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play day.

11 Jul

As I blogged late last night, I was certain today would be a good day.  Oh, it was.  Because I did nothing but play.

Well, wait.  I can say that I mailed out a pile of ordination announcements to family and close friends [but that’s fun for me – I love paper and snail mail].  I also chose texts for my ordination service and emailed those to my preacher [the preacher whom I am hands down thrilled he accepted and was willing to preach].  I asked my cousin to be the lay reader and the sixth grader shot me down.  And therein ended the ordination planning for the day because then I started playing.
I visited my grandma at the tv store [my uncle owns a tv/appliance store in Edgerton.  my grandma mans the phones when he and grandpa are out on service/installation calls.] and then just stopped by my aunt/uncle’s to see what the cousins were up to.  Nothing.  That’s the answer there.  Nothing.  So I did nothing with them.

[this photo is meant to be hideous.  this is not how molly typically looks.  promise.]
We drove to our house and baked home-made pizza.  We drove to our other cousin’s house and waited for them to get back from shopping.  We went prepared and waited in their pool.  nbd.  [no big deal.]  We swam, hid from Logan and Drew when they showed up, and then swam more.  Connor, Sam, and Molly came back to our house for cakepops and hammock time.  Laughter was aplenty and more is planned for tomorrow.
Perk #63 of being home: Impromptu cousin adventures.

I’ll miss you.

23 May
I’ve been absent.  Don’t hate me.
Senior week has thrown me for a loop.  A loop of lots of fun, an odd schedule, and an inability to ever remember what day it actually is.  Monday, right?  Right.
As graduation looms less than one week away, I fear I’m becoming more sad than anything.  I’m trying to squeeze everything in before that day comes, but I know I’m missing things.  And as soon as I move, I’ll miss people.
I’ve been seeing friends nearly every day of the past week and a half.  As we depart at the end of the nights, I’ve gotten into the habit of saying, in a funny way, “I’ll miss you,” knowing that the chances of me seeing them within the next twenty-four hours are pretty good.  It’s my version of a sentimental silly joke.  But soon it will be reality.
I said another goodbye today.  I drove to Stillwater for lunch with Denise, my BFF from my Trinity days.  Denise is one of my Stillwater ‘moms,’ a former coworker who calls me “Linnie” and spoils me with lunch and awesome cookie pans at my birthday.  Here we are, full of sweat and concrete dust as we put roofs on houses with 90 Trinity youth in Mexico in 2008, the trip when we became official BFFs:

We went out to The Green Room in downtown Stillwater to catch up and talk about what’s next for both of us.  Denise is moving to southern IL in a matter of months to join her husband who recently moved there for work.  It’s her last week at Trinity, but I hope not our last chance to see each other.  With her moving to southern IL and me moving to who knows where after a few months in WI, the chances of us catching up again in person may be slim.  I’ll miss her.
Luckily, we have facebook.  And pinterest.  We will send each other messages.  But still this move seems so much more final than other ones I’ve made.  In the past, I’d always known I was coming back to somewhere.  I’m not coming back to the Cities in the near future, and Denise is leaving too.
I’m not sure how else to sum up this blog post and these feelings but with an ‘ugh.’
Ugh.

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.

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.

four pictures.

13 Apr
Four pictures that showcase the joy of my day:

My brother, Ben, on his way back from Alaska via MSP, stopped at my apartment to teach me all about car fuses and replace the broken one that killed my radio, clock, and cigarette lighter.  I helped him find the spare fuses in the fuse box that was under the hood.  I asked, “How do I get it out?”  I had no needle nose pliers in my belt.  [I tell you, the ONE time I’m caught without them!]  There is a tool – a little plastic pincher grabber – in the fuse box to grab the fuses from their places!  Who knew?!  [Okay.  Maybe you did.]  I was certainly impressed.  He changed the fuse but I’m confident I could do it in future situations.  [Maybe.]
A letter from my penpal, C., was found in my mailbox today, complete with a flower!
A box of cakepop chicks and easter eggs sent off to my favorite staff members in Dawson.  Here’s hoping the sugar rush helps them get through the craziness that is holy week in a church.
Excuse me?  Say that one more time, please.  The world’s largest textile garage sale?!  I think I found my Saturday study break!  [I’m pretty sure this is the sale you told me about last year, Karen?  Maybe?  I totally happened upon the poster at a store in Stillwater this afternoon and, boy, am I glad I did!  To think I almost missed it!]

blessed to be a blessing.

