sharing awesomeness

hey friends and family.

i am having a rough week! no rhyme or reason...just feeling a little worse for wear. but i know that its just a phase/season/whatever. i refuse to wade in the waters of complacency though, so i am going to stop whining and start doing things.

i'm a strong believer that it is really difficult to be in a bad mood when you are surrounded by awesomeness, so i am going to make a list (did i ever tell you i love list making?) of awesome things that are in my life right now and share them with you. because, hey, maybe you need a little more awesome in your life.

• momastery.com is my new fav blog. seriously, glennon is a christian wife and mom of 3 who is very real and very awesome. i highly recommend checking out her stories. this one hit home for me...enjoy!
  
  
• i just got the coolest ring from my work. listen, i don't have the budget to do lots and lots of retail therapy, but little treats go a loooooooooong way. here is a picture of my very cool ring.

yes. it IS an airplane. be jealous. or just shop at she she.

• i have the best running partner. seriously. my little sister sarah is great at encouraging me, pushing me farther, and lamenting when the road really sucks. we definitely have different goals, but we have the same mantra. when one says "okay, i can do this", the other says "hey, you ARE doing this!"
• my nephew is going to be the coolest kid in all of colorado. possibly in the world. i bought him a book about a pidgeon and clothes with dinosaurs on them. i can't WAIT to spoil this kid beyond all stretches of the imagination.
• find new good music. holiness, how can songs just hit you like a sack of bricks? i am still loving florence and the machine, but i have branched out to some more fun stuff too. look up clara c and eli young band.
• friends are awesome. get good ones. and BE A GOOD ONE. my friendships are flourishing. seriously, how awesome is that? even my relationships with my family are becoming more like friends. its a pretty great feeling, if i am being honest. and when am i not?
• the ability to move forward is really great. so do it. like running: it sometimes blows and hurts and i just wonder when i am going to see new scenery part of the time. but my feet are moving. my feet are hitting the ground and i did just finish that mile. or those 5 miles. God doesn't keep me standing still...i do. so, i am moving forward. my forward motion involves all of the above and more.

okay. that is my short list. i will move through this fog. i know i will. thanks for being there through the bad moods and general blah-ness. i love you all.

Home!

I love a good trip home. And since I hadn't been home since my birthday, the trip was even sweeter! Jess and I went back to Columbia together at the end of Feb and had a BLAST!! Seeing family, laughing from the belly, and sweet snuggles with a couple of cuddlebugs. All in all, it was a great weekend. But then again, each time I go, it gets a little sweeter!

I started off the voyage from Colorado with a bunch of snow fall, lots of nerves, and a couple of colorful passengers on the plane. So when I got to KC, Marri picked me up and went for some much needed grub and drinks!

Just for the record, Marri got the girliest, fruitiest drink I have ever seen. It was pretty funny. We were at some place in Zona Rosa...wish I could remember the name because it was really a beautiful place. Like Rock Bottom Brewery, but classier. Yummy apps and drinks.

The next morning I boarded the trusty Mo-X shuttle. The roads were pretty bad that morning, but I was so excited to get to my destination, I didn't really care. Also, having a professional do the driving made me care even less.

What seemed like an eternity later, we got to Columbia and after a quick lunch, we proceeded onto Black and Gold Auctions for my first ever auction. I was SO excited!! It was so awesome to see the whole thing. I had my heart set on this collection of old fashion ball jars, which I was able to snag. Here is my loot!

And a CoMo blog would not be complete with out pics of my fav nieces. Audrey has such a personality! She is always laughing and smiling.I was so grateful to spend some quality time with her!

Elena is also full of personality...quite sassy and sweet. I didn't get many pictures of her this time...she is quite content playing with iPhones and running her own little world. Pretty stinking cute though.

Now, anybody who has ever spent a weekend with the Prices knows that Sunday afternoons are meant for napping. BUT after lunch on this particular Sunday, Ruth showed me a little treat. That treat is Just "Just Dance." Ruth, Jess and I played and were laughing so hard! I was crying and my cheeks hurt. It was awesome. Please note that Jess's hand is a complete blur in the picture...

Monday, Jess and I got to spend the whole day with the nieces. Okay, hats off to Liz for not only having a full time job but also wrangling these girls too! I mean, Laney is a general sass pot (as all 3 year olds are) and Audrey is constantly crawling into something or finding something to torture Truman with...I had a blast with them though. Was certainly a two person job, and I think we had a blast the whole day! Heck, we even ventured out to have lunch with Ellen and survived a total meltdown of both girls at once...

