A lot of people have asked what kind of guy I'm looking for, so I decided to write up a list. Most of them are just preferences, but it should give potential suitors a good idea about how compatible they are with me. So here we go:

I would love to be with a guy who...

- is a Christian. This is a must. Not because I'm prejudice against all other religions or that I'm narrow-minded or anything like that. Just for the simple reason that my entire life revolves around Jesus Christ and my faith in Him, and if a guy and I don't have that in common, it's not going to work. I need to be with a guy who is strong in his faith. Regularly attending church is also important to me.
(That's the only "requirement"...the rest of these would just be nice.)

- can let loose and have fun. I certainly don't mind the strong, silent type...but I know I'd like to be with someone who isn't serious all the time. I like to cut up and crack jokes, so a guy with a good sense of humor would be great.

- has strong morals. I would usually just assume that a strong sense of ethics and values comes along with being a Christian. But people I've met have proven that it's not always the case. So- drinking, smoking, cussing, etc.- even in moderation...all major turn offs for me. And I don't tolerate racism.

- believes in sexual purity. Okay, I'm certainly not the chastity police, but sex is a big deal to me. I'm a virgin, and I plan on staying that way until my wedding night. It would be very nice if my partner felt the same way. If a guy made mistakes in his past, that's fine...as long as he understands that sex is a beautiful gift from God that is meant for two people in a serious commitment. For me, it's an act of love...not a means for temporary gratification. I'll be perfectly content doing the bumchikawahwah with one awesome guy for the rest of my life.

- likes movies. I'm an aspiring filmmaker. Therefore, I watch a lot of movies. If a guy doesn't like movies, it's most likely going to be a problem because I want to be able to enjoy movies with my partner. If I had a guy that was willing to sit and watch chick flicks, old classics, and musicals with me...I'd be willing to sit and watch football or action flicks with him. (And if a guy actually LIKES old movies and musicals, maaaajor plus.)

- likes to be active. I'm not attracted to guys who do absolutely nothing but watch TV and play video games all day. I'd rather be with someone who enjoys physical activity as well...whether it's jogging, playing basketball, working out, or even just taking walks with me.

- understands the importance of health. I grew up in a family that didn't really stress eating right or exercising, so I hardly ever did. I'm not an organic health freak who counts calories, but I'm also a person who strongly believes in doing my best to take care of my body. I eat fast food and sugar just like most people (way too much sugar, in fact)...but I want to be with a person who tries to stay healthy.

- likes kids. Okay, I'm your typical female. I adore babies and I love kids. I need a guy who is looking forward to being a father. If a guy doesn't like to be around children, we're not compatible. Nuff said.

- is romantic. Yes, I totally fall for the "cheezy" stuff. I want a guy who is willing to put forth some effort in the romance department. My father never buys flowers for my mother...he didn't even officially propose with a ring. I would go nuts if my guy were like that. I'm not even asking for a mound of creativity...I just need someone who can show his love for me, or at least try.

- enjoys the arts. I'm no yuppie, but I do love concerts, plays, musical theater, art exhibits, etc. I would love to be with someone who enjoys those things as well (rather than having to drag them kicking and screaming).

- likes music. Music is a big part of my life. I don't need for my guy to be able to sing or play instruments (though that woud be awesome)...just as long as we can enjoy music together. Dancing goes along with that, too. If a guy doesn't want to slow dance with me, then he must not want to date me. I can't stand those guys who bring a girl to prom and then stand around and refuse to dance with her. BIG no no. I can't dance at all, but that doesn't stop me.

- can hold an intelligent conversation. I'm not asking for a guy to be a genius, but I do expect him to give his thoughts and opinions on things. Religion, philosophy, politics, good books, theology...a guy should be able to express himself. And, in turn, he should be able to listen to me. (Oh, and on that note...there is not a girl on this planet that is attracted to a guy who talks only about himself- just a bit of advice: show genuine interest in what your girl is saying...PRETEND if you have to!)

