One Time...

One time I went to a basement concert in south Jersey with Becky and some of her friends. We all had to wear ear plugs. And my ears bleed for a solid 3 days after. It was also sort of a costume party. A girl was dressed as Mr. Norwall (the whale from Elf) and her horn was so large she had to duck into every room. And a guy was dressed as Buddy and they kept referring to each other as their costumed names....

"Our true purpose is to love one another and to love ourselves. Not based off of the things that we have acquired or accrued on this planet, but based off of the fact that we all have God inside of us." - Michael Cory Davis

Spicer, Minnesota

This is a picture from our hotel room this morning. It is snow from the previous day. At first mom thought it was toilet paper all over the ground. Obviously she thinks back to my high school days of t.p.ing friends. haha
A pumpkin patch in a parking lot. The pumpkins were all covered with burlap bags so they wouldn't freeze overnight.
The Minnesota country side. On our 2 hour drive to Spicer.
Spicer, Minnesota's Green Lake.

When I was younger my family use to come to Spicer during the Summer. My Step-Grandma, Rosa lives there and we would go visit her and my grandpa because they summered there. Now Rosa lives there year round. Spicer is a really cute little town, it goes around Green Lake. When I was in my hay-day (8 years old?) Rosa, Emily and I all rode our bikes around Green Lake, which is about 15 miles!
We haven't seen Rosa for about 5 years. It's really nice to see her.

Tomorrow mom is driving me back to Minneapolis for my VEV event, and then she is coming back to visit longer with Rosa. Perhaps she will blog soon!

Minnesota

Mom and I arrived in Minnesota yesterday. Our flight was delayed by about an hour because it snowed the day before and was still pretty frosty. We arrived at the airport, picked up our super fancy rental car (we had to upgrade, so it would be safer to drive in case it snowed). Then we headed straight to The Mall of America....which was dissapointing. I've wanted to go to the MOA every since they built it, and filmed some Mighty Ducks 3 scenes there. My hopes were too high. They have a QVC store there. Mom loves QVC...plus it's a super cute pic of her.

We walked around the mall until it closed and we ate dinner there.

Pumpkin Patch Puppy

My favorite aunt works at her friend's pumpkin patch in October, so we dressed LuLu up in her Halloween costume and went over there to surprise her. It was a lot of fun, plus it doesn't hurt that we have possibly the cutest dog ever. It may seem cruel to dress up animals, but LuLu LOVES it! There was a big John Deer tractor that LuLu was very interested in.

Dodgers win NLW!

The fam went to the Dodger game, the day they won the National League West. It was SUCH a great game! I may be biased but Dodger fans really are the best fans. I recently went to Yankee and Mets games, the fans are so mean to their own team. Dodger fans love the team, and even the city loves them. I'm also a big Joe Torre fan.

The Bek and Liss Show...coming soon!

A little teaser for your pleasure.

Our old boss use to say that when Rebek and I were together it was like the Bek and Liss show, so since we will be sharing a room for the next year, we might as well actually make a show out of it. Hope you enjoy!

Ladies and gentleman.....THE KILLERS!

For my birthday Rebekah and I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see The Killers. The Hollywood Bowl is an amazing venue. It is outside so you sit under the stars while you are watching the show. The Killers were great. Unfortunately Bek and I saw Coldplay later summer and they were amazing so sadly everything else pales in comparison. Then we drove back down to Anaheim and I slept on the floor of my new apt. I'm not officially moving in until October so my bed isn't here yet.

Update

I have a job! Well...sort of. I'm working on Mondays at my old job. It's great there! Aaaand I get to work with my 2 favorite co-workers! I think I am going to continue to work there even after I move. The commute will only be about an hour (with no traffic). I figured out that if I work 4 Mondays a month, that it is about half my rent...plus it's a sure thing, so i'm sticking with it!

I am moving to Anaheim ( where Disneyland is) at the beginning of October. I will have 3 roommates. 2 bedroom, 2 bath. The complex is brand new and it looks like a resort center. It's a little unreal. There are 3 pools, tons of flat screen TVs, cabanas near the pools that have iPod hookups and flat screen TVs in them. 2 workout areas that are open 24 hours, covered parking, fire pits and waterfalls. It's ridiculous! We have a big, brand new kitchen, and 2 balconies. It's really close to the freeway and walking distance to the Anaheim Angels baseball stadium.

LuLu's Birthday

Yes, we are those kind of dog owners that throw birthday parties for their dogs...

