BEAU-tiful night (GYRAD story in full)

Here's my story o' Get Your Roommate A Date

It's really long, just letting you know.

Some background in case you don't know:

Vanessa= my roommate

Ernesto= Vanessa's boyfriend of 2 years

My date= Ernesto's friend whom he's known since childhood. That's how it all got set up.

Here's how the night went:

Most girls (except the ones with boyfriends) didn't know who their dates were going to be. I knew mine was not a Vanguard student, but I'd never met or seen him, I just knew he was Ernesto's friend.

The girls had no idea where we were going, it was all a surprise, but all the guys knew once they got there.

First, all us girls got ready...

Here's a brief overview of my "look"

The hair and makeup done by Alex

The outfit: my shirt dress thing with leggings new bag and my friend Olivia's cool ballet slipper shoes.

There were about 60 people total (30 guys, 30 girls) and us girls met in our hallway, then headed down to the VUSC letters in the courtyard. All the guys were already standing at the letters at 5pm when we all showed up. Back at our hall, we got an envelope with 5 dollars in it and a card that said a word on it. The word was mixed up, and you had to unscramble it and find the guy who had the same word, and he was your date.

So we all starting looking around, asking people what their word is, all that. And then I saw a guy that I knew was him, just by how Vanessa had described him. And he was like "My word says Ice Cream" and I said "Mine does too!" and then he was like "So that means we're on a date!" all excited. And he was like "I'm Beau, pleasure to meet you." (Not nice to meet me, pleasure to meet me.) And we shook hands and met and everything, then joined up with Vanessa and Ernesto. Oh also--Vanessa mentioned to Beau, kind of jokingly, like 2 weeks ago, that I like it when guys where argyle. Okay, he was wearing a brown & tan argyle sweater and a long black peacoat! And later I found out he didn't own any argyle but he went out and bought the sweater just to impress me. haha.

We all walked to the Heath building and someone had cooked a spaghetti/pasta dinner for us. So we all sat down and ate. [Side note here--spaghetti is the first date food I was dreading because it's so messy! But I managed to get nothing on me :)]

Beau and I got a chance to talk a lot during dinner. He didn't eat because he had food poisoning all day Friday and was still recovering. But he came anyway :) He said "I didn't wanna be the guy who got sick and didn't show up. They'd end up sticking you with a weird guy instead last minute." SoI really appreciated that. Also during dinner, we had to figure out the driving situation. We decided just me and him go in his car because Vanessa's other friend Josh, who was on a date with Brittany, had driven up with Ernesto so it made sense for the 4 of them to carpool.

We got the directions and went to the cars. He drives a red toyota tacoma like Randy's. I held the directions and we headed up toward L.A. We had a good hour with just the 2 of us in the car and we talked about a lot of stuff, so that was good.

The first thing he said when he turned on his ipod to play some music was "Do you like Copeland?"

And I was like "uh...yeah! they're my favorite band!"

I asked Vanessa later if she told him I liked Copeland and she said no, she didn't. So that was cool. He also put on a beanie hat which made me think of Colorado guys. ha.

I learned that he went to Biola for a semester and was a music major, but then dropped out because he didn't really think it was for him, and his band he's in got a chance to spend 3 months in Germany recording. And now he lives in Temecula, California, which is south of me, and he works at a coffee shop and is in a band.

When he was a kid he lived in Wyoming from birth to 1 year old, in New York from 1 to 6 years old, Egypt from 6 to 12 years old, and then back to California from 12 to now. He's 24.

His dad is an accountant for construction companies and that's why they lived in Egypt for 6 years--because the building market there was really good at the time.

We got to Los Angeles and ended up at a comedy club where we met up with the rest of the group. It was an improv show and was really, really funny. It was a family show too, so kids were there and there were no vulgar jokes. They called up volunteers and did crazy skits and it was really cool.

Here's an intriguing side-profile of Beau at the comedy club. What a stud, right?

