i'm bypassing days 5 and 6 for "Blog Every Day in May" to share about my weekend:)

here are some of the highlights:

*a beautiful, perfect beach day:) which ended up being one of the most amazing days i have ever had.

the weather was warm and gorgeous and Ethan and i wanted to spend a day next to the water.  so, we took the morning to pack up our towels, swimsuits and sunscreen and a cooler full of pizza and fresh fruit and beer before making the drive up to Santa Monica. 

the first part of the day was spent holding hands, strolling the promenade and doing some shopping.  we got lunch at Loteria, which has THE BEST tacos and margaritas i've ever had.  and we laughed a lot and talked about success and what that means for each of us.

the rest of the afternoon was spent laying in the sun on the beach.  we drank beer and talked and kissed and laughed for hours and i spent time playing in the water. 

even our drive home was magical.  the sun had just begun to set and the sky was swirling with all sorts of oranges and pinks and purples and blues.  we rolled the car windows down and belted out the lyrics to our favorite 90's songs and car danced and took silly pictures.

at one point, i tilted my head back to look up at the sky through the sunroof.  it was so many beautiful colors.  and the music was just perfect.  i felt so in love and so alive that i actually began to cry.  life feels so empty and mundane sometimes, but moments like these are why we live and why we push through and why love is always worth it.

at one point, we stopped at Blockbuster to pick up a movie.  as we walked outside, Ethan came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me and we stood and watched the sun until it had disappeared almost completely.

it was my favorite day.

*another perfect moment happened the next morning.  i was in the bathroom, doing my make-up, getting ready to go out to breakfast.  Ethan came in.  took my hands in his.  looked into my eyes.  told me "i love you."  and kissed me on the lips.  right then, this song came on my Pandora.

Ethan then pulled me into his arms and started slow dancing with me.  i rested my head on his chest and breathed him in and i can tell you right now that there is not a romance novel or a chick flick on this planet that can even compare.

yesterday, Ethan left for the desert for a month-long training operation.  i couldn't have asked for a better way for us to share our last weekend together.

***

although i already miss Ethan, i'm sure the next month he is gone will fly by.  my plans/goals are as follows:

+to finish the semester out strong.  i have honestly lost most of my motivation to care and do well in my classes.  But, i want to focus on the fact that i only have a couple weeks left and i know doing well will be something i'm proud of when it's all over.

+to drink more water.

+to get back into Insanity and to do nightly crunches.  by the time Ethan comes back, i could have some halfway decent abs and that is definitely a goalworth working toward.

+to not go shopping AT ALL and to spend that extra time being creative.  i want to spend a lot of time practicing my guitar and i am also looking at signing up for an art class.  i really want to learn how to paint with watercolors.

*to get organized.  i want to take all the pictures off my phone and camera and upload them into photobucket.  i want to make a more efficient organizing system for all my important documents, plus all my saved pictures, letters, and cards.  i also want to purge and organize all my emails.  it's going to be a LOT of work, but i know i'll feel relieved when it's done.

*to take breaks from social media and to spend time really resting.  to make sure there are days with no instagram or pinterest or blogging.  to have time to sip tea and knit and listen to music and pray and think about God.

that's all for today, my loves.  i'm off to study and head to class.

xoxo.

day 4: favorite quote and why you love it

there are a million quotes out there that i love.  i have a notebook full of them.  i dared not get onto my Pinterest board full of quotes because i knew i would be there for hours.

instead, i'm about to nerd out and share something i can't get off my mind: The Lord of the Rings.

i shared in one of my more recent posts that Ethan and i watched The Hobbit and decided to watch the whole trilogy together.  i had seen The Two Towers and Return of the King when they first came out, about a decade ago.  i was never impressed.  i actually thought the movies were pretty boring (for reasons that are now unbeknownst to me).

but The Hobbit was magical to me.  The Two Towers even more so.  i love that these movies make me think about the push and pull of good and evil in all of us. i love that they teach me about humanity and God and about miracles and darkness and light.  i love that they teach me the type of person i want to be.

here are a couple of my most FAVORITE quotes from the first two films.  i can't wait to watch the 3rd one.

*****

Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me.  I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.  There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil.  Bilbo was meant to find the Ring.  In which case, you were also meant to have it.  And that is an encouraging thought.  

***** 

Gandalf: Many that live deserve death.  Some that die deserve life.  Can you give it to them, Frodo?  Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.   Even the very wise cannot see all ends.

***** 

Frodo: i can't do this, Sam.

Samwise: I know.  It's all wrong.  By rights we shouldn't even be here.  But we are.

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo.
The ones that really mattered.  Full of darkness and danger, they were.
And sometimes you didn't want to know the end.  Because how could the end be happy?  How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow.
Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come.
And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.

Those were the stories that stayed with you.
That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.  I know now.
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't.
They kept going.  Because they were holding on to something. 

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Samwise:  That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.  


 

day 3: things that make me uncomfortable

cooked carrots.


TV's in restaurants...


...and TV's at the gas station.  why?


 guys at the gym who spend their entire workout ogling themselves in the mirror.


 the Apple store.

movies with sex scenes in them.  always unnecessary.

when men have long fingernails.  gross.


the smell of fish.


large crowds.

unwashed hair.

the people outside of grocery stories who ask for donations.


those initial episodes of American Idol, where they show all the crazy and horrible and crazy horrible singers.  second-hand embarrassment is a painful thing.


having my picture taken.


wearing a bikini.


unpainted toenails.


half-hearted handshakes.


Facebook.

 

when someone tries to include me in a conversation by asking me something super personal in front of a group of people.

getting called on in class.

generally being the center of attention in any public setting.

STYROFOAM.  that is the worst invention ever created.

calling in sick. 

guys who are better dressed and have better hair than i do.  should never happen.

saying good-bye.  whether it's for a day or a week or a year.  nothing pains me more.