Disneyland with some cool peoples

Yippee! It's finally time for another Disneyland trip!

And even better, it's a Disneyland trip with a whole bunch of my favorite people, who hardly ever go to Disneyland!

So it was like the most perfect day ever.

The only thing I would change would be getting these yahoos to be better models when I whip out that Rebel camera.

I mean, come one. What's the point of having an amazing camera, if all your friends will give you is this?

Ridiculous, I tell you. At least Ryan understands my plight... well, mostly. He wasn't trying to photograph the guys, just fun Disneyland points of interest. I like that he's looking through his 3D glasses and the camera lens here.

Finally! Jarrod pulls through with some normal faces. The first thing we did was hit up California Adventures to experience the new Toy Story ride. Jarrod and I talked a big game, since we were the only ones who'd played it so far, but in the end Justin of course pulled through to kick all of our behinds, with a pretty wide margin, too. Errrrr. That kid ruins all our fun.

Ducks! Remember how I said Ryan and I found baby ducks in the smaller pond at Disneyland last week? Well, they're still there! So the group of us stopped and watched as Mama Duck swam with her four babies in a row behind her, until Daddy Duck came along and decided to, well, um... let's just say he was in the mood to create some more baby ducks....

There's that OSF boy.

We had a lot of fun together. Would you believe he hadn't been to Disneyland in years and years? We showed him the ropes of Disneyland excursions, and I believe he is now hooked. Next time- geocaching at the Magic Kingdom!

Then more of this:

Then a little inappropriateness between the guys:

Finally! A real normal picture of Jesse!

And then we're back to this. Why do I even try? Why? It's like they don't even want fun memories of their day.

Except Jarrod. If I can get him by himself in a picture, he's a brilliant model.

Seriously. Sometimes he takes it a little too seriously.

They guys entertained themselves almost the entire day with their fancy new cell phones, including Jarrod's brand new iphone. There are some ridiculous games on that thing. And I'm not sure how I feel about everyone being on their phones during the line wait instead of having actual conversations.

Then on to Buzz Lightyear, where Jarrod destroyed us all, with Justin coming in a close second and claiming his gun wasn't working properly. Yeah, well neither was mine, and I still managed to beat that OSF! (We'll call it a tie from laser tag the week before, OSF.)

Justin and me. Thanks for smiling for real, Jgushin!

Caught this one of Jarrod by the Grizzly Rapids ride. Love the way the lamp post in the corner tricks your eye into thinking it's the moon shining on him.

Such a great day, with such fun people! We all stayed for the fireworks and everything, and even though Tinker Bell didn't jump from the Matterhorn (sad, because I'd really talked that part up to the OSF), it was still a great show. Jarrod, Justin, and Jesse left after that, and the rest of us hit up Small World, Space Mountain, and Matterhorn before heading home. Great day! And I've got another one coming up next week, which may be even better! ;)

A Tale of Two TGO's: Second Edition

Ryan and I took Monday off of work to make a day out of traveling up to Santa Monica for the Glee screening. We left early enough to give us a few hours to hang out at Disneyland on a quiet Monday afternoon. We rode some rides, tried some photography stuff in front of the castle, and had an overall nice time. Oh! And we found baby ducks in the pond by Frontier Land? Lots of time spent taking pictures of Mama Duck and her three little ducklings.

Then we headed north for Santa Monica High School. We found the place easily enough, and luckily found a Subway right down the street, too. Made it back to the school around 5:30 and wandered around while things were being set up.

At 6:30 they let everyone into the outdoor amphitheater and Ryan and I snagged front row seats, and two medium-sized Glee T-shirts (no smalls, sadly), then took turns running back up the stairs to the main area which was set up with tons of carts giving out popcorn, cotton candy, slushies and stuff. On my turn running up for more popcorn, the stars of the show began to arrive for the makeshift "red carpet" interviews. First up were Jayma Mays and Jessalyn Gilsig, who've both been on Heroes, so that was kind of cool to see some first season Heroes show up.

But we all know we were only there for Lea Michele.

So Lea Michele showed up about twenty minutes later, and Ryan and I strategically placed ourselves to where we could hopefully get to meet her before the show started, since we weren't sure if they'd do a meet and greet kind of thing, like they usually do with theatrical shows. Sadly, the interviews were taking forever, and Ryan went back to the front to watch our stuff when the program started off with the Santa Monica cheerleading squad and band performing to some of the Glee songs.

But I stuck it out in the bitter cold, and finally, finally, she finished her last interview. Someone handed her a bag of popcorn and she started to come into the amphitheater to watch the show from the top, where I just so happened to be waiting with mine and Ryan's Spring Awakening books. She was definitely in a hurry, and her people were trying to keep her moving, but she graciously stopped to sign both of our books. The only bummer was that I couldn't get Ryan's book open to the appropriate page fast enough, so she ended up signing in the front, where there's a red pattern that makes autographs hard to see. But- hopefully it was made up for by the fact that she used her teeth to pull off the pen cap (she laughed when she handed it back to me, saying sorry her spit was all over it now), and so Ryan's lucky Jeopardy pen just so happens to have Lea Michele's DNA on it now. :) He likes it.

