life lately, mostly according to my iphone

^^Missing this little nugget, despite her perfect record for scratching up my legs every time she sees me. Interpretation: I'm her favorite. Also, it's remarkable that she sat still for this picture.^^

^^He burns, & it turns to tan. I burn & return to porcelain. And so it goes. Good thing I love him lots ;)^^

^^I managed to get two holes-in-one, but neither were on the gimme on the 18th hole... Because I'm awesome like that.^^

^^I have a serious love affair going on with Old Town. Don't worry, my husband knows & has the same problem.^^

^^While wandering the streets one day I stumbled across this little beauty of Washington's. As if he didn't have enough land at Mt. Vernon... This townhouse was used as an office & a receiving house for his belated guests.^^

^^For those of you who don't follow me on instagram, I'm starting up a little stationery & paper goods business, & this was the night we bought a computer for it! Obviously I'm beyond giddy in this take but manage to compose myself for the next. More details to come soon ;)^^

^^Random fact #57: Trader Joe's has the prettiest flowers I've ever seen at a grocery store. And I hate to say it, but I think the tulip has a tight race against the peony for my favorite flower these days. I mean seriously, look at how gorgeous they are! Please note the mint julep cup that's finally claiming a purpose in my life. Might mean an excuse to buy fresh flowers for my desk on the reg... fingers crossed.^^

Hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) Fourth of July!

random musings from old town & hometown

+ I think I'm officially becoming acquainted with the local life. Case in point: while watching an episode of West Wing {second episode, second season} the other night, I recognized the diner where the scene was filmed. It's a neighborhood diner in Old Town that has since been changed from a BBQ joint to Greek, but that's not the point. The point is that I know. Gosh the embarrassing amount of pride I felt was on the level of gooby news you hear about hometown progress, and I haven't even lived here for a year. Now that I've admitted how nerdy & dramatic I can be, let's change the subject.

+ After introducing our guys to the wonder of Despicable Me this past weekend, I think Emily & I have made the case to see its sequel in theaters when it comes out this week. It's been awhile since I've heard 4 adults belly laugh as hard as we all did watching that animated movie. All I'm saying is as long as Agnes & her obsession with fluffy unicorns is still in the script, I'm golden. And just to spread the fun facts around, anybody else think it was hilarious to see "Bank of Evil, Formerly Lehman Brothers" over the door? Gets me every time, but probably because Lehman Brothers was founded in my lovely river city, Montgomery, AL.

+ Speaking of Montgomery, my recent brief stint in that fair city was nothing short of wonderful. Mainly because it tickles me pink that downtown has become so cool! Cool enough that we felt compelled to support the hometown team & buy two Biscuits t-shirts for ourselves & a Biscuits hat for a friend at the Biscuit Basket in Riverwalk Stadium. Sadly the one we bought wasn't a real biscuit hat {picture a cheesehead in the form of a biscuit}. #hometownpride

+ And why might you ask did I disappear for over a week after I said that I was coming back? We hit up Seagrove Beach with my former roomies {my parents} for a week. And it was awesome, other than the sunburned shins I managed to get as well as a frisbee induced skinned knee {clumsy Kat strikes again}. If I get my act together around here, I'll post some pictures of our adventures. Did I mention I reclaimed my honor at goofy golf... by almost 20 strokes? Boom. Roasted. Sorry husmate.

+ Finally, I'm in the market for any and all interesting documentaries to watch on Netflix. Every now & then I have this overwhelming itch to watch something incredibly involved & academic & possibly propaganda-esque that can quell my thirst for fixing all the world's problems. Lately I've watched documentaries on Arlington Cemetery & the Honor Guard of the Unknown Tomb {their jobs are intense, I kid you not}, the growing social divide between the wealthy 1% & the rest of us & what power politically they wield {this documentary has forced me to add Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged to my reading list just to be better informed of their argument}, & dramatic food movies that cause me to actually eat better & buy what seems like 80% or more of my grocery list from the perimeters of the grocery store rather than the maze of the middle aisles {for you foodies out there, a wonderful (& short) book to read is Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. Seriously, so good. Next on my list is his In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto}. So hey, any fellow nerds or people passionate about something that have some good documentaries up their sleeves, please give me suggestions to watch for my late night viewings! 

be still

You often hear people say that life is a funny thing. And it is. It's a wonderfully confusing and funny thing. I've been composing my thoughts on this post for awhile, but I suppose it's time to finally put pen to paper, so to speak, and share why it is I've entitled this blog "Be Still." 