Any who. LuLu turned 5 this year. Mom brings her to the thrift store on Wednesdays when she works and the customers love her! She has been going since she was a puppy. We even have a few customers who come only on Wednesdays to see her. Last year was the first year we had a party for her, so we decided to have one this year also.I made fliers that we posted around the store the week before. Then I made pink Poodle cupcakes. We even had little goodies for any kids that may come in, and we have special "LuLu Birthday Specials" at the store. Sadly, this year was quite possibly the slowest day of the year, and we only had about 5 customers, but it was fun anyway! One customer even brought LuLu a little present of some chewy bones!

Home Again, Home Again.

Hellllllo!

I have been home in our newly air-conditioned house about 3 weeks now. LuLu slept with me for about the first week I was home. And by slept with me I mean that she hogs about the bottom third of my bed while I contort myself around her. I always wake up very sore the next day. But since she is so cute and full of love that I gladly take it. 

The parents are also in the middle of re-modeling the kitchen. Our house is out of control. There are basically little walkways through the house, including my bedroom. There is a walkway from the door to the bed. Our refrigerator is in the living room, along with the microwave, and that's it. We eat off paper plates and bowls, including LuLu! and use plastic utensils; since the only sinks are in the bathrooms. I've been all over the county looking at flooring, paint colors, door knobs and handles. I've had to carry our big cabinet door into about 15 stores to see how it will look with various colors and such. 

Also, I am officially moving to Anaheim, CA! Rebekah found us 2 girls who needed 2 roommates in a brand new apartment complex, we met them, and are IN! Soooo I need to get into the swing of things and start the job hunt. On a good note, I'm working at The Learning Center again on Monday nights until I move! YAY!

My Last Night in NJ

My last night in NJ....

Becky has community group on Wednesday nights, which is a Bible study with various people from her church community. It was over around 9 P.M. Everyone left. 

Then Becky, our friend Jess, and I decided to go walk and get ice cream. It was my idea. So I do feel pretty terrible about suggesting it. We got back around 10:40ish?

When we got home the door to the actual apartment was wide open, the kitchen light was on and there were some papers on the floor. We knew we shut the door and left the lights off. We thought that maybe Becky's roommate, Mona came home and left in a hurry. At which point I start looking for my backpack because I knew I needed to charge my computer for the flight home. Jess called Mona, who said she hadn't been home. I'm still looking for my backpack. I had just taken my wallet out of it to walk to get ice cream, it had to be there.

Then I see 3 unimportant papers under Becky's desk that had been in my backpack. Then we realize Mona's laptop is missing, as well as Becky's iPod and speakers. So we call the police, who come and fingerprinted some areas. All of Becky's jewelry was stolen. Some of Mona's jewelry was stolen and my entire backpack.

In my favorite backpack was:

Laptop

Digital camera

library book--sorry NYPL

A zip pouch that had all the essentials needed for a purse. 

Could have been worse. We are all safe.

Full Circle

I am sitting here at Panera in Princeton, NJ. Becky has to work all day so I am entertaining myself. Almost a full year ago, I sat in this same place (prob. not the same seat) and wondered what the coming year of intentional community would bring.

To say that I had a "rough" year could be a bit of an understatement. I don't think I

am even anywhere close to beginning to process the year.

I'm really glad to be going back home. My really comfy bed, air conditioning, a car, fuzzy black poodle dogs, and the excitement that I will be living in Orange County in a few months.

After today; 5 days!

I am leaving the city in 5 days!

Here are the things I am doing before I leave...

- Seeing Hair 8/8/09

-Harlem Studio Museum 8/9/09

-Blockheads for the last time 8/9/09

-Yankee game 8/10/09

-2 days of work 8/9, 8/10

-2 nights in New Jersey

-Eat at Kitchenette by myself 8/9/09...not by myself though!

Summertime In New York

Summertime In New York

Hot, sticky, humid

Lightening bugs in the night

Concerts in the park

We saw Arlo Guthrie tonight. I can officially say I have heard, "This Land is Your Land" live with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop.

B-R-O-OK!-L-Y-N

I'm sure most of you know this......buuuut this summer I am working at a preschool in Brooklyn for kids with special needs.

I am a para, which means that I follow one little girl around and make sure she doesn't kick or hit me or others, run out of the classroom, etc. She also licks the bottoms of her shoe fairly consistently and bites her hand when she is frustrated. She also will put anything on her face: paint, stickers, food. Charming.

I work from 9-3, and it is about an hour commute each way. And I absolutely love it! There are 10 kids in the class and they are all so unique and interesting.

