Mexican on a bicycle

I think the high water mark of my experience at USAO was the night we saw the Mexican on a bicycle. Mind you, to my friends and me he would've just been a man on a bicycle had the police not been involved. Anyhoo, it was one of the most eventful nights of my life and as a result I've told this story to everyone I know entirely too many times. For those who haven't heard it, though, here it is.

Chickasha, where USAO is located, is a rather sleepy town where everything but Taco Bell and Walmart closes early. Since there's hardly anything to do at night, my friends and I would take long walks through the neighborhoods surrounding our school's campus. We were out doing just that on this particular night, and we had brought along my friend Jay, who happened to be visiting from out of town. For some reason Jay and I together seem to draw in trouble like a magnet. I blame that on what happened as we were walking back toward campus.

Here we see 4 out of 5 of the persons involved in said walk. Jay is the one who appears to need to pee.

Police cruisers seemed to be in abundance around USAO that Saturday night, and every one of them would slow down as it passed so the officer could glare at us like we were a bunch of hooligans. Finally it occurred to us that Chickasha High School was holding its prom at USAO that night, and those students genuinely were hooligans, hence the heightened police circuiting the school.

Since Chickasha happens to be a very redneck town, all the prom-mobiles probably looked something like this.

Eventually one of those police cars slowed to a stop next to us as we walked down the wide median and the officer glared at us in a manner I assume he picked up in police academy. I attempted to glare back. Jay and my fiancé (now husband) Shaun walked up to his car and asked if there was a problem. The officer continued to glare for a moment, then asked a question that will stick in my mind 'til I die:

"Have you seen a Mexican on a bicycle?"

Did he steal your donuts, sir?

We all stared incredulously for a moment as crickets chirped in the background. Just as Jay was saying "no...should we be worried?" the police officer's radio crackled to life with the words "He's on Arizona!" and off he sped.

We continued on our stroll, pondering all the crimes this Mexican on a bicycle may have committed. Then we heard it.

Creak creak...creak creak.

All five of us stopped in unison and watched as a very large Mexican on a very tiny bicycle slowly pedaled his way down a cross street. It must have been a strange moment for him, seeing five college students standing open-mouthed and turning their heads as he passed like we were one organism.

Imagine this, only ghetto.

When he reached the other side of the wide intersection, he stopped and looked back at us just as a police cruiser turned onto the street and headed our direction. Immediately we realized he couldn't see the Mexican from his vantage point, and by golly we weren't going to let him get away. We sprang into action.

My reaction was to go running toward the cruiser, waving my arms and yelling. My friend Aiden followed. Meanwhile, Sunny jumped up and down where she was while Shaun and Jay pointed toward the cross street. Presumably after he surmised that we weren't leading him into a trap, the cop sped over and rolled down his window just in time to hear "He's on California!"

Califooooooooooooooornia!

Off he sped once again, and soon we could see lights from multiple cruisers on the next cross street. We ran toward it just in time to see the Mexican being pushed up against one of the cars and handcuffed. We helped catch a wanted person!

We never did find out what crime the Mexican had committed, so I've had to come up with scenarios of my own to satisfy my imagination. It usually ranges from murdering a fellow patron at the classiest bar in Chickasha, a lovely heap of rotting wood called the Wan Dora, to throwing a bowling ball at an opposing team in the bowling alley. Whatever the case may be, I'm sure it was a sight to behold.

- LL

It's the little things...

Earlier today, Shaun did one of those things that bothers me. In a good way...but it still bothers me. We were IMing back and forth, and out of the blue he said "Maybe your surprise will come in the mail today."

Surprise? What surprise? Is it in a box? In an envelope? Was it expensive? Can I find record of it on our bank statement? What is it???

I'm impatient, therefore I dislike knowing there's some surprise in store for me. I have to know now, thankyouverymuch. Somehow I made it through the remaining hours at work and managed to not look like a crazy person when I walked in the door, but you better believe it was rough!

