Craving Adventure

So lately I have really been wanting to travel!  It's been almost a year since I've gone on a trip outside the country, and I really want to get back to working on my life goal of seeing the world.  I only have a few pesky little details that prevent me from doing this... you know... work, finances... things along those lines.

Here is a collection of photos from some of my past adventures.  I've been feeling nostalgic lately for these places and the people I traveled with.

 

 

I apologize if that was an excessive amount of photos.  Since my life doesn't exactly lend itself to travel at this particular time, I am forced to live vicariously through my past. 

 

Defining Happiness

A month or so ago, I read an article that attempted to define happiness.  The author of the article basically concluded that the key to happiness was to identify the negative aspects of your life and do everything within your power to remove them.

I thought that was an incomplete assessment of what it means to be happy.  While there are definitely times when  negative things can and should be removed from your life... a lot of times, negative things just happen and you can't simply get rid them.  It would be nice if it were just that easy... but it isn't, and I would venture to guess that if I had been able to remove every unpleasant experience from my life, I wouldn't be the person I am today.  Stress, pain, disappointment, anger, etc... when approached with the right attitude, can all provide opportunity for growth.

So, ever since I read that article, I have been thinking about my own recipe for happiness.  Here is what I've come up with so far:

Be quick to forgive: It takes so much more effort to hold on to a grudge than to simply just forgive someone.

Sleep well at night: "As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18. When it comes to relationships with friends, family, significant others anyone else you encounter on a daily basis... approach these relationships with humility, apologize when it's your fault,  and encourage them frequently.  Don't leave any unresolved tension.

Focus on others: Constant obsession with your own happiness breeds discontentment.  It sounds paradoxical, but there is no better feeling than doing something for/blessing someone else.

Grow from negative things: Like I said before, removing all negative things from your life is both unrealistic and inhibits character development.  You will only drive yourself crazy if you try to avoid discomfort of any kind... it's impossible. Instead, let the negative things serve as a tool to magnify the positive.

Count your blessings: Seriously, make a list.  Whenever I do this I actually get sort of giddy and end up feeling like the luckiest girl on the planet.  There is so much to be grateful for!  My wise friend Kristen once sent this quote to our small group: "What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today?" I have no idea who said this... but this quote really made me want to make a conscious effort to recognize and thank God for everything I've been blessed with.

Be okay with who you are and how you conduct your life: It's kind of self explanatory, but make choices that you feel good about... even if it's difficult. Keep your integrity, even in the little things.  Sometimes it's easy to cut corners to make things more convenient for yourself, but in the long run you will sleep better at night with the knowledge that you have preserved the quality of your character.

Keep your faith at the forefront of your mind: So little of what we spend our time doing, focusing on and worrying about is going to matter in eternity.  God and people are the only things that are going to matter once we leave this world.

Hold things loosely: Cling to your faith, but keep a loose grip on all other things.  Anything that you find your identity in other than Christ (physical beauty, career, financial status, even relationships) can and will change. If you have a grasp on what is important in life, your identity won't be rocked when things around you change.

So, that's what I've come up with so far as a way of finding happiness.  It's far more complex than the "removing negative things" plan... but this is what has worked for me in my life, so I'm sticking with it.

A Time for Everything

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I just wanted to update the blog for my (at most) two readers who follow.  My blog has been really quiet this past month.  I've had a lot going on... I think I've experienced the majority of the "times" mentioned above.  Some have been really, really good, others not so good. I am definitely in "a time to be silent" mood; on the blog and in real life. Hopefully soon I'll be back to posting more frequently.

16 Toothbrushes

My grandma passed away this past Christmas, and this may sound weird, but I think it has just recently hit me that she is really gone.  Because I went to school out of state, it was normal to go for months without seeing her. I would see her when I was home for the holidays, and then go back to school for a few months.  I think the reason the loss has been affecting me lately, is because I have never gone this long without seeing her.

Of all my grandparents, she was the one I was closest to.  Sometimes I'm afraid I will forget things about her and our memories as time goes by and I get older.  So, I decided it was important to write down the little things that I know I don't ever want to forget.

