Sunday afternoons are so delicious.

...Delicious in that I get to sit back, enjoy lots of peaceful quiet time in my pretty living room.

Also delicious in that I often use them to make delicious food to consume.  or to devour, as the case may be.

This afternoon I made the most amazing salted chocolate cookies, which I found here. While you're there, you should check out her lovely blog.  I could peruse it for hours.  So much beautiful real food, beautiful writing, and beautiful photographs.  Plus awesome links to explore.  And, I would love to read her book sometime. Sounds right up my alley.

Speaking of delicious food, I also ate some leftovers of this sweet potato minestrone, which was submitted to the blog by my lovely friend Katie Temus Merrill, which I made last night and ate with this super easy and delicious homemade bread (I work part-time for the woman who writes this blog, by the way) and butter. Yum.

I also spent my afternoon listening to the rest of this excellent podcast on LDS females and sexuality, which I highly recommend to every LDS female everywhere that ever was.  Not to be dramatic. ahem. I had the privilege of attending her lecture last fall in Salt Lake (thank you roommate Elisa's mom!), which was very empowering and a good reminder of many ideas I've heard touched on before in conversations with my friends. What a blessing her research is and has been to so many!  Sheesh. There are so many amazing women for me to look up to in this world, and in my LDS community.  I never cease to be impressed by the amazing women I am surrounded by who are always seeking after truth, after progress, after the best versions of themselves, and who aren't afraid to rock the boat a little bit at times. (If you want more resources regarding LDS females and sexuality, check out the links in the description of the podcast.  Lots of interesting info there, as well.)

Finally, as I listened to the podcast above, and ideas of vulnerability and it's role in building relationships came up, I was reminded of this inspiring TED talk by Brené Brown, called The Power of Vulnerability, which I have embedded below for your enjoyment and enlightenment! That, in my opinion, is also delicious. 



Happy Sunday, everyone! 

"Sometimes I dream of a tree, and the tree is my life.

One branch is the man I shall marry, and leaves my children.

Another branch is my future as a writer and each leaf is a poem.

Another branch is a glittering academic career.

But as I sit there trying to choose,

The leaves begin to turn brown and blow away

Until the tree is absolutely bare."

-The Tree of Life, Sylvia Plath

New Year's Eve, and other thoughts.

Over the last couple of years, I have taken to spending New Year's Eve alone.

It took me awhile to admit it to myself, but I am just not a big party kind of person.  I will nearly always prefer cozy gatherings with close, trusted, friends.

And especially on New Year's Eve, it doesn't feel right.  Being the final night, the 365th day of a year that will never come again... it just seems as though it should be spent pondering.   Meditating.  Communing with my deepest self, and determining who I am, where I have been.  Congratulating myself on what I have accomplished, and confidently addressing things I could have done better.

I ask myself a variety of questions, but it all comes back to this:


Does my soul feel full?



And so, on this last New Year's Eve that transitioned us into the year two thousand twelve, I lit some candles, turned on the Christmas tree lights, and cozied up with a blanket and these beautiful videos of spoken word poems by Sarah Kay*.

I noticed the time at about 11:50, and meant to go turn on the television to watch the ball drop and the year turn, but was quickly and easily dissuaded by another poem, and then forgot about time altogether.

When I heard a sudden burst of explosions and loud shouting outside, and I jumped up and ran out the front door to enjoy the excitement.  As my home is situated on the mountainside, I am lucky enough to have a wide view of the valley below, which on this particular night included a fireworks display, spread across the panoramic view, from homes of every sort.


A few minutes later, on the north end of the valley, I noticed numerous slow-moving, fire-colored dots.  I stood there, staring, a little startled. For the life of me, I could not figure out what they were.

Then, a moment of clarity.  Paper lanterns.

I stood for several minutes, barefoot on the cold cement sidewalk in front of my house— my toes and fingers tingly, my cheeks turning pink. The cloud of golden-orange lights expanding, rising, ever increasing in number.  It felt so peaceful, yet momentous. Legendary. The only first few moments of the year 2012 that would ever exist. And there was I, standing, breathing in the moment deeply.  There was I, experiencing them.





*That poetry absolutely mesmerizes me.  How beautiful and poignant, those moments and insights she captures. I aspire to be able to craft my words in such an elegant way. There are so many wonderful poems, but these are some that touched me.

new year.

I arrived home in Provo today, back from Christmas break. 

Opened up my suitcases to unpack, but didn't quite finish.  Made myself some steamed apples with cinnamon and raisins, and some cinnamon tea to enjoy by the Christmas tree.  Then took a little nap.

Christmas break has been lovely.

Here's hoping for a fantastic 2012, and hopefully some fun festivities to welcome it!

poetry

This spoke to me today.



Watch it.  You will not be disappointed.


In other news, I am home for Christmas.  Spent my morning preparing gingerbread and sugar cookie dough, to be baked and decorated this evening.

Seattle is so so beautiful every time I come home.  I never cease to be amazed by it.

Hopefully I'll get around to finishing a post or two while I'm here! 

hey hey

So! Hi.

This is my new blog.

When I said on my old blog that I was going to start writing again, I just started feeling a little antsy.  Time for a change.  I debated changing up the background, or getting a new title... and ultimately just decided to start all fresh and new.

The title?  It just came to me one day, in August.  I was out walking in the warm summer air, and BOOM. I just knew.  And that is how this came to be. Plus, it feels so... comfortable. Fitting.

I'm still working on adding things on the sidebar and such, but it's good for now. 

Welcome, friends, and enjoy!

P.S. If you want to see my old posts (from as far back as 2007, when I was just a wee 21 years old), go here.

welcome autumn.

Okay, let's face it.  Fall has been here for quite a little while at this point.  The leaves have been changing to beautiful shades of reds, oranges, yellows, even purples, and then falling off the trees altogether.  The weather has been up and down, but in general it has definitely been cooler than it was a month and a half ago.

But TODAY.  Today it is downright chilly.  And I feel giddy. 

As I drove home from work this evening, I couldn't help but notice it.  The sun was beginning to sink behind the mountains to the west.  The mountains to the east, the sky, and everything else were covered in the loveliest dusky shade of plum.  The cold air smelled perfectly autumn-like... a smoky, icy, warm and cozy all-wrapped-up-in-one type scent. 

I made a stop on my way home, and I couldn't figure out why I felt so excited.  Giggle-at-everything-excited.  New-crush-excited. 

And then I realized it.

I am in love with the changing of the seasons.  

It doesn't matter a bit which season it is; the whole process is entirely magical to me.  The way the weather gradually (or suddenly) changes temperature, the way the sun rises and sets earlier or later and in a more northern or southern part of the horizon, and the way the whole natural world responds.  New plants bloom and grow, produce delicious fruits and vegetables of all kinds, die, remain dormant.  The earth gets so hot and dry that it cracks, so cold that it freezes solid under a thick layer of ice.  Giant raindrops pour from the sky, snowflakes fall lightly and everything is calm, white, quiet. The sun rises and sets, painting great orange, pink, red, purple, and gold streaks across the entire sky, interlacing rays of light with wispy clouds. 

It is beyond beautiful, every time.

Granted, I feel privileged to live in a beautiful place.  Utah offers a lot of nature to be explored, and it is all very, very close.  For example, I live on a mountainside.  Beautiful valley below, mountains and canyons and foothills above and behind. 

Mmmm.  I cannot wait for cozy nights with a cup of tea.  Good books and movies, wrapped up in blankets with my favorite people.  Lovely brisk mountain runs in the chilly air.  And the holidays.

I can't believe how quickly time is passing these days.