It’s been 10 days since my last post…again. My goodness gracious, I need to quit going all the time and make time for documenting more often! Everyone put your reading glasses on, here it comes:
On Saturday, May 19th, I went to Laguna Beach for the first time to take my senior pictures! One word: BEAUTIFUL. Holy moly, no wonder people are obsessed with that place. It was seriously so incredible! I haven’t seen my pictures yet, but the great and talented Amanda Kurmata should be getting those to me soooon! YAY! And thennnnnn I went to sleep at 10 p.m. I know, I know…I need to settle down and not be so crazy. Maybe I’ll eventually get over all the hype of the big city. HA!
On Sunday, I went to church in Bel Air with Kyle, Tom, and Micki. Fact: I absolutely love those three! They are so much fun and I am SO blessed to have them to hang out with now! Thank you, JESUS! After church, we all went to Santa Barbara for the afternoon. Can you say beautiful? Whew, I swear my mind gets BLOWN every time I go somewhere out here. I can’t even fathom the beauty sometimes! It was a super fun day! And did I mention how gorgeous it was? Okay, good.
Monday was Veteran’s Day, and I spent it being super lazy. I slept ‘til 10ish, moved from my bed to the couch, and watched tv for a good three hours. Thennnn I went into work for a while to do an activity at TLC. It was Candice’s last day working there so we went to see Letters to Juliet to celebrate her being finished with her internship AND college. Perfect occasion. PERFECT movie. Oh my goodness, it was SO gooooooood! A good, healthy cry was exactly what I needed—and exactly what I got! Letters to Juliet, you are now my 6th favorite movie. I don’t know if you know it, but that’s a HUGE honor. My favorite quote of the whole movie was this:
"Dear Claire,
"What" and "If" are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together, side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life. "What If?" I don't know how your story ended but if what you felt then was "true love", then it's never too late. If it were true then, why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart. I don't know what a love like Juliet's feels like; a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for. But I'd like to believe if I ever were to feel it, that I'd have the courage to seize it. And Claire, if you didn't, I hope one day that you will.
All my love,
Juliet"
Those words are just awesomely encouraging and I love them! It makes you want to hug someone, doesn’t it?! I missed Teesh a WHOLE lot when I was watching the movie, especially when I heard this quote, but it made me all warm and fuzzy at the same time: how blessed am I to have had someone in my life for the past 6 ½ years that is the epitome of what that quote says? I know what a love like Juliet’s feels like. I feel all warm and fuzzy just writing these words. Yep, I’m definitely a girl! : )
Okay, enough mushy stuff...for now, that is! The rest of my week was spent copying a million papers, sitting at my desk, and putting Land Meets Sea Sports Camp registration packets together, stuffing them in envelopes, and mailing them. All 150 of them. Whew, that makes me tired just thinking about it! My motto for the week? “For the glory.” It works. Every time I would start getting frustrated or wanted to stop, I thought about Colossians 3:23-24 and my mood INSTANTLY changed. Jesus is way too good to me, and that’s a fact!
On Tuesday night I went back to Santa Monica for the Bible study (which was, once again, fantastic!) and on Wednesday night, I met Jennifer Nisbett for dinner. How CRAZY is it that we met for dinner…in LA? Haha, who would have thought that would happen in a million years? Nevertheless, it was AWESOME! I even met two of her friends that she made while here: Stephen and Anna. They were so genuine, and their love for Jesus rocked my world. Seriously. I hope I get to hang out with them more while I’m here!
Thursday was a bittersweet day for me, and quite a few tears were shed. On June 3rd, 1923, my great-grandmother “Ma” was born. She would have been 87 this year, and even though she’s been with Jesus since August 28th, 2006, thinking about her not being here anymore still rips me apart. I may not have been “happy” on Thursday, but I can tell you one thing—I was more JOYFUL that day than I have been any other day this whole year. That’s because she had her 87th birthday in a kingdom made of the purest gold, which is EXACTLY what she deserves.
“Death is nothing else but going home to God, the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.” Mother Teresa
On Thursday night, I watched the Celtics vs. Lakers game then headed to North Hollywood to see EMILIE CAROL! Seeing her was exactly what I needed on a day like that! : ) And then what happened on Friday morning? I got another parking ticket. Southern hospitality in California? Heck to the no! But THEN, Emilie scored $50 and promised to give it to me to pay the ticket. Once again, thank you JESUS! Question: is Emilie a good friend? Nope. She’s one of the VERY BEST! For the rest of the day, we hung out with her brother and his girlfriend (Erick and Marisa). We watched Erick perform some saweeet dance moves and then went to the BRAVES vs. Dodgers baseball game. YAY! Except the Braves lost. BOO! They must have known we came to watch them all the way from the east coast and they developed performance anxiety. Yep, that’s our story. And we’re stickin’ to it.
We went on a mini shopping spree on Saturday, and I got some super cute heels (because that’s ALL people wear here) and a few other items. Forever 21, you make life complete. And affordable. Thanks for that! Then I got my eye brows waxed, came back to my apartment to get ready, and headed to San Bernardino for the Lady Antebellum & Tim McGraw concert! YESSIRRRRR! It was so much fun hanging out with Candice and her friends AND seeing them perform. It was so refreshing to be in a place filled with rednecks. I never thought I’d miss that southern characteristic, but I DID! Rebel flags and all. Felt just like home sweet home! After the concert, I headed back to North Hollywood for a night out on the townnnn with Emilie Carol, Marisa, and Erick. Erick got us into a club called The Playhouse, which was SUPER nice! My first club experience was veeeery interesting yet veeeeery fun! And did I mention that I love being a girl? We seriously don’t pay for anything (except parking tickets) and it is the JAM. Attention all boys: thank you for your contributions! It makes having an unpaid internship MUCH easier!
Today, I got up, got ready, and headed to work. I was supposed to work from 12 to 4, but ended up only staying until 2ish. We definitely had an activities fail today; no one wanted to leave their rooms and do anything. No one. Not even after I bugged the mess out of them three times each to try to get them to come participate. At least I got to go home early! And what was the first thing I did when I got back to my apartment, you ask? Oh, no big deal…I just applied for GRADUATION! Anddddd bought my cap, gown, and tassle! AHHH!!!!!! In the words of Meredith Grey, when did I grow up? And how do I make it stop? Haha, but seriously, I can’t believe that I graduate from COLLEGE only TWO MONTHS from TOMORROW! Craziness! I’ve even started looking for jobs. REAL jobs. With salaries, not time cards. Jiminy Crickets!
To continue my excitement, I even got to talk to Cait Cait tonight for a while! YAY! It’s been so hard for us to talk and catch up since summer started so anytime we actually get to, it’s a huge treat! Thennnn I got a letter from my best friend (not bestie!) Whitney Anne Barnett! It made me cry because I was so excited. This is the first summer that we haven’t spent every free moment together…weeeeeird. I miss her so much, and I can’t wait to get back to South Carolina just in time to celebrate her 21st birthday! Woot woot! And then laterrrrrr, I skyped with Teesh for the first time in a whole week. It was SUCH a breath of fresh air getting to see his handsome face!
Now, I’m about to go pack for this week; we’re going to Lake Havasu Monday through Friday. YIPPEE! I think I may be more excited than the participants (who would have guess that?). Since I haven’t even began to pack, I think it may be time to go do that. Hasta lavista, friends! Talk to you soon!
p.s. HOW ‘BOUT THOSE CELTICS?!
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