Things I Love Thursday

Pedicures - Last Tuesday was ladies' night and I got the first pedicure I've had in well over six months, it really is one of the best feelings in the world.

Time off - I only went into the office two days last week during my Spring break for things that I absolutely had to be around for. No classes and most of the week off? Heaven.

Opening night at the Station - It's rare these days that I make it back for an opening night but since my train got in with plenty of time, I was able to see the wonderful opening of Mothers and Sons with three very fantastic people leading the small cast including my high school drama teacher. I always forget how lovely it is to walk in that building and see so many people who are genuinely glad to see you.

Puppies - My aunt's golden cream retrievers just had litter #2 and these six week old monsters are adorable and cuddly and perfect in every way. They are also all eight spoken for so maybe I'll get one next time. *fingers crossed*

Hair cuts - Though my usual stylist, my dearest Michael, was booked solid for weeks on end, my growing out hair was getting fluffy and horrible. Carly at Kane and Co. shaped my undergrowth into something that will grow out a little better and I feel so much better without the fluff.

Mom letting me take the lead on dinner - Seriously, my mom is the best home cook in America (stand aside all you Masterchef wannabes). So, when we had Grandma, Marianne, and Ken over for dinner Saturday night and mom let me be in charge of the main course of chicken pot pie (AND everyone loved it and cleaned their plates), it was kind of a big deal to me.

Facebook hiatus - I'm taking a general Facebook siesta. I still have messenger up on my phone so I can chat with the soldier and anyone else who may be trying to get a hold of me and doesn't have my email but I just needed to stop constantly looking at everyone's posts. I have a lot of personal stress in my life right now and scrolling through negativity and bigotry and mean-spirited posts was bringing me down quite a large amount. It's been two days and I already feel like I took a breath of fresh air.

The good kind of April Fools - I hate April Fool's jokes. The idea of having an entire day set aside where you lie to your friends and family about something that's usually serious is just not funny to me and probably not as funny as you think it is. Seriously, imagine being the couple that's silently struggling with infertility that sees 10 friends pop up on Facebook announcing "They're pregnant! j/k, happy April, lol". Not so funny. Anyway, yesterday, two dear friends announced that they got married which everyone thought was a joke. The joke was it was real and I'm super happy for Eric, Martha, and little Alba.

My gym - Though I'm not getting there as often as I want yet (new routines take some getting used to), I've got some great encouragement from the soldier and a wonderful place to lose the weight at.

Things I Love Thursday

It's been a frightfully stressful quarter and I have had little to no control over my emotions and most of my free time has been spent trying to catch up on sleep. Not good combinations. I'm feeling a little more cheerful this week despite the below freezing temps and I think it's time to remind myself that winter doesn't last forever.

Debt free - Mostly. With this year's tax refund, I paid off all of my credit cards and rejoined the gym since I can now afford it again. It was a huge sigh of relief and a great burden off of my shoulders.

Choir - No, it's not the strongest group of singers I've ever been a part of but they all try hard and the music is truly great stuff. It's a really wonderful thing do be making beautiful music again.

Good food and great company - While my social life hasn't been super the past couple of months, I've had some really great evenings with wonderful people. Fajita nights with Dan and Erin, wonderful homemade dinner and a night of babysitting and dog cuddling with the Tinchers, Quartino with great friends for Chicago Restaurant Week, fabulous pesto and good wine with my dearest Amelia, and truly tasty comfort food and stimulating conversation with the soldier's mom at Cafe Selmarie. Nights like this make me feel incredibly lucky.

Encouragement - That soldier is doing wonderful things for my self-esteem let me tell you. Compliments out the wazoo laced with tough love and constant encouragement. There's a reason we can stay on Skype for three hours.

new year, so much to do, so much to be thankful for

I don't really do New Year's resolutions. Mostly because I feel that any time you resolve to make a change in your life should be the time you start, whether it be December 29th or February 4th. But there is a lot to do this year and a lot I plan on accomplishing and so much that I have to be thankful for from the past year. So let's start with a little gratitude.

