It's funny....

I often find myself getting all wistful and envious when I see pictures from or hear about friends who have traveled the world, finding adventures and meeting fascinating people all along the way....

I know this is partly because people like to say, "do it when you're young, before you're settled...it's now or never!" (invariably said by the people who consider themselves well past the "now" stage).

But, not until this weekend did it really occur to me that: 1) while I would have loved to have been "that girl" who was an international vagabond right out of college, what I gained by giving that up is turning out to be just as rewarding. I'm thriving in a career that I love because it challenges me personally, professionally and creatively, and I've been able to establish a lot of meaningful, life-enriching relationships with the people around me.

...and 2) I don't actually believe in "now or never" for most things, and certainly not that.


My second epiphany from the weekend is that for some people, what they love and what they're actually good at are different things, which tends to translate into what they do everyday (to make a buck) not being what they love. I happen to come very close to having the two be one and the same, and thank you God, that is freakin' awesome! Mmmhm. Really, thank you.

Introducing The Shiggles!

I hope you enjoy this world premiere performance of The Shiggles, the hottest new dance-pop group since Pussycat Dolls...obviously.

:)

For the Love of Art

I stumbled across this amazing set of Disneyworld photographs...

I've never been, but if it were possible for the place to be as magical as these photos, my life would suddenly become incomplete without a visit.


I would also like to point out, especially to any Eisley fans out there, that Sherri Dupree is a magnificent illustrator/amateur photographer. I love her work.

~ - * + ~ - * + ~ - * + ~ - * + ~ - * + ~ - * + ~ - * +

and i am quite pleased to say that i am mixing up my own creative dish, to be served, possibly, starting in a few months [by my brother and myself]....i shall say no more for now because i don't want to give anything away yet (in case it falls flat like a bad souffle). but i am ex-ci-TED, capital TED.

Thankful

I am realizing more and more what a wonderful job I have. Sure, it might get a little tedious and boring every once in a while (whose job doesn't?), but mainly, it is a huge blessing in a whole lot of ways. I am so grateful.

And, I have reached a point in my life where I have many, many friends, probably more than the rest of my life combined. I LOVE it; my friends make my life so much the richer. I am very grateful.

I feel like my life is currently strangely void of major personal conflict and turmoil for once, and I am finding myself in a unique position (for me) to truly focus on giving to the people I love rather than getting from them. It's a strange but good state - I don't know how long it will last, but hopefully a long time. I am grateful for the opportunity...

Misery loves company ;)

Romans 7:15-25

15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

I've appreciated that passage for years, sometimes WAY more than at other times....today is one of those days. Paul's words are so twisting and crazy-sounding in and of themselves (well, the English version of his words, anyway), not even to speak of their meaning, that they perfectly capture one of my greatest inner turmoils.

"Wretched."

"Rescue me?..."

"Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Is anyone else super grateful this passage got written and stuck in the Bible where we would see it centuries later? The fact that Paul was as screwed up as me (and like me, probably in ways not visible to the general public) always makes me feel better, somehow. :)

If I could kick myself, I would...

....for quitting my knee rehab way too early.

The first step: I am finally admitting to myself that not doing rehab for two months is not a "long break because I was busy;" that is quitting! Which is not an option if I want to have my knee back to normal.

AH! Moral and prayer support appreciated :) I think this moves to the top of my New Years Resolution list. My knee has regressed, and I know it's because I haven't been taking care of it during the healing process nearly as well as I should be. I absolutely must change this. There is NO way I'm going to let that freakin' expensive surgery be for nothing.

Denied!

This makes me laugh...
...partly because it reminds me of the e-card my favorite aunt sent this past December, explaining why no one was getting anything this year.

Birthday (Month) Musings

I don't know why, but I am tremendously excited to be turning twenty-five this month. I suddenly feel like I'm not a little girl anymore (a good thing, I think). A quarter of a century sounds quite grand to me, thank you.

Honestly, it's hard for me to understand why my nearing-30-years-old friends freak out about their age....they say that's because I'm "so young," of course. For some reason, I think of five years back as much younger, but five years ahead as not so much older at all. I don't know....maybe it bothers me that my "older" friends talk as they do because I'm losing my confidence that I won't feel just the same way when I reach that age.

I'd like to think I'll think the same way then as I do now, but let's face it...I'm just going to call it like I've been seeing it...there is apparently something terrible about being 30 and unmarried. I guess when you're 25, there's supposedly still so much promise ahead of you, but somehow in the intermittence of those short five years, promise turns into desperation -- if you're still single, that is. I keep telling my friends that no one on prime time tv (you know, where all is hip and chic) gets married until post-30, but that's usually when my friends roll their eyes at me.

I hate that so much of our hope for a happy life hangs on finding our soulmates. I really, really do. It's so distracting; it's so hard to focus on living for others and living for God when that deeply rooted desire is so consuming just because it's unfulfilled. I have friends who placate themselves (or try to) by remind themselves that the Lord is supposed to be our passion and portion and all that, and maybe that works for them...it doesn't seem to for me, because it just makes me feel more guilty -- because knowing that intellectually doesn't do much for me relationally or emotionally, which seems like another spiritual failing and I have enough guilt issues that I don't care to add to them by thinking about that..

Mainly, I love to enjoy the life God has given me, but the concerns of my older, likewise-single friends are scaring me into thinking this could one day cease to be the case...I don't want that. I'm not sure how to escape it, though. I'd rather be married before thirty, but if that doesn't happen, how am I supposed avoid the dreaded Bridget Jones singleton-as-pariah self-characterization? Please, please tell me that there are morally sound, content 30-year-olds out there who don't think their life is over because they're single but instead are still cheerfully optimistic about the future.

I'm so sleepy....I wonder if this post will make any sense at all in the morning..

Happy new year, friends.