wod.fam.choc.sod.

My cousin Lizzy is...


amazing.

She is my cousin. She is my sister. She is my best friend.

She makes me laugh harder than anyone I know. She inspires me in more ways than I can express. She reminds me of the Truth when I struggle to see through the lies.

Liz, you have been there for EVERYTHING. For smiling belly buttons and deadly Now & Laters. For Rice Chex with whipped cream and moving away from my dad. For Team Mega Death [we're hardcore] road trips up the PCH to all the happy and sad tears shed over the last 18 months, and all the other ones for that matter.

Thank you for being there for EVERYTHING.

Thank you for being my cousinsisterbestfriend.

Thank you for your tenacious, wise spirit.

Thank you for telling the truth even when it is hard.

Thank you for every single bit of who you are.

I love you and I am so glad you were born 26 years ago today.

the avetts are here to stay

If you've been around me this past week here is what you know:

I AM [even more] OBSESSED WITH THE AVETT BROTHERS.

I have, with the exception of time spent running*, listened almost solely to their albums since last Friday. And I wish I could concisely explain why this obsession has taken root so deeply. Since I doubt my ability to do that I will simply share these:

Cigarettes & Whiskey**


The Ballad of Love and Hate


Murder in the City


Gimmeakiss***


*I am in the process of compiling an Avett Brothers running mix.
**Cover
***I wasn't there for Gimmeakiss, but there aren't any good videos of their faster stuff from the first night.

loving fiercely

I am realizing something about myself. It's not new, but the way I understand it is.

What I know about myself is that I love fiercely.

For awhile I thought I should tone it down, not love so fiercely. Someone, me, was going to get hurt.

And recently, a deeper understanding of this fierce way I love has become mine. I do not need to tone down the way I love. I must simply be discerning about who I choose to love with this fierce love of mine.

This does not imply that I will now be treating love as a commodity. It does mean that trust must be built, must be earned, before the floodgates that hold back this fierce love can be opened.

the avetts are coming!

THE AVETTS ARE COMING!

THE AVETTS ARE COMING!

THE AVETTS ARE COMING!

The first time I had a favorite band it was New Kids on the Block. But that love ended quickly, mostly because I was in fourth grade and my mother wouldn't let me listen to Z100.

Then, in high school it was Blink 182, mostly the early stuff and especially Dude Ranch.

I went through the totally valid, but still cliche, Dave Matthews Band phase in college, thankfully skipping Phish altogether, and dabbled a bit in early John Mayer.

But it wasn't until I sat in Dan's chair at Samuel O'Reilly's getting the outline work done on my arm that I really found, and fell for, a band: The Avett Brothers

The lyrics, the music, the instruments, the ridiculous amazingness that is their live shows...it is all SO GOOD. I don't know that any other band could have compelled me to sit through three hours of pouring rain just to listen to them play their music like the Avetts did last August at the Washington Park Zoo.

And now, TONIGHT, they are going to be in Portland. Not just in Portland, but in Portland playing at The Crystal Ballroom.

I am giddy as I anticipate this evening's concert.

the thing about the library

The thing about the library is that it makes me think about time.

I went in to pick up a book I had on hold [Thursday Next: First Among Sequels], and as I left, book in hand, thinking about the time this book and I would get to spend together, I glanced down at my check out slip. At the bottom it read, "DUE DATE: 06-08-09".

By the time this book is due it was already be June.

By the time this book is due I will have moved away from Santa Cruz OVER a year ago.

By the time this book is due Heather could have had Collin.

Time certainly does fly....

mojito thunder

I LOVE ULTIMATE FRISBEE. Just the name conjures up images of greatness: a defender chasing down her mark as she gets ho for the huck to the endzone, a trio of handlers breaking the zone to advance the disc upfield, the feeling of satisfaction as your hand slaps the disc to the ground inches before it reaches your mark's eager hands. It is ULTIMATE. It is FRISBEE. And it KICKS ASS.

