Days 78-80 (Apr. 30 to May 2): Transitioning From April to May

I love how close I am to finally being updated! I'd say one more round after this should do it. It's been exhausting I must say. It was a HUGELY diverse weekend. So here Round Nine goes.

Day Seventy-Eight (Friday, April 30)
You may have noticed that I start "weekend" posts on Friday, even though I do in fact am aware of Saturday and Sunday being the only two days considered the weekend. But since I was in elementary school, I have always counted Friday-after-school-hours to be the weekend. After all, I could stay up late that night and sleep in the next day.

Anyway, I kept waking up between 9am and 12pm, after having taken Advil PM the night before. I just needed to get some sleep and hadn't been since quitting my job. I fell into the unfortunate habit of staying up until 3am, so I knew it needed to stop, thus the sleeping pills.

Speaking of how I quit my job, I spent a lot of time in prayer, asking God to please help me bring income in once again. I was very specific about when I wanted this to happen by (May 11), even though it terrified me to do so, once more. Well, less than 3 hours later, I got a call from the photographer who I'd met during my trial shoot with Monica. Her name is Rosina and she had a gig coming up in 2 days. Her other other assistants couldn't make it, and would I like to instead? Ummmmmm, what...?? This is literally 3 hours after praying for this very thing. God is so funny! Anyway, she later sent me the info for the Bat Mitzveh, and told me that if we worked well together, we could sign a contract to work together in the future. I told her how much Monica paid me and she took that into consideration.

I once more watched the episode "Home" of Glee, my new obsession. It again inspired me, sometimes to the point of tears. Cheesy of course, but true nonetheless. Kristin Chenoweth's performance is just so beautiful and moving. I love watching her perform because every note is filled with passion, which you can see in her eyes, body, and every movement. I kept thinking about what Mariam said before Book Club started. She was talking about Eric Little (from Chariots of Fire) and how he said, "I feel God when I run."

So, fast forward to later when Alison and I met up at Vic Park's Urban Brew Cafe. Alison parked her car and then we drove to Veer's place to meet up with Andrea and the host. We were there for 30 or so minutes, sipping on margaritas. We actually got into some pretty deep convos about bad relationships and such while eating chips and hummus. Found out something pretty surprising about Veer too! 

Around 9:45pm or so, Alison and I took off to pick up her car and then Ryan at Bamboo Flats. Both he and Alison had to be up at 6am the next morning to go to Miami, but she convinced him that he should come out anyway. She drove us to 1921, which used to be called Godfathers. We heard Ryan Alexander's band rock out harder than they ever had before. But Ryan, Alison, and I were in the mood to dance. We parted ways with Veer and Andrea who were gonna stay longer to hear her friend Miguel DJ. 

Sadly, dancing did not work out in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Alison is only 19 years old and they're really strict about being 21 years old in order to be let into the club. Not a bad rule to have, but frustrating nonetheless. It was still good hanging out with Ryan and Alison until about 1:00am. And thus was the end of April.

Day Seventy-Nine (Saturday, May 1)

The transition from April to May was quite nice. I had a perfect Saturday in just about every regard. I started the day on the beach with Jim, then Jim and Andrea. She came as a last minute thing, and I'm sooooo glad she did! She even asked us what we wanted from Jamba Juice so she could get it for us. When she got there, we all 3 talked, but mostly Andrea and me since Jim was immersed in his book Brothers Karamazov. Even though it was overcast, it was still nice out, so we women went out to the ocean and battled the better-than-usual waves while finally catching up one-on-one! Oh my gosh it was WONDERFUL! It was like old times, and we even continued our conversations after she and Jim both left, via the phone. 

I took a little longer to get ready for Jaclyn and Nicole's birthday bash, so I was glad when Alli was running late to get there and get ready with me. (She had to work that day until around 5 or 5:30.) She's the best and didn't even need me to meet her downstairs the way I usually do with everyone else. She instead came to me and then we got ready together. (I had been, but as I said, was running late.) She helped me with makeup because I was super frustrated by how I do mine lately. We were running a little late together, but it was just as well since people didn't arrive for the party until 30 or so minutes in. 

