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happy things

17th May 2013 | 101, travels, Year of Challenge | 0 comments

#32. brand new tub of coconut oil

#33. packing my mouse ears.

#34. this cute little stir stick with a heart on the end that southwest airlines gave me with my tea.

#35. little pieces of me still left in California, like this handprint wreath I made with my girl Sofia when I tutored her.

#36. sleeping on this couch again, like the good ol days.

#37. this sparkly, magical “beyond cozy” essie nail polish.

#38. this store with all of these beautiful dresses.

#39. PARADISE PIER

#40. ducks. at disneyland.

#41. finally going on Mickey’s Fun Wheel!

#42. Disneyland.

#43. Flag lowering at Disneyland

#44. IN-N-OUT. yes please.

#45. mickey ears on the carpet of the hotel.

#46. watching the sun sink below the palm trees.

#47. Two words: SPACE. MOUNTAIN.

#48. my castle awaits.

#49. KISS THE GIRL. Ariel was my favorite princess when I was little.

#50. Disney details.

#51. palm trees + lights

#52. My favorite Disney entertainment. IDK, a handful of guys singing and dancing with Mickey Mouse…?

#53. STARBUCKS @ DISNEYLAND

#54. This super cute donkey at Disneyland.

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Basically, I like the view.

15th January 2013 | 101, 365, everyday life, music, travels | 0 comments

http://youtu.be/uOr8TjdVNHs

“When I stand on my hill at the top… basically I like the view.” ~The BGP

This weekend I went to Seattle to go to The BGP’s 10 year anniversary concert. I’ve not been around for all 10 years, but May of this year will be 8 years of supporting this band, my favorite band.

I’m forever grateful to Brandon and his songs and the ways they have made my life better, and shame on me for not saying that as often as I know I should.

Today I was cleaning out underneath my sink and I found an empty lotion bottle. Which might not mean a lot to you, but it meant the world to me because when I put it with my collection of empty spray/lotion bottles, I realized… I’ve emptied 15 of them, and I can cross it off  of my 101 list.

Maybe you can’t tell.. but there’s 15 of them there. Now that I have this picture, I can stop collecting the bottles!

And to catch up in other areas…

13/31

White tank: Forever 21
Purple sweater: Lauren Conrad
Grey cardigan: J. Jill {thrifted}
Skirt: some store on 23rd.
zebra flats: Target

14/31.. this was definitely the kind of day I wanted to have.

pink tank: Forever 21
shirt: VS pink
jacket: VS pink
leggings: target
shoes: Converse

And then some 365 catch up, since I am way behind.

8/365
Reunited with one of my favorite kids ever. Seriously, last night when I prayed for this family I almost started crying because I love them so much. He did that puzzle all by himself.

9/365
Once, Pastor Matt talked about loving people in a way they can understand. Love languages, you know? I’ve been trying to be more intentional in all of my life, so I told Jeremiah that after I came back from a walk with his sister, I’d play the XBox with him. Which really means a lot because I hate video games. But I love Jeremiah, and he made it fun.

10/365
My Puravida bracelets came in the mail. I put them on and haven’t taken them off. Bracelets are stories, you know? And each of these bracelets goes to help a different cause. And they’re just cool, let’s be real.

11/365
I went with Brittany and her small group to a spoken word/music night thing. And who knew that poetry was so awesome? I didn’t know I loved it. It was AMAZING, and all of the performers had so much talent.

12/365
Speaking of basically liking the view… the view out of Brittany’s ADORABLE apartment’s window. We went across the street to the Hub and scarfed down breakfast. I can’t wait to visit Brittany again because this day, January 12th, was moving day and so I spent the last unfurnished night with her.

13/365
After The BGP’s show on Saturday, Leveryll and I drove home in the middle of the night. I got a little bit of sleep before waking up for church.. then spent the whole day with my friends, and when I got home I saw this and realized #1. I had been so tired that I hardly moved in my sleep and #2. this was the most beautiful sight ever.

