Well, I get married tomorrow.  Unbelievable.  ...BUT  I have about 50 million things to do today.  Why, procrastinatory life, why?!

I love Ryan.  Simple.

I also love God.  ...Even simpler, because he's easy to love.


Can't wait to blog it up on here after the wedding..

peace, love, and shalom.

-Carli Matthews

14 mark

I ran 14 miles last night. FOURTEEN....Okay then! The impossible is possible only with God....and the possible is impossible without him. (I hadn't been running really in a couple months up until 2 weeks ago....totally not conditioned in the slightest, but God allowed it, because I knew he would. Incredible! I asked him to bless my legs...and he did more than that!)

I'm skipping school tomorrow. Who needs learning when you have a wedding in a week and a half!? I'm hoping everything comes together spectacularly. I hope it is so beautiful...and SO FUN! Life is what you make it, ya know!

In many ways, I am dying for the wedding process to be over with so I can just be married and less stressed. I just want to take photos and make music and write to my heart's content. I can't even describe my dreams to you. Life will be good.

Happiness in cul-de-sacs

One day, I'll live on a cul-de-sac and be happy.

I want to be in the city. Oh, the city. Where adventure lies. Where people tell lies. I want to explore the broken down things. And marvel at the new things. I will move to New York, I tell you. Feel what all the people felt when they decided New York City would be their home destination. I'll shop Time Square and when a stranger asks me what time it is, I'll simply reply with a shrug, because who wears a watch these days? When my time is up, I'll move to leftest of coasts and be with my friend, Los Angeles for some time. Smoothly, I'll roll down the sidewalks on my longboard in the shortest of shorts with the loosest of tanks. I'll feel pleasant breezes on my face and taste that hint of salt in the air each evening and morning and there in between. It will fill my veins with peace.

At last, I'll head back to the East Coast to my destination city. MY destination city, Boston. Become a Celtics fan and romanticize their golden architecture. Get lost in a cul-de-sac as snow piles around me and my giant wool scarf. I will point people in the directions of my favorite coffee shops and park. This is my sacred place. And by my side for all of this, there'll be a man. A man that no one else could fathom matching up to. And as Dashboard has said it before, he'll be "the best one of the best ones." And, as lazy days come to an end, we will sigh in relief because we made it.

No one can beat it.

goodbye, hello, hello.

It's been a good thing to realize I am growing up and away from the past. Still, it's not the most simple of tasks. I've been going through a ton of old stuff - papers, school work from high school and early college, photos, writings, etc. Some of it brings back good laughs and smiles, and others are hard to look at and remember. Flipping through pictures of old friends who aren't by my side anymore is sometimes relieving and other times depressing. I had a bulletin board covered with photos of my "best friends" 4 years ago, and most of those friendships have diminished...some of them for the best and others I still don't understand. It's time to quit questioning why.

Today, God has placed amazing people in my life.

I'm not the closest to some, but I am so grateful for them. Many are from my church and others are from Taylor U. and Mexico. I know that even though time and distance keeps us apart, they are still a strong support system...even if we don't talk for months on end. They are still constantly in my thoughts and I know I could count on them.

Then there are a few that I have grown very close to over the past couple years. I'm not very close to a ton of people; I have quiet weekends and busy weekdays and the majority of my "social" life revolves around my dogs and cats (haha) and my family. Obviously, Ryan is my best friend. And I'm glad to have him always by my side. Only 2 more weeks till our wedding day! We're cool kids...learning the things you do in your teens, in our twenties! We are young at heart. And I've grown particularly close to my old grade school friend, Jennifer. She's been one of the few people who actually bother to know what's going on in my life and has always been dependable in the small things. Can't wait to have her by my side at my and Ryan's wedding! And she thinks I'm weird. But I'll take it.

It's getting cooler...which means it's going to be fall soon. I freaking love fall. All things magical happen in the fall.