My grandma had 16 grandchildren, and if you looked in her bathroom cabinet you would find 16 toothbrushes.  Each with a different name written in sharpie on the handle.  These were on hand, of course, for the many, many sleepovers we had at Grandma's.  For the girls there were always extra hair ties and barrettes in the cabinet as well.  Sweets were never in short supply as there was always rootbeer in the fridge, cookies in the cookie jar, and gum drops in a glass dish on the coffee table (that probably explains why toothbrushes for each of us were always easily accessible...).  Before bed, we would always play cards together for hours.  Phase 10 was our favorite.  Sometimes at the sleepovers it was me, grandma and several cousins, sometimes me, Grandma and my brother, and sometimes just me and Grandma.  If my brother was there, Grandma and I would secretly talk strategy hours before the game began, to gang up on my brother in an attempt to put an end to his winning streak.  Grandma had all the good cable channels, and comfy bean bag chairs for the grandkids to sit on while we watched way more TV than we were ever allowed to watch at home.  In the mornings, we would always wake up to cinnamon toast waffles, toasted to the perfect amount of crunchiness, with butter and syrup evenly distributed in each square.

As we got older, the sleepovers happened less often, but we still visited frequently.  My Grandma had each of our senior pictures proudly displayed on a table in her living room.  Since there were 16 of us, we frequently competed to have our picture in the front row.  You always knew who had visited last, because they would have discreetly placed their picture in front of the others.

As we moved into adulthood, attending her grandchildrens' weddings became Grandma's new favorite activity.  My family can party pretty late into the night, but Grandma was not one to leave the festivities early.  She would frequently stay up with us til 2 or 3 in the morning, because she hated to miss even a minute of a family gathering.

I am very sad that she's gone.  I wish she had lived long enough to see me get married.  But, she lived a long, full life surrounded by tons of family who loved her very much. So much so that during her last few weeks, they literally had to ask us to leave the hospital because she was exceeding the limit for visitors.  She was almost 90 years old when she passed away, and I count myself very lucky to have had her in my life for 22 years.

Sometime in the early 90's....

June 2010. Not the greatest quality photo... but it shows her surrounded by her grandkids, and that's the important part

I Love Snail Mail

One benefit (if you'd like to call it that) of having best friends scattered all over the country is sending and receiving mail.  Although it's rarely utilized anymore, particularly by my generation, my friends and I do an excellent job of utilizing the USPS if I do say so myself! Renee and Savannah are exceptionally good at this.

There is nothing like coming home after a long day at work and finding a letter waiting for you in the mailbox.  I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten a card or letter at just the time that I needed a little encouragement.

I'm pretty minimalist when it comes to "things."  I clean out my closet every year and get rid of anything I haven't worn in the past 12 months.  I'm constantly consolidating my possessions and only hanging on to things I actually need and use.  But, when it comes to things of sentimental value, one might call me a hoarder.  I have saved every, single personal card, note or letter that I've received from childhood until now.  I stash them in several shoe boxes in my closet, because I just can't seem to throw away anything that my friends or family took the time to write to me.  

Thank you friends for all the happy snail mail over the years!

Lately...

I realize I've been neglecting the blog just a bit lately.

So I thought I'd pop in for a brief life update.  

I'm enjoying summer, despite the 99 degree weather with 100% humidity.  It's better than the cold, grey, overcast Cincinnati winters.  (Can I get an amen??)

Here's a few things I've been up to lately. 

Last Sunday I went sailing.  I love all things nautical and pretentious, so sailing made for a good time.  

On Saturday I went to a hot air balloon festival.  It was such a cool event!  I had seen pictures of it in the past and had always wanted to go.  So, this past weekend, some friends and I went.  

Besides lots of awesome hot air balloons, they had other cool events going on.  Throughout the day they frequently had hang gliders and parachuters landing in the middle of the festival.  There were a group of hang gliders flying the American flag, and I thought it looked pretty cool. 

In other news... my hairdresser quit.  I called to make an appointment and the salon told me she no longer worked there.  I am probably going to sound really high maintenance right now, but I was so upset!  Kate knows me, she knows my hair (which I happen to be a little bit perfectionist about).  I am reluctant to trust my hair to a stranger... but that is just what I am going to do this evening.  Sad day.  

