Repeat.

(I wrote this like a week and a half ago... Not last Saturday, the one before.  Better late than never? :))

There is a flood in my bathroom/entry-way.

There is a party happening in the upstairs living room of my house.

I have SO much chocolate in my bedroom. mmmm. :)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

saturdaysundaymondaytuesday.

 

 

 

Anyone want to guess where/how I spent my weekend?

(hint: more than one city is represented here. Maybe even more than two.)

 

Oh, I will tell you all about it.  Soon (I hope).

:)

thursday evening musings.

I love the bright red/pink color my cheeks turn when I've just come in from a long run out in the cold.

I also love how extra sparkly and green my eyes look. I'm not sure why they do that... maybe it's the juxtaposition of the vibrant color in my cheeks?

I love pushing myself physically.  The more I do it, the more I realize how tough me and my body are.  And how much we can endure.  Feeling tired?  Just keep going.  Nauseous?  Run faster.  Whatever yuck I feel almost always fades away within a few minutes, and in it's place?  Euphoria.  This powerful feeling that I can conquer anything.  I am in awe of my body and what it will do for me.

(I haven't really mentioned much about it, but I have definitely been running. A lot. Since last summer.  With this girl.  Remember this? )

And then to come into the house and look so healthy and pink-cheeked, every time. Mmmm. Perfection.




Today, I gave my entire bottle of water to a man on the bus.  He was asking people for water.  I happened to have a gatorade bottle filled with water and I was on my way home.  I thought "I've had lots of water all day. And I'm on my way home where I can get as much as I want."  So when he asked me, I gave it to him, and told him he could keep it. 




I love how the sunlight is coming back into the days.  This morning when I walked out to catch my ride to work, the sun was shining over the mountains beautifully (with all its bright pretty rays, like it does sometimes in the morning), and there just happened to be the most perfect tiny little snowflakes falling and swirling through the rays of the sun.  It was gorgeous.




I've had this incredibly insatiable appetite over the past couple of days.  It's like no matter what I eat, I always want something else.  And more of it.  It's kind of... delicious.


Maybe it's because I've been running more often again. And further than I have been for most of the winter.  Six miles today?  Yes.

I am just trying to do this:

“Find life experiences and swallow them whole. Travel, meet people. Go down some dead ends and explore dark alleys. Try everything . Exhaust yourself in the glorious pursuit of life.” – Lawrence K. Fish

and this:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."—Mark Twain

Sometimes I fail.  But sometimes, I don't.  And even if it's in the smallest way, it is absolutely glorious.





Oh.

And, on another note, I love this:

(found on google images, i assume)

What day isn't made better when you realize that there are pictures around, of babies wearing cupcake hats?

(courtesy of my lovely roommate, Brooke)

Confession #9

I talk to myself.  Out loud.  And often.

Especially when I'm weighing options or trying to figure something out. It just seems like I can tell better if it makes sense if I say it out loud, so it doesn't get all jumbled with other thoughts and feelings. 

You know?

the day the sun touched my soul.

{Note: I wrote this post sometime late this last September.}

A couple weeks ago, I was walking home from the bus stop.  It was a really nice day, and so I had decided to avoid another bus transfer, get off at the closest stop to which that bus could take me, and have a nice, longish walk home.  I took off my shoes, and my socks, and felt the warm concrete under my bare feet as I strolled. 

I have this new job, you see. It is really pretty perfect. Perfect schedule, perfect number of hours, perfect bus stop right in front of it, perfect that they are training me from the ground up on everything.

Anyway. This day was maybe my third day of work.  I must've started thinking about how I love having my evenings back SO. MUCH.  Or how over the couple of days before that I realized that I was getting back to the point where I could hang out by myself without getting nervous (even enjoy it again!  sweet peace of mind!). 

At some point during all of that thinking I looked up, through all of the pretty tree branches of those huge trees on Center Street, and I saw the sun.  And after a moment, it felt like something melted a little, deep inside my chest. Like my soul, which has felt a little frosty for the past while, finally sighed and let go of all the negative feelings for a minute. And in their place, I just felt relieved, content, grateful. 

Oh, it was heavenly.  I think I am a little closer to being whole once again.

This song

Gonna live the simple life baby
Gonna live the simple life mama
We can see the fishboat lights
Sleep out underneath the night
Gonna live the simple life baby

Gonna love you all my life baby
Gonna love you all my life mama
River storms and river tides
Still held between two riversides
Gonna love you all my life baby

Sail me up the Hudson River
Sail me up the Hudson mama
From the Half Moon deck I see
Houses in the golden green
Sail me up the Hudson River!

Singing on the Hudson River
Singing on the Hudson mama
Sing of avocado trees and ships
And unborn children in your hips
Singing on the Hudson River!

There’s a five-piece gospel band
Inside the heart of every man!
Gonna live the simple life baby!
-----------------------------------------

Those guys. Cool.

Over the past month or so, I've discovered a new love.

Traditional, gospel, blues and country songs. 

For example, I just heard this one this morning, and loved it.



Actually, this really all got started with the songs I heard in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

Like this one:



this one:



and this one:



I love it when I discover new things that I really enjoy.  It's like I am a mystery, and I unfold new little pieces of myself all the time.

home.

I am home for Christmas.

It was stressful getting here, but now that I'm here, it's actually quite lovely.  This morning I slept in until a little after 9am, then I went on a run in the fantastic fifty degree weather (compared to Utah snow and freezing temps, I am happy as a clam :)).  It was a little drizzly and overcast, but the air smells fresh and chilly and perfect.

When I got back, the house was still quiet (everyone was either gone or still sleeping), and so I took a long shower, and then put on some music and raided the kitchen for breakfast.  My mom has developed a habit of buying healthier, organic food of late, and I can't help but LOVE it.  I scrambled two large brown eggs, with organic milk, salt and pepper, and then threw in some cheese, and fresh salsa from the local Tacoma Boys (an indoor farmer's market, selling local, fresh food). I ate that with two slices of whole wheat toast with butter, and an orange, while catching up on some blog reading and looking out the window onto this scene.

Now I'm wrapping up the gifts I purchased, to put under the tree.

Mmmm.  It really is nice to have a break, and to be home in beautiful Washington.

Of Things That Matter Most.

This is my favorite talk from our most recent General Conference.  Well, one of my favorites at least.  Watch it below, or read it here.

Either way, you've really got to listen to at least a little chunk of this video.  He has the most endearing little German accent.

something delicious.

Guys. This is the best granola recipe in the history of eternity.  Thank heavens for my lovely roommate Brooke who found the recipe and has made this delectable goodness for us on multiple occasions. She was kind enough to direct me to the recipe.  And warn me that you can't just set the timer and leave. You have to keep an eye on it, and it will likely be done much sooner than expected.

I made myself a double batch of it today, and now my kitchen smells amazing. And I can't even begin to tell you how extremely content my belly is.

photo from recipe page itself: http://thekitchensinkrecipes.com/2008/01/04/homemade-granola-im-warning-you/

12.1.2010

Confession #8

I wore plain old white socks with my black work shoes and slacks every. day. this week.

I know, that is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY against ALL rules ever written... but I don't have any black socks. And my feet get cold without socks, dang it. 

Heaven help me.

tonight...

...i'm listening to this:



 (nobody read too much into the lyrics of that... I just like the song.  Thanks Coy, for recommending it.)

...and reading back on my blog posts. I particularly like this one though.  It's so interesting to read back and see the goals that I set, and the progress (in a way, it was sort of accidental progress) that I've made.

I'm doing pretty well, I think.