If you want to annoy a journalist...

This should never be a part of a conversation with a journalist:

Me: Is there anything else you'd like to add about the program or anything you feel like I've missed?

Anonymous: No, um, when you do get a draft or something done, if you don't mind just me taking a look at if just to make -- can I do that or not?

Me: Um... *silence* ...I don't know. I'd have to ask my editor.

No, I do know -- of course you can't. You can look at it when it's published. I have a degree in journalism, but you want to ask permission to be my boss and/or do my job for me? I don't think so. Seriously, people, not okay.

Always,

Banana Milk

If you google "banana milk" you'll mostly find Korean advertisements from YouTube pop up like this one:

And as ridiculous as that commercial is -- I mean, as funny as that commercial is...banana milk is freakin' delicious. The best part is you'll feel like you're treating yourself to something sinful, but really...it's just banana and milk. Brilliant, I say.

Here's what I do:

Camp, part 6 -- day 3

Before I got to camp*, and when I first arrived at camp, I must admit I was very concerned with impressing the other leaders. I felt like the underdog. Being older than the girls I was leading by just a few years, and literally decades younger than my fellow leaders, I felt certain the other leaders would view me as a snot-faced-teenager. And not that some of the girls viewed me like that, but I got confused as being a camper more than once -- I felt like that definitely stacked the odds against me for my "peers" as viewing me as such.

As the week went on and I started bonding with my girls, I realized I wasn't there for myself, but I was there to serve my girls. That meant building friendships with them, spending time with them, laughing and joking and being silly with them, not with the older ladies. And by the end of the week, I was seriously impressed by the girls I was leading as well as some of the other girls I had the privilege of meeting.

I think I can, I think I can...

When I was a kid I loved to draw. I looked forward to rainy days at school because that meant I could color all during recess without getting in trouble. I remember drawing picture after picture and hanging them on the fridge or giving them to friends. Mostly they were stick-figure-esque. For a while I drew elephants, but I'm not sure why. And then I drew ballerinas with two buns on the top of their heads, and big cartoony, googley eyes.

I'm not sure I was much better at it than my peers, but I certainly enjoyed it and my parents took notice. At 12-years-old, I took a drawing class for kids at Sacramento State University, and still to this day, that's where I learned many of the basic art skills I use today.

Birthday, Birthday

One of my favorite things about my birthday ever since I could remember was the actual date -- June 21. For a kid who could live in the water, having the most amount of daylight for your birthday aka the summer solstice, seemed like a dream come true. Then add on top of that the fact that I had six months between my birthday and Christmas -- it was perfect! And to make it even cooler, my half birthday was my grandma's birthday, which was the winter solstice.

Though none of my best friends share my exact birth date, my mom's was two days before mine and one of my best friends, Dana, has hers two days after mine. That means I had two of the coolest people to celebrate with.

Then I met Nathaniel, and he was cool enough to share a birthday with Dana. I love that we get to celebrate each other at the same time!

Unfortunately, Nathaniel worked on my birthday this year, but thankfully, my friend, Rachel took care of me. Rachel, and her husband Russell, fed me dinner and then sang a "beautiful" rendition of happy birthday -- it was touching, really.

My cake!

Of Fleeting Moments, Babies and Documentation

Some days I don't want to record my thoughts. Sometimes they feel sweeter when they are fleeting, brief and only for that moment. 

I don't feel that way about babies though...they need all the documentation they can get. Like this little guy, my handsome nephew, Ethan:

♥ ♥ ♥

Love Letters

Because going to camp was going to be the first time I spent a substantial amount of time away from Nathaniel, I left some hidden notes around the house for every day I was gone. I had no cell phone reception at camp, so my cousin, Kourtney, forwarded my text messages to Nathaniel every day telling him where my cards were. Here they are:

Day one.

Camp, part 5 -- Day 2

Day two of camp* started off with breakfast, followed by a "hike." I went with the second level girls, who were supposed to go on a 5-mile hike. The hike turned into more of a less-than-a-mile-stroll. The only thing that made it difficult was the change in elevation. We did have to take a break so one of our girls could get a serious breather. But all's well that ends well!

