from the "c drive"

as a college student i wanted to be cool and sociable, especially in my beginning years of my undergraduate studies. there are two things that were definately true. one, i had instant messenger. and two, i had friends to encourage having instant messenger. many i laughed, cried, and sun-tanned with. however, there was clearly one friend of mine that stood out like a sore thumb; her name is Amanda Case.

i laughed harder than my abs should have allowed me when i was with her. you know, one of those rare friends that makes laughter contageous. yes, this is her.

well, today i have had some time to clean out some things from my computer. hilariously enough, i had saved some old instant messenger conversations with some people. Mostly old boyfriends (some entertaining), but i came across one that Amanda Case had left me long after I had fallen asleep one night. She went on and on telling me about why she was up so late. Funny how quickly i began to hear her say those words; i started laughing. however, i was ill prepared for what she left me at the end of the message: this link...after stating she wasn't much of an NSYNC fan.

enjoy...id' be surprised if you didn't.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648

some happenings around 314

...which has nothing to do with the movie "the happening", because i heard that it was scary and just sounds like a horrible movie!!...!!!

starting with some comparisons to the growing that is going on in NC and around 314:

• 314:

lettuce and tomatoes seem to be doing well. zucchini was coming up pretty well with the squash, but they seem to be taking a breather and waiting on the cantaloupe. also there is fun insect growing (as long as they stay outside)...orange spider eggs that reflect sun quite beautifully.

• NC growing: when i was about 7 or 8 years old, my Paw Paw Tom (Dad's dad) gave me a peach tree to plant beside our house at Groff St. Mom and I stopped by when i was home to see the house they are moving back into and check out the size of this tree...and it's peaches!! Peach Pie anyone?
  
  

also, there has been some cornhole assembling in the southwest!! the midwest in the southwest, woop woop! cornhole will be tested out in tomorrow nights cookout.

my friend/co sister risa made some homemade bagels. this is quite phenomenal in many ways, considering she normally bakes fabulous cookies, instead she made fabulous bagels and even mentioned considering making it a "new thing" to make bread.

last week was also VBB: which was so amazing. what a privilege it was to be able to serve these children. they are wonderful. spunky. full of life and wonder. what a blessing it is to be able to see these children worship, pray, and dance before the Lord at such a young age. May the Lord continue to draw this generation to Him.

And praise the Lord for the leadership that helped bring mountains of details together for this week. All their blood, sweat, and tears was for the eternal glory of God. Heaven had to have been rockin' with us!

here are a few pics from the incline: beautiful sunrise, cool morning, worth the pain.

limb felling

i've been out in the yard for a while this morning. mowing, trying to figure out this grass thing, removing laundry from the line, etc. but my heart sank this morning as i was trying to cut away sprawling limbs off the tree in the back yard.

what made it difficult was probably all sparked by the fact that my cutting tool was much too small for some of the limbs. so excess bending and twisting all had to take place just to remove these innocent little limbs.

now understand that the reason i am doing this is so that water can project more than 2 inches from the sprinkler before hitting its nearest object. but, oh i hated this. this tree has so much life in all of its limbs. i even was pulling back the bark at one point to make the limb smaller...and it was wet. THERE WAS LIFE and i was chopping it away.

Then i instantly thought, "oh i need leslie gottschalk." not because she is a heartless person (for we know she is quite heartfelt involving creation), but surely she would have known a much less painful way to fell a limb.

none the less, the limbs are gone. and in trying to earn back my trust with nature i'm even trying to transplant (?) some wildflowers in the backyard that were reaching their roots underneath the driveway. it may be hazardous, but they have done no wrong.

unbeknownst...i love this word

my friend, and sister really, Lana Gottschalk is engaged. She has been a beautiful one to watch fall in love even though our conversations are few and far between.

i love how she called me the other morning. telling me the "good news." all smiles through the phone, surely wanting to scream and tell the world how much she loves this man, but able to bring herself to a more calm collection of excited words with timely laughter to emphasize how ridiculously blown away she is.

the engagement story is wonderful...and hilarious. in other word, it would happen only this way for Lana Gottschalk.

where she get it!

Other than the fact that this is sideways, this for sure is one of the greatest traits my precious, sweet mother has past along to me. I can honestly say that there has never been a time that i have been home and not danced.

so, where she get it?....she get it from her momma.

beat provided by Ryan Shaw "Do the 45"...a vrromate suggestion.

NC, Food, and the sky

Things will be considerably different between 6:45 am MST and 11:10 pm EST. I will have:

• completed 6 hours of business elective...and be done for the summer
• landed in the Charlotte-Douglas airport where my wonderful ride, Spencer White, will pick me up then head directly to the Speedway Blvd. Steak-n-Shake!
• been unemployed (not including the occasional Chandler walk) for almost 3 weeks.
• only less than 72 hours before VBB/VBS starts at church!...getting pumped.
• and hopefully have packed appropriately for the cool, NC air...psssh.

This weekend will be exciting. The quickest visit to NC ever...like 36 hours (including sleep). But, mom and i have already discussed food, and the game plan for the day so it should be spectacular. And get this...SUNDROP POUND CAKE!! hey hey. mom's brilliant.

You know, the past two years of my life, cereal, tuna, soup, and microwavable frozen meals were the highlight of my dietary habits. But this year has proven to be much different. For example this week alone:

• Monday: Grilled Salmon with grilled vegetables and fruit.
• Tuesday: Terriyaki Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Zucchini Kabobs.
• Wednesday: Grilled Salmon Sandwiches w/ chips and Fruit
• Last Night (after a cool and rainy day):

Chili! A special recipe, that will most likely not be revisited till the next cool fall day. So, yes, chili with corn muffins (corn kernels included), and crispy green lettuce leaves topped with walnuts and strawberries (raspberry-walnut vinaigrette if you wish).

I am so full still after this week. But the best piece of advice i have for you is come and visit! We offer a cozy environment with funny people and delicious food (to say the least). And if you leave dissatisfied, we'll feed you ice cream!



Yay, for summer time. With warmer weather, the blue sky becomes mixed with puffy clouds which sometimes turn to a mucky grey, bringing rain. But i love thunderstorm...when i'm in a safe place. Growing up, my Pawpaw Cal would sit outside on his porch and watch the illuminating clouds draw near in such an uproar it would shake the house. I think I share the same joy in seeing something so big and out of my control take over the sky. While sitting on the back porch the other night, i snapped a shot at the sky trying to maybe grasp how incredible these clouds were.