The screening was fun, although the show wasn't quite as funny as I was expecting. Ryan really enjoyed it though, and when we watched it later with the OSF, he seemed to like it too, so I figure it'll grow on me soon enough. After the screening, the entire cast came out on stage for a Q & A, where they told us about some of their audition ordeals (car accidents on the way, bitten by a spider and covered in hives), working with Kristen Chenoweth when she guest starred, and how the songs each week will be available for download on itunes, which Ryan and I are definitely happy about.

It turned out to be a good thing I stuck it out waiting for Lea Michele earlier, because once the Q & A was over, a bunch of security guards stationed themselves around the actors, as if we were all going to rush them onstage. So ridiculous. I think it's funny that people seem to think TV actors are so much more special than theater actors. In theater, the stars come right outside and talk to people on the street, take pictures, etc., with no one around to really protect them; But here the security guards kept them all away from the crowd, even though most of the actors are either no-names yet, or are known by a select few (like Ryan and I and a few other SA fans) for their theater credits.

So it was pretty ridiculous, but we waited it out anyway. Unfortunately Lea Michele left before any of the actors broke the security guard line to come talk to people, but we were able to talk with Jenna Ushkowitz for a bit. She was a replacement swing in the New York company of Spring Awakening until it closed in January, and she was definitely fun to talk with about it. She said she's played all of the girl characters but Wendla, and Ilse was her favorite to portray. Then she signed our books, took a picture with Ryan, and then, ignoring the security guard's warning that that would be the last picture, asked if I wanted one too. So sweet!

By the time all the hoopla was over, we were pretty much frozen for life, so we headed back to Ryan's truck and cranked up the heater and Spring Awakening tunes. Just out of L.A., we started looking for a McDonald's to recharge with 79 cent caffeination, and Ryan decided we also needed a $5 pizza. So at 11:30pm, we sat in the McDonald's parking lot, macking down on Little Caesar's and giant cokes. It was pretty fantastic.

Thanks, TGO, for a great friend date day! Hope there are more to come, and I just know you'll meet Lea Michele sooner or later! :)

Adventures of Two TGO's: Coming Soon!

Well we're off now to meet Lea Michele! (Hopefully.) We've planned a few hours to hang out at Disneyland on a quiet Monday, perfect for trying out fun photos, and then on to Santa Monica for the Glee screening. Our Spring Awakening books are packed. Our rebels are packed. And I've packed some extra cough drops, because despite what Sonia says, I think I am getting sick. No bueno before her wedding... especially because she's staying with us starting tonight!

Peace out, girl scout.

Here comes the bride!

We spent all day Saturday playing scavenger hunt with Sonia for her bachelorette party. Her clues kept her finding bridesdmaids up and down Orange in Coronado, from the park with the gazebo (me), to the hardware store (Zaneta), to the Starbucks (Jeannette and Krista), to the library (no one), to the pet store (Liz), and back to the park. Along the way she collected not only her friends, but the little trinkets of wedding wear seen here:

She loved it. Don't let her "I'm not sure about this, guys," face fool you. She loves being the center of attention. Right, Sonia? Sonia....?

I've got about a gazillion (read: 275) pictures I took in RAW and need to sort out, but for now I think these few tell a good part of the story of our Saturday. After the hunt, we went down to the beachside of the Hotel del (read: FREEZING!) to take turns getting photos with Sonia, and then we finally headed to dinner at Miguel's, one of my absolute favorite restaurants with the best chicken strips ever. 

From there we headed to Jeannette's for some good ol' fashioned slumber partying, complete with pillows, cheesecake, sour patch kids, and presents. Unfortunately, these are the kind of presents we refer to as unmentionable, so we'll just skip that part. Um, and the next part. So then... wait... nope, can't talk about that either. Let's just say eventually everyone headed off to lullaby land, with the exception of Sonia and me; we stayed up till three a.m. catching each other up on life and love and all the sorts of things roommates usually talk about late at night. Or at least the stuff we used to talk about late at night. 

So congratulations to Sonia, who gets married next Saturday (!) to her best friend Paul Breuninger. Can't wait to celebrate with them!

AGO Banquet

Jeremy's back!

Hurray!

Guess who the first person he called was?

Yours truly!

I got an 8:30am wake up call from Jeremy, who was looking for a date to AGO banquet. Luckily for him, I had no plans that night (just every waking moment of the rest of the weekend).

