2 days until hawaii | an update on raising support

i was planning on writing out a long post about all the amazing things that have happened since i've started raising support, but it is currently 1am, i procrastinated, and i have to work tomorrow. i still hope to write out those stories because i never want to forget them, but until then, i will just say God has taught me a lot about Himself through this process. asking people for money, or help in general, makes me uncomfortable, but i knew i had to have help so i've stepped out and asked anyway. and what do you know, Jesus is a really good guy and has not let me down.

i will give you the highlights:

a one way ticket to hawaii for $163(!!!).

college friends randomly sending me hundreds of dollars.

an incredibly successful instagram auction that raised nearly $3500 in 24 hours. from mostly people i don't know.

an unexpected job at the church as the interim secretary. which has secretly always been my dream.

and the ability to show up in hawaii with the first 3 months already paid for.

i cannot actually believe that i have already raised so much money in such a short amount of time. i never dreamed i would. i am incredibly grateful for all the people who have given already and i wish i could thank them with their own trip to hawaii. one day if i am as rich as oprah i will do just that.

i leave for kona on wednesday, and as i already mentioned, the first 3 months are completely paid for. this is nothing short of a miracle. we have about a month to raise the remaining 3 months which pays for the outreach portion of this trip. i've been asked to raise $6000 for outreach to ensure that all of our expenses are covered. as you can imagine, i am tempted to be nervous about raising 6000 more dollars but mostly i am like bring it on. when i told a good friend of mine that i was going to YWAM, she was obviously excited for me, but mostly she was excited that i had to raise money. this conversation happened over the phone but had it happened in person i would have been giving her a blank stare. i don't know many people who are excited about raising money, but she was sure it was going to be an incredible faith building experience, and boy was she right.

i would like to outline some ways that you can support me if you are interested.

1. paypal option A - the donate button
   on my blog sidebar, right over there ------------> is a yellow button that says donate. you do not have to have a paypal account, just a credit or debit card, to use this option. it goes straight to my paypal account where i keep it until i'm ready to make a payment to YWAM. the downside to this option is that i have to pay a fee once i receive the money, which adds up after awhile.
2. paypal option B - send money to friends and family
   when you log into paypal there is a button on the top toolbar that says "pay or send money." if you click that, it will take you to a new screen where you can select "send money to friends and family." if you have a bank account linked to your paypal or you have a balance in your paypal account, there are no fees that have to be paid with this method. if you don't have either of those things, it will ask you to pay the 3% fee to send the money. please feel free to just use my donate button if you don't want to pay the fee.
3. YWAM payment A - the credit card
   you can also make a payment straight to YWAM. using t h i s  l i n k, you can donate using a credit card, but not a debit card. please do not change the name that is automatically written on the first page, or the donation will not go to me.
4. YWAM payment B - an electronic check
   using the same link above, you can donate with an electronic check. this will ask for your bank routing number (which you can find on the bottom of your checks) and account number and takes 2-3 days to transfer. i have made all my payments to YWAM this way and have had no problems at all. it is a secure website.
5. the good old fashioned way - a check
   if you would like to donate using a check or cash, please email me at lifeasaneskimo (at) gmail (dot) com and i will send you my address.

lastly, i recently sent out these postcards to remind people to pray for me while i am in hawaii and overseas. if you would like one, please email me your address and i will get one out to you. my incredibly sweet and generous friend katy made these postcards for me out of the goodness of her heart of gold. she will punch me right in my face for saying this but she has an  e t s y  s h o p  where she sells beautiful prints. i have gotten a lot of them because i'm obsessed, so i encourage you to hop over to her shop and look around. thanks katy, you're one in a million.

xoxo,

ko.

aloha.

picture from a trip to maui in 2010.

a little over a year ago i heard a song called "all is for your glory" by cory asbury (that link takes you to the laura hackett version though.) the bridge of that song says this:

"put me anywhere

just put Your glory in me

I'll serve anywhere

just let me see Your beauty"

i think i sang that song at school and church approximately 400 thousand times since then. at least once or twice a week. that and oceans by hillsong, but thats a whole different story. 