14/365
Another “just about to go to bed” picture. I hadn’t been able to do much reading over the weekend, and man.. I felt it. Even though I’d read for Bible study and taken in the sermon on Sunday, it wasn’t enough. It’s amazing how the words Christ said about man not living by bread alone, but by every word of God can take on a whole new meaning when you feed your spirit the truth. My soul was feeling hunger pains that could only satisfied with meditating on the Word.

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Celebrate.

8th December 2012 | friendlies, music, travels | 0 comments

Yesterday I sat in the Q Cafe, thinking about all of the memories I’ve had there. I’m really sentimental about stuff, in case you hadn’t noticed. I remember the first time I ever walked in there. I was picking up some fliers that Brandon had left for an upcoming show I’d agreed to help promote because I knew the other band. It seems both like it was just yesterday and like it was fifteen years ago. Weird how things can be like that.

So I thought about how many times I’d seen Allen there. The last time I saw him was a Friday night, August of 2009 or something. I remember saying to myself, “remember this moment, because this is going to be a special moment.” It was the first time I looked around and realized that there were a whole bunch of people I’d never seen, there to see Allen.. who they didn’t know.

Last night Allen packed the Paramount, and it was amazing, especially having sat at the Q Cafe a few short hours prior.

I recorded weird parts of it, like the crowd cheering before he came on, or when they sang his songs when he stopped singing. Things I wanted to cherish in my heart forever.

And the two girls sitting in front of us. They were SO excited. I was excited, Mei-Ling was excited.. but they made the whole thing even better. I loved watching them, and I don’t even mean that in a creepy way. They danced and sang and freaked out over pictures they took, and… it was awesome.

Tears sneaked out of my eyes for the better part of the hour and 15 minutes Allen played. I kept holding my hands over my heart and sighing, because of how much I love Allen and how much he deserves all of it. and more. If I could somehow grab a star and give it to him, he’d deserve that too.

and ps.. I got a new camera that was smaller and easier to throw in my pocket… but there has obviously been a decline in quality here. Oh well.. my heart has it recorded in HD for the rest of my life

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November is almost over?

21st November 2012 | everyday life, friendlies, travels | 0 comments

 

This morning my One Direction alarm woke me up stupid early. Well, I had set it to wake me up stupid early but it doesn’t make it less stupid or less early. After hitting snooze once (just once!) I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, read Teen Vogue (not even apologizing) and then put on cozier pajamas and got back in bed. Which is where I am now.

I could not come to terms with the fact that I was awake and the sun was not. And by sun, I just mean that the sky was still black because we haven’t really been seeing much sun over here.

Then I realized that next week – NEXT WEEK, PEOPLE – is December. Month 12. Of 2012.

You know what that means.

HOLIDAYS.

and you know what that means………..

The Salvation Army gets all busy. This past Saturday we had our Kettle Kick off, where our laughter kept our hearts warm (didn’t do much for my hands) and we played Christmas songs.

I’m excited to be a part of The Salvation Army this holiday season. I have the opportunity to help sign up families for Christmas assistance, we’re doing some cool stuff at our corps, there’s a camp Christmas concert that is now Facebook event official… and I am thankful to be in the storm of busyness.

After the Kettle Kick Off, I drove straight up to camp to deliver a birthday present. I wished I could stay longer (a feeling I experience everywhere I go) but Rhoda and I went to Seattle, picked up Emily and stayed at Shevaun’s house.

I got to paint something for Jordan’s birthday to support the Reardon’s adoption, and a trip to Seattle provided the opportunity for a bunch of us to get together in at a Starbucks in Lynnwood, laugh and share and (as always) leave too soon. But it was good to sit there with people I adore.

 

One of the biggest lies of the enemy is that I am unloved and without friends. I am thankful for preventative maintenance that comes in busy weekends where we have to say goodbye before we’d like to, where Rhoda decides to come along for a ride even without a change of clothes for the next day, and where I fall asleep exhausted with happiness.

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22/31 days of madeleine – friendship.

26th October 2012 | 31 days of madeleine, everyday life, friendlies, travels | 0 comments

You are sanity in an insane world. You’re reason where there isn’t any reason.

