my weekend & my life

I had the BEST weekend! It might have had to do with the fact that it was ridiculously warm and sunny here all weekend. Or, that Stephen and I spent all day Saturday at the Inner Harbor/Fells Point walking around and just generally seeing the sights (see flaming fire juggler guy pic below). Or that I went pumpkin picking and hay-riding with Matt, Jenn, Mark Allen, Matt and Dana today and then had some yummy dinner after. Probably, it was all of it combined together...the trifecta of a great weekend.

I would like for there to be more weekends like this...although I'm not sure the weather will cooperate. I am fairly certain that I am 15% starting to adapt to life in Maryland. Haha...sounds like a really strong statement, huh? I think that number will jump considerably higher once I move into my new place in November. As much as I don't want to be attached to the "things" of this world, it will be refreshing to have my stuff around me...to set up my home. I have some really cool stuff and pictures from Kenya, Uganda, and Zanzibar that I am excited to decorate with!

Anyway, I was thinking tonight that this is the first place I have moved that I didn't have this overwhelming desire to move to before I decided to move. Hmmm...does that make sense? For instance, Nashville - wanted to move there (all 3 times!) VERY MUCH before I actually moved there. Same with Atlanta. But Maryland...never said, "I REALLY want to live in Maryland!", either before I was born (ha ha) or this past year. Here's the kicker, though: As much as I want to balk at being here sometimes, I've honestly never felt like I'm supposed to be somewhere in a time more than I do now. Obviously (because I say it a lot), I still have a hard time not being in Atlanta or Nashville (more so because I miss my friends), but I know this is part of the journey God has been taking me on. So, here I am in Maryland. Eventually I'll just get over it and stop talking about it. I'm thinking maybe December 12th-ish.

But what a great weekend!!! :O)

living among non-social networkers

I find myself in a world where the people around me don't utilize the glorious tools of social networking like I do. It's a strange place and my immediate goal in life is to change my surroundings (by getting everyone on Twitter and Facebook).

What is wrong with people? :O)

back in the ATL

It's SO nice to be back in the Duke House. Sleeping in my own bed last night was potentially the best feeling ever...it made me realize that I hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. I can't wait to get all of my stuff moved to Maryland so I can feel at "home" there. It's weird living somewhere, but not feeling like you actually live there. If that makes sense. :O)

Here is what is on the Biz schedule for the weekend:

Today:
- currently checking out game day on ESPN
- getting ready to go to the farmer's market with noellie and nic
- a long walk later this afternoon with aforementioned roomies
- watching the Gators at a TBD restaurant/bar (i will not be wearing jean shorts, but i cannot rule out the possibility that one of the others might...it IS Florida football)

Tomorrow:
- buckhead church for most of the morning
- probably another long walk with the roomies
- cooking out previously purchased food from the farmer's market
- massive rock band fest

So, as you can see...busy, fun weekend ahead...and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

just 4 minutes?

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, but am now just finding 4 minutes to do it. So, here goes:

Why are the catchiest songs in the world the DUMBEST songs lyrically? Seriously, Madonna. You have a great catalog in your past...and you are working with Timbaland and JT. This is all you came up with? 4 minutes to save the world? Why not 5? Why not 3? Do you think it might actually take 20?

But driving in my car, I find myself doing a little dance anyway. Guess that's why you hired the big boyz to help you out.

Here you go, fans:

will I do it?

Here we go...this is it. No more long hair unless I chicken out.
Which, could very well happen as much as I'm yangin' about this stupid
haircut!!!

just kind of tired.

I'm just kind of tired lately. Probably because I've been working a lot. The good news is, I'm starting to see some increase in the funds for Africa (more details to come on that in a later post).

Some big changes going on in my life (more details to come on that, too). I need to have some conversations with some people before I blog about it to the world, but then the blog world will be the next to know.

Tonight was a good night, but just a long night. Mostly work, some ping pong to liven it up a bit, and a few great minutes of watching people get baptized. Seeing God at work among His people always makes me happy. :O)

Tomorrow, I'm getting my hair cut...if you haven't read the 4,000 posts I've made or the 5,000 twitter or facebook updates about it. I'm nervous, but ready for it. It's like the one thing I can control in my life, so I'm going to control it into a super cool hairstyle (hopefully!!!!!). After the haircut, I'm headed to Nashville for a couple of days. Gonna spend some time with the peeps...need it. Will be working a lot while I'm there, but that's ok. Bongo East and Fido will get a lot of business. Maybe even some Frothy Monkey love. And then there's always Merridee's, the Saucer, Yazoo, BTE, Mercantile, geez....I might come back 15 lbs. heavier. Oh well. It will be worth it.

