Of New York state that is! We’ve driven approximately 300 miles in 26 hours and we could have given New York a buzz cut with our straight line across the state.

Here are the highlights so far:

1. I was sitting in the hallway of an office in Rochester when I hear one woman say to another, “so we’re headed to Nashville this weekend. Know anywhere to eat?” Yep. My jaw hit the floor. I was all, “oh sheesh. Do I go admit that I heard a conversation that I wasn’t invited to BUT share very vital information that could change this woman’s Nash-experience or do I just keep sitting here quietly?”

Well.

I think we all know what happened next.

I made two friends in the Rochester office and now they know the very ins and outs of my town.

I should make commission from the city of Nashville for that one.

[Then I invited her to hang out with us in Nashville this weekend. Too far? Maybe. But she was really nice. I'm sure my friends will like her.]

. . . . .

2. My friend Esther has never been to the USA and because I am my father’s daughter, I insisted that she get some local fare. So we pulled into a diner in the smallest town we could find and the fact that every person in the place knew each other meant we were at the right place! It was delicious.

Esther has pancakes. I had a biscuit and gravy. I dare you to blame me for that choice. You know you would have done the same.

. . . . .

3. I love that Starbucks are consistent. It’s like taking your favorite blankey on every vacation.

. . . . .

4. I am in Canada. At Niagara Falls. And no one warned me of the casinos and silly people. But they are all here- waterfalls, slot machines, grown men in tight shirts and spiky hair. A lot of spiky hair.

Esther and I both had set our hopes too high on the ole Falls. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they pour a lot of water. But they are a bit smaller than I expected. None the less, I was thrilled to see them in real life.

. . . . . .

5. I’m glad we’re only staying in Canada for one day because OMG HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT MY CELL PHONE?!? I forgot that things would change here until I got a text that said something like, “Hey Annie. It’s gonna cost a billion dollars if you call someone and just a million if you send a text.” So I turned my phone off.

. . . . .

6. I’ve taken a handful of pictures, but the other problem in Canada is that my internet is weird so I’m going to have to upload them later. Because I’m sure you’re waiting with bated breath to see pictures of falling water and then pictures of me in front of falling water.

. . . . .

7. Upstate New York is unbearably beautiful. If you’ve never driven the backroads of this part of the country, I highly recommend it. Esther and I have had multiple jaw-dropping moments. Also, hilarious, I say things like, “look at that old house!” and she’ll say, “that’s old???” because the houses are built in 1900 instead of, you know, 1200 like the UK has to offer.

And then I remember that our “history” is awesome, but not so much “old.”

. . . . .

Between now and Thursday night, we see Buffalo, Utica, Albany, and everything in between. If you know of any must-stop places of highlights or good restaurants or good ideas…

share on, my friend.

I think this Thursday deserves a list.

1. I’m here. I’m Annie. I blog in this place. And for the last few weeks I haven’t blogged so well.

Here’s why:

- raising support for Scotland

- finding housing in Scotland

- yard sale

- speaking gig [which was a BLAST! Can't wait to tell you about it.]

- packing my house

- quick weekend trip

- another quick 2 day trip

- POD delivered

- fill POD with all my earthly belongings

- POD filled with my earthly belongings gets picked up and taken to some storage facility that reminds me how WEIRD our world is.

- move out of my home

- finish packing for Scotland

- move in with friends for 2 weeks

- turn 31 on July 7

- go to Scotland

- speak at a camp in Scotland

I know that I’m single and only have to worry about myself, but that is still a pretty hefty to-do list between now and July 11. Not to mention, you should know by now how I feel about my day of birth.

I like it. So so much.

And when you think about the fact that I get to celebrate my birthday and people HAVE to come to the celebration because I’ll also be leaving the country so there will be tons of people together that I love whether they are there by choice or by guilt… well. It just makes me happy.

[Do you see what my birthday does to me? Makes me write ridiculously run-on sentences. It's bad, y'all.]

[Also. Seriously, I don't care what we do. My 30th birthday will never be matched. It was that good.]

2. You know it has been too long since I made time to blog when I can’t quit telling you side stories. It means I’ve missed you.

3. Mumford and Sons. They are still my favorite band. Just wanted you to know.

4. Someone who has seen the Niagara Falls, will you tell me what it is like?

5. I don’t know if we’ve ever talked about this. But I no longer drink sodas. I haven’t been a soda drinker since April 2008. I drink water and juice and sometimes tea. But I’ll tell you what- when it’s 107 degrees outside and all I want is to cool off, nothing calls to me like a Coke Icee. And, Heaven help me, I gave in thrice last weekend.

I’m weak, people. Weak. Tie me to the mast- let me hear the siren’s call from that deliciously cold beverage, but please take away my power to steer the ship.

