big red lorry

last night i had a dream that there was a lorry stuck in the middle of the road. it was big and red. yes, a lorry. i’m not really sure why i was dreaming in british english, but i was. look at the big red lorry. the big red lorry is blocking the road. no one can pass the big red lorry. apparently i was actually stuck in a reading primer from my childhood.

i think said lorry might have been a metaphor for the ridiculously large and looming writer’s block that i am currently experiencing.

my second writing class is tonight and i have NO IDEA what my writing project for the next 5 weeks is going to be.

bah!

bradley. cooper.

last night i went to see this. i highly recommend it. laughed so hard i had tears in my eyes.

these tears were wiped away quickly, however, in order for me to better view this amazing specimen of God’s creation:

hello, i'm bradley. i went to georgetown and earned a BA in english and a PhD in sexiness.

*swoon*

i know, i know. this is not new behavior. how many of you remember when my room was covered in posters like this:

hi there, i'm rider. i live in the redwood forest and write love poetry on bark.

hmm nothing like fantasy crushes to take your mind off of the guy you’re really thinking about….

writing class rocks

here’s why:

1) it’s held in the good shepherd center, a huge historical building hidden away in wallingford:

The Good Shepherd Center

i’m sure you are wondering how a building of this size could be “hidden away.”  i am wondering this myself. when i turned the corner on sunnyside avenue (after getting lost because i didn’t trust mapquest  — wallingford’s my old ‘hood, after all) and saw it peeking through the trees, i thought i was going to run off the road, i was so enamored. walking along the path to the building i felt a distinct sense of awe — like i was entering hogwarts or something. except rather than wizards on broomsticks, above my head was a kindly statue of jesus. pretty rad.

2) nick, the instructor, is a freelance writer who has published books and numerous articles for magazines and literary journals, and he seems really excited to help us learn not only how to craft a better story, but also how to get published. bonus items: he’s been published in image journal (my dream!) and he has an MFA in creative writing and said he’d be happy to discuss MFA programs. sweet.

3) the other writers in the class seem way cool. such an interesting hodgepodge of people — including a former olympian, a british event-planner who just moved here from london, a swedish teacher here for the summer, a self-described “former-jock-turned-musician-learning-to-use-my-brain-again,” and a recent liberal arts grad with an english degree forced to make pizza for a living. so much to learn from and relate to! i can’t wait to read their stories.

4) halfway through class, nick brought out italian wine, cheese, and chocolate. apparently each week we’ll take a break to enjoy a mini soiree and get to know each other a bit better. lovely.

5) as nick talked, i imagined my brain stretching and growing and opening up. synapses crackled. connections were made. wheels turned. etc.

i’m inspired and a bit overwhelmed. but this is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

june 24

Today is June 24. 6-24. Ever since I was a kid I’ve thought there was something very lucky about this day. Probably has something to do with the fact that 24 is my favorite number and that 6-2=4. Even numbers are so much more comfortable than odds, don’t you agree?

In any case, today is  a great marker for a few amazing countdowns:

In 4 months, I will turn 28 (wow, that’s old. But even numbers, at least).

In 4 weeks, I will fly to San Antonio to stroll the river walk and see Tim graduate from basic training (yay).

In 4 days, I will clean my apartment in preparation for my family to come see me for the 4th (and my brother is coming, whooooo!).

In 4 hours, I will go to my first summer writing class (oh yes).

In 4 minutes, I will leave work to go home to my fuzzy pup (Obie wobie woo….I am coming home to snuggle you…).

And there you have it, folks: 5 reasons that 4 is a great number, today and always. And 5×4=20. And 2+0=2.

And 2 and 4 make 24.

And that is why I love June 24.

Yep. Welcome to the maze of craziness that is my brain.

reminders of why i’m here

This past weekend was so busy – and so much fun! So fun, in fact, that I am going to do something different and instead of getting all deep and introspective on you for once, I’m just going to tell you what I did and post photos. Hope that’s okay.

On Friday night I went to Wallingford, my old neighboorhood, and met up with the lovely and amazing Nari for sushi at Kozue. Yum.

Nari and I used to work together and made it a habit to have lunch together pretty much every day we were both in the office. I miss our frequent chats, so it’s always super fun to catch up with her and hear about her fun adventures being a superstar triathlete and general all-around rock star. After sushi, we of course headed down to Molly Moon’s for some scrumptious Scout Mint organic ice cream. Double yum.

Nari’s been telling me about this book for a few months now. She says it’s really helped her gain some great perspective. She is one of the most grounded, optimistic people I know, so perhaps it’s worth checking out (I’m not going to say why…this post is lacking introspection).

On Saturday morning I got up and made these and took them to my church community group before heading over to help out at the Clean & Green Seattle service project (if you take that link to the West Seattle blog, you may spot my currently red-headed self directly beneath the banner pictured below – I promise, it’s me).

I have to admit that I considered forgoing said service project in order to sleep in and read more of this (so funny!) but I’m glad I bucked it up and went. It was really cool to hang out with people in the community and to get to know some of the guys from my church group. Half of the volunteers shoveled dirt to prepare the new p-patch; the rest of us donned orange reflector vests and picked up trash along the side of the road. Dave, one of the guys in my group, commented that it was kind of like going on a treasure hunt — and it’s true; for the next 3 hours, plastic doodads and cigarette butts were my own personal pirate booty (do you want to know how many cigarette butts I picked up?? No, you probably don’t. Stay tuned for a rant about that on our corporate blog…). Volunteers were even provided coffee and these amazing cupcakes:

So cute! It’s too bad that they were provided at 9am and I had just gorged myself on Jiffy muffins. Next time, little p-patch cupcakes. Next time.

Yesterday morning I got up, went to church, and then headed over to meet up with my adorable friend Nicole in Maple Valley, where she was house-sitting for her cousin. Nicole’s cousin’s house isn’t too far from the Snoqualmie Valley, so we decided to go on a hike up the Little Si Trail.

Taylor, Nicole’s cousin, and Charlie, Taylor’s one-year-old golden retriever, joined Nicole, Obie and me as we braved the crazy weather on the first official day of summer:

the drive over was rainy but we were hopeful!

hiking into the enchanted forest with obie, taylor, charlie, and nicole

halfway up the sun began to shine!

so beautiful

we stopped at the top for a sun break

so happy.

our canine companions

family portrait

our family portrait

nicole found some yummy raspberries along the trail

After the hike we were all tired, muddy, and hungry – so we headed back for showers, steak, chick flicks and…turtle brownies. Triple yum!

So as you can see I had a pretty amazing weekend. I’m beat.

But, tonight I am babysitting, so I get to go play with these jokers:

mini twin rockstars

My cup is basically running over.

place

i like this.

wanderlove

last night i had dinner with my amazing friend, hanna. we went to this new little caribbean place down the street from her apartment, thinking it was mexican and dreaming of margaritas. we were pleasantly surprised. we gorged ourself on corn muffins and coconut prawns. we got silly on drinks. she ordered goat and made me try it. i helplessly attempted to crack open crab legs that adorned my paella. we laughed. we told stories.

hanna is australian and swedish and grew up in sydney. she’s lived in london and new york and is uber smart and tres chic. yet she is super down to earth. she’s witty but silly…..and also knows all the words to grease 2.

i adore that girl. i don’t see her nearly enough, but each time i do, i am overwhelmed by her adventurous spirit, her fiery sassiness, and her endless supply of love. she is always on the go, always tackling a new project, yet never ceasing to make sure she stays connected to those she cares for. she is an inspiration to me!

this is a photo of hanna and me in australia last fall:

hanna lives right across the street from the sculpture park (you should see the view she has! ah! to die for). before i met up with her last night, i strolled along the pebbled path and watched the ferries floating across puget sound, lit from behind by the orange sun and gathering purple clouds.

