come away with me

Summertime is always ripe with adventure for one person or another. This summer is proving to be very quiet for me, and waves of nostalgia for past places I've visited tend to come rushing in every time I check facebook and someone has posted photos from a recent trip. I figure if I can't actually go to these places this year, or probably some of them ever again, at least I can share a miniscule piece of their beauty here. So in no particular order...

mmm, Jamaica. Who doesn't wish they could go back on their honeymoon??

closest photo I have taken near the theatre district in NYC

Venice, Italy

Oxford, England

the Huruma slum in Nairobi, Kenya.
I'd give most anything to be back with those kids again.

the Summers family ranch 20 minutes up a mountainside
outside of Steamboat Springs, CO

the view from my grandparents' back patio in Solana Beach, CA
Thankfully, I WILL be going there in 2 weeks!

a little summer reading

Ever since I have been old enough to have a substantial homework load, I have looked forward to summers for mostly one reason. More important than extra sleep, more refreshing than a dip in the pool is a lazy afternoon spent curled up in a hammock, favorite new book in hand. While I sadly no longer have a porch equipped with a hammock, I do have a pretty comfy sofa. And thanks to my new position as a 9th grade humanities teacher this fall, I have a hefty pile of classics to read over the next six weeks. Here's what's on my list. Brownie points if you can figure out the real titles.

Little Bunny Fiver
The Oldest Written Story on Earth
There's No Place Like Ithaca
Someone Has a Daddy Complex
Cupid's Beau and Her Jealous Little Sister
And This Little Piggy Got Crushed By a Rock
Two Warring Families and a Whole Lot of Hormonal Teen Angst

all things old are new again

I am certain I looked at least slightly strange to Brier Creek passersby as I sat in my Prius this afternoon, grinning broadly and intently into my rear view mirror. My sudden fascination with my own bicuspids was the result of my first visit to a dentist in two years. Growing up I visited my family's dentist, Dr. Grinder (no, I am not making that up), without fail every six months. I loved everything about these visits - the array of celebrity gossip rags I could greedily peruse while I waited to be called back, the ever chatty hygenist (Jeannie) who was blonde and actually reminded me of "I Dream of Jeannie," the brief visit with Dr. Grinder himself who always approved of my dental hygiene habits, and the uber-clean, slick sensation I felt as I ran my tongue across my newly scrubbed chops.

When I left my full time teaching job two years ago, I simultaneously lost the luxury of having a monstrous chunk of medical insurance paid for by my employer. Since plaque-ridden teeth don't count as catastrophic,  my pleasant jaunts to the neighborhood dentist stopped abruptly. I have recently learned that one of the benefits of getting married is joining your husband's company insurance plan.

Today I walked into Carolina Dental Arts, a startlingly trendy and fancy dentist's office, with mixed emotions. On one hand I could not wait to have sparkling canines again. On the other, I was terrified that after two years without professional dental care I would hear the dreaded word, "CAVITY." To my great surprise I passed this new dentist's scrutiny with ease. No cavities! And my current insurance plan has a $0 copay for routine dental appointments. Bliss! My teeth look and feel like new.

Last week I visited Salon Blu and had my hair cut the shortest it's been in several years. Between my updated hairdo and my squeaky clean smile, I have felt like a new person all day long! It amazes me sometimes how a few little superficial changes can create such a feeling of happiness and proactivity. I'm not certain that men operate this way, but I know plenty of women who do. So ladies, how 'bout it? What makes you feel new again, superficially, spiritually, or in a way that is totally unique to you? I'm thankful today that God created our world to constantly change, often offering us little surprises and light bulb moments that delight us - whether we have affected the change or not. I'm smiling just thinking about it...dentist approved.

a pinch of background

Blogging seems to be all the rage these days. Although let's be honest, who really wants to read a blog unless it boasts photos of adorable children, stories about the adorable antics of said adorable children, nuggets of deep spiritual insight, or expansive commentary on one particular topic of interest? Well folks, my blog will exhibit no such thing. My only purpose in creating this blog is to give myself an outlet in which to write.

As a wide-eyed, tragically creative and melodramatic tween, I wrote as if my life depended on it. After school most days I could be found perched in front of my WordStar word processor (Yes, I wrote on a wp and not an actual computer. Extremely nerdy, I know.) furiously releasing my latest imagined character or plot onto its keyboard. I crafted poetry about long-lost lovers, short stories about teenagers overcoming "teen" problems, and even began three separate long form novels on topics ranging from the adventures of a talking doll to the murder mystery solved by a high school sleuth. I read voraciously and I wrote with equal ambition. In high school writing, even creatively, became more about meeting a teacher's penchant for a certain style or AP requirements. In college I was so busy that I didn't write for pleasure at all until my junior year. For my senior project (done my junior year - hey, I was ready to get out of college asap!) as a theatre major I decided to write and compose a children's musical based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." Thanks to my long-time mentor and friend, Natalie Snapp, I was able to produce this musical through a children's theatre company called Christian Youth Theater. Writing the dialogue for Gerda, Kay, and the Little Robber Girl and then bringing them to life on stage was maybe the most magical thing I've ever experienced. And for me, it was still mostly about the writing - oddly enough since I am a drama teacher and thrive on helping teenagers find their performer's voice. Did I write while teaching drama full-time? HA. First joke on my blog! ;)

And so if for no other reason than to brush up on my writing and get my creative juices flowing, here in cyberspace hangs this blog. If no one ever reads my posts but my own mother (hi, mom)...and maybe occasionally my husband...I will not be deterred. I'm not promising anything witty or extremely worth-while, but I do vow to write about what makes me happy. Maybe it will make you happy too. After all, that's what a spoonful of sugar is for.