My year

It's the end of 2008. Here's my year in a nutshell:

1. First and foremost: after two-and-a-half years of loving and wanting a certain someone, I have finally learned to let go and have become interested in other guys once again. :)

2. I chopped eight inches off my hair and discovered I like my hair when it's shoulder-length. A lot.

3. I graduated from SPU and am currently juggling two babysitting gigs and a part-time jobs as I wait to find out if I've been admitted to SPU's grad program for elementary education.

4. I went to Europe with my friend, Karen. I saw Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, and other amazing places. Now I want to go back.

5. I'm not in a perpetual cloud of semi-depression all the time (see #1).

6. I'm plugged in to a church in Seattle and loving it.

Fact: some people are very, very strange

One of my co-workers disclosed a most disturbing fact to me today. Her son got married last Friday, and the bride, groom, wedding party--even the audience members--wore pajamas. Silk ones... but pajamas nonetheless. And get this: instead of flowers, there were Teddy bears. Lots and lots of Teddy bears.

Can you imagine a bride walking down the aisle arm-in-arm with her dad, wearing a nightgown and clutching a Teddy bear?

Heavens.

Oh, and the wedding "nightgown" was white. That's an important detail I almost forgot to include. What would this world be coming to if the bride didn't wear white???

Dress envy

I would like to own a pretty dress. Not just any pretty dress. One that looks like this:



Or this:



Basically, if it looks like any of Anna Friel's dresses in the show Pushing Daisies, I'll be happy. :)

C.S. Lewis, Slippers, and Picture Frames

It's Christmas day, and I'm immersed in a book called The Problem of Pain. There's something wrong with this picture; or at least, it seems that way. Christmas is a day for celebration and joy and family time, and I'm reading a book about pain? Yikes.

Well, here's my reasoning:

1. It's written by C.S. Lewis. :P

This is yet another of those books that has been subjected to the enthusiastic markings of my pen. I can't help it. Nearly everything he writes resonates so deeply within me that I simply must underline for the sake of ingraining and, then, remembering later on.

Here's just a snippet:

"Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We 'have all we want' is a terrible saying when 'all' does not include God. We find God an interruption. As St. Augustine says somewhere, 'God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full--there's nowhere for Him to put it.' Or as a friend of mine said, 'We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.' Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call 'our own life' remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make 'our own life' less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false happiness? It is just here, where God's providence seems at first to be most cruel, that the Divine humility, the stooping down of the Highest, most deserves praise" (The Problem of Pain, 94).


I think that paragraphs speaks for itself. Read this book.

And now on to Christmas-ier stuff. Last night, my brothers and I opened a few gifts. All four of us received slippers/moccasins from our mom and dad. I love the style of mine, although the big fat bows made me want to gag, so my mom graciously helped me take them off with seam rippers. I put the slippers on and noticed that one slipper's opening is much larger than the other slipper's. Only I, the perfectionist to the umpteenth degree, would notice something like that. And only I would be bothered by it for the next two hours. I'm sitting here now, wearing them once again, and I still have to force myself not to look at them with that ever-present critical eye of mine. It doesn't have to look perfect, it doesn't have to look perfect...

As I write this, I realize that above paragraph probably makes me look terribly ungrateful. Let me clarify that I'm not ungrateful in the least. I just have to jump over the hurdle that is my perfectionism and learn to accept that unevenness and other such extremely important issues are facts of life. :P

This year, my brothers and I "went all out" for my parents' Christmas gift. We decided to put together a collage of pictures of us four kids. It took a lot of hours and our fair share of bickering before we could look at the picture frame with the 12 photos in it and declare it to be finished. But, you know what? This is by far the best Christmas gift we've given our parents. It took hard work, collaboration, and thought. Usually, we find a good book we think they'll like or a movie or something. But this one was special. After we had opened all our gifts, my mom hung the frame on the wall. She keeps staring at the pictures, as she passes by or as she cooks food, and that makes me happy. I know we've given her--and my dad--something they'll both be able to enjoy every day.

Without question, Christmas doesn't have the same feel it used to have. I don't lie sleepless in my bed on Christmas Eve, praying for morning to come. I don't anticipate the day itself for months in advance. I don't even listen to Christmas music nonstop like I used to. But it's still a special day. I primarily enjoy it now because I am reminded of Jesus' amazing arrival on earth and of my family's love for me.

Speaking of my family, it's time for me to go join them. I do believe a standing rib roast is calling my name. :D

Dang snow

I never thought I would say this, but... I'm tired of the snow. It's been almost a week of ice, snow flurries, no work, and couch-potatoing. It's starting to get a little old.

Yet, there are supposed to be two more snowstorms this weekend alone. Were it to happen, would a white Christmas even be special at this point?

I have to get out of the house and accomplish things. And I'd like to do that without risking my neck. Oh well.

Reasons the past few days have been spectacular:

1. I went to Pike Place Market for the first time in a while. My friend and I bought pastries and fresh bread and looked at the vendors' wares.
2. I ran 3 miles--without stopping once, I might add--with thousands of other people in the Jingle Bell Run, which took place in downtown Seattle. This is a milestone for me, Miss So-out-of-shape-it's-not-even-funny.
3. I took a walk in the snow at 11:30 pm with two of my roommates.
4. And today, I received my 20 free prints from snapfish.com. I have some of my Europe pictures in my hands! Finally!
5. I ate excellent Chinese food at a place not too far from where I live. Most definitely going there again.

Dashing through the snow, quite literally

Today, I did the Jingle Bell Run in downtown Seattle with my post-college/early career church group. The streets by Westlake Mall were covered with people wearing red and green and bells on their shoes and LEGGINGS. It was positively frigid outside.

Mollee and I signed up for the "joggers" group. I told everyone around me that I expected to only run about a mile and then walk the rest of the way. But no! I jogged the whole three miles! I couldn't believe it. This is a milestone in the life of Monica Reed. Sad, but true. Sad that I have never done any sort of run before now. And also sad that I'm so out of shape that jogging three miles feels like completing a triathlon or something.

Toward the beginning of the run, we entered the express lanes tunnel, and someone started belting out "Jingle Bells," which inspired everyone to join in. The Christmas spirit and excitement was so contagious!

Totally worth it.

Pho is for fun

So, pho is like a food group here in Seattle. I had some with my friend, Lauren, today, and there were about five different restaurants specializing in pho within the same block. I had never had it before today, but I really liked it, aside from the fact that I had to ask for a fork because I'm terribly clumsy and inept when using chopsticks. The plum sauce was my favorite part.

Oh, and it's pronounced "fu," like "fun" without the "n," as my roommate pointed out. Yeah, didn't get that memo until it was too late. I pronounce words incorrectly far too often for my comfort.

Fire!

Silly me. Or stupid me, rather. I spilled buttery water onto the burner the other day and forgot to clean it up. So today, as I was making rice, flames 6-inches high flared up around the pan. Thankfully, the fire extinguisher was within easy reach, so I grabbed it and squeezed the handle. But instead of powerfully spraying out, it dribbled a vile, yellow liquid. Surprisingly, that did the trick.

Live and learn. Clean up your messes immediately after they happen. Immediately.