Monday, April 2, 2012

2012, so far...

Tonight I realized I had over 500 pictures on my phone just from this year. Admittedly, this year seems to be flying by and I have been matching its pace. There have been so many things that I've wanted to write on here, so many recipes I've wanted to share, photos I've wanted to post, cute stories I've wanted to relate. And deep thoughts, always deep thoughts to purge myself of onto these pages.

I'm really trying to get a hold on my time management. I enjoy being busy and I love having people to talk to, but I've been asking myself what the focus of it all is. For the past year or so I've felt like God has been asking me to focus...but on what?! I think I understand in bits and pieces. If you've ever been to the eye doctor, you know that they change the lenses and say, "which is better: one or two? OK, now two or three?".

Sometimes I think God is playing eye doctor and he is asking me to look at things through different lenses, so that I have better sight (so to speak). This is my life and I have a choice in which pair of glasses I choose to see things through. Will I choose to view the moments of my life with gratefulness, love, grace, and beauty? The right lenses make all the difference.

However, happiness has brought a lack of creativity. Or perhaps I just lack the time. I just find that when I have friends, family, laughter, beauty, and sloppy dog kisses I don't feel as much like writing. Which makes me sad. Unfortunately it seems to take melancholy, heart-wrenching music, and even a little loneliness to get me feeling deep and poetic and artsy and passionate. Well, that's not really true, I kind of always feel deep and weird, but I find it more difficult to articulate those things when I'm happy. When I'm happy I can look at flowers blooming along the edge of a fence and think to myself, "That says everything there is to say about life. What do I have to write? That says it all.".

Nonetheless, let's take a random sampling of pictures from 2012 (I'm going to try to post some photos that I haven't put on facebook or instagram)...

Too much fun at Boheme. This is my attempt to show Ashley that her arm is going to be in the picture. Don't look at this picture too closely. 

Pancakes in the office. Completely normal. 

 Honors College aprons from circa 2008. 

 Behind the scenes: lots of coffee, lemon-curd filled cupcakes, and a wagging tail. 

My work "uniform": I attempt to wear some version of dress pants, a cardigan, and slippers almost every day. I'm starting to want business suits, but I think I'll need to save up for that investment. 

I'm not exactly sure why, but this picture makes me happy. 

Lots of Torchy's.

Forgot about this quote in a library book I bought on clearance in Portland. I'm hoping it's true. It has been so far.

A 1920's themed student-event...hmm.

A Coffee Bacon sandwich? Yes. 

Texas-Grapefruit pound cake? Yes, yes.

My first experience with Overnight Oats in a Jar. Maybe the best breakfast of 2012 so far. 

Old family pictures. I think he's supposed to be dressed as a detective here.

Multiple boxes of See's candy. I thought my Valentine's candy from my dad had been stolen until a month later when it came to light that my neighbor (whom I had never met) had been hoarding the 
package for over a month. 

A couple of trips to the rodeo. 

Ashley's birthday. 

Learning how to have curly hair (I still don't get it).

Cake balls that taste like wedding cake. 

A bird nailed Scott's door handle. So funny. 

I wanted (want) this sweater. It's from the Mad Men collection. Gasp. 

Mint Sorbet nails. 

"Aly Lunch"

I thought this name was a little overly optimistic of Suave, but then I became obsessed with the scent. 

I find it extremely difficult to delete any picture of Henry. Ever. 

My first attempt at a semi-homemade German Chocolate Cake. I blame the semi- part for its faults. 

This book + a Feast Day latte = sincerely good times. 

I recently decided that I might need these glasses. This was me trying to sneakily take a picture in Target Optical. Do not judge me. Just choose not to do it. 

An accordion performance. 

A cucumber strawberry margarita and a pork belly taco. Shudder to the pork belly taco. 

I had Baby Fever for an afternoon. I'm trying to override it with Marriage Fever. So far, not so good. 

Henry, folding laundry. 

Frozen yogurt with Nerds and exploding strawberry tapioca balls (and obviously, some other stuff). 

The eclectic sidewalks in the Heights. 

Stay tuned for more exciting developments in 2012. I'm going to try to update this thing more often.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Melanie.
This is awesome.
I'm so tickled that we get to be friends!
Love,
Your Favorite Accordionist
:)