Today marks the thirty first anniversary of my birth. Birthdays have always been a big deal to me – a cause for raucous celebrations festooned with cake, confetti, cupcakes and gifts. Music and dancing and flowers and friends. A proverbial tiara to be worn for twenty four solid hours. But this year feels different, somehow. Calmer. Peaceful. Without need for tiaras or confetti. I seem to have come into my own over the course of the last twelve months, and this week I found myself looking forward to my birthday for completely new reasons. I usually get excited over the promise of gifts, small, medium, or large (or handmade by toddlers) and a facebook wall full of well-wishes. Phone calls and texts and make-you-feel-special words from all angles. I’m a shamelss self-promoter of my birthday, and I tak e no prisoners when it comes to making sure all who know me are aware of the...
warm love: amie+dan
Last year I wrote down goals; things I vowed to accomplish in 2012. The list is quite extensive – I’m nothing if not an overachiever – and one of the first bullet points is to get out and shoot. Often. MORE often. To shoot for myself. I contacted some friends and asked if they’d be gracious enough to live their lives in front of me. Out loud. Uninhibited. Real. My darling friend Amie was one of the first people I sought out. I’ve known her for seven years and in that span of time we’ve become dance-in-the-middle-of-a-Katy-Perry-party-while-singing-at-the-top-of-our-lungs-even-if-it’s-remarkably-off-key besties. I am so thankful for her presence in my life – however sporadic our moments together may be. Amie has an energy that is contagious. It’s the kind of bug you hope to catch. She fell in love recently, with a man named Dan. A funny nerd who completely compliments her. Dan...
prelude: amie+dan
Captain’s Log-Stardate: 3/10/2012
Each of us have a unique family dynamic. A story, a past, a history that is our own – storied and deep rooted. I suppose I am no different. But my family dynamic runs wide, rather than deep. I have the family I was born into, the family that became mine when I married, the family that has always loved me, and been loved, as though I’ve known them my whole life, though no blood flows common among us. And then there is my step-family; my step-father and his two children and their families. When he and my mother became a pair in 2004, I finally gained a real-live sister in his daughter, Gwen. We’ve spent the better part of these past years getting to know each other – settling in for talks at family gatherings. And though we don’t spend much time together outside of birthdays and Christmas, and...
