michelle got to sit front row on her birthday after having a hilarious birthday lunch at Ed Debevic’s.  We shopped the Mag Mile and did other touristy stuff having an incredible time.  Anyone else wanna come visit?  I’ve got the tour guide thing down.

IN FRIENDSHIPS

One of the hardest things about moving was leaving behind some incredible friendships.  From the card girls, to church friends, to the House Church/Coversation Cafe crowd, to coworkers, to Stacey (who defies any category), I was incredibly blessed in Oklahoma, and I knew those friendships couldn’t be replaced wherever I went.  Thankfully, there are great people in Illinois too!  I found a church I really loved relatively quickly after moving, and Susan and Marshall have been incredibly generous to host a 20-somethings small group in their home each week.  I became quick friends with Sharon, Jill and Kristi.  I also made a good friend my first week here after attending a random discussion group.  Kristine has since become my faithful concert buddy.  I’ve been nothing but impressed with my classmates and was thankful to have my co-exegesis friends Angie and Ashley each in one of my classes.  Emily’s a great roommate, and I couldn’t be more excited to have Jayme living just over a mile away.  She makes the family and the friendship category. 

IN CONCERTS

Yes, no end of year summation would be complete without a concert tribute.  I’ve already written about most of these, so we’ll just go with this year’s list:

• Derek Webb – University Baptist Church, Shawnee, OK
• Caedmon’s Call – The Door, Dallas
• Jenny Lewis – Epiphany, Chicago
• Rachel Unthank & The Winterset – Schuba’s, Chicago
• Don Chaffer – The Union, Naperville, IL
• Ray LaMontagne – Chicago Theatre, Chicago
• Andrew Peterson – Hickory Creek Community Church, Frankfort, IL
• Conor Oberst – The Vic, Chicago
• Over the Rhine – The Union, Naperville, IL
• Shawn McDonald – Willow Creek, South Barrington, IL
• Over the Rhine – Double Door, Chicago

Now that I have access to a plethora of great shows, I have reason to add a new list to this category … Shows I Wish I’d Been Able to See:

• Sam Phillips: No excuse!  I should have gone.  Looking back, I would have even taken a loss on a second ticket just to be there.
• Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God tour: Who cares that it was nearly two hours away on a school night?  I’ve been wanting to see this Christmas show for years, and it was finally going to be within a feasible driving distance.  A plague upon the paper that kept me at home!
• Derek Webb:  Only one thing could keep me from a solo acoustic Derek Webb show, and that would be the afore-cursed paper.  Yeah, I couldn’t really justify going the day before it was due.  I had hoped; it just didn’t happen.
• Bon Iver: A friend introduced me to this beautiful band earlier in the semester, and I was so excited to see he was playing The Vic in December.  Then I noticed the date was the same as one of my finals.  Seriously, Wheaton, you are completely interfering with my true purpose in living here!

IN MISCELLANEOUS

These are my honorable mentions, I suppose.  I certainly don’t want to forget:

• Volleyball nights at HHBC & Parkview
• My “Tribute to the Twenties” Finer Things Club invitation … No paper.  No plastic.  No talking about work.
• Henderson’s 20 Something Date Auction & subsequent date … Jamie and I raised over $400 auctioning ourselves off for missions, and we got to see Derek Webb. 
• Thursday night LOST parties with Todd & Jeanna
• My last West Hall Academy Awards Gala
• My last Strangers in the Night … my girls got me a date this year!
• Three weddings in two weeks … Kelsey, Anna and then Dave & Teresa
• Last weekend in OK road trip to Dallas … Jamie and I visited Kelly and got to see Shane Claiborne on the Jesus for President book tour.

Well, that about sums it up.  Until next year, friends …

Entertainer Third, Boss Second, Friend First

While I am completely excited about the upcoming year and all the plans and preparation involved, I must admit that today I am a little sad about the close of this year. I’m already missing the girls’ voices filling West Hall. I’ve had to say some sad goodbyes to residents and RAs that I might not ever see again. And all the doors are naked! It’s kind of depressing walking down the bare hallways without the amazing decorations the RAs worked so hard on. I told Kali that I was keeping my door tag up.

