The Year of Road Trips?

Whew...the last month has been a bit of a crazy one if you can't tell by my lack of blogging.  There was the Women's Retreat is Belhaven, NC, a trip back to Greenville to work on my taxes, the Leaders Retreat (literally in the middle of no where), and the Wilmington to Charlotte to Greenville, SC to Charlotte to Wilmington Easter extravaganza weekend.  In the last month, I have yet to actually be in town for a weekend.  Maybe the Year of Do should officially undergo a name change to the Year of Road Trip. 

So, with my first free weekend in ages, the options were endless.  Wednesday night, I literally couldn't sleep thinking about everything I could do that I haven't been able to in the last month.  I could actually do all of my laundry (not just wash the things that were absolutely necessary, leaving the rest in a heaping pile on the floor).  I could wander around downtown Wilmington, checking out the Azalea festival with all of its vendors and bands.  The Avette Brothers were playing a concert this weekend.  That could be a fun option.  I could actually go to my church.  I'm pretty sure they are starting to think I have either disappeared or found a new church home.  I could actually start building this kitchen table.  Oh goodness...this poor table that I got so excited to start, yet has sat sad and abandoned for the past month.

So what did I end up doing?  I traveled.  I know...I know...You're thinking, "I thought that's exactly what you didn't want to do!"  But when a good friends call spur of the moment on a Friday afternoon and say they have a beach house at Oak Island for the weekend, there really isn't any other appropriate answer other than, "Sure...why not!"

And honestly, I think it was exactly what I needed.  A weekend with no cell phone service, no internet access, where I could nap and read as much as I wanted, only to be interrupted by walks on the beach, snuggling puppies, the smell of cooking bacon, and hysterical conversations.  I love when the Year of Do and times of rest collide into one great, unexpected weekend. 

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls as a Cure for Insomnia

Well here's a change for you.  Normally I am up at 6 am, can't sleep, and decide to catch up on blog posts.  This morning, it's 6 am, and I'm already caught up on blog posts. 

Hmm...how to use these extra few hours for the Year of Do...

Step 1: Convince yourself if you try hard enough, you really can go back to sleep.  1 sheep...2 sheep...3 sheep.......this isn't working.

Step 2: Catch up on your social media stalking.  You can do that without even getting out of bed, while still holding onto some hope that you may eventually drift off to sleep.  Facebook... Twitter.... Instagram... nope... still awake.

Step 3: Catch up on your plan to read through the bible in a year.  I'm about a few months behind at this point.  A few more of these 6 am mornings though and I could be caught up soon.

Step 4: Resolve yourself to the inevitable fate that you aren't going back to sleep anytime soon.  But staff meeting is in just a few hours and you love surprising your staff team with the unexpected.  Sooo...6:30 am cinnamon roll baking it is. 

Yummm

Most of the team, post cinnamon rolls and all decked out in stripes for staff meeting

To Travel Or Not To Travel, That Is The Question

Sometimes all of this "doing" is exhausting.  Once I'm actually in the middle of doing whatever task I've set out to do, I love it.  But there is always this moment right before where I think to myself, "Wouldn't it just be easier if you didn't.  That couch looks so comfortable with it's fluffy blanket and cushy pillows." 

This weekend was a great example of that.  It was Easter weekend and here were the options.  1) Drive to Charlotte (for the sixth time this year) for the weekend to see my family.  2) Attend the wedding of a college roommate in Greenville, SC.  Or 3) Stay at home in Wilmington and catch up on some much needed sleep while at the same time proving to friends in town that I do in fact live here, something they are inevitably starting to doubt.

Thursday night, everything in me wanted to claim my rightful place on the couch for the weekend and catch up on Downton Abby.  We are in the middle of our busy season on campus right now and the number of free nights and weekends are few and far between.  Can you guess which of my three options I ended up taking?



Your leaning towards option 3 aren't you....



Now your starting to doubt yourself...maybe option 1....



Well, it is the Year of Do.  Why pick one when you can do all three...right?!?!

I packed up my car Friday afternoon and made the four hour trek to Charlotte just in time to meet my parents for dinner at my favorite BBQ restaurant in town, Mac's BBQ.  It's supposed to resemble a biker bar, but everytime I've taken my parents, my dad points out that the closest thing to a motorcycle in the parking lot is a row of brightly colored Vespa scooters.  Maybe it's not as biker friendly as they advertise, but no one can argue that they serve the best beef brisket in town. 

