Not to get on my soapbox....

But, does anyone else think that tiered cakes should stay at weddings? I've read some blogs - mainly friends of friends' blogs, and I've seen more pictures of 2-5 year old birthday parties with two, three and even four-layer cakes! Seriously? What happened to the Kroger sheet cake, an ice cream cake from the local DQ or a cookie cake from the mall? Heaven forbid a homemade cake. Sorry, this is just hard for me to fathom when I just passed two homeless people on my walk home from the grocery store. I don't think I can ever reconcile it. And, not to be one of those people, but if I ever have children, single-layered cakes it is - poor kids.

Embracing the Big 3 - 0!!!

I'm thirty! I'm saying it - with a proud tone, even. I actually had a great day/weekend and got so many wishes from so many friends - from all over the world. It was pretty amazing. I celebrated with a little:

And a little:

It was nice.

I have known people to make lists of 'thirty things to do before [they] turn thirty'. I probably came across a couple of these around the age of 28, and with only 2 years left, I thought it was a little ambitious to make one of these lists myself, so I always had it in the back of my mind that I would make a 'forty things to do before I turn forty' list so here goes:

Forty things to do before I turn the BIG 4-0 (in no particular order):

1. Buy real estate
2. Take a cooking class (preferably in Italy)
3. Watch all the 'Best Movie' Oscar winners since 1980
4. Run a 10k in under 60 minutes
5. Drink an entire pint of Guinness in one sitting
6. Visit friends in New Zealand and Australia
7. Bake homemade bread
8. Go on a winery/vineyard tour (preferably in Napa Valley)
9. Learn to play chess
10. Attend a MotoGP race in the US with my Dad
11. Watch the Star Wars trilogy
12. Read the entire Bible
13. Attend an Olympic event
14. Learn to drive manual shift - and well
15. Conquer sewing a button and hemming a pair of pants
16. Learn a language
17. Visit the Grand Canyon
18. Change a tire all by myself (preferably in my driveway, not on the side of a highway)
19. Return to Africa in some capacity
20. Attend the Master's in Augusta
21. Stay up on water skis for more than 10 consecutive seconds
22. Knit a scarf, baby's sweater or whatever is practical at the moment
23. Learn to play Bryan Adams' acoustic version of Summer of '69 on the guitar
24. Go horseback riding
25. Shoot a gun
26. Read Mandela
27. Scan and electronically catalogue all my childhood photographs
28. Sing a karaoke solo
29. See Sting in concert
30. Frame my many art prints acquired traveling
31. Learn to play 5-card draw and beat someone who is relatively good
32. Donate blood
33. Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal on my own
34. See Mount Rushmore in person
35. Do the maple syrup, lemon water and pepper cleanse for 7 whole days
36. Attend the Kentucky derby
37. Paint a picture
38. Do fifty push-ups
39. Attend a New Year's Day UGA bowl game
40. Fall in love

In reviewing, some of these look a little, well, normal - but I think now is the time for some "normalcy." I'm definitely excited about most of these (well maybe not the cleanse or the push-ups), however, I'm pretty confident that the next ten years are going to provide opportunities I can't yet even imagine. As I turned 20, I don't think I would have guessed that I would have lived in England, taken a boat up the River Nile, ridden in a hot-air balloon over the Masai Mara, visited a Turkish bath, attended a Wimbledon final, sat on the shore of the Indian Ocean, been to the top of the Eiffel tower with my Mom, worked with a former child soldier, vacationed on the Suez Canal, shared chilled vodka shots with friends in Russia, camped for 3-straight months in Port-au-Prince or ended the decade unmarried, even. I guess the lesson is - life's pretty amazing, unexpected and always unfolding. Yay for ten more years of opportunities and experiences!

The art of waiting

I have come to the conclusion that New York City is one of the best places to spend a summer. If you can live on PB&J (which I haven't been very good at), you can do some amazing things, spending relatively little money. NYC has it all - museums, architecture, parks, waterfront and history. You can make an event out of simply picking a section of town and walking it. The fact that there are free concerts, movies and plays, among other things, is a big plus when you are living on a very limited income in one of, if not the most, expensive cities in the world. The problem I've found with all these fabulous free things is that everyone else and their mother and their brother, want to take advantage of them, too.

This brings me me to another conclusion, one could simply wait away a summer in New York. Now, having lived in England, the home of the queue, I developed a tolerance for waiting, to an extent. However, I've found myself waiting, quite a bit in NYC this summer and with nothing to show for it.

Example 1: Shakespeare in the Park, The Merchant of Venice featuring Al Pacino. Price: Free. Picture the most amazing venue in the middle of Central Park. We arrived at 6am for the distribution of the tickets at 1pm. After waiting 7 hours, we were 28 people away from getting tickets.

