Cooped up on a snow day!

Being snowed in I must say is quite fun but insanely boring when your roommate gets snowed in elsewhere...so! In light of said boredom I compiled a mosh posh of pictures...

I'm really grateful for my family including all the insanity they bring in tow.

I miss...

My favorite movies are currently...

I love the following people more than this blog could ever convey....

I could eat the following everyday, all day, twice a day....

I want nothing more than...

Slowing Down

I write this post as I'm on a train coming home from Newburyport I spent an entire weekend with one of my first school friends who I've (surprisingly) kept in touch with through all my moves! We spent the weekend shopping, playing in the snow with two fabulous black labs, shucking shrimp,etc! I outline this all because for anyone that knows me, I'd assume they'd agree when I say I don't stop. I can think of a million and one things I should have been accomplishing this weekend. Organize my school supplies, finish setting up my new apartment, ordering next semesters books, run, do laundry, clean out the grotesque fridge...the list goes on and on. I fill each day with so much stuff, even if it as simple as watching a movie, so that I don't have to think. I mastered this when I lived in Colorado.

I surrounded myself with an array of people, countless hiking trips, endless hours of work and studying, topped off with a few hours of restless sleep. Don't get me wrong I think everything I listed is perfectly acceptable in moderation, however I'd argue I missed a lot of things by going so fast. I'd say I began to feel guilty and irresponsible if I wasn't doing something productive 24/7.

This train ride alone to Newburyport has forced me to stop. I packed at 130am last Friday and forgot both a book and an ipod, so I'm left with nothing but my thoughts...an excruciatingly frightful thought. This pushing is such a way of life for me, I barely know how to survive otherwise. I'm constantly working to try and control my life and the certain outcomes of particular situations. I heave myself at life consistently looking for ways to make things precisely the way I want them. Again, not a horrible quality, Ill defend myself and say that some action does need to be taken in our own lives, but I'm trying (or tried) to control everything.

There are particular forces driving the reasons behind why I live this way. I know exactly why I'm striving and pushing. It stems from not wanting to believe or deal, and a fear that my life is all up to me. I've got this mentality at times to get so far ahead before the floor falls out from underneath me. Its awful. Not only do I set myself up for failure but I leave no room for error. Its odd because I'm typically a very go with the flow type person...I can pretty much pin-point the 3-3.5 years where I felt like I had no control over a particular relationship and so I over compensated with controlling work, and school, and money, etc.

This has all changed in the last month to two months. I've not only realized but truly accepted the fact there is utterly no possible way I can control everything, and I don't really want or feel the need to anymore. I think I've looked to God to guide me to the right situations (new apt) and decisions (job...) And trust hell plan for me. I have to admit, I've never felt less stressed when normally I'd feel immensely overwhelmed right now. Its pretty stinking liberating!

This comes full circle with Newburyport and the title of this particular post. I almost didn't come on this trip. I was skeptical about spending money with no steady income and felt I should spend the weekend walking into every possible store asking if they were hiring. However, i decided to go. I can't tell you how happy I am that I did. Not only was it a wonderful weekend away in nature which I absolutely adore, but its a way to reconnect with my friend from college and build a better friendship, something that no job can replace.

**The pictures are from Point Lookout resort in Maine...its where my friends sister is getting married in Aug...and its BEAUTIFUL!**

Ireland Bound!

I could possibly have had a better morning and I had to blog about it. Here is the play by play...

9 am-- I woke up to one of my very best friends who I rarely see.

10 am-- I have been looking and holding out for the perfect job medically related...and have been avidly praying that something will come through. This morning I got a call from Childrens Hospital in Boston. NOTHING is a done deal yet, but the fact that I got through the first round of interviews was so encouraging. So everyone, keep your fingers crossed and keep praying that I get this job!

10:30 am-- I skyped with my very best friend who is studying abroad in Ireland. Just seeing her cute little face, and hearing how much fun she is having and how different everything is there was really neat and encouraging. I really wanted to visit her and was just skeptical because of financial issues, feeling like spending almost 650 on a plane ticket alone was too much...however...

11:00 am--I BOOKED A TICKET FOR LESS THAN 450 TO IRELAND FOR 9 DAYS! ...and two AMAZING perks...one-I have a 6 hour layover in the only city I have ever wanted to kill to visit...PARIS! I plan on leaving the airport even if it is for 2o minutes, even if I have to stand through 2 hours of security again, just to touch Paris! AND two...ill be in Ireland on St Patricks day!! Hello Beer, Fish and Chips, Blue skies, and Greeeeen waters! :)

I feel so encouraged and uplifted and unstoppable. I'm on such a happy high right now I cannot even explain it!

Hope everyone else out there is having a splendid morning!

I had to do it...

Well I feel there is some what no point to a blog if I don't write some cliche new years resolution post...so here we go!

UN- Make new friends and really try to put myself out there with new people...I want to make these new friends without the expectations of them disappointing me.

DEUX- Learn AND memorize how to make the perfect pie and lasagna from scratch including the crust(pie..duh) and possibly noodles!

TROIS- Id like to be fit and live a healthier lifestyle.

QUATRE- Go to Ireland to see the my best gal friend! laureno! :)

CINQ-Grow deeper in my relationships with friends, family, and cute little madigans.

SIX- Learn better French...hence the counting mechanism of this particular blog.

SEPT- Increase my pathetic movie collection without spending an ungodly amount of money.

HUIT- Perform more random acts of kindness...if possible every day...even if that means flipping penny over, heads up, for someone else to find.

NEUF- Jump as far and often as possible out of my comfort zone.

DIX- Learn to dance...in like a ballroom cute swaying type way...AND have the guts to dance in public...anytime...anywhere.

