If you and I were to sit down with a cup of coffee, (reference for later), I would tell you this on what's new with me as we sip:
I am:
1) sometimes cheap, sip the non-Starbucks coffee, see: Starbucks Raising Prices Story
2) (hence) still living at home, sip
3) known as Boomerangers since we are cohabitating (again) with our baby boomer parentals, sip
4) working on some kind of tan (side note: I helped with some junior interviews this spring at the schools and no joke, the question was casually asked "What are your summer plans?" and the response was "work on my tan and that's about it." What can I say except in the real world, that does not exist, but wow, what a response. I also wanted to scream "Open a book, volunteer, DO something besides subject your skin to the sun all summer long or at least say you will to your board of working adults who are holding your ticket to get in this important program!" but I resisted. Life lessons. Some we have to learn the hard way. I'll drink to that and shake my head.
5) missing the beach and these photos on Instagram and Facebook aren't making it any better, sip
6) regretting the bright idea to "splurge" on a 10' blow up pool like I remembered so fondly from my tween years staying at home by myself and wasting away the summer with a Kool-Aid or Capri Sun in hand and boom box blowing out the speakers with random CDs like LFO and Vitamin C, not knowing how good I had it, sip
7) still laughing about it saying in LARGE print on the side "NO DIVING IN POOL." Who doesn't like to risk diving in shallow water? Then watched as the pool filled with leaves, ants and other creepy crawlers within seconds, sadly, sip
8) BUT wait, there's more--then we discover there's no drain plug on this supposed "new and improved" inflatable pool which means, ladies and gentleman of the 21st century, that one must either hire Paul Bunyan to come to your house and lift the blow up pool, sitting in not even a foot of water to empty it OR if Paul's not available, you must then get a gallon bucket and scoop all the creepy crawler water out, gallon by gallon--warning: may cause back injury if done more than 5 times. So yeah, that was loads of fun as it suddenly turned dark and stormy and I just knew I'd be the girl struck my lightening emptying her overpriced Wal-Mart special pool, double sip.
9) Returned deflated blow up pool Wallyworld, along with my deflated hopes and dreams of achieving any summer color, just kidding, but kind of not. Sip.
10) Will have to resort to bumming off people with a real pool for my tanning days or get a plastic baby pool that's just big enough for my legs. Off my soapbox, and the cup is empty anyway.
So I'm headed to Atlanta this weekend with my mom and mawmaw to visit my aunt and uncle. They are fabulous. I have good memories of visiting them during the summer and them spoiling me and taking me to all the best places in the city, which usually involved my choice of Six Flags, movies, zoo, Coca Cola Museum, a ride on the Marta for culture, Disney Store, bookstores, toy stores, and malls. Now it's more like "Let's go to Ikea or a walk around the neighborhood and go to church"...my how priorities change.
Confession 1): I didn't cry during "The Fault in Our Stars." Yes, I have a heart and for some reason, maybe it was because after reading the book, I knew what was coming, but honestly, it just didn't do it for me. If there had been a dog involved...that'd be a totes different ballgame.
Confession 2): I have watched 0.0000000% of the World Cup games. I'm at peace with this and enjoy getting updates on our winning/losing from my twitter followers. While I'm 100% American, I understand very little of soccer. I'm so glad it could unite Americans for weeks of intense soccer playing watching and cheering but I'm still confused by the sport. How can there be a tie and it be ok?? It's ok because I'm sure if I have any children (another reference for later), they will probably play soccer and I'll immerse myself in it then.
Until that point, I'll happily settle for watching Wimbledon, which is also going on.
My sister and I said that when we come back to London, we will stay in Wimbledon, probably not Centre Court mind you, but the city itself is the perfect balance of trendy, quaint, and urban without so much hustle and bustle like so much of London is. Although we probably won't get to see Roger Federer and Venus and Serena again.
