summer project

I've been living in this house since October and as I think I'm going to be here for a while 

and as the landlord is beyond negligent, I decided to spruce up my room. 

I painted the walls a lovely shade of robin's egg blue 

and recently started adding some furniture. 

I had been using some hand-me-downs that had been laying around the house 

and while I was grateful for them, I was itching for a upgrade. 

I bought a new mattress and this bed from Ikea. 

The cartoon instructions implied that it was a two man job but I did just fine all on my own. 

And oh how grand it feels to spread out on my new bed.

(still not sure about those two paintings - definitely need some tweaking)

My room is sort of half way done at this point. And this is the half done. 

My goal for the weekend is to assemble some shelves, get rid of the old desk and organize my sundry possessions and piles of crap.

And then, I'm still on the look out for some bedding 

- you know, something fabulous to tie it all together.

on this day

Facebook just informed me that on this day in 2009, I posted:

moving to Alaska TOMORROW! better get packin'

Funny how 2 years can feel like a lifetime but I remember so well the wreck I was. It had been such a eventful, stressful and chaotic summer: wedding, graduation, moving home, funeral, studying for the bar, taking the bar, funeral, wedding. In a way I think I needed Alaska. (thought you'd never hear that, did ya?) I needed space to recover and digest it all.

I tell people that if it hadn't been for the recession, I would never have gone to Alaska. But there's more to it than that. Sure, the fall of 2008 was a pretty scary time to be looking for a job, but it goes back to the fall of 2005. I stood at a crossroads of sorts. I felt pretty strongly that I should go to law school but I was terrified of taking on so much debt. I worried about how I'd ever repay it and how the financial burden would shape my future. And then there was this moment, when I thought to myself, if you can do law school, you can repay the debt. It was then that I decided to put my financial future in God's hands. I felt that he wanted me to go to law school and if that required that I assume debt then surely he'd provide a way for me to repay it.

And so, in 2008 when the economy was in the toilet, I wasn't so much worried about finding a job. Okay, I was a little worried, but I knew that everything would work out, I just didn't know how. I also knew that if I was going to place my trust in God, I had to trust him all the way. That meant applying for jobs in Alaska when the director of career services advised me to do so. As I mailed my applications to Alaska, I was terrified that I'd get a job. I was terrified that I'd somehow get stuck in Alaska and never be able to leave.*

When I got a phone call weeks later offering me a clerkship in Fairbanks I freaked out a little - in fact I screamed as a hung up the phone. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, but I knew that I would take the job. And I'm glad that I did.


*Oh, past self, there is so much I'd like to tell you - but most importantly, don't worry, you won't get stuck in Alaska. And don't let yourself fall in love with that one guy, you'll know him when you meet him.

something to blog about

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately as things have been slow here at work. (3 cheers for work!) And I've noticed that a lot of people blog about places they've been, things they've done and there are always pretty pictures to document. These are my least favorite things to write about. I don't know why, but I've never liked to write about places and events, though I've done it a time or two, for example here and here and here. I bore myself - I much prefer to write about my crazy ideas about things, how much I really want a kitten but not ready for the commitment and my latest fiber art creation. I will never be a scrapbooker. If I'm lucky I will finish my mission scrap book within the next decade. Is 15 years is too long to spend on a scrapbook? yeah, maybe you're right, scrap the scrapbook. Thank you to all the talented scrapbookers out there who manage to document history in beautiful and creative ways, yours is a gift I do not possess.

Last week I attended two legitimately blog-worthy events and I even took pictures at one of them, yet I really don't feel like writing about it.  Maybe later.

Lately I've been thinking about love again - okay, I'm always thinking about it. I don't understand why I find it so confusing. This Radiolab podcast answered some of my questions and put my mind at ease a bit. Gosh, I'm a nerd.

you make me feel like dancing

I think that I've made my obsession for SYTYCD pretty clear here, here and here. Well, last night was the season finale and if you're only going to watch a single episode from a season, this'd be the one to watch. They bring back all the best dances from the season and a number of the guest judges came back to. (I love you Jesse Tyler Furguson!)

It came as no surprise the lovely and talented Melanie won. She proved herself week after week - and I just love her style, grace and strength. So, in honor of a great season I present to you my very favorite dance: Total Eclipse of the Heart, danced by Melanie and Neil, choreographed by one of my faves, Mandy Moore. (BTW, I don't really remember this Neil kid but, Hello, I'll never forget him after this.)

This dance just melts my cold jaded heart. It makes me want to fall in love

I read a book: the Help

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, well, a lot of reading for a non-reader like me. In a little over a months times I've read 3 books. This is quite out of character for me and made possible by my new eye doctor who told me that my old prescription wasn't good for my eyes. Say what?!? Religiously wore those stupid glasses for 2 years only to find out that they likely only making my eyes worse! I'm so glad that I'm past that silly bespectacled period. I've lost the glasses (for the most part), started doing pencil push-ups (eye strengthening exercises), kicked my Excedrin addiction and I haven't longed for an eye patch since. Thank you Dr. Whitescarver!

I just finished the Help last night. And yes, it's as good as everyone said. At about page 30, I wasn't getting into it and I almost quit. But I'm glad that I stuck with it, because once you get over the ridiculousness of the Junior League, it starts getting really good. I'm curious about the movie, anyone seen it yet?