That Easter Morn...

And what a beautiful morn it was! It started at about 4:45 this morning with a quick shower and friends taking me downtown for the sunrise Easter service at the Lincoln memorial. ...and apparently I just don't want to finish this post!

Happiness is: the little things

Can I just say, when I round the curve towards home and see police lights reflecting off my house, I freak out a little bit. Okay, a lot a bit. Perhaps that is due to the fact that the last time that happened, around January 15th of this year, it was because they were responding to a call I made when I had arrived home to discover my home had been broken in to. Since that time, every bark the neighbor's dog makes and any creak of a floorboard or door tends to put me on a bit higher alert. Then to see a police car parked in front of my house....it's a bit unnerving!

And I won't even mention how news reports of the East Coast Rapist are putting him A LOT closer to home than comfort levels can handle.

In the midst of all of this anxiety and caution, I came upon a wonderfully calming article. It is one that takes you back to "the good old days" when life was simpler and maybe a little bit happier. At the same time, probably moreso if truth be known, this article reminds you to stop, and really smell those flowers. The pretty smelling ones, not the others. The article was about "101 small pleasures you can enjoy every day." Before I post the web address on here, I want to know from you what the small pleasures are that YOU enjoy every day. I am betting they are those we all enjoy yet often overlook.

To start you off, I will tell you some of mine.
~ singing of birds
~ the smell of fresh cut grass after a rainfall
~ warm cookies
~ breaking out in random song
~ singing along to Broadway, or Disney, or church hymns
~ reading in the sunlight
~ talking with an old friend
~ hand written letters
~ fresh baked bread
~ a long walk in the spring evening
~ fresh bouquet of flowers
~ a date (and I'm not talking about the fruit)
~ a cup of hot cocoa...with or without peppermint
~ playing the piano, or listening to it be played
~ coloring


It truly is through small and simple means that great things are brought to pass. Those small and simple things, such as these small pleasures, are indeed among the tender mercies of the Lord with which we all are blessed. Perhaps we should take the time to enjoy them more often instead of brush them aside in the hustle and bustle of daily living. These things most often can calm a weary, anxious, and frightened soul...and if that is not a tender mercy, I cannot tell you what is.

one dinner, one date.

I had a wonderful dinner tonight with even better company. Coming home, I cannot help but analyze what had happened and the silly mistakes I had made which created potentially awkward situations. At the same time I hope that those things were overlooked and I again get to enjoy the company of this friend. The more I think about this, the more I reflect on how we, as individuals, get so caught up in perceptions that we miss what is really there. What really happened tonight? I had a wonderful dinner, and amazing dessert! But mostly, I enjoyed conversation on a date with a new friend and learned about his character and personality and history a little bit while being prompted to reminisce about wonderful events in my life. All in all, I had an amazing night.

help a girl out.

Upromise Guest Shopping for EMMA

We all shop. And a lot of us do at least a little bit of that shopping online - Amazon, Overstock, 1-800-flowers, Wal-Mart, and many MANY other places. So, why not help someone out since we're already online anyway. If that someone happens to be me and that help comes by way of applying YOUR savings to my college loans, then I won't be at all disappointed. And you are enabling me to then help someone else out in turn. You can even count it as your good deed of the day. All you need to do is click this link that says 'upromise guest shopping for emma' (the one in pink text). Thank you in advance!

Snowpocalypse

I had always wanted to live in Virginia. The sound of the state name is just so pretty and when you are a little girl, you want things that sound pretty. Of course, that's something that never really changes. When I finally did move to Virginia for graduate school, I learned that the storybooks are true: there really are four seasons in a year! You have Spring, full of flowers and birds and cherry blossoms and so much more. Spring is absolutely beautiful. Then comes Summer. I knew Summer...in Texas you have Summer, Hot, and a short duration of Cool. Summer in Texas can also be called Hotter, depending on with whom you are speaking. In Virginia though, Summer is an enjoyable time that does not stay at 110+ degrees for days or weeks at a time, although it is still quite warm. I miss the Hawaiian summers, but you really learn to appreciate the season when it's sandwiched between Spring and Autumn (or Fall). Oh, Autumn! I absolutely love Autumn. The changing of the leaves, the rain, the bonfires. The pictures of Autumn I always saw in elementary school are real! And not only that, the season actually lasts for 3 months!! Amazing. It's always a toss up on which is my favorite season: Spring or Autumn. But if I absolutely had to choose, Autumn would win out. Which brings us to Winter.

Ah, Winter. "Blow, blow thou winter wind" (William Shakespeare, As You Like It) And this year, it really has been blowing! A typical winter in Northern Virginia is not bad at all. You'll get snow, but now enough to shut down the metropolitan area...especially the malls. There's usually enough to make a decent size snowman, go sledding and have a good snowball fight. If you had to measure, it would probably be between 8-12 inches most years. This year, however, proves to be the exception. Every so many years, Virginia experiences a REALLY good winter; one that can compete with the western states. The last one was 1996. This year is about 2 inches away from beating the winter record, at least it was at about 10 this morning. We got a bit of snow before Christmas. About a week ago we got some more snow, and this last weekend we got just above 2 feet dumped on us. We had all thought that what the news called "Snowmageddon" this last Friday and Saturday was indeed the worst. Saturday afternoon my roommates and I went exploring to see what other life we could find. When we passed people, they had the same look we did, the one that said "we survived." We thought we were out of the red. We were mistaken.

Yesterday afternoon it began to snow softly again. Snowmageddon, or what my friends and I like to call Snowpocalypse, was not over. Rather than this current storm being an aftershock, I think the last weekend was just a warning. The winds are reaching 30 miles per hour, the snow is no longer falling vertical but going horizontal, power has gone for many more people than last time.

Swagbucks.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/emmalin

This year will be....

....magical. And I'm going to try really REALLY hard to post something up here at least once a month. I'm excited for what adventures await me!

The only 'new year's resolution' I have is to be good :) Not that I'm not good already, just that I want to be better. And for those who are thinking 'that's not a very good new year's resolution' or some variance of that thought, just remember that I worked for FranklinCovey and therefore don't believe in making resolutions once a year, but throughout the years. So a new year's resolution doesn't have the pomp and circumstance for me that most other people put on it.