After fielding some dying-GPS problems and getting cut off from each other, we finally arrived at Christine's By the Sea around 7:30pm. We got there around the same time as the birthday women. It was GORGEOUS outside too. I wore one of my favorite dresses that I bought in high school. Haha, sounds like it would be terrible, what with it being so long ago, but it's very retro, and I got several compliments from some very stylish women, such as Jaclyn and Erin. Felt good to bring it back out again. We got there and found out that Christine's By the Sea and the Tiki Bar were 2 different things. Jaclyn wanted the Tiki Bar aspect, so we all found spots outside where a lot of older people were singing karaoke (really well!) and dancing. It was so cheesy but perfect.

It was cool seeing good friends, and making new ones, such as Marty. His name automatically made me like him as images of Back to the Future sprung to mind. I also enjoyed when he "rescued" Jaclyn's Dora the Explorer balloon. He seemed to be entertained by how excited Alli and I got by the prospect of splitting a Mudslide. (I don't know why I call White Russians my favorite drink when clearly the Mudslide is superior.) 

Gleeks

I had fun talking with various people throughout the night, including Zach and Danny Escalante who I hadn't seen in quite awhile. Team Zach-and-Laura-Planning-Party came together again and we decided we need to do another joint event soon. Yay! 

After awhile, we all decided that with no cake or dessert, we needed to fix that, so we decided to go to DQ. Except, it was 11pm and it was closed. McDonalds was open, but only the drive-thru. Haha, so I had my first "Junior High Experience" and ate ice cream in the parking lot of McDonalds, Sonic drive-in style. We were there for 2 hours, no lie. It was cool having girl-talk with Val for a lot of that time, as well as getting a few more pictures in there. Oh yeah! And I enjoyed the short drive-through McDonalds with Veer to get ice cream and such.

Haha! I love Andrea's impromptu role in this photo. 

I finally said my goodbyes close to 1:00am, especially since I had to be Rosina's photography assistant the next day at 11:00am.

Day Eighty (Sunday, May 2)

When I got home the "night" before, I just could NOT sleep! I didn't fall asleep until 4am, yet I woke up at 8am. Crazy. But it was nice because I was able to get cute in an unrushed fashion :) I also had time to freely talk to Andrea when she gave me a call at 9am.

It was a really hot day out, so it wasn't so fun wearing a black quarter-sleeve, black pants, and with my hair down while assisting outside. But every "painful" moment was worth it because I had an absolute BLAST helping out for 13-year old Shara's Bat Mitzveh in Boca Raton. She's a cutie! It was blazing hot, but I enjoyed applying the things Rosina taught me and interacting with Shara's large group of family and friends. After we got the portrait shots done, we went into Asia Restaurant to photograph people eating.

While inside, we got to hear people's tributes to Shara, and even heard a personalized version of Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" by one of Shara's good friends. Her friends and family put together a scrapbook with pictures, words of wisdom, and recipes. It was precious! And I also enjoyed the Rabbi's speech, as well as her cute mother's words of wisdom while her father recorded it all on video. I thoroughly enjoyed my 2.5 hours there.

Afterwards, I helped Rosina pack up her car, and we sat down to talk logistics. She said she liked how I worked and that she would love to work with me again. Yayayayyayayayay!!!

To celebrate, I appeased my empty stomach and went to Subway to eat lunch while reading a book. Then I went to the Barnes and Noble in Glades and chilled there. The thing that stands out there is how I got to tell off my ex online about what a scum bag he was for trying to cheat on his current girlfriend with me. He disgusted me and I let him know it in an all-too clear way.

Things were pretty chill from there. On the way out of the bookstore, my friend Liz and I planned to hang out the next day with Eric. After I got home, I gave into my exhaustion from little sleep and napped. As wonderful as that was, I felt bad about sleeping through the evening service I had planned to attend.

Two very wonderful women managed to cap off my overall wonderful day by communicating via phone and the web. First, Val and I sent texts back and forth between us, validating each other as friends. She is such a sweetheart and I'm so glad I know her! Secondly, Alli and I gchatted for awhile around midnight (which of course, is technically the next day, Monday) about how things were going for her, now that she was on her 2-week vacation.

