Mi Chiquita Querida

This is Luz.

She's 6 years old and she lives in Guatemala with her mom and her two sisters.

Her name means "light".

As of Wednesday, I am delighted to be supporting her 

via WorldVision's child sponsorship organization.

Just wanted to share my joy-- and show you her adorable face.

:)

Jimmies.

Eating breakfast is amazing. One of my favorite things.

Speaking of favorites-- Tobymac. His whole family.

One of my favorite people of all time.

The fact that he even knows my name will just never get old.

I'm officially going to California this summer to see more of my favorite people-- 

Danielita y Foltzy... y Jon Foreman!!!! (And maybe Tyrone Wells?)

I know 6 people who have been fired or laid off in the past two weeks. It sucks. 

And subsequently makes me really grateful for my job.

Isn't amazing how your body runs "normally" like 90% of the time, but there are certain people who (because of anger or admiration) charge up all your adrenaline, flip your insides out and screw up the entire system of your being for a couple minutes simply because of who they are?!

That blows my mind.

Also, as many of you know-- soundtracking is probably my second favorite thing in the whole world. So when my boss at work told me he trusted/appreciated my musical taste and asked me to create a new playlist for the restaurant for the summer-- I was elated. I came up with 101 very diverse restaurant appropriate songs, 1 playlist for lunch and 1 for dinner-- and everyone loves it. :) Therefore, I must give props to all who unknowingly contributed: Brandi An, Sir Joseph, Philip Milam, Andrea Yager & Joanna Spencer-- I trust/appreciate your musical taste and would let you create a playlist for me anytime. :)

Re: No one is into all kinds of music

A friend of mine made me want to lay out a couple of things for you.
Go ahead and judge me. I dare you. 

--

I drink decaf coffee because coffee caffeine makes me jittery.
(Chocolate caffeine and soda caffeine do not.)
Lately, I like caramel cappuchinos with caramel drizzled on top.
And I like them better in the "for here" mugs.

I won't touch Red Bull or Monster or Rockstar or any of that crap.
But i love Vitamin Water and water in pretty bottles and Arizona Green Tea (esp. with Mandarin)

I really don't listen to country music.
But my favorite driving song ever is "Feels Like Today" by Rascal Flatts.
And it's very hard for me to hear Blake Shelton's "Austin" without tearing up a little-- just because I think it's fantastic.

I love checking the mail.
Apart from CD's from DaniLin, catalogs and magazines are the best.

I can watch basketball. Soccer. Hockey. And football.

And enjoy it.

Not baseball.

I don't watch scary/horror movies.
At all.
Ever.
And I won't. No, not even with you.

I love eating breakfast.
Bacon. Toast. Pancakes. Waffles. French toast. Bagels. Pastries. Muffins. Hash browns. Cereal. Fruit. Oatmeal.
Eggs. Scrambled.
With cheese.
And sometimes salsa or ketchup.
But I don't like sausage.

I can do without condiments.
Sometimes I want them, but sometimes I just want to taste the meat and bread.

Musically,

I hope Whitney Houston makes a comeback.

I hope Britney Spears does not.

(Britney does need to make a comeback in life though.)

Fish are fine when they mind their business.
Or when they are on my plate, cooked*, WITHOUT a head or eyes.
But I do NOT want to touch them.

I like my tuna medium rare and my steak medium/medium-well.
I could eat red meat in some form every day. I think it's amazing.

If I had to learn any instrument, 

It'd be piano,

Then drums,

Then guitar.

I think tapdancing is badass.
If I knew how to tap dance, I'm pretty sure I could perform the "Moses Supposes" number from Singin In The Rain...
I've seen it that many times.

When it comes to most varieties of Stout Beer and Sauvignon Blanc;

I'm gonna have to go with No.

Sweet > Salty > Spicy

I always listen to the lyrics.
ALWAYS.
If I can't understand them or if they don't mean anything or if they mean something stupid and meaningless--
I probably won't like the song.
I think that's why I like musicals.
Clear and clever storytelling via lyrics.

You think I'd listen to more country music...

...that's all for now. :)

*thus far, tuna is the only sashimi on the GO list.

*I'm NOT Gonna Write You A Love Song.

"I'm not gonna write you to stay--
If your heart is nowhere in it,
I don't want it for a minute
Babe, I'll walk the seven seas
When I believe that there's a reason to
Write you... a love song...
Today..."
-sara bareilles

Maybe I shouldn't post this.

Probably.

But I'm going to because I need to say it really badly.

I don't know if I'm capable of maintaining whatever it is that drove me to this point...

But I hope I can, because I am just really ready for a change.

A huge, perspective-altering change.

I am absolutely,
incredibly,
emphatically,
apocalyptically,
SICK of having crushes.

I've just had it.

I'm epically tired of liking and/or being attracted to people and having absolutely nothing come of it, save for a few temporary sporadic bouts of butterflies, a shameful amount of minutes spent wondering, and ultimately, one more disappointment that leaves some unfortunate, naive shard of my heart splintered like a snapped popsicle stick.

I'm not even saddened by these occurrences anymore. I'm just pissed.

I'm done! I'm SO done with crushes.

What a waste of time.

Don't ask or wonder who or what put me over the edge because maybe it's a lot of things.... But if you're reading this, you can safely assume/be relieved or disappointed that while I think you're wonderful for a number of reasons-- I do NOT have any romantic feelings for you and I do NOT want to be with you. At all.

