the sun is getting stronger, and the world is green again...

i love spring. and i am so excited for march to come this weekend. it seems to me that this march is going to be exceptionally good, because, for some reason, it is holding a lot of hope. everything is new in the spring, and the sun attempts to make a comeback (if you're somewhere besides the pacific northwest, it actually does make a comeback!), and things come to life...and it just feels like God is breathing on everything and making it shine.

the last couple of years i have really struggled through the winters, for a variety of reasons...the largest being an exceptionally bad job, tough times for my family, a second mediocre job, and an unhealthy amount of stress from doing way too many things half-heartedly. 

this year, the winter hasn't been like that. i'm looking to spring this year not as an escape from winter's pain, but as a continuation of the things that are building. i am so excited about the future, and even though i really don't know what it looks like at all, i am not afraid of it for once. it beckons me with a smile, and i want to run to what God has for me. i can feel it like the promise of the sun on my arms when i'm driving. it's teasing me...summer is coming! get ready for it! 

I'd like to thank the academy...

so, my lovely friend amy b. posted this little quiz on her blog, and I thought it sounded fun, so I took it too. and lo and behold, I got the same answer she did. I think that's a good sign for both of us, since we once wrote and directed a one-act play together. =) and it was awesome. so maybe, amy dear, we should start writing screenplays, since they are obviously waiting to give us oscars for our brilliance! 

oh, and if you decide to take this, blog friends, please tell me what you will be winning for, since we will obviously need talented actors and crew members to make our award-winning movies! 

You Would Win Best Original Screenplay

You are insightful and expressive. You've always been a natural storyteller. You know how to hook an audience, entertain them, and surprise them at the end. Where people see everyday life, you see an engaging plot with interesting characters. You notice details that other people ignore. People you've only met once or twice live inside your head.

What Would You Win an Oscar For?

tagged...

amy tagged me, so I followed the rules, and here's what I came up with:

This is the view of my bed from my desk in my college dorm room, circa September 2004. The green bedding you see belonged to my freshman year roommate, Sarah. A couple weeks after this was taken, Sarah and I bought new posters for our walls, and she made me take Frodo down because it "creeped her out!" I don't know why... =) It was replaced by a "Friends" (TV show) poster that I didn't really care about at the time and a giant calendar where I attempted to track my homework assignments. 

I now tag:

1. Merilee

2. Jaynie

3. Colin

4. Heidi

5. Linda (mom)

6. Kim

Okay, so here's what comes next...

Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
1. Pick the 6th Folder, then select the the 6th picture in that folder.
2. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.
3. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

caution: construction zone

I had a conversation with my brother today, and he said some things I really didn't want to hear. I can honestly say that I've never been more insulted in my life. Because he was right. I hate it when he's right. 

So I'm going to change some things. I am under construction. You might need a hardhat to hang out with me for awhile. Prayer would be appreciated.

I'm in repair//I'm not together but I'm getting there

-John Mayer "In Repair"

book friends

as you may well be aware, I love books. sometimes I even find myself a great deal more invested in a character's emotions than I am my own. perhaps it's the writer in me that makes me more aware of the humanness and personalities of fictional characters. perhaps it's something else.

it's just a bit of silliness, really, but my 'book friends' are Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter, Laurie Holbrook from Miss Match by Erynn Mangum, and most of the characters from Robin Jones Gunn's books.

but what I want to know is, if you could be friends in real life with a character from a book, who would you choose to know? who are your 'book friends' now? 

sunshine and shadows

my lovely annaliese issued a challenge today to write a post on 'sunshine and shadows,' so here's mine.

the moment I saw her title, I thought of one of my favorite songs by switchfoot, aptly titled the shadow proves the sunshine. I love that line, and that idea. it's like when we are asked to compare good and bad. 'good' cannot exist without 'bad' because there is nothing to measure good with. without shadows, we can't tell that the sun has any effect. darkness proves light. 

speaking of sunshine, it's that time of year when I am absolutely craving it. the sun has been hanging around this neck of the woods for a few days now, but for whatever reason, I haven't been venturing out to enjoy and consume it. why is it that we sometimes hide from the things that we really want, even when opportunities present themselves to us? perhaps the cool of the shadows feels more comfortable, even when in the back of our minds we know that the sunshine will make us happier...