A Little Rambling

Because I loathe packing so sincerely, I often find myself doing many other things in between boxes, which means it usually takes a long time.  I'm somewhere around half done and still have all weekend before I move, so I'm counting that as a good start.  This small fiend doesn't make it go any quicker, though. The last week has been fun and productive, and cramming it all into this one post won't do it justice, but I'll do it anyways.  We'll go backwards. Today: Jessica came over and we learned two dances (the shim sham and the line dance to Fake I.D. from Footloose), ate smoothies, took pictures of adventures in Walmart, had lots of girl talk, and indulged in a delicious dinner of mac & cheese, cheesy bacon potatoes, totino's pizza rolls, and oreo cake pops. Last night: As You Like It was our play for Shakespeare night.  We formalized the accent-adoption process, and some were very interesting (for example, I was both Igor and an Alligator...

This last week was long and wonderful and relaxing and just what I needed.  It was filled with fun and adventure, and so fair warning: this is likely to be a long post! Day 1: Phoenix - Ft. Lauderdale In the early morning hours, I met Marc at security and we boarded our plane.  I usually fly alone, and I enjoyed the single best advantage of flying with a buddy - trading massages throughout the flight.  Passes the time nicely and makes those chairs more bearable.  Once in Ft. Lauderdale, we caught a bus to the car rental place and met Chantel and Shantel and picked up our big ol' Ford Expedition, which fit all 8 of us and our luggage (snugly).  I was the driver, even though Matt's older, and I was thrilled to find it had a little back-up camera in the rearview mirror to keep me from crashing into anything.  Matt, Chris, Austin, and Sicily took a train from Palm Beach to meet us, and when they got there I got a running, jumping, spinning cinema-worthy-epic-a...

The best thing that happened to me this week stemmed from the worst thing that happened this week. It's been a pretty rotten week. (It has had its high points - put an offer on a house at last!!) But mostly, it's been a week of pain and tears and worry. There's been a little ice cream eating, a lot of hot tea drinking, and a lot of feeling like I have a weight lodged in my middle that constricts my breath and keeps me from ever being really hungry. There's been a lot of prayers, several bouts of piano therapy, and many more hours of prayers. There's been letter writing, and curling up in my car surrounded by music. There's been sleeplessness and exhaustion. There's been an unshakeable feeling of anxiety. But there's been wonder, too. There's been a constant reminder of God's goodness and provision and faithfulness. There's been a strengthening of my dependence upon Him. There've been fresh reminders of His love and forgiveness,...

Life can be a mess. It comes with stress and frustration and sadness and heartache and worry. It's easy to get bogged down in all that and let it overrun your mind. There are various ways to get out of such a funk, many of which include some form of sugar, but they don't always work. There's only one thing for me that never fails to make me feel better. A hug. Not just a little hug, but a long, tight hug. There are studies that show that pressure (a good, physical kind) can relieve stress. Hugs are healthy! When I am miserable, the one thing I really want is someone who will just hold me tight, for as long as I need. Even though nothing else in my circumstances has changed, I feel so much more able to tackle it all post-hug. Maybe it's the feeling of someone caring for me, despite everything else. Maybe it's the warmth of friendship. Maybe it's just the act of being touched so nicely. But a good hug will always give me a good pick-me-up. (The best h...

What could make me happier than time with some my favorite people and free pie on Pi Day? Time with ALL of my favorite people (which would, by necessity, include Rebekah ) and free pie. As it was, though, the evening was splendid, and I was quite happy indeed. Feeling a mite bad for descending on Village Inn mere moments before the end of the free pie period, and for being a group of 20(?), we wrote and sang a song to our marvelous servers Brandon and Mark. We also enjoyed lots of pie, and I am very sorrowful that I left my leftovers on the table. Alas.

I've been back in the USA for a whole week now, and what a week it has been! Jet-lag coming west isn't too bad, and the wide-awake-at-7-am thing launched me into a good schedule for school. I hit the ground running, as it were, and it has been a wonderful and busy week. Friday, I got to go see Shantel's horse show, even if I didn't get to see her ride. I still got to get out in the sunshine (walking around with no jacket? incroyable! ) That night, I got to celebrate my cousin Hunter's wedding to his beautiful bride Andrea. Saturday I was back to work, and oh how I have missed it! I really am fortunate to love my job so much, and it was nice to be back. After work I headed over to a choir party, and saw a bunch of my friends. I have MISSED them so much! Germany was wonderful, but no where in the world is good enough that I'd want to leave them behind for a long time. My heart was full and happy to be among such excellent and admirable folk. After the pa...