Well, that's about all I have for this update.

Still on a CS Lewis kick...

"All that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."
~CS Lewis


This book is SO on my wish list: 

The description (which is too small to read unless you click on the picture and enlarge it) says:  "An encyclopedic collection of quotes from the complete published works of CS Lewis."

How fabulous. 

I may just have to place an order for it on Amazon this afternoon :)

Pedicure on our Toes, Toes! Trying on all our Clothes, Clothes!

I get to see some of my very best friends in the world this weekend!!!

Back when we were in school we started the tradition of reuniting on the 4th of July each year (because we just couldn't handle an ENTIRE summer of not seeing each other).  We've taken turns hosting in our home cities, and whoever can make the trip comes.  The turnout won't be huge this year because we're scattered all over the country and have lots of grown-up responsibilities these days, but I look forward to seeing the ones who can make it!

I considered posting a picture where we're all pretty and polished, but instead I want to show you some photos that will give you an accurate depiction of our friendship:

I have been missing these girls' daily role in my life for over a year now.  Graduating college and moving away from your friends leaves you with such a unique sadness.  It's weird how the passage of time turns some of the happiest moments of your life into memories.  

I know I'll always have these girls as my best friends, but the friendships are definitely shifting and changing as we move into adulthood. 

The Cleanse

This week, me and two of my small group girls, Kristen and Jessica, are doing a cleanse.
It's a fast of sorts, but we're not doing it for spiritual reasons (although they are a huge encouragement to me in that area).  We are simply doing this to better our health.  I can't speak for us all, but my diet has been pretty terrible lately.  This cleanse will remove all those toxins from my body and have me ready to jump into a healthier diet at the end of the week.

Here is what The Cleanse consists of:
1 day of fasting
3 days eating only fruits and veggies
1 day of fasting

The only beverages we can have are water, tea and black coffee.  Since tea of nearly every kind literally sets my gag reflex into action, I won't be doing tea.  If I had an autobiography, I could probably write an entire chapter on how much I despise tea.

Today is my first day of fruits and veggies.  This afternoon I had the a terrible, pulsating headache (caffeine withdrawl much?).  So... I did the unthinkable.  I drank a 1/2 a cup of black coffee.  I'm a cream and sugar kind of girl, so I had never actually attempted to drink a cup of black coffee before today.  I'm happy to report, that I didn't hate it as much as I hate tea.  But it was a very close second.

Anyone who knows me well knows I am allergic to nearly everything outside... trees, pollens, molds, birch, bark, grass, ragweed, you name it.  I used to get allergy shots each week to alleviate some of my misery, but I recently weaned myself off of the shots.  Anyway... as a result of my multiple plant allergies, I have what is called Oral Allergy Syndrome.  Basically, because of this, nearly all raw fruits and vegetables cause me to have a mild allergic reaction.  It's not severe or life-threatening, but it makes eating them very uncomfortable.  My lips, throat and tongue get all itchy and tingly and swell just a bit when I eat fruits and veggies.  This is because the proteins in the produce are similar to those in pollen and grass and all that good stuff, and my body recognizes them as the plants that I am allergic to. Long story short... this makes The Cleanse a bit difficult.  The good thing is though, that cooking the fruits and veggies kills the proteins (and the nutritional value) and I can eat them without discomfort.  Thus, I've stocked up on frozen broccoli and such, that I can steam in the microwave.  So not nutritional whatsoever, but what am I going to do?  Also, strawberries for some reason seem to be the exception to my allergies, so I am throwing those back like it's my job.

For someone who LOVES carbs and LOVES red meat... these next few days will continue to be a challenge.  

"Franck thought it would be great to have swans waddling around the tulip border ..."