My spring league team is Mojito Thunder, and in case you're wondering, yes we do drink celebratory mojitos, win or lose, after our games. Back to back games against Get Hucked and Vanilla Gorilla. We tied with Get Hucked who played a stellar game and even scored a Callahan [caught the disc in their endzone while they were on D...I'll be honest I've got a J in my heart about that point]. Vanilla Gorilla, our second game, was tons of fun. I got to D a chick who plays for Schwa [Portland's AWESOME Women's Ultimate team...if you know women's ulti, you've heard of Schwa] and while she COULD have run me around the field [more than she did], she kept it chilly. There were awesome grabs, long points, a few great layouts, and the rain was nice enough to stay away for most of the evening.

Have I mentioned I love this game?

encouragement

I love to encourage others. LOVE it. When I was an intern at Twin Lakes we took the spiritual gifts test and one of my top gifts was exhortation. I know, it sort of sounds like a sneeze when you say it. But it means "the act of inciting to laudable deeds; incitement to that which is good or commendable; language intended to incite and encourage; advice; counsel; admonition." Prior to taking that test I'd never really thought about my love of encouraging others very specifically. I just figured I was really verbal. That shift in understanding my love for encouragement has been huge. It has helped me understand the power of words, the importance of lifting others up, and the fact that most of us, myself included, have a pretty difficult time being encouraged. It also opened my eyes to the fact that I LOVE to be encouraged. I might have a hard time hearing the compliments, but I love to hear kind words from someone who cares for me.

So. Yesterday I arrived home [to my NEW home...expect a post on that in the near future] completely DRENCHED from a run in the torrential downpour weather forecasters like to call rain to find a package waiting for me on the counter. My FIRST piece of mail at my new house. It was from Kathy. She'd told me she was putting together a little something to help me train for the half marathon I'm running in July. But it was SO much more than just a little something. I opened it to find a poster full of encouragement, inspiring women marathoners, and a picture of a gun firing peanuts [inside joke]. There was also a water running training schedule [great for off days and rehabbing bum knees]. AND. There were NINE CDs:
For the Love of my Life Volumes 1 & 2 [nice, chill, relaxing tunes]
Not Just Arm Candy Volumes 1-6 [running mixes]
Kara Goucher Endurance Mix [LOVE her, also a running mix]

Kath, you're the best. Thank you for ALL the encouragement, advice and love.

BEYOND excited

There are not enough words to describe JUST how:
overjoyed I am.
excited I am.
full of love I am.
on the verge of happy tears I am.
much I want to dance and shout.
often I am tempted to share the news with strangers.
loud it makes me squeal when I think about it.

Why?

BECAUSE ERICA AND CRAIG ARE PREGNANT.Well, technically Erica is the one who's prego. And Craig is the loving, supportive, amazing husband and daddy-to-be.

I love these two SO much and the thought of them bringing a new, precious little life into this world moves me to tears. LBS [Little Baby Stubblefield] is one lucky, blessed, and very loved baby.

day 30: finish strong

When given the challenge to finish strong I thought, "yeah, yeah, sure." I was skeptical that I would actually rise up and meet that challenge. After a long month full of exercise whose end seemed defined by injury I wondered what I could possibly do to challenge myself.

My answer to that question: Interval training.

I recently signed up for a half-marathon and Kathy, and kick-ass marathoner, in SF put together a customized training plan within 10 minutes of me telling her about my plans to run. Yesterday's prescribed training was five miles followed by five sets of two minute intervals run at race pace [9:30 / mile]. I did an unprescribed five mile run on Wednesday, and with my knee griping a bit I lowered the initial mileage to four miles at a very easy 10:47 / mile pace. After that I kicked it into gear, Girl Talk urging me on as I ran my five intervals.

I left the gym feeling like such a bad ass. And when I extracted my phone from my overly full gym bag [seriously, how did all this crap make it in to my bag?] I saw that right about the time I'd hopped off the treadmill she'd called and left a message wondering how my first set of intervals went. I called her back and we encouraged each other [she'd just finished running sets of four minute intervals at a 6:30 pace and running at an 8:00 pace in between...SUCH a bad ass] and talked about the importance of Vaseline and Body Glide.

So I pulled it out in the end. I finished strong. I love it when I surprise myself.