thankful.

it has been quite a year. i keep thinking about where i was exactly a year ago, and i would have never thought that i would be where i am today. but despite the ridiculous ups and downs i have experienced, i have much to be thankful for, and this list, well, it's only the beginning. i couldn't possibly list it all.

God. grace. love. my family. having a job that i enjoy and am actually passionate about. roommates who can't fall asleep because they just keep laughing. rainy days. my car, which is still running even after many miles and a long road trip to its new home. new drivers licenses with decent pictures. fabulous haircuts by emili. my cell phone. long distance friends. hot showers, a roof over my head, food to eat, electricity and running water. having a relationship with my brothers. sweaters. new experiences. sunset cliffs. the beach. sunshine. flip flops. being only a plane ride away. having a chance to start over everyday. fun emails from friends. chocolate chip cookies. blankets. knowing and being known. mint chocolate chip ice cream. santanas burritos. watching football even when my team isn't doing very well. finding out what seasons are like. growing. having memories to hold onto when i'm lonely. laughter. each of my friends and the unique thing that they each bring to my life. frequent flier miles that make it possible to go home for christmas for next to nothing. holidays. workdays. life.

getting lost

well, all hope is gone for the blog a day thing. but considering how hard i am on myself when i fail at pretty much anything, i am surprisingly chipper. i guess the fact that i was even trying for it did in fact encourage me to blog on a more regular basis, and that is good enough for me. wow, maybe i'm growing. or maybe i'm too tired to care too much?

so, about that being tired thing...i am sick. not super sick, much better than last night, but sick nonetheless. a good night's sleep certainly seems to help with sickness, and i figure if only i can get a couple more of those, i will be good to go.

today it is raining, and it's actually making me very happy. and i seem to be getting better at finding my way around, which is so wonderful. it actually makes me feel pretty dang giddy, because the being lost all the time thing was getting super old. this weekend i am going to some new places, and it will be fun to find my way from one to the other. i think i should be able to do it, but we'll see. it seems that tuesday nights are my nights for getting lost. i don't know what it is about tuesday nights, but i always struggle! my goal for next week is for that to not be the case, but as of now, i have nothing new planned, so i may make my goal just because i am sticking with the familiar. next weekend is the big post-thanksgiving trip to portland for sharon and ryan's wedding, and i have a feeling that i will be lost at some point there, having never spent a good deal of time in portland. but as always, i'm pretty up for the adventure.

maybe i'm not so hot at this new post everyday thing

i have failed already! i have missed two days in a row of my first week of trying to post something everyday in november. oh well, i gave it a shot. i'll try to make it for the rest of the month, but i make no guarantees.

i am currently reading the book "sex god" by rob bell. it is brilliant, and yes, it is really about that. but it is about more than just that. it is also challenging on so many levels that i can't even describe, and would not really want to describe in a very public blog, because it's like heart stuff. but it is challenging, and it's also unearthing some stuff in me that i had not planned on exploring at this point in my life. but it's good...great actually. i am enjoying it quite a bit. i adore bell's writing style, it's simplistic yet jammed packed of these amazing thoughts that just rock me. so thanks to amy for sharing it with me...i am very grateful.

woo hoo - i'm a student again!

i can't believe that i am diving back into a world of required reading and writing papers and having to use like proper grammar and stuff, but it's true...i'm heading back to school. at least that's the plan. and i should know better than to plan...oh well. it looks like i'll be at fuller seminary starting in january. and strangely enough, i'm excited about it. i guess if there's one thing i know how to do, it's how to be a student. there's some sort of comfort zone thing in being in a classroom and studying and having no free time. plus, i am ready to learn again, and to be challenged academically. since i'm being challenged in every other area of my life anyway, i figured tacking school onto that was a good plan. plus, maybe i can meet more people and make more friends. who knows, either way, it's yet another new thing in my life. and it's very cool.

