Happy birthday, Blog

I was just sitting here during my lunch break thinking and decided to look up my first blog post.  I realized I started this blog 4 years and 2 days ago.  Lots has happened since then, but 4 years worth of stuff?  Hard to believe. 

I started the blog as I was preparing to leave for a sememster in Jerusalem.  It's fun to reread and remember what I was doing and feeling at the time.  I had no idea what it would be like, but I know it would be important and change me.  As I describe the feeling in my second post, "It's almost like knowing you are about to win the lottery, but instead of cash you're getting Life."

"Life as I know it" certainly changed a lot since then.  I don't think I've ever told wrote about where my blog's name came from.  It's from a line in the movie P.S I Love You.  At the end of the movie the main character is reading a letter from her husband written before he died of an illness some time before (I'm not spoiling anything; this is entire premis of the plot and the first thing any summary of the movie will tell you). 

After encouraging her to move on with life without him, he tells her:

"Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it ends." 

That line resonated with me, especially as I was at that very time face to face with one of those signals telling me this incredible and rare opportunity was ending life as I knew it.  That kind of ending though isn't a termination.  It's a transformation.  We still exist, but how we exist changes, "normal" changes, life as we know it is different than it used to be.  Just think about that.  Isn't that a thrilling to think about?  How so much can hinge on one choice?  I think so.

I've tried to make this little blog a chronical of those "signals" of when life as I know it ends, and what happens because of them.  If you've been here from the start you've followed me to Israel, to Utah, through college, to graduation, to Denver, to Europe, and to wherever else I set my mind to go and do.  Thanks for indulging me over the years.  May you take notice of the signals that change your life as you know it.

Guess what I found?

odds and ends

I don't like reading blogs with a lot of text.  If you don't either, stop reading now and I won't feel bad.  There are a few people that will read what I write no matter what.  This is for them.

• I still haven't found my camera and I'm really sad about it.  And confused, frankly.  I only keep it in maybe 3 places and it isn't in any of those places it should be.  Or the places it shouldn't be.  I've looked.  Hence more writing, less pictures.  And by less I mean none.

• I've been sick for a few weeks, but only I-feel-crummy-and-tired-and-don't-feel-like-doing-anything-but-I-can-still-go-to-work-and-get-the-job-done-sick.  It's not a fun kind of sick to be because people don't always take you seriously if you aren't throwing up.  And it's the kind of sick you feel bad complaining about because you know there are all those people with cancer, pregnancy, or some other serious physical condition that probably feel way worse than you do and they endure it like champs.  I promise I really have a bug, but it'll pass and I may be on the upswing even now.  I'm in my 3rd day of feeling normal-ish (!!!).  That will make my roommate happy.  She claims she gets unusually crafty when I'm not up and around and its wearing her out.  But the house looks lovely with all the new wall hangings.  Someone else will also be very happy when I am well so we can get back to more interesting activities than watching me grumpily lie on a couch after work.

• Halloween was fun.  Or rather, the weekend before Halloween.  We dressed up as Jessie and Woody from Toy Story for a regional YSA dance and dang, we looked good.  Actual Halloween?  I spent the evening lying on a couch with a migraine while he did homework.  Party animals.

• My little brother Scott received his assignment to serve as a missionary for our Church for 2 years.  He is heading to the New Hampshire Manchester mission.  He reports to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on December 7.  Yay for missionaries!

• My high school alma mater had a stellar cross country season this fall.  The boys' team placed 1st at the 5A Idaho State Cross Country Championships for the first time ever!  Then the girls' team placed 2nd, edged out of 1st place by a mere 4 points, which is a heartbreakingly-slim margin, believe me.  Word is the girls team has no seniors and only one junior, so it looks like the team will stay strong for the next few years and likely win it all next year.  The last time girls won 1st at state was my senior season (and very last xc race, awesomely) in 2004.  Go Vikings!

Déja vu. Or, My Life is Awesome Twice.

Remember when I won free tickets to a KT Tunstall concert last year?

