Currently

Craving: Brownies. And I totally know why. This is the last week of my church's 40 days of fasting and I gave up junk food, also my employer just came back from vacation in San Fransisco and got me chocolate from the Ghirardelli factory and it's just sitting in my car. I'm a moron. But my skin is totally showing the benefits of cutting out such garbage from my daily diet (I included pizza, ice cream, candy, potato chips and most sodas as well). Since I've done this, I've also taken up eating a lot of organic food from my other employer's house. She loves cooking organically and making smoothies using organic fruits. No objection here.

Listening to: Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl, by Broken Social Scene. This song is, honestly, so hauntingly beautiful to me and I don't know why. It reminds me of my little sister, Sally and our friends always spending the night in her room. Sometimes eight of us at a time on the floor. Totally true to the lyrics, we were the rotten ones and we loved each other for that.

Can't wait for: This week to be over! Too many errands to run, too many expenses, too much work. Can't wait to stay up late with everyone again and just enjoy their company while they crack me up and we play with each other's pets. And I've been having some great one-on-one conversations with some of my gals lately.

Eating: Left-overs from Kendra's trip to see me in Santa Monica. We brought back so many left-overs to the hotel. Wish I could remember the name of the place, but it's pastas were amazing, as well as their garlic bread knots. Mmm, come at me, carbs.

Wishing: That I were more caught-up on my plans to visit Maine this summer. I still haven't worked out the details for location, hotel, plane ticket, company or even cost, but I'm saving! I can't wait to go. I'll probably be going with my mom, since I eventually want to move there, she's curious to see the place I might end up. My good friend Kendra said she'd go with me as well, which could work out perfectly because she'll be moving to Boston in a few months anyway and would only be a stone's throw away if she decided to come.


What has you moving today? Take a moment to jot it down and appreciate it :)

First Day of Spring!

What a first day it's been. I've been kicking myself a lot lately for not blogging more, especially when it's on my mind so much. I've encountered some great subjects for posts too! It's just too bad that it's so difficult to drag my lazy butt to the computer and hash it all out.

But, first thing's first. While perfmorming my nanny duties this morning (the back-breaking hour of 5:30am), I saw what is soon to be my favorite new show. Must Love Cats. Have you seen this madness?? It's title grabbed me at first, of course, but I've seen it there before while scrolling throught the tv guide, never wanting to admit to myself that I'd love to watch it. This time I decided to read the info on it and when it said that this particular episode was taking place in Japan - sold. Japan is almost notorious for it's love of cats, so I had to indulge. I'm so happy I did. This show is featured on Animal Planet, which I sadly do not get at my house, so make no mistake that it will be pulled up on every window of my computer trying to find other episodes to rot my brain with and over-load the cuddle section of my mind.

I loved that they featured a Japanese home that featured a catwalk which I've been dreaming of having in my own home some day. But what I loved even more was the featuring of Tama, the feline station master at Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan. Now, I heard through the grape vine a few years back that Japan appointed Hello Kitty as Japan's American Ambassador - silly, right? I knew Japan loved cats, but this is truly awesome. This is an actual cat.

img source: Toru Yamanaka

And she's a good little station master, yes she is.

Keeping the good Spring times rolling, I got a great amount of yard work done today in the sun. It was the perfect kind of day for it. I plan on putting a ton of flowers in my side yard once I get it all nice and tilled up. It really made me feel like I got something accomplished today. Hopefully, that's a sign of things to come :)

Happy first day of Spring, everybody!

A Few Things

He would want us to keep smiling.

Here are some things that let the sunshine in for me today.

1. My friends. Thank God for people like you in my life and thank God that we're in each other's lives. That we care about each other and will be there for the joy and the sorrow. I want to know what's in your heart just as I would hope that you would want to know what's in mine. You are beautiful people with amazings souls and I love you dearly.

2. This cold night in early March in which I can enjoy hot beverages in again. I can't convey enough how much I am dreading the on-coming summer and it's unbarable heat on my Scandinavian skin. More scarves and jackets! Bring on the frozen dew on the grass in the mornings and foggy streets at night.

3. Switching around my closet. Dustin and I have compromised so that I can have his old side and he can have mine. He had more room to hang things which, as a girl I needed (dresses), and I was sick of our ferret climbing onto my shelves and knocking my things down. Besides, the mini kitchen in our closet is for his use only anyway and it was on my old side which limited my space even more. Now I have a fresh new start on the other side!

