Good-bye, 2011...

Hello, 2012. :)

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"The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul."
-- G. K. Chesterton

Reading Challenge: 2012

I devour books. Devour them. Sort of like chocolate.

I, uh, just can't get enough.

*Sigh*

Anyway, with the new year fast approaching, I thought it'd be fun to track all the books I digest in 2012.

(Again, I'm talking about books, not chocolate.)

I've set a goal of 125 books for the year. I can't wait to get started.

Happy reading!

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"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it."
-- Oscar Wilde

Couch Potatoes

What we’ve been falling in love with lately.


Rise of the Planet of the Apes

We saw this for the first time on Christmas night and loved it. (Loved it!) As a kid, I was fascinated with The Planet of the Apes movies and relished their sci-fi goodness. Having what one of my grade school teachers called an "intolerable, overactive imagination", it wasn’t a stretch for me to believe that, hey, this could actually happen! And after seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the little girl in me practically squealed, See?!! I told you so!! Plus, it was nice to see Tom Felton break free from his trademark role of Draco Malfoy and dive into the part of the equally sinister Dodge Landon. When he spat Charleton Heston’s famous line, "Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!" and Ceasar (speaking for the first time ever) shouted back, "No!", well… I got chills.


Shameless

With the season six finale of Dexter a few weeks ago and ten whole months to wait before season seven, it’s a good thing that Chris and I discovered the gem that will be taking its timeslot in January. Shameless is, well, shameless. And it’s soooo good. Raw, gritty, and real, this Showtime original kept us glued to our TV for twelve hours straight as we caught up with season one. The actors are superb, the writing is magnificent, and the whole thing really is shameless… In a really, really good way. Season two premieres on Sunday night, January 8th at 9.


Horrible Bosses

I’m lucky. I’ve never had a boss that I wanted to kill. But if I ever do, I now know how to do it. This is without a doubt the funniest movie we’ve seen all year. All. Year. We laughed so hard we cried. And then laughed some more.


I AM

I’m giddy about this documentary. Giddy. I’ve been waiting for close to a year to see it, and it lived up to all of my expectations. I just can’t find the words to do it justice, so here’s the trailer to give you a better idea of what this must-see flick is about. (Thank you, Tom Shadyac!)

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"Look, if you want a promotion, you gotta earn it. Now, what do I keep saying? Life is a marathon and you cannot win a marathon without putting a few band-aids on your nipples. Right?"
-- Dave Harken (via Kevin Spacey) from Horrible Bosses

Taking A Moment

Reminiscing.

The holidays usually bring that on.

Today, while sipping tea and remembering Christmases past, I pulled out the few pictures I have of my youth. Flipping through them, gently fingering the worn edges and savoring the memories, I felt a tug on my heart.

It's hard. Being alone. Well, of course I'm not really alone. I have Chris. And, aside from D, he's my world.

But what I'm talking about are parents. A mom and a dad. My own dad died when I was fourteen. I've been estranged from my mother for close to seven years now.

And it's hard.

There are times - especially after having an unusually rough day - when I'd love nothing more than being able to call people who really, truly, from-the-bottom-of-their-hearts cared. The freedom to vent to a mother who listens and sympathizes. Or the security of having a dad to lean on when life gets hectic and tough.

Always having that support. That helping hand. That refuge, love, and connection.

That feeling that, no matter what happens, you're never, ever alone.

I miss that. Like crazy, I miss having that.

I've come to terms with the fact that my life is the way it is, and that it's the way it is for a very good reason. And after the holidays, I'll be able to perk up and go on with it without a hitch. Because, in all honesty, my life really is good. And I'm thankful that I have the common sense to realize that.

But for now, just for a moment, I'm going to allow myself to remember.

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"You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles."
-- C. JoyBell C.

Ho-Ho-Ho...

Still feeling a bit Grinchy this year, but managed to whip up a holiday card for the masses. :)

Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

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"Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in."
-- Amy Lowell

Kalaloch Beach

My favorite place. Ever.

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"The name Kalaloch is a corruption of the Quinault term k'–E–le–ok, pronounced Kq–â-lā'–ȯk, meaning "a good place to land", "canoe launch and landing", or "sheltered landing". The site was one of the few safe landing sites for dugout canoes between the Quinault River and Hoh River.[1]"
-- Wikipedia

Sweet Dreams

Dulces sueños.

Lately I’ve been dreaming.

In Spanish.

I’ll be at the supermarket – the local QFC down the street – searching and searching for mushrooms when I suddenly blurt out to the produce guy, “¿Donde se los champiñones?” He laughs at my frustration and hands me an onion. “Prefiero la cebolla.” And then I get really frustrated (because I’m not looking for cebollas, I’m looking for champiñones) and wake up – muttering to myself in Spanish.

And then I get really excited because I realize that I’m muttering to myself in Spanish!

Speaking a second language fluently has been on my bucket list for years. And while I’m nowhere near fluent yet, the fact that I know enough to dream in a second language is, to me, a step in the right direction.

On a side note... I'm thrilled that, even though I'm no longer able to attend college, I don't have to stop learning. We can all be our own teachers... :)

Que tengas lindos sueños.
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“Try not to let school get in the way of your education.”
-- Albert Einstein

Chena and Her Boys : )

Chena is amazing. The kind of person that, when you meet her, already feels like an instant friend.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting her boys. And they're equally amazing.

