Contentment

Miriam-Webster defines content to mean satisfied.  I was sitting here tonight wondering how many people in life are truly content.  Let's think about this.  Our whole lives we are always looking ahead to the next thing.  Let's start with childhood.  We get a tricycle.  Then we aren't happy until we get a bicycle w/ training wheels.  Then we can't wait to have the training wheels off.  Then it's elementary school where we yearn for middle school.  Then we want to be in high school.  Then we want to be able to drive.  Then we want to go to college.  And then we want a job.  And we want to be married.  Then we want a kid.  Then we want another kid.  Then we want the kid to be potty trained.  Then we want the kid to stay in bed all night.  Etc., Etc., Etc.  (Oh, and I am totally basing those last couple off the observations of those with kids because this story for me stops at the "and we want to be married step.")

So, I'm just wondering, are we ever content.  If our live stop at a certain point in any of these steps and never progress to the next one are we going to be content?  Because it seems like we're always wanting more.  My new prayer for myself is for God to make me content in my situation.  To make me not be so focused on the fact I can't make it to the next step that I don't enjoy where I am and the blessings that my stage in life have to offer me.  It doesn't mean I don't want the next step, but I don't want the desire of the next step to define who I am.  

The Good, The Bad, and the Sad

There's a big thing in my life right now that consumes way more of my thoughts than it should.  And I pray about it.  And I've talked to my friends about it.  But unfortunately I'm still a few weeks away from knowing how it is going to turn out.  And while I wait it weighs so heavy on my heart.  It could be a very good thing or it could be a very bad thing.  I try not to dwell on it, and I'm fully prepared for the outcome to be bad.  Even though there is a part of me that is hoping for the good.  And maybe bad isn't the right word.  Because it won't really be bad, it will just leave me sad.  I am so hoping for the good, while living in the reality of the sad.  And I know that even if I end up sad when the decisions are made, I'll still know I'm right where God wants me and that there are lessons for me to learn in everything I go through.  So, may it be good, may it be bad, or may it be sad, let me learn and grow as God intends me to, and may I end up a better person in the end.

Quotes

I love quotes.  I think I love them like I love song lyrics.  It's the words someone else has said that just make complete sense.  And let's face it, I'd never come up with this on my own.  I had most of these stuck to my wipe-off board in my cube, but in a moment of decluttering I decided to take them down and just put them in one document.  And now I'm going to share them with you.  Because I'm nice like that.

Everybody is interesting for an hour, but few people can last more than two.  

– V.S. Naipaul

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. 

– Marcel Proust

Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you. 

– Alex Haley

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. 

– Unknown

Success is the result of countless failures you’ve done in order to attain it.

– Mark Aaron A. Corrales

The prices one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. 

– James Baldwin

There’s a difference between solitude and loneliness.  I can understand the concept of being a monk for a while.

– Tom Hanks

I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything. 

– John D. Rockefeller

Don’t look back – something might be gaining on you. 

– Satchel Page

To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves, and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows.  It is easy to say no, even if saying no means death. 

– Jean Anouilh

Hell, there are no rules here, we’re trying to accomplish something. 

– Thomas Edison

Chaos is a friend of mine.

– Bob Dylan

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. 

– George Sand

Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify!

– Henry David Thoreau

1.       Out of clutter find simplicity

2.       From discord, find harmony.

3.       In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity

– Albert Einstein, Three Rules of Work

We work to eat to get the strength to work to eat to get the strength to work to eat to get the strength to work to eat to get the strength to work.

– John Dos Passos

Worry is the misuse of imagination. 

– Church Sign in Charleston

Sleep Less in Seattle

Yes, the space is there for a reason.  This was not one of those lounge around and get lots of rest trips.  But that's ok.  I saw so much of the Seattle area and had a great time.  Here are some highlights.

Thursday - The Fair.  We spent an entire day at The Fair.  Seattle greeted me with its finest misty rain.  I suppose I had to be indoctrinated into life must go on in the drizzly rain.  We saw art work, chainsaw carving, fresh baked goodies, and lots of animals.  This little goat was my favorite.  He went all in for his food!

We then saw Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me in concert.  WOW!  Jeremy's concert was so worshipful.  I could have listened to him for an extra two hours.  Except for the fact my body couldn't remember that it was no longer in the EST time zone.  

