january 21, 2009

I’ll admit it….I’m in a majorly procrastinating mood right now.  So here I sit, procrastinating in the Mac lab on the second floor of the Cal Poly library.  I decided to do a little photo journalism to help you understand what’s going on (thank you photo booth!!!).  This is my procrastinating face, I’m pretty sure:

I should be writing my Spanish essay on bilingual education.  Oh well.

In other news, I am wearing a Veritas Forum shirt for the 5th time this week…I hope I don’t smell like B.O. too badly:

Also, my backpack, endearingly dubbed “Old Faithful,” is on its last leg.  The zipper is crazy and causes the contents of the pack to spill out all over the place at least once a day.  As much as I love her, I’ll admit its an inconvenience.  Sadly, there is a tear between the canvas and the leather bottom.  

It is quite sad, because she’s been my faithful companion since 4th grade, before I even went to school.  I used to load up my New Adventure Bible and 3 ring binder for Community Bible Study in Old Faithful and go off to homeschool Bible study.  Nice.  I do love her, and I will miss her when she must finally be laid to rest:

This is how excited I am for Porn Nation tonight:

You should come.  Also, I’m excited because it says ‘Porn’ on my shirt…a promotion for the event.  I had better stop this photo booth madness…the other guy in the lab is starting to look at me like I’m crazy.  Maybe its because I keep kissing my backpack.

Happy Wednesday everybody.

jocko’s

Tonight my parents and sister came to visit from Bako.  My dad was pretty stoked to take our fam to a quality steakhouse in Nipomo.  It’s called Jocko’s….and let me just say: Bakersfield has nothing on this place in terms of okie-ness.   When we got there we parked in the back, and walked around to the front of the restaurant.  On the way in, we stopped and admired the 20+ slabs of red meat cooking on the outdoor grill.  My dad’s excitement grew.

There wasn’t a whole lot of room to sit and wait for the hostess to prepare our table, so we went into the bar area to find a place to sit.  In my usual hardcore style, I ordered a Shirley Temple.  I admired the dark-stained wood panelling on all of the walls in the bar area, and was even more impressed that each individual panel of wood bore its own genuine cattle brand.  Now we’re talking.  I also couldn’t help but notice the attire of the clientele in the bar…Let’s I felt a little out of place in my dark jeans and Gap crew neck shirt.  I probably would have felt much more at home if I was wearing a down coat with the arms zipped off, like the girl across from me.  Or maybe if I had a black bra on under my white shirt or a flannel plaid shirt I’d feel better. These styles seemed to be pretty popular in this joint.  On second thought, maybe it’s my lack of peroxide blonde hair that made me feel out of place.

We sat down at our table and I immediately took notice of the lack of table cloth.  But no worries, there were some great paper placemats that did the trick great:

Please note the martini on the Bull’s tail.  Is that just weird to me?  Also…they have the word “genuine” spelled “Jenuine.”  Awesome.  I’ll also let you know that that’s not the only grammatical problem on the place mat.  From my seat, I also had a prime view of the meat cooking outside on the grill (my Mom’s pointing at it):

I ended up ordering a BLT, since I had more than my fill of red meat at Firestone in SLO last night.  Bad choice.  The bacon strips were seriously a quarter of an inch thick.  They might as well rename it a “HLT.” That’s Heart attack, Lettuce and Tomato.  On another point of interest, the history of  the restaurant was given in great detail on the back page of the menu.  I learned that it’s a family business that started as a saloon in the 1800s.  I was really enjoying the stuff I was learning about the restaurant and the Jocko family.  I was slightly caught off guard by the last line of the “history” which read: As our sign says out front, COME IN AND MONKEY ‘ROUND.  What?  What does that even mean?  What do monkeys have to do with Nipomo, the Ag community, steak, or the Jocko family?  I will continue to ponder this for a while.

For your consideration….the Bull and Martini image once more:

I hear that the steak is real good.

ps- if you are a woman over 5′6″, you may have trouble fitting into the bathroom stalls. My knees practically hit the door when I was sitting in there.

shooting stars.

I love meteor showers.  I mean, really love them.  I love to look up into the dark night sky and see the stars.  The blackness of the night is pierced by the brilliant light of the beautiful stars each clear winter night, but last night was extra special.  Last night, December 13, 2008, was the Geminids meteor shower.  From what I hear, it is the second biggest of the year, just behind the famed Perseid meteor shower of mid August.

Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner reunion with half of the team that went on project to El Salvador this past summer.  We convened at Jacob and Caellin’s home for delicious homemade burgers (thanks Jacob!) and a perfectly constructed caesar salad made by none other than Adam S. Nixon.  It was so much fun to be able to see Sara, Kaylee, Alyssa, Adam and Kelly last night.  We laughed and reminisced as if no time has passed at all since we last saw each other in August.  I love friendships like these….they are just so natural.  After a rousing game of Bang, Jacob, Caellin, Sara, Kaylee, Kelly and myself headed out for an after dinner stroll around the Douglas’ neighborhood.  

