Merry New Year!

To quote the movie "Trading Places":

MERRY NEW YEAR!!

Here it is, 2010 already. Last night, as I waited for the clock to turn midnight, it didn't really feel the a new year was upon us. But today, it's hit me that my slate is clean and I have a new book to fill. A whole 365 days to make a change, make a difference. What am I going to do with those days?

I have a few resolutions:

1. Be bold in my faith. I know what I feel and why I believe in the things I do, but I'm no good at talking about it. I'm praying for srength to forget about the poeple of this world and realize I'm working for my eternal home.

2. Move forward on my writing and photography. I've let too many years slip by where I just store up my poems or pictures and they do nothing but collect dust. Even if it's just small things, like giving them away as gifts, I'll be doing something.

3. Write more blog entries. I started out so strong but then my faithfulness on here took a dive. How am I to grow if I only write about me once every month or so? I'm not, so I will make myself a more frequent visitor to my blog.


There we go, my resolutions. Hold me to them, now. I am creating new footsteps to be the most out of the person God has planned for me to be. Uncharted waters- I'm ready to set sail.

Preoccupied

So it's December 21st already and I am both pathetic at updating my blog AND incredibly disorganized for Christmas. I at least have 98% of my presents accounted for and hidden in my room, but now I need to find time to lay them all out and wrap. I have a sneaky feeling I'll be getting that done on Christmas Eve.

I know Christmas is not about presents, but it seems like I'm so preoccupied with work and organizing those presents that I'm not taking time to remember the true meaning of the season. Without Jesus coming to earth as a small baby to save us, we would have no holiday to celebrate. It's all about Him, and the unselfish act of humbling Himself as a human and dying on the cross for our sins. We remember his arrival during this season, and that is truly what we are joyful of.

So there's my little ditty about Christmas. Now I have a post up and can get back to figuring out the gifts.

God's blessings to all as we celebrate the Reason for the season!!




At least we'll have a white Christmas!

Blood Bank

Every Breath, originally uploaded by SeaScapes12.

I just scheduled an appointment to give blood next week. This will be my first time donating; I've always wanted to, but it's interfered with my athletic schedule and I couldn't do it and then practice or play in a game. I've been saying I want to donate for years, and now here I am, about to! And I have one of the ladies at work to thank. She donates monthly, and she and I got to talking about it last month. She offered to take me along with her the next time she went, and I readily agreed. We are going over our lunch break next Wednesday, and I am going to do my part in giving back to the world. It's the day before Thanksgiving, too, and I can't think of a better way to show how grateful I am to God for the life He has given me than to donate blood with the chance to help someone when they really need it. Thank You God, for this opportunity. I truly feel like I'm on a high right now; as soon as I scheduled it, my body started jolting with excitement, and I feel like I'm going to actually do something with my life.
Bon Iver's song Blood Bank keeps playing in my head, lyrics circling until they mesh in my veins and arteries.
"Well I met you at the blood bank, we were looking at the bags, wondering if any of the colors matched the names we knew on the tags."
Beautiful song, and now it's going to have extra added value to my life.

Hopeful

Feeling hopeful for November...

Distant Winds

Distant Winds, originally uploaded by SeaScapes12.

I am the distant winds,
jumping like crickets
to your door.

Gab

Now it's almost through October and I've still been horrible at this. I'm sorry, there really isn't much of an excuse. Except that I work all day, then go and workout and by the time I get home and settled, it's dinner at nine and then bed in an hour or so. Not much of a life, but I'm living.

Two of my old roommates from college are in town for a wedding this weekend, and we are going to get together sometime tomorrow. I am so excited to see them- one lives in St. Louis and one lives in Phoenix, so I don't get to see them often. I cherish the moments. It will be so great to catch up and be myself and gab (old school word, I know) and really tell them how I'm feeling. I don't get to do that, like practically at all. They know me, and I need to release all the thoughts I keep wrapped up inside. I am so thankful for this short time together, but it's going to leave me longing for more time and fellowship. I wish God would put someone in my life that I could talk to and get together with. In other words, a friend who actually lives by me. I'm missing that interaction, but I'm doing alright.

Here's a picture for you- Happy Fall!

Come On, Skinny Love

I saw Bon Iver last night. I'm not sure words can describe the atmosphere, when they first took the stage and Justin Vernon plucked the first few strings of "Flume" and then began singing in that beautiful falsetto... just amazing. His music just gets to me, fills me, enlightens me. I definitely teared up during "Skinny Love." His honest voice, emotion dripping from every word, and all the drums pounding and pounding to the melody combined to absolute perfection. This guy spent months isolated in a cabin in the Wisconsin woods and bled his heart into the music, and he was kind enough to share it with the world. I'm amazed I got to be a part of it last night, especially since that was his last concert for an indefinate amount of time (until a new cd comes out and the tour starts up again). He definitely got a home town welcome and a great send off until we meet again. It was one of those moments that reminded me why I love music so much, and I truly believe that music can make you feel so many extraordinary emotions. I didn't want the night to end, but they don't have that many songs so of course it had to. It was one of the moments frozen in time, and on the way home the venue replayed the show on one of the FM radio stations so we listened to it as we went west instead of east on the interstate (oops- we managed a quick turnaround :) ). "Skinny Love" came on as my brother and I got home, so I kept the car in idle and we sat in the glow of headlights while Justin and his gang poured out their longing fury through the speakers. It was pretty magical.