3 Apr
*ahem*  My weekend story.
Once upon a Saturday morning, Lindsay drove south to a small country church for an interview.  [Not such a blessing: The iPhone car charger I bought the night before in anticipation of this long weekend traveling about Minnesota somehow blows a fuse in my car.  The radio, clock, and cigarette lighter worked for none of the ten hours I spent driving yesterday and today.  What worked overtime?  My brain.  And the voices in my head.  Not good.  This blog post?  Written mentally on the drive.  My one-page paper due tomorrow?  Not written on the drive.]  The interview went … well.  [Also well?  The fact that I discovered there is a Target AND a JoAnne Fabrics not ten minutes from where I would be living if I were to receive the call.  Score!]  I feel blessed to have reached this point and am so excited to begin doing ministry in a new place.  I’ll keep you posted!
From this small country church, I drove west and north to Dawson dearest.  [Four hours.  Did I mention no radio?]  There was a ticket and it had my name on it.  A seat was reserved for me to see the Dawson-Boyd High School production of Hairspray.  It was magnificent.  Hilarious.  [Enter any synonym for “awesome.”]  Those high schoolers and adults who participated both on stage and behind the scenes are blessed with incredible gifts.  Incredible.
I felt greatly blessed to return to Dawson and be greeted by so many friends.  I honestly cannot tell you how it ever happened.  I spent a year in this place and met some of the most wonderful people.  In that one year, they shared humor, confidence in me, hugs, and loads of love.  I love them to bits.  And miss them bunches. 
As I ran into friends in the rush that followed the end of the musical, I smiled so loudly.  I couldn’t stop as I saw people I didn’t expect to see and received/gave hug after hug.  I caught up briefly on Dawson lives, shared my own life update, and was the butt of [only a few] jokes.  The one that had me laughing the hardest?
     [discussing whether or not I’m going to worship at Grace the following day]
     Sam: You could go in disguise.
     Me: Hmm.  I didn’t bring any disguises.
     Mary:  You could not wear a cardigan.
     [hilarious.  and sadly true.  I had packed a cardigan for the next day.]
I was blessed by former coworkers who opened their home to me.  Again.  I was lucky to have a couch to sleep on in a house that feels like a home to me.  [I think that’s a compliment, Emily!  I hope you take it as such!]  After spending time there dog-sitting Abby, the mischievous lab who played many games with me this morning, and numerous late nights of dinner and wine, it feels completely comfortable and wonderful to return, if only for a short night.  
This morning I worshipped at Grace.  It was the first time I’d been back to the church and, actually, the first time I’d simply sat in the congregation and worshipped.  Kendall preached – after I had a red-faced introduction from the current intern as the returning intern – and it was all about blessing.  Paying attention to the blessings in our lives.  We have received blessings upon blessings, and with those, we bless back.  We bless with what God has given us; with what we have received, we bless others. 

This past weekend, I was so incredibly aware of blessings I have received.  [And then I came back and had to do homework and this group presentation meeting and became really crabby and I should probably apologize again and again to my group members.]  Many of the blessings I was again reminded of are faces, names, and arms that hug me again and again.  [Two examples of many: Custodian Keith.  He and his wife give me a hug when they first see me.  *mingle, mingle*  Keith and Gail are on their way out, and Keith wonders if he’ll see me in church the next day.  I told him I wasn’t quite sure, so he said he’d better give me another hug just in case.  He says, in reference to the staff at Grace, “We were a pretty tight group.”  Aww.  Yes, we were.  Second: A hug, quick conversation, and kiss on the hand from my five-year-old friend, C.]  I’m so incredibly blessed; here’s hoping I take those blessings and am a blessing to others.  Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via David on Pinterest 

In this new week, pay attention to the blessings in your life.  
What/who are they?  AND 
How are you a blessing to others?

passion.

