"welcome to the end of productivity"

in the witty words of travis, apparently my ability to get anything done is now coming to a screeching halt. after many years of resisting online social networking sites, i have broken down and created a facebook profile. i will admit the straw that broke the camel's back was getting an invitation to join facebook from my cousin beth. i figured it was about time i join... so if you're on facebook, look me up...write something on my wall. (it's gonna take me a while to get used to the new lingo...) ~aroll

tattoos galore!

last weekend, our church had a booth at a local street fair (adams ave. street fair). it was my first time to that street fair, and i was blown away. the fair was huge with multiple stages for live music, carnival rides, and of course food, food, and more food. thousands of people from all over san diego came to hang out, eat, listen to music, and be inundated with tons of businesses trying to sell them things.

at our booth, we did free airbrush tattoos. most people were surprised that we weren't charging, and that a church would be doing tattoos. there was a group of elementary-aged boys who kept coming back to get more, and i'm pretty sure they had every stencil that we brought tattooed on them somewhere...well, except the little butterfly one. i enjoyed seeing the smiles on people's faces - kids and adults - having fun with it. more than once we had adults who wanted to get one to scare a spouse. i wish i could have seen the spouses' faces! i will say, though, that the sound of an air compressor at this point might send me to the mental institution! here are some photos from the weekend:

reunion playlist highlights

so in my last post, i promised a highlight list of some of the songs i have on the playlist i created for my 10-yr high school reunion last weekend. i pulled together songs that were significant to us as a class and popular at the time. in no particular order, some highlights are:

i'll be - edwin mcccain
all for you - sister hazel
closing time - semisonic
bittersweet symphony - the verve
good riddance - greenday
how's it going to be - third eye blind
too legit to quit - mc hammer
you learn - alanis morissette
one week - barenaked ladies
a long december - counting crows
champagne supernova - oasis
everybody (backstreet's back) - backstreet boys
the freshman - verve pipe
so much to say - dave matthews band
friends - michael w. smith
angel - sarah mclachlan
one headlight - the wallflowers
i've got friends in low places - garth brooks

it was a fun trip down memory lane putting the whole playlist together...so many songs i had forgotten about!! it's fun and scary to listen to. ~aroll

back in oklahoma

well, i arrived late last night back in oklahoma city for my 10-year high school reunion. i can't believe it has been 10 years since i graduated high school. i am actually looking forward to seeing people. i have only kept in touch with my friend lance cook who was my best friend in high school, so i think it's going to be fun to see how people have changed (or haven't), hear what people are doing, etc. my graduating class was 65 people, and of those 65, 37 of us were together since the first grade - a group known as the "lifers." of the lifers, i think something like 25 of us had been together since preschool. crazy, eh? needless to say no one really dated within our class as it would have been like dating your brother or your sister.

reunion festivities begin tonight with a dinner before the football game (which we are favored to win 33-14 over davis), cocktail party tonight, picnic tomorrow afternoon, then party tomorrow night at a hotel downtown. i'll keep the blog updated with any crazy stories. oh, and i'm putting together a playlist of music from my high school days. i'll post some highlights of that playlist in another entry.

on a somewhat unrelated note, i was just outside on the phone with my high school youth pastor (who i hope will still be the best man at my wedding) and saw a row of "mccain/palin" yard signs...i truly am back in oklahoma. *sigh*

the collective gasp

i went to the midnight showing of "sex and the city" last night. yes i know that might be a little frightening/sad for some of you, but it's carrie, miranda, charlotte, and samantha!!! if you haven't seen the movie yet, stop reading here. i'm not giving anything major away, just a fun moment in the movie. when big shows carrie her closet in their new house, it is an awe inspiring moment. big opens the double doors into the mansion of a closet he built for carrie, and at that moment there was a collective gasp in the theatre that sucked nearly every bit of oxygen out of the room. i looked around and saw every woman with their hand over her mouth in amazement. i laughed. sure, i was jealous of the closet too, but not enough to contribute to the vacuum. if you ever saw an episode of "sex and the city," you must go see the movie. if you haven't but like funny, art-imitating-life movies, go see it. ~aroll

music makes me happy

in college i started out as a double-major in history and music. music has always been a huge part of my life. i took piano from the age of 4 to 17. in middle school, high school, and college, i studied classical vocal music - opera, art song, etc. when i lived in tulsa during college i would frequently go to the opera, the philharmonic, and the ballet with my aunt and uncle. in my 6.5 years of living in san diego, i had yet to go to any of those musical/art experiences...until yesterday. sean laperruque, the violin player in our band at missiongathering, got us tickets to the symphony. i was so excited. there was the music from a ballet inspired by oscar wilde, the Tchaikovsky piano concerto no. 1, and Dvorak's symphony "from the new world." i left the hall with a big grin on my face. it was a wonderful afternoon. music really does make me happy....more on this topic coming soon. ~aroll

an almost perfect day...

this month is a bit on the insane side for my schedule. yesterday our church moved to a new location (luckily just across the street) on daylight savings day (that was brilliant for our community who can't be on time on a normal sunday), this coming weekend i fly to st. louis for my college roommate's wedding, then it's Easter, and then we host the emc tour with brian mclaren. after church, a few of us decided to go hiking on cowles mtn. it's a beautiful and not-too-strenuous hike. danica and jason brought their dog colbie, sarah brought her water bottle, and i brought my nalgene...but i intentionally left my watch and my phone in the car. those who may know me even a little can appreciate what a monumental moment that was for me. we hiked to the top while about every other person warned us of a rattlesnake further up the trail. that part was rather anticlimactic as the snake was curled up asleep under a rock. it was a beautiful day...after the hike we decided to head back to danica and jason's place to hit the hot tub where my best friend jay joined us. we then ordered pizza, i made my special coronas, and we watched the simpson's movie. and by watched i mean most of us drifted in and out of sleep while the movie played. we had all had a very long weekend. it's been a while since i've had an afternoon just to relax with friends like that. it was really fantastic. can't wait for another sunday afternoon like that...sometime in april! ~aroll

update on sweet baby james...

so i got my tickets from my parents!!! i think they're going to be good seats. section b, row c, kind of off to the side. it's going to be so awesome to be there. thanks mom and dad for such a thoughtful birthday gift. of course everyone is now asking me who i'm taking...july is a long way away...i have no idea. i guess i can start taking applications and bribes... ~aroll

sweet baby james

when i picked my phone up out of my locker on my lunch break yesterday, i had a voicemail from my father. i haven't really spoken to him in 2 months. his message asked me to call him so that he could talk to me about my birthday. it's 2 months away...my first thought was that they wanted to fly out here for my birthday or send me a ticket to fly home or something. as it turns out, they want to buy me tickets to the new james taylor tour this summer. i grew up listening to james taylor, simon & garfunkel, peter paul & mary, etc. my parents have seen james in concert 5 times, and i never have. his new tour will combine his old full band stuff with his new one-man-band music. the show will be at the greek amphitheater in los angeles. i was blown away. it's an incredibly thoughtful birthday gift...i'm so stoked!! thanks mom and dad. tickets went on sale today...can't wait to find out what they get! ~aroll