Before the RAs moved in this year, I made them all “Office” themed door tags. Each girl had a different Office character “welcoming” them to West Hall, complete with a hilarious quote. Probably my favorite was Ashley’s. Dwight welcomed her to West saying, “When my mother was pregnant with me, they did an ultrasound and found she was having twins, and when they did another ultrasound a few weeks later, they discovered that I had resorbed the other fetus. Do I regret this? No. I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby.”

Well, since I was the boss, I decided to make my own door tag and let Michael welcome me. I actually made two, since my office has two doors … one of my very favorite things about my job. Anyway, on the outside of my office, where residents pass by, I had “Would I rather be feared or loved? Um, easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” And on my inside door that opens up to the RA desk, I had “I guess the atmosphere that I’ve created here is that I’m a friend first and a boss second. Probably an entertainer third.”

Last night was my last “staff development” consisting of a surprise dinner at Ted’s and dessert at an unspecified location. In between the two, my RAs took it upon themselves to surprise me. After being told to wait in my office until someone came to get me, I was brought into the lobby where all my girls were standing in a line with their hands behind their backs. They sat me down in a chair and one by one pulled a letter of my name out from behind them, each reciting a line from a poem they wrote for me together as a staff.

Now, as I said before, I am really excited about next year. So excited that it’s been difficult for me to feel sad about leaving. Oh my word, though, I lost it with this poem. It’s probably very “inside joke-ish,” so I’ll just say that I almost killed several of these girls in a freak ditch accident last year …

Staff share time is the West Hall way
Avoiding ditches is not her forte
Rolls of pictures she loves to take
And her pretzel dessert is the best she makes
Hairstyles mark the seasons’ change

Kanye to Derek Webb is her musical range
Abilene is where her roots lie
Yes, without Bahama Mamas she might die
Event of the year is Strangers in the Night

Ran the full marathon with all her might
Entertainer third, Boss second, Friend first
Ending of Beaches made tears burst!
Dear Sarah, “Hanks” for the memories!

They also gave me gift certificates to Randy’s and Bahama Ice along with Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids and Junior Mints … these girls know me so well! More than any of that, though, I will treasure my framed copy of the poem. They seriously all got together and had a poetry jam session!

On a few occasions I’ve been asked my favorite thing about being a hall director, and I have always answered the same thing … having an RA staff. These girls are absolutely incredible. They are all so beautiful and talented and work so hard to make West Hall a great place to live. They make me look good! More than any other part of my job, I will miss Anna, Melody, Adrienne, Jen, Lindsay, Elizabeth, Ashley, Kali, Cherish, Quita, Amanda, and Stephanie.

Free Rice

Every week in staff meeting I begin with “Staff Share Time” (cheesy, I know) in which I ask a question that each of my girls has to answer … questions like your number one pet peeve, the first thing you ever wanted to be when you grew up, your closest celebrity encounter, etc.  Last week I had the girls share their favorite website (other than Facebook), and the answers varied from imdb.com to theknot.com (got an engaged one) to the UCO website.  I used this particular staff meeting to promote my new favorite website – freerice.com.  I am incredibly impressed when people come up with creative ways to give.  Soliciting for donations only goes so far, but if you can come up with a product (forthcoming blog on buyshoessavelives.com) or idea that people latch on to that somehow generates profit that in turn goes toward a good cause, that to me is remarkable.  Free rice works as a vocabulary quiz site that donates 20 grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Program for every word guessed correctly.  So, if you have a five minute break at work (or need one from studying), you can spend/waste that time in a productive way by contributing to the needs of the hungry while building your vocabulary.  And, I must say, I’m excited to see that my pop culture exposure has enhanced my vocabulary.  I knew cerulean from a Gilmore Girls episode and watershed from an Indigo Girls song.  Oh, and capacious!  While not a pop culture reference, I did know this word because of an SAT vocab book I think my dad got me awhile back.  It uses silly phrases and pictures to aid in memory, and for capacious there was a picture of a boy wearing a baseball cap probably ten times the size of his head with the phrase underneath “This cap is too spacious.”  It sure came in handy when I was able to guess that capacious meant roomy.  Seriously, check it out … I wanna know everyone’s best vocab level!

