Not talking about raindrops on roses, or whiskers on kittens...

This week's episode of "How I Met Your Mother" featured Barney Stinson doing a rip on Oprah's Favorite Things, which caused me to think: "what were some of MY favorite things in 2010?"

(in no particular order)

Homemade Tortilla Chips

I have an addiction. And I've boiled it down to this: crispy carbohydrates. I love them. French fries, potato chips, tortilla chips. But these things tend to be fried and not exactly healthy for you... until I came across the idea to get corn tortillas, season them a bit, spray some cooking spray, bake for 13 minutes at 375, and voila! A healthy alternative for me to get my crunch on! One corn tortilla has less than a gram of fat, only 15 grams of carbs, and makes 8 chips. Dip in salsa, and it's all good. 

Non-fat Greek yogurt

Keeping with the healthy theme, I've been getting down on some of this stuff. Non-fat, otherwise the fully loaded kind is laden with bad stuff. But this is a great snack when you want something dessert-ish, and has double the protein of regular yogurt. Throw in a bit of crunched toffee bits for flavoring up plain yogurt, or buy the pre-fruited kind. 

iPhone 4
You already know about this. You either have one, want one, or don't care. I am in love with mine, and the various camera apps (namely, Hipstamatic and Instagram). 

AppleTV

I was skeptical about this product, but I love it. It's not for everyone, but it's been great for my particular needs. I eliminated cable TV altogether to save money, since I have my ways of downloading the TV shows I do watch anyway, and I can stream all my media (music, videos, pictures) from my laptop to my big-screen TV. I can watch one thing on my laptop while streaming another movie from my laptop to the AppleTV (and thus my living room). And it allows me to access Netflix streaming and YouTube as well. Pretty cool. 

2011 Hyundai Sonata SE
So I got a new car this year, and I'm pretty happy with the choice that I made. Not too flashy or expensive, but certainly has plenty of cool features and should serve me well as I go into my late 20s and early 30s. I think this car says "Ryan" more than my two previous trucks did. 

Camelbak water bottle

Upon recommendations from friends, this is the water bottle I decided to try and am so glad I did. It's caused me to up my water consumption like 10 fold, and I use it all the time, even forgoing the use of glasses in my own home. It's spill-proof, easy-to-sip from, and comes in various colors. 

Modern Family
A hilarious comedy. It's not saccharine-sweet like the Full House-type shows of the 90s (which I loved too), but it's got plenty of heart. The cast chemistry is perfect, the characters are all a joy to watch even when they're being silly, and it's definitely worthy of the Emmy Award for Best Comedy. 

Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells

One of the new things I've gotten that I use almost every day. Easily adjustable weights that go from 5 lbs to 52 lbs. Definitely glad I invested in these, so that I can workout in my room - seeing them right by my desk, I have no excuse to not get some sort of workout in daily. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda

I've had a man-crush this year, and it's this guy. It's not just "In the Heights" and the fact that he composed the music, wrote the lyrics, and freaking starred in it on Broadway and in the LA production (which I am SO lucky to have seen). He's just so talented! He's writing a new musical based off "Bring It On", a rap CD from the perspective of Alexander Hamilton (yes, the one shot by Aaron Burr), and in his recent wedding, he organized a rad thing at the reception to surprise his wife, wherein he and the wedding party did a choreographed number to "To Life" from "Fiddler on the Roof". Check out the YouTube video. 

Incredibly sweet, right? It's also what inspired me to write the speech that I did for...

Chris and Jordan's Wedding
I like weddings. I've had a good time at the few I've been to... but it's a whole other thing to be a part of one when it's not just one, but two of your closest friends uniting. Sure, it happens on TV a lot. But seeing it happen in real life, and seeing the expressions of love and joy on their faces...  it's a pretty beautiful thing. Inside I just kept wanting to go "awwwwww", but I had to stand still. Anyways, I'm super thankful to have been blessed by these two over the years, and it's also made me thankful for the little things from the past - such as MySpace and Spring Awakening - and reminds me to keep trusting in God's planning and timing. Because who knows what the little things from last week or tomorrow might bring?




And that sums up my 2010 Favorite Things. :) 

Starbucks Time + Old Memories

It's Coffeeshop Saturday!

I had to bring in my car to the Hyundai dealership to get some work done, and was told it would be a few hours. Knowing this in advance, I brought my trusty laptop, a book, homework, study aids, and water bottle and planned to just sit in the dealer's wait area and attempt to be productive.

And then as I drove to the dealer, I spotted the Starbucks directly across the street and thought "jackpot!" I needed food anyway, AAAAANNND (TM Jordan) I've been craving their caramel apple spice. As my cousin once stated (and I agree), "it's like melted Cinnabon in a drink!" Now if only there was a shot that fit this bill too...

Going through some old files on my laptop, I found old scripts I'd written back in high school. My senior year was 10 years ago - I still can't believe that... it's such a trip to read through things I'd written back in the day. I was a fan of the parody, apparently. This one script, for example, was for Drama class, and it was a group project. We needed to adapt a Shakespearean play, and ours was "As You Like It", and we ended up modernizing it and changed the names of the girls to "Romy" and "Michelle". It's very hilarious to read now, in that it's both intentionally funny but strangely juvenile from the perspective of a 26 year old, but the scripts I wrote always got A's. :)

Junior high English (8th grade specifically) was one of my favorite years though... My "big" script that year (which I no longer have, sadly) ended up being a kidnapping caper, but still had the parody aspect to it because it started off with a rip on "Unsolved Mysteries". That show freaked me out as a kid. I remember coming home from AWANA, and it'd be on TV with it's mysterious music, dark tales, and creepy host, who I named the narrator of my script after -- "Robert Pancakestack". The plot details escape me, I just remember they were preposterous but made for a fun time when the teacher assigned parts and we read them aloud in class. As the writer, I was always really nervous, but they always went over well with everyone - and the teacher, who gave me an A+...

Speaking of 8th grade memories, Brian McKnight's "Anytime" has been looping through my headphones. Loved that CD back in the day too!

Anyways - I think maybe I'll sign up for a playwriting class at Grossmont this semester. Depends on what the class schedule looks like, but mostly because the anatomy/physiology classes I want are already full. (The daytime ones aren't, but those won't fit with my work schedule, sadly.)

TOW Ry Became a Pott-head

It's Saturday night, approximately 5:45pm, and in half an hour, Team OSF will be picking me up and we'll be on our way to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1"!

I'm pretty excited. In past years, I tried fighting the whole Harry Potter phenomena. I didn't care to read the books, or want to see the movies. But I had no real reason to be anti-Potter, other than the sake of wanting to buck the popular trend.

Besides that, I'm not exactly known for seeing movies. And as for the films that I do see in theaters, I'm known for falling asleep during them. (I'm Ryan. Have you met me?) Although, I was pretty awake and engrossed in the last movie I saw, "The Social Network". Fascinating story and good performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake. (Though, like the SNL skit asked, when are you gonna make more music, JT? I just wanna dance!)

Anyways. Back to Harry Potter. Friends over the years have enjoyed them, my roomie (cousin Cheryl) has been a super-fan since the beginning, and so I've known bits and pieces and seen portions of the movies, but never got caught up in it or paid close attention. But seeing the trailer for HP7 got me intrigued. Gone was my perception of a kiddish fun wizard tale in Britain, as it was replaced by a darker grittier world of dark lords and sorcery (so my first impression of the trailer left me, anyways).

