Category Archives: friends

making new memories

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So, my freshman year of college was full of music, marked mainly by Shawn Colvin and Alanis Morissette. Jen and I listened to Head Over Feet for days on end. Another favorite was Shawn Colvin’s Round of Blues.

In honor of another freshman year of sorts (hopefully one with fewer tragedies and much better grades), here’s a new song from Alanis. I’m kind of in love with it.

Thankfully, this song has zero association with any boys (just like Head Over Feet my freshman year), so I will never have to hate it.

new friends

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This post is more of a journal entry than anything, but since this is my journal…well, you understand.

So, thanks to Danielle, I had the opportunity during my time here in NorCal to reconnect with a distant cousin (distant in relation…we grew up in the same town and our moms were great friends).

I actually ran into Jake about a year and a half ago on campus, and he was very nice and polite and told me to let him know if I wanted him to write me a recommendation when I applied the school in P-town. And that was the end of it. I knew that he was married, but I hadn’t met his wife. I knew that he had kids, but nothing more.

Well, when Danielle was in the area for work last week, we headed to Jake’s house for dinner. I had no idea what I was in for as Jake and I weren’t really friends (he’s my younger brother’s age…and that matters in high school, apparently), but I assure you that, whatever my expectations, my experience exceeded them.

Jake and Lora are absolutely fabulous and their children are darling. I managed to make it over there two more times in the last week and a half and enjoyed every minute. They fed me fabulous food (Jake’s a great cook) and great conversation.

It was one of those instant-click situations with Lora. I knew I’d like her because Danielle had great things to say, but you know when you just feel like someone is going to be a big part of your life (even if you only see them once a year). That’s how I feel about these two. Maybe it’s that we are related, but I think it’s more about finding those kindred spirits with whom I can just be myself. I love how people come into our lives at just the right time. It kind of makes it hard to not believe in God.

dear you…inspired by the emotional roller coaster i’ve been riding all day

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From the top…

Dear Job,

The truth is I’m pretty much over you. While the position of glorified secretary was exactly what I needed for the last year and a half, you have now outstayed your welcome…or I have outstayed mine, as the case may be. I’m tired of rarely needing to use my brain. I’m tired of feeling guilty because my actual work takes very little time…or thought. I’m tired of being surrounded by the inefficiencies of academia. I’m tired of working for a “not-for-profit” type of operation. Yep…I’m done. But, I refuse to leave a trail of chaos behind, so I am going to work my tail off for the next five weeks or so. But, I must say, May 9th will be a good day. Although, I will miss several of the people with whom I work…though not all of them.

With much impatience,

Chloe

Dear Coworkers,

I was referring to the job, not you. And if you are reading this, it’s because you know it exists, which would be a clear indication that you are one of the people I am going to miss.

Love,

Chloe

Dear Nev,

Sometimes you really, really, really hurt my feelings. And sometimes you are really grumpy. And sometimes those two things, combined with PMS, will cause me to cry intermittently all day long. I realize that in your world, fiscal responsibility is the end all be all of goodness in a human being. However, I do not live in your world. I live in my world.

With a tear-stained face and puffy eyes,

Chloe

Dear BFFs,

Thanks for wanting to go to lunch with me today and sitting through all of my tears. Thanks for chatting with me online and being sympathetic even though your situation is similar…and perhaps more difficult than my own. Thanks for letting me rain on your respective parades. Thanks for being good listeners. It’s a good thing we have the internet, or all of your relocations would be too much for me to handle.

Love,

Chloe

Dear Ticket Scalpers,

I think you are evil. I know that’s harsh, but I really do. I know many of you have justifications for why you did what you did today, but I really do think it’s wrong, especially for an event held in celebration of our nation’s birthday. Especially when the people most excited to see Mylie Cyrus are kids and tweenies. Especially when this is an event that some families go to every year as part of their family tradition and now they won’t be able to, unless they are willing to pay 2-10 times the original ticket price. Especially when I was online right when the tickets went on sale and I couldn’t even get one. I hope some of you reconsider.

Just remember, Karma’s a b#@!$ and She generally gets her revenge.

And to those of you who are considering purchasing tickets from scalpers, I hope you will take the opportunity to think about the value of money and what you are teaching your children by doing so. Mylie Cyrus is going to be paid either way. Do you really want your children growing up believing that one show was so “important” that is was worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars?

