7QTs on Carol ditching us for Illinois

--- 1 ---

Today is officially the worst day ever. Carol packed up her car and headed back to Illinois to move home. It's not like she is really ditching us. She will still be working for FOCUS, just in a remote fashion. And I mean, moving home to prepare for your wedding and live close to your finance is a legitimate reason to move home. Still, I will miss this girl like crazy.

Carol was my first Events Team friend and my first Colorado friend. She is hilarious, extremely talented at Event Planning, and she is an incredible listener. I am so incredibly grateful to have walked with her these past seven months. She challenged me to grow in my relationships with Christ and others, and helped me develop my skills as an event planner. Only 24 days until I see her again for a whole week!

--- 2 ---

Since it was #CarolsLastWeek, we obviously had to celebrate. And man, does our team know how to celebrate. We started by leaving work a little early on Monday for a COLORADO ADVENTURE. We started with a hike up Elk Meadows, and ended with Mountain Pizza at Beau Joes and Colorado draft beers. We're really fun.

#TeamSelfie

Christina loves hikes.

--- 3 ---

Thursday was the worst, because it was her actual last day. Christina and I decked out the office.

I brought in the team favorite Reese's Bar's & Christina brought in carrots (because Carol's a weirdo and loves them) and the most amazing veggie dip I've ever eaten. After work, we toasted Carol with some wine and the team said their goodbyes.

--- 4 ---

Carol and I went with some friends to The Yard House for a last hoorah. Oh my gosh, they have approximately 1 million beers on tap and they are all amazing. So is the food. This was the best decision ever. After, I went back to Carol's apartment and watch Jimmy Fallon Hashtag videos with Hannah while Carol finished packing. As I said goodbye waaaaaay too late in the evening, Carol told me to pretend this was a normal goodbye and that I wasn't allowed to go cry in my car after I left.

--- 5 ---

This is how we're dealing with Carol being gone:

CAROL ON A STICK.

Also, we're going to drink wine after work to drown our sorrows.

--- 6 ---

In other news, my family has a March Madness bracket and I'm winning? What? I don't get it. I made my picks on the phone with my mom while shopping for earrings and I haven't watched one game...

--- 7 ---

The upside to this week: RYAN WAS IN TOWN! Kyle (Ryan) was a missionary at Drake my senior year and we've been friends ever since. He is now changing the world by growing closer to God at seminary, and will probably be a priest. Pretty much, the future of our Church is in his hands. Which is kind of a scary thing (just kidding, Ryan is really great).

I saw him for dinner Friday night, at Miles' first birthday party on Saturday afternoon, and then all day Tuesday when I spent the day in Fort Collins. Tuesday was so much fun catching up with Dana, Derek, Ryan, & Miles. We reminisced about FOCUS, Drake, and The Office. We laughed a lot, drank a lot of beers, and just had a grand old time together.

In the light of Carol leaving, I am so grateful for all the friends God has blessed me with over the course of my life. To all of you near, and far, thank you for the blessing you have been to me!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes: Delight, Fall, & Christmas Music in October [4]

--- 1 ---

Last Saturday my friend Holly and I went to the Colorado Ballet to see their performance of Giselle. The dancers were beautiful and so impressive, even though the story was a little weird. My favorite part of the whole experience was the old man sitting a seat away from us. He stinkin' loved the ballet. When the dancers would do something particularly impressive he would cry out, "bravo!" We would hear him say things like, "beautiful!" "oh wow!" and "wonderful, just wonderful!" My personal favorite was when he exclaimed, "Ah! I'll be damned!!" after a particularly impressive lift (seriously - Giselle was 100% above the man's head and completely flat. They did this like 3 times). 

Although this man's exclamations were cute, I really appreciated how much he delighted in the whole experience. He was not afraid to show his appreciation for the art and he was real in how he expressed it. It made me think deeper about the concept of delighting in something beautiful and how God delights in us.

--- 2 ---

On Wednesday, I mentioned that I really like The Walking Dead and other things about Zombies. And that's weird for me. But...I find it fascinating to think about. Maybe my brain is weird, but when I watch/read things about post-apocalyptic societies (like The Hunger Games or The Walking Dead or even Harry Potter), I always think about where would God or the Catholic Church be if this was reality. Like, what if you really had to live on the run in fear that Zombies would attack you!? And that was your everyday reality? How would that effect your view of Jesus? Hard for me to fathom...but I always think about it. Last year when I first encountered the Walking Dead we would have some sweet conversations about the morality of killing Zombies and what the Church would teach. I think those conversations were what got me hooked on the show.

--- 3 ---

October has been all about birthdays and celebrations in our office. Carol and Christina both had birthday, and Oct. 16 was boss' day. Our team does celebrations right...Thai Food, drinks, pink sparkly crowns, baked goods, and decorations. Maybe because we're all event planners.

--- 4 ---

Last weekend, Carol and I hosted the first of our (hopefully monthly) parties: FALL DAY. This day was just so much fun! We started at the pumpkin patch, came home for dinner (Carol & I made butternut squash mac & cheese), played a riveting round of Things, and ended the night with a great discussion about the first time we all said "I love you" back to Jesus.

--- 5 ---

UNL had fall break this week and a few of the missionaries and students came out to Colorado. While the group went up into the mountains on Monday, I snagged my good friend Emily for the day. Emily is my mentee on staff and oh my gosh I just love her. She has an incredible story about how she ended up as an affiliate missionary at UNL for the year. It was so great to be with her in person and just be friends. We talked for hours about the things that are going on in our lives, and had our formal mentorship in person for the first time. I am so honored that she has asked me to guide her in her journey as a missionary.

Emily came into the office with me so she could see FOCUS Headquarters and talk to her Regional Director for a bit. We were asked by almost everyone that we met, "Are you two sisters!?" A few even did double takes because they thought she was me.

Last year my teammate Logan insisted that I was identical twins with Caitlin (a student at UNL last year and now a FOCUS intern at UNL).

We didn't see it. However, at the beginning of this year I received this text:

Logan had finally figured it out. My roommate, Melissa, confirmed this assumption when she told me Emily & I had the exact same mannerisms. We'll just have to get a picture of the three of us and see what happens.

--- 6 ---

Next week Carol & I are going to a Christian Conference Planners Conference to meet with vendors, learn more professional skills, and hang out in Florida. I'm excited to get a deeper look into what it means to be a professional event planner and to bring back everything I learn to further the mission of FOCUS through events.

I will say, these vendors are insane. Look at this invitation to dinner that I got yesterday:

SO FUN, right!? But I want to know how many people they sent these to and was it really worth the $8.75 shipping cost!?

--- 7 ---

So I may or may not have listened to Christmas music in the office on Wednesday. I had Let It Snow! stuck in my head, so I decided that was fine because it's not technically a Christmas song. Then the Glee Christmas Album showed up on Spotify and it was all over from there...People had some fierce opinions on the matter:

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!