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!

take me back to when i was two.

remember when you were little and played dress up and make believe and thought everything in the world was great? i can't help but think about this while i babysit one of the cutest little girls in the world. she get so excited about everything, it is so great to watch. but when does that stop? when do you start realizing that there are people in the world that are just out there to make money and don't care what people think of them. when do you realize that all this emotional baggage you carry around is because of how you have been brought up and how people have let you down or broken your heart. when does that start becoming reality? and where does that innocent, "the world is so great" attitude go?

i like to believe people are "good". they are looking out for each other and honestly want to see people succeed. but that just isn't the case. there are people out there who bring guns to school and kill people, people out there who rip innocent people off and just are not very nice people.

and the "good" people aren't that good either, we all mess up, we all hurt people (intentionally or unintentionally) and we all need someone to save us. and daily, I start to realize that i NEED Jesus. through all the pain, betrayal, hurt and suffering, he is there, he is my rock, he is how i get through the day. and i haven't experienced that in so long--because i have been placing my trust/hope/joy in others- and continually get let down. and it feels so good to know that he is there, holding me, watching over me, and planning out the rest of my life- so i don't have to worry about it.

but it would be nice to go back to being 2 for a day, and getting to experience that "life is great, the world is great, and i have no cares" attitude

product of my mother.

went to my first kappa alumni association meeting tonight.

(wore jeans..this was a big no-no i guess. i'm sure the old ladies were not happy with me)

signed up to be communication chair.

(hoping to redeem myself for wearing jeans..)

realized..what? Did i really just sign up to do that?

(mental note, never wear jeans to a place where "ladies" will be- they don't like jeans)

yes. i did.

on another note...there is a hostage at the apartment complex down the road from me- and all these cops are outside.

welcome to my life. getting committed to things right away-and living in the hood.

just what i need.

friends. readers. whoever.

so i got the new sara bareilles cd on tuesday. Her first single "King of Anything" is great. I loved her first cd, and when I saw she was coming out with another, I got excited, and then when I read the track names, I got even more excited.. because just the titles told me I would relate to the album. they are as follows...

• 1. Kaleidoscope Heart
• 2. Uncharted
• 3. Gonna Get Over You
• 4. Hold My Heart
• 5. King Of Anything
• 6. Say You're Sorry
• 7. The Light
• 8. Basket Case
• 9. Let The Rain
• 10. Machine Gun
• 11. Not Alone
• 12. Breathe Again
• 13. Bluebird

I love the lyrics, she is so real, and so easy to relate to- and every time I listen to any of the songs--i'm like- I'VE BEEN THERE! I KNOW THAT FEELING! and it just makes the songs so much better. ugh, i just LOVE this CD..and it was exactly what I needed.

(yes, it is a chick singing about love and break ups and moving on and all that stuff, but she does it so nicely)

so go to itunes and listen to little snippits of it..and buy it. because it is that good... and if you are disappointed, then i'm sorry..just be thankful i didn't dedicate a post to miley cyrus and tell you to go listen to her CD.

timing.

isn't timing funny? it is something i will never understand. God's timing for things- it is so curiously exciting. (if that even makes sense).

like i am so curious about what his timing looks for my life, and i am excited to see what is going to happen in the future..get it?

but seriously. timing is everything, you have heard that before, right? Whether it is about relationships, cooking, eating, or even playing a simple game. if you don't hit it at the right time, then you lose.

God's timing-so often it seems unfair. why was it time for this young girl to die? or why wasn't the right time for me to get a job here? or why was it the right time for them to get married and not me?

I think people struggle with these questions so much as believers, and unbelievers. and it is hard for me to understand too- but today at church, they talked about hope.

and we should be so utterly amazed that a God who plans all these things, has a special timing for everyone and everything- and it is different for all. I should place my hope and trust in God, knowing he knows the right timing for me with whatever I want- relationships, jobs, etc. and that is what I should be focused on. Regardless of what I think is right for me, he KNOWS what is right for me, and that is so cool, ya know?

and I should focus on these things. and then, i should look at what I spend my time focusing on, and what idols are there, taking up my time. (and there are a lot.)

but i also think his timing is funny. cause, it is. and I think He sits up there, laughing when our timing is so different then his. because we think we know. haha.

*i realize this post probably makes no sense and it is just me thinking while typing, but whatever, no one reads this thing anyways, just putting my thoughts into words..or something.

but if you do read this, thanks!

^1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

^3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.