2009 In Review (1.3.2010)

January: You'll Laugh, You'll Cry: Because people falling down is still funny
February: Puking at salon, Bienvenido a Miami
March: Cruise: And I still never wrote that recap., On This Day Last Year
April: Dancing Fool, SLC!, Laying It All Out There
May: Mom and Dad in Seattle, Golden Girls
June: Seattle Dog Incident, Muscle Tees
July: Skinny Love on Repeat: This song still hurts my heart
August: Goals; Rhythm take you over;
September: What's Going On
October: Inside Out...if I have to pick one
November: Lists: Better Than Eating Disorder
December: Christmas Crazy

Look What I Found (2010)

 2014: Tonight I found a draft from 2010 about finding a draft from 2009. Confused yet?

-----------------------------------------------------
2010: Tonight I found an unfinished 2009 recap in my drafts. It's still unfinished, but I figure since it's late May that it's as good as it's ever going to get.

------------------------------------------------------
2009: I've been avoiding a 2009 recap because it's just too hard. And I would be confused when I looked in the mirror if I didn't try to avoid the hard things in life.
[2010 Comment: Good thing I built a new year's resolution around this.]

Alas, I've convinced myself to give it a go. But they are not rank-ordered because that would have just sent me over the edge.

Concerts:
1. The Swell Season. I didn't want it to end. Ever.
2. Brandi Carlile. Too many to choose from, but probably SLC with my ladies.
3. New Kids on the Block. Seriously. So much fun.
4. Brandi Carlile. Portland.

Songs
1. Skinny Love, Bon Iver
2. Warm Whispers, Missy Higgins
3. I Will, Brandi Carlile
4. Virginia May, Gregory Alan Isakov


Books
1.
2.
3.
4.

[2010 Comment: Apparently I don't know how to read because I didn't even have a single book listed.]

TV Shows
1. Friday Night Lights
2. Flipping Out
3. 30 Rock
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Veronica Mars (3 seasons on DVD in 2 weeks)

Moments
1. Babies
2. Cayamo
3. Michigan in August
4. Sunday night Skip Bo with the girls
5. June

Sunday (12.7.09)

Sunday was good. Nothing special happened, just lots of little things that made me appreciate the day.

In the first hour of church a girl was sharing some of her thoughts and she talked about how one day last week when she was on the bus, instead of "silently judging" those around her, she felt a deeper appreciation for those that share her space.

I liked the way she phrased it. And it made me think about those people that share my space.

My bus driver that could be Andy Dick's twin.
The woman that sells me Vitamin Water every morning.
The man on the corner of 1st and Marion with the SMILE sign.

All of these people share my space. They are part of my world.

----------------------------

[2014: I don't know exactly where I was going with this post, but I started to think about who I share my space with now...

My neighbors who appear on their porch the minute anyone is coming or going from our house.
Demetrius, the security guard in my building who says good night to me every evening.
The guy working the drive-thru at McDonald's that takes my "large Diet Coke" order on the regular.
The guy in my building that I worked with several years ago, but is always so happy to see me.

I think what I wanted to say was, these people are a part of my world so instead of looking for the fault in others, I should just embrace them and the fact that we are sharing this weird, awesome life.]

If you have something to say... (11.24.09)

...say it to me now.

I saw The Swell Season this weekend and I think my mind may have been blown. It was one of the best shows I've been to...possibly ever. I felt like I just sat and stared with my mouth hanging open for two hours.




Earlier in the weekend I had the chance to go to a free Brandi Carlile show at Easy Street Records. I was tired after a very long week and I think time actually slowed down for the 90 minutes we waited for the show to start, but it ended up being a good time. Below is a video of my favorite song off her new record. The beginning is cut off and it's better with percussion, but you get the idea.


[2014: I was so delighted to find this post in my drafts because I've recently been telling people about The Swell Season show from 2009 and how I think it's still my favorite to date. I just remember sitting in Benaroya Hall on the edge of my seat, hardly able to wait for what was coming next. There were times when the crowd would sing along and I could feel it in my soul. Sounds dramatic, but is true.

Last month I re-watched ONCE and then saw the musical version a few days later at the Paramount. I will admit that I prefer the movie - Glen Hansard cannot be topped in my book - but the way they put the show together and had everyone actually playing the instruments on stage was great.

My obsession has continued and, just this week, I watched the documentary The Swell Season. For some reason, I can't get enough of those two.]

Dedication (10.20.09)

In order to get to the gym last night I nearly had to run over a man.

[2014 Stephanie was thinking, "Man, I really wish I had finished this story because I don't remember it at all" when lo and behold there was a link to Lindsay's blog for more details. Turns out, I still have zero recollection of that ever happening but sounds about right. The strangest things used to happen to me when I first moved here.]