Until midway through college, I always had a plan for my life: College > Med School > Join a practice > Start a family > Strike a balance of work and family > Survive > Retire. And this plan had been intact for a very long time, so much so that it included a back-up plan of majoring in bioengineering, just in case plan A didn't work out (got that? just in case).

The first kink to my plan came one summer when I was shadowing all the different medical specialties and realized that none of them fit me. AHHHH whatdoIdonow??? Have no fear, almost every doctor I shadowed presented me with a new plan: dental school. And it seemed just perfect: great for women, more manageable hours, actually be a part of the family you helped create. Okay, great: new plan A. 

And the modified plan A was going well until it came time for my application to be turned in senior year, and I had just one question left to answer: why do you want to be a dentist? That's a good question... to which I had no answer. I mean, yes, I could have fibbed it, but I was more plagued with the idea that I had no idea why I wanted to pursue this path.

So, my boyfriend at the time suggested a piece of advice that I had always shied away from, nay, slammed the door on: why not take a year off after college to figure out my life plans?

And so it came to pass that I jumped off of my plan A (head first it seemed like). It took me about a week to realize that I had always treated my life like the opening scene of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I had placed myself on a conveyer belt that had already decided all of my life's fate from its start: at metre 152 I would enter university where I would major in biological engineering, at 321 I would study my entire life away in a library (good ole Mitchell Memorial!) so as to maintain my good marks, at 467 I would graduate and attend a post graduate program, at 683 I would somehow find a person who could put up with my eccentricities and manage to date him while slaving away at my doctorate, at 894 I would finish up my residency, and finally, at metre 1000 I would complete my goal & get a job, get married, and begin my life. Be strong, be independent, be confident. And the sad part is that all along the way I know I would have channeled the Director in that scene by saying "charming, charming" the whole time. 

So I kicked myself off the conveyer belt of Hatcheries & Conditioning, and I let life go on. And things I would never have predicted happened. That boyfriend proposed to me, me, the girl who everyone else counted on not getting married until she was 30 (including the girl herself). I graduated & moved back home (definitely was not in the picture) to plan a wedding. I got married & moved to a place 13 hours away from the only city I've ever called home. And I still don't have a clue what I want to be when I grow up. Life is a curiously funny thing. 

But all those things that happened because I jumped ship have been a wonderful blessing. The marriage thing is an obvious one, but even moving home made my life better. I got the opportunity to really appreciate & love being with my parents, aka the roomies. It was the first time that I wasn't a preoccupied student taking up space in their house, but rather a (dare I say it?) peer that saw them for the caring people that they are. And it was probably the first time that I realized all the pressure I felt in college came from a central location: little ole me. 

So here I am admitting to you that I don't know where I'm going in life. For a girl who always had a plan growing up, it takes a lot to admit that. I've always had such pride in my progress & my plan, but boy, can that pride be such a hindrance. It has taken me many months to break that down and realize that it's okay that I don't know. That the question mark hovering over my head is more of a friend than a foe, & that faith (and patience in that faith) is the only thing that will get me through this period of self doubt & unrest. 

One night during one of my all night study sessions, I stumbled along Psalm 46 which reminds us that though the world may be a destructive place, God is always there. We just have to stop & listen:

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging. {Selah}

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. {Selah}

Come and see the works of the Lord,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

he breaks the bows and shatters the spear,

he burns the shields with fire.

Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. {Selah}

Reading that psalm made me realize that my little plan for myself never allowed me to rely on my faith. What a worldly human I can be! I mean I know that God finds me funny in the way that I'm clever & weird, but he must have had a field day when I realized that my plan was so insignificant compared to His. I know I'm hilarious, Yahweh, keep on chuckling up there! 