Example 2: Today Show Concert series - Lady GaGa. Price: Free. The plan was to meet at Rockefeller Plaza at 6:30am. After receiving a tip via text at 1:45am that the line stretched several blocks, I made the executive decision that a 6am wait would not result in seeing (or possibly even hearing) Lady GaGa. Mission aborted.

I consider it pretty crazy to wake up before 6am to stand in a line. I mean, how many other people are crazy enough to wake up before 6am or even camp out all night for some of these things. I guess the number of crazies is proportionate to the population. Since NYC is approximately 9,000,000, I guess it makes sense that a lot of people would wait for these opportunities (Shakespeare in the Park - 500 and Lady GaGa - 18,000).

So, what have I learned from all this waiting?

1) Never underestimate others who share your same idea

2) Free things are never guaranteed even if you do invest the time.

3) Whatever time you think you should arrive to queue up, subtract 2 hours.

4) Bring food, books, activities and a lot of patience to pass the time.

Lady Gaga wait at midnight before the show

The wait (30+mins) for the best frozen yogurt in NYC

Choice and Consequence

I listened to a sermon recently where the pastor began by saying, "Life is about making choices." He went on to give examples and had the audience imagine how their lives would be different based on choices they made along the way. I imagined my own life and identified pretty quickly where my choices and decisions changed the trajectory of my life.

We see example on example everyday where an individual's life is defined by his choices. The Damon Evans' story is no different. Most of my readers (if there are any) know that I bleed red and black. I am a Georgia fan through and through. So, I was really saddened to hear about Damon Evans' recent actions - choices that he made - that have forever altered his life.

Damon Evans, until yesterday at around noon, was the Athletic Director at the University of Georgia. For those of you who don't know much about collegiate athletics, this is huge. The AD job in one of the largest SEC programs is a job someone strives towards their entire career. Not Damon Evans. He was a star. He grew through the ranks at UGA, playing football at the University, earning bachelor's and master's degrees, and ultimately landing the AD job, replacing legendary Vince Dooley, before the age of 40. And he wasn't a joke. His list of accomplishments was large and he was respected among his colleagues, the student athletes, the sports industry and Georgia alumni and fans.

He had a pretty amazing life. Married, with two children. Earning $440,000 per year, awaiting the July 1 start date of his new contract. Living in one of the best towns in America and living the best type of celebrity. Sure, Damon Evans was recognizable to most in Athens and the Bulldog nation at large, but he had privacy. He could still go about his life in relative peace.

All of this to build up to Damon Evans' choice which has severely changed the trajectory of his life. Last week, Damon Evans was stopped while driving in the Buckhead Community of Atlanta and charged with DUI. Honestly, when I read the news, I felt a little sad for him. He was pulled over just near Chastain Amphitheater. I figured it was probably one of those cases where he was out, maybe even at a concert, had one too many glasses of wine, and unfortunately got pulled over. Very stupid, but you can see how it happens. More embarrassing, though, because of the Public Service Announcements Damon Evans made (shown on the Jumbo-tron at football games) about the seriousness of drinking and driving, he appeared very hypocrtical as well.

As the days unfolded, the story grew worse. Not only was he 70 miles away from his home and town, he was 70 miles away from his home and town, after midnight with a very intoxicated woman other than his wife. Thanks to the detail of the police report, the whole world knows the color of her panties even - because they were in Evans' lap as the police officer approached his car. Told you it got worse.

The police report goes on to detail the conversation the police officer had with Evans and his female passenger. Ultimately, after begging and pleading didn't work, Evans was taken to the precinct where he was booked and charged with DUI. And then the police officer writes "the subject cried uncontrollably."

Many of us don't have much awareness of our choices. Often, we make choices that seem small or minor, even, and they lead to further life-changing events, situations or outcomes. Sometimes we really only see them in hindsight and whether we're pleased or regretful, we have perspective. Not Damon Evans - he saw the consequence of his choices within minutes of making them. I can only imagine the emotion generated by Evans' awareness of his entire life crashing down around him.

While he received more pay-out from this resignation than most "normal" people would, receiving nearly $230,000, he has a difficult road ahead. Logic and history show that it will be nearly impossible for him to return to the level he's held for the past 6 years. In the age of the internet, he'll never escape this story. Who knows how his marriage is impacted. I've read that Evans is a man of Faith, but I don't know if this is true. I do hope so. The redemption offered at the Cross could be the only thing that propels him forward. I pray that one day his story continues happily.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles - United Kingdom style

Disclaimer: My blog will now begin to seem out of order. Think of it as a little game to figure out the story of my life. In all seriousness, sorry about that. I'm behind. Eventually, you may even get some Haiti posts.

