thirsty thursday

yesterday was the perfect spring day. after work, we went on a jog...it was so hot out that i was just SURE i was going to get heat stroke. i didn't, so when we got back, we threw on our suits and jumped in the pool. oh, it was heaven!

i made spinach artichoke dip for a little snack. from a 'real simple' recipe - which turned out alright...i was expecting more like tgi. fridays. mmm. it wasn't quite the same.

the l.a. dodgers have a farm team that plays in vero beach - about 45 minutes away, so matt and i hopped in the car and went down to see a game last night. it was the baseball ideal. no crowds, a small stadium with freckle faced kids running around with snow cones and huge plates of nachos. the sun was just setting, and it was the most beautiful, cloudless day. i forgot to mention our real reason for being there! it was 'thirsty thursday', meaning all hot dogs and drinks were $1. matt ate 4 hot dogs in less than an hour! it was a really fun, just being outside and watching people.

we stayed up too late last night listening to old music on itunes. we would take turns playing clips and laughing hysterically that we still remember bands like savage garden and eagle eye cherry.

we switched the living room around this morning, the couch now faces the porch directly, which makes going into the living room a little difficult - it's now a one way streetwith no way out, so it might not last, but i love the feeling of little changes like that. haha, when we moved the couch, i found about 20 multi-colored nerds in the carpet. just when you think you can brush things under the couch and forget about them....!

my first attempt at surfing

today was the perfect beach day, 87 degrees and clear. matt and i decided to swim for a bit, then he hoisted me up on the surfboard when a wave was coming for us. with almost no effort the wave caught the board, and shot me toward the shore. i never stood up, it was more like being on a body board, but going much faster. much much faster. suddenly, the water ended, the board stopped, but i kept going. i slid off the front of the board and scraped across the sand in 2 inches of water. it was so embarrassing when the water receeded and i was beeched on the beach in front of a couple that were just trying to enjoy the view! there was an unbelievable amount of sand in my bathing suit, and my legs got very scraped up from the sand and shells, but i guess my first try could have been worse. i don't know how, but it probably could have...i'll keep you posted on my surfing progess. if i ever try again!

a sweet weekend

during the week, it's nice to have the evenings free, but i had a feeling that we would really KNOW we were on break during the weekends. it's been so fun! friday night we stopped by a concert that some of our youth kids were at - ok, i admit it was mostly for the free food. the strangest food to serve at a high school concert i might add. i don't know who's idea it was to serve homemade clam chowder, seared tuna with pickled ginger, and caesar salad with fresh parmesean cheese...very strange combo on paper plates and kids running around everywhere on their cell phones. it's times like these that i'm glad matt and i still look so young, we blended right into the food lines!

saturday morning we woke up with nothing to do which was an awesome feeling. we made egos and watched 'grey's anatomy'. since the regent break started, we've been sleeping on our mattress in the living room - it feels like we're camping out all the time. plus it's under the fan, which is a must at night. we read at barnes and nobles in the afternoon...actually, matt read, while i passed out in a chair for 20 minutes...strange to wake up with people walking by, and makes me wish i didn't sleep with my mouth open! we stopped by the melbourne art festival downtown, saw some great photography, and some even funnier people. why do people put their kids on a leash in public places? i'll say it now, that's something i'll never do.

we woke up this morning sore after playing dodgeball after church for 3 hours. i've never loved that game, and yesterday confirmed it when i tripped over a ball thrown at my feet and did the sideways splits in front of everyone. i slid down so far that i couldn't get up on my own! but did i really expect to play dodgeball for 3 hours and not have an 'incident'?

back in the saddle...

it's not even a question anymore. we have to run the a/c to get through the day. the past few months, we would leave the windows open, turn on the ceiling fan and enjoy the afternoon breeze. there doesn't seem to be an 'afternoon breeze' anymore. i started to wonder why i was getting so irritable in the afternoon, then i realized the backs of my knees were soaked with sweat, and it was so muggy i wondered if i could still breathe! yesterday, we got back from ocala and my first move was to turn on the a/c...it's been glorious!