Friday.  Oh, Friday, you were a busy day.  I had a conference call first thing so my friend cooked me breakfast while I worked.  Yeah, I'm spoiled like that.  Then we headed off to the Washington Park Arboretum.  I could have spent many hours here just wandering through the trails.  But alas we were on an agenda so off we went to the Ballard Locks.  This is where the salt water meets the fresh water. And where the fish swim upstream to have more fish.  See, it's a fish ladder (or steps.)

Oops, I forgot.  On the way to the locks we stopped off to meet one of Freemont's most famous citizens.  

Then our agenda allowed for time to stop and eat a crepe.  A banana and Nutella crepe to be exact.  And yes, I took a bite before I took a picture.  It was heavenly.

Next stop was the Space Needle.  Thanks to my tour guide for the day, we had a connection and I was able to get a guided tour which included information about Seattle and the surrounding areas as we walked aroudn the top.  Here's a view of downtown Seattle from the top.

Our final touristy stop of the day was the Museum of Flight.  I could have easily spent more time here, but it was a lot of fun to learn about the history of Boeing, flight in Alaska, and even what the numbers on the runways mean.  I even got to go aboard the plane formerly known as Air Force One.  

Friday ended with a nice dinner cruise around the Puget Sound harbor.  The weather was amazing and the sky was clear. 

Saturday: We headed downtown to Pike Place Market and the waterfront.  What a perfect day.  Low 70s, clear skies, good food, great friends.  In order to get some sleep, we opted to sleep in and grab something to eat downtown.  Kerri, I had a Piroshky for breakfast.  Sadly I was so hungry I did not get a picture.  My favorite part of the market were all the lovely flowers.  Forget the fish being thrown around, I could not get enough of all the flowers.

Thanks to the wonderful weather and clear sky I was able to get some shots of both Mt. Rainier (over Qwest Field) and the Olympic Mountains from the market and waterfront.

Next we headed North to a corn maze which is in the shape of the state of Washington.  The paths through the maze are the highways and interstates of the state and there are items/signs throughout the maze telling you about different parts of the state.  If any of you read Twilight (which I don't/won't/shan't) this picture is for you.

Sunday - Snoqualmie Falls: On Sunday we haded East to Snoqualmie Falls.  Sadly the trail to the bottom was closed so we couldn't hike down there, but the view from the observation deck was incredible.  I am so glad we made the drive to see it.  I've been told to come back in 2013 so I can do the hike when it reopens.  Sounds like I better start saving my pennies!

This May Be The Only Time I See The Top This Trip

** Mt. Rainier as seen from seat 24A **

Bucket List - Updates

1. I took a train trip. On Amtrak. It was cheap, I had plenty of legroom, and it got me from point A to point B on time and without the long security lines. Oh, and having one of my dearest, bestest friends meeting me at point B was fabulous.

2. Shuttle Launch - Scheduled. So, my good friend Adam hit the jackpot of both the ability to buy shuttle launch tickets and he gets to go to the TweetUp. I know he will enjoy that so much more than I would so I could not be happier for him. Especially since I get one of the launch tickets he isn't using. And he'll take great pictures and so I'll get to benefit from seeing them because I am not so good at taking pictures and so I'll get to enjoy his.

3. Season tickets to Broadway shows. So, More Lucy is totally to blame for me splurging and buying season tickets to the Broadway season here in the Low Country. I think she peer pressured me so she'd get some nights out. Hmm... but anywho, the tickets came and we have plans to see the first show shortly after the Shuttle Launch. Looking forward to a girls night out with one of my favorite bloggers whom I also know in real life.

2010 is proving to be a very good year for my bucket list. Here's the the good times that have been had and the good times I am looking forward to.

Another Goodbye

You know that to-do list I published. I might as well give myself until the end of the year. I've marked off 2 items. Oh well. Here's what I have done though:

1) Went camping

2) Slept in a tent

3) Roasted marshmallows

4) QT with the BFF

5) Made homemade peach ice cream

6) Grilled some steaks

7) Looked at the mountains

8) Stared at the stars

9) Walked to the cemetary to clean off my grandaddy's stone

10) Said goodbye to Bonnie

Yeah, that last one got you didn't it. "Bonnie? Who's Bonnie?" Well, meet Bonnie. She was our family raccoon for the past 3 months. My parents ave a long history of rehabbing wild animals. Bonnie came to them right before Father's Day this year. After several of weeks of feeding her, taking her for walks, and letting her sleep on the back porch (or in the recliner, the bed, or wherever else she foudn herself) she was ready to spread her wings and join her little raccoon friends in the wild.

Bon-Bon, your antics will be missed but you are where you belong. Enjoy the fresh crawdads!