hwy 99

So driving home last night after my meeting wasn't exactly ideal, but jennifer told me that if I go through wamego it will be quicker. I head out on my merry little way and as soon as i get out of town I start freaking out. it was really weird. Like i knew that the road was going to continue, but there were moments that I felt like I was going to either plummet off the road or slam into a brick wall. As I was praying about what was going on a car comes over the hill with its brights on FLOODING the road with light. the blinding kind. All i could see was light. how much time do i spend fearing the darkness, physically anxious about what is right infront of me. But when i'm focused on His light i see that the road does go on and not run into a wall. simple i know but it just struck me.

slurpees anyone???

so my new apartment is right next door to a 7-11. Every time I drive by, I grin to myself because to me 7-11's don't belong in america. now i know that is strange to most of you, but my first 7-11 experience was in Thailand. Seriously i had never been in one before then. So today i decide that I want a dr. pepper after work so i stop in to my convinent neighborhood 7-11. I go to pay for my soda and am just chatting with the clerk who is in broken english telling me about the credit card swiper thing. So I ask him where he is from and he replies THAILAND. I about died. so we chatted a bit about phuket and bangkok. I'm so going to find excuses to go there all the time just to talk with my new thai friend. the picture is of my friend brent. obviously in a 7-11 somewhere in thailand. i don't quite remember where we were at...

phat

So on monday I went to the doctor to have them check my knee out. "The doctor" is quite an understatement actually....(insert fanfare) The Kansas City Orthopedic Institute. I wondered how much it was going to cost me to walk in there much less be seen. This is where all the Roalys and Chiefs players get their knee work done. Anyhow after some tests the doctors decided that I have "Hoffa's Syndrome" in my right knee. Better known as "enlarged fat pad syndrome". The picture shows pretty much what my mri looked like. The patella is in the top left of the pic and under it to the right a little is the fat pad. Everyone has one, but not everyone's gets caught and pinched in between the knee joints (as in the picture). Think of slamming your finger in a door...not fun. So trying to keep a straight face when you're being told that the problem is because your knees are overly fat is really hard. The only way to fix it really is to have surgery to remove the excess fat....lypo for your knees. I'm going back in a month to check stuff out and see if the swelling and pain has gone down and then probably going to get surgery. The recovery time isn't too long and the doc said I'd be back to speed for India. AND once it gets fixed I'll be able to continue running...a HUGE answer to prayer.

circa 1950

In about 3 weeks I'm moving into a sweet apartment with Natasha. It's been fun trying to communicate and "set up house" from different continents. Both of us living in the dorms until we graduated then moving overseas pretty much equals no furniture. Thankfully Natasha's dad found this piece of art at an auction recently. Look at those chairs...aren't they somethin? yeah they might get slipcovered or replaced. I think this is actually the same set my grandmother has only hers is green. So you'll have to come visit us to check out our place, swim in the awesome pool, and laugh at our amazing chairs!

I need words...

So I've had the most difficult time lately coming up with words?!?! In conversation, in writing, everything! I just stutter and mumble my way through what ever thought I'm trying to express. I'm not quite sure how I feel about all this. Words have been my "thing" for such a long time. (Yes I was that kid in school whose desk was pushed up against the chalkboard because it was the only way to stop me from talking...There's not so much community at the chalkboard). So it's really weird to feel like I'm not communicating well. Maybe it will enable me to hear better...I can only hope.

princess beds

when I first came back from china I stayed at the alvarez's in their guest room. After a year of sleeping on a large, albeit not so comfy bed I was so excited to have a soft bed. Down pillows, a down duvet, really high thread count sheets...it was awesome. anyhow that first morning i wake up with the sun shining in the window, the fan blowing on my face and thought "this is what a princess feels when she wakes up". For real. that was my first thought. since then i've affectionately called that bed the "princess bed", and told EVERYONE I know to sleep in it because it's awesome (just one notch behind the beds at sheridan hotels). So this last weekend I stayed with josh and cassie, and was a little sad that it would be a trip to manhattan without the princess bed. But no. There's another princess bed in manhattan!! As crazy as it sounds their hide-a-bed is amazing! So if you ever get the chance, you now have two options for quality "princess like" sleep in manhattan.

My weekend was really, really good. It's just good to chill with people who know my heart really well. Plus it seems that each time I go back, i learn so much. sometimes its really deep and it takes a while to unpack, other times, it's the little random things. not so deep this time...when you leave your sunroof open during a thunderstorm, the rain falls at exactly the right angle to completely soak your car in about 30 minutes. tattoos hurt hurt no more than getting purell in a papercut. people in manhattan drive really slow...or maybe i've just become a dreaded jo co. driver. i really, really love my friends. i didn't just learn that...but was more reminded of how much.

pieces of me

Sometimes it takes an insightful friend, great company, random french music and a paintbrush to kindle a spark in a girls heart. Thanks friends! I've enjoyed journeying with you guys through your blogs...so i've decided to take you along on what is transpiring to be quite the ride...