Mat Snatcher part 6

Guess they weren't out of boats yet.

The bottom says, "How do we contact you?"

Hm...Welp, you've been contacting us for a couple weeks now. You know where we live. You have sent us baked goods, a carved watermelon, numerous boats, and techno dance parties among other things. But maybe you forgot our door was an effective way to reach us. Here are some other options:

In honor of Ellen Awad

haikus for the day:

78 kids
rainbow string and zig-zag stripes
high: talking with girls


cleaning 201
she smiles while she helps me finish
Nat is a rockstar


snatchers kept us up
I think I'm sleep deprived now
early to bed. bye.

Mat Snatcher part 5

This morning we had this lovely collection outside our door. 

The CD says, "What up Creep Creeps? We aren't sad or lonely. That was our fall mix. After listening to your cd we decided your library needs an update. Enjoy." (This CD is a collection of party techno songs that kind of give me a headache.)

The pumpkin is... just a toy pumpkin.

The size small Christmas themed Abercrombie shirt reads, "3 Hos are better than 1" and has obviously been doused in cologne.

This was the only appropriate response:

Later in the day Matty responded with:

Peaking out behind that note are three packets of spiced cider.
In front of our door was our SECOND boat:

Thus far the Matty's have yet to figure out anything about us. We would be really impressed if they understood the significance of this particular boat (look close... think about it), but we doubt it.

We wrote back:

My friend Molly came to hang out and we went to get dinner. When we got back Molly stood in the street (she loves the snatchers) and I locked my car so it would beep. The Matty's are getting easy to predict-- they always rush to their porch to look down at us when they hear us return. Matty B came out into the shadows which caused Molly to scream, run inside, and collapse in laughter.

30 minutes later:

If you can't tell, the "free gift" is Season 1 Volume 1 of GLEE. This is impressive.

We quickly wrote back:

Sarah sent these really impressive snowflakes along with the note:

Matty B is loving lowering things down from their balcony. He brought the techno rave to us:

We have these bouncy balls that say "Jesus makes me smile." We attempted to throw them up and into their open porch door- we think one made it but one hit the second floor... we don't know those people so we aborted the mission. The rest of the balls were left in a row by their door.

They brought us some Christmas ornaments arranged like a tree:

We ran upstairs put them back in front of their door and left a note:

"No thanks. It's still September.

We can revisit this moment in three months.

Did you run out of boats?"

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?

Today 27 spools of beautiful, vibrant, and glorious friendship bracelet string were delivered for the FBC.

The Saga Continues...Mat Snatcher part 4

Ashlee (their other roommate) found Shauna on facebook and friended her. Initially hesitant to accept we decided to take the risk and friended her for all of about a minute. The first thing we saw on her wall was a video they had just taken of Matty A and B throwing the chair and doll off their balcony and you can hear us shriek below. We quickly searched her friends to find the full name of the other Scott and some interesting information about. Unfriended Ashlee and wrote this note:

The note has been taken and the mat has been snatched yet again.

Today we decided to take good care of Matty A's boat, just like he had asked, and give him a tour of town.

Old men like the boat.

Policemen like the boat.

Fountains like the boat.

Bike riders like the boat.

Dogs like the boat.

High School girls like the boat.

We left pictures of the boat's travels for the mat snatchers.

Mat Snatcher part 3

In the morning we found this note:

Then responded with this letter and mix of our own. Yes, our notes are quite a bit longer but we'd like to accredit that to the fact that girls use 20,000 words a day while boys use only 9,000.

For extra good measure and festive Fall spirit we decorated their door. It adds a lot to the leaves don't you think?

Nothing all day but then when we returned from Campaigners and got out of our car I saw one person creeping in their window. I told the other "S"s and when we looked up again there was someone leaning over the balcony and two faces in the windows all staring down at us. Needless to say, I ran inside. Sarah quickly reminded us that they had already told us they had no intent to harm us and this was fun.

A knock on the door and we found this:

This boat is HUGE.

We tried to find something strange to return but were at a loss so we created something strange instead. We creeped upstairs to their door and left this... doll.