 

Things that make me super happy:

• driving in a car
• Eatonville, WA
• Rhoda
• Seattle
• Emily
• the Q Cafe
• coffee
• thrift stores
• Driving in a car to Eatonville, WA and picking up Rhoda to drive to Seattle to get Emily. Then going to the Q Cafe and drinking coffee right before going to a thrift store.

 

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wordless wednesday [6]

3rd October 2012 | travels, wordless wednesday | 0 comments

2 weeks in SoCal. An attempt at a photojournal.

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march 12th, 2012 {back to the sun, back to the shore}

12th March 2012 | travels | 1 comment

the minute i saw that bailey hanks would be reprising her role of elle woods in a production of legally blonde the musical a short drive outside of san francisco, i knew two things. #1. i must go. #2. i must take lauren. so i went, and i took lauren. it was a much needed few nights with the birksfam and in california. i think emily and i both underestimated how much we actually love california until we were back.

{one} our trip obviously started at starbucks, where we got coffee and breakfast. while we waited for our order, i wrote directions on the sandwich bag.

{two} it was funny to be welcomed to california with snow. we took the 101, which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, especially compared with the rather flat, yellow path of i5 through northern california. the redwoods… so beautiful.

{three} suddenly the pacific ocean was just right there. big and beautiful and expansive. we pulled over to look at it, and emily got really emotional. so i took a picture, of course.

{four} i don’t know what magic they’re talking about, but that’s alright.

{five} when we told stacy about willits, she knew exactly where we were talking about and said that willits is about the place where you start to go crazy, which made us laugh hysterically because we went crazy in willits. this is for emily more than anyone else, so we can always remember the insanity we experienced in the two miles of willits. maybe three.

• “willits willits.”
• yum yum tree
• great! chinese food
• “this is so weird, i’ve worked here for 6 months and this is my second time having someone pay by debit card.. the other one happened today!”
• pinecone motel

….did i miss any??

{six} the grand finale of our 101 trip was the crossing of the golden gate bridge, something i’ve only done one other time. we were so excited about it…. until the signs for the toll booths had two options: fastrak or cash only. we had no cash. so the $6 toll ended up costing me nothing immediately, but $31 by mail thanks to a ticket. oh well…. {ain’t nobody gone break my stride, ain’t nobody gonna hold me down.. oh no… i got to keep on moving}

{seven} and then the next evening i went with lauren and graham to see legally blonde. and during the musical i decided that i absolutely could see the musical every night of my life and never get tired of it. it was brilliant, the choreography was awesome.. except that at one point, elle woods put a black computer bag on her shoulder and lauren and i both quickly began an exchange about how awful that was. my exact words were “that is FOUL.”

{eight} graham, myself and lauren. you can’t tell, but graham was wearing a pink shirt. he is just that fantastic.

{nine} lauren and i waited at the stage door to meet bailey. she won the mtv reality contest “legally blonde the musical: the search for the next elle woods.” i was team bailey from episode 1, so it was really exciting to see her be elle woods. and it was even more exciting to share it with lauren, who was already aware of who bailey was.

{ten} as we were leaving, we saw frankie mulcahy, who played warner, and decided to get a picture with him. he was like.. ridiculously beautiful.

{eleven} on our way back we were in desperate need of a pick-me-up around medford, oregon. so we stopped at starbucks. when we would drive from pacifica to camp redwood glen, we’d always stop at starbucks first and get frappucinos. for the most part, i only get frappucinos in the car with emily.

 

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january 23rd, 2012 – i can’t make this stuff up.

23rd January 2012 | 365, everyday life, travels | 3 comments

22/365 stranded

yesterday i decided to drive to seattle and spend the evening with emily. after perusing a thrift store and eating dinner, we decided to go to yogurtland <3 . we couldn’t find the one in the u district so we decided to go to the one by mei-ling’s. except then suddenly my car sounded funny, so we pulled into a gas station to discover that i had a flat tire.

i called triple a {my heroes!} who said that they were backed up and it would be up to two hours. seeing as how i was parked in a 15 minute only spot, i decided to tell the gas station attendant what was going on. but then he said it didn’t matter, i could only park there for 15 minutes or else i would get towed, because it was busy. we called triple a again and talked to a brilliant triple a helper person who was funny and thought the whole thing was as ridiculous as we thought it was.

we moved the car and then i decided that just for fun, we should see if there was a yogurtland nearby. and guess what.

there was.

six minutes away.

it was the one we had initially been trying to find.

we got our frozen yogurt, walked back in the freezing cold and sat in the car listening to glee. and it was great.

what was less great, however, was the four hour drive back to vancouver in the middle of the night thanks to my spare tire and driving between 45 – 50 mph. i don’t think many other people on the road thought it was great, either.

