this week...

has been a strange one. full of good things, but not all of them seem good at first take.

the swiss tourist board sent reps to our office this week. they made us food and gave us a presentation (which i didn't get to attend because things were so crazy on the latin america lines) when they weren't doing presentations they were feeding us bread and potatoes with toasted cheese all over them ('them' the bread and potatoes, not 'them' the swiss tourism reps). it was a bit awkward because the smell of the toasting cheese was so bad that i could hardly keep a pleasant face. it smelled like skanky sweaty booty (at least that's what we decided later). we had to eat it because they went to all that trouble to make food for all of us. the funny thing is that was by far the best cheese i've ever had. it tasted nothing like it smelled, thank God! it made for lots of grade school type jokes about the aroma in the break room after the reps left.

we've had amazing weather this last week, and just in time for me to take the last half of my friday off to go for a doctor visit. it's a big hassle just to get more asthma meds, but i have grown rather attached to breathing. since i got to leave work at lunchtime, and the day was so gorgeous it almost felt like a three-day weekend. while i was at the doctor i had to get a shot, which didn't hurt much at the time but sure aches today. it's for tetanus and diphtheria, which i would have to do next year anyway, but the newest booster will last until i'm 65. no more of this 'every ten years' crap!

even with all the craziness i've still managed to hang out with new friends, play my guitar in the park blocks, start a new book, begin yet another knitting project and celebrate a friend's birthday. now i just have to squeeze in time to do my laundry.

sip

i've changed. it came on so gradually i hardly noticed, but now that i've realized it i see that it was bound to happen.

i prefer tea to coffee.

they say that familiarity breeds contempt. not that i don't like coffee any more. i still love a good strong americano or cappuccino. but my nearly four years as a barista for starbucks must've finally caught up with me. i now start each day with a cup of tea, usually irish breakfast. a little milk and a twinge of sweet and i'm cozy in my mug.

maybe it's the low-maintenance factor. maybe it's the fact that i don't get a headache if i don't have it. maybe it's that it's not so hard on my tummy. maybe it's all of the above and more. whatever it is i think it's here to stay.

returned

today i gave back the other camera. it wasn't needed until now, which was a blessing to me to be able to borrow it so long. but now i'm camera-less. i need to find an inexpensive way to get the camera i want. or at least learn to content myself with the camera i can afford.

it's been a beautiful thing, this wannabe-photographer gig. i've learned alot about myself and how i see the world. i've also learned to see the world differently...much more intimately.

so i may be recycling pictures in my posts, but i'm still doing my best to only use my own photography on my blog. i wonder how long it will take me to cave and buy a camera.

madagascar

i joined a band called madagascar. today was my first rehearsal. they've been messing around with music for about 8 years, but this year they decided not to just 'mess' anymore. so i'm the back-up chick. they have a gig lined up in june, and hopes to line up a few more over the summer and fall. we'll just see what we can do.

it's really great music, very unique. you can check it out here. my friend jeremy wrote the songs, which are really beautiful. he suggested we might do some of my songs too, which would be great since they need some work. jeremy has one of the most gorgeous voices in the world, so i'm thrilled to be asked to sing with him. it'll take a bit to learn the songs, but they gave me the mp3s so i can get it in my head while i walk to and from work.

i can tell right now it's gonna be a good fit.

urban life

i love my life! my little home, my daily walks through the park to work, my job, time for reading, time for friends. i love it. i've been thinking about that alot lately, because it's all gonna change in about eight months. for that very reason i've been intentional about savoring life. i even bought myself roses the other day. they're so nice to come home to, sitting all pretty in their vase on the table. i took a picture of them (yep, that's them).

the thing that struck me today was that i don't think i would enjoy this season to the extend i do if i didn't have the end of it in site. it's like a special bottle of wine...it's only special because it's the only one, so you drink it with extra appreciation. every day is 'the only april day like this i'll have until God brings me back to live in p-town again'. the strangest thing is that i'm not sad, i'm just really enjoying it.

lucky me. lovely life.

good movie

i saw this movie on thursday night. it's just now making it to the trendy theaters that play independent films, and i got a free pass to a 'sneak peek' viewing.

what a beautiful film. you really cared about all the characters without feeling manipulated into it. the cinematography was lovely and the subject was timeless- relationship and reconciliation. lots of food for thought.

edinburgh

i don't know that there's anyone out there that doesn't know it yet, but just in case there is i'm just going to bring up (again) that i'm moving to edinburgh (yes, in scotland) in december. it's a long story, but the highly-condensed version is that God has made it pretty clear that He wants me there for a season. i'm not sure how long that 'season' will be, but i'm in for however long He wants.