I am extremely grateful for:

Moopit - He is the best friend a gal could ask for. He will totally pet sit for me when I have to leave town for a family emergency even when he is going through an equally shitty week, bring me pain killers when I don't have time to stop at home between afternoon and evening plans, take me out for a nice dinner with friends because I had a shitty week, and give as much as he gets in the "giving each other shit" category.

My mommy - She is constantly supportive of my decisions and full of encouragement when I'm having a tough time. She makes sure I am full of tasty food whenever I see her, watches my pup when I'm going to be out of town too much to pay the dog sitter, and gets me things I actually need/want for Christmas (I love my new fitbit and I can't wait to try out my new baking pans and wear my new work pants). I wouldn't be able to do any of the things I do without her behind me.

My sister - She is the most lovely, kind, and talented person I know. She downloads an external hard drive full of great TV that she thinks I need to watch, crochets me super warm winter accessories, and paints beautiful artwork that I hang in my house. Life isn't always easy for her but she keeps going and works hard and I have more respect for that than for people that are always whining about things in their relatively simple lives. She is a rock and I am always amazed by and proud of her.

My soldier - Seriously this guy, I can't say enough great things about this guy. One day I'm just going to explode rainbows and sprinkles killing everyone with happiness within a mile radius because this guy just makes me sparkle inside. (please feel free to go receive yourself, I make myself a little sick sometimes too) But this guy just gets me, supports my geeky habits by sending me awesome costume pieces, makes me laugh and smile and even tear up a little bit because he's so awesome, and even puts up with it when I Skype with my mouth full. I seriously cannot wait to see what the next few years have in store for us.

Anyone else in my life that has listened and been kind or supportive or encouraging or just plain loving because they knew I needed it. I am especially thankful for the extremely wonderful new friends I have made this past year and even a little grateful that I found out that some of my old friends were maybe not such good friends. 

But this year is going to be a pretty big one: 

I plan to make it to Europe at least twice this year
Want to get in at least 6 races and actually improve on my times from last year
I need to pass the College Mathematics CLEP with a 50 or higher
I plan to learn enough German to travel comfortably there this spring
I have 8 courses I'll be taking toward my degree this year and I want to be on the Dean's list as much as I can
I hope to finally get my work promotion through the system (ugh, red tape)
I may have some pretty lofty weight loss goals too but I'm keeping those to myself

This year is the last year before I finish my degree and after that there is a bend in the road. I'm pretty sure I know where it's heading and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a major transition and a wild ride but I'm really excited for a new adventure and quite possibly a new corner of the world. This is a year of hard work and enjoying what I can now and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a great one.

Things I Love Thursday

getting spoiled by my bff - A few of us ladies had a particularly shitty Thanksgiving so my wonderful moopit took us out Friday night. Drinks and cheese at Eno, amazing dinner at Purple Pig, and a movie. I felt much loved and in a way better mood by the end of the evening.

birdman - I know this movie isn't going to be for everyone and it's going to get a lot of varying reviews but I loved it and thought it was brilliant. There are some truly beautiful shots and the acting is incredible. Not everyone was in agreement on what the movie was about but I also think that's one of the things that make it so good.

serious conversations - You know, about the future and...stuff. I admittedly spent a large amount of the weekend absorbed in these kind of conversations and they're not that scary and I really like where they seem to be headed. There's a lot of work to do but I'm okay with it.

cranberry bread - Oh man, our new dean in training is kind of awesome and brought us all a loaf of cranberry bread last week. I proceeded to eat a half of a loaf in one sitting this weekend and I seriously needs the recipe.

origami - I just kind of recently (as in last weekend) got back into this. I forgot how calming it is for me to just sit and fold paper for awhile. But, um, now I need more paper...

end of the quarter - My finals are about to be all turned in and I am done with classes until January 5th, this is incredibly wonderful. Now I can focus on studying for the College Mathematics and learning some useful German.

no staff meetings until January - These are such a weird time suck during my day. Sometimes they are useful, most weeks they're...not. It will be lovely to just have that hour back on Thursdays for a few weeks.

being able to give a student good news - Seriously, guys, this NEVER happens. I'm the one that emails students and tells them they're on probation or that they screwed up and can't graduate. But today a student came in hyperventilating and crying because she couldn't locate her final. Turns out she was six hours early not fifteen minutes late and telling her that and giving her a hug kind of made my day.

