10 Highlights from Last Week.

Some photos celebrating Fathers' Day and Jeffer's birthday:

Opening Night-My family LOVES baseball!Waiting for the gates to open.My gma and her cute hat.My gparents are too adorable.Showing off their snacks.

Sharing beer and snacks with my family at a local baseball game for fathers' day.
Firework show after the game.

Jeffer's 29th birthday celebration.I'm an excellent photographer.

Dance party at the drag show.Glasses and pints.

This morning was rough. It was Monday after enjoying two days of freedom and there was a mini-breakdown aversion as the day progressed--Thank goodness for good friends close and far away to validate my emotions as rational. I am finding more and more that with my intelligent girlies we are having to assure one another that even if it isn't logical for us to be feeling a certain way, it isn't any less important, necessary or warranted to have an emotional reaction to events in our lives. So I really appreciate that from today. This has me thinking of last week as it was full of many things I am so thankful to have experienced. What I found after looking over my list is most of them are focused on sharing something with a loved one--my most precious times occur with my relationships.

1. Treating my gparents to a baseball game to celebrate Fathers' Day early this year. It was opening night for the Spokane Indians! We gorged on kettle corn, peanuts, beer and oohed and awwed over the fireworks show and my gma and I appreciated the handsome talent on the other team (we were sitting by their dugout in left field).
2. Celebrating Jeffer's last birthday be he's old (29)! We've been putting up with each other's shit for many years now and I love him.
   
3. An unexpected and unlikely friend at work (which brings to mind that old strategic saying from political science "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Perhaps a bit conniving and dramatic but when you find yourself wanting to "smash someone's face into a jelly"....
   
4. Live music! Cristie and I caught shows at the Big Sleaze (The Spill Canvas) and The Mixx (local younguns but talented and could quote funny movies like none other)...and then of course karaoke at Monterey Cafe as Nathan and I took it upon ourselves to be backup singers for the whole bar and then did a wicked rendition of Avril's "Girlfriend" ;)
   
5. An answer to a question that has been plaguing our group for months regarding our favourite local bartender. ;)
6. Homemade ice cream sundaes (we're talking the works) with friends while we watched several episodes of Strangers with Candy.
7. Some great runs I got in down by the water. I truly get a different perspective of this city and appreciation of it's beauty being seated in the northwest when I go running.
8. Friends from GU and study abroad organizing a reunion in San Francisco for NYE!!
   
9. Buying my plane ticket to go see two of my favouritest people in the world next month-Stephen and Shane! A long overdue reunion of the three of us - :) x 10
   
10. The rainy weather as of late so I can wear long cardigans, chunky scarves and boots with my summer dresses as I read the fall fashion previews that have hit my newstand magazines..

What are some highlights from your week? :)

An introduction and insight.

The purpose of this blog is to capture every day moments, immortalizing them and appreciating them so that I never fail to find the beauty and create meaning in my life. One of my greatest strengths is the ability to find wonder in all things. I understand that my perspective is how I view the world and that consequently, shapes my reality. Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it "I know I'm not seeing things as they are, I'm seeing things as I am.”My audience is unclear to me. Perhaps I will write for my own enjoyment, piecing together words in a way that pleases me, attempting to express the ordinary in a way that shows it is quite extraordinary when taken advantage of. I suppose it is a diary of sorts then as it is focused on my life and my perspective as I experience these moments. I fear it will become narcissistic but hope it will detail aspects of the human condition to inspire others to realize their power to design and construct the life they want to live as they examine the ofttimes considered mundane experiences in life and see not bland days or hours but to find potential in everything.

*A note of explanation about the word habitué. The definition suggests that it includes a physical locale: One who frequents a particular place, especially a place offering a specific pleasurable activity. And while I have many familiar and nostalgic locations already known and new and remarkable nooks awaiting, it is meant more as a mindset. A constant approach of a person focused on enjoying and appreciating life.

It is when you look around and feel that is all is right in the world. Not globally or even locally but here, in this moment, you are truly happy. One of my favourite quotes that I live by is Kurt Vonnegut's "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" Those captivating moments where the dynamic is just right. Some of my most cherished memories that capture this magical feeling include late nights around the campfire and lengthy dinners with good company that extend well into the night...

It is long after the battle to cook the best smores when I shift around uncomfortably in my seat, repositioning my weight in order to assuage whatever part of my body is falling asleep or has gone numb. I adjust how close I am to the fire as my legs grow unbearably hot. I wrap the throw blanket closer around my body though because there is a chill in the early morning air. I have been sitting here for many hours listening to the familiar stories that everyone knows but loves to hear so they let the storyteller go on. I regale my companions with my own version of events as they boisterously interrupt and we playfully banter over how it really happened. A night full of unending laughter-you know the kind where you are doubled over with tears streaming down your face. Conversation often moves onto the meaning of life, which seems to be the preferred topic of choice after 2 am. It is then that I look up into the captivating night sky, so dark against the brilliant stars and fight the temptation to move out of fear of breaking the spell of the moment. I drink in what I am feeling and go through my senses. I can hear the soothing, crackling of the fire and comforting voices familiar as my own. I can simultaneously feel the heat from the fire and the chill of the night air. I can see the still lake water lit up by the moon. I can smell the fresh air far from home and I'm probably munching on some leftover chocolate. I make a conscious effort to catch the moment so I can recall in vivid detail the treasured memory at a later date.

Someone must rise first to go to bed but it never has been nor will it ever be me. I revel too much in the dynamic of our personalities, as they effortlessly demonstrate exactly why we have been so dear to each other over the years. This is a celebration and I would rather go without sleep. Those are the moments I live for.