27 and …

Last year I was 26 and … honest. This year I’m 27 and …

content/thankful/hopeful/excited

It was a good day. I’m pretty confident it will be a great year. I’m so thankful I have a faithful Savior to walk with me through it.

What did you do on your birthday?

Went to work:

Krystal gave me a tiny little cake!

Jayme felt sorry for me and my sad aloe vera

Upgrade!

Now I’m torn between 2 plants!

then I took a nap

then the boyfriend gave me great presents – including:

a fun game to show off how nerdy I am, new cycling gear, a hilarious book and…

the coolest shirt ever!

Yeah – it says, “Do the Stanky Leg” – Good job, Boyfriend!

Then we went to eat delicious food (and pink drinks!)

I had a full tummy. But not too full to finish off the evening with some cinnamon ice cream!

It was a great day. Thanks to everyone who made it so special!

Promised Poem – Stacie-Friend

Stac, these are the terms I was unable to work into your poem:

autobahn
diplomatic passport
suck it, England!

On to the poem!

Stacie is my German friend
Not born, but living in the Motherland*
She used to live across the hall
But we’re not that close, I probably won’t call.

Now she lives on a military base,
Teaching army kids and putting them in their place.
She started in Germany with YoungLife this summer
But working with youth full time is a bummer
So God opened doors to allow her to teach
Across the ocean, out of our reach
She’s so excited and so are we
To see how God will use her so mightily

Stacie, sweet friend who lives across the sea
I admire you more than even Leslie (shout out!)
For 2 years you modeled wisdom and grace
Were a good friend and roommate who always put a smile on my face

I’ll sit on the couch you left us and think of you here
So far away eating bratwurst and beer
Don’t get all Euro-chic and cultured and snobby
Nobody likes those chicks who say “foy-eh” instead of lobby
European girls are not better than we
Sometimes they just smell a little differently

Bye Stac, have fun and take lots of pictures!
But don’t ever forget that my blog is better than yours!

*Motherland is here defined as Germany, not Russia (poetic license)

It’s like taking a smoke break

just without the bad smell, bad breath and smoker’s cough

Happy work day!

Tardy Cruise Post

I went on a cruise!

Hello from a catamaran excursion. We were about to snorkel and enjoy some beach fun – and some rum punch!

I’ll be regretting that rum punch in about an hour and the boat will see it again when I puke it up!
(no I didn’t get drunk and vomit – I got seasick and vomited)

We ate really well.

We also beached really well.

There was lots of dancing!

This is our group experiencing a lightening storm.

Pay attention during the safety briefing!

Yeah, I got moves.

Jen and Kelly are karaoke allstars!

Yay, cruise!

200, eh?

The next person to comment will be the 200th comment on this sorry-excuse-for-a-blog.
(That is assuming the next comment doesn’t have to be moderated. If it does, and someone else comments before I moderate, welp – sorry, there’s nothing i can do … sucker)

Anyways, to the 200th comment-er I will award 1 of the following prizes (which the winner may pick):

• You can guest post on this blog.
• I will write a poem about you as my next post.
• If we are facebook friends, I will post something on your wall every day for the next week. If you are single, it will help you get a date. If you are married it will just be nice and make you look good.
• I will replace the current header with pictures of you (you have to send me those pics) and leave it up for 3 weeks.

Any takers?!

43 Miles Later …

wind – check

uphills – check

blazing sun – check

punctured tire – check

3 1/2 hours later, I rolled my tired self through the finish line.

I rode this one alone, so I had some good time with Jesus. The theme of this ride = try harder.

“Jesus, I’m tired. I’d like to be done now.”

“Try harder.”

“This hill sucks, I don’t want to climb it.”

“Try harder.”

and things like…

“Jesus, I’m having trouble waking up in the mornings to spend time with you.”

“Try harder.”

etc, etc.

It was a good ride. Even though it was hot and hard and I was by myself and I got a flat at the beginning and they only had extra-large t-shirts, I enjoyed myself. And I’m even a little proud =)

Thanks, Jesus!

Niece & Nephew Love

“Hey Will, say something funny for my blog.”

“Suck it, Aunt Amanda!”

Attempting a Comeback & Placing Blame

Sometimes I miss blogging. Especially when I read good blogs. They inspire me. So I’m considering trying harder. Perhaps it will be a fruitless pursuit. Buy maybe not.

For those of you who know me best by my blog (Adrienne), here is an update:

In the past 2 months I have:

• moved into an apartment

(yes I sleep in very close proximity to my bikes. It’s out of necessity, not preference.)

(small room defines me – bed, books, bikes)

• lost hundreds of dollars worth of “stuff” in said move – thanks for helping me simplify, Jesus!

• gained a new roommate

(you may remember Ashley from such posts as 30 Miles Later, and Ouch)

• bought a new toy!

(thank you Craig’s List!) (we’ll see how this baby holds up in Saturday’s 43-miler)

• started teaching a new Bible study (and now finished – I drafted this a few weeks ago)

• gone a cruise (this will be it’s own blog post or 2 later)

And… (this is where the placing blame comes in)

• picked up one of these

He’s mostly the reason I don’t blog anymore. All random theories or ideas, frustrations, vents, spiritual realizations, etc go through him instead of through the internet. I know you feel betrayed, he’s just a lot more fun to talk to.

But I’ll still try to do better. Maybe I’ll just use my blog to tell you all of his secrets!

See you soon!

The eternal struggle

This morning found me wrestling with the age-old question:

Do I get to work on time or risk being a few minutes late so I can grab a bite?

.

.

.

… I was a little late to work this morning.

(it was worth every sprinkle)

Back but mediocre

I promise a real post is coming. And hopefully following that real post will be more posts, at somewhat regular intervals.

So sit tight, I’m still gathering pictures and organizing my thoughts. I promise – it will be awesome sub par.