RANDOM

Well…I announced a while ago that my sweet roommate Shalina is MARRYING an amazing man that God has chosen for her and couldn’t be happier and it is now safe to say that wedding plans are OFFICIALLY underway. She has booked the location, bought the dress, and as of last night, the save the dates are almost finished and will be going out in the mail shortly! WOWZAAA!
Last night was the first of what I’m sure will end up being many “craft-ish” DIY bride projects we’ll be helping Shalina complete throughout the next several months. Last night we were a save the date FACTORY!! 4 of her bridesmaids came over: Adri-Anne, Christine, Grace, and Stacey and we spent several hours cutting, sticking, stamping, and sticking some more! SO FUN! The end product is pretty stinking cute and the process was fairly painless…so…here’s to hoping that invitation assembly is as smooth and enjoyable! As the evening closed and Shalina and I were finishing up dishes in the kitchen (well technically Shalina was making her lunch – including weighing her chicken – she wanted exactly 3 ounces which is apparently 3 blocks in the protein zone – then measuring 1 cup of pineapple which is 3 blocks in some other zone – who knows! And I was doing dishes…but I mean who is paying attention?) I told her that I really liked her friends. She said that she thinks they are forever friends and that she can picture them all hanging out later in life with their kids running around, etc. and I immediately started contemplating who my forever friends are. The three that immediately came to mind were Anna, Sara, and Emily. The unfortunate thing is that I don’t live in the same city as any of them – we don’t live life together like Shalina does with these girls. It kind of made my heart ache. I miss my friends! I am SO thankful for the people that God has in my life now – but sometimes I wonder if I’m not staying here forever and maybe He has something totally different in store for me. Maybe I haven’t met my forever friends yet (even though I will BE friends with Anna, Sara, and Emily FOREVER! And I’m pretty sure Megan falls into that category too!)

Anyway, thinking about forever is weird and strange and overwhelming. My boss asked me yesterday what some of my lifelong dreams, goals, and ambitions are…I have some things figured out – I would love to be involved with a large non-profit (not necessarily religious) and travel the world. I want to step foot in every continent before I go home to meet the Lord. I want to adopt a child from a different country and love him/her as my own and publish a children’s book. I want to name my kids Bennett James, Edison Cooper, and Kenadie Ann but I don’t know if I want biological children and I for sure don’t think I want three (unless of course it is 3 and 1 adopted which would be 4 and that’s ok!). I want to live on the East Coast – Virginia preferably (ps I’m turning 25 in like 3 weeks and the plan was always to move to Virginia with Sara and Emily when I turn 30…that is SOON folks!) and be involved in a church there that has a wonderful community and great opportunities for the kids. I want to love an amazing man who loves the Lord more than anything else and has deep and moving conversations with me about our Savior daily – one who is a great father and can’t wait to get home to hug and kiss and play with his kids – one who will lead me in my dreams and still dream dreams of his own that I can support and encourage. I want to have a red and aqua kitchen and entertain guests often filling our home with laughter and friendship. I want to meet Ina Garten: the Barefoot Contessa and maybe cook my way through one of her cookbooks (ps Gan – when are we going on the search for truffle butter 2010??). I can envision myself working part-time and driving the kids to school in the morning and then being home with freshly baked cookies on the counter for them in the afternoon while still having enough free time to keep a fresh coat of nail polish on my fingers and toes. I have such trivial dreams! ha! I want to send birthday cards to my far-away friends every single year so they know they are not forgotten but are cherished in my heart. I want to be a World Changers Project Coordinator at some point in the future – that dream could happen sooner than later I suppose. Oh man…see THIS is why dreaming gets me overwhelmed! Time to stop dreaming about tomorrow and live my life where I am…and KNOW the Lord has dreams of His own for me and I want to live those dreams!!!