Things I Know (2008)

I don't know much, but these are the things I do know.

• I should never be allowed in Target unsupervised. Or with any form of payment.
• Getting up early does not get any easier. People who tell you it does are lying.
• Riding the bus isn't as bad as I tell myself it is.
• Musicians can be less attractive in real life, but because they can sing and/or play a musical instrument they become attractive.

 [For the record, all of these things are still true in 2014. Except the bus thing. Riding the bus IS terrible and I've long since given up on it.]

Draft.

I have a million draft posts dating back to 2008 that I've long-since forgotten. Despite being incomplete thoughts, I think I may post a few.

Get ready for a seven year brain dump.

family ties.

In preparation for Thanksgiving I was thinking about what I might say I'm thankful for, should we go around the dinner table one-by-one. (Not that it would be so hard to come up with something, I'm grateful for a lot of things, I just really hate to be put on the spot and even the simplest of questions can make me draw a blank when I'm caught unprepared.) In reflecting upon the things I'm grateful for, of course family came to mind, and I realized that I had spent time with each of my family members (and their families) individually this year. I don't know if that's ever happened before, but as I thought more about it, it rose to the top of the things I'm grateful for.

MARCH.
Ella Jean was born on March 14 - a miracle to our family as B&A had been wanting a baby for so long and actively trying to adopt for nearly a year. Obviously I needed to meet her ASAP. With Pikeville being three hours from any airport, we hatched a plan for me to fly into Cincinnati and have my parents time their arrival from Detroit to swing by and grab me from the airport. It all worked out perfectly.

Ella was (and still is) an adorable baby. We spent several days close to home but did get to join Ella on her first walk and her first Easter Sunday. It was fun getting to love on her and just be with her (and Brian, Amanda and my parents, of course).

MAY.
In April I randomly got a text from Geoff that simply said, "Ever feel like going to Disneyland?" Having never been it seemed like a great idea, especially to experience it for the first time with kids. I knew it would be equal parts work and play (I mean, they didn't invite me just because I'm awesome - the kids couldn't outnumber the adults) but it seemed like an ideal plan.

We spent several days at the parks and wore ourselves right out. Temperatures hit 100 degrees which, for this Pacific Northwesterner where temps max in the low 90's for maybe one week a year, were nearly too much to handle. It was fun to spend a significant amount of time with the kids, since I see them maybe once a year.

J and I had a standoff when he decided to test my patience (while I was outnumbered) and run away into the crowd while I chased after him with a double-stroller carrying his brother and sister. But he was also so brave and went on a lot of rides even though they scared him a little. Watching him walk through the park with the map wide open, like he was on a grand adventure, was the cutest.

C and I bonded over his love of rockets and came up with a game where he would make a rocket ship with his hands and I'd countdown "3...2...1...BLASTOFF!" and then his "rocket ship" would takeoff, his hands shooting in the air. Somewhere along the way he started "breaking" the rocket right before I'd get to the blastoff part and thought that was the funniest. He also made me laugh the hardest when we stepped off It's a Small World and he just laid down on the ground (wearing his backpack leash, which was a true necessity) and wouldn't get up.

A was a doll and I taught her to say "CHEEEESE" (or at least a prolonged noise that sounded like it) for the camera. Those big blue eyes and toothy grin are to die for.

JUNE.
Annie made her way to Seattle in June and, with her having visited before and done a lot of the typical touristy things, we made it a trip of mini-adventures. We took a hike to Franklin Falls, took the ferry over to Whidby Island and stopped at various landmarks from the bottom of the island all the way to the top, hit Deception Pass, Carkeek Park and more. The weather was perfect (rare for that early in June) and we soaked it all in.

OCTOBER.
After two failed plans of getting down to Phoenix, I was finally able to make it work to visit Julie and her family while she was on fall break. William and Elizabeth are fun little buddies.

William doesn't stop talking and loves having his picture taken ("Take a picture of me!"). A couple of nights I was able to join in the bedtime routine and as I rocked him in the rocking chair I just listened to him talk and talk and talk about the whatever thought came into his head. Those moments with him were some of the most enjoyable I'd had in a long time. There were a couple times where he'd lay next to me on the couch, throw his leg on my lap and point to it or put my hand on it, wordlessly requesting a tickle. I could only think about the many, MANY times I had done the same things as a child to his mother and it made me smile.

Elizabeth is a smartie. She was sick (they both were) for a lot of my visit, so she spent a lot of time resting with the iPad playing some educational games. She was recognizing letters, rhyming words and tracing letters like a pro. One of my favorite moments was when she wasn't feeling well she asked if we could lay on my bed and I scratched her back as she fell asleep. I recorded a video of her singing a song about a bumble bee and here scratchy, little sick voice is too cute (and sad).

