The Final Countdown....

For everyone who just got that song stuck in their head, you're welcome. :) So the countdown has officially begun, although I think it really began a few weeks ago to be honest ;) In approximately 26 hours I will be driving away from my current place of residence and employment and into the vast unknown. Vast Unknown is a French term used here to mean the north-eastern plains of Colorado. :)

No, really though, tomorrow morning, my family is coming with a truck to load up all of my stuff (which is already nicely packed thank you very much!) and we're going to head back out to the ranch. I'll be staying there for about a week and then *trumpets please* off to England!! I'm so excited about heading 'across the pond' (and yes I will continue to use annoying phrases like that) to go to my best friend's wedding. Especially because I learned this last week that some of my other friends (from when I was in New Zealand the first time as a student four years ago) are also going to be at the wedding and my mom and I will be a bit of a taxi service for them. So exciting!

So yes, this isn't a very long or cutting edge post, mainly just a line or two to let you know that a) I am still alive, b) I am trying to keep updating this blog as often as I can and c) I'm very excited for wherever it is that I am going next! Also, if you're wanting to know a miracle cure for sunburn, (which I was able to personally test this last week *wince*) then try this out....

1. Brew some very, very strong black tea (I'm talking you can't see through this stuff, so strong it looks like coffee)
2. Fill your bath tub with COLD water (you have a sun BURN, you need to use cold things to help make it feel better)
3. Add your crazy strong tea to your cold bath water and hop in! If you don't have a bath tub then use rags/towels/washcloths that you don't mind staining to soak up the tea and place on your sunburn. I'd suggest soaking in this for a while, at least a good 20 minutes (take a good book with you). For some reason there is something in the black tea that helps take the sting and itch and general not-fun-ness out of your sunburn and I'm telling you that it really does work. Cause as mentioned earlier, I did get the *ahem* 'opportunity' to try this out earlier this week. ;) Hopefully all of your summers haven't had as painful a start as mine ;)

Life in Transition

So I've started to notice a trend in my latest posts. They are all mainly apologies and excuses. I'm sorry to say though (oh hey look! Another one!) that isn't going to change much, at least not with this post. Mainly because life is in crazy transition right now. I am currently sitting in the middle of packing boxes that are in varying stages of 'fullness', and trying to motivate myself to fill out a few more job applications. I am in the last week of my time up in Estes Park. I have really enjoyed my time up here. It's been a very rewarding job and I've enjoyed getting to know the different staff members. It's also been great to have the privilege of being involved in the lives of the different students. God has different plans for me though, so I'm moving... somewhere in the next couple weeks. On the immediate horizon though are a few gems to look forward to! :)

1. Excitement about going home for a week with my family 
2. Giving a talk about being a chef at the library that I used to work at in high school for the summer reading kids. 
3. Going to England with my mom for my best friend's wedding as well as traveling around :)
4. A family reunion/90th birthday party for my grandpa
5. Our annual/traditional Girl's Tea Party (and no matter what my sister-in-law says, I still deny having ever had the privilege of attending one. The pictures are a lie Katie!)
6. My nephew's 4th birthday party
7. And of course, the traditional crazy Leis Fourth of July Extravaganza. 

Now I can tell that on that last one some of you are thinking "Extravaganza? Really? Isn't that a bit of an over-statement?" I promise you it isn't :) Not in the least. I also am hoping that I will get a half-way decent camera in the next couple of weeks because sadly, mine died this last winter and I can't get it to stay on long enough to take more than a single picture. Not to worry though, there will be lots of pictures of life this summer. I promise :) As well as lots of updates. My mom and I have promised each other that we'll put up 'hilarious' blog posts of each day in England so at least you'll have that to look forward to. Time to get back to packing :)

No really, I mean it this time.

Okay friends. So I'm afraid that I have been more than a little neglectful in my postings as of late. Especially considering the fact that I haven't posted once within this year.... Wow that is sad. I think that very fact just killed a fairy somewhere; not because my blog is so important but rather because I have such a small amount of self discipline. Well *rolls up sleeves* we're going to try and fix that. Things have been changing in my life and I think we may as well add another thing to that list, namely, this blog. So with no further ado, I would like to promise you, yes you my one faithful reader (I am hoping you're still there), that I will make posts on this blog on a much more regular basis. Here is why...

Now, I know exactly what you are thinking. What on earth do road trips (even if the bag and dress are great) and the movie Julie and Julia have in common? Well for me that have at least one major thing in common. So do my sister, the Nike swoosh, blank journals, crazed sports fans and globes. They are all things that communicate to me the fact that life is meant to be lived. It is something that you face head on and run to meet, not wait in a chair for it to come to you. If you see a recipe that you want to try, then get in your car, go to the store, buy whatever random exotic ingredients you need and make it! If you go to the game, wear the jersey! If you feel like visiting some place or someone, then get it your car and go! Just do it! Life is meant to be lived, not tolerated. To live is to experience an action. Living is an ACTION. It isn't something that happens to us, its something that we DO. So why don't we? Why do we spend so many of our days looking out of our windows and wishing that we could be somewhere else? Why do we see a project and think "I could never make that, I'm not talented enough." I'm tired of setting my own limitations. I'm tired of telling myself that I don't have the time, the ability, or the *insert limitation here* to do something that I actually want to do! So, dear lone reader, this is my pledge not to you, or to the universe, or so any person other than myself, that I am going to live the life that I have been given. This blog is not going to be something that is incredibly witty or catchy or interesting. I am merely going to try and have it be my daily, weekly, monthly, somewhat regularly :) log of my experiences as I try to start living life a little bit more.

I came that they may have life and they may have it in abundance. John 10:10b