Au Revoir

So a friend of mine is moving from Pennsylvania to the great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina on Saturday. Last night I met up with her and another friend of ours for a bit of a goodbye dinner. The restaurant that was chosen for this event was the Powerhouse Eatery in White Haven, which I had never heard of, until yesterday. When we arrived, there was a foyer where we had to wait for a hostess to seat us. As we glanced into the dining room area, we realized that the establishment was much fancier than we anticipated. I joked that I could now cross something off of my bucketlist: eating dinner in a fancy restaurant whilst dressed as a hobo.

The hostess sat us in the back room (almost like she knew how we act in public) and KK requested the booth, which was practically closed off to the rest of the eating area. It was pretty cool to have our own little nook, and it was definitely necessary given our conversations. Our first, albeit brief, discussion involved the debate of "once saved, always saved" and how to interpret certain Bible verses about the issue. Soon Hannah was speaking in foreign accents and telling a made up story about the German phrase "macht schnell," which means hurry up, but Hannah told a story about a man herding snails 37 miles in Alaska. Because, you know, that's related. Our conversation soon drifted to the show "1000 Ways to Die" and how it would be amazing if Hannah went to the beach with her future husband dressed as an Amish couple, but then they opt to rebel and strip down to a bikini and speedo. KK and I are supposed to be in the crowd to film it whenever this occurs; I can't wait for that day.
After dinner we decided to go drive past the monastery to see if it was as interesting as we made it out to be in our heads. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of workers at the end of the driveway, so we couldn't go make friends with a bunch of Greek Orthodox monks. We circled back to the eatery's parking lot listening to the Rend Collective Experiment, which Hannah determined is like the Christian version of Mumford & Sons. We had an impromptu dance party in the parking lot following our spinning in circles and trying to walk straight on the lines of the parking lot. Definitely a lot harder than I thought it'd be. Soon we were taking pictures of all of us trying to do cartwheels and handstands, followed by interpretive dances such as life of a polliwog and attack of the dinosaur. I can't imagine a better way to send off a dear friend on a new adventure in life!

Take home points from my day:

• Euthanasia...not to be confused with kids in China
• I feel like I'm in an episode of The Big Bang Theory trying to find a chirping cricket inside 
• It's fun to play the game of "Who can drop more bo-bos"
• A 4 month old pretending to be superman is rather drooly
  
  

It's Funny Because I Thought About It

So last night I was out with friends at an Italian restaurant in Kutztown. It was a post-birthday birthday dinner extension whatever you wanna call it. Regardless, it was free food for me so I was happy, not to sound like a complete selfish jerk. I was super ecstatic to see a dessert called peanut butter explosion. Of course somebody had to be silly enough to ask me what it was and I promptly responded by saying it was an explosion of peanut butter...cue eye roll and a chorus of sighs. I then proceeded to entertain the waitress because I wrote something down on my hand to remember despite the fact that I had a notebook sitting on my lap. I told her it was because I wanted to remember it for later and I couldn't lose my hand unless somebody chopped it off. (Though that might be cool because I could be the female version of Captain Hook). The group's conversation then progressed into wondering whether or not you actually get drunker by drinking beer through a straw and the fact that Lu's family now has 15 beds for 4 people, which is the total opposite from her childhood. As she put it, "Four teenagers in the same room...I don't recommend it." We also got talking about the Train song "50 Ways to Say Goodbye" and how awesome it was and I pointed out the irony of a crappy purple Scion being parked in the parking lot behind us.

On a sidenote, I find it really touching that one of my friend's trusts me enough to text at like 1am to see if I'm awake and then proceed to spill out honest issues and truly ask for my advice. It means the world to me to be utilized by God in such a manner and being blessed with encouraging words to pass on via the Holy Spirit. Knowing that they could go to anybody else but opting for little me just makes me feel like I have a purpose. Sure, this person could have been talking to like five other people at the same time, but regardless, she still felt compelled to contact me and pour her heart out to me, and I'm grateful and blessed to have been able to assist the best I could.

