My days are full of joy and underwear

Hello Dear Ones,

The last week or so has been full of all sorts of fun and adventure!

I took a trip to Nasvhille, to visit the beautiful Lynn Russell who is interning at a Christian Record label over the summer. What joy to see a Seattle friend in my home state! We bummed around downtown Franklin (a little town near Nashville) with Lynn's lovely intern friends, dressed up like cows for free chick-fil-a, listened to some live Johnny Cash covers, ate copious amounts of frozen yogurt, and laughed - a lot. I, unfortunately, got so caught up in the excitement that I forgot to take many pictures. . . . I intend to steal some from Lynn's friend, Marie, who took some with her camera. I have a few though:

We just can't escape the rain. . .

I love this girl.

New friends: Amanda and Marie. We delighted in some homey southern food. I love me some grits.

Then, Lynn came home with me and spent a couple days in Jackson! One of the days was spent getting her car fixed. We found ways to entertain ourselves at the dealership:

A couple days ago, Emily, Will, and I went to see their brother Andrew's dress rehearsal of "Lil' Abner"

We had to take Andrew some underwear (theatre kids, I tell you. . . you just never know what to expect!)

"Take a picture of me and Andrew's panties!" I'm sorry. I'll never grow up.

This is Andrew, he and I might be the most photogenic people I know.

HA. fave.

That's all I've got for now, folks!

Other happenings:

- Reading: Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog. A fantastic, but very difficult to stomach, account of Krog's experience as a reporter during the TRC hearings.

- Drinking: lots of sweet tea

Coming soon:

-Nashville pictures once I steal them from Marie

- Epic Wagner Family Road trip beginnings: we leave Monday for three weeks of lovin'

5th 'o July lovin'

Because of the wedding over the weekend, we celebrated our Independence on 7/5 with the Riggs/Kent clan. The day included much food and water and laughter. Volleyball, high jump competitions, synchronized swimming. . . Joy abounded.

(Andrew's a great sous chef)

I love my life.

There and Back Again - A Hobbit's Tale

This weekend, my friend Michelle got married!

Quick background story (You doubt I can tell a story quickly, don't you?).

On our way home from vacation last summer, my family missed our flight out of Paris's Charles De gaulle airport and was stranded in Paris for an extra week (what a pity!). The morning we missed the flight, a girl approached me in the airport and said "Oh, you speak English! Can I stand with you? I missed my flight too!" Her name was Michelle, she had been traveling through France, teaching some American study abroad students for the summer. Dad invited Michelle to share my hotel room with me that night, as we thought that we'd be able to get a flight out in the morning and Michelle had been staying an hour outside of the city. At this point in the story I remind Dad how lucky he got - for all I knew, he had just volunteered me to share a room with a sociopath. He always replies that he has good judgment, and he felt secure since Michelle mentioned God and prayer within her first couple of sentences.

Dad was right, Michelle was/is wonderful and ended up spending the week with us. Once back in the states, she and her now-husband, Nate, came and visited us so that we could meet him!

And this weekend, a year after we met, we drove to Tulsa, OK, to celebrate Nate and Michelle's wedding.

God works in mysterious ways, eh? What a serendipitous blessing!

And so..... drumroll please.....

Ooooklahoommma! Where the wind comes rushing through the plain!

The drive wasn't bad at all, a little flat, but not bad.

On Saturday morning, we got a flat on the way to the wedding:

Daaaaang they make tire changing look classy.

I was wearing heels, too.

He's a stud.

So is he.

Watch out, ladies!

Andrew was mourning the fact that Michelle is no longer eligible.

I took an entire photo series: "Chewing- A Wagner Family Expertise"

these are my two faves:

Ode to the Mundane

This morning Christian took a look at my shorts and tshirt ensemble and said, "Kali, you look nice today." I thanked him, and told him that I appreciate the compliment. He replied: "You look a lot more put together than you have the past couple of days."

I guess the tshirt was a step up from the pool towel I've been sporting.

Or maybe, it was the fact that I was standing next to Andrew, our homeless potter-in-training brother, that made me look so put together.

Andrew cleaned up and went grocery shopping with me today:

Andrew: "Kali, why are you taking a picture?"

Kali: "Because I might blog about this."

Andrew: "Grocery shopping?" And then he proceeded to make some comment about my assumption that other people will be interested in my mundane life.

Kali: "I just figure it's best to take pictures all day, and then at the end of the day I can choose the most exciting ones."

Andrew: "If this is the most exciting part of your day . . . . "

What, Andrew? What are you going to do if I think grocery shopping is exciting?

Speaking of exciting, I played Quelf last night with the bros and Peter and his brother William.

Quelf is hardly mundane, Andrew.

And Emily ran errands with me, and kept me company afterwards.

And we entertained ourselves.

hahah

It looks like my wink sparkled. HA.

Mundane my foot.

"It made the biggest plop" . . .

. . . the frog, that is.

Thanks, Amanda.

Christian caught it and rescued it from the chlorine!

It was bigger than Andrew's hand.

A new, frog-friendly, home. Rescue complete.

I watched a heated game of water polo instead of reading.

I've been thinking lately about how absolutely full of love my life is. The Lord has blessed me with incredible relationships and gracious people.

I can only begin to try to love these men as much as they deserve :

Right to Left: My brothers, Christian and Andrew, and Peter (who we would probably legally adopt if his family wasn't as wonderful as they are). They love having their picture taken.

My dad. He might know me better than anyone else in the world does (though mom might give him a run for his money). I respect him immensely.

Shifting gears again.....

I had coffee with my dear friend Courtney this morning.

We were told we that we need Jesus. Boy is that the truth! But I'm always a bit put-off by people who toss tracts at me, maybe I should be more gracious. Maybe the man who handed them to us should have paused long enough to look me in the eye and give me a chance to respond. Regardless, I was a bit tickled - the south and all that comes with it.

I spent some time acquainting myself with the new member of Courtney's family! Baby Sam. He's a dear, and I'm smitten.

To my handful of readers, you, my friends, all bring joy to my life. Thanks for that!

The Weekend

I'm a master of creating comfortable, non-productive, study spaces:

Too hot, but oh so irresistable.

Fell asleep.

Notice the MS word page is blank?

But really, I was just too delighted by biscuits and coffee to focus.

So I decided it's time to learn how to cook:

Blue cheese and red potato tart

Fourth of July cake! An annual tradition; I initially resisted because it's still June, but mom insisted that the holiday is soon enough.

We had some cute guests this afternoon:

We watched Youtube clips of baby animals. "Baby pips" were the favorite.

This is Emily. She loves cake, and I love her - even if she grabs my armpit sometimes.

This is Hannah. She doesn't always look like this, but I kind of like her best this way. We had a very nourishing heart-to-heart tonight. I'm so incredibly blessed.

In other non-pictoral news:

-Amanda and Brian, our former youth pastors, and adopted family members, are visiting. It's so great to have them here.

- I love having a camera on my phone.

- I think God was pretty smart inventing the concept of a sabbath. I'm hoping to take full advantage of a lax summer schedule and to allot time to focus on some spiritual discipline and reflection. It's so incredibly difficult to simply be still.

- Claritin. Who invented it? I should name my firstborn after that person, because I wouldn't survive Tennessee summers without it.

The past couple of days:

Breakfast with Mom at Brother Juniper's (a fave)

My adorable mother sets a good example: homework over breakfast

Dr. VanZanten and I are bonding over the summer

U of M library

Sonic = summer. Why don't we have one in Seattle?

Carrot cupcakes: procrastinating working on my honors project