When my friend Adrienne and I were in middle school, she lived at my house for a brief period one summer.  Her family was getting ready to move to Peru to be missionaries, and while her parents traveled around speaking to churches and things like that, she lived with me for awhile.  During this time, we watched "Father of the Bride" (on VHS of course) nearly every day.  I couldn't tell you why, but it was our absolute favorite movie at the time.  To this day we quote that movie and giggle hysterically (that should explain the title of this entry if it has you scratching your head)

Shortly after our "Father of the Bride" days, Adrienne took off to Peru for about six years.  We kept in touch a little bit over the years, and I was thrilled when she moved back to the US for college and we settled back into a friendship.  Four years ago, she joined our group of friends on a trip to a cabin for New Year's.  She knew us all, but was still getting reacquainted with the group after her lengthy absence in our lives.  It was on this trip that she confided in me that she thought our friend Nick was a pretty cool guy.  We went to middle school with Nick, but at that point in our lives, boys and girls did NOT talk to each other, so they really didn't know each other well before this trip.  

This is really the only photo I have with them both in it from that trip.  Adrienne is the one in the black shirt in the front and Nick is the silly brown-haired guy in the back.  

Over the next months I watched their relationship develop. The New Year's trip flirtation led to an "It's not a date" coffee date, followed by some real dates, that led to a really wonderful relationship. There were happy times, funny times, and a rough patch or two along the way... but in December she called me and told me the wonderful news that they were getting married!!! In the last months I've celebrated her wedding shower and bachelorette party, and about a week and half ago, I got to celebrate her wedding!!!  I cried through the ENTIRE ceremony and smiled through the entire reception.  I could not be more happy for these two!

Last night, all of our (local) friends gathered at Allison's to say goodbye to Nick and Adrienne.  They moved to Illinois today.  I will miss seeing them frequently, but know that this is just a new phase in our friendship.  There are many more good times to come. 

Friday Facts

Fact: My favorite app that I have on my phone is my daily CS Lewis quote application.  Who wouldn’t love to wake up to a snippet of wisdom each morning?

Fact: I have had the most mundane dreams lately!  Seriously… in the last couple weeks I’ve dreamt about the lamest things.  One running theme seems to be office supplies.  In three separate dreams I dreamt about wasting computer paper, using a stapler and the most troubling dream of all was about an excel document.  AN EXCEL DOCUMENT?! My subconscious needs a little more excitement.

What happened to the dreams where you ride horseback to Atlantic City, only to find that your elementary school principal and Dr. Phil are there and the three of you scrapbook together while eating skittles with chopsticks???

Fact: I’m not a huge fan of high heels.  I like how they look… and love how the perfect pair of heels can complete an outfit, but my goodness they are uncomfortable!  I reserve my heel-wearing for nights out rather than work.

Fact: My piano music obsession continues.  My new favorite Pandora station is called “Piano Hits.”  I love the station, but I think the name is absurd.  Are there really any piano hits? Who could name or identify a piano hit?  Katy Perry hits… sure, but piano hits just aren’t quite as mainstream.

Fact: It’s wedding season!  And I love wedding season!  I love dressing up and dancing!  Well, let me rephrase that, I love dressing up and dancing at events like weddings and formals.  I despise dancing at the club.  DESPISE it.  In an effort to keep my blog tasteful, I won’t go into detail,  but I just have to say that I don’t appreciate males with whom I have not exchanged names or pleasantries, coming up to me from behind  and forcing parts of their…anatomy(?)… to touch me. I’m sorry, but that is no way to introduce yourself. At the very least we should first discuss the upcoming Reds game and how unseasonably warm the weather has been. All this bumping and grinding that my generation enjoys, just doesn't suit me.

Fact: Nothing builds anticipation for the weekend quite like the “Friday” song.  I enjoy the Glee cover:

Just call me The Head Princess Beaver

This week I am volunteering for Vacation Bible School at my church.  I have a group of 3^rd and 4^th graders, and they are a lot of fun.  Each group has an animal name because the theme of the week is something about a jungle or safari or something along those lines.  My group is the Beavers. At one point last night when I was leading my line of kids down the hall, giant BEAVERS sign in hand, a little girl looked up at me and said in all seriousness, “You are our Head Princess Beaver!”

I like to think that she reached this conclusion based on my princess-like qualities, rather than my likeness to a beaver…

Meditations

I just wanted to share some verses I'm been thinking and praying about lately.

  ^"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance,
  but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."