To go off on another tangent, at 9pm tonight my brother is flying to Germany and will be gone until the end of July. I don't think I have allowed myself to fully comprehend the gravity of this. Not being able to randomly text him or hang out for 3.5 months will be a bit of a change. It just reminds me about how things in this life can change so fast. One minute you can be in the midst of a career and the next, you're  leaving that behind for a foreign country. In a sense, that's happened to me, minus the whole traveling to a foreign country. I fully expected to be working within the field of exercise physiology following the completion of my Master's degree, but that hasn't been in the cards for me. Instead, my life has been unemployment, temp jobs, Samaritan's Purse volunteer work, and realizing I'm heading back to my own personal Ninevah. And to tell you the truth, I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm definitely not doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing, but I think I'm on the right path. I have no bloody clue where that path is heading, but I'm happy to be on it and so utterly thankful for the people I've met along the way. I've discovered my true family in this process, which means more to me than any job or career ever could.

Take home points from my day:

• What came first, the cocaine or the brain aneurysm? 
• Paramore's new album is epic
• Everybody must read Sparkly Green Earrings
• It's best to laugh at life and yourself
• Reality can be painful and sobering, but must be accepted as is
• Accept all emotions from God, not just the good ones
• It's important to remember your life events
• The existence of the umbrella sword makes me happy inside

Quarter Century Reflections

Last night I had an early birthday dinner with my parents and brother. It was a tasty lasagna that I baked and a cake that my mom baked. Of course she used the candles that don't blow out, so I got a glass of water and dipped the candles in it since they wouldn't blow out. My brother was sweet and got me Oreos and a bouquet of roses. My dad gave me a sweet card that had a bookmark and said to keep reading and traveling, along with a large bag of mini Reese's cups. Madre got me two neon tanktops and a lovely card. Pretty awesome! I didn't realize until my brother was leaving, though, that it would be our last meal as a family until at least July since my brother is leaving for Germany next week.
Anyways, I turned 25 today. I'm not one who enjoys being the center of attention, so birthdays have a tendency to be a bit of a dilemma. I enjoy visiting people, but I don't want them to make a big deal over it or me. I also would much rather spend time with people than have them buy me presents because memories are what I really treasure, as opposed to material possessions. Overall, today was a fantastic day on many levels.
Despite the fact that I was functioning on three hours of sleep, I've enjoyed every minute of my birthday thus far. It was nice to get texts and Facebook messages from people, but I especially loved chilling with my favorite two month old. Getting to have naptime with Niklaus was super relaxing and just what I needed. Mama was nice enough to make me french toast for breakfast since I showed up at 10am, which was about 9 hours early for dinner according to Papa. I said it was because I wanted to make sure Mama didn't set it on fire by accident. J's Pop and Nan showed up for dinner, too, along with two friends and her sister Lu. Mama made an excellent spread of baked chicken, stuffed shells, Texas toast, meatballs, bowtie noodles, and sauce. To top it all off, they made me an icecream cake with chopped Oreos and Reese's cups and Skittles on top. The presents were lowkey and included a framed collage of pictures of me and the little guy, a 45 oz bag of Skittles and the book God Never Blinks, which has a bright orange cover...so me!
I think my favorite present, though, came from Hannah and KK from afar. They were at a flea market in Lewisburg and decided to make a video compilation singing me "Happy Birthday" in a variety of fashions that involved a creepy doll, mannequin heads, pictures of Dracula, and a roller skate with flowers jutting out of it. By far the sweetest and most hilarious thing anybody has ever done for me :)

Take home points from my day:

• Family is not all about DNA
• Correspond with those you love most no matter what
• I always end up getting random, extremely awkward advice from people such as you can wake up and eat at 2am but don't expect loving from a man who is fast asleep
• I'm an excellent multi-tasker
• My friends care more about me than I ever thought
• Moving in is not the same as passing through frequently

Five Hour Pancakes

Let me set the stage for you. I've been staying with a friend of mine who has a two month old; the cutest two month old ever, who is already a flirt. I see a budding mini Tony DiNizzo on the horizon. Needless to say, my sleep schedule and everybody else's in the house is a little less than normal because when the flirt wakes up, the majority of the house does too. This can make functioning throughout the rest of the day a little interesting to say the least.