So yes, it was most definitely a beautiful transition from April to May. 

Days 74-77 (Apr. 26-29): Mission Expo Week

It's hard to choose just one phrase to sum up these 4 days, but "Mission Expo Week" does a good job of it overall. So, here goes Round Eight:

Day Seventy-Four (Monday, April 26)

I would say there were a wide range of emotions throughout the day. In the first third of the day, I was super happy, and finally worked out again after over a month of not having done so. Mom has been inviting me to go pretty much all the time but I always turn her down. Not one to be discouraged by this sort of thing, she invited me once more in the afternoon, and I said yes. It definitely felt good to get back to it. 

Before going to work out, Pete and I texted back and forth about getting together since he was back from the Ivory Coast, Paris, and Switzerland and he wanted to catch up. That would definitely be in the happy category. 

Furthermore, I got a (mini-mass) update from a friend about some major happenings. That's all I'll say, except that I admire her so much for her bravery and optimism. 

Another email I got was from a friend who is teaching English in South Korea. We went to high school and I knew she was still there on her 3rd year, and that she would definitely be able to give me a good idea of the pros (as well as cons) of living there to teach English. She sent a really (nicely) long email about her input and answered my questions I had emailed to her 11 days before then. It was so helpful! 

Every other Monday night, I have Book Club with some wonderful women. If I haven't already said so, we're studying "The Lies Women Believe: And the Truth That Sets Them Free." It's been such a blessing and I really value that group. Our gracious host Mariam is so great. 

We conclude group with prayer, and let me tell you, there are a lot of intense prayer warriors in that group. Like I said, they're intimidating! One very serious prayer request was shared, and one of the women touched my heart when she started crying during prayer for this other woman in the group. She really felt the emotion and burden of her sister in Christ. 

Book Club went a little longer that night, and when prayer concluded, I got up to leave right away. I had intended on going to a bookstore afterwards, so that was my main motivation for leaving so quickly. On my way home, I got a text from Liz asking if I was okay, since I had been so quiet at Bible Study. Haha, here's the thing; I'm naturally a very quiet, introverted, shy girl. This is especially true in that group because I'm trying to take in all the insight these women have to offer on the book material, as well as they all tend to intimidate me (in a good way). So, whenever I leave group, someone asks me afterwards if I'm okay LOL. Aww they're so sweet. 

But here's the other thing: I was feeling emotional, and I suppose that was part of the reason I had to jet so quickly. As soon as Liz sent that to me and I read it (at a stoplight), I lost it. I just started crying harder than I had in a LONG time. It was scary in a way because it was the hypervenilating kind that often made me close my eyes from the hysteria of it all...If I wanted to keep my dignity, I probably shouldn't have shared those details, but the thing is, I'm glad it happened. (And also that I didn't kill anyone while my eyes were sometimes closed from the heaving sobs.) I had a lot of unworked through emotion that came through when a friend demonstrated that she cared about me. That "session" lasted for about 30 minutes or more. I drove to Borders but saw that I would only have 20-30 minutes to be there, and that it was pointless. Instead, I used that time frame to drive around on AIA, cry, and sort through my thoughts. It was a very good investment of time too, I think. 

Since my eyes were so red and blotchy from crying so long, I entered the condo with my back to my parents (who were watching 24) and went to my room to drop off my things. I manage to avoid them the whole night upclose until the evidence was gone. One of the things I did was do dishes. Unfortunately, I also broke one of two of Dad's favorite wine glasses. Ugh. He was upset at first, but pretty immediately forgave me. What a good dad. 

To conclude an interesting, emotionally exhausting day, I chatted with Alli and Ashley on gchat. I told Ashley we'd missed her at Book Club and we decided to make a coffee finally happen as soon as her finals were over. It was so cool talking to her! I have only met her the one time at our first Book Club, but she made an impression on me when she honestly shared that one of her reasons for being part of the Club was to build community with believers. Wow, that was so vulnerable! I liked her from that instant. And talking to her online made me like her that much more! There are so many wonderful women here in Fort Lauderdale. It was also cool chatting with Alli for awhile before she turned in for bed. 

