come on this musical ride with me

so i just went to tulsa for a hanson fan club member's event. they had three sessions to the event, and each session only had 250 fans, so it was a very intimate setting, which was great. this wasn't so much a concert as it was basically sitting in on a recording session of some of their new songs they are working on for their new album. so much fun.

i also just had a ton of fun discovering tulsa and taking pictures and such. here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip (these are all on film, not digital)...


lynne


buttons for sale at dwelling spaces


dr pepper


myka

"you can hug him."

seeing as the title of my blog mentions letting go of landlords, i feel as though i should tell the story of meeting my current landlady. this meeting took place approximately 45 minutes ago.

her name is jenny and she lives in georgia. she came up with her son, alex, for the week to help us get some things fixed around the house and to get the yard ready for spring/summer.

she rang the doorbell and my roommate, whitney, answered the door. i came into the living room and introduced myself and offered a handshake. she grabbed my hand and pulled me into a tight bear hug. she introduced alex, and i shook his hand, to which she responded "you can hug him." alex, whitney and i each looked at each other and gave an awkward chuckle. i did not hug him.

she came into my bedroom (which used to be alex's room when he was a baby). she was telling us where the crib and changing table had been. alex looked at the ceiling fan because it needs to be fixed. she then interrupted him to inform whitney and i that we each had beautiful eyes. apparently mine are egyptian.

she wrote on our chalkboard (we have a chalkboard in the breakfast nook) that we need to visit her at the beach. she also informed as that we are lucky, as there is a bird's nest in the wisteria in the backyard.

what a very interesting, quirky, lovely lady.

let me just pause a moment...

to tell you all that i just walked the .5 miles to bongo java (coffee shop down the street from my house) where i am now enjoying a lovely iced mocha on their front porch. it's a beautiful 75 degrees right now, and even though the sun is so bright i can hardly see my screen, i refuse to go inside until i require an outlet.

life is good.

now back to the daily grind.... spreadsheets, contracts, and invoices, oh my!

edit: the morning was lovely. i later ventured over to deanna's home and we walked her dogs and baby over to bobbie's dairy dip and had corn dogs and ice cream. i am now getting ready to walk over to church for a pasta dinner/fundraiser for the group going to the ukraine this summer. i love, love, love that i now have the ability to walk places.

since the move (why i have not blogged)

3/28 - moved. happy birthday mom.
3/29 - unpacked.
3/30 - met australian hanson fans across the street, spent the evening with them, breanna, and lynne. unpacked.
3/31 - first night of tin pan south (songwriter's fest). visited three music venues.
4/1 - small group.
4/2 - dinner with friends, another night of tin pan south.
4/3 - another night of tin pan south, saw hanson, pictures on flickr and video on youtube.
4/4 - spent the day with pishy (high school friend) and her friends who were in town.
4/5 - unpacked.
4/6 - packed.
4/7 - flew to chicago, mom and gma picked me up, drove to wisconsin.
4/8 - visited wisconsin dells. drank beer. watched lost.
4/9 - visited beth in milwaukee. bought cheese. bought beer. drove to michigan.
4/10 - spent the day with mom at home. bought wine.
4/11 - spent the day with family in michigan.
4/12 - happy easter. he is risen indeed.
4/13 - train to chicago. plane to nashville. spent the evening with breanna, lynne, and aussies.
4/14 - went on a ghost tour of downtown with breanna, lynne, and aussies. aussie's last night to hang out before they headed back to the homeland.
4/15 - small group.
4/16 - went to dinner with breanna and lynne, then saw charity daw sing at the copper kettle.
4/17 - today. first day i've been home for more than 1 hour at a time, with the exception of sleeping and unpacking.

boring blog, i know.... but that's been my life in a nutshell. (cue austin powers: help, i'm in a nutshell! how do i fit in this thing?)

dear blogger world:

i'm still alive.

well friends, it's official.

after months of looking for a place to live, i am finally officially locked in. between finding places that were either too expensive of a deposit, too skeezy of an area, or where the people just never emailed me back, i'm set. the lease was signed saturday. the deposit was paid today. i have a home.

the funny thing is, despite all the not-knowing, and despite it not being official until today (when i'm left with one week before i have to be out of the current place), i never really was stressed about it. kinda weird. but i'm okay with that.

in other news, i like coffee. a lot. i think i have a problem. not only do i like coffee, i like coffee shops. friday i went to a place in east nash called ugly mugs. and spent about three hours there. saturday i met up with my friend erin and we went to fido for a couple hours. sunday i met up with my friend erin and her friend kirsten and we went to fido for a couple hours. today i came to fido and i've been here for a couple hours. erin and stacy stopped by.

the nice thing is, once i move, these coffee shop trips will be reduced from a ten mile drive to less than a mile walk. i'm excited.

i feel like this blog was 74% useless.

i'm a fool, and i don't care.

i always enjoy finding god in the secular. christianity has a tendency to draw its line and separate itself from the rest of the world, which is just silly, because god is everywhere. god is. he can use whatever he wants to use regardless of the label that medium has been given.

that being said (and i know most of my followers agree with me on that anyway), this particular song always resonates with me.


you feel like liberation
you give me new sensation
you show me what i need and
you are my life completed

can't stop, can't break, who's driving?
sometimes there's no denying
today i feel i can't lose
i'm letting go of what i knew

i want you for always
i hear you name in every word i say
i'm a fool and i don't care
i hear your name in every word i say

before you i was only
what i let control me
you are the revolution
against my own conclusions
today i feel i can't lose
i'm letting go of what i knew

i want you for always
i hear your name in every word i say
i'm a fool and i don't care
i hear your name in every word i say

and now i say to goodbye
to the way i used to be
there is no room for question
it's your name that sets me free and
you stuck these troubles on me
these days are creeping in
let go of the world around me
'cause your love is all i need

i want you for always
i hear your name in every word i say
i'm a fool and i don't care
i hear your name in every word i say
-hanson