Fast forward to about noon when Mama asks if we all would like pancakes. With a resounding yes, the griddle was warmed and ready for business! I opted to hold the little man while his ma ate her pancakes before I went to the kitchen for my serving of fresh pancakes. Papa was flipping over some pancakes when I got my plate of pancakes and returned to the living room. Mama insisted that I have seconds and to finish off the last of the pancakes so that there weren't any leftovers. Apparently she's realized the storage capacity of my so-called "hollow leg" and insists that I fill it to the brim with food. Once I had my fill of five pancakes, I chose to lay on the couch with the little man for the next four hours.

Four hours later, Mama walks into the living room clacking some hard brown objects together. She proceeded to tell us that I apparently did not ingest the last of the pancakes because she forgot about the four that were still cooking on the griddle and had been there for approximately five hours. Why we never smelled anything burning we'll never know, but chalk it up to some busy guardian angels! We also determined that five hour pancakes = not so instant hockey pucks. They also could be used to patch up holes in rusty car fenders, depending on your usage preference. Regardless, it makes for a funny story and Mama has since fired herself from working in the kitchen.

A little while later, the following conversation took place:

J: Can I go out on a limb here?

Me: Be careful!

J: Can I have an egg sandwich?

Mama: Now?

J: (insert sarcastic tone here) No, I'm putting in my order for tomorrow morning.

Me: Well, she figures it's gotta cook overnight (given the five hour pancake ordeal).

On a completely unrelated note, I opened the Sticky Notes application on my laptop and found some pretty awesome quotes that I typed from conversations I had with people. In no particular order we have:

"I used to be an altar boy. See I used to be close to God."..."Well what happened?"

"If you guys were in a sci-fi movie, you guys would be shot for noncompliance."

"The tank with no knees...sounds like a children's story."

"I'm not going for time. I'm going for don't break your ankle."

Take home points from my day:

• I got swayed, not suede the fabric
• Warning: if you go to grab the waffle box, beware of flying milk; it could knock you out
• Mama should attach smoke detectors to herself

Dessert Conversations

After the Good Friday service at church, my mom, brother, and his friend opted to go to a local restaurant for some tasty dessert. Turns out my brother had been there earlier in the evening, so the waitress was really confused. When she came up to the table she was like, "Weren't you here earlier? But you've since changed your shirt." Another waitress asked for my dad and my mom said he was out wandering, and the waitress said she'd pick him up on the way home if she happened to see him on the side of the road. Following this exchange, brownies, cannolis, and cheesecake were ordered along with some coffee, water, and milk. To be funny, my brother opted for using a straw with his coffee, but it turns out others have tried that in the past. I always avoid coffee because there is only a very small window in which it is drinkable. If you don't drink within that window, it's either scalding hot or too cool to be decent coffee.
Over dinner I recounted harrowing accounts of taking people down the river in the summer, explaining the fun joys of dealing with girls who, when told to paddle to shore, respond with, "What if we don't want to?" and another group involving people who really only knew Russian and two of whom were pregnant and I didn't know it. I guess a red flag should have been knowing they were part of a bungalow colony, but I'm not one who tends to ask questions. Maybe that should change in the future. I also shared about how I have been blessed with the opportunity to return family Bibles to two different families when deployed with Samaritan's Purse. It's amazing that these Bibles were even still intact, especially after the tornado and the demolition of the two homes, with the rubble getting piled along the road.
As we were getting to leave, we had a great conversation with our waitress. Apparently it'd been a really long day so she had opted for a Mountain Dew and two caffeine pills. We told her she didn't have to stand still since the ability to contain any movements would be too much to handle. She mentioned how her husband probably would be confused since she'd be so wired she'd wanna just go play Black Ops, rather than just passing out and sleeping immediately, which is what she normally does. Just to prove to her that she wasn't going crazy, we did show the waitress the collar of my brother's purple shirt to prove he was the same person as earlier. She commented on how it was very similar to an Easter egg, which was very fitting. She complained that she was stuck wearing all green, so I told her she was just like the grass in the bottom of the Easter baskets. Our waitress said she felt more like the Jolly Green Giant and said she should probably be holding be stalks of corn and trying to sell them to us. It was a rather random conversation, but made for some good laughs.