So what do three amazing people add up to??

One freakin' amazing family.

Thanks Chena, Dominick and Lukas for a great morning!!

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"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." -- From the television show The Wonder Years

Candy Cane Antlers

Straight-out-of-the-camera goodness.

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"Boy, noun: a noise with dirt on it."
-- Not Your Average Dictionary :)

Inspiration

Smile. Exercise is addicting.

Especially Tae Bo.

Billy Blanks... I heart you. :)

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"The body only profits a little from exercising but the spirit profits a lot."
-- Billy Blanks

Baby Steps

So often times, I want to be somewhere other than where I am. I want to go somewhere that is so far from my current position - whether it be a state of mind or an actual location - that I can actually feel the pull. But, when I heed the call, I find myself not really all that far from where I actually started.

I want huge leaps. Gigantic leaps. Enormous progress. I want to bound across that chasm of contrast and into a whole new way of being. Into something so brand spanking new that, if I were to look back, I wouldn't even be able to see where I came from.

And I want to do it all... right now.

In a perfect world, we'd be able to leap into our desired reality with one single bound. Fat to thin. Disease to wellness. Poverty to prosperity. Lack to abundance.

But our world isn't perfect. And maybe that's a good thing. Because, if it was, how could we determine what we wanted in the first place? And if we didn't experience the dark - as so many wise ones have said - then how can we possibly appreciate the light?

I think the movie What About Bob? says it best.

Baby steps.

You gotta take baby steps into your dreams. Press forward with small but determined strides. Make tiny but deliberate changes. All of these seemingly insignificant actions will eventually add up to that brand spanking new reality.

Granted, this is all easy to write. It's easy advice to give. It is, however, harder to follow. I do my best daily and try to keep the impatience at bay. Some days are better than others. But when it comes down to standing still or moving forward, I'll take moving forward. Even if it means baby steppin' the entire freakin' way.

My most recent baby step? Incorporating green drinks back into my life. Before school started last January, I guzzled these smoothies regularly. But once my schedule became so overloaded with classes, studying, and commuting to and from campus, I regrettably replaced these priceless nutritious drinks with pricey vanilla lattes from the cafeteria. My life is now, however, heading in a new direction. And instead of fighting the flow, I'm choosing to go with it. Even though I have absolutely no idea where it's headed.

So here's to my attempt to get across the chasm, to the place I want to be. My baby step toward a brand spanking new reality.

Cheers.

** In this drink:

Spinach
Blueberries
1 Banana
1 Orange

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"...baby step onto the elevator... baby step into the elevator... I'm *in* the elevator.
[doors close]
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
-- Bob Wiley (via Bill Murray) in What About Bob?

Sun Break

I'm a person who loves clouds. Rain. And dreary, gray, chilly weather.

I guess you could say that I'm living in the perfect place.

Lately, though, I've been missing the sun. So much so that - when it peeked its head out from behind the clouds this afternoon for its daily five-minute sun break - I stepped outside and snapped a picture of it.

Let the sun shine in.

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"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."
--Anthony J. D'Angelo

A Reminder

I wasn’t going to decorate for Christmas this year.

In fact, I was going to go one step further and not celebrate it at all.

With everything that’s gone on recently, celebrating a festive holiday such as Christmas… Well, I just didn’t think I had it in me.

As I’m unemployed, there will be no presents. And because the miniscule amount of family that we do have is at least half a continent away, it will (like always) be just the two of us at our holiday dinner table.

In the past, I’ve always made an effort to celebrate holidays – despite whatever chaos was going on in our lives at the time. (Financial concerns, layoffs, lack of family, etc.)

But this year… It all just seemed like such a hassle. Hauling out the holiday boxes, digging through the decorations, setting up and trimming the tree… When considering all this, the only thing I could think of was, Ugh. We’re going to have to take all this crap down in a month. Why put it up at all? And no one will be here to see it, anyway…

One night in early November, I mentioned my reluctance Chris. Channeling my inner lawyer, I argued my case. “I’m the one who decorates every year anyway and why bother because it’s just the two of us – well three if you count D but she doesn’t know the difference – and we just have to take it all back down again after the New Year which, by the way, is a huge hassle, and we’re not going to be able to do gifts – again – this year, so why bother…”

My run-on argument went on and on. And on.

And Chris agreed. Or so I thought.

Until last Friday, when I walked out of the bedroom to find our surprisingly realistic pre-lit Christmas tree half assembled – and Chris standing next to it, happily fiddling with the one strand that always refuses to light.

He hugged me, passed me a box of ornaments, and shrugged. “Two people constitute a family.”

So for the rest of Black Friday, we decorated. We listened to Christmas music, reminisced over each ornament we placed on the tree, and hung our holiday stockings. I draped the fireplace mantel with a ten foot roll of yummy sweet-smelling cedar garland while Chris wrapped twinkling white lights around our garage door.

It’s important to make the best with what you have. To appreciate what you do have instead of focusing on what you don’t. I know this. I do. I’ve written about it before. But, like every other important lesson in life, it can be easy to forget. Sometimes you just need some help remembering.

Thank you, Chris, for reminding me.

So am I now completely caught up in the holiday spirit? Not entirely. But I’m getting there.

** Enjoy a delicious rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by She & Him. (And, well, who doesn't love a little She & Him??!) :)

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"Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for - I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times."
-- Kate L. Bosher