anyway, over the last few years, i've learned a lot about the importance of the words that we speak. there is a verse in the Bible that says "the tongue has the power of life and death" which makes me think a lot more about the words that come out of my mouth. because of this, i've become a lot more choosy about the songs that i'll sing. i don't want to declare words, even in song, that i don't agree with or really believe. just because they're singing a song at church doesn't mean i have to sing it too. make sense? (i could go on and on about the power i think words carry, but i'll get to the point...)

so when all is for your glory started being played everywhere i went, i consciously chose to sing those words. i genuinely thought about the words i was singing and the implications they might have. i was, with tears in my eyes, really saying send me literally anywhere. i'll go. i'm literally scared out of my mind to agree to that, but i trust You. send me anywhere as long as You go too." (and duh, obviously, Jesus is going too.)

who knew i'd actually have to put my money where my mouth is. 

over the last year at least 10 people, half of whom i didn't know, asked me in one way or another if i'd ever heard of/thought of going to an organization called Youth With a Mission or YWAM as most people call it. those people popped up over the course of a few months, and it didn't take me long to notice the theme. i had heard of YWAM before, and it was something i had even considered doing, but taking 6 months to go do 3 months of discipleship and 3 months of international outreach was a little too scary for me. but i knew that all these mentions of YWAM were not just coincidental, so i told Jesus okay, i'll do YWAM. sure. knowing that He wasn't asking me to do it right that moment. 

all of that to say, although this may seem for some people like its coming out of left field, i've known about this in my heart for a long time. i just had no idea He'd say "go!" so soon.

SO, in january 2015 i am getting on an airplane to kona, hawaii where i will join people from all over the world to do a 6 month discipleship program. i'll be in kona for 3 months going through the "lecture" phase of the school, and then i'll be going with a team for a 3 month international "outreach" phase where i'll put all the things i learned in lecture to practice. right now i don't know where i will go on outreach as this is something the school leaders determine after all the students arrive. "send me literally anywhere" is beginning to hold a lot more meaning as i could literally be sent anywhere in the entire world. 

i have to be honest and tell you that i am really really nervous. i am 150 thousand percent confident that this is what Jesus has for me in this season, but i am truly so nervous. i am nervous about being gone for 6 months, i'm nervous about not seeing any of my friends, i'm nervous about going to a foreign country, i'm nervous about saying yes to a foreign country before i know which one it is, i'm nervous about what i might have to eat in that foreign country, i'm nervous about raising all the money i need, i'm nervous that i'll hate being in hot weather for 6 months. etc, etc, etc. BUT, this was so completely and totally the Lord's idea and i trust Him 100%. He already knows where i'm going, who i'm gonna meet, where the money is going to come from, what i'm gonna eat, etc etc etc. i have nothing to worry about. He's got it.

i am brainstorming some ways to raise the funds i need to make this happen. i've thought about selling prints or having an instagram auction or maybe going with the trusty old send a letter to people method. i will of course let everyone know once i decide what is the best route to go. :)

please be praying for me as i continue to work out all the details and prepare to head to hawaii in less than 3 months. so much to do, so little time!

for more information on YWAM go here.
xoxo,
ko.

a trip to my other home.

first i just want to say that i'm really sorry that this is basically just a play by play recap of my trip. i don't even know how to write a blog any other way. i'll work on it, i promise.

insert amazing transition here.

four blessed years ago, i had just made the drive to indiana for my first year of college. not a bone in my body ever wanted to live in indiana for a single minute past college. i thought marion was small and boring. it didn't have a target or a panera. my friends were hundreds of miles away. i could never imagine myself living there. i wasn't even sure why other people lived there. 

isn't it funny how things change. 

now, of course, i'd move there in a heartbeat. it still doesn't have a target or a panera, but those things are only a few miles away. i don't think its all that small anymore. i don't find it boring. so many friends are there. large pieces of my heart stayed within the lines of grant county. 

dev and stephen's wedding provided the perfect excuse to go back for a visit. i mean if i can't live there, i'm at least going to visit every chance i get. i posted the picture of the state sign on instagram with a caption expressing my deep joy to finally be back in this glorious state. several people were confused by that. i guess most people don't think indiana, the crossroads of america, have anything to offer, but they would be wrong.