I know I'm getting older, but this is still my theme song.

http://youtu.be/3LE1Bd_wX1M

Soon I'll be a wedded wife and less stressed. I will take good, fall, Carli-like photos and write sad prose and I'll be so happy.



Good day.

peace, love, and shalom.

-Carli



"We're the coolest kids and we take what we can get."

"You know me. Or you think you do. You just don't seem to see. I've been waiting all this time to be, something I can't define."

"You know the night life is just not for me, because all you really need are a few good friends."

"I don't know why you say goodbye. I say hello."

Things Learned. Idea-Man fails again!

As I write today, I sit with my feet dangling into my warm pool. I should be swimming right about now. I'm using this as my stress reliever.



So far, these are the things I've learned the past few weeks (maybe a few I've always known):

I am Idea-Man. I think of weird, great ideas often and rapidly. Downfall: my mind moves too fast for me to attempt to concentrate on my ideas to execute them properly...hence, my next point.

I am a bad wedding-planner-executor. My wedding would be flawless and ridiculously awesome if I could paint the world that is in my head for reality to see.

I have only a few good friends. (I mean, the ones who really get me.) I am not a social butterfly. I've never planned to be. And I prefer real community with a few, rather than shallow interaction with a multitude. This will always be.

I love education...only if it's quality. At least one of my professors this semester, I can already say, will be one of the best teachers I've ever had. He is leader and I look forward to gaining good insight from him while I have the opportunity. Though I hate assignments and all the extra junk that comes hand in hand with collegiate life, I love learning.

I need my music. I need to write (and not this life blog crap either, but truly write). I need to take beautiful photos. I need to run. And when I do these things, I feel like I'm doing what I was made to do.

I freaking like jelly beans. I busted into a bag that is supposed to be for the wedding. I couldn't resist. I ate so many. My stomach hurts now. Simplicity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The impossible is possible...only with God. And the possible is impossible without him. I've been inconsistent (as I've been my whole life) this summer with my running schedule. I hadn't been running but a few times for short distances (maybe 2-4 miles 4 or 5 times) since the beginning of June. I was in a bad predicament, because I had a 10 mile run on Labor Day. I told myself I should probably try to run if I was going to even think about finishing the Labor Day race. Well, a week before I set out to do five, not thinking my body would be able to physically make it, since I'm not in shape at all. I ran nine. It was pretty unbelievable. God blessed my legs. Needless to say, I did the Chris Bohl's run and it was absolutely fantastic. Now, on to the Rock 'n' Roll!


Alright. Until next time, Cheers!

-Carli



"You could list your friends, but you can't count on them."

(another boring life update) ...And a Grandfather's Passing

....Right now I'm feeling so thankful for being literate. Boy, how much we take for granted!

Besides wedding things consuming my mind, so many other things are going on!!! I am a jumbled mess; but that is typical for me.

I'm currently watching Chris Christie give a pretty decent speech. Pretty empowering rhetoric. ...and ideas. (Sorry, I'm more right than left...Don't argue with me.)

School is here again, and in turn, so is the stress. Pile on the work! People applauded for me when I said I was getting married in four weeks during our student intros. Silliness! I do think that this is going to be the best semester thus far. My professors know what's up.

We got back about a week and half ago from San Diego. Oh man, such a good week. Way too short. Way too awesome. I took over 2200 photos........yeah. I should probably delete at least half of them. Still need to upload the last 6 days to my computer and get them edited. I want to do a full photo blog about our trip (so I can go back and remember), but I'll have to save that for another night.

I haven't been playing too much guitar and piano or doing much writing, which is pretty sad, but it's an even busier time than usual for me. Picked up my guitar last week...and it was a good time of worship. No wonder why I miss it so dearly.

I am really excited for my friend Jordan Connell who has recently started an organization, TEAM 314, to help conquer youth homelessness. He is literally running across the nation in hopes of raising awareness and being an inspiration to make a difference. All goes to the glory of God. TEAM 314 has been planning the last several months for this journey that will begin September 15th. Wish I could be a bigger part of the team, but I've got my duties here, to say the least. I truly hope that this effort will reach many people. ...and hopefully it will inspire others to get involved with whatever mission/problem is on their heart, whether for homelessness or something drastically different. We all have our specific callings, we just have to respond to them. Here's TEAM 314's site.

