Good day.

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…

Split

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. :)

boot stomping.

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. :)

T

Well it was a good weekend for me. A volleyball game with lots of friends, a BBQ in the park, and watching fireworks on the beach with some of my favorite people was a great way to spend my Fourth of July. Especially after last year, which was far too quiet for my liking. We even hung out after the beach at Denny’s and warmed up with some hot chocolate Anyway, I’m glad I got to spend the day with lots of friends. :)

And yesterday was a really, really nice mellow day. The sort of day I totally know I needed. Church was good. Dave, who leads Emmaus, was ordained finally. That was really awesome to witness.

After church, Nate and I went down to a little cafe near the pier and beach in San Clemente and sat outside and ordered breakfast and just relaxed. I felt like I was on vacation. It was perfect, especially for us because we were both in mellow, tired moods.

I spent the bulk of the afternoon watching that epic men’s final from Wimbledon and napping. Really fun. Oh, And I gave myself a pedicure while I was at it. :)

In the evening, Nikki came over to hang out for a bit. And then I headed over to Nate’s for tea and a quiet night. Super mellow.

And so that’s it. I expect I’ll continue to keep myself quite busy in the coming week, as well. :)

Sister.

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. :)