march madness

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My dad stayed with us this weekend during his annual trip to Austin for the UIL High School Girls Basketball State Championships. The tournament always falls on the last weekend of February, and my dad’s presence there is about as sure as the sun. He’s been coaching high school basketball for close to 30 years in Texas, and I’m not sure he’s missed a single year of the tournament.

Growing up, it was a tradition. Once I got old enough, I was allowed to take a few days off of school and come to Austin with him to watch the games. I remember when I was younger eating at Red Brick Pizza on Red River in between sessions. Now, as an adult living in Austin, I look forward to him coming, and still try to attend one of the sessions with him to get my fill of high school girls basketball. Because everyone needs some of that in their life, you know what I mean?

The tournament is always a seasonal marker for me- for my dad being in town and also for MARCH.

If you guys weren’t aware, March is my favorite month of the year.

Why? I’ll give you three guesses.

1. It starts to warm up in Austin, and we get these awesome 75 degree days with no clouds.

Nope.

2. Sno beach re-opens for the season and graces Austin with their sno-cones once again.

Nope.

3. SXSW comes to town.

Absolutely not.

What could it be then, you ask? Two words:

College. Basketball.

That’s right. I am that girl. I am that girl who participates in a bracket competition with her family. I’m the girl who has ESPN pulled up while at work, so I can be listening to the games instead of my iTunes. I’m the girl who cries during “One Shining Moment” every. single. year.

You think it would’ve gotten old by now. It hasn’t.

Sixteen games on each day during the first and second rounds, the underdogs, the last second shots, the inevitable Cinderella, the five people in the whole country who have their ESPN brackets still correct after the first weekend, the excitement as you see the field narrowed from 64, 32, 16, 8 to the coveted Final Four. It’s madness, and I freaking love it.

Needless to say, I’m really excited it’s March.

If you need me, I’ll be on my back porch avoiding SXSW, in the 75 degree weather watching basketball and eating Sno-beach.

sunday

lindsayLeave a comment

I’m sitting at my kitchen table staring out the glass door into our backyard after a slow morning of drinking tea, and reading while curled up in a blanket on my couch. My tongue is stinging from the steaming mug of hot chocolate I’ve been hesitantly sipping on, and my nose is taking big whiffs of the sea salt candle burning. The scent traveling through my nose and gently relaxing my whole body.

It’s quiet in the house except for the sound of our 20 year old washing machine, and Rio barking at squirrels in the backyard. He wanted to go outside even though it’s dark and drizzling, and after a few minutes of him pleading with me,  I reluctantly let him out knowing I was signing myself up for mud duty later. For the past 15 minutes, he’s been sprinting back and forth across our yard, reveling in the freedom of being outside, and only taking breaks to drag around a stick twice the size of him.

Sometimes, after a long week with a full schedule, I feel like I need permission to rest. I need permission to slow down, to stop going, to stop running my brain. I need permission to take time by myself, and not make phone calls or hang out with friends or even go to a coffee shop.

One of the reasons I love Austin so much is because we get on average 300 days of sunshine a year. I love the sun. But on days like this lazy Sunday, I’m thankful for the rain, and its whispers of “rest” into my mind, soul and bones. It’s presence acts as affirmation to my heart: rest is good. You’ve been going 100 mph this week, and it’s time to slow down. It’s ok to slow down. It’s ok. Let Me refresh you, and give you new life. You are enough.

Happy Sunday.

P.S. – Remember that time I said I was signing up for mud duty? I wasn’t kidding.

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february goals

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There is a reason the picture above is of a beach. The reason is that I am officially over cold weather.

Please remind me I wrote that in six months when we’re on our second straight month of triple digit temperatures and I’m complaining about how hot it is.

But for now, bring on the sun because