Maybe 5 minutes later we saw this dangling over our porch from the third floor with the new note rolled up on her lap. We took the note, with the mat snatchers obviously watching from above, and then they dropped her into the bushes.

Celebrate

This weekend was filled with so many friends. At this point in my life I feel like my friends are just spread all over the place and it's hard to stay connected. So I got in my car and roadtripped to Btown to play with some of my favorites. Rachel, Paiger, Lesem, Kath and Colleen (not pictured because she's acting as our photographer) are wonderful. I love hearing the stories of their lives and catching up over Diet Coke and pepperoni pizza. I love that we change our location but we just continued to find ourselves sitting in a circle talking. 

When we moved into our apartment we wanted it to be filled with joy and creativity and pictures and love and art and lots of visitors. We had a housewarming party and several of our favorite people came to eat Funfetti cupcakes and Texas caviar but basically to hang out and laugh a lot.

We are so blessed to have these friends.

Mat Snatcher part 2

The mat snatching escapades have intensified. The photo above is only one of numerous attacks. The brown mat on the left belongs to us, the door on the left. The black mat belongs to the main door of the apartment building.

After a week of us not replying to the CD entitled "Mat Snatcher Mix" we found this note:

We gave them a collage of doors and welcome mats with questions on the back. I'm sad to say I left for the night and missed most of these interactions. They sent the collage back with the answers and this note:

We left a can of pumpkin in the hallway and said, "Here's our contribution."

Soon after with a knock on the door we found:

Obviously the correct response was to leave this out for Matty A and Matty B (their new nicknames):

In the morning we found this:

And after several attempts finally got this out:

1 is in response to how they feel about beanies and Sperry's. (Our suspected mat snatchers wear these.)

2 are interesting facts about them. 

3 is what floor they live on.

After a trip to the Farmer's Market we wrote our own interesting facts and next questions on this:

A) I put my hair in a ponytail when I get frustrated and I've lived at a camp my whole life.

B) I want to climb all the 14ers in Colorado and I eat canned peas as a snack.

C) April Fool's Day is my favorite holiday and I've lived in 11 different houses.

Collectively all our names start with "S"

We're more interesting than you.

We like this game!

[We decided we needed to just cover the basics so we added this part too.]

Questions that may be too intense for a watermelon (but we'll risk it):

1. Are you male?

2. Are you heterosexual?

3. Are you single?

4. Do you have a relationship with God?

5. When is apple cider happening?

About 24 hours later we found this:

Through common friends, other interested apartments residents, and expert fbook skills we deduced a few facts and have responded with this:

I'm thankful

I'm thankful for the real conversations I had with students today. After reading excerpts from Freedom Writers we wrote and talked about people we admire, respecting people different than us, times when we've felt like we didn't fit in and what we want to be remembered for.

I'm thankful for the 74 kids that came to Friendship Bracelet Club today. I love getting to sit with these kids at the end of the day. I love seeing them laughing with their friends, helping each other, singing along together and basically being happy. I wish that I had more time so I could get around the room and spend time talking to everyone and getting to know them better.

I'm thankful that I got to sit outside with a couple girls that I didn't know while we waited for their parents to pick them up. We just talked and they worked on their bracelets.

I'm thankful for my friends Molly, Keefer, and Ellyn. We love Chipotle burritos, fresh guacamole, and cups of heaven from Huddles. I love talking with these friends and hearing their funny stories like a kid that told Molly, "Is that a belt? My Dad has a belt."

I'm thankful for Wyld Life craziness- human pyramid races, pizza delivery races, games involving toilet paper, diapers, Lucky Charms and chocolate pudding. We listened to a leader talk about forgiveness and that I got to watch one of my friends lead a small group conversation. (Sidenote- Did you know that girls speak an average of 20,000 words a day? This probably explains all of these conversations.)

I'm thankful I got to sit on the steps and talk with one of the girls while we waited for her Dad to come pick her up. She is one of those people that SHINES joy, creativity, kindness, and fun. I wish that she could see how great she is.

Top 6

I've started thinking about camp (as if I don't do that everyday anyways) because of dinner with camp girls, hearing about two kids that dressed up as camp counselors for twin day and a phone call with a great friend.