On another note, the morning after we arrived home from vacation, my Grandpa Matthews passed away in his sleep. Really sad. He was a good dad, husband, and Grandpa.

Even through losing one-hundred percent of his sight when my dad was very little, my grandpa had strong faith and was a very joyful man. He was deeply loved. He always laughed about things and had a positive attitude...which I'm sure my crazy Grandma helped him with. The image I will never forget is of Grandpa always holding on to Grandma's arm or shoulder as she would lead him from place to place. Such an awesome relationship of love and trust that takes. I hope for the same kind....to receive and to give.
It'll be sad not to see him around anymore.


Hope to write again soon. Don't hold me to it, though. :)


peace, love, and shalom.

-Carli

Hair and Weddings

Can words express how much I love Ryan Doepke? No, they cannot.

But he hates my music.

I cut my hair. By myself. Bad idea. For the first hour, it looked extremely horrendous. Within the next 45 minutes, it started looking relatively decent. It is now acceptable to go outside the house. I'm too stubborn to go to the hairdresser. I'm sure they would be horrified if they watched a film of me in the act.

Anyways, I just want to note how lovely Angus and Julia Stone are. Amazing. Period. Me and Greg should create music like them. We'd be a good team.

I made Ryan listen to our whole Wedding Day Playlist I have made thus far...success. He enjoyed the fact that I made him watch me dance poorly to every one of the songs. He loved every minute of it. Ask him. I sang an Adele song to my Macy, my dog. Check the song out - "One and Only." Nice and bluesy.

Less than extraordinary days seem to happen to me quite often.

-I frolicked and danced while no customers were in the bank to cheer up Sara. It kinda? worked.

-When the left-turn green arrow appeared, the man in the lane next to me went straight through a red light that we'd been stopped at for a minute. I laughed hard by myself in my car, and thought things such as "What a moron!"

-Ryan brought me China King take out! Then my lenses came in a day early from UPS, and I ignored Ryan the rest of the night!!! I ordered the beauties yesterday morn! Hooray for early Christmas! I can't wait to go experiment outside my house with them when I wake tomorrow. It shall be a good day.

My fool of a dog Macy, looking all sad and cute like usual.


Prince Edmund James- the king of his castle. My, oh, my, what long legs you have!




On a less superficial level, I've been thinking about my Mexican loves and how dearly I miss them. Six months was too much; six months was not enough. Today was Jose Carlos' birthday. Wish I could celebrate con mi amigo!




Aw, te extraño, mi amor. Quiero verte pronto. Te quiero muchisimo. Sometimes, you just gotta let the tears flow.



I can't begin to explain how much I love them and how much I wish distance didn't exist. 'When I think of distance, I think of the knife.'


peace, love, and shalom.

-Carli

The Stakes are High and the Time is Now -Just Color Me Green

Well, friends, the stakes are high and the time is now!

Writing should reach into our inner depths and allow us to discover those things we are afraid to speak. If it is not doing that, we've entirely lost sight of things.

I must write everyday. Observe the world; observe my heart; write.



There once lived a good man named W.H. Auden. (Don't ask me how I just now discovered him.) His writings are timeless and I aspire to be like him.

“How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.”

His words are brilliant. He inspires me to become a better person.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've seen many a sloppy, boring writer, and today, I am hoping I'm not one.

I cannot measure myself against my neighbor; I must measure myself against myself. The battle will be a long and tragic road, for the match can never be won. A man can never prevail in a fight against himself, lest he become someone else.





Well, I'm not becoming someone else. People in critique classes want you to become someone else. Sometimes, but rarely, they are helpful. They hope for you to cram into their own tiny, idealistic box. Well, I find it to be much too cramped in there; it's a little stuffy for my liking. And where there is a box they're trying to shove you in, there is most always creativity being stifled.