26(.2) Miles in My 26th Year

Every month my RAs have to make a bulletin board for their hall on different assigned topics such as health and safety, diversity, academics, etc.  Last month one of my girls did hers on Goal Setting and Values and displayed the following quote on her board: “The difference between a goal and a dream is the written word.”  About six months ago a little dream popped up for me.  I’ve told a few people but haven’t made it that public.  My worry is that I will back out and then have to face all the people that I so enthusiastically shared with in the first place.  I have recently decided, however, that my dream is worth my time and effort.  It’s time to turn my dream into a goal … and a catchy one at that.

On March 15th, I will turn 26 years old.  And on April 27th, I will run 26(.2) miles. 

One of my favorite things about living in the OKC area is the Memorial Marathon.  Three years ago some friends and I made a relay team with me running the final 10K leg.  Two years ago my best friend and I made two relay teams so that we could run the middle 12K leg alongside one another.  Last year I coordinated several relay teams from West Hall and ended up running the half marathon alongside one of my residents.  I had fallen a little behind in my training, so I only got to 10 miles before I had to walk/run the last 3.1.  As I was running that day, however, I couldn’t help but think that were I to put forth the time and effort to really train, that I could totally run a full marathon the following year.

I have no aspirations of becoming a “marathoner.”  Marathons are incredibly hard on your body, and I’ve heard that most of the benefits you get from running are capped out at about 13 miles.  However, just like I jumped out of a plane once and probably never will again, I really want to run one marathon just for the experience and sense of accomplishment.  Considering this is more than likely my last year in Oklahoma, and that the full marathon is the natural next step in my running progression, I think April 27th is the day.

So I have second goal in conjunction with my new marathon goal.  Goal #2 is to be in the kind of shape that were I to run in a sports bra, I would feel no shame.  The other day I went out to run in warmer weather, and when I inadvertantly lifted up my shirt a little, the cool air blowing against my stomach was heavenly.  I consider myself a modest person, but I figure if there is ever an appropriate time to be seen in a sports bra sans shirt, running a marathon would have to be it. 

Well, there it is.  My dream turned goal(s) via a blog.  Today’s weather is super runner friendly, so I’m off to take advantage.

04.23.07

Well, I’ve been blogging long enough now that certain annual events wouldn’t be complete without a summation of thoughts or sharing of pics.  So, for the second year in a row, I bring you the illustrated version of …

“Strangers in the Night”

Strangers in the Night happens to be one of my very favorite events of the year.  I got my inspiration from a TWIRP (The Woman Is Required to Pay) date my old boss at OBU put together for the girls living in her building.  Now while I’m not great at coming up with original program ideas myself, I am pretty good at taking other people’s ideas and trying to make them better, or at least my own.  For Strangers in the Night, girls have their roommate or friend pick out a date for them, not knowing who it is until that night … kind of a Sadie Hawkins/blind date kinda thing. 

The boys all line up outside …

while the girls get ready to make their entrance. 

And my favorite moment …

Everyone then moves into the courtyard where a fancy Italian dinner awaits amidst the super cute decorations (that take almost all day to put up … and sometimes include near death experiences). 

These beautiful girlies put the whole thing together …

and this cute boy was my date.

 

After dinner, the evening somehow morphs into a dance party.

 

The third annual “Strangers in the Night” was probably our best yet, and I hope the tradition continues long after my stint at West Hall.

12.01.06

Yesterday as I began to put some Neosporin on a recently aquired “cardboard cut” on my finger, I thought to myself, “Hmm, I wonder when this expires.”  Flipping the tube over, I saw stamped in tiny print “EXP 2/2002.”  There are several things I cling to from my college days; little did I know that Neosporin was one of them.

Today is the second in a line of snow days for the university.  Snow days are both bad and good for hall directors … bad in that we are considered essential staff and therefore have to be on call for our respective buildings, good in that the rest of the university is closed which drastically reduces the amount of email/phonecalls I have to mess with, not to mention the fact that I don’t technically have to be in my office.  However for students, snow days produce nothing short of jubilation.  It’s been fun to witness the screaming down the halls, “Classes are cancelled tomorrow!” and see the red faces of those just in from sledding on trash bags or air matresses. 

