…i’m sitting on the couch with a cuddly blankets and lots of pillows, drinking spiced vanilla tea and listening to the thunder and the rain outside. it. is. perfect.
as you all know, it’s been a long time since i wrote just a regular blog update – the kind of post that talks about daily life and mundane things, just the everyday sort of ramblings. things have been so busy and i’ve just been trying to keep up with the monthly happenings, plus furiously trying to catch up on my travel posts…i’m so behind on those!
and most notably, this is the FIRST WEEKEND NIGHT since the 4TH OF JULY that i’ve been home. i’m not complaining because i’ve had some great weekends and gone on some great trips, but i can’t tell you just how thrilled i am to just stay at home and be lazy and do nothing tonight! i had forgotten what it’s like to get off work at 3 on fridays and not have to rush to the airport or to get on the road to somewhere. so leisurely! so relaxing! and we have cool, rainy weather on top of all that! i’m in heaven.
{my TGIF happy face!}
anyway, here’s a little list of my “current state,” [which, you will find, is trending a little “old school” at the moment]:
: : listening to: the podcast serial – so good and so interesting. definitely addicting! for music, lots of lord huron, always – sure, they’re old news but i just can’t seem to quit ’em! also, what girl isn’t obsessed with this song?? it’s pop-tastic but i can’t help ittttttt. and neither can you, because it’s catchy, right? i love all those girl power vibes.
: : watching: you’re going to laugh at this, but i’m about to watch deliverance! i know it’s kind of a classic, but i’ve never seen it… my coworkers and i somehow got on the topic of kentucky and the people of appalachia and my manager couldn’t believe that i’ve never seen deliverance and told me that i HAVE to watch it. that whole “mountain people” lifestyle does fascinate me a bit, especially that they’re so isolated from the rest of the world. i always think of these pictures and it makes me really sad. anyway, that should be interesting. other than that, just watching my usual reruns of sex & the city and parks & rec. kinda boring but who has time for TV???
: : reading: my mom gave me the book how to find your soulmate without losing your soul: 21 secrets for women, and i’ve only just barely started it but i’m interested to see what i learn about myself through that. i’m also dying to read you’ll grow out of it – it’s supposed to be hilarious. this trailer for it made me laugh. aaaaand i recently decided to read the bible cover to cover, so that’s going to take some time…[!] i’m still in genesis, but i’m going through the book using two different bibles – one gives a lot of commentary and explanation, so i’m using that to make notes in my personal bible, my special one that bears the heart and soul of my existence. it’s been a pretty neat process so far.
: : following: well, i follow a lot of people, but here’s a couple noteworthy instagrammers that i’ve been enjoying lately: @piggyandpolly captures hilarious moments between two french bulldog sisters. love the clean palette of the photos and of course those adorable frenchie faces!! @secretsquirrelfood will fill your feed with amazing food photos! it’s all very fresh and colorful, and much of it is really unique. i especially love all the roses she makes with various types of fruit – you won’t get it until you see the pictures! and @fourtifiedfam follows the journey of a couple in san diego that gave birth to quadruplets back in january [they already have another daughter who was two at the time the quads were born]. all those babies are insanely cute, and it’s fun to see how different life is with 4 little babies and a toddler – not anything that most of us hope for, but at the same time, what a special thing to have happen! i’m amazed at how active [and brave] those parents are. they take their whole family to the beach, take them on planes… like i said, amazing.
: : eating: hatch chiles, because it’s that time of year in tejas! aaaaaand a lot from my favorite sushi restaurant, sushi lover. it is seriously the best ever. i always get the same thing – salmon and tuna nigiri with a special sauce that the chef makes [the salmon nigiri is soooooo good]. they’ve come to know me there – the last time i ordered sushi to go, i ordered the nigiri like normal and gave them my credit card, but i didn’t order the special sauce that i always ask for because i didn’t know if they would know which sauce i was talking about if i wasn’t there. but when i arrived, the chef said, “heyyyyy jessica! we made you your special sauce because we know you love it!” that’s my man! ;) i cannot speak more highly of this place, their people, and their sushi. check them out.
: : drinking: my latest obsessions are the new belgium fruit fly passionfruit sour ale and this rosé. the perfect summer beverages!
: : thinking about: to start, several of my friends have been going through some rough times, and it’s hard to watch, well, because i love them. i’ve been saying lots of prayers for things to turn around for them. they are all strong individuals and i know they will get through it. hang in there, ladies! you will come out on top! i am grateful for my friendship with each of them, and i hope that i can be there for them in the way i know they would be for me.
additionally, there have been some recent incidents of cancer, scary accidents, and health issues for quite a few of my acquaintances, and we’re waiting on some medical test results for some family members too. i have been praying for the health and/or healing of many people i know and will continue to do so.
besides those things mentioned above, things have been going really, really great around here and i just feel happy to have found a glorious place in this season of life. it just feels right right now, and i’m not even sure why. i’m pretty thankful.
and lastly, i got a little nostalgic/sentimental the other day when i was looking at the “on this day” photos on facebook – you know, the ones that show you what happened on that day 1 year ago, 2 years ago, etc. here’s what i saw:
1 year ago, i was dating ryan and had posted a picture of us at top golf with mike and priscilla. this in itself didn’t cause nostalgia because i’m glad we’re no longer together [definitely weren’t right for each other], but i remember that it was a fun night. and mostly, it’s weird that it was a year ago. in some ways, it doesn’t seem that long ago, and in other ways, it was a lifetime ago and almost feels like it never happened. life is so strange!
also, on the same day 1 year ago, i posted a video of a tiny little fluff ball named shiner learning how to fetch a tennis ball. so precious! i can’t believe how much he’s grown up.
2 years ago, i had dinner with mom, dad, and mike at the mansion on turtle creek, and then we all walked to katy trail icehouse and had a beer late in the evening. we had a sleepover at my house, and then took a walk together the next day too. there were photos of the dinner, of our beers at the icehouse, of our walk, and of the typical family scene: dad sitting on the chair strumming the guitar, mom and mike on the couch with lucky laying above them. yes, lucky was there! i miss that baby.
3 years ago, there were two pictures. first, a really cute one that i had posted of my parents from back in the early 80s where my dad had picked up my mom and was looking straight into her eyes so seriously and lovingly, and she was looking at the camera with this big smile. very sweet. second, there was one of lucky chilling like a “frog dog” on the porch the way he always used to.
4 years ago, my family and i were in buenos aires, argentina! such a fun trip.
5 years ago, i just become friends on facebook with all my food stylist friends at taste of home magazine. i’m sure i had just arrived back in college station after my summer in milwaukee and was wanting to keep in touch with them. i have such great memories in milwaukee that summer.
6 years ago, there were a whole bunch of photos from fish camp my second year, camp blomstedt. photos of angela, thomas, caleb, kelsi – lots of great friends from that camp. to this day, angela is one of my very best friends in the world!
and 7 years ago, i had just added some facebook friends who were freshmen in my first fish camp, camp aikens. i fell in love with fish camp this year, and there was something so magical and surreal about this time of life. before camp aikens, i had never had a huge group of guy friends and girl friends, so this group was special. furthermore, at this point in our lives, we had so much freedom and so little responsibility, so it was unlike any other time. ohhhh, college.
it’s insane how time flies, and all of these memories are so special to me. i’m a memory keeper – i like to capture these moments so i always remember them. this is the reason why i love having a blog, as there’s nothing that makes me happier than going back to check out all these different snapshots in time from different places and different years of my life. things constantly change, but i’m happy that i have a way of bottling these times up and reliving them later. it’s pretty cool.
happy weekend, friends! xoxo