I always go on about how wonderful my friends are after we've been out having fun doing something particularly nerdy or awesome or spontaneous. They're fun and exciting and unique and creative and enjoyable. But sometimes it takes a night like this to really appreciate them. True friends care. They sit with you quietly when you're sad or sick. They reach out to touch you, a hug or a shoulder rub or a back scratch or holding your hand, or letting you just rest on them. They don't ask too many questions. They don't get impatient. They follow you when you disappear and set up camp on the bathroom floor till you're ready without a word of complaint. They cheer you up - but they don't force you to be cheerful. They love you with actions and words. They don't make a big deal of it. They accept and help and love. They pray. They let you know you're never alone. To all my friends, I love you dearly. Thanks for loving me.

I love my friends dearly. We celebrated Black Friday by having our first Christmas party of the season, complete with singing Christmas carols, doing a Christmas puzzle, eating pie (I baked a fool-proof cherry pie this time, no more pumpkin disasters!) sitting around the fire, and making s'mores. I don't know what I'd do without these lovely people.

Saturday was a big day. In the most exciting news, my cousin's little boy was OFFICIALLY adopted (the last hearing, after more than 7 months!). It just so happened to be National Adoption Day, too, so we celebrated our expanded family, and I was reminded how thankful I am that my grandparents chose to adopt my mother. I also got to go to my very first football game. Well, not ever, but I'm not counting high school games. For one thing, I never watched more than about 30 seconds of those, and could usually not tell you if we won or lost at the end. What I do remember is I could usually just guess that we'd been mercy ruled, and I'd probably be right. We didn't have much of a team for most of my time there. No, this was no such game. This was a college football game. And not just any game, but ASU vs. U of A. Matt was able to get some extra tickets from his bishop, so Shantel and I both got to experience our first real football game together. I'll go ahe...

Oh, goody, you clicked through to read my blog, even after I've abandoned it for so long! I'm so glad to see you again. I am writing to you now in a state of complete contentment. Let me enumerate the wonderfulnesses of my day. 1) I am still in my pajamas, wrapped up in a fleece blanket, with a purring kitten on my lap. 2) There are clouds in the sky! It is cool and gray and autumnal. 3) I am drinking a steaming mug of feiner rauchtee. This is a loose leaf German tea that I am particularly fond of because I shared it with Lauren in Germany as we talked and talked and talked, and we decided it tastes just like a campfire. Odd as that may sound, it's perfect. 4) My house smells like stoup , which is one of my ultimate comfort foods. (click through for the recipe!) 5) I am about to be eating a pomegranate, picked from Bex's tree. I also have a whole bag full of mandarin oranges (which I am munching on now)! And I'm going to make pie, and honey glazed pecans....

So, I feel badly that I neglected to post about my lovely Hallowe'en. I also feel a little guilty that I'm planning three separate blog posts today - but it's for a good cause! What cause, you ask? Not making you trudge wearily through one never-ending post. You're welcome. Halloween was celebrated on Saturday the 29th, as a continuation of our Shakespeare readings. Appropriate to the spookiness of the day, we chose Macbeth I mean, the Scottish play. In keeping with the theme, I borrowed some authentic Ren Faire wear from Aunt Lauri, and enjoyed my chances to read both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We set up a huge bonfire, hung some lights, hauled out some couches and camping chairs, wrapped up in cloaks for warmth, and read aloud - mostly from pdf scripts on laptops. High tech, we are. There was marshmallow roasting, (a party was hosting! No caroling out in the snow...) and an enormous bowl of puppy chow, as well as my two pies. There were swords and cloaks, lea...

I slept in this morning, thanks to the Feminist Theory and Music conference that overtook the SoM this week, wreaking havoc with classroom usage and cancelling several classes. After a conducting class filled with flirting - yes, I said it! - and some observations of rambunctious 3rd graders and eensy weensy adorable 1st graders, I got to meet up with Rebekah to spend an afternoon not looking at our cellphones or other electronics, but merely enjoying one another's company. We went to As You Wish to indulge our introverted, artistic selves. I haven't been in months, and being covered in glaze again (literally, to my own misfortune) was quite therapeutic. It's such a lovely way to spend time with someone without having to really talk all that much. You sit side by side, absorbed in your painting, meticulously dabbing glaze on your piece with a paintbrush that is clearly missing the better days before several dozen children jabbed it into clay crevices and mooshed it a...

I love surprises! I'm sure it stems in part from the fact that I am rather difficult to surprise (scare is another matter entirely). I love when you get to plot sneakily for days or weeks, nearly bursting with a secret that you know will be better if you keep it but that you just yearn to tell so the person will know how happy they get to be. I have this difficulty with presents, parties, rainbow cakes , etc. For Labor Day, we decided we would go down to Tucson to surprise Ryan. We got ahold of his roommate - and his mother, who nearly spoiled it! - and managed to set everything up is surreptitious secrecy. Road trips with the Knights are fun - both cars independently sang Disney songs the whole way down. It was fabulous. We arrived much earlier than planned, so we strolled around and ate some lunch, mocking U of A as much as we could. notice Drew proudly sporting his Arizona State shirt! Back at the apartment, Ryan arrived slightly earlier than we were expecting, so there wa...