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wow, what a weekend!  4 fabulous days of freedom!  and with paid holidays, what more could you ask for?  okay, dangerous question…

so many wonderful things happened…

– thanksgiving with the fam, grammy and poppa, uncle dale, clint croft and dan czach – mucho food
– worship music after dinner at the lyts’
– realized how thankful i am for the divine sovereignty that orchestrated some absolutely amazing and wonderful friendships that leave me utterly speechless
– worked out with mom and dad friday morning and then got dunkin donuts afterwards!!  woo-hoo!!  those are my favorite! 
– got my hair cut.  it was supposed to be a trim, but a tad more came off then was intended.  it’s a few inches below my shoulders.  shorter then my preference, but not the end of the world.  it’s different and i’m rather enjoying it.  not that i’d like to keep it this length or anything….
– went pottery painting again with janet!!  fun times!  i made this ADORABLE christmas tree platter.  wow, i can’t wait to see how the finished product turns out. 
– saw National Treasure – decent flick.  not the most original story ever (kinda seemed like a compilation of the mummy, raiders of the lost ark, and goonies).  the dialogue was rather lame and would have totally ruined the movie had it not been for riley – the sidekick character.  he seriously made the movie.  and all the american history in it was interesting. 
– slept in super late saturday morning.  i didn’t get up until nearly 10am!!  crazy…
– made death-by-chocolate and espresso brownies for luz‘s bday party
– threw luz’s bday party sunday afternoon.  i think it went off rather well!!  we had a very nice group of people and all the decorations and food and seasonal drinks really came together.  the brown paper covering the tables with crayons to encourage creativity and artistic randomness was quite the hit!  lol  bethany would draw a scene and then andrew would draw the postmodern version of it.  it was hilarious.  purple trees and green italian skies… 
– created a “coffee themed” mad lib to be filled out and read at the party that was funnier then i could have dreamed of!  utter hilarity ensued – from the evil Count Folder’s clumsy toenails carrying off Prince Starbucks, to the said count doing his laundry in Zurich, Switzerland and being thrown into a coffee grinder by the noble steed Joel Barr, and the Lady Latte painting crayons and cannibals in her garden as she sang The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.  wow.  yeah, it was funny.  i had to stop reading numerous times just to catch my breath and feebly attempt to regain composure as i was oft overpowered by fits of laughter.    it was great.
– by far, the highlight of the party was the look on luz’s face when i got to announce that a bunch of us had pitched in and gotten her 3 tickets to the noches de las luminarias at the desert botanical gardens in scottsdale.  she was totally surprised and completely thrilled.  that was the best! 

and now, back to the grindstone…

only 4 weeks till christmas y’all!!  woo-hoo!

the christmas music has officially been busted out!  all my favorites: steven curtis chapman, michael w smith, amy grant, 4him…  old school stuff but stuff i will listen to every christmas for the rest of my life!

cheerio!   

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear LUZ
happy birthday to you!!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY LUZ!!!!  I LOVE YOU!!

i got to spend the weekend with the Tong kids last thursday – saturday.  wow, what fun!  i could totally go off about how much fun we had and how much i love them, but i shall refrain.  suffice it to say, we laughed a lot and friday night we even stayed up until 3am just talking and laughing and playing games.  of course, we paid for it the next day!  haha.  but it was worth it.  

janet comes tomorrow!!!  woo-hoo!!  hurry hurry!  i can’t wait!  as-you-wish and janet-time with janet-talk is calling my name!  phrases like, “and that really is unfortunate that he’s so OCD because that becomes SB in light of superfriendships.”  hahaha!  i love you girl! 

i really want to see National Treasure.  i’ve heard it is good. 

three cheers for a short work week!  thursday and friday off!  i love paid holidays…  although sometimes i’m not sure they are entirely worth the build up and stress that can accompany and follow them!  but, i shall not think about such horrid things.  i shall enjoy the holiday and deal with work later.  when i have to! 

happy thanksgiving everyone!! 

i made a blue plate with white snowflakes on it.  it’s so adorable!  for once in my life i painted something super simple!  and shockingly enough, my cousin becky painted something complex (a “cookies for santa” plate)!  there’s a role reversal if i ever saw one.  it was a little freaky. 

