Day Three Hundred & Sixty-Five

I FINALLY FOUND STICKY RICE IN DENVER!!!!!!


And yes, that sentence really does deserve all capital letters and six exclamation points.

Day Three Hundred & Sixty-Four

I keep spoiling myself and got another massage. Hey! It was cheap! :)

Day Three Hundred & Sixty-Three

I really love finding new blogs that have great DIY ideas, fabulous quotes, and/or beautiful pictures.

Day Three Hundred & Sixty-Two

I'm so grateful to have a day with no agenda.

Day Three Hundred & Sixty-One

I've got whozits and whatsits galore...

Haven't watched this in so long!!!!!!

Day Three Hundred & Sixty

It was really nice to have a day off during the week. I loved running errands without being overtired from working all day and it was really nice to just sit in a coffeeshop at 2pm and read a book.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Nine

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn; my god do you learn."  -C.S. Lewis

Apparently I need to keep relearning the same lesson over and over and over again. I knew better than to see her, but I wanted to; so I did. And it was an experience. The most brutal of teachers. But I'm learning. And I'm trying to remember to be grateful for all of life's experiences - even those that are incredibly painful.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Eight

I'm so grateful to be home from the conference and able to snuggle and sleep in my own bed!!

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Seven

I don't know how I would have survived this work conference without my boss. It's been really nice to get to know her a little bit more on a personal level and I so greatly appreciate all the support she gave me. She didn't judge my crazy social anxiety and she listened when the conference topics became too overwhelming/triggering for me. She's been incredibly encouraging and has helped me remember what my life priorities are.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Six

Time alone in a hot tub, in the mountains, staring at the brightest stars

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Five

Survived the first of the conference without having too major of an anxiety attack. Enjoyed chatting with the coworker on the drive up here and had a good talk with the boss this evening.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Four

My writing group doubled in size today! It's particularly completely overwhelming to be the only facilitator with 9 group members sharing that much detail about their traumas, but it's also really amazing that through word of mouth, my marketing, and the relationships I'm building while even doing intakes has led to a double sized group. Pretty fucking badass.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Three

EPIC happy hour with the HH girls!!! Haven't had a night out that late or been that carefree and flirty in a very long while.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-Two

I'm really glad I got to hang out with L.M. today and that we just chilled and watched Grey's. It felt like old times; and while I know nothing is as easy as it was back then and that I'm not sure what's going to happen with our friendship and that so much still feels unsettled, I also thought we might never have a moment that felt what we had before again. But we did. And it gives me hope.

Day Three Hundred & Fifty-One

I'm really grateful for groupon! And for an amazing and cheap massage!!!! What a treat! And the guy was beyond. I want to go back tomorrow!

Day Three Hundred & Fifty

I have a picture hanging on my fridge that reads: "I urge you to please notice when you are happy and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice I don't know what is."

And today, while driving from the office to our Speak Out! Symposium event, I found myself repeating that quote because it felt so, so true. 

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Nine

I am totally grateful for Disney movies! And for Dee Dee loaning me some of her collection so that I can relive the awesome parts of childhood!

Oh Beauty & the Beast. Pocahontas. Little Mermaid. How happy you make me.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Eight

I am grateful for the BananaBoat today! She went to new heights this weekend and she made it both up and back down the mountain! She has kind of a silly smell to her right now, but I'm hoping that it's temporary and that tomorrow she will be all good.

As a reward, she's going to get a bath and a vacuum this week!

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Seven

Today was rainy and cold and it meant I had to change my hiking plans. But it also meant I got to just hang out in Eagle. I drove around and took pictures, then relaxed in the hot tub, read for fun, created my Etsy store, and then went to a bar and watch the Tigers beat the Yankees. It was actually really enjoyable. And reminded me the importance of being flexible and the beauty that comes when I can be.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Six

I'm so grateful that my mommy is so generous and that she bought a group-on for a hotel up in Eagle, CO. It was so nice to go somewhere, even by myself. I needed to get out of the city for a bit and there's something about just being in a hotel that makes me feel lavish.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Five

I love living so close to SB now that we can do quick hang-out things. Like going to the mall for a couple of hours to just wander around. I mean, I love long hang out dates with friends, but there's also something amazing about being able to see people more often and therefore with shorter dates.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Four

No words for the specialness of today.