I walked into our room, and sitting on our bed was a familiar green, yellow, and pink box. I could rattle off a ton of nerdy facts about just exactly what is in the box, but just know that it's a Baby So Beautiful. A gorgeous redheaded doll in a pink-checked dress.

You see, when I was little I religiously saved my allowance each month until I could afford to purchase a Baby So Beautiful. They were the most beautiful dolls you've ever seen, and you'll never see two that are alike. By the time they quit distributing them (1996 I believe), I owned between 15 and 20.

Fast forward to this year, and those dolls were all carefully stored in tubs at my parents house. My Mom kept asking me to take them to my house, but I didn't really have any place to store them. Now it makes me really mad that I didn't.

As we were packing up everything that wasn't destroyed by the tornado, I realized that my dolls weren't anywhere to be found. In the midst of all this, it was the straw that broke the camel's back and made me cry like a baby. I'd been saving those to give to our daughter someday, and they were gone.

Shaun knew how much it bothered me, and a couple weeks later I got my surprise: a mint-in-box BSB he found on Ebay. It made me cry all over again. That one little doll made up for the numerous dolls I had lost.

It's amazing how sometimes the little things in life, like buying a doll for someone who's probably overly sentimental about her lost childhood toys, can make such a huge difference. I'm blessed to have such a great husband who realizes that. :)

[Note: I tried really hard not to be nerdy about this, but I'm about to post every nerdy thought I've had about my lovely new doll] HolycowIfinallygotmyredheadBSB! And she's mint in the box! And she has the same color eyes as me! Which means she has the same color eyes as my personal favorite BSB in my collection, Meagan! Can I take her out of the box? No, I won't. I want her to stay in perfect condition. But I waaaaaaant to take the hairnet off her hair so I can see her curls! No...I won't. She'll stay in the box. I am NEVER letting my daughter play with her. She's mine. No wait...I need to share. No I don't. Yes I do. No...she'll stay in a box. On a shelf. A high shelf. Yes, that sounds good. A very, very high shelf. This is a good plan. Ahhhhh, look how cute her chubby little toes are! Nope, my daughter is NEVER, I repeat, NEVER playing with her. What should I name her? This could take a while...

Hey look, everyone! I'm grouchy!

*Warning* This blog is ridiculously long and probably only interesting to anyone wondering why I'm such a grouch lately. Just so you know. I promise I'll post something less depressing soon to make up for it.

I talk a lot, so I know it's hard for people to understand that I really don't verbalize anything about big problems very often. When I do talk about them, it's usually to downplay the situation, offer up humor about it, or let someone know just enough that they understand what's going on. Rarely do I share how it makes me feel or what the problem actually is. Today I'm offering a glimpse into what my life is like right now for the third reason I gave: to help you understand why I may seem a bit crazy right now. This isn't a comprehensive list, and some of the "big stuff" has been left off simply because it's not something I want to share.

First off, most of you know we're currently dealing with the fact that my parents home was blown away by a tornado. The only house I remember living in with them is gone. My Mom's wedding china is gone, along with a lot of their other belongings. A lot of things I was saving in hopes I could give them to my daughter some day are gone forever. It's hard to describe the feelings that go along with all this. From the outside it's easy to say "at least everyone's unhurt." Yes, that is an awesome thing, but there's also a whole mess of weird feelings that come in the aftermath that could definitely make life suck if you let them. (Not saying anyone is letting them. Just saying that those feelings exist. I know a lot of people on Mom and Dad's street are struggling even more)

Now for something that not everyone knows. A friend of mine died in the Chickasha tornado and I'm having trouble coming to grips with that. I keep expecting her to get on Facebook and say "just kidding guys!" When an elderly family member or an acquaintance from church dies, I can have peace about it. When a friend who didn't share my belief in the Savior dies it's incredibly hard to find any peace about it.