So last Friday, with one week until the 7th movie premiere, I thought "let's do this." I decided to watch all six previous films to catch up, and over the course of the week, I finished the challenge. And to celebrate Jordan finishing up her long paper for school, we soon depart for Fashion Valley to see Harry battle He Who Shall Not Be Named!

You think I'm pretty without any makeup on.

Song of the Blog: "Teenage Dream", by... ok, technically this song is by Katy Perry. I knew this song has been out there for awhile, I just never heard it because I don't listen to the radio and I don't really seek out the music of Katy Perry. And I was content living in a world where I didn't know all the words to it... but that ship has sailed. On this week's upcoming episode of "Glee", there will be a performance of the song - and I managed to download it early and now it's my new favorite thing. It's acapella, and hella catchy and fun. It's not even New Directions singing it - it's a rival guys academy glee club, and they're pretty fantastic.



I'm swooning a little bit. Just a little. I mean, the song is no "Awake My Soul" from Mumford and Sons, for example. It's definite fluff, but I love it. And dang, I really wish I'd joined an acapella group and/or glee club back in college! I was in the gospel choir for two quarters, but we never did fun contemporary numbers. I want to sing and sway - to quote Rachel Berry, "swaying in background can.be.fun!" :P

Anyways.

Saturday (11/6) was a good day. Got to spend the afternoon hanging with Chris, joining him on some errands, but then we grabbed an early dinner at Hooleys. I don't go to Hooleys too often, but I think I need to... good food, good drinks, good atmosphere. I had this Guinness BBQ chicken "pizza" that was on a potato pancake - it sounded interesting on the menu, so I went for it. Very delicious! Where can I get this Guinness BBQ sauce too?!? It paired up well with my Guinness pint, and based off a tip I read, we ordered the Guinness ice cream.... super delicious! Add some Heath toffee bits in there and I would be in bliss. Highly recommend trying these items if you visit Hooleys.

In the evening, I went solo to Lestat's to see my friend Saba perform a solo acoustic set. Haven't seen her perform a show in a few years. She's moved to LA and I haven't been as into the scene as I was back in 2004-2006, so it was rad to see her on stage again. She was the first one up, so after she was done, I met up with her and my other friends Pete and Cass at the Ould Sod down the block for drinks (Happy!Ry was out) and some fun hanging. Pete and Cass always make me smile, and it was just fun being out and chilling with friends, catching up, taking pics, and getting dating advice, haha...

Anyways, here's a show (full band set) of Saba's (from 2005!!!) that I recorded and uploaded to the Live Music Archive, if anyone wants to check out a live recording. I like her solo (softer) acoustic sets better, personally, but this is the set that I recorded with the help of Chris.

http://www.archive.org/details/saba2005-08-12.at831.shnf

Oh. Also, last night was Daylight Savings Time. I witnessed it! Well I was awake for it anyways, haha. We had been hanging at the Ould Sod for awhile, and when we left there was a truck making street tacos. Normally I don't stop by these trucks, but I guess the post-drinking munchies hit us. But these tacos? AMAZING. And only a dollar! Seriously, I would drive out there at night again just to get them. But it was almost 2am when we were eating out there. And then I got home and it was just after 1. Gotta love getting an hour back!

TOW The Marathon

TOW = The One With... it's a naming convention that the show "Friends" used when naming their episodes. Such as "TOW The Embryos"... "TOW (The One Where) Ross Finds Out"...

A brief history: so way back in 2009, when Chris and I first went on the 3hree 6ixty 5ive program he created, one of my goals for 2009 was to run a marathon, even though I hate running. 2009 came and went, and then I carried the goal into 2010. It started off well enough, since I joined Team in Training with my cousin and some friends and we got our months of training going. But then with two weeks before the race, I wasn't allowed to run in the Rock and Roll Marathon due to fundraising issues. It was starting to seem like another year would pass with the goal still remaining on my bucket list...

Then during the summer, I found out about the Long Beach Marathon and made that my new goal. I told my old roomie Ben about it, he was down to run it too (making it his first marathon), and in July we started the training process.

Well, he started training. Me... not so much. I was running, but not as often, and not nearly for as long. I think since my 20 mile run at the end of May, the farthest I've ran is 6 miles.

A full marathon is 26.2 miles... big difference. And more than 4 months have gone by since that 20 mile run. So yeah, not that prepared for Long Beach. But that wasn't going to stop me.

A week before the big day, I almost switched to doing just the half marathon, due to my lack of training. But I've already done an official half-marathon before. And since the goal was to complete a full marathon - I figured regardless of how unprepared I felt, "go big or go home."

So we got to the site and off we went... Ben's a good runner, and I wasn't going to try to keep up with him. I expected him to finish in 5 hours, and he did (4:53). So I did my own thing, starting off by walking really briskly so as not to burn off too much energy, and then doing the run/walk thing around mile 8.

The first half was fine. Mile 13 came around and I felt like I still had plenty of energy. I was hydrating at energy stations, eating the gel packs... got a second burst of energy when we ran through CSU Long Beach, as they had different student organizations there to cheer on the runners - I even got a high five! And even before then, because I was running in my Team in Training shirt, I was getting some thumbs-up and "GO TEAM!' cheers from other runners who've probably been affiliated with TnT before.

And then came the last six miles. By this point, my legs wanted to die. They were cramping, sore, energy was low and I was out of gel packs. Fewer crowds were around b/c I was in the back of the pack so the majority of runners had finished. So I was alone, and having to mentally push myself through... I was warned about this. You're physically drained, but you're not going to quit now, not when you're so close... I was exhausted, running alone, and the music from my headphones wasn't helping as much as before. My cousin (when she ran the Rock and Roll) experienced all that. She said she had gotten emotional and wanted to give up too. But some of her family was there to cheer her on from the sidelines (seeing them a few miles before the finish), and one of the TnT coaches was there too to give encouragement.

I didn't have any family or friends in Long Beach, so it added to the whole mental challenge -- that fight of wanting to give up and feeling empty but trying to push through. I felt so stupid, on the verge of breaking down, thinking that I all I wanted was to see my mom and just get a hug from the one who loves me most, blah blah blah... I knew I'd be physically tired, but I wasn't expecting all of that... it was so unexpectedly tough.

At the last mile marker, when I was at my lowest, two ladies came walking up and asked me I was ok. I said I was hanging in there, and they told me to join them. One of them had already finished, but she came back to help her friend finish - pretty awesome of her, right? And then of course doubly awesome that they'd stop to encourage me and tell me to stick with them, and just talk it out as we continued our slow march to the finish. That helped a great deal. Right before we got to the 26 mile marker, so with just .2 miles left until the finish line, Rita (the one who had already finished and had plenty of energy left) was all "alright Ryan, I know you've got a little more left in you, I want you to run to the finish."

I'm pretty sure I gave her a look that said "uhhh no" while I mustered out an "I can't..."
She'd say "yes you can, finish strong!"
I'd say "alright fine, I guess I'll try".
She said "no, don't try, you got this!"

And with that, I relented, thanked them both, and gave that last push to run towards the finish line, to the photographer waiting there, who prompted me to throw my arms up in celebration before snapping the shot.