After that we headed to our next mystery destination--which we all knew was an ice cream place. (The scrambled words were all clues of the night) I read the directions for him and we followed them super closely, and somehow we ended up getting separated from the convoy and eventually very lost in L.A. We didn't really care, he was really cool about it, we just kept driving and kept trying. In the car (and basically all night) we never stopped talking. We talked about stuff we like, we told funny stories that happened to us, we had a long discussion about the Holy Spirit for a while, and we joked and acted sarcastic and made fun of each other.

I was getting really frustrated at the directions and we called Vanessa, we called my RA Heather, and even when we did what they told us to do, we still couldn't find the street we needed.

And Beau was just really calm and was like "You know, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey."

We then decided we should video document this moment. At this point, we were already acting like best friends. You can't really see him in this video but give it a look:

So we kept driving through LA, and we passed this sushi place. And Beau is like "I'd rather get sushi." and I was like "me too." So we decided to ditch the ice cream place and go there.

WELL we walk in, the door was opened, the sign said OPEN, and they were closed.

So we were pretty upset, but we were also just laughing at how this night was going.

We get back in his car and he's like, "Here, flip a coin. heads and we head back to Vanguard and find something to eat along the way, and tails we keep looking for this ice cream place."

I flipped it. It was tails.

So we searched again for the ice cream place.

Finally, we realized we had been going the WRONG WAY on Wilshire blvd and that's why we couldn't find the street. So we made it to the ice cream place at 12:20am. They were still opened, the Vanguard people were already gone obviously, and the huge line was gone too.

At this place, you go and choose 2 cookies and an ice cream flavor and they make an ice cream sandwich for you. And it was only $3 for the both of us.

We sat outside and ate our ice cream...I'll try and insert a picture of that here. The consensus is he kinda looks like Sawyer from the show Lost.

We didn't take too many pictures. Vanessa took a couple. They should be on Facebook.

Anyway, after we ate our ice cream, he asked if I wanted to walk around. So we walked through that part of the city for a long time and just talked. We asked each other a lot of questions which really fun. Earlier when we were at the comedy club, Vanessa and I had gone to the bathroom together and she said that she noticed how Beau and I were already behaving like best friends, just with how we joked and were really comfortable with each other.

That's how it was the rest of the time too. We weren't shy at all. (Perhaps the reason we got so lost was because we were talking so much and not paying attention?)

After our walk, we headed back to Vanguard. We still had a 45 minute drive ahead of us so we had more time to talk. We talked a lot about movies, music, ourselves, everything. Then we got back to my dorm at about 1:45am. (Waaaay after everyone else had gotten back.)

We said bye in front of the dorm and hugged. And he said "I'm glad I got lost with you for two hours in LA." haha. Then he told me to add him on facebook and we'd keep in touch, he'd tell me where his band was playing, etc. He still had another hour to drive back, I felt bad he was out so late being sick and all.

I got up to our hall and Vanessa, Traci, Raechel and Amanda were all sitting on the couch waiting for me. They were freaking out and screaming and all excited about how late I got back. They all were like "He kissed you didn't he?!" and I was like "NO! I would never kiss someone on a first date. You all know me better than that." and Vanessa said Beau is too respectful to do that. They made me tell them all about the night. So I didn't end up getting to bed until 3:30am.

Anyway, it was just a really fun night and I was thankful that Vanessa chose such an easygoing guy that I really got along with. And--don't worry, he was a gentleman. He always opened my car door for me, he walked on the outside of the sidewalk, and even at the comedy club when I came back from the bathroom, he didn't sit back down until I sat down, stuff like that.

I'm not sure if I'll see him again since he lives so far away, but we'll see. It was nice to go on a date though, and even though everything got all messed up with the directions, we still had a blast.

Great Bowls of Fire

I am writing this post with burning eyes and blackening lungs. I knew this would happen sometime in the duration of dorm living. The first fire.

But let us back up.

Vanessa, Selene and I are in our dorm, talking and doing homework. V & I are making preparations to go to Nordstrom's Rack in a minute. Vanessa throws some Top Ramen in the microwave for a quick lunch before we leave to shop. It's instant Top Ramen in a paper cup where one just adds water.

Minutes pass and Vanessa returns to the microwave. She calmly says, "Why does this look like it's on fire?"

Selene and I, not really paying attention, laugh lightly and politely, and we go about our business.

