"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased." Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve been trying to think of something intelligent/substantial/thought provoking to write.
That hasn’t happened, so I’m deciding to just write.
I’ve left facebook once again and plan to remain removed. I’ve had the question why a lot. The short answer is that I feel like I miss the days of no facebook on my brain. I want to be present in my life – I pride myself on that. I want to actually be friends with people who I claim to be friends with or who claim to be so with me. Facebook has become too much of a show for me.
I did keep a souvenir – an internet meme sent to me last week when I was sick. I hope you take it to heart as much as I have. (I threw in a picture of some adorable squirrels too! Ya know, ’cause I love ’em.)
“Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them.” – Henry Hoskins
“A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections.” – Joseph Addison
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” – Socrates
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” – Lao Tzu
Last week I spent some catch-up time with my friend, M. We visited Blend Cafe in Durham in the Golden Belt (which I didn’t even know existed before that day). I kind of knew a part of the Golden Belt, but I just didn’t know I knew. I’m confused, show of hands – who’s with me?! So I’d been to this place called The Scrap Exchange before, but because I entered the parking lot a different way, I was unaware of what awesomeness also existed in this chunk of the town. There’s Blend, The Cotton Room (a great event space), The Scrap Exchange, Liberty Arts, artist studios, a yoga studio, & a host of other venues. After lunch at Blend, we were given an unofficial tour of a few other locations. We ended up taking pictures on the dock – we were goofballs! Hope you enjoy our results!! ALSO – thanks to M, I now know that Obladi Oblada is a song by the Beatles. Yes, my music knowledge has improved immensely in recent years, peeps. Here’s a video of the song!
There was also one day where I spent the better part of an afternoon with my bfrand. I’ve seen many-a-day with this lady. It’s rare to find one (let alone two..my second person being my guy) person who gets you & has had a similar life path. Thanks to A&P (anatomy and physiology) I met this awesome chick and we’ve been together ever since. This particular day, we ventured to Cocoa & Cinnamon in downtown Durham. A pretty neat spot off Geer St. Where I was fascinated by this place called Motorco down the street. I still don’t know what was written on the sign some guy was standing next to..that will probably bother me for weeks. We visited Daisy Cakes before they closed (love their desserts!). It was B’s first time there. She approved : )
We wandered around downtown for a bit after that with Baby (my camera) in hand. We caught some pretty neat shots! One of my favorites is the one looking down the track. And it only took about 50 tries to get our reflection picture, but we did it! I could not imagine my life without this girl! Everyone should have a B in their life.
The next day, my cat and dog were especially clingy and looking so cute, so I got Baby back out. I went for a brief and freezing walk that morning and noticed how our flowers were starting to bloom outside. When the sun peeked out a bit more, I took Baby outside and clicked the shutter a few times.
It was nice to have a bit of free time last week & enjoy it with some special peeps!
I am thankful for: friends & pets!
B.
A Bull creation outside Liberty Arts..way cool!
The dock
My gift from M – a necklace with a map of Maine!!!
Yes, I really did include “dreamy” in my post title. You would too if you had my December.
One of the most honorable mentions is to my dearly (now broken) ring from the Thanksgiving trip. It was purple and pretty and now it’s in tiny pieces. Sad. Just sad. Thank goodness I took pictures!!
This month I was also introduced to many “Elf on the Shelf” characters. One in particular was named Elfie. M’s first elf on the shelf. He was so cool! I had to help Elfie fly on a couple of occasions. Hehe. The story that comes with Elfie (or whatever you may end up naming your elf) is so sweet. I actually managed to get a picture of M reading the story the last week I nannied for him.
December was a sad month in that aspect. Nannying and massage therapy school came to a close. Both on high notes I must say. Watching M was such a joy. There were many tears unleashed that last week. I don’t do well with goodbyes..to say the least.
On a brighter note, if I allow myself to brag for a moment about school, I’d mention that I managed to have perfect attendance for an entire year and a half, was on the President’s List each and every quarter, was Student of the Quarter, & made so many memorable connections with such great people! I also took and passed my MBLEx before leaving to Maine for my incredible New Year’s trip!
There were more crafts!! M and I decorated a Christmas tree..of sorts. Thank you, Target!! We also got window decals – a train set for M, and penguins for me! I’m such a kid!
Which worked well for me once more when I babysat J & R for a couple days! We made faces out of these mask kits they had. I made a silly elf face!
Gifts were exchanged, platelets were donated, more memories were made, and so were cookies!! Christmas came and went. This year was harder than any other Christmas. I spent it apart from my boyfriend and everyone everywhere seemed to be a bit sad.
Not to worry! New Year’s was just around the corner to save the day! And so was an airplane to take me back to Maine! My first day there, I was introduced to Lenny, a 1700lb chocolate moose!! More places to be mentioned in January. I’ll leave you with these ramblings for now.
I am thankful for: giving, Christmas trees, achieving goals, Target, New Year’s, Maine.
Trips..Holidays..Crafts. October had many memorable moments!
First up..my first trip to Maine wasn’t over until early in the first week of October. Other places we visited included: Samantha Reed Smith statue, Maine State House in Augusta (so cool!), & Old Fort Western. The places were incredible, weather was awesome, and company was the bestest! I also was unfortunately reminded of how hard some goodbyes can be. This is my PSA: if you’re with someone who is your most incredible person, tell them. Show them.