Apparently it took me 45 minutes to finish those last two miles, and my final time isn't great (6:45, compared to my time for the AFC 1/2 Marathon back in August, where I finished in 2:30) - but I don't care. I finished! I met my goal, I got it done, I can cross the item off my bucket list, and count myself in the 1% of the world that's completed a marathon. :)

And I don't plan on doing another full marathon any time soon... next big run: the Carlsbad Half Marathon - the first of the Triple Crown events I plan to complete in 2011!

Marching On...

Lunch time blog entry time, as I sit alone... *

So yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Flood church. I've been going since 2004, I think, so I remember the old days at the College Avenue Baptist campus, and the later transition to the church's current home at Kearny High School. I don't think I've ever been at a church this long, especially one that I'd consider my own church.

The sentimentalist in me is thankful for Flood since it's brought good people into my life. (This is going to be a sappy blog, I know.)

But really. If it weren't for the Flood drama group back in 2004, I never would've re-connected with my old high school drama classmate Brittany, aka The Weez to my KD. And becoming friends with Brit and spending time at Disneyland and the start of TV Thursdays lead to me meeting and hanging out with her roommate Jordan, who would later become the illustrious TGO... Being a part of Flood drama also brought into my life Johannah - aka the "Jen" to my "Jack" (Dawson's Creek reference) - and all the laughter and scheming that we used to have... some of them including Brit, like the time I swore in front of her for the first time (epeatedly) due to a Johannah-scheme that involved me, or ditching church with Jo so that we could hang in PB (church was at night - but yeah, this still sounds horrible)... so never would I have guessed that these two girls from my high school would be such a big part of my 20s.

Knowing Johannah also played a part in me knowing Chris, and so did his being a part of Flood too. Having been a regular of the local coffeehouse show circuit back in 2004, I knew Chris' face. I was familiar with a number of faces actually. A lot of the same people went to the usual venues on a regular basis to see the usual bands and artists that played all the time, and so I started recognizing people, even if I was too introverted to say anything. Until I came across Chris' MySpace profile (all due to a comment he left on someone else's page) and read that he went to Flood - and because that one thing made him different from all the other music fans I saw around town, I made the bold (well, for me) move to say "hey what's up..." Of course, it would later turn out that Chris knew Johannah as well, and eventually the friendships solidified, and thankfully both are still around...

And of course, now there's Chris + Jordan... but I've waxed on about those two in various forms in recent weeks, so I'm quite spent when it comes to discussing my feelings on those two. ;)

Flood's had great ministries over the past 6 years that I've been in attendance - some of which I've been part of - and the worship there is like none other that I've ever experienced. But what I'm the most grateful for is the friendships that were formed and all the memories that were made and are still to come.

* disclaimer - blog started at lunch, finished at night b/c a friend ended up joining me at lunch

I'm not falling in love with ya...

You know how cheezy characters on TV sometimes hear a song and they say something like, "awww that's my JAM!" An example of this would be in Glee this season, where Will is sitting in his new car with Emma and then he turns on the radio and hears that Christopher Cross song, "Sailing"... and gets all excited because it's his "jam"...

Well, this is my jam (for the foreseeable future): Maroon 5's new song, "Give A Little More"... it's got a little bit of disco flavor to it, is hella fun to sing in the car, and makes me wanna dress up in a 70s outfit and go to the roller rink.

Was in Hollywood last night to see the band perform at the Greek Theater, and it was a blast. Drove up with my good friend Jess. We even had fake LA names too. So if I ever go out, my name is Riley Adam Davidson (I'm adopted). She was Hailey (didn't decide on a full name for herself). 

Maroon 5 played a fun set, with most of their songs coming from their first CD actually. My "jam" from the first CD was "She Will Be Loved" and they did that in a lovely stripped down version and got the audience to harmonize at the end. Rocked out to "Give A Little More", complete with disco ball dropping down from the middle of the stage. Wish they'd played more from their new disc, since I love it, and they only did three, but the CD did just come out so the audience wasn't as loud for the new songs (not as familiar yet) as they were for the old hits. Next tour, maybe. 

Two other highlights from the show:

During One Republic's set (who I now love a lot more - really good live) - they did a medley of Bill Withers' "Stand By Me", The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army", and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack"... it was pretty rad. 

And then right before Maroon 5 came out, special guest Jason Segel (of How I Met Your Mother!!!) came on and sang while on the piano. He did the song from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (where his character wrote a musical about Dracula), and an original song about hooking up with Maroon 5 fans after the show, even providing a "his" phone number. That song was kinda dirty, actually. Haha. I'm sure you can YouTube that if curious... 

The Week of Free Things

Well, that might be an overstatement, but there were two occasions where free things were bestowed this week, and they were pretty freakin' fantastic.

WEDNESDAY - "In the Heights" with Sarah!

As has been clearly stated in this blog, "In the Heights" is my current favorite thing. I had already seen the show twice, and the tour was having its final SoCal stop with a two week stay in Costa Mesa. Which is just a hop and a skip (no jump needed - it's pretty close) to my friend Sarah, who lives in the OC. So we texted about it, and she was interested in seeing it, so it was all a matter of what day would I drive up that would work out for both of us.

At first, there was no good evening. Our schedules and plans just weren't gelling, and we were about to call it a day and say it wasn't in the cards. Then on Wednesday, I found out that I could do Thursday night after all. She replied that so was hers, but also her Wednesday was free now too, if I wanted to drive up that same day/evening... and you know me, always down for things. 

I drove up after work and traffic wasn't that bad once you got past Carlsbad. And I've been in cautious-save-gas-by-driving-at-60mph mode for awhile now, but made it to Sarah's to pick her up and then get us to the theatre with 15 minutes to spare. The plan was to buy last-minute rush tickets, which are basically any open seats left (usually in the balcony) sold at half off, but you have to pay in cash.

I had no cash. And the ATM at the venue? Broken.

We walked to the box office, thinking things weren't looking good, but we were gonna try our luck and hope that maybe they'd accept a debit card? That's basically like cash, right? So we stand in line, hoping for the best, and then we get directed to the next available ticket window. As we make our way, a very kind lady (who I will describe as 50+ something who likely goes to theatre/art exhibits on a regular basis and probably drives a Mercedes-Benz) approached us.

LADY: Excuse me, were you two going to buy tickets?

ME: (unsure of where this was going) Yup.

LADY: Well here (hands us two tickets). They're yours.

(Sarah and I look puzzled.)

Apparently the very kind lady was there with a big group, and they ended up with a few extras, and rather than sell them, she told us to take them and enjoy the show. And mind you, she still had time to sell them. We looked at the tickets, and they were Orchestra Row M. Which is pretty damn awesome. (Sidenote: I think that should be the new reverse-abbreviation for PDA. 'Cause the other PDA? Just get a room, folks.) Sarah and I were floored, and so thankful for this kind lady's generosity. 

The seats were truly incredible. You could see the expressions on the actor's faces! The show already has good energy and fun as it is, but I think the great seats made for an even better first-experience for Sarah, who seemed to really enjoy it and later asked me for the soundtrack. 

When this show closes on Broadway, I'd love to be there! 

SATURDAY/SUNDAY - America's Finest City Half Marathon!