She asked me how Book Club was and we discussed the things I agree and disagree with the author on. (Overall I agree, but not on everything.) We also talked a bit about Korea, which is helpful since she's travelled and lived abroad in places like Germany and Switzerland. 

Day Seventy-Five (Tuesday, April 27)

A friend of mine called me up in response to a mass text I sent out about going to 1921 bar this Friday for a show. It was good catching up and hearing about how things were on his end, and very sweet of him to ask how I was doing, since apparently I sounded down. (I am probably THE most transparent person these days. Or maybe it's always been that way and I'm only now realizing it.) 

I had a few great conversations via gchat once more. (I love that mode of communication!) One was with Andrea who asked the question that has become common among my friends: If I was okay lol. She wanted to be sure I was okay or if I was mad at her or something. It was so touching! I told her about being emotional the night before and then I quickly asked her about Friday. That was me trying to get away from the more serious topic lol, but to no avail. She probed more, which admittedly meant a lot to me. She even offered to beat up any guys if necessary LOL. As I told her, I love the guys in my life and there was no need. Before we ended the conversation, she made sure to tell me she loved me very much. 

Later on that day, shortly before I left to help volunteer for the Missions' Expo, I chatted briefly with Alli. Haha, to preface it, she and I have this ongoing, and entirely unintentional, thing of having awkward moments. It's become our thing and we actually embrace it now. So, after talking about a few other things, she started in with, "Oh let's get the awkward moment out of the way - I spell my nickname A-L-L-I ;)" Hahahaha, I had been calling her that for a little bit but had been spelling it A-L-L-Y which actually just made me think of country allies, for some reason. Awesomely, it wasn't too awkward after all, but just informative for me to know. 

Shortly afterward, I drove to church 5 minutes away and went to help set it up for the Mission Field in Our Backyard event (I know that's not the name, but it gives the essential idea.) I was there for a couple hours and teamed up with Alli, Val, Taylor, and others to set up the kids room. We made a cave with built in crawl space that I have to admit was AWESOME! Val is the mastermind behind it, I must say, but it was cool because all of us had the basic same idea as the other, so it was fun to collaborate. The kids there were so cute and helpful. It was fun working with them at times too. 

Alli and I had planned to meet for coffee afterwards for awhile. But the work wasn't all done when we took off at 9pm. Sweet Val took care of it all though. Thank God for people like her. (I do feel terrible about ditching...but it was kind of an emergency that I went with Alli afterwards. Sounds dramatic, but it's true...) Before we took off though, Val gave Alli the envelope that she, Jaclyn, and I all knew about and had contributed to as a thank you. We wanted to show Alli that it meant a lot to us for her to have included us in going for brunch at The Breakers. Alli was so touched that she almost cried even! Awww! She'd had a tough, tough day, so it was good timing for Val to have given it to her then. 

Coffee at Starbucks was so good! Alli tried to pay for my order with the Starbucks gift card, but I would not let her. We were there for a short time, but every little bit helps since she was going on a 2-week vacation soon after that. 

When I got home, I soon received a very sweet text message from my dear college friend Sara. She texted me just to say she loves me. Short and simple, but very effective and touching. 

This day was a great illustration of how important it is to surround yourself with good friends and people in general. 

Day Seventy-Six (Wednesday, April 28)

I really didn't do too much until meeting with Emma at Borders from 3:30-5:00pm. Before then, I watched the "Home" episode of Glee on hulu.com. Oh. My. Gosh. It was crazy beautiful as well as inspiring! The last number in the episode was just...wow, just incredible. Actress Kristin Chenoweth guest starred again and performed an incredible number from "The Wiz." (I haven't ever seen it but now want to.) There's something chilling about her singing and acting and it was fun seeing the character development from last time to now. Wow, I'm getting chills again just thinking back! I played that song over and over again and even went on the balcony to listen to it while I looked out at the ocean. 