29 Mar
I’m a wordy person.  I associate a lot of meaning with words and am cautious that I use the right word in conversation and writing.  I love etymology and a good thesaurus.  If we’re talking about the written word, I love a good type too.  Fonts and typography get me excited.
The newest word I’m in love with?

passion |ˈpa sh ən|noun1 strong and barely controllable emotion : a man of impetuous passion. See note at emotion .• a state or outburst of such emotion : oratory in which he gradually works himself up into a passion.• an intense desire or enthusiasm for something : the Englishhave a passion for gardens.• a thing arousing enthusiasm : modern furniture is a particularpassion of Bill’s.

There is something about a strong and barely controllable emotion.  Something that makes me so excited I’ll risk lack of sleep to do it.  That thing that unleashes a vigor, a fervor, a mania.  (Thank you, thesaurus.)  Something that leads to eagerness and intense energy.
Passion is crucial.  
So important that a lack of it could kill you.  
Not in the literal sense but in real seriousness – what is life without passion?  
[You could probably say that Pinterest feeds many of my passions, and fed the formative push for this blog post by unveiling the following to me on a board I follow – ]
What about life makes you barely able control your excitement and enthusiasm?  
If you can’t even contain it [Please!  Tell me you can’t!], what do you do with it?  
How do you share it?  
What happens?  
Tell me!
If you’ll allow me to consider this a passion, here’s my example: Vacation Bible School.  VBS is like the perfect combination of all things I love and a week in the summer where my energy is high despite incredible lack of sleep and long hours of work.  Love it.  L-O-V-E love it.  
Crafts?  Check.  
Crazy games?  Check.  
Loving on kids?  Check.  
Teaching?  Check.  
Community?  Check.  
Watching kids discover the love of Jesus?  Check.
[I’m getting super giddy just thinking about it!]
Passion is on the brain for Pinterest reasons and for ministry reasons.  Many know my secret but if you don’t, here you go [even after I swore off revealing secrets on this blog as of, oh, yesterday] – I interview with a potential church this weekend.  Stress levels are high as I anticipate the questions and the nerves that I hope won’t show.  If it’s a good fit, it’s a good fit.  If not, other options will come.  But I wonder how I wear my passion; how will they see my passion for ministry?  I hope I can share who I am – who I’m created to be – and wear the enthusiasm I have for ministry in the church.  I’ll most certainly keep you posted.
[It’s still March and this is my 33rd blog post of the month.  Safe to say that writing/sharing/being in this media relationship with you via blog land is a passion of mine?  Perhaps.]

M. and I

26 Mar
I spent a lot of time with M. this past week.  She was on spring break and her family is busy in the midst of move preparation.  I went over to her house for two days and the third she came over to my “grown-up apartment.”  We had a lot of fun crafting, baking, and watching Ariel.

M. arrived and walked into my apartment for the first time.  She sized up the room, paused in the middle of the living area, and said convincingly, “This is nice.”  Thanks, M.  She took off her boots and made herself at home.  We sewed and stuffed a pillow [It was her idea and she clung to that pillow for the rest of the afternoon!], and I sewed together a few book signatures for her to take home and continue to create.  We baked cookies, and she cuddled up on my bed to watch Ariel [The Little Mermaid].  
It was just a lot of fun.  It’s been really cool to babysit for her over these last years and watch her grow since I’ve been in St.Paul.  I’ll miss her bunches when I’m off somewhere abouts in the southern portion of the state next year.

adult relationships.

