inside: the thrilling adventures of kirsten

Today was great.  I wanted to let you know. :)

Work's busy, but that's alright.  Slowly but surely, I'm checking things off my long to-do list.

Just before lunch time two things happened simultaneously:
1) Marke bailed on our lunch plans together because he needed to take care of something.
2) Chris texted me and wanted to have lunch today.
So I had a really fun lunch with Chris!  So much fun!  I always think we don't see enough of each other.

This evening, Chris came over.  He was tonight's volunteer family dinner chef.  Once Roderick and Nate arrived, we all went to the grocery store for the food.  Chris decided on fajitas!  :)  Michael, Marke, Allison, and Grace joined us for dinner, as well.  Chris did a great job cooking, and the meal turned out perfectly.  And then I threw together some cookies for dessert, which were quite delicious with a scoop of ice cream.  The boys helped do all the dishes, and Michael even helped me hang up a picture that I've been meaning to hang since I moved here 15 months ago.  It was a great evening here, and I'm so thankful for my dear friends who bless me with their presence each Tuesday night and make this place really, really feel like home.

Also, I put a few new photos up on flickr. :)

Work has been pretty hectic--especially with me preparing to be gone for a whole week--but at least I found time to read James and Hebrews when I was waiting on something or bored or just in need of a break.  :)

Friday night was one of those mellow evenings that I ended up enjoying.  It started with me washing my car, which I enjoy more than normal people, I think.  It's just the being outside, doing something physical after a day in the office.  Anyway, then I headed down to the beach for a mellow bonfire with some friends.  And then dessert at Velvet Yogurt.  And then on to Denny's.  It was just a quiet evening around San Clemente with friends, and I enjoyed it.

On Saturday, I arranged to meet up with Lauren at JC Bean (a local coffeeshop we frequent) mid-day.  When I arrived, I spotted Nate's car in the parking lot.  He happened to be going there, too, so the three of us hung out a bit and went over to Thai This for some delicious lunch.  And then Lauren and I hit the beach, where we ran into Eric, Eric's sister Janelle, and her boyfriend Jake.  They just happened to be there and like 20 yards away from where Lauren and I were.  So anyway, we hung out with them for a while.

In the evening, I went over to Annamarie's, where Lauren used to live also, for a party.  I had so much fun listening to her friends (and my friends joined in, too!) play island music in the backyard.  I was totally transported all the way to Hawaii without having to endure the long plane ride, and I got to bring all my friends, too!  It was great!

And then Nate, Megan, Lauren, Danny, and I went to see "District 9," which I totally recommend.  Definitely more than just an alien movie.  Really, really good.  And a great end to a nice Saturday.

Yesterday, I went to church, had an awesome lunch with friends at Baja Fish, and ran some errands.  And then I threw an impromptu BBQ in the park behind my apartments.  A bunch of people came, the guys took care of the BBQing, and we hung out.  It was really fun!  I love that little park.  It's gorgeous, and there are rarely people there.  Lots of good memories there, for sure.  And then a few people came over to watch "Good Will Hunting," one of my very favorite movies.  Nate had never seen it before; it was time.

And I'm working on making sure I'm ready to go camping on Saturday.  Checking things off my list of stuff I need to make sure I have.  This is different from preparing for the sort of traveling or vacationing I normally do.  But I'm excited to go, for sure.  Oh, and it was a good excuse to pick up a couple pairs of new jeans, which I honestly needed pretty badly.  :)

That's it from here tonight.  More soon...

Well, I've been keeping myself fairly busy.  Haha!  Highlights...

I took last Wednesday off (amazing, I know!), and Nate and I hung out.  We had a really good lunch at Corner Bakery.  Why don't I go there more often?  Their salads are amazing.  Anyway, then we headed up to LA to see a taping of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.  That was the day I happened to get tickets for, so we went.  Anyway, we cut it super close with the traffic and madness of just driving in LA, and we were even dreaming up all the other LA things we could do if we didn't make it to the studio by 3:30.  But we made it just barely.  So we spent the afternoon waiting in line and then being led through aiport-like security to get into the studio where they film.  And then we watched them film the whole show for the night, which was really fun and sort of silly.  I mean, to really see how taken care of celebrities are is crazy, but not that suprising.  Anyway, it was a fun thing to do.  Then we grabbed some dinner before making the drive back that night.  And actually, we kind of hung out the rest of the evening, eventually meeting up with some more friends.  Anyway, it was an awesome day off.  :)

On Friday, there was a lot more of me being a slacker at work. ;)  I took off around noon, made a quick change, and then met up with Nate, Lauren, and Lauren's friend Danny.  We all headed up to LA (yes, twice in three days).  We wandered around the Walt Disney Concert Hall (on the outside), which is a really interesting, beautiful building.  And then we walked over to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, which is another architecutural gem.  Anyway, we explored there a bit.  Nate started talking to a man trying to fix the enormous organ there, and all of a sudden he was helping him fix it (with careful instruction) and scoring us all a trip up into the pipes.  Seriously cool!  And Nate got to to way, way up into the pipes (6 stories).  Anyway, it wasn't what any of us expected when we visited the church, but it was really fun.  Next up, we met up with Ramie, Megan, and Annamarie, and tried to have dinner at CPK but failed.  So we found a really great Italian restaurant a few blocks away, which turned out to provide us with a pretty awesome meal.  I'm so glad. :)  And finally, we went to a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  We saw the choral music of Eric Whitacre as performed by the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.  A huge group of us went to this.  Anyway, the music was stunning.  Just incredible.  I definitely want to spend more time taking in the arts.  Anyway, after a long day in LA, we headed back towards home, stopping at In-N-Out for a late-night snack.