It happened again!  Booyah!  I entered another drawing for free tickets from the same company I got tickets from before and won again!  I'm starting to think nobody else is entering these drawings.  Maybe I should enter for all their ticket giveaways.  This time the tickets were for the David Cook and Gavin DeGraw concert last Saturday.  I wouldn't have purchased tickets to the show, but I certainly was interested in seeing them for free. 

This guy was at work, so my roommate came with me.  I took pictures but I lost my camera again so I don't have the visuals to prove it. 

Seriously a great show.  Carolina Liar was the opening act, then David came out, then Gavin (like how I talk about them like we're old pals?).  All the artists were outstanding performers, the kind of performers that look like they are having a blast the whole time. Espcially Gavin.  He gyrated so much I was starting to think he had some kind of tic.

The lead singer from One Republic is a Colorado local and made a cameo at the show because he helped write Gavin's new single.  I literally ran into him by the merch counter between sets, but I didn't know who he was besides a guy who didn't look where he was going.  My roommate almost died when she found out and tried to convince me to never shower again. 

I recommend both David and Gavin's music.  David is more rock than pop, and Gavin is more pop than rock.  But both produce strong, well-executed, catchy, relatable music.  Give them a listen.  I recommend checking out their new singles here and here.

Fall[ing]

Well, howdy fall!  It's like Colorado knew when September started because *BAM*, 50 degrees and rain.  But true to form, it has since forgot and all week it has been 80 degrees+ though mornings are a little colder than they used to be.  I get kind of restless on chilly mornings because I feel like I should be running a cross country race.  My body still gets all anxious and ready for it.  Unfortunately, running has sort of faded away for the last little while.  First, because my running buddy is back in nursing school and thus forfeited her life until December, and second, because I've been doing other fun things instead like

(click on any picture to view it full size)

slacklining,

longboarding/rollerblading,

window shopping at IKEA,

making pizza,

watching pee wee football,

and appreciating nature

...with this guy.

East, West, Home's Best

Two posts in a week?  Gasp!  Yes, it's true.  Now that the most stressful nine weeks of my life are behind me (complete with 10 min lunches, going home "early" meant going home an hour late, poor posture, scrambled brain, tears, and a few outbursts at the futility of it all) I'm coming back to life and happy to be here.  My workload is back to managable levels, and I got to run away from it all and take a trip home to Idaho!

Yay!

I don't make it there very often these days.  I think I've spent a collective 12 days in Coeur d'Alene in the last year and a half and most of that time was during the winter.  August is definitely the time to visit the great Inland Northwest.  Perfect weather, warm water, and still green green green everywhere. 

And then, of course, the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo!  Yep, I made it back to help out at the Elephant Ear Booth this year.  Our family worker roster was a bit lean this year, so I went home to help out.  I had a blast.  I went boating twice, worked at the fair everyday with a mass of relatives whom I love, went running and hung out with my dad at Tubbs Hill, played my harp, met my newborn nephew, hung out with friends at the fair, went to my brother's cross country meet.  I think it was so good because it was the most engaged I've been in being home and taking advantage of all the, well, advantages. 

Photo collage of the trip, because it's a lot easier than uploading pictures individually.  And it takes less time to load.  And you probably wouldn't care to look at each picture individually anyway unless you're my stalker.  Or bored.  Or my dad.  

Click on collage to see it larger.

The Summer of Firsts

This summer has been full of all sorts of "firsts" for me. I love firsts. I like the excitement and anticipation of something new about to happen but not knowing exactly what to expect, and the surprise when it goes beyond anything I could imagine up. Keeps life thrilling.

A chronical of selected summer 2011 "firsts":

First time wakeboarding (and set a record getting up on my 3rd try!)

First time visiting the CO mountains (as opposed to driving through)

First visitor

First place in the ice cream sculpting contest!

First time wake skating (Got up on first and EVERY try!  I'm going pro.)

First visit with this little guy

First time finishing an entire game of Monopoly... and winning!