And since that sleepless night, Psalm 46:10 has become something of battle cry for me. Every time I start to get down on myself, I recite those comforting words. Sometimes things get so drastic that I even write a small 46:10 on my hand so that I'll see it constantly. The answer will come. One day. Because my God has a plan for me, and always has. It included me falling metaphorically on my face, so that I could see His world that I was missing. His plan. 

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

So I'm being still. And waiting. 

a whirlwind weekend of spontaneity & surprises

This past weekend, husmate and I basically became one with the car. Last Wednesday rolled around and the idea popped into our minds that "hey! let's road trip down to Oxford (must it be there?) to see our good friends, Emily & Josh, get married." So we did. We Berry's decided to be all spontaneous and make a weekend of it.

Seven states. Four days. Lotsa miles. Lotsa hours in a car. Lotsa Avett Brothers. We experienced many different forms of weather from sun to clouds, rain to snow. We drove the flat plains of Mississippi and the mountains of North Carolina. We saw it all, folks.

Highlights of the trip:

+ Surprising everyone by showing up to Emily & Josh's wedding unannounced. And when I say everyone, I mean it. We didn't tell anyone that we were coming, so there were a lot of double takes and second glances in the foyer of the Ole Miss Paris-Yates Chapel. Yes, guys, it is us! And oh, it was such fun! It truly lightened our hearts to see all of husmate's high school friends, even if for a short time (and a 14 hour road trip). I don't think we've laughed so freely as we did around all of those wonderful people, and we can't wait to see those faces again! Lucky for us, Emily & Josh are actually living 3 metro stops away from us, so we'll be seeing them again quite soon ;)

+ Having the opportunity to spend some time with my brother, his wife, their sweet little Tyler, & Tyler's loving and furry older sister, Stella. Tyler's at the ripe age of 15 months and already learning the wonder of T-ball and bubbles and how funny the sound is that elephants make. Watching him walk around in his footy pajamas like an old man sticking out his cute little belly really warmed my heart. 

+ Realizing that we thought driving to the South would mean warmer temperatures but instead we brought the snow with us... in Virginia and Tennessee and Alabama and Mississippi. Man, we really know how to bring the cheer.

+ Grabbing a quick lunch at Jackson's in Homewood with Mom & Dad who made the drive just for us. I mean who can say no to Jackson's anyway?

+ Husmate surprising me for both a late Valentine's day and 2 year anniversary of sorts (our engagement) by getting us a room at fancy schmancy bed & breakfast in Asheville for a night. It was so nice we didn't even know what to do. Ha! But we now know what it feels like to stay in a home filled with nothing but antiques and what B&B people really are like (super chatty at breakfast by the way... which for this night owl isn't quite what I'm used to). But by golly did we ever learn about the workings of the CDC in Atlanta! There were two couples who made the connection that all four of them worked there and after that, the conversation was nothing but things CDC-related. Fun fact: did you know they have their own sort of rush week/hell week? I knew that fraternity stuff would carry over into real life somehow... (chi omega chi chi omega... c h i o m e g a... chi chi omega- it's stuck on repeat in my head. make. it. stop.) Needless to say, I think we'll revisit the B&B life when we're a lot older. Neat experience, but need to be older.

+ The many conversations we had in the car to fill the ever ticking travel time. When you travel a total of 32 hours over the course of four days, there's gonna be a lot of talking. Serious topics, joking topics, random topics, memory lane topics, & daydream topics. All of those range between full senses, delirium, & annoyances at still being in the car. You catch my drift. I think some of my favorites were recounting the days of learning sports with our families (Blake, remember that time I lost the baseball in the sun and caught the pop fly with my ear? I think we learned that day that baseball/softball wasn't my thing), the awkward/serious conversations we've had in the past that could only happen while being trapped in a car (birds and the bees people, and avoiding eye contact with said parent for several hours), chats about our future and what we think will happen (where we'll live, when we'll have kids, our careers/future schooling, how we'll parent, running a B&B in Alexandria one day (ha! kidding... sorta)), and plans for the spring/summer (hiking! sunlight! travels around our neck of the woods! fingers crossed, the beach!).