Oh, so Lauren came to stay with me for a few days.  We spent Saturday together hanging out in Laguna Beach and then in Dana Point at Strands with some more friends.  Yes, we're at Strands beach all the time.  Yes, I love that I have a usual beach.  Anyway, it was a fun day, and then in the evening, we went to Oral History Night with the Emmaus crew.  Hanssel told his life story, and it was awesome.  And somehow I ended up talking outside with friends for hours and hours into the middle of the night.  Good fun. :)

Sunday was another jam-packed day.  Church.  Beach birthday party for Brielle, who turned 1.  She's the daughter of our friends James and Megan.  And then headed up to Annajoy's house in the mountains for an evening BBQ.  The highlight was probably the crazy ride there and back in Nate's car.  Oh, boys and their cars. ;)  Actually, it was also fun to have a mellow evening with friends in a beautiful location.

And things since have been pretty normal.  Quiet evenings Monday and tonight, though I did get some cleaning and writing and reading and other chores done.  Last night's family dinner was delicious and cheap; I made pizzas and salad, and we went out for dessert at Velvet Yogurt. :)

Anyway, enough out of me.  Busy busy and gearing up for travel. :)

This is not the post you're likely expecting.  Well I mean, it's the post I promised.  It's just probably not the news you were suspecting.  Unless, of course, I've already told you about this, though that doesn't apply to many.

I was at the beach two weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon with a bunch of friends.  The surf had been huge for the past couple of days because of a storm in Tahiti about a week prior.  Whatever, this is not especially relevant to anything.  I swam in the waves for a while with friends, but mostly I lazed around on a towel on the hot sand.  Later in the day, I tried swimming again when Megan, Roderick, and Nate were going in.  Too much surf.  It wasn't fun; it was work.  I went straight back to my towel after swimming through just a few waves.

Then Michael talked to Ben while looking at the horizon.  And then spoke to the lifeguard whose tower we were right next to.  And I observed.  And while Megan and I were standing talking about the huge waves, the lifeguard put down his binoculars and picked up his rescue gear.  He sprinted down the beach.  And Michael followed down the beach.  I grew especially concerned.  The ocean is dangerous, and my friends were two of those teeny, tiny heads I could see in the water way, way, way down the beach.  But which two?

Megan and I walked down the beach.  A long ways.  And we eventually realized we were indeed approaching a rescue.   We spotted Ben in the small crowd gathered around someone lying on the beach, and our pace quickened immediately.  Roderick.

We approached the chaotic scene and saw Roderick lying unconscious on the beach, surrounded by lifeguards and a few friends.  Nate stood at his feet cooperating with the lifeguards, trying desperately to help in any possible way and dripping wet.  Tip him to the side while he tries to cough up some of the Pacific.  Pray.  And then he came to suddenly.  Coughing and confusion and a sernse of relief.  Megan and I prayed together while the paramedics checked him out.  And then we rejoined the small crowd around Roderick.

The lifeguards frustratingly asked everyone not related to the patient to take a few big steps back.  No one moved.  We're his family.  We're all with him.  We stood there, a mismatched crew of soldiers, shoulder-to-shoulder and unwavering in our commitment to Roderick.  Brothers and sisters in the blood of Christ.

The paramedics finished treating Roderick on the beach and decided to take him to the hospital for more treatment.  We gathered our belongings and followed.  Nate.  Hanssel.  Michael.  Jesse.  Amy.  Dan.  Megan.  Ben.  Kirsten.  Roderick's family.  We all stood outside the hospital waiting for someone to let us see Roderick.  One at a time in the ER.  Nate went first, and he came out with a look I wasn't expecting.  And then slowly, each person had their turn.  Some repeated.  I waited and waited and prayed and waited and got news from my friends and from a doctor and tried to piece together what was going on.  He was alive but with some water in his lungs and some memory loss.  And then more memory loss.

Eventually it got really late, and I left to find some food with Nate and Lauren.  And Nate and I went back to the hospital, making our way through the maze of hallways to the room where Roderick had been moved to.  He remembered who I was, and he was quite excited about it.  We spent some time together in that hospital room talking.   Roderick couldn't remember a lot of his life.  But we were there, bonded through the whole experience, intentionally brought through a crazy experience together for a purpose higher than ourselves.

It's incredible to watch how things have played out since this evening.  The Lord set us all up, and now He's just working through and with each of us, changing lives and relationships and everything.  The bonds are stronger.  Lives are taken more seriously.  We're consciously caring for each other.  And the effects are being felt beyond the small church group of us.

There are more details to what happened that day on the beach, but I don't tell the story as well as Nate.  He was there, and he rescued Roderick (and himself) in a crazy fashion, along with a couple other swimmers.  They just got caught in the extremely strong riptide there.  Roderick was in the hospital for two days before moving in with Grandma Renie (Jamie and Jessica's grandma and Bridget's mom).  He's getting his memories back slowly but surely, kind of like in a cheezy movie.

So I think that's basically the story.  Things are just different now.  God does amazing things, answers prayers, and scares us.  It's incredible and I'm beyond thankful for all that He's doing in me and in my (church) family.  I'll keep you posted on how things progress.

Well, I've kicked off a new year of life.  It's been spectacular.  I'll try to get through the highlights for you. :)

I had an absolutely amazing birthday day.  Nate and I just hung around San Clemente (I took the day off work).  Seriously, we just hung out and it was wonderful.  And then he took me to the airport and it was a rad carride because he sang the whole way.  I met Adam there and we missed our flight but flew to Oakland on a later flight.  There was pizza from Amici's, just like I'd wanted, and Kath and Mel came to the house and hung out.  And my parents were there, too.  And it was just an awesome birthday all the way around.

On that Saturday, the family came over for a big birthday party, like we do most years.  It was really nice to see everyone, and I enjoyed it immensely.  And then Dad, Adam, Katherine, and I went up to the City to AT&T Park to see Kenny Chesney in concert.  It was a massive concert!  Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert opened, and they were both great.  And then Kenny was so much fun.  He kept the thousands and thousands totally involved even in that huge place.  So fun and a great birthday present from Uncle Ken. :)

On Sunday, I got to hang out with the fam.  We had a wonderful breakfast in Woodside.  And then I lunched with Meg and Kath on Meg's break before Kath took me out for Sprinkles cupcakes.  What a great little weekend at home!

