I've got a fever...

No, I don't need more cowbell. And no, I don't have Bieber Fever. I've got spring fever. I've really enjoyed my stay in Norman these past few months, but one thing I haven't been impressed with have been its flowers. After working for the best florist in Tyler, I became obsessed with flowers (my friends and family can agree with this). Yes, I'm the weird girl that is standing in front of the trees in front of the Union, staring at the orange and pink berries growing on them thinking, "man, a few branches of these would look really pretty in that one vase I have..." It's a problem. One thing I miss having is a backyard. My parents have made our backyard so beautiful, especially at this time of year. My mom has been sending me pictures of the peony bushes blooming, hostas, japanese maple trees, agapanthus and all other sorts of goodies growing in our yard. Coincidentally, the other day I was really really wanting to watch the Secret Garden, and so I thought I would share with you what would always be growing in my garden...

...pom pom dahlias, wisteria, peonies, lily of the valley, hydrangeas, jasmine, ranunculus and giant protea. Lovely...

firsts.

This weekend was a great reminder of why I love "firsts". The first day of school or the first time to try something new or the first time to be in a new place with all new people is so exciting and adventurous to me. Jumping into new challenges and trying new things are times when I can see growth and joy abundantly in my life.

Saturday was a "day of firsts". Since I'm not the most athletically gifted person in the world, just the idea of trying new sports normally doesn't sound that exciting. I'm not a huge fan of running for a long time or sweating much, and any time something flies or is thrown in my direction I squeal and normally hop to the opposite direction. However, this past Saturday I attempted to play baseball for the first time. At first I wasn't super crazy about it, but after trying it a while, dropping many baseballs and running into the outfield several times, I actually began to enjoy it. I'm certainly not good at it by any stretch of the imagination, but I tried it, and would definitely be something I'd like to try again.

That night was quite something, let me tell you. My friends have been raving about a fried chicken joint all semester that is located in downtown, super sketchy area of Oklahoma City. So, we hopped in our cars and headed to BoBo's. This place is a trailer with 3 humongous black men fryin' up chicken wings, fish and shrimp. When you walk in, your lungs breathe in the thick smell of fried food. So thick, that you probably suffer from artery blockage from just smelling it. Once they take the chicken out of the fryer, they sprinkle the chicken with cayenne pepper then douse it with honey, a mountain of french fries and rolls (which I'm pretty sure are fried in some way). We then headed to the capitol building to sit on the steps to eat our chicken. This then resulted in immediately being confronted with a cop yelling at us to put our hands up and asking very sternly why we were there at 12 in the morning. (At this point I'm thinking, "Of course, I would get arrested for eating fried chicken!") We then explained to him that we were only eating chicken and were kindly asked to leave the premises. A police confrontation wasn't necessarily something I was wanting to add to my list of "firsts", but definitely left us with a good story and THE best fried chicken I have ever had in my entire life.

One "first" I'm really, really looking forward to is working at Pine Cove, which is a huge Christian camp in my hometown, this summer. This year I have really dug into scripture and researching what it means as Christians to live as leaders and servants to everyone. So, when Pine Cove came to OU, I jumped at the chance to possibly work there, and I was pumped when they asked me to join their staff at the Bluffs! I have never really done anything like this before, and I'm a little nervous about it, but my excitement about being there and serving alongside an amazing group of people completely cancels out my nervousness about it. As the days draw closer to summertime, I'm getting more and more excited to see what God has in store for my life and the lives of those I'm working with and serving this summer.

I just love firsts.