I woke up on Saturday morning to find a Facebook message from someone I didn't know. I opened it and she introduced herself as a friend of another friend of mine, and that she heard from the friend that I was a runner. Turns out she had a race bib for Sunday's AFC 1/2 Marathon, but was no longer able to run it, and she was trying to sell it, and thought I might be interested. I thought about it, but texted her back to say that I needed to save money, and so I wished her luck in selling it. 

Again, she still had time to go on craigslist and sell it. But a few hours later I got a text message from her, saying if I would run it, it was mine to have. Now this needed some thought. I haven't been running as much since the end of May - barely once a week, and 4 mile runs at that. I've been focusing more on strength training and weights. Also, I'd need to carbo load the rest of the day and sleep early, but had Chris' man-bath to attend still. I was really unsure... and then I figured, "go for it - it might take you three hours, but you've run up to 20 miles before - you can do this."

I replied that I'd be happy to run in her place, and thanked her for offering. Picked up the race bib in 4S Ranch where she works, and then started the prep: lots of water and carbs for the rest of the day, and going to bed before 9pm. Which I managed to do! Woke up at 4:30, got myself ready to go, drove to Balboa Park where we were then shuttled down to the Cabrillo Monument, and at 7:00, off we ran! 

The course wasn't flat - there were some uphills (both at the beginning and especially at the end) and downhills (at the beginning), but the course was even once we got to the 4 mile marker. We ran by the airport, Spanish Landing, along Harbor and through downtown, before heading uphill on 6th Avenue to get to Balboa Park. I kept a pretty good pace in the middle - it takes awhile for my body/legs to warm up, so I'm slower at the beginning, and then of course tired at the end. Could definitely feel the blister starting to erupt on my right foot. But I passed the 12 mile marker and got my game face on. A little before that point, my iPod Shuffle was playing "When You're Home", from "In the Heights", which has a part where they keep repeating the Spanish phrase, "No pare! Sigue, sigue!" Which translates into "don't stop, keep going, keep going!" I thought that was very appropriate and motivating to keep on charging towards the finish line. And once I could see the finish line in the distance, I changed up the song to play the last minute of "Finale" from the show, as it's very climactic and I wanted to finish my run with that happy ending music blasting through my headphones. 

Official final time -- 2:37:50! I really thought I'd finish in three hours, so I'm super stoked about my time. I have the 4 mile run with Pete, Ben, and perhaps a few other friends at the end of this month, and Ben and I are both registered for the Long Beach Marathon in mid-October. Now to seriously get my butt in gear for that one - 26.2 or bust! 

Me with my latest piece of racing "bling" - AFC Half Marathon 2010! 

Six on Saturday

1. Song of the Week: "Finale", from "In the Heights"

My raving about this show continues, as a new song from the soundtrack has grabbed my attention. (Sidenote - I find this to be a sign of a great CD, as "Spring Awakening" and Jimmy Eat World's "Clarity" both had this quality, where you keep listening to the CD because something new grabs you each time.) It really ends the show well, as Usnavi concludes his character's emotional arc and everyone comes together. The blending of the voices in the beginning, as each character sings their own line(s) at the same time really stands out. And I have a new favorite line, as he realizes where his home is - "but with patience and faith, we remain unafraid - I'm home!" I love Lin-Manuel Miranda. Between this show, seeing his freestyle rapping, fun videos on YouTube, and appearance on "House" last season, I wish we were g's. I think I can call him the male version of Lea Michele for me (but in a "bromance" way).

2. I get to see RENT at the Hollywood Bowl tonight! With an all-star cast directed by Neil Patrick Harris, I'm super stoked to see one of my favorite musicals. (If only they did an all-star Spring Awakening show.... with Lea and Jon reprising their roles, of course.)

3. I'm going back to school. Enrolled in two classes at Grossmont, and waitlisting another. I'll be studying anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology. Classes will run after work, but luckily I have a friend (Suzy) taking them with me. Though we do have a certain idea of where we'd like to go with these classes, this is just getting our feet wet and back into the swing of being in classes again... like I heard in a message at Mosaic SD recently, you may not know where Point B is or how to get there, but you can't just sit in the parking garage waiting for the complete set of directions... sometimes you need to take the initiative, start driving, and trust God to move you in the right direction and to correct any wrong turns you might make along the way.

4. I'm going to be an uncle!!!

What's this, you say? I'm an only child? ... Yeah, true story. But my five closest cousins (all siblings - one of whom is my roommate) are the closest thing I have to siblings, since we all grew up together... and the oldest just called me to let me know he's going to be a father. It's exciting, and I'm so happy for them. He even said over the phone that I'll be an uncle in 5 months... wow. It'll be very cool to have a little one around. And thankfully my own parents aren't in "we want to be grandparents!!!!" mode yet. I think the TGO wants me to have a kid more than my own parents do, actually... but "Operation: LFB" (Little Filipino Babies) is on hold until further notice.

5. I hate being lactose-intolerant. Especially when you're not aware a product is loaded with lactase...

6. Alcohol-Free August!

My buddy Pete and I both made a pact to remain alcohol free until the 29th, which is when we're doing the Fire Run (4 miles). I kinda mentioned I might do it, he said he was thinking about doing it too, and then we both decided that abstaining will help us reach our fitness goals a little better. Of course, I had to choose a month where there's two birthdays going down, and where one of them is having a pub crawl to celebrate... but we got this, we got this...

Please Don't Go

Hmmm, if I were to do a "Song of the Week" type of thing here... then this week's song would probably be Mike Posner's "Please Don't Go".

It makes me wanna hit the clubs.

But... I don't have clubbing friends. So that kinda sucks.

Guess I'll just have a dance party in my room then.

"No pare, sigue, sigue!"

In my previous blog post, I stated that I may have a new favorite musical: "In the Heights".

Being such a bold statement, I'm not making it official yet. I mean, I've seen "Spring Awakening" six times over the last two years, and plan on seeing it at least once when it returns to LA this spring. Perhaps twice, if I can score on-stage seats - which is a completely different and amazing experience. (And if you're Ashley, you were sooooo spoiled that your first time seeing SA was from on stage.)

But this post is about the wonderful show that is "In the Heights".

ITH is a present-day musical set in a Latino suburb of Manhattan, chronicling three days in the lives of a close community as they pursue their dreams and grapple with this idea of "home" and what it means to them. The contemporary score is infused with Latin, salsa, and hip-hop influences, and the choreography reflects this as well.

If you want to know more about the show, there's a PBS documentary on YouTube (in six parts) that does a really amazing job of showcasing the original cast members and their journey to get this show off the ground. I saw this before seeing the show itself, and it made me care about these people and I was able to appreciate their efforts even more. If you have 10 minutes, watch this clip below, and if you're sucked in (like I was), watch the next 50 online as well.

Two reasons why I love "ITH":

The Story

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to storytelling. Take two of my favorite shows, for example. I know some friends who adore "Rent" and others who are kinda turned off by the plot. Same goes for "Spring Awakening" - they'll say the music is great, but aren't particularly impressed by the story. To each their own, of course. But I love "ITH" and these characters.

In my previous post there was the song called "Breathe", and I was quickly drawn to the character of Nina and able to relate to her. What do you do when you have all these hopes and expectations placed on you by your family and community, but you find yourself struggling to meet them and things don't go according to plan? I've been there. Nina had to find her way through her particular situation (dropping out of Stanford), and I could relate to her journey (though my school was different and I didn't drop out).