+ Getting desperate to spend even a minute outside of the car, spurring on the impulsive rest stops for Chick-fil-a cookies and milkshakes. Sanity is key, people. 

But in the end, we made it back to our little condo and had a wonderful weekend seeing/talking (face-to-face!) with some familiar faces. Here's to the next 30+ hour road trip in our (hopefully not too near) future! 

Our sweet Riley

Comparison may be the thief of joy, but so are sick puppies. And our sweet pup, Riley, was a very sick puppy. Along with his adorable speckles and gentle spirit came his exhausting case of distemper, and with distemper came a lot of maladies and sadness. After showing the signs of dehydration, lack of appetite, a terrible sinus problem, and unforgiving neurological ticks that prevented him from holding his darling head up, we decided that it was best for our gentle Riley to be put to sleep.

But there is a silver lining to this story.

Riley was a shelter dog. One that apparently had been left to survive walking about south/west Montgomery and who entered the shelter life with a cocktail of problems. Not only did he have distemper, but also a case of bordetella, a gastrointestinal infection, and a respiratory infection. He was quite the pup to want to try everything apparently, but despite being laden down with what seems to be everything you could possibly get sick with, he still wagged his tail and fought his hardest to get better.

My sweet parents gave him the best home that a shelter dog could ever dream of for ten days of his life, and he soaked up every minute of it. From discovering what excitement toys and playing with other fun dogs could hold to putting his front paws on the sofa until someone picked him up and put him in his own spot, Riley had a wonderful adopted life. And even for the short period of ten days, he got to know what it feels like to have a master love and care for him, even when he got scared to sleep by himself or needed someone to wipe his nose.

Riley, who knew that in the space of two days of being around you, I could get so attached? Even in our brief meeting, you taught me so much about how fleeting this life is and how even in the bad, you can find the silver lining. You were a great pup. And I hope that wherever you are, you are experiencing an existence free of pain and your milk-dipped tail is able to wag all day.

A tidbit for a Thursday

Yesterday at the gym, I'm totally struggling with this machine that is kinda broken, and being the enginerd that I am, I'm trying to fix the machine without drawing attention to myself. This nice man walks by (I'm pretty sure he thinks that I'm befuddled by this situation) and starts to help me. Alas, the machine cannot be fixed, and I thank him kindly and move on to another. 

Here's the best part: he asks me if I'm British. Boom. My day is made. Heck, my week is made. 

Naturally, I start to blush as this is one of the best compliments of my life, but I set him straight and tell him that I am actually from the sweet state of Alabama (my thinking is that I could win some education points for our state for not sounding anything like the people in Here Comes Honey Boo Boo). Lo and behold, this man used to work for UAB for 20+ years and loved Birmingham and Alabama so much, he still has his house there. And wants to retire there. He even went on to say that Alabama is a far better place to live than the UK (I'm not exaggerating). Yes, as you could imagine, I was filled with gooby pride and carried on a conversation with him for a few minutes while my sweet husband is quietly laughing at me from across the gym.

I would like to take this time to credit the two straight days of rain and wind from the not-so-sweet Sandy hurricane that encouraged me to watch Downton Abbey Seasons 1 & 2 and thus sound more polished and therefore British for a day or two. Husband had his own Brit invasion the past few days as he finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and requested that we watch the movie version as well. Only one more book in the series to go for a boy who never thought he'd read HP before we got engaged (it might have been heavily encouraged... I'm just looking out for his best interests).

My only hurdle to overcome in order to become a posing Brit (other than the US birthplace and lacking an accent issues): I'm not terribly fond of tea, whether it be hot, iced, or sweet. So really, I'm at an identity crisis because I can't properly become British, nor do some find me fully Southern. But I suppose it's alright because I live in Virginia now, and they don't always offer tea. It's a healthy middle ground, I suppose. 

And in more pertinent news, if you're friends with my sweet brother, Blake, in facebook land or in real life, be sure to wish him a wonderful birthday today! I know he'd appreciate it :)