so saturday morning, i hitched a ride back with chloë and james. it was a fabulous 3 hours with lots of talking, a really good podcast, some chipotle, and a stop in ft wayne to shop. bless.

once in upland, i was finally reunited with my one true love, max. or #hitinydog as he is known to many. max is one of two dogs on the entire planet who i will let into my bed. he joined me off and on for a nap or two. and he made the best reading buddy.

james grilled us hotdogs for dinner and we ate them on their magical front porch. i can't remember the last time i ate a hotdog. i'd say its probably been at leaaaast 6 -8 years. but i ate 2 and it was sort of really delicious. throw some spicy mustard on a hotdog and its amazing. who knew.

the next day was chlo + james' wedding anniversary, so i left them to have breakfast at the guys house. we had delicious pancakes, eggs and cat mugs. a recipe for perfection. me and kelly had a little afternoon snuggle session while the boys played chess (???) and we dreamt up instagram hashtags. thats the truth.

kel, luke and i also took a little trip to my favorite starbucks on the planet. we squeezed into a truck that i'm pretty sure is only meant for 2 people, but you know it just felt right. as we were leaving, luke rolled down his window and said, "oh i bet you don't want the window down because you did your hair." i had not done my hair that morning. in fact i had just rolled right out of bed. but thank you for noticing. what a compliment! you are the winner, luke.

later i headed back to chloë and james' to hang out before church. i snuggled with max, we watched tv and had tea. chloë has really spoiled me with all the british treats she feeds me. british cookies from waitrose, delicious chocolate and gummies. america needs to get her act together and offer something of this caliber. and of course chloë makes the best tea.

and then the moment i had been waiting for all week. all summer really. i walked back into this church. the one with the beautiful wood ceilings and the tall cross and the walls that i helped to paint. the one that holds my friends each sunday and is a part of so many of my best memories. the one i've laughed in and cried in and met Jesus in over and over again. there is no place i'd rather be on a sunday night.

kristen, nate and i matched, so i demanded a picture. i also got to wear a name tag again. i don't know why i love this so much, but i do. every time i see a name tag like these a think of kingdom life, even though i've worn name tags like these dozens of other places. i always save the ones from church. because i'm a hoarder. and entirely too sentimental.

AND I GOT TO SQUEEZE THIS FACE AGAIN. elizabeth and i met last year in a class we took together at church. i introduced myself to her and ashley afterwards. they asked me where i lived and it turns out they lived across the hall, two doors down from me. i was a loser senior and didn't know anyone in my hall. except them. my precious girls. i spent dozens of early mornings with this girl in mcconn and lots of nights laying in her bed. her, ashley and i drove back and forth to upland all together more times than i can count. most of those drives i would force them to listen to whatever new songs i had found that week, and i would go on and on and on about whatever was in my brain. they are the best listeners. i could learn a thing or two about that from these girls. they're wise and kind and so full of love. i'm sure its not hard for you to imagine my delight in seeing them again.

the next day, i said goodbye to james and chloë and upland and headed to marion. there weren't very many people on campus when i was there since school hadn't started, but i did run into my friend jenn a couple times, and i got to have the shortest coffee date ever with ashley. 30 minutes was not long enough. any amount of time with her is suuuuuuch a blessing, but i could have used at least 3 more hours.

that night i stayed with my bestie for the restie, amanda. she is an RA this year. i helped her with her decorations and did handstands on the walls and played my music too loud. i've been running around with this girl since she was in 3rd grade, so it makes me teary to think about how much we've both grown up since then. she is my person and i love her forever.

tuesday, mary drove to marion and we had lunch with our friend who is going to zambia for the semester. we also managed to get free coffee from our former place of employment, mcconn. thanks seth! then i had to say goodbye to mandy and one of us cried. it wasn't me. i hate it when she does that because then i cry. rude.

mary and i drove to indy where we had the best tacos on the entire planet at bakersfield. i dream about these tacos daily. they're that amazing. we went there last semester and i've been thinking about them ever since. i've wanted to go back so bad and she made it happen. i love her. i wrote about all the reasons why in here.

