girl time

when i was getting ready to be married, i was excited at the prospect of living with adam, but a part of me was mourning the loss of living with girls. i absolutely loved my girlie roommates from our late night conversations, trashy tv marathons, and family dinners to sharing and borrowing everything from cereal to earrings.

well, i've been married almost two years now, and I love living with Adam. he may not care as much about shoes and makeup as the girls did, but we have a lot of fun together. this weekend i get to revert back to my college days. i'm heading out to LA to visit Becca and Laura. when i tell people what i'm going to be doing, i mention hiking and shopping and seeing the ocean, but really I don't care what we do as long as it's just relaxing girl time. i'm hoping to drink lots of coffee, eat some good food and wine and just enjoy the girls. it's been a while.

rainy sundays

It's been a rainy day and as much as I would have loved to spend the day at the park or playing tennis and going for a walk, there's also something wonderful about curling up on the couch, watching an old movie, taking a nap and reading a book. Adam is less content staying in all day, so he insisted that he wanted to go to Target. So I made him a very detailed list (I need conditioner, concealer, and razors). We'll see how he does, or how many times he calls to ask what I was talking about.

I'm listening to several songs on the new John Mayer CD on repeat (stop this train and the heart of life) it's very soothing music for a rainy day. I'm pumped because John is coming to Des Moines in June and Ben Folds is opening for him. It should be a good show.

dare to dream

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover..."
—Mark Twain

what does this look like for me. What are the things I should be doing right now that I will regret not doing in 20 years? I am so comfortable in Des Moines. I love our condo, the job is fine, life is good. There's nothing wrong with that, but do I want to be comfortable when I'm 24? I want to be challenged and pushed to the limit. Maybe that's crazy, maybe I just need to find ways to spice things up where I am. Maybe I just have spring fever.

the kindness of God

"If I am to know God as He really is, then I must not just accept that God is kind; I must embrace His kindness as my own. I need that kindness to saturate my being and transform me."

I wrote this quote down, and now I can't remember where I read it, so I can't give the author the credit he deserves, but it really struck me. the idea of embracing God's loving kindness as our own. i don't quite know what that looks like, but I know that I want to do a better job of loving myself and other people. Sometimes the loving myself part is almost harder than the loving other people part. I naturally feel selfish if I take too much time for myself, but really, if I'm not taking care of myself and embracing God's love for me, I can't fully love others.