The other story themes I relate to concern how to maintain your cultural heritage when you're removed from the homeland. The lead character's (Usnavi) parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic (but he was born in NYC); similarly, I was born in SoCal but my parents came from the Philippines. And while they have strong ties still and aren't going to forget their native country, I'm thinking now about what being Filipino means to me - since I never really did - and what parts of my heritage will I carry on with me when I eventually start a family.

Finally, "ITH" has a good deal of humor and fun to it, and I was very pleased with the ending... it's not big and schmaltzy (which is something I could see being said about "Wicked") nor is it dark and bittersweet ("Rent" / "SA").

The Music

"SA" was rocking out to a Duncan Sheik soundtrack - jumping up and down with youthful exuberance (fitting, as the characters are teens)... And "ITH" is grooving to a score that's more at home on a dance floor. And I can roll with both styles. :) Both have their "typical musical" numbers (i.e. slow and sweeping with some emotional climax), but as a whole, their soundtracks are distinctly different. I really dig the freestyling that goes on too - that style doesn't take over the soundtrack either. It's balanced really well, and Lin-Manuel Miranda seems like such an awesome fun talented guy. Here he is, doing a parody of a song from "High School Musical 2" that cracked me up - and if you watch it, you'll see a neat little cameo from "Jesse St. James"...

Anyways - every time I saw "SA", I picked up something new that made me appreciate that show even more. So we'll see what happens when I see "ITH" again this week. I'll go by myself, but hopefully get some friends/family to come out and see it.

Potential Blasphemy Ahead

Ready? Here it goes.

I think I might have a new favorite musical.

Yes, that means even more than "Spring Awakening"...

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

More thoughts on this later, as it's time to sleep. But needless to say, I'm super stoked that I got to see this in Hollywood earlier this evening.

New favorite song from the show: "Breathe". This clip features original Broadway cast member Mandy Gonzalez, whose voice is phenomenal. Favorite part: the stretch of video starting after the 2:00 minute mark...

These are a few of my favorite things...

And no, I'm not talking about raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens either.

In the Heights

So I've known about this show for awhile now... it won the Tony Award for "Best Musical" the year after Spring Awakening took home the same honor. But all I really knew about it was that it took place in the barrio and had a modern soundtrack with hip-hop/salsa/samba orchestrations. Took me two years to finally see a performance of it on TV, and it was last night on "Lopez Tonight". And I was blown away. Looks like such a fun show! I did more research and found more YouTube videos about the creation of the show, as well as watching their Tony Awards performance. I love seeing the passion and joy in the performers, and I really wish I'd been blessed with those talents of being a triple threat (sing/dance/act). If I did, boy, a career in musical theatre is what I'd want to pursue.

Anyways - here's the video of their "Lopez Tonight" performance:

STELLLLAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

So, about two weeks ago, I traded in my trusted old Toyota Tundra truck for a new Hyundai Sonata SE. The truck wasn't dying on me quite yet, but was always having a new expensive issue whenever I brought it in for an oil change, had a lot of miles (130K) and was a killer on the MPGs. I started doing my research on 4 door sedans that had great MPG ratings and that had a good combo of price/features/looks... and I found it all in the car you see below. That's my sleek sexy Stella. :) Happy birthday to me!

The Week That Was

After a particularly good week, I feel it appropriate to write about it... so that in a year or two or three, I can stumble across this blog randomly and remember the good times that were had.

THE AGENDA

Sometime last Sunday (6/20), I took a look at the prospective week ahead and wrote it down on the white board above my desk, so that I'd be motivated to do those things and so I wouldn't forget... allowing myself a day off on Monday to be at rest, it seemed that a busy week (outside of work) lay ahead.

Sunday

Sunday started off with going to Mosaic, which I'm really enjoying. Two of my growth group brothers go, and everyone else is super friendly, and the messages and worship are both well-done and in ways that speak to me. Had an early dinner with the parents for father's day, and then went back to Flood, again meeting up with some of the guys. I've always heard that there's a joy that comes in being able to experience church within community, and I'm definitely starting to feel that. And it's so great to tangibly experience God's love and grace through others, especially when those are things that He calls us to do, and to know that my brothers are living those qualities out and to consider them friends, it makes me feel blessed.

Monday

I rested. I ran. :)

Tuesday: The Casbah

My friend Gayle Skidmore is a local musician in San Diego, and she was playing at The Casbah as the first opening act. When I got her Facebook invite to go, I thought "sure, I'm down for the cause." I went down there by myself and was so impressed with her sound. I've seen her before, and known she's such a talented girl, but I definitely think she's grown as an artist and musician. She rocked that joint, and even though she was the opener, the audience called for an encore and got it. Many props to her and the band, and I can't wait for her CD release show - I'm sure she'll blow the roof off!

Wednesday: Flood worship

One of the things Flood does extremely well is worship... our church is so blessed to have not just one amazing regular house band, but two. And on Wednesday, Pat Little led us in a time of acoustic worship while a guest pastor came in and led us in prayer for the ministry opportunities coming up and in giving thanks to God for what He's done in our lives. My coworker Vicki came along too, since I'd mentioned it at work, and we joined the guys. (And Vicki, if you read this, Kyle told me that he so appreciated the Bible passage in Matthew that you recommended.)

Thursday: Comedy night

Cho, one of my brothers from the growth group, invited me out to join some peeps at The Comedy Palace over in Clairemont Mesa. I met up with them and while the humor contained stuff that some friends would find offensive/uncomfortable, it was a pretty fun time. You can't take things so super seriously, and as Cho pointed out, God invented humor and laughter, and when we get to heaven He'll be able to tell us jokes that will have us laughing our asses off.

Friday: Goo Goo Dolls

I've always wanted to see them, but never have, so when Ashley proposed that we go see them in concert, I thought "deal!" I picked up her and her friend Ali and drove us out to Alpine, as they were actually playing in a theatre at Viejas Casino. And for a group of "old" rockers, they were fantastic. They played their hits and had us rocking out to the songs we didn't know. We did have an issue with this eccentric older lady, who was there by herself, quite obviously a little more than tipsy and wearing this large fur boa. Those of us in the audience around her called her "Squirrel Girl". Poor Ashley and Ali could only take so much! I just gave terse smiles and nodded along when she tried talking to me... so we eventually moved away from her, as she made new friends (to annoy). But as for the band, the highlight was definitely "Iris". I was able to record most of it too, thanks to my new phone's video capabilities, and the whole audience was singing along... good times.

Saturday: Pasadena

And now we're at the end of the week, with my day trip to the LA area.

I'm back home at midnight, and wanting to write about it, so that definitely means I enjoyed today immensely.

Last week, Cho mentioned wanting to get a group together to visit the Pasadena International House of Prayer (PIHOP). You might be thinking what I thought too, when I first heard of it...

"Jigga wha?"

He'd visited this place a few months ago, and felt incredibly blessed by their ministry. Basically, you visit this church, people pray outloud for you but you haven't told them a thing about yourself (prophetic prayer), and then you go home and within a week you receive an mp3 email with their prayer for you (because they record).

