on the road again...

so, i'm a wanderer apparently! a nomad, if you will. i'm always on the road.

i leave in about 10 minutes for Carbondale to go to CIY @ SIU for the next week. It was a last-minute deal to get to go, so I'm super excited. It's going to be freaking HOT though!

Anyways, I'll be gone from the blogging world for another 9 days or so, unless I find a computer there to use! Have a great rest of July everyone!

peace out.

so you think you can dance?

yep. I do. at least compared to some of those yahoos on the show last night.

however, compared to others, i must say, i'd probably suck. there is some darn good talent out there in the dance world. and all kinds of it.

as i watched last night i'm so glad i didn't seriously consider majoring in Dance in college. It was such a huge part of my life in high school as a "Streatorette" that I thought life was over when Streatorettes was. before I had chosen to come to LCC I had big dreams of trying out for a college or university dance team, but i'm so glad i didn't do that! i wouldn't have made it, and if i did, it would have only been for extracurricular. note: i'm not saying these things for self-pity or anything, it's just plain and simple truth. i'd never make it as a dancer. maybe to the IDTA (IL Drill Team Assoc.) State Championships, but not much farther. but i do still love to dance it up in my living room all the time!

and now back to the show...
favorites?

-the boy from East St. Louis who was wearing the pink shirt. absolutely great.
-Moosa Cooper (or whatever his name was)--the street dancer from NY
-the girl who was a daycare teacher or something and was maybe going to Beijing?
-the bigger black boy who could actually dance. prove those skinny kids wrong, boy!

not-so-favorites:
-Isis, the ginormous-breasted belly dancer. sick. gross.
-that girl in Chicago who also made it on American Idol. can we say annoying? dying for attention?
-the guys who painted themselves silver...interesting, but is that really dance? do you really think they'll be able to merengue?


that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Let's converse, shall we?
What are your thoughts?

SOJOURN '05

In case you didn't already know, Becka named our road trip "Sojourn '05." And of course, we had to make t-shirts at the end of our trip. We stopped in Carbondale to visit friends at the CIY at SIU, and while they were in a meeting we made out iron-on Sojourn shirts. i'm really loving the name more and more. At first I thought Becka was crazy, but I think it appropriately fits our "journey across the land."

And now, ladies & gentlemen, prepare yourselves for what you're about to see below. It is the new, the ugly-yet-still-growing-on-me LCC Scion. Yep. We had to drive this clown car across the country. And fear not, if you can't catch what it says on one side, it's painted on all sides as well. The website, the 800-number, it's all there. I'm not a fan, but some love it. It's funny when you're on the inside and you forget what it looks like on the outside and count how many people stare and do double-takes or roll over in laughter while they're driving and trying to figure out what the crap is driving past them. It is an adventure. It's quite spacious inside, I'll admit. And it's comfortable. But that still wouldn't make me buy one. Ever.

Oh, and we named it Simon. Simon the Scion. It's just easier. This picture happens to be w/ us and Simon at CCU (Cincinnati Christian University, aka CBC). Simon also visited JBC (Johnson Bible College) along the way too. He gets around.

the Tonini wedding

well, here's the 3 single BCG's that are left after L.A.'s wedding! Me, Becka, and Faith!
me & Laura Ashely
Laura Ashely & Randall's first dance....
and again, their first dance, in color...so you can see the gardens where the reception was. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was at this historic home in Knoxville, and the backyard is 9 levels of gardens & fountains that lead down to the river. this was only level 2.
whenever we're together we always take a "Satellite" picture. it's just our classic pose. all the BCG's together again just makes me smile :-)
isn't this just presh? the BCG cocktail table pic.
me and the 12-year-old violinist John, whom Becka tried to convince to ask me to dance. He was the weirdest kid on earth. I also received a phone call from him the next day, thanks to Becka giving him my number. Just kidding! It was Abbra's husband Mike pretending to be him. He got me though!
awww, the Weber's! that's a sweet face josh is making.
me and Krista before doing the photo guestbook
Abbra & Mike, the new parents-to-be!!!
this picture cracks me up...i have no idea what abbra is doing but she's cracking everyone else up too!
just doin' some dancin'...
and the happy couple dances again :-)

random road trip & CIY pics

it was kinda fun to see palm trees out the window from our dorm room in savannah! definitely not somethin i'd ever see at lcc!
Before we left Knoxville for Savannah, Becka had a hankerin' for a lotto ticket and won $10. She's nuts.
Becka wanted to stop at a "hick festival," otherwise known as a flea market. So we did. And we took this picture w/ this giant bear. I still can't believe people shop at those places for real. They have anything from decorative toilet seat covers to mailboxes to dented cans of soup to all kinds of leather goods, and much much more. We laughed a lot.
if only you could see Drew wearing this up close, it would be a whole lot funnier. This is before all of the CIY staff & Bible College teams went on stage to dance around and look stupid during the Happy Song. Yes, we digressed to junior high. But at least Becka and I got to wear the sombreros finally! And I wish you could see Drew's Renaissance Man act.
awww...old roomies. Becka and Rachel. Two of my most favorite fun people!
Krista didn't know she was going to get to go to CIY in Georgia with us! I wish we would have carried her posted all through the city to take pictures, but it was just too darn big!
I always wanted to visit Nashville, so we stopped there on our way back from Georgia. It was cool, but not as cool as I thought it was going to be. Maybe b/c we weren't really doing anything. Had we stopped at any of the cool music places or clubs, I'd have probably loved it. Instead, we just took a picture by this giant guitar. We were too tired for clubbin'.