DECEMBER. 
I spent Christmas with my parents this year. We saw B&A and Ella a couple times before they headed down to Kentucky and the rest of the time was just Mom & Dad and I. With the weather being a bit of a wreck, we stayed pretty close to home - watching the first season of The Blacklist, a couple seasons of Sherlock and eating dinner with the 3pm crowd on the regular. We turned our Christmas traditions upside down and had Christmas breakfast for Christmas Eve dinner and opened presents on Christmas Eve night to ease the hustle and bustle of Christmas morning. It's always good to go home.

In the end, we didn't go around the table one-by-one on Thanksgiving, but I thought what better time than on New Year's Eve to look back at the last year and reflect once again on what we're thankful for?

It's been a good one.

the latest obsession.

You guys, I know that I'm ten years late to the party (literally, 10 years) but can we talk about The OC for a minute? For a girl who owns every season of Dawson's Creek on DVD (true story) and has watched the entire series of Felicity more than once, you'd think I would have been all over this show when it aired. My only excuse is that I was in college and watching TV was not at the top of my priorities. But I missed out.

Until now.

I'm on season three and still loving it.

Sidenote: Binge watching TV is a dream. Not having to wait a week (or a summer) between episodes and having it suck my life away - super awesome. Seriously.

And Seth Cohen. Could not love him more. WHY isn't he on TV in 2013?

There will be one, if not two, four year olds standing next to my bed earlier than I would like in the morning whispering, "Stephanie, wake up!" and yet I can't stop watching The OC. And I have taken the time to blog about it.

It's okay. I know I live life in the fast lane.

that's my jam.

I'm embarrassed to admit that the first 10 seconds of this commercial make me laugh every time.

late night.

I was just telling someone today that if, in the late hours of the night, you resolve to do something, you should always wait until morning. Always sleep on it. Never hit send. Don't trust a decision made while your brain continues to race when you should be sleeping.

But tonight I've been using the quiet of the late hours to reflect and make note of the thoughts as they come. While jotting some of those thoughts down in my phone, I came across a quote I must have noted while reading a book:

"...there is more heartbreak in continuous disappointment than a void..."

First of all, of course I'm jotting down sad quotes from chick lit. Of course.

Second, true or not true? Right now, it feels pretty true.


I known I just said, "Never hit send". But I also know that during those quiet moments of reflection earlier I typed in my phone, "Write it down".

when disaster strikes.

We had an emergency preparedness lesson on Sunday.

Here are some things I learned:

• I'm completely unprepared for any sort of disaster. Unless a head lamp and blanket will keep me alive.
• Seattle has the possibility of being hit by an array of natural disasters: volcanic eruption, earthquake and/or tsunami
• A major earthquake is not an if, but a when. It will happen. (Did I mention a geologist was teaching us all about this? Legit.)
• If there's an earthquake, my old office (and maybe my new office) will sink right into the water.
• If the earthquake is strong enough, it could cause a tsunami and then my new office will definitely be a goner

In a nutshell, I did not leave the meeting comforted by all of the great things I can add to my 72 hour kit, but in panic about how I'm going to die in a natural disaster. (Okay, not really.) (But sort of.)

I was telling my roommate about all I had learned that day and an hour later I got a message that said, "I just had a mental image of you sitting at your desk wearing a life jacket because you're worried about a tsunami".

Funny.
And totally genius.

From now on, this is going to be me.

is this thing on?

Oh, hey there.

I've been thinking a lot about my personal history lately (basically, I need one documented) and am kicking myself for not keeping up on this corner of the internet for the last couple years. Life just keeps happening and how am I supposed to remember it all?

Here are some of the things happening in life:

• I've been traveling/playing a lot lately. Every other weekend for the last two months has had some big adventure. It's been wonderful and I wish I had unlimited time and funds to do whatever I want.
• I truly want to move to Alaska. Do I have to become a fisherwoman? A park ranger? Whatever it is, I'll do it. I was blown away and found myself jealous of the people who call it home.
• Nature has been rocking my socks lately. I equal parts love nature and hate to be dirty so I feel like I've just been scratching the surface of what is to be explored, but it's still rejuvenating my soul. 
• This summer I will learn how to swim. (Maybe.) But seriously.
• I was released of my RS duties and am now the ward chorister. I start getting sweaty about an hour before church starts because the thought of everyone looking at me is apparently too much. But when it comes down to it, it's really the best calling.
• I discovered the most delicious bagel at a wood-fired bagel shop near my house. Now all I do is dream about salt bagels with honey almond cream cheese. 
• I've played tennis a couple times this year. Rest assured I am still terrible, but it's been nice to hit around a little.
• I'm turning 31 in two months. So that's a bummer. 
• I want to become a morning person. I tried for a minute, but it's going to take some serious effort. 

