Recently Read

1. The Power of a Praying Wife - by Stormie Omartian
Thanks to my cousin Angie for this excellent recommendation! I LOVE this book and plan to re-read it or at least pray through the prayers again. The author is straight to the point with excellent Biblical wisdom and advice for wives, and she has 30 days worth of incredible prayers to pray for your husband. (Or fiance, so what if I'm a bit ahead of myself here, ha.) Guided prayers are great for when I feel like my own prayers are getting repetitive or unfocused. Prayer is powerful, no doubt about it.

2. East of Eden - by John Steinbeck
After reading Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath for school and very much disliking them, I guess the only reason I decided to give Steinbeck a try again was because so many people list East of Eden in their all time favorite books. And I am now adding it to my list of all-time favorite books! Don't let the excessive number of pages intimidate you. East of Eden is everything that good storytelling should be. I loved all of the allegories and the way Steinbeck tied so many stories together. Some of the detailed descriptions of the Salinas Valley were a bit dull, but overall it was completely captivating. I underlined so many favorite parts because Steinbeck's use of language is so beautiful and brilliant.

3. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - by Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom is one of my favorite writers. He can even make sports columns interesting, and for a girl like me who does not give a rip about professional sports, that's saying something. Tuesdays With Morrie was great and so was this book. It's a quick read and really touching. I like the way he explains how we are all connected, and why certain things tug at everyone's heart. I wish it was a true story, ha, because I would love to know which five people I would meet in heaven and to see all of the connecting threads.

4. Twist of Faith - by Anne Beiler & Shawn Smucker
You won't be able to put this book down! I love people's stories and Auntie Anne's is incredible. She has been through so much and has a number of AMAZING testimonies. The fact that she is from my hometown and most of the book is set there probably also helps to make it interesting. I love the way that it hops back and forth from one thing to another that happened at different points in her life, because there is a constant suspense. (Suspense in a story about a lady known for making soft pretzels?! Trust me, it's good!) The commitment she made to always give such a large percentage of what she earned really stuck out to me, along with the overriding theme of the book: the power of forgiveness.

5. Half Broke Horses - by Jeannette Walls
I absolutely loved Jeannette Walls first book, The Glass Castle. Maybe I waited so long to read her second book because I loved the first one so much I was afraid I'd be disappointed with her second. Nope, loved it! Half Broke Horses is a "true to life" story, meaning that Walls wrote the story of her grandmother's life based on the stories from her grandmother and mother.

Her spunky grandmother grew up in the western United States when it was still being settled and tamed so there are jaw dropping stories about floods, farming, growing up, and raising a family in the wild west. Walls has such a natural storytelling voice that you feel like you're right there for each adventure. Definitely a great read.

6. Sacred Marriage - by Gary Thomas
I heard a lot of good things about this book and since I'm devouring marriage books while I'm engaged I was eager to read it. The premise of the book is definitely good: marriage is not necessarily designed to make you happy but to make you holy. (Not that it can't make you happy or shouldn't, but too many people skip out when the happiness doesn't come easy and work has to be done, etc.) He details the way that God so perfectly designed marriage to refine us. I gleaned a lot of wisdom, but he kind of drones on and on. He quotes other authors extensively, and a lot of those excerpts are good but at the same time I tend to get bored when authors do that too much.

7. Fly Away Home - by Jennifer Weiner
This is a good beach read, if you will, that you can just coast through because the storyline is easy and fun to follow. The book details a family's life when the father, who is a senator, has an affair that is overly publicized by the media. It follows the reactions of  his wife and two adult daughters, and their lives in the months that follow the news of the affair.

I've never read anything else by Jennifer Weiner, but she wrote In Her Shoes which was turned into a movie I love. I like her writing style and it was very timely to be reading this book when the news came out about Senator Brubaker's 21-year-old son dying of an overdose. Everyone always has a story, and there are still so many lifestyles that are completely foreign to me - like the lives of politicians and their families. But that's the beauty of books, you get a glimpse into something you may otherwise never know or experience.