A few weeks after the Maine trip, there was a beach trip with my dad’s company. So fun!! (I should mention I got a movie date with my daddy during this month too!) We went to Corolla and were able to stay in an incredible house on the beach! It was called “The Dream” and so lived up to it! There were wild horses, pool tables, great conversations, glo necklaces, and UNO!! On the way home, we even got to stop by Kill Devil Hills! I hadn’t been there in 10 years!
The month of Halloween – probably the holiday I least look forward to. But last year it was fun. M and I made crafts for the occasion all month long! We also had some random baking & drawing days. Love that kid.
The very last day of the month, I trekked it out to Fearrington Village. Such a cool place! They were decked out with decorative pumpkins! My mom created her first scarecrow – and it won the competition at work!
All-in-all, October was a pretty great month.
I am thankful for: family, the beach, wild horses, cameras, phones, & paint.
To the heroes.
To the fallen.
To the brave and fiercely courageous.
To the ones who are still here to feel pain on this day, and everyday for the ones lost.
To remembering and never forgetting.
“Happiness is a direction, not a destination.” – Unknown
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.” – Bill Cosby
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu
So there’s this thing called the CowParade going on in the Triangle. There are nearly 80 cows decorated by various artists placed throughout the area. From what I understand, this is the first CowParade in the US to have been placed in an area and not just confined to one city.
M and I found 9 today in the area close to the Durham Bulls Ballpark. We took pictures of 6 and saw 3 more on our drive home. M really enjoyed seeing them! We even passed 2 moms with their little ones while on our cow hunt. Seems to be a popular idea!
I am thankful for: art.
B.
One of my favorites!
Wild for Bees (Burt’s Bees) in the background, & Night-N-Day up close. The only 2 we thought we’d get to see.
“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.” – Jonathan Winters
“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.” – Elbert Hubbard
“Your attitude is more important that your aptitude.” – Zig Ziglar
“Our intention creates our reality.” – Wayne Dyer
A day that started out not so great, turned out to be wonderful! I met some of the sweetest and funniest people in clinic today! I also found out I’m booked out a few weeks already, which is super encouraging for me as a budding massage therapist. I couldn’t be more happy with this feeling that I’ve chosen the absolute best path for my life.
The picture is of part of a new dress I got. It has birdies!!
I am thankful for: the opportunity to re-type words (took me like 8 tries to type “for”).
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” ~The Buddha
“Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” ~ Ansel Adams
“How far that little candle throws his beams. So shines a good deed in a weary world.” – Shakespeare
“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” – Leonard Cohen
“All glory comes from daring to begin.” – Eugene F. Ware
“You must welcome change as the rule but not your ruler.” ~Denis Waitley
“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” ~ Diane Arbus
“If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail.” – Winston Churchill
Yes, ’twas a day of yet another froggy sighting. And dude was bloated. I’m not sure what was going on there, but I hope he’s ok! I’m sure M does as well. He was so concerned for little Mr. Frog that he attempted to toss pine needles over the pool fence for his snack. It was so sweet!
Fast forward quite a few hours, and..
Why, might you ask, is Simba flying solo on my keychain tonight? Well dearest ladies and gents, the short version (which you want – trust me) is that my car is having issues. Yes, sadly Bubbles the car hath been towed away before my very own eyeballs this evening in light of some sort of to-be-determined malfunction. Not to worry – she will be saved!! But I can’t understand for the life of me why I get emotional over such things as seeing my car towed away. Please tell me I’m not the only one! And on that note..
“Love yourself. Love the world. There is no power stronger than love.”- Deepak Chopra
“Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.” ~John Updike
One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. – Arthur Ashe
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” – Winston Churchill
“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them . A desire, a dream, a vision.” – Muhammed Ali
Another day with the mission of being silly – check! The semi-serious section of the day begins in about T minus 2 hours. I’m quite proud of myself – I managed to sleep in a bit, be silly all day, do yoga when I got home, make dinner for myself, & spend time with my pets. I’m like scary productive today!
Happy lighthouse day!
I am thankful for: beacons of light..whatever form they may take.
B.
PS: the title of the post was a quote from a lady at a drive-thru today. I find inspiration everywhere!
“Be not simply good; be good for something.” – Henry David Thoreau
“You have brains in your head. Your feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss
A day at the museum & lots of silly time! There were googley eyes, owls, snakes, phones, origami, building blocks, tornado-maker, geodes, & me talking like an Italian dude! That last one got most of the laughs today.
“There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he’s absolutely free to choose.” – William M. Bulger
“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” – Alexander the Great
“Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.” – Rob Gilbert
to really say ‘I want to put love for other people first’ is a radical concept in our culture. ~ marianne williamson
“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.” – Harold S. Kushner
An amazing day with great girls! Reading, reenacting Tangled, puzzles, coloring, being silly, dinner at Tobacco Road, & a Durham Bull’s Game with fireworks! Oh, and making up phrases like “funnel caking”. Definition? To influence others around you to partake in the eating of funnel cake. Guilty! And many many dance parties throughout the day. All-in-all, fabulous Saturday!!
girlmeetscamera 