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the latest.

24 May
Sleep is low.  Stress of moving increasing.  Emotions are draining.

Creativity for the blog is pretty low.  Please accept another stories-told-through-my-iphone-camera post.

Here’s what’s been going down:

Friday night was scheduled to be drive-in on campus night.  We hired a projectionist to show a movie on the backside of our library building while we sat on blankets, enjoyed the spring weather, and ate cotton candy.  That, unfortunately, so did not happen.  Weather forced us to move the movie inside but we still ate cotton candy, made ourselves in a rented cotton candy machine that sat on the table next to the root beer keg.  Paige and I [in matching yellow] show off our sugar-twirling skills above [in matching blue].

After the weather moved us inside on Friday night for that senior week movie event, we were thwarted by the weather again on Sunday.  We planned a Run Away 5k for seniors – a run/walk at a park just a few blocks from campus followed by a cookout.  The threat of more rain and thunder [and it turns out – tornado watches] caused us to reschedule.  That, however, did not mean we didn’t raise our heartbeats.  A bunch of us gathered at our school’s gym for a group work-out session.  As the tornado sirens went off, it was fortunate that the gym was in the basement.  We were also fortunate ‘toys’ were found for entertainment. Like workout apparatus turned into catapult.  [It takes little to entertain us, folks.] [The group workout was followed by a cotton candy party in my apartment.  We had lots of floss sugar to use before I had to return the rented machine on Monday.]

Melissa has a sewing machine.  I know enough about sewing to throw a few pieces of fabric together.  Lessons ensued.  By the end of the night, we had figured out how to wind a bobbin, how to use the knee-thinga-ma-gig to raise the presser foot, and how to sew an infinity scarf.  [It’s harder than one would think.  Really.]  Sewing success.  
Not photographed but please include the following activities to the list of reasons why I have not been an attentive blogger of late: lunch at ikea.  moa trip.  mannings.  wine tasting at a professor’s house.  [won by friends and I at a silent auction]  movie/snl viewing.  savoy inn pizza for the first time.  debating of graduation attire.  rhubarb sauce.  not packing.

photos from last night.

20 May
It’s like the website ‘texts from last night’ but these are my photos and they are most likely much less offensive.  Here’s my Thursday, as told through my Instagram photo app:

I completed The Hunger Games series on the patio at Starbucks over a grande-iced-white-chocolate-non-fat-no-whip-mocha yesterday.  I wasn’t overly impressed with the last half of the last book, but I will say that I was content with the very end.  I will also say that it’s a good thing I was outside and wearing sunglasses because there were a few tears shed.  If this ever blows up like Twilight [casting for the movies has already begun], I’m totally Team Peeta.  I want a Peeta.  I mourned the ending of the series yesterday; it’s sad to know that something that has become a part of me in the last week is over.  The grief has happened and I think I’m ready to move on.  Time for a new book!  *claps hands*

Library game night was last night as a part of the senior week festivities.  The library was opened for us and we played games in the reference room for four hours, using our outside voices, eating sandwiches, and ignoring the books that surrounded us.  Four of us began a game of Settlers that consumed our entire time at game night.  Wooten to another three hour game of cities, settlements, and roads!

Game night ended and I offered Sarah and Paige a ride down the hill to our apartment buildings.  We got in the car – it’s 10pm at this point – and we realize it’s too early for bed.  We car dance for a few minutes and then text jD to tell him we’re coming to get him and Lauren, our former competition in Settlers at the library.  He invited us up to their apartment where we waited outside of their door in folding chairs in a row.  It was hilarious at the time; I think we were quite slap happy.  It’s also difficult to take a self-photo with an iphone – evidence above.

Once inside, we learned how to tie a bowtie [above], watched an episode of Friends [Paige had never seen a full episode before!], and ate ice cream sandwiches.  We left around 1:30, making it another 2am night for this girl.  I think that’s just becoming my new schedule for the next week; it’s starting to feel natural to stay up so late.  The minute I have to start getting up before 9 it’s going to bite me in the butt …

dance party.

19 May
Let me begin by saying that I love all this play with no work.  With many of my friends, this will be the last chance I have to hang out with them so take advantage of it I will.  I have now been up until at least 2am the last four nights – granted, one of those nights it was for laundry purposes – and have been having much enjoyable time with people and [the introvert adds] myself.  Like yesterday.  I took a Lindsay afternoon and walked about Como Lake a couple times, drank a latte and read outside at a coffee shop.  I cannot convey the all sorts of perfect that was.  The Lindsay afternoon was followed by an evening of potluck and dance party.  Though I will try, pretty sure I can’t completely explain how awesome that was either.
We ate our potluck supper outside on the green grass and once we were filled with deliciousness, the camp games began.  leg wrestling.  elbow tag.  chicken, cowboy, conqueror.  trust falls.  my grandma’s big fat toe. 
awesomeness.
leg wrestling.  crazy.  [I promised no facebook exposure.  blog is fair game?]
chicken!
Paige would not crack during my grandma’s big fat toe.  Would not one bit!