Sincerely,

A girl who is totally disgusted by the things people will do to make money

Dear Birth Mothers,

You are amazing women. Thank you for being so absolutely and completely selfless.

With all the sincerity and love I have,

Chloe

Dear Siblings,

Thank you for being fabulous! Thank you for listening to me go on and on…and on today, and attempting to understand me through all of my tears. Thank you for knowing me so well that when you answered the phone, you knew something was wrong before I even started talking. Thank you for your sound advice…and sitting on the phone with me much longer than I’m sure you wanted to. And thank you for being honest with me, so that when you agreed with me today, I could feel totally validated in my anger, frustration and hurt feelings. Thank you for providing me with beds and couches to crash on, places to visit, and, occasionally, income. I feel pretty blessed.

Love,

Your sister, who really hopes that she gives you guys as much as you give her

Dear Eyes,

I am really, really sorry about today. I know you never give me any grief. You don’t even have any vision issues. But I manage to cause you pain frequently enough. But really, it’s not me, it’s my over active tear ducts. Blame them. I’m sorry you are going to be so sore and swollen tomorrow. I am going to try really hard not to cry anymore…but I’m guessing it’s not going to work. I know that’s not the most positive way of thinking, but I have to be honest. Just know that your pain is my pain, too.

Sincerely,

The girl with the Scandinavian genetics that really bug her from time to time

Dear WWs’ Scale,

Please be nice to me tomorrow. Pretty, pretty please.

Sincerely,

The girl who is back…finally…with lots and lots of support

Dear PMS,

Why is it that you always, always come when I have a bad day; a day that I could normally handle without too much grief…or any tears? I’m sick of you.

With no love…especially since your existence is not doing me any good whatsoever,

Chloe

kindness

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So, I’m not exactly what I would call a kind person. It’s something with which I have struggled for some time. A big part of it is that I just don’t think before I speak sometimes. My goal this year is to become a kind person. So, my word for 2008? Kindness. In honor of that, I made this little canvas to hang on my wall, with Hannah’s help. It’s still a work in progress, but so am I, so I felt like it would be okay to post a picture of it right now.

It’s kind of symbolic in a way. As the year goes on, I hope to evolve into a kinder person, just like I hope my little canvas evolves into just a little more.

Thanks, Hannah, for being such a great example of kindness!

ETA: How funny. I just noticed that my canvas goes perfectly with my blog. Huh. Apparently I’m totally into these colors right now.

rex lee run

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This morning, Bre, Hannah, and I all met up to run a 5k in P-town. It was Hannah’s first 5k and she did so great!!! I really must admit that I love being with people for their “first” race (be it ever, or the particular distance, just any new experience in running). I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because I so appreciate my coworker, Dianne, for introducing me to running and being with me for my first race. Maybe it’s that I think that I am a good person to start with because I’ve been running for a while and I’m still pretty slow, so I imagine people feel pretty comfortable running with me. Maybe it’s because I love being there to see the look of accomplishment on a face after finishing (it’s kind of an exhausted look, but you can see the good feelings coming forth from within). It’s probably a little of everything. In any case, it was so fun to run with Bre again and be part of Hannah’s first race experience. And I loved that her cute husband, Lincoln, her mom, and her youngest daughter were all there to see her finish. You could tell Lincoln was so proud of her. I loved it!

As far as my personal experience with the race, I must say it was quite different than last week. I left the Nike+/iPod at home and decided to just run. I can’t stand not having it on my training runs, but with people all around me, there was plenty to look at and enjoy. I really was more in tune with my body (and just how out of running shape it is…yes, I realize I ran a half marathon last weekend, but that doesn’t mean I’m in shape, I promise). I paced myself based completely on how I felt, rather than what my screen was saying, so there was no pressure to run faster coming from my iPod. It was just about me and my body and my running. I didn’t even think about my time, I just knew I wanted to keep running. I was quite pleased with myself; I ran all but about 50 meters (I got this wicked pain in my hip and had to stretch it out for a bit) and was able to really push it to the finish.

Such a great way to start a Saturday!

*Side note – we had about four people offer to take our picture when we were attempting our self-portrait. They all thought we were a little strange when we turned them down, but it wouldn’t be an SP if someone took it for us.