My stomach literally hurts all the time. When I wake up in the morning there's always a sense of dread because the moment I stand up the pain hits. Motivating myself to do anything but lay in bed is becoming harder. I know it's mostly "stress-related," but how do you reduce the stress causing the problem when there's no way you can block out everything occurring lately?

Things don't always turn out the way I'd planned. Actually, they never do. I know that ultimately that's a great thing, but right now we're in the middle of things that I never planned because they totally suck. A lot of the things I haven't mentioned are smaller than those I've listed and some of them are even bigger. The result of all this is that I'm constantly tired, stressed out, and grouchy. It's a daily struggle to not snap at people and it's hard to look interested in things that used to be fun for me. I'm so blessed to have a family that rallies so well in hard times. Especially Shaun. He's my rock, and I also think he's the keeper of my sanity. God has given me an amazing support system.

Post-tornado update

Hello everyone! I just wanted to post a tornado update and let you know what's going on. A huge tornado struck my parents neighborhood and pretty much leveled everything. I think maybe a couple homes survived. Everyone in the neighborhood was okay thanks to the families that have storm shelters. Anyone with a storm shelter made sure to grab those who didn't and it made all the difference! As far as I know a young boy is still missing from a couple miles over, so please pray they find him soon and that he is alright.

My parents home was decimated, but thankfully most of the areas holding valuables were miraculously saved. It's so strange to see the roof caved in and walls bent in directions they weren't meant to be next to spots that are almost completely intact. For instance, the roof is gone over it, but my Mom's prized antique mirror was still hanging on the living room wall looking just fine and dandy!

It's times like these that remind me how great our family, friends, state, and church truly are. Mom, Shaun, and I received literally dozens of calls and texts checking to make sure they were okay. Half of my Mom's side of the family showed up and helped us move a bunch of stuff out of the house. Have I mentioned how amazing my family is? Because they are!

On a street already crowded with about 30 more cars than it can handle, people were showing up to gawk, clog traffic, and take photos, but at the same time there were also people showing up to be great samaritans. Trucks with horse trailers poured in to take all the horses on the block to safer spots. One was limping and had a pretty serious-looking gash but her leg wasn't broken, so she should be fine! I was glad to see people doing so much to help.

On a more serious note, this blog is also to honor a life lost yesterday. Laron Short was killed by the tornado in Chickasha and will be sorely missed. She was a graduate of USAO, my Editor-in-Chief at The Trend, and one of the most unique individuals I've ever met. She had been living in Australia and had just returned to Oklahoma on Monday. She was not a Christian, and that stabs me right in the heart. Please pray for Laron's friends and family, that God may stir their hearts and draw them to Him.

Little known facts about LL - Take One

This might turn into a recurring theme for me, so strap in and enjoy the randomness :)

Fact 1: Shaun's very cute, very tiny Maltese named Spencer happens to be my archenemy. He pees on EVERYTHING I own. Just MY stuff, not Shaun's. He peed on my favorite sweater, which I didn't notice until I was running late to work, threw on the sweater, and ran out the door. I was wondering who at work smelled like pee, then I realized "oh right, it's me." Cue Hulk-like anger, minus the greenness. He also peed on my computer bag strap. Yet again...didn't notice til I threw the darn thing over my shoulder. That five pound miscreant is lucky he hasn't been drop-kicked out my front door yet.

Fact 2: I cry easier than just about anyone else I've ever met. If you start crying around me I hope you're ready for some sympathetic tears because I'm about to turn on the waterworks. Baptisms at church? Tears. Funerals for persons I hardly know? Sniffles at the very least. Lilo and Stitch? Get the friggin' Kleenex.

Fact 3: I LOVE tattoos. Good tattoos. Not "hey look, I got this on a whim one night" tattoos, but honest to goodness permanent inked-on artwork. If you have a nifty-looking tattoo, I'll probably spend a good amount of time staring at it. Just a warning.

