I Heart (pun intended)

I'm not much of a jewelry person and when I do choose to add a little bit of accessory to my day, it's usually something simple. And yet there is this flower ring where the petals are each made of pieces of jade that struck my fancy at a jewelry shop once. Seriously for me this ring is not only fancy but pretty "out there".



Now I'm having a swooning moment over this necklace:


I know it might seem busy and a bit over the top but there is something about letters and numbers that facinates me and then the story behind the necklace is touching. Here's the link if you want to find out more (OR even buy it for me, but it is a bit pricy) .

HA, I had to check if I was "Mean Katie"

It seems my last post garnered some attention and got picked up for a post over here at Zandrai and BlogHer. So exciting!

Growing Up

Why is it that on the eve of turning 30 I am just now realizing what an idiot I was at 20? You think that life would have been much easier if I had come to that conclusion when I was in a place to do something about it. But oh no, life lessons are often learned with an eye to the past.

So my question is this . . . Now that I know that I knew a whole lot of nothing at the ripe old age of 20, and yet I thought I had it all figured out, what does that say about what I think I know now that I'm almost 30?

And, hello, when did I get to be "almost 30"? I mean I was just in college . . . . 6 or 7 years ago, and high school was only . . . 5 years before that. So really shouldn't I still be languishing somewhere in the 20's eternally?

I think it's required to have some sort of mid-mid-life crisis when the big THREE-OH approaches your door, but in all honesty I'm more side-swiped by it. These last few years have snuck up on me and my basic math skills have fallen by the way-side in the process. To think that each additional year added to the sum total of years is a concept I seem to have grown slightly and yet consciously ignorant of.

I mean 30 equates to all sorts of things: marriage, family, dog, home, ability to cook a meal that doesn't come from a frozen box/bag or at least includes 5 ingredients, being a "grown up", and other such things that just seem to be a part of life at 30. Hmmm, this isn't to say that I think my life isn't up to snuff for 30, but maybe more 30 isn't up to snuff for my life. I'm happy, I have a job I love, I have amazing friends, and there are still many many years ahead for all that other "stuff".

I wonder if you ever reach the point of being a "grown up" or if it's all in perception. To a college student I'm grown up but to my parents I'm still their child. Maybe I'll always be in that state of growing and yet always seen by someone as already grown.

Remembering

One great thing about a blog is that it chronicles who you are (or at least who you choose to appear as) and what you have experienced, thought, and put to paper (or in our case, screen). Sometimes it's worth it for me to read through my archives and remind myself of lessons that I'm still trying to learn.

So for today, I'm sharing with you an old post that is still "in progress" for me in terms of grasping.

Laying it down

Tepid

Speaking of tepid, what exactly does that mean? The good people at dictionary.com came up with this:
1. moderately warm; lukewarm
2. characterized by a lack of force or enthusiasm

That's a pretty good description of how I've felt of late. Not good, not bad, just lukewarm with a lack of force or enthusiasm. A co-worker asked about my blogging and I made the comment that I've haven't been as inspired lately so writing has come slowly. Unfortunately, this tepid state has reached out into more than just blogging and can characterize most parts of my life from friendships to ministry to even my own relationship with God. So, I think I need to do some self-examination and have a few heart to hearts with myself and God about finding that force and entusiasm to move me from this tepid state.

9-11-2001

Six years. It's been six long years since that horrible morning. A morning that made us each stop and watch as the world that we knew changed suddenly.

In some ways it feels like it was just a few months ago, the memories of where we were, what we experienced are so vivd. Then, in other ways it feels like it's was a lifetime ago and life has moved forward. I can only imagine for the many families who lost loved ones the days have been counted individually and the time has streched thinner.

As I looked at the calendar this week my thoughts were drawn to this date, this infamous date. And yet, as I woke this morning it was just another day and my mind was focused on what I needed to accomplish. It wasn't until I watched the news that I was quickly reminded of the anniversary of 9/11.

I honestly have mixed feelings about this date. Part of me wants to never forget this event, the people who lost their lives, the reality of our world. The other part of me struggles to pull myself from my day to day throughts and distractions. Callous is the word a co-worker used to describe how so many of our country respond to this memory. I chose ignorant. Ignorant to a lifetime of 9/11s, innocent of the daily fear of a terrorist attack, and yet that ignorance and innocence also shields us from the honest truth that our world is different. Or is it? Is my individual world different today than it was 6 years and one day ago? Should it be? Should I be?

Recommending . . .

1. Stardust - In the vein of one of my favorite flicks (The Princess Bride) this is a great romantic-dramady.

2. Sugar Free Popcicles (thanks Jes) - yummy and only 15 calories. But since I ate 5 of them last night it really comes out to 75 calories.

3. What do you recommend?