- is a gentleman. I don't believe chivalry is dead. And I'm not an uber feminist. I think guys should hold doors for girls and all that good stuff. Being polite and having good manners is a plus for anyone. Once again, a little effort goes a long way.

- appreciates modesty. If a guy constantly checks out any girl that walks by in a mini-skirt, we're not meant to be together. It's good that we've progressed since the Puritanical days of women not being able to show their ankles, but I'm just not the kind of girl that emulates the Britney Spears/Lindsey Lohan style.

- isn't a total slob. Admittedly my room is a mess sometimes. My car is usually cluttered. But it's important for a person to clean up every now and then. If a guy has to do the "sniff" test on his clothes before he wears them, or if there's moldy 6 month old pizza lying around, we're probably not going to get along. On the same note, personal hygiene is a big deal. No one likes kisses from someone who never brushes their teeth. I'll leave it at that.

- has a job. I don't expect for a guy to have the sole responsibility of "bringing home the bacon". But he should be able to support himself. I'm just not attracted to guys who are lazy or have zero ambition.

- likes the outdoors. I'm no pioneer woman, but I do like to get some fresh air once in a while. Hiking, camping, swimming, whatever. I'd like to be able to do those things with a guy. Maybe even going more adventurous someday- windsurfing, bungie jumping, skydiving? Maybe.

Wow, that list got long. :)
At least it gives a good sense of what kind of guy I'm looking for.

Well, it seems Valentine's Day is upon us.

Most people fall into 1 of 6 categories:
one) you're in relationship and you love each other and this holiday is just another excuse to be disgustingly romantic to each other...
two) you're in a relationship and you love each other but this holiday is just a big hassle and you're afraid of disappointing your partner because you're just going out to dinner...
three) you're in a relationship but it's crap and you both know it but you muster through this holiday by at least being civil to each other...
four) you're not in a relationship, but you're dying to be.....
five) you're not in a relationship but you're cool with that and you love the single life...
six) you hate couples, romance, red roses, candy hearts and everything else about this fascist commercial holiday that takes the fact that you have no lover and rubs it in your face and you despise happy couples PDAing so much that you'd like to whip out a shotgun every time you see them holding hands and smiling with their impeccably white sparkling teeth and it is your personal goal to demolish anything to do with Valentine's once and for all, even if you have to start by blowing up a Hallmark store.

Don't be alarmed, I fall into the fourth category. I pretend to be a category five, and I'm sure most people who know me think I'm a category five. But it's a lie. I pretend to be fine with being single because I HAVE to. If I admitted to the world that I'm a hopeless romantic and that I'd love nothing more than to be deeply in love, I'd go nuts. Because then it would just make me sad that I don't have anyone. And I've never been in love. And this will be the 20th Valentine's Day that goes by that I don't have someone thinking of me in that special way. Not that I know of, anyway.

I know I seem all negative and whiney and loserish. That's really not the case. I am by default a generally happy, upbeat, optimistic person. I am about finding love, too. It's just that I have so much love to give, you know? I KNOW how good of a girlfriend I could be. I KNOW how good of a wife I will be. But I just have to find the right guy to unleash all my love on.

Perhaps that's my folly. Waiting for the right guy. I've never been one to want to casually date, as many of my friends do. I don't see the point of being in a relationship just to be in a relationship. With a lot of people it seems that they don't fall in love with people, they fall in love with being in a relationship. As long as they have a partner, they're fine, it doesn't really matter who their partner is. I don't see that as love. When you view your romantic partner as interchangeable...I'm sorry, that's not love.

And it's not like I haven't had offers, either. There's been some crazy dudes who have asked me out, from a former drug addict involved with the Italian mofia to a guy who introduced himself by telling me his pee smelled like green apples. Real winners. I've had some nice guys ask me out, but I just didn't feel that way about them. They were my friends, and I really couldn't see us ever being more than just good friends.

