Healthy Habits

I've been home from Kenya for about 10 days. In these 10 days, I have been trying to develop some healthy routines {eating vegetables, flossing, taking vitamins, spending time alone...to name a few.}

There are a few reasons for these recent developments, but that is not what this post is for. Though, I would imagine a post on such things is coming sooner than later.

The new adjustments simply served as a reminder of my 30 Things to Do Before I'm 30 list that I made on my 26th Birthday.

Here's the list.
*The red denotes completion. The others...well, let's just say they are "in motion"
It should also be noted that I have made a few tweaks to the list (for reasons such as: I no longer wear jeans).

1. Read over 100 books (I'm at 27...I should step this up)
2. Get a giant tattoo
3. Perform somewhere (in a club, bar, coffee shop)
4. Go on another vacation with Katie Edwards
5. Fit in the green dress*
6. Read through the entire Bible
7. Buy a Louis Vuitton overnight bag
8. Watch at least 75 of the 100 Best Films of All Time (I'm at 53. It speaks to my lifestyle, but does not reflect my college degree that I am closer to this goal than number 1.)
9. Throw two giant costume parties
10. Visit:

a. Japan
b. China
c. Australia
d. Ireland
e. Sweden
f. Ukraine
g. Costa Rica
h. Italy

11. Score over 120 in a game of bowling*
12. Take a ballet class
13. Go golfing with my Papa
14. Fluently speak a second language
15. Make a mosaic table for my house
16. Run a 5k
17. Invite at least 20 people to church
18. Write a book (even if it's never published)
19. Own some high-heeled boots
20. Bring at least 10 people to Kitale, Kenya* (I'm at 2. We took 8 to Nairobi, but I don't think that counts)
21. Learn to read music
22. Dress up and have dinner at a fancy restaurant
23. Watch 9 new complete series of TV on DVD* (So far: 5 completed)
24. Skydive
25. Live in New York
26. Kiss someone (a really good kiss)
27. Make a delicious--from scratch--dinner for friends
28. Spend an evening in a room lit by dozens of candles
29. Buy a dress from Bottega Veneta
30. Learn to play an instrument

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm more embarrassed by the lack of progress I've made in almost 2 years or by the list itself. It's funny to read through and think about the person I was when I wrote it...I'm such a different person now.

There are a few things on the list that I would not include if I wrote it today. Maybe it's time for a re-write?

It Was A Beautiful Countdown...

There are a few things that I know, for certain, about myself:
1) I love to countdown to exciting events
2) I don't wait very well

I am moving in 35 days.

My current roommate (Emily) is headed off to school and my new roommate (Bre) and I will be moving about 10 miles from my present home to a place that is more central for each of our lives.

And now that this is certain, I can't wait.

Yesterday, my day off, was the worst. I just kept thinking, "Maybe I should pack-up all of these books now." The italicized phrase is simply a sample of the multitude of items in my home that were almost packed yesterday...yesterday...with 35 days to go.

In my head: it's happening...so let's make it happen! Why wait? Sitting and thinking about something that will, eventually, have to be done, but I can't do it yet...Ugh. There are few things in life more frustrating.

So, instead, I made the most of my desperately-wanting-to-move-toward-the-end-goal hands and created a paper chain to help countdown the days until moving day!(It's made out of People Magazine covers...which I, happily, read and filled-in the crossword puzzles before cutting into strips.)

Good Day Sunshine

I was just driving home and thinking, "Today was an incredible day...like unfair amounts of incredible."

It began with Taffy and 40 High School students from Saddleback leading worship at Mariners.

Here's the choirThe band (and Taff)

Ervin (the photographer)

Leading worship with Taffy is undeniably one of my favorite things in the whole world. I love Taff. I love his heart. I love the freedom with which he leads people (of all ages) in worship.

So I laughed...and danced...and sang. It was really, really fun.
After church, I came home and had a sandwich. (I'm in love with turkey sandwiches right now...seriously, they are delicious as lunch or dinner).

And then I drove to the Orange County Fairgrounds. I had volunteered to fill one of the shifts at the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force Station...let me tell you, it was not on the top of my list of ways to spend my afternoon as I sat in traffic at 3pm.

But once I was inside (and my booth partner was an hour late), I was happy to be there. An hour alone meant I could just watch and think--no conversational pressures. A few people came to the booth to ask questions...including one woman who shared that she had been a prostitute for 10 years and was now volunteering at Juvenile Hall and even with current prostitutes. What a life story!

Three hours later, and our shift was over...time for the best parts of the Fair.

A plate of Australian Potato Cakes and a chocolate covered banana (both of which I dropped half-way through...dang it!)
And now I'm laying in bed (watching Dawson's Creek...surprise, surprise). Every few minutes I'm receiving text messages from High School girls about meeting up this week for coffee or ice cream...

I know it doesn't seem like anything special, but this was a day filled with moments of God's obvious movement and presence and provision. A day that could have been planned specifically for me...that's how much I loved it.

In The Year 2000...In the Year 2010

Tonight is my 10-year High School reunion.

And I'm at home, sitting on my bed, having eaten a turkey sandwich while watching Dawson's Creek.

This morning, I awoke feeling slightly below average--slightly above disgusting, is more like it.

I went to the doctor's office, all the while fairly convinced I had malaria...

::: which made me think :::

If you had told me ten years ago that I would not attend my 10-year reunion because I would have malaria, I never would have believed you.

My thoughts went on from here...

Had you told me that this contraction of malaria had come from a trip to Kenya...not my first trip to Kenya...but a trip that I had desperately wanted to extend...I would never have believed you.

That this trip was actually my heart's deep desire because of the longing I had felt from not living there after experiencing that place every day for seven months, I never would have believed you.

And then, Kenya aside...

If you had told me, on my High School graduation day, that I would be 27 and unmarried, living in Corona del Mar, and set on a life without children...I never would have believed you.

You see, 18-year old me was certain that I would be married by 21 and a mother by 23...I remember saying both of these (now obviously ridiculous) statements:

"I don't want to wait until I'm 26 to be a mother...that's so old!"
and
"I will never go on a missions trip"

Little did I know that God's plans for my life would be remarkably different and infinitely better than my little American dream for myself.

And so, here I sit, on my bed. Not at my reunion. Unmarried. Childless. Potentially malarial (the test results will take a week). Devastatingly homesick for Kitale.

And completely happy to be exactly where God wants me to be.
There is no place better than that.

It's Been One (Month) Since You Looked At Me...

Wow...it's been a full month since I posted on this blog.
Sorry about that.

I did write quite a bit during those 30 days, just not here.
You can read all about it HERE, if you'd like.


For now...can you name the song that this post title comes from?