i sing, i dance, i fall down

verb (used with object), verb (used without object), to accustom or become accustomed to a new climate or environment; adapt.

i have one month until i get in my little car and drive across this great nation of ours and start work at yellowstone national park. i am stoked, really i am. i just have alot to do before i leave.

my to-do list:

buy shoes: i don't own any rugged, sturdy hiking boots. i hear these are necessary. i'll need a good pair of work shoes too...
get my oil changed: i have been to new york city twice, montreal, pittsburgh and ohio, since my last oil change.
pack: this is going to be hard. i'm not allowed to bring alot of stuff, there's just no room for it in my dorm. plus, i am supposed to dress in layers due to the ever-changing weather. so i need to pack 5 months of clothes in two medium sized bags. this is going to be tough.

the biggest thing on my list: get in shape so i don't experience altitude sickness. i can think of nothing worse then getting to yellowstone only to feel like a slug for two weeks.

i need to start acclimating myself to the thinner air. this means hikes, and many of them. up hills, down hills, around my block, and on the track. maybe i'll throw in some jogging and weights, to spice things up a bit. if anybody wants to help me with this, like keep me company or keep me accountable, i would greatly appreciate it!

saturday i had the chance to stretch some muscles that haven't been used in a long time...

i woke up with the sun shinning through my window blinds, the warmth signaling a start to a beautiful day. i went to wegmans to purchase supplies for a scrumptious breakfast i planned on making my friends. i love supermarkets in the morning. not for any particular reason, it just feels like life is supposed to be done this way. i listened to phil wickham while preparing the almond french toast (you know you're jealous). these lyrics really stuck out to me:

The fullness of Your grace is here with me
The richness of Your beauty’s all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

in that moment, i was completely satisfied. and not because the sun was shinning on my day off, and friends were over to enjoy the day with me...it was knowing that God had blessed me so richly, i want for nothing. every need has been taken care of before i knew it existed.

breakfast was amazing...usually i use my saturdays to get my chores done, you know, taking care of business. not this time. this day was different. after breakfast we went to the park and played on the playground. i felt like a kid again...

then on to parkour, which is french for something... parkour is using your body and environment to get from place to place to place. why bother going around a bench, when you can vault it? i have never seen so many people rolling around on the ground before. hilarious. we were taught how to land on the balls off our feet for balance, how to vault over benches, and how to roll without snapping your neck off. i used muscles i never knew existed, and they let me know it. i'm still in pain today...

to quote a good friend, saturday "felt like living". that this was the way life was meant to be lived. enjoying God's numerous and undeserved blessings...

my friend stef is the greatest...she writes the best emails.

my day hasn't improved that much, but my attitude has.

ever have one of those days where everything just falls apart?

today is that day. i woke up on time, got in the shower on time, but still ended up late to work. message on my desk right when i walked in saying i had double-booked an appointment, already a failure. call school to work out my loan business, basically ended up sounding like an idiot. did some addition, it's not so good. plus the weather is this nasty groggy gray that makes you depressed just looking at it. oh, and i forgot my sweater, so now i'm cold. it can only go up from here, right?

i'm going to work on rachel's prayer requests, and hopefully that will improve my outlook on the day and my horrible attitude.

p.s. i think i feel a headache coming on...

i'm 22! i feel older, wiser and prettier.

not really.

i feel like a little kid who really hasn't lived yet. like i'm 5 inches tall, tugging on the pants of a giant.

funny thing about milestones, once they've come and gone, you feel let down. all this hype leads up to...nothing. it's an abyss, a gaping hole. unless you make a big deal about them. like i do. i've come to realize that birthdays are what you make of them. if you sit in a dark corner and watch your birthday slink on by, you're not gonna enjoy it. throw yourself a party, because no one else will. nobody cares about your birthday as much as you do. i don't mean to be cynical, but thats the truth.

it's funny how different generations take my leaving. everybody who is older than me is encouraging it, saying that it will be a great experience, one i will regret not taking. all my friends who are my age are really discouraging it, or thats the impression i am getting. i think their motives are purely selfish, which i can understand. that fact i cannot stress enough is that i will be back. i'm only gone for a short time, and i know that time is going to fly by. God says to listen to wisdom, and i am not ignoring anybody's advice. but i am big on heeding my elders lately, you know, the whole live and learn thing.