we had a great time in ocala. mark made a 9 hole golf course in our yard, so we played through several times. i spent an afternoon with my mom, having chicken salad and chocolate cake for lunch, then spending 2 hours trying to get my eyebrows waxed...not that they really need it, but it makes my whole face feel neat - i can't really describe it, but i love having it done. when we finally found someone to wax them, she pulled a uv light over my face and declared that i was getting melanoma. mmm. a diagnosis AND waxing for $10 - what a deal!

we had a great time at youth last night - got groceries afterwords. for future reference 11.30 at night is not the best time to shop for groceries. matt and i got to the checkout and wondered 'what in the world did we even get?' our cart was filled with snacks and funny impulses...this might not be the most balanced eating week.

this break is wonderful. i love having time to read without guilt and going swimming in the apartment pool. that might be on the agenda for the afternoon...

matt and me at sun cruz casino

they don't let you take pictures inside the boat, so you'll just have to picture what it's like in there...oh, it's a little blurry, because we took the picture into the window reflection.

our feet at sebastian inlet

red the cat...

...who accidentally bit me this week. i guess rubbing it's stomach wasn't the best move!

before youth group

something i thought i'd never do

well, there are a lot of things i thought i would never do, but one of them moved from 'never do' to 'done!' today. matt and i with our friends matthew and elisa climbed aboard a cruise ship for the day. not just any cruise ship though. a sun cruz casino ship. normally sitting in dark, smokey, constantly swaying casino room with all the calmness of a video arcade would freak me out, but for some reason, it sounded fun today - like the perfect thing to do. and so we did. i guess i should have known, but we lost ten bucks on the slot machines (the machine was 'wild cherry' if you must know). the house always wins, but there were some people on the boat that don't believe that saying right now. we just wish we would have been one of them!

it was a beautiful day outside, warm, breezy, so we spent a lot of time on the deck in the sun. coming in to dock (5 hours later), we saw a team? herd? flock? of dolphins swimming beside the ship - it made my day.

so we're done with the semester! four down and 3 to go. after working 10 solid hours on thursday, we finished our last paper and said hello to a three week break! to celebrate, we went to sebastian on friday afternoon to walk along the rocks and out on the pier. supposedly this is where the manatees come and let you swim with them, but the tide was so low that we walked clear out into the swimming area and it only came up to our knees.

tomorrow we're going to a sunrise service on the beach, then heading up to ocala for a few days. i can't wait to go home for a bit of a break. oh i'll post some pictures of some recent things...

a slow start

these overcast mornings make it a bit hard to get started...after youth last night, we had some guys over here for snacks and a movie. they brought a 'california pizza kitchen' frozen pizza over - i have to admit, it was better than i was expecting. i didn't last for the movie. after watching so many tv show series lately, my attention span is not what it used to be. after 40 minutes, i'm ready for a change! they were here really late, so we slept in a bit.

matt's mom sent us coffee from her trip to hawaii, so that was my first thought when i woke up. i'm now sitting in the sunroom here, drinking coffee, still in my pj's (such a struggle when you work from home!) and thinking about the day. today, we're turning in two final papers for one class, and in matt's words 'Lord willing', we'll finish our last paper today!

oh, as soon as we go home again, i'll be able to get an attachment to our camera so i can upload some pictures i took at youth last night. there are some cute kids in that group.

our ipod is fixed and working like a charm! matt and i go on jogs in the afternoon with it. we tried to share yesterday (one headphone for each person) but i think there are some things that shouldn't be shared! both of our heads were tilted toward each other, our elbows kept hitting, and if someone stepped to the side, it would yank the earpiece out of our ear. now we just take turns - 2 songs on, 2 songs off.

jack and pal and red

matt and i are housesitting for tony and rachel this week. they have two dogs, jack and pal (who are father and son) and a cat named red. jack and pal had their first major brawl this afternoon in the yard over a raquetball. we're having a blast with the animals and it's so quiet here, so it's nice for work - one paper to go before the semester is over!

we're making minestrone soup with sausage right now for dinner. i think its going to be a night in since i've had my pj pants on since 6.00...

no shirt, no shoes, no service...

