Before I Die...

1. Visit all 7 of the natural wonders of the world

• Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA 
• Great Barrier Reef, Australia
• Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Mount Everest, Nepal
• Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis, Alaska, USA
• Parícutin volcano, Michocán, Mexico
• Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, Africa

2. Finish a Peace Corps Assignment

3. Visit San Francisco, CA.

4. Fall in love

5. Go to Greece with the love of my life

6. Dread my hair 8.17.2010

7. Go to Israel ... preferably with my dad

8. Own an old volvo station wagon with leather interior

9. Drive through a foreign desert in a jeep & see wild animals, a perfect sunset & breath taking trees (Aaafrica?)

10. Go to India

11. Get a tattoo. get a 1/2 sleeve.

12. Hold & love a dying child and cry over him or her and stroke their hair and gaze into their eyes and tell them that they're perfect and send them to Jesus

13. Have biological children...and give them inspiring, spiritual names...i want my husband and i to find a bible verse during my pregnancy to pray over that child their whole lives and give them corresponding middle names. 

14. Go on a LONG road trip...like a whole summer...and visit all my friends in all of their homes, and visit big huge beautiful cities and simple, creative small towns....to meet people...and sleep in the back of a van....and kiss a boy (or boys) in the back of a van...and take showers in public places.

15. Attend a BURNING MAN festival

16. Live in something other than a house for an extended period of time 

17. Run in an organized race (this is MUST again.) 3.13.2010 & 10.3.2010

18. Have (visible) abs 

19. Go sailing 

20. Live on the East & West coast for at least 6mo-1 year 

21. Have sex in a public place

22. Graduate college

23. Finish Graduate School

24. House children who are not my own for an extended period of time

25. Live in a house with multiple families/couples for at least one year...i think it'd be a great learning/communal experience

26. Be a vegetarian for 1 year

27. Eat completely raw for 1 year

28. Jump off something really, really high.


29. 

"...To live a life so unpredictable & simplified that people write my address in pencil and wonder at my strange existence."

The Vision The Vow

Busy...

that's what i have been these last few weeks. 

caught in the beautiful, inspiring, fun-loving, kid-hugging, money-spending flurry of life.

things past:

my 23rd birthday.
last friday, june 4th

i got a new pair of pants in the mail from Thailand and i  L-O-V-E  them!!!  bought them here!
pictures coming.

things to come:

pictures of my NEW bedroom that is coming together quite nicely.

camera shopping...my bank account is giving me a green light & after that purchase i will have many more things to document in a much more beautiful fashion. 

a day out with my charming nephew, Beck, this weekend. 

the return home of my younger brother...

he has been in Jamaica & Haiti for the past 5 months & his family is anxiously awaiting his return on Saturday!

that's all for now.

no offense, but i agree  :)

Sunny Soulard Saturday.

 i  L-O-V-E  days off.

due to a greatly appreciate act of kindness by my manager at work, i had yesterday off. a full saturday all to myself...no expectations or school work or church picnics or music practices. i could do whatever i wanted to do...

A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G

so...i woke up at 8:15am, ate a bowl of fresh, crunchy granola with vanilla yogurt for breakfast, pulled on a pair of comfy linen pants, tied my not-so-clean hair into a ponytail, summoned my mother & we headed for The Historic Soulard Farmer's Market. 

the markets people-packed corridors welcomed us into their humid holiday weekend rush with open arms. wooden bins over-flowed with fresh produce that smelled of the earth & radiated a vibrant organic rainbow. hundreds of people from all over the world perused the isles. wagons and wheel barrels and strollers and dogs and skateboards clipped at my ankles as they waded through the crowds. on the dirty, damp asphalt rested boxes of lettuce heads & limes & stacks of glowing apples, waiting to be snatched up by an eager shopper.


i sampled sweet blackberries & crisp green beans.
i scaled a flower stand for twenty minutes, convincing myself not to spend my entire (yet small) fold of bills on tall bundles of birch twigs & the florists delightful, radish-red gladioluses.




i picked out a new candle & a bottle of goats milk lotion in a matching scent, and in honor of Memorial Day festivities & new recipes, filled my shopping bag with all kinds of dirt-tucked potatoes.

i also met a kind baker who shared with me a scrumptious sample of her freshly made pumpernickel bread, still warm & perfectly moist... which inevitably resulted in my purchasing a loaf & making an afternoon snack of it along with the to-die-for butter that my mom purchased from a Mennonite meat stand. 

mommy's hands

two hours later, when our wrists were tired from heavy bags & our feet dirty and ready for rest, we decided to get a few sandwiches, share a glass of sprite & head for home...but not before a spunky old, whiskery man playing his guitar & singin' the blues called us his way, enticed a few dollars out of us & charmed my fun-natured mommy into purchasing his CD right then and there!


so, with the windows rolled down, a bouquet of flowers across my lap & a banjo twanging in my ear...
i went home. 

me, sporting my new bracelet from the oh-so-charming Barn Sale that i attended last weekend -- written about here & here -- made by this lovely lady ... isn't it adorable?  

i  l-l-l-l-love  it!

Some Nights...

i hate going to bed alone.

tonight's one of those nights.

