addicted to life

Hi, my name is Beth and I am addicted to life.
And books, Doctor Who, and geek/nerd culture...)

But seriously.

New experiences.
I eat them up.
Sometimes quite literally, as new experiences often come in the form of food.

This week I have been in the process of creating a goal list for my life. There are so many skills I wish to learn, so many places I wish to see (i.e. the entire world), so many foods I wish to taste and/or make. And when there are only 24 hours in a day, at least a few of which I ought to spend sleeping, I become easily frustrated with myself.

But then I remember that I can always begin my goal list closer to home. I have a kitchen; cooking new foods isn't an unattainable goal! Actually, I cook new foods with regularity, interspersed with old favourites to keep Nate happy. Though he has liked everything I make. (I think that's a win for my cooking skills as a wife. ^_^)

Plus, there is so much to explore in this corner of Wisconsin. Granted, at this point in time, it's difficult and occasionally impossible to make plans for us. Nate works a lot and his schedule is erratic at best. All a part of the job. And now that I have gotten a part-time position at one of the local grocery stores, our schedules may conflict. I'm praying hard that this doesn't happen since we see little enough of each other as it is.

Anyway, I digress.

Life. I've heard it said that life is what we make it. And I suppose that rings true.

In the meantime, I shall continue to write my goal list and dream.
And, you know, clean the house so that it's not in shambles when I start work next week.

google +

On this rainy (what?? it's not snowing? I think this is a miracle...) morning, I finally gave in and joined Google +. I figured this made sense, since the Google Reader is apparently shutting down in July or thereabouts. So I've been enjoying myself and exploring the various communities. It's cool, finding so many people who are interested in some of the same things that I am.

I apologize for the lack of posts on all my blogs. I'm sort of trying to consolidate them into one blog, which could get interesting. And this week our internet has been cutting out a lot during the day. Makes it really hard to keep up with my social media!! But I got a lot of other things done, despite having a horrid cold.

Easter was wonderful, as always. Nate actually had the entire weekend off, which never happens. We both were at all four of the Easter services at our church, since I'm in choir and he played his trombone. We were exhausted by the end of it, but what a glorious celebration of the resurrection of our Savior!

This week I joined a "boot camp" at the gym, which was probably the worst week for me to join, since I got a cold and then my body was uber weak...yeah, not a good recipe for intense workouts. Ah well, it's actually kinda fun. I like challenging myself! I've always kept my mind in shape, but not really my body, so now's the time to do that. Besides, warmer weather is coming, and hiking days are just around the corner! I hope....

Umm, what else...nothing really has been happening in my life. I applied for a job at Target, so we'll see how that turns out! Since I prefer shopping there to shopping at Wal-Mart (honestly, who doesn't?), it'd be nice to have a discount.

So I guess I didn't win the camera in the giveaway that I entered. Sadly. I usually have good luck with giveaways, but not this time. :( But that's okay. Sort of.

sunshine, please come back soon.

I'm at the point now where I have to continually remind myself that I love snow and winter. The problem isn't the cold and the fluffy white stuff, though. It's the fact that the sunshine has disappeared and won't show its warm face. I love bright and cold winter days, when the sun is shining down from the clear blue sky onto a brilliant blanket of snow. But these gloomy not-quite-cold-enough days just drag me down.

To keep my spirits up, I'm writing my spring cleaning list (to be begun as soon as the windows can be opened), looking up places to go snowshoeing, planning my garden, and drinking floral teas. Specifically, Berryblossom White by Tazo Tea. SO GOOD. I have my amazing friend Becca to thank for introducing me to this tea, way back when we were still in college. Okay, that wasn't way back, but I graduated almost two years ago, so....

And I just remembered that I have homemade dandelion wine to try! I'm nervous...it's probably terrible. But I hope it tastes decent. And that it tastes like summer, even though I'm not a huge fan of the summer temperatures.

Of course, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, too. I've never been a huge advocate of the Hallmark holiday, but hopefully Nate and I can do something fun. At the very least, I'm going to cook us a fun dinner. I found a recipe for red wine pasta which looks and sounds delicious. I also plan on making some heart-shaped doughnuts for breakfast. Though those might have to wait until the weekend when Nate doesn't have to get up at 3:30 am.