6. This is a funny picture from my speaking gig on Sunday. This is after the talk when I was at the beginning stages of signing autographs, taking pictures, shaking hands and kissing babies.

[By the way, that's my friend Molly taking the picture. Not someone who actually thinks I'm a big deal. Instead, it is someone who looks at me and says, "seriously?" when I act like I'm a big deal. I am not. At all. Which is EXACTLY why I bring her to as many events as possible. Also, she usually can sniff out M&Ms for me, which is important.]

7. I used The Message translation of Matthew 5:5 on Sunday and it.is.amazing. Here- I’ll prove it.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”

I mean, RIGHT?!? How great is THAT? Ugh. Love love love it.

. . . . .

I like to end lists at #7 but I do have one more thing.

There are some very sad medical issues going on in families around me…

• a baby born with hydrocephalus and a mama who ruptured her uterus and lost lots of blood
• my friend’s Dad has aggressive cancer and is in another state so she can’t help like she wants to.
• friend’s grandpa is 2 weeks into chemotherapy
• high schoolers having surgeries
• my friend Adam finding out his sinus cancer has now spread to his lungs and brain- a great husband and father of 3 little kids. Now a miracle- the real major kind- is his only hope.

There are seasons when my facebook newsfeed is full of joy and laughter, but for about 10 days it has been heartbreaking. Cancer ruins everything. Absolutely everything.

I pray for miracles AND I pray for Jesus to return quickly and make all things new.

Would you pray for these families with me?

And if you’d like, drop a prayer request in the comment section. Today we will lift each other [and the people we care about] up to God.

First of all, I did a terrible job taking pictures. I’m real sorry.

The hard thing about traveling in the summer is that you always end up missing weddings. I missed two that I would have LOVED to go to [three cheers for Mason & Hannah and Adam & Molly!], but Texas was already on my heart [and the flight was already paid for ...], so the only marriage I experienced this weekend was between my stomach and legit Mexican food.

Going to visit my bestie Betsy in her hometown was so much fun. For years, our Nash-crowd has heard stories of family, friends, and locations around Wichita Falls, TX, but I was the first to actually see it. I can now confirm that yes, there is such a place and yes, we know people who live there.

Here’s Betsy, me, and her Dad.

What I would like to do now is show you the watercolor portrait of Betsy from when she was 8, but I haven’t exactly asked Betsy if that is okay so I better not. But I want to. But I won’t. But it is awesome. Visiting friends’ parents’ houses is always a win.

Here are my summaries/thoughts/responses from a weekend…..

Let’s start with the thumbs down list.

Stereotypical Texas things I did not see get to see:

1. Tumbleweed
2. Cowboy
3. Bull
4. Cowboy riding a bull
5. Cowboy riding a tumbleweed

I also never heard one person sing “Home on the Range” nor did I see a single Texas Ranger or one sign leading to a Dude Ranch.

Dear Texas, if you’re gonna have stereotypes, I’d like to see them when I visit please.

Now, for the thumbs up list.

Things I got to see but forgot to photograph:

1. Lots of fun people!
2. Wichita Falls in all it’s glory. And glory it is. Such a beautiful place… compared to other parts of Texas apparently. [That's for you, Steven and Mary Alice.]
3. Dallas
4. Breakfast tacos
5. A Mavs game [now I can pretend like I'm legit... "Yeah, I cheer for the Mavs. I was in Dallas when they won Game 2. Did you see that one?"]
6. Heat waves rolling across the desert

…. that last one is not true. Sorry. But it was very hot in Texas. That is true.

And in the continuing series of crazy colors I paint my nails, I present to you my Dallas Manicure. The picture poorly reflects the sparkle to this color. It’s a purpley-gray glittery thing that looks like something the Little Mermaid would wear.

So of course. I love it.

Obviously, this was also a highlight of the trip. Homemade strawberry shortcake? Very Texas, I think. Very Texas.

And the piece de resistance, my only picture of the Texas prairie land–

I’ll give Texas the benefit of the doubt… there could be a cowboy riding a tumbleweed back there behind those trees. I’ll pretend as such.

Overall, I salute you Texas. What a great weekend with such great friends and lots of laughs and I wish I could do it all over again. Thanks to Betsy and her dear family for hosting me and showing me around!

Now, on this Monday [that is TOTALLY a Monday], I head off to skype with possible roommates in Scotland. Better go put some make-up on… don’t want them to see my natural beauty quite yet.

Finally, I think this is an important question. I was told that cicadas and locusts are the same bug. Is that a fact? Can someone help me out?

Also, I think this is an important question. How was your weekend?

No better way to ease back into the beautiful world of blogging that you tell you an amazing story using photographs.

Just so you know, all these pictures are reenactments. At the time of the event, all parties involved were far too panicked to realize that this would be an amazing blog post and that people would laugh heartily for years to come.

