Currently Reading Fed Up!: Winning The War Against Childhood Obesity By Susan, M.D. Okie, Susan Okie see related

       hola.  so.  yeah.  i miss oxford.  a whole lot.  yeah. 

      of course, there is always the "wherever you are, be all there" adage.  so i will go with that.  i've found myself losing patience with people a whole lot lately, especially my parents.  i'm ready for this pageant to be over.  so i can be a normal person again. 

     another thing that has come of all this, however, is that i have been made to realize yet again what HUGE blessings i have in the form of frienships....all these precious, precious people who are overflowing with nothing but encouragement and selfless love and thoughtfulness. 

     you know, there is so much to people.  (that sentence really doesn't make that much sense, but hold on i will get it out eventually.)  every single person is so ridiculously complex and deep and intricate and VALUABLE.  if we are made in the image of Christ.....and Christ is unfathomably complex and mysterious, so much so that we can spend the entirely of our lives delving into him and never get back to the place we started....then we are by nature the same way (though i guess on a smaller scale).  and i guess that is why relationships here can be so complicated and intricate and delicate...you know what i mean?  but how exciting is that?!  every single person that i come into contact with gives off some type of impression...but that only scratches the surface of who they are....that's just the outer veneer.  in fact, the real person is probably buried somewhere under time spent riding around in a car listening to music and talking, sipping coffee for hours, and countless little thoughts and considerations for that person...does that make sense?  there isn't enough time in the world to truly get to know all the people i wish i knew better.  i'm sitting here right now looking at my little neice, catie.  (she's named after me!)  she's only 2.  and yet she is already turning into this little...well, person.  with her own personality and likes and dislikes...who knows what she'll be like in 5, 10, 15 years.  it's crazy to think about.  and i've got three more neices and two nephews that are the same way.  they're growing up so fast--too fast for me to keep up with them!   and that's just family.  there are so many people to get to know, to spend time with...anyway, i'm rambling now.  basically i just want to say--never pass up an opportunity to spend time with someone and truly get to know them.

    ok.  my family is now watchign spiderman and telling me to get off the computer.  so, in light of everything i just said, i'm going to go play with my neices.  toodles. 

    p.s....i should post again before miss MS, but if for some crazy reason i don't...watch it please if you aren't busy on the  night of july 9th!  it'll be crazy.  OH to be a normal person again...less than 4 weeks to go!  chocolate, darling, i shall return to you soon and very soon.     

   hey kids.  how's the summer treatin' ya?  i'm chillin on 7th avenue in NYC at the moment...about to go see Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre!!!  I am so pumped....i've been wanting to see it for awhile.  i'm here with my parents....i'm not quite sure how i feel about that ha.  we haven't taken a real, full-out family vacation in a long time...not since i was in 8th grade, really.  so it's good...but then again sometimes they drive me absolutely INSANE.  so.  ok.  one of the reasons i'm here is to do some pageant shopping.  so that should be productive/interesting, i guess.  this whole thing is ridiculously involved.  i feel like i'm being sucked into this whirlpool of pageant hysteria, helpless to stop myself from slipping in.  anyway, new topic.

     i hope school ended well for everybody...it definitely did for me.  minus the B in chemistry.  apparently i suck at it.  but anyway--lots of weird (good weird) things seemed to happen all at once, out of the blue...but it was cool.  you know those things you have thought about a million times, but you just know they will never happen?  yeah, well about 5 of those happened to me in a two or three week period.  craziness.  i hated saying bye to everyone last friday...i had that awful, someone-just-punched-you-in-the-stomach feeling all afternoon.  which is so silly, i guess--it's not like my friendships with these people are going to change in any way over the next three months....it's just that i hate to not be around them.  geez.

     ok, gotta go get ready...but to those of you who are going away for the summer, or part of the summer--have a fabulous time!  live it up!  and i shall see you soon.  much love! 

EDIT:  O....M....G....my parents are sleeping in the bed next to me in the hotel room, and i swear they both sound like freight trains...i knew my dad snored, but apparently my mom has begun to follow suit...sigh.  it may be awhile before i get to sleep.  text me if you feel so moved.  :)  ciao.

        i'm back!   with a vengeance, mind you.  may i just say that this may be the most beautiful day i've ever experienced in my life.  ok, probably not the very most beautiful....but dang near close.  i just can't tell you how excited i am to be in oxford for the weekend.  last weekend in nashville was incredible, and i was SO glad to be there...but i am so happy to be in oxford!  OH how i love this place...it has hit me all over again last night and today.  last night was crazy...walking til 3 am in the circle for relay for life, then staying up talking....ah life is good.  life is beautiful.  have you seen that movie?  i've been wanted to see it for quite some time now. 

     i'm listening to an awesome mix by one taylor sledge called the Sunday Morning mix.  no, it is not sunday morning, but that's just how good this thing is.  happy music.  :) 

    ok.  to do today:  1) drive around in car for a total of at least one hour--with the windows rolled down.  2) spend time with my parents, who are here for parents weekend au chi omega.  hootie hoo.  my parents really are fabulous people.  i'm just now realizing the fullness of that.  3)  be actively thankful for this ridiculously beautiful day! 4)  i don't know--lots of stuff, but we're streaming here (of consciousness), and my stream is coming to a bend in the road...

     this week has been CRAZY.  i mean, crazy.  so many unexpected things--overturning of the familiar--and yet in such awesome ways.  (minus the 60 that i made on my chemistry test.  that one wasn't awesome.  but you know what?  i don't really mind at this point.  there are too many other things to be happy about and thankful for.) 

     i can't believe it's been this long since i've posted.  i feel like i've been missing a limb or something.  ha!  not because of not xanga-ing, but because of not having that line of communication with those with whom xanga is my main means of that communication.  (wow. that was unnecessarily wordy.) 

    ran this morning...and i don't really like running.  but i simply couldn't help myself.  i was listening to the newest rascal flatts cd on emily's ipod while i ran...and several times i just started sprinting because of the sheer good feeling of it all...blood pumping, sun beating down, hair flying...the fact that our bodies can carry us like that is pretty awesome.  it feels so good to allow them to do it sometimes.  i think it releases something important...and not just endorphins. 

    OH it's so beautiful outside.  i can't stand to be in here one more minute!  come out and play.  :)