Status Quo

I feel like I’ve reached a time in my existence here where things are…shall we say…normal.

Meaning…I finally see what my life is going to be like in Dallas…and it’s good.

The first two months here were so much about surviving and keeping myself together that little time was spent simply “being”.

That seems to finally be changing.

I have the things I need to get by from day to day and now I am concentrating on a few things that have fallen by the wayside during the past few months.

Primarily…WORKING OUT.  Need I say more?  Davita hasn’t exactly been making time to get to the gym.  I’ve already signed up to run a 5K in December…I’m contemplating a run in November and January…and unless I unearth some latent motivation, I’m going to have some issues.  Furthermore, I’ve gained back exactly nine pounds of that weight I fought so hard to lose earlier this year. 

That’s basically nine pounds of Mexican food and Chick Fil A.

So…it’s time to hit it hard again.  Be a little nazi about it. 

Because I know I CAN do it. 

It all starts tomorrow. Wish me luck.

At Last

My closest friend in Alaska was named Marijke.  I’ve blogged about her before.

(Speaking of…did you know that she has a CD!!!!?????)

Long story short…she is good people.  I like her.  And we have had a lot of fun together.

When I decided to move back to Texas…I knew I would miss her.

But then….oh….it’s so exciting I can barely type it…

She decided to move here too.

And yesterday…she arrived.  I was excited. 

So…tonight I get to enjoy PFC with the MJG…

Exciting for a variety of reasons…

1. I love PFC.
2. I love MJG.
3. I finally get a copy of her new CD. 

It better be autographed.

The Life of a Nomad

I moved out of my apartment in Eagle River at the end of July…exactly two months ago.

In the last two months I’ve slept in the following places… 

My friend J’s house when I was visiting Dallas.

My friend K’s house when I was visiting Dallas.

My sister’s couch.

My niece’s bed when she was out of town.

An air mattress at my friend  H’s house.

One night at my mom’s!

Sleeping bag in a tent in AK.

Random roadside AK hotel.

My cousin A’s living room floor.

Because that’s what nomads do.

They move around.  They are flexible…and they are thankful for friends that allow them to crash on a couch as they are trying to figure their life out.

In short…I’m not cut out to be a nomad AT ALL.

And so tomorrow…I’m moving into my new apartment. It’s probably going to be pretty shabby chic for a while…far more shabby than chic…but I’m pretty sure I’ll get by. 

I’m excited to have a home again.  A bed.  My own toilet.  Stability. 

So…for at least the next twelve months…I’ll be in the same place.  And after a summer that was anything but stable, that is exciting!

Newsflash

I’m going to miss the snow.

True story.

Race for the Cure

Last weekend, on a day sandwiched between car shopping, work, and family time, I did something cool.

At the prompting of a friend (who is currently fighting breast cancer) I walked in the Race for the Cure. 

Saturday I (and 30,000 of my closest friends) walked (or ran in some cases) 5K and became part of the cure.

Some walked in memory.

Some walked in honor.

All walked in hope.

A Countdown, Birthday Edition

I like to count down to things.  I think this is probably because I am a numbers person and it’s easy for me to quantify things if I can assign a concrete value to it.  I counted down to my move to Texas for months.  At first the days moved to slowly but in the end they moved far too quickly.  That did not deter my counting.

So, I give you, a countdown, birthday edition.

I will be 30 years old in exactly forty-one days.

Oh my holy goodness I’m counting down to the end of my youth. 

I never thought I would be in this stage at the age of thirty.  Meaning…I kind of thought I would be married with the requisite 2.6 kids and a golden retriever by now. 

It’s not likely that I’ll produce those kids in the next 41 days…but I’m working on the dog.  My life rocks.

And here you go.

The past few weeks have been a real mixed bag of crazy.  And, really, I mean that in every sense of the word.  I’ve had physical pain, emotional pain, work stress, etc etc etc.  I’ve also had some sweet family time, a few adventures, and a lot of rest.  Rest is important.

Now that I’m (hopefully…knock on wood) over some of the hurdles that October has thrown at me, there are a lot of things coming up that I’m really, really excited about. 

#1…My cousin’s wedding. 

I’m wearing this dress…

#2…Just a few days after the Campbell/Jacobo wedding…the start of the Mavs regular season.

Excited doesn’t begin to describe it…

#3…I’m moving into my new apartment on Halloween. 

Mwa ha ha ha.

#4…Due to an unfortunately incident involving 635, all of my shoes, and a few bruises, I’ve been transportation-less for the past 1.5 weeks.  No bueno indeed.

But with any luck (and a pending loan application)…I’ll be behind the wheel of this sweet ride in just days.

(This isn’t the actual car I’m buying.  Just a picture of a very similar one.)

So you see…things are starting to look up.  I am feeling great.  And God has given me so many things to be excited about.  Life is good!

As the world turns…and turns…

After writing my last post…things in my life got even more bizarre.  I won’t bore you with the details…but the important part of the story is that I’m fine. Bruised, sore, and exhausted emotionally and physically…but fine.

And, subsequently, a friend that can still love you after you total her car is someone to cherish.  But I knew Dee was pretty special already.

Whoa

This week has been pretty good.  I would almost qualify it as great if not for the odd weather and inconvenient rain.

In all seriousness, things for Davita are certainly looking up and my “postmovesuperstressed” funk seems to be well behind me.  I’m quite thankful and I’m pretty sure everyone around me is too. 

Now, onto other matters…

Do you watch Private Practice?  I do.  I like it…almost more than I like Grey’s although both have been undeniably depressing so far this season.  I’m hoping for some comedic breaks in the next few episodes.  Last night was super intense.

And I kind of had a…moment…while watching PP.  Addison was talking to Sam (or maybe Cooper, I can’t remember) in what was a rare moment of openness for her in this episode.  She was talking about how she was “broken”.  But that “nothing happened to her”. 

Meaning…no obvious trauma.  No attack.  No break up.  No medical condition. 

But that she was still…broken.

I get that.  It’s kind of how I’ve felt over the past few months regarding various relationship issues.  Nothing happened “to” me.  No explosive break-up.  No “trauma”.  But I was still sad.  And broken.

And that’s also how I’ve felt about this move.  It went well.  And was smoother than anticipated…but the stress of it all still left me feeling rather… “Broken”. 

I’ve felt that way about a few other situations that I won’t share here for privacy reasons. 

It reminded me of advice given to me by a friend once. 

She said… “No one gets to tell us what we are allowed to mourn.”

Indeed. 

And you know what…I’ve realized that I needed to mourn some things.  Things that may not seem like a big deal to other people but happenings that certainly impacted me.  And now, having taken some time to really process it all, I feel far more put together than I have in weeks.  It’s a good feeling.

One Month

One month ago I boarded an Alaskan Airlines flight very early in the morning to fly “home”. The much anticipated move had arrived and I was ready… Or so I thought.

The past month has been so different than I anticipated. You see… I was going home. I know TX. I just knew it would be easier than the move to AK.

I was wrong. The past month has without doubt been one of the hardest of my life. But also, one of the most richly blessed.

I hope that someday I’m able to “pay forward” all of the kindness shown to me. All of the love poured out on me. There have been countless prayers lifted up on my behalf everyday and for that I am so thankful.

In this moment on this day, as I reflect upon the past month, I thank God for the rich blessing of friends and family, and I realize once again that I was given more than I ever could have imagined.