Adam and I flew back to Long Beach, where I was greeted by Nate and Roderick.  They even came inside, and I love that.  We headed down to San Clemente for some frozen yogurt, a walk to the pier, and a movie at my house.  What a great welcome back home. :)

I had a birthday dinner her with frineds.  I kept it all super casual and just told a few people that we'd gather at Stuft Pizza.  And between work and dinner, Nate and I made a Sprinkles run.  I'm sure he thought it was absolutely ridiculous and he'll never do that with me again (unless maybe it's my birthday), but it was fun.  Anyway, we got the pizza place and more and more friends just kept showing up until we had taken over a section of the restaurant.  We ate and hung out and had a great time together.  And then some of us came back to my house for cupcakes.  It was just a wonderful blessing to have so many come celebrate with me. :)  I'm so thankful!

I've been going to the beach with friends a lot.  A lot a lot.  It's so easy to do that here and the beaches and the weather are so gorgeous that I can't really help myself. :)

Lauren moved back to Santa Barbara before she moves to London in September.  I miss having her around all the time, but I'm excited she'll be visiting this weekend and we have fun things planned.  And we got to celebrate her birthday with her before she left, too, so that was cool.

And then there's this one other really big thing.  I'm not sure how to explain all of it here and do it justice.  It's been life changing.  I'm still working on it, though.  More soon...

The news remains the same: I am a busy girl.  :)

Work's busy.  The entire company is in the office this week for our annual meetings.  So yeah, that's the story from there.  Let's get on to what else I've been up to, what else interesting is going on.

Friday I got to hang out with Nate some before going to a birthday bonfire at the beach in celebration of Hanssel's birthday.  Totally chill.  Good time.

Saturday, Marke and I went for a really great hike in the hills above Laguna Beach.  I'm loving our hikes more and more.  And then I got cleaned up and hung out with Nate for the rest of the evening.  We had a night full of random, quiet activities, including dinner, browsing the bookstore, going to the market, drinking coffee, driving to Laguna and having an odd walk around, listening to jazz, and watching "V for Vendetta."  We just hung out.

Sunday was a cool day.  Church.  Breakfast at lunchtime.  Phone calls from coffeeshops.

And then the main event.  Sunday was the day Nate and I had set aside to do the big birthday celebrating for him. The first stop was the Nordstrom Rack, where we looked for new shirts but ended up with new shoes instead.  He loves them.  They're really nice.  Oh, boys.  And then we went to the Orange County Performing Arts Center to see the stage production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."  We both loved the movie as kids, and I saw the stage show 6 years ago when I lived in London.  Well anyway, we both really loved it.  Nate's head might have exploded though, as he'd never been to the theatre before.  Or heard a live orchestra play.  Or anything like that.  So anyway, that whole thing was just amazing.  And then we had dinner at Maggiano's, which was perfect.  Love that place.  Awesome dinner.  :)

Monday I went to my regular women's Bible study and then went over to Nate's.  We went for a run.  He kind of kicked my butt, but I ran the whole way, so I'm stoked on that.  :)

Last night's Tuesday Night Family Dinner was a small affair, being just Roderick, Chris, and me.  But we had a great dinner and talked lots and lots and had a good time.  It was just what I needed after a long, long day, I'm sure.

And tonight, I worked late (so I can take Friday off).  And then I met up with Nate for a late dinner (which was actually breakfast) at Corky's.  And it's just been a good day.  And that's about it.

My 26th year is quickly wrapping itself up, and I'm looking forward to my trip home this weekend. :)  More soon...

Well, I have been a busy girl, as usual.  It's been a good couple of days.  There's been work, but I'll just write about the other stuff.

Tuesday, I had really good lunch with Marke.  The weather out here is perfect right now, so we went for a walk and had lunch and hung out and talked.  And I needed that.  And it was lovely.

And I snuck out of work early and met up with Nate, Megan, and Roderick at the beach.  Yep.  Baech.  After work.  My life is ridiculous.  ;)  And then we had our regular Tuesday night Family Dinner at my place.  Jamie and Eric and Marke came over, too.  Nate and I put together a couple really good pizzas (with help from Trader Joe's).  And then we went down to Velvet Yogurt for some dessert because Nate and I are junkies.  It was a really fun evening.  Oh!  And there was Winslow Homer mixed up in there somewhere, too.  Fun evening. :)

Yesterday, I worked on a recipe for whole wheat cookies.  I'm still trying it out, though.  And I should have started a little differently.  But that's okay.  I'm just trying to figure out a good way to get cookies that are made out of all real foods.  Anyway, then I headed over to Marke's.  We hung out there a bit and went over to Beachfire to see Travis (and the rest of the band) play for a little bit.  I always enjoy seeing them.  :)  Especially when it's at a place as mellow as Beachfire.  Anyway, it was good to hang with Marke a bit.

And then I met up with Nate for late-night breakfast and lots of conversation.  He had a really strange day yesterday.  It was very entertaining for me.  Haha!  Anyway, so I hung out with him until late enough.  And then came home and talked to him online until I was falling asleep at the computer.

So, today I'm tired.  I want caffeine, but I'm off it right now.  It'll likely be another late evening.  My life is good. :)

After a mellow day of work, I made myself a little dinner and caught up on last week's "So You Think You Can Dance."  Dance is amazing like other artforms are amazing.  Seriously.  Check this out if you want to see something brilliant in two minutes.  Gah.  Amazing.