the next day was my birthday, so mary took me out for a delicious breakfast, and then we went to a local coffee shop that had the best sweet iced tea i've ever had. i bought some so i can make my own because woah. it was good.

and then i pierced my nose. i was really scared. i have the pain tolerance of a small child. i told the tattoo covered woman this and she laughed. she told me it felt like plucking your eyebrows or waxing them. "just like pulling a hair out, really!" WHATEVER. i've only plucked my eyebrows three times in my whole life and i've never had them waxed (blonde hair thankyouverymuch) so this comparison didn't really help. also IT HURT WAY WORSE THAN THAT so um, no it doesn't feel like plucking your eyebrows. again, WHATEVER.

she marked my nose to show me where it would go. i looked at it and said, "yeah i guess go ahead and poke a hole there." mary held my hand and i cried a little. i mean she just shoved the needle right through my nostril!

my favorite part of the whole experience was when i told her i was a nanny in california. our conversation went as follows:
tattooed woman: "oh california! cool! how big is the family?"
me: they have five ki-"
tattooed woman: "f***ing grosssssss!"

you know, cussing gross isn't exactly how i'd put it, but yes, i guess 5 kids is a lot? it made me laugh.

so there's a hole in my nose now. with a shiny metal thing in it. i went straight to a hoop because i guess i just think i'm cooler than i really am.

after that we had to go to the airport. that was a terribly sad moment. but i was grateful for the time i had with this precious friend of mine. we are nose ring twins now. if only i could get my hair as big as hers, we could be real twins. a girl can dream.

the cornfields of indiana always do so much good to my heart. its probably less about the cornfields and more about the people who exist in between them. but regardless, indiana is a place i'll love forever.

california is slowing making its way into my heart, but it'll be a tough competition to beat out kansas and indiana.

and don't worry grant county, i'll be back.
ko.

a michigan wedding.

i have been trying to write this blog for 5 days. give me a round of applause if i ever finish it.

last fall i made a beautiful new friend named devon. in january, her boyfriend stephen asked me to be a part of an elaborate surprise proposal for her. and a few weeks ago, i got to be a part of the wedding. never ever in those first few weeks of our friendship did i think that less than a year later i would be standing up in her wedding.

praise the Lord i was able to fly from california to michigan a few days before the wedding. i had to leave for the airport super early on wednesday morning, but i made it to grand rapids just in time for the bachelorette party. 

have you ever been belly dancing? dev's best friend from high school planned the party and she signed us all up for a 90minute belly dancing class. i was really nervous about it, but it ended up being really fun. our teacher was incredibly nice and we just had fun laughing with each other and of course at each other. i have to admit, my favorite part of the class was the first 10 minutes when we did stretches to john mayer music with the lights dimmed. oh john. i love you.

some of the girls had an in with the owner of a dessert bar in downtown grand rapids, so we headed there after our dance lesson even though all i wanted was a cheeseburger. they had seriously delicious desserts. cookies and milk! chocolate cake! other things i don't remember! (i still wanted a cheeseburger, but mcdonalds was closed.)

we slept in the next morning. enjoyed dev's grandma's perfect screened in porch (with a view of the lake!), and headed to starbucks for drinks and a copy of a british folk cd which features chloë's brother. #5 if you're interested. 

the best part about weddings, if you ask me, is that they are basically reunions. all the friends from indiana started showing up on thursday, and boy was i happy to see them. i mean look at these stunners!

thursday was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. i got yelled at several times at the rehearsal for not exactly paying attention and talking too much. but i mean, can you blame me? wouldn't you want to talk to all your people you haven't seen in months? the rehearsal was a fiesta pool party which was both delicious and a blast.

dev was a genius and had all the girls stay at her grandma's house (the wedding was in the backyard). this meant we had several late nights on the most comfortable bed ever, catching up and laughing and soaking each other up.  hannah, emily and i stayed with dev at her house while she wrote her vows the night before the wedding. i have been to one other wedding where i stayed with the bride on her last night as a single lady, and i have to tell you, it might be my favorite part of the whole wedding. it always feels like such an honor. its just you and your closest gals. no fuss. just a sweet few moments together before everything changes the next day.