4. Working hard. With my usual working hours, it seems strange to admit that I don't like having as much time off as I do. I enjoy working and I enjoy saving what I earn. With the few hours that I work, my money goes mostly to gas and bills and nothing fun besides the occasional stop at In N' Out. But this week has been gloriously full and busy. I worked additional hours for one of my kid's mom's going to a dinner party for work and working more hours for another mom whose husband will be out of town tomorrow. Yay for feeling productive!

5. My hair. Oooo, baby, it's getting there. I'm almost at the length I was at when I first moved to Seattle three years ago. I'm just a couple of inches short of my goal and then growing it out will be simply for enjoying purposes only, rather than meeting a desired length. Bonus on the hair-growing front, my bangs have grown almost the entire lenth of my face meaning no more bangs for me for a while! I haven't had a bang-less hairstyle since my freshman year of highschool. Feelin' so fly.

6. Fat cats that sit like lazy men on couches. I'm looking at one right now, both online and in person.

7. A hot shower after a hard day. I swear I could use all of Southern California's water reserves just for my showers. When I get in, I never, ever want to leave. It's the best place in the world besides your bed or grandma's house.




To my friends that read this, let the sunshine in. He would like that.

For Morgan

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the passing of our dear friend Morgan Mitchell. One of the good ones, Morgan sold everything he owned and moved to Germany where he met his girlfriend, Rosa. It was Rosa that delivered the news to us last night that Morgan had passed. There are no anecdotes to sugar-coat his passing, such as, "He lived a full life." or, "He's in a better place now." Morgan, you left us too soon. We will always remember your laugh and your brightness. Rest in peace, good friend.

All the love in the world

Wednesday night, alright

Happy Leap Year, everybody! Talk about the perfect day to do the unexpected and exciting. To commemorate, I have finally completed a "photo-an-hour" for myself and my leap year day today! Those will more than likely be posted on here tomorrow, but I'm excited for them! Hope everyone made the most of today :)

11 Things

Danielle at Sometimes Sweet has invited all of her readers to participate in an "11 Things" post that she was tagged in. Here we go :)

There are five rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a picture of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tgged them.


11 Random Things

1. I was born in Astoria, Oregon. A town made famous by the movie "The Goonies." I was raised in the town across the river called Ilwaco. Another town famous for being the final destination point of the Lewis and Clark trail and named after a Chinook Indian chief. I love the trees, the foggy mornings, the water, the wildlife; it's all so amazing.

2. Im probably one of the few people you'll meet who loves black licorice. I mean, LOVES it. My theory is that it's a Pacific Northwesterner thing, because I have yet to meet someone in Southern California who even likes it, let alone can tolerate it.

3. I have harbored the nearly-life-long goal of moving to Maine ever since I was in the fourth grade. It started out as a class assignment to write about a state that we've never been to but would like to visit. I picked my state at random because I had already been to almost every US state, so I chose Maine. I asked my mom what my reason should be and she told me, "I don't know. They have lobster there. You could write about lobster." So that was my official reason for wanting to go to Maine. Since then, the idea of moving there has resonated in my mind over and over and over. And to this day, I've still never had lobster.

4. Jim Carrey will always leave me in stitches. He has since I first saw him in the Ace Ventura movies. I loved him so much, I would do impressions of him all day long, making my mom laugh. She thought I was the funniest kid because of it and even now, when we catch those movies on tv, she'll still make me say one or two of his lines. I'll always love those memories.

5. No matter the restaurant I'm in, I will always (at least subliminally) look for french toast on the menu.

6. I have many collections. I have a small collections of bell jars, magazines, feathers, and I have a little brown Moleskeine notebook which I keep pressed leaves in, but they are ONLY leaves that I've actually witnessed falling from a tree. I just think it's kind of a neat thought, "This leaf right here, I was there when it fell from the tree it came from."

7. I wish that I had stuck to dancing when I was younger. I still do ballet, but I'm nowhere near as flexible or and nimble as I would have been had I stuck with it. As undriven as I was when I was younger to persue it, I think it's something that I was made to do. Especially when most melodic music I hear inspires me to imagine a ballet.

8. My favorite book is Palace of Ice by Norweigan author, Tarjei Vesaas. I have read this book every winter for the past four years. The wording and imagery is just incredible.

