A Few of My Happy Places

My bed…so many pillows and blankets and things (usually not this neat, but rather covered with books, bags, mittens, random things). it’s one of those places you just sink into, curl up and feel right.

walking on the beach (florida, cape town, anywhere really)

my porch in africa or on one of the mountains and well africa in general

Lindo on my shouldersDriving in a car with big sunglasses on, windows down, music up loud

So, there are a few of my happy places. There are many more…but that’s a start. 🙂

What about you? Where’s your happy place/s? Do you have a favorite place? (I don’t do favorites!).

*Check out other happy places at The Gypsy Mama’s

UP for some Real Me?

I lived in Africa for a year as many of you may know.  While there, I met this amazing girly who I absolutely love and we now have skype dates on Saturday that seriously make my week.  But, see, here’s the thing.  She doesn’t like movies. Like at all. And she rubbed off on me.

I have yet to go to a movie theater since being back in the States, shame, eh? I did thoroughly enjoy Earth from Red Box and would be so incredibly happy to own that entire DVD series.  My “bonding time” with my mama over “The Bachelor” is just about as poppy as I get when it comes to this stuff.

All of that to say that yesterday, I watched a movie after I went on my long run (and yes, we were friends!).  Remember how I told you that I ran 16.1k, well, that was on the docket again for this week.  Though, this time I ran outside (woot! woot! love me some warm(er) weather and running tights and wearing mittens to carry things) and listened to a whole jumble of worship songs*.  Plus, I improved my time!

Despite my speedy running and motivation to attempt to arrive on time, I didn’t…plus, when I got there I stopped and chatted for a bit with the pastor’s wife (love her and hey! relationships matter! and yes…still working on the time thing).  Thankfully, my friends (yes, I’ve been home long enough to even make “friends”) usually extend an extra big dose of grace. Hey, they must be friends if they’re already learning to not let me get away with my answers that aren’t answers (aka indecision) by helping me commit and they put up with my half inviting myself by saying that I so want/need to see said movie they are talking about watching.

By now, you must REALLY be wondering (or you’ve given up on this long post–usually I dislike long posts greatly and even spent time trying to make this shorter, but there’s just too much fun stuff to share….) what movie I would want/need to see….dun dun dun… UP.  Confession: the main reason I wanted to see this movie was because another fabulous girly I met in Africa watched this movie on the plane ride home (I fell asleep..I do that often especially during movies) and told me about an absolutely gut-wrenching line that simply made us BOTH teary eyed or should I say bawling (oh, side note: my eyes turn an amazingly gorgeous green when I cry)…as if we weren’t already since we were leaving “home.”  Today, I didn’t cry nearly as much as I would have if I had watched it then…I only got teary eyed and missed my people and my home.  All because of a few lines:

“It might sound boring, but the boring stuff I remember the most.”

“Thanks for the adventure, now go have a new one.”

Congrats to you if you made it this far!  So, your turn: have you seen UP? do you run on africa time?  do you like movies? tell me something I don’t know.

*Running Playlist for the day: Battlefield by Jordin Sparks, Everything Falls by Fee, More Like Falling in Love by Jason Gray, Rain it Down by Carlos Whittaker, There’s Only One by Caedmon’s Call, How He Loves by Kim Walker, This Day by Audio Adrenaline, You Said by Shane and Shane, Let My Love Open the Door by Audio Adrenaline, Glory to God Forever by Fee, This Could Be Our Day by Addison Road, God of Wonders by Third Day, Show Me Your Glory by Third Day, From the Inside Out by Hillson, Tomalo by Hillsong, Not Enough by Caedmon’s Call, Madly by Steve Fee, All We Need by Charlie Hall,

Counting it All Joy From Mittens to Haiku

61. writing in my Bible

65. happy purses

66. bible study ladies

67. prayer: being able to ask for it, praying for others

78. Hope House name tag found in my Bible

79. carrying keys in my mittens

83. giving away homemade mugs

86. writing late at night

91. haiku poetry

95. personal bests at running

What about you? What gift did you find this week? What brought you joy? What did you find beautiful? Take a look around this week…and count it all joy with me!

 

Gratitude Community

Shooting Stars

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life…” Philippians 2:14-16

Lately, I crave summer: swim suits, laying on the beach, driving with the music blaring and the windows down, fluffy happy books, shorts and tank tops, flip flops,  going out on the lake, meteor showers, star gazing, looking at the moon, sitting on the deck or dock, and happy summer music.  In response to my craving, I’ve decided that my room is now summer. Basically, I wear shorts and a tank top.  Pretend the heater and the sleeping bag are just for fun and look at the happy summer pictures while listening to happy music.  My heart is extra happy so all of this fits.

Alright, so by now you may be wondering how the verse above fits into all this talk about summer.  Well then, let me tell you a little bit about today.  Today the weather was warm, sunny and perfect.  I wore flip flops, ate delicious pancakes with mixed berries (I love and miss fresh berries like strawberries and blueberries!), walked around outside and read Gone With the Wind.  But the best part consisted of later at night when the stars came out.  Tentative plans to watch a movie were thwarted by other events, which turned into new plans to star gaze by the pond.  To be prepared, I outfitted myself with my sleeping bag, two pairs of pants (one with stars on them of course), lots of layers, a hat, mittens and even socks (I hate socks, but thanks mom for sending me some…though I really don’t need more…I really hate them!).

Needless to say, God blew me away with His creation.  Everything made me smile and soak in the beautiful night.  The moon hid away until the right time when we saw its amazing orangish color and sat astounded at its huge size.  The shooting stars took my breath away and I got sad whenever someone else saw one, but I missed it.  The random conversation took the edge off the rest of the day.  And I’m still pondering which names fit the category of a “cuddly” name.  Yet, through all of this, I return my thoughts to God to thank Him for a wonderful ending to another day.  To ask Him to help me show that kind of beauty and light to everyone around me. To live out the call to shine like stars and take people’s breath away. To glorify His name and live a life full of love in such a way that others see Him.

Because that’s when my heart is happy.

love