Anyway, then I met up with Janet, Amy, and Megan (and Janet's friend and friend's sister) for line dancing at Tia Juana's.  We had a really good time dancing the night away!  I am getting better slowly but surely.  I hardly even stepped on anyone the whole time!  Now I really just need boots.  Seriously.  Boots.  :)

And now I'm wide awake in the middle of the night.  And hungry.  Oops.  Oh, I live a very fun life. :)

Life here has me keeping quite busy, though with all these little things that won't sound as good in writing as they were to live.  So you'll have to believe me when I tell you that I'm just a happy girl.  :)

Last Sunday was one of my favorite days.  It started with John giving a great message at church.  And then there was a delicious lunch at Baja Fish.  And then Marke, Allison, Grace, and I went hiking in the afternoon.  It was probably too hot to be out there hiking in the sun but it was still really, really nice.

But the evening was the highlight.  Nate and I grabbed a quick dinner and then headed up to LA to Largo at the Coronet to see The Punch Brothers play live.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  AMAZING!  Perfect.  I don't know how to explain this show in words other than to tell you that the whole night was perfect.  It was a small theatre and we were close enough to see all the guys' fingers moving on the strings of the instruments.  And the sound was perfectly clear.  And their musicianship completely blew me away.  And I hung on each little note.  Gah!  Absolutely brilliant and incredible.  If you don't know who the Punch Brothers are, please go learn more about them.  Anyway, I want to relive this concert forever.  Yes, it was that good.  Anyway, Nate loved it at least as much as I did.  So yeah. :)

Work was slow all week.  That was okay with me because I'd been so busy there.  This allowed for a little time to hang with Marke or crossword or things like that.  So yeah, good week at work.

Monday night, I had women's study with everyone and then met up with Nate at Corky's.  Because they're open 24 hours.  Sometimes it's rad to sit and talk about writing and words and stories and stuff.  Anyway, we had breakfast.  Because I love breakfast.

Tuesday I was feeling kind of inspired, so I decided to do all the cooking for our regular Tuesday Night Family Night here.  And because I was ambitious, I made new things.  I made lemon pepper pasta with peas, asparagus, and prosciutto.  And an apple-blueberry cobbler.  Everything was really delicious, and Chris, Jamie, Jen, Lauren, Roderick, and Nate all seemed to love everything, too. :)

Wednesday was Nate's birthday, which meant doing some celebrating with him.  Twenty-seven full years.  Anyway, he wanted it to be kind of quiet so we had lunch at Pacific Whey (well he had lunch and I had breakfast).  And after bringing Lauren to LAX that night, I went over to Nate's for presents and ice cream pie.  It was just good.  I'm not sure what else to say about it.

Thursday was really fun for me.  I got to leave work at one, so Marke and I had a fun little afternoon together.  We had lunch at Larocco's Pizza and then had frozen yogurt at Velvet Yogurt.  I was excited he actually liked both places because he can be kind of particular.  And then we had thought about walking around but the beach was so windy and foggy that we opted for coffee and a crossword.  Still, a really lovely afternoon.  And then I met up with Nate for a little bit before Emmaus.  We read and then had some dinner.  Super mellow.  And then Emmaus was good, as usual.  And Corky's (yes, again) with friends was cool.  And somehow I ended up at Nate's until the wee hours of the morning having tea and talking and whatever.  Doing nothing really.  Didn't mean to be out so late, but it was my weekend! :)

Yesterday was also really, really lovely.  I slept in delightfully late.  And then went on a really good hike with Marke.  He worked me hard.  And I made him go hiking instead of watching a movie.  So we motivated each other. :)  And after getting cleaned up, I met up with Nate for an evening of hanging out and music and talking and good food.  And was again out until all hours.  But it was so cool.  A day with the boys.  Love it. :)

And so I suppose that brings me to the Fourth.  I had coffee with Kathie (she's Marke's mom) this morning.  And this afternoon we're going to play volleyball in the park and BBQ before heading down to the beach to watch fireworks.  Should be fun.  :)

So that's about it from here.  I'm getting anxious to be home in a couple weeks for my birthday. :)

Today I joined Lauren for a day that centered around things she likes.  Of course, that works well for me because we do like simliar things.  Oh, and Ramie came, too. :)

After an early-morning coffee stop, we headed out to Pasadena to meet up with Lauren's dad.  We had breakfast at an adorable little restaurant, where we sat on the porch of what looked like a great old cottage.  And my food was delicious, as well!  And then we walked all around.  It was a gorgeous morning, so it was nice to be out and about.

Next up, we went to Pomona because Lauren had to take care of an errand there today for her visa.

And then we drove all the way to La Jolla because our original plan for the day was to go to San Diego.  We stopped at the Salk Institute to check out the building, which was done by a famous architect.  Lauren loves buildings.  :)  And then we went to Torrey Pines Golf Course.  Lauren also loves golf.  We strolled around there a bit because it was really pretty.  And then we had an early, lite dinner at the resaturant there.  We sat outside overlooking the golf course on a gorgeous afternoon.  It was lovely.

And tonight, I met up with a bunch of friends for frozen yogurt from my favorite place, Velvet Yogurt, and then a stroll down to the pier.  The weather tonight was absolutely perfect.  I love summer.

