4.06.2014

100 Days of Happy | 8-14


8
{2012}
Every Sunday my sister Elizabeth and I have a phone date and I look forward to it every week.  Sometimes its short and sweet, sometimes we talk for 45 minutes, and sometimes its chopped into multiple phone calls back in forth due to the mishaps of a two year old or hungry newborn!  My twin sister and I always look to her for advice and she always is willing to give it-- in a kind and helpful way.  I always walk away from our conversations with a smile and feeling lucky to have such an amazing sister!

9
Monday morning I received this e-mail.  I had applied for a week long program being held at UC Berkeley and I was officially accepted!  I'm really looking forward to the sessions and being able to meet others who work with tribal collections!

10
{photo source}
Tuesday afternoon I saw my friend the Roseate Spoonbill flying over the Glades.  Whenever anyone in my carpool sees him flying around, they make sure to point him out to me because they know how excited I get.  Who wouldn't get excited seeing a giant, bright pink bird in the sky?  {also think I saw a Flamingo flying around the other day!}

11
 I found this beautiful photo perfectly that captured what I saw on Tuesday morning.  There is something eerie yet peaceful about these foggy mornings and I love watching the Everglades slowly appear through the early morning mist.

12
A bit of a spontaneous date night with my husband Thursday night.  We went to see a band he really likes down in Miami called Aaron Lebos Reality.  They were great!  I could barely get up the next morning, but it was a fun night!

13
My sister sent me this photo, along with a few others showing their spring snow storm (brrrr). How could this not make my heart happy?  Mr. Oliver is coming up on 2 months and I can't believe how much he has grown since I saw him!

14
Sanibel Island here we come!  We booked a long weekend in celebration of our 2 year anniversary.  Come May, we will be laying on the beach, soaking up the sunshine, and remembering fondly our last time on the island!
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What made you happy this week?

4.04.2014

And Where She Stood, She Stood Tall


Do you ever have those moments where your brain is so full its hard to wade through everything?  Like  maybe I need to just slice open my head, do a little bit of reorganization, some recycling, and maybe empty the rest into the waste basket and then stitch it back together.  

One of the reasons why I started this blog was so that my family and friends back in Colorado could keep in touch.  The second reason is so I could spill my innards out.  But sometimes my brain is so full I don't even know where to start typing...  

So much has been going on at work and just with myself internally that its hard sometimes to keep it all straight and to truly know how I am feeling or why I am feeling what I'm feeling.  I've kind of been on an emotional roller coaster the last few weeks and I just need someone to come and yank me off the wild ride and tell me to sit still and breathe.  

Its hardest when I come home from work.  I work really really hard to pull it together for everyone else.  

Keep smiling, keep encouraging, keep listening, keep doing. Repeat.

I sometimes feel that I give the best part of myself to the rest of the world and then those that matter most to me get the left over, ugly me.  Its something I'm trying to work on.  I mean really trying because its just one of those thoughts in my brain that is rumbling and rattling around and is most likely the cause of the stress that is now causing the giant pimples all over my face.

I have anxiety.  I have for forever.  My husband would probably say that I'm always anxious but I think I'm learning to control it {well except when I'm driving on the highway from hell --a.k.a. I-95}.  But sometimes it still gets the best of me and the past few weeks it has taken a strong hold.  The worry and "what ifs" creep in and become this overbearing and dark cloud.  They get caught in the folds and wrinkles of my brain.  Even when I've filled up on inspirational and beautifully designed Pinterest quotes those pesky anxious thoughts make an appearance.  A slow and painful growing period, yet there are days that are I can honestly look at myself and say, "you got this under control".

Its interesting to see myself now compared to myself 4 years ago.  My how I've changed-- mostly because of my environment-- but also because I have become more honest with myself, more confident in myself, and most importantly more courageous.  I don't take those changes lightly and I don't throw them up to some magical journey I've been on where I've been trying to "find myself".  Its just me growing up.  Its just me allowing myself to become more transparent to the world.  

Maybe all of this recent foggy and muddled brain activity are some good ol' growing pains.  Just when I feel like I have myself all figured out, I realize I don't know anything and I still have an incredible amount to learn.  The past few weeks I have faced some unexpected detours and challenges.    It at times has caused my anxiety to sky rocket.  Its caused me to unleash my stress on innocent bystanders.  And even though my brain is acting like a hoarder {holding onto countless emotions, thoughts, repeating conversations I've had, repeating conversations I wish I'd had}, I realize that the me 4 years ago would not have been able to handle this as well as the me today. 

So while sometimes I feel like I'm flopping around like a fish out of water and having an abnormal amount of brain spasms, I am learning and growing for the greater good of myself. Its not always easy to see the growth in ourselves until we are faced with unexpected situations.  And what I'm learning through it all is that I'm doing just fine. 

   




4.02.2014

Things that make me giggle.

I snapped a few of these photos over the last few weeks and each one made me giggle for one reason or another 
(apologies in advance for the extremely poor photo quality)

:)

  A co-worker brought in some real cuban bread.  All you need is some flour, water, salt, yeast...oh and Lard and you have some delicious bread! {I had no idea people still cooked with lard!}

I kept wondering why on earth this box was left on my co-workers chair and if there truly was a live, caucasian baby inside! 

 The green bean truck!  Sometimes we get stuck behind this truck on the way home from work.  There are millions of green beans that bounce around the grated bed and rain down on our windshield or fall into the road.  Even when we aren't stuck directly behind him, we know when he's been on the road because of the trail of green beans left behind.

People like to bring in their old magazines to share for lunchtime reading.  This day in particular there was a National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, and this one.  Just some light reading on soviet weaponry...no big deal.

And I saved the best for last:

Bobby and I came across this the other day in a parking lot and had quite the giggle fest in front of the Olive Garden.

Oh Florida-- how you make me chuckle.