ok...so we are leaving for alaska tomorrow morning. if you know anything about me at all, you can bet that i have detailed itineraries, budgets, maps, and confirmation data all printed and neatly stashed in a plastic folder. but you can also bet that my suitcase is not packed. it is in theory. i have organized lists and stacks all over the house, but nothing is officially in a bag yet. the last time we took a big summer trip, this kind of procrastinating came back to bite us in the rear end. we were heading to north carolina for a week with big plans to start in the mountains on the west and drive across the state to the ocean. needless to say, we had a large variety of packing to do. because there are always better things to do (like watch tv and write blogs at 10pm), we continued to put it off. around 12am, we decided we'd better get started. after all, our flight was scheduled for 7:15 that morning. with almost an hour drive, we would need to leave around 5:15 in order to drive, park, check bags, and get through security. as we lugged out the suitcases and sat in our closet, we joked about falling asleep on the ground without setting an alarm and missing our flight, thus ruining every well thought out, pre-purchased event on our schedule for the week. a few laughs and several clasps and zippers later, we crashed into bed at one. alarm was set for 4:30.
i awoke to marcus' loud and horrified voice. "oh my gosh, molly. it's 5:52!!!" yeah right. he's always pulling this kind of crap. i rolled over. "oh my gosh! oh my gosh! molly!!" then it hit me. he was frantic, and he NEVER calls me by my name. i sat up and saw it all before me. the clock indeed said 5:52, and in the 5 seconds since he had first called my name, he was already dressed and carrying suitcases out of our room. you might as well have shocked me with a difibrillator. i had so much adrenaline burst through my veins that i seriously think i could have flown myself to the airport if i had flapped my arms hard enough. i have never been so scared for my life as i was in the car to bush intercontinental that morning. and when we missed the parking exit, i thought marcus might have a heart attack right there in the driver's seat. we had a schedule to keep! stupid jokes!
you know those crazy people who are always running in the airport and you think, "dumb person. why didn't you plan better?" picture two of those dumb people. we got to our gate, out of breath, at 6:55. i don't think the adrenaline officially stopped until we clicked the seatbelts. and only then did we see the humor. surely we had set a world record! or a record for stupidity. either way, we learned a valuable lesson. or so i thought...until i started writing this. i'd better get cracking. our flight leaves a little later in the morning this time, so we should be safe. i'm actually more worried about the bears than about missing the flight. after last summer, i don't know if i have enough adrenaline-generating power left to defend myself against one of those terrifying beasts! so if you don't hear from me again, assume it was a bear.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
in all its glory
one of the things i was most looking forward to about st. louis is that it is so close to the country. as you may have speculated from the name of my blog, i am the kind of person who feels best when i am "at one with nature." when i was a child, i used to dream about what it would be like to be a native american. oh, who am i kidding. i still dream about it.
so, in an effort to spend as much time as i can outdoors while we are living here, i decided to implement a walking "program"...i am taking a 30-60 minute walk every day, either in the morning or at night (or both!). the first day i set out, my main intention was to just explore the area, get my bearings, and--let's be honest--check out the neighbors' houses! being that our neighborhood it fairly new, there isn't much nature to speak of. some millionaire had the bright idea to buy a huge plot of land, bulldoze all of the incredible trees, and start building from the ground up. mind you, in houston, i wouldn't have even thought twice about the horrendousness of this. it has always been a city of concrete to me...even in the suburbs. buildings for miles around. you almost forget that there was ever naturally growing vegetation. here, however, it seems like a crime. as i began to venture just one street beyond our neighborhood, i realized how incredible the land must have truly been before mr. million dollars came to town. i was blasted with the intoxicating smells of giant blue spruce and honeysuckle as i brisked past the houses. i cannot even describe the sheer mass of the tremendous oak trees that tower in the front yards. one such tree actually brought me to a standstill. it sits on a large plot of land near the roadway. the small house to which it belongs sits about 20 yards back. the entire lawn is shaded. this tree is so capable of masking a whole yard AND its home that i had to try and wrap my brain around why someone would even consider cutting one of them down. and as i stood there pondering, the breeze began to rustle the leaves way above my head. have you ever heard the sound of tens of thousands of leave stirring at the same time? music. i had to practically force myself to press homeward.
