The Top 2's of 2008

Top Two Gifts I Got for Christmas:

• A Sparkly Diamond Engagement Ring
• Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone

Top Two Weddings I Participated in This Christmas:

• Sean and Rachael Baker's (My brother and new sister-in-law)
• Brendan and Erin (Utley) Voss' (My sister-in-law and brother-in-law to be!)

Top Two Cups of Coffee I Had Over Christmas:

• The First Americano I got at The Dripolator in Black Mountain, NC.
• The Second Americano I got at The Dripolator in Black Mountain, NC.

Top Two Best Unplanned Moments of the 2-week Whirlwind:

• Seeing Billy Harvey open for The Old 97's in Austin, Texas. My friends and I stumbled across Billy Harvey's website a few years ago and have been closet fans of his website ever since. We own none of his albums and have never attempted to see him in concert--until I accidentally did!
• Spending 8 hours in the car with my aunt and uncle riding back from North Carolina to Ohio. This included playing James Bond Scene It, laughing a lot, and a fantastic visit to a Texan restaurant in West Virginia.

Top Two Touristy Things I Did Over Christmas:

• Visit the Biltmore Estate near Asheville, NC.
• Visit the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona.

Top Two Scariest Moments of Christmas Break:

• Riding into downtown San Antonio with someone at the wheel driving 35 mph on the interstate in 8 lanes of traffic.
• Having to help a van full of my exhausted friends come to consensus for where we should eat dinner in Flagstaff, AZ.
  

Top Two Things About Returning Home After A 2-week Whirlwind:

• The killer cold I've been battling for the last week.
• Returning from vacation in need of another vacation.

When your baby brother gets hitched, you should visit a mansion in your time of mourning.

This past Friday, my baby brother gots himself hitched to the now Rachael Baker.

There was much revelry and celebratory-type activities throughout the city (village) streets of Montreat and Black Mountain, North Carolina. For several days, I shared a cabin with Mom, Dad, Clay, 4 Grandparents, and My Aunt. Woo-wee! For several days, we all had to wait in line to pee.

After the revelry was waning, we all said, "Enough of mourning Sean and Rachael's departure into the sweet land of matrimony! We're going to take 8500 of our closest friends to party at the Biltmore Estate!" So that's what we did...visit the Vanderbilt mansion.

I have to say, the Biltmore Estate was pretty rad. 250 rooms, an indoor swimming pool and bowling alley, a 35-foot-tall Christmas tree, 30 some bedrooms and 40 some bathrooms. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Vanderbilts were worth 96 Billion Dollars in today's money, which was before there was income tax. A double Woo-wee to that!

It reminded me how vast the discrepency is between the rich and the poor. And you know what the crazy part is? To most of the world, we are closer to the Vanderbilts than we are to them. The fact that we're reading this on our computers is proof of that.

It's Christmas eve, and since there are now a few days to rest in between my brother's wedding and Clay's sister's wedding, I'd like to try my best to celebrate Christ-mas today and tomorrow. And I'd like to ask the Lord what he wants me to do with my wealth? Should I build a mansion? Should I give to the poor? Should I build a mansion for the poor to live in?

What does He have for us this week?

Zombie! Zombie!

It's not everyday that you get to see real live zombies attack a city bus.

But, that dream became flesh and bloody-blood reality for brother Sean, sister-in-law-to-be Rachael, and I as we traversed down a perfectly normal looking street in Vancouver, BC (a breezy 2 hour drive from my home...2.5 hours if customs is slow-going).

The trip was destined for interesting things from the start. First, we headed up to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which promised the following:

"Your pulse quickens as you step onto the swaying planks of Vancouver's first visitor attraction. Breathe in the cedar-scented rainforest air as you make your way across Vancouver's famous landmark. Only minutes away from downtown Vancouver, Capilano Suspension Bridge takes you to the natural splendor of rainforest trails through magnificent evergreens and the unique perspective of Treetops Adventure, a walk high in the trees."

Who wouldn't want to go there?

But we were soon doomed...on the drive to Vancouver's north side, Sean goes, "Too bad this places is going to be cool...otherwise we could call it the 'Suck-spension' Bridge." He spoke too soon.

Five minutes later we arrived, we parked, and we fed the meter. But upon nearing the entrance, we were informed that the fee to this glorious bridge was $26.95. Are you freaking kidding me? To walk across a bridge?

It was too painful for Sean and Rachael to consider, especially having so recently been ripped off by the Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado.

So we thumbed our nose at the 26.95 sucks-pension bridge and made our way back into Vancouver to pursue something exciting and free.

As we drove back into town, we passed some teenagers covered in blood and wearing ripped up shirts. Sean and I had a minor freak out--thinking that Vancouver was home to some people with a freaky zombie fetish. Gross. I've known of people dressing up like Star Trek or Anime characters, but zombies?

Once again, Sean was prophetic: "Wouldn't it be awesome if we get to the art museum, and there are zombies all sprawled out and bloody on the front steps?" As we neared the art museum, we began to spot more and more zombies, until we finally passed the art museum, where we observed no less than 300 zombies partying in the front lawn. WHAT?!

We parked the car as quickly as possible and ran up the stairs to the art museum to soak it all in. Zombies were everywhere! We were so, so happy! This was amazing, AND we didn't even have to pay $26.95 for it!

About an hour later, as we were strolling down the main drag, looking at shops and having a good time, Sean cries out, "Loook! They're marching!" It was true! The zombies were marching towards us on the sidewalk...and they spilled out into the city street and attacked a bus. Us--and thousands of other passersby--just stood there shocked, watching it all transpire while a mother comforted a small child in the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

It's not everyday that you get to see zombies attack a city bus...no...but it should be.