When it comes to the arts (and one is halfway decent at one), it comes down to mere preference. You don't like my work, suck it! You may not like the color green, still green is a perfectly fine hue without your stamp of approval.

I am green! If you hate green, move on! We were not meant for each other!





peace, love, and shalom.

-Carli

Sad

My heart is sad for a profound reason. I was playing one of my favorite worship songs...just in my bedroom, just me and God and my guitar...playing I Will Not Forget You..



Many men will drink the rain
and turn to thank the clouds
Many men will hear you speak
they will never turn around

But I will not forget you
you are my God and King
with a thankful heart
I bring my offering
And my sacrifice is
not what you can give
but what I alone can
give to you

A grateful heart I give
a thankful prayer I pray
a wild dance I dance before you
a loud song I sing
a huge bell I ring
a life of praise I live before you

Many men will pour their gold
and serve a thing that shines
many men will read your words
they will never change their minds


When I sing the verses, I become more than distraught.

"Many men will drink the rain
and turn to thank the clouds
Many men will hear you speak
they will never turn around
Many men will pour their gold
and serve a thing that shines
many men will read your words
they will never change their minds"

God doesn't get the glory he deserves. Not that he needs our glory necessarily...but he is worthy of every bit of it. So many people will hear God speak or a pull on their hearts. ...or read his word and even agree with it, then turn around and say, "Forget you! " "I'm going my own way." or, "There's not really a God..or if there is, there's too many options...I can't just choose one."

I want people to see how good God is. I want them to accept how he loves us. I want them to acknowledge God's beauty. I want them to have the best life possible. But they turn around, and close their ears, being too stubborn to even give the thought of God the time of day. I just want more people to join in this love with me. To understand how wonderful it is to be connected with the one who made the stars. To see how freeing and uplifting it is to finally acknowledge his presence. I want the best for you. I don't want to control your life. God definitely doesn't want to control your life. He wants you to have the most excellent, burdensome-free life possible. I wish you'd just try it... I want that for you. I hope you would want that for yourself.

found this old excerpt i wrote and found it funny.


https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

This is a terrible advertisement for an interesting product. "The Snuggie" is a blanket that you wear. The first time I saw this product advertised on a commercial, I thought it was a joke, as in, something you may see on Conan O'Brien or The Late Show. First of all, the commercial is extremely cheesy. It has people dancing around in the Snuggie (this was the commercial I saw for the Snuggie on TV). I guess this is to show how much fun the Snuggie can be. I found it extremely ineffective.

This advertisement does not make me want to purchase the Snuggie. It actually does a better job at making me want to make fun of the Snuggie even more than I would have in the first place. The acting is extremely corny. The reasoning to buy the product is illogical. People could easily put on a hoodie, get the same effect, and not look ridiculous. The commercial looks like it was created the early 90's. It is not creative or appealing in the slightest.

Interestingly enough, one of my cousins, who is really into fashion, wants one for Christmas. I can't fathom what she is thinking. All in all, possibly, but not likely, if the Snuggie had a better advertisement, it could make me consider purchasing one. Because it as though the commercial is a joke making fun of the Snuggie, it makes the product come off as a joke as well.

(((If you haven't read my other, prior blog posts, you should. Just so you know me better. :)

This is not my typical blogging. When MySpace was my best friend, I blogged these lyrical little prose that confused everyone. Those are the best kind. This blog just keeps track of what the heck I'm doing on a broader, shallower level. And I don't really care if anyone reads this except for me. ...I'm just throwing another option out there for you. I love life. And I like going back and looking at what I’ve done in life...good, bad, and beautiful. )))

Do you want to be my friend?? You can be.

Great. So, again, I’ve no idea what I’m doing with my life. I have a plan. I need a sound plan.

I want to:
write creatively
take photos creatively
make and play music creatively
design and make clothes creatively
get paid somehow for doing those things.

