eleven hours & counting.

You’ll have to forgive the next couple of lines I am going to write. I am warning you that they will be out of control. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TEEEEEEEEEEEESH WILL BE HERE IN 13 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN’T BREATHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TROY JEROME BARGERON IS COMING TO CALIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. Whew, that was a doozy! Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I think I should be good to go for the remainder of this recollection of my last few days. Maybe.

Last Thursday, we took a group of participants deep sea fishing off of Dana Point. We caught a lot of fish, saw a couple pods of dolphins (which was my personal favorite part!), and just got to spend some quality time together. There were a lot of new faces on this particular trip (to me, at least), so I was able to start building a relationship with them. Relationships are my favorite. I know, I know…that probably comes as a surprise to all the people reading this who know me. Anna? A fan of people and relationships? ‘Tis true. Another plus of the trip was that not a single person got sea sick. SCORE! There is nothing worse than being sea sick when you’re stranded out in the middle of the ocean for hours. I’ve only been nauseous one time my whole life and it was miserable!

I got to go home 30 minutes early on Friday. Saweeeet! Getting off early, no matter how early, is just one of those things that makes everyone so excited. It’s the simple things in life, I tell ya. On Friday night, I did some cleaning, washed a load of clothes, and just relaxed. That relaxation continued on into Saturday, and I was more than happy to let it consume my life for a while. I finally changed out of my pjs and went to dinner and a movie with Marisa! Olive Garden and Eclipse all in one evening? Epic. That’s the only way to describe it. Team Edward, I promise never to leave nor forsake you. Even when you make me want to leap into Teesh’s arms and never let go. Hey, now that’s an idea. And, oh my gosh, guess what? I GET TO DO JUST THAT IN 13 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh dangy, I did it again.

Anyways, back to what I was saying…Eclipse was absolutely incredible. Even more so because I got to watch it at a drive-in movie. YESSIR! Fact: I am going to miss that drive-in movie theater so much when I leave.

On Sunday, I worked from 12-4 doing activities in the hospital and at TLC. We played BINGO and wore festive 4^th of July hats in honor of the holiday. Awesomeness! After work, I headed to Manhattan Beach to celebrate with Tomahawk, Kyle, Lucas, and Justis. Micki and her parents met us down there later, which made me super excited because the whole group was together! Fireworks are one of those things that make me all googly-eyed, and this time was no different. I may have even been a little worse, because from the Manhattan Beach pier, I could see fireworks being shot all down the coast. Even up to Malibu. AMAZING! Every time I watch fireworks, I feel like a little girl again. They make me believe in magic and that everything is right in the world. I think that’s why I like them so much.

I was off on Monday, and I did the best thing ever: I had a personal day. I went to the movies to see Knight & Day, ate a large popcorn, drank a large Dr. Pepper, and ate a whole box of Milk Duds. By myself. Yepp, you read it right. The ultimate fat day. And it was fabulous! I ended my evening by watching The Bachelorette with my two roomies. I only have five words to say about that: Jake and Vienna are ridiculous. But we all kinda knew that from the beginning, so I guess all the suckers who watched the show officially know that our time was wasted. Dear Ally, don’t disappoint us this time! Please and thank you!

Tuesday and Wednesday, I was in Kernville, CA white water rafting down the lower Kern River with Outdoor Adventures. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE. I hadn’t been rafting in over a year, so it was definitely a breath of fresh air to be back out on the water. On Tuesday night, we camped outside and I swear to you—I have NEVER seen so many stars out in one night. Holy. Moly. I even saw the MILKY WAY. I don’t think I slept more than two hours all night because I was in complete and total AWE of how huge and magnificent and MIND-BLOWING it was. God was totally showing out when he created all that. And I am beyond grateful that he did, because I love it! I wish I could sleep outside under the stars every night. For the rest of my life. As wacky as this is going to sound, I love feeling inferior and small. It really puts you in your place. In a good way. And it’s so incredible to really be out in God’s creation. It’s exhilarating.

Today, I didn’t have to be into work until noon. YAY! I slept for 11 hours (yessir!), did a load of laundry, cleaned my room, tidied the apartment, stopped by Chick-fil-a to get some lunch, and talked to Melly and Teesh on the phone all before going into the office. I was on a roll. All that sleep made me feel like a new person…and it was amazing!

After working at the hospital and TLC, I made my way to Hollywood to celebrate Tomahawk’s birthday! Wahooooo! A group of us ate dinner together at Joe and Judy’s house—which was absolutely beautiful, might I add. We had plans to go out for a night on the town after dinner, but ended up just hanging out at their house all evening. What had planned on being a night full of worldly craziness ended up being a night filled with lots of talk about Jesus. How. Cool. Is. That. I don’t know why the Lord chose to show me so much favor out here, miles and miles from everything I’ve ever known, but he did. And I’m always floored by it. Instead of me buying Tomahawk a shot for his birthday (like I had planned), I got to lay my hand on him and pray for him instead. Every person there got to pray for him. I’m smiling from ear to ear at this very moment just thinking about it. All the words in the whole world couldn’t describe how anointed tonight was. I am honored and blessed to have Tomahawk as a friend. That’s a fact! Did I mention that I had originally told him that I wasn’t going to be able to make it tonight, but then showed up to surprise him? Welp, I did. Seeing that shocked look on his face made all my deviant behavior worth it. Haha! Thanks to Lucas and Kyle for keeping my secret and helping me out. Who would have ever guessed that I would gain such amazing friends in such a short amount of time? My heart has never been so thankful!

So, it’s currently 2:43 a.m. on the golden coast and I am not even remotely tired. I wonder why? Hmmm….I’ve got a pretty good idea. It’s probably because TEEEEESH WILL BE HERE IN LESS THAN 12 HOURSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He’s going to be shocked when he calls me at 3:30 a.m. (my time) and finds that I’m actually awake. I told him that would be the case, but I don’t think he thought I was serious. I’ll show him!

I’ve got lots of super fun things planned for his visit. Since he’s not interested in the touristy things in LA (mostly because he doesn’t even know what they are, haha), we’re going to go exploring my favorite get-a-ways of southern California. YAY! I am already dreading him leaving and he’s not even here yet. After nearly seven years, I’ve still got it bad for that boy. And it gets worse and worse every day. :)

I feel like it’s Christmas Eve and I’m too excited to fall asleep! Especially since I just talked to Teeeesh and he’s on his way to Charlotte! IT HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYY!

I think I’ll go to sleep now to pass the time quicker! Gooooooodnight! Well, really, it's good morning. But we'll improvise just this once. Let the tossing and turning all night begin! :-D