My friends tell me I have ridiculously high standards. They tell me if I'd lower my standards a little, I'd probably have no problem finding myself a fella. Here's the thing, though- I don't want to date a guy I'd have to lower my standards for. Isn't that just settling? And how would that be fair to him?

So I want a guy, but not just any guy. I had one of my girlfriends tell me, "Sweetie, God himself wouldn't even meet your standards as a boyfriend." That's funny, but it kind of hurt because a lot of my friends see me as somewhat of a prude. My guy wouldn't have to be perfect. I wouldn't want him to be perfect, because that would be freaky and annoying. I think it would surprise my friends to know that I really only have ONE standard for my future hubby, whomever he may be.....that he love Jesus.

Cheezy? Sure, it sounds like that. But it's really how I feel. I am a diehard Christian...I believe in it wholeheartedly and my entire life is centered around my faith. God is first. Is it so much to ask for a companion who believes the same?

Here's how I see it...if a guy and I have that ONE thing in common...our relationship with God...everything else will fall into place. All of those "high standards" my friends think I have wouldn't be necessary. For example, I prefer a dude who doesn't drink or smoke. I just don't like that stuff. If a guy is truly sincere in his faith and his walk with God, he wouldn't be doing those things anyway.

So really, what's frustrating me isn't the fact that I don't have a boyfriend. Because I don't want just any boyfriend. It's the wait. 20 years is a long time to have never felt what I've been dying to feel more than anything. To have all this passion bottled up inside of me just aching to smother someone with it and not being able to yet. But I can wait. If that's what it takes, I have faith it will happen. That lightning will strike. I don't see myself as a hopeless romantic, but rather a hopeful romantic.

The movie Meet Joe Black is my 3rd favoritest film ever. The only problem with it in my mind is that it stars Brad Pitt, which is ironic because I'm sure a lot of people think that's the only good thing about it. Anyways, Anythony Hopkins' character gives his daughter this little speech about love....

I want you to get swept away. I want you to levitate. I want you to sing with
rapture and dance like a dervish. Be deliriously happy. Or at least leave yourself open to be.

I know it's a cornball thing but love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without.
I say fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love
you the same way back. And how do you find them? Forget your head and listen
to your heart.

Run the risk. If you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense
living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love -- well,
you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Stay open.
Who knows? Lightning could strike.

I love that. I love the way the whole movie deals with love. Some small part of me is wishing that my love life will start out that way...girl meets guy in coffee shop, both are smitten, guy asks girl out....and before you know it, it's happily ever after. People tell me it only happens in the movies. That's not true. I make a point of asking people how they met their spouses, and I have yet to come across someone who didn't have a good story. Whether it was a simple love at first sight, or how they made each other laugh, or how they hated each other at first until they realize they're perfect for each other....so many stories. All of them good, all of them unique. All of them smile first. Try it. Try asking someone how they met their significant other. I bet you ten bucks they smile before they say anything.

So for this Valentine's Day, I'm making a vow to myself. A vow to not get discouraged. Because love is out there, waiting to find me. He's out there.



Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. ;)

~> School started back last week, which isn't awesome but I only have to go two days a week. And that IS awesome. I have a 6 hour studio class which is pretty neat because we have an actual studio setup that looks like a small news station and we have 3 studio cameras and a nice control room. I'm gonna love directing, but I'm not so keen on being in front of the camera. I'm also taking an animation class, so maybe I can start making my own little Strongbad emails.

~> Christmas and New Year's were great. Didn't do much, just hung with family and friends. I got one of those new little iPod shuffles and I love it.

~> I would really love to go on a short term mission trip this year. My church offers all sorts of opportunities, but I can't figure how to work it out with my school schedule because it's year round. I'll have to keep praying about it. I'm having some trouble figuring out my place right now. The future can seem daunting sometimes, you know? Worrying about careers and relationships can wear a person out. But then I have to stop and say wait, why am I worrying? God is in control. It's one thing to say that, another thing to truly believe it.

