From wunderground.com

Snow developing in the morning…possibly mixed with a little sleet. Then changing to freezing rain late in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches with an additional ice accumulation of up to one quarter of an inch. Highs in the lower 30s. South winds around 5 mph…becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

Im excitied about the snow and that I dont have to be at work till almost noon so I do have a little bit of time to play in it. What Im not excitied about is probably by the time I have to go to work, it will start to be icey. Worst, when I get off from work it will be even more icy and dark. I have never driven in icy or snow so Im a bit nervous about that. Kari left me a message this evening “This is your first REAL Carolina winter storm.” I dont know if it was to make me happy or not. Ether way, dispite the nervousness of driving in it, Im excitied for it. I adore having seasons and would be very dissappointed if it didnt get this cold my first winter here.

I love when God speaks really loudly to me. Or maybe its just I’m actually listening. I’ve been thinking a lot about community and art as of late. Those will be saved for another time of sharing but two things are near and dear to me right now. Art, as something I find to do alone as an expression of so many things. As part of worship or capturing a moment that you could no other way or simply making art for the beauty of it. Community, which to me is harder to describe. Its a scene of belonging, a safe place found in a group of people who have a common ground shared between them. Now to me, this what I think of when you pull these two things together, a photo blog shared between two women who live thousands of miles away from each other. Amazing photography mixed with the art of a friendship. I don’t know anything about these women other than what I just told you, but the idea is brilliant if you ask me. So check out their site 3191 (via Alissa .)

I hate chicken. Well, mostly in the raw, uncooked way. Live way, I don’t have much of a problem with. Last time I went grocery shopping I bought some meat since somebody doesn’t think I have enough meat in the meals I cook (for myself or him). So I bought some chicken, but with the understand that he would have to cook said chicken. It goes back to my home economics days in Jr High when I was put on an all boy group and they were more that gross with the whole raw chicken. Turned me away from the stuff from that day on. I never really liked chicken growing up ether, my mom never made in a way I wasn’t grossed out by it (my poor mom and how I criticized her cooking). I will eat chicken if someone makes it for me or if I go out with friends, no biggie. I just really despite preparing and cooking chicken. I tell you all this so you understand how much of a step it was for me to actually purchase the chicken, touch it through very thin layer of plastic.

Tonight when we discussed what we should have for dinner chicken tacos where the main topic of conversation. I told someone that I would put the chicken out from the freezer so it would be easy to cook. He asks me if I could cook the chicken so it would be really easy to put everything else together at his house. I remind him of all that I just shared with you fine folks. As I sit here writing my little chicken rant, my house is being filled with chicken odors. It is not pleasant, no not one bit. I keep walking back and forth to the kitchen, checking to see if they are done. The white state the chicken has taken on the outside doesn’t appeal anymore to me than it did when it was frozen raw. Though I did learn through this event that frozen raw chicken I can handle (I didn’t, I poked at it with a fork and put it into the boiling chicken broth, no hands needed) much much much better than raw room temperature chicken. Everytime I poke the chicken to see if its cooked all the way through, I have to wash my hands. Bet my hair wreaks of chicken smell too, lovely.

So this isn’t to say I don’t like eating chicken (nevermind I started this with a very bold I hate chicken statement). Its more the fact I hate with most every ounce of my being, cooking chicken. The very brave thing I am currently doing should go down in history because I’m not sure when this will happen again. All the germs that chickens carry may boil away in the pot, but yet I’m still fearful. I will get the water as hot as I can get it with as much soap as it can stand and let the knife, fork and pot that were apart of the cooking of chicken soak so the germs will surely die. Go ahead, tell me I need to suck it up and get over my fear of chicken. I wont budge. Do you know how long ago Jr. High was? I very long time ago and this is the last time you shall know of my cooking chicken again. Now I must go wash my hands again.

Over the past couple of years I have fallen for memoirs, Id say they are my favorite type of book to read. While I lived in Tuscaloosa I checked out a lot of biographies which turned me on to other people’s life’s. Not necessary about famous people or even peoples name I had heard of. I just found an interest in life that is shared well on pages. On my way to the check out with a stack of these very books in my hands I saw a book that said “Me Talk Pretty Someday” and I loved the title so I added it on top of my pile. Little did I know that David Sedaris would make me laugh so hard or turn me on to the world of memoirs.

Finishing “Heres to Hindsight” by my friend Tara Leigh Cobble, I felt like I knew her worlds more than I did before I picked up the book. Now, I don’t say my friend to drop a name by any means. Its funny how I actually met Tara Leigh… I got a copy of her CD, loved it, shared my love with Carla and then went to a Sandra and Derek show and saw her at a show. We talked a bit, offered her a place to stay that night and kept in contact over email and what knots on the internet. So shes a long distance friend but a friend none the less.