Proverbs 20:15

"...The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
James 5:16


"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to you.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,
because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind. 
 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."
James 1:5-7


"Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."
Proverbs 19:21

At least we can all agree on hummus

I look forward to lunch time every day at work.  Since the weather is nice, I eat outside in this delightful little shaded area with picnic tables.  There are few areas in or around the office that one would describe as “delightful” so this lunch area truly is a haven.  The group I eat with consists of four people besides me:

The Summer Interns: I hit it off with these two girls right away, because obviously I have more in common with the college students than those who have been living the corporate life for twenty years. One goes to Xavier, and the other goes to the University of Dayton.  I will mourn the day when their internships end. 

The French Designer: She is middle-aged and lives and works in New York but is here doing training for three months.  She’s an interior designer and brings so much culture and class to our lunch hour.

The Nova Scotian:  As her name would indicate, she is from Nova Scotia, and is also middle-aged.   The French Designer and the Nova Scotian often speak French together.  When the Summer Interns and I are around, they kindly use English as to not exclude us from their conversations. 

I love my little lunch group!  I love that we send fun little group emails each day to confirm our 12:30 lunch even though we all know the time and location.  It’s just nice to receive a friendly email mid-morning. 

However, the one thing I do not love about my lunch group is that I feel like I have the worst diet imaginable when I observe what they eat.  If I had to sum up what they eat in one word it would be LEAVES.  I swear, the main ingredient in each of their lunches are those dark green salad leaves... you know, the ones with actual stems still on them.  They are frequently topped with things like beats and turnips, and obscure vegetables I’ve never tried in my life.  I’m pretty sure The French Designer is a Vegan, and the others are just super health conscious. Fruits and vegetables… it’s really all these people eat. They all talk about how the only places to buy decent food in this city are Fresh Market and Findlay Market.  Meanwhile, I silently eat my turkey sandwich and chips and sip on diet soda.  It should also be noted that I usually pack my lunch in a Kroger bag.  I realize turkey, chips (baked chips, I might add) and diet soda doesn’t sound like a terribly unhealthy lunch to the average person, but to be honest, I feel like I’m eating a pile of onion rings smothered in ranch in comparison to their lunches. 

On a positive note, I packed hummus today, and it was received very positively by my lunch group.

It must be noted that I’ve never been called out on my “terrible” eating habits by my gracious lunch companions.  They are way too nice for that.  I do wonder though if they silently judge my eating habits…

Some Summer Reading

Books I am currently reading:

I got this book (along with numerous others!) from Savannah, because she works at a book publisher.  This is just one of the many perks of being her friend.  I always enjoy a good non-fiction story, and I have always been weirdly fascinated with reproductive technology. 



We are doing a Dave Ramsey series at church and I LOVE it.  It's great to soak up all this excellent financial advice at a young age. 

Who doesn't love a little Christian fiction? Karen Kingsbury is by far my favorite author in this genre. 

Last but not least, I am still working on my book about the royal family. 

I like to read several things at a time, and this is my current list.  It's a good thing it's finally summer, because my favorite place to read is poolside.  I was able to spend time time doing that this weekend and it was pure bliss. 

Rock Me Baby Like a Wagon Wheel

Phewf... I have been SO BUSY lately!  I don't think I've had more than an hour of free time in about two weeks.  But I can't complain, I've been working hard and playing hard.  I'm completely exhausted, but it's the good kind of exhausted.

In the last week I've taken a trip to Nashville, cooked out with friends, had movie night with friends, went to church, hung out with my neighbors, and acquired lots of new things for the apartment I hope to be moving into soon.

I'm going to recap my Nashville trip for you.

Nashville was a blast!  I knew I would have fun, but this city was

even more fun that I had anticipated!  Savannah, being the awesome

plan-ahead kind of girl that she is, had composed an entire itinerary

for our weekend.

Whitney and I arrived kind of late on Friday night, so we didn’t do

much that evening.  We just hung out at Savannah’s place and caught

up.   Saturday, we spent the day in Franklin, which is a suburb of

Nashville.  Franklin was full of quaint little shops and unique little

restaurants.  We had some lunch and spent the afternoon fighting off

cicadas as we explored the town.

Saturday evening we went to a restaurant called The Listening Room
where you can have dinner and listen to live bands.  All three of the
groups that performed were amazing!  The first girl was my favorite…
she sounded just like Zooey Deschanel.  We met Savannah’s friends
Jessica and Jeremy there.

