JOY #16: watching the sky change colors

so.
it's 1:56 am and i'm starting to realize that this daily movie-making is far more time-consuming than i initially thought. the uploading, the splicing, the clipping, the adding of text, the trying to find cool music, the fitting of the music, the transferring to vimeo, the waiting for vimeo to process it so it can then be embedded on the actual blog... it is quite the process.

but.
you know what!?
i am having a blast with this project.
every day, my senses are on like... super alert... to take in all the little things that bring me joy. every day, i get super excited because i know i have the chance to share these little joys!
...and every day this week, i've been like... shoot, meg... there goes ANOTHER day of not getting to bed by 10:45 pm.
oops.

but let's not talk about that.
slash... we can. it's just... sometimes i don't like to admit that i've failed at things. ju know?
and i totally failed at this goal.
like... the earliest i went to bed all week was probably 1.
so...
how about we talk about pizza picnics, instead?

have you ever had a pizza picnic?
they are quite enjoyable.
order a pizza. spread out a blanket. call some friends. eat the pizza on the blanket. pretend it's summer. keep eating. have a blast.
tis good fun.

i had one tonight.
only... i didn't video the pizza picnic, so you're gonna have to imagine.
so much joy.

Joy #15: Jimdaddy

the summer after my sophomore year in college,
i worked as a counselor at camp greystone.
greystone is one of the coolest, most magical places on earth for about a billion and twenty seven reasons, but i feel compelled to write about one in particular tonight:

jimdaddy.

jimdaddy was the epitome of a someone who lived life to the fullest. one of the senior directors of camp, he ceaselessly wore a smile and encouraged everyone to decide, right when they got out of bed each morning, that that day was going to be a GREAT day! he had jokes and stories to keep one entertained for days, he knew exactly how to encourage people to be the best version of themselves, and even at 75 (ish!?) years of age, he still worked out several times a week / had enough energy and vigor to rival a 16-year-old guy.

this morning, i received an email saying that jimdaddy had passed away unexpectedly yesterday evening. despite having only spent one summer with this man, all of today, my heart has been like... jimdaddy? really?! gone?
i just cannot believe it.

so why do i write about this tonight, when the theme of this blog is to celebrate simple joys??
because what a joy it is to be able to say that someone (who, really, i barely knew) made such a significant impact on my life. i mean... how awesome!

may you, too, find joy, tonight, in remembering someone who's made a great impact in your own life.

joy :)
meg

"No matter your goal in life, keep your eye on the doughnut and not upon the hole!"
-Jimdaddy

JOY #14: snow days!

where i grew up,
snow days meant at least a foot of snow,
dangerously icy roads, and usually a lot of wind. they meant stocking up on bread and milk, planning to have massive drifts block in the driveways for a few days, and gearing up for the serious, bad-boy types of blizzards that could render a person lifeless.

in nashville? not so much.
in this city, if there is so much as word that snow is coming, school is canceled. if there is an inch and half of the sweet, gentle, peacefully-falling kind of snow, stores (like the bank i tried to go to today) lock their doors and send all their employees home by 2 pm. and if a young girl tries to drive to her friend's house around 8 pm when, yes, more snow has accumulated, but no, the roads are not icy and there is not a sliver of a bit of wind, neighbors will worriedly ask,
"you're not driving in this, are you?!"

oh, i love this city. :)
snuggle in!
xx.
meg

JOY #13: sleep :)

sweet dreams.
meg :)

JOY #12: doodling

tonight at work,
i doodled on some napkins.
small joy.

also tonight, a 16-year-old girl who's been trapped in the rubble in Haiti for 15 days was found alive.
big joy.
(how awesome is that?!?!)
:)

for joys both big and small,
praise.

xo.
meg

JOY #11: hot tea and a Snuggie on a tuesday night

today i

a) started a new job (!!)
(more on this in entries to come)

b) discovered my complete lack of sophistication/ suaveness when it comes to
drinking bubble tea
(i like when the bubbles come up the fat straw. i like the feel of the bubbles in my mouth, but only for the first 1 or 2 seconds. i do not like to chew or swallow the bubbles. i do not like to spit the bubbles out once they've already come into my mouth. so where do i put the bubbles? see?)

c) experienced the joy of a Snuggie.

JOY #10: meeting new friends

have you ever felt like God placed certain people in your life just at the right time, just for the right reason, or just... for fun?

it's a total joy-bringer and it totally happened to me tonight.
little blessing!

i was at ToT (short for Theology on Tap... grad students/recent college grads who get together to discuss faith-related issues and socialize for a bit each week) and i met several wonderful people who i never knew before. bam.

xo.
meg

JOY #9: baby goals

sometimes i feel like i have the world's worst sleeping habits.
and sometimes, i just really want to change them.

so
tonight i shall begin. :)

my commitment for the upcoming week:

to bed at 10:45
wake up at 6:45
+ run in the mornins

(slash on late, late work nights: bed at midnight, up at 8, run)

yay for baby goals.
that is all.
meg :)

JOY #8: the climb

you know what i was reminded of during our hike this weekend?

the value and beauty of the climb.

(the climb = the process of getting to our dreams
the mountaintop = the final arrival at our dreams).

if we had the option of having helicopters drop us off at the top of our mountains,
we could save a lot; a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of sweating, a lot of struggling, and a lot of working really, really hard through a lot of really, really not-so-enjoyable circumstances.
(e.g. nasty wind. golf-ball-sized hail. maybe some bear attacks. having to use leaves for toilet paper. you know.)

but you know what else? we would also miss a lot.
we would miss the beauty, the
friendships, the laughter, and the joy that are such an integral part of the climb. we would miss the lessons learned from falling and the strength acquired each time we choose to get back up.

so for all of you climbing out there...
here's to finding joy in the process.

party at the top!

:)
meg

JOY #7: roadtrips

when i was a baby, my dad used to take me on drives if i couldn't fall asleep.

he would bundle me up in some snuggly baby clothes,
snuggle me up in my snuggly baby car-seat,
sing to me some snuggly baby songs,
and soon,
we. would. be.
cruisin'
in an old jeep wagoneer with navy paint and wood side-paneling, to make matters better.
pretty cool.

this ritual of trying to get me to fall asleep by driving me around has not only stuck, but grown into a huge fondness of mine;
i have come to absolutely love riding in cars.

it's like being lulled into relaxation by the continuous motion of a cozy, safe, little orb.
yes?
(ok, so maybe that's a lot bit subjective, but... you get my gist).

this weekend, i went up to the great smoky mountains with a group of girlfriends.
we went hiking, laughed a lot, ate dinner and sang karaoke at a fun little wine bar, went to the orginal (sorry nashville, gatlinburg had the first...) pancake pantry and ate the epitome of fluffy, delicious pancakes, caught completely up about life and love...

and spent about 500 miles of car time together.
so. much. simple. joy.

:)
hope you all had a great weekend!
videos 8 and 9 to come as soon as i get them done!

GIRLS' WEEKEND!

i'm going to the mountains with some girlfriends this weekend.
(hooray!)

no internet connection.
(hooray again!)
(always nice to disconnect once in a while)

videos 7, 8, and 9 to come on sunday night!

love,
meg

JOY #6: green tea frappuccinos

today had many little joys:
guitar lesson
lunch with a great friend at the froth
visit to skyline to see all the wonderful people i used to work with
&
(the star of today's video):
a delicious little treat from starbucks.
mmm!!

tomorrow is friday. that is good.
sweet dreams.
meg :)

JOY #5: joey's hilariousness

a few nights a week, i work at this great mexican restaurant
called cantina laredo. if you haven't been there, come try it - it's delish. and we make fresh guacamole at your table, so... done and done. see ya there. :)

now.
once, there was this guy named joey. joey was also a waiter at cantina laredo, and he would frequently come up and tell me all sorts of random things about
eyebrows
and kittens
and glow-worms
and boo-boo snicker-doodles (?!)
and whatever else was on his mind, and...
it never failed to make us both laugh
a lot.

so tonight,
my entry is attributed to the hilariousness of the dear, dear joey freece-meister.
please enjoy.

:)
meg

p.s. in no way was this intended to make fun of joey. (and he knows that). he was totally aware of the purposes behind me catching this footage and he knows that if he ever wanted, he could catch footage of me being equally as ... crazy.
just to let you know.

JOY #4: the sound of laughter ... and... watch the video to find out what else :)

so.
today was swell.
i
slept in a little bit,
wrote and finished a song with a great guy named Adam,
cleaned and organized some things,
babysat one of my absolute favorites, and
accidentally crashed a party in the lounge of my apartment slash made some new friends.
always fun.

oh.
and i also drank Gatorade from a wine glass
and laughed a lot with a five-year-old.

joy.
meg :)

JOY #3: middle-of-the-night inspiration

Man.

You know what definitely does not bring me much joy?
Food poisoning.
I had never experienced the wrath of this violent little sickness until last night, but let me assure you: not good.

I spent most of the night curled in a ball on my bathroom floor, alternately sweating and shivering, and I had enough energy this afternoon to answer the door when a little angel of a friend brought me some Gatorade, but other than that, I have been a big ball of weak since about 2:00 am this morning.

Despite that...
Sometimes I'm thankful for the times in my life when I really don't feel so great. Because sometimes, these sorts of lows (and they can be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual) make me stop and consider all that is good in so many other areas of my life.

Like ...
being hit with some middle-of-the-night inspiration for a new song.
That is something that always brings me joy.
:)

P.S. this footage really was taken last night... only I hadn't gotten sick quite yet.
And if you're wondering about the hair/clothing change ... at about 1:30, i felt an urge to take a shower, put on comfier clothes, and dry and straighten my hair.

JOY #2: rocking a baby to sleep while singing Ingrid tunes

I love the kids i babysit. Like... i... love 'em. I would almost go as far as to say that I enjoy babysitting as much as I enjoy going out on some nights. Is that absolutely crazy?

There is just something so innately precious (and often hilarious) about little kids that makes spending time with them hard to resist.

The other night, I babysat for for CG and JT.
CG is four and has a nightly routine as ordered as a row of bricks, and it totally cracks me up. Each of her 12 stuffed animals gets tucked in with her and must be put in exactly the correct place. Mr. Bear has to go on the outside of the bed to keep Little Rabbit from falling off. Jessie Lamb has to get covered up with her own stuffed animal blanket and be placed directly to the right of CG, and Mr. Ted has to sleep precisely on CG's tummy.
...and on and on the process goes, until all of the animals are exactly in their specified positions.

JT is two. He is cute with capital C (read Cute), and he normally gets rocked to sleep while listening to a variation of Bible/children's songs, but the other night, I had this huge urge to sing some Ingrid Michaelson tunes. So I did.

I'm sure he had absolutely no idea what I was singing about, but it was so sweet, just sitting there, rocking him and singing "The Way I Am," watching his eyelids grow heavier and heavier with each round of the chorus, and seeing him drift peacefully into baby sleep.

-joy!-

meg :)

JOY #1: the feeling after a great workout

I recently joined a running group in Nashville. There are about 50 people of all ages and backgrounds in the group, and every Saturday morning, we meet at a breakfast place, do a long run together, and then eat and socialize.

The group is so encouraging and this morning, two people especially (thanks, Karen and Tammy!) made all the difference in the world in terms of helping me get to the finish line.
Rock star cheerer-on-ers of the world.

I am super thankful for the opportunity to be part of this group.

JOY #1: the feeling after a great workout :)

the plan.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein once said that. I like to think that everything is a miracle.

Yes, there is pain and tragedy and chaos and disorder and evil and hate in our world. I am not blind to these realities and I do not choose to ignore them.

But there is also beauty and joy and goodness and laughter and solace and happiness and satisfaction. And I have found it hugely rewarding,
especially in an age where there is such great emphasis on all the hurt and suffering in our world, to take the time to appreciate that which is GOOD
and to be grateful for the things that elicit joy.

So here is the plan for this blog:

to focus on the things in my life that bring me joy
to take time to appreciate that which is good
to say thank you for the simple gift of being alive
(and to practice my photo/video skills while i'm at it)

Look for a brief (woo!) entry every day for the rest of 2010.
That'll make 350 entries by then end of the year.

check back daily!
meg :)


P.S. little white lights bring me joy.