Here is Laney drawing pictures for Uncle Mike.

and LIttle Audrey cheesing the camera with some breakfast face.

Truman being a total hovercat. This is the most tolerant cat in the world.

See what I mean?

While Laney continued napping, the Aunts and Audrey got some chill time. She is a cuddlebug after she wakes up!

Also, she LOVES a drink! She will drink an entire cup of water/juice/whatever faster than any little monster I have ever seen. It's hilarious, then she stops gulping and sighs. Every time.

More play time.

After our day with the girls everyone met up at the Looten house for pizza and TV. Since I was not up to date on the Bachelor or Castle, I mostly annoyed everyone with questions about what was going on and annoyed Truman by taking glamour shots. It was a good last night in town!

I refrained from taking good bye pictures, because they depress me when I go back through them, but Mom, Dad, Jess and I shared a lovely breakfast and then headed to the Mo-X office for the return leg of our journey. It's always a bummer leaving, but here is how I am starting to see it: Each time I go back, the times are sweeter than the previous visit. So a goodbye is just a promise that the next time I will hug my "adoptive" family, I'll be even more filled and happy because of it.

Once at KCI, Jess found the coolest shirt EVER! I love it!

And finally, the end. Took this about 15 minutes before we starting boarding. Boots and baggage. A sign of a good trip.

Photoshoot!

So, this past Sunday FoCo Girls gone derby did their second trading card photo shoot! It was amazing! I was all done up by Devin F., who is simply fabulous and also hilarious. Such a blessing that she was there because I would have never been able to pull off what she did.

It was a blast! This was taken with my phone, but still...check out that hair!! Absolutely fabulous! Last year, we did photos on a white set, and it was super fun, but this year we posed with classic cars. I was with a bright orange El Camino...and while its not my fav. car in the world, the engine was pretty stinking sweet. I won't have those photos for a couple months, but I did whip out my Hipstamatic app to take some artsy fartsy pictures...

Holy waistline batman! I love this picture! I had black leggings on the bottom, a la Sandy at the end of Grease and then of course my skates. Watch out 1950's , FoCo is bringing you back! Here's is a closer photo of me:

I really love this photo of me. I sent this one to my mom and she said she did a double take, thinking it was her mom! When Devin was doing my hair, I felt like my mom's mom must have felt doing her hair before she went out dancing. Here is a picture of her...holding her baby boy, that I would 30 years later call Unk.

I love that I kinda looked like my grandma on Sunday. I look soooo much like my dad's side, so its cool to see that part of my family history come out...Just special to me. Hope you all liked the photos! Love you all!

ps, thanks unk mike...i borrowed the pic of g-ma candy from your facebook!!

happy

Hey folks! hope you are enjoying the beautiful change of seasons. I am a huge fan of fall and each morning the crispness lasts a little longer and evening gets a little sweeter. Love it.

This is just another one of those ah ha! posts. Nothing huge to report, just more self discovery.

A little more than a year ago I was extremely depressed and was called out on it. In fact, I think it was late last May that a dear friend simply asked "What happened? You don't have that joy any more." And she was totally and completely right. I let it slip away, or something...

But about a week ago, I was driving to work and I realized it. The sadness is over. The joy is back. I am happy again. I mean sure, things are going to make me sad sometimes and I am forever changed by the events that have happened in the last year or so, but I don't live in that sadness anymore.

Its obviously freeing. I am really excited about it. It feels strange and I am getting used to it. Like a new pair of jeans. These look better on me, even if its more comfortable to slip back into ratty jeans.

Hope that makes sense. Loves!

Some Clarity Would Be Nice

Thank you to Arielle for the mixes over the years. I have been slacking in this department, but I took some time and created a brief collection that expresses me very well...here are my tunes! Sorry this is very lengthy, but it has to be. At least check out the great lyrics on each song if you don't read the whole post. :)

1. Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine) - This song is emotionally charged, which really describes my recent self. Great lyric: Happiness hit her like a bullet.
2. I'm Moving On (Rascal Flatts) - This song holds holds all the words that I needed to believe that everyone was saying to me. Its a sing that really shows the truth of having to do what is right for you, even if it sucks to admit you need to. Great lyric: I've loved like I should, but lived like a shouldn't.
3. When the Tears Fall (Tim Hughes) - I had many a night where I was bawling asking "why?" with seemingly no answer. I was not so good at the praising part, but I truly grasp this song. Great lyric: When my heart aches, Lord, are you there?
4. The Warrior (Scandal) - No mix is complete without an 80's hair glam song. I am totally empowered by this song...no real reason. Great lyric: Shooting down the walls of heartache BANG! BANG! I am the Warrior!
5. Everything is Everything (Lauryn Hill) - This song in the musical equivalent to my recent catch phrase "it is what it is." Plus, Hill has a beautiful voice. Great lyric: Everything is everything.
6. The Long Way Around (Dixie Chicks) - There is not really a better way to explain this song. Just listen to the words. You'll get it. Great lyric: Guess I could have made it easier on myself.
7. Filled with Your Glory (Westmont Chapel Band) - This song brought me back to my roots. To Arielle, Helen, Hayley, Rusti, Cory, Mary...to the place where my faith really started to take shape. It also taught me about community. That among the family that isn't blood, but bond, I can recover from this and my faith can be stronger. Great lyric: As the fire is raging on, your word becomes my song.
8. Drumming Song (Florence and the Machine) - It invokes that sense of something that you can't escape thinking about. I have spent a ton of time trying to get away from my thoughts, but unfortunately the thoughts don't stop. The truth is my fears and hurts and joys circle my head with extreme ferver and at night sometimes it feels just like a drumming. Great lyric: There's a drumming noise inside my head that throws me to the ground.
9. Home (Michael Buble') - Home is the concept that I long for so much... The tone of this song just displays that yearning for home. Great lyric: May be surrounded by a million people, I still feel all alone.
10. Come Close (Ginny Owens) - This song sounds like a prayer and kinda like a stream of consciousness to God. I love the rawness of it Great lyric: My heart will not let go, until you come close.
11. Need You To Love Me (BarlowGirl) - This whole process has left my re-evaluating everything, and praying to God for the basics. That my faith be restored and that I understand His love. Great lyric: Your love makes me see who I really am.
12. The Heart of the Matter (India.Arie) - I heard this song while rediscovering India.Arie...the song had me in tears (granted, not very hard) within the first verse, and kept me there for the entire song. I'm finally in this place. Great lyrics: I've been learning to live without you, But I miss you baby. (and) I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, but my will gets weak and my heart is so shattered.
13. Don't Stop Believin' (Journey) - This song needs no explanation. Great lyric: Hold on to that feelin'!
14. If You Say Go (Westmont Chapel Band) - I have sung this song a thousand times, both in times of frustration and in times of celebration. Its really a comfort song to me. I have been asked a lot if I could do what is right, even if its the hard choice. And I can. Thank for my friends who "go" along with me. Don't get me wrong, most of the time I go kicking and screaming. my faith has survived this, pressed but not crushed. Great lyric: If you call us to the fire, we will not withdraw our hand.
15. New Soul (Yael Naim) - This quirky song fits how I am feeling in my best of times. Kind of that fall down and being able to laugh way. Great lyric: Finding trust and love is not always easy to make.
16. A Beautiful Day (India.Arie) - India is awesome at taking biblical truths and setting it to music. This song embodies the scripture that says "His mercies are new every morning." Great lyric: Life is a challenge, not a competition.
17. Faithful To Me (Jennifer Knapp) - I have often sung this prayer. At times of guilt, regret, reconciliation, and redemption. Its a great closure to my mix, because it leaves things open...the process is not over and I am far from figuring everything out. But I am recognizing faith during this time. Great lyric: I have cast my lots, dropped my guard, searched aimlessly, for a faith to be faithful to me.

El fin! Hope you enjoy. I recommend listening to these tunes...let me know if you need help finding any recordings! Oh and just a heads up, this took me a long time to complete, like over a week. I'd be curious to know what songs would be rocking on your current events mix.

Loves!

some things about me...

1. i love the rain.
2. its been raining off and on here for a few weeks and it reminds me of my best and hardest times.
3. though he doesn't live with me, i have a dog who will lick the tears off my face and make me laugh so hard i go into silent mode...within the same hour, mind you.
4. someone took a chance on me last week. that feels amazing.
5. i love my new job and what its doing to my closet. yes please to the black and hot pink overhaul.
6. i need new pads for derby. i play hard and fall harder.
7. my favorite thing about God (even at my hardest times) is His understanding of comic relief and the necessity of it.
8. my favorite comic is sarge apostle.
9. i always underestimate the strength of my own heart.
10. i'm blessed with people to remind of that strength and to spur me on.