Banquet was... an experience. I imagine it would be like if a non-camp person came to the Wild West Show, and didn't quite get why everyone thought the trick gopher act was so hilarious. Or the high divers falling into a trash can of ice water. Or the golfers. Or the archer demanding an arrow that worked, and then having me dragged out as the archer yells, "No, an arrow that works!" (Hilarious, Kodak.)

Anyway, so it was kind of like that. Lots of inside jokes, and chants, and other fun stuff specific to the AGO and ADX kids. Luckily, we were at the alumni table with Oso, Shox, and Metro, and more luckily, this year the AGO banquet was at Phil's Barbecue! Yum-my. It was quite an experience eating barbecue with your fingers while at a semi-formal event.

All in all, it was a good time. I can now officially say I've been to an AGO banquet, along with about half the other girls at camp, and 3/4 of my roommates. We didn't get too many pictures (there was barbecue sauce everywhere- I wasn't about to take my camera out), but we did manage to snap a few at our table.

May

So May is turning out to be quite the exciting month. Some of the excitement I was prepared for:

1) Sonia and Paul's wedding

2) Sonia's bachelorette party

3) Sister's nineteenth birthday

4) A trip to Disneyland

5) Jeremy's three week return to America

And then May was all: "Dude. I've got more excitement than that in the first twelve days:

1) How about a meet and greet with Lea Michelle and the rest of the cast of Glee?

2) Why not plan an impromptu trip to Disneyland with Ryan on the way up to meet her?

3) How about those AGO guys you never see anymore? Want to get invited last minute to their banquet?

4) And how about a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff that hasn't quite panned out yet but probably will by the end of the month?"

Kudos, May. You're going to be quite a tough month to beat. But I think August can still pull through.

Glee!

Ryan and I just found out today that there will be a special pre-screening of the first episode of Glee next Monday in Santa Monica. I don't think I've mentioned Glee here on the ol' blog yet, but it's a new show airing on Fox, and it stars one of our favorite original Spring Awakening cast members, Lea Michele! Ry and I are super excited to possibly meet Lea Michele, and plan to take our SA books up for our first original lead autograph. Word is now that it's first come first serve, so there is a very real possibility we may get up there early to wait in line all day. Hmmmm... I need to go find a really thick book if that's the case....

Wednesday

So small group was excellent tonight, as per usual. Well, for the two times I've gone so far anyway. All my favorite people were there: Jen and Justin, Jessica and Mike, with Gwen and Lucy in tow, Kevin, our small group leader, and a whole bunch of others from church. I took some cute prego pictures of Jen in the backyard, and then one with both Jen and Justin which makes today's picture of the day.

Two things of importance happened tonight. One, Kevin changed up the small group structure a bit to make it an entire night of worship and prayer, specifically for the leaders of our church and the surrounding churches that have been taking a stand lately to defend our religious rights. This has been something I've been thinking a lot about since the November election and the passing of Proposition 8 in California. I'm of the inclination that if this criticism of Christian beliefs continues, and is able to start passing laws forbidding us to speak out to what we think is wrong, that things are going to start getting very bad in America. It makes me sad/angry/frustrated that the other side refuses to see that so-called "rights" for them means religious persecution for us. The other side says it won't, when it's clear that it has already started happening around the country.

So we prayed for our leaders tonight who have been targeted in San Diego for rallying Christians to step up for our beliefs. Among those were our own pastors, Mark and Dave Hoffman, Jim Garlow, the pastor of Skyline, and Miles McPherson, who pastors the Rock. We prayed for strength, for conviction, for wisdom... and then one person prayed for more persecution. That God would continue to allow it to strengthen the Christians in America. And as he prayed, I couldn't help thinking, Why are your praying that! We should be praying against persecution, against the battles Christians are facing every day. And then I remembered a speaker we had at church a few months ago, someone from Cuba I think, where their church is being persecuted daily. He told us his people were praying for the persecution of the American Christians. Because from their point of view, revival comes strongest when persecution is out of control.

Kind of sucks, doesn't it? It scares me to think we are facing a point in time where religious freedom in America is being challenged. The freedom we have here has always been high on my list of thanks, that God allowed me to be born in a time and place where I could be a Christian in the true sense of the word.

I don't really have any answer about it. I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there, because I'm feeling very strongly about all this right now.

The second thing is that Kevin asked to pray over me, which I've found has always been an interesting experience-- not Kevin himself, but when someone comes to pray for you when you haven't specified anything in particular to pray for. They just feel like they should pray for you. So I asked if he wanted something particular in my life to pray about, and he said he was going to wing it, and then we'd see if he got anywhere close.

Love it. Because when people pray like that, and they actually pray about something that is completely relevant in your life, without knowing it, you get the sense that God's really working with you on that thing, maybe even without you being very aware of it until then.