After our walk around the campgrounds, the girls had four hours of free time. We had way too much free time on our hands, but it's okay -- we decided to bust out this bad boy: our "water front." Angela and Abby blew it up, and fetched some water from the shower with a scuzzy old bucket that we found in our cabin.

"Swimming" in our "lake" because the camp doesn't have any water. Angela got really into it.

Doodles

Yesterday I sat with 3-year-old, Mia, during church. We drew in the back of my Sunday school class manual to pass the time. I ripped out the pages because I thought they were too cute not to share.

The little figure in the top right corner is me. I'm even wearing a dress -- but I helped with that part. The bigger figure in the bottom left corner is our friend, the "Tongan Terror," Charlie Malolo. Mia sat to the left of Charlie and looked up at him like she was slightly scared when I told her she should draw him. The figure with the spiky hair next to Charlie is Nathaniel. Mia needed some creative inspiration to draw Nathaniel's hair...that's what the little hash marks in the top right corner are. I'm not sure what the giant blob in the center of the paper is.

Papa's Day

My dad in Kansas with our dog, Roscoe, in front of a Wizard of Oz statue. He's a goof.

My dad taught me that every day has potential. There's no time to waste because there is always work to be done, things to learn, people to talk to or fun to be had. Hard work, spontaneity and joy seem to be the very foundation of his life. Papa, thank you for teaching me that life is worth living to it's full capacity -- an adventure worth experiencing. I love you!

Camp, part 4 -- Day 1

Dance party! Cassie has the camera, Angela and Dysteny are in the back.

Tuesday morning we loaded up the car for camp*. The girls spent most of the drive sleeping, but once we hit New Mexico I woke them all up by yelling that we had crossed the border. Naturally, we had to have a dance party -- three little Mexican girls and a white lady dancing in the car on the way to a Christian over-night girls camp. Classic.

Kissy Face

When finances are tight, I'm grateful for the ability to draw. It makes for a little something rather than...nothing, for gifts.

Speaking of gratitude, our anniversary-day (we did a nice dinner earlier in the week) consisted of McDonald's and watching X-Men (which was awesome, btdubs) and then Nathaniel had to go to work. Nothing fancy, but I still felt warm and fuzzy and overflowing-out-the-eyeballs grateful and happy. I'm married to my best friend. I don't need anything but him.

So anywho...this is the card I drew for Nathaniel yesterday:

You like, no?

Always,

One Year

Nathaniel,

When we went on our first date, I was taken up by your joy. The look in your eyes was intoxicating, and I wanted to know more.

Talk Dirty to Me

Guess who is getting paid for the first time to write professionally and it happens to be for a Poison concert, THIS girl, that's who. Not that I know who I'm interviewing yet...but I still think it's cool. Oh, and AJ Facebook followers are silly...

Baby Journalist Under Fire

Towards the end of the semester, right when Lubbock started burning up left and right because of a serious lack of rain combined with high heat and winds, the boss lady had me cover the police beat solo.

I hadn't been sitting at my desk for longer than 10 minutes when the other police beat reporter, Robin, who was finishing up her shift, walked up with the police scanner in hand and told me there were multiple structure fires about 20 minutes from Lubbock and wanted to know if I was willing and able to cover it.*

I looked at Robin, swallowed my apprehension and said yes as positively as I could. Truth be told, I was a terrified.

Robin printed out directions for me to get there, I grabbed the scanner, and went off to cover the fire.

hCG Diet

Remember way back when when I told you that I was working on a story about hCG? Well, it's done! And just a note...I wrote the article, but I wrote the article as a journalist. That means I simply reported what was said. Take it for what it's worth! Read the story here.

Weighing the use of hCG and dieting

Always,

Camp, part 3 - flower headbands

Tonight with my girls camp girls we made flower headbands. I prepped as much as I could before hand so all they had to do was glue flowers to headbands and add bling to their little hearts' desire. They seemed to really enjoy making them, and we are all excited to sport them -- during camp, at least.

BriAnna, Dysteny and Angela. Don't worry...they're mostly normal. ♥