Have you read any of these? Loved or hated them?  What are you reading right now? I'm always looking for recommendations, even though I have a long list of books-to-read already.

letters, smoking, politics

dear chelsea,
... please pray for me, i am afraid i might beat the shit out of someone ...
love, dad

that, my friends, was the best part of the letter i got from my dad the other week. he was concerned about having a nicotine fit if his smoking breaks continue to be limited. i decided now is probably not a good time for me to approach him with the idea i had of asking him to donate to my wedding the amount of money he has spent on cigarettes in his lifetime. or even just this year - which i'd estimate to be $1300 if cigs are $50/carton and he smokes a carton in two weeks.

my "logic"  (keep in mind that logic of people planning a wedding often goes out the window, i don't know what it is but these celebrations make people craaazy) here is that i have been a lifelong advocate of him quitting, and i bet that's a job people get paid for somewhere. and i doubt those people are as awesome as me. the fact that he still hasn't quit smoking might indicate to some people that i have failed at my job as "smoking cessation advocate," but i have been as persistent and annoying about it as a piece of corn on the cob stuck between your teeth and that's what counts.

he will undoubtedly laugh and ask me why i'm so greedy, and i will say well dad, i don't think it's greedy if you don't give me any money. read the parable of the persistent widow. just kidding, don't. or at least don't read it thinking it applies at all to this situation because that really has nothing to do with this. she was persisting for justice and i really am being greedy. son of a!

oh well, it is still worth a shot. (there's the wedding crazy in me talking again!)

his letter was also quite timely because on the day i read it i shared his exact sentiments about wanting to beat the ---- out of someone. it's stupid, but i had almost hit my boiling point with people and their political rants and stereotypes and judgments. just stop it. stop being ignorant. do not act like you are taking any kind of high road when you are being completely intolerant and disrespectful of those with different beliefs. we're allowed to be different. it's actually really good to be different and i'm pretty sure that at some point it was what made america so great. please stop assuming things about people based on their political beliefs and at the very least be respectful of everyone. i sound like i'm writing to a bunch of wily five-year-olds, but in my opinion political differences can make people act worse than kids jacked up on sugar.

i don't speak up in those ... conversations ... and maybe my silence IS what makes my blood boil like that, (because God knows i had plenty of aggression to let out at the gym that night) but i have trouble imagining that words make any difference in those moments, when people already have their minds made up. maybe they could, but i know for sure that actions do make a difference. actually helping people and choosing to love and care about them.

and i also know i have a looong way to go with that too, because even though i try really hard there are still days when the best i do is exercising enough self-control to not beat the ---- out of someone. maybe that's why i'm a little cautious to speak up when it comes to bold conversations about how a country should be run.

it's sad that those important conversations too often turn into cat fights and bullying. i think we'd all be a lot better off just asking how we can help the people right in front of us. i'm challenging myself to do that. first step: don't punch people in the face. (fyi i have never actually done that, but the temptation lurks.) second step: take a deep breath and do something to help someone.

Sunday hike

me, alecia, and becky. two of my best friends who will be some of the bridesmaids in my wedding, woohoo! we went for a lovely sweaty hike on sunday at rocks state park in maryland.

progress on those summer goals

i set some random goals toward the beginning of summer and since it's labor day weekend, here is how i did ...

1. cook. get good at seven meals. make sangria. make peanut butter truffles.
i've been cooking and there have been no disasters, but i don't think i have seven "specialties" yet like i was envisioning. but i'm on my way. still need to make sangria and peanut butter truffles.

2. take more pictures. learn how to use my camera.
did not make much progress on this.

3. as much wedding planning as possible.
accomplished! now it's just waiting to find out when and praying the venue i'd like is open on that date. and all of those minor details that can't be completed until you have a date set - like mailing invitations. ;-)

4. read a book a week. read all of the books that i own and have not read yet before buying more.
i am succeeding at the book a week part, but still have not finished reading all of the books i own. (could be due to cheating and buying more books, whoops.) i'm going to keep this goal though, it's a good habit for sure. and a good way to keep me from wasting so much time online.

5. run/sign up for a half-marathon in sept.
i wasn't running much over the summer, except for the a five mile race on the fourth of july. frankly i am a diva runner - meaning that i don't like running when it's hot and humid. but the fall weather we're getting into is much more my style and i had a fantastic run last night, so maybe i will look for a half marathon to do in october or november. maybe.

6. try official Crossfit
i worked up the courage and went by myself and i loved it! so much that i joined. the workouts are so good and so fun. sometimes they are so ridiculous that i can't even work out for the next few days because i am hobbling around just trying to walk. lance is already a master "crossfitter" and does competitions, so my goal is to be at his level and beating him. JUST KIDDING. he is a beast of an athlete.

7. kayak or canoe
kinda need a truck for this, womp womp.

8. writing project. interview 10 people by labor day.
started this but i'm not even close to 10 people yet.

