Somewhere between a bottle of wine and a mullet...

In the past five days, I have been to three large, fun events attended by three distinct types of people. (You'll have to forgive me for stereotyping and realize that I know not everyone fits the mold.)

Symphony on the Prairie - On Saturday night, we headed up to Connor Prairie for the symphony. This is one of my most favorite summer activities. The first time I went, several years ago, we picked up food from Subway on the way there. Then we learned our lesson. People go all out for their picnics... we're talking tables, tablecloths, multiple bottles of wine and types of cheese. Each time I go, we get a little swankier. This year we did well. Wine, cheese, chicken salad croissants, and yummy brownies were a few things on the menu.

Brooks and Dunn - Sunday night, Jordan and I went to see Brooks and Dunn at Verizon Wireless Music Center. (Let's be honest, it'll always be Deer Creek to us!) Country concerts are right there behind state fairs when it comes to people watching. We saw mullets, we saw airbrushed shirts, and we saw one shirt with a phrase so disgusting I don't care to repeat it. Definitely a different crowd than the symphony.

American Idols Live - Last night, Kelly and I saw the top ten American Idol finalists from this season. This crowd was a lot of screaming teenagers, along with some families, and some random older couples. (Apparently I missed the memo about making a t-shirt proclaiming my love for one or both of the Davids.)

I've been wondering... about which of these groups can I quote Rodney Atkins and say, "these are my people..."? I like to think I have a little of each in me - from wine connoisseur to redneck to teeny bopper. (Ok, maybe a little more of the teeny bopper than the others.) 

Let's not put people in little boxes when we see them - but rather take time to get to know them, appreciate where they've come from, and learn from their experiences. 

Past, Future and Present

Last weekend was my ten-year high school reunion. You always hear of people freaking out about things and worrying that their job/ significant other/ weight is not good enough. I didn't feel that way at all. I don't know if it was because I knew that my good friends who already know me well would be there, or because I just don't care what other people think.

Anyhow, we had a fantastic weekend. We had a casual get-together on Friday night, and the "real" thing on Saturday night at the Louisville Slugger Museum. I found the whole thing to be very relaxed and unpretentious. People seemed genuinely happy to see one another, and everyone was just having a good time. The excellent 90s playlist contributed to this, for sure! 

I found myself on the dance floor with Christopher and Jami, making my dream of doing the 

"Romy and Michele" dance at my reunion a reality. I was also pleased that I got to reuse my "Thriller" skills that I picked up before Jeff and Meg's wedding. The "after party" was at 4th Street Live, where I very uncharacteristically stayed out till 3:30! 

Now that the fun of the reunion is over, I am looking forward to more fun this summer/fall:

Next week- American Idols Live!

August - The OLYMPICS! (and a Third Day/Jars of Clay/Switchfoot concert)

September - Girls weekend in Chicago with Amie and Tiffany, and another girls weekend in Phoenix with Julie, whom I haven't seen in 7 years! (We are going to a resort with a lazy river!)

October - The arrival of Baby Brenneman! And a New Kids on the Block Concert in Chicago!

...and January '09 is Miss America in Vegas!

(I must apologize for my overuse of exclamation marks. I hate them. Really, I do.)

So, the past and the future sound great, eh? But what about the present? Yeah, that's a tough one for me. Seems as if I'm always living in the memories of the past or the anticipation of the future, and kind of forgetting about today. I will try to remember that as I am wishing away the coming weeks!

A Future American Idol?

(Doubt it.)

An occasion worthy of the 'good' wine

Tonight we celebrated Meg's vacation eve. Tomorrow, she will hop on a plane for the first time since grade school to get away to Florida for a few days of well-deserved R&R.

Our evening started with dinner at Carolina Grill. Yum. Then we came home for dessert, and to finish off the bottle of fantastic wine I got in Washington. As you can see below, I shouldn't quit my day job. It was going to be a sun and a palm tree. But it ended up more like two blobs of chocolate. Oh well. It tasted quite good.

After dessert, the real fun started. Let's just say there was laughter to the point of tears, Redi-Whip on Meg's shirt, Cool Whip in the sink, and talk of suffocating. Oh, how I love summer nights that start out plan-less and end up being a ton o' fun.

Life Stories

A couple of weeks ago at church, we did something really cool - cardboard testimonies. I was one of the people who went onstage to share... well... a testimony on a piece of cardboard. As I was thinking about it the week before, I realized that some of the newer people in my small group weren't aware of what I was sharing. With it being such a big part of my life and who I am, it got me thinking about how our small group doesn't really know one another that well. So after a chat with the Olsen brothers (that sounds like it could be a business, but I'm not sure what kind), we decided to have "Life Story Night" at small group.

Tonight was that night. And it was really cool. I learned things I didn't know about people I'd known for awhile, and I learned even more about the newer folks. 

Sometimes it's hard with our busy schedules to take the time to actually get to know someone. While it's easy to hang out and go to dinner or the movies, it's more difficult to get past the surface questions like "how was your day?" and move on to things like "what life experiences have made you who you are today?" But it's so worth the time in the end. I am encouraged by the stories I heard tonight, and hope that we will continue to get to know one another on a deeper level.