Squirrels

So I woke up today and refused to get out of bed... because it's Friday and it was 6:30, and I really just thought if I stayed there long enough, it would magically become Saturday and I wouldn't have to get up at all. But that's beside the point. The point is that as I was laying there I could hear all of these squirrels running around on my roof. I think also they slide around on it. I really just live in one big echo-y room, so all of these little clawing noises are kind of amplified and funny. So I noted them and ended up facing reality and getting out of bed.

And then I got all ready and walked out the door and there was a squirrel upside down on the tree trunk outside facing the ground... AND it (I think it was a he, but I really can't verify that because I'm no squirrel veterinarian) was making a noise. It (he) kind of sounded like a bird, or like it/he was coughing up something - "wheezing" might be a better word for it. And THEN there was another squirrel that was hidden from my view (in a bush I think) that was making the same noise back. They were squirrel talking is basically what I'm saying. Actually, in the real time scenario, I'm determined that these squirrels are in the beginning stages of a mating ritual, so I spend some time (too much time) watching them to see if anything sexy happens.

Nothing sexy happened.

So I went to work, where I silently wondered if I missed out on some Plant Earth style nature by leaving. It was at that point that I looked up, "How Do Squirrels Mate?" on ehow.com. I learned, first of all, that they mate in January - so at this point my theory is pretty much blown (although my aforementioned statement that I'm not a squirrel vet was verified). All that aside, I did learn these very interesting facts: First of all, in the mating process, the lady squirrel plays hard-to-get and makes the gentleman squirrel chase her around for days. And second of all, baby squirrels (called juveniles when they're first born - which is silly) are born completely furless and blind. And weigh less than 2 oz. And if they're in danger and need to be moved, the mom squirrel carries the babies IN HER MOUTH to a new location. They fit into a squirrel's mouth! That's insanely tiny for a living, breathing, naked-blind-juvenile-squirrel.

That's all I've got.

Additionally, let the record show that I tried to take a picture of a squirrel, you know, in the spirit of cohesiveness... but as it turns out, squirrels are quite elusive and don't revel in having their picture taken. So, I got distracted and took pictures of butterflies instead, because they are prettier and more cooperative.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness hall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;

But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 60:1-3

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Never be conceited.

Repay no on evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

...

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:9-18 & 21

Coffee

This post is (again) late due to my lack of nighttime internet, but the big news of yesterday is that Adam has been working long and hard on making the New Day Coffee website new and awesome, and he put it up yesterday! Now I think that technically you're supposed to wait until the website is totally finished and then do a website "launch" at which point all the bells and whistles are perfectly functioning, but we're secretly ten years old and have absolutely no sense of delayed gratification... so it's up now! Yayyy!

For anyone who's confused a little bit by what this all means, Adam and I are roasting coffee these days. And by Adam and I, I of course mean Adam... who knows what he's doing. I watch him do it, nod along, and cheer at all the appropriate moments. And test the coffee afterwards and give my honest opinion, so that we know how to make it better.

The ultimate goal is not only to make our own coffee for our own enjoyment, but really to make coffee for everyone's enjoyment... and from what I can tell, we're making progress on that front. There are lots of elements that go into making a good cup of coffee, so if we don't like what we end up with, it's hard to tell exactly if it's because we don't like region that the bean came from, if the bean was bad to begin with, if it was over or under-roasted by us, if it was ground too finely before brewing (which makes it bitter), or a number of other subtle nuances that makes everyone's cup of coffee taste slightly different... even if you're one of those people who think all coffee tastes the same. But, as I've said, I think what we've come up with has been really well received, and we're proud of that.

And so here we are, setting up Facebook fan pages, Twitter accounts, and a new and improved website so that we can share this coffee with anyone and everyone. I don't know if it's something that will ever sustain, but even if it only ever amounts to a hobby that others can enjoy, I think we're both happy feeling like we're doing something that we love to do, and creating something that not many people know how to create. I mean really, it's so fun to smell that finished product after it's been sitting for awhile. We have one right now - Ethiopia Sidamo - that smells like chocolate covered cherries. I'm not lying to you. It's all kinds of amazing.