we decorated for the wedding the morning of, which i thought was going to be terrible, but it was actually so fun! even the guys helped. plus it isn't that hard to make a location like this look beautiful. and boy did it turn out beautiful.

chloë and james officiated the wedding. chloë wore the most stunning dress from london. and she did my makeup. thanks again, chlo. i heart you. 

and as if there weren't already enough friends involved in this wedding, even the photographers were good friends of mine. bless. miranda fuchs was the main photog and alicia wines second shot with her. (click their names to take you to their facebook photo pages.)

this massage chair was in our room. i spent every spare minute in it.

let us take a minute to talk about the flowers. are they not incredibly beautiful? i will let you in on a secret, dev and her mom made them. from paper. can you even believe it!? i love flowers. they're one of my favorite parts of a wedding. and these ones were SO beautiful. some of my favorites. ever. 

if you know dev, you know that she does just about whatever she wants. she does not care if people think she is crazy. example: she would often scream my name down the mallway in the student center at school. i would cower in embarrassment, shushing her as she came running down the mallway laughing and shouting. so, when dev told me she was going to cut her hair AT HER WEDDING i wasn't surprised. when she said she was going to cut it TWICE, i still wasn't surprised. 

so, despite my many many protests, she cut her beautiful long, thick, luscious curls into a bob between the ceremony and the reception. i took a selfie with a piece of her hair. it was just so beautiful! but the bob was adorable. and then after the reception, before they left for the night, she cut it into a pixie. i don't have a picture of that. but she's crazy and i love her. you do you, dev. never stop.

and then, as if the day had not been fun enough, the entire bridal party took a yacht to the reception. because God bless america if you don't take a yacht to the reception, you're doing it wrong. it was so much fun. this whole bridal party was so. much. fun. 

don't you even worry, we toasted with sparkling cider. and then we danced so wild that we had to take our hair down. texas sized hair forever and ever amen. i've never danced so hard at a wedding, but i was just really feeling it that night. they didn't even play the wobble, which is my go to dance song, but there were so many friends there and the boys were dancing so wacky and i just went with it. i threw caution to the wind and i danced my hair out.

they left for the night through a tunnel of sparklers and i said goodbye to stephen and dev for who knows how long. 

it was a beautiful day. i mean truly so perfect in so many ways. i laughed and cried and danced and soaked every moment in. someone get married again quick. lets do this reunion thing all over again. 

and don't worry, the fun doesn't stop there! i followed most of these people back to indiana to spend more time with them. but you'll have to wait until the next post for that. hopefully it doesn't take me a whole week to write it. 

xoxoxoxoxoxo,

ko.

august in pictures.

i'm working on a blog about my trip back to indiana, which really means i'm thinking about maybe trying to possibly write a blog about my trip back to indiana, but in the mean time i figured i should at least blog something.

i'm sure i could blog about each of these things individually, but who has time for that.

so without further ado, august.

(top to bottom, left to right)

1. driving the boys all the places, all the time.

2. snuggles at the doctor's office.

3. 4. 5. 6. a visit to muir woods

7. finally got a pair of white hightop converse.

8. told the boys to go get in the car. little punks.

9. jake fell asleep in the car. a modern day miracle.

1. happy hour with tate. hot chocolate for me and juice for him.

2. the best way to spend an afternoon.

3. road trip to oregon

4. driving through redding, ca.

5. driving through weed, ca. 

6. made it 7 hours on the trip without starbucks.

7. woke up with a toddler in my bed. didn't hate it.

8. looking out over the garden in oregon.

9. fresh berries.

1. oregon goats.

2. snuggles with tate.

3. oregon country.

4. stepped on a rusty nail and had to go to town for a shot.

5. gathered some fresh eggs with a cute little girl.

6. oh, oregon.

7. oregon sunset.

8. the new shoes.

9. voodoo donut in portland. didn't live up to the hype. but i do love a donut.

1. silver falls state park.

