30 BY 30!!! Let’s do this.

I’ve heard a number of great things about 29, and I just really think this year of life is going to be the best ever.  But I think the thing I’m looking forward to the most is accomplishing my 30 by 30 List.

What is a 30 by 30 List you ask?  It’s a list of 30 things you would like to accomplish before you turn 30.  For me, I am pooling from things I’ve always wanted to do, mistakes I’ve already made, mistakes I maybe should have made, and things that will just be plain INappropriate as a 30 year old (but at 29 you can still say “I’m in my 20s” without fear of judgement (hopefully))

That said, I would like to officially document and share with you my “30 by 30 List”

1. Learn to drive a stick
2. Pull an all-nighter (non-work related)
3. Go to a concert of a favorite band from high school (aka – I’d really just love to see Yellowcard for the 32403384924th time)
4. Get a kiss from a dolphin
5. Listen to jazz music in the deep south
6. Go streaking
7. Get a professional headshot for LinkedIn
8. Get rid of my college tshirts by way of making my very own tshirt quilt
9. Learn all the lyrics to a classic rap song (suggestions?)
10. Go to a psychic
11. College drinking shenanigans
    1. Shotgun a beer
    2. Drink a beer from a beer bong
    3. Complete a power hour
    4. Drink a beer on the roof
12. Go to ALL the doctors and get checked up (I loathe this one.. Grow. Up. Sarah.)
13. Attend a Broadway show in New York
14. Take a Richard Simmons cardio class taught by Richard Simmons himself
15. Pet a tiger
16. Register to vote
17. Purchase and smoke weed
18. Learn how to do my hair and makeup
19. Visit a new state (Michigan and Wyoming, you’re on my list!)
20. Float a river
21. Read 12 books, including:
    1. The Bible (cover to cover)
    2. Trashy romance novel
    3. Shakespeare play
    4. Classic novel
    5. Anything by C.S. Lewis
    6. TAKING SUGGESTIONS!!
22. Spend a weekend in Napa
23. Go skinny dipping
24. Go to the Bonus Round on WHEEL! OF! FORTUNE!
25. Finish Gilmore Girls
26. Ride an elephant
27. Take a striptease lesson
28. Start sending Christmas cards and never stop!
29. Sleep on a futon
30. Have a destination 30th birthday!!!  Details to come… 😉

This has been so fun – I have LOVED hearing suggestions and maybe you even found a few of yours in there 🙂  Let me know if you are able to make any of these happen, would like to participate in any of the adventures, or just want to hangout sometime 🙂

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Here are some honorable mentions that I realized I can wait until after 30… but that I would still like to do:

Buy a Kitchenaid mixer, eat something I grow myself, take a cooking class, take a couples dance class, sew a [non tshirt] quilt, take piano lessons, make sushi, go on a hot air balloon ride, buy a decent tv, get a job with a desktop computer, host a family holiday, buy a piece of furniture from Craiglist and make it my own, get certified to teach, attend a TED Talk, compile my favorite recipes into a cookbook, journal, see the Northen Lights, budget for monthly massages, buy a house/condo/apt/whatever, name my Top 10 favorite freckles, spend a month in Africa

Angels in the Outfield

I’m making this two parts for those of you that just want to be clued in on a hilariously awkward Sarah story.  Yous guys can stop reading at part two where I get a little emotional and preachy, but maybe there are some of you out there that need it as much as I do, so that’s for you 🙂

Part I: Sarah Story

I was in Seattle this week for work and my coworker and I ditched our standard 12 hour day a little early to catch the Astros/Mariners game.  Two teams who are very near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons.  I was wearing my Uncle’s SUBA 61 jersey that his 6’4” bullpen catcher/coach self wore in the early 80’s (read: this thing falls well below my knees and I looked completely ridiculous).

At my request, my coworker purchased tickets ten rows behind the Astros dugout so I could try and catch a glimpse of my main man, Adam Everett.  A few of the players looked back to see the lone Astro fan behind their dugout, swimming in her jersey, but no real acknowledgement.  Until the conclusion of the 4^th inning.

The Astros’ players were running in from the field and everyone in our section stood up to try and get one of the balls that the player was going to toss into the stands.  I stood up with my right hand halfheartedly in the air and my left hand at my side holding my beer.  The ball was tossed.  My hand was in the air.

THE BALL LANDED IN MY FREAKING HAND!!!!