Then Vanessa goes, "...because I didn't put WATER in the bowl!"

It WAS on fire.

She pressed cancel on the microwave, but hesitated to open it, for fear of what was to come.

I immediately stood on a chair and began fanning the smoke detector with a worksheet I'd been doing.

Selene readies a cup of water, and Vanessa opens the microwave. Instantly, a plume of smoke is released and engulfs our entire room.

Selene throws the water onto the flames and I continue fanning the smoke detector frantically. We open the door to the hall, but we don't want the HALL smoke detector to go off. It never does, though.

I ask for something else to fan with an Vanessa hands me a book. It works much better and succeeds at diverting the smoke.

On a funny/ironic note: the book that fanned away the smoke was Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis saves the day again.

At this point I am coughing, and squinting through the smoke. Selene decides to peace out to go to class, and Vanessa has left the room to get some air.

Mind you, the cup of Ramen is still in the microwave.

Once I can't stand the smoke any longer, I leave the room and am greeted by some other girls on our hall who are laughing at us and asking what we cremated.

My friend Raechel from next door ventures in with me and we retrieve the burnt offering from the microwave. Here's what it looks like:

So then we put it in a plastic bag and take it outside.

I then Febreeze the room, but at this point, nothing can really conceal or overpower the smoke.

A bunch of girls leave to go to lunch, Vanessa included, leaving me to sit in the hallway while our room airs out. But now the whole hall smells like burnt toast and everyone who walks down our hall says to me, "What did you DO?"

"I didn't do anything," I say.

Then my default explanation to people walking by becomes: "I live with an arsonist."

"Don't to mean a narcissist?"

"Nope."

Then they smell the smoke and say, "Oh..."

So I'm thinking when I see Vanessa's boyfriend next time, I'll say: "Ernesto, marry her at your own risk. If you want her to make you dinner...you may regret it."

All jokes aside, I love Vanessa. Once I can breathe again, I will forgive her. ;)

The Older Brother

Out of all of the characters in the bible, I've always related to one more than any of the others:

The older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

I feel like I've always had "older sister syndrome," as my friend Alex calls it. I asked her what that meant once and she described her own older sister--how she has just a natural instinct to be responsible and tell others what to do.

I see that in myself for sure.

When I read the parable of the Prodigal Son, I don't identify with the younger son. I have never gone and squandered my estate on wild living. I identify with the older brother. I have remained faithful--to my parents' expectations, to my own values, in my walk with God.

Maybe that's a prideful statement. Yes, I have stumbled, but I haven't done anything that has severely altered my walk with Him. I have abstained from drugs, alcohol, and sex. I have put so much effort into my walk with God, I have served others for Him, I have made a conscious effort to love others and live differently as a testimony to my devotion to God.

And yet I see God pour his blessings over people who constantly disobey Him. It bothers me.

It bothers me how my parents give my rebellious siblings anything they want, but push me to the side.

If I were around during this time, I would join the older brother when he walked away from his brother's party. I'd be like "dude, I totally know how you feel." And then we'd probably make out and go sheep-tipping.

Tonight at Rock Harbor, the pastor talked about this parable. One thing he pointed out was the part at the end where the older brother goes out into the fields when the party is going on in honor of his brother's return.

It says that the father went out to him. The phrase went-out in this Greek translation is the same one used when he describes how the father went out for his lost son. So it shows that even the obedient brother was lost. (This was also Jesus' way of telling the Pharisees that they were just as lost as the tax collectors and common people.)

The exchange in Luke 15 28:-32 is pretty fascinating:

"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

The other thing he pointed out was that Jesus never says if the older brother comes back to the party. The story just ends. It's Jesus' way of telling the Pharisees that it's up to them, they can come to the party or just stand around moping.

He said that a lot of times we are like the older brother--we feel entitled and more important. Guilty.

I'm still bothered by how the younger brother becomes the star of the story. The story's even named after him. And then the older brother is regarded as the bad example. I don't think that's necessarily true. There are a lot of us older brother types out there. We have a lot to learn, I know. But sometimes I just feel like we are getting gypped.

Pray for my attitude there.

