Adopting in Ashburn

It was delicious! Also, I now have a head cold (probably not from making the cake, but just generally being run down after three really busy weeks). I'm going to bed because tomorrow I have an all-day volleyball tournament, dinner with the girls, and a date. Yup. You read that right. I'm not sure what's more astounding really; that I managed to not follow a single recipe and successfully make a fabulous goat cheese cheesecake on my first try or that someone wants to hang out with me enough to not care that I have a cold. Either way, I'm calling today a success and hitting the sack as early on a Friday night as I've done in years. Love always, ~Heather

As my Lenten promise, I am going to be writing a letter a day. 40 days, 40 letters. I already have one to make up for, as I didn't think of this brilliant plan until I was actually in church during the 7 p.m. service last night. I have also decided that this counts as a letter because I have a decent number of regular readers (like you!) and you deserve to read too. In fact, this writing process is about reflection. I try to pray as frequently as possible, but I'm not sure I'm really reflecting on myself and my life as much as I need to. My hope is that by writing to others and talking about what is going on in my life, I'll be able to build a better relationship with my friends (you!), family, and God. Tonight was the most interesting part of my day, so I'll share that in words and pictures (ooo, maybe it'll help remind me to take more pictures too!). Tonight, I made a goat cheese cheesecake. I have no idea if it is delicious, but it is in fact a cheeseca...

HISTORICAL POST - Original date: 6/28/2008 at 11:35 p.m. Tonight, after watching An American in Paris with P, she lent me two books. One of them was a Brave New World . Now I intend to start reviewing the books I read for everyone's perusal, but the title really hit home with events from earlier in the day. I have this policy, which you may or may not know about. It is a personal standard that I live by - when I think something nice about a person, I tell them. This policy applies to walking past people who smell good, or noticing shoes, umbrellas, appetizing smelling homemade lunches, whatever. It also encompasses a much greater array of "nice thoughts" as well. My rationale is that you never know if someone is having a bad day, or had never received this particular compliment before and now, they will know that someone thought this nice thing about them. (I feel inclined to note here that I often think more things than I am able to share and I also tend to do thi...

Waiting is probably one of the hardest things in the world. It requires patience, perseverance, and willpower. Sometimes I shock myself with both my possession of these characteristics and with my lack of them. Right now I am waiting. I have been told to wait, so I am. But I am not in a line, I'm in my life. My life should not be bound by anticipation - it should be bound by action. So I am proactively waiting. It's like putting your name in for a table at a restaurant and then flirting with the host/hostess so your group is seated first. Except I'm not flirting (which many, if not everyone would tell you I sort of suck at) or looking for a table. I'm waiting on my future, and in a way I've never had to before. This is the first year I haven't moved in some way or another in almost a decade. Somehow, finally staying put has forced me to look around and notice the speed at which I am going. I don't like it. There are some places where I'm keeping...

HISTORICAL POST FROM 11/10/08 AT 11:35 PM In lieu of a post that is long over do, I'm going to share some quotes to think about ... Josh Billings - "Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius." Doris Lessing - "Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself." John N. Mitchell - "The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire." LE CHEMIN N'EST JAMAIS LONG PARMI LES AMIS. Des fois dans la vie, tu trouves un(e) ami(e) spécial(e); Quelqu'un qui change ta vie juste en y faisant partie. Quelqu'un qui te fait rire jusqu'à ne plus pouvoir t'arrêter; Quelqu'un qui te fait croire que la vraie bonté existe encore en ce monde. Quelqu'un qui peut te convaincre qu'il y a vraiment une porte qui attend simplement que tu l'ouvres. C'est l'amitié pour toujours. You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower The future ha...

Lately I've been busy with a gajillion things and haven't blogged a single one of them. I understand that this makes me kind of a goober. I apologize for my goober-dom. I have been writing though, including on a daily blog for work. After spending a decent portion of the day on blogger or reading blogs and online journalism, my brain does not want to blog at night. In fact, every part of me wants to be doing something that does not involve my poor little typing fingers. This, however, does not help my loyal readers. It doesn't tell you what I'm doing, how I'm doing, or give you the pleasure of the ridiculous tangential storytelling technique I so often apply here. So, as a short favor (since it is late and I'm exhausted), I'll give you some bullets on me and where I am. Five minutes of them in fact. OKay, go. Everyday my Gchat message is a new movie quote that is somehow relevant to the day. I am keeping track of them (and why I chose them) in a spr...

I have so much to blog I don't have time to look out the window! But, I made a promise and I'm sticking to it. Expect a post tonight and some historical pieces that never got finished to pop up over the next week as I get back into my blogging habit. Love always, ~Heather