The pure awesome-sauce nature of the night continued at J & M’s apartment for – that’s right – a dance party.

My friends and I in college would often think, “Let’s have a dorm room dance party!”  But we’d never really dance.  Or we’d dance for two songs and then get distracted and do something else.  [Squirrel!]  I went to this dance party, certain that we would have fun but never could have guessed that we would actually dance.  For three hours.  Three solid sweaty hours.  [We did our best to heat up the room, trying to make the indoor thermometer read 80 degree.  That was the goal.  We had to settle for 77.9 just after 1am.]
[most likely living on a prayer.  can you tell?]
dry ice.  don’t touch!
This dance party was awesome.  It was like the best wedding reception dances that I’ve been to but there were only seven of us, we were in an apartment living room, and no one had gotten married hours earlier.  There was brie baked in a bread bowl.  There was wine.  There was dry ice.  [Joel bought dry ice for the party!  I don’t think I can say awesome any more than I already have – the limit is three – but if I could, *insert here*]  There was even a friend visiting from New York.  [See what I did there?]
And there was Gaga.  Justin.  Instructional dancing for Katy Perry’s Firework.  We whipped out the Chris Brown Forever wedding song in peel-the-banana fashion, each of us cruising down the aisle.  Bon Jovi.  Britney and Boyz II Men.

a bit creepy.  a bit cool.  these guys were in the zone and crazy dancers.
As we were hydrating during a dance break [kinda like this], Sarah asks me, “Why didn’t we become friends earlier?”  Good question.  But I’m glad we’re friends now and so glad the seven of us partied it up dance-party style last night.  This last semester has been a blast of new friends, new experiences in fun, and – I’m going to say it – awesomeness.
  
I declare the need for a dance party encore.

a petulant pattern.

10 May
I sense a life pattern emerging.
1.  go to new place
2.  meet awesome new friends
3.  leave
4.  be sad
In a nomadic life like mine, this is bound to be the pattern.  But in my last move and my upcoming move, I find it much more in my face and emotional than before.  Both in my move from Dawson to school, and in the next couple weeks from school to home, I’ve been somewhere for a year.  [Granted, yes, I was at school for two years prior to internship, but the year of a senior has looked different than the first two years.]  I’ve been somewhere for a year and generally speaking, for the first part of that year, it was hard.  My first months in Dawson and my first months back at school were difficult places for me to be.  They were places of adjustment, loneliness, and mourning the past.
In both places, I quilted, I clung to old friends, and tried to keep an open mind of where the year could take me.  And in both places, something clicked right around December/January.  The tables turned, my attitude improved, and I enjoyed where I was.  This year, I specifically think about the January term.  A class of connecting to new people, trying new activities, and I think opening myself up to that newness.  It’s great that this has happened … but then I just get really frustrated that I have to leave again when things are going well, there are fun people to play with, and knowing that this is the end of that experience!  How does that make me feel?  Angry, a la Chris Farley.
No.  Not really that angry.  I won’t throw punches or tip tables [yet] but I am getting incredibly sentimental and sad about what is to come.  I’m excited about the next two weeks – two weeks that are booked solid with hanging out, going out, and being around these great people I’ve connected with in the last four months and in the last four years.  There are new friends and there are also the people I’ve known for the years I’ve been in the Cities.  I think about M. and her family, Sara, and my Stillwater family who have been a part of my life here since I moved to Minnesota as a volunteer intern at Trinity.  
Another transition looms.  It’s coming.  In the time that remains, I hope to play much, sleep little, and take many photographs to remind me of the people, adventures, and fun.  Stories to follow.  

synod assembling.