When I say “landed” I mean, it just floated right in there.  I didn’t even MOVE my hand.  I have 200+ people that were nearby and can confirm this story, including my coworker who said “WHAAAT?!?! That seriously all just happened in slow motion!!!”  Everyone started clapping and cheering and I was still standing there in shock with my hand in the air (oddly enough, not the first time this has happened).

After the shock wore off (roughly six [very long] seconds), I looked around and made eye contact with all the cheering/laughing/smiley Mariner’s faces and yelled to everyone “OH MY GOSH I JUST CAUGHT THAT!”

Realizing that everyone was in fact now laughing at my reaction, I immediately sat down and put my head in my hands.

I could not.

Stop.

Laughing. 

My coworker deemed it as an opportune time to make a food run, leaving me there in my lonesome to settle down…which didn’t happen for another two innings.

That hilariously awkward moment gave me a huge realization that I have really needed this past year.

Reenactment Photo

Part II: Much Needed Life Realization

I have been down and discouraged.  I have been needing a major pick-me-up, like… for a while.  I feel I’m approaching the time in life when your bubble is burst and you start seeing all the bad in the world.  It’s my understanding that most people start seeing this post high school, or post college… so I thought I had survived the epidemic that is ‘growing old’ as I have personally stood in the face of tragedy and shared in the tragedies of my close friends.  Allow me to put it in perspective though…  it wasn’t until six months ago that I learned that wine has calories.

I’ve been bopping through life, drinking calorie free wine and I remember very vividly, last June after hearing about the Brazilian soccer match throwing my hands up in the air and calling it quits.  There is no good left in the world.  This world is a terrible place.  Depressing, right??  As someone that avidly follows the news and world events, you can only imagine the downward spiral I have been on this past year.  So many tears shed for the hurt of this world.  For friends who are sick.  For loved ones who have passed.  For broken, broken hearts.  This world is full of sadness and death and fear and quite frankly my small insignificant speck of a heart can’t take anymore.

The worst part is, I know the “fix”

Love God, Love others.

Serve God, Serve others.

Know God, know peace.  No God, No Peace.

It’s all about the company you keep.

WWJD, amirite?!

Ok those are all super corny/cliché phrases, most of which I’ve seen on billboards between Abilene and Dallas, TX.  And to be honest, that’s exactly what they feel like to me right now… “super corn/cliché phrases.”  I know that those phrases, while cliché, have incredible depth and power behind them… but the truth is, I’m just not there yet.

Where I’m at is… when I need a pick-me-up more than ever, God sends a baseball flying into the palm of my hand causing smiles and laughter for myself (2 full innings worth) and the entire section of 139 at Safeco field.  There is good in this world and God giving us glimpses of it every chance He gets.  It’s up to us to create more opportunities for Him.  It’s up to us to love the world in His name.  Here is my tiny little attempt to share smiles and love and brighten a day or two in His name 🙂

Root, root root for the AAAASSSSSSSSSTROS!

A Thank You To The Patriots

If you’ve held a conversation with me for more than 43 seconds it’s likely you’ve heard me talk about how much I love the city of Boston.

Sox Games

Singing Sweet Caroline at Sox games

Pats Games

Celtics Games

Ducklings

4th of July

4th of July with Neil Diamond

FALL!

I could go on forever… feel free catch up on some of my previous posts that are dedicated to my city:

Visito[u]r Guide: Boston, MA

Burb Dwellers vs. City Slickers – My soap box about people thinking Boston is a rude city

Top Ten Moments in the History of (my Experience with) Boston Sports! (aka the time I Arsenio Hall’d Ray Allen)

The Month That Was – aka the best month of my LIIIIIIFE

Definitely can’t forget about the available bachelors!! (LOVE YOU WOLFIE!) An Opportunity to Date Boston’s Most Eligible Bachelor

And even finding a portrait of grace via the MBTA… Grace: As Learned from the Boston Metro

I’m telling you… I love this city.

Patriots Day is tied for first on my Favorite Day in Boston List… St. Paddy’s Day, 4^th of July are tough to pass up (honorable mention to Opening Day at Fenway and the Santa Speedo Run).  Who would have thought, right??  Patriots Day???

Last Patriots Day I somehow managed to guilt three of my friends into leaving my apartment at 4:45a to watch the Battle of Lexington and Concord reenactment on the Lexington Green… WHERE THE ACTUAL BATTLE TOOK PLACE!!!