More details to come on my latest adventures.

please.

I had forgotten about this song until my sister-in-law posted it the other day.

Obviously I'm super into it.




And while I'm posting videos, how about this Subaru commercial?


I mean, her little face? And when he says, "You look so pretty".
I die.

One more.

Do you love The Mindy Project? Because you should.
I can't even think about this episode without laughing.


Tommy Dewey needs to get back on the show asap.

out with the old, in with the new.

So, 2013 is here. That's fun, right?

Personally, I was happy to kick 2012 to the curb. I mean, I rang in the New Year on my couch, watching Sleepless in Seattle, alone, while battling the last of the flu I had been suffering through for six days.

That night pretty much summed up all of my 2012. Looking back, I have deemed 2012 the Year of Survival.

It was a hard year. Some days it felt like just surviving was the best I could hope for or accomplish. A year filled with a lot of emotions, ruts (of many different varieties), lots of hours at work, spiritual crises and changing dynamics of dear-to-my-heart friendships.

But there were a lot of good things too. A promotion at work, travels abroad, a once in a lifetime experience at the Olympics, spiritual progression and, because of the aforementioned changed dynamics of previously important friendships, I sought out and developed new relationships that have been fulfilling in different ways.

When all is said and done I think I came out on top of 2012, but I definitely hope 2013 is a step up.

With the new year comes a lot of talk about resolutions and goals. I had a hard time pinning down how I wanted to approach resolutions this year. Or if I even wanted to approach them. It's been something I've been mulling over for most of January.

The other night, as I was reflecting on my day, I asked myself "Were you your best self today?" That question had a pretty significant impact and I decided then that it would be my theme for 2013.

Be Your Best Self.

Whatever changes are necessary for me to be able to answer affirmatively to the question "Were you your best self today?" are the things I will work on.

Cheers to a new year and a fresh start! So far 2013 is leaps and bounds above her predecessor.

someday.

I climbed in bed a little early tonight and decided to revisit this space of the net (I'm trying to bring back "the net". Think it will catch on?) just like old times. But boy, those last few posts on here sure were downers. Let's move on to something happier, shall we?

For instance, how about that time I fell in love with the Eiffel Tower? That was fun.

Or that time I met some of the world's finest athletes? (Usually without many clothes on.) Also fun.

Maybe the time when I ate banana+nutella crepes regularly and didn't feel bad about it? Real good.

I'd love to tell you all about it. Someday.

learn.

I had a rough week. I won't go into the details, but just trust me on this one. After the dust started to settle I realized that I had learned a thing or two along the way.

1. Something that is seemingly small can have a very large impact.
2. I'm all too willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
3. It's important to get a second opinion. Or third.
4. I need to trust my gut.
5. My parents may be thousands of miles away, but they are still an excellent source of support.
6. Mom & Pop stores are where it's at. They may not be the cheapest, but the level of service they can provide is leaps and bounds above a big box store.
7. Even if someone can't offer a solution to a problem, just hearing "We'll get through this" is all I need.
8. Buying a Dyson will never be the wrong choice.

Here's to better luck next week.

through the cracks.

Last April I made a goal to get on stage and sing with my friend Stacey.

Stacey also had a goal and that was to record an album, and for the last 8 or 9 months she's been doing just that. Now she's at the point where the finishing touches are being added and she has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund these last stages of the project.

Check out her video below (I can promise you will be entertained) and if you feel like the project is something you'd like to support, head over to her Kickstarter page and donate. The best part is that any donation of $10 or more will get you a copy of the album when it's released. And, as if that wasn't enough, I sing with her on a couple of the songs.

Truly a deal that cannot be beat.

...i used to know.

the challenge.

I'm about to compare life to an MTV show. Get excited. Or scared.

There's a show on MTV that I still sort of love - in fact, it's the only show on MTV that I still sort of love.
The Challenge.
The premise is simple: Teams completing challenges for money or points or voting power and trying to stay in the game to compete in the Final Challenge. Winning the Final Challenge is where all the money is to be made.

The Final Challenge is typically a footrace of several miles where contestants stop at checkpoints along the way to complete some sort of task. However, during this race a time limit is given for these checkpoints and if the competitors don't complete the task within a certain amount of time, they get to move on.

I was thinking tonight that the producers of this show might be on to something. And that it might be nice if the trials of life were aligned a little more closely with MTV.

Yes, I just typed that.

I mean, you can struggle and work and try your best to get through a hard situation. You do all of the things you can think of to make it through. You try to figure out what it is you need to learn. But sometimes it feels like you can only muddle along for so long, right? Like if you haven't figured out what you're supposed learn by now it's unlikely you ever will, so let's just move on. Better luck next time, Champ.

Hey Universe, I think I've reached the time limit. Let's move on to something else.