So I found out that graduating from college is kind of a big deal. It didn't hit me until like two days before when I was like lol wait this is kinda a huge accomplishment and also represents the four most transformative years of my life thus far. So ya know, gonna give myself a pat on the back here but also say I couldn't have done it without Mom, Dad, and Jesus Christ.
The first thing I could think to do post-graduation was to drive to The Kingdom in Big Sur and camp and eat tri-tip and touch my ukulele and stare at the vast ocean and worship the Lord with my women friends. That place will actually always be holy ground for me. I JUST FEEL LIKE A NEW WOMAN WHEN I LEAVE THAT PLACE. And God always teaches me some big fat lesson when I'm there.
Things that I wanna talk about from this past month in no particular order:
One night my pal Fran and I put on matching outfits to go on an Olive Garden date because I had a $25 gift card. GAME ON. Last time I had an Olive Garden gift card I ate alone at the one in Santa Maria in slippers while I read a textbook. I don't know how I keep getting Olive Garden gift cards. Or if anyone will ever love me.
I taught an Amish man how to surf. He rode here from Missouri on a train. Just really building my 2 truths and a lie material over here.
Chuy and Vicky had me over to celebrate my graduation and even brought out the vino for the event. They are my entire heart and have already told me how excited they are to visit me in Santa Barbara. COME ON DOWN CHU AND VIC!
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| mis angeles |
IF U AGREE THAT MOVING OUT IS JUST THE WORST THING CAN I GET AN AMEN. It's just the most stressful and hard. Galboa had to call in some back-up. So like any good YL leaders would, we paid our Young Life kids money towards camp to do our dirty work. At one point we had 4 YL leaders, 4 YL kids, 2 Mormon missionaries, and 2 gardeners all working on our home. Many hands make light work am I right??? And then Alyssa brought home a dozen donuts. A-men.
So my full-time job right now is fundraising my salary for my new yob (lol @ working for God). IT IS SO FUN. I just get to catch up with old friends and talk about Jesus and what he's done in my life and what he's doing in Santa Barbara. AND I ACCIDENTALLY MINISTER TO MYSELF EVERYTIME I TALK ABOUT IT. Like when I share my story and how perfectly my life experience has set me up to take this position in Santa Barbara all I can think is GOD IS REAL. But I think the most satisfying part of my job so far is being able to make business phone calls without pants on. SO SATISFYING.
Last month I had the grand privilege of baptizing my pal Allie Davis with my other pal Claire Shannon. Alan Davis and Clam Shannon have been two of the most influential people in my life this year and to be able to be a part of Allie proclaiming her decision to follow Jesus via *~water baptism~* was v cool. We also made her a laminated certificate of baptism. I mean we're not gonna baptize someone and not laminate them a certificate.
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| pure. joy. |
Lauren had her bridal shower last weekend. Julia and I spent the 3 hours before the shower sweating and trying to make apple and goat cheese tartlets. TURNS OUT MAKING TARTLETS IS A VERY DIFFICULT TASK. VERY VERY DIFFICULT. Lauren our sweet sweet angel bride who we forced to stay in her room could hear comments from the kitchen along the lines of, "oh no oh no oh no", "you're just gonna have to use your finger", "oh, this is very bad", and "this is what happens when you get married before the age 25, VERY STEEP LEARNING CURVE HERE". By the grace of Jesus Christ the tartlets turned out great and Julia and I are now available for hire for tartlet making. I'll know I'm mature enough to get married myself when DUMB photos like the one below stop being my favorite photo from bridal events. Nothing funnier than seeing Julia's face so close to my deodorant residue.
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| glowing bride pictured at top right |
OH ALSO. I went to a couple of pals' wedding (hi John + Jess) and would just like to do a quick brag on them. They work in the Tenderloin of San Francisco, where the majority of the homeless population lives. I met and started talking to a couple of older dudes that if I'm being honest (I'm hoping this doesn't come off judgmental or harsh in writing), just seemed pretty dang strange. After continuing to chat with them I found out that they were formerly homeless dudes that got put back on their feet and introduced to Jesus by Jess and John and their ministry in the TL. And now they are at their wedding celebrating their marriage with them. HOW COOL IS THAT. Shout out to John and Jess for not separating their ministry and their daily lives and for in Jesus' words, "loving the least of these". If my wedding one day isn't filled with people who by the world's standards would have no place or reason to be there other than the love of Jesus then I'll know I'm doing something wrong. ONE MORE ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR JESUS, JESS, AND JOHN.
