simpsoka

It's the second semester of my freshman year of college, first week of classes. I'm leaving class, walking side by side with a girl I've just met. I'm intrigued by her intelligence, her independence, and the spark that ignites when two people just get each other.

Fast forward a year and a half. It's the end of my second semester of sophomore year. School is about to start, and this same friend and I are headed to our respective homes for the summer, me to Vancouver and she to Alaska. Inspired by Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (yes, really), she suggests that instead of sharing pants we mail journals back and forth all summer. This remains on of my favorite highlights of our friendship to this day.

Another year and a half goes by and we are roommates living in three-quarters of a garage that's been converted into a small house. There are Saturday morning breakfasts, movie nights, road trips, quote boards, and memories that have faded into the fabric of friendship only remembered in the familiarity that exists between us.

After only six months of being roommates, she moves. Then she moves again, and I move where she is. We spend a summer hiking, biking and laughing our way through Skagway, Alaska and its surrounding wonders. And then summer is over.

Real life sets in. She moves. I move. I visit. She moves. I move. I move. She moves. I move. She moves. I move. She moves. And all of a sudden it's been several years since we've seen each other. How does life move so quickly? It doesn't feel like years because we talk every week. But when I think about the last time I SAW her laugh, not just imagined it as she tells me she's laughing over gchat, the time becomes evident.

On Friday the wait will be over. It will no longer be years since we've seen each other, and I cannot wait.

fabulous friday video goodness

I was all set to post a different video today. And then Nish reminded me just how much I loved...Blink182. Those boys with their potty jokes, their tattoos (mmm...tattoos...) and their piercings, playing their sugary bubblegum punk. How I loved them. So in honor of the past, here is Blink182.

thankful on a thursday—under the wire

Here it is, only 39 minutes from Friday, and my TOAT post is still unwritten. Because there's so little to be thankful for? Not so much, see last week's post on all of the busy in my life for more information.

Friends, here is my list of things for which I am thankful:

1. Early morning runs marked by sunshine and a cool breeze/
2. Deep belly laughs.
3. Wisdom and love imparted by cousinsisterbestfriends.
4. A weekend away at the cabin with family.
5. Learning to trust that He who began a good work in me is faithful to complete it.
6. The anticipation of a more than long overdue weekend in San Francisco.
7. That first glass of cold water after a run.
8. The process of reconciliation.
9. The high school students who brighten up my Wednesday nights with their laughter and love.
10. Opportunities to go big or go home.

Good night my friends.

fabulous friday video goodness

I discovered this video when I was over in Scotland. Several things to notice:

• The size of the cell phone you see around 1:50
• The awesome dance moves
• Eyebrows [you'll know them when you see them]

I only have one question for you...why can't we dig each other and just hang?

thankful on a thursday—a little crazy

Life these days feels a little crazy. I feel like I have so many different things to manage, and I never sit down and organize all of them at once. I'll be in the midst of putting together a to do list at work, and something on my list will remind me of an email I meant to send to a friend. So I'll open up my email and get half a sentence in before I realized I've abandoned my previous task of organizing my to do list.

A few years ago someone asked me how I kept myself organized, where was my calendar? I smiled, tapped my index finger against my temple, and said, "it's all up here." Now, I'm not at the point where life is so crazy that I'm forgetting what I'm doing when and with whom...but I am at the point where my schedule is a little more than crazy. My homebody self is not getting enough time at home, while my extroverted that-sounds-awesome-lets-do-that! self is getting PLENTY of time out with others.

I get that it's MY CHOICE to say yes or no to spending time with friends. No one is forcing me out of the house. Maybe the problem is reminding myself to stay in. Self-imposed lock-ins, or designated nights each week that I'm always home? That seems a little too rule oriented for my taste.

It's not so much about rules as it is making sure I make time for the things that, regardless of how crazy life gets, keep me grounded. It's making sure I have time to just sit with my Bible and my journal, without anything else to distract me—this is why I no longer attempt to read my Bible during lunch at work or on the bus. It is taking time to be alone, in my room, on a run, but to just be alone without music, TV or a book to distract me.

1. The peace and quiet that accompanies every run.
2. Library books.
3. A handwritten card full of love and encouragement.
4. The familiar ache in my quads as I climb the stairs, a byproduct of running regularly.
5. Hood strawberries fresh from the farmers' market.
6. The smell of coffee as I prepare to take my first sip of the day.
7. My nephew Jonah Bear, who is about to turn ONE.
8. Homemade pie, lemon meringue to be precise.
9. The light in the kitchen, early in the morning, and the inevitable sigh of relief I breathe as I sit down.
10. Last, but CERTAINLY NOT least,Kathleen Alice Simpson, who was born 28 years and one day ago today.

remember

"Remember who you are and what you stand for."