Also, check out all the SF photos up on my flickr now. :)

oh.  my.  goodness.  i've been gone way too long.  oops!  but i will try to give you the hightlights of what i've been up to.  but basically, i've been so busy having a wonderful time with friends and family.  it's been pretty amazing.

first of all, i've been working pretty hard lately.  jason's wife had a baby, who will be in the hospital for a while to come, so he was gone for a while.  and even now that he's back, he's not 100% there.  so i'm spending a lot of time trying to keep the department in order.  and going on sales calls.  and just taking on responsibilities that i've never had before.  i got pretty stressed out there for a while, but i'm much more comfortable now.

and church is treating me quite well, these days, also.  and keeping me busy.  and teaching me a ton.  i have even started going to zoe on sundays (instead of to st. edward's, where i'd been going off and on for a long time now).  that's been pretty wonderful, and i definitely feel like a part of the church community there.  emmaus is getting better each week, and i fall in more in love with the mid-week study each wednesday.  anyway, it's all been great.  and changing my life.  in case you were wondering. :)  and after emmaus, we hang out, and sometimes there are photos.

mom, dad, and adam came to visit me for a weekend.  i threw a big game night at my apartment so they could meet more of my friends, and that was so awesome.  everyone had a really great time, and i loved it!  plus, just seeing the family all weekend was really, really nice.  we just hung out, much like we'd do if we were in san carlos.  it was great.

lauren, allison, allison's daughter grace, marke, and i did a day at the san diego zoo.  marke hasn't spent a lot of time in zoos, which was really funny to me.  but anyway, we had a good time hanging out around there.  there are some funny photos here.

meg came to visit me for a weekend!  we hung out.  and then meg, marke, dana, lauren, and i went to san diego for an evening of awesomeness.  we had a delicious dinner and found a rad dessert place.  and then we went to see "rent."  gah!  amazing!  with the original mark and roger!  it blew my mind, and thinking about it still makes me really, really excited.  it was spectacular.  even after seeing it so many times.  i serioulsly love love that show.  photos from our night of fun are here.

marke, dan, and i threw a huge bonfire on the beach!  in my (crazy little) head, it was the start of summer!  we had a really good time with all our friends barbequing and making s'mores.  mmm... delicious!  it was just a chill night hanging out, and i'm hoping there will be more of those soon.

i went with jessica and amy to see missy higgins at the orpheum in la.  it was so great to hang out with those girls!  lenka and justin nozuka were great opening acts, and then missy higgins was pretty spectacular.  she can just sing, sing, sing.  i love she she often sent the band off-stage and played either just the piano or guitar.  it was incredible, and she's really talented.  that was a great night of live music!

roderick, nate, ramie, lauren, hanssel, and i spent a sunday night eating frozen yogurt, talking to mormons, playing in a playground, and taking photos by a fountain.  what a fun way to wrap up a weekend.  i really like ending the weekend with friends around. :)

tonight, hung out with marke, matt, and matt's new lady kirby.  we watched the ducks game at a sports bar.  and then we went bowling.  it sounds mellow.  it kind of was, but it was also a total blast!  we really did have a lot of fun just hanging out all evening, and i'm thankful it worked out that way.

some other random things that have gone on:
i played basketball with eight guys from emmaus one sunday afternoon.  i wasn't very good, but i had so much fun.
i attended a surprise birthday party for jen claire, which was a good time.  afterwards, i ended up on a bridge overlooking dana point, which is pretty rad.
i've been going on after-work hikes in san clemente with lauren now that we have enough daylight.  we live in a gorgeous place.
i went rollerskating with the girls of emmaus, which was a blast!
marke and i helped liz celebrate her birthday (photos here and here), and it was good to spend an evening with some different friends.  again, we ended up on that bridge with friends afterwards.  and with cigars.
i threw a frisbeen terribly at a zoe picnic, but i had a nice time hanging out with friends in the park on a sunday afternoon.
i thought roderick was moving to san diego, and then he didn't.  and now he lives with chris, so that's rad.
i had a weird st. patrick's day, but have since sorted out so much stuff in my life that it all seems so long ago now.
marke and i got our cars washed together, because we're awesome like that.
i let my friends stay over until 3am just talking because sometimes it's really, really fun, even if also totally irresponsible.
i saw "i love you, man," and "monsters vs. aliens," both of which are hilarious in completely different ways.

and i have some fun stuff coming up.
i'm going to see keith anderson, luke bryan, and the lost trailers on tuesday night.
i'm going home for easter weekend and can hardly wait to see my parents.
my friends and i are roadtrippig up to the bay area in early may for a weekend of fun.

so that's it for tonight.  i'll try to be better about updating.  just know that i'm so happy and life is treating me well. :)

well, i've managed to keep myself quite busy with unexpeted things.  it's been lovely. :)

thursday night, i went to emmaus, which was awesome.  please, go to the website and download the audio for "through the looking-glass."  awesome.  anyway, after that, i ended up in denny's having breakfast with megan and roderick until about 1:30 in the morning.  i have no idea where the time went, but i got to know a lot more about both of them, see more of their true personalities.  it was wonderful, even if i was so tired the next morning at work.

friday, marke and i had lunch with lauren.  we walked to meet up with her, which is always a nice treat.  and hanging out with lauren is always good, too. :)

friday night, i met up with lauren, roderick, eric, and marke to see "frost/nixon."  we didn't end up seeing it.  that was the second time i've tried to see that and failed.  instead, we went bowling, which was really fun.  i bowled poorly, but it was awesome.  and eric gave us all very strange bowling names.  turned out "kierstein!" is really fun to yell really loudly, so it has managed to stick.  haha!  anyway, after bowling i went out to t.g.i. friday's with marke and we sat and talked at the bar all night.  he drank and i had dessert, and we caught up with each other a bit.  it was lovely.  for the second time, i've been completely content to miss out on "frost/nixon" for hanging out instead. :)

saturday morning (and into the afternoon), i was lounging around being generally quite lazy adn watching basketball.  marke decided he wanted to meet up for lunch, so we did that.  and then we picked up lauren for a walk at the beach.  and then we drove up to newport for cupcakes.  and then we went to jesse's birthday party.  and then we went to the harbor house for a late-night meal with chris and katie.  and i never thought i was going to be gone that long so i spent the whole day in jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap.  it was wonderful.  i have rad friends. :)

so because i got nothing accomplished really yesterday, i had to get on it this morning.  i did grocery shopping, cooked, did yoga, cleaned, and made sure i was all ready to entertain.  i had a ton (way more than i ever expected!) of friends show up to watch the oscars with me.  i made ballots and everyone filled them out before the show started.  we had a three-way tie for the most points (various categories were weighted with various amounts of points).  it was so fun and we all ate some great food.  and if i'm allowed to brag for a moment, i made an apple-blueberry pie without a recipe and it turned out fabulously. :)  so i had a fun night with everyone!