finding fun wherever you can

i have had an obsession with coffee shops for almost as long as i can remember. but living in san diego, there were few times that i actually felt justified spending a lot of time inside, drinking warm beverages, when it was so dang hot outside. that's not to say that i still didn't spend a whole lot of time in places like panera, even that very one that is smack dab in the middle of east county that katie was at today. but i have spent more time that i ever have before in coffee shops since i moved. a lot of the new places i have been visiting are kinda random establishments, complete with quirky art and furniture, and not one of them at all resembles the homogeneous starbucks world, and something about that actually makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. because even though i love that i know i can get my latte made perfectly every time i hit up a starbucks, i miss out on the ambiance that comes with these small establishments. i would have to say that discovering these new places to sit with a cup of coffee and my computer and work my little heart out has become one of the more fun things that i have been doing since i moved. even if it means that my wallet is maybe a little emptier than it was before.

my new obsession...

i have always had a deep, meaningful connection with technology. i happen to love it. i want to buy new pieces of technical wonderfulness, such as the newest ipod, a dvr, and a macbook pro. but i am not usually overly obsessed with the latest and greatest cell phones. i usually get whatever phone i can on verizon's new every two deal, and call it good. but since i moved, i have become unreasonably attached to my cell phone because it is one of my two links (the other being a computer) to my friends and family at home. i've even begun to toy with the idea of getting an iphone, mostly because i love all things apple and happen to think that their products are genious, and that phone looks amazing. but even if i keep getting base model cell phones with no frills, i am hopelessly in love with my current phone and my san diego area code. i am thankful to live in a time in which technology has advanced to the point that i can have a phone conversation anytime, anywhere, and i am currently completely ok with being that girl who is on the phone wandering the aisles of target aimlessly if it is the only time i can catch up with a friend. i figure heck, if the technology is there i might as well use it whenever i can. so here's to the brilliant minds behind the cell phone. you are so my new best friends.

and side note, super sad day for chargers fans everywhere. i love you boys, but if you play like that you'll never make it past first round of playoffs no matter who your coach is.

things i've realized since i moved...ok one thing, just because i need to write something today

i realized that since i have moved i have spent more time than i have ever spent in my life trying to figure out how many layers i can wear without looking like the michelin man, and less time than i have ever spent worrying about how freaking pale my skin is. interesting how priorities shift when you move to a different climate...

back by popular demand

it has been pointed out to me on more than one occasion this week that i am not blogging about my new adventures in the northwest as i had promised that i would. and being inspired by katie awesometroublshooter gardner and her "one blog post a day in the month of november" thing she is participating in, i thought that i would attempt to do the same. but it's the 2nd, not the first, and i didn't post anything yesterday, so i'm already a day behind. shoot! but oh well, here it goes anyway...

this week, on halloween in fact, i purchased my first ice scraper. i had to borrow one from one of the other cars at my house just so i could get to the gym that morning, and i decided that it would be something worth investing in. if its cold enough in october that i have ice on my windshield i can only imagine what in the world the winter months hold for me. so that was $3.49 well spent if you ask me. of course, i haven't needed it since then, but i will. and when i do, i'm ready.

i have successfully registered my car here in washington, but unfortunately, i still don't belong to this state. it is a whole lot harder to get a drivers license up here than i would have thought. you know, california seems to give a license to just about anyone, whether or not they are legally supposed to have one. does that make california the more Biblically correct state because of it's welcoming attitude? hmm...something to ponder.

and in other news, i am definitely enjoying my job, and having so much fun getting to know all the awesome students and volunteers at central. i can't wait until i feel like i actually know what i'm doing, or what i'm supposted to be doing. i know that will take time.

and now for the downer...i desperately miss my friends. i miss just doing fun stuff with people, like movie nights with adam, or getting chips and salsa with emili, or doing the coffee and a bagel after kickboxing thing with kat. and then there's mojitos with angela and katie, disney with sam, yogurt express with mia, and so much more. i miss my people, the people who walked through this last season of life with me, and actually get stuff without having to have me explain what happened previously or a backstory or anything. it was good to know and to be known. and it took a long time to get there. i'm not a patient person so i don't want to wait through all of that again. and honestly, it's hard to lose all of that closeness with the people i care about. because long distance friendships are so not the same. even if you're close, it's different, and there is a lot that you miss when you're not there in the day-to-day. i don't want to miss that with them. but if i am where i am supposed to be, and i truly feel that i am, then i need to hang in there, and rely on God, and learn to be patient, and to be proactive in making new friendships. ahh...so much to learn!!!!

alright, so this extra long post should make up for missing yesterday. i will make my valient attempt to write some fun ancedote once a day this month. and if i miss a day, please extend more grace to me than i did to katie last year :)