should i be brave and go to a bikram's yoga class today?

A rich life

One thing I am learning lately is that people are what make our lives rich. Perhaps I'm not really "learning" this, but am being reminded of it.

Nathan and I don't have much money these days because of several complications with his plan to join ROTC, but we are both planning to work next semester and hope things will start looking up. In any case, neither of us have really had a job since July, and we are trying to live more simply with very little income. Luckily we have wonderful families who have been and are helping us very much, and we're still living a comfortable lifestyle- we are so spoiled!

All of our family members seem to be experiencing a "down time" right now- maybe we're all feeling the effects of the economy. So, Christmas this year is planning to be much simpler. But, I am realizing that I am more than okay with that.

Although this Christmas might bring less presents, I plan to enjoy every moment of it. Next Christmas my husband will be in Iraq on a deployment, so I am going to do all I can to enjoy him fully this year. Also, my Mom has been battling Lymphoma, and I am so glad to have her here with us this Christmas (and for many more to come, as she is doing well with her Chemo!)

These things have reminded me, though, that it's the people that we love and who love us back that make our life rich. And I am certainly blessed. I am looking very much forward to this simpler Christmas, because I am going to focus on the people I am sharing it with this year- especially my darling husband and my wonderful Mom.

So as we begin this holiday season remember what your real blessings are- Especially the riches we have in the people we hold dear.

expecting

i'm up very late tonight, supposedly studying for my history test tomorrow. although i missed 11/11 pm, i figure since today is 11/11 i can still make a wish anytime tonight. i know contentment is a virtue, but i can't help but sigh a little when i google image search "pregnant."

i think pregnant women are -the- most beautiful thing in the entire world. photos that might otherwise come off as questionable are suddenly soft, feminine and beautiful when they are of a woman with child. God is infinitely creative, and i can't help but feel just a little impatient....

i leave you with this: a sweet father-to-be's musings about his wife's beautiful changing body.

(Note: if you are a guy, you may not want to click the link as there is a picture of a very pregnant naked women. i don't have any problem with girls looking at it, but if you're a guy, please note that i warned you.)

do you ever wish you had a re-wind button?

well, i'm wishing that right now. i would love if i could just go back and re-start this day with an alternative ending. but, since we aren't afforded such a hollywood luxury, i suppose i'll have to just keep going forward and hoping that somehow He'll work it out for the best.

also, i'm having a friend of mine on my mind and heart today. you can pray for her too, if you want.

escape

well, today was another long day at school.

it's funny, when i look at my blog posts i notice an interesting trend- i often say i will do something and then i don't do it! for instance, last post i said pictures would follow, and they didn't. and earlier i set out to re-disgn my laundry room while my husband was gone. i got about as far as installing a new dryer vent and looking at paint chips and then gave up.... i think this has something to do with the fact that i see my blog as a place to characterize myself, define my aspirations, and type out my daily dreams. hence the blog title....

in all, i guess you can say this blog is one of my escapes.

i've realized lately, as i've been going through a lot of stress, that i have little escapes i retreat to everyday. of course my husband is the top of the list, but i also have other little things i like to run to, such as blogging. last week when my mind was running 100 miles a minute, i marched over to the rock-climbing wall at my gym and ferociously set out to get to the top... then my arms reminded me i have no upper body strength. it was a painful, but glorious escape. i made it to the top (with a lot of help from the big guy belaying me, and a few people cheering for me from the bottom). in the process i forgot all my stresses, nearly killed myself, and walked around with unbelievable soreness for days in muscles i didn't even know i had.

today, after another long but wonderful day of classes, i found myself at the book store escaping once again. this time, though, i was escaping into an issue of "this country home." and i realized something about myself. i have loved interior design for a long time, but today i realized it is one of my escapes. when i pick up a decor magazine and thumb through the pages, i run away for a bit into my own secret world. i'm instantly and flawlessly transported into other people's feelings, moods, tastes, and worlds. all my "somedays" are fulfilled, and inevitably it gets me dreaming about the day when i'll have a big house of my own to fill with antiques, kids running around, and a big, dirty dog.

join me on an escape, and ask yourself... what are your daily hide-a-ways?

from dress design decor

from material girls

from fromtherightbank.com

from fromtherightbank.com

Autumn in Virginia

Well, school has begun again, and I find myself in a new place: a new city, a new state, a new side of the country, and a new school. So far I am enjoying Virginia quite a bit. I haven't gotten too far in my explorations, as school work is keeping me busy! But, here's my list of "to-do's" for the next couple months in this green new state:

-go antique hunting.

I'm in the East, for heavens sake, I must go antique shopping. Even though I don't have a dime to spare right now, most of the joy is the hunt anyways. Perhaps I'll start working soon and save up some money just for antique buying.

-go to D.C.

I can't wait to do this. We were going to go last weekend, but that didn't end up working out. I also definitely want to go in the Spring to see the cherry blossoms.

-Williamsburg.

This is a must! Especially since my dear friend Emily lives there now.

-find a firefly-infested forest.

I've heard about these from my Darling husband, and we're determined to find one together.

-drive up to Connecticut for the weekend.

I don't know if it's my love of Gilmore Girls that's implanted me with this desire or not; but in any case I want to go spend a weekend in this beautiful state sometime this Autumn.

And that is all for now. The only few things I would change right now are that I'd like to have a whole foods that's closer to me, and I wish we lived in a different unit in our apartment complex: we have two Asian girls (2 and 6) above us and they love to run around all day and bang on their piano......... ouch.

Other than that, the move has been splendid. The kitties are adjusting, and we are getting ever near-er to being unpacked.

Pictures to follow----

re-imagining

absolutely has felt shot down and drowning.

absolutely has found new inspiration today.

and absolutely plans on changing tenses sporadically throughout this post. but it's my blog, and i can do that.

so how did i re-gain inspiration today?

began reading Peter Pan, and has thoroughly enjoyed escaping to that lovely world. i've been wanting to do this ever since i saw it performed as a dance recital this last winter, and i'm very happy i'm doing it before school starts.

and spent her late-night/early-morning hours gaping over Ben Chrisman's wedding photography. i now find myself re-inspired and passionate about my career choice, if only i can channel some of his inspiring techniques and his brilliant lighting. i decided if there's one person i could follow around for a month, it would be him.

to leave you with a quote:

"They [Peter and Wendy] were together in the armchair by this time, and Wendy plied him with more questions.

'If you don't live in Kensington Gardens now_____'

'Sometimes I do still.'

'But where do you live mostly now?'

'With the lost boys.'

'Who are they?'

'They are the children who fall our of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way. If they are not claimed in seven days they are sent far away to the Neverland to defray expenses. I'm captain.'

'What fun it must be!'

'Yes,' said cunning Peter, 'but we are rather lonely. You see we have no female companionship.'

'Are none of the others girls?'

'Oh no; girls, you know, are much too clever to fall our of their prams.'

This flattered Wendy immensely. 'I think,' she said, 'it is perfectly lovely the way you talk about girls....'"