7 May
I am beat.  [sleepy, tired, exhausted, fried, etc.]

This lady just returned from the Southeastern MN Church Assembly.  Held in Rochester, this annual event is the place where each church is represented by their clergy and voting lay members.  Two days of sitting in a convention center listening to reports, amendments to the amendment of the amendment, and thumb wrestling.  [I kid not, but really wish I was.]  I went with Paige and Jonathan [also new assignees to the SE MN synod], and Jonathan’s wife, Lauren [P, J & L).  We were assigned to sit in the very front of the assembly so the bishop knew when we weren’t there [like that one time we sat and ate breakfast instead of going into the assembly] and when we were doing things other than listening [passing notes, iPhone games, magazines, etc.].
Irresponsible?  Maybe.  But we are not voting members [yet] and have so many other things going on in our lives [like trying to complete finals so we can actually graduate and get calls to SE MN], that we simply could not focus for so long.  [I’ll at least speak for myself here when I say that I entered that assembly hall with very little energy for what was happening.  Synod assemblies don’t exactly get me any too excited.]
It simply made me exhausted.  We left at 6:45 yesterday morning, did a lot of sitting, and it was a lot of people and small talk that did me in.  Being around people – and so many people at that [about 500 at the assembly] – just makes me tired.  [Introverted and proud of it.]  But it was good too.  We met a lot of people, a lot of pastors, and were able to get some insight as we enter into the synod as new clergy.  
It was great fun to spend time with P, J & L.  I’m so thankful that I have them in the same synod.  We misbehaved at the front table of the assembly together, tried to keep it together when the assembly made us do a few corny things [thumb-wrestling, hand-holding], and struggled to not break face when the photographer for the event would come uncomfortably close to take our picture.  We went out for Chinese food [ditching the synod dinner – shh.] and played a three-hour game of Settlers at the hotel.  [And we did have a pretty swank hotel.  I could have laid in that bed-with-way-too-many-pillows and watched television all day.]
I quite literally just got in the door of my apartment after returning home.  I have one hour before I’m expected to be at a CYF banquet and I need to blog.  Like, NEED to blog.  I have been around people for the very nearly the last 48 hours, but need to decompress and burst with introvert energy right about now.  I also need to unpack, sleep, and veg on the couch.
Unfortunately, there is little time to recover right now.  This weekend has been labeled in my mind as the weekend from hell for the past month and now I’m in the midst of it; it lives up to its name.  Synod assembly has passed but tomorrow morning at 9:30 I must defend my thesis.  [But, hey, before I do that, I should probably create the powerpoint and write what I will say, right?  Good idea.  Hello, late night tonight.]  Tomorrow, following the morning of CYF fun [sarcasm? slightly.], I must prepare for a Sunday night group meeting to fine-tune a presentation we make to our class at 8am on Monday morning.  From that class, I leave early to assist in the daily chapel service.
After that I can sleep.  [Until a 10 page final paper is due and a sermon is to be written for Thursday, a paper outline and reflection paper for Friday, a final paper on Sunday, and one last one for Tuesday.]  It will get done.  It always does.  
End of term: Come faster please.

lindsay day.

30 Apr
I love days like this.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had one and it will probably be awhile until I have one again.  A Lindsay day.
I learned to appreciate Saturdays like this while on internship.  Days where I’m expected to be no where or do anything.  [I was to spend time with M. tonight, babysitting, but unfortunately there is sickness in their house so playdate will have to be postponed.  Playing with M. would have been a great capstone to a Lindsay day.]  Days where I can play catch-up on enjoyable things.  Now that the thesis is done, I am fully taking advantage of such a day.  [Is there more homework I should be doing?  Oh my goodness, yes … but it can wait.]
I went to bed late last night [actually fell asleep while watching Modern Family right around 2am.  woke up at 3am to turn off Modern Family.] and slept in late this morning [late for lindsay = 9am], an easy task considering the rain and gloom outside.  [which, sidenote, I really enjoy.  I turned on my bedside lamp to write a few thank you notes but otherwise, no lights on in this apartment.  I like the dark.]  I caught up on my tv viewing, watching more Modern Family and last week’s Glee.  Old fashioned oatmeal and coffee.  
I’m cleaning the coffee maker using Martha’s technique and giving the kitchen a thorough cleaning.  Spending time in my crafting corner and blasting the ipod.  I’ll go to the gym and read my kindle.  Seriously considered an outing to the Minnesota History Center for the George Washington exhibit, but I think I’ll wait for a Tuesday night when admission is free.  I’ll probably tidy up my bedroom, craft some more, and watch a movie.  It’s a deep breath before the storm that will be the month of May.  
Good day, Lindsay.  Good day.

done.

29 Apr
After a continuous six hours in the library today [I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time in the library, let alone any time on a Friday afternoon] and faithful editing by friends [seriously.  huge thanks and hugs to justin, sara, and kay!], the thesis is done, done, and done. [until I have to defend it in a week.]

Jonathan, CYFer and iPhone stealer, and I spent much of the afternoon visiting each other’s study carrels with last minute questions and yelling across the reference room as we frantically steadily worked on the final touches [including the necessary two page appendix I seemed to forget about until a friend reminded me this morning].  We both turned our papers in at 5pm on the dot, photographed the auspicious occasion, and gave each other high fives.

Done and done.

arbitrary facts.