That little blurb doesn't do it justice. Because when I heard the Cliffs Notes description, I was still skeptical. Having people listen to what God is telling them and letting them prayer over you is not something I've experienced or heard much about. But Cho felt extremely blessed by it, and talked about how God spoke through those who administered the prayers and that he would listen to the recording weeks later and still see how God was working.

I decided to go and to keep an open mind, and so we met at Cho's place and he drove our group of 8 in a minivan. Included in this group was another one of my growth group brothers, Dan, as well as Liberty, who is another friend of Cho's that I just met a few days prior. The drive to LA included traffic of course, but we had some fun conversation and games.

A few random highlights of the drive:

I now know why a guy would kill his friend over a bowl of albatross soup.

I learned what can and cannot pass through the green glass doors.

The car learned that I think it'll be at least 60 years before we see an Asian president.

Elliot (Cho's cousin) really can't relate to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast".

Our first stop was at this "all-you-can-eat" Korean BBQ place in the Koreatown part of LA. And it was only $10 a person. And it was the bomb. I've been to one other KBBQ place and that was down here in SD, and it cannot compare to the awesomeness of this place. The meat just kept on coming! The side items were good too, and we got to enjoy it all while watching the US lose to Ghana in the World Cup... despite the loss, it was a good time.

We hung around LA a bit, walking along the shops on Melrose Ave before killing some time at The Grove (hella nice outdoor shopping center). Then we took off for Pasadena to PIHOP. After we arrived at 6pm and signed up, we had more time to kill, so we played frisbee on the sidewalk. Like right by the busy street. And we learned that the girls could kick the boys butts.

So at 7pm is when things start at PIHOP. How it worked was you signed up on a list, and they would take about five people at a time into another part of the building, and each person would meet up with a smaller group of PIHOP prayer leaders. In the meantime, there's worship being led by an acoustic guitarist and a drummer in a waiting area. And there was a good # of people waiting, so while you wait to be brought to the back, you get to sit and worship.

I don't think I was brought over for prayer until around 8:15, so I was sitting around awhile, but the worship never stopped. It was continuous, and it was a good way to set our hearts ready. Once I was in the back, I first sat down with one group. They welcome you, they start the recording (a handheld minitape device), and then you kinda wait... and really, they're just praying silently first and listening to what the Holy Spirit moves them to say, and they pray it out loud as it comes. And they're not saying anything weird or making predictions about what you'll be doing in the future, or telling us to do things either. But it ends up being offering prayers of encouragement that happen to be specifically for me. And like I mentioned, they know nothing about you, except for your name. You sit with one prayer group for a few minutes, and then you move to another set of prayer leaders who follow the same. I can't wait to get the email of the recording so I can re-listen, because some things don't make sense right away, and I especially need to think things through and process it. But when I was finished and returned to the worship/waiting area, I took out my phone and jotted down these quick thoughts that the second group gave me:

You are like Timothy. Though you may have felt disappointment and let down by others, including people you've looked up to, and not just father figures but mentor figures, God wants you to know that not only will He not let you down, but He will provide others in your life to walk with. Much like Timothy had Paul as his mentor, God is preparing you for a similar relationship as well. And in all this, the Lord seeks to raise you up, calling you to bask in His grace so that you can find healing and become the warrior that He's designed you to be.

It's a paraphrase (which is why I can't wait for the recording), but that whole time with the second group, I felt something. I can't remember everything now, but the things they were led to say are things that I needed to hear. When we all got back together in the van, everyone else recounted their own unique experience too, so it wasn't like the different prayer leaders just said the same things to different people. Some even received metaphors that perfectly fit their life circumstance. And the first group sensed that I had just moved to a new place, and that this time with my roommate would be a time of building a stronger bond. Like I said, everything they lifted up to God was just words of encouragement that they felt led by the Holy Spirit to say.

Anyways - if you read all this, cool. I'm tired now. I'm up past 1am writing this and I'm doing it for me, because I don't want to forget and because this whole week but today especially has been a blessing. And I'm so thankful for the ways that the Lord is working and moving, not just in my life, but in those new friends that I was able to spend some time with this week.

Mosaic

Thought of the day, thanks to today's morning service at Mosaic San Diego --

Mosaics are often made of small broken colored shards of glass... in the darkness, it's not much to look at, but when brought to the light, they're often beautiful.

And each of us, we're all like mosaics... born into a broken world, we're all broken in our own different ways. And it's when we admit to our brokenness and allow God's light in our lives that we can start to shine and be what He created us to be.

Choice

Random thoughts/reflections before heading to bed.

Every day we're confronted with choices. Some are simple, and some are complex. Sometimes you end up fighting your natural inclinations when confronted with a decision that you need to make. Do you take the easy path, the one where you know the outcome? Or do you take a risk and choose the less comfortable option, putting your faith to the test?

"If a moment is the gate through which your divine journey begins, then choice is the key that unlocks the adventure."

Six on Saturday

Yes, I am again cribbing from the TGO's blog.

1. I ran 16 miles today. My legs were pretty much dead for the last two miles, and so I walked them (like... really slowly), but I got it done. Coach Ronnie asked how I was feeling, and I mentioned that I hadn't had a long run in three Saturdays, and my last run period was last Sunday (for the Carlsbad 5K). He told me that the lack of training this week just threw me off rhythm, and it's not a big deal and that I can shrug it off as a bad day. Although, 16 miles on a bad day is still cool -- because who does that on a regular day, right?

2. While on those 16 miles, I had to amuse myself. That's a long time that we're not allowed to wear headphones or have mp3 players. (This is because we're not in an official race, but training on the streets, so we need to be aware of our surroundings). I ended up making a Taylor Swift parody (?) to her hit "You Belong With Me", but from the perspective of a guy singing to a girl... (And no, I'm not a Taylor fan, but darnit, this song was all over the place and is catchy.)

You're at the bar with your boyfriend, you're upset

'Cause he ignores you for all his friends that you've met

He doesn't appreciate you like I do

You're dropping hints that you're ready to go home

But he's drunk and he is talking in loud tones

He doesn't think about you like I do

But he wears jerseys, I wear polos

He's into beer pong, and I play piano

Writing out a song that expresses exactly how I feel inside

So I'm singing out now

If you could see that I'm the one who'll be there for you

Do the things you like

So why don't you know

That your man's a schmo

That your man's a schmo

And when I got to that point, I thought that was enough ridiculousness for the day. And so I moved on to focusing on the cute girl running in front of me... (Just kidding.)

3. This is my medal and bib from the Carlsbad 5k. Pretty cool, yeah? I feel.

4. My delicious dinner at Hash House, where I was with The OSFs and some of Chris' family. This was a mashed potato and bacon burger. They know how to serve you up at this place, that's for sure. I ate half and saved the other for tomorrow. It was filling, and I didn't wanna stuff myself completely. Plus, Jordan's trying to get me to lose, and I gotta stay strong.

5. Apparently I have guns. Or am starting to have guns. As in my arms. I say this because I caught up with some friends tonight that I hadn't seen in a few months, and the three girls were all "whoa, you are looking buff!" Then they asked me to flex my biceps. And I did. And they felt them. And they said "oooooooh"... And then we moved on and chatted about real things... And then when our time was over and we had to split up, we all hugged and they asked me to flex one more time. I obliged, and they felt me up. It was just a funny moment to me, as this has never happened.

