I reached my arms out over the table at El Azteca last night in an effort to stretch my muscles. My hands landed in the salsa bowl. I just did that.

How did I just do that?

two equally great things happened today.

firstly, I was walking in Gerdin with my snazzy leather boots from Ireland that click and clack all teacher-lady like. I always get alot of 'looks' when I wear them (pretty much every day) because I'm so noisy, but dangit, I like them! today, however, the tiny half-inch heels revolted. I was going around a corner, and I suddenly--magically--wiped out. pretty sure it looked like i slipped on the ice....inside. nicely topped off with a comment from aside, "I promise I won't tell anyone." who makes that kind of promise?! seeing someone do that pretty much makes my day...which reminds me that my friend Nattie made my day pretty hardcore on Monday. best wishes for your bum-healing!

to make my day immensely greater, I was walking into Gerdin in the middle of class time, so there were only two other people in sight on the sidewalks. as we are about to merge into one path up to building, the guy in front on my sneakily takes a look over his shoulder at the girl who just passed him, ignores my presence and starts running really strangely. it looked exactly like this:

to top it off, I caught up with him and recognized him from various classes and things throughout my time at ISU. Most notably when we saw him creeping on layla's apartment from his apartment last year...through like 3 different windows.

good day, and it is promising to get better with TSC tonight!

I just did alot of things this year.

So blogspot, old friend, I'm going to dare to declare once again that "I'm back." But as its been so long since I have been consistent, I'm going to try to appease the bitterness of our separation by updating you on what I've been doing.

I know you're really only interested in the good stuff, so heres a compilation of my last year in a nutshell:

I lived at home this summer. One day I wore my shirt backwards all day long. I had a sweet internship with Every Ethne (everyethne.org) in Iowa City and did graphic design work. I left my power cord home once and drove an hour each way to do two hours of work. I was blessed to teach an amazing Sudanese woman to drive. One day we had a shopping lesson instead. I was able to go to Cornerstone Festival and blow my ears out listening to music for a week. I fried in the sun.

I had the coolest opportunity to study in Ireland this fall. I didn't compensate correctly for my connecting flights and missed my London-Cork flight...by a day. The first four weeks I took an intensive culture class, met amazing friends, and traveled a bunch around Ireland. I left my memory card at home the day I kissed the Blarney Stone. I was able to go to Paris last minute, see a friend, and stay with some awesome Irish students (and of course see the city). I left all my purchases at a restaurant one night. My roommates and I got to spend a couple days in Tenerife, Spain (one of the Canary Islands) off the coast of Morocco. We waited for two hours to get into our 'condo'....that we booked the night before.

My parents got to come visit me and see the beautiful Emerald Isle. I took them to see Harry Potter 7 on Thanksgiving. We were able to go to China to see Gabe and some friends. I left my passport in my apartment 4 hours away in the middle of a snow storm...and realized it at 11 p.m. the night before our flight. I got to see the Great Wall of China! I puked for over 48 hours, got dehydrated and ketonic, and came off the airplane on a wheelchair. I spent my first night in China in the hospital.

Ireland eventually sent me back home. It took a train, bus, 4 flights, and a taxi to get me home 2 days late due to closed airports all across Europe. I'm now enjoying life back in wintry Ames. I slipped on the same piece of ice twice in one day. Family Group with internationals and Salt Company with 800 students has blessed my life so much in the last month. I hit Collin with my car today.

But if you didn't want to read that huge post, what you really need to know about my life is none of that. In a sentence, the last year has been God stretching me, pushing me, and loving me so that my life would be more about His glory.

A Story

I am taking my lunch break today to tell you folks a story. Sit down, have a listen. Its the story of a girl with what some might call, a complete lack of common sense.

It was a friday night, and Helena was driving home from work in an exceptionally adventurous mood. Because Helena loved her childhood, she decided to re-live the younger years by visiting her treasured old house. Although the idea seemed golden in Helena's mind (and probably yours), it quickly degenerated into, dare I say, a brazen idea? As Helena approached her old home, anticipation and memories flooding in with the loud barking of dogs that circled her car, she wrinkled her brow in utter confusion. The quancet barn that had seemed a never ending chasm and an even greater mystery had somehow condensed into half of its size, becoming merely an oddly-shaped garage. The rickety old barn where the family had stored cows and emus alike had simply vanished. The fruit trees she once climbed and chose succulent apples and pears from had become mangled, overgrown old memories.The beautiful and HUGE front yard once hosting games of softball had been cluttered with useless junk and again, condensed into half its size (can you believe how much shrinking the present owners did?) WHAT was going on?

