Two Truths and a Tale

I recently volunteered with my church's youth group to be an 8th grade girl's covenant group co-leader. I am beyond excited to get to know all of these great girls and invest in their lives.

But as of two weeks ago, I didn't know these girls at all. And they didn't know me. So to help them get to know me, we played a game called Two Truths and A Tale. I gave them three facts about my life and they had to guess which one wasn't true. Now, I'm sure that if you have been reading my blog that you know the answer to most of these, but you just might learn something new. So here you go...


I am a graduate of Lipscomb University. My career is in marketing.  I am a childlife volunteer at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

The Tale: I am a graduate of Lipscomb University. I actually went to Oklahoma Christian University.



On the weekends you can find me hiking, sewing, and riding a motorcycle.

The Tale: You can find me hiking. I rarely hike. But I do sew and ride my dad's motorcycle.



I have recently developed a love for surfing, skydiving, and cake decorating.

The Tale: I recently developed a love for cake decorating. While my big sis can handle it like a pro, my cake decorating skills match that of a 6 year old. I do, however, enjoy surfing and skydiving.



I love to eat cheesecake, pomegranates, and salmon.

The Tale: I love to eat cheesecake. No way. I don't eat sweets.



In my home you will find a marble collection, a roomba vacuum cleaner, and a guitar signed by country music artists.

The Tale: In my home you will find a roomba. I don't have a roomba. I wish! I do have a marble collection and a guitar from a charity auction.



My favorite things to do with my friends are snow ski trips, shopping, and going to concerts.

The Tale: Snow Ski trips are not my favorite. But I do love some great shopping and concerts.



My jobs in college included working as a sumer nanny in East Hampton, NY, tracking legislation at Congressional hearings on Capitol Hill, and helping my Italian Papa open a pizza joint in Chicago.

The Tale: I spent a summer helping my Italian Papa open a pizza joint. I don't have an Italian Papa, but I do like pizza. I was, however, a nanny and a political action committee intern.




I was once stung by a jellyfish three times in one day in Panama City.  I broke my arm by jumping out of bed while acting out a dream. I cut my leg open by falling off of a fake bull.

The Tale: The jellyfish thing never happened. The dream and bull accidents both did.
Speaking of dreams, I recently found out that a famous comedian, Mike Birbiglia, has the same sleeping problem as me:  non-rem parasomnia (acting out his dreams).  And it just so happens that he just made a movie called Sleepwalk With Me. And it just so happens that the movie is playing at a local theater in Nashville this weekend. The trailer is hilarious, but a little bit terrifying. Watching him act out his dream makes my arm hurt. I'll let you know how the viewing goes.

So there you have it. I am a traveling, dreaming, surfing, motor-cycle riding, sewing, sky diving, marble collecting, no-sweet eating, accident prone OC-alum marketer. And that's the truth.

A Weekend in Dallas

The very best friends are the ones that inspire us and sustain us . The ones that remain the same – if not better – even when silly things like 800 miles come between us. Which is why I adore this Texas gal.

She lived in the room across the hall from me during my freshman year at OC. We bonded over silly things like fruit snacks and afternoon naps and our mutual dislike for geology. And we’ve been best friends ever since. Now she lives in Dallas with her husband and sweet baby girl, but regular phone calls and texts and facetime calls make it feel like we aren’t so far apart after all.

I was supposed to go visit her in late February after her daughter was born, but a broken arm threw a wrench into those plans. But I was so happy to be able to visit now, because this age is one of my favorites.  Her daughter is the sweetest, happiest little girl ever. I was instantly in love! There is just something so special about your best friends' babies!

I enjoyed a weekend full of LOTS of shopping, sunset walks and talks, plenty of great food – including my first experience with In-N-Out Burger.

We also tried to watch Sleepless in Seattle several times. We didn’t succeed.  No, not because the movie isn’t awesome. It’s one of my favorites! But because I (actually we both) kept falling asleep.  Long weekend vacations call for extra naps. When we determined that there is no greater “Girl's Night Movie" combo than Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (who doesn’t love You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle?) we were curious to find out what exactly Meg has been doing since her Tom Hanks duo glory days. So we looked up her wiki page. We found no interesting new movies (except of course Kate and Leopold) but were shocked when we found out Meg Ryan's real name. Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra. I mean, girl is awesome and can totally rock 5 names (plus a stage name) but wow. That's a lot.

We also spent lots of time crafting. Ever since I learned to sew, I have been itching to sew one of my latest pinterest pins.  After much debate, I settle on the zippered, lined makeup pouch.  Even though I fought with the sewing machine a bit (which I’m pretty sure was predominantly user error), I ended up really liking my finished product!

And she made a circle skirt and onesie for football season. Adorable and very easy to duplicate!

I’m already anxious to spend another weekend with her! Here’s hoping that we don’t wait a whole 1.5 years between visits this time!

Going Back

I am a big fan of birthdays. Mine, of course. But everyone else's too. I love reasons to celebrate people. And I love that on one day every year I am on the hearts of all of my favorite people. 

So what did I do to celebrate 25? I went to Oklahoma to visit my sister. Okay, she isn't my sister. She is one of my very best friends. But we can't go anywhere without people asking if we are sisters. Sometimes even twins. (I, of course, am the much shorter twin). We were roommates at Oklahoma Christian together and have been the best of friends ever since. We bonded over Gilmore Girls and cheese dip and late night chats in the dorm for several years.

2006: Playing Putt-Putt

2012: Visiting our college dorm where we lived in 2006-2007.

You may remember her as my Yellowstone Camping guide. 

2011: Bear Tooth Pass

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday weekend than in Oklahoma with her.

When my flight landed, the pilot came over the intercom and said "Welcome to Oklahoma City. It is 112 degrees and the wind is about 35 mph". Ahhh... Exactly how I remembered it. I unfortunately saw tons of places where wildfires had taken a toll on the land. But I was fortunate to be there while a "cold front" was coming through. It had been 117 on the day before my arrival, but a mere 103 on the day that I left. We're talking major cold snap, people. You probably saw it on Good Morning America - the globes melting off of street lights in Stillwater because of the heat and fires. Yep. That's where I was. Stillwater. The home of OSU. The home of the national wrestling museum. The home of the first Sonic. And the current home of my best friend.

I strayed from my normal french manicure and painted my nails with OPI's I Don't Know, Beets Me because it seemed like a good birthday celebration color.

We had such a great weekend together. We went to the lake.

We went out for sushi.

We had birthday smoothies (because I don't eat sweets).

Me, My Bestie, and Her Husband

We played games and looked through photo albums and watched old movies (and I habitually fell asleep on the couch during them).

And then we drove to Edmond.  The home of Shannon Miller. The home of Oklahoma Christian University.  And the home of so many of my favorite memories.  We walked around our campus. 

It's the first time I had been back in the nearly four years since graduation. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we were flooded with memories. Every conversation began with "Remember when...". You know, the best kinds of conversations. It was a strange feeling to be there again. It felt so familiar and so much like home, but there were little changes everywhere -improvements and additions- that reminded me of the span of time that has occurred since my graduation and my visit. I have been gone for longer than I was ever there. It is different now, but I do love that place.

And my last day in Oklahoma I spent time with my dear friend and mentor. We got lost in conversation for hours at a time. And she took me to a birthday tea party. It was perfect.  

Oklahoma isn't home anymore, but it is home to so many incredible memories and some incredible friends. It felt good to go back.