and now i'm ready for yet another busy week. :)

well, let me figure out where i left off.  i believe it was two sundays ago.  that night, i had jen claire, lauren, and marke over to watch a movie.  and then i couldn't get my dvd player to work (though i fixed it that night after everyone had gone home), so we watched some tv instead and just hung out.  with friends is always a nice way to round out a weekend. :)

and then i kept myself fairly busy last week.

monday night, i went out line dancing with janet and some of her friends.  i haven't done that in a very, very long time, and it was so much fun!  i was pretty terrible because i didn't know any of the dances at all so i was pretty much constantly doing the wrong thing, but it was still so fun to try!  :)  i'll be back there again soon, i'm sure.

tuesday night, i met with annajoy, allison, and marke to talk about acts.  we're reading it one chapter a day with all of emmaus and then discussing it in small groups once a week.  that went really well, and i'm enjoying the process of reading along with everyone else.

on thursday, marke and i spent our lunch hour baking a carrot cake.  well, i baked the cake.  he did all the grating of the carrots, though.  we wanted to help lauren celebrate getting into a very prestigious architecture program in london!  so after emmaus, we had a bunch of friends over to my apartment and had cake and celebrated.  it was lovely and fun.  and i'm so excited for lauren!

on friday, i picked up sarah from the long beach airport, and as we have taken to doing, we had a late dinner at maggiano's before heading back to my apartment.  mmm... maggiano's!  i seriously love that place.  so.  good.  sarah came to spend the long weekend hanging out with me.

on saturday, we decided to go to disneyland together.  it was chilly out, but sunny and dry, so a good day to be there.  it was pretty crowded, but we managed to fit in lots of rides.  and we even stayed for the fireworks and fantasmic.  the day was really fun.  it'd been way too long since i'd last been to disneyland.

on sunday, i introduced sarah to wahoo's.  and then we went up to newport for cupcakes from sprinkles, the one thing we for sure had to do while sarah was visiting.  more delicious food for us!  and then we drove all the way down to carlsbad to the outlets there for a little shopping.  i tried on tons of stuff and found a few good bargains. :)

sunday night, sarah and i met up with marke, chris, and lauren for dinner at the cheesecake factory.  i wanted sarah to meet some of my friends here, and she agreed to, which was great.  we had an excellent dinner, laughing and eating and enjoying each other's company.  i love dinners like that one: surrounded by great friends just having a really fun time.

on monday, sarah and i went up to costa mesa for some more shopping.  we had a great lunch and then browsed a few stores.  mostly, we just hung out.  and then it was time to take her to the airport.  we had a nice weekend together. :)

and i'm still busy as ever.  i had a rough tuesday with an insanely busy day at work and my own stress leading me to go a little insane myself.  but that's all sorted and things seem great once again.

so anyway, lots more fun is on the agenda.  i'll write again soon. :)

i have been amazingly busy.  it's been really wonderful.  :)

i've spent a lot of time in marke's-birthday mode.  two thursdays ago, after a late night out with the emmaus crew at in-n-out, i went home and baked cupcakes.  and then the next day, we celebrated marke's birthday (two days early) at work.  jason, james, chris, marke, and i had a delicious birthday lunch at selma's and then enjoyed cupcakes.  it was nice and a good start to all the birthday things that were to come.  :)

two fridays ago, i went to a really fun birthday party for my friend jamie.  it was 80's-themed and at the local bowling alley, saddleback lanes.  i got all sorts of crazy dressed up.  i haven't been i public looking quite that ridiculous in a long time.  and some of my friends dressed up, too, including marke, who was dressed basically just like zack morris from "saved by the bell."  and in fact, the group i bowled with decided we should all use names from that show as our bowling names.  i was lisa turtle.  the whole night was really, really fun, and you can check out some of the photos here.

the next day, i met up with lauren, cody, and marke for coffee at this place lauren loves called the neighborhood cup.  they were all studying various things, but i brought a novel with me and read.  it was lovely.  i think i could sit all day long just reading and sipping good coffee.  :)  plus, it's just a nice way to start a weekend.

and after that, lauren and i hung out a bit.  we drove up the coast.  we stopped in lagana beach to walk around and take a few photos.  it was an absolutely gorgeous day out.  and then we went up to newport for cupcakes at sprinkles.  so delicious!  i love that lauren is now the one asking me if we can go there.  haha!  i have her totally hooked, and it's so fun for me!  anyway, then we headed back toward home and did a little shopping for a project we were putting together for marke and annajoy's birthdays.

that night, marke and i were going to go see a movie but when i picked him up, we decided we were so starving that we wanted to go get food instead.  so we drove down to the cheesecake factory and had a delicious dinner and sat and talked a while.  we also ran into our friend jessica who works there and got some coupons for free cheesecake, which is awesome!  and then we went to one bookstore.  and then another.  and then we drove around going nowhere for a while.

and then we eventually met up with annajoy, her sister, and allison at this little place called rocks.  it was a bar but had a dancefloor and a bad dj.  and it was worse than a dive.  and everyone in there smoked constantly.  yes, inside.  and it was only fun because of the company.

last sunday was marke's birthday!  he turned 26!  old man!  ;)  i spent the morning baking black pepper-gruyere cheese puffs and chocolate chip cookies.  and then i headed over to marke's house for a super bowl party.  there was a ton of food because his mom is a great cook.  lots of people showed up, and it was a lot of fun to watch the game with everyone. :)

on tuesday, i had a lauren-filled day.  marke and i met her for lunch at this little cafe across the street from where we work.  and then she came over to my office after work to help me some more with the collages we put together for marke and annajoy for their birthdays.  we had everyone sign them at their big party (that's coming up), and they made a pretty cool gift.  and when lauren and i were done with that, we had a delicious dinner at a thai place on del mar.  it was nice to just hang out with her.