6. This video is one of the reasons I love Lea Michele. If only we had gone to see her at this cabaret before "Glee" had taken off! Now an intimate event like this with her there will never happen... But still, she amazes me, and this song from Spring Awakening reminds me and re-affirms my love of the show.

Free Concert!

So I haven't been to many concerts this year, and it's already mid-April. It's a little sad... I feel like by this point last year, I'd been to at least 8. This year, I've been to one, and that was for my bro-date with Chris to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. And I probably would've missed out on that one if it weren't for the fact that it was part of his Christmas present to me.

But I was at a free radio station concert this past Monday. I guess I don't consider it a "real" concert since it was a non-ticketed event put on by Sophie 103.7 in a (nice) bar/lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel. I found out a few days before the event that Kris Allen was having a free show, and that Sara Bareilles was opening.

Two artists I already really like, and it's free? Heck yes, I'm there! I was bummed to miss out on my Monday night hill run, but it was worth it. I went with Weezy -- and just so that any readers are clear, Weezy = Brittany, but I always tend to refer to her as Weezy. (And I'm KD. But that's another story.) We took the trolley down, expecting downtown to be crazy because it was opening day at Petco Park (the Padres won), but it was an afternoon game, and the concert was at 8. So we would've been better off driving ourselves. Lesson learned: check the time if there's a game.

Sara went on first, and she played a short four song set. I've seen her before though, and I really think she's incredible. Great vocals, catchy tunes, good stage presence and banter with the audience. But it was nothing new, I'd heard all those songs before. (But don't get me wrong - if she comes back and it's relatively inexpensive, I'm there.)

But I was positively blown away by Kris. I was a fan of his on American Idol last year, and you betcha I was voting for him. Not just because I was turned off by Adam's theatricality/vocals and didn't want him to win, but because Kris' style appealed to me. Since I started getting into music/concerts in 2004, I've been a fan of the acoustic singer/songwriter types. And I loved his song choices and arrangements on the show, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy on stage (humble and having fun).

Kris hasn't blown up on the radio though, and while I have his CD downloaded, I hadn't listened to it yet, save for the one single. So I really wasn't sure what to expect. But he got on stage for an acoustic set with one of friends accompanying him, and he had us with him the entire time. They may not have been shredding on electric guitars or had a drummer, but they rocked out plenty to some of his originals and some fun covers too.

Here's a video clip of him singing MJ's classic (with a good message at that), "Man in the Mirror"...

And here's one of his originals from his self-titled CD, called "The Truth"...

Not exactly rocking out songs that I chose to share here, but these were two of my faves... and I'll admit, I was man-crushing a little bit throughout the show. No wonder girls fall for guys with guitars! I should pick mine up again... anyways, I do have another "official" concert in the works though. I've got another bro-date with the OSF around the end of the month - heading up to LA to see a band he introduced me to called Sleeping at Last. Very stoked about getting to see them (as they're not coming down to SD), and it'll be cool to have a mini-road trip with one of my best friends since he's getting all hitched soon. (You take care of my man, TGO!)

On the drive back, I'll think it through...

There's been one little trend in my recent blogging habits -- I tend to blog on Sundays and Wednesdays. I came to this realization while on my drive back from today's little trip, and then I also remembered that today is Wednesday... so what better time to share about the day's mini-trip to the OC!

[makes the letters with his two hands]

Ok, so I was never really good at making letters/signs with my hands. But true story -- I did drive up to the OC today. Lake Forest, to be exact, and I hung out with Sarah. Totally unplanned and random, but I'm glad with how the day went. Here's how it went down...

I was sitting at work, feeling discontent with life and wanting something to liven things up. I need to take some time off, but going on a trip isn't something I can splurge on at the moment. (Didn't help that my cousin gets to visit Europe for two months with his girl, and on her parents' dime.) And I'm still liking my marathon training (both running and weight lifting) and have been consistent, but now we're midway through the season and I'm feeling the repetitiveness (they warned us). So when the afternoon hit, I was in "I need to get out of SD" mode. Figured a drive might do some good.

Drive south? No... I have no passport. And what would I do in Mexico? I'd be kinda scurred.

Drive east? No... there's a whole lotta nothing until I get to maybe Calexico/Mexicali? And again, what would I do over there. Maybe I'll save that for another adventure.

Drive north? ... ... "Sure! I know peeps north of the San Diego county border," is what I reasoned.

I immediately thought of two friends I've missed hanging out with, and Sarah was one of them. Wasn't sure if she'd be free to hang, but she was. She did question me being able to drive up on a "school night", heh. But after I responded with a "that's how I roll", she proposed we see the movie "Date Night" and grab a bite to eat. I responded, "Perfect!" And off I went.

Traffic sucked, but I made it up there in good time. We grabbed a bite to eat at In-N-Out, and then caught the movie. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud hilarious as I was expecting, but it was still a funny movie. I knew nothing about the storyline, so I was surprised with how it went down, but it worked. I give it a solid B+. And I was awake the entire time! Like a solid alertness. If you've seen a movie with me, you know this is a feat in itself.

So I was very stoked with the outcome of my spontaneous decision to drive up for the evening. It was great to see Sarah, since San Diego misses her. But it looks like her, Bethany, and I (and hopefully we can rope more friends to join us) will be heading on a karaoke outing when Sarah comes down for her next visit. With her love of singing (and great voice) and me being Filipino, it's a wonder we've all never hit up a karaoke bar already, haha...

On the drive back, I was listening and rocking out, singing to that Lady Antebellum song. You know how it goes. "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now..." It's a fun one to sing even when you're sober. And then I started thinking... this little road trip stemmed out of my present longing for something to stir in me again. I've had certain thoughts brewing for awhile now, and I've wondered where they were coming from... is it me, or is God trying to tell me something?

So I turned off the music and sat there driving in relative peace, and started a half listening/half prayer thing...

"So I await the words that You say

I open my life, I am longing just to hear these words

That You say, That You say..."

And what came to me was that even though I may be scared to pursue something -- I don't need to be. We may look at ourselves and see how we fall short in certain things, but I think God looks at us differently. Like it goes with any loving parent -- your child may disappoint, anger, and frustrate you at times, but yet you love them fiercely and when you look at them, you see all the potential in the world and all the possibilities for their future. And I was thinking how God's the same way... He gave us the ability to dream, and He will help us out. We just need the courage to ask, and to seek in Him both the strength to follow through and the humility to keep ourselves grounded and thankful for what He's done.

Having thought of that tonight, and feeling certain that He was the one that planted this seed that's been in my mind for the past few weeks and allowed it to grow... I think I know what I want to be doing in the fall. Granted, this will require planning and research, but I'm game to start the process. I want to go back to school, and if I can, then hopefully achieve my second bachelors degree (biology). And if that goes well...

I wasn't ready for this back when I was a college freshman, but I'm ready now.

I want to start studying to become a doctor.

On a Sunday, I'll think it through...

The title for this blog entry is the name of one of my fave Jimmy Eat World songs... but has nothing to do with the song. I just wanted to jot down some reflections on today, tis all.