We’ll call this story: When Haley’s Dress Was Taken Hostage

Ahem.

When Haley’s Dress Was Taken Hostage

Story by Annie Downs

Photography by Annie Downs

My best friend Haley was in a wedding. The bridesmaid dress needed some slight alterations thanks in part to the die-hard P90X workouts that Haley was doing. So Haley took the dress to our local seamstress, Helen. Helen said to pick the dress up on Thursday.

Haley went to pick the dress up on Friday instead. And this was what happened.

The door was locked. And there was a sign on the door.

At this point, I just happen to call Haley, which I do on fairly regular basis. Haley, my calm friend, was panicked. Beyond panicked. Poor Helen and her surgery- seriously. We were concerned about her health.

But in the moment? A bridesmaid dress was all that was on our minds.

So I turned my car around and headed straight to the scene of the hostage dress.

Helen’s shop is right below some other business, so out of pure desperation and hopeful wishing, we went upstairs to see if they had a key.

Low and behold, they did. What. Are. The. Chances?!? So the kind woman took us downstairs, walked us around to the back door, and let us in. [Again, a reenactment photo. Trust me, neither Haley nor I was smiling at this point in the adventure.]

The upstairs lady understood the panic of the situation of course. And she is good friends with Helen. So it wasn’t like we were breaking laws or anything.

Exactly.

So then came the “find a navy blue dress in the dark recesses of an alterations shop that has existed since the 60s” game. Which, as many of you probably know, is a really fun game.

See back there where it gets really dark? Yeah. We were in there. [It's big. The picture doesn't do it justice. But trust me- there were multiple racks of clothes. And it was dark dark dark.]

All three of us were pawing through Mrs. Helen’s collection of clothes-to-be-alterned when SHAZAAM! Haley found her dress.

Then she said, “Well, do you think it’s been altered?”

And I stared at her. Blankly. Then I said, “Haley. It doesn’t exactly matter.” Because GOOD GRACIOUS THAT DRESS WAS IN A HOSTAGE SITUATION JUST MINUTES BEFORE AND NOW WE HAVE IT!

She agreed.

Haley was very very glad to be holding that dress. As you can imagine.

We photographed our joy. We also photographed a mouse carcass laying in the parking lot to show you the kind of neighborhood in which we were hanging, but upon review, it’s really gross.

I also would like to insert that when Haley’s 4 year old son Jarrett saw me, he asked that I please not wear my hair like that ever again. So….. that was cool.

THE END

. . . . . . . . . .

That was a suspenseful story, huh? I know. I lived it. Scary stuff.

And here is the question Haley and I keep asking ourselves:

What would she have done if we couldn’t get the dress?

Apparently.

See y’all soon.

For you new-er-ish AnnieBlogs friends, I went to the Grammys in 2010.

Here is why I got to go to the Grammys.

Here is a recap of my trip to the Grammys.

One of my favorite parts [believe it or not] was picking out the dress. I saw it hanging on a sale rack, nabbed it, and later was told that I had the best luck ever because the gold dress was a TADASHI.

[Of course, I had no clue what a TADASHI was, and I still kinda don't. But I do know now that it is the name that I say when anyone asks about my Grammy dress.]

I made a video about the whole dress process.

Here is a photo of the gold dress, me, and Hillary on the red carpet.

It was absolutely one of the greatest experiences of my adult life. Truly. Not because of the famous stuff or the free stuff, but because it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And I really like once-in-a-lifetime things.

Anyways, so fast forward from 2010 to 2011.

My dear friend Amber calls and says, “can I borrow your Grammy dress?” and I was all, “uh, Ambo [cause we call her that sometimes]- why do you need my dress?”

And before she could answer, I immediately said yes because I cannot imagine another day in my life when a stylist will call me and say that she needs to borrow something out of my closet.

Unless the photo shoot is featuring the look of “slowly catching up to fashion but still a good 5-6 years behind.” Cause I am ROCKING that look right now.

A few days later [this was in February], Amber sent me a picture on her phone and said, “DO NOT BLOG ABOUT THIS YET.”

And where was that gold dress?

ON MANDISA.

Y’all. I was dying.

MANDISA. From American Idol and a zillion other amazing performances.

So Amber was the stylist for Mandisa’s photo shoot for the new album What If We Were Real. And Amber had Mandisa wear my dress.

A dress I picked out all by myself.

Now that you can google and see a picture of Mandisa in my gold dress [MY GOLD DRESS!!], I have permission to blog about it.

Good gracious doesn’t Mandisa look great in that dress!?! Her skin tone is perfect for it [vs my pale self] and the gold/blue/brown glimmer is stunning on her.

Also. She loved it. She tweeted about the gold dress. And I just had to sit quietly and squeal in my mind.