I, too, was looking forward to Thursday once I heard the university was closed.  My intent was to sleep in a little that morning and then get some major organizing/catching up/cleaning done in my office that afternoon.  Ha.  Instead, I was paged at 8:30 that morning to come and take care of an “incident.”  Some day when there’s a little more distance between myself and my HD days, I will have to write some sort of memoir about all such “incidents,” but for now I’ll just leave it at that.  The rest of my day was spent preparing for “Hanks for the Memories.”

A little background: A few years ago at a small gathering of high school friends over some sort of college break, my friend Amanda mentioned a movie marathon that she had particpated in a few weeks before.  Some friends of hers had began hosting twenty four hour movie marathons with those who stayed awake the whole time winning commemorative t-shirts.  That year they made it a Tom Hanks tribute and called it “Hanks for the Memories.”  Now considering that I rarely have an original idea for a program, I decided to copy this fabulous event and two years ago West Hall hosted its own very first HFTM. 

So it’s Hanks time again this year, and just look at the adorable t-shirt girls will get for sticking it out the whole 24 hours!

As a disclaimer, nowhere in this post did I say that we would actually be watching movies, much less mention any specific flick.  You know, copyright and all.

 So after risking my life and the lives of three of my RAs to finish getting all HFTM supplies yesterday amidst the sleet, snow, and cold, I am happy to report that all is ready for the big event.  And with it being a snow day and all, I even got to sleep in this morning.

08.17.06

Wow … so over a month since my last real post.  I don’t count lyrics as posts, and for the most part try to avoid quoting whole songs because I’m pretty sure people don’t ever read the whole thing.  “Invade” was more of a prayer for the opening of my building, but I digress.

I feel like there have been several blog worthy events over the past month, so I will now offer up an illustrated synopsis of said events.

In mid July I got to see Rob Bell speak at the Diamond Ballroom.  Ha.  Why they would ever schedule such an event at such a venue, I have no idea.  First of all, they sold about 1000 tickets, but yet had maybe 800 chairs.  Second of all, there was no air conditioning.  None.  Hence the gross sweaty picture below.  About a third of the way into it, Rob asked the back of the room if they could hear him, and the angry mob shouted no.  After which, he pulled people up to sit on stage and in the aisles.  Other than the heat and sound, it was a completely worthwhile event.  I have since watched several more of the Nooma videos and started reading “Velvet Elvis” … another book I want Tracy to read … a lot to resonate with.

A few weeks later, I had the pleasure of my cousin’s company for an entire week.  The girl had never been to a “real” concert, and after a difficult ordeal, I finally got us Fray tickets on Ebay.  Now we thought since it was a general admission concert, we’d get there a couple hours early so that we could get a good spot on the floor.  However, when we drove by Cain’s maybe three hours before doors opened, there were already maybe forty people that looked like they had been there since early that morning.  We’re talking big umbrellas and coolers … wow.  Anyway, we ate dinner, got there an hour later and there were probably 200 people in front of us.  Fifteen minutes later there were 200 more behind us.  Not fun sitting outside for an hour and a half in the Tulsa heat, not fun I tell you!  Well, we finally get in and stake our claim on the floor maybe about ten rows back.  And then it gets crowded.  I usually don’t mind crowded concerts, but these were fans of The Fray … translation: girls in their early to mid teens.  And tall ones at that.  Okay, enough of the negatives.  I’m usually not impressed with opening bands, but Augustana was anything but disappointing.  The Fray was fun as well, but the best part was getting to experience Jayme’s first “real” concert with her.  Here’s the cute and trendy pre concert pic, along with the gross and sweaty encore concert pic for your comparing and contrasting pleasure.