Confession 3) And while we are on confessions, 3 things I'm currently obsessed with:
* COFFEE--in the hot or iced version with lots of cream and Splenda
* Chocolate--in the form of chocolate chips
* Cherries--in their original cute form, frozen, fresh, dried, flavored, i.e.-I don't care
(not always in that order and not always together, but I do think it'd be a winning trio.
Soooo thanks to Pinterest for allowing you to fulfill all your needs, habits, hobbies, addictions, and cravings with a search box and hundreds of choices, I made these:
Say hello, Chocolate Chip & Cherry Bars.
They aren't very shy.
Can you see the berries peaking out? Make these...like yesterday.
They are seriously so easy and soooo good! I used frozen berries and cherries. Next time I might add some quick oats for more texture but they are divine just the way they are. And topped with some Limited Edition Edy's Summer in the City Cheesecake ice cream. And it's pretty much my favorite ever so I guess it's a good thing it's only available for two more months...
And I have had coffee every morning for the past week or so, which signals to me that I am officially an adult, as if there was any question before. WHHHAAAAHH. But like one of my sweet blogger friends so eloquently tweeted recently: "Anyone else get excited that it's almost bed time because that means you can wake up and have coffee soon?"
I feel ya, 110% arabica beans, Rihanna.
And another great tweet:
"The only World Cup I care about:"
So I'm learning to deal with these cravings. And lastly on cravings--why oh why must we as women have dreams where we are pregnant? I've never been so relieved to wake up! Maybe it was the combination of baby showers recently I've been to, nursery duty at church Sunday, or people I know that are having/had babies recently. In my recent dream, I didn't feel I had anything really inside me until someone pointed it out in my dream and I caught a glimpse in the mirror and boom, baby boom!
Do men have dreams/nightmares they are ever pregnant I wonder? They would probably never admit to it. It is a truly awesome thing and a blessing from God that I look forward to one day, but for a single twenty something year old--it scares the living dirty diapers out of me!
And so I had to get to the bottom of this--I had to know what was really going on in my body to make me have these dreams every now and then. If you or someone you know has these dreams, too, forward them this story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/dreams-about-being-pregnant_n_891547.html
Research found in a Huffington Post article which may or may not be so accurate, but still, it reassured me that it was more my creative side and something new on the horizon, not baby related. Ahhh....deep breathing now...
On a side note, Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents on 39 years!!! My parents met when they were both at Snead State. They dated six months and knew they were a match!
I am so blessed to be their daughter. My dad is the hardest worker I know and my mom is the sweetest person I know. They have taught me so much and I am so thankful for them supporting and loving me unconditionally.
They are a sweet pair and I wish them 39 more years!
And Happy 9th Anniversary to my sister and bro-in-law, Lauren and Drew--wish you many many many more years of happiness! They met at UA, both working for the Crimson & White campus newspaper. They have the cutest little mut, Dalton.
I adore this...from bird seed to rose petals, 30 years between the two weddings and almost exact expressions! So sweet!
Living Out the Plans
Let's go back to cravings. I titled this blog "Constant Cravings Confessions, etc." from that 90's hit with the same title. Do y'all remember it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXqPjx94YMg
Anyway, cravings...What do they signal? Something you are not getting that you want/need. How much more so than anything like a certain food, drink, hobby, person or thing, should we crave to be in the Lord's presence. Every single day. Not just on Sundays as we worship Him, but through the week in our daily quiet time, small group studies with other believers, or alone out in nature. God is always with us, so how much more so should we crave that intimate time spent with Him, in prayer, worship, and in His Word. The incredibly awesome thing about it, is that the more time we spend with Him, we grow in the depth of our love for Him and crave more and more time spent with Him, which there is no better place to be. I want to crave The Lord more and more each day.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6
"God is the most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."John Piper
I LOVE hearing from YOU so if you have any recipes/advice/suggestions on any of the above topics, and rantings, comment below. I need, or shall I say, CRAVE interaction on this blog. Just please and thank you. Even a hello. Bye. Sip. Sip.
