Today is a popular day...

My very first call at work this morning was from a customer who was also celebrating a birthday today, she is turning 60. What an fun way to start the morning when you have to work on your birthday.

It's 11am and I have spoken to 2 customers celebrating a birthday today.

Harry Potter....don't worry, I won't give anything away

I started reading the last installment in the Harry Potter series yesterday afternoon. Thankfully I had not heard any rumors or details that give away any plot information....right until I got ready to sit down and open it up. Jess told me a rumor she had heard, that 2 of the prime characters died in the first 10 pages. WHAT?!?! Needless to say, without giving anything else away, I will safely say that rumor is just that, a rumor.

I read 2 chapters yesterday and am looking forward to reading every spare minute I have between celebrating my birthday, trying to sign loan/car papers, seeing Lindsay and Dameon get married and driving back to Ames on Monday to pick up my new car!!

Can't wait.

So much craziness....so much fun

I officially bought my first car last night. I signed the papers for a 2004 charcoal gray Dodge Neon SXT. It's a cute little car that is a major step up from my lovely 1994 Ford Escort that I've had for the last 6 1/2 years. It is sort of bittersweet in that I almost feel guilty abandoning my current car, she has treated me so well, but has definitely seen better days. And spending 2 1/2 hours talking financing and loans and insurance and warranties made my stomach turn in knots. It was a little overwhelming to make such a big purchase. It was definitely a milestone in the "big decisions" I've made. I was thinking over those things I had checked off as being "big" or "adult" and here are some of the things I remember:

*Buying a cd player for my Escort the day after my dad bought her for me from my aunt Barb.

*Paying for my first trip without my parents - going to Florida for senior year Spring Break w/ Annie, Catie, Brooke, Lindsay and Ashley.

*Getting a tattoo the summer I turned 18. (I would have mentioned the belly button ring, but that was more rebellious than responsible :) )

*Choosing to transfer to Iowa and leave my sister, my high school friends, and basically step out on my own for the first time - a huge step of faith with the Lord as well.

*Going to China, basically trusting the Lord with making a decision to go in about 3-4 days. Going overseas for the first time and experiencing a new culture and loving and serving the Lord with my friends and learning from the hearts of Chinese college students and professionals.

*Buying a new car, taking out a loan and being responsible for all aspects for the first time in my life (my dad is desperatley trying to cut my ties to him....and by him I mean his wallet :) )

So much fun stuff.....I don't know if I can stand the anxiety

Last night my sisters and I got ice cream at Hickory Park and I was joking about asking to sit at the bar.....the ice cream bar, because it looked kind of busy and all we wanted was ice cream. My sisters dared me to ask the host to sit at the bar, and I totally did it. At first he looked kind of uncertain, like he felt bad he had to tell me there was no bar, but then I threw in "....the ice cream bar." He totally cracked up, I think he thought I was funny. So then I told him my name and that when they announce our table was ready, they could just say over the loudspeaker, "Happy Birthday Lindsay," to which he continued to laugh. I love to entertain. We then proceeded to make dares for Kel & Jess - Kel came out of the bathroom with a long piece of toilet paper trailing from her flip flop. Jess got up and signed with the servers when they sang the happy birthday song - unfortunately they did the Do-ah-diddy song instead of the Happy Happy Birthday song, so she wasn't as prepared :) We enjoyed some silly pictures and a few entertaining games of Hangman on the back of the menus, just like old times. We had done Great Plains for dinner, love their take-home cups.

The night just continued to get better - Jess drove us around in her new (used) Allero, a beautiful, white, sleek car. It made me want to find my own! So we drove to the dealership and spent another 2-2 1/2 hours looking at cars and test driving a cute charcoal Dodge Neon that I really like, it's affordable, and has pretty good mileage....now I can't stop throwing numbers and loan questions and financing words around in my brain. Thankfully the Lord gave me peace and let me sleep through the night - even though it was only about 5 1/2 hours.

