Thursday, January 31, 2008

So confused






This is kinda what I feel like today

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I have a new nephew!!!


No name yet. But Darren just sent me some pictures of him.
Oh my goodness. Look at this little pasty guy! This one arrived around noon Monday in Portland. He has red hair!
(I wonder if it'll last. Rene' has a lot of redheads in the fam. And my mom and I were both born with reddish hair. Should be interesting.)

I'm so excited about this little guy! I had a dream about him last night. He was very small and adorable and just had the sweetest spirit about him. And I realized the other day that I'll be in Portland in a couple weeks -- and I'll get to meet him! I just started to cry with joy!

Honestly, I think the world needs more of my family in it. Don't you? We can't let all these good genes go to waste!!!
:)

Rene' is doing great. And the wee one was quite wee -- just over four pounds. Big brothers and big sisters are being rascals as usual. And my brother, well... he had the most gentle sound in his voice when I talked with him today. He is such a loving father and husband (and the most perfect brother). I'm so grateful for him and his perfect little family. I'm so blessed with so much bliss!!!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Catching a Case of the Crazies

Do you remember this??



Of course not. You weren't there.
But do you remember when I was training, bugging you for money, blessed with your financial, emotional, and in many cases physical support for helping me complete 26.2 miles?

Well...

Yeah.

Friday, January 25, 2008

New Phone

I'm trying to figure out my new phone. I haven't transferred my numbers yet, so please send me a text and "stand and unfold thyself."
(That's from Hamlet... Shakespeare for "tell me who you are." I am happy feeling like a nerd right now.)

Anyway. Along with the phone is a camera with 2.0 megapixels. Not bad for a phone.



But look at how this picture saved. Kinda totally dark. Weird. It looks perfect on my actual camera. So maybe I just sent it to the website wrong (highly possible). I thought this pic was at least more interesting than the one I took of a Coke Zero bottle.
These are the flowers I have sitting on my table. Totally cute. Who are they from? Wouldn't you like to know.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor..."




Seriously.
Why do I feel like this woman sometimes?

Don't Waste the Pretty

There's a special place in my heart for dirty old men.


When I decided to dub 2008 the "Year of Me" I decided I would invest a little more in the way I treat myself and how I present myself to the world. Just stepping things up a bit so that I am always feeling as much of my truest self as possible. And well... I pretty much think that includes just being as hot to trot as God made me.

I'm embracing the benefits that come along with being your best self. Such as being offered free meals from random people, having people fall in love with you, and let's face it... falling even further in love with yourself. I think it's good stuff.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Daydreaming...



I'll be in Portland in a couple weeks. Rene's sister, Melinda, is getting married! Woo hoo!
Plus, Maren and Jonathan just had a wee one! Yay! Olivia Copeland is now ruling the house on 75th!
And said house is another reason I'm heading there for a few days. I'm selling all my stuff -- couch, china, dining room table, oriental rug, house/kitchenware, etc. So it'll be a cleaning trip. But lemme know if you want to come help clean. Or if you want some of my stuff. Otherwise, it's a craigslist item waiting to happen.

Okay.

Wow.

Tam likes tangents.

So I've been daydreaming about my next vacation destination. And I just want to go to Los Angeles (that's what New York winters will do to a girl). But I'm also thinking about taking myself on a lil trip this year. So... let's daydream. Where are you thinking of taking yourself this year?

My ideas so far:
Back to London (this is a daily desire)
Back to Ireland
Bahamas
Greece
Brazil
Mexico (more specifically, anywhere in Mexico with cool ruins)
the Caribbean (or anywhere starring Johnny Depp)



Okay. Your turn.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

There Goes My Back-up Plan

First River Phoenix dies. And now this???



Oh Heath Ledger. Say it ain't so!
I won't quit you!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Text Messaging

Thank you Kelly for getting me hooked on texting. Truly. I get free texts but have to pay for minutes. And Kelly taught me long ago about the whole T9 thing. I dig it.

Do you text? My friends Shawn and Andrea have a theory that texting is a "singles thing."

True?

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

A Fresh Palette

The wonderful thing about a new place is that you get to create it whatever way you want. Clean white walls... what opportunity for vibrance and color!

I already bought a few gallons and have been carefully applying a golden hue to the living room. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I think its beauty will grow on me. The brown... not as brown as I'd hoped. So I'm taking it back to get it just the way I want it. And then there is always the necessary coat of RED! Cannot wait to apply its beauty and dramatics to my surroundings.
What a masterpiece I'm creating!!!

It's exactly how I want to live my life.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Oh Empathy!

Does knowing truth somehow create arrogance?

