#198: Girls Like Us

I actually finished this book a while ago. But...who's keeping track?

If you haven't heard of this book, you should definitely check it out. It's about human sex trafficking, and it gives an honest perspective from a young lady that was trapped in the life for quite some time. It is an amazing story about redemption and the plight of this woman as she strives to reach out to other girls just like her and offer them a different alternative. A freeing alternative.

It's a great story. It's one of those stories that gets your blood pumping, your mind racing and your heart aching. It is a story to be told. And if this book doesn't make you get up off the couch and do something about the atrocities going on in this world, and in our own backyards...well then nothing probably will.

I definitely recommend this book. But be careful...you may just find yourself on an airplane to India (or New York, or some other place that tugs at your heart strings).

#197: Perfected the Pizza

Wow! I cannot even begin to tell you how good I feel about myself right now! It's quite an accomplishment to make a round pizza. Well, it is for me anyway. I know those pizza places make round pizzas all the time. Well good for them! But this is me we're talking about. If you'll recall my previous homemade pizza, I think you'll understand what I'm getting at here.
But this time...this time I was serious about my pizza making escapade. And it totally paid off! I'm still in shock that it was round and that it fit the whole pizza tray thing (whatever that thing is called).

It's the little things in life...

#196: Coffee Mug!

Phil surprised me with a new coffee mug! It's totally awesome! It's durable (which means it's not plastic), and the lid is silicone, so it feels really cool on my lips. It's really squishy (the lid, not my lips. Although...that may be a good description for my lips too. But this isn't a post about my lips. So, please, let's get back on topic here).
I just love when Phil surprises me with stuff. It makes me feel so loved and cherished! Oh, did I mention that one of my primary love languages is gifts? I guess that explains a lot.

#195: A car show in my front yard

It's so awkward walking out your door and being greeted by strange people sitting in lawn chairs staring at very old cars. Maybe I am just too narrow minded, but I don't get the fascination with old vehicles. And why must we put them all in one small area and gather around them? I don't get it. And I think it's just going to be one of those things in life that continues to baffle me.

This is what I saw when I walked out the door (not to mention the large amounts of lawn chair people).

#194: I will never again take a washer and dryer for granted!

Today I did my laundry by hand. I figured that it would be much cheaper than going to the laundromat and better than wasting the gas to go to someone's house to do it. I mean...what did people do before there were washers and dryers? They washed things by hand!

Well let me tell you, this is no easy task! Not only is it back breaking work to bend over and literally scrub every article of clothing, it is ridiculously time consuming. I spent my entire day doing laundry. And then I had to figure out where to put it all. Apparently the shower rod won't hold 2 loads of sopping wet clothes. I did find a piece of wood out in the hall though, and made a make shift clothes drying hangy thing.

I have yet to decide if this will be a regular thing, or if it was just one of those things you think is a good idea, and then after tying it once you decide to NEVER do it again.

#193: Homeward Bound

After many long hours, another stop at Chick-Fil-A (unfortunately not pictured), about a hundred bathroom breaks and a speeding ticket....we made it home!!

#192: Rock Climbing and Pedicures

Since it was our last night there, we decided to get pedicures (well, Jenna got a manicure. A decision she is still regretting!! Poor Jenna). It was my very first pedicure ever. And...I think it would have been totally awesome, but my legs had all kinds of scratches and bruises for the days adventures. So while my toes look great, it was a very painful process!

#191: On Top of Pikes Peak!

After our long day of mountain climbing (okay, not seriously. We took the Cog train to the top!), we stopped at this fun little pizza place at the bottom of the mountain, Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately it wasn't Gordon Ramsay's. I was thoroughly disappointed (not in the pizza though. That was good).

#190: Windy Cavern tour, hiking Seven Falls, and day 2 of Chick-Fil-A

We got to tour a cave, called the Cave of the Winds. This was the lantern that we got to use throughout the tour, because the cave was in complete darkness. It was fun and interesting and we were the life of the party. Jenna thought that they were going to explain unsolved mysteries to us, but that didn't happen. There were some frightening moments when we weren't sure if we would make it out alive. But...since we were the main characters, we knew that we would be the ones walking out of the cave at the end. I miss those other people on our tour...

 Jenna made me take a picture of the picture we were supposed to purchase...

 We hiked up Seven Falls, and it was just absolutely gorgeous!

 Kristin saw some bear prints, but we never saw any bears. Sorry Kristin!!

 Some of the stairs going up. Ugh! It was such a high climb, and I was terribly frightened!

 The stairs going down to the bottom! Very steep!

Chick-Fil-A again. You can never have too much of it!

#189: Finally arrived

This is the view coming into the city. It was so amazing getting to see the mountains!

 We obviously had to get Chick-fil-A while we were there. And since we arrived in the morning, we were able to get some tasty chicken breakfast!

 We picked the perfect camping spot...right next to the babbling brook! It was so lovely hearing the brook at night as we slept. Oh, and not to mention a great place to store our cold food items, shave our legs and wash our dishes in!

Our home for the week!

#188: All packed up and ready to...work

I had to bring all of my camping stuff with me to work today. Unfortunately for me, I had to open and close this Sunday, and then we had an awesome (sarcasm here) meeting afterwards. I just want to go on vacation already!!!

#187: Why are blind people driving?

I'm having a hard time understanding the purpose of audio assistance for the visually impaired on a drive up ATM. I could understand having one on ATM's that are located in stores or on the street. But a drive up one? Makes me a little nervous...

#186: Everything is just...gone!

So, there was a ton of stuff in this hallway outside our apartment. There was a large dresser and table that Jessica and Seth left here when they moved out, there was boxes of stuff I wanted to sell in my garage sale, there were boxes of books from Danielle and Justin I was going to sell, and there was the grill and charcoal that they left us that I definitely wanted.
Well, I left to go to the store and when I came back everything was gone. EVERYTHING! I don't know who took or why. My guess is the girl across the hall tattled on us (She's known for doing that), and the landlord had people come take it all.

I'm glad to see some of it gone. But I had big tote boxes for storage that I needed to give back to someone. Lovely. Just lovely.

#185: Driving on a flat

Car update: Phil took the battery to wherever men take car batteries and was told that it was completely dead. Yay! We were hoping it was the battery and not something that was terribly expensive. He bought a new battery, put it in, and VOILA! The car works now.

Now for the tire that keeps going flat....

Phil took my dad's car to work, and I took our car for new tires. Of course, I had to put air in it before I got there. Anyway, I told the guy that we needed 2 new back tires. He said it would take about 45 minutes to an hour and that I could go shop if I needed (I was in Walmart). I needed to shop. Well, about 15 minutes later I got a page.
When I went back there the guy said "Your tires are brand new."
Huh?
That can't be.
I told him that the rear driver side tire always goes flat and that we have to fill it up almost every day. Then he found the culprit. A nail.
So instead of paying over a hundred dollars for new tires, we only paid $10 for them to repair our tire.

Praise the Lord! Seriously. God is so good. Our car problem was only a battery, and our tire problem was only a nail. We have almost a brand new car for about $114. That's way better than the alternative!

Thank you Lord for providing yet again!

#184: My nasty job

Okay, these pictures don't do it justice. After working for several hours at the store (when I have to move a million pieces of clothes around), my hands literally turn black. It's disgusting. And very difficult to get off. I seriously wash my hands at least 10 times while I'm at work.

As a side note: I'm looking for a new job. Something preferably not in retail. Maybe something that I went to school for, or maybe just something that I really enjoy. That'd be fantastic!