IT WAS AWESOME! =)

Act 1: Carlsbad 5K

Got up there just in time to meet up with Pete, who had his family there to cheer him on, and my old roomie Ben. The three of us gathered together at the start line, and off we ran! We all pretty much made our goal times. Ben finished in at just about 26 mins, Pete in an even 28:00 (when he hoped for 29), and I clocked in at 29:39 - just under 30, which is what I was hoping for! I tried to give it all I had, which needed to include a few walks to catch my breath, but this race marked another improvement (pace-time wise) from my previous run (new pace 9:33 min/miles vs 11:06 min/mile). After I caught up with the guys at the finish line, we got our t-shirts and went to the beer garden. Because apparently that's what you do at these things: you run a good distance, you treat your liver to some alcohol... Cassandra snapped a pic of us guys with our beers in hand, and I hope that pic soon to commemorate a fun run. There were professional photographers taking pics of all the runners during the race too, and I hope those get posted online during the week.

Act 2: Oggi's Pizza

After the race, I wanted to treat Ben out for some pizza. Post-run is a good time for that usually unhealthy meal, heh. Plus it was his birthday a few days ago. So the two of us former roomies went down to Oggi's Pizza and shared our usual pepperoni. Definitely miss hanging with the dude, as he's always been a stand-up guy and one of the very few that I could always be real and raw with.

Act 3: Coffee with Matt

After I got home/showered, I went over to Linda Vista and had coffee with my growth group leader (Matt) at a little shop by the Flood campus. He was my prayer partner for the week, so we caught up on the latest hap's and discussed life... I'm liking being in growth group this time around. It's still a little hard to break down my walls and talk sometimes (although I did manage to give my personal story last week), but I know it's something I need to keep trusting God to work in and through the group.

Act 4: Flood with Jess

Straight after coffee, I met up with Jess and her cousin Camille in the Flood parking lot. Chatted it up a bit and went inside for the service. Once I saw the piano on stage, I knew that The Gate Called Beautiful was likely leading worship - and they were. It was a good service - worship was awesome, and the service marked the beginning of a new series called "Touch: Real Sex in an Artificial World". Earlier in the week, another friend of mine saw the name of the series, and she kinda gave me a look, like "mmmmhmmmm..." But the fact is, sex is a big part of the culture we live in and regardless of one's age or marital status, the Bible does have lessons to learn on how we should view our sexuality. Thankfully, Adam (our speaker) didn't just throw down the stereotypical conservative church party line of "pre-marital sex is bad". (Actually, he started out with a rather hilarious look at the lyrics of Usher's song "Yeah"). But to sum, I'll just use a quote that they gave us from author Philip Yancy:

People worry that they will miss out on something if they heed the Bible's warnings against premarital sex. Actually, the warnings are there to keep them from missing out on something.

I'll definitely re-listen to the podcast, as I enjoyed the message (even if I can't properly express how it went - I'm tired now, lol) and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Also, this was the second week in a row that one of my original Mitchell besties, Jess, joined me for a service. Aside from the fact that it's been nice having a friend join me at church again, it's rad to feel like she's enjoying it (both the music and message), and to feel that the Holy Spirit is just doing it's thing.

And that's what I prayed with Matt during our coffee session. A lot of times I feel that uncertainty of the future, and I have my periods of doubt and lack of faith. But then I get that still voice pulling me back in and reminding me, "Hey... I'm still with you... for all those times you feel like I'm not there, or you may not even want Me there, I'm still working in your life. You may not see it right away, and you may not understand something, but trust in Me." When I hear Him reminding me of what He's already done and what He's promised us in Jeremiah 29:11, I realize that it's all good and I can put my fears aside and start finding peace/rest/hope in His love.

With that being said (quoting my Medicare mentor right there) -- Happy Sunday!

All of my life, in every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing...

60 Days

60 days until the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

And I. Am. STOKED. :D

I can't believe I've been training since the end of January and that every week I'll be marking a new personal distance record until we hit 26.2 miles on race day. So far I've maxed out at 13.2 miles. This Saturday, Team in Training (who I'm partnered with) is running 14 miles in La Mesa, and I would love to do that run. Buuuuut Sunday I am signed up for the Carlsbad 5000 -- an easy 5k (~3.1 miles) run right by the water -- and I don't wanna be burned out/sore.

Sunday should be a fun run, as it's the race's 25th anniversary. Aaaaaaand two of my friends are running in it as well -- Pete and my old roomie Ben are both officially signed up, thanks to me motivating them via Twitter. I'm positive that they'll both finish faster than me, but I know I can finish around 30 minutes, based off my ~10+ minute/mile run in the Race For Literacy a few weeks back.

Will be back with race results after the weekend. :)

Worship Music

I've been in a worship music kick as of late - spinning it sometimes on the drive to and from work (and if I can sneak in my headphones I'll listen to a song or two while at my work desk), while doing the dishes, and even now while typing this out. I had lunch on Saturday with my growth group leader and in talking about my journey thus far as a Christian, I thought of the role that music played and how important it's been in my experience. When I first went to Flood six years ago, it was the music that first hooked me. I didn't know the songs at first, but there was something in the music itself that was moving. And then as I kept attending and singing along with the words that Eric wrote (he was the leader of Something Like Silas, which was the band at the time), there'd be those moments where the words finally punched me. I'd be struck by the meaning of the lyrics and how fitting it was for where my heart was at that point in my life. Eric (gifted lyricist that he is) wrote a lot of songs that I feel God was able to use to speak to us.

I look now at my SomethingLike Silas playlist and many songs jump out as ones that have resonated deeply with me over the years. The band moved on from the church in 2008, and I've missed them terribly. Eric understood that the music wasn't about just singing. It was about preparing our hearts for the message and helping us experience God through worship. This song, called "Please" (aka #5), is one of the ones I miss the most, and happened to be up on YouTube. Sometimes I'll have those internal struggles and doubts, and it's in those times that I think of this song and the chorus...

Please, tell me

In this holy fear that You are near me (I cannot touch You)

In silence (I cannot hold You)

I will know (I cannot see You)

That You will hear me, Lord... (but I know You)

Reunited...

...and it feels so good. =)

Great times yesterday hanging with Jess and Krod -- my old Mitchell crew -- down for some eating and bowling at the Eastlake Tavern and Bowl. The three of us haven't hung out together in ages! Even though I've hung out with both of them individually on a pretty regular basis still, it was awesome that we could all get together again. I only wish we had a regular camera so this pic wasn't grainy, but I still love it.

Love Came Down

The Pat Little Band has been singing a song at Flood lately called "Love Came Down", originally written by Brian Johnson. It's become a fast favorite of mine, and I wanted to share the lyrics and video below. With whatever fears we may have in life right now, I'm reminded that God is right there to fill us with hope and guide us through whatever comes our way, and that we have His perfect love to cast out our fears (I John 4:18).

If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear Your voice

I’ll hold on to what is true though I cannot see

If the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep

I will lift these hands in faith

I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done

And the life I have because of Your Son

Love came down and rescued me

Love came down and set me free

I am Yours, I am forever Yours

Mountain high or valley low

I sing out remind my soul

I am Yours, I am forever Yours

When my heart is filled with hope and every promise comes my way

When I feel Your hands of grace rest upon me

Staying desperate for You God, staying humbled at Your feet

I will lift these hands and praise

I will believe

Love came down and rescued me

Love came down and set me free

I am Yours, I am forever Yours

Mountain high or valley low

I sing out remind my soul

I am Yours, I am forever Yours

I am Yours, I am Yours, all my days, I am Yours