~> I heart NBC on Thursday nights. I don't watch much tv, but they've got me hooked on The Office and Scrubs and 30 Rock . Especially The Office.

~> Speaking of The Office, the actor who plays Jim (John Krasinski- what a hunk!) will be starring in a movie called Leatherheads due out in 2008. It also stars George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger, and will be directed by Clooney himself. Why is this interesting? Because a friend of mine, Reid, got to audition for it. Reid's 15 seconds of fame came last year when he had a small part in an episode of (ironically) The Office. He's a great Christian guy trying to be an influence in the crazy world of Hollywood, so I've been praying that his auditions go well and that Clooney gives him a callback!



~> I really love helping out in the Media ministry at my church. I don't do much, mostly because I don't know HOW (yet), but I sit back and see what some of these guys can do and I think...I would LOVE that job. Shooting short videos and editing them and getting paid for it would be flippin sweet.

~> 24 had it's season premiere tonight. But I completely missed season 5, so I refuse to watch any new episodes.

~> I have a new favorite book (after the Bible and the works of C.S. Lewis, of course), and it's called Flashbang by Mark Steele. It is so up my alley. The guy is a comic, so it's hilarious, but it's also got some thought-provoking, convicting points. deep thelogy + great humor = missy's utopia. The best way I can think to describe it is if C.S. Lewis had been a standup comedian, he would have written a book very similar to Flashbang.



~> Happy Feet is a great movie. Everyone must watch it. Even if I have to strap you in a chair and scotch tape your eyelids to your eyebrows, you will watch it. Mucho fun.



So my family and I were sitting around in the living room getting rid of some old VHS's (many were of the original Power Rangers and KIDS Incorporated, just to let you know how old they were. Though now I am embarrassed that my brother and I ever watched such lame shows). We came across Harry and the Hendersons, a movie which I have no shame in admitting it scared the living heck outta me when I was five. I nonchalantly stated that I thought my father somewhat resembled Harry Henderson. I in all honestly did not mean this as an insult. But my family (with the exclusion of my father, obviously) found my comment to be quite funny, and proceeded to double over in laughter. Them laughing, in turn, caused me to laugh. The problem? I had just taken a huge gulp of Diet Sprite. WELL CARBONATED Diet Sprite. At least a fouth of a can of Sprite spewed from my mouth at amazing speed and projection, and what did not come out of my mouth, of course, came out my nose. My sinuses are unbelievably clear.



So let the record show that Missy can, indeed, do a magnificent spittake.

10-31-06

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, YA'LL!!


This is the first year in like, 12 years that I'm actually going to get to stay home and chill on Halloween. Too bad I don't have a little tiny kid. They get oodles of candy. Especially if you dress them up as a pumpkin or an M&M. Yes, that's why I want to have a baby- to swindle as much sweets as possible. And that's the priority list in Missyland.

I'm so gonna buy a $400 batgirl suit when I get rich. (Notice the "when", not the "if". All of a sudden all I care about is wealth and worldly riches. Because that's what Jesus would do.)

Been an interesting month. Beavers and ducks. Reefers and trucks.
A couple of friends and I went to a showing of the musical "Reefer Madness" at a little improv theatre in Atlanta. Not because we're potheads, but because it is a darn funny musical. They did a good job with it, considering what they had. Of course they sold brownies at intermission.
It was a good night. Then I got hit by a truck. I was on my way home at about 10:30pm, minding my own business, when a huuuuge blue truck decided to do a little bump&grinding with the driver's side of my camry. It even left some of it's nice blue paint on my door. How sweet.
The truck hit the back of my car and stayed all the way until my driver's side mirror exploded into a billion little pieces. And of course the dude didn't stop. That would have been kind and considerate.
Oh well. Could have been so much worse. Not a terrible amount of damage, and my car looked like doodoo in the first place.

Okay....pez dispensers are kind of morbid. Think about it. You open up someone's NECK, and eat the scrumptious little candy that POPS OUT OF IT'S DECAPITATED HEAD. What kind of world do we live in where something like this is normal?