Confused and saddened, quite the opposite of what Helena had expected to be after a trip to Nostalgia, she headed back toward the highway to get home. She was certain she must get to 195th, noticed she was only on 185th, and so found her way to the correct road through eerie back roads. But alas! Helena was on 195th, heading west with the highway in sight. Passing a sign that read, "Gravel Ends" Helena simply assumed, overriding her better judgement, that this must mean the gravel became pavement. She was wrong. The gravel slowly and gradually turned into mud as Helena passed an old lonesome farm. The trusty Dodge Neuron (yeah, didn't know they sold those, huh?) conquered the mud for some time before Helena's instincts got the best of her and convinced her to turn around. Suddenly, the mud ATTACKED and sucked all the energy out of the poor Neuron (bet you didn't see that twist coming).

Helena begrudgingly asked her parents to come on a rescue mission, and then decided to make new friends at the lone farmhouse. Not answering the door on multiple occasions convinced Helena the residents had no interest in being buddies, and so she left to wait at the end of the mud road and play a magical boredom-defying game called Tetris. Hours later and a good 10 pounds heavier, Helena's Neuron sheepishly came creeping home (and by sheepishly I mean wobbly and awkwardly, in addition to being embarrassed).

I guess the moral of the story would have to be this: we can't all be geniuses.

Sickly

By the time I finish writing this post I will have sneezed at least once, blown my nose a couple times, and stared off blankly into the distance, seemingly pondering something, but truly having no thoughts whatsoever.

I made it to two of my classes today before I bowed out and went home. Rather, I fled home to my apartment (which is now solely mine...no roommate. come visit!). But not before I sneezed all over the bus. It was awkward. I recovered by disinfecting my hands with some trusty Germ-X that I knew I kept in my bag for a reason. I now sit on the couch, watching Law & Order, reading blogs, and feeling helpless.

I fulfilled every prediction of my behaviour made at the beginning of this post, besides my sneeze, which I effectively dodged by holding my breath. Life is grand.

My Car Just Did That.

Thursday: Scoop some snow, let hands thaw, drive to work and back without a hitch.
Friday: Get out of my parking space just fine, and return with a moody vehicle, unwilling to move into the parking space more than one foot. Doesn't really want to back out either. While this is all just fine and dandy, I realize that Cyride frequents my road, and there is no possible way they will be able get past my car. I make some calls for help, howl and the moon once or twice, light some flares, and return to my car to find Cyride halting their services in respect for my misbehaving car. Without a beat, our trusty Blue South driver picks up his microphone and says, "If any of you want to get to campus on time, we have to push this car out of the way." And as if I were the president in need of help, 6+ guys emerge from the bus and push my car into its rightful spot. Granted, the president would have some bodyguards and stuff to do that already, and he probably wouldn't be driving an '02 Dodge Neon, but that didn't make me feel any less important. I got Cyride to deboard in honor of my car. Don't I feel special.
Saturday: Bum some rides.
Sunday: Lazily study indoors as snow builds and solidifies with an ice topping around my car. Ignore consequences.
Monday: Return from work, briefly get stuck in the same position as Friday, and lightheartedly gather a couple stragglers to push my stubborn car back again.
Tuesday: Scrape car off, attempt to leave for work, but move a slight two feet backward. Feign indifference. Lauren offers her beast of an Explorer, and off to work I go. Car remains at home, butt sticking out into the road, baring her failures. Punishment remains until after my night exam, and car finally gets put in her place for good. Until Saturday.

Good to know my car takes after me: failure in its very purpose of existence.

And a shout out to all my wonderful friends who bless me with their time, labor, and vehicles.

I do that. ALL the time.

I always thought twitching was a normal part of life. Sometimes you get a slight cold chill up your spine and do a little shiver. Sometimes your eye muscles begin to spasm slightly. You win some, you lose some. Nay, my friend, not so with I. I have begun to realize that my twitches are increasingly intense, frequent, and perhaps...dangerous?

You know how when you drive by a bunch of trees that the sun is shining through, the light flickers really quickly through them? Couple that with my incompetent muscle functionality, and the killer combination provides not one, but multiple twitches/spasms/convulsions in succession. Yeah, you got it. I look like a seizure victim. Could this potentialy be dangerous? Yes, for two reasons: One-driving is a hard thing to do when you can't fully control your faculties. Two- looking attractive is a hard thing to do when you can't fully control your faculties. Two cons for my single lady's marriage resumé, which I will be posting on my blog soon--keep an eye out, and let all your single brothers and friends and friends' brothers know too.