on wednesday morning, marke brought me coffee.  he made my day.  he's such a good friend.

i bought myself new running socks finally.  i've been doing lots of running lately (well, lots for me, anyway), and i only had a couple pairs of good socks.  a long run in bad socks nearly killed me, so it was finally time.  anyway, it makes me feel like my dad.  he loves good socks.

thursday morning, i accidentally slept through my two alarms.  oops!  i woke up 5 minutes before i was meant to be at work, so i rushed around to get ready and head there.  and then i rushed around all day at work trying to make sure i got everything done that needed to be done that day.  i knew it was going to be a busy one.  and it was strangely still a really, really fun day at work, even though i felt like i was rushing around constantly.

after work on thursday, i went to emmaus and then out to in-n-out with everyone.  and then i went home to bake.  except first, i needed to stop at a grocery store to get ingredients for (more) cupcakes.  so i went to the huge albertson's near me, but it closed at midnight and it was 12:06.  so i called marke because he tends to know things like which stores are open late.  though really, i think grocery stores should all be open 24 hours.  anyway, he pointed me in the right direction, but it was nearly 1 by the time i got home.  and then i baked 40+ cupcakes.  and then allison met me at home during my lunch break on friday and we frosted cupcakes.  they were for marke and annjoy's birthday party that night.  it was good to hang out with allison (and her daughter, grace) for a little bit, too.  she's really sweet.

also on friday, i snuck out of work an hour early because there was almost no one left in the office.  and i thought about going to the gym in my stolen hour.  and i thought about a nap.  but ultimately, i decided to just sit still for a minute and watch a little tv and sort of just calm down.  i hadn't done that in so long, and i really, really needed it.

and on friday night, we had a huge party to celebrate marke and annajoy's birthdays.  the two of them started the planning but then pretty much turned it over to allison and me, so i was in red robin an hour early to make sure we'd have tables for all 30+ people.  anyway, we had a great turnout, and everyone seemed to be having fun!  dinner was good. and then we all went over to dave and busters for some video games and  pool.  i played a little, but mostly i hung out with lots of friends and had a wonderful time.   and i was out way too late and loved it all.  so anyway, i hope they had great birthdays!  i enjoyed celebrating with them. :)  there are some photos here.

yesterday, i slept in nice and late, which i needed after being up until 3am the previous two nights.  and then i met up with marke, annajoy, and her son justin to see the movie "coraline."  i thought it was pretty cool and very beautiful.  plus, i was so tired that sitting in a movie was about as active as i felt like being at that point.

in the evening, i went to an emmaus oral history night.  we had a potluck dinner (i brought a delicious marionberry pie from trader joe's) and then jr shared his life story.  it was really wonderful, and i love these events.  then i hung out talking to different friends for a while until it was suddenly late and i headed home.

and this afternoon, i met up with aunt nancy and her friend kim, who were in san clemente on vacation.  we had a nice lunch on the pier, and it was so beautiful out, even though i rained earlier and i won't be surprised by more rain later today.  anyway, it was good to catch up a little bit and also to just get outside.

and so that's what i've been up to.  more fun things are coming up, as well, so stay tuned. :)

i'm reposting this (from my facebook).  it was supposed to be 25 things about myself.  instead, it's 25 things about my friends and me.

1. Marke and I like to do crossword puzzles from the New York Times but read the Wall Street Journal.  We used to dislike each other.  Now he's my favorite.

2. Katherine and I eat too much ice cream whenever we're together, and it's always her fault.  Also, I start to laugh like her whenever I hang out with her for more than about an hour.  She's known me forever; she has all the dirt.

3. Meg and I always get mistaken for a couple whenever we go to Benihana together.  Or other restaurants.  In high school, we wrote notes to each other in composition notebooks that we'd pass back and forth between classes.  She's known me forever; she has all the dirt.

4. Melissa is in charge of my makeup.  She's my makeup guru.  She can put on makeup better than most professionals.  Whenever I am putting on my makeup, I am really just trying to do what I think she would do.

5. Sarah and I have traveled together in (at least) 9 different countries.  England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, and the US.  That's a lot of miles.

6. Annahita and I love to talk about food together.  Love love.  And boys.

7. Adam can't read.  And I'm fat.  This is what I call sibling love.  Also, we love to watch college basketball together, and because we don't live near each other, we watch together on the phone.  March Madness is our favorite time of year.

8. Elizabeth knows me like only a roommate could.  She took out the trash and I cleaned the bathroom.  We threw excellent dinner parties together.

9. Dana got me to dance to a car stereo in a parking lot in the middle of the night and have fun doing it.  I appreciate this more than she probably knows.  I hope there's more of this in my future.

10. Chris and I could sit around listening to country music together for entirely too long.  He's my country-music-loving friend.  I don't really have others.

11. Holly and I used to share a bed.  A bunk bed.  In the London house.  She crawled into my (bottom) bunk with me to be funny on more than one occasion.  Also, I still wear a perfume that I first noticed on her; she has good scent sense.

12. Roderick and I both love our birthdays.  It makes me happy that I'm not the only one.  Also, we're filipino cousins.

13. Theresa and I went Christmas shopping together one year.  We decided to split up for an hour so we could buy each other gifts.  We ran into each other in the same store about halfway through that hour as we were buying things for one another.  Surprises over!  Also, she loves to laugh at me, even when I have no clue why.  She does it pretty much constantly whenever we're together.

14. Lauren is now hooked on Sprinkles cupcakes, and it might be my fault.  I brought her there for the first time.  Now she is bringing me there all the time.  I love spending an afternoon with her eating a cupcake and enjoying a little sun.

