Sick Thoughts!

I have been sick for the past few days and thought the haze of medicine, Kleenex, and orange juice I have done a lot of thinking. Most of it was about weird stuff that does not bear repeating and I am blaming on the medicine, but some of it was worth the blog. So here are a few of the random thoughts that made the cut! :)

· I am blessed: I spent a lot of time thinking about the great birthday that I just had and the blessings I received and then I moved on to how blessed I am to have those people in my life. I have the greatest friends and family any girl could ask for. Not only did my friends do a lot to make the time special – so did my family. My Dad and Mom cooked all my favorite meals the week of my birthday, let me pick things like what tv show to watch together, and let me do just what I wanted to for my birthday! It was a really special time and I am just very thankful for it. While I am always thankful, this year had even more meaning because last year was just short of a bust (thanks for saving it Kendra) as my family was all out of town and my friends could not make it at the last minute. So, as I turned 27 I was very thankful to spend the time with the people I love the most in the world!

· I love me some Peyton: Kendra has the cutest kid, maybe ever! Peyton calls me YaYa. It started when she was about a year old and she could not say Sarah so she said YaYa, we went with it and now that is officially my name. The weekend that Kendra and Jessica came to see me I had a concert and at the last minute Kendra brought Peyton with her and that kid stole the show! As I walked on stage with the other 60+ members of my choir, a not so small voice yelled “Hi, YaYa!” from the audience. This continued for most of the show! :) While people around her perhaps were not so thrilled and Kendra eventually had to take her into the lobby, I can say I was one proud YaYa! It was adorable to see this little girl, who I have loved and shared so much of her life thus far, calling out to me in a crowd. It was a sweet moment and a story I will tell the rest of my life! I got to spend the rest of the weekend with her and I have to say “I love me some Peyton”! She is such a sweet girl and it is amazing to me that she is so big already and that there is another one on the way. She is the closest thing I have to true love on this earth and I am thrilled to be her YaYa!

· Thank goodness for Thanksgiving: For some families Christmas or Easter are the big family events. In my family it is Thanksgiving! My family comes from as far as New Orleans and as close a few blocks away for an entire weekend of fun! They have already started arriving and by Thursday morning there will be about 25 of us ready for turkey and fun. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it is about my family, being thankful, and very yummy food. There is no worry about presents, no hassle with church schedules, or chance that people can’t come. You don’t miss Thanksgiving in our family! To me it is the perfect holiday and I love having the time with the family to re-connect and just enjoy our blessings. This year I am most thankful that in all the selfishness of our world that we still take a day out to be thankful for all that God has blessed us with! I can't wait for the weekend to start!

· God’s timing: I saved this one for last because it consumed the majority of my sickly thoughts over the past few days, and even before. How is it that I can still be amazed by God’s timing after a whole life of it? (Someone should try and answer that for me if they have a good idea!) As I was thinking about life the common thread in my thoughts was His timing. When I look back at the past I am amazed at the doors He opened, the parts of himself He revealed, and all in all His perfect timing throughout. Looking back 6 months, last year or even 5 years ago I can see how perfectly He was directing my life. It is something that is always fun for me to think about. It reminds me that the burdensome part of His timing that I am facing currently will eventually reveal an amazing plan, which gives me hope. There seems to be a new season in my life coming up, as I transfer, move again, deal with Jes being a long flight away instead of a long drive, let God and maybe even Kendra direct me to my “soul mate”, and just overall move forward. It is a little scary but also really fun because I know that in the journey I will be directed by God’s perfect timing!

Well, those were the best of the random thoughts. I also had dreams about cats, a happy football moment thanks to the Raiders, my Dad's chicken noodle soup, missed a lot of classes, a few phone calls that I srota remember and one good cry about being sick! All in all - it was a rough week but a productive few days of thinking!

Is it redundant....

Is it redundant to say that I have the best besties?

I am sure Brandon will comment and let me know if it is, but for now I am saying it! I just spent the weekend with Jessica (who drove on at least 12 freeways) and Kendra(who did Santa Cruz to Mo-town and back in less than 12 hours) celebrating my birthday and I am blessed! I have the best besties ever and as soon as I get around to it there will be a better blog with photos to show just how great they are! Love you girls!!

November 5th!

I know I am a Poli-Sci major and all but I can't wait for November 5th!!!