20 Mar
My younger-by-a-year-and-a-half brother stopped over tonight.   With his girlfriend.  [Yes.  You heard that right – he has a girlfriend.  Here’s hoping I don’t jinx it … but he seemed really happy about it too.  Exciting.]  It’s funny.  Really, it’s just humorous to me to think about how my siblings and I have grown up and now have these adult brother-sister relationships.
I grew up on the farm, having mudball fights, shooting bb guns with my younger and older [a year and a half on either side of me – they have the same birthday] brothers, and playing baseball with lots of ghost runners.  I always got along with Ben; never with Matt.  [Sometimes that remains the truth.  But there are times when it’s not; we’re growing up slowly.]
Then there is Emma, nine years younger than I.  I was the live-in babysitter; I loved watching her and dressing her up.  I remember carrying her around in clothesbaskets and being angry that one time she got a hold of a box of kleenex and spread them ALL over the living room floor.  Now she’s 18, preparing to graduate from high school and go off to college.  We exchange scarves and books, and we’re planning a sister trip to Seattle in the month of June [hoping it works out to celebrate both of our graduations].
So my brother stops over.  This is a week after he called me to see if I wanted to have coffee.  I never thought such an invitation would pass through the lips of my bike-riding, lettuce-with-mustard eating brother.  He was in the Cities, visiting formerly mentioned girlfriend, and wondered if we could get together for coffee before they took off for a camping trip to Arkansas for her spring break from school.  [Because everyone thinks of Arkansas when they think of spring break, right?]
I think tonight, as Ben stopped over to my apartment, I got a glimpse of what it might be like someday when we visit one another in each other’s homes for holiday, birthdays, or whatnots.  This is how it went – Ben walked in.  He walked nearly immediately to the stove, on which sat the tuna noodle/green bean/broccoli concoction I had thrown together for dinner.  [Mind you, it’s after 8pm at this point.  Late dinner.]  “Oh, yeah, what’s this?”  I explain.  “Well that sounds good.”  [pause]  I asked if he wanted some.  “Oh, sure, that’d be good.”  Ben helps himself to the hotdish.  Then to something to drink.  Then to the candy in the canisters on the counter.
I simply acknowledge and not complain this comfort level.  I think it’s humorous … and good.  [It reminds me of cousins, Brent and Mike, who would walk into our farmhouse and straight to the fridge.  They lived in our house as much as we did.]  Perhaps it won’t ever really matter that it’s not the farmhouse we grew up in, or the house on the hill our family built and in which we currently reside.  A family member’s house is a home for each of us.  
It’s hard to tell where those homes might eventually settle.  Matt’s in Colorado and Ben has upcoming plane tickets to Alaska to search the possible job market outside of the continental forty-eight.  Emma’s future is yet unknown, knowing only that next year Carroll University will be the place she resides.  I’ll be somewheres in southeastern Minnesota.  I think it’s kinda fun to dream about where life will take us all, and where we’ll settle down to open our homes to each other in the future.  Now I know to have a hotdish of some odd kind waiting when Ben stops by.  And old Starburst for him to chew.  [He’s pretty easy to please.]

what up, wednesday.

16 Mar
As Seinfield was a show about nothing, thus is this blog post.  [I never really got into Seinfield; I didn’t really understand it.  Bet you have real high hopes for this post now, eh?  Not.]  I think I’ll talk about the good things of today, I thought as I walked up to campus for a meeting.  I wanted alliteration in the title (always good) but ‘wonderful wednesday’ was a little too rainbows and gumdrops for my taste.  So I go gangster on you instead.  [Right, you think.  Lindsay?  Gangster?  Synonymous with DON’T GO TOGETHER.]
what up, wednesday. *head tilts back in oh-so-cool acknowledgement*
What’s up today?
A date [okay, appointment] with Brentt, my hair stylist;  
AND lunch out with Katja, M.’s mom;
AND plans to spend lots of time crafting with M. next week while she’s on spring break;  
AND a new-to-me fondue pot, courtesy of Katja; 
AND the watching of last night’s Glee, which I really appreciated and enjoyed;
AND p. 12 of the Concord, Luther Seminary’s student paper; 
[Who’s that girl with the snarky look?  Yup.]
AND a meeting about my children, youth, and family thesis, which I’m now totally excited to write;  
[Who’s the crazy lady who likes to write papers?  Yup.]
AND it was sunny and nearly fifty and I wore flip flops;
AND stopping at Starbucks to chat with friend, Cassie, while my eyes were dilated after an eye exam;
AND time to quilt tonight;
AND should I keep going?
What’s on your what up, wednesday list?  
I hope you can mentally make a list like this for your own day.  It’s not to say that your whole day has to be peaches and ice cream; mine wasn’t.  [And peaches and ice cream?  Why would I use such a comparison?  Ack.  No thanks.]  I could have told you how I shelled out lots of money for an eye exam and contacts on top of it.  I might have mentioned the load of midterms I feel weighing upon me.  I could have talked about any number of things that didn’t go spectacularly on this day like the matching blisters on each of my pinky toes due to a pair of shoes.  
But eh.  Why focus my energy there?  Not today.  Not worth it.  Instead –
Source: google.com via Hana on Pinterest

[Easier said than done.  But let’s give it a try.]

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