i’ve forgotten how much i love going to as-you-wish!  that place is like, therapeutic for me!  ::happy sigh::  okay, janet, now you and i HAVE to go!  i have a most splendid idea for next time!  i’m so excited! 

and while we were painting, they were playing all these 90s songs.  it was hilarious!  what was even funnier to us, was that many of the songs were songs that we use to jump rope to back in the day when we were on a jump rope team.  songs like, “footloose” and “the heat is on”.  to this day, i will always hear songs like “another one bites the dust” and “picture perfect” (a golden oldie by michael w smith) and be able to close my eyes and see various jump-its (for that was our team name) out there spinning their ropes and wowing all the little elementary age kids we would perform for.  those were the days… 

 

going pottery painting tonight!  woo-hoo! 

but first, i am leaving work early b/c i desperately need a nap.  last night was a long night.  i woke up twice with wierd pains in my stomach.  the first time it was because i was quite dehydrated.  the 2nd time, well, i have no idea.  so, i am dealing with it the way i deal with most sicky things – drink lots of water and sleep it off! 

wow, what a weekend.  friday night i hung out with nicole.  we hit happy hour at buffalo wild wings and then saw First Daughter at the cheap theatres. 

saturday was the parenting seminar at church with CJ Mahaney.  i was “overseeing” the nursery classes as well as overseeing the coffee break.  that was loads of fun, except for the fact that my back was cramping like the dickens all morning.  yeah, minor inconvienence.  it was fun to to watch all the 7yrs and up kids run around in the back lot with andrew, paz, george, and dave.  lol   

then saturday afternoon my mom and i did some hardcore shopping.  we left the house at 2ish and didn’t get home till 9:30!  but our labors were rewarded with lots of tweasures!    two new shirts from old navy, a dean martin christmas cd, christmas present for dad, bday presents for ryan (whose bday was yesterday – he’s 19 now!!), a mini muffin tin, a snowman purse, a flower calendar for luz’s party decorations, and some other stuff…  fun times!  we had panda express for dinner and jamba juice later on.  it was great hanging with the mom all day. 

and then last night mom and i rented The Wizard of Oz.  we’d been in the mood to watch it since the costume party.  okay, as much as it is a total classic, i can seriously see how that movie would scare the bejeebers out of a kid!  it’s a little weird in places…  but the choreography and songs are fun.  i think my favorite is the “if i only had a [brain/heart/the nerve]”. 

went and saw The Village with anna spear and chanelle richardson (the two receptionists here at the office) last night.  fun times!  i’d forgotten how good of a movie that was.  props to kelley for making me see it while i was in maryland!    anyway, can i just say that the porch scene is so the best!  i love it! 

“why must you lead when i want to lead? …  the only time i feel fear as the others do is when i think of you in harm  …  that is why i am on this porch, ivy walker. …  and yes, i will dance with you on our wedding night.”

so good.

my brother cut his hair!  it looks… different!  i seriously had gotten so used to him with long shaggy hair that the short look almost seems wierd.  but i like it. and it makes his facial hair look better.  he looks more like he does in the profile pic now. 

i hate breaking in new toothbrushes. 

well, we ended up watching Matchstick Men last night instead of The Hunt For Red October.  i was a tad bummed, but it was fun to see something i hadn’t seen before. 

WARNING: major plot spoiler to follow!  do not continue to read unless you want the whole movie ruined!

to be honest i was a little disappointed.  i think i had a bad set up.  my brother and clint said the movie had “a crazy twist” at the end, so the whole time i was watching it, i was totally reading into everything and analyzing everything and yet trying desperately not to so i would be surprised.  yeah, well, it didn’t work.  i didn’t necessarily figure it out, but because i suspected something from the beginning, it was kind of a let down.  i guess b/c i love spy/heist/twisty movies and such, a simple double-cross isn’t that amazing to me.  there was no “wow” factor to this movie.  it was like, “oh, it was all one big con.”  i was waiting for something like the Truman Show where you realize it’s all an alternate reality or something.  anyway…  so it wasn’t as exciting as i was hoping.  and i was kinda bummed the girl was “bad” if you will, b/c i thought she was really cute.     

anyway… 

anticipating:

[tara’s] five-way chili

cornbread

The Hunt for Red October

on the “big screen” (projected onto our living room wall)

tonight