Tybee Island

ahhh...the beach. We went to Tybee Island twice while we were there, and it makes me wish I lived a whole lot closer to the ocean.

Savannah

Savannah Nights...

not quite the same as Havana Nights, but oh well.

They have tons of these little parks, or "squares," that you have to drive around one-way, and they're so cool. They're everywhere.

And the lamppost picture? random, yes. My camera happened to be blurry from being next to my water bottle in my bag, but it turned out kinda cool I thought. Good for my camera? I doubt it.

baby i'm back, yeah

(you have to sing that title...my fav song right now by Baby Bash)

Well, my friends, Sojourn 05 has come to an end.

I'm now back in Lincoln after my 12 day adventure w/ Becka.

Tomorrow: comments and pictures to be posted.

tonight: i'm tired.

some things about me for today

-I haven't been to a concert in awhile and I need to go. Well, I suppose I just saw Dierks Bentley recently, but I need another concert. I guess next up will either be Rascal Flatts or Brad Paisley at the State Fair--neither of which I have tickets for yet...

-I leave tomorrow for road trip of the year...picking up Becka from the Bloomington airport tonight @ 5:15, leaving tomorrow morning @ 7:30 or so to head to Cincinnati to pick up Abbra, then to Knoxville for L.A.'s wedding, then to Savannah, GA for a night to hang out, a week @ CIY, then on the way back we'll stop in Nashville to chill for a night. It's the halfway point.

-5 seconds ago I was really annoyed w/ a coworker.

-in 3 months I might not have to deal with that. someday i'll talk about why. just not yet.

-I woke up way late this morning and came in to work like 15 min. late. Oops.

-I can't wait for our 12:00 cookout for Dr. Searby today. I'm hungry. But it's bittersweet...pretty much my last day to work w/ him. :-(

-I need to go count t-shirts to take w/ me to sell @ CIY.

my week in pictures

so there's a lot to catch up on from my week in CO @ CIY. It was sooo much fun!

Instead of me writing about it, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Gate B19

Gate B19
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

ahhh...where I spent an ETERNITY on Saturday waiting for my stupid delayed flight to St. Louis. I'll forever remember Gate B19 in Denver, and I hope I never have to wait there again. Here's a synopsis of my day:

Friday night--teardown of CIY stuff, waited up to say goodbye to people, decided not to go to bed at all and ride w/ Stephanie to Durango airport @ 5:00 a.m. for my 8:19 flight.

Didn't sleep at all, went to airport @ 5:00, found out my 8:19 flight was cancelled, rebooked for a 2:55 flight.

Hung out w/ Ashley from DCC & Mike & Nicola from HIU all day in Durango, then finally flew out of Durango in the afternoon.

Arrived in Denver (4:00) to find out my flight to St. Louis was delayed until 10:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. central time).

didn't depart denver until 11:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. central time)

arrived STL @ 2:30 a.m., drove to lincoln, arrived home @ 4:45 a.m., slept till 2:30 p.m.

whew! what a day! or 2 or 3 days meshed together. you decide.

me and Tyler

me and Tyler
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

Tyler and I goofing off in the bookstore w/ our thug CIY hats.

D-group

D-group
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

every d-group has to do the whole JCPenney pose picture, right?

me and the Moss boys

me and the Moss boys
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

two of my fav CIY interns. aren't they so cute? They were both a blast to hang out with. Tyler says he's going to hook me up w/ their older brother. sounds good to me!

piggyback experiment

piggyback experiment
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

This is Nicola and I testing mike's strength. He said he could carry both of us at once. I guess he was right!

camp team from Hope

Mike & Nicola
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

This is Mike & Nicola from HIU. They were SOOOO much fun. I'm so visiting them in Cali w/ my $200 credit voucher from United. (hey united, thanks for cancelling that flight!)

Sonic Licks

Sonic Licks
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

someone tried to cross out the C on the Sonic sign. I, being immature, had to laugh and take a picture.

downtown Durango

downtown Durango
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

this town has the coolest downtown...lots of cool shops and quite an artsy feel. however, it's interesting to watch the people there. let's just say all the women dress like men. and not in a good way. everyone is wayyyy too outdoorsy. i guess it's the mountains? yuck.

BC teams

BC teams
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

This is some of the people I worked w/ from Manhattan Christian College, Hope Int'l. Univ., Dallas Christian College, and Saint Louis Christian College. also known as, Mike & all the ladies...

more mountains

Mountains
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

here's another view of the mountains.

ahhh...the view from the mountains

mountain view
Originally uploaded by mandarin orange.

So this was one of the views I had from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. pretty nice, eh?

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.