mr. wilkes

my good ol' buddy brady came up to washington to see a friend and luckily i was able to steal him away for a few hours.

we bonded over dinner, church, the monks and bubble tea - a great "seattle" thing.

five years ago today....

....i started at bethany university.
this was the beginning of the best years of my life.

dual purpose.

Joel, myself and Ryan at a soccer game at BU during my Fall 2007 visit.

1. okay so it may not look like it in this picture, but the boy on the left looks like michael phelp's twin - really, ask anyone! joel says that they are actually brothers but his parents gave michael up for adoption. i told him his parents gave up the wrong one - they would be famous now! but, joel will make them proud too!

2. i was desperate last night - my toilet would not stop running. so, who did i call? ryan hamilton, of course. (dad would have been the first, but he was unreachable) ryan, with his never judging patience, coached me through the in's and out's of fixing my running toilet. thanks ryan!

friend.

this girl is really neat. i like her.

(sorry, old pictures. it's awful that all of my pictures of her on not on my laptop)

8 in 08.

well, he did it and he did it well.

8 gold medals, 7 world records, and a smile that will last for days.

now, let's just pray he finds me! =)

(isn't the relationship he has with his mom absolultely beautiful?)

boys.

i got myself a boyfriend today.
he has darling dark brown eyes,
the cutest smile you have ever seen,
quite the charmer,
and about four years old.

the story:
i was standing in the line at target and this precious lil stud waved at me. of course, i waved back and the flirting continued until his mother was ready to leave. on his way out, he stuck his little fingers up in the air, did a lil jig and began to sing "i have a girlfriend, i have a girlfriend, i have a girlfriend."

if only it was that easy.

Michael Phelps, Will you marry me?

Argument:

He's the world's best swimmer, I use to coach a children's swim team.

He's in amazing shape, I want to be in shape.

He is the most humble Gold Medal winner I have ever seen, I appreciate humility.

He has an extremely supportive family, (as do I) and I want my that in my in-laws.

His mother is a junior high principal, I am going into educational administration.

He has brown hair and eyes, I want my kids to have the possibility for those features.

He is ridiculously beautiful, I deserve someone who is beautiful in my eyes.

He has cried on national television, I want someone who can be sensitive.

He is doing something with his life, I want someone who is stable and supportive.

He has the three best features: dimples, beautiful eyes, and athletic

Jesus loves him, I could love him.

Resolution: Marriage

Haha, all in good fun, but for real....

I'd venture to say....

....this was the second best weekend in seattle. why? because it included heather nicole mazza and a wonderful adventure around the city.

Pike's Market where we had a live crawdad and a fake fish thrown at us. For obvious reasons, we screamed like little girls.

We had some yummies at Blue C Sushi.

We randomly met Grace, a 102 year old bundle of joy who expressed that her longevity is only due to a positive attitude. Heather and I found ourselves in tears when we had to say goodbye.

We found an old-school bookstore where we spent time looking for Waldo and also reading Shel Silversten poems. In fact, I read aloud to the whole store at the owners request

Heather randomly played a stranger, Jim, in Chess overlooking the Sound. Though she lost, she gave him quite the competition.

We also bought some scrumptious fresh bread and dip to munch on for lunch in the waterfront park. We made sure to capture all the flour that was still on the bread.

i love you heather mazza. thanks for the best weekend. come back soon.

America DID get it right!

Congratulations Josh!

AND.....

I'll be seeing him and the rest of the Top 10 on September 20!!!!!