I’m going to do it.

As for life right now, this past Sunday, Ryan and I took some engagement photos ourselves. It was interesting, to say the least, and a ton o’ friggin’ fun. At one point, we were in the boat (this is a terrible idea, by the way) and my camera almost tipped over into the lake...I lunged to save it. Success! Things didn’t all work out as anticipated, but all in all I am mostly satisfied.



I however am not satisfied with school. I may be fickle. You can count on that. But I still know what I value most in life and what I want I really want to do...and that has never changed. The only thing that changes is my “fall back plan,” which is the reason for going to school. And indecisiveness is most expensive and a waste of time when it comes to this. If I am unsuccessful in my many creative endeavors, I will fall back on my Bachelor’s degree...I just don’t know what I want to make that...and I’m in my fourth year of college. You can send me words of praise for that one later. It is possible I may be changing majors and even universities in the near future. We will just have to see.

On another note, I am writing a detailed story, but it has yet to come together as an adhesive whole. So far I only have several anecdotes, but the actual story line is in my head. I got to get on top of things in order to woo my creative writing professor and get my book published!!! ha. No one reads books anymore anyways, so it’s probably a waste of time. ha.

Talking about creativity...I have recently written a nuevo cancion. and it’s not bad, I guess. I need more time for music.

I wish I could independently freelance everything. I need you guys to be not only my friends, but also my customers, making you customerly friends.

I’m going to run 7 miles tonight or tomorrow. Hold me to it, my brothers.

Alrighty then! Off to writing my story.

Ramblings on Creativity.

It's fall, and that pretty much means I'm happily discontent with my life. Happy because that's what autumn air brings. Discontent because that's what academics bring.

If you know me, the one thing you should know about me (after the fact that I am lover of God) is that I want to create things. Good things. And that is the primary concern of my life. God created us, and he made us creative beings, so I think he's definitely a big advocate for creating.


Why can't we output more than we input? Why can't we upload more than we download? Why can't we write more than we read? (I guess there has to be a counter-role to every role. I just know mine is the one who makes stuff. So let me make stuff, Society.)

How do I personally foster creating?

Well, to begin with, the first thing I created was some baby song I made up on the piano...I was seven. It was as great as you would expect a song from a seven-year-old to be - not that great. But it spurred from inside of me and that's what made it beautiful.

I try to make photos and I try to write. I am just so tired of all the critiquing. My biggest complaint. I like to do this freely, and for myself. In a way, it's an act of worship (since creating is something God likes to see us do and I believe many of us are at our best while creating). I love writing really bad songs, really bad prose, and drawing really bad pictures. (The drawings really are REALLY bad.)

Anyways, I'm more than ready to move on and forward in my life as a professional creator of things, but am not quite sure how to go about this. I can design clothes. Awesome clothes. (I just can't really sew them.) I can make pictures. Good pictures. I can make music. Decent music. I can write things. Intriguing things. (At least to me.) But have the artisans really ever gotten paid? The mainstream ones, maybe, but ones that fall into the same category as me, no. "Well you can just do all those other 'hobbies' on the side, in your spare time." No, no thanks, I want to devote all my time to it. I want to make the world a more beautiful place than the one we live in right now. And I want to not be punished for doing so... So...Please pay me, everyone reading this, so I can still eat and live and be an artist.

(Tangent: If something becomes too mainstream, does that make it any less great? While I feel things may lose a bit of their once-felt artsy edge, they are still objectively great, are they not? When Bright Eyes songs started getting sung by everyone, did they lose their ridiculously awesome value? No, just more people shared in the admiration, (which made it a little less fun for those who like to hold "their territory").)

I aspire to take really good pictures; the ones that capture love in them, or wonder, or intrigue, or hope, or hopelessness. Ones that can equal emotion in the right way. I aspire to write ridiculously wonderful songs, not by the world's standards, but by mine; the ones that capture my thoughts, ideas, and emotions better than simple verse alone. I aspire to make the most quality of clothes; the ones that make me feel like life is much simpler than it is. I aspire to throw down some great verse; the kind that could one day change my mind, or even someone else's.