California Fashion

Today I went shopping because this next week holds a few events that I might want to look nice for :)

Tuesday night is Woo Fest. It's when the guys at Vanguard serve dinner to, sing for, and basically enchant the girls of Vanguard for a night. We're all supposed to dress up.

Then Saturday night is GYRAD, and I wanted to get a new outfit to wear for that. This will be my first date in THREE years! Ahh. So crazy. I don't even remember what to do on a date or how to act. Haha. I'm just not good at that stuff. And it doesn't help that my date is (from what I've heard) extremely gorgeous and apparently "looks like Sawyer from Lost."

I'm already going to be nervous, and now I'm in the midst of deciding what to wear and how to do my hair and...yeah.

I did find some clothes today, though. So I'll post some pictures here.

Here is my dress I got for Woofest. When I dress it up with accessories, I think it'll look dressier. Also, I may wear leggings. What do you think? It seems a little short to me. I dunno. I'm just not used to showing my legs, I'm still a bit insecure.

This is a jacket and jeans I got at Urban Outfitters. Not for the date, though, since I think the date is supposed to be nicer clothes.

This is called a "long shirt dress." It's pretty cool. I wear it with leggings, because without them it looks a little Risky Business ;)

This is another dress thingy I got. I have on black jeans under it, but I would probably wear it with leggings instead. I just don't think I'll go sleeveless to the date because it'll probably be chilly out and, once again, I'm insecure.

And...I couldn't resist. I bought a zip-up hoodie. In my defense, I needed one that was a neutral color :)

ALL IN ALL, I feel like I have a lot of pieces that my friends and I can work with in putting together an outfit. Vanessa and I are probably going to go shopping for accessories this coming week, so hopefully I'll have my "look" down.

How I'm going to do my HAIR for gyrad...I still don't know. But I will have plenty of help. Plenty of girls on my hall are hair-savvy and can practice prospective styles this week.

Pray for my nervousness. I really shouldn't be as worried as I am about how I'll look. It's just an inevitable part of being a girl who is going on a date. I want to make a good impression, but I still want to be myself.

If anyone has any suggestions about anything, let me know!

Why all the girls at Vanguard now want to date a baseball player...

I just thought I'd post this video for you guys.

Last night was our pep rally where all the teams came out to give an update and show themselves off.

The boys' baseball team is famous for never having a presentation or routine. Well, this year that changed. I think the video speaks for itself. Furthermore, these guys are the NEW baseball players (freshman and transfers) and they are usually the ones that the rest of the team and school looks down on. Let's just say they finally got a chance to prove themselves :) I love my school.

Boys Baseball from Ashley D on Vimeo.

(Guys who love Jesus are much more studly.

And the best way to get a gym full of girls to scream? Play 'Nsync, I guess.)

Then here's a video of the girls' softball team. We came to the rally to support Amanda on our hall. She's the one in the orange skirt and pink shirt. Anyway, their routine was great too. And the second half is cool if you've ever seen the movie White Chicks :)

(Girls who love Jesus are much cuter.)

Anyway, this is my awesome school. Fun fact: there are 233 palm trees on our campus.

And if you haven't already figured it out:

1. We dance a LOT here

2. I don't want to leave

Here are some updates which are also, inevitably, prayer requests as well:

-I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, which is--writing a novel (50,000 words or more) in November. So far I think I'm doing well with it.

On midnight on Halloween (so November 1st) I went to the "writing party" in the student center and hung out with everyone on campus who was participating. We started writing at 12am, and I only stayed about 2 hours but they had an all-nighter for anyone who wanted to stay longer.

I was the only person there who didn't have on a trench coat and/or medieval dress. Sometimes I forget that writers are weird and I don't necessarily fit the writer mold. They were all talking about online dragon games and all kinds of things that were over my head.

But I also forgot how much I love being in a room full of writers, writing together. It's so inspirational. And we can ask each other questions and ask for feedback. Writers are funny, too. These kids said the most witty, hilarious things that night.

So next time you watch The Office, remember that Steve Carell isn't funny. The WRITERS who write his script are funny. He's just a good actor.