Also, feel free to check it out!

www.newdayfranklin.com

twitter: newdayfranklin

facebook: New Day Coffee

Decisions

I can’t emphasize enough that this has maybe been the most intense week of my life. It’s been consumed with trying to hear the voice of my heart in a sea voices that speak louder and trying to hear from a God whose voice I’ve all but sequestered 99.99999% of the time. It’s caused headaches and tears and anxiety and an eye that won’t stop twitching, and the only thing that I really know at the end of the day is that God is for me and the value of a peaceful heart can’t be overstated.

Regardless of how I positioned it to anyone else, my intentions have been to be open and available to let God do what He wants, and from the slew of books I’ve read about taking risks and stepping out, I figured that he only way that I could really do something that would make God proud would be to take a risk the first time one came along. I still believe that following Jesus is about risking. I believe that it’s about hearing His voice moving your heart and quietly and humbly following where it leads, no matter what the cost. I feel like everything about my life for the last week or so has been stressful and LOUD and about who’s voice is strongest and echoes longest. I’m not sure whose voice ended up being strongest, but I do know that it wasn’t God’s. Decisions should be made when all voices fade in comparison to what the Lord is saying. They should be made when the quiet whisper of a loving God causes everything else to silence, including my brain, which overanalyzes EVERYTHING to a fault.

But, for whatever it’s worth, I woke up this morning feeling happy and proud. I feel like I’ve learned to listen better, which has never really been a strong suit. And mostly, I feel a peace and a weightlessness. God is good, no matter how neurotic and crazy I am at any given moment. I hope He recognizes my neuroticism and craziness as zeal and passion and a desire to unlock the gifts that He’s placed inside of me. Because that’s really what it is. I’m just so anxious to see where I’m going that I want to find a shortcut. Which is super unfortunate, because shortcuts are plentiful, attractive, and easy. One day, maybe even one day soon, the road I’m traveling will turn and I’ll travel in another direction, and it won’t be painful, because each step will follow the next. Sort of comforting, huh?

The photo today is of a photo that was sent to me by Adam's mom in the middle of the frenzy of trying to figure out who I'm supposed to be. In probably a way that it wasn't intended to speak, it reassured me of the person that I am this very moment. It doesn't say, "Be proud of who you will be." or "Be proud of who you could be." ... It says "Be proud of who you are." So instead of fighting to try make myself into a person that I think I'll be good at being, I'm just going to pause and be good at being who I am now. I'm going to be a good fiance, daughter, friend, and coworker, and I'm going to continue to develop the things that I know that I love. I think right now, that's okay. I'm happy and content with learning how to simply BE.

Oh, and a little P.S. (also a mushy P.S.): For talking out everything, believing in me to do anything that I want to do, making calls so that he can answer my uncertainties, and fighting for me above all else, I have the best fiancé ever. I know that in this particular situation, he wanted the road less traveled for me, but he's standing beside me even though I didn't choose it. I have never felt more loved and valued and important than I do today. And I’m marrying him in exactly two months. TWO MONTHS. I’m not lying. It makes me want to pee in my pants a little bit.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

I asked Adam to make up a post name for today and decided that I would write about whatever he said… which, if you know Adam at all, is kind of a gamble. Anyway, the first thing that he said was, “These boots were made for walkin’.” He followed that with the suggestion: Silly Bandz, which I’m thrilled he came up with second instead of first.

So, basically, these boots were made for walkin’. I liked this, because it’s pretty appropriate at this point in my life. Adam probably knew this, hence the suggestion, but I’m going to pretend that he’s not the most attentive fiancé ever (which he is, by the way) and say that it’s a happy coincidence that he chose this is the theme of the post.

I’ve been getting the really strong sense lately that I’m not done learning. I guess really no one is ever done learning, and we should all be silently striving to be “lifelong learners” and make our kindergarten teachers proud, so in that sense, I’m not particularly unique. But there are just some things about the world that I think I’m supposed to know… or want to know, even. For example, I feel like it’s absolutely imperative that I learn how to make a perfect latte. And cappuccino. And cup of coffee. And I feel like my life won’t really be complete if I don’t learn how to be a photographer, even if I don’t end up doing it professionally. There are tons of other things, I’m sure, that fit into that category, too. The beauty of life is in the process and the learning and doing and trying and playing. Which is why you shouldn’t give up on something that you believe in. You can shelve it for awhile, sure – but at the end of the day, don’t let your life be filled with a lot of “I wish I had’s” or “I should have’s.” Reading that back to myself makes it sound SOOHOOOOO cliché… but I think the reality is (for me anyway) that there seriously are things that are taking a backseat. Things that I really want to get to, but if I’m honest with myself, don’t know that I will ever make a priority enough to accomplish.