They love me, I swear…

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was one of the first battles fought of the Revolutionary War and the Patriots were the guys that fought it.  Who were the Patriots?  Nobodys.  Just a few rough and tough guys that believed in their cause, that believed in freedom, that did not back down and that stood their ground for something that was right.

Anyone that has sat with me at a sporting event has seen me get teary eyed when the National Anthem is sung (because it happens EVERY TIME), and anyone that has watched 4^th of July fireworks with me has witnessed the same teary eyed Sarah… America, the freedoms we have, and the people that defend our freedoms get me emotional.  Sue me.

The battle reenactment on Patriots Day was no exception.  I got a liiiiiiiiiittle emotional and have been intending to write this post ever since.

I was standing at the edge of the Lexington Green at 5:00a waiting for the reenactment.  I was trying to contain my excitement as I stood amidst the 200 year old houses surrounding the green that were there when the battle took place and it could just not be done.

AMERICA!!!

Silence came over the crowd as we heard the British Troops marching through Lexington.  Men wearing scrappy colonial clothes started running out of houses armed with one shot rifles and stood in the middle of the green…. And we were standing right there watching!  The British soldiers marched perfectly in sync to the drummer’s beat and approached the green in their perfectly matched, prestine uniforms.  Our ‘troops’ gathered themselves together in the middle of the green, forming a single line the length of the green to express to the British soldiers that they were not welcome… this was going to be AMERICA.

As the British soldiers approached the scraggly Patriot soldiers some of the Patriots fled… after all, death was imminent.  The British soldiers were now just a few yards away and the remaining men stood their ground, trembling in fear.  Rather than shooting the ten or so Patriots blocking their path, the Bristh leader called his troops to stopped marching, stopping within five feet of the faces of the Patriots.  The leader of the British troops yelled at the Patriots to move.  The Patriots stood their ground.

The British soldier yelled two then three more times.  More men fled from the danger of the line into the surrounding woods.  No one knows who fired the first shot, but it appeared to come from one of the houses and thus the battle began, killing most of the Patriots.  The British soldiers continued marching and would later make it to the North Bridge in Concord where “the shot heard ‘round the world” was fired.

There were so many thoughts going through my head at this reenactment that brought me to tears… as I saw the Patriots standing in the line, trembling as the uniformed British soldiers approached, I thought of my friends and [some former] loved ones that are currently serving our country.  I thought of my father and grandfather who served as Marines.  I prayed a prayer of gratitude for the people that have believed so much in freedom that they have fought to protect it.  It led me to ask myself… what do I believe in so much that I would stand in the face of the enemy and be willing to sacrifice my life for? 

As a Christian, the obvious answer should be Christ.  Which led me to ask… am I really willing to sacrifice my life for Christ?  Would I die, or even face danger for that matter, for the cause of Christ?  Ok forget death and danger… would I even be willing to give up my earthly pleasures for the sake of Christ, because often times I don’t.  Do I truly understand the statement I so frequently hear, “Christ died for me?”  Wow. Christ died for me.  These soldiers died for me.  These soldiers died for the cause of freedom, so that we could speak and worship and play and educate and live in a world that is free.  Christ is the true source of freedom and the true source of peace and He endured the wrath of God and died to give it to us.  Saying ‘I was moved’ is quite the understatement… I was completely awestruck.

Yesterday I brought myself back to that moment when I was standing on the Lexington Green and I attempted to sort through my thoughts after the explosions.  I could do nothing but sit at my desk with my head in my hands and cry.  The Boston Marathon has, for the past four years, been my little glimpse of heaven (as I have so proudly expressed) and was shattered by Evil.  By hatred.  By selfishness.  I was brutally reminded that we live in the world and that Satan’s presence exists.  I had to stomach people around me saying things like “the media is making a bigger deal of this than it really is… just two people died.”  Just.  I’m beginning to hate that word.  Say that to the mother of the eight year old boy.  Say that to his second grade classmates and explain to them why there is an empty desk in their classroom.  Say that to the families impacted by the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut… after all, it was “just” one classroom.  Ugh.  I wanted to vomit.

The only thing we can do is remember the pain of this sorrow and move forward.  How do we move forward?  In my attempt to stand for what is right, I have to express that we move forward when we pursue Christ.  We pursue and fight for what is right.  We love those that don’t love us back.  We reset our hearts and minds to the things not of this world, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  We set our hearts on things above and eagerly await His kingdom come.  We open our eyes and accept that God is a God that loves us and by knowing His love we will better learn to love each other and by loving each other, we change the world.  We have faith that the darkness has been overcome.

