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Showing posts from 2015

The one with Valero.

At the beginning of the year, several friends arranged a trip to a Virginia winery to enjoy the budding spring weather. The plan was to leave after church on a Sunday and drive out. My friends Jason and Dan were stuck with me this particular drive and after fighting with DC traffic to get OUT of the city- it was way past our lunch time.  The further we drove, the more we thought "surely we'll see something."  But no.  We were approaching 1:30pm and none of us had eaten breakfast.  Hangry began to settle in. We were on a rural road headed towards the winery, seeing no hope of any sort of food, and up ahead was a Valero gas station. I declared from the backseat "ooooh! Maybe they'll have some legit tacos!" The guys looked at me as though I had two heads. As we drove past and realized this gas station would, indeed, NOT have tacos, I yelled from the backseat "SUCK IT, VALERO!" Remember. Hangry had set in.  The guys doubl

The one with journaling tips

Over the years, I've been asked multiple times about journaling, how I stay committed, and how I even made it a habit. Here are some tips you may find helpful.  First: Buy a good journal  - This is probably the MOST important, yet tricky step.  It has to be a comfortable journal for you. It has to have good paper, appropriate line width, and ease of access to suit your needs. I'll explain what I like and why i like it to help you understand the importance.  Decide if you want to write on both sides of the page. This will help determine if you need spiral bound or a stitched spine. If you want to write on BOTH sides of the page- spiral bound is better. You don't have to fuss with a spine that isn't flexible. (This was a major frustration for me in the beginning. I would try to MAKE the spine flexible and end up damaging the spine and paper wouldn't stay in.) Spiral is my go-to. I can flip the journal any which way and write comfortably. If your choice is to w

The one where three years have passed

I don't think it's possible for me to ever forget this day. I can't imagine ever forgetting that 5am phone call. I can't imagine ever forgetting the feeling of seeing the images for the first time. The one year anniversary of the fire was a hard one. I was in a rough place. The two year anniversary of the fire was sweeter. I'd come farther, I'd begun healing. On this three year anniversary of the fire, it is well with my soul.  If you don't know me at all, and you had no idea about a fire....you can read here: The fire, part 1 The fire, part 2 The not-so-pretty-almost-one-year-update  The One Year update

The one where the escalator wins

The city is out to get me. Last week, I began my Monday morning commute by walking to the metro. As I normally do. I stepped on the escalator to go down to the platform, and within 2 seconds, I realized that was a horrible decision. The platform was PACKED full of people. So full- that the people exiting the escalator had no where to go. They started to pile up on each other. I heard them yelling and decided my only option to delay my impending doom was to start running UP the escalator that was sending me down. I knew I had to be faster than the escalator so I was going as fast as I could; all the while, telling people at the top NOT to get on the escalator. Someone finally came to their senses and hit the emergency stop button.....but without warning. So my body- which was being projected upward fast- was projected down. I slammed into the escalator stairs. Someone helped me up, I walked over to a corner, and assessed the damage. There were tears. There was blood. But I pulle

The one with the sighs.

I've had a lot of heavy sighs lately. At home and at work. Just a lot of deep, heavy sighs. As though I've forgotten to breathe. Or as though I've been carrying a heavy load, have finally set it down, and taken a deep breath to regroup. I only mention this because in the last several months, people have noticed my sighing. I don't mean to do it. It just happens. And people have made comments. "You good? You ok? Everything alright?" This morning, a pastor at my church made a passing comment about a verse his family loves. "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing." (Psalm 5:1) Consider my sighing. I absolutely love this. I mean, I know the Bible talks about how our tears have been recorded and the number of hairs on our head are numbered. But our sighs. Consider my sighs. He is so deeply aware of every part of us. And cares about each and every part. There is nothing that has been overlooked. Consider my sighs, Lord.

The one with a phone call from Grace

Four years ago today, I received a phone call from my friend, Grace.  Here's an excerpt from  the blog I wrote after that phone call. ------------------------------ So. In my job hunt, I was contacting friends like crazy asking if they happened to know anyone in South Carolina. One of those friends I asked was Grace. Grace is not from Texas and I know she has a huge community of friends that does NOT live in Texas. So I called her up to see if she had any connections in the SC. She said she had some things she could check into and that she’d get back to me. Well, a month later (2 weeks ago) I get a phone call from Grace. She said “I know you’ve been looking at South Carolina, but would you be interested in Florida?” I went on to get some details from her…It would be a social media job in Tallahassee. I went ahead and emailed with Grace’s contact person and got more information. Seemed like it would be an interesting job. And the opportunity to work remotely would be a huge be

The one with the basil

Last summer I purchased a basil plant. It lasted about a month before I went on vacation, forgot about it, and came home to a dead plant. A very dead plant. I threw it away. Basil on left is not mine. Basil on right was mine. Trust me. It was VERY dead. This summer, I decided I'd do better. I'd be more intentional. I'd take better care of it. {I probably should admit- last summer- I purchased the little plant and stuck it in a coffee cup. I didn't give it more soil. I didn't plant it. I just bought the plant and expected good things to come if I watered it.} This summer, I bought the plant, I bought an actual pot, I bought more soil. I planted it into a bigger pot, gave it good soil, and watered it. I put it on my balcony where it would receive an ideal amount of sunlight. This plant thrived. I'd made two batches of pesto. I watered it. I tended to it. Then I went on vacation. I came home to a withered basil plant. My first thought was "ugh, not

The one with the Tonsillectomy

Things to note: italicized comments are from my little sister, Caralyn, who was with me for a portion of the time. She's a nurse and can give some more realistic thoughts to balance out my emotionally and physically exhausted thoughts. Please excuse the typos, run-on sentences, or rambling thoughts. Three weeks ago, I was certain I was going to be able to write a blog post about my tonsillectomy that would calm the fears of anyone else who googled 'adult tonsillectomy recovery' and read the same posts that I'd read. I was certain my recovery wouldn't be as awful. Because what I'd read....surely it couldn't be THAT bad....right? Not the case. Also, just a heads up- this is a long post. I’m well aware. But I wrote it with future adult tonsillectomy patients in mind. And if you’re scheduled to have one, I’m guessing you’re googling for information on your upcoming surgery. This is for you. :) Thursday, June 25th My surgery was scheduled for Thur

Sharing this here because I don't want to forget this.

