The New Theme For My Life

http://www.countrystrong-movie.com/

Perhaps this will be the new me. Watch it.

handy-dandy

I love my spoon rest, I use it everyday and it makes me think of you and the amazing week I had in Mexico.

HaPPy biRtHDaY

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

BBIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHDDDDDDAAAAYYYYYYYYYY

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wish I was there to celebrate with you! Love you old friend.

29.1.11 - thank you!

what a great start to a birthday - alex brought me a present in bed, and it was PG tips from you! this is going to be a great day... and incredible how much better this tea is than the stuff i find down here

sicky

I hate being sick, and here I am again, sick. I think it is strep this time. It is so lame.

26.1.11 - after a siesta

so tired today I left school after lunch and took a three-hour nap. feeling much better now, and here are some pictures from yesterday mornings school field trip to the templo mayor in zocalo - where you and i and alex tried to go but were denied. i blame arizona.

Cat Nap

"The appetite grows by eating"

-Rabelais

I like this quote. I like it in context for what you said in your letter about loving children by letting them be themselves. I know they might not seem related, but I feel like in order to give your children a hungry appetite for life, love, goodness, joy, and confidence, you have to let them eat. You see parents that are so concerned with keeping their children safe and sheltered that there is no room for the appetite to grow. And then I really don't think you can figure out who you are. You have to try it, to eat, and then you know. But if we are never giving this ability to try, then we have to fall back on the only example we have, our parents. And then, by default, end up just like them. But if we taste who we are, we can grow in it.

I don't know how to let your kids do this, but I am guessing it all starts with being secure in who you are, then you can give this gift to them.

24.1.11 - the 2nd way

"There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish."
Warren G. Bennis

if i can't dance, and you can't sing, maybe we should go for the hostel idea after all.

home

The boys are home! This is the sign we made for them, one of my finer moments I have to admit. So glad to have them back, especially the hubs.

Ladies Weekend

I am trying to enjoy the last few days before Zach gets home. Dinner, Dancing, and Concert with Renee and Megs last night. And the same story tonight with Boulder friends.

I am going to need a nap tomorrow.

Wish you were here!!!!

yummy

I like to leave a little cereal.

A little portion for the angels.

Because cereal was made by angels, and has been my whole diet since Z has been gone.

I heart cereal.

St. Mary of Egypt

St. Mary of Egypt (Feast Day - April 1)

Today my post is dedicated to St. Mary of Egypt. I have really been enjoying reading about the saints recently, I think they have really been impacting me and how I think about God and what it looks like to follow him. Take for instance this lady. She was in the sex trade as a prostitute for 25 years, then one day went to a church because she was curious about it. She could not enter the church because she was so ashamed of the life she was living. She knelt in from of a relic of the Virgin Mary and began to weep. Then she heard a voice say to her to go and cross the Jordan and she will find peace. She crossed the Jordan and lived in the desert there for the rest of her life, 47 years. There she was visited by people who found it surprising that she knew bible verses by heart even though she had never even seen a bible. She is often thought of as a saint that helps people remember not to grow complacent in their spiritual rituals. For me she is a sign of what it really means to live. To hear from a higher being and to act. To not be happy with how you are right now, but to react with strength and swiftness. Giving up what seems like everything for real life.

(Also you should see if on April 1st they have a feast day for her in Mexico).

Capacity

I am sitting here in the library at CU thinking about all I have to do in the next 72 hours and I feel overwhelmed to say the least. It is not just the school stuff or work stuff or relationship stuff or house stuff, but it is also the emotional stuff. I don't want to come to the end of this semester feeling fried and burnt out and not ready to enter nursing school. So, I have decided that today I am going to but my 2 weeks in at work. This means money will be tight, but life will be better. At the very least it will give me one more day a week to focus on seeing people that I love and emotionally making myself a better person, so when May comes, I can dive in head first and not worry about burn out.

You friend are so good at helping me keep perspective. I feel like I am really gonna need you in this next year. Love the perspective you bring to my life.

Weekend with Mama

my mom and i spent the weekend together, we went shopping, went to cirque du soleil, ate out, had cocktail hour, and then went skiing. i cannot even begin to say how amazing it was. reminded me of one of our weekends away, and now i am refreshed and ready to take on my last semester.

15.1.11 - xochi in a box

i just spent some happy minutes picking out a gift for my only niece, who turns 3 on thursday. i sent her a stuffed calico kitten and a book called "the little spotted cat" cuz she really likes to see xochi on skype, and the story of ferdinand cuz it's a great book. not as fun as being there, but at least buying books and stuffed animals for another keller girl makes me feel connected.

14.1.10 - lucha!

we're heading out soon to have pozole then meet tim and zach for drinks and a night of mexican wrestling. should be good low class fun. and i wish you were here.


but, there are reminders of you all around - it's really nice to know that you love me enough to write and visit!!!

friday

i like this picture, my nieces are the best. i love that they are all really special, they remind me of me as a kid, in no way perfect, but in every way perfect.

thinking about life

i have thought of some other things i want 2011 to encompass, and i thought i would pass them on to you. first, i want to dream more, be less afraid of embracing the things i want and sharing them with other people (like you) without getting quiet or scared. i think there are many times i have confused dreams with maybe goals or declarations about what i am going to do with my life. and i am beginning to realize that i can dream without signing my life away to some idea. so, please ask me about dreams i am having for my life and what crazy ideas i am having at the moment.

that is the only thought i will share with you today for 2011. more to come....

11.1.11 - oh, memories

what can i say that that picture doesn't already?
without you, i am as sad as this poor little wolf?
or, who else will walk thru the zoo and let me take ridiculous pictures while philosophizing on the humanity of zoos in the first place?
good times.
miss you.

To Say I Missed You This Morning Would be an Understatment

Hello Friend- It is weird how you spend a week with someone nonstop, you wake up, they are there, you go to bed, they are there, you eat breakfast, wash you face, poop, walk around the city, and for the whole time they are by your side. Then suddenly-- poof, you wake up alone, with only your needy cat to comfort you. Then of course it snows outside, because you are not feeling lonely enough. That was my morning. Although, it was redeemed by the wonderful memories I have hidden and guarded in my heart.
When people ask me about the trip it is easy for me to recount funny stories about Tim, the amazingness of the giant city I spent a week discovering, or the the markets we went to, but no one could understand, even if I tried to explain it, all the conversations we spend hours pouring into. Those are in my heart, cherished by my soul and will continue to fill me with hope as I walk into this next season.
A week is a long time to wander a city with someone, but I was never tired of you or wished it was someone else. I was just happy to be with you.