Not even **you.

And not anyone else either.

(sigh)

Until the want/need is mutual and not instigated or maintained solely by me?!

I'm out. So don't even bother.

"See you guys... hold my calls!"



* If by chance we just met or you just stumbled upon this blog... be cool. It's not like this all the time.
** Many of you reading did absolutely nothing to provoke this entry. Sorry to catch you in the crossfire. None of this flack is really meant for anyone specific... its just more of an explosion of disgust for my own stupid, redundant naivete.

Sprinkles

I really want to help build something. A house, probably. I don't want to do the measuring and the diagramming pre-building stuff. But I'd love to be in the middle of a big, important project, covered in sawdust or drywall dust or whatever, helping to fix whatever needs to be tacked or caulked or framed or sawed and sanded.

John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox) is one of the best actors I've ever seen. I don't think I could ever do what he does. I think he's amazing.

My first favorite random place to find new music? Scrubs.
My second favorite? Apple Commercials.

Someone this week "accused" me of always developing crushes on forbidden/unrealistic people. I've never really thought about it that way... but I'm starting to think they may have been right?

Sometimes I like Crazy Bread better than Pizza.

Playlist

I've stumbled into some great music lately.

Love Revolution- Lenny Kravitz
As of right now, I have a few of his singles, but I don't own a Lenny Kravitz album... but i think I'm about to. The pieces I've heard of this one are pretty rockin.

Natalie- FLOREZ
I'm friends with these guys. They're terrific. I like this song so much. It was actually featured during the 5th season of Scrubs. And it's even better because it's not really about what it appears to be about. Clever ones, they are. :)

Sea Breeze & Tyrone Yodels- Tyrone Wells
The first is just a beautiful smooth, shimmery, summery love song. The second is... yodeling. Sexy yodeling. I know, I know. But I'm serious. This man's entire live album is amazing. He is my Marc Broussard of 2008.

Greatest Hits of Journey
Okay they're not new. But they were in my car stereo today and it made me happy. :)

Question- Old 97's
Precious lovesong from the episode of Scrubs where Carla finally accepts Turk's marriage proposal.

Helix Nebula- Anamanaguchi
I don't play video games. But if they made this song into a video game, I sure would play it. The first time I heard this song, it was aural overload. But now, I kind of can't stop listening to it. It's started to make me happy... in a really delightful, hyper-metallic-pixelated sort of way... if that makes any sense.

Remedy- David Crowder
I love 6/8 time. This song is no exception. So full of hope in brokenness. I love it.

Yesterday- switchfoot
Also not new. But completely beautiful if melancholy. Anyone who's ever lost someone they loved will find it has a perfect blend of reflective sadness and hope.

Brave- Nichole Nordeman
Annnnd also not new... but what a great song. My theme song, as of late.

On The Road Again...

As of this moment, I feel like there are several parts to my personality. And that sometimes, different pieces have to emerge at different times in my life in order for me to best fulfill my destiny.

Let's name these parts because they'll get confusing: right now there's Model, there's Writer, there's Missionary, and there's Dream.

Model represents me now. Model is first in line. Model is currently driving the car on this little bipolar family road trip. The other three are not happy about this, but Writer is convincing them with a flourish that it's for the best and that it's actually for their own good. Sadly, behind the curtain, Writer isn't particularly crazy about Model either. She sees Model as a means to an end. Writer would respect Model more if she was Stage Actress. That, at least, is something viable to work with. And I can't blame Writer—Stage Actress does sound like more fun. But pressing through the veiled antagonism, Model is still nobly doing her thing, trying to make the most of her time and gain the most from every opportunity and experience, because she innately understands that she can't get too comfortable. After all, she's only here because *Debt invited her, and unless she can gain some favor, she knows that when he finally goes, she will too.

Writer is playing sidekick to Model at the moment; riding shotgun, if you will. Always wanting to be in the driver's seat, but taking comfort and finding confidence in the fact that no matter where she sits, she will always have a seat. She's a lot more vocal, more confident than the others because she is the favorite, the most beloved, and she knows it. She tries to be gracious about it though.

At the moment, Missionary is the whiny kid. Missionary's not really getting any consistent attention. She knows she's important and that one day it will be time for her to ride up front, but for now, she sits in the back seat, grumbling in Spanish that no one understands her, and no one remembers her and no one appreciates her. She knows that's not true—but she's still sort of cranky about it and no one blames her.

And Dream is the quiet kid. The observer. The introvert. And ultimately the most powerful of them all. She is small on the outside, but inside she is full of potential and possibility. Dream spends all her time looking at everyone else, wondering when her moment will arrive. Dream is all the best parts of Model and Writer and Missionary, but there are other parts to her that have yet to find voice; Wife, Mom, Published Author, Screenwriter, Playwright, Lyricist, Producer and even Stage Actress are buried inside of her, waiting for the right moment to emerge. Dream is confident that she'll be driving the car one day with squabbling counterparts of her own, but for now—she keeps to herself, quietly and lovingly reminding the others that one way or another, everything's going to work out.

*Debt, by the way, has an eyepatch and a crazy eye and is lurking in the trunk, delighted that Missionary's whining is largely due to his presence. Come to think of it, Debt looks and acts a lot like Mikhail from LOST.