Saw Urinetown (again) at the local university on Sunday with my family. Two of my middle school/high school buddies were in it, so that made it interesting. Not that the musical isn't highly interesting anyways. (yesh, I still love it)

I really wish Barbara Streisand would just stop with all her political stunts. Lady, no one comes to your concerts to hear your political views. I'm still a fan, I HAVE to be thanks to Funny Girl, but geez. Just because people like her singing doesn't mean they want her making decisions in the White House. No one goes up to Celine Dion and says, "I really loved your concert, but I think you should have included a few rants on foreign policy. Woulda been better." Same with the Dixie Chicks. I like their music. And I don't even like country. But come on! We get it, you don't like the president. A lot of people don't. I don't wanna hear you sing about it, though. Actors are a little worse about it- expressing their political views as if it mattered- but it seems to be a trend nowadays. Even if I agree with a celebrity politically, I don't want to hear them shout about it in the mass media.....I didn't become a fan because of their excellent understanding of politics. Let the politicians and talk show hosts and news anchors and Jon Stewarts tell me about politics.

So my best friend took me to a rock concert on Saturday night. I never thought I'd say this, but my neck still hurts from the headbanging. It was really a blast- it wasn't a huge crowd, which made it nice. And a couple of the bands did the whole screamo thing, and we were right next to the speakers, and my friend went partially deaf for a length of time. Didn't matter. We still jumped and yelled and....jumped and yelled. And Kevin from Disciple is still my honey, I don't care if he's married.

I thought I flunked an art history exam. I seriously thought I couldn't have gotten above a 75%, because I totally had no clue about one of the 25 pt essays- something about how the St. Etienne cathedral portrays the idea of form follows function.....what the? Yeah, she gave me a 110%. I like nice teachers.

And the Louvre is in Atlanta!!!!!!!!!! (more jumping about)

Dadgummit, time for class.

9-1-06


Well, I got a new laptop. It's an Acer (that's right, Dell, I won't be seduced by your false advertising any longer) and it has 100 gb of storage- 60 more than I'm used to. My video software actually WORKS on it! Amazing. Now to figure out how I'm gonna pay off $988 on my credit card with a $200 checking account. Bankrobbing time...

Ever since my little brother's birthday in January, we've been getting anonymous gifts in the mailbox or on our doorstep every week. It's usually practical things, like all the fixings for a taco dinner or kitchen supplies, but there's also been fun things- like a $30 giftcard for the movie theatre along with popcorn and sodas, or a $50 giftcard to Red Lobster. Last week it was a huge styrofoam cooler packed with expensive meat, mostly steaks. The packages are always done up nicely with some sort of creative wrapping- obviously a person very into crafts- and it always comes with a card that has a Bible verse on it and signed, "Your Heavenly Father". It's been 7 months and we still don't know the identity of our benefactors. We know it's someone from the church. It's driving me crazy because I don't know when they're dropping the stuff off...I'm up all hours of the night and I usually get up pretty early, too. I hear EVERYTHING. And not once have I caught them.

Anyways. My dad usually cooks a quick breakfast on Sunday mornings before we go to church. It's nice of him, but usually not worth it because he has a habit of being in a bad mood on Sundays. So this morning he made french toast, eggs, and bacon. Did he check to see if we had any syrup? Of course not. That became a big quarrel between the parental units about who should have bought more syrup. So everyone ate french toast without syrup- which further enhanced Dad's already foul mood, and he proceeds to keep slamming things around, snapping at mom, rolling his eyes, etc. He finally got ready to leave (he gets there early) and went outside to get in his truck. Seconds later he came back in with this sheepish grin and set something on the table. A gift from "Your Heavenly Father" that had been on our doorstep all morning: a large glass mixing bowl, a package of Starbucks coffee, a box of pancake mix, and...yes...a big bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup.

Now you tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor.