November 30, 2009
Day 285: Grace In Small Things
- Grocery shopping at my local store.
- Walking the dog and seeing so many christmas trees, decorations and lights up already. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside!
- Spiffying up a plain frozen cheese pizza with veggie pepperoni, red peppers, fresh tomatoes and extra cheese.
- Getting lab two out of two done.
- Hitting every single mark on my to do list. Those checkmarks feel good.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 29, 2009
Day 284: Grace In Small Things
- Discovering new workout ideas that still challenge me (and my abs), but don’t kill me in the process.
- Going shopping with the brother and dad. Outdoors-y equipment shopping.
- One lab down, one more to go.
- Dinner at The Naam; being in old familiar places again.
- Movies that make you think. A love-hate thing, since I usually prefer movies of the mindless drivel variety.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 28, 2009
Day 283: Grace In Small Things
- Picking up my long-awaited 40 pound box of oranges and grapefruit.
- The really odd feeling you get when you discover a person of interest among a group of people you see all the time and subsequently, always overlook.
- Getting a ride home. My soaked feet were especially grateful.
- Men who dress well, and men who have no sense of fashion at all. Nothing in between.
- Haystacks for lunch, The Hangover and Haystacks (redux) for dinner.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 27, 2009
Day 282: Grace In Small Things
- Waking up before the crack of dawn to give something to someone, and in my sleep-induced, last-night’s-makeup, sweatpants-and-hoodie state, getting a compliment. Talk about unexpected things in unexpected places.
- Getting “back on the horse”, and earning a 97% mark. A good comeback.
- Getting back to people and doing the things I’ve been avoiding.
- Public transit-ing with the brother, who is significantly less charmed by the system than I am.
- Fountainview Academy’s Christmas concert in Westminster. It was beautiful. I love Christmas productions of all kinds; plays, concerts, light shows, etc.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
1,000 miles separate us
As some of you may know, I just recently got back from an extended weekend in Los Angeles. Given that it pretty much rained non-stop and even hailed at one point back at home while I was gone, most people have asked me why on earth I would even consider returning. The answer should be clear: obviously, I missed being cold and wet 24/7. (Not.)
Speaking of which, here’s what it looks like at home right now:
Would you have returned?
Besides giving me time with my favorite Americans and the first non-working vacation in quite awhile, this little trip has given me newfound motivation to be successful (or, if that fails, becoming the most successful golddigger): I want a winter home.
November 26, 2009
Day 281: Grace In Small Things
- The “aha!” moment when you finally get something you’ve been struggling with since the very beginning.
- How it instantly puts me at full attention when people use my name, either in reference to me around other people or when talking to me directly.
- Painting my nails cherry red in class. Its been forever (in fact, I can’t even recall when) since I’ve had painted nails of any color except clear. It feels good. And cute.
- Wearing sweatpants outside the house; a small pleasure in life.
- Earning my bubble tea reward.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 25, 2009
Day 280: Grace In Small Things
- Completely failing a quiz for the first time in my entire academic life, and handling it surprisingly well.
- Learning to accept certain realities no matter how hard they are to take and moving past them.
- Slowly getting over The Temporary Insanity that has thrown me off balance for the last couple days.
- Being humbled.
- Considering my future, and things that may or may not be in it.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 24, 2009
Day 279: Grace In Small Things
- Realizing that some things matter more than others.
- How one-sided, strained relationships (on my side) can be better mended and flow easier just with a little time apart.
- Unexpected gifts.
- Warming up to people, even if they have some flaws that rub you the wrong way.
- Getting… asked out?
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 23, 2009
Day 278: Grace In Small Things
- Revello chocolate covered ice cream pops. Brings back good memories from when I was reeeeally young and would get these occasionally as treats after school and before piano class.
- Blu-ray movie night with the brother and father.
- Allowing a certain person from my past back into my life again. Sometimes they might be too much for me to take at a constant stream, but only now did I realize how right it feels to talk to them again.
- Discovering the limitations of my tolerance.
- Enjoying the feelings of no boundaries, yet realizing I don’t desire to cross them even when they’re not there.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 22, 2009
Day 277: Grace In Small Thing
- Coming home to a clean bedroom. (Before I started traveling frequently, whenever I would leave for a vacation I would leave my bedroom in varying states of disasterous; this option is so much better.)
- Learning new things in Photoshop.
- Being back at Vancouver Int’l to send off my mom, less than 12 hours after I arrived. Yet – still love airports!