How are you keeping back the weather blues? And what are your Valentine's Day plans?

blogging is hard

Sharing my life with people has never been the easiest thing. Oh, I can talk just as well as anyone, and carry on a conversation. If someone asks me what I've been doing lately, that's easy enough. But when I blog, the deeper nature of my mind tends to come out. I find meaning in everything. And sometimes I blog about something that I don't feel like anyone I know personally could possibly understand. My previous post on vegetarianism is one such topic. Not nearly as deep or thought-provoking as a few of the posts I wrote on relationships last year, but still.

Blogging is hard, both the reading other blogs and the writing of your own, because it forces you to discover things about yourself that you never knew. I'm serious about this. When I begin a blog post, I have a general idea of where I want to go with it, but I rarely know exactly where I'll end up. Sometimes what I write is almost a complete surprise.

And then there's the simple fact that if you share the link to your own blog on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media site, people you know personally are going to read it. This is where I may be different than most people. For whatever reason, I would rather have people I don't know reading my random thoughts and adventures. It's kind of a place to hide, I suppose.

Sharing these posts with my friends and family on Facebook is hard for me to do. I don't need affirmation for what I'm doing and/or saying, but the possibility of someone I know hating what I write just eats away at me. At least it used to; my blogging confidence is much stronger now. Not sure why.

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Why am I writing about this on a dreary Monday morning? I just want to make clear that this is my blog and whether I write about my love for my husband, the DIY stuff around the house, compassion for animals or the adventures I hope to have someday, these are all thoughts from the deepest portion of my heart.

ch-ch-changes (for the blog)

Seeing as it's a new year, I have a few things in mind for my blog. I would really like this to become a regular thing. Granted, I'll probably never be as awesome as many of the other blogs that I follow, but with a little tweaking it might look pretty.

• a new name (not 100% positive about what it will be)
• a new layout
• more links
• more pictures (which will only happen once I have a camera, though occasionally there might be bad quality iPod photos like the one above)

There are a few other things playing around at the back of my mind. It is, after all, the time of year to think "new and inspired" and I wish to carry that all the year through.

musings no. 7 [in other news, my legs are killing me]

 I sat down at my computer and was about to write a "Motivational Monday" post when I realized something.
It's not Monday.
Oops.

Well, I'm totally okay with that.
Mondays aren't usually the best day in the week for most people.
Yesterday I spent the morning baking and the afternoon reading and the evening watching Star Wars with my husband, so overall it was a pretty good Monday.
That certainly doesn't happen every week, though!

Last week, I wrote a post on taking walks.
I'm here now to tell you that I took my own post seriously!
I wrote that post last Thursday, and by that point I had walked roughly four miles, two on Monday afternoon with Nate, and two on Wednesday morning alone.
On Friday, though, I hiked/walked a total of almost nine miles.
Friday morning I hiked a 3.5 mile trail by myself, while listening to the soundtrack for Fellowship of the Ring; it was an awesome hike.
Friday afternoon, Nate and I hiked a 3.1 mile trail, at which point my legs were screaming at me, but I still felt pretty good overall.
Friday night, we went to the Cheese Capital Jazz Crawl in Plymouth and that was roughly two miles of walking in the four hours we hung out there.

Honestly, at that point, I was totally beat.
But it was good for me!
I'm not bragging or anything, though I suppose I could since this isn't something I do all the time.
My stamina isn't really that great, but after last week I think I'm well on my way to building up some more strength.

I'm taking it easy this week because my leg muscles are still a little sore, and I have a couple of lovely looking blisters on my feet.

Annnnd since I just spent an entire post talking about myself...I guess I'll just shut up now.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I realize that Bob Dylan's song has absolutely nothing to do with the changes in my life, but the title seemed appropriate. So, what's new with my life? Well, I graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin exactly a month ago. I don't quite know how I feel about this yet. It will be so strange come August when I don't have to pack up and move back into the dorms. I have no homework left to do, at least until I begin the work for my MLS degree.