Top 6 Things I Miss About Camp Today

1. I love that we eat all our meals with at least 10 other people around one table. People miss out when they don't get that human interaction- never mind that we're eating corndogs, trays of pizzas, and sloppy joes that might not be the healthiest option in the world. Eating family style is good for you.

2. Devotions are the perfect way to end the day. Coming together in a circle with just candlelight, revisiting the whole day, talking about important things, the occasional crying, praying while interdigitating, hugs or high-5s, and falling asleep knowing we'll all be together tomorrow.

3. My friend was telling me that the highlight of her day was talking to a 3rd grader for 10 minutes. At camp we are surrounded by children from age 5-15 all day long for 9 straight weeks. They make me laugh, teach me about my faith, write notes in the sand, never brush their hair, ask tough questions, drive me nuts, give the best hugs, tell crazy stories, make up games like jelly-ball, dress like lax bros, smile constantly, sing LOUD and love unconditionally.

4. At camp all your friends are no more than a village away. Instead of communication via text or facebook we use village to village mail. We talk before chapel, get so excited to see each other when we pass on the hill, teach clinics together and sit on porches long after the campers have fallen asleep . At camp you always greet friends with a hug. Leaving each other for 25 hours on the weekend feels like an eternity.

5. Being 3rd is a way of life. It is normal, expected, celebrated, and anticipated to have conversations about faith and to center your days around the way God wants you to live. We are kind to people because it's just what you do. We love people well. Kids don't have to worry about fitting in- everyone belongs and is part of the family.

6. HAVE FUN is a non-negotiable goal. We try to make every week the best week of the whole year. I understand that it's necessary for us to go to work or school the rest of the year- I support both of those things. But I don't think that having fun should stop. Talk in a weird accent, make your friends sing karaoke in the car, wear overalls on a normal day, draw with sidewalk chalk, take a jumping picture or give a friend a present just because you love them. Do fun things more often.

100th Post!

100 posts ago my great friend Sarah made me start this blog. She started hers the day before me and kept me going until this became a routine. We (along with almost every SIB, camp friend, CILT girl, relative and YL kid I know) have been influenced by this incredible book called Cold Tangerines.



This is one of my very favorite bursts of wisdom from Shauna Neiquist:
"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end or tomorrow even and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing loud in the car with the windows open and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. And I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift."



Today I got to live a life that "sizzled and popped."



Tonight we loved the gift of life.

Do 1 Thing That Scares You

It's easy to become complacent. We get stuck in a rut, doing the same thing every week or every day. Now don't get me wrong, I love tradition and routine. I love that every Monday I get to go to leadership and have dinner with my Young Life team and hear someone's life story. I look forward to the Friendship Bracelet Club after school on Thursdays. But I think that it's important that in the pattern of all those great things that are a part of our life we add in new challenging things.



Casey is one of my very dear friends and I'm so excited about what she's doing to live a life of meaning. I talked to her about the planning last week and was so excited to see her new blog today. Go check this out- it's worth it.

http://do1thingthatscaresyou.blogspot.com/

Mat Snatcher

In college when you live in a dorm you know your neighbors and you leave your door open. People travel from floor to floor hanging out with their friends.

In an apartment building people go straight to their apartment and lock their door. You may occasionally hear people in the hallway, drive past them in the parking lot, or see them walking their dog (lots of people in apartments have dogs) but you don't talk to them and you certainly aren't friends with them. (Unless you're a part of the cast of Friends)

We have a mat infront of door in the hallway. Everything was normal for weeks but in the last week or so out mat keeps getting moved to the left of our door or down the hall. We move it back to its place and then a few days later its moved again.

Last night we wrote a note that said, "Mat Snatcher- Who are you? Insert response here:" and put it on the little clip next to our door.

When I woke out this morning I found this:


Of course I listened to it on the way to school. Most of the songs are really weird instrumental or creepy singing songs. I recognized 4 of the 17 tracks. Not sure if it's a joke or not. Now we're plotting our response to the mat snatcher.