One of the criticisms I have heard (and have felt myself) about members of the LDS church is the amount of arrogance we carry when we talk about our doctrine. Many members tend to speak in a very matter-of-fact "this is the way it is" way... and sometimes that type of execution comes across as arrogance.

Church and any spiritual/religious affiliation aside, truth is truth. And there is a truth inside each one of us. And I am finally shedding the fear of owning my own truth, my own possibilities, my own purpose, no matter what the outcome. It can actually be scary breaking out of your self-set limitations, but oh so necessary. At least it's necessary for me. Right now. And I've been celebrating a sense of freedom within and a celebration of faith, fearlessness, and possibility!

So.

Friends, why is it that I feel as if I've lost a bit of empathy and replaced it with arrogance lately? Is it because I'm so in love with truth that somehow I've lost a sense of gentility? Has my faith forced me to seem holier-than-thou?

Yikes!

I was with a friend at brunch the other day and I was so joyous about POSSIBILITY! Joy filled my soul throughout. And when she quipped about how her life wasn't so great, I quipped excitedly, "If your life isn't fabulous then why are you living it that way?"
I actually thought I was helping.
Then she broke down into tears.

Another friend I almost wrote off entirely for not having it quite so "together" as I want.
What in the world?

(To clarify, both of these friends are LDS. I'm not talking about faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about faith in the gospel of Self.)

This post is a little more vulnerable than I'd like.
So please be gentle.
(Maybe I should just take my own advice!)

My New Digs

Suh-weeeeT!!!

I love my place! The only question now... what are some clever and inexpensive ways to move the few things I have left in Portland? A couple chairs and probably 20 boxes. Thoughts?

Come visit!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

i'm in love again!

does it count if i'm in love with my city? who knows...

maybe it's just the fact that i have my own place again. with nothing in it. except Bonnie and Watson.

maybe it's the fact that i have friends here. who i like. a lot.

or maybe it's the fact that i just am allowing myself to love it here.

who knows.
who cares?

come visit!!! and bring a box if you're heading from Portland!
:)

Thursday, January 03, 2008

boys

I think I'm finally getting it.

It's all supposed to be relatively easy, isn't it? This whole man-woman-love thing. I don't mean it's not work, but I think it's not supposed to be really hard work. Kinda like having a job you really love; you don't mind the work. And I suppose just as it is when you find the right job, that's what happens when you find the right person.

A friend of mine told me about her crazy, chaotic ending to what I thought was a nearly-perfect relationship. [no girl, in no way would i out you!] I swear, her story made me wonder whether the world was off its axis. I thought they were "meant to be." But I think my past year has shifted my paradigm a bunch when it comes to this topic -- a necessary shift that has brought me to the joy I feel today.

A year ago I believed in destiny, fate, even soulmates. Today I believe in love, goodness, joy. I suppose the reality of love lies somewhere within all that.

Who you love sometimes might not make sense I suppose. And who you decide to pass up... well, sometimes that doesn't make sense either. But today, I'm a believer in mystery and miracles... and the blessings of bliss. I truly believe that love is a choice. And today I choose to love not based on destiny or duty but because I simply choose to do so.

Love isn't complicated... unless we choose to make it that way. But it is beautiful and simple. And it is possible -- oh so possible! And I'm so grateful for it!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

2008: The Year of ME; The Year of LOVE!

It's ON, friends!
Welcome back and welcome to a new year. And what a FANTASTIC year this is and will be. I am embracing all possibilities as if I'm living life to my fullest with a true "eternal perspective."
In the past, I've taken that term to mean keeping my focus on my eternal purpose and goals... thinking about my life in a very linear way... from where I am now to where I want to end up.
Today, I think of it in another way... moreso that I'm already the person I'm meant to be. I already have the blessings, talents, gifts, and love that I hope for... at least in some form and in some time. I suppose a visual way to explain it would be like the string theory applied to time.

Nonetheless, lately that's my focus. So in a sort, I suppose I'm awakening a little more to who I am and am fully celebrating it! And I think I'm done "hiding my light under a bushel." It really does no one any good -- most of all, me.

I've dubbed 2008 The Year of ME. And I'm adding my subtitle "The Year of LOVE" to it. I'm opening myself up to the possibility of loving everything about myself and the world around me. And I don't mean this in a narcissistic, annoyingly cocky kinda way. I mean truly appreciating the gifts that God has given to me personally. I would hate to look at my life and see that I felt unappreciated or unloved in my life, most of all by myself. I believe that what you put out, you receive. So I'm putting out the love vibe. Not so much romantic love (although that vibe proves prosperous as well!!!), but love in the good and godly sense.

I hope to make each day worthwhile... and not a waste!
This year has so much goodness coming my way. This is it! This is the year! All the rest were practice!
And I look forward to you joining me for the ride!