After Dinner, we went out on the town!  I absolutely loved downtown
Nashville and all the places on Broadway.  We saw dueling pianos,
awesome performers on street corners, and great live music in all the
bars. As I expected going into this trip… everyone in Nashville is an
awesome musician.  We met some new friends who were Bellmont grad
students and spent the evening with them.

Everywhere we went had live country music and I fully embraced it.
Country music and I have a love/hate relationship… but this weekend
was definitely a high point in our relationship.  I loved embracing my
southern roots!  Ok, maybe I don’t have legitimate southern roots, but
four years of living in Tennessee has to count for something.

Sunday morning we went to church, and Danielle joined us at lunch
time.  That evening, the four of us, along with Jessica and Jeremy
went to a vineyard outside of the city and had a picnic.  The scenery
was absolutely beautiful (the photos don’t do it justice) and there
was live jazz music to listen to.  It was such a relaxing evening!

After the vineyard, we decided to make another trip down town and go
line dancing--  so much fun!!! I think if I lived in Nashville I would
buy a pair of cowboy boots and make it my goal to become an excellent
line dancer.  It would for sure be a newfound hobby for me.  I loved
it!

Monday we spent the morning being lazy at the pool, sun-bathing and
reading books.  We went to a Mexican place for a late lunch, and then
Whitney and I headed home.

I couldn’t have asked for a more fun, relaxing and care-free holiday
weekend.  I love Cincinnati and finally (a year after moving home)
have a huge sense of peace about living here, but this weekend for
sure made me miss the south!  I could definitely see myself ending up
back in the south at some point in my life.

Three Down, Four to Go

Two weekends ago, my Cincinnati friends and I got to spend the weekend celebrating Adrienne’s upcoming wedding.  Allison, the maid of honor, organized a beautiful shower complete with delicious food, fun games, and awesome decorations.  Being the super-close friends that we are… we somehow all showed up in color-coordinated outfits.  This wasn’t planned at all, but it made for great pictures:

Left to Right: 

Jenn, Whit, Renee, Adrienne, Me, Allison. 

 I don't know where Shannon was when this was taken. 

That evening we all threw Adrienne a bachelorette party.  We told her it was going to be very low-key.  She thought we were going to spend the evening at Allison’s house making mixed drinks and hanging out.  That’s all well and good for the average night, but certainly NOT for her bachelorette party.  Instead we had reserved a hotel room downtown, made reservations at an awesome restraunt on the river, and had a whole itinerary of places to go out on the town. 

So, a few hours after the bridal shower, Allison and I kidnapped Adrienne from her house.  We made her put on giant, soundproof earphones and we blindfolded her.  We drove her down to the hotel where the rest of the girls were busy decorating the room, setting up her gifts and preparing food.  When we arrived at the hotel, Adrienne remained in the backseat blindfolded and ear-phoned while I explained to the valet guys that we were surprising her.  They simply LOVED this unusual interruption to their normal work day and provided us with a wheel chair, so we could wheel her on up to the room.  They even offered to take  pictures of the craziness. 

 Once we got her up to the room, we un-blindfolded her and revealed the surprise!  She was thrilled.  She opened a few more gifts, we had a few drinks, and then headed out for the evening. 

 This is our third wedding among our close group of friends, and each have been so much fun!  I love that we celebrate these milestones together and I could not be more happy for Adrienne.  Can't wait til the next four :) 

Wish List: The Final Installment

Wish List numbers 7-10:


#7 I want to get married.  Ok, duh… we knew this was coming on my list
of life goals.  I’m a 23 year old girl.  I’m not saying that I want to
get married right now… but it is definitely something I want for my
life.  The thing is, he would have to be very unique.  Someone who
loves the Lord deeply and above all other things, someone whose sense
of humor clicks with mine, so we can laugh together every day, someone
with whom I have spiritual, emotional, and physical chemistry.

