Archive for the ‘moving’ Category

What kind of a name is February anyway?


2010
02.26

serenity now...  SERENITY NOW!!!

Thank the Universe that February is only 28ish days long. For whatever reason, I got my ass kicked this month. That’s not always a bad thing. In fact, none of it was. Change is stress. Even good change.

I kicked off my work blog at the beginning of the month. It’s such a good time. And I get paid, which is a total bonus.

I moved to a new place. Bigger. Warmer. Closer to work. Solid.

I booked a last-minute trip to surprise my best friend. In order to do that I had to work some odd hours. Totally worth it, but I’m still shaking the feeling that I should be working every free moment I have.

I accepted my death. It sounds dramatic, I know, but having a major health scare will do that to you. And I’m stoked to say that everything is A-OK for now! I’m so happy to have a good support system around me.

So long February. It’s been real. It’s been fun. I am soooo looking forward to March! Here’s to spring training baseball, Daylight Savings Time, and St. Patty’s Day!

Optimist seeking similar


2009
12.06

When I wake up most days, this is the first thing I see:

It used to be the scoreboard when the room I moved into was the ping-pong room. I know, I know! I ruined bachelor heaven.

When I first moved here I didn’t know anyone or have a job, so I thought it would be a good idea to write down what I did have.

It’s just grown from there. To be honest, after a few more months I should just take down the white board, paint the whole room white and break out a black sharpie. Hmmm…project anyone?

If you think I’m missing something up here, please help me out! It’s three weeks before the Solstice and I’m struggling with the lack of light. Any light from other sources would be much appreciated!!

Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday


2009
11.05

My flight to Oslo was on Swiss Air. I’m a fan. The flight attendants were friendly, I only waited for the bathroom once, wine was free, and the food was decent. Although it was airline food, it was served with real silverware. For some reason, that made it for me. Serve me tasteless pasta and I’ll be disappointed, but give it to me with a silver fork and I can’t stop raving about it!

My friend and I were talking last night about how  it’s the little things that make life so great. I brought up the silverware. She talked about the stranger on the street who complimented her hat. She said that if we paid more attention to the small stuff, the big stuff would hardly matter.
I agree. I have a white board in my room that I see every morning when I wake up. It lists all the things I can think of to be thankful for. Inevitably it has the big things like my room and food — things on the bottom of the hierarchy of needs. However, most of what is on there are things like wine, friends, pilates, trees, stars, and (of course) my blog.
I have had all sorts of experiences in the past week or so that I am thankful for. And since I don’t have my white board, I figured my blog would do just fine.
My friend and her family have had me in their home for the past week; there has been fresh fruit, homemade bread, more cheese (or ost in Norsk) than you can shake a stick at, and all the coffee, water and wine I could want. I truly thank them for their hospitality. I feel like part of the family.
My dear friend in Oslo picked me up at the airport, booked a train for himself and me to Trondheim, and will take a day off from work to show me around the city next week. I am so blessed to have met him through a church celebration of Norway’s independence in Minneapolis. Yeah, I know. That’s the Universe having a sense of humor right there.
The weather in Trondheim reminds me of Minneapolis around this time. Cold, windy and just a bit damp. Very fall. Very crisp. Thank you to Trondheim for confirming that I made the right decision by moving to California. Although it could get this cold where I live now, it won’t get colder (like it will in my former post) and for that I am truly thankful!
Some people say the devil is in the details. I tend to disagree. Don’t sweat the small stuff? I don’t know about that, but then I don’t sweat much of anything. The little things in life are what we really remember. They stick out in our brain for years. If there isn’t toilet paper in a restaurant, I would be willing to bet we remember that longer than what we ordered for dinner. 
In the spirit of the little things, I would like to say thank you to everyone in my life that I know and to those I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet for making it so amazing. I love you all! 

"Everything is a double-edged sword!" –Louis CK


2009
07.28

It’s been a few months. In this time I have been getting rid of everything I own and moving across the continent. It’s amazing what little I actually need to get by. I sold a lot of what I owned, but gave most of it away. It all seemed to have a place. And that place was not with me.

In the past few years, I have been living with the phrase Be comfortable being uncomfortable running through my head. It keeps my mind limber, my optimism keen and my expectations open. Comfort can create stagnation, which breeds bacteria and becomes unhealthy. But moving across the country without a job or many friends has made me reconsider.

I wonder: When is it OK to comfortable? Where is the middle ground between complete chaos and stuck in a rut? Should we constantly be searching, never to be satisfied? Or should we accept and live in routine?  Can we do both?

Thus begins my quest for the middle ground. Anyone who knows me can say I tend to go to the extreme. While this may be great for my workout routine, it can be a disaster when I go out for drinks. And that may be simplifying it but it may not be.

P.S. If you wanna see some of the greatest comedy ever, check out Louis C.K. His stuff is hilarious and wildly inappropriate.

The best teacher we have is ourselves


2009
05.04

My cousin’s graduation announcement arrived in my mailbox today. After the initial shock of seeing his senior picture (I remember him being born!), I started to think a little about new beginnings and expectations. That’s the idea, right?

While graduation is a clear example of the end of one thing and the beginning of something else, we are faced with these situations throughout our lives. It can be unsettling to be in a position where we have to say goodbye to what we’ve become comfortable with and hello to what we know little about.

There are certain expectations people have for us and that we have for ourselves. The longer we settle into a pattern, the less often we have these expectations. We tried this and it didn’t work out. We set a goal and achieved it. Now what’s next? Many times we forget to ask what’s next, and instead pat ourselves on the back for what we can and try and forget the failures.

I have been having some anxiety about this lately, as I am moving away from a city that has hosted a world of achievements and letdowns for me to a place I have never been. In the beginning, I assigned a negative emotion to this feeling. Anxiety in itself has a negative connotation.

Anxiety can be a good thing — a marker that our body and brain are still working. Of course we feel stress when we go through major change–it’s part of nature’s plan. Learning to deal with it and work through it is what separates us from the animals. We can move out of our comfort zone. We should. Habits and routine can be good to a point, but not if it’s keeping us from setting goals and moving forward.

I challenge all of us to look at the beginning and end points of things in our life. It doesn’t have to be as obvious as graduating, buying a house or changing jobs. It can be as simple as a new workout routine or a new friend. These things cause stress and anxiety at almost undetectable levels. They also create new expectations for us. If we can navigate our way through these, then certainly we can accomplish whatever it is we want in this life.

What kind of movie do you want to star in?


2008
12.06

Moving sucks. Helping someone move sucks too, but it’s the only way they’ll help you move when you inevitably will have to endure the unfortunate adventure. But on this particular day, it wasn’t such a mundane experience. A friend and I were driving in a giant moving truck down 35W at night when we saw lights flashing on the side of the road. She started to move over and slow down, when bam! We hit a couch in the middle of the road.

My friend’s reaction was pretty natural…”I did the right thing right?!?” But really? A couch in the middle of the highway? Who saw that coming?

Later on in the evening we were driving down 94W to return me home and in the distance we saw a semi in front of us with its doors swinging wide open and no cargo in the back. And it was still barreling down the road at 55 mph. We were about to drive past the driver and flag him down when I noticed the bio hazard diamond on the side of the truck. Do I need to repeat that there was no cargo?

This all happened October 1. But it wasn’t until I played Halo this weekend (I know – I played video games?) that these events came back to the front of my consciousness. Doesn’t this remind you of something you would see in Resident Evil? I think so. And I’m sure these sort of things happen a lot more often than just once in a while. I just haven’t been looking for them.

Many things are like that: hidden until you look for them. Life is what you make of it, after all.

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