Saturday morning found my mom and I dress shopping with my soon to be sister-in-law for the perfect rehearsal dinner dress.  One of the biggest items on my bucket list for the year was to celebrate my little brother getting married.  That's not one of those things you can put off until next year.  You really only get one opportunity to celebrate well something like that and I don't want to miss it.  It was such a sweet time being able to just celebrate as the women in our family.  I wouldn't have wanted to miss that for the world. 

The VanScott women, elated over the fact that we found the perfect rehearsal dinner dress.  I'm going to keep you waiting in suspense for a few more weeks to see what it looks like.

 

We finished dress shopping just in time for me to stop by the hotel, speed change into a more wedding appropriate outfit (I'm not sure they would have approved the jeans and hoodie I was sporting at South Park Mall), and take off on phase 2 of the weekend, the wedding of a college roommate. 

 

Jen and I lived together during my senior year of college, and not only was I thrilled to get to see her get married, but it was also a chance to catch up with college friends I hadn't seen in years. 

 

I just love these women. 

 

And it really was such a fun night.  We danced, and laughed as we remembered ridiculous things we had done in college, and caught up on what had happened since (jobs and weddings and babies).  I laughed harder that night than I have in a really long time.  The kind of laughing where your abs hurt and you really do have a hard time catching your breath.

 

Sunday morning found me back in Charlotte, celebrating Easter with my family, and by that afternoon I was on the road, back to Wilmington.

 

As I was driving home that afternoon, I kept thinking how there really is something to this whole Year of Do thing.  It would have been so easy to sleep and sit on the couch all weekend, and it would have been well deserved after a few really busy weeks.  But instead, I went shopping with my sister-in-law, ate at a favorite restaurant, spent time with my family, celebrated a dear friend getting married, caught up with friends I hadn't seen in years, and saw my brother's new life in his new town.  I may have been asleep by 9:30 on Sunday night, but it was worth it.  

Building a Kitchen Table: Part 1

I think I've mentioned in the past my great tendency to over estimate my ability and underestimate the effort a project will take.  There were the aprons that took 3 months to finish (and the two that are still half finished in my closet), learning to surf (I swear they make it look so easy), and baking that infamous Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse Cake (It was delicious, but it took two days to make and when I moved out of my house last year I was still finding chocolate on the walls). 

You would think I would have learned my lesson by now.  I can just hear my past self yelling, "DON'T START ANOTHER PROJECT YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FINISH!  You remember the mountain biking incident don't you?" 

But the small voice in the back of my head never tells me to put down the absurd project and slowly back away.  Instead, it echos, "It can't be that hard.  You're an intelligent person.  You can figure this out.  And even if you can't, just Google it.  Google knows everything."  And besides, this year is the Year of Do.  If there is ever an excuse to start an absurd project, this is it.

And so...I give you the most over involved project that I am under equipped to do. 

I am building a kitchen table.  (Or rather, I've convinced a friend to help me build a kitchen table.)

That's right, the girl who isn't really sure how to hang a picture straight on a wall and hates to measure things because it takes too much time is going to attempt to build a kitchen table that won't collapse the first time a fork is placed on it.  Do I know the first thing about "planers," and "routers," and "saw horses?"  Nope.  But, the people on Pinterest say, "It's the easiest project I've ever done."  And the Internet never lies...right?

Here's the look that I'm aiming for

A rustic reclaimed wood table from Restoration Hardware

 

And here is what it looks like right now

 

Don't let the picture fool you.  It's all just placed very strategic to make it look like I have some idea of where this is going. 

 

The cool part is that all of the wood for the table came from an old dock at my parents river house.  This dock has been washed away in two hurricanes and has been hunted down and towed back by kayak at least once before it was replaced with the concrete pier that now stands in it's place.  I have long loved the idea of a rustic, barn wood kitchen table that is big enough to fit an army around, but even more, I love the idea of having a piece of furniture with a story behind it. 

 

Don't worry.  This is just Part 1 in the saga of the kitchen table.  I'll post more as this project gets underway.  It should be an adventure to say the least.



The Timeline of A College Reunion, Late Night Pizza Run and All

6:30 pm- reunite with college friends.  Lots of hugs, lots of laughs, and lots of "do you remember that time when..." statements.

7:30 pm- Dinner downtown at a favorite Mexican restaurant.  More reminiscing and laughing.

9:00 pm- Stop into another restaurant when you hear live music coming from within the building.  Lots of laughing, although your not quite sure at what because it's hard to hear over the music. 

9:30 pm- Wilmington friends show up and meet said college friends.  This inevitably leads to immense amounts of high pitched laughing and story telling as lots of your favorite people end up in the same place.

10:00 pm- Pile into someones Jeep and take an impromptu drive on the beach (because this is just one of the perks of living in a beach town, and your friends are amazing).