Tara Leigh’s story is a honest one, about the life she has taken on as a musician. It talks about the importance of community (probably my favorite part of the book) in ones life. And of course, about boys and how they leave a mark in one’s life. Between the lines of all of this she talked about the artwork that God used all these different funny to serious things in her life making it to what we know of her today. Tara Leigh is a 20 something but I don’t know if Id think of this as a 20 something sort of book. Sure it talks about college and about big choices in life a 20 something would have to make, but once you move pass that, its just about life. Its about faith and what that means in life. Not life as a general term but the everyday, relationship, good and bad stuff. It didn’t feel like Jesus was being pushed down any reader’s throat but it also didn’t put on a show to make you like what she had to say. Sure she wanted it to sound good so people would read her book, but it wasn’t a forced good. It felt like I was reading one of her blogs and heard her voice in my head as I read her words. I don’t think her voice would of been as present if it didn’t sounds like her on the pages.

Being the part I enjoyed the most in “Heres to Hindsight” was on community I leave you with a quote from the book that I keep reading over and over again, hoping just maybe it will sink a little.

“When I began to realize that maybe this whole notion of “community” wasn’t just about me having friends…maybe it was about them feeling loved too. Maybe that is the way that iron starts to sharpen iron – the initial contact. Maybe I wasn’t just getting a community, but getting an opportunity to serve a community, to love people back, to love them just because they are humans like me, with their own broken hearts and insecurities and fears about the future.” -Tara Leigh Cobble

The cars seemed a bit louder on the road this morning. I didn’t think much of it but pulled the covers up to my chin more tightly. After a loud departure from one of my roommates, I was more wake and decided it wouldn’t hurt to open my window just to see. It was only a few minutes away before my alarm would be going off anyways. I’ve heard “a chance of snow” plenty of times to have very little faith in there actually being snow outside. Moving the curtain just a little, all I saw was white on the roof. I jumped out of bed to pull them back completely and was lost in a trance as I watched the snow fall onto the ground below. I cant believe we have snow! Or that my roommate didn’t think it would be a fun idea to go make snow angels after I woke her up to tell her there is snow and all I got was an “okay”. I’m learning that no one is nearly as excited about snow being here as I am. But that’s okay, snow and I have relationship today which I get the whole day to enjoy. Yay for snow!

From Weather Underground.com

A chance of sleet and snow in the morning…otherwise light freezing rain likely…becoming mainly light rain late. Little or no snow accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Highs in the mid 30s. North winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

I wonder how early I have to get up to see snow?!

Dana’s (one of my room mates and coworker) boyfriend’s birthday is coming up and she asked if Id take some photos of her for a birthday present. I dont think I take very good photos of people, so with that warning, her and I took a lot of photos in hopes some turned out. She loves them, which really is all that matters. Maybe you’ll enjoy them too.

Last year had a lot going on. So much in fact I can barely remember most, if any, of the books I read. It wasn’t very many which is such a shame, so this year I’m gonna make up for the fact I didn’t read nearly enough last year. As I’ve said before, I usually have two books in progress non-fiction and fiction, I’m not sure if this helps me or keeps me from completing books. I’ve tired to write books down to track how many I read and what I think of them, but about mid-year that notebook or page gets lost somewhere. This year, I’m going to record my readings on my blog, since its pretty much always on the internet. Im also will try and keep my current readings more up to date than I have.

Book #1: Cam, Cool and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck

This is the third and last of the Spa Girls series which focuses on the character Poppy. Three best friends who live in Northern California sharing their lives through jobs, men and God and of course the spa to retreat to. Poppy is the very ‘Santa Cruz” of the three girls, which is present through out the books with Clark shoes, crazy diet and patch worked skirts. She’s the not the typical chick-lit girl you’d find in those brightly colored books (though I don’t like the cover art of Poppy because clearly the artists didn’t read the book or else they’d know it isn’t Poppy at all. Other than her hair color so boo to that.) Out of the three books I like how the middle book (about Morgan) is written the most, I don’t know why. I really loved Lilly’s story, probably because I felt like if I could relate to one of the Spa Girls, it was her. Even though I like how I didn’t see parts of Poppy’s story turning out how it did (I would say but I don’t want to give it all away) or even if I agree with it, that’s what I loved about Kristin’s first series, Ashley Stockingdale. Personally, I got more attached to Ashley than I did to the Spa Girls, maybe it was because there is three books focused on her where as I only got one book focused on these other characters. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the Spa Girls, they were a good chick-lit; drama filled with lots of girly references and interesting characters. I think its hard to close a series like this, so maybe Poppy’s story was harder to write because all storylines had to come to some ending, where as the first two books where merely moving the story along. All and all I enjoyed reading about crazy food eating and advice giving Poppy, though I would of picked the other one for her.

