Happy Birthday, Blog!

Today is Love is the Adventure’s first birthday! So happy birthday, blog. Thank you for being a safe space for my thoughts and for giving me some amazing friends.

love, elizabeth

Haunted Pinecones, etc.

This weekend was definitely a fall-ish one for us here in Columbus. We’ve received some sad news from home and Kyle will be flying back to Colorado next week so we thought we’d soak up as much of the autumn as we could.

We carved pumpkins with some neighbors. They’re two-faced. Uh, the pumpkins. Not the neighbors.

Some of our centerpieces.

I decided to hang twinkle lights in the living room to bring a touch of light and warmth into the room at night. They make me happy. I have seasonal affective disorder and I deal with some mood swings in the fall and winter months. Warm lighting helps!

Cupcakes from scratch.

And last but not least…a story. I spotted these scented holiday pinecones in the Giant Eagle this afternoon and was just putting them in my basket when I heard an ominous voice from behind me…

“You’re going to regret that.”

I turn around to see a little old man staring at me.

“Ex-excuse me?” I asked.

“My wife bought those. I made her throw them away.”

“Because…?”

I waited for him to ominously explain how the pinecones were poisonous or caused rashes or were haunted by forest ghosts or something. But apparently, the gentleman found their scent completely overpowering and determined that they were “stinking up the whole house.”

I smiled politely and left as quickly as I could WITH my pinecones. Drat. I was really hoping for some forest ghosts.

 

How was YOUR weekend?

love, elizabeth

Death is like taking someone to the airport

via

Sometimes they’re in a hurry and you just drop them at the curb. You leave your hazards on and you pull their suitcase out of the trunk and you hug them and they tell you what a great time they had, how good it was to see you. You know they have to go. Their plane is leaving. They can’t stay any longer.

Sometimes they let you park and come inside with them. You watch them check-in and promise they’re not carrying contraband. You watch them check their bags and you say meaningless things like “Wow, $25 for that little duffel bag…” and “How long is your lay-over in Atlanta? Oh, nice and short then.” You make it as far as security. You need a ticket go on but you don’t have one. Because this is their flight. Not yours.

They shrug and say, “I guess this is it.”

And you say, “Yeah, don’t forget to take off your shoes.”

They head for the back of the line and you call out their name. Just one more hug, one more kiss, one more “I wish we had more time.: One more goodbye.

You’re only prolonging it now but you stand at the top of the stairs and watch their progress through security. You see the wand waving and you see them step through that last metal doorway.

You can’t even see them now but you walk to the impossibly large windows now and stare out, trying to decide which plane is taking them away from you. Eventually, you watch one taxiing down the runway, farther and farther away, faster and faster it goes, until it’s up, up in the air taking someone away from someone else and it just seems so unbelievably unfair.

But it would be selfish, wouldn’t it, to want to keep those planes on the ground forever? It would be selfish to keep those passengers from reaching their destinations.

Today I’m feeling a little selfish and a little sad.

love, elizabeth

PS: I apologize for my absence from blog-land for the past few days. I have been reading your blogs and trying to comment (my log-in wasn’t working). I think things are fixed now and I should be back to regular posting and reading, too. Hope everyone is having a restful weekend!

Living with Abandon

“Just remember, the same as a spectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close you follow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how careful you are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all. There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should've been paying attention..."

- Chuck Palahniuk

I don't ever want to feel that collapsed feeling. Am reminded today that my best memories, my happiest hours happened when I truly let go and lived with abandon. So in the spirit of abandon, here are some things I'm doing in the month of October.

Can you guess which thing on this list I am NOT doing?

A. Reporting for jury duty

B. Judging a beauty pageant

C. Performing a vaudeville piece

D. Taking a dance class

E. Driving into the mountains of Pennsylvania

F. Visiting my first haunted house

What about you? What new experiences are you having this month?


love, elizabeth

Just Do the Next Thing

Sometimes I write my blog post titles and think, Well, now no one needs to read the actual post. This might be one of those times.

It's easy for me to feel a little panicked with the Monday dawn. Sometimes the whole being-a-PhD-student-thing accompanied by the married-woman-thing and the volunteer-advocate-thing with a heavy helping of the being-a-grownup-thing is a tad on the overwhelming side. Sometimes I want to scream, WHO GAVE ME ALL THESE THINGS?? THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS!

Source: earmarkinvitations.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

In an occasional fit of panic, I call my mother who gives me the advice I now know by heart. It's very good advice. And very comforting to a worried worrier like me.

"Just do the next thing," she says. "Not ALL the things. Just the next one."

So today, I am trying to focus on "just the next thing."


What about you? What helps you cope when you're feeling overwhelmed?


love, elizabeth

To You, With Love From Your Television: Grey’s Anatomy

Like I've said before, if you're getting the majority of your relationship advice from Hollywood, you're pretty much doomed to fail. And um, Grey’s Anatomy is no exception. Seriously, how can brain surgeons have these kind of sex lives?? When do they have time to perform, I don’t know, actual surgery???!!

And still… I was struck by the most recent episode. If you haven’t seen the show, Drs. Grey and Shepherd have been having some problems (shocker).

Source: google.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

But in a scene that’s sticking with me...

Meredith challenges Derek, “Well, then why are you with me?”
“Because of that!” he tells her, pointing at the post-it note on the wall over their bed. The one with their marriage vows on it. “Because I meant that. I promised I wouldn’t run. I promised I would love you.”
“Even when you hate me…”
“Even when I hate you!”

This just resonated with me so much. The truth is, anyone who is in a long-term relationship knows what it’s like to love someone even when you hate them. And if you haven’t felt that in your marriage yet, you will.

I have always said falling in love is a feeling but staying in love…that’s a choice.

So way to go, Grey’s Anatomy. For once, I totally forgive you for all the slow motion bedroom scenes, bomb threats, pregnancy scares, cancer episodes, and for killing off George O’Malley. Okay, maybe I’m still mad about that last one. I love you, though. Even when I hate you.

Source: google.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

“To love each other,

even when we hate each other.

No running. Ever!

Take care when old,

senile, smelly. This is forever!”

Meredith Grey

Derek Shepherd

What about you? Have you seen any glimpse of real love or relationships on television?

love, elizabeth

Giveaway Winner!

True Random Number Generator

Min:1

Max:35

Result:9

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And the winner is…

Jen from Jennifer March

Jen said...

and I follow you on twitter!

September 23, 2011 9:14 AM

Congratulations to Jen and thank you to everyone for entering!
Happy October!
love, elizabeth