27 Apr
Arbitrary fact #1 : I put way too much spinach in my lunch-time smoothie today.  It was a horrid green and I was almost embarrassed to carry it around.
Arbitrary fact #2 : Rough draft of my thesis completed.  Emailed to potential editors.  Knowing that there are people reading my paper makes me extremely nervous.  At least they’re not reading it in front of me; that’s just cause for complete jitters.
Arbitrary fact #3 : Even though my refrigerator is well stocked with groceries purchased yesterday, Cassie and I went out for dinner after an afternoon at the library.  Punch Pizza, you are delicious.  [Arbitrary fact #3b : Punch Pizza cooks their pizzas for 90 seconds at 800 degrees.  Boom.]
Arbitrary fact #4 : The television in my living room hates me and ABC would not work to watch Modern Family.  
Arbitrary fact #5 : I started The Hunger Games officially today during a few miles at the gym.  I do fear I’m hooked.
Arbitrary fact #6 : I blogged here yesterday but I don’t think I ever told you.
Arbitrary fact #7 : My iPhone was secretly taken from me today by a “friend” who found it funny.  Someday I’ll teach him for stealing from a Stolen.  I didn’t stay angry for too long because then he quoted this –
No one ever quotes that part of Wayne’s World except my brothers and I.  And apparently jD.  We’re meant to be friends forever.
Arbitrary fact #8 : After at least a month of sewing-less days, I plan on returning to the machine this weekend.  Perhaps to tackle this.  As much as I’m addicted to cardigans, I’m also addicted to bags …
Arbitrary fact #9 : My friend, Sarah, wore a cardigan today.  She said it was new, and then she said, “Guess who I thought of when I was buying it?”  Aww, moi.
Arbitrary fact #10 : I had coffee with Joel and Melissa at Borders last night.  [Rainy day = coffee in a bookstore perfection]  I bought a macaron book.  I’ve never ate one before; I hope they’re good.  If anything, they’re pretty.
Arbitrary fact #11 : Bears eat beets.  Bears.  Beets.  Battlestar Galactica.

You’ve read mine.  Now please share with me at least one arbitrary fact from your day.
Ready?  Go.

Things that distract.

25 Apr
After listening to the thesis song approximately forty-seven times and engraining it in my brain, my thesis is in a pretty good place.  I’m pretty confident about the pages written and what is left to do.  The problem is that I don’t move forward.  It’s due on Friday but I keep finding distractions.  I give myself obstacles.  If I’m going to do this thing, I might as well make it hard for myself, right?  [Like the Warrior Dash.  If you’re going to run three miles, might as well make it more of a challenge.  I secretly kinda want to do it.]
Obstacles like buying the first season of Modern Family on dvd.  It is no joke when at least seven unrelated people have told me to watch this show and that I would love it.  The final straw came a few Wednesdays ago when one of the ladies in my confirmation group told me I must start watching.  Oh.  I’ve started.  And now I can’t stop.  They were all right.  It’s way too funny.  [Only one disc left on season one and then, I was informed tonight that all of season two is available on hulu.  Trouble.]
Then I was naughty tonight.  My kindle and I have a love affair at the gym; I try to only allow myself to read for fun if I’m moving, a la walking to/from class [I’m that girl, nearly tripping with her nose in a book; a return to my childhood when Nancy Drew and The Babysitter’s Club were my constant companions.] or on the treadmill.  That rule royally failed last week when I bought Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.  His method of writing and ability to draw you in and not let go always leaves me in awe.  I took that book home over break and now, within a week of buying it, it’s done, with most of its pages being read in bed or on the couch.  Next, The Hunger Games.  I’ve been warned by many that this book [the first in a trilogy] is the same – you’re unable to put it down.  Way to go, Stolen.  [I upload it to the kindle app on my phone too – see photo – so when I’m without my kindle, I can still read … again, I’m that girl.]
Thursday night – you know, the night before my thesis is due – I signed up to take a truffle class through St.Paul Community Ed with gal pal, Melissa.  From 6 – 9pm, we’ll be learning the how-to of chocolate truffles and are promised to bring at least two dozen home with us.  It would be in your best interest to find me on Friday. 
Further distraction: This.  Blogging.  A happy and needed distraction, but done now.  Onto the thesis.  Or unpacking.  Or maybe the gym with Mr.Kindle.  Or perhaps an episode of Modern Family which will inevitably turn into four …

you can do this, holy cow.

21 Apr
Writing a thesis sure is easier if there’s a song to go with it –
Many laughs and so many thanks to Joel and Melissa for writing, and to Lloyd and Betty for performing.  [Hint:  They’re actually the same people.]  you.are.awesome.  
[This is a short post because, really, what more can I say?  Watch the video and you will understand my amazement and lack of words.  To be a fly on the wall of Joel and Melissa’s apartment would be something.  They taught me how to liturgical dance to Katy Perry’s Firework a few nights ago.  This is one talented and super fun couple, folks!  You should be their friend.]
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