Where is the Love?

This Valentine's Day blog is dedicated to people who meet the following criteria:
1. I love them.
2. They live 10,000 miles away.
3. I used to talk to them weekly until they moved 10,000 miles away.
4. I miss them.

Brother Sean in China! (furthest right in photo.) He's been there for a month already, and will be there through August. He's studying and interning and traveling and learning. Today, as a Happy Valentines/Belated Birthday gift, I received a package of tea and candy from beloved China, courtesy of Sean Ian. This, makes me happy, and I miss him!


Barrett and Suzanne! These dear friends followed their love and devotion to the Lord and their love of adventure to Zambia. They're currently leading a student program called "African Quest," in which they supervise teaching and training for 20 American/British college-aged students. Before they left for Africa, I talked to Suzanne daily. Since they left for Africa, I have talked to Suzanne once for thirty seconds and get emails every 4-6 weeks. I definitely miss them.

So...if you're reading this blog, the odds are high that I love you too...so, I want you to know that. And--Happy Valentine's Day.

Photojournalistic Highlights from the Tour 'o the Midwest...

So...my photojournalistic highlights from this last trip are sparse. Even though I was in seven different states on four separate trips over 20 days, I took exactly 8 photographs. So, in your mind, pretend that I'm sharing photos of these important events that I didn't take pictures of: Cincinnati YS, Muncie, Taylor, my immediate family, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, and my meetings with following famous people... Lauren Winner, the Detroit Pistons, Leigh Nash, and James Laurinaitis. (Imagine specifically, lots of pictures of me smiling next to dear friends and family that I haven't seen in ages...and imagine YD staff recruiting 70 staff leads.)

Highlight #1: Baby Caedmon Rider Barth's First Flight.

He did very well...slept the whole time...and Heather and Jade did really well on 'first travels with a baby.' We discovered lots of cool perks of traveling with babies:
1. You get to go to the front of lines.
2. Flight attendants are reeally nice.
3. TSA officials smile at you.

We also discovered lots of non-cool perks of traveling with babies:
1. You have to find elevators, many of which are unmarked or hard-to-find, or out-of-the-way (especially the one in S-Terminal at Sea-Tac, which is conveniently located through a huge glass door marked "Customs and International Travel" and down a long hallway filled with security officials.)
2. You are expected by TSA to simultaneously break down the stroller, put it on the belt, and hold the baby, boarding pass, and ID. They offer no assistance and required that I come back through the metal detector to carry the baby for Jade so that Jade could put all the luggage on the belt herself.
3. You nearly miss flights because sometimes the baggage people take a bazillion years to give you your gate-checked stroller back...and then you, Jade, and baby have to run at top speeds, gear-in-tow to the opposite sides of the Minneapolis airport, including crashing into business men as you run at top speeds on moving sidewalks. As you can see, though, this did not phase Caedmon. He slept the whole time.

Highlight #2: The Casey Family National Championship

On Thanksgiving Day, Cousin Randi and I began reflecting on Thanksgiving Friends' episodes. Since it was a beautiful, sunny 65 degrees outside, we specifically waxed nostalgic about "The One With The Football," and Randi started giggling over the thought of "The Geller Trophy" (which was a troll doll nailed to a 2x4) during that episode. Then someone cried out, "We could make a Casey Cup!" (Casey being my mom's maiden name...the side of the family with whom we were gathered.)

The idea was too amazing to pass up--and the idea of competing for a ridiculous trophy inspired us all to really play an actual game of family football. So...I crept into the attic, dug through boxes, pulled out the hot glue gun, and 20 minutes later emerged with the official "Casey Cup."

The Cup itself actually holds a lot of sentimental value. It's comprised of of homages to the OSU Buckeyes, the Cleveland Browns, and the Cleveland Indians (of extreme importance to the Casey Clan.) It also includes the shark-on-a-stick puppet I bought on the 8th grade trip to DC, Sean's trophy from being the "Top Selling 6th Grader" in the Lincoln Elementary PTO Fundraiser, a small piece of PinArt I once purchased at COSI, and Sparky Pig (the running family joke, who makes recurring appearances in luggage, Christmas presents, and trunks of cars.)

The game itself was pretty intense: the competitive Welch/Schilling clan vs. Me/Sean/Rachel (and Aunt Angie at all-time Center...guest appearance by Aunt Danie and Dad as our sneak illegal receiver.) The Bakers were really at a disadvantage from the start considering the Welch/Schilling clan was comprised of Cousin Paul (Air Force,) Cousin Randi (played high school volleyball and softball,) and Cousin-in-Law Warren (Contractor and extremely buff.) Team Baker was me (retired ballerina,) Brother Sean (speaks Chinese,) and Brother's Girlfriend Rachel (chemist.)

But--in the first half, Team Baker put 14 points on the board (including one major reception by hmb that resulted in me being the defense's player to stop! Woo!) The second half was less pretty...because I think we were shut out....

But--we rejoiced at the end of it all that several hours of fun happened. And--that we've started--in our 20's--a new family tradition. So, the Casey Cup will be up for grabs again at Christmas when the Welch- Schillings battle it out with the Whitings... (p.s. notice all the red eyes? in my entire extended family, both sides, everyone has blue eyes...crazy, non?!)

...and Sean and I determined that at some point we're going to need a Triwizard tournament of sorts in which the Casey Cup is occasionally attainable via Trivial Pursuit victories...otherwise the Baker clan may never see the beloved Casey Cup again.