friday quotation

...and a picture to match it...thank you Curly Girl Design.

Here's to the courage to follow wherever my journey may lead...and to you, too!
P.S. Happy birthday to my mom...who has taken me on many a grand adventure. Here's to many more, Mom! XOXO

winter in Austin

It's in the 30s in the morning and the mid-70s by the afternoon. It's gray one day and bright sunshiney the next. It's a season of dressing in layers so that you can shed most of them by the afternoon only to start relayering as the sun sets. This is one of the reasons that we live in Austin. Not for the endless days of summer but for these mild winters. Although I do expect a frigid cold snap in February. It always happens that way. And I rather enjoy it!
But today, I was grateful for the sun and the warmth, with just a touch of winter chill...both while I was running and while I was hiking. Grateful for completing a run longer than I've done in a year (I wasn't sure I still had it in me). Grateful for time to clean my office (I wasn't sure I'd ever see that desk again!). And most grateful for Anne's annual birthday hike. On a 'new-to-me' trail behind the Austin Nature Reserve. With kids. And other friends. And laughter and sunshine. And this cool sculpture with a brilliant blue sky as the backdrop. Just another winter day in Austin.

friday quotation

Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation. ~W.H. Sheldon

why I go to the MLK March

I have realized that I do some things out of habit, some things out of obligation, some things for no good reason, some things just because I can, some things out of pure joy...and some things become pure joy even if they originate someplace else.
I've been going to the MLK March in Austin for more years than I can count on one hand at this point. I admit that the first few times I went because my friends were going and because I thought it was a "good" thing to do. Now I go because each year I am moved and inspired by it. Each year something stands out to me and this year it was a speaker's reminder of the courage of Martin Luther King, Jr. The courage to stand up for what he believed to be right. The courage to put one's own life at risk. The courage to go against the societal norms. The courage to live a life from his heart...the life that he believed he should live. I admire MLK, Jr. for his compassion, his leadership, his vision, his faith, his words, for his love of all mankind...and for his courage. So I guess I go to the MLK March each year to be reminded of all of those things. To have the courage to live a life for others, for myself, and for the world that might bring about more peace, unity, and compassion.
As my shirt said that day, maybe it's time to re-think things. Thanks, MLK, Jr., for giving us so many reasons to stop and think about the world that you helped create for us.

football

I'm fairly sure that I've never written a post about football before. And that's because while I like it and really enjoy being at a game and/or watching a game on TV, I can't recite stats to you or even name many players (okay, to my credit, I know a few!). Every once in a while I play in the football pool at school and on an even more rare occasion I win. Which gets under the skin of my colleagues - and with good reason. You see, I usually choose my teams by the team colors or the city they are in or the mascot or if it's a college where many of our students or any of my friends or family members have attended. Correct. I don't look at stats or pay attention to the predictions about the match-up. So when I win, it's pure luck. I get it, it's sort of obnoxious. With that as the backdrop for my football following, I must say that there are two teams that I always choose as the victors since they are the only two teams that I really follow at all - the 49ers and the Saints. Why? Well, the Saints are from New Orleans which is my hometown and Drew Brees (an SAS alum and and all-around great guy) plays for them and he's simply amazing and, as I said, just a good person. And the 49ers because growing up in the Bay Area they were our hometown team. Joe Montana. Jerry Rice. Bill Walsh. Those were household names and when I saw Joe and Jennifer (Montana) at Stanford Shopping Center I thought that was so cool.
So today was particularly challenging as the Saints and the 49ers were playing one another! In some ways, I suppose it was a win-win situation for me. And, yet, I felt like I had to choose a team to cheer for. But how could I? Well, my compromise was this wish: let Drew Brees have a great game AND let the 49ers win.
My friends laughed and reminded me that the two might be mutually exclusive and I said, "Well, a girl can dream."
And sometimes a girl's dreams...even football dreams...come true! Like today!
The game was AMAZING. Seriously. I didn't know it was possible to have that many touchdowns in the last 2 minutes of a game. I didn't know that you could see the heart of the players so tangibly on the field. I didn't know that I could practically stop breathing and have to force myself not to cover my eyes during a game. But that was my experience on Saturday afternoon/evening. I hope each player feels good about what he did on that field today. I'm not sure I've ever seen such determination or heart. It was incredible...literally breath-taking. And although I love the Saints, the 49ers proved to me that I will always feel a particular loyalty to them as my first team...glad they are on the upswing again as it just makes cheering for them a bit more fun! Congrats boys!

friday quotation

In the end...
we only regret the chances we didn't take,
the relationships we were afraid to have,
and the decisions we waited too long to make.

really trying to focus on this in 2012...it's a lofty challenge for me!

happy epiphany!

The season of light! Of revelation! I'm ready! (I know, technically, Epiphany was two days ago but I'm just now writing about it...)
The more I learn about this season, the more I think that the things that I associate with it are a bit curious. After all, it's the time when (according to tales of old) the magi came to visit baby Jesus. How many magi? We don't really know. Songs tell us it was three (Kings of Orient, that is). Some versions of the story mention three gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh) so maybe we assume that each gift came from a different person. Bottom line, there is a lot of mystery around the season. And yet, we've come to use the term (and think of the term) 'epiphany' as something that becomes known to us. Something that is revealed to us. See...kind of odd, right? In the season with a story with so many unanswered questions, things are revealed to us? Maybe that's actually the point. That we can find things in the darkness. That things can be revealed even while mystery remains. For me, it's the season where I remember to let light in. In the form of love and possibilities. In the form of change and trust in the unknown. In the form of trying new things and walking into the darkness...on the other side of which I know there to be light. And before I get there, knowing that I have just enough light for the journey...if I take it step by step. (So contrary to my nature sometimes!)
This weekend held many little slivers of light for me: a run, some yoga (including 5 minutes of inversions! A headstand against the wall for me), time with friends, Salt Lick (yum! protein quota for the week?!), sleep, football, bragging about SAS, cooking/baking, cleaning, time outside in the glorious weather, reading, and sitting. Yes, I do love just sitting. (That might be a revelation for you!)
So as we travel through this season, may your season of light be just that - LIGHT! Revealing, freeing, reminding us of trust and comfort even in the dark of winter. It's the season that makes me want to say "yes, I believe!" (In what? In SO many things.)