at dinner, hanna and i talked about traveling and moving and trying new places on for size. i told her that as i had been watching the sunset that night, i was overwhelmed by a fierceness of feeling: i had thought to myself, this is my home. a place has never been so much my own.

i thought to myself, i have never loved a place so much.

hanna smiled knowingly and said, “yes, and that’s fantastic. but who’s to say you won’t love the next place just as much — or even more?”

i adore that girl.

bing just makes me think of chandler.

which probably says more about me than it does about microsoft.

what it really comes down to is that i feel like i am cheating on google. i know i am not alone in these feelings.

google is like my childhood friend, the one who watched me refine my searches (goodbye, “raine + maida,” hello, “401K + planning”).

but bing is like my sexy new friend who knows how to act as travel agent, cupcake maven, and event planner. he even dresses nicely.

oh. my. god.

i’m not sure that you could ever define chandler as “sexy,” but he was sweet…and an awful lot of fun. do you think if i spend enough time with bing he will begin to woo me with sarcasm?

My Furry Fiend

Yesterday I left my iBook out on the coffee table for roughly 60 seconds as I checked on some laundry. Upon closing the dryer door, I heard a terrible crunching noise that can only be attributed to the jaws of the magical monster who cohabitates my apartment.

Bravely, I approached the monster, grabbed him by the scruff of his outrageous mane (this is not as painful as it sounds, come on now), and stuck my hand into his glistening maw.

The spoils: mangled white plastic with a barely recognizable symbol, in a font that was strangely comforting to me….

I ran to the coffee table, and sure enough, the scoundrel had cleanly lifted the zero key from my beloved iBook. Just one key. No mess, just a hole. Mr. Flamingo, carelessly tossed beside the keyboard, stuffing streaming from fresh wounds, glared up at me as if to say “did you really expect any different?”

Exhibit A: They Keyboard

Exhibit B: The Missing Key

Exhibit C: The Culprit

I questioned the furry fiend, but he would not tell me the answer to my most burning question: why? Why the zero?

Lessons Learned:

1. Do not trust Obie alone, even for 60 seconds.

2. Clean your keyboard every once in a while. I mean, seriously.

sentimental heart

If you are reading this blog, you probably know me. And if you know me, you probably know that I am kind of a sentimentalist. Okay, a total sentimentalist.

Which means you won’t be surprised to hear what I did yesterday. I went to Discovery Park. Exactly 4 months ago this weekend, I went there  to ruminate about my place in the universe. It happened to be Valentine’s Day, and I had been feeling pensive and lonely. However, with the help of a beautiful sunrise and the crooning of contemporary Christian pop star Bebo Norman (I know — Bebo is cheesy. But he is also dreamy. Have I told you about the moment I shared with Bebo? I swear, he took my hand and there was a connection. Remind me to tell you about it someday), I felt alive and as un-lonely as a girl could feel, on Valentine’s Day or otherwise.

Yesterday was a brilliantly sunny, yet hazy day. What a different experience! That February morning I had felt anxious, heavy-hearted, and chilled to the bone. Yesterday, I was peaceful, joyful, and hot as heck (Seattle is not supposed to be humid! What’s the deal, yo).

So much has happened and changed within me since that melancholy morning. I could list it all out here, but I mean I guess it’s pretty much what I’ve been blogging about since then.

But I will say this: my heart may have been heavy that February morning, but it was also full of prayer. And it amazes and humbles me to see how God has answered each and every prayer I sent up to Him that day. I prayed that I would begin to have a desire for Him and for His word again. I prayed that He would bless my friendships and reconnect me with people who loved Him deeply. I prayed that He would help me learn to trust my heart again, to trust Him to open the doors to the possibility of romance and companionship.

And if you know me, you know that He has answered each and every one of these prayers. Specifically and personally. I am so very, very thankful. And humbled. How can I not trust that He will continue to provide his grace, strength, and guidance in the days and weeks and months ahead?

“She is clothed in strength and dignity; she laughs at the days to come” – Proverbs 31:25

(in keeping with the sentimentality theme, guess who’s had that motto branded to her back for 6 years this week?)