K...I really need to go home.

so long long hair!

Peace and chicken grease long, stringy hair. Hopefully this little adventure on Wednesday will lead to good things...will post a picture later if all is well. I mean, I have complete faith in Melissa...it's just that I've been growing my hair out for so long....and it's SO long now. Oh well. It's just hair...it will grow back out. :O)

the joy of ping pong.

Or maybe what's NOT joyful about ping pong. LOSING. I don't like losing. Why? Because I have athletic ability and I HATE LOSING. That's why.

The downside to this whole Buckhead Church 2008 Ping Pong Open Tourney is that I haven't played ping pong in years...not since college. That was quite a while ago. So, to go into this tourney with no practice was tough. And I lost my first match at singles....although I did play potentially the best female ping ponger in the building. Go Susanne...make it happen!!! In doubles, we made it to the second round (although I wasn't even there for round 1....so, not sure what that says about my skills).

After playing the past couple of days, though, I've got the bug. I will be playing more...if I can find the time. Classic video of Jeff playing his match today...the people I work with are ridiculously fun and crazy.

birthday fun.

Some of the pictures from birthday fun...






For some reason, the picture loader is busted so I'll try and post more later.

a really hilarious site...

My friend Debbie posted this on her site....I had to repost because it is potentially the most insightful blog I've found yet.

today!

Today is a Poptart for lunch kind of day. I find this acceptable because it is the day before my birthday.

a tattoo story...

Carlos is doing a cool thing on his blog...having people post tat pictures and then share their stories. So, here's one of mine (that he put on his blog):

The funny story behind this tattoo is there is not much of a story. :O) I like stars, so one day during work, Phillip Z. and I decided to go get tats during lunch. This was the third of the four tattoos I have.

My favorite tattoo so far is this one:

It says "grace" in Tengwar, which is a language developed by Tolkien (elfish). Yeah, I'm a dork. Whatever...it's cool. :O) Kind of hard to see in this pic, but the picture itself is kind of cool because I was in church in Kenya. That rocked.

My other two tats are dumb. I'm planning on getting the one on my leg covered with a tattoo that will be Africa-themed in nature. Not sure where it's going yet, but have some ideas. It will probably be my biggest tattoo yet, so I'm kind of excited about it...

stupid tagging...

I feel like I'm in middle school again. So, Jerry tagged me on his blog and now I have to share 10 random facts about myself with the blogging world at large. I'm sure everyone is dying to know this information, so here goes...

1. I hate tagging and anything associated with forwards and the like. Ok, now that I've confessed my bitterness, I can have some fun. :O)

2. I love Africa. I love Kenya. I love the people of Africa...and want to go live there with them. But, that's probably not a random and unknown fact. Oh well.

3. Sometimes when it's dark outside and I'm driving, I get caught up listening to music and just keep driving. Or if no one is home, I'll just sit in my driveway for a while and keep listening. I prefer to drive, though.

4. I do not like talking on the phone. Unless I have something specific and personal to share with someone, I'd rather not be on the phone. That's what email, texting, and conversations are for.

...running out of things to share...

5. Oh, ok. I am not a fan of shopping. I don't like to shop for clothes, so if I absolutely need something, you'll probably find me picking it up at Target while I'm buying groceries, cards, or dog food. Or, if I'm really on a mission and have the time, thrift stores. I DO however have an affinity for bags and shoes. But, I've cut that out of the budget as of late.

6. I like to make cakes.

7. I have the world's best dog. This is her winter look...



8. I wish I could end at 8. 8's my favorite number. 8 is my birth date. March 8th, to be exact. Feel free to donate to any of my Africa trips should you feel the need to celebrate my birthday! ;O) (Just email me and I'll let you know how!!!) Or you can buy me a Stella...I'm good with either.

9. I grew up in Aberdeen, Maryland. Coincidentally, Aberdeen is the hometown of Cal Ripken, Jr. My dad is the Mayor of Aberdeen. It's kind of funny to me.

