they say it was a 5.8....

well I have experienced my first earthquake, and apparently it was a fairly 'big' one. 

crazy.

Stuff White People Like- right on!

ok, so I know what most of you are thinking, and others of you may be freaking out- who really knows...two posts in one day, wow.

Now that we are past that, I have been procrastinating work 

this morning, and any of the legitimately urgent (or not so urgent) things I need to accomplish within the span of work hours (being 9-6 [ish]) will be pushed back for a few, meaning i will have to work 'late' tonight, mai ben rai ka- no worries. 

Anyway, in my procrastination I came across a post on a blog that is quite humorous and pretty much 100% accurate, the majority of the time. Take today's post for example... the story of my life.

Absolutely completely Right on.

peace, love, and africa...

exploit, experience, feat, escapade...

Ok so I was thinking about changing it up a bit, but the thesaurus has nothing on the word adventure, as seen by the first four words in this post. Escapade could be kind of cool but actually kind of sounds like an age 7 birthday party next to adventure, not sure but possibly.

All of that to say: I will soon embark on my next adventure--(in 13 days to be exact).

I am going on the road as a 'Roadie' with IC. 

It's a 5 month internship: 

We are in San Diego for training during the first month.

And then in the beginning of September we leave to make the wide open road our friend for 3 months.

Then back to SD for a month to follow up and process the whole thing.

and so,

The New Adventure begins!

5 months total, 40 new friends and fellow roadies, 3 months on tour, 2 guys/2 girls, one van, and miles upon miles of open road for what you ask? 

It all comes down to one thing: to help bring peace to northern Uganda. 

Sorry for the lack of detail/information on IC /Uganda itself... at this moment there is no time to write about everything i want to. 

But, please check it:

 www.invisiblechildren.com -the organization, the movement, the heart

 www.ugandacan.org -you can find up to date information about the situation in Uganda.

I'm off! let's see where this next mundane, or not so mundane adventure leads!

love y'all!

recap extraordinaire

So, I guess I could give a thousand and a half excuses for not updating in a while, but no worries I'll spare you the excuses and just start talking about the craziness that has been life the past couple of months.

The end (and middle at this point) of my toms internship was incredibly fabulous and trying all

 at the same time.  Having so much hope for the future, yet being at the same place I was at in December: confused, open, full on anxiousness, but always hopeful.  I have learned that having a hopeful heart is absolutely necessary. 

Here we go... things that have happened in the past 3 1/2 months:

a. Mallory came to visit for Easter...a most fabulous fun filled so-cal adventure. love you bucket!

b. SD weekend. I went to the Surf Diva event and then spent the weekend at trent's house with becca...a much welcomed break from the fantastic yet over-populated intern condo.

c. My mom came to visit a couple of weeks before my birthday! (I think she finally began to grasp why I love CA so much....which is a huge leap in the right direction.)

d. I flew to TX for my birthday and surprised my family. (i know it is supposed to be the other way around...but it was amazing. props to mallory, ashlee, my brother, mr. johnny brower, and the rest of the family unit.)

e. Speaking of my birthday my fellow interns surprised me with diddy at a fun outlaw's dinner and my dear friend/roommate/fellow intern eric gave me a ticket to the L.A ballet...to say the least such an amazing birthday/present, I absolutely adored it.

f. The weekend before our last week of the internship we all went to DISNEYLAND!! it was indeed a magical place.  (I mean where else can you meet the Aladdin cast, see nick lachey, attend a princess coronation, practically BE Indiana Jones [i don't recommend the fourth movie, complete and utter disappointment], and almost die on crazy 

roller coasters????? yeah, pretty much- DL is a gem of a place- come visit! i'll go again!!)

fII. Blake invited us (all of the interns) to go sailing with him on his boat. So decked out in nautical gear, we went to sail the open sea, but as we all arrived and got settled on the boat the battery ended up being dead. We went over to maggie grace's to play bache ball (a cross between bowling and croquet) and have a barbeque instead (let's just say it was very much a toms style get together :)

g. The last week of the internship was a blur, and I don't think I am over-exaggerating when I say that.  It was packing, 'downloading' ideas, job rejections, job offers, laughs, an epic fun friday, a bounce house, hyphy 'snerd' rap-esque costume contest, tears, more tears, hope for the future, lots of pictures, goodbyes, see-you-laters; it was the end of an era in all of our lives, and the beginning of the next. 

h. I flew to Boston for the first time ever.  My best friend from college, Megan Marie Mcmurry was graduating from grad school at Boston College, and I flew up to surprise her- she freaked!

i. From Boston I flew to DC, and then to Florida, and finally arrived in TX! It was a short trip, but a trip indeed. In texas I spent time in Waco, spent time with the fam, went to six flags, medieval times, and the movies, celebrated memorial day, mom's birthday, and packed my things.

j. I rented a truck from enterprise, and with the help of my bestie, ashlee j owens, we road-tripped from TX-CA in a 15 foot truck....insane i know- but fabulous all the while. ashlee spent a couple of days in L.A. and then flew back to TX.