18/365 birthday
we celebrated abi’s 10th birthday

19/365 valentine’s
i saw this at THE SALVATION ARMY of all places; i wanted to buy it but decided it might be more fun to perhaps try and make it.

20/365 leave the light on
see my room? it’s the one that glows pink

21/365 sunrise
snickerdoodle bagel, toasted with butter please.

23/365 shiny flats
got to see my beautiful bride-to-be cousin faye, who is still fresh to the states from the philippines. i just love being around her. and i’m very thankful she’s here.

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january 1, 2012

1st January 2012 | 101, 365, everyday life, travels | 0 comments

{1/365}

what a year 2011 was. and here it’s already 2012. is it just me, or do the years seem to be passing at a quicker speed than before?

i am very excited about 2012, just like i was excited about 2011 and 2010 and 2009 before than, and 2008 before that. i’m not a resolution person, because usually i forget about them until june and by then i decide to just wait for the new year. but i did start that 101 in 1001 list. and i’ve been working on it. so check this.

#57. hold lucy and layla.

 as soon as i landed in california, i drove immediately to the halter residence and spent the afternoon with ernie and his girls. there are two of them and there were two of us, so i got to spend lots of time holding them. although i did spend extra long time with layla. and they stole my heart. when i see kristen post pictures of them on instagram, i literally feel a wave of sadness wash over me because i want to hold them forever. but i am so glad i got to see them so that when they’re teenagers i can be like “oh i held you when you were a baby” and they can roll their eyes. and i won’t even care.

#95. buy flowers for my room once a month.

no words, just lyrics.

oh wow look at you now flowers in the window
it’s such a lovely day and i’m glad you feel the same
cause to stand up, out in the crowd
you are one in a million and i love you so
let’s watch the flowers grow

#96. take a self portrait each month.

funny story: i went to save this picture and realized i’d written “december 2010″ on it, so i had to fix it. this is how i spent most of my free time in december; finding quiet places to read harry potter. and my bathroom is my favorite quiet place because hello beautifully colored walls.

so in case you didn’t catch on to the way i quietly slipped it in, i’m starting the 365 project. this may or may not be my 3rd or 4th attempt at it. but i think for the first time in my life i’m in a place to really appreciate the quiet art of finding something worth remembering in every single day.

we are having a craft evening in a few so i must round up my loads of magazine cutouts and my collage journals.

 

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101 in 1001

16th December 2011 | travels | 2 comments

a few years ago i made a 101 in 1001 list. and it was full of really ridiculous things, stupid things that i put on there in hopes of using the list to become a “better” person. i’d hoped that by being able to complete that list, i’d transform from a caterpillar into a butterfly, becoming some new person as a result.

so that failed. because a list like this isn’t about changing your identity; it’s about living more in your own identity.

that said, i have created a new list for myself. and i’m not starting on january 1st, because it’s not a resolution. i made my list of 20 – 11′s and it’s been fun and great, but it kind of had the same feel as my first 101 list. i never took LIFE into account.

i have spent time over the past month or so making the list which is at the top of my page where it says 101 in 1001. and i’m ready to go.

last night i went and saw allen stone at mississippi studios. and let me tell you…. ugh. so proud of him. i almost cried when i was walking back to my car because i am SO HAPPY for his success and the way people embrace and love him. he deserves it. all of it.

i took a 2 hour nap, drank some coffee, went to the airport, drank more coffee, and now i am sitting at seatac. boarding is about to begin.

…and then i will be in los angeles. {!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

 

ps i totally just realized i can write blogs and set them to publish later, and that is really exciting.

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