However, one of the more descriptive memories of my twitch encounters happened earlier this fall as I walked through the halls of Cornerstone Church, carrying some Anthem CDs down to the gym for the Salt Company. Swiftly the twitch overcame my muscles, and without a chance for my mind to object, I soon found my arms thrown to one side, and the precious cds strewn all about the floor. Self-control clearly isn't one of my strong points--so much for the Fruit of the Spirit.

And a health note from your self-designated advisor--
This, my friends, is the devastating affect that poor muscle control can have on one's physical self (and personal self (is that redundant?), as I delegate the responsibility of my singlenesss to this very problem). Don't let those soft and squishy guns fool you--they'll get you back for all the times you've foolishly embarrassed them in attempts to bring friends to the "gun show." The lesson in this? Be wise, my friends. Muscles are people, too.

Hah, I just did that.

I recently got in a car accident. But don't go getting all riled up---the only scratch that came of this accident resides on the side of my car and possibly my brother's pride.

My family all came to town this week, and though because of a dire situation, I absolutely loved having them here. We decided to catch breakfast one morning at Panera, and after some pointless and amusing conversation along with oogling over our one-year old nephew, we departed in two separate cars. Parked opposite of each other, end to end, I commenced backing out of my spot, looking in my mirrors and over my shoulders like any good driver--also denoted as "any good Noll." In the midst of my reverse action, my brother decides instead to be enthralled with our brother-in-law and flies into reverse without any mirror-checking. This is where the denotation of "any good Noll" comes in. I hereby assure that Gabe is, in fact, the least favorite child.

Long story short (I suppose I'm too late for that now), I back my car into the side of his, and instead of concern, laughter ensues from both parties. With a shrug, we continue on to the rest of our day.

That is my family. Well, just one of them, I suppose. I would say you meet one, you've met them all, but we are each entirely different. In case it wasn't obvious from just knowing me, I'm the favorite child. Just sayin, Mom...

Rachel Just Did That.

Think back with me to two weeks ago. What were you doing at that point in time? Can you even remember?

Good thing I can, cause its pretty funny. Rachel was sitting next to Jase on the couch, both of them thinking in their heads (and then saying outloud) how ridiculous I am when I'm tired. Funny things were said, and on one such occasion, Rachel's intake of water decided it would rather not be inside her body any longer. And so she laughed, gagged, and then spit much of the water into her hands....but some managed to land on Jase's shirt. Actually, alot did. She quickly laughed, jumped up, kind-of apologized (cause you don't really have to do that when you're engaged), and hurried to the kitchen sink where she came quite close to upchucking.
She came back with wetness on her face, so of course I asked, "How is there fluid by your eye?" Simple question, simple answer : "My eyes...cried."

There still remains the lingering question yet unanswered: was Rachel really just angry with Jase and looking for a way to let him know? Hey guys, come on now....save it for marriage counseling.

Yeah, Rachel just did ALL of that.

Jordan Just Did That

I was walking to class with my jovial kind of friend, Jordan, and as we laughed about something, he tripped. Looking back, there was nothing at all that would've obstructed his path. So let it be known that Jordan Adams tripped over his own feet and yeah, he just did that.

How do I drink this?

Sometimes I have problems drinking fluids. This was discovered this summer in India, as I tried to do the culturally correct thing and pour water in my mouth without touching my lips to the bottle. Needless to say, I failed miserably at this. But it wasn't always that unwelcome because the misguided water would usually find some way to cool down my overheated body. And last night, as I shared food and laughs with some friends, my sneaky little mouth and throat found a way to obstruct the fluids from continuing down in to my belly not once, twice, but three times. So yes, I just did that.

Wow, I do alot of ridiculous things.

After a bunch of hullabaloo about blogging and such, I decided to create my own blog. Partly because I love to write. Partly because I naively assume others like to read what I write. But mostly because I do alot of small, ridiculous things every day. I'll give you a prime example to whet your appetite.

Some days I decide to dress up for the heck of it. This was one of these days. I had also recently discovered my love of leotards, but not the disutility of them. Being of this mindset, I donned a dress, layered it over a leotard and jeans, and headed out the door for work. I had things right there, mind you. But because of the nature of the leotard, I was required to undress completely to use the bathroom. And if you know me, you know that by no means would the bathroom elude me in a day. That said, I went straight from work to my two classes of the day, saw a couple friends, and even made it to the bookstore before I found a tag sticking out of my dress...on the side. Unusual. After a quick inspection I realized that my dress was on inside out. Very little thought process brought me to the embarassing conclusion that I had been wearing it as such for the last couple of hours, through all of my classes. Yeah...I just did that.