And who says what I write, sing, paint, sculpt, capture has to go with all the standard lines? Isn't the point of being creative, being creative? So why must there be a box?

Note that creativity isn't about getting people's attention and being in the lime-light (think Lady Gaga). Creativity is about trying to express something in a fresh way, maybe even an old way. It's about stating the emotion without actually stating the emotion. It can find people in their darkest of states. It can find people in their most confused states. It can find people in the state they are in right now. And it can take people back to a state they haven't felt in a very long time.

We must not be scared to create. Especially not scared to create creative things. If we were all cowards there would be no progress. And I'm all about progress...



Well, I didn't see that one coming at all...Anyways, I guess I'm just gunna post this without editing it. I know it's all jumbled and just a bunch of rambling. Hopefully I can edit it sometime soon to make it more coherent and flow better.

Cheers!

-C

this is a book. a sad, boring book.

Let me tell you the extent of my life. It doesn't feel real...while I'm living it. And then, when I sit back and try to breathe, it's hard to believe I'm at the point I am in my life. I don't feel like I'm living..and it's because I'm too gosh dang busy and doing nothing I actually want to do.

This is me laughing. It doesn't happen very often while during the school year....

...Because school makes me unhappy...unless Mr. Gluba is there.

I'm practically 22 and I've done nothing creatively productive. And for the practical side of things, I've also done nothing productive that will actually get me anywhere I want to go. So, so far, we have a failure. ha.

What I'm not doing right now that I "should" be: Reading "The Merchant of Venice," taking a quiz over it, doing Managerial Accounting, writing a story, reading another story, the list could go on.

So, I'm going to get married...yeah, that happened in the past 10 months I haven't blogged. Ryan was the one who asked me, in case you were wondering. And I'm sad because planning is going extremely wrong since I don't just have a huge open field with electricity. My plans...I have too many of them..and I'm not going to begin to share any on this publicly viewable blog.

Right now, I'm like a running machine...Cranking out the miles effortlessly. Okay, not effortlessly..most nights I feel like I will die, but 'tis great nonetheless. Tomorrow night 6 miles. (and you pronounce that "seis me-lays.")

It's almost time for Ryan's Birthday again. Can you believe it? I cannot. Which sucks because I'm poor...but I'm actually not poor because I'm just saving money and not spending it..but that makes me feel poor. Which is A-OK with me!

At this very moment, I feel like running around in my yard with Macy. She's a cool dog that misses my daily presence. hmm...today I saw a girl that looked like Pocahontas. I kid you not...the whole get-up and she had brown skin. It was silly.

So concluding this solitary blog post, I realize I just wasted about 45 minutes of my own time and 5 minutes of yours! I guess we're even.

Finally, in December!

Hello stalkers.......

(I feel so flattered you stalk me.)

So I have not had any time to update this blog in about a month and half…sad, I know. But school sucks and jobs suck more…and that is simply life, my friends. (Go read about it in the book of “Job.” Everything is freaking meaningless. ) At least I have a dog. And Ryan. And, more importantly, Edmund. I’m kinda ticked at life that I haven’t really had any time to do anything creative lately, but I guess I’ll just get over it. Now that the semester is over, I have until the middle of January when SLU starts back up (and my life starts sucking again) to do everything I’ve ever wanted to do. Hallelujah. Good things will be done. Mainly, lots of being benevolent and speaking in big, confusing words…(.and being truly crafty with the mind and creative skills.) Gotta love it.

On a completely different note, Ryan and I went skating a few days ago. We got in trouble for taking pictures. What the heck?! Isn’t that a cliché event to capture? No manches! …Whatever. We got our pictures, we did our skating, we conquered what we went to conquer. THE END! (The photos aren’t on my computer yet, but give it time and I’ll get some up.)

