Easter

Thanks for the Easter present, Mom. I opened it a day early :)
Excited to read and discover more about the one who loves me so deeply

Solitutude

A friend emailed me this quote today and it has rocked by world today:
  "Solitude is the furnace of transformation" Henri Nouwen
The reason it rocked me is not because my solitude has been bringing me through the furnace lately. I have had a month of travel, work and busy-ness. All good, but I haven't had a day off here that didn't involve sleeping for half of it because I had worked the night before without company since the end of February. I have forgotten in many ways what my life of a lot of solitude here looks and feels like. I was feeling those growing pains last night and today.
I went for a hike today, a fairly intense longer hike and about a mile in I still couldn't settle in. I realized my mind is used to being entertained a lot. I haven't been great here about reading post work-generally I watch Netflix (thanks to people who have gotten me hooked on shows like The Killing and Parenthood :). So in all my busy times I haven't had a lot of true silence. I realized I was uncomfortable with the silence, with being alone with my thoughts for the hours of hiking to come. I realized I didn't want to listen to my heart. Yikes. It was a good day of remembering the value of that.
Thankful for the quote and the (beautiful, yet challenging) hike to remind me of the value of solitude. And I do believe that his quote is true...true solitude forces you into uncomfortable places. This season has taught me that.
My hike...I'll post those pictures later :)

Fear

Sunday I snuck in a quick hike post nap. I was tired after working but really glad I got up and made the trip.
I drove East of Seattle to Rattlesnake Ridge. I knew it snowed around Seattle earlier in the week but wasn't expecting what I found. The trial had about 2-3 inches of snow on it...it was fairly packed down so it was hikeable without gear but the entire way I hiked through snow. It was beautiful.

The hike up was slick at times, but the whole way I kept thinking that the way down will be precarious...if it is slick going up I am gonna struggle coming down. But the trail was packed so I figured it was doable.
The top was magnificent...the sun was out so much that many of my pictures are too washed out. But here are a few.

It came time to turn around and go down. I started off going really slowly and hesitantly and was slipping in the process. I had noticed on my way up that people were half jogging/shuffling on the way down, so I decided to give it a try. It seemed counteintuitive to run on the snow and I was nervous about falling but I decided to try. And supisingly it not only worked but was really fun. I ran/slid/shuffled the whole way down. I was a bit out of control at times but it was really fun. As I was jogging down I thought about fear....it has been a common theme in my life and I am seeing more and more ways that it leads my life on this journey out here. This was such a simple example of that. I started the going down portion of the trail fearful and it was miserable-I was worried about falling and it was not enjoyable. When I let go of some of those fears I was so free to enjoy the ride down.
Oh this is what I was shuffling down.Yikes! This was right after I took a spill :)

So Behind

My March has been slammed. And now it is March Madness which means I will watch as much basketball as possible around work and sleep.
I started the month off essentially working three days in a row followed immediately by travel to LA to see Jenne. Then work three days in a row have a friend come in town. Then work three in a row and leave town for Nashville for a long stretch to work and see friends. I am tired! Now life will slow down here which will hopefully give me enough time to see all the things out here I want to. You can help keep me accountable.
These are still on my list:
  Mt. Ranier (it is too snowy there right now, hopefully by April I can drive there)
  Olympic National Park
  Mt. St. Helens
  Columbia River Gorge
  Mt. Si
  Fit in snowshoeing or cross country skiing one more time before the snow melts
  Crater Lake (this is probably too far down in Oregon, but a girl can dream)
  Explore more islands off Seattle-maybe whale watch?
  Vancouver-gotta go to Canada if I am this close, eh?
  Do touristy things in Seattle (I am ashamed to admit that I have only been to Pike's Market twice to get fresh seafood...I know, awful!)
   I know there is other stuff on the list, but those things are at the top
Not enough time, too much to do!
Being back in Nashville this weekend I was reminded again (as I have been over and over out here) of how dear my friendships are to me. When it comes to trying to figure out all this life stuff I can easily feel confused and overwhelmed. But for me connection is something I value above most other things and that is something I have-very deep, real connection with folks. And that is something you can't easily replace. And it helps un-muddy the waters a bit.
 Sadly I was a huge slacker and did not take my camera or really take any pictures being back in Nashville. So you can image all the wonderful faces I got to reconnect with

Little Things

I have been running on high speed for the last few weeks...working my three shifts in a row and then leaving town or having visitors and I am tired. It is still the little things that take my breath away and make the tiredness melt away. It is cloudy here this morning but on my way home from work the Olympic mountains were still visible in the distance. A picture nor words really do it justice...you must see the majesty of this place. But driving home I caught a glimpse of these massive peaks as I peaked a hill and literally it took my breath away. The only response is joy...glad to have these reminders around me here.

Weekend Trip

Got to head down to sunny Cali last weekend to visit Jen. I was so in need of the sun and a fun visit!
Camping on the beach, yummy food and wine, corn hole, beach time, sunsets, beach walks, good coffee, lots of laughs...good weekend all around!

Beauty

This helps put words to my experience out here in terms of seeing so many beautiful things.
From 1000 Gifts.
"See beauty and we know it in the marrow, even if we have no words for it: someone is behind it, in it. Beauty himself completes.
I am alive!
I have to seek God beauty. Because isn't my internal circuitry wired to seek out something worthy of worship? Every moment I live, I live bowed to something. And if I don't see God, I'll bow before something else."