Summer weekends are for burning your skin off.

Okay, so my skin isn't actually burned off, it's just kind of pinkish. But, there's going to be another afternoon spent by the pool today, so goodness only knows what it will look like tomorrow. Stupid skin.

I've been spending a lot of time with my friends Liz, Jonathan, Josh and Teri. Teri and Josh's apartment complex has a pool, so we've been swimming and enjoying the sunshine. It's been ridiculously hot outside, so I suffer through the sunburns and mosquito bites to swim. Don't worry, it'll pay off. I'll be a bronzed goddess after a couple of days.

I've been hiding out at Teri and Josh's because there seems to be so much going on with most of my friends. It's nice to take a break from gossip, especially when the gossip involves people I care about. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I don't want to broadcast every detail I know. Some things just aren't anyone's business. Don't get me wrong, I love all of my friends. At the same time, though, I have my own issues. I don't live a perfect charmed life, and sometimes I just can't handle everyone's problems. Right now, I need to bask in all the positivity I can find.

I think that's the biggest life lesson I've learned lately. Negativity only creeps into your life if you let it. Yes, bad things happen, but how we respond is what determines what kind of positive or negative energy we feel. Our lives only take on a positive direction if we let them. A friend once told me that what makes us human is our ability to decide how we feel about anything. That doesn't mean we can choose to be happy when it's easy. It means that we can choose to feel good about our lives all the time.

I have a friend right now who is coping with a lot. She's been hurt a lot, but she still has her head up. That's the kind of person I want to be...someone who handles negativity with poise and grace. She doesn't even realize what an impact her strength has on the people around her. She's teaching us all how to stay positive no matter what.

And think, I'm complaining about the sunburn I haven't even gotten yet.

Be alright (the disc golf day)

I'd never tried disc golf before this weekend, and let me tell you, it's a lot harder than it looks. The rules are similar to golf. You have a certain number of throws per hole, and at the end of the game, the person with the lowest score wins. Instead of hitting a ball with a club into a hole, you throw a small Frisbee into a basket. It's not as easy as it sounds. Honestly, it's a bit hipster. I mean, there are different styles and weights of discs. We even saw one serious player carrying a case full of discs. Really, dude? You're going to drag your elementary-school kid around the park to watch you throw your collection of special discs at a basket? I shake my head at your poor parenting choices. Poor, young, bored kid.

Jon wasn't bad at all, but he was much too busy climbing on things and showing off his acrobatic skills.

After we finished "playing", or throwing discs with no apparent goal or reason for throwing, we decided to explore the park. My favorite part of the whole place is the bridge. When you walk up to it, it looks like this.

But, when you climb around the bridge to the other side, you find this.

The water is very shallow, so we naturally took off our shoes and waded around. I mean, what else are you supposed to do here? There was a whole family exploring the water too, but I'm not enough of a creeper to take pictures of someone else's adventures, especially not when there are children involved.

After we finished playing in the water like hippies, Jon and Faron posed for pictures with the graffiti like the hipsters they are.

After the park had ceased to amuse us, we ate dinner at Faron's and jammed out on her collection of instruments. The three of us are going to make beautiful music together.

The rest of the pictures from the park are on Flickr, if you really want to take the few seconds out of your life to look at them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamcrownedwithflowers/sets/72157626680387855/

I'm sorry, what just happened?

I have no words.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE05iHYFKqc&w=425&h=349]

Um.

So yeah. That's five minutes and twenty-three seconds you'll never get back.

We already know so much.

All of this post is based on conversations with Jonathan. He inspires me so much.

The Greek word for learning actually translates closer to what we call remembering. They believed that our souls were all-knowing, and that this knowledge was lost when our souls were trapped inside our bodies. It's an interesting thought.

I think that sometimes we know a lot more than we think we do. Sometimes we just sense what others are feeling, or we know what's going to happen to us eventually. We're more aware of God's plans than we realize. Maybe it's because we're afraid of knowing. Maybe we just don't want to accept that we have that power.

I think that "fate" is really just a matter of being where we're supposed to so that good things can happen to us. I think that God, or the universe, or whatever you want to call what's bigger than us, has already set opportunities in place for us. We just have to be the best people we can, and recognize the opportunities in front of us. When we accept that things are as they're supposed to be, then we can truly be happy.