on my second day out, i decided to give our "new" neighborhood another shot. i hadn't seen the entire 4 streets yet and was curious just how long it would take me to walk all the way around it. despite the lack of trees and wonderful smells, i will say that it is still a very lovely place. many of the lots that are still empty are covered with a blanket of white clover. picturesque lush green with tiny white flowers budding on top. and here and there, it is speckled with a bright yellow dandelion or two....or perhaps more....for it was the dandelions that gave me a most pleasant surprise that morning. as i rounded the corner to head down the last street, i entered a dream. floating gently around me were hundreds of dandelion seeds, fluffy and soft white. as i peered further down the road, i saw a snowfall filling the air. a summer snow. standstill. you cannot imagine the beauty. they all just seemed to hover around me while i stood there on pause. i knew that there was little chance of me seeing this exact happening again. i wished that i had taked my camera along to capture it for someone else to enjoy. but then again, maybe i am secretly glad that i soaked in this moment alone.
so, in an effort to spend as much time as i can outdoors while we are living here, i decided to implement a walking "program"...i am taking a 30-60 minute walk every day, either in the morning or at night (or both!). the first day i set out, my main intention was to just explore the area, get my bearings, and--let's be honest--check out the neighbors' houses! being that our neighborhood it fairly new, there isn't much nature to speak of. some millionaire had the bright idea to buy a huge plot of land, bulldoze all of the incredible trees, and start building from the ground up. mind you, in houston, i wouldn't have even thought twice about the horrendousness of this. it has always been a city of concrete to me...even in the suburbs. buildings for miles around. you almost forget that there was ever naturally growing vegetation. here, however, it seems like a crime. as i began to venture just one street beyond our neighborhood, i realized how incredible the land must have truly been before mr. million dollars came to town. i was blasted with the intoxicating smells of giant blue spruce and honeysuckle as i brisked past the houses. i cannot even describe the sheer mass of the tremendous oak trees that tower in the front yards. one such tree actually brought me to a standstill. it sits on a large plot of land near the roadway. the small house to which it belongs sits about 20 yards back. the entire lawn is shaded. this tree is so capable of masking a whole yard AND its home that i had to try and wrap my brain around why someone would even consider cutting one of them down. and as i stood there pondering, the breeze began to rustle the leaves way above my head. have you ever heard the sound of tens of thousands of leave stirring at the same time? music. i had to practically force myself to press homeward.
on my second day out, i decided to give our "new" neighborhood another shot. i hadn't seen the entire 4 streets yet and was curious just how long it would take me to walk all the way around it. despite the lack of trees and wonderful smells, i will say that it is still a very lovely place. many of the lots that are still empty are covered with a blanket of white clover. picturesque lush green with tiny white flowers budding on top. and here and there, it is speckled with a bright yellow dandelion or two....or perhaps more....for it was the dandelions that gave me a most pleasant surprise that morning. as i rounded the corner to head down the last street, i entered a dream. floating gently around me were hundreds of dandelion seeds, fluffy and soft white. as i peered further down the road, i saw a snowfall filling the air. a summer snow. standstill. you cannot imagine the beauty. they all just seemed to hover around me while i stood there on pause. i knew that there was little chance of me seeing this exact happening again. i wished that i had taked my camera along to capture it for someone else to enjoy. but then again, maybe i am secretly glad that i soaked in this moment alone.