And I was a little surprised over what he chose to pray about: He said he felt like a time was coming when the old days, the times I cherish most, and the times where I felt the most like myself, the most confident, the most joyful, that those times were returning, and that the promises I thought were going to be fulfilled so long ago would begin to actually happen.

Hot dang, that's a good vision! And so applicable, because we all know I love the old times, the old friends, and I cherish every minute of those times. So I can't wait to see what comes of Kevin's vision for me. And as I was discussing it with him after, I realized that it's already happening, because this small group already feels like where I'm supposed to be: familiar faces, people who've known me a long time, people that I trust. I have no idea why I stayed in my previous home group so long, when I never really felt like I was truly a part of everything.

More to come later. :)

Reason to be happy today

Alternate title: Text messages between nerdy friends.

Oh, sorry-- geeky friends.

Justin: Ok here is your early reminder. Don't forget about homegroup!

Jordan: Awww... I feel so special now. :) I am eighty percent sure I'll be there.

Justin: Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.

Jordan: Thank you, Yoda.

Justin: Well done young padawan. Bonus points if you can tell me which movie.

Jordan: Um... It's Yoda to Luke in... either four or five. I'm going with the empire strikes back. I don't think those two met in new hope.

Justin: Ding ding ding! We have a winner. You get a self pat on the back. Congratulations!

Jordan: Yay me! We totally need to have a star wars day. I need a refresher.

Justin: You don't have to convince me, just my wife lol. Although she will probably just say that she could use the nap. :)

Jordan: You so did not just use lol. SHUNNED!!!

Justin: Roflcakes

Jordan: Huh?

Justin: Rolling on Floor Laughing. And for extra leetness* you add cakes so it sounds like wafflecakes.

Jordan: Yeah, that's so not getting you unshunned.

Justin: I've been pwned. :(

Jordan: Sigh.

* Look up on UrbanDictionary.com if needed

Snippets from Youth Venture

I happened to have my Rebel with me for Youth Venture on Monday, and the kids were good sports about posing for me. And I'm getting used to this new set of kids that keep showing up. They're pretty fun now that I'm getting to know them, and especially now that I've started the sign up sheet for Rock Band. No more fights at Youth Venture on Monday nights!

Have you ever

Have you ever(Edited version, because Jessica found the missing #100.)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8.. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19.Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Been to Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

100. Been in love

Brian's show

On Saturday night, Brian and Megan played a show at Cosmos. And look who we happened to run into when we showed up? This funny-face guy:

Jarrod was there to watch the people before Brian perform, and then he joined us at the "kids" table, which consisted of me, Brittany, Jarrod, and Katelyn. And Jarrod and I finally came up with a date for the next Disney trip: May 17. And then these guys showed up:

And it was like on big camp party (except for Jarrod). And then Adam spilled his chocolate milk all over the floor and me. So it was really like a big camp party.

Oh, and Brian and Megan were pretty good, too.

This one's for you, Katelyn!

Perfect lighting + willing friends (er, maybe not so willing in Brian's case) = fun in the backyard!

And, because Katelyn likes my "picture memory things" I made one for her. :) Here's a compilation of some fun shots from our impromptu backyard shoot.

Five on Friday

1) I saw the most ridiculous truck today. It was seriously like half hummer, half F350 on steroids. It tried to run me over in the Target parking lot, and then it pulled up to the front of the store while I was walking in. The Target boys waiting to load the grill into the back of it stared in awe at the monster, then looked at each and simultaneously said, "That's awesome." And I rolled my eyes. Because who the heck drives a tank like that, and doesn't have clear self-esteem issues?

Oh, I found a picture of the thing. Here, you can decide for yourselves. Overcompensation, yes? And this picture doesn't nearly do it justice as seeing in in real life about to run you over because the driver can't see past the hood.

2) I think that people who talk very loudly shouldn't work at pharmacies. Because what's the point of having the 'Wait at this point to respect other customers' privacy' line, if the guy behind the counter is just going to yell what you're medication is anyway? If you ever have an illness you don't want anyone to know about, do not go to the El Cajon Target pharmacy.

3) NCIS is the new love of my life. Andy got me hooked on it from reruns he watched on weekends, and now I've netflixed season four and put myself on the waiting list for all the other seasons at the library. Kind of sucks that everyone else loves it too, and I'm around number 47th in line for season one. I think Tony DiNozzo might be giving Logan Echol's a run for his money in favorite male fictional character.

4) Tonight I am going to scrapbook for the first time all year.

5) Got a little pat on the back tonight at Costco photo. When I went to pick up the pictures I plan to scrapbook later, the guy asked me if the pictures I took were in fact mine. They don't usually ask me that, so I answered yes, a little confused like. Then he told me they were marked as too professional looking by the printer, so I had to sign a form that they were in fact my pictures. Ha! He told me if I was going to be sending more pictures in like that I should just sign a professional photographer's form so I wouldn't have to sign the other sheet every time.

That pretty much made my day.