 

The week after my cousin left, the RAs arrived.  This year’s group is just phenomenal, and not just my staff.  This was my favorite training yet, even despite my complete and total exhaustion by the end of it all.  The night before move in I took a  power nap from 7:00 AM to 7:20 AM.  Anyway, move in has gone smoothly, and I love my staff more than ever.  I had to replace one RA that quit at the beginning of the summer and another that quit the day they were supposed to move in, but my new girls are fabulous, and I don’t think we’ve ever had a better staff dynamic.  Anyway, here’s a pic of my beautiful girlies (and yes, that is a bird on my shirt).

Driving back from the RA training retreat, I got an interesting call from my good friend Sydnie.  She wanted me to come over and hang out that night, but was insistant that I call her if I wasn’t coming so that she would know how many people to expect.  I flat out asked her if she was engaged, but she said she wasn’t.  Later, however, when I was late getting over there, she called to make sure I was still coming, saying, “I really want you to come over!”  So I finally make it over, and lo and behold my friend has a ring on her finger!  And I’m the first friend in the bridesmaid line up.  (Sister and and future sister in law come first.) 

Welp, I believe that about sums up the past month or so.  I refuse to believe that Xanga is dead, although it rarely shows any sign of life.  I really do this more for myself anyway.  I’m glad to be back!

08.11.06

Come, come in
Invade all You see of us
Any man, who’d walk Your road is welcomed here
And You’re the only One

Jesus, come and walk the halls of this house
Tread this place and turn it inside out
With Your mercy…
Jesus, teach us the prayers that open these doors
Until Your light floods in and illuminates these floors
And let Your truth be on our steps and in these rooms
Jesus invade…

Reach, reach in
With the hand that heals all our suffering
Conquer all that is not of You
Bring Your Spirit through
As we fill these walls with Your praise

I call for angels
I call for mercy
I call for freedom
In the name of Jesus
In the name of Jesus

(Watermark – Invade)

05.05.06

Taking a break from move outs …

Actually, my job this week isn’t near as hard as that of my RAs’ … that is until this weekend when I do damage assessment.  Not so much looking forward to the inevitable resulting angry phonecalls. 

Let’s see, I have been neglecting Xanga these days.  Last Sunday was the Memorial Marathon relay.  I made it four miles before I had to walk, which is pretty dang good considering my lack of training.  One of my RAs ran on my relay team which was fun.  I think it inspired her to train for the whole thing next year.  If anyone can do it, she certainly can – Little Miss Discipline.  My leg consisted of running from Wilshire and Britton all the way to Lake Hefner and around a portion of the lake.  God bless Stacey for keeping my mind occupied with all her “landmark” chat.  Oh, and the random signs around the lake, one of which being, “What’s your favorite Seinfeld episode?”  Stacey’s was the one with the close talker and mine was the one in which George poses as a marine biologist.  That took up at least 5 minutes.  Anyway, I was really pleased with the run and the whole day in general.  I actually feel inspired to start running regularly again.  The next step is a Half Marathon that Stacey and I hope to run in California … the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half … live music at every mile! 

So I signed up a while back for Cain’s Ballroom to send me emails announcing what bands are playing there.  Awhile back I learned that Eisley was playing May 3rd, but I didn’t think a whole lot about it.  I knew one of their songs from 91 FM and  knew my friend Sydnie loved them, but that was about it.  On Wednesday morning, I heard “Marvelous Things” on the radio and remembered how much I liked the song, so I called Sydnie to see if she wanted to go.  She was going to think about it and get back to me, which just allowed me to look forward to it more, so when she told me she didn’t think she could go, I was a little disappointed.  Randomly enough, one of my RAs was up for it, so we had a little impromptu road trip … fun get-to-know-you-more time with Anna. 

The first opening band was okay, the second band was not so okay, and Eisley was excellent!  I recognized more songs than I thought I would.  To me they sound a little like Sixpence None the Richer, but maybe with a little more edge.  The band consists of four siblings and a friend; all play instruments and two of the sisters sing … beautiful pure harmony.  Poor Anna, she stood right beside these two guys blatantly smoking pot, basically blowing it all over her.  I mean, I know it’s Cain’s, but at an Eisley concert?  Oh, and my new favorite song is “Trolley Wood” … the last song of the night.  It sounded incredibly familiar, and then I realized that Sydnie sang it with a friend at a coffee shop in Bricktown awhile back. 