But I have not truly said goodbye to Concordia. After all, in less than six months, I will be wearing my handmade white gown and standing before the altar in the Chapel of Christ Triumphant exchanging vows with my husband-to-be. I swear, I have butterflies just imagining the moment!

Suddenly, the moment does not seem that far away.

[~life-changing moments]

It has been awhile since I last wrote; much has happened.
I should be reading The Tragedy of King Richard III, but it can wait.

The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV!!! I am still celebrating this astounding victory. Anyone reading this blog should count themselves lucky that I did not update immediately after the Super Bowl because I would have gone on and on about the game. As it stands, the game has been talked about more than was absolutely necessary; I don't mind, of course, being so incandescently happy that my team fought against such odds in the world of American football to gain the highest title that rightly belongs in Green Bay -- after all, it is the Lombardi Trophy! The Packers were the first sixth-seeded team to win; that says something right there. Aaron Rodgers is only one aspect of this team to be reckoned with. I will admit that when I realized that we had won that night, tears came to my eyes. It had been such a long time, and I wanted to see Aaron Rodgers win a Super Bowl. The night was epic, in so many ways.

The night did not end there, however. I was still on a high from the victory of the green and gold when my boyfriend mentioned it was "the opportune moment" for something. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, still seeing the shiny Lombardi Trophy in my mind's eye, but all that fell to the wayside as he pulled out something else shiny -- a beautiful ring. He did not go down on one knee, but he did take my hand in his and gently remove the ring I had been wearing on my ring finger; this other ring is a purity ring from my parents, and I will wear it still, only on my other hand. Because of course, when Nate asked me if I would marry him, the only possible answer was yes. And he slipped the new ring onto the ring finger of my left hand.

It took a number of hours for the whole thing to sink in -- even now, I'm still surprised that, in less than a year, I will be getting married! Though it is definitely nice to have something other than homework to obsess over -- I think I like this whole wedding-planning thing!

When it was New Year's Eve, barely two months ago, I knew that 2011 was going to be a year of life-changing moments. I can see now that that feeling is coming true even more quickly than I imagined it would. The Packers won the Super Bowl (which no one could have predicted!). Nate and I are engaged. I graduate from Concordia University in May. Nate and I are getting married before Christmas. I will be officially moving to Wisconsin and away from home.

And yet, it's those life-changing moments that make us truly who we are. I cannot fathom the mind of God, nor would I want to. But I can be thankful for His hand in everything I do.

[~a heart's desire]

The Packers are going to the Super Bowl!! -dances-
This is so exciting; unbelievably so.

January 2011 is nearly over already. I sit here in my dorm, staring out the window at the snow that blankets the courtyard and I can be happy. To be perfectly honest, I hate being at school. Perhaps hate is a strong word, but it is a fact. I enjoy my classes and I love going to chapel and I love my friends, but for some reason just simply being here causes me to feel depressed.

So why can I just be happy? Well, because.
Because I am almost done. I can see graduation from here, and the road to that exit doesn't look so long anymore. But what am I going to do after that? There are many things I would like to do, but I think God has priorities for me at the moment. I won't muse about those in this particular post, but I do know that my life is going through more changes than graduating from college.

Of course, now that I am going to graduate from Concordia, I've begun to look back at some of the things that I missed. I wanted, so badly, to study abroad. I wanted to study in England, at Oxford specifically. I guess that wasn't a path God allowed me to follow. I'm having a difficult time accepting this, as a few people know. Studying at Oxford, even for a short while, had been my heart's desire for many years; it was a dream I've had since I was a child. But the thing about a person's heart's desire is this:

It can change, shift, the way the winds shift and change.


My heart's desire did shift, without my consent nor my expectation; but now I wouldn't change it for anything. Now what I want most in the world is to get married and begin a new journey with a certain special someone. I am afraid to even talk about it, for fear of jinxing something so special. Yet I know without a doubt that this is the path (or part of it) that God has laid out for me.

Now, I am going to share a few Bible verses that are not particularly relevant to this topic, exactly; but they are what I read this morning.

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"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

~Matthew 6:19-21