monday's memory: the one with the sweet couple rerun

i originally posted this back in july of '08. anthony and i went to the same swing dancing thing a couple of weeks ago, and i told him about this couple that i saw way back then...it made me want to share it with all you as well :) and yes, the picture at the end is of the couple i wrote about.

This is an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote after swing dancing this weekend. Enjoy :0)

In the corner near us and the band was a beautiful young girl, her flowing brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her partner was a tall and dashing man with thick wavy hair. They were so obviously in love--they never once seemed to notice the swirling dancers around them or the fact that I can't stop watching them. I took note of their simple matching rings. I envied them--their obvious deep love, their lives just beginning...and then I blinked. Sunddenly I saw his snow white hair, her gently wrinkled face. Instead of living on the brink of a life together they are closer to the end of their time. I can imagine that the days they have lived have brought many sorrows as well as joys, pain as well as promise. Yet, they are so full of love and hope that I simply cannot take my eyes away.

She smiles coyly as he spins her out and back, and they sway together in the way that only those that truly know their partners can, looking deeply into each other's eyes. This is their story, their beautiful legacy, and I find myself wanting to continue it.

I'll probably never know their names. But I hope one day, when I have hair streaked with gray and I am nearing the end of my journey, that someone will see me dancing with my soulmate and be as inspired by our story as I have been tonight.

Thursday's Ten: promises

i feel like it's important (for me at least) to do this every once in awhile. so here are the promises i'm making myself as of right now, in this moment.

1. i will not worry about money and where this or that payment will come from. thus far, God has provided my every NEED...why would i think that would change?

2. i will enjoy each moment instead of focusing on what's "wrong" with my life/finances. in the grand scheme of things, i'm so incredibly blessed...and it's only when people outside of myself start wondering aloud how i'm handling things or what's going on that i start questioning. i need to remember something my dad always quoted: "there's nothing that will happen today that God and i can't handle together"

(erm, i may have gotten a huge hospital bill last night since my insurance is crappy and been doing a bit of concerned thinking...)

3. i will enjoy time spent with children...even if they are whiney and argumentative with each other. it's tennessee, it's summer, and it's hot...we're all whiney.

4. i will continue getting active, continue my routine with WiiFit, and finally get up the nerve to go for a walk/run even though i'm afraid of an asthma flare-up. guess what? that's what my inhalor is FOR!

5. i will learn to can foods, specifically tomatoes. i read not too long ago that eating canned tomatoes from the store is awful for you and that if you must buy them you should look for glass jars instead. i figure if i preserve the ones i grow myself in glass jars i'll be one step better :)

(and yay for money saved...i use a LOT of canned tomatoes when i cook italian foods!)

6. i will take a hard look at composting. now that i live in a neighborhood where curbside recycling is available, it's much easier to be green in that regard...next steps would be compost and rain barrel...perhaps not this summer, but soon.

7. i will take a few moments each day to be intentionally grateful

8. i will continue 'settling in' at a reasonable pace

9. i will take emi to the vet for a check up

10. i will spend more time with those i love

...when...

when i have a little girl

i shall build her a dollhouse

not a plastic pink barbie shack

but a real, wooden, quality house

with stairs

because it never made sense to me

how dollhouses could have so many floors with no way to get up and down them.

and when i have a little boy

i'll build him a train track

with interconnecting railroads

and streets going through it all

so that he can play to his heart's content

with trains and cars

(and so can i)

and i'll go fishing with them

(and make their daddy bait the hook)

and my little girl will climb trees

and my little boy will learn to nurture baby dolls

and we'll camp in the living room

and have picnics in the playroom

there will be dancing and singing

swimming and sports

taking them to ball games

and concerts

and church

that's what i'll do with my children...

what about you?

Monday's Memory: the one with the musical

in june, 2008, i accepted a friend's request to join the cast of a musical she was producing at a neighboring church

i hadn't done ANY acting since i was in school...and i kind of enjoyed being on stage for a moment

i played 2 characters: nane, one of the handmaidens of the egyptian princesses (the one who found moses in the water)

that's me on the right

and flora, one of jethro's daughters, but not the one who marries moses

(hey, that's me on the right again)

we sang, danced, told a Biblical story, and struck a few poses

and i met quite a few friends along the way.

strangely enough, this musical was the way i finally figured out that anthony liked me :)

he came to the first performance and was literally among the last 3 people to leave

(it was the director Jean, me and him locking up)

he called me to say "break a leg" for sunday's performance

(he had NEVER called me before, only texted)

and when people started posting pics on facebook and tagging me in them, he sent me a text telling me that this picture (of me doing my makeup pre-show) was a great picture of me.

if it hadn't been for that musical...it would have taken me a LOT longer to figure out how he felt

:)

(and you thought it was all about the singing and dancing)

;)

planes, trains and cars...oh my

after a nightmare-ish trip back to nashville (first plane being delayed over an hour, second plane being delayed over an hour and full of CMA attendees followed by the second plane sitting on the tarmac for 45 minutes before heading back to the gate because there was a mechanical failure and the plane to replace it was on it's way...in 2.5 hours...) and subsequently getting in after midnight when it was *supposed* to be before 8 pm, i realized something.

i still love to travel.

and i've done quite a bit of it in the last few months.

from the wedding in indiana

(of which i like exactly one professional picture of myself...but it's ok because it wasn't MY wedding, and by the time i'm the bride i'll be down to my goal weight :D)