Skanky Playlists.

here's the deal...

sometimes i get on iTunes, type in my debit card #
and go wild. today was one of those days & i am thoroughly satisfied with my purchases. 

the thing is, some of you are going to sneer, laugh

& maybe even gag at my song choices.

BUT, i know that you all have a song list of your favorite guilty pleasure tunes that is embarrassing and annoying and raunchy and totally awesome.

so, dear friends, let's all share the hideous
music that we love...

i'll go first. 

my "purchased" folder in
iTunes currently lists:

Whataya Want from Me?  -Adam Lambert

California Girls  -Katy Perry

Kiss Me Thru the Phone  -Soulja Boy

Circus  -Britney Spears

Girlfriend  -Avril Lavigne

Love Like This  -Natasha Bedingfield

I Gotta Feeling  -Black Eyed Peas

With You  -Chris Brown
Halo  -Beyonce

there you have it.

which ones do you hate the most? ...Soulja Boy? Avril? Britney?
yeah, yeah, yeah   :)

Chickpeas. Ew.

i hate chickpeas. 

over the past year or so (while flirting on & off with vegetarianism) have tried and tried and tried them...

and they continually gross me out.

they stink terribly like human, gassy nastiness
when you open a can of them, 

they are gritty & tough when you substitute them
 in chicken salad, & they're bland when cooked (unless thrown into a delightful indian dish).

even-though they are one of those "what's the point" foods in all other areas,  i cannot suggest their extermination because they are the key ingredient of a food that i  L-O-V-E.

hummus. 

it's delightful and a perfect snack and 

versatile and garlicky and lemony and glorious...

and i am becoming a pro at making it, if i do say so myself. 

that is all.




POST EDIT
my sister is teaching me the proper blogging ways.


Hummus Recipe:
1 can (stinky) chickpeas/garbanzo beans -- drained
freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
(approx. 1/3c of lemon juice...or to taste)
1/3c of tahini  (they say tahini is optional, but i like & always use it, therefore i don't know what to substitute for it...
google it!)
1/3c olive oil (may need more if it's too dry/thick after blending)
3-4 crushed cloves of garlic -- or more...loooove garlic! -- shortly warmed on the stove (w/ olive oil) for extra potency


this is the beginning point...using a food processor, blend all ingredients & then, if lemon & garlic don't do it for you, get creative with the flavors!


i always add:
1tsp cayenne pepper -- give or take a little...usually give :)
lots of pepper
a little mrs. dash
some oregano
1/2 can sun dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers (which adds a little moisture = less olive oil)
sometimes a little more lemon juice
& maybe a little sugar (like...a TINY bit)

blend together to desired consistency --
i like it a little gritty, but some do not.

i usually let it cool in the refrigerator & eat it on warm naan, on triscuits, with baby carrots, or spread onto a veggie sandwich!  Mmmm...


so THAT, my friends, is all.

My Mom.

Dana Elizabeth

  that's her name... 

and during the past two years of my life she has been my closest companion. during a time when much of what i knew about myself & my personal history & where i came from & the places that i called home & my friends & my life was uprooted, my mom has been my safe place. 

she has pretty blue eyes & rosy cheeks, and a spirit that draws anyone and everyone to her. i don't know a single soul that doesn't thoroughly & genuinely enjoy my mother's company.

she is cute and funny and wise. 

she loves her family with the most giving love that i have ever seen. she goes and goes and goes and goes for us. 

she drives and sews and cooks and bakes and shops and reads books and giggles and prays and cries and intercedes and encourages and picks up after and stands by and respects and swings and watches dumb movies and loves and gives and loves and gives. 

she delights in pretty things.

she prides herself in making her home beautiful. her gift for hospitality is one that i have not seen mirrored in anyone else. she has the ability to create space that entices people to relax & open-up...to feel safe. she creates space that emanates the warmth & comfort of our ever-loving & accepting God.

  

she finds pleasure in hard work that results in beautiful things...

gardening, sewing, planting, cooking. 

my mom is tender...she teaches me lessons about & shows me how attractive tenderness is. she is full of buckets of grace for many people that do not deserve a drop of it from her. she stands by her husband & the promises of the Bible no matter what. she is one of the most faithful people i have ever met. 

dear mom, 

thank you for who you are in my life...who you've been and who you will become. you are home to me. on days that i am worn down and weary from life, i look forward to coming home to you. to our sweet smelling home, maybe a cup of hot tea, and to the comfort of my sweet mother. i long to make you proud and to be like you...to be kind and gentle and nurturing like you are. i know that i am difficult at times, but thank you for your constant love of the sometimes not-so-great person that i am. thank you for your acceptance of the person that i desire to become. in your actions you have personified devotion and been a great example of the kind of forgiveness that i am to offer others as a follower of Christ. thank you for the nights you spend watching movies & grey's anatomy with me...thanks for helping me decorate my room...thanks for laying in bed with me late at night, laughing and talking and reading and helping me not feel lonely. thanks for putting up with my crazy, irritating outbursts of complete strangeness and song. thanks for buying me shampoo & naan. thanks for planting pretty flowers in our front yard, so that when i pull into our driveway i get a warm & fuzzy feeling inside that whispers, "this is home." thanks for telling me that you're proud of me, and that you love me, and that you think i am talented. 

mom...i love you, too. 

Happy Mother's Day