On a shallow note, the two tangible items I would be more than happy to receive for Christmas, or any other reason, are: A.) a dark room…with all the necessary supplies. Or, B.) A nice Steinway GRAND piano…with all the necessary skills.

Less tangible: A.) a book published. B.) a song produced.


If any body cares, which ALL of you should, our church is promoting “The Advent Conspiracy.” It’s basically about making Christmas about Jesus again rather than our selfish selves. …Let’s give it a whirl. Spend less money, but spend more time….less uselessness, more things that matter. Give to people who really need it.

Check it out: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/


Hmmm….what else? I miss Kevin pollo.

Mi KEBIN! If I could, I would fly to Mexico snatch him up…and I guess I’d have to get Carlos, too, in that case…and Luz Elena…and Jose Carlos… (Crap, I play favorites.) …but I would at least get mi Kevin and be his best friend and love him. Haha. Simply stated. …Geez. I miss them all. Cheers to a difficult, but very great six months in Mexico! ¡¡¡Los EXTRAÑO!!!



Let’s love each other deeply.

This Christmas…and for the rest of our lives.


Embark on the greater journey.

-C to the M

Cops and Bad Spanish.

I thought I'd blog about this fun experience me and Ryan had. So, one Thursday night we were walking around town taking cool pictures. You know, the usual. We talked to some cool middle-aged people. yada. So we're on this road where I guess these attorneys' offices are. Their windows are mirrored so they make for some interesting pictures if you do it right. Blah, blah, blah. I saw a cop drive by once, looked like they were driving slow. Then I saw him come around and shine a light on Ryan (who was like right up in the window with his camera.) I was facing the street taking a picture. Then he kept shining the light and I was yelling at Ryan. Finally he went over, then I followed. The cop said we didn't look like we were bad people, and that he "appreciates our hobby." He logged our information, regardless, because it looked like "suspicious" activity. Now me and Ryan are down in the books together! YES!




Additionally, my mom was watching this old movie last night that's half in Spanish with no subtitles. Couldn't figure that one out. She doesn't speak Spanish, or half understand it without a translator thing. (basically she's way, way worse than me, which means, bad.) She kept watching it.

It's fall time and I love it. That is all.

Mi Veinte-Year-Old!

So it was Ryan's birthday. We first went to Colton's Steakhouse with Ryan's parents and almost wrecked. John was looking at me in the rear-view mirror and Lisa was turned around listening to me. So I was the one who yelled. It was scary to say the least. Ryan is somewhat of a moron for not wearing his seat belt! Yes, I know. Colton's totally sucked. I'm usually a fan but the service was absolutely terrible! Then, a bit of craziness went on. ...... ..... And we headed out to the farm regardless!!! I had a lot of things planned but we couldn't get them all done because the day started a bit later than I had planned. (lol.) Couldn't find my key when we got there. That was a nuisance.

One of the favorite pictures of the day.



We went out on the lake in the john boat and took lots of pictures. Ryan almost tipped the boat over.






I wanted to sit on the bluff and watch sunset. ...but we were in the boat then...whoops. We still got a few cool pics...so it was worth it.




We went four wheeling...you know, all the usual farmy stuff. But my red four wheeler was at Greg's house to aerate the lawn? whatever. So we only had the big black one. I thought I was going to fly off the back. Our neighbor's cows mooed at us while we entertained them. and I entertained myself while having a photo shoot on the back of the four wheeling as Ryan was driving. It was quite a good time for me. Hay looks like pretty flowers before it is dried out and rolled. I picked some; I'm pretty sure it was hay. What do I know?


Hay??


We got back to the house and I put on some nice tunes (one of the 3 awesome mixed cd's I made Ryan for his birthday.) We made Hamburger Helper. Like, basically, Ryan's absolute favorite meal. I put out a blanket, lit candles and we ate on the floor. I left all the lights on in the house though and locked the door because it's kind of scary out there...(but I try to remember, "I will fear no evil, for my God is with me. If my God is with me, whom then shall I fear?"). Gave Ryan his presents. Fun times.