So at the start of the summer, my pal Ellie and I made a pact that we would surf every day possible. AND WE HAVE. And it's been the best part of my summer. It's all been really great EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE MORNING HER TRUCK GOT STOLEN. We literally came up from the beach and Ellie said "where's my truck". We ran around the parking lot like a couple of panicked wetsuited idiots and then remembered Jesus is real so we prayed and then I called 911 on an Israeli tourists phone. And then the cops came and they used the app Find My iPhone to track Ellie's phone in the truck. The truck was just cruising right along through Nipomo. Within an hour cops found the truck parked off the road in some trees with ALL OF OUR BELONGINGS UNTOUCHED. They left the car undamaged with our iphones, Ellie's wallet, and our keys in it. Someone just needed a ride to Nipomo I guess. The cops drove Ellie to retrieve her truck and she picked me and our boards up from Pismo and then we drove home LIKE NOTHING EVEN HAPPENED. Can't say I've ever had a more pleasant car theft experience. LESSON LEARNED: don't put your keys in your gas cap.
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| my ellie |
For Julia's birthday, Julia, Alyssa, and I went to Six Flags. We all wore our matching Jansen Ornamental Supply Co. hats of course. NO ONE WAS THERE and there were no lines and it was only 99 degrees and it was a perfect day. Let me share something I realized about my friends that I really really love: Julia's favorite ride was closed, we got stuck on X2, and we found a beard hair in the bottom of the lemonade slushie we shared. To a lot of people, those three things would make for a pretty bad day. But for us it's more like LOL JULIA OF COURSE YOUR FAVORITE RIDE IS CLOSED, LOL WE GOT STUCK ON A RIDE, AND YES THERE'S A BEARD HAIR IN YOUR SLUSHIE NOW WE CAN GET A FREE ONE. I think I just really take for granted the *~stellar~* attitude of my pals. We were gonna end the night by going on the new ride again that was the only ride with a long line but decided we were too hungry so we passed it but accidentally got caught dancing for the cover band playing on a stage. And then a guy asked us if we wanted to participate in a FUNNEL CAKE EATING COMPETITION and so Juju and Alyssa went up on the stage against these jr. high girls who didn't stand a chance. They had no idea they were asking a couple of YOUNG LIFE LEADERS to play. Oh IT'S NOT A PIECE OF GARLIC COVERED IN CHOCOLATE SAUCE????? IT'S A FUNNEL CAKE???? Of course my Juju and my Lissi won and we got to go to the FRONT OF THE LINE of the ride we were gonna skip because it was too long. And then there was an ABSOLUTELY PERFECT SUNSET that you could only see from the top of the coaster. Stupid. Just stupid.
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| matching on the most threatening ride at six flags |
And then the next morning me and Alyssa were talking about the musical 'In The Heights' (a bilingual musical about immigrants living in the barrio of NYC, yeah I know it's perfect) that I'm dying to see so I can actually understand the story when I listen to the soundtrack. So we searched tickets just for fun and only found it showing in New York. And then upon further investigation we found it playing at the TEMPLETON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 20 MINUTES NORTH OF SLO THAT NIGHT. Lol @ that timing. So Alyssa and I went on a date at Templeton High School to see a $10 version of the show. AND IT WAS GREAT.
This weekend was a great time celebrating the independence of our country. 4th of July--the only day of the year that I chew potato chips while I play volleyball. Any day that I can sit on the beach with my pals and surf and eat watermelons and salami and watch fireworks is a gr8 day for me. Julia Core has a running tradition where she wears a patriotic top hat and puts on a fireworks show for us. This year she really outdid herself and put on an absolutely fantastic show. Well done, Juju.
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| Julia's Spectacular Spectacular |
Some things that are hard:
Transitioning: Being in between things is hard. I'm in this place where I feel like my chapter in SLO has come to an end but this new thing in Santa Barbara can't start yet. And I'm just living out of a suitcase half-living with friends because I'm not here long enough to pay rent for a place. Feeling settled is something that I really cherish, so yeah, August 15th couldn't come sooner. BUT ALSO STILL TRYING TO MAKE THE MOST OF MY LAST MONTHISH IN SLO. Like I said, transitions are v hard.
Forgiving: Haven't had to learn the lesson of forgiveness in a long while. It's very hard. But the best thing we could ever do for ourselves is to forgive people. V thankful for this one. Also props to Jesus for forgiving me every dangalang day. He's so good at things.
Surfing: Lol @ wiping out and taking boards to the leg.
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| seriously lol |
In conclusion, the majority of my days are like this: HELP THERE'S SO MANY THINGS I HAVE TO DO I'M OVERCOMMITTED AND IN OVER MY HEAD AND CAN'T SAY NO TO ANYTHING. But there are moments like these where nothing matters because life is beautiful:
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| I love when my YL kids housesit mansions with big dogs. |
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| R.I.P. Galboa |
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| my actual favorite place in slo |
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| Allison Davis, PhD in Spiritual Engineering |
God is grool (great and cool). Amen.