How many modes of transport does it take to get from the downtown Liverpool Hilton to London-Heathrow airport for a flight to NYC? I figured this out and it's much more complicated than one would imagine. Why was I in Liverpool anyways? My good friend Caroline married a Liverpoolian(?), Philip, on May 29th. I was thrilled to attend the wedding and had an amazing time. While living in London, I became fascinated with the idea of an English wedding. I saw so many pictures and I felt for sure it was something I needed to participate in. What I found most exciting was the almost expectation that female guests should wear a hat / hairpiece. Picture Four Weddings and a Funeral, Three Men and a Little Lady, etc. It's a marvelous idea. For a while, I was hoping to find an English husband just so I could have an English wedding, with hats. I would even pop into House of Fraser or John Lewis (large UK department stores) on occasion to see the selection.

So, as you can imagine, I was very happy to attend this wedding to support and congratulate Caroline and Philip and to sport a very-stylish head ornament. Emma, one of my closest friends, came to the wedding as well. We had a good time, and I must say, if you are ever in need of a wedding DJ, Philip and Caroline Gilbertson are your team. The music was right up my alley. Back to the planes, trains and automobiles, I had a 5:15pm flight to NYC from London-Heathrow the day after the wedding. Since Liverpool and London are a short 176 miles apart, 9.5 hours seemed like plenty of time to make my flight. See trip details:

Beginning at 7:30 AM (the morning after an entertaining wedding, I might add)

1) Leave Hilton hotel for Liverpool Lime Street train station (by taxi)

2) Leave Liverpool Live Street station for a suburban train station as main train line was under repairs (Shuttle bus)

3) Leave suburban train station for Manchester airport station (train)

4) Leave Manchester Airport for London-Gatwick (Note BA strike into LHR) (plane)

5) Leave London-Gatwick station for London-Victoria station (train)

6) Leave London-Victoria station for Emma's flat - Borough to pick up bags (taxi)

7) Leave Emma's flat -Borough for Paddington train station to pick up LHR train (taxi)

8) Leave Paddington train station for London-Heathrow airport (train)

9) ARRIVE London-Heathrow for JFK flight at 4pm. Flight 5:15

To recap. Taxi-bus-train-plane-train-taxi-taxi-train-airport! What a day!?!

Caroline and I during the cocktail hour

Emma and I (note hairpiece!)

As usual, I got to do some other fun things while in London including seeing lots of friends, attending a hen-do (English bachelorette) for my friend Serena, birthday lunch for Annabel, a visit to the Tearfund office, high tea at Sketch, Enron the musical, Jon Mayer concert with Jennifer and Eunice and Sex and the City 2.

(Only in London can you order pink prosecco 'to-go' and walk down the street with plastic champagne glasses. Classy)

Happy Birthday (and Father's Day), Dad!

It's either fortunate or unfortunate if you're my Dad. He celebrates his birthday and Father's Day within days of one another, typically in the same weekend most years. Some would say he gets gipped, but the closeness of these two days make me appreciate him all the more - especially this year as he turns the big 6-0! On paper, my Dad looks pretty good, but it's his nature and personality that make him one of a kind.

His life on paper would look something like this:

• Vietnam Veteran
• University of Georgia graduate
• Manufacturing genius
• Mechanic and handyman extraordinaire
• Avid motorcyclist
• Cancer survivor
• Brother, Father, Son, Uncle, Friend

While these things amaze me and make me a proud daughter, it's the glimpses into his personality and day-to-day interactions with him that make him so amazing. One of my favorite Bible verses is Micah 6:8 which reads "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." I constantly struggle with this verse - I struggle with living it. I see the commands as a tradeoff. I often ask God how can one act justly and love mercy? Although my Dad probably wouldn't call himself a religious person, God has worked in his heart and his actions personify this verse, daily. Dad is such a fair person - with everyone - his children, colleagues and employees but can also be the most merciful. I can't count the times I've been frustrated with someone's unfairness and my Dad always is completely merciful, finding the best in each person and recognizing that everyone has faults and giving people a break when they make mistakes. Dad is also the most humble person I know. He doesn't boast. He's not proud.

Most importantly, Dad makes us laugh. Sometimes, it's through a little joke or wit, but often times he just lets us laugh at his quirkiness. Some of my favorites include 1) his requests and sometimes demands to pack for a trip/vacation at least 1 week in advance 2) his inability to throw anything away and ability to think everything will somehow, someday be useful 3) his need for a political argument - he will play the antagonist even if in actuality, he agrees with you 4) his love for both Swarovski crystals and camping (a slight paradox?). The list could go on.