To the people in my favorite city and the place my heart calls home – I love you and pray blessings and peace in this time of sorrow.  Let us be reminded of the love that has been shown to us by our Creator and let us spread His love to the people of this world.

Love that dirty water…

Boston you’re my home

The Terrible Plane Passenger

I hope this doesn’t come off as rude or offensive, but it’s my blog and I can be honest here and say that there are just some people in this world that I would rather not sit next to on a plane.  Does this make me a bad person?  No.  Does this make me think anything less of those people?  Absolutely not! after all I’ve been that person (story to follow)…. but given the option I can guarantee that you’re not going to be the one to volunteer to take the middle seat inbetween the sweet precious tantrum baby and the [I’m sure, very] friendly man with the absolutely horrendous BO.  Amiright?!

That being said, I’ve taken the liberty of creating….

The World’s Best Worst Airplane Seating Chart:

Isn’t this what it always feels like every time you fly!?

*Honorable mentions go to The Mean Parent, Over-Sized Dreads Guy, The Won’t Pull Down The Shade When The Sun Is Beaming In Your Face Kid, Everyone’s BFF (not to be confused with the Jokester or Oversharer), The Flight Attendant Brown Noser and last but not least… The Cougher.

**My personal favorite is The Panicked Flier… I once sat next to a woman that insisted that I walk up and down the aisle with her before take-off to physically touch/count every aisle seat on the way to the emergency exit in case it was too smokey to see when the plane went down.  She also wore nylon socks because the material is less flammable than cotton….?  Because when the plane goes up in flames heaven forbid my socks catch on fire.  I wish I could make this stuff up, but alas.. true story.

I got to go to back to Abilene for Sing Song and an unofficial friend reunion of sorts this past weekend… it was my first time going to Sing Song since since I was in it FIVE YEARS AGO.  I’ve learned there are two things in this world that make you feel old: 1 – 5 year reunions of any variety and 2 – your hands being sore from playing skee ball (yes, I experienced both this weekend).

It was seriously sooooo great to catch up with old friends, professors, go to Friday praise chapel on campus (tears!), hangout with the fam, hangout with Granny and friends at her ‘retirement village’ … all in all awesome.  So awesome in fact that I got a total of six hours sleep between Thursday night and Friday night, and 45 minutes of sleep Saturday… My flight was out of Dallas at 830a Sunday morning so my friend and I woke up at 5a to drive to DFW so I could catch my flight.  Have I mentioned that girl is a saint?

We struuuuuuuuggled to stay awake on our three hour drive but any attempt at remaining coherent was completely useless.  She stayed awake by driving 95 MPH (God bless Texas highways) with her hand out the sunroof and/or grabbing ice from her Whataburger cup to rub on her face.  I don’t know how I stayed awake because I pretty much just stared straight ahead and tried to keep up conversation as we watched the sunrise.

you try staying awake driving through three hours of THIS!

In the last hour of the ride delirium started kicking in and I somehow convinced myself that I had forgotten to purchase my return flight.  I spent the next 40 minutes on the phone with various airlines asking if they had a reservation for me, only to realize that I was flying on the same airline as I flew in on because I had in fact bought a round trip ticket… (shocking, I know).  I also discovered while waiting in the security line at the airport that I had lost my phone… only to realize a full 24 hours later that I had put in my wallet (where I always keep it); nevermind the fact that I opened my wallet to get my ID out, put my ID away, get my debit card out and put my debit card away in that 24-hour time frame. That’s four accounts of quite literally touching my phone and having no idea where I had left it.  I made it through security and went to my gate… well, the wrong gate.  After standing in line to board a flight to Philadelphia for 12 minutes I realized I was at gate 38 and my ticket said gate 28.  2’s and 3’s look pretty similar….  (just go with it).

After that crazy fiasco of a morning, I somehow managed to make it on the correct plane and sat down in the correct seat.  Let’s call this a win.  Little did the guy next to me know what was in store for him.

I made absolutely no attempt to be friendly and I think the frazzled hair, 24-hour old makeup and disheveled yoga pants + hoodie fashion statement was enough to keep me from finding my new best friend for the next three hours.  Needless to say, I was left alone and passed out as soon as I heard the flight attendant say “San Diego.”  Aaaaaaaaand we’re off!

I have no idea how far along into the flight we were or how long I had been asleep… but I was startled awake by the man sitting next to me.  Why you ask?  Oh only because

I WAS SNORING IN HIS FACE.

