Piesgiving

One of the best things about being a homeowner is being able to have friends over for get togethers. My loft in Topeka was pretty spacious, so entertaining there wasn't really an issue. My place in Denton, though, was quite small, meaning get-togethers would have to be limited to one or two people.

Yesterday I invited friends over for Piesgiving. Everyone had to bring a pie to the event, then we'd all just eat pie together. It was fantastic! Everyone brought a pie! Most were the traditional dessert pies, but there was also a chicken pot pie as well as two pizza pies.

My living room isn't terribly large. I didn't quite have enough seats for everyone, so some were standing. But everyone was talking and laughing and having a good time. It made me so happy to have my home full of so many fantastic people. They help make Denton home.

Also, Biscuit was quite the hit. It's no an exaggeration when I say everyone loved her.

How 'Bout Them Royals!

Sunday night the Royals made an epic comeback in the ninth inning, when they were down 0-2, to win the game and the World Series 7-2!!!!!!!!

I decided to be a Royals fan when I moved to Kansas in February 2013. I attended my first game on Memorial Day that year. It was a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and there were way more Cards fans there than Royals fans. That season and the next, I attended many more games with friends. Some had fireworks, some were cold, some we won, and some we lost.

My last game this season was, once again, Memorial Day weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals. Except this time there were clearly more Royals fans than Cards fans!

Here is my own look back on the past two seasons:

First Royals game.

I went with my friend Will Bishop to my second game, which I chose because the game had fireworks after. And then a group of friends and I went to a Royals-Red Sox game.

Then it was Royals-Mariners on Labor Day 2013. 

A late September game with my friend Will. 

 

A girls night at The K in May 2014.

 Later in May before a couple friends left Kansas after graduation. It was surprisingly cold.

A game in June as part of my dating project.

Two games in August, one with friends for a church activity,

 

and then again to see my friend Kate sing the national anthem. #awesome

My sister came out in September 2014 and we went to a game with my friend Amber. 

And then the Royals had their amazing Wild Card game. And I watched from the airport and in hotels.

I knew I needed to be a part of the action, so I bought a ticket to game 3 of the ALDS against the Anaheim Angels. Billy Butler stole a base and the Royals swept the series. 

Then it was the World Series, watching games with friends at various places in Lawrence and Topeka. And even one in Kansas City.

Game 7 with my friend and co-worker Susan (our boss was also there).

 

It was a tough loss, but pretty awesome that we went all the way to Game 7 of the World Series! 

In Texas for the next season, making games harder to attend. I went to three of the games in their series against the Rangers. 

I made a trip to Kansas for Memorial Day and went to a game with friends. They played the Cards, just like my first game on Memorial Day two years ago. But this time there were clearly more Royals fans than Cardinals fans!

 

And then the Royals won the World Series. And it was awesome. 

Marriage For All!

Today the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that marriage is a right for everyone - same-sex and opposite-sex couples. I heard the news from a co-worker who was talking about it in the hallway. I immediately went to NPR to read about it. Yep, it was true. And I just felt good. So good. And happy. Things felt right in the world.

I searched out the ruling and majority opinion, and it is a fabulous read. I hope everyone reads it. I would like to quote all of it here, but that would be silly. But here are some excerpts:

 "This does not mean that the right to marry is less meaningful for those who do not or cannot have children. Precedent protects the right of a married couple not to procreate, so the right to marry cannot be conditioned on the capacity or commitment to procreate."

"States have contributed to the fundamental character of marriage by placing it at the center of many facets of the legal and social order. There is no difference between same- and opposite-sex couples with respect to this principle, yet same-sex couple are denied the constellation of benefits that the States have linked to marriage and are consigned to an instability many opposite-sex couples would find intolerable. It is demeaning to lock same-sex couples out of a central institution of the Nation's society, for they too may aspire to the transcendent purposes of marriage."

"Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right."

"The respondents have not shown a foundation for the conclusion that allowing same-sex marriage will cause the harmful outcomes they describe. Indeed, with respect to this asserted basis for excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry, it is appropriate to observe these cases involve only the rights of two consenting adults whose marriages would pose no risk of harm to themselves or third parties."

"As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. It is so ordered."

World Series Game One

The Royals are in the World Series for the first time since 1985. This is a big deal. All of Kansas (and Missouri, too, since that's the state they actually play in) is going crazy about this. Anywhere you go you see people sporting Royals gear. My newsfeed on Facebook has become inundated with Royals articles and play-by-plays of the games. It is awesome. I decided to be a Royals fan when I moved to Kansas last year, and it feels pretty darn good to have them playing in the World Series.

Topeka Metro has "Go Royals!" on our buses, and employees can wear jeans if wearing a Royals shirt. I insisted on getting a picture of all of us on Tuesday before the game.

My co-workers: Terri, Susan, Denise, Me, Alan and Maribeth

Then I met my friends at Johnny's Tavern in Lawrence to watch the game. The Royals did not play well, but it was a fun night anyway. I mean, as fun as it can be when your team loses badly.

Royals Sweep

Saturday night, on a whim, I purchased a ticket for the Royals/Angels game at Kauffman stadium. I knew that if I didn't I would sit at home that night, upset that I couldn't watch it on tv and then annoyed that I hadn't just bought a ticket. There's something about experiencing an event first hand that makes it so much more cool.

It was a great night for baseball, even if it rained a bit. The fans were excited and the Royals played great. I was actually kind of annoyed that I had to stand much of the game. But I was very glad that this game did not go into extra innings.