So I am in the process of making another Lost convert.  I went over to Todd and Jeanna’s to watch Survivor last night, and Todd surprised me with the latest issue of “Men’s Health.”  Who is on the cover smirking that ever so seductive smirk?  Sawyer!  (aka Josh Holloway)  I am in no way one of those girls that obsesses over famous actors or musicians.  Okay, I was a little obsessed with John Travolta in late middle school/early high school, and okay, I did write a letter to Jordan and Joey from New Kids on the Block, but other than that, I am totally obsession free!  I don’t know what it is about Sawyer, though.  I say Sawyer and not Josh, because I’m conviced it’s the character and not the actor I have a thing for.  Anyway, after perusing the magazine, I convinced Todd to start working through season one … thank you Randy’s M&Ms free non-new release movie Thursdays!  Ugh, I recently found out that season two doesn’t come out on DVD until October 3rd, which means I will have to record the beginning of season three to watch after I have watched the second season.  So complicated.

Well, five o’clock has rolled around.  Time to go get Ted’s for closedown dinner!

Strangers in the night … exchanging glances

The second annual West Hall “Strangers in the Night” was, for the second year in a row, a huge success!  The idea was born out of a similar program they did at OBU my senior year.  My old boss, Kim, decided to host a fabulous outdoor Italian dinner for Taylor residents with the catch being that their roommate chose their date, and it was a surprise until that night.  When I got my job at UCO, I knew that I wanted to do something similar for my West Hall girlies.  The great thing about West is that it might as well have been built specifically for “Strangers” … from the Gallery to the lobby to the long sidewalk between us and the library to the courtyard, it all works perfectly!

It also helps having an RA who also hostesses for a very upscale Italian restaurant here in Edmond; she gets us the hookup!  We’ve had some pretty great programs in West … Hanks for the Memories, Roommate Room Raiders, West Hall Academy Awards Gala.  However last year we could not come up with any good names for this romantic/blind date/Sadie Hawkins dinner.  That was until in a staff meeting brainstorming session, one RA said “What about Strangers in the Night?”  And that was that.

This year we ironed out a ton of the kinks we had last year, such as how you string 12 sewn together sheets across a courtyard without killing anyone because a cinderblock fell on her head.  Decorating went smoothly, and the courtyard looked fantastic!

My favorite part of the night is when the girls walk out to find out who their date is.  The guys are all lined up, each with a rose in his hand. 

The girls then walk by single file until one of the guys steps out and hands her a rose.  The rest of the night is a blast as well, but it’s so fun to see the girls’ expressions as they finally find out who their date is … some people are more surprised than others.  (Lisa)

Dinner was great … they didn’t forget the bread this year!  Of course, someone always starts dancing on our little stage/pavilion area, and by the end of the night I turned into a makeshift DJ.  I think this is my favorite night of the year when it comes to West Hall.  Thanks to these amazing girls who pulled it off once again!

02.09.06

So … fun story:

Yesterday morning, one of my RAs came to my office to tell me some good news.  She and her fiancé recently entered a contest in their hometown to win a free wedding … a $10,000 value.  Dresses, tuxes, rings, reception, teeth whitening, massages, acupuncture … everything free.  Evidently over a hundred couples entered.  This past week a panel of judges picked the top four applications, and amazingly, my RA and her fiancé made the final four! 

The next stage of the contest consists of people voting using a ballot that ran in their hometown paper.  However, it turns out that anyone can vote … anyone with a name and phone number.  The woman in charge of the contest faxed me a ballot yesterday with permission to make as many copies as I want.  So now I am on a mission.

I went over to a friend’s house to eat dinner last night, and we ended up spending most of the night calling everyone in our cell phones.  It was actually a good excuse to talk to some people I hardly ever talk to.  Thanks so much to all of you who lent your name to a ballot!  And … if you didn’t get a call from me but would like to vote, please let me know!

Oh, and if you haven’t heard of The Rocket Summer, you’re missing out … it’s young and fun and he’s playing with Relient K at the Coca Cola Bricktown Events Center on March 3rd.  Two concerts in a week (Coldplay, Feb. 27th) … fun times.