So, Dad, this one's for you! Thanks for all that you've taught and shown me and the life you've lived so far.

30 days until 30

I looked down at my planner today and was startled. Not only was I two letters away from 30 (JuNE 9 to JuLY 9), I was staring down the final 30 days of my 20s. Geesh! How did this happen? As the old saying goes, “you’re never older than you feel.” The thing is, until only last week, I never really felt old.

You see, my parents have told me and sometimes tell others that I was born 40 years old. For the most part, minus the occasional childish tantrum or adolescent angst, I was an adult walking around in a child’s body. This had two psychological things going for it: 1) I always looked younger than I felt and 2) I always wanted to be older – so people would take my adult-like thoughts seriously. Clearly, neither of these scenarios got me stressing about my aging process.

Because of my summer birthday, I’ve always been the youngest of my peers to hit all the exciting milestones. I was the last one to get my driver’s license, the last to turn 21, etc. This was compounded when I graduated from high school early to attend the University of Georgia and subsequently graduated from college early to join the “real” world. With each of these peer groups, I remained the youngest – and then, a couple of things happened or didn’t happen that changed the game….1) I didn’t do the typical “grown-up” things. I’m not yet married, nor do I have kids, so among my peers in my same season of life, I’m looking old. 2) I made a career change. After 5 years in public accounting, even as things were going well, I decided to pursue a career in public service. This choice resulted in me returning to graduate school, which, as you would guess, is a young demographic. For quite a long period of time, I never derived any anxiety from these factors.

While I think the ability to engage with people of all ages comfortably is hugely important and advantageous in life, when does this cross-generational fraternizing become self-deprecating? (Granted, because of this life skill, I can sing the lyrics to both Miley Cyrus and Bob Dylan songs). The answer to this question for me was "last week."

As part of my graduate program, I am required to intern during the summer between my program’s two academic years. I find myself in NYC, working for a former president’s amazing foundation – one that’s doing inspiring and helpful things around the world. Out of the 85 or so interns, approximately 70 are undergrads. While we have different jobs and responsibilities catered to our skills, I still found it very stressful when I learned that 45 of the interns are underage! From the communication of this statistic, I felt OLD. And the insecurity that goes with that is distressing. I keep asking myself how can wisdom and experience make one insecure?

Instead of analyzing the answer to this question or succumbing to societal expectations and pressure, I am trying to reflect on all that I’ve been able to accomplish and experience in my almost 30 years. In no way am I doing this as a competition with or comparison to others, but more of an appreciation of 30 amazing years. God has blessed me with a life I will never deserve, just because He’s merciful, gracious and loving. In writing this blog entry, I vow not to be anxious about the “looming” 3-0. Instead, I’ll be thankful for the last thirty years and hopeful for the next thirty years – that I’m able to experience and contribute to Christ’s kingdom in some small way.

Awesome things

I took a trip to Barnes and Noble today which was a nice little outing on my first non-weekend day back from Haiti. Bookstores are one of the only places I feel I can spend a little bit of money and not be cursed with buyer's remorse. Coming out of Banana Republic, I sometimes feel that I've done something a little bit wrong (something that's not in my budget) and am always thankful for the security net which is the return policy. One learns from reading, right? So, I figure I shouldn't feel bad about spending money on my learning process. I mean, if this weren't the case, I most certainly wouldn't be enrolled in an out-of-state graduate program. I just love bookstores, though. I especially enjoy used bookstores where each book not only gives the reader a story, but also carries a story of its own. I often wonder who turned the pages before me and how the book made its way to what is usually a small, hidden shop.

As usual, I couldn't escape Barnes and Noble with just one book - I found several (even some on the heavily discounted $2 table - you know these will be quality!). I started browsing a book called The Book of Awesome. Doesn't the title just make you smile? It's just a book of little things in life that are awesome. It's full of all the sort of things that just make you giggle. I think this is a clever book. While I believe I'm generally a positive person, I sometimes find myself getting bogged down with the large, difficult things happening in my life and the world - a heaviness I carry with me from recently, Haiti. It's nice to revisit little, daily happenings that are great. Of the few I've read so far, I enjoy these:

• The other side of the pillow
• Paying for something with exact change
• When your suitcase tumbles down the luggage chute first after a long flight
• When you arrive at the bus stop just as the bus is coming around the corner
• Eating the extra fries at the bottom of the bag

Besides providing me some humor, this has encouraged me to notice the things in my days that are awesome.

2010 - New Year, New Blog

So, no, I'm not creating a new blog - rather, I'm re-committing myself to the blog. More to come!