peace love and chaos

this has been a crazy semester, and somehow my life seems to still be gaining momentum

i feel like i am on a precipice, always on the verge of loosing my balance

when is it going to slow down, when can i catch a breath?

there is so much happening, so many life changing events

after this thursday i will not see my sister for another nine months

my chilean friends that have been living at my house for the past 4 months i might not see ever again

i have no idea what i want to do with my summer

i have a chance to work in new york, am i strong enough to handle it?

and yet i look back and feel so blessed with my life

i feel that i am surrounded by true friends, something i could not have said a few years ago

i am comfortable with who i am, something i could not have said a few months ago

i have faith that everything will work out, something i could not have said a few weeks ago

so for right now i am ok with living from one running club event to the next

to drive my sister to the airport and say good bye, at least for now

to wait patiently for the next time i can see my best friend

and to live my life to the fullest, always in danger of loosing control

but thats where i want to be

and thats where i am

breaking boundaries

so funny story:  today my training buddy and i were going for our longest training run this year.  she is training for boston and i am running bayshore marathon.  i usually let her decide the long routes because it is easier for me mentally if i have no idea where we are going for the really long runs.  today the plan was to run 20 miles, so of course, i left the route up to her.  we had fantastic weather and out of character she picked a really scenic route from ann arbor to dexter and back instead of the usual city sidewalks.  i was enjoying the run so much the miles seemed to breeze by.  when we were getting closer to the city on the way back, theresa started looking at her watch pretty frequently.  i told her not to tell me how long we had left thinking that it would just make it harder, so she didn't say anything.  as we arrived in front of my apartment she said, "ok so funny story, we actually just ran 22 miles."  i couldn't believe it!  apparently she was looking at her watch and realizing that we would be over the 20 miles planned, but told her not to tell me anything about the mileage.  sooooo, we both ended up running the longest training runs of our lives. we celebrated with dark chocolate banana protein shakes :)

my amazing post run treat

4 cups or so of ice

some milk

dark chocolate carnation instant breakfast

2 bananas 

scoop of french vanilla protein powder

blend in blender until it looks good...

=deliciousness

*preferred drink of boston and bayshore marathoners lol

projects

this is me and my paint.  i like how painting is something that you can't mess up.  creating something from the colors is something totally unique, no one else sees the world the way you do.   

sunny day

so i decided that i have a slight obsession with sunglasses. 

i bought another pair today.  

this pair reminds me of crayons and i like it. 

i think i like how when you wear sunglasses you get to decide weather or not people can look into your eyes.  

they feel very protective.  

and fun. 

and i like driving with them on. 

im glad today is a sunny day.

this is one of the first of many road trips and wanderings i have had.  nicole came on a family vacation with me and we decided to visit her friend in buena vista, co.  the trip consisted of my sister, nicole and i driving a beat up stick shift truck down the colorado highway with no air conditioning in the middle of the summer, sleeping in the back of this truck in sleeping bags with a tarp pulled over our heads in the parking lot of her friend's apartment, and waking up the next day to explore all the sweet trails colorado always has to offer.  this picture was taken near the end of the trail and we were able to look down at the city from the top of the rock.  sweet picture to remember a sweet trip.  

for the love of coffee

so one of my best friends lives in east lansing, i live in ann arbor and we are both super busy.  soooo we decided to find a biggby's (her absolute favorite coffee shop)  right in the middle so we can read together when we have free time.  we both kind of have this obsession with books, and right now i am in the middle of about four that need finishing.  jackson happens to be the perfect distance.  my favorite drink there is the carmel-marshmallow latte, and i can't wait to just be able to hang out and read for fun. last time we went for coffee together we ended up getting a free drink because she was reading the answer to the question of the day (Wicked).  what are the chances?