Great Coffee Bean Adventure.

Thank you Brandon Ganz for that name for this trip.


Ok, my week in GA was awesome!

I had so much fun hanging out in the coffee shop. It was the cutest place ever. It was a smaller house made into a coffee shop. The walls were painted red, tan, and brown colors. There was some great Afican art on the walls, pictures taken from their trips to Rwanda, and shelves with more art. There was a brick fireplace in the middle of where the living room would be, and couches, tables and chairs all over. Seriously, the cutest coffee shop ever.
I got to taste all their coffees and I had a few other specialty drinks. I hung out in the roasting room and had a crash course on how to roast coffee. It is in an incredible process, a lot goes into it. I got some great information about their ministry and how we as a church cafe can help them and ourselves through their coffee. I am super excited to kick off the fall with this new stuff!

I stayed with two ladies whom I had never met for the first half of the week. It was really fun getting to know them and hang out. They made me feel so welcome. One of them worked for Land of a Thousand Hills, so that is how I got hooked up with them. And the other one was a vegetarian! Heck yes. They had this cute town home next to a state park, it was a great location.

Random, but necessary story-
On the way to the shop one morning I saw a great bumper sticker. It said this- I heart (there was a heart there) boobies.... Yes, boobies. Why would someone put that on their car?? I don't know, I just know it was funny. Then I thought, how funny would it be if I had an I heart boobies bumper sticker? ...but wait, I don't want people to confuse my sexual orientation... so maybe I should get an I heart penis sticker to go with it? ...no.... that is just inappropriate, and they will also think I am bisexual... another thing I don't want. Hmmm... OH I have it! Great solution- I will also get an I heart Jesus sticker! Now that is a great idea and a problem solver.... I will heart boobies, penises and Jesus. Great. Now everyone will know what I am about. (joke)
OR I could just skip the whole thing and not get any stickers? Yeah, that is probably best.
That is almost word for word what ran through my head.
Aren't you glad you are not in my head?? Sometimes I wish I wasn't either.

Another story, not so inappropriate this time-
For those of you who don't know, I suck at shopping. I will walk the same isles seven times before I get everything I need. I was probably in Walmart for at least an hour and left with maybe ten things. The line was also a really long wait. Not my favorite when I was as hungry as I was. But oh well. That trip resulted in finding my future husband. Oh crap, did I say that out loud?? ;) Ok, let me tell you.... he was SO cute. He was from NY and he was there for a trade show. We were both semi-lost, but we found Walmart and decided to do our shopping. We walked in together and chatted and flirted then went our separate ways. He asked me if I had my GPS to find my way around Walmart... no, and I should have! Anyway, I don't even know his name, but I will marry him. ;)

Then the second part of the week I camped at Red Top Mtn state park. It was so beautiful there. I had a great spot on top of the mountain. The spot was huge, and it was up a hill, about a half a mile from the beach. The pictures don't do it justice. The only down side to this place, was that I had to kill a spider while I was peeing!!! NOT COOL. All in all though, a great place.

On my way home I stayed with a good friend in Chicago. She is going to school there at North Park University. I stayed with her and her six roommates. It was really funny because there are always girls in and out, staying the weekend or just the night, and I was asked three times if I had just moved in or was going to.

In the morning Katie and I went to an awesome vegetarian resaurant that had some awesome vegan options. I had an amazing breakfast, a pesto and goat cheese omlet. SOOO good. Then a few of the roommates and Kate and I went to Hyde park to tour the area. They are all die hard liberal Obama supporters. So as you can imagine, they were quite excited to eat where he ate, buy books where he buys books, see his house and so on. It was a good time and an interesting tour. On the way back I laughed so hard in the car that I thought I was going to pee my pants! I laugh harder with Katie than almost anyone else. We have been friends for six or seven years now and we have so many stories, we always tell them when we hang out, and they are just as funny as when they happened the first time. I love friends. She is one of the few I have from when I was in school.

I was only going to stay one night and part of the next day, then hit the road again. But I was having too much fun and I knew if I left early enough the next day, that I would make it back on time for work. So on Monday I woke up at 4:30 and hit the road by 5. Oophta, I was tired! I had such a great time with everyone though, it was well worth it.

All in all, I had a great week, I will miss GA and the people and my friend from Chicago. But I got homesick and am really glad to be home.

GA pt. 1

Oh wow. If I didn't love driving I would have hated the getting here, but since that is not the case, I had a great time, it was quite adventurous.