Things I will not have to deal with after November 5th:

1. Watching TV without ads for Prop 2 or 10
2. Driving down streets with lawns decorated with leaves not signs
3. Having every conversation be about politics
4. The news being about campaign updates not news
5. "Who are you voting for?" being asked 20 times a day

Things I will have to deal with starting on November 5th:

1. "Who did you vote for?" being asked for weeks
2. "Well ___________ is not my President!"
3. The potential for the vote counting to go on till Thanksgiving
4. The political spin that will start immediately
5. The joy of starting all over again in about a year at the rate we are going!

Don't get me wrong I am all about the process. I love it! I find it interesting, exciting and over all amazing but even I am over it now! This election has been going on FOREVER! The Democrats started a full year early this time around and I feel like someone should have been giving their first State of the Union by now. The ads, speeches, he said / she said is all just driving me crazy at this point! I want peace and quiet and maybe even a new major. Okay, that last one was too dramatic even for me but I felt it would get my frustration across. I am just saying... I have been ready to vote for months, let's just get this show on the road already and move on!!

Raiders Baby!

Sunday I was at the Raiders game with my Dad and some friends and it was a blast! Not only did our boys WIN, I met a new friend (we bonded over mimosas), there was a semi shady (aka authentic) Mexican food stop, and just an over all stellar day! I was very proud of the Radiers for pulling out the win. In a moment of fear I may have sold my lasting affection for Sebastian Janikowski for a 57 yard field goal. The thing is, I have never really been a fan of his. I get that he is a great kicker but for some reason I am always watching when he misses and so I have a built up overall suspicion of his ability. My Dad would say it is unfounded but I think while he is great, sometimes he has a problem working it out. So, after he missed a kick earlier in the game (see what I mean) I was really concerned that he would miss again and then we would be giving an experienced QB a shot with enough time to do some damage or at least end in a tie. I in a moment of fear I promised him my lasting affection if he would just make it…alas…I may be forced to get his jersey! Ugh! This will not be my favorite thing and could have been avoided had we just got a first down at the end there. Oh well, the important thing is….we got the W!! I get to go to another game next month with the whole family which will be great and we are playing KC who we can clearly beat so it should be another stellar day! I can’t wait!!!

The spot where I sold my lasting affection!



Who gave me a camera phone and mimosas?

Heart to Heart

I just finished what is commonly referred to in my house as a heart to heart with my Dad. Now don’t let the sweet title fool you, these can be brutal! I mean, crying, yelling, and clashing opinions, lack of understanding, not even close to a form of communication brutal. That is not to say my Dad does all that – normally I am the drama and he is the cool headed (yet VERY passionate) one. But we are both emotionally driven people who have strong wills, so you do the math.

This heart to heart occurred almost out of thin air. I came home from a lunch with my Aunt and my Dad and I started talking about life and it just sort of lead there. There have been some things in my life that have been being ignored and some responsibilities that have not been being taken care of and it was time to address them. This may seem strange for an almost 27 year old to be having these talks with her Dad but in my life it is the norm. Outside of Kendra, my Dad is the next best person to speak truth into my life. I don’t take direction well from many people and they both know that and somehow still manage to direct me. It is a God thing I am sure!! But I digress. So we hashed it out – tears and all. There was a noticeably absent amount of drama and only a few tears to be honest (all mine) and then it was done and over. Almost as quickly as it had begun, it was finished and I was left sitting in a chair with ruined make up and a MUCH lighter heart. The thing is my Dad is great at two very important things during heart to hearts. The first is not letting me turn into a sniffling mess who can’t articulate my feelings and thoughts and the second is not holding onto it for hours, days and weeks after. We used to be much less healthy when these events occurred but we have both grown up a lot in the past ten years. So now I am living my life out loud with my Dad and he has encouraged a new direction that I will take and life’s little mess will be untangled knot by knot with his help.

While I have a lot of work ahead of me now, I had to take a moment, with ruined make up and all, to marvel at how great it is to have a Dad who even wants to sit down and speak heart to heart with me in the first place!

Well All, it is time! I have to move on from the myspace/facebook world and admit that I am a grown up. Wow - it is SO not all it was cracked up to be! So while I will still have my myspace/facebook (I hear it is not healthy to quit cold turkey) this is now the place that will hold all those lovely posts that you have grown so fond of. This blog may only be read by The Girls and my Mom but it will at least let me feel a little more grown up as another birthday approaches!