Take home points from my day:

• The best non sequitur when discussing weight distribution in a vehicle: and that's the same issue you'll run into if you don't compensate for added weight in a helicopter when breaking people out of jail
• Speaking of eating cats is another good non sequitur
• Apparently the only thing to do in Hdale at midnight is get inoculated for rabies
• There's great debate over whether to use "is" or "was" when describing a dead person's birthday
• Kodiak casserole = chopped bear
• We thought of behaving...well that ship's sailed

Long Drives, People Watching, and Bookstores

I find long drives to be very therapeutic. It's just me (and occasionally a passenger) and the open road prepared to rock out to some awesome tunes as I absorb the beautiful scenery and zooming cars. Today I happened to have the company of my brother to headbang to some old school New Found Glory as we chatted on our way to the Big Apple. We both have a similar distaste for New Jersey and commented on how we could have sworn the smell of the air changed (which honestly isn't much different than when I cross the bridge by Walmart going from Stroudsburg to East Stroudsburg). I figure not much good can come out of a place that promoted the show Jersey Shore, which is really just based on a bunch of drunks from Staaaten IIslaaand. The only plus is that there are no moose to avoid on the roadways like Maine. Luckily I like to drive or else the traffic halting every 5 miles for no apparent reason would have really driven me crazy. The drive went smoothly enough as I looped Park Avenue a handful of times waiting for my brother to come out of his appointment. I almost did something really cool and had the opportunity to drive through the Helmsley Building via the Park Avenue Viaduct (Viaduct...why a no chicken?) but talked myself out of it. Instead, on the way home we drove through Times Square just for kicks whilst in search of the Lincoln Tunnel entrance.
Now on to people watching. If you haven't discovered the beauty of this form of entertainment, you are truly missing out in life. You'll miss seeing a man walking his dog, yet looking directly up at the sky totally preoccupied to the point that he jerks to a stop when the dog stops to sniff a tree. On top of that, you'll miss out being confused by a woman carrying a sippy cup only to discover the man behind her carrying a baby girl who the sippy cup most likely belongs too, although one may not want to jump to too many conclusions via assumptions...then you're just a total ass. It's also pretty cool to see a man pedaling a bicycle with his two children on the back. Made me reminisce about my childhood briefly. Now the added bonus of people watching is when they come close enough that you can listen to their conversations and get to play the fun game of stifling your laughter so that they don't realize that you find them absolutely hilarious. For instance, a couple weeks ago I overheard some elderly man sharing a story with two of his friends in a Barnes & Noble. All I heard was that saw naked Norwegian man with an axe waded into a river in order to chop the ice. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up! Today the people that shared the icecream shoppe with me didn't let me down, either. This woman was going on and on about a stroller and then said that it was a gift to push her cat around in from her in-laws. Apparently the year before they gave her the cat. I wonder what she'll get next year as a gift. A kitty car? She then changed topics and mentioned something about college kids in costumes chasing her daughter or some girl down the street in office chairs. Trying to quell my laughter after that was darn near impossible because I kept wondering what kind of crazy life she lead, though she definitely brightened my day!
If I wasn't living out of my car and on the floors, couches, and beds of friends, I think I would set up camp in a used bookstore. I become so engrossed in all of the possible selections and I absolutely love the smell of old books! It's also great coming across new authors or new books by favorite authors. So many worlds can be discovered within a bookstore, and there are plenty of ridiculous signs and titles to laugh at. I mean, seriously, who puts the romance novels and Christian novels in the same section next to horror? That makes absolutely no sense! What's better is when the labels don't correspond to the book genre. Then I just like to figure out the possibility of how those books could relate to the topic anyway. But, dude, I really was amused by the children's book cover that said This Is Not My Hat, which had a fish swimming with a hat on. I am slightly intrigued and freaked out at how this could possibly happen in real life. I've also decided I might start reading books by Douglas Coupland just based on the fact that the titles of his books are awesome. Who wouldn't want to read Girlfriend in a Coma and Hey, Nostradamus!?

Take home points from my day:

• It might seem like I'm mooching off my parents, brother, and my friend's parents 
• If I say I want pasta, it means I'd be cool with a can of Chef Boyardee
• When deciding between a can or a bottle, opt for a canned bottle
• Pablo = Luis Garcia...close enough
• Velociraptor runs like dolphin (Tolkien sounds like dolphin)
• If the pizza shop owner begins talking in Russian, it means we're obnoxious and should sleep in the garage
• Don't take my awakeness away!
• The groundhog either lied or was drunk