I like to think I looked something like this….

this is probably a little more realistic…

 

I kid you not, my head was turned all the way to my left facing upwards, mouth gaping open, breathing and SNORING less than four inches from this poor man’s face.  It had to have been even worse than what I’m envisioning because when I opened my eyes the two people sitting behind me were quite literally standing up out of their seats to try and catch a glimpse of the obnoxious, rude, horrendously disgusting person (aka: me) that was the talk of the entire plane.

I was so confused when he woke me up I just ended up flinging my hands out in front of me to catch my balance [in the extremely stationary plane seat], tried for .3 seconds to figure out where I was but quickly turned my head to the other side and fell right back asleep.  How rude of that guy to wake me up! (kidding)

When we the plane touched down I was jolted awake and wiped the drool from the sides of my mouth.  I casually looked at the man next to me and judging by the fact that he moved his mouth, chuckled and pumped his eyebrows up and down I can only assume he said something to me… I didn’t understand him or attempt an effort to respond.  I looked at him confused and propped my head back on the seat waiting to deboard.  Man, I bet HE felt awkward!  Idiot.  (kidding)

I got home, crawled in bed and fell asleep by 11a.  I woke up Monday morning at 6a to head to work and was quite the peach that day, let me tell ya 😉

I guess when most people fly, they walk of the plane with a story about some crazy person they had to sit next to.  Well in this case, I am that crazy person and I have to tell the story on myself I do however take great comfort in the fact that I provided that man (and a plane) with a story to tell to their friends and families that picked them up from the airport.  You’re welcome, World.

Carly Rae, Kanye, Overload, Photobombs

I’m officially losing it… I have found the stupidest things absolutely hilarious and have not been able to keep it together lately!!  I need an outlet so I can hopefully move on and not scare away the new people I’ve been meeting out here.  So here we go… let’s get this out of my system once and for all.

At work…. one of the grouchy/rude high ups IM’d me… and well….….could NOT get it together on our call…. I sincerely hope he does not get me fired over this….

Another work story… when we talk about clients in the office we will sometimes shorten their names; one of the clients we shorten to ‘Kayne.’  Since I work remotely, I type/read/email this name all the time but never actually say it aloud.  Extremely unfortunate because when I went to lead a meeting about Kayne in front of the team, dyslexia got the best of me and I kept referring to our client as  ‘Kanye’ …. as in Kanye West, rather than ‘Cain’ …. real professional.  After about five minutes one of the guys my age sitting at the conference table FINALLY corrected me…. fortunately for me, the old man partners in the meeting had no idea how funny this was, or who Kanye is for that matter and they were able to move forward, no problem.  I [again] could not get it together and asked one of the long-winded partners a question so I could buy myself some time and literally hold my mouth shut to recover.

I was walking to dinner with a guy that isn’t quite familiar with all my quirks yet and somehow it came up that one of my favorite things in the entire world is when dogs go turbo… you know… when they run laps repeatedly at lightening speed and nine times out of ten they use the sofa and/or your leg to propel themselves ….??  Someone help me out here.  As I started to explain “turbo” to him I could NOT stop laughing.  For two city blocks.  I was laughing so hard at the thought of it I actually started crying.  He uncomfortably laughed along and tried to throw me a bone (if you will) and make it less awkward by including himself in my internal dialogue and asking leading questions “Are you picturing it right now??”  gigglegigglegiggleuncontrolablegiggleYES!giggle.  “What kind of dog are you picturing?”  It was sweet and all… but I could feel the judgement and wanted nothing more than to just GET IT TOGETHER and move on!

Here’s a video I found on YouTube for your reference.  I will [maybe] pay you $2 if you can make it through without laughing (military personnel excluded):

Speaking of… how is it that I’m JUUUUUUUUUST now finding out about the Puppy Bowl?!!?!  I had absolutely NO IDEA this much cute could fit in a single YouTube video:

I found this gem on the MSN homepage yesterday… again… tears of laughter… just me??

just an all around awesome pic… in Cairo of course

whyyyyyyyyy

just plain impressive

hoooooow?!

hahahaha how can you not laugh at this?! GONZO!!!

typical

nbd.

camel head

hay garl – can I get a ride?

how in the world is this guy driving?

And saving the absolute best for last… ANIMAL PHOTOBOMBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Cannot get enough.  Yup.  Last night I definitely Googled this and laughed uncontrollably.

I’ll stop…. posting these to my blog.  No promise on the Google searches though

Ok I feel better.  Back to adult life.