It is a nice end to a crap year.

I didn't have any experience really with Brooklyn until this job, and I really like it as well!

More crazy kid stories to come! Like how she turns upside down to stare at peoples hair, and how we have the same discussion numerous days in a row.

Ahhhh Massachusetts!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to Massachusetts and stay with Becky's family.

Becky's mom drove 2 hours (one-way) to pick me up in Connecticut!

It was such a nice weekend. I really needed it.

It was fairly nice weather, and staying in a nice house with air conditioning was GREAT!

I got to swim in the pool, play with the 3 ridiculous dogs, play ping-pong, watch movies, sleep in a super comfy bed!, go to church, have a BBQ, garden, spend time with loved ones.

Then Becky's dad woke up at 4 AM to drive me back to Connecticut, so I could make it to work on time on Monday.

Thank you Grinsteads, your love and generosity was wonderful this weekend!

Prayer request

Please pray for Patrick's dad, and the whole Fennig family. He is in the hospital dying from cancer. It was all very sudden. He was visiting Patrick 2 weeks ago. Came down with pneumonia, had complications, went to the hospital and they found massive cancer all over.

High Line Park

On Sunday Sarah and I decided to go to a new park that opened 4 weeks ago. It is called the High Line. It was originally constructed in the 1930s, to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan's streets. Naturally, there was a line to get into the park.
First we waited across the street.Then we wound our way through this line. We did only wait about 10-15 minutes.

Here is one of the views of the Hudson. I really like sailboats.
The incorporated some old railroad tracks into the landscape. It was very pretty.
Here is some more cool landscape.
A section of the park has some wooden benches you can sit on. This is a nice 2 person lounge. There are single lounges that actually have railroad wheels and are on a railroad track so you can push them together. Sarah and I sat here long enough to put sunscreen on. It was a really hot day.
A view of some buildings with neat architecture. I took a whole bunch of different pictures of the blue building.
A view of the Statue of Liberty far off in the distance.
Here is stadium like seating that has a big glass window looking down onto the street. We sat here a while with all the other people and watched the cars pass under us.
There is the glass window from the street view. It was a really nice park.

Happy 4th!

Brian, Sarah and I decided to be adventurous and try to get fairly close to the fireworks. We ended up on 57th street, amazingly practically right in front of one of the six barges on the Hudson. We literally sat ON the West Side Highway that was closed down for the fireworks. We got there about 2 hours early.
The sun setting and lots more people!

New camera takes some pretty sweet pictures.

I'm patriotic and Sarah's shirt says, "Make levees, not war."
After the show everyone started clapping. It was a pretty good show. Then it was an absolute madhouse along the streets back to the subway.

Coney Island

Happy 3rd of July!

I was lucky enough to have Friday off of work. I was invited to Coney Island with my friend Sarah, 2 of her roommates and 2 of their friends. It was a pretty nice day. It takes about an hour and a half to get there...it is the very last stop on about 3 different trains. I had heard that Coney Island was a bit shady, and now I know for sure. They had a whole bunch of freak show tents. You could pay 50 cents and see a 100 pound rat. No thank you. There was a game called, "Shoot the Freaks" where you use paintball guns and hit live human targets.

Naturally, we ate at Nathan's. I had a hotdog and Sarah and I shared cheese fries.
Look at all the hot dogs they have cooking at once! There were about 20 lines to order food in and all of them had quite a few people in them.
These pics are for my dad. He watches the hotdog eating contest every year.

The large count down clock to the hotdog eating contest. 22 hours to go! Please note: 1988 winner ate 13. The 2008 winner ate 59.


The Wonder Wheel. I wish I would have taken a picture of the man taking tickets to go up who was smoking on the job. Classy. I didn't go on any of the rides because they were all pretty expensive and it's not like I've never been on these exact same rides elsewhere.
Cyclone.

View from the pier. The large buildings in the background are actually Public Housing apartments. Interesting, eh?

Freak June Storm

One day in late June I was running a few errands after work. I was just about to cross the street when all of a sudden it got really, really windy. Followed by the harsh wind were dark, ominous clouds. I quickly hurried into Barnes and Noble (no big surprise there). I found my book that I was reading and a nice window seat on the 2nd floor....just in time for the rain to come pouring down! It also thundered and lightninged for quite a while. It was crazy. I got a little video of it, if you watch closely you can see the flashes of lightening.

M.J.

I walked down to the Apollo the day after Michael Jackson died and there were loads of people there. Including about 7 t.v. vans and camera crews.

Oh, Harlem. You're a card.