2. night ride.

3. driving off into the sunset.

4. goofing around with tate.

5. jake keeping himself entertained on the drive home.

6. driving through redding again.

7. the kids school books arrived. lots of fun with boxes.

8. the boys got a haircut.

9. i was sad.

1. tate chickened out on the escalator after jake and i got on. happily rode down with a stranger. notice they're holding hands.

2. packing for indiana.

3. birthday packages.

4. first day back with the boys.

5. hot harvest nights farmers market.

6. off to the park with the boys.

7. california sunset.

8. beautiful clouds on a brutiful day

9. happy boy after a nap.

1. 2. 3. spending the day at a new beach. san gregorio.

4. gallery walls forever and ever amen.

5. visited my nana. she put out all the stops.

6. wasn't much help packing her house.

7. nana.

8. aunt suie.

9. so glad to see them both.

1. the kids found a baby squirrel. named him grayson.

2. we took him to a rescue shelter.

3. i'm pretty sure he died.

4. but i was happy to hold him. a dream come true.

5. typical trip to target.

6. we do this a lot.

7. great end to a terrible day.

8. the boy loves selfies.

9. went to the farmers market alone. sat on a bench and enjoyed this treat.

1. no of course i didn't pose them this way. they always swing like that.

2. blurry babe.

3. took them to the park. they watched the lawnmower instead of playing.

4. we take a loooot of selfies.

5. we love them!

this sums up our days pretty well. target. park. starbucks. selfies. beach. snuggle. repeat.

happy saturday.

ko.

the drive out west || sedona to palo alto (part 2)

so where were we? is everyone bored yet? no? good, we've got more road to cover. literally!

after waving goodbye to new mexico, i journeyed onto arizona. like new mexico, i had never been to arizona. it is hot there. too hot. over 110 degrees hot. i'm not sure i can go back. unless i can go to sedona. which is where this story starts!

less than a week before my trip, i was texting my precious and dear friend mary. i met her freshman year at school waiting in line for FNL. at least that is my first memory of her. i thought she was a couple years ahead of me, why, i do not know. we lived in the same building sophomore year and had a class together. it was a memorable class for me since i started SOBBING on the first day when a friends of ours asked me how my break was. (break was fine. but i'd just said goodbye to the bff 5 minutes earlier.)  the only thing i can remember about junior year is that we went to rebash together. but senior year? boy that was our year. i was weirdly excited to see her at the beginning of the year, not really sure why exactly because we weren't close friends. and then we got scheduled together for a weekly shift at mcconn. we'd always leave the shift together and go get stir fry. it was the best. i loved that semester. i even got to stay late to see her graduate. 

i am not sure why i am telling you all of this except to say that i love this girl with all of my whole heart. she has the best hair AND the best heart. the perfect combo if you ask me. 

so, we figured out when we were texting that she was going to be in sedona when i was driving through. being the good and flexible friend that i am, i changed my plans around so i could see her. best decision ever. thank you Jesus for arranging this. we know you did it, you are the man.

mar was on vacation with her whole family. they come to this magical place in sedona every year. i think i am going to try and join them every year because it is beautiful and relaxing and perfect and her family is incredible. 

mary showed me around the place they were staying and we got to spend time in the creek, see the private orchards, walk over the bridge that is apparently always closed and very bouncy, swing on the biggest rope swing, talk and talk and talk and of course spend time with her family. it was so so good. i miss my friends from school a lot, so to be able to spend time with a school friend, and one of my favorites at that, was just so good. 