So if you have those things, do them. Or at least dust them off and remember why you loved them to begin with… that might be motivation enough. Was that soapboxy? I’m off it. And I plan on having much less downer blog posts in the future, just for the record.

Tears

I’ve always thought that tears are really interesting, but due to the amount of tears that I have been experiencing lately, I’ve been giving them some extra consideration. I mean really, though… tears are a physical reaction to a strong emotion. Kind of weird, right? I never really understood why that happened. So in my recent interest in why I’m an emotional wreck, I looked into it. And here’s what I learned (via a source that my college professors may or may not have found credible):

There are different kinds of tears – three, to be exact. And one of those kinds of tears is “emotional tears.” Unlike other tears, which form to get crap out of your eyes and stuff, emotional tears serve a different purpose. Emotional tears contain an elevated amount of protein… like 25% more protein than the other types of tears. These proteins are the kind that build up to very high levels in the body when it withstands emotional stress. So, when you build up these proteins, your body will produce tears – oftentimes without your permission – as a way to reduce these protein levels. Which is good, because if they don’t leave the body, they can build up to toxic levels and weaken the body’s immune system and other biological processes. I guess this also explains why you feel better after a good cry – because it reduces your levels of stress hormones. Typically, bursting into tears at what feels like inopportune moments is actually healthy, so embrace it… even if it makes your face look completely ridiculous and swollen the next morning.

Oh, and just as another fun fact, women have 60% more of a stress hormone called prolactin, which plays a role in forming tears. And they also have structurally larger tear glands than men. So, at the end of the day, women are biologically just more prone to crying than men are. On the other hand, men have buildups of other stress hormones, not associated with tears… so men might deal with stress by sweating more or peeing more, which also result in removing toxins from the body.

Moral of the story, I’m not that crazy and neither are you. I feel like that’s always kind of refreshing to realize.

Moral of the story #2: Every time I learn something about how the body functions, I’m moved to glorify God, because SERIOUSLY?! … He is in charge of this design. It’s intricate and complicated and just flat out amazing.

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” –Psalm 30:5

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” –Luke 6:21

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” –Isaiah 25:8

Refresh

(I recognize that this is my second blog post in a matter of hours. To clarify, the other one was from Friday, and I didn't have internet access until this morning. Also, I'm an overzealous new blogger. So just... be proud of me or something.)

I have secrets… that I can’t share yet because they’re premature. But I’ll give you a preview – God is REALLY COOL. And I’m a bad listener. But that shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

In other news… I had lunch with an old friend today! Her name is Andrea Vergara and she is awesome. Additionally, as her Facebook page will tell you, to type her name, you only use your right hand once – for the “n”. True story. Anyway, she’s just great… and she lives in Franklin now! So we’ll have much more fun.

Old friends are fun, which is kind of the bummer with growing up. Adam and I were talking about that the other day. About how it’s hard to connect with people once you grow up. Everyone gets set in an exhausting routine of working and coming home from work, and a lot of times there isn’t the opportunity to meet new people, much less the energy to invest in a lot of relationships. I think this is one of those things that you don’t know to value in high school and college until it’s too late. It’s very easy to take free time for granted. Moral of the story: whenever you can reconnect with someone who knows you, it’s worth the time. So I vote that you stop making excuses for not seeing people and suck it up. I promise you’ll enjoy it, and I promise that you’ll learn something.





In more other news, Adam and Albo (with the help of Dwight) are making progress on the ’54 Ford truck that they’re getting into running condition for my parents. It’s quite an adventure, and I’m happy to tell you that earlier today they “turned it over” and by the end of the day hope to “have it humming.” I’ll be honest (however pathetic it is) that I don’t really know what that means. Other than it means progress, and that this project is on the downhill slope, and that soon I can play with my fiancé on Saturdays again! Seeing them work on this truck, though, has really helped me see the beauty of the process. The goal, of course, is to make the truck drive. But it’s the taking apart and reconfiguring and adapting that makes them so excited to work on it. At the end of the day, the truck goes back to Mississippi where it came from… they just love the time they get to spend doing it together and the thrill of making and running, working something from a sitting nothing.

This literally isn’t related to anything in this post, except that maybe I was taking it while the truck thing was happening, but just LOOK at how cute my almost nephew is! I mean really, he’s awesome. Just thought I’d tell you.