9. do at least one freelance piece.
i did four, woohoo!

10. bike with friends
it stormed the day we had this planned. hopefully we can squeeze it in this fall.

so i accomplished five out of 10, not bad. i am working on a monster list of goals for over lance's next deployment, and i think i will carry over #2 and #5 to that list. i love lists.

and i love this graphic. gotta admit i'm sick of how overplayed these "keep calm" images are right now ... but i love this one.

{source: pinterest}

new york, new york!

a few weeks ago i spent a wonderful day in one of my favorite cities: new york.

my former professor set up a tour of the new york times with one of the editors for a small group of students/alumni. it felt like such an honor to just be in the place where the most well-known newspaper in the world is put together. watching those talented reporters was like staring at true celebrities for me. we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, which made it feel like even more of a classified privilege.

he did give us each a copy of his section's budget (which is a newspaper's list of what stories will be printed the next day) and i totally laid it across my desk at work the next day, hoping someone would get a glimpse of it and think i had a job offer from the times. because i'm just that crazy and that much of a dreamer.

the pulitzer wall was awesome, and so was the chat the editor had with us in a conference room. he is the kind of brilliant person that in only 15 or so minutes of conversation, you are completely inspired. things he mentioned in passing or as anecdotes have already helped me in my writing at work. those are the kind of people i need to hang out with. (and the kind of person i want to be!)

after our tour we ate a delicious overpriced lunch and it started downpouring. of course that doesn't stop new yorkers, the streets were still packed. of course i had not brought an umbrella in a spirit of optimism and neither did my friend bridget.

"oh life's for living, let's go!" bridget said. she is a great kind of friend to have, as you can tell. so bridget, virginia (who wisely had an umbrella) and i navigated our way around and had a fun rest of the day at bryant park, the library, central park and finally a coffeehouse in greenwich village.

we almost missed our train home and had to sprint several blocks. only because we got caught up talking at the coffeehouse. hilarious. and then the police officer i asked for help directing us through the train station misled us.  all day i'd been asking people for directions and every time i'd say to my friends how friendly and helpful new yorkers are - even though they would have every right in my book to be snobs and ignore annoying tourists like me - and of all people it was a cop who misled us. sheesh. but we made it.

 bridget and virginia in bryant park.



new york public library = gorgeous.



just a heads up: if you travel with me you will be asked to participate in at least one random photo op i make up. some of you know from experience. almost everyone acts like they hate it at the time, but they always love it in the end.



library foyer. aka the beautiful place carrie bradshaw almost got married.

what better way to end a post about new york than with a little carrie bradshaw style and wit ...

{source: google images}

"they say nothing lasts forever;  
dreams change, trends come and go ...

but friendships never go out of style.”

[carrie bradshaw]



the Liebster Award

Molly at Carry Your Heart With Me gave me the Liebster Award!

The rules of the award:
- Post 11 random facts about yourself
- Choose 11 deserving bloggers and tag them
- Answer 11 questions the tagger has asked you and give 11 questions to the people you've tagged.

11 random facts about myself

1. i have never had my ears (or anything else) pierced.

2. taking the year "off" after high school to do Youth With A Mission Maui was one of the best years of my life! same with the semester off college to do SBFM in maui.

3. i love the beach and would love to live in maui again.

4. i don't like coffee but i love chai tea lattes.

5. i have one older brother, colby.

6. bhutan is one of the coolest countries i have traveled to.

7. my mom is one of my very best friends.

8. yard sales are my favorite place to shop.

9. i love sushi. i've been hooked ever since i had it on a date with lance for the first time a few years ago.

10. being outside soothes my spirit. i love hiking or just being outside with people.

11. lance is my favorite person ever. i love him so so much.

11 questions from Molly:

1. How did you meet your husband/fiance?

we met when we were both working in food service at the hospital during college. his version of the story is much funnier because he says it took forever to get me to talk to him. which is true.

one of the earliest conversations that i remember laughing at lance for was when he started talking about how he makes the best renal shakes. (renal shakes were disgusting protein shakes we had to make for dialysis patients and they usually hated drinking them. i never actually tried one.) i was filling out paperwork and just laughed at him, but he continued, "what if girls liked guys and married them based on how well they made renal shakes?" i thought it was completely random but really funny and even told my mom about it - and how funny this guy was. little did i know how un-random it was and that he already knew he wanted to marry me.