 

i mean just look at that family! i felt so lucky to be able to spend time with them. and how cute are mary's nephews? 

after saying another stupid goodbye, i drove south to phoenix. the temperature rose at least 30 degrees. #blessed. i stopped to see my friends dick and donna who i worked with in alaska 3 years ago. unfortunately, donna had gotten back from the hospital after a knee surgery just an hour before i got there. talk about bad timing! so i only stayed to chat with them for a bit. annnnnd i didn't get a picture which is a real bummer.

next, i drove all the way across phoenix to see my friend KC. we met at the influence conference 2 years ago. pretty much all i remember about that entire weekend is spending time with KC and 3 other seriously lovely ladies. it was kind of the best. i had suuuch a good time with them. this past march, i got to see all 4 of them together again at hope spoken. it was great. they're all great. anyway, KC is moving from seattle to texas. talk. about. a. weather. change. so she was visiting her parents in phoenix in the middle of her crazy month long move. her parents, who were so sweet, let me stay with them for a night even though they were already hosting KC's family too. 

as soon as i got there, i changed into something acceptable for a luau and headed to their country club for hawaiian night! i got to meet her parents, husband and adorable kids. but mostly we ignored them and chatted with each other the whole time. it was fabulous. 

KC is so easy to talk to. i want to say that she "just gets me" but that will make me feel cheesy. but come on! she gets me! she is so fun and sweet and kind and tan. so many qualities i aspire to have! i love that our paths were literally crossing on this trip. please Jesus let them cross again soon.

her children all begged me not to go, but i had to leave right after breakfast so i could drive allllll the way to the LA area. but first, i made a pit stop at a mormon temple. i read a few mormon blogs and find it all very interesting, so i thought i may as well stop and see a temple since there are so many in arizona to be seen. i am a tad bit disappointed that i didn't drive a little bit further out of my way so i could see the bigger temple in gilbert, but i guess i'll have to see that one next time. i am contemplating flying to indiana next year when they open a new temple so i can see the inside before they consecrate it. i'm not mormon, but i think that they have a few really good values that would be great for anyone to learn from. i don't think it has ever hurt someone to learn from people who are a little different than them, just like it has never hurt anyone to eat salt water taffy in bed at midnight. ahem. 

WHY AM I SO STRANGE? i don't know guys. i took a selfie with the temple. i sent it to my sister. pretend its all very normal. maybe i will visit all the temples all over the world and take selfies with them. i won't do that, but its fun to dream.

once i finally got on the road (after being told by a gas station attendant "that we don't have a public bathroom" what is this? nyc?) i pinky promised myself that i would not miss the california state line sign. i missed lit.tra.lee. every other state sign and was pretty desperate to get a picture with the california one. for instagram, obviously. it was about twelve thousand degrees where i took that picture as i am pretty sure i was standing on the actual sun. why do they keep it so hot there? why was no one passing out bottled water and sunblock? i will never know.  

pretend like this next picture is somewhere in california. in reality it could be from anywhere. i just don't know.

once i made it through the boring part of southern california where i was blessed to see approximately 300 million windmills, i got just outside of LA and nearly died. california traffic. oh em gee. where is everyone going and why are they driving so fast. until this point my drive had been great. relaxing even. the relaxing part was long gone and i was gripping the steering wheel like my life depended on it. because apparently, it did. miraculously, i made it to kara's house. 

kara is one of the people who i can without a doubt say i met on instagram. what is the 21st century. we meet people on the internet. i commented on someone else's picture saying i liked her (kara's) sweater. we've been friends ever since. we met IRL (in real life) at hope spoken, but didn't actually get to hang much. kara was nice enough to leave her cute kids at home for the night and take me to newport beach. we laid by the water, walked on the pier, ate delicious mexican food and got matching tank tops. i'd say that makes up for not hanging out at hope spoken.

you should probably go stay at her house as soon as you can because she will make you the cutest little treat basket. i already burned the entire candle she gave me and bought another just like it. 

after breakfast, i left kara's, got starbucks (duh) and started out on my last leg of the trip. it was uneventful and i was so (not) glad to save the most boring part of the entire drive for the last day. a glorious 5 hours on the 5.  b o r i n g. 

however, all of that quickly faded into my memory as soon as i pulled up to the house. i actually couldn't find it at first, which was funny. but the palm tree and the pool and the hot tub made the long drive worth it. and the cute kids of course. now it all seems like so long ago, probably because it took me three weeks to get this up.

i don't know an exciting way to end a post like this, so i will end it with this picture proving that at some point i drove on route 66. i don't know what state i was in. i don't know what day it was. all i know is i drove for a whole mile on the famous rode just to get sonic. 

God bless america.

ko.