Friends on Ships

They take your ugly and deal with it. Somehow it remains – that you can always be yourself and you understand them and they understand you. Not always, of course, but in those times of disagreement or trouble, they remain. And it isn’t always bad – usually the ugly is just a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things. The good is something that can’t fully be expressed to perfection because after a while, it seems to just be innate because you know a person so well – what makes them tick.

Friendship has been a recurring blessing throughout my life, and more than ever, I’ve been a little overwhelmed by how much I love the people – the friends – in my life.

The old tale goes that my best childhood friend and I met in the church nursery and from that moment on, we were inseparable. She lived down the street – so whenever we had sleepovers or wanted to hang out we would always end our phone calls with “meet you halfway” and meet each other to walk to the decided home. Anything she did I wanted to do – case in point – when she was given permission to start shaving her legs, I begged my mom to let me shave mine. When she got a cute new haircut, I wanted the same. We faced our little bumps along the way, especially during our awkward middle school girl age, but today I consider her my sister. It is not often that when you are young and declare that one day you’ll be in each other’s wedding that it actually happens, but I happily get to stand behind her as she marries her fiancé this year. 25 year of friendship is unique for a 25 year old.

During then end of my junior year of high school, I became a part of a Three Musketeer friendship – we have the independent faithful one, the do-anything-for-you fashionista, and me (I guess I would dub myself as the sweet, eccentric one). Without one of them, something is always missing. We have shared pain, joy, fun, and they often remind me of C.S. Lewis’ friendship he had with JRR Tolkien and Charles Williams. I wholeheartedly dread the possibility, but can greatly understand Lewis when he writes:

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles [Williams] is dead, I shall never again see Ronald's [Tolkien] reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him 'to myself' now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald. ... We possess each friend not less but more as the number of those with whom we share him increases.

College: Well, I lived in a 1-bathroom house with 7 other girls. Once you sit on the toilet while one is in the shower and another is brushing her teeth, you can call yourselves intimate. This house, The Pea Pod, produced so much in my life. Taught me to love, to speak truth, to get out of my shy rut and be a schmidge weird, to be open and transparent. My Peas will always be close in my heart.

I have all these beautiful friendships and you would think that this would be enough – that I couldn’t possible need anymore, but God is big on love, and there are many to love. He is funny and works in crazy ways – even to the point that he brought an old high school friend back into my life – She always inspired me with her wit and was the one high school friend I often thought about as we moved on – wondered how she was doing. Random circumstances led me into her small group through church, and we so easily picked up our insanity and throw in some grown-up conversation too. Through that friendship, I met one of her college roommates, who now is also a crazy awesome friend who has brought fun, faith, her dog, and an added bonus to my life. Ah! I’m exploding with friendship!

Why am I so blessed to have all of these friendships? I don’t think it is because I’m cool because they are way cooler than me. I don’t think I’ll ever really wrap my brain around the quality and abundance of my friends, but I do know that I am thankful beyond reason. Truly – I have no reason to have all of these people in my life, but I do and they bring me pure joy.

Beyond Functional

A great creator does not see his work as something apart from himself. What the creator makes is a statement about the creator, and a manifestation of their sensibilities, which is one with their experiences. Our modern buildings, our strip malls and stripped-down buildings say that our culture is one with efficiency, with selling goods and services. Was God being efficient when He created a woman, or was He being extravagant? Is a cloud the most efficient way to water crops, or is it functional and aesthetically brilliant? Are the sunrise and sunset more than a functional way to dim the lights?

                                                                                   - Donald Miller

I would call myself a creative person.  I'm a visual learner.  Give me pictures.  Give me something to touch, to imagine, to picture in my mind.  Let me look close up.  Give me Monet's "Water Lilies" and I will get my nose so close to that painting so I can see the strokes, the lines in the paint from the bristles.  Paint a story, write a song, capture a memory, be descriptive, use color, explore texture.  Create.

The other night I just needed to use my hands - feed my need.  Paint, clothespins, paper.  That is all I had and I really can't tell you what I started will end up being used for, but that is okay with me.  One day its purpose will be revealed.

What I love most about Donald Miller's quote is the fact that maybe God didn't need to make women extravagant or create clouds with so much beauty that ignite the imagination of children's minds as they fight to see an animal, but He did - and his creation, though needed and created for function, is breathtaking and a reflection - a statement - of his character.  I see love there.  Someone who has made something tick and work so well but at the same time so unique and beyond the means and into the beauty.

I hope I can take that type of mindset and put it into my work - to remember that it isn't just about function or creating something to fill a need or result, but to produce beauty - something that represents so much more beyond what is expected.

LOVE-ing

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....and one more time.



Today I officially declare it, "Girly-shove-your-face-with-chocolate-look-cute-doing-it-be-giddy-about-everything-take-pictures-to-document-your-new-sweater-dress-to-look-good-on-facebook-talk-talk-talk-talk-i-love-my-girl-friends-and-our-insane-ability-to-be-uber-girly-i-need-to-know-every-detail-in-the-story-or-we're-not-friends-anymore-type-of-day-oh-by-the-way-i-love-your-nail-polish-where-did-you-get-it?" Whew. I'm usually not this girly....I mean, I'm a girl...and I like being girly and dressing up and filling up my talk-o-meter tank with all things girly. But it isn't common that I find a day like today where I am hosting a DELECTABLE dessert-filled get-together, and later this evening I have a bachelorette dinner to go to. Overload. No worries....I've made the chocolate chip cookies, prepared the fruit and dip, made chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered strawberries, and have all my fancy and girly dishes to display it all upon....

Apart from uber girliness, my personal trainer is not going to be happy. Don't worry - I've got it down 5, 15, 10 with non-isolated weight lifting and no more crunches. :-) I'll get on that starting Monday...until then:

BRING ON THE CHOCOLATE AND PUT ADELE-ish LOVE SONGS ON REPEAT!

Coveting

Okay...so I know its wrong.
But sometimes I just want something so bad....sometimes I wish I could just have endless amounts of money so I could buy whatever I want...sometimes I wish I could just look so put together all the time and be my unique self and express it with my clothes, gadgets (hello iPad 2), and shoes....ugh...i love shoes.  Not to mention, my boss gave me flowers today to show her appreciation for me (since it is Employee Appreciation Day)....which just makes me wish i could have money to buy fresh flowers and have them in my place all the time - even though I know they don't last and eventually mold within the vase because I let them die a very long death, and I'm too lazy to throw them in the trash.  I know these things won't satisfy me and I need to get a grip on life and my bank account...

And for now, I just tell myself I don't need these things at all and will survive without them, but a girl can dream...boy oh boy, she can.

And so I just drool over my current obsessions through fashion photography and apple.com

Here are my current loves for Fall 2011....the color combinations....the shoes...the headband...the texture

Did I mention the shoes?

And the iPad Smart Cover is really what just sold it...

Alright....coveting session over. 

Reality check - rent/utilities/cable due.