briannakocka

I got my first tattoo… so I feel the need to show it off.

go listen to this.

really, really good.

I’ve always had a hard time trying to define the type of love I hope to experiance in this life. People always have a list. “Oh, he ride’s a bike. And he likes me. And he loves Jesus….” and this and that. Love is more than that. Love is the willingness to give our lives away for another. Love in serving another—laying your life down for another.

love noun, verb, loved, lov·ing.
–noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. sexual passion or desire.
4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
5. (used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?
6. a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
7. sexual intercourse; copulation.
8. (initial capital letter) a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
9. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one’s neighbor.
10. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything: her love of books.
11. the object or thing so liked: The theater was her great love.
12. the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
13. Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
14. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L. –verb (used with object)
15. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
20. to have sexual intercourse with. –verb (used without object)
21. to have love or affection for another person; be in love.

Look at how our society defines love. It is ridiculous. Love is sex? Love is really liking someone? Passionate affection for another? What weak ways of defining what love should be. And no wonder the divorce rate is so high in the United State; when we are defining love as we are people don’t understand the concept that love is giving yourself—all of you—to another. When that fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomache goes away, when it gets really, really hard, when the tux and the dress and the food and the brides maides are gone and all that is left is your heart that heart better be saying “forever I will lay my life down for you”.

That is love.

I love Jesus. I love my friends. I love my family (rocky included). I love singing. I love trying to sing in the shower only to realize that the moisture and echo makes it hard to stay in key. I love comfort food. I love the sound a vaccume makes when it sucks up small pebbles. I love rocking out in my car while wearing aviators. I love driving on country roads. I love blue grass. I love listening to death cab for cutie with the windows rolled down. I love the presence of God. I love sleeping with the window open a crack–just enough so you can smell the cool fresh air in the winter time but you are still warm because you have 700 blankets piled on top of you. I love being able to go to a party and not get drunk. I love desiring what is holy and ordained by God. I love being real with people. I love having deep conversations about things that matter. I love bikes. I love white industry freewheels that are too expensive and make an awesome clicking noise when you coast. I love mountain biking. I love my single speed. I love that if I ask, God will provide me with a husband who mountain bikes. I love that He has given me a heart to not care, tho. I love that God is giving me a heart for children (because if you know me, you know I hate kids). I love the smell of Chapstick Brand Chapstick (with the black label) because it smells like my dad. I love my dad. I love my mom. Ah, I love a lot.

Sometimes you need to remember what you love, as to not take it for granted.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1393753993

Check it.

Everyone knows I am addicted to Starbucks. Everyone. If you don’t know that about me well then—do you really even know me? My friend Nora works at Starbucks and told me that they got a new bakery item. That being a cupcake. I love cupcakes. I don’t really know why, other than the fact that they are delicious, right? So yesterday I decided I was going to go to Starbucks and get a cupcake to try with an Ice Grande Chai.

Looks delicious, right? Well let me tell you something—it totally sucked. It was the worst cupcake I have had in my life I think. Super dry, the frosting tasted like wax. Was it chocolate? Because it tasted like poop. I was so disapointed. However my Ice Grande Chai was tasty as ever. I was reading the Mpls St.Paul Magazine 2007 Readers’ Faves in regurads to resturants, or any place to get food or drink. I came to the coffee section only to find that Caribou Coffee, the minnesota native coffee company came in first to Starbucks. Who would have thought that Minnesotains could be so dull? Well I mean I guess they are, them liking Caribou over Starbucks goes to show a) where their loyalties lie (ie, this stupid state) and b) Minnesotains like piss coffee. You know, coffee with no taste. Coffee that should be served at perkins because it is so watered down. In my not–so–humble opinion Caribou Coffee is gross, watered down and just—weak. Starbucks has at least something bold to offer me.

As I continued to read about the Readers’ Faves I came across the top 5 places to get Breakfast in the cities. This is helpful to me because living in the burbs I feel like the only place to eat breakfast is Perkins or Embers. Here’s the list…

1. Keys Cafe
2. Hell’s Kitchen
3. Al’s Breakfast
4. Perkins (seriously?)
5. The Origional Pancake House & Zumbro Cafe (tied for 5th)

Sad to see Perkins made it on the list, but I mean their pancakes are pretty darn good.