My Ward is Awesome

My ward is small, in numbers and in the size of our building. We meet in the Institute building on KU's campus. Sacrament meeting is held in the large classroom, and what I love about it is the pictures on the walls. A beautiful painting of Christ hangs in the front, and during the sacrament, or when I'm singing, I look at it and think about all he Has done for me. Lots of times sacrament meeting feels very intimate, or like a small gathering of friends having church discussions.

Today was one of those Sundays where everything was perfect. I truly feel like everyone is welcoming and truly cares about the people in our ward. We support one other, we laugh at their jokes, we share in their triumphs and setbacks. One of our speakers today started his talk with his own singing of "Keep the Commandments." It was awesome, and everyone in our ward loved it. I would never have the guts to do that! He doesn't have a singing voice, but we all knew that he was sharing a piece of himself and his testimony.

Sometimes life can be hard. Work can be stressful, and we can worry about a lot of things. There's sadness and illness in this world for many people that I love. But when I go to church I always feel better and with the desire to hold onto the faith that I do have. It's powerful.

Baseball, Fireworks and Goodbyes

Royals game in the cold Friday night. The fireworks and company made it worth it. Leo and Andrew are both graduating from KU this weekend and will be leaving us. It's hard saying goodbye to friends.

Scott, Paige, Leo and Janae

 

Tomas took a nap during the game, so we naturally took photos

                                                Me, Tomas, Andrew, Leo, Paige, Scott, Janae

Lipstick and Black

A Girls' Night with my friends where the only requirements were to wear lipstick and black. I never wear lipstick because it is a hassle and I don't like hassle. We had so much fun at dinner, took about a million photos, talked about all sorts of things, then closed out the night with a viewing of (500) Days of Summer.

A 2013 Overview in Photos

I was randomly perusing my Google+ photos tonight (my phone automatically backups my photos there; it's awesome) and came across two very amazing things, 1) photos from the Built Environment Summit that I thought I had lost, and 2) this video that Google+ made for me, randomly putting together photos.

 

Google managed to capture some of my favorite moments in their randomness--the Glow Run 5K, clouds, Topeka, meetings with friends, graduation, special people, my book party, cousin weekend and ward activities. However, only one picture of Biscuit. It was a pretty awesome year. 

A Weekend at the Lake

Saturday and Sunday I spent time at Lake Wabaunsee. When I was a kid and would spend my summers in Topeka with Amber and her family, most of our time was spent at their cabin on Lake Wabaunsee. We'd swim and fish and get sun burned and row the row boat and all around just chill. It was awesome and I loved every minute of it (my family didn't have a cabin at lake and we were generally not "lake" people). A few years ago, the cabin was sold. Amber's husband's family, however, also has a cabin on Lake Wabaunsee. Right across the cove from Amber's dock. Amber and Matt didn't know each other growing up, and it's crazy to think that all those years Amber was right across the cove from her future husband.

They went to the lake this weekend and invited me to come as well. It was nice to just hang out and do nothing. We played gin rummy, watched the Olympic qualifying rounds of curling, made s'mores, and just enjoyed the free time. Even with the crazy windy weather, Amber I took a walk around the lake Saturday afternoon. The sunset was spectacular and I took a few pics (of course).

Still a Job-Newlywed

I've been at my job a whole whopping six and a half months. You could say I'm in the "newlywed" stage with my job--I still get excited when I see my name printed in something with my job title after it; I like going to conferences and rubbing shoulders with other transit/bike people; I still can't believe people take me seriously as young professional; I'm shocked when people look to me for answers; I get excited when I think about all the things I could do.

And then there's days like today, where it all came together for one pretty awesome event. I'm on a committee that puts on the annual Built Environment and the Outdoors Summit. I was asked to speak, along with the planner from Wichita, about the Topeka Bikeways Master Plan and its implementation. Since I'm a procrastinator, I didn't put my slides together until Monday evening. However, the presentation went great! I don't particularly enjoy being the center of attention, but I don't mind giving presentations--just don't ask me to make small talk afterward with those who were  listening!

My boss snapped this pic of me presenting. Seriously, I just can't believe I'm a working professional who gets to talk about bikes to other people.

After the conference I co-led a Walk Audit through Topeka to Old Prairie Town, where we were having a social for the conference attendees. It was a really great day and night, which helps when I sometimes think "What am I doing in Kansas??".

Gumption

I am new at my job. Besides working at Bountiful (which is much smaller and therefore much different than Topeka), this is my first experience working for a city and all that it entails. Needless to say I have a lot of questions when I'm at work--mostly regarding who to contact, when to ask for things, how the process works.

My bosses were teasing me about this on Friday night as a bunch of us from the office were out at the Blind Tiger. I'm okay with this, because one, when your co-workers tease you you know they like you, and two, I have to ask questions to learn. My boss said, regarding all the questions I've been asking, that I had real gumption and he liked it because it meant he didn't always have to be checking in and making sure I was working.

Being told I have gumption is probably the best compliment I've ever been given. I always think of Kate Winslet in "The Holiday" when anyone uses the word gumption.

Graduation

I was in Salt Lake over the weekend to participate in Commencement and Convocation ceremonies. It was a little anticlimactic being done in December and getting my diploma but having none of the pomp and circumstance of a graduation event.

Which is why I'm really glad I came home for graduation because the event is all about celebrating and being reminded that I worked hard.  It's a nice distraction from the 8-5 daily grind of planning; there was a time when I was learning new concepts and was excited for all the possibilities that existed. It's good to remember that.

It was awesome to see my family and friends and Salt Lake City. I love them all and was so glad to be able to spend time with them.