yesterday was beautiful. about 80 degrees and just perfect for being outside. matt and i went swimming in our neighborhood pool in the afternoon, then decided to have a picnic outside. we found the perfect spot - a pier that extends into the intercoastal waterway. we sat down and started eating bread, hummus, cheese, and crackers and watched the sun go down over the water. my shoes were off, and the wind was blowing fairly strong. a perfect moment! all of the sudden, i saw my beloved pink sandal roll off the dock and fall into the water!

the current was so strong that my sandal bobbed out of reach within seconds. i ran down the dock with one shoe and asked one of the fisherman to please fish my sandal out. he was very willing to try 'once i take the shrimp off the hook'....after several casts and an awkward silence, my sandal had floated so far out that we couldn't recover it.

mmm. so i went barefoot the rest of the night. to wendy's for frostys. to firedweller. to t.g.i.fridays afterwords with the firedweller group. one thing i will say about that place - the floors are very sticky. not to mention it's so dark in there that i couldn't see what was on the floor. when i washed my feet in the tub later that night the water turned instantly dark. gross.

so goodbye little pink sandal...

the other night...

we made dirt pudding this weekend. it's one of matt's favorite desserts, and we had a whole bag of oreos in the cupboard. we were invited over to tony and rachel's (our youth pastors) to watch the final 'march madness' game and i thought 'oh! i'll bring the dirt pudding!!'. i put it on the floor of the car in front of my seat, and started reading a magazine with my bare feet sitting indian-style on the seat. when we pulled up to the house, i completely forgot about the dirt pudding - put my feet down to find my sandals on the floor and stuck my entire right foot into the dessert.

i couldn't stop laughing as i poured water over my foot in their driveway, trying to remove the evidence (not that you wouldn't notice a foot-shaped mark in the dessert!). we arrived at the door in hysterics and feeling very sheepish. to top it off, while we were explaining what happened their dog ran up to me and started licking the remains of the dessert off of my feet!
i smoothed it over, scooped out my toe marks, and we all had a piece, leaving the question in all of our minds, 'how much dirt is in this dirt pudding anyway?'

Broke, Broke, Broke.

mmm. why is nothing working lately? it all started with my dear cell phone. can't hold a charge to save it's life. i get 5 minutes of freedom with it - otherwise it has to be plugged into the wall. which means i have to stand next to the wall. it reminds me of time-outs in elementary school.

on top of the cell phone, matt took a surf board to the beach the other day, and on the first wave in...split in half. whoops. the worst part is that it was a borrowed board. so we need to get that fixed...

next up, the ipod. we finally got an ipod. it was going to be our 'dream machine'. and it can't hold a charge! all we see is a blank screen - so it's going back to apple a.s.a.p. for repairs.

the battery on matt's computer went out last week as well. now he's plugged into the wall to. sometimes when he's on the computer and i'm on the phone, we're on the same wall ;)

and last night the dvd drive broke on his laptop. makes a whirring noise then complete silence.
this was the last straw. we went to best buy this afternoon and bought a tv/dvd player (thanks emily and sumanth!) it is just glorious to have a piece of technology that works!

the sorrow may last for a night...

oh and it did.

i'm feeling the full force of staying up all night with 30 middle and high schoolers last night. the last time i stayed up all night? it must have been in the 90's.

the lock-in kicked off at 9 pm. thankfully, we weren't completely 'locked in' - we spent the first 5 hours playing soccer outside, i stopped every 20 minutes or so to escort an injured player off the field. finding out very quickly that high school boys and junior high girls aren't the ideal mix for sports. after a bloody nose, loss of air, several kicks to the face, and about 20 face plants in the ground, we decided soccer was done for the night.

'underground church' was the next event. the 'christians' hid from the 'romans' until they were found and sent to jail. i sat on a huge couch and watched the jailbirds. at our most ragged point, i escaped into a girls bathroom to do a peel off facial mask - it had the consistency of elmer's glue, smelled like pinapple, and worked like a charm!

as the night/morning wore on, we started to realize something: no yawns, no sleepy eyes, no one eying their pillow or blankets. well, i shouldn't say 'no one'. there were two girdens that were doing all of the above.

now we're home. one of my favorite things in this life is happening in t minus 6 hours. daylight savings is the highlight of my spring.