2. What is the best way you have found to pass the time while they are gone?

exercising, reading books, and planning random things to look forward to. i also try to limit my time on facebook because it can be a downer.

3. What is a base/post you've loved/hated?

fort benning is the only one i have been to (besides one i forget the name of in florida for a wedding) but since i haven't lived there i can't say that i have any strong feelings about it either way.

4. What is your favorite military tradition? (i.e balls, promotion ceremonies, etc)

i loved ranger ball and i can't wait for the next one! i like how the military is steeped in so much tradition.

5. What is your favorite book you've recently read?

"east of eden" by john steinbeck, "the meaning of marriage" by tim keller, and "twist of faith" by anne beiler were all really amazing!

6. Did (Will) you have a military wedding?

we do not plan to have a military wedding. lance says that the military already takes up so much of his life and he does not want that to carry over to his wedding. i respect that.

7. What do you think about ACU purses? (Look here for examples if you don't know what I am talking about.)

i have never heard of them before today and i don't want one.

8. Do you have pets?

no pets right now, but lance and i both love dogs and talk about getting one. at the same time we are really hesistant because of the time commitment and dog hair everywhere. i want an english bulldog named hank. he wants a border collie, but i better not share what he wants to name it without his permission.

9. What area would you like to be stationed?

washington state or hawaii! i love both of those areas so much. germany, italy or anywhere in europe since i have not been there yet. alaska would be fun too.

10. What posts are you trying to avoid like the plague?

i'm a newby to all of this so i have no clue. but i've heard fort polk in louisiana is miles and miles from civilization, and that civilization there is really only walmart - so maybe that one.

11. How desperate do you have to be to brave the commissary on pay day?

 it sounds like i can be thankful i have not experienced this yet.

I am going to  skip tagging 11 people and giving them 11 questions to answer ... BUT, if anyone reading this would like the Liebster Award just say so in your comment and I promise I will come up with 11 really fun questions for you.

six months

walking to get chai and eat lunch yesterday i realized that i have officially been at my job as a reporter for six months. then i got distracted by a mattress on the sidewalk and thinking about how trashy the city i work in can be.

a few steps later there was a guy with a beer gut hanging out of his t-shirt while he leaned over his pickup truck staring at me. almost gross enough to make me lose my appetite. almost.

i turned the corner and someone else was apparently intrigued by my pink lunch bag because he started yelling,"damn girl, if you were my lady you would never have to carry your lunch, because i would have it catered ... and packed ... and i would carry it for you wherever you wanted to go ... girl did anyone tell you that you are looking great today?!" actually no, but thank you for being the first?

that got me wondering which way i was going to walk to get back to the office, because i already avoid the opposite side of that street where someone burns incense on the sidewalk outside of their shop every day. (incense is one of the few, if not the only, smells that i actually hate more than cigarette smoke.)

this is the city i work in and yet my coworkers still seem shocked i would rather commute 40 minutes than move here, hmm.

eventually i got back to thinking about how i've been at my job for six months and how it feels a lot longer than that. the way that things have begun to come full circle cements that feeling.

on my first day i covered my first press conference, where it was announced that marvin hamlisch was coming to town later this year as a guest conductor.

i only knew who marvin was because of his cameo in one of my favorite chick flicks of all time. (that would be "how to lose a guy in 10 days" for those of you who actually have lives and don't remember useless rom com references.) so whoever says chick flicks are a waste of time is wrong. just kidding, they are a waste of time but i love them. so much.

anyway marvin hamlisch died last week. so there's that.

and on an even sadder note, one of the first stories i got attached to was an interview with a family whose four-year-old son had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. they told him he had four to six months to live, with treatment. i cried after the interview at his house with his family and prayed for them and even wrote some of my thoughts on it here.

i was really rooting for them and must have had an underlying optimism that the adorable little boy would live, because i was crushed when my editor yelled across the office that ryan died and i needed to do a story on that now.

i thought about what my last six months have been compared to that family's. my heart breaks for his parents, but also for his siblings, who are so young that this will probably shape them even more. but life goes on for them, and for all of us. it doesn't stop when we hurt.

"if grease is the soul of the kitchen
and coffee the drink of the gods
routine too perfect to mention
time is a thief i would rob
 

we're meant to be baby hold onto me
i'll never not be your girl
cause love is the heart of the world

oh and hope is the soul of the dreamer
and heaven is the home of my God
it only takes one true believer
to believe you can still beat the odds."

[lady antebellum]