As mentioned before, I met my friend Emma at Borders. We chatted for an hour and a half while sitting in the cafe. She is the cutest woman! She's on break right now, and has been taking advantage of sleep and the ocean everyday. It was so nice to have that woman-to-woman rendezvous.

Afterwards, I met up with Pete at the Missions Expo at 5:45pm. It was cool seeing the nice turnout and the transformed rooms that were filled with various booths representing all different parts of the world. The first one I went to was for Bangladesh that Alan was manning. I played a game of Memory with a little girl, which was fun. I was there for about 2 hours, and when I spotted Pete over by Turkey, we hugged and then went around to all the booths. He was really great about asking all sorts of questions from each set of people at the booths. I was less inquisitive, so it was good for me to be around someone who actually probed. It was a really good event. 

Near the end, I saw Jim at the Turkey booth. He was wearing the orange top that Andrea found for Jim when we all went shopping awhile back. I greeted him and complimented him on the shirt. In response, he said, "This really nice woman helped me pick it out." Awww. Haha, technically that person wasn't me LOL but still, the sentiment was there. 

Soon after that, Pete and I took off. It was only about 7pm, so we decided to go to his place and watch the hockey game that was on. It was a good game, though poor Pete's team lost. But I still enjoyed watching it with Pete and some of his Colombian "family." I do like hockey a lot actually (and am actually watching D2 Mighty Ducks - passively - as I write this), but haven't spent a lot of time watching any games since the live one I went to way too long ago. 

I took off around 9:45pm after the game ended, and got Pete to tell me my new nickname. (He insists that all his friends should have them.) He prefaced it by saying that it wasn't an insult or anything. The name he chose was "La Vache Que Rit"(pronounced "La Vash Kayree")  which means "The Laughing Cow"LOL. The cow part is what worried him. And for good reason! But not being one to think myself fat, that didn't bother me. He and I both noticed that it was a little bit like "Korean" so to us, it means, "The Laughing Korean" since we I love to laugh. True, I can sometimes take things in a sensitive fashion, but not for things like that, so I love my new nickname! 

When I left, he said to be sure I texted him when I got safely home. He lives in Davie and I wasn't sure how to get home, so he gave me good directions, which I followed to the letter. 

It was a great day and so good to see a friend shortly after he got back to the States. 

Day Seventy-Seven (Thursday, April 29)

This was a far more low-key day. My cousin called me up to chat once again, and once again, I have to give her a shoutout for being so good at keeping our relationship healthy and strong. She is so beautiful inside and out and I adore her! 

I also had fun on gchat with Erin. Her kids were in art class, so she had some down time when we spoke. I had invited a mutual friend of mine to Jaclyn and Nicole's birthday party, but he said he didn't know about it. Awwwwkwarrrddd! So I checked with Erin to be sure it was alright, and it was. (He was supposed to get an invite from his brother who was invited via evite.) I did disregard her wardrobe suggestion though ;) lol. 

I made a mistake when I didn't volunteer at the Mission Expo homeless dinner they hosted for 100 homeless people at my church. Instead of going to help with the manicures/pedicures, haircuts, and so forth before dinner, I stayed home. I really wish I hadn't. I heard it was an incredible turnout and that some of those homeless participants now attend our church. Wow, that's incredible to me. I love my church and the way they reach out to the surrounding community. It's such a beautiful thing. 

Thus concludes this look at Mission Expo Week. 

Days 71-73 (Apr. 23-25): Friends & He's Just Not That Into You

The theme is contained in the above title, especially the "Friends" aspect. Not just because of the Friends Marathon I had with a few friends. It was a great weekend filled with various wonderful people. The movie title bit (He's Just Not That Into You) is because of...well, I finally saw it.

I'm excited to be that much closer to being caught up, I must say. So, here goes Round Seven:

Day Seventy-One (Friday, April 23)
One of the first things my Mom and I talked about in the morning/afternoon was love languages. She knows that mine is words of affirmation and so she told me hers, which is acts of service. I basically knew this about her, but it reminded me to go the extra mile when I cleaned the condo while she was out. It was so rewarding to be able to do that for her! She and Dad do so much for me, so it's honestly the least I can do...