If you had told me 12 years ago at my 13th birthday party where my best friend outted me on my family video camera whom I had a crush on, that I would be living in North Carolina, I don’t know if I would of believed it. Three of my closest girlfriends and I saw a Huck Finn (yes, Jonathan Taylor Thomas) movie while my best friend’s white jean’s collected melted chocolate. Now you and I both know that’s not a huge deal, but I still remember it after all this time, it was a huge deal. Funny, I do believe if you had told 13 year old me that I would be having wine on my 25th birthday, she would of believed you.

My 18th birthday was a surprise…because my friends through me a party in March. The great circle of friends I had in high school were into discovering different places around downtown San Diego. We’d had been wanting to go the Hard Rock Cafe and planned on going that night. A friend of mine said she’d pick me up from work so we could car pool down there. We stopped by her house “to get something” and then I start seeing all these familiar cars. And yes I did get a lotto ticket as a present that day.

I believe I was 5 or 6 in which I had a Minnie Mouse birthday themed party. I remember, upon my request getting a piñata. Not those whatever character you were into at the time ones, but a just a good ol’ donkey to smack around with a bat. Donkey get the touch jobs, we also had a pin the tail on the donkey too. My aunt made this amazing Minnie Mouse birthday cake while I wore my matching Minnie Mouse sweatshirt. Most of the guest consisted of my daycare (which my grandma ran) friends who kept popping my birthday balloons.

When I turned I think 14, my birthday landed the same weekend as a winter retreat with the youth group. It was my first time ever snowboarding, got help from the boy I had a crush on (funny, it was the same guy at my 13th party!). There was a rival of 49ers vs. Cowboys in my youth group, and my friend let me wear her very nice 49ers jacket (sorry Brandi) on my birthday. All weekend I prayed it would snow (were we stayed and were we snowboarded were different) and Jesus answered my prayer and it was the only day we got snow, it was awesome.

Now a quarter of a century (yes lets make me sound old!) I cant believe all these years have gone by.

Lately I’ve been really into raspberry and cheese. Not together, but they seem to appear a lot when it comes to pick out what to eat. I like berries a lot, but it being winter and their crazy prices right now, frozen ones is as close I get. When a fruit favor of something comes into play I’ve been picking raspberry over say blueberry or strawberry, the more popular of the berries. I’m unsure what the draw is to raspberry for my taste buds lately but I cant seem to get enough! Same goes with cheese, there just doesn’t ever seem to be enough. During the past week I ate two blocks of cheese. Usually with crackers or a sliced apple, but then probably half of the block was eaten alone. To remedy running out cheese frequency I bought a very large block of cheese from Costco. Just take a second to think about that, a Costco size block of cheese. I could left it as a weight for a good work out. But already I’ve made a good dent into the block. I find this more strange than the raspberries because I like cheese probably a little more than the next person but a Costco size block for one person? Especially when I normally chose swiss for cheese on anything and these blocks have been good old cheddar cheese. What is the funny thing about this, I know its a phase. I will eat so much raspberries and cheese, then one day not have the craving for them anymore for a good long while. Kinda like when I get a new cd, I listen to it for days (or weeks depending on how good it is) then get tired of it. But once I rediscover it, its like a new comfortable friend who is new again. Food cravings are oh so weird.

My mom sent me a birthday card (photo to the right) with a kitty dressed as a cowboy becasue she knows I like stuffonmycat.com (and she said all the cards are lame). Then I watched most of season 3 of the Office this week and made the connection. I thought they were the same photo, but it has to be at least from the same photo shot. tee hee

It’s raining today which normally I would love. I went walking the past two days around the park and cute neighborhood I live in. Woke up with the idea Id drink some grapefruit juice and grab my ipod but the rain that danced through the night is keeping us company and inside today. I could walk in the rain if I really wanted, but half of where I walk would be puddles instead of nice pathways. Feeling just a little bit lazy and with the snacky food I ate last night while watching a great episode of the Office. Walking was going to be my only way to balance it all. I guess I could of walked up and down my stairs a hundred times, but really what fun would that have been?

Dana, Owen and I took a little walk around our neighborhood today. Cant believe how great my neighborhood is and I just now taken advantage of a nice walk around it after all these months. I didn’t make resolutions or really goals this year, just a thought process of living life a little fuller. Which includes eating better and walking, because really I’m not going to diet or exercise, but I enjoy eating good food and taking walks. I’m doing something good for my well being all around really. Besides that tingling feeling in my butt, I didn’t feel really tired after my walk like I thought I would. It was really enjoyable and could be playing tricks in my mind, but I felt great all day despite the fact I’m fighting a sore throat.

With having my own place, Id love to have guests over more than I have since moving in. The set up is there is no real living room, we each have couches and big enough rooms to hang out in. But I have yet to completely unpack and organize my room, thus creating a big mess of piles. After my walk today I tackled most of said piles and got my room along quite nicely. Now I just need some art and photos to put on the wall to give it a more homey, moved in feel.