- Falling into routine.
- Getting excited for Christmas. Being back in a geographic region that looks like winter/fall is much more hospitable to Christmas-y feelings than one where you can walk around in t-shirts.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 21, 2009
Day 276: Grace In Small Things
- Timing.
- Charming people.
- The feeling you have after you just make something – like a flight. Total relief, like all the stress in your body just melted away.
- Catchy flight numbers, and subsequent unlucky events. (Flight 707 and having to reboard on a different plane due to mechanical issues, anyone?)
- Friends who can be relied on.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 20, 2009
Day 275: Grace In Small Things
- Driving around coastal blasting “California” style music. Yes.
- Chocolate ice cream shakes.
- Cloudless blue skies, palm trees, sun and ocean for miles. You can’t really ask for more.
- Hollywood boulevard! Star walk! Kodak theater! Beverly hills!
- Visiting places I’ve seen in the movies, like the Santa Monica pier.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 19, 2009
The view from 39,000 ft
Day 274: Grace In Small Things
- Spending time with people you actually like. I can never overstress how great this is, especially in a culture where spending time with people we don’t like has become so common place.
- Microwave meals. Considering how I don’t ever eat frozen meals or have a microwave at home, this was a very cool (and surprisingly good) experience!
- Playing nagging wife.
- The beginning of a vacation, when you know the end is still a ways away.
- Ganging up on people, and being ganged up on (when it’s all in good fun for everyone, of course).
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 18, 2009
Day 273: Grace In Small Things
- FLYING! Oh how I missed airports, check ins, security, baggage, take-off and landing!
- Listing to “Party in the USA” as we land in LAX, and being able to legitimately sing, “hopped off a plane at LAX…”
- My LA dodgers baseball cap. Love it.
- Driving on California highways.
- Touching California sand and ocean for the first time ever, despite having been to California many times.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 17, 2009
Day 272: Grace In Small Things
- Helpful customer service.
- Last minute travel bookings. “Departing when?” “Um, tomorrow at 6am…”
- Friends that help you see the things you deserve.
- Planning outfits, which manages to be both horrendous and fun at the same.
- Curling into bed knowing this is your last sleep before a vacation.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 16, 2009
Day 271: Grace In Small Things
- Getting to the stack of emails and not dying from it.
- Surviving the first of three in English exam week.
- Planning for California!
- Having something to look forward to; an essential component to a happy, fulfilling life.
- The fierce power of wind.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 15, 2009
Day 270: Grace In Small Things
- Ordering tea with my meal whilst eating out for the first time ever, and feeling impossibly old because of it. (I drink tea at home all the time, but I’ve always found it rather useless to order it when I’m eating out.)
- Tasty (white!) sourdough bread and whipped garlic butter. A splurge from the usual sprouted whole grain bread I eat every morning.
- Spumoni ice cream. Especially when it comes with your meal.
- A good thriller, and being the one who understands the movie when everyone else is confused for a change.
- Surviving my first day of being old.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 14, 2009
Day 269: Grace In Small Things
- Becoming an official adult, whether you’re ready for it or not. Eek.
- Birthday wishes from unexpected people that make you smile.
- Helping out after potluck. (I can’t stand sitting around; I like to be kept busy, so when other people are cleaning up, I have to jump in!)
- Having a rather miserable birthday evening, but in a twisted, masochistic way, enjoying how miserable it is.
- The odd, swooping feeling you get when someone sees something about you clearly for what feels like the first time.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 13, 2009
Day 268: Grace In Small Things
- Working at something and not giving up, even when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. It’s character building.
- Early birthday wishes.
- The dawning of the end of the week.
- Talking to your friends’ parents.
- Long late night talks about whatever.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 12, 2009
Day 267: Grace In Small Things
- Having everything go wrong, then realizing you missed an important class and let someone down because you’re so busy with your nose in textbooks that you literally MIXED THE DAYS OF THE WEEK UP. And then having a near-breakdown, only to be interrupted by the arrival of a package: A birthday gift from your best friend across the country whom you haven’t seen in 6+ months: The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook!
- Best friends. Seriously, I am SO BLESSED to have such an amazing soulmate.
- Casual words from someone you respect and trust that mean so much more than anyone could know.
- When someone believes in your dreams, and in you.
- Having the motivation to pick up the pieces and keep working at it.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 11, 2009
Day 266: Grace In Small Things
- Getting it off of my hands.