I used to HATE talking on the phone, and there are still more moments than not where I'd rather not, but when it comes right down to it, I really do find myself loving phone conversations, even when it's with people who I live nearby. So, it was so good talking on the phone with 3 wonderful people, such as Danny and Andrea who I hadn't talked to in AGES! Andrea was gone on a worktrip for about 2-3 weeks, and despite talking via gchat, it's not the same. As for Danny, it'd been about 2 weeks since we last talked so it was good catching up.

I especially loved talking to my cousin Jennifer though, as I always do. She's so affirming and AMAZING at reciprocating our friendship/relationship. That means the world to me that she takes time out of her SUPER busy schedule to see how I'm doing and to catch up. I miss her sooooo much :( As wonderful as Florida is, I do often miss my relatives in Illinois.

Jenn and I talked on the phone while I was on the way to an evening worship service at Harbour church. Andrea had invited me and it was the first time I saw her in weeks! (She just got back into town from a business trip.) The service was beautiful too. I spent that time praying for a dear friend of mine, and was just reminded how much I love this person.

After worship, I had planned on going dancing with some friends. I know, I know; random and maybe not the best combo lol. But it doesn't matter since I actually had a change of plans. I felt like I needed to be with a friend of mine instead, so we met up at Barnes and Noble a little after the worship portion of the service was over. (It was cool seeing Emma there as I was leaving though.) Alli and I met up in Boca, and had coffee together as we talked various things out with each other. One of the many things I love about this woman is how much we seem to get each other. It's a huge blessing in my life, for sure. Doesn't hurt that we have so much fun together. Haha, and I found out we both loooooovvve notebooks to journal in. We're hoping to have a 2-person retreat sometime. The details aren't formed yet, but I'm so excited!!!!

Lastly, I sometimes talk with the last guy I dated. We had a horrible breakup and didn't talk for a looonng time, but randomly do now from time to time. Well, I haven't been sleeping before 3am almost anytime for the past month. So, he and I happened to be online at the same time, and we talked. It was a surprisingly wonderful chat, because in it we got to (nicely) confront each other about problems from the relationship. It was very tasteful and I even got to confront him about some deep-seated things he needed to change. He asked me straight up about it, so it wasn't like I was bringing it up out of nowhere. He seemed to take it to heart too, or at least that's what his online persona made me think. Hopefully that conversation was able to be used for good.

Day Seventy-Two (Saturday, April 24)
This was a very straight-forward day. I invited 4 people to the beach who live nearby, but that didn't pan out. It really was just as well though, because I think I needed that alone time outside. It felt so good!

I must also notate a sweet text my brother sent me outta the blue. He wrote, "Love u Laura! Enjoy ur day" and it made me so happy! I love that man.

As planned about a week ago with Alli, the Friends Marathon was still on. I am a fan of smaller groups of people, and so it was particularly enjoyable eating cheese pizza from Pizza Hut with vino and cheesesticks on the balcony. It was a gorgeous night out, and just so serene being able to talk and laugh with these wonderful women. (Alli, Val, Risa, and me.) Afterwards, we partook of a nice spread of dessert: homemade brownies and chocolate mouse cake with some milk while we watched about 3 episodes of Friends (season 3). And of course, there were pics (which I still have to get from Alli). To top an already wonderful night off, Risa, a massage therapist, gave both me and Alli massages. Oh. My. Gosh. That was amazing.

You know, I used to prefer hanging out with guys, but these days, it is just such a (newfound) joy to invest myself in wonderful women who affirm me and make me love God more. Not that guys aren't wonderful as friends, but I wish I would have realized much earlier just how important it is to have strong woman relationships in your life.

Haha, oh yeah, on the way back up from seeing the girls off, I suddenly got in a dancing mood and just started doing so in the elevator for about 20 seconds. I immediately stopped when I realized that my condo building had just installed cameras in the elevators lol. Ugh, so embarrassing.

