Going to a Lighthouse

I am completely uninspired today. Not to say it was not a lovely day, I just don't know what to write about. I need to do laundry and go running and read my friend's draft of his book, that I will not have read in time to give him feedback, but at least I should try. I think I take on too much sometimes. But I am looking forward to this weekend. I am going to Pigeon Point Lighthouse with some lovely ladies. That makes me happy.

Birdcage love and Talking Birds

I love this song. I also love bird cages. I love the imagery of freedom and how sometimes we miss it when it is right in front of us.

(I took these photos in various antique shops all over Northern California. I want to own them all, but I will be content to own them in pictures.)

"Kept in an open cage... The longer you think the less you know what to do."

Check these out for more fabulous birdcages:

Happiness is
Wallpaper

Something pretty for your Tuesday morning

(Pink and teal fence. Photo by me on Melody's street in L.A)

I am happy

I weep a lot. I thank God I laugh a lot, too. The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry. ~Maya Angelou~

I have been laughing a lot lately. I am blissfully grateful and joyfully happy to have the life I do, with the people who have chosen to walk beside me. Thank you for helping me find the balance between weeping and laughing.

I feel like after months of posts mixed with joy and pain I should announce without question that I am happy. I have made some really positive choices for myself and new doors have opened for me. I am happy.

L.A.

This mornings commute was a bit brutal.
4:00 Wake up in L.A.
4:10 Get dressed and play with Olli
4:40 drive to LAX
5:15 chat with the security guy (he likes the color purple and he needed to know 3 times if I had liquids, I did, they were sitting in a bag in front of me.)
6:00 board flight
6:20 take off and fall asleep
7:30 land
8:00 BART to 24th street and Mission
8:30 put make up on at work

Yes it took me 4 hours to get to work this morning, but it was worth it. My weekend in L.A. with the lovely Melody was a fabulous little get away from SF. We did not make it to the beach, but we did make it to Venice, where we strolled down a super cute street and stopped into a store with stacks and stacks of cake plates!

There was coffee and wine and cocktails and a new yummy polenta dish that I will have to buy at Trader Joe's. We cooked out on the grill and watched 4 episodes of Mad Men. We caught up on life. I developed some serious apartment envy. (Seriously, the girl knows how to decorate, and her friend Amy is pretty awesome as well.) Derek joined us for dinner both nights and he was fabulous company as always.

We chatted about finding the right church and how I hope to start my own church/community someday, but how I love love love my job right now. It was refreshing to sit in a church service with less than 50 people, but I have to admit I am really loving attending a church with over a thousand members. I guess it is all about seasons of life and all of that.

To top it all off her adorable apartment was the perfect temperature with the windows open and you can hear the little water fountain outside. It was so relaxing. Just, like I had gone to a tropical island for a little get away. It was lovely.

Thank you lady and gentleman for a fabulous weekend!

(These are the lovely stacks of cake plates, so beautiful.)

My Girl Likes to Party All the Time

A few weeks ago I had a Karaoke birthday party and someone sang this song. That was memorable, more memorable: the next day standing in the foyer of the Russian Center before church, Bret Wise busts out singing this song.

I am going to L.A. this weekend to see the lovely Melody. I will not be posting, because I will be laying on a beach and catching up with a dear friend. There will be photos and it will be fabulous.

Love my life.

Party all the time and have a great weekend.

The Dance of Life

Just picked this up and started reading it this morning. It will be traveling with me to LA this weekend. I can already tell that I am going to devour this book. It seems to be summing up allot of how I feel about healing and living and loving. It is about embracing the balance between joy and pain. I have realized so many times in my life that pain accents joy in amazingly profound ways, and pain helps you know what real joy is. It is in the depths of knowing one that we are more fully able to understand the other.

It is my greatest desire that I will be able to take in the full range of feeling that life has to offer. Still, I know I need to do this with wisdom and intention. I am excited about the growing process.

Any dance of celebration must weave both the sorrows and the blessings into a joyful step... to heal is to let the Holy Spirit call me to dance, to believe again, even amid my pain, that God will orchestrate and guide my life. ~Henri J.M. Nouwen