- How hours and hours of blood, sweat and tears can amount to a manila envelope about an inch thick. Gotta love school.
- Shopping in Whole Foods. Being surrounding by trendy white rich people in the hippest food store never fails to lift my spirits. That, and grocery shopping is my favorite type of shopping.
- Working on a fixed schedule.
- Cracking open the last course to the end of my high school career.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 10, 2009
Day 265: Grace In Small Things
- Living with myself. Sometimes, the most difficult challenge.
- Accepting the fact that time has run out, and gracefully accepting temporary defeat.
- Heart-stopping smiles.
- Being the model example for a change.
- Spending time with myself, in a place that holds significant meaning to how far my life has veered off course (in a decidedly good way).
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 9, 2009
Day 264: Grace In Small Things
- Essentially finishing another course. One to go now!
- Seeing how hard work and dedication make things happen.
- Getting down to business.
- How I write things on my hand so I won’t forget them, even though I have a whiteboard to-do list on my desk, an iPhone and a color-coated planner.
- The thrill of picking up a new song.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 8, 2009
Day 263: Grace In Small Things
- Furious 12+ hour study sessions.
- Getting past the initial roadblocks and gaining momentum.
- Remembering to work out.
- Being able to check things off my list.
- Learning things that I can actually apply to life.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 7, 2009
Day 262: Grace In Small Things
- Sabbath afternoon bike rides with my brother. I used to ride every Sunday morning with my dad until I got too fat/lazy/selfish/old and stopped. I never realized how much I used to love it. (The brother and dad are buying me a bike so we can continue the tradition on Sundays (when he’s off) all together!)
- Almost, but not actually getting run over by a car. Or more specifically, my dog, who was ahead of me and on a leash, was very close to getting run over. Thank you God for making that car stop in time / giving me good reflexes when it comes to the safety of my baby. :)
- Catching up with Facebook messages, especially ones that are FIVE MONTHS old. You have no idea how it feels to have this weight off of me.
- Having a day to myself, to catch up with my personal life and not work work work study study study 24/7.
- Sunset.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 6, 2009
Day 261: Grace In Small Things
- Going on a “covert mission” to sneak out, buy balloons and sneak them back into the house for my mother’s birthday.
- Braving the cramped skytrain and bus at prime time with said bouquet of balloons. A big thanks to everyone on public transit who didn’t squash me and pop them.
- Making a Mexican birthday dinner.
- Exceedingly delicious carrot cake with buttercream frosting, decorated in the most beautifully artistic fashion and topped with a handwritten birthday message. I am in awe of this cake decorator’s steady hand, piping skills and beautiful handwriting! (It was from Whole Foods of all places, too.)
- Laughing with your family until your stomach hurts.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 5, 2009
Day 260: Grace In Small Things
- Doing surprisingly well on my first midterm.
- Taking the rest of the day off, considering the hell of the previous days.
- Feeling “normal” for one; at least relative to others my age.
- Being a bit more on top of things.
- Still having time.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 4, 2009
Day 259: Grace In Small Things
- Getting new textbooks and assignments. Lots of them.
- Biology lab kit full of exciting-looking things!
- Day four of getting up early. (Starting a habit here!)
- Dinner with old friends.
- Getting a glimpse of a odd sort of lifestyle I’ve never been accustomed to; seeing things as they are from the other side of the pond, if you will.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 3, 2009
Day 258: Grace In Small Things
- When God knows exactly what I need at that particular moment; missing a self-imposed deadline and feeling like a failure, then going to a different kind of class and having it be the best one yet, leaving feeling like a star.
- Third day in a row of waking up early.
- Accepting temporary defeat.
- Learning not to break down.
- Going to sleep happy.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 2, 2009
Day 257: Grace In Small Things
- Remembering to floss. I always feel so guilty when I’m too lazy to.
- Getting another early start to the day. It always makes me feel so good when I can do something more than once in a row.
- Working like mad and really, truly applying myself.
- Watching Dancing With The Stars and feeling like a truly deserved this break from work.
- Going to bed EARLY for a change!
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.
November 1, 2009
Day 256: Grace In Small Things
- Completing PMA11, getting that much closer to being completely done!
- Dancing like no one is watching, even though it is very likely someone is when you’re dancing on the sidewalk of a busy street (albeit, at night).
- Getting an appropriately early start to the day.
- Going out for dinner with the family.
- Being by the ocean.
Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace In Small Things.