Just sayin'.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.

I need a break for sure...this week has been crazy! Living like a rockstar is more awesome in theory than in practice. My friends and I had so many adventures, and so little sleep. We've crashed on couches and in floors, stayed out until 5AM on more than one occasion, and generally stuck it to the man in every way we could. Some of these stories will be discussed in more detail in later posts (you'll get pictures of me and Liz making pancakes) but for now, I'm just going to share last night's highlights.

After a long day of cooking, napping and playing video games (more exhausting than it sounds) Jonathan, Jarrett and I were ready for adventure. At about 10:30, we decided it would be a great idea to drive better than half an hour to find our dearly beloved friend Chris, then, in truest American teenage fashion, sketch about and explore his neighborhood. We trekked across muddy empty lots in a housing development, climbed over a fallen tree, and sat by a creek casually talking. By the time we'd walked back, we'd talked about what seemed like a million things, and only about half of them were important.

One of the most important things we discussed was where we would sleep. After much discussion, we decided that since Jarrett was staying in a motel anyway, we'd grab a few beers and hang out there.

Best idea ever.

We bought the beer at a Circle-K a few minutes away from Chris' neighborhood at around 1:15 in the morning. We struggled to agree on a type of beer we could all enjoy (since honesty, who really drinks light beers?) We finally settled on Coors, but the store only had Coors light, and again, light beer=no bueno. So, we ended up with Icehouse. I'm not a fan personally, but I digress.

The best part was, I finally had the opportunity to say in the proper context "Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K." I've wanted to for forever, since the first time I saw Keanu Reeves awkwardly struggle through a role (obviously, I saw Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure before The Matrix and The Replacements.)

Then, onward toward the motel, which was another solid 45 minutes away. We crammed ourselves into the car, shared cell phone pictures, and nearly hit a possum. Chris led us through back roads in the middle of nowhere. I swear I could hear the banjos picking and the Cthulu cults  chanting.

When we finally showed up at the motel, it was after 2AM. There were only four other cars in the parking lot, and spilled Fruit Loops were the only sign that anyone besides us had been there in the last couple years. We went inside, watched TV, listened to music, watched YouTube videos, and passed around a straw cowboy hat. We also called up our friend Stephanie, who unfortunately isn't living nearby. We put her on speaker and told her about our night, and even sent her pictures of Chris in his Puka-adorned hat.

The moral of this story? If you're going to drink beer, start earlier than 2AM. I'm so tired and cranky, and I feel like it would be a good idea to bite someone's head off just because I can. No really, I can. I could make someone cry if it was necessary. But, I won't. I shall overcome. There's a lake trip planned for tomorrow night, and a bonfire on Saturday, so I can't quit now. I'll just keep being a rockstar for a few more days.

Don't worry, I won't trash any more motel rooms.

Peace, brothers and sisters.

Kitchen adventure!

I just finished cooking dinner with my friend/little brother Jonathan, with all the preparatory work handled by our friend Liz. It was simple, chicken alfredo made with sauce from a jar, but it was a pleasant experience. There's nothing quite like sharing a kitchen with someone you are comfortable with. It's like starting a creative venture together. You're forced to be close to each other, and so you accept that person in your personal space. Usually I don't like to share a kitchen because of that closeness, but with good friends I don't mind at all.

After cooking, we shooed away Jonathan's cat, Kitten, while we ate. We listened to his jazz-fusion and made cheesy jokes together. I wonder which was cheesier: the jokes, or the pasta?

Happy times.

Fingers crossed!

I went to a job interview yesterday at Books-A-Million. I wore my favorite pencil skirt, abandoned my Converse and blue nail polish, and tried my best to be friendly and outgoing. Hopefully I wasn't too much of a ditz! The manager, Renee, told me she still had a few more applicants to interview. Now I just hope she calls me!

Major plus: If I work there, I'll be allowed to check out books, read them and return them. Think of all the reading I could accomplish! Hello, everything Lovecraft ever wrote :)

My first blog post :)

So, I decided to start blogging after I made a blog for a friend. It seemed so fun that I almost stole the blog I made for him, but then I thought, wow, if someone did that to me I might have to cut them. So here we are! I'll post important life updates, funny anecdotes, things I cook, places I go, and other things that are only interesting to me.