Fact 4: I happen to be married to the goofiest person on the planet, but you wouldn't know that if you've only been around him in public settings. I love that dude, but getting him to answer any questions directly on the first try is a challenge I have yet to overcome. I guess that was only partially about me...whoops. Oh well, it's my blog and I'll do what I want!

Fact 5: A lot of my friends with whom I identify the most live hundreds of miles away and spend over half the year on tour. For a lot of music fans, a show at the Diamond or at the Conservatory is a chance to see one of their favorite bands live, but for me it's also a chance to briefly hang out with some of the people I love. So when I tweet the next day that I'm suffering from Post Concert Stress Disorder, now you know what I mean. ;)

underdemeciated

I find that God uses the most unexpected people to teach me lessons. Lately He's been teaching me the power of small actions and words like never before, mainly the power of showing your appreciation.

I've felt awfully unappreciated lately. I'll go above and beyond for someone and they act like it's nothing. That suuuuuucks. I rank it right below "just saw a dead puppy on the side of the road" on the list of "Things that make me feel awful." Have you ever seen Bedtime Stories? Like Adam Sandler, I'm feeling "under-demeciated" these days.

Sad thing is, the people who seem to forget to show appreciation are usually those who seem to have the manners to know better. I'm that person a lot of times. A lot of times you see it in business settings or even at church. On the flip side, I've seen firsthand how those you least expect gratitude from are the most likely to give it with enthusiasm.

Take for example some friends of mine in a touring band. They've got long hair and tattoos and their crazy concert to driving ratio means little time for showers. They're not exactly the type of guys you expect any kind words from AND they've had some bad luck lately that would make most people grumpy, but they are some of the most appreciative dudes you'll ever meet. We spent some time driving them around to get some errands done, and they thanked us approximately thirty billion times. No lie. As if that wasn't enough to make my entire week, before they started their encore they dedicated it to us!

Talk about awesomeness! I was living high off that moment for quite a while after that. Seriously, I've rarely felt so special. The entire rest of the weekend I've been thinking about how I can pass on that feeling, 'cause it's worth sharing. Everyone should get to feel appreciated and worthy of notice every now and then.

One of my prayers lately is that I'll learn to show my appreciation for people as earnestly as my friends. I don't think they realize what a blessing they've been to me, and I hope I can be a fraction as awesome as they are.

Music festival essentials

 

South by Southwest and South by So What are just around the corner (not to mention the fact that I'm already looking forward to Warped Tour), and it's time to pack those festival essentials! I've gotten so I barely even have to think about what to pack anymore, thanks to a formula I stick to religiously. Here are some of my fave items to take!

1. Covergirl concealer - Makeup melts pretty fast when you're out in the sun, so I keep it simple. Concealer is a quick fix to hide the fact that I'm completely sleep deprived, and it packs in my purse easily for touch ups.

2. JK Jemma Kidd Stain/Flush/Blush Makeup Concentrate - A pretty flush rounds out my makeup essentials and is my other secret weapon against a sleepy, bedraggled face. Jemma Kidd's is my fave since it's easy to apply with my fingers and comes in a tiny and packable package!

3. Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizer - As a complete pale face, I turn into a crispy lobster lookalike if I don't use moisturizer with a bit of sunscreen in it. Skin protection or bust!

4. Small over-the-shoulder bag - I've got a trusty purse that goes on all my festival adventures with me. It has enough pockets to stay organized, and can fit a camera and a snack despite its diminutive size. Don't forget to throw some hand sanitizer in there!

5. Sunglasses - I always feel like a nerd when I forget my sunglasses. Let's face it, no one wants to go around squinting at everything!

6. Cheap, dark skinnies - Since I somehow always manage to spill something or get something spilled on me at festivals I'm a huge advocate of wearing a $10 pair of dark skinnies from Forever 21. They're stretchy, comfy, and won't induce tears if you ruin them.

7. Toms - Without comfy shoes it's awfully hard to enjoy days full of music! Ignore the urge to wear those cute sandals and go for cuteness and functionality. Your feet will thank you!