i'm not quite sure what to call it, but i guess technically i'll be a missionary. i've been asking God quite alot of questions and i really feel clear on what i'll be focused on while there, even if i'm not clear on how it will all go. i'm looking into (very) far-fetched job possibilities working in a travel agency. considering how much more vacation time europeans get than we "hard working americans" it should be decent income, don't you think? i'm finding myself in that place between faith and working it all out in my head so i don't worry. it's good for me to have to trust God and not to be able to work everything out myself. but it's challenging as well.

a friend and i get together weekly to pray for edinburgh. we also pray that God will reveal His heart for the city and for the part He has for me there. we pray for our friends there, both 24-7ers and ywam-ers. i'm so thankful i'm not going to just be leaving friends and community, i'll also be going to friends and community. with very little effort on my part, is seem to also be collecting contact info for friends of friends that i'm told i need to connect with once i'm there. i'm going to try to get in touch with them in september when i'm there for a visit so i'll already know them when i move. we'll see how that goes.

i'm rambling a bit, but it's something that's on my mind. it's also something God's been really talking to me about, which keeps it even more in my mind. it'll be cool to see how God opens doors and works things out. for now i'm just trying not to worry about how it will all come together.

creativity

i took this picture today as i was walking to church. i was walking up the park blocks and kept seeing these fuschia flowers on the ground, as if someone was dropping them one-by-one as they walked through the park blocks. they were mostly mushed, stepped-on and crushed, but i figured i'd find one that wasn't. the day was pretty grey, and i really wanted to somehow capture how brilliant these little flowers were.

as soon as i saw this one i knew i had my picture. turns out it was the last one. i've long since ceased being shy about getting in whatever posture i needed to get the shot, but this one i just had to set the camera on the ground in front of the flower and there was my shot.

there's something so amazing about creating. there's a part of the heart of God we see in creativity that there's no other way to glimpse. the very concept of art blows my mind. to fashion a unique expression of one's self from completely unconnected elements (tinted liquid, a bushy stick and some paper pulp, for instance) is such joy, and a gift God didn't have to give us. to be able to write a poem, knit a hat, take a stunning picture, compose a song. all these things really tell us more about God than about ourselves, if we care to listen. how beautiful must God really be if all we see of beauty is merely His creativity. beauty really can't contain Him.

photography is my passion right now because it's all about seeing something breath-taking in the everyday. it seems like a game that God is playing with me, with Him hiding little windows of amazing and then standing there grinning as i find them. it's pretty wild to have a creative expression that is uniquely mine but is really just what everyone has around them all the time.

i find it hard to fathom how little looking around people actually do. i determined almost two years ago to try to keep tourist's eyes even in my own city. evey day i walk through the same park on my way to work, and every day there's something new to amaze me. i end up taking pictures of the same buildings, trees and statues, but they really are different every day. life is incredible. thank God for creativity.

daylight

this was the absolute easiest transition into daylight savings time i can ever remember. that may have something to do with my wacked-out sleeping schedule due to excessive napping the four days straight i spent in bed with the worst cold i've ever had. i'm almost better, a week later, and have found that the sunshine i'm encountering walking home pretty much makes up for the hacking cough that frightens everyone i pass into giving me the, "holy schnikies! does she have the bird flu?" look.

i've been taking some pictures, as always, but i'm waiting until more of the leaves come out before really going crazy. i like that i'm walking home in my favorite time of day, with the amber tones of early sunset just starting to tint the world. i'm gonna get some good ones, i can feel it. the picture above was on my way to work, and i like how it kindof got the essence of the spring-ness of the day, even though there really aren't that many leaves yet. this statue of 'teddy the rough rider' is my favorite thing to photograph in the park blocks. i have basically the same shots in all three of the other seasons, now i just need to get a good spring one, which should work for me in another couple days when there's a tiny bit more green on the trees. after that i'll get big prints and put them above my dining room table. i can't wait!

spring is interesting in my world because everyone is cheerier, but work is much busier. most of our sales take place between march and may, and it's just mad. so people at work are more chipper from the weather, but more stressed from work. it makes going out after work more fun. like tonight. we had an official work function, a presentation by the eurostar reps. (for those that don't know, the eurostar is the train that runs between london and paris or brussels). it was great to chit-chat and have drinks with people i hardly get to say more than hello to usually. i always come away from the presentations from our suppliers wishing i could find a way to travel for a living. i guess i do the next best thing.

another somewhat pointless blog, but i'm still too wiped from the cold to think deep. more soon.

pointless blogging...

from the girl with the nasty chest cold. foxy pic, eh? took it myself.

there've been days i've felt better. not too many days i've felt worse. if my nose falls off from over-blowing i won't be too terribly surprised. still, i've managed to keep myself amused with jeeves & wooster's entire fourth season.

i must confess i am a bit stir-crazy, but meems

is picking me up in about half an hour to grab a bite and get me away from the apartment for a bit. it's always good to see meems, but more so now that she works sundays and i can't see her at church.

well, i should get ready to go.

sheecrest out.