15. Jan takes my favorite photos.  I want him to photograph me.  The wedding photos he takes make me want to get married, even though I'm certainly in no position to do that any time soon and in no actual particular hurry.

16. Lindsay and I both love Gossip Girl and grammar.

17. DJ and I used to use the London House's supplies for "encouragement cards" to write each other "discouragement cards."  Because we're awesome and funny... and mean. ;)

18. Wednesday did my hair fabulously.  Twice.  For the London House's two large banquet dinners.  She's as good as a trained hair stylist but more fun to talk to, and she figured out what to do with my crazy mane.  Also, she's some of my favorite Disneyland company.

19. Maria and I used to play store at her parents' house using all the Amway products they sold.  Also, her uncle died in a motorcycle accident when we were just kids, and I've never much wanted to ride one since.  I often think of him when thinking of motorcycles.

20. Jessica and I went to see an art exhibition solely (pun intended) about Manolo Blahnik shoes.  And also one on Ansel Adams.  We looked at art together, Jessica and I, when we lived together in London.

21. Roxanne and I both loved the Backstreet Boys when we were too old and were pretty much the only people left loving them.  We went to see them together.

22. Becke was the first person I ever worked an even with at KRTY.  She was late and I was scared and confused on that first day.  After that, we worked tons of events together, and I always enjoyed her company.  She was never late.

23. Patrick lived with me and my family for a summer.  It was only supposed to be a few days.  That was a crazy summer.

24. Dante was the first first real crush I had.  And while I don't have a crush on him anymore, I still think he's a really great guy.  I'm so happy for him and his new wife!

25. Josh and I cooked breakfast for the London House after staying up all night during finals week.  And then we slept through the day while other people were taking exams.  We often stayed up very, very late together for no good reason other than that we're rad.

well, i'm back! :)

my trip to texas with marke was so much fun and went really well. :)  check out the photos here when you get bored of my writing.  i may add some more soon because i know marke took some but i haven't seen them yet.

anyway, so thursday morning, we got up too early and marke's dad took us to the long beach airport.  marke is fully convinced it's not a real airport now that he knows the gate areas for jet blue are just a big trailer (in which a few birds live).  and then we took what he insists is not a full size plane because it only had two seats on each side of the aisle.  i maintain it's a full size plane, however.  anyway, he was panicked flying on a plane that small, but we made it just fine all the way to austin.

we made it to our hotel fine, also.  biggest hotel room i've ever stayed in.  just enormous.  the first of many texas-sized things on our trip.  and then we walked to this place called hut's because they have great hamburgers.  i didn't have a burger, but marke did and he said it was pretty excellent.  thus started our frommer's guide eating.

we spent the rest of the afternoon walking all around austin.  it was gorgoeus out and we were happy to be wandering around.  we saw fountains and a lot of the campus at ut.

thursday night was the main event, the whole reason there ever was an austin trip!  we went to see brad paisley in concert!  (here's one review)  darius rucker and dierks bentley opened, and i enjoyed them both a ton!  brad was awesome, of course!  and i got chris on the phone a couple times so he could listen to the music; he was so sad not to be there with us.  marke survived the whole show.  he doesn't do country music.  at all.  but he was a good sport.  and by the time we walked back to the hotel, we were both really ready to crash.

saturday, we rented a car.  a red chevy aveo.  haha!  anyway, we had breakfast at the flagship whole foods store in austin, which was amazing.  the food was so good and the store was just amazing.  we could have spent hours wandering, but we had a lot more planned for the day.  we drove down to san antonio and parked the car downtown.  we started walking toward the alamo.  there's an ice cream shop right near there, and marke suggest ice cream as we walked by.  of course, i said yes!  so we took our ice cream and walked to the alamo on another beautiful day.  we strolled around a bit.  truthfully, it's not super amazing or super big.  anyway, then we walked around the riverwalk a bit.  that was really lovely, and we both enjoyed that a lot.  and then we had lunch at acenar, right above the river.  we had really, really incredible mexican food.  great lunch!  and then we walked around a bit more because it was so nice.

and then we headed away from the city center and towards katie's house.  she lives on the edge of san antonio in a beautiful neighborhood in a lovely home.  she just had a baby boy, lukas nolan!  they were still recovering and everything, but i wanted to see them so badly!  so i got to see katie, lukas, and katie's parents.  it was so wonderful! :)  they're doing well.

and then marke and i headed back to austin.  we went to a great record store called waterloo and an even better bookstore called book people.  we had a good time wandering around, and marke bought a few things.  i resisted. :)  and we had a really fabulous dinner at a small italian place called la traviata.  really good.  by this point, i had marke mostly convinced that frommer's picks the best restaurants.   so anyway, we brought the car back and went back to the hotel.  i hit the gym for a late night session while marke checked email and such.  and then we crashed.

on saturday, we slept in a little later because we could. :)  and then we took our time getting checked out of the hotel.  then we headed out with every intention of seeing some sights.  until we realized it was suddenly very wintry out.  like 50 and crazy windy.  we weren't dressed for that at all, so we altered our plans.  we wandered around the capitol building a bit.  it's the largest of all the state capitols.  actually, it was pretty cool.  and then we had an amazing mexican lunch at manuel's.  marke then decided frommer's is totally the way to go when choosing where to eat and told me he wanted one for san clemente.  yep.  rock. :)  and then we found a cool coffeeshop called jo's and hung out there.  i read and sipped a mocha, and marke listened to music and had tea.  and we were content blending in with the locals.

and then it was time to get to the airport and fly home.  we made it without incident.  and amy and roderick were in long beach to pick us up.  so in all, i had a really fun time with marke and hope we'll do more traveling together.

sunday was a pretty lazy day.  i did some shopping because marke's birthday is quickly approaching.  and i went out for ice cream (though i ended up with a smoothie instead) with lauren and roderick.

and it's been a busy week so far.  life can get a little crazy and stressful, but i'm feeling pretty good tonight.  more soon.