This is the proudest fashion moment of my life.

And I can say that with humble assurance, because I am currently wearing jeans from Old Navy and a Georgia Bulldog t-shirt [and matching socks] that I purchased in 2005.

You’re welcome.

As if we didn’t already think it was a Disney-like event. Sigh……

[UPDATE: Some people are saying that this picture is fake and they changed the colors of the dresses and stuff. I hear the concern for journalistic integrity. But I still love the picture. We all cool with that?]

You’re welcome.

Maybe I opened Pandora’s box a little more than I meant to yesterday talking about exercise, body image, self-talk, etc.

I don’t often make my blog a place of SUPER SERIOUS TALK, but sometimes it just happens.

Because dear reader, I write my blog. So I write about my life. So some days my life isn’t always hilarious.

[A lot of days it is pretty hilarious. I'll be honest.]

But even now, as I sit at my desk and look at a picture of myself from Fall 2009, I think, “why do I feel so disconnected from her?” What is going on in my head right now is nothing close to the positive self-talk that was her everyday staple. It feels like a different girl.

Nothing has happened. I’m wearing the same clothes, hanging with the same friends, I haven’t been hit in the face with a shovel or anything. But my mind has somewhat become an enemy.

[Before I continue, rest assured that people in my life are speaking into this. My blog isn't a place that I share things looking for counseling. I LOVE your comments, but I just want you to know that my parents, my counselor, my accountability group, and my friends have been invited into this as well.]

Anyways.

I was telling my mom yesterday that the massive amount of lies and ugly self-talk that has been going on in my mind recently is unrivaled in the last ten years or so. It’s been bad.

Here’s the crazy thing. It used to be this bad all the time. I just didn’t know any different, so I accepted it. I was a prisoner in a dark dungeon for years- the kind of dungeon that doesn’t have room for fresh air and so you breathe stale gulps thinking it is sufficient to keep you alive.

But then I was free. And for years I have breathed real air. Everything changed. My mind knew freedom from the lies and it sighed with relief.

On and off, it has been a battle. Capturing the lies, throwing them away, replacing them with truth. Knowing who I am, who loves me, what I’m worth, and how carefully God made me.

For the love- I even WROTE A BOOK ABOUT IT. So certainly that means the battle is done. [Yeah right.]

But within the last few weeks, it has gotten miserable again. The stale air slips through my gritted teeth and after all those years of freedom, my lungs are begging for a breeze, for real air.

And it will come. This isn’t my home- this dungeon isn’t where I belong. But for a time, the battle happens here for me.

Normally, I wouldn’t talk about this. But here’s the thing- there are women around the globe who have read my book and found fresh air for the first time. And there are other women who have read it and think, “I can’t win this battle. I will never get out of here.”

To both groups of women, I want to say, “I know how you feel.”

I’m telling people what’s going on in my head. I’m talking to God about it. I’m reading my Bible and claiming truth. I’m working to remember all the things I know.

And I’m breathing.

Ingrid Michaelson has a song called Keep Breathing and my favorite line is, “all I can do is keep breathing…”

And so I will.

Because even though the dungeon is dark and I’m fighting every day to get out, and even though I’m honestly kind of scared and this hurts somethin’ fierce, I will keep breathing.

I won’t give up.

Just because I’m fighting doesn’t mean I’m losing.

All that I know is I’m breathing.

All I can do is keep breathing.

Because I spent 2.5 hours in the kitchen yesterday baking and icing cakes.

And my intention was to make it into a few blog posts for your viewing, reading, and baking pleasure.

And I photographed every step because I used my Big Top Cupcake Bake Set and took lots of pictures and created funny captions in my mind as I went and I laughed out loud more than once.

[Because I tend to think I'm far more hilarious than anyone else thinks I am.]

Then.

My camera, sitting quietly on the window sill above the sink, decided to do a double back tuck with a full twist dive into a bowl full of water.

The camera got a great score from the Russian judge, but the splash was too much for the Korean judge.

[Personification is all the rage this season.]

As for me, it was full on panic.

I dropped a cupcake mid-icing swirl and scooped out my camera. I shook it [like a Polaroid picture] and ejected my memory card and battery. Then I shook it some more. Then I blew into it like we used to do to Nintendo cartridges.

Then, in my typical out-of-sight-out-of-mind fashion, I threw them on the back porch in the sunshine and got back to icing the cupcakes.

Now he sits, that Greg Louganis of a camera, in a cup full of brown rice. I’m hoping brown rice does the trick from diving cameras like white rice does for cell phones that take a dip in Diet Coke.

So hopefully later this week I can show you pictures from my dry and working camera- pictures of the huge blue Kansas University cupcake and all the hilarity that went into making it.

Or I’ve just wasted a perfectly good box of Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice.

And that would be a real shame.