"Every child begins the world again." H.D. Thoreau

February was an exciting month for some of my closest friends. They added to their families and their lives are now changed forever with these joyous additions. I love you ladies so much!!!

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body." E. Stone

At 6:11am on Wednesday, February 23rd, the world met JayCee Clare, the beautiful daughter of one of my closest friends, Samantha. I had the absolute honor of being at the hospital right when she was allowed visitors with her big sister in tow. Witnessing Amara meet her new baby sister was such a special moment and I am thankful to have been a part of it. Her overdue and much anticipated arrival is one to be remembered.

"A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities." E. Shan

Amara was so thrilled to meet JayCee after waiting anxiously each day during school for someone other than Samantha to pick her up, indicating the baby had finally arrived. She hoped out loud each night that she would wake up to realize her mom wasn't home. Finally her wish came true when last Wednesday I woke her up at 7am to tell her that Mommy and Daddy weren't home. She jumped up and got ready faster than I'd ever seen before we made the trip to the hospital singing Mumford and Sons the whole way.


Now that JayCee's home, Amara doesn't want to put her down. It's obvious that the Dunlaps' newest addition has quite the little caretaker in her big sister. Four days after JayCee's arrival, Amara turned 7. It's been a big week for the Dunlaps. Nonetheless, I know Samantha's relieved to have her baby keeping her up at night rather than the discomfort she caused prior.

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for." Unknown

At 12:25pm on Monday, February 28th, Dylan Michael joined us. This handsome little devil is the first child of one of my best and oldest friends, Ashley. They knew her tiny body wasn't going to be able to handle the natural birth of a baby expected to be 9.5 pounds (yikes!), so they scheduled a C-section a few days early. Everything went well and he turned out to be just over 8 pounds.

Doesn't she look great for just having had that little babe surgically removed??


Regretfully, I wasn't able to be there for this special event since I'm here in Denver. I am lucky enough that my family is so close to Ashley. My sister, Jaclyn, threw her shower and her and my mom went shopping. I was able to email my mom all the things I wanted to give her so I could be a part of the shower too.

"Children reinvent your world for you." S. Sarandon

Jaclyn looks so happy and excited to be holding the little babe. Her and Bryan were able to be there for the occasion. Ashley and Dylan are surrounded with so many loving friends. I know they'll have all the love and support they need, but I sure wish more than anything that I could be there to experience this new adventure right beside her.

"A man is not complete until he has seen the baby he has made." S. Davis Jr.

Txin iĝamaĝal taliĝing ii?

"Would you like to dance with me?" as asked in the Unangam Tunuu (Aleut language) Aakiiwa - Blackfoot for "woman"

Chúush - Yakama for "water"

Ainihkiwa - Blackfoot for "sing" Áan - Yakama for "water"

"Give me the splendid silent sun at sunset." W. Whitman

"We sleep, but the loom of life never stops and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up to-morrow." H.W. Beecher

"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream." B. Williams
"We will put no impediment in your way and we will be at dockside bidding you a farewell as you set off into the sunset." C. Lichenstein
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." Crowfoot

2011...Impression

Hmm...another year? Already? For starters, I'm not approaching 2011 begging it to be kind to me as I did with 2010. I think that may have jinxed me last year. Instead, I'm starting the year with motivation to accomplish my new goals. I still can't believe it's already 2011!! Where the hell does time go?!

I know it's February, which isn't exactly the very beginning of 2011, but I've been busy! I was lucky enough to ring in the new year in Seattle with family and friends. After not having spent the Holidays at home since 2005, I was desperate to get back and it was everything I'd imagined it to be. Promptly following a fun-filled new year's celebration, I rushed back to Denver to start the much dreaded "busy season". Thanks to some crazy Germans, my team worked so much the first two weeks of the year that we stayed in a hotel right down the street, cutting out on useless commute time. When I say busy, I am talking 105 hours from Monday morning through the following Sunday night. That is 105 of the 168 hours that exist in seven days. I had a great attitude about it until I was about 100 hours in, but we survived! Onto the next client...

Now it's February 3rd and I've been rejuvenated by a haircut, massage, girls' night out, lunch dates, a baby shower, and some much needed time at home on my couch with Brutus and my DVR. Currently, I'm waiting for my friend Samantha to have her baby (any minute now), still working long hours, and running every chance I get. Overly exciting, right? It'll do for now while Mother Nature gives us snow and freezing temperatures.

Onto this year's plans: kicking ass at work so I can make Manager in the Fall, running a full marathon, not moving, a lot of travelling around the states, starting a home buying fund, and turning 28 (yikes!). It's a short list, but those are this year's aspirations and happenings. The rest of life is just going to happen. That's another goal: letting life happen without feeling the need to make so many big decisions. I'm taking the path of least resistance in most aspects of life.

This year is going to be a big year for running. I'm running 21 miles at the Big Sur Int'l Marathon on May 1st. That gives me less than 3 months to be ready to run 21 miles! I've never run more than 13.1 and only ran that once last year, but I have a great friend running with me and I'm excited. I'm more motivated than ever, training after long days in the office, getting out in the 25 degree, dark cold or sometimes watching the sun rise. Good thing my Mom went all out for Christmas getting me new gear, including a headlamp. Now I'm one of those crazy people I used to see running at night beaming fluorescent light. I know 21 miles is a random distance, but it's just a beautiful way to train for a full marathon. I haven't decided on the locale of the full yet, but hope to run one in the Summer. I'm also planning on running a bunch of other races too, so let's hope for some personal bests this year.

Traveling to Big Sur is just one of the places I'm going this year. That weekend will be a nice long weekend of running and the Bay Area. Before that, I'm going to NYC in April for a fun girls' weekend. In May, after Big Sur, I'll enjoy another Memorial Day weekend in Vegas and a short trip up to Washington for my sister's college graduation! Yay! In August, I'll be going to my 10-year High School Reunion. I can't believe it's been 10 years, but I'm so excited to see so many people I've wanted to see while home, but never get the chance. It'll be a good reason for a lot of us to actually meet up! I'll be going to Vegas again in October for a Dirty 30 and definitely back home for the Holidays. Other than those planned trips, I'm going to be visiting San Diego a couple of times, going back to Washington a couple other times, and wherever the wind blows me. It'll be a fun year, but I have a lot of plane tickets to buy!

I'm letting off the pressure in every other aspect of life this year and just starting fresh without so much expectation. I'll be 28 on the 28th of June (Golden Jasmine Day) and although life isn't what I had pictured it to be at this stage, I'm enjoying the opportunity to truly grow into myself. I'm hoping this year will be about unlearning some of what I've become accustomed to, including disappointment. There is beauty in letting go. It's going to be an eventful year. So many of my close friends are bringing life into the world, my cousin's getting married (another trip to a locale yet to be determined), and loved ones will be struggling to get healthy. I plan to be there for each and every one of them.

Cheers to a drama-free, peaceful, and loving 2011!

.:Loss:.

"The only education in grief that any of us ever gets is a crash course. Until the loss, I had belonged to that other world, the place of innocence and linear expectations, where I thought grief was a simple, wrenching realm of sadness and longing that gradually receded. What that definition left out was the body blow that loss inflicts, as well as the temporary madness, and a range of less straightforward emotions shocking in their intensity."

~ Gail Caldwell

Surrender

Surrender...
deciding to lay down the weapon and walk away from the fight
...
a way to get back all your power

...

a struggle that defines heroism

...

have mercy on my heart