It was the coldest night we’ve had since I’ve been here this quarter.  I love cold nights.  They make me want to snuggle up to the people I love, and believe me, that’s big for me.  Let’s just say that physical touch isn’t my cardinal love language.

Anyway, as we headed out of the house, I mentioned to my cohorts that Dec. 13th is a big night for meteors.  I second guessed my announcement as soon as I made it (why do I lack such confidence in myself?).  I then mumbled that we probably wouldn’t see many shooting stars, thanks to the amazingly bright gibbous moon that was rising in the eastern sky. Just then, a bright meteor streaked across the winter night.  It was breathtaking.  We preceded to walk up to the San Luis Obispo adult school baseball field, and turned with our backs against the bright moonlight to see what we could of the meteor shower.  I saw at least 10 shooting stars, each more beautiful than the last.  I even got to share my (very small) knowledge about meteor showers with Jacob, which was great.  

After a half hour or so of star gazing, we returned to Jacob and Caellin’s home and were reunited with Alyssa and Adam.  We played what I believe to be the funniest game of “Telephone Pictionary” that I’ve ever played.  We laughed and enjoyed good time together as members of Christ’s body.  I mean, the whole reason we ever met in the first place was because we went out into ministry.  Later that night we saw a bunch more SLO students who were spending time at Alyssa’s house.  The night was filled with fun and unexpected happy moments.  It was the merriest night of the Christmas season so far.

All in all, I just feel so loved by my Heavenly Father.  He loves me so well, so perfectly.  He whispers his love to me in the most amazing ways: through genuine community where He is glorified, through beautiful displays of the heavens that he created, through the wintery weather he sent me today.  I feel his unfailing love in the steady drum of the rain on my roof right now, and through the remembrance of the gift of his Son that he gave us.  He is Emmanuel.  He sent his Son to reunite me with him.  To reunite you with him.  He loves us each so well.  I want to overflow with thanks to Him.

Home Sweet Home

Came across this article while aimlessly clicking links on strangers’ blogs. It’s amazing what I’ll do to keep myself from studying from finals. Anywhoo….love this town even more after reading the article. Go ahead, check it.

And by the way, I have an interview at Higher Groundz next week. Jumping back on that coffee shop bandwagon! Enjoy the article….tell me what you think about this over-caffeinated town. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get a cup of Joe before diving into studying geology…

Coffee Shops.

I’m just going to throw this information out.  I’m addicted to coffee shops.  Not coffee itself, mind you, but the place where they keep the coffee.  I think I know why, too.  Each shop is unique, and while offering basically the same drinks (I get the same thing at each one), I enjoy the atmosphere at each shop.  I literally had to budget myself $30 this month for coffee shop runs…which might sound like a lot to you, but is modest compared to what I spent last month.  Yikes!  

When I worked at Starbucks in high school, we were big on customer service training.  One of the things I learned in training was that Starbucks is striving to create this “third place” for people.  Now, before you write me off for being brain washed by some globalization scheme of Howard Schultz (somewhat true), just hear me out.  The third place is separate from “normal” life. The first place is home, and the second place is work.  People are looking for some kind of third place to escape the responsibilities each of these places present….voila, Starbucks (or any coffee shop).  I pretty much agree with this philosophy, although I’d have to say that coffee shops are more like my 5th place, after home, school, work, Bible study 1, and Bible study 2.  

So I’m guilty.  I love the “third place.”  I can’t get enough of it, frankly.  The following is a list of my favorite shops in SLO.  We don’t really have coffee shops in Bako, so sorry if you’re reading this and it doesn’t apply to you….  

1.  Uptown Espresso/Black Horse:  recently changed its name, but still a great place to have a date night with Jesus or study.  I love the patio (which is where I gave my final speech for COMS 101, btw) and also have some great memories of meeting DeKlotz here for d-ship last year.  Learned so much about who God is in this place!  I always run into at least one person I know here, which is usually a good thing.  Also, it’s downtown, which is an upgrade in my book. 

2.  Linnaea’s Cafe:  Love the garden and the almond lattes.  I lied before when I said I get the same thing everywhere.  I splurge here for the flavored latte instead of my normal single unflavored latte.  Also, its pretty quirky, and though that doesn’t fit my personality completely, its a good change from my normal routine.  I have a strong urge to buy a fixed gear bike after visiting this shop, and want to go home and shower after looking at the “earthy” girls who work here.

3.  Higher Groundz:  Its right down the street from my house and run by Christians.  The music is great (usually some Jon Foreman in the mix) and I know at least three of the employees.  A great place for d-ship.  However, it doesn’t feel as intimate to me for some reason.  Still makes the top three.  Try the Chai.

Ok.  Now that I’ve confessed, you can keep me accountable.  Its ok.  Ask me how many times I’ve been out to coffee this week…. Really though.  Caffeine makes me feel icky, so the coffee itself isn’t the problem.  The real truth is that these coffee shops have become a great place for me to wind down and soak in the Father’s love.  Try a Date Night with Jesus at a local coffee shop–I guarantee it will be a pick-me-up for your week.  Go.  Try it.