Sheryl Sandberg  with  Dave Goldberg Today is the end of sheloshim for my beloved husband—the first thirty days. Judaism calls for a period of intense mourning known as shiva that lasts seven days after a loved one is buried. After shiva, most normal activities can be resumed, but it is the end of sheloshim that marks the completion of religious mourning for a spouse. A childhood friend of mine who is now a rabbi recently told me that the most powerful one-line prayer he has ever read is: “Let me not die while I am still alive.” I would have never understood that prayer before losing  Dave . Now I do. I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice. You can give in to the void, the emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even breathe. Or you can try to find meaning. These past thirty days, I have spent many of my moments lost in that void. And I know that many future moments will be consumed by the vast emptiness as well. But when I

The one with a countdown.

My journal looked a bit like this today: 8 days til I finish Whole30. 7 days til my boyfriend gets back in town. (yes. more on that later.) 10 days til I'm at the lake. You guys know how I feel about the lake. 25 days until my surgery. (more on that later, too?) There is a lot happening. A lot of change. A lot of counting down. A lot of stuff.  And then I realized I'd written June 1 at the top of my journal. We're six months in to 2015 and I'm counting down to different events.  When we count down or cross days off our calendar in anticipation for upcoming events, do we end up making less of our present day time, our present day events? I feel as though I'm guilty of that the past month.  There has been a lot of 'new' in 2015 for me. (ie: that 2nd bullet up there.) One thing I've learned about myself is that I'm not the most adaptable person. Change is not my favorite. Plenty of people in my life are probably reading th

#OwnPaceSamePlace

Running with friends can be intimidating. You want to run together but you have different paces, or maybe you need to stop and take a breather, but don't want to slow the other person down. Maybe you can only run 2 miles while your friend wants to run 10. Finding a good running friend isn't easy. I've been really fortunate to have found one in Tallahassee (Alexis!) and here in DC. (Jess!) Last weekend I was talking with some friends (Jason and Dan!) about running and needing that accountability especially when there are no races in the near future that you should be training for. Insert lightbulb idea. How about picking a place on the weekend. Setting a time. And saying "Run to this location. Be there at 11am! Then we can all enjoy a cup of coffee together." This enables everyone to leave their place at their own time. Run their own pace. Run their own preferred mileage.  And still get to show up and enjoy a cup of coffee with friends after your run!

The one with the.......bomb?

I just walked downstairs to get the mail. I put on my coat and shoes. I wasn't even going to walk outside, but it's well below freezing so boots and coat were needed. I stepped off the elevator and turned the corner to find the mailboxes. The mailroom area was empty and quiet except for a slow, steady beeping. I looked around. Nothing to be seen. The beeping was coming from inside the mailboxes. I stood there for two extra seconds to make sure I was not making something up. The beeping was loud. It was consistent. And it was definitely coming from inside the mailboxes. And it was freaking me out. I ran outside (negative temps, people) and called my roommate. I said "would it be overreacting to find and tell someone about this?" She said "nope." She said I should go to leasing office and tell them. Because....this is DC. You just never know. So I did. Ok. Maybe I ran. I mean, I've watched every season of "24." Jack Bauer would have wan

To my first valentine

I've had the same valentine for the last 30 years. When I started school, my valentine would come to my class dressed in a suit and tie with a single red rose. He'd interrupt class, halting any discussion verbs and adverbs, addition or fractions, or talk of the periodic table. He'd walk in, give me a rose, and hug me in front of the entire class. My senior year of high school, he gave me my first dozen roses. Once I left for college, my valentine didn't let distance stop him. I would receive a package in the mail- most often to the day- with a card and gift. I know a lot of single girls who dread the day. They dread watching everyone around them get flowers, packages, chocolate, etc. It's a reminder that they don't have a significant other. For me? I've never dreaded the day. The day is a reminder that I DO have someone in my corner. Someone who will always be in my corner. I'd watch classmates get gifts from their boyfriends. It didn't make

The one where the embarrassment never ends

It all started last week when I was really sick. The throwing up kind. Not the sniffles kind. On top of being sick, work had been a bit frustrating and I thought if I could JUST get to the gym, I could get some endorphins pumping. And endorphins are good things when sick and frustrated. Or so I thought. A good 3 mile run one day, a spin class on Wednesday, and a barre fitness class on Thursday. That was the plan. Now, I must say, I'm not really a fan of group fitness classes. And to say I'm not a fan- I really mean I hate hate hate hate hate them. It's just all sorts of awkward and uncomfortable. But. I am all about trying new things these days. It's 2015. Give it a shot, right? I begrudgingly showed up to class 10 minutes before it started. I'd changed out of my work clothes and got to the class, finding it to be completely silent in there, with 6 girls all sitting on their mats, legs crossed, doing random stretches, and one girl in particular doing weird b