ONZE- Build a time capsule or a letter...to open in a few years. Fill it with all my wants, needs, current passions.

DOUZE- Make straight As this semester...aka...work my bum off without losing the motivation.

QUATORZE- Relax.

I think this is my most important and relevant resolution. Therefore, I refuse to limit it to 2011 alone. This is my lifelong resolution. There is one particular "thing" I've actively tried to push away for the better part of my teen and adult life. My plan is to vigorously strive to trust, love, understand, search and believe in this particular mystery thing. (My mystery "thing" is probably far more obvious than I assume...)

1950s Suzie Homemaker.

I am so excited for Christmas, and while I generally do not dwell on what I am getting, this year I must say there is one gift I cannot wait to get! It is positively the most adorable but practical apron ever. (Insert "women" jokes here...) I love cooking, more so baking and deserts than anything, but still I needed a comfy and adorable apron! My mom says its what her mom would have worn in the 1950s-hence the blog title.

I have always been obsessed with silly kitchen appliances. I think there is nothing better than a cherry pitter that doesn't pit 1 but 4 cherries at one time! Or measuring cups that not only fit within one another, but f

old flat. Oh, and the very best...color coded chopping boards. Seriously, my amazon wish list is basically 2 pages of kitchen appliances.

While most girls dream about their perfect

house, I dream about my perfect kitchen. I want an island, wood cabinets, a double sink with no divider, plenty of pantry and shelf space, all gas appliances, preferably black counter tops, and a table that will seat at least 6. I think I secretly (well not so secretly after this post goes viral) want my kitchen to looks something like this...

I think this screams perfection, and its not even a picture of the full kitchen. Im loving my life as a poor college student, living in random apartments, and moving all the time, but I must confess when I get MY very own kitchen that I don't have to share, and can organize how I want, I wont be missing my rinky-dink college kitchens.

Also, for the record, me and my new apron will be making some delicious pies, and cakes, and cupcakes, and Popsicles, maybe some pizzas, and pastas, and chickens....oh the endless possibilities!!

Theres a beauty in walking away.

In my last blog I said there has not been much in the past few months that has been blog worthy...that was kinda a lie. Well not a lie because nothing seems as worthy as little Madi. Anyways, the biggest change in my life is I have finally made the venture back to Boston for school-nursing school. Its been very bitter sweet. In Colorado, I was not only incredibly independent but it was the most peaceful place I could and still can ever imagine. I lived about 30 minutes away from the Rocky Mountains and within 5-10 minutes could easily hike my choice of trails. My favorite was Chautauqua. Hiking in this particular park was breathtaking and spectacular. There were a variety of rocky dunes, meadows full of colorful wildflowers, trails I swear would wander for miles on end, even flat sheer rock that you could latch into and climb.

I would say I went out hiking or climbing anywhere from 3-4 times a week even more when it was summer. Hiking was a way to not only exude energy, but it cleared my head. It is a few hours of complete silence (other than the leaves in the wind, chirping birds, etc) where I was alone. It is possibly the most liberated feeling I have ever encountered in my life. Seems dramatic but I promise its true! However, living in boston the closest I have come to a mountain and complete serenity is a mountain of stairs in an empty building :) Thats not entirely true. I have the most fantastical boyfriend who took me on a spontaneous hiking adventure after church one day. Since then my outlook on Boston has done a 180....Im finding beauty and serenity in places or things I didn't really recognize before.

I must admit, I may have been morning the loss of my Colorado

mountains which has skewed my view of Boston. And while there

may not be mountains in my backyard here, there are adventures in

Boston that I would have never been able to experience in Boulder.

Skyline Park (the picture on the side) is my current favorite place here.

It is a simple park, but seriously how amazing is that view of the city!!

Another aspect I love about Boston...the fact my car was frozen shut this morning before school.

So awesome. Anyways, Im starting to find a lot in and about Boston that I love, and

being closer to my friends and family highly outweighs any mountain. All in all, I have found the beauty

in walking away from Colorado, and it will always be there for me to visit. :)

A new reason to blog...

I havent blogged in over a year! Yikes...In my defense, I have not really had enough that I have felt is blog worthy (other than moving cross country again, changing majors again, switching schools again...). However! That all changed December 7th! My cute little peanut of a neice was born on December 7th, 5lbs 6oz, and 20 inches long. Madilynn Renee Wood is easily the smallest baby I have not only seen, but held.

I nannied in Boulder and had little Gussy for over a year and a half, and of course loved him. I did not think my love for a child could have exceeded what I felt for Gussy, but Madi has taken the cake! (Sorry Gus) It is odd, she is almost a week old and I can see such a little personality in her already. Im sure as I continue to watch her grow up her personality will continue to become more and more unique, only making my love for the little peanut grow. It is quite unfathomable

how such a tiny, new, adorable baby can make my day! :)

I have always worked really hard at school, work, etc, and none of it really comes naturally to me. I have to intently study in order to do well on a test. It took me months to learn how to

arrange flowers. When I worked at the bar memorizing the drink recipes took me a lifetime. However, I have a natural motherly instinct (not to toot my own horn though!) and really am excellent at taking care of kids. I realize its not rocket science, or nursing in my case :), but I definite

ly think it is something to be proud of! I LOVED my job in Colorado. I thought it was so fun managing 3 kids schedules, taking them to various activities, playing silly make believe games, all while doing laundry, cooking dinner, and running errands. Real womanly stuff.

My mom (who is staying her btw for a month or so to help with the baby) told me when I was a kid anytime someone would ask me what I want to

be when I grow up, I instantly replied "a mommy." Seeing Madi, and all my nannying had made me feel confident that one day, when I do have my own children, I will be able to provide and care for them without getting utterly overwhelmed.