10. Finally! Ok, the 10th most random piece of information about me is...hmmm...I have moved over 30 times since high school. I will try and list them below (and dang if this isn't going to take forever):

- Stephenville, TX (Tarleton State University) - 2 different dorms in 1 semester
- Back to Parents House (Community College)
- Own apartment in Aberdeen, MD
- Back to parents house (got smart & realized it was free)
- Jackson, TN (Union University) - 6 different places (at least, I can't quite remember)
- Back to Maryland for 6 months
- Nashville, TN
- Back to Maryland for 6 months
- Glorieta, NM for 3 months (camp)
- Back to Maryland (Audio Engineering School)
- Bowie, MD
- Reston, VA
- Back to parents house (again, got smart & realized it was free)
- BACK to Nashville - with Roshare, for any of my Nashville friends who need some sort of timeline here (Wyndchase apartments)
- Back to Maryland for 5 months (see a pattern here?)
- Greenville, SC for 3 months (camp)
- BACK to Nashville (for good, until Atlanta) - 15th Ave. S.
SO...now we have Nashville moves....
- Kenner - fire pit glory
- West End apartment - heater hell
- Roycroft (what what) - with the boys & Roshare
- Wyndchase - by myself
- Nathan & Bethany's house
- Gulch loft
- Roycroft - with Nic
THEN...
- Atlanta, GA for 3 months
OK, BACK...
- Franklin, TN (Magnolia House apartment)
THEN BACK...
- Atlanta, GA - the DUKE HOUSE - currently residing!!! (almost a year!!!)

And, so...I feel like I've gotten some of these out of order. I actually think I've missed some, which is tragically sad. I need help in filling in holes, so if you read this and know my past lives, help me fill in the blanks. My OCD requires it.

And please do not ask why I move so much. I do not have answers to these types of questions.

coffee and running

Sunday afternoons have been a good time for getting coffee at a new fav hang, Octane. Amy and I will meet there after our various church times, sometimes. They have DELIGHTFUL coffees and even more delightful lattes.


I highly recommend spending time here. We do a lot of work, a lot of chatting, a lot of work, and a lot of coffee drinking (Amy-regular, Me-decaf). They also have Belgian beer...did I mention that? A lot of different kinds of Belgian beer.

Ok, so that was Sunday. I'm behind on blogging. TODAY I actually got up before 6 am and WENT RUNNING!!! It has been SO LONG!!! I don't think I have consistently run since about 6 months after I ran the full in San Diego in '05. So, that's about 2.5 years. Wow. I tried running this past fall and the first day, had intense pain in my leg...only to discover I had something like sciatica. Sucked.

Anyway, I went running today and it was glorious! I decided that I am a city runner, for sure. Give me street lights, give me people, give me cars, give me stoplights, and most definitely give me construction workers walking to work at 6:30 in the dark. What a morning!!! I parked at the Kroger just south of the Brookhaven Marta Station on Peachtree and started running south. Past all the high-rises, past the shops, past Lenox mall...and ended up at the Buckhead Marta station. Here's a fun map...


40 minutes total. Not a ton of running, but I think I topped out at 3.2 miles today with a 3/2 interval. For the first day back in a long time, I'm beyond happy that there is no immediate pain and suffering...and there was actual enjoyment! My goal is to run a little farther every day before I head back, even if it's just another 30 seconds or a few more feet.

So, lookout tomorrow...hopefully I can have the same enthusiam!!!

Oh geez.

I have to agree with my friend, Debbie, on this one...why can't Christians come up with original stuff? I mean, this is fairly funny (mainly due to the "my space" t-shirt) and I "get" it. But, seriously? Please stop using Apple as your one-stop shop for content ideas. They are genius...let them have that.

VIOLATION

Jerry is violating the Birthday hat rules.

superbowl good times

The Duke House is having a Super Bowl party. 5:30 until we stop. If you are interested in coming, let me know so we can chat more details. I better know who you are, though. :O)

Do you have cooties?

If you want to know...

Manilow :: Cancelled

Are you kidding me? Are you KIDDING me?

We get .26 inches of snow and the city of Atlanta goes nutso. Church is canceled tomorrow, chaos ensues, Barry Manilow bugs out. What is going ON?????

That's it...we are playing Wii tonight. All night.

Oh snap!

Tonight I went and saw Cloverfield with Jerry, Kelli, Meredith, and Jared. The movie pretty much rocked early '08. With a director like JJ Abrams, how could it not? I think if I were going to stalk someone, it would be him. I mean, come on. Alias, Lost....those two shows alone right there would seal the deal for me.

"Why, yes, Mr. Abrams. I WILL marry you. Oh, and you want me to act in your kick-butt thriller where I will play a super cool spy who runs through the city of NY battling a monster that got trapped in a time machine in an island in the middle of the pacific and just now showed up for mankind to discover? Ok!"

Seriously. I love him.

Tomorrow night, I am going to see Barry Manilow.

Hello. Could this weekend BE any better?