for those of you who know KT and the rest of the mcclures, you'll understand how fantastic Sarah is. by the end of my stay in houston i just couldn't get over how much she resembles KT and has that same ability to make anyone feel comfortable any time. her family too. they are all like the mcclures. for those of you who don't know who the mcclures are, they are this family from my church in chicago and they are the coolest people on the planet. jeanna lives in their basement. actually, they also totally remind me of helen's family too.

upon watching the weather channel on tuesday and learning that my trip back to des moines/omaha could be rather hazardous, i decided to stay in houston yet another night. i called sarah. i didn't want rozi to have to perform any sexual favors so that i could get another night for free at the homewood suites, and honestly, i wanted to spend christmas eve with friends if i wasn't going to be home. sarah's family had extended the invitation the day before, that if i was going to stay in houston that i should stay at their house, and so i did. sarah and i talked and decided that we would do some last minute christmas shopping together, apparently against her will. :) that christmas present purchase was sooooo slick. i'm going to have to steal that move from you.

let me just preface this by saying that sarah and i met for the first time on sunday evening. we have a mutual friend who introduced us, we exchanged emails back and forth for a month, and then i was coming to houston so we decided it would be fantastic to meet. and i'm not sure that i will ever be able to find appropriate words to describe her. she's absolutely gorgeous. she's very straightforward and honest. she's compassionate. she's funny AND she laughs at my jokes. and i just noticed throughout the three days that i was privileged to hang out with her that a ton of other people who know her recognize how wonderful she is as well. she has friends that just stop by unannounced, and, if she's not home, they stay and hang out with her parents. she has ex boyfriends who she's still great friends with and ex-boyfriends' families that still love her and love her family. and these may seem like trivial things on the surface, but really they say so much about a person. it shows she has long-lasting and healthy friendships, it shows she has a good relationship with her family... and i think it shows that she has this unbelievable talent, as i mentioned above, to make people feel at home.

and i was privileged to have been a part of that. i still can't believe they bought me christmas presents. it made me cry after i left. maybe because i never in a million years saw it coming. maybe just because i'd known them for a whole two days. maybe just because i saw so much jesus in them that it just got me. i don't know. but whatever it was, it touched me so much i really didn't know what to say when i left. i started feeling weird on christmas eve night and christmas day morning just because i didn't know how to express how thankful i was for their kindness and generosity. words just couldn't do it justice. it really was hard to leave. it kind of reminds me of those years when i was in chicago over easter and helen's family made me one of their own. i was just one of their kids, scrambling my way through their house for easter eggs. sarah is kind of like my helen in houston. :)

*sigh*

i've done a lot of that over the past couple days. sighing, that is. and thinking. and feeling. there's just so much to process. matty says that i express love for people by the distances i travel to meet them. why do i have to love so many people that live so far away? why can't we all live within a 50 mile radius of each other? i'll tell you why. i suppose because then my life wouldn't be so dramatic. i think i like to create drama. when i say that i mean that i want life to be exciting, and i sort of think that in order for it to be exciting, i have to make it exciting. i have to be proactive. i have to make stories to tell. i have to create moments that i can write songs about. i want to be a little crazy but without regrets, meaning i want to take chances and do things that a "normal" person wouldn't do, but that doesn't mean being utterly foolish. doesn't mean making bad choices, i don't think. in any case, sarah, rozi, rock star, you guys made the last week of my life one of the most amazing to date. thanks guys. i'll never forget it.