-One of my friends on my hall, Raechel, read my book series I wrote (the 3 books- Take Cover, The Letter, and Breathless.) And she said she loved them and said I need to publish them. She knows a woman in Florida who just opened up a Christian publishing company and said she can give me her info.

I thought it was very sweet of her to say all that but I don't think those stories are good enough for publication. Or, if they are, I have LOT of work to do on them still. I feel like there's always room for improvement.

-Spring semester registration is approaching and I am trying to find a balance in getting in my core classes, my English major classes, and my Women's Studies minor classes. I feel a bit overwhelmed and a bit like I am going to be in school longer than I had planned. I also have some frustration with my school because they haven't yet added into their database my 2nd semester credits from CU Denver. So the computer still says I'm a freshman. Ha.

But I am meeting with my advisor tomorrow so I hope it gets all sorted out. Please pray.

-I am thinking about grad school (as should most junior-ish students) and I know I definitely want my master's degree in creative writing. NYU offers a creative writing grad program and it seems amazing. It's still at least 2 or 3 years away though, so I'm not going to fret over it yet because it's too much stress.

ONTO MORE FUN STUFF:

-I am kind of over the food here. Our caf is catered by a company called Bon Appetit and they are very good, but their food is very rich. So I'm ready to go home and eat what my mom always makes, you know?

Also, I've found that living in California means eating a ridiculous amount of Mexican food.

-Our GYRAD (Get Your Roommate A Date) event is Saturday November 21st. It's a big group date with our hall and the catch is that roommates get a date for each other. I, however, have 2 roommates who already have boyfriends so I don't have to find them anyone.

But apparently there is this big plan for ME that I was not aware of till recently. My roommate Vanessa's boyfriend has a close friend from church who she is thinking of setting me up with. He doesn't go to Vanguard, he's a couple years older, and apparently quite the catch.

My 3 other friends across the hall have seen his facebook and have all concluded that he is gorgeous. Blonde, I think, and very tall. I also know that he is a musician. That's all I know about him and Vanessa is vowing to keep quiet. I don't know his name or where he went to school or anything like that. So it's a little nerve-wracking knowing that I am getting set up with a mystery guy who is probably way out of my league. ha.

I am just hoping that GYRAD is a fun night and not too awkward nonetheless.

-On that note, I feel like everyone's question when I come back to visit will be: "Have you met anyone??"

And I'm going to go ahead and answer that question now. NO.

And if you must know WHY:

1. Because I am not in college with the intent of meeting my spouse. That's selfish and it undermines my educational aspirations.

2. Also because Vanguard guys are "afraid of girls." It's an old joke here apparently.

3. And finally, because--this is one of my life quotes--I don't like most guys and most guys don't like me.

I am much too picky. And my strong views, intelligence, and good looks all thrown together is extremely intimidating. I'm just sayin' ;)

-I absolutely love being in bible classes. I'm learning so much. In New Testament we are learning the parallels, and lack-there-of, in the 4 gospels.

Most scholars believe, with good reason, that the book of Mark was written first. My NT professor has a theory, and substantial evidence, that Mark was written first and the book of Mark was literally in front of the writer of the book of Matthew when Matthew was written. I think I believe him.

-I am going to start going to a young adult small group with my friend Tatiana. Hopefully I like it because I've had a hard time getting involved here.

-I went to both the girls and guys soccer games on Saturday. After watching so many of Emily's soccer games, I'm kind of over soccer. But I did have a good time and my face got tan.

-I ride my bike around town a lot and it's really fun. I just love the fact that the beach is right down the street and I can drive to Disneyland in 20 minutes if I want. :-D

-This Thursday night, our hall is dressing up in tacky prom dresses and going out to dinner at Norms (which is like village inn here.) Just another example of how crazy we are here.

-My agenda for tonight is so crazy. It goes: Invisible Children Documentary showing, Human Sexuality evening chapel, school comedy show, and then junior/senior broomball at the local ice rink.

Like I've said before, school is just something we do on the side here.

Here's a short, random video clip of my room and how everyone just likes to hang out in here. People come in my room all the time to talk, play taboo, play my guitar, or make snacks. I'm kind of a big deal.