Monday, June 15, 2009
celebrate good times
well the first few days of fall have been beautiful! wait. what? it's supposed to be summer? it's so amazing to me...from living in texas my entire life, i think it's been ingrained in my head that 100 degree humidity is the only summer that exists. and i am pleasantly surprised to find that i am completely wrong. although we've had a lot of afternoon rain showers and a humid day or two, there have been many gorgeous days with cool, breezy weather. makes you actually want to spend time outside!
so we celebrated our 2nd anniversary last week. it's the cotton anniversary. here's how we do anniversary gifts:
1) it has to do with the theme
2) it has to be something that will last
3) it has to have some meaning behind it
4) cost is not important...be it free or highly expensive.
last year was paper. i made marcus a book of all of our love notes/emails. it started with our very first casual "i'm glad we're friends" 99 cent card, continued with a selection of emails and cards that we sent when we were apart, and ended with the card i gave him the night before our wedding. he gave me two gifts. the first was a small bouquet of paper roses that matched our wedding colors. the second was this hysterical fake newsletter with "articles" about our history. it was quite creative!
this year, i got marc a texas flag. when we first moved in, he was so excited to hang one in our garage. but when he went to unload the box that it was supposed to be in, all he found was an old, ratty tech flag. thus began my hunt for a cotton flag online. he actually seemed thrilled when he opened it. we are now proudly displaying our true affection for all in the neighborhood to see!
for my gift, he (again) was very crafty. the neighbor behind us is a seamstress. so he took all of our wedding paraphernalia (newspaper announcements, save the date card, pictures, invitation, program) over to her and had her make a small quilt out of them. it's really neat! he even picked out our wedding pinks as the border accents. puts me to shame every time. :P
after gifts, we went to an italian restaurant where i proceeded to stuff myself with entirely too much food. the best/worst part about the tail end of our dinner was that marc kept trying to make me laugh, which HURT because i was so full. i honestly thought i might puke right there at the table, waiting for the check. but i couldn't stop laughing either. he kept impersonating our nasally mid-west waitress' accent saying the special of the night "mahi-mahi." i'm pretty sure you had to be there to appreciate the humor/horror of hearing her repeat the special to each table, but i am laughing even now as i write this. this is why i married this man...only a true love would torture you with uncontrollable giggling in a public place when you feel as though your stomach will explode. sigh... :)
so we celebrated our 2nd anniversary last week. it's the cotton anniversary. here's how we do anniversary gifts:
1) it has to do with the theme
2) it has to be something that will last
3) it has to have some meaning behind it
4) cost is not important...be it free or highly expensive.
last year was paper. i made marcus a book of all of our love notes/emails. it started with our very first casual "i'm glad we're friends" 99 cent card, continued with a selection of emails and cards that we sent when we were apart, and ended with the card i gave him the night before our wedding. he gave me two gifts. the first was a small bouquet of paper roses that matched our wedding colors. the second was this hysterical fake newsletter with "articles" about our history. it was quite creative!
this year, i got marc a texas flag. when we first moved in, he was so excited to hang one in our garage. but when he went to unload the box that it was supposed to be in, all he found was an old, ratty tech flag. thus began my hunt for a cotton flag online. he actually seemed thrilled when he opened it. we are now proudly displaying our true affection for all in the neighborhood to see!
for my gift, he (again) was very crafty. the neighbor behind us is a seamstress. so he took all of our wedding paraphernalia (newspaper announcements, save the date card, pictures, invitation, program) over to her and had her make a small quilt out of them. it's really neat! he even picked out our wedding pinks as the border accents. puts me to shame every time. :P
after gifts, we went to an italian restaurant where i proceeded to stuff myself with entirely too much food. the best/worst part about the tail end of our dinner was that marc kept trying to make me laugh, which HURT because i was so full. i honestly thought i might puke right there at the table, waiting for the check. but i couldn't stop laughing either. he kept impersonating our nasally mid-west waitress' accent saying the special of the night "mahi-mahi." i'm pretty sure you had to be there to appreciate the humor/horror of hearing her repeat the special to each table, but i am laughing even now as i write this. this is why i married this man...only a true love would torture you with uncontrollable giggling in a public place when you feel as though your stomach will explode. sigh... :)
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