*but i do like this picture of myself...in a dress that wouldn't zip up when i bought it but i had NO problem zipping at the rehearsal dinner!*

to the trip to cosby, tn (next to gatlinburg)

where we laughed, prayed and generally forgot that it had been nearly 10 years since we'd all been together

where beth announced the arrival of her second child, come january

where i cooked my famous vodka pasta for us all (alchi cooked out for my preggo friend)

and where we got exactly one picture together.

and then to delaware

where i hung out with laura, israel, and israel's daddy ryan

where we cruised the bay in a speedboat

watched izzy get cuter

lay out on the beach

stayed up watching tv at all hours

and shopped til we (at least izzy) dropped

and there are a couple of more summer excursions planned

i'm seriously considering

attempting to get training

to be a flight attendant

i mean, i love to fly

love people

love to see new things

the only thing that's kept me from doing this in the past

(yes, i've wanted to do it for years)

has been that the pay scale was lower than what i was used to

and i was concerned about keeping up with the mortgage and other bills.

well,

in case you haven't heard

i no longer have a mortgage

which right now i'm looking at as a big 'ol blessing

and while it's quite a bit different from anything i've done

wouldn't it be a BLAST?!

and what's stopping me from pursuing something that would just plain be fun?

not a thing, that's what.

so perhaps next summer

i'll start flying the friendly skies

a bit more often

:O)

(anyone have any tips about best ways to get started in this? i'm assuming i'll just go through an airline and go through their training...but insight would be awesome :)

page from my journal (2)

the seagulls are teasing me,

elusively avoiding my camera angles

yet coming close to beckon me

when i lay the instrument down

like so many dreams of life

which seem to taunt me

laughing as i raise my interest

as i try to capture them

only coming closer when i give up

today

i will chase my dreams

and today

i will capture

a picture

of a seagull

(i'm in delaware with a couple of friends...this was written yesterday as we boated around the bay...and yes, these pictures were taken...that day)

things that made me smile today

(erm...yesterday? and early today?)

the drive to work--gorgeous country roads (and only 15 minutes away from my house...perfect)

upon arrival to work, hearing P yell "hi! hi! hi!" before i could even see him

(he's SO precious!)

my voice student's smile when i told her the song she's been working on is nearly performance ready

babysitting tonight for children i go to church with but don't see on a truly regular basis...and hearing the oldest (a 4 year old little girl) say "i love you miss lora" out of the blue.

modern family reruns after the kids went to bed

extra money for next week's excursion because i took this job tonight.

emi being happy to see me when i finally got home

the tomato plants i planted yesterday still standing :) -- in fact, perked up quite a bit because of the slight shower they got this evening.

so even though i left my house at 7:45 am, and i just walked in the door at 12:26 am the following day ...

i'm blessed

i truly enjoyed all 3 of my jobs today

and even though i'm wiped out

i'd do it again

(not just to earn the money)...but because right now? i get to LOVE my job.

yeah, i'm not rolling in money

i still wonder about what's in my financial future

but i love what i do

and right now

in this moment

that's where i'm supposed to be.

Thursday's Ten: photos

so seriously? i started to write a blog full of 10 potty training tips. i wish i were kidding. this is NOT going to turn into a mom blog, especially before i'm a mom for pete's sake...but can you tell what i'm doing this week?

(btw, boys are much different to train than girls. just sayin')

instead, i think it's time to pull out a few favorite photos. mine will be from the past few months since i do this particular thursday's ten on a semi-regular basis.

share pics--caption if needed, stories if you wish!

here's mine:

1. emi loving me :)

2. a and i with my valentine's day flowers
3. the doggies i "sat" for (a's parents dog, a dog each from his 2 aunts and his grandparents 2 dogs) while they were in kentucky for the second memorial service for his granddaddy.

(yep, that's f-i-v-e itty bitty poodles!)
4. my friend laura's little girl being quite pleased with herself
5. emi's glamour shot
6. a pic our friend natasha took of a and i at the pub
7. at a friend's wedding

8. indiana field--i was a little obsessed and took a few pics :)9. my friend beth and her little boy "e". i have a couple of him that are adorable, but don't want to show them here without her permission! so you'll have to settle for his cute back :)
10. a self portrait i took at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding i was in almost a month ago (i'll post pics of that weekend with the professional ones come in). i just like this one because the dress is fun...and it zipped up with NO problem when it wouldn't even close a month before :D

fireflies (you can't make this up volume 12)

do you think it's because of boredom

the hit song

fascination for mating rituals in general

or an over-inflated sense of tourism

that people trek to see fireflies

do what they are created to do?

i mean...it's cool and all

but...

in gatlinburg

anything goes

(this illustrates once again why i can stomach g-burg about once every 5 years. the surrounding mountains though i can handle just about anytime...)

Smokies prepares for flashing bugs
June 02, 2010 04:03 EDT

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) -- The synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are just trying to attract each other, but they get a lot of humans as well.

To accommodate the crowds of nature lovers, National Park Service officials have made arrangements to bus in people who come to watch the insects.

From June 5 to 13, the Elkmont entrance road will be closed between 5 p.m. and midnight to all traffic except trollies and registered campers at the Elkmont campground.

Trollies will pick up firefly watchers at the Sugarlands Information Center and take them to see the fireflies, which -- as part of their mating ritual -- flash in simultaneous patterns. The Smokies website says the species is the only one in North America capable of this. The trolly ride costs $1 round trip

(news story credit: foxnews)