ok. So this brings us up to date for the most part. Yes, I moved to California for a second time

 in six months, and am now living on the west side two blocks from the beach in beautiful Playa del Rey (still very close to L.A. and Santa Monica).  I am living in a 2 bedroom apt. with three of the girls I met through the internship (Kirsten, Becca, and Abbi), and Molly who is taking Mallory's place until she graduates at the end of summer. I was offered a job to work for Candice Wolfswinkel as a PA, or personal assistant. Not sure what the next couple of months hold, but I have signed a year long lease...so let the mundane adventure that is my life continue!

life is a blur

well it feels like so much has happened since i last posted, oh wait that is because a lot has happened since i last posted. such randomly funny and amazing things.

this means it is time for a list:

a. karaoke with the toms crew at the gaslight. this is significant because it was my first celebrity hang out. Blake is dating maggie grace from Lost. best. day. ever.

b. met hanson. yes, hanson. they had a meeting at the warehouse.

c. dave barnes concert at safari sam's. 

d. went snowboarding at big bear. 

e. i took lessons at big bear. funny story. i walk up to my class before it begins and i notice a big camera..hmm i think. what is the camera for? i ask. as i ask the question this guy turns around with a microphone and introduces himself as Chewy (chewbacca) a VJ for MTV tres...

yes mtv 3. i am a mtv tres star. awesome.

i definitely busted hard a couple of times, at one point i thought i had pulled my shoulder...if that is even possible.

f. toms flew me to pittsburgh to drive a car from the midwest to texas for the college tour. it was a long drive but it happened.

g. the toms college tour or Shoenanigans tour began at Baylor last friday- venue common grounds...it was one rad event. i love waco.

h. i got to hang out with my family this weekend, which included a trip to incredible pizza- it was incredible to say the least.

crazy times. crazy, random events have kept things all but mundane.

the everyday adventure

there has been a request for a day in the life...of a toms intern.

so here we go.

it all begins around 6:30 when my first alarm goes off, which almost always turns into another ten minutes of sleep on the good ole' snooze button.

6:40(5): i wake up, do the whole get ready/dressed bit, and try really hard to not be late.

8:15:  me and my 14 roommates leave the condo to travel by carpool to work.

9:00: work begins. 

sometime mid morning: walk down our friendly little work alley to get coffee at vaughn's and place my lunch order. (50cents for a cup of coffee in my own mug- super rad)

12:15: start lunch hour. go pick up lunch. eat. email. read. etc.

1:15: the second half begins.

6:00: work ends. (sometimes we chill a little or a lot past 6...we love our work what can i say)

around 7:00: make it home, or go out and do something

11:00: bedtime

the next morning it begins again. this is the super simple mundane part of everyday. somehow it never gets boring. 

today was the second monday in the office. crazy. 

blake (the owner/chief shoe giver) came in, and we finally got to meet him. he is rad. the office changed when he walked in everything became more animated and fast paced. he is like a whirlwind of ideas and questions and solutions all wrapped into one man's body.

anyway. 

love. 

more soon.

sweet home california.

it has been a while....

here is a list of the past couple of weeks:

-stayed in pasadena with happy watkins! we had a fabulous time.

-stayed with the mauger's for like five whole days in agoura hills (ca).

-drove to vegas to meet up with my mom and stay with jenn grimaldo (an old roomate).

-spent time in san diego with katie adlard and britnie young. loves!

after all of this nomadic-ness, this past thursday i finally moved into my new house. the TOMS intern house is a condo close to santa monica. i have 14 roommates....crazy but so fun. 

the roomies are from all over alabama, tennessee, ohio, minnesota, florida, vegas, north dakota, kentucky, louisiana, california, and there is another texan- representing.

today was our first day of work. it was a blast. the office is this old mtv warehouse- it is everything i ever imagined it being. 

ok well. love. be inspired. 

i am loving TOMS so much. i will write about more of my mundane adventures soon!

out with the old, in with the new...

here is a top ten list of things that have happened since my last post...

disclaimer: this list will include the good and a few bad just so i can keep things real.

10. left waco. sad day.

9. my laptop got stolen from my house in waco.

8. quality time with quality friends before leaving town.

7. dallas world aquarium with chrissy.

6. saw juno... best movie ever.

5. christmas with the family. 

4. i drove off into the sun... took a step of faith and left for california. 

3. road trip to california with cancan, bran bran, and tomtom. (almost the same as #4, but really very different.)

2. zach jones and ness' wedding...most fun wedding ever.

1. i got the internship! i am officially moving to santa monica.

the best of 2007!

a. life at the broth

b. juarez

c. road trip extravaganza may '07 (texas to california and back)

d. yosemite

e. july in india

f. starbucks barista extraordinaire

g. fabulous fall affair

h. earl/earl jr.

i. friends (old and new)

j. cami marie was born (niece)

what is to come in 2008?

i. embrace beauty, be love, be change: love jesus, love others.

ii. be more carefree 

iii. work hard at what is put before me, aka be the best intern ever.

iiii. be a better communicator