Sometimes my friends tell me I’m too picky… but I think there is a
difference between being picky and having high standards.  I saw this
video not long ago, and the second half of it describes much better
than I could ever articulate, the kind of man I want.  It’s a long
video, but so worth watching! (To give credit where credit is due,
I first saw this when my friend Sarah posted it on facebook)

#8 I want to have kids.  This is something I want eventually.  Not any
time soon whatsoever.  I love spending time with kids, but I also love
giving them back to their parents after a few hours.  There are too
many other things on my to-do list that come before kids.

But, once I have been married awhile, I know I am going to want to
have kids of my own.  I want to raise them to love God, others and
literature… I had to throw that last one in there.  I have all kinds
of theories about how my kids will NOT spend hours in front of the TV
and video games.  They will read, and paint, and play with toys that
do not require batteries.  I will cultivate in them a love of
learning.

I can only imagine that this little dream of mine is probably
hilarious to mothers of young children.  I can just hear them reading
this and saying “Bless her heart… she thinks it’s that easy...” 
Apparently these figurative women are southern… blessing my heart 
and all.

#9 I want to always “be content whatever the circumstance” (Philippians 4).  
I think there are so many things to appreciate in every season and phase of life.  
Some more than others, but I firmly believe that the blessings in my life
will always outweigh any difficulties.  I am a HUGE believer in
positivity and the effect that it has on my life, and I want to always
make it a priority to recognize how blessed I am.

#10 I am actually not going to write about the last one… not because
it’s a big secret… but because I realized it’s very similar to one of
my others and it would be kind of redundant.

So… that’s it!  Those are ten things that I hope for.  Some for now,
some for the future, and some to remain constant throughout my entire
life.

Wish List: Continued

Wish List numbers 4-6:

#4 I want to live life in community with my best friends.  I want to celebrate all the major milestones like weddings and births together.  I also want to share the everyday things like barbeques in the back yard, church on Sundays and (one day down the road) play dates with our kids in the park.  I also want us to share in the tough times together…loss…disappointment… failures…because I believe that true friends should weather the storms alongside one another. 

#5 I want to always have deep intimacy with Christ.  I want an active prayer life and I want to hunger for scripture daily.  I want to wake up each morning, secure in knowing I am fully loved and sought after by the one who formed me and knew me completely before I ever came to be. 

#6  I want to be healthy. I want to live an active lifestyle, eat healthy and not rely on caffeine for energy.  I’m still working on this one….

Friday Facts

I am going to interrupt my Wish List posts for some Friday Facts... the continuation of my Wish List will be back next time.

Fact: I love Fridays!  I know everyone loves Fridays, but here is why I love them:

a) I let my self “sleep in” til 7 a.m. instead of my usual 6 a.m.

b) I get to wear jeans to work.

c) The promise of the weekend is ahead!

Fact: I’m obsessed with piano music lately… it’s all I want to listen to.  My favorite?  Hymns.  I know that makes me sound like a 90-year-old woman, but I don’t care.  The other day I admitted to loving these dishes:

So if you take into consideration my love of hymns, my desire to own these dishes and the fact that cardigan sweaters make up roughly 40% of my wardrobe… one might think I need to go join the Red Hat Society at my local senior center.  And I will… just give me another 50 years.  They are some classy ladies those Red Hat Society members. 

Fact: I don’t curl my hair.  Everyone seems to think I wake up at an ungodly hour of the morning to curl my hair each day.  That is false.  A hair dryer and round brush is all I use. 

Fact:  “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss may be my favorite book. You should read it... people think I'm kidding, but I really, really love the message of this book.  I think it was secretly written for young adults. 

Fact: Speaking of books I’m currently reading a biography on the Royal family.  Embarrassing as it is to admit, the Royal Wedding sparked my curiosity about these people.  Months before the wedding when it was all over the media, I was completely irritated that everyone cared so much what Kate was wearing, who was invited and what flowers they selected for the church… but then once I watched the wedding, I realized what an interesting, historical event it was, and wanted to know more about the family’s history.  So I checked out a couple library books.  They’re very interesting!  Although I will say I’m surprised by the amount of drama in that family…

Fact: I have been spoiled by free manicures every two weeks for the past couple months.  My friend Jenn’s family owns a nail polish company, and I get to be a product tester for them, so that means free manicures!  I love it.  I do not look forward to the day it ends.