After that, we went outside for FIREWORKS! I always have tons of extras from the Fourth. I love the Fourth. (that's my brother's birthday.) This was a freaking glorious time. and possibly a bad idea. Ryan shouldn't light fireworks. One aerial shot off into the ground. (my dad would like that)...that was an expensive one, too. Then a night parachute he lit basically went off into his face...How you ask? I have no idea. I had my mixed music blasting and we decided to have a dance party in the flashing of the flashers. ...also video. Great days.





We tried laying looking at stars because you can see EVERYTHING out there (it's beautious) We did that for maybe 10 minutes but I was nervous the whole time because Megan put into my head about that dumb scary movie...and it's so dark out there. So we left and went back to reality.

We headed to our favorite place for years. But Ryan was tired. and that was that.

"We're Listening to Manchester Orchestra on MANCHESTER! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Ryan always wants to go to P.F. Chang's for his birthday. So we dress up.



I'm getting bored of it. So I made us get dessert and cheese fries at Steak-in-Shake and it made the night completely different.



Completely awesome.

Birthdays, Botanical Gardens, and the Cardinales!

This past weekend was incredibly eventful...more so than usual.

Friday night, Haden had his 6th birthday party at the bowling alley. We all sucked at bowling minus Josh and ate a lot of pizza and crappy nachos supreme. Allie insisted on following me around everywhere. It's cute. She likes me. (Not to mention, the last few months she has started saying something actually like "Carli" and not "Dodo.")



Haden announced to his cute, little friend Kyle that I am not only his friend but also his aunt. hahaha! YES! So that's a good time. Haden also kissed Kyle on the cheek to thank him for his gift. It was hilarious. (Picture below was taken right after the cheek-kissing.)



So, now Haden's six and enjoying life.

After the party, me and Ryan went to see The Town with Ben Affleck. I thought it was very entertaining/good, except for the fact that basically every other word was a cuss word (and a few, always unnecessary sexual content add-ins.)

Saturday, Shelby and I went to the Botanical Gardens. Talk, talk, talk, more talk, pumpkins, little kids. Beautiful day & great fun! (After, we got some super scrumptious Vietnamese food off of Grand. Love it! )




On Sunday, I went to the Cardinals' last game of the 2010 season. I'm really glad I got to fit one in since I haven't been to a Card's game this season. Haden got a Cardinal claw thing. Just great fun for us...him clawing us constantly.



"Claw! You're dead!" "...Haden, you shouldn't claw your friends...or enemies, for that matter." It was Shelby's first time at the new stadium so that was quite exciting for her. And I nearly cried because it was Ernie Hays last game playing the organ.




Cardinals won and all is well.

Ram Me!

Last Sunday I went to a Rams game. Going into the building we had to be patted down. As I was waiting for Greg, Derrick, and Joel to get finished, a guy came up to me wanting a picture with me....saying something like I'm a Rams Cheerleader....




...yeah right. He got his picture, then he told me it was going into his Christmas cards this year. Awesome. Totally wasn't expecting much except to get experience of going to an NFL game. (lots of "E"-words.) (Also, I don't really care too much about sports, unless it's tennis or the Olympics.) Greg scored some lovely tickets from one of the people his company does business with. Awesome. I wasn't even really expecting one touch down from the Rams, quite frankly. Amazingly, they scored two touchdowns within the first few minutes. Awesome. We were the fourth row from the field and right at the end where that inzone was -great view of St. Louis tearing it up. Super awesome. For whatever reason, nachos supreme cost 9 dollars. Greg got some of those. Kings of Leon got booed. A stupid guy sat in front of us. I was explaining to Greg how I hate the fear whenever at one of these games that I may get on the jumbo-tron. What the heck would I do on one of those things!? A quarter later, we got on the jumbo-tron...



They played pretty decently.




It was historic; the Ram's tore it up.