I drove down to CO Springs after work and got to spend the entire evening with my Doodles. We chatted and chatted and chatted; ate fabulous food; and then chatted and chatted and chatted some more.

The increased energy I feel after spending time in Doodles' presence is simply amazing. She lifts my soul. She connects my feet to the earth. She reminds me of all the best parts of home. I really wish I had the words to describe what seeing her does for me or how much I love her and her friendship. But those words just don't exist. Our friendship defies explanation. 

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Three

How blessed I am to have an evening where I genuinely told each person, "I love you," as we hugged goodbye. To have such great people in one's life is something really, really special.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-Two

I fought some crazy anxiety today. Really intense, really powerful, pretty close to unmanageable anxiety. But I also didn't want to take anything for it. So even though I felt like going home and crawl into bed; instead, I met a couple of friends for a training at DU on spirituality in social work. It wasn't the most fascinating thing, but I'm really glad that I decided to attempt to relieve my anxiety in another way and that I did something different for a change.

Day Three Hundred & Forty-One

I had a great brunch with Katydid this morning and a wonderful Dinner & Disney party with the WP crew this evening.

How fabulous to be surrounded by amazing, caring, humorous, and loving people all day today.

Day Three Hundred & Forty

I had these grand plans to go down to CO Springs today to visit Di; but the weather got in the way of our intentions.

At first I was very disappointed, but then I realized that it meant I go to spend all day on my couch. And spend all day on my couch I did!!!


I spent hours sanding the endtable I'm redoing and then making cards. Seriously, for 12 hours I did arts/crafts and watched TV on my computer.

FOR 12 HOURS!!!


Which at first embarrassed me; but then I realized that I was incredibly freaking happy finishing the Prison Break series and working on my cards.

Day Three Hundred & Thirty-Nine

Oh there aren't words for the awesomeness of this morning!! I'm so grateful that A.S. organized a breakfast with Jae and that she included me.

I wish I could describe how wonderful breakfast was or why I'm so grateful to have met them for it. But I really feel like I don't have the words.

The most basic, and none specific, explanation I have is that Jae feels like she is the mentor I have missed for the past 2 years. Mentors don't have to be physically located nearby, but it helps if they are. And it helps if they're as interested in mentoring you as you are in being mentored.

Day Three Hundred & Thirty-Eight

I'm grateful to have the money required to make the homemade cards that make me feel better every night.

Day Three Hundred & Thirty-Seven

I'm not sure how I spend so much money here!! Seriously, things are $1! But when I feel that "need" to buy something or shop, I love going to the Dollar Tree. I feel so savvy walking out with so much for so little money. (Yah, yah, yah, I know... it's all $1)

Day Three Hundred & Thirty-Six

I'm so grateful our 30th Anniversary Celebration went on without too many hiccups! Things were pretty hectic and I didn't have a chance to really see much except the ticket table (during the reception time), the presentation was amazing. I absolutely loved the two speakers and thought they were incredible. I'm also feeling so blessed to have a friend like N.M. Her excitement, passion, and willingness to volunteer at the event made the evening so much more enjoyable.

Day Three Hundred & Thirty-Five

I really enjoy going for walks, especially in the Fall. But damn, convincing myself to go after work is usually impossible. I told myself tonight that I only "had to go for ten minutes" and that I could bring my camera.

I ended up walking for much, much longer, and took this incredible shot:

I don't know what is about this, but I love it. I'm amazed that my little dinky camera was able to do this. Or that I found the angle and the light to get it to turn out. I feel like I could pluck one of those grapes right through the computer.