Things I Love Thursday

As per usual, when things are going well for me, I find it more and more difficult to settle down to write and, more often than not, sit listening to songs with beautiful lyrics and smiling silently to myself. But the holiday weekend was not the greatest for me so I think a reminder of the good things is in order:

Pie - Oh man, I really do bake a killer pie and the Bailey's Irish Cream Pumpkin Pie I made last week had me going back for thirds.

Cider - The alcoholic kind. It helped me through my trip home and discovering my favorite cider (Vandermill Totally Roasted) on tap at a local bar last night reminded me just how much I love this city.

My IT staff - So on Tuesday I thought I had completely destroyed my auditing system and lost a large amount of the work I'd put in over the past year. Yesterday, my wonderful crew worked with me to find the exact problem and fixed it. No greater relief than getting that beautiful email.

My mum - Because even when she says something that hurts my feelings, she immediately realizes it and apologizes the next day. And because we cook some damn good meals together.

The family I chose - Don't get me wrong, there are some truly lovely people that share my genetic code but there are even more that make me feel incredibly uncomfortable in their presence. Being a bisexual agnostic liberal is not something about me they can accept or love and they spew bigotry, judgement, and hatred. However, the friends I have made here are like the family I always wished I had and they make me feel truly warm and fuzzy inside.

This guy - You know that one I vaguebook about and refer to as soldier in adorably sickening tweets. I'm trying not to explode happiness about it everywhere but it leaks out every now and then and can't wait to get Germany and see him again.

Things I Love Thursday

It's been a while since I've done one of these so here are a few things that I'm loving right now. Right now the things I love most are people.

Moopit - Whether we're contemplating what new show we should waste our time on or discussing which nerf weapon I should mod for my crossbow in DR or finding a new place to eat or discussing that awesome pair of shoes I want to buy, this guy is seriously the best friend a lady could have.

Helpful friends - I was seriously violently sick with the stomach flu last week and, even though I didn't actually need any help, there were so many people that would have been willing to bring me food or do anything if I needed them, it makes me feel extremely blessed. Special shout outs to Resa who made sure I didn't have to walk home from Changeling Saturday night.

My mum - For always covering my ass and being there for me in every way she knows how. I cannot wait to take her out to feel the awesomeness of the Chicago running community on Sunday. 

My soldier - This guy has been a good friend of mine for over eight years now and one of the reasons I didn't curl up in a ball of loneliness and terror when I moved to Chicago. He may be in Germany for the next three years but I have pretty high hopes that we have a pretty shiny future ahead of us.

high ideals

I believe...

That every person deserves honesty and kindness and, if someone is unwilling to give those things to you, they aren't worth your time.

In second chances. We're all human and we make mistakes. It's only when someone keeps repeating the same offence and expecting forgiveness that maybe we need to rethink the relationship.

That every person should have access to affordable necessary health and mental care. And for that matter, a warm place to sleep and a healthy meal. Starvation or freezing to death aren't appropriate punishments for poor life decisions or uncontrollable circumstances.

In love that lasts forever and is worth waiting for.

In traveling the world, eating well, having fun, learning everything you can, and experiencing as much as possible before you die.

Friends can be more family than the ones you were born with.

In standing up for the less fortunate and the less privileged and fighting the fights that other people aren't willing to fight.

The individual is more important than the group.

That when your loved ones need you, you drop everything and do everything in your power to help them.