pictures

so i often find myself on facebook.

shocking-right?

and while there, i start looking at pictures. and isn't it crazy how a picture can bring back a memory you totally forgot about? and then all the sudden all these feelings come back that you thought you dealt with? and just because that picture was there-now you are doubting where you are in your life emotionally. does this happen to anyone besides me?

and then you think you are fine..and then the "photo memories" come up of people you would rather not remember?

i wonder what life would be like without facebook. like, yes, i do remember life before we had it..but just think about all the things you wouldn't know about if we didn't have facebook. like-

what-she is working where?

or

what-THEY got married?

or

what-they broke up?

or

what- she is pregnant?

or

what was they thinking, that no one would ever see them doing beer bongs after they posted them on facebook and they would be able to get a job?

RIGHT?

i like seeing pictures of my friends..but i need to create an app that will just get rid of pictures you don't want to see because it brings up too many feelings.

so, i will leave you with this photo.. i don't know why i chose this one. so enjoy.

life after college.

well for all of you youngens who are still in college, let me give you a glimpse of what life is going to be like when you are out of there.

you make friends in high school, then you all go your separate ways and go on to college, and make new friends (and some are lucky enough to keep the old too) and then everyone graduates and gets jobs and then starts yet another chapter of life. and you have to make new friends...

while working. while cooking dinner every night. while paying bills. while doing all this other stuff that you forget about when you live in the bubble of college life, where everyone lives within 5 minutes of each other, and where you are only in class (if you even go) for like..not that long.

and then all the sudden, you have to adjust to working 40 hours a week..in a cube or office or whatever. and you realize that college didn't even prepare you for what you are doing now. you don't have any guidelines or due dates, you just do stuff. and you get stuff done if you know how or not..you just figure it out.

and in college, you forget that there are people older and wiser that are not professors.. and all the sudden they become your co-workers. and you are trying to juggle making new relationships while keeping up with your friends from the past..and it is hard. it is exhausting. but worth it.

i guess, just be prepared..life is hard. and its easy to think "oh after college, i will get a job, and all my friends will get jobs, and we will live by each other and it will be so great". because it doesn't really happen like that- people go where there is work- and even Kansas City is big enough not to see some of the people you love the most!

but don't fret- if i can make new friends- so can you! it has been an adventure, starting new with people- explaining salad bowl to them and see friendships forming right there! and getting involved in a church that is close has been incredible. and i am looking forward to all the relationships that will come from that- and all that God is going to teach me (and has taught me already).

and then i start thinking..ok, in 7 months, i will find myself unemployed. i will have the opportunity to go anywhere--but by that time will I want to? it seems so exciting to go somewhere big and fun..but then if i didn't know anyone there- wouldn't i get so lonely? would i want to have to start fresh and find new friends again? it's hard to do! so I can't think about it. I just have to trust that God has a plan for me, and it will work out in the end..and if it is hard, i will just have to remember "that in all things, God works for the good of those who love them" (Romans 8:28).

so, my advice friends- be prepared to make new friends, to start new relationships, and adjust to working. it's tough..and at first i was exhausted and just came home and felt like i would never have enough energy.. but you get over that and find yourself just as busy as you were in college.

and i'm sure once i have made all these new friends, God will throw something at me that I would have never seen coming--but that's why he is so great. because it will be exactly what i need.

ummm

what is in the water these days?

ENGAGEMENT MINERALS?

i'm just saying.

this one's for the boys.

so this was quite the week for me. and i have been thinking about writing this blog post for a while, and i am just getting around to it.

and to my girl friends- i love you and you are great but this post is not about you.

I guess I will start off this post with a glimpse into the life of tricia as a middle schooler. I longed for guy friends- i wanted to be friends with guys, not so i could date them but so i could just get to be around them. coming from a family with all girls, i never got to experience guys, and i wanted to in the worst way. You can ask my friends in high school- i always talked about having guys to hang out with, and they just called me boy crazy.

i love my guy friends. and i have realized this past couple of weeks how blessed i am to have them in my life. reasons why being friends with guys is so great.

• they listen (well i think they only actually listen half the time, but you can ramble on for a while i still feel like they care)

• they don't pick sides- if you are being crazy, they tell you. and they also tell you that you are not being crazy and are totally justified in what you are thinking.

• they convince you to do crazy things like drive to manhattan on a week night to see a football game.

• they look after you when you go out and will protect you from drunk sketch guys

• they let you cry* and don't ask question and just hug you when that is just what you need.

• they are so encouraging when you are being a girl and doubting that you are pretty/smart/ ever going to find someone to marry.

• they will sit and watch football all day. and the last saturday i was in manhattan, i realized how much i miss that.

• they also can provide you with hilarious views on things.

i guess, in summary i just want to say that i have had some of the best times when it is just me and the boys. so thank you for always treating me like a princess, always listening to my ridiculous life, and encouraging me when i need it the most. and i can't imagine my life without you- so future husband, you better be okay with hanging out with me and a bunch of other great guys.

fo real.

*not all boys have this capability...so if you find a guy friend that lets you cry. keep him around.

the library--such a deal!!!

so i saw the social network (which is SO GOOD.) this weekend, and Mark Zuckerberg started facebook by (kinda) wanting to get back at an ex-girlfriend. and then i started thinking about all these things about relationships and stuff and started to write a post.. but i figured no one would really want to read that. so you are getting something else--that is a little less intense/focused on relationships. (to sum it up, I refuse to think that the only place to meet people after college is bars..) the end.

ok. anyways. so a couple of weeks ago I was at work reading an article about tiger woods, as I so often do, (not because i go out there looking for them..they

are just always on ESPN!) but I think they are interesting, so I

read them- anyways, a writer for ESPN, Robert Lusetich started writing a book when Tiger came back from his knee surgery and how he was going to come back and if he would be the "same tiger". well we all know what happens..he didn't really live up to expectations (except he did have some great rounds that people forget about) and then we all found out he was living a second life. but the book was actually very good, and I learned a lot about Tiger. But that is not the p

oint of the story..

I wanted to read this book, but didn't want to spend the $18 dollars on it, so i applied for a library card.

i forgot how great the library is! they have all the books you want to read there- and it costs nothing! This is great for me and my budget! and since I don't have cable, I have been reading a lot more. so it is a win-win! so after my recent rediscovery of how much i LOVE elephants (pictured below eating outside of my office when they were in town for the Circus) my mother suggested a book called "water for elephants" about a vet student who stops going to school and joins the circus, I decided that would have to be the next book I read. (Which i just googled it and found out that it is being made into a movie! I am so on top of it!)

but i totally forgot about how great the library is, they have so many books/dvds/cds for anyone to rent! i guess when i think of the library all i think about is Hale (which is not a happy thought..except i hear they have an Einstein bros now-so manhattan--how are those delicious pumpk

in bagels?) and the other Library that sells booze. but now i am taking full advantage of the Kansas City Public Library. so if you have any good book suggestions- send them my way. but not twilight. i refuse to read that.

so, friends. visit your local library this week- pick out a good book, snuggle up on the couch and read!