Well, I just finished my little birthday hiatus and I’m back to real life. I really enjoyed the break that I had. It was awesome to have my sister in town and to be out of the office for 3 days.

Ellen arrived late Saturday night and just left this morning. We had a lot of fun shopping, going to the pool and just chillin out. I hope that she enjoyed herself. I think this birthday affected me differently than any before. Maybe it’s because 25 is something of a milestone…I can officially rent a car now and I’m safely out of my “early twenties.” Normally I wake up on my birthday and I automatically feel special. This year was different. I woke up at noon (much later than I wanted to!) and already felt like I had wasted a good chunk of my special day. Then it took us a while to get motivated to leave the house and we had to go pick up my car from the mechanic (not fun). We ended up shopping and then heading home for dinner. Nothing was particularly bad about the day, it just wasn’t like the birthday’s of my youth. I think I have to move forward and start developing new expectations for my birthday.

I really enjoyed spending time with Ellen. I think I might have come across as being hard on her a few times. She was on vacation from her insane work schedule and just wanted to rest. I think I judged that as being lazy and probably told her that too many times. I just have a hard time relaxing when the house is a mess. It’s something I need to get over. She is SO much more important to me than a tidy house. I never want to jeopardize the feelings of someone I love so much just for the sake of my own dysfunctions. I hope she knows that I love her tremendously and if anything I just want to be more like her and let the unimportant things roll off my back.

The title of today’s blog is highly unoriginal…it’s actually the tab that I have to click on to type a new entry for my blog. Today it sounded more like a command than an information tab. I have been really really neglecting my blog. It just feels like I don’t have anything funny or interesting or important to post about, so I haven’t posted anything. But when I logged into my blogger account and saw that tab it seemed to scream, “Create New Post Darn It!” (I added the darn it part)

I have a habit of checking people’s blogs everyday. My favorite blogs are the ones that acutally have a new entry or picture everyday or almost everyday. I realized that I wouldn’t even like my own blog if it was one of the one’s on my list of everday visits. So here I am attempting to post an interesting entry.

I had a very nice 4th of July weekend. Friday night Andy and I hung out with friends of ours and had dinner, went for a ride in their cool red convertible (which they paid cash for….how cool?!?!) looked at all of the frogs in the village, had TCBY and played games. Andy and I kicked their butts at the game 25 Words or Less.

On Saturday we went to the park to swim, lay in the sun and read. Saturday night his brother had us over for dinner and then Andy and I got new pillows from Bed Bath and Beyond. We had two 20% off coupons and two crappy pillows. We were totally fed up with our lifeless pillows, so we bit the bullet and got two really nice memory foam pillows. They are great! Then we hung out with our night security buddies and had a good ol time.

Sunday we hit the park again and then had an awesome community night at church. Andy and I are the heads of the Community team (which serves to guard and guide the community of the core church members). I made enough Java to feed an army and then we had a cool time of sharing and communion. It was really wonderful. It’s so great to be in community with a group of like-minded believers who are all seeking to grow in their relationships with God and also to advance His kingdom.

On Monday we slept in and went to the park again. Monday night we grilled some hamburgers and had baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon and chips. So yummy. We rented a movie and chilled out. We had decided that it would be chaotic to drive to and from my parents house on Monday and we didn’t want the holiday to feel rushed (we normally would have driven up the night before, but the church thing nixed that idea). We enjoyed our dinner, but we both agreed that we missed the family.

That’s the weekend update. No other big news for now. I am looking forward to my birthday though. Only 6 days away!

I am well overdue in posting here on my beloved pink blog. Lately I’ve been in one of my hermit moods….the kind of mood that makes me just want to hide out or run away to a deserted island. I’m not particularly upset about any of my life circumstances. I’m just expressing my very introverted side. Most people would mistake me for an extrovert, but I am actually a highly introveted person when it all boils down. I enjoy my fair share of socializing, and I’m pretty talkative and outgoing in the midst of it, but there comes a time when I’m ready to hide out for a while and recuperate. I’ve even been shying away from my blog because it has felt like posting would be as difficult as polite conversation is when I’m in this mood.

I’ve read tons of great books over the past two years. Not just senseless novels, but books that have really helped me to learn and grow and become more of the person I was meant to be. Several of these books have taught me that I have control over my moods and my attitude. This actually came as a surprise to me…I always thought that if I woke up crabby that I was destined to be crabby all day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could decide to have a good attitude and actually do it! This concept has really affected me. I have had fewer crabby and pessimistic days than I ever used to. So, I’m thinking that this principle would apply to hermit moods too. Not that there’s anything wrong with needing some quiet alone time here and there, but my hermit phases take that concept to a whole other level. When I get this way I just want to eat and sleep and shirk all responsibility. Not to mention my couch potato tendency that rears it’s ugly head. And I know that the last thing I should be doing is filling my head with all the garbage on TV.

I think I may be nearing the end of my current run as a hermit. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I’ve been hermitting for about a week already or maybe it’s that I’m ready to push through it to do what I have to do. Or maybe it’s that I’m attending a get together with some friends tomorrow night and can’t exactly show up as a hermit. Who knows….for now I’ll just be glad it’s over.