THEN....I got to work this morning, geared with all the information I have to research loans and insurance stuff, and Cheryl handed me a brand new copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I can't even wait to start it! But I am refraining while on the job, because the phone interrupting me will get really annoying really fast. So it sits neatly on the corner of my desk, waiting to be taken home and devoured.

I was trying to get some time off work tonight so I can call banks, get my driver's license renewed, clean up the apartment and maybe even make it back to Ames to look at the car again. Basically to have some time to do all the hectic details to get organized for my exciting weekend. I have these 4 "bonus" hours, I don't even know what that really means, but I am trying to use them to get off early and haven't heard a response yet whether I've been approved or denied :( It's already after 11, I may be stuck here all day, I guess I'll survive...

....at least there is a lot to look forward to!

Just thought I would update with some photos....

Here is Jess and her best friend from IWCC Esther on the night of their pinning ceremony:



We ate dinner on the floor - Kelli and Marcus had a sweet upgrade to an Asian themed suite:



Probably not the most pleasant way to be awakened in the morning - poor Jess:



Fun with Kelli's Macbook:

This one seems pretty artistic, I like that it looks like it's raining:

Now this one will be the most incriminating - but this is what I'd look like if I were only a bit.....larger:

Tracy is so creative - her son Jonah's 4th birthday - Spiderman theme:

Tatum kept pulling on the string with her finger and giggling when it would bounce up:

The kids watching Jonah open his presents:

Jonah in his tool belt with his sweet weed-whacker - only the coolest toy a boy could ever get:

Hope you enjoyed!

Almost time to go home....

Why is it that the last 15 minutes of the work day seem the slowest? Especially when you're getting out early? I feel like I'm in elementary school again, it's an early out day, and I can't stop looking at the clock! Plus the phones have been VERY slow today, I've checked email, blogs, Facebook, and now I just have a handful of minutes left, so what to do.....what to do....


Have a great 4th of July!!

Thorough....

I have a tendency to talk like I think. We may all do that. But what I mean is that I am virtually incapable of speaking straight to the point. I tend to talk a lot around the main point of what I am trying to say, eventually getting closer to what I am really meaning to say. Sometimes I am not even sure what it is I'm trying to say, but the person I'm talking to has a way of stating the exact thought or feeling I'm attempting to share that just brings it clearly into the light! I use a lot of words, but it's usually so simple.

I think the reason is that when I talk or learn something, I tend to want to know the what, followed by the why, an explanation for whatever I've been told. Plus I like to be prepared and knowledgeable in case when I relay that information to another, I am ready to answer any questions asked of me. (Like what I have to do for my job, not in the sense of spreading gossip.)

The reason I bring this up is I'm noticing it is sort of a bit of a dilemma, given my job. I talk to people on the phone all day, answering their questions on life insurance policies. It's one thing to give them a correct answer, it is another to understand WHY things are the way they are and I just have a hard time articulating a clear, consise response when a customer asks WHY such and such has happened.

Oh well, I am aware, I will continue to try to work on it, I don't know if it is possible to change the way I think....but I'll try to learn to communicate more efficiently!! Sometimes I think I just need to slow down, think before I speak - I'm definitley a verbal/external processor!

I need more sunshine....

I love summer. I really do. It was such a beautiful weekend, it was sunny, there was a great cool breeze, and it was not humid!! I have such a hard time in Iowa summers, humidity just does not agree with me. But Saturday I went to the Farmer's Market and the Arts Festival downtown with my family. We just walked around enjoying the atmosphere, taste-testing some good eats, looking at some really cool artwork - especially the photography. Yesterday Kel, Jess, Marcus and I played tennis in the park near our apartment. It was again GORGEOUS out! Little humidity, warm, good breeze. We got some sun and some exercise, it felt so good to move, to use muscles I don't normally engage :) And I wasn't as horrible at it as I have been in the past! Playing with Misch last summer may have helped.

Looking forward to more days like this weekend....