Day Seventy-Three (Sunday, April 25)
I tend to run a little late to church. Bad I know. So, I snuck in the back, and it just so happened that some of my friends were back there too. So I got to sit by Alan and saw that Jim was in front of me. It'd been awhile since he and I had last spoken, and he caught me up on things after service ended. He told me about XEE, which stands for Generation X Evangelism Explosion. I was part of regular EE back in high school (and once or twice in college) so I hadn't known about XEE until then. It's a cool thing, because instead of just approaching random people about the Gospel, you are supposed to spend time with people on a regular basis and invest in them before telling them about God. (Unless of course, it comes up on it's own.) Well, as has become tradition, I will write a few of the wonderful insights Pastor Tullian preached on.

"When we divorce the Gospel declarations from Gospel obligations, we're practicing legalism. Outside cleanup can never cure inside cleanup."

"It's not whether we'll buy or not, but about our motivation behind it."

"We're to approach the Gospel to ourselves everyday because we'll never be sinless."

"Why do we try so hard when we've already been qualified, accepted, and forgiven? We need to understand what's already ours in Christ."

"God doesn't parent us by using legalism, the way most parents do! ('You're being bad! Shape up and be a good little girl.') Instead, He loves us and that won't change, no matter what we do. It's not dependent on our behavior."

I had a therapeutic time at home after church. I had emailed a married couple back in Chicago who had agreed to pick up my Grandpa Dunn's sermon reels from my old apartment in downtown Chicago. And then I found out later that day that they had gone to pick it up! Oh what a relief! It had been crowding the newly-occupied apartment for awhile, and I know all parties involved wanted it gone. Thank goodness for friends back home who still do kind things like that for you.

I also got 2 very sweet text messages from my dear Jaclyn and Andrea. Jaclyn sweetly told me that I was pretty (AWWWW!!!) and she was sorry we hadn't gotten to really talk after church. That melted my heart, I must say. Andrea invited me to a party for the upcoming Friday, which also meant a lot to me since one of my love languages is definitely quality time. I love my friends so much.

Before going down to the beach, I ate lunch and also watched He's Just Not That Into You. People have been telling me how good it is, and Alli lent it to me when I found out she owned a copy of the movie. Oh. My. Gosh. I freakin' LOVE that movie!!!! It was just what I needed to watch. I'm risking a lot of vulnerability here to admit that I am a little too much like GiGi in the movie. I realized this very thing a month or more back, and have been re-evaluating my interactions with people in general. This movie helped reinforce the importance of doing that very thing. I also ADORED the relationship between GiGi and Alex, as well as the relationship between Mary and Conner. Oh wow, so cute!!! There were so many great moments in that movie! I should probably be ashamed to admit that I watched it twice that day.

After watching Not That Into You, I called Alli up to rehash on the amazingness of the movie. We got to talk for awhile about it and other things, and I was reminded why I love that woman so much. Oh yeah, and her sweet blog shoutout later that day also made me feel good :) Though I referenced that blog link on Friday the 23rd, here it is again.

As mentioned, I went to the beach and pool area. I was there for about 2 hours until 5:30pm. It was sooooo nice!! Oh my gosh I love living in Florida! And the staff at my building are SO nice! A little while ago, I went into the cafe but didn't have enough money to get a snack. (I didn't know it at the time though.) Instead of sending me away, the woman told me I could pay them the $5 back later! I knew I wouldn't be able to forget that kindness, and I didn't. Before going back up to the condo, I paid the person at the cash register my $5. I asked how they could do that sort of thing, and if people were good about paying them back. He said in general they were, with the exception of one woman who always takes food/drink without paying, saying she will later. Ugh, what is wrong with people?? Having said that, I appreciated my building staff's kindness.

But let me back up to my time on the beach. I sat on a towel, facing the ocean and reflected on the things my pastor preached on that morning. It was a gorgeous day out and made it that much more enjoyable. I thought about how much a Gospel killer living a "Christianity and ___________" lifestyle. I'll admit that I tend to turn to my friends, family, media, and food as a means of escape and comfort. *Sigh* I have this nasty habit of wanting others to make me happy and to cheer me up when I'm down, or even when I'm happy, if that makes sense. I want to be everyone's best friend and have no enemies at any point in my life. Absurd to want to be the first person in existence to be enemy-less. Not going to happen.