My grandpa, Pop, would say that to me, and the rest of his grand kids, as he and my grandma, Mamie, would hug us goodbye. It's not as easy as it sounds, remembering who I am and what I stand for. The enemy is crafty, with schemes and enticements for each and every day. But more and more I am learning to stand in who I am, who I am created to be. I am learning that just because the waves crash against me, doesn't mean I will be knocked off my feet. I am learning that when the storms rage I can lean against my Rock.

fabulous friday video goodness—BONUS AVETTS

A little bonus Avett Goodness via the always awesome Joe Kwon[the cellist for The Avett Brothers]. A lovely Friday night to you all, and please to enjoy.

The Fall - The Avett Brothers feat. G. Love from Joseph Kwon on Vimeo.

fabulous friday video goodness—AVETTS

It's been a while since I've posted any Avett Goodness here, but it's not because these brothers have been far from my heart. No, no. Check out this video of their song, "Tear Down the House". It's one of my favorites, and this video makes it even more so.



PS. Anyone around this summer and want to go see them at Edgefield??

thankful on a thursday—friendship

I cannot believe all the amazing people God's put in my life. Tonight, sitting at my kitchen table with a little Jack Johnson on in the back ground, I am overwhelmed by the women and even a few men I get to be in community with on a regular basis. The more time I spend with people, the more I KNOW that we are not meant to be alone. We are not meant to live independently of one another.

We are meant to be in one another's lives. Not just when the house is clean and there's a delicious meal to be shared, but when the house is a mess and I haven't showered in three days, and I'm on the verge of an emotional breakdown. That is when it is the MOST important to open the door and let my friends in.

It can be SO DIFFICULT to let people into my mess, but it is so much better than the alternative, which is loneliness and fear. The fear that led me to plop down in the middle of the mess, certain that life would always look and feel like this, dissipates when another person sits in that place with me, with YOU, with us. Why miss out on that in an attempt to appear perfect, to try and prove that I've got it all figured out? THERE IS NO GOOD REASON TO DO THAT. Yeah, that was a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway because I want to be VERY CLEAR that I am learning that community exists because God, in all His infinite wisdom, knew that we couldn't make it through the mess alone.

What about you, is it easy to let people in? Or are you slower to let others in?

1. FRIENDSHIP
2. Handwritten cards and letters
3. The anticipation of a Friday evening run that will push my running limits
4. The Wednesday Farmer's Market
5. Rodeo
6. Laughter with friends
7. The joy that comes when we share and bear each others burdens
8. Stove popped pop corn with kale chips and garlic
9. Celebrating with friends
10. Coffee dates with friends that cover the mundane, the profound, and everything in between
11. The anticipation in the four minutes before the the first cup of french press

fabulous friday video goodness

First it was the Single Ladies cover. And now...NOW POMPLAMOOSE DOES GAGA!

Please to enjoy this Fabulous Friday Video Goodness.

thankful on a thursday—don't should on yourself

Shouldn't I have this all figured out by now? Shouldn't I know WHO I am and WHAT I want to do with my life? Shouldn't I be a responsible, well adjusted adult by now? In the words of my friend / pastor / mentor / former-boss Charlie (who was quoting someone else I can't remember), "Don't should on yourself."

I'm a planner, and I like to have ALL the answers, not just some of them. When people ask me about work, about what I do, about what I want to do, there's this knot in my stomach and my throat tightens just a little. How can I be honest AND positive? How can I make it seem like I have my stuff together, like I have a plan, like I'm okay in the absence of a plan.

This absence of a plan freaks me out. It takes SO much faith and trust that I will be led—that I AM being led. Some days it's easy to trust, and others I am a messy wreck. But in the midst of it all, He is still there to cling to, and for that I am so thankful.

1. My uncle starts chemo this week, and the doctors are not worried about him.
2. A lazy weekend.
3. A good night's sleep in my own bed.
4. The use of a car for two and a half weeks.
5. Epiphanies.
6. Friends, old and new.
7. Just because I can't sense God doesn't mean He's not there.
8. Library books.
9. Discovering a new coffee roaster.
10. Honest conversation.