10:34 pm- Climb out of said Jeep onto the beach and attempt to watch the stars.

10:39 pm- Realize that no one in the group can feel their fingers or toes because it is March 2nd, 30 degrees outside, and you're are standing on a beach.

10:40 pm- Load back into the Jeep and explore the beach a little more, this time, from the comfort of a heated vehicle with Drew Holcomb playing in the background.  Ahhhh...much better.

11:20 pm- Convene back at a friends house to start up a bonfire in the backyard.

12:03 am- Realize you are starving and warm up the only thing you can find in the frig/freezer, Stoffers Macaroni and Cheese.

12:30 am- Sit by the bonfire and enjoy not only reminiscing about fun times in college, but also what is new in your friend's lives.  Start making plans about the next time you can all get together again.

2:15 am- Realize how late it is, but it's been such a fun night, and since you're already reliving your college years tonight, why not end it with a late night Pizza run.

2:30 am- The five of you finish off a large pepperoni pizza.

3:30 am- finally crawl back into bed, exhausted and happy.  Look at the clock and think to yourself, "I haven't been up this late since college."

10:00 am- Alarm goes off.  Promptly turn off, roll over, and go back to sleep.

10:30 am- Wake up and think to yourself, "I'm too old for this."

Sometimes in the Year of Do, you say "yes" to random opportunities and it's some of the most fun and unexpected times in your life, and other times, you say "yes" to random opportunities and wake up thinking, "How did I do this on a regular basis in college?  Did I not love sleep back then?"  Luckily, this past Saturday was mostly extreme amounts of fun, with only a little exhaustion thrown in.  And if I had the opportunity to do it again, I'm pretty sure I would. 

The Intrepid Speaker

Ugh...I hate public speaking.  Have I mentioned that?  I guess I did write a blog post recalling my fear of public speaking based on the tragic/epic fainting epidemic in my seventh grade English class during a speech on Colonial America.  But, in case I need to say it one more time to reinforce the point, "There are some things you were just made to love and enjoy doing.  For me, public speaking is the exact opposite of that." 

And that's actually how I started my talk entitled A Biblical Basis for Social Justice at this past CRU meeting.  My plan was to come over prepared for my time, and then set low expectations so if anything bad happened, like another spur of the moment fainting attack, I would be covered.  In the end, it was unnecessary.  On two feet I stood, firmly planted on the middle of the stage, bible in hand, ear microphone wobbling ever so slightly in front of my face, with fifty sets of eyes either fixed on my every move or checking Facebook on their smart phones.  (It's hard to tell on stage with all of the spot lights shining in your eyes.)

And as uncomfortable and scary as it was, I'm so glad I did it, for a couple of different reasons.  First, and maybe most importantly, there has been a HUGE resurgence of Social Justice platforms lately among college students.  It affects almost all of their choices, how they spend their Christmas Breaks, which shoes they will buy, what stores they will shop in, which campus organizations they will get involved in, what they will major in, and what job they will eventually have.  As they contemplate how they will use their lives to meet some of the needs in this world, they need to understand that Social Justice fits perfectly into the heart and plan of God as well.

Secondly, and a far more selfish reason, it provided a great opportunity to step further out of my comfort zone and try things that are all together intimidating for me.  Call it nerves, or adrenalin, but it's kind of a rush to look at something with complete fear and walk into it non the less.  It may be one of the biggest perks of the Year of Do.

Passionately Persuing and Loving Friends in the Year of Do

There has been a theme in this week's Year of Do activities if you haven't already picked up on it, initiating with friends.  It's really easy for me to have an "out of sigh, out of mind," mindset with friends.  It's easy to keep up with friends you see every week, the ones you work with and see at church.  It's harder to set aside time for phone dates and road trips.  But the friends in my life who know me the best, the ones I call when life goes a little crazy (like a few nights ago when a racoon walking in front of my car in my neigborhood and I was overcome with excitement/nausiousnes), are the one's who have been around for multiple stages of my life, the one's I've made commitments to call and visit on a regular basis.  Thus, this year, being the year of doing and not just wishing, I want to passionately persue my friends, both near and far. 

And this weekend was a huge, and rediculously fun, step in that direction.  I traveled back to my previous home, Charlotte, NC, for a wedding of a dear friend and former roommate/co-worker.   The wedding was beautiful, and such a sweet reminder of the Lord's tangible belssings for my friend.  We cried, we laughed, we ate, we danced, and then we danced some more. 

Goodness...I love these people.  And there were probable thirty others I got to see this past weekend that aren't pictured here.

 



Here's to many more fun weekends with old and new friends in the Year of Do!