The drive down was a good one. I was going to leave right after church on Sunday, but that SO didn't happen. I went over to Deanne's house and stayed for about 3 hours. Then got on the road around 4. There was HORRIBLE traffic in the Dells area. I am pretty sure I was there for two hours in traffic. Needless to say, it sucked. Especially since I figured out my radio is slightly ghetto and only works when I am driving at least 30mph and the window is at the very least cracked two inches, talk about needy. So, those two hours of stop and go were musicless... and sad.
I finally got into Chicago around midnight and pulled over at a rest stop/McDonald's to sleep. I went to sleep around 1 and woke up at 5, great four hours of sleep. I got as ready as I could before hitting the road again, so basically I brushed my teeth, changed clothes and rinsed off my face. I got really tired around 7:30 from my lack of sleep and pulled over at a different rest stop to nap for an hour. It felt great. And the back of the jeep is surprisingly roomy.
There is not much to tell about the rest of the drive other than-
I saw a dinosaur, I saw an armadillo, I got pulled over and didn't look cute or have a low cut shirt on, so I got a ticket, I hit more rush hour traffic, I had to pee what seemed like 700 times from all my iced tea and red bull, and I started to lose my voice from singing.
I made it to the coffee house at 6 your time and 7 here. I met up with Erin Leigh and Mindy. (who is hosting me the first part of the week) We went out to a cute mexican food place in historic Roswell. The place reminded me of Las Margaritas and was really cute. (for you CG people who know what I am talking about)
That is all for now. I am sitting in the coffee shop and will write more as it happens.

Vacation!

I am done packing, the car is loaded up, I hope I didn't forget anything, and I am so ready to go!
I am needed a vacation. I love Rochester, and I love the people. But just like anyone else, I get to that point where I need out. I am at that point, and this trip will be a perfect solution. I am headed to Georgia tomorrow. I have to work 8:30 to 12:30 then I hit the road. I plan to make it Chicago at least before I stop driving for the night. Then Monday morning I will finish the drive to Roswell, GA.

I will be gone a week, Sunday through Sunday. There is an awesome ministry in GA called Land Of A Thousand Hills. They work with the genocide victims in Rwanda to grow coffee and sell it. They are a part of everything, from helping the farmers prepare to grow the coffee beans, to it being in the cup. They give more back to the farmers than any "free trade" I have ever heard of. Its awesome. And Monday I will be hanging out with them! I am super excited.

I will tell you about the trip when I get back. And hopefully I will have a few pictures to post.

My birthday!

Well, it isn't actually my birthday yet, I still have until the 30th as a 19 year old. And then, I will no longer be a teenager... WOOHOO!

Ebby Ray and Marian Holtorf were so kind to me this year and threw me the best party I have ever had for my birthday.
I had such a great time. A bunch of my Rochester families and friends were there, and we hung out in the beautiful weather and ate and chatted and played. What could be better?

Here is a link to some of the pictures that Veronica took for me. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133925&id=548315258&l=7cec2e311b

Stereotype

Ok, so the other day I read a post someone put on facebook. The title of the post was even suggesting that I specifically read it. So, of course, I checked it out. I was thinking it was going to be funny or something that I would appreciate because this person and I often laugh at the same things. But not lately.

Well, this was not a post that I enjoyed one bit. It may have been funny to people who stereotype in that manner, but when the stereotype is something you get enough of, you don't want to read about it in a "humerus" way.
This post made sure to elaborate on how lazy my generation is. It said "You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled." It also said something along the lines of us being spoiled brats.... Really?!? All of us are spoiled brats? Good to know. I guess I missed that memo.

This is a stereotype I have to fight all the time. I hate being put into a generalization of my generation. I am not a lazy spoiled brat. I dare someone to say that to me and mean it.
I work two jobs, soon to be three, two of which are management positions that I worked for. Not long ago I was working 7 days a week.
I bought my own car, I pay for my insurance, which is under my name... not my daddy's. I pay rent where I live. I pay for my phone bill, I buy my own groceries, clothes, shampoo, furniture. Yes, people have me over for dinner, and before throwing out an entertainment center I was asked if I would like it. Some things get handed to me. But not to the extent of being someone who is lazy and spoiled. And especially not a brat.
I am not the "typical" 19 year old.

I don't mean to sound full of myself or to toot my own horn, but seriously, I can say those things about myself and know that they are true. People (who don't stereotype me, and who really know me for who I am) affirm me quite often with this. So, that is how I feel. That was my rant, and now I am done...

After thinking about this, I think it is really important for me and those of us who hate being stereotyped to quit doing it to others. I need to watch what I do and say about people. I would hate for someone to blog about me because they are mad about what I said!

Just do it

Do you ever wish, you could just do whatever it is that you want... within reason of course. Do you ever wish that the fear in you, about whatever it may be, would subside and you wouldn't second guess yourself or think twice about it, and you would just do it? I know I do... that is for sure.

Over the last two years I have changed so much, and this isn't just some observation I have made about myself, it is something that a lot of people have told me. There was growing up that needed to happen, bridges that needed to be burned and bridges that needed to be built. There have been great relationships established in the last two years that have changed my life in the best of ways. There was a lot of maturity lacking in my life, and there were things that I needed to find out for myself, it has been an adventure to say the least. I changed so much, and a lot of it, I like... but there is one thing in particular that needs to change asap! And it is this...

I have become too cultivated... is that the word I am looking for? I think so... I don't take the jump anymore. I think twice, I chicken out, I think about the long term... It is getting annoying. I know that in some cases it is a good thing to reevaluate the situation, but I have become quite the pansy this way. I have been thinking about all I could miss out on because of this. I don't want to think about what is in the water, I want to just jump in! I don't want to think about going off the jump when I snowboard, I just want to do it. And who cares about a spider bite?? Holy crap that is seriously something I need to get over! I always hear that they are more afraid of me that I am of them... but I choose not to believe it. Why? Am I more comfortable being afraid than I am embracing the fact that there will be spiders in my house sometimes?
I don't want to think about the worst case scenario in everything, because honestly, how often is our worst case scenario the real deal? I want to be free to just do.

This is my rant to myself. I am sure that many people go through the same type of thing. Not necessarily with water, snow and spiders, but we are all afraid of something. And I am sure that all of us have at least one thing that we really really wish we could get over. It is a learning process... a long one... for me anyway! My goal for now, until I leave, is going to be to get over some of these fears that I carry with me. I will not chicken out, I will live life without these fears that hold me back. (God help me!)

Randomness

Well, goodness, I have not posted in a long time! So, this post is to fill you all in on the random things that have been going on with me.

Well, I have started summer hours in the cafe. It is nice not working so much. And because of summer hours, I have had to pick up another job. It is a great one though. I am nannying for the Ganz family! I just love baby Micah and Anna, they make my heart smile every time I see them. I couldn't ask for a better couple of kids to watch for the summer.
Here is Micah just hanging out and resting his chin on my leg while we watch Everyday Italian on the Food Network. (our favorite show and channel)

And here is Anna and I playing on the front steps of the old house

This is in grama and grampa's back yard. Bubbers is not used to the grass yet. It was so funny watching him play in it. And as you can tell by Anna's hair... it was quite windy!

My sister came into town last week. We don't get to see each other as often as I would like. It is nice having at least one person from that side of the family that I talk to on a semi-regular basis. She came into town and we tried not to have too much of an agenda. We hung out at my place for a little bit while we decided what to do for morning. And, we decided to go get her nose pierced, it was fun being on the watching end of it. I can't imaging having a needle that big shoved through my nose! I can't believe I did it!
Then we went out for sushi with Ebby and Audrey. Deanne and Jennifer couldn't join us, but we made due and had a good time. We went to sushi itto... if I could go there at lease once a week, I so would. That place is amazing.
Then we just messed around for a while. We walked around for a little bit downtown, then went for coffee. And on a crappy rainy day, what could be better than a movie? Yep, that's right, nothing! So we went to go so Night at the Museum 2, a very cute movie.
And to finish off the day, we hung out at the Jensen's house. a darn good time.

I bought a pet the other day. It was fun, I have never really bought a pet before. I got a panther gecko, they are super cute. But I am not sure if it is a boy or a girl, and it was hard to come up with a name for a boy/girl gecko... so I named him Metro because I think he is a boy, but he is kind of girly... Whatever though, the name seems minuscule. All I know, is that I already love him! He was the cutest of all the geckos and he liked to be held, so that is why I chose him. Then when Veronica got home we put his house together. It was funny because we couldn't figure anything out! And the things that seemed like they should be easy didn't come with instructions... the few things that we really needed them for!
Here is Metro, he would dip his face in the water and then lick his lips? (Do gecko's have lips?) It was super cute.

Also, the other day Veronica and I went long boarding and rip-sticking. It was a fun time. I want to buy a long board now for cruising around town. If I get good enough it would be fun to get to work on a long board. I am pretty sure I would be the coolest cat on the block! (as if I am not already! Ha, just kidding...)

I think that is it for now. I will try to stay caught up better this summer!