9. I'm for sure a homebody. I don't go out to clubs, parties, shows or anything of the sort. I've just always been that way. I'd much rather make dinner and sit around watching tv and movies and talk to my family.

10. I could watch the same movies over and over and never get tired of them. I turn to them for rainy days or even just alone time. Each time I watch the same movie, it tells me something different or I notice something that I didn't before. It might get on everyone else's nerves, but that's why I watch them when I can get a little down-time :)

11. I love knowing random facts to bring up in everyday conversations. What type of rock that is, what constellation that is, what cat breed, what historical date, etc.

The 11 questions from Danielle:

1. If money, schooling or time was no obstacle, what career would you choose?
Geology professor. Hands down. It's my major and I get such a rush when I explain to someone the answer to a geology question.

2. What's the one thing you look forward to everyday?
I always look forward to feeling driven to do something. Like every day is a new start to something.

3. What is your number one, all-time, favorite blog?
Currently ADORING Katie's Pencil Box.

4. Biggest online pet peeve?
I can honestly say that I don't have one.

5. What is your all-time favorite book?
Palace of Ice, by Tarjei Vesaas!

6. What would your "last meal" be?
A steak and lobster dinner with coleslaw and fries with a cherry coke. Oh, baby.

7. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Attraction is first, but I believe in love at first meet.

8. What would your ideal Sunday morning consist of?
Plenty of sun through the windows, french toast in bed (like in the movies, with a little rose bud in a vase on the side ;)) made by my husband, snuggling in bed with my kiddos and followed up by church.

9. Why do you blog?
It's a great way to bring out your creative side and it boosts my confidence honestly, by making me feel productive :)

10. If you had to choose one color to wear forever, what would you pick?
Black, certainly. It can be so classy and so casual.

Oops, no number 11?

Questions for other ladies to answer:
1. If you plan on walking down the isle someday, what song do you want playing?
2. City or seclusion, and why?
3. If you could choose to have an exotic pet, what animal would it be?
4. Turning back the hands of time, what historical figure would you warn about their death?
5. Your style icon?
6. What do you enjoy doing most on a Friday night?
7. Do you live day by day or do you look ahead? If so, where do you see yourself?
8. What's in your purse/bag right now?
9. What is your favorite breakfast food?
10. If you could speak any language fluently in addition to your native language, what would you want to speak?
11. If you could live in any time period, when would you live?

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of my new tattoo. I know that I said I wanted to wait until I had my color done, but I've never been one to be patient. Especially now that I'm bursting at the seams to share my new gem. First, let me drop a little knowledge on you about it's back story. This tattoo means a lot to me. It was tought up by me, drawn by me and tattooed by not me (my friend Justin!) It is my own personal depiction in traditional style of Marie Antoinette. Anyone that knows me, knows that Marie Antoinette is barr none my favorite historical figure of all time (and I'm a sucker for historical figures). I thanked God when I caught wind of the trailer being put out by Sofia Coppola for her Marie Antoinette movie. I saw it in theaters, bought it when it came out on dvd and I have watched it more times that anyone you know, I'm sure. What captured my heart about France's last queen was my overwhelming sympathy for her and my philosphical love for the human condition.

She was just a girl when she was married to Louis XVI and just a girl still when she became queen and so I wanted to depict her as a girl when she was at her most impressionable and under the most pressure. Married on paper by the age of twelve, a wedding ceremony at fifteen and a queen by nineteen, Sofia Coppola hit it out of the park with the "she had no idea what she was doing" aspect and it made me think that she was just like any of us - wanting to act her own age; that maybe she was never meant to be a queen. Have you ever heard the catch-phrase, "A real slice of life"? Well, I wanted something like that captioned next to her and when I heard, "Un boit pour le roi" in the final scenes of the film, (translates to: a drink for the king) it was just what I was meant to hear. Marie Antoinette was Louis XVI's drink of life. Thanks to her, his life was a whirlwind that he never expected. She was his drink of life and if only he knew what would come of marrying her. But the most important message that this tattoo gives me is this: we are all human. I love, love, love my new piece and without further adieu...

Courtesy of Justin at Yer Cheat'n Heart Tattoo in Gardena, CA.

I love tattoos and the messages (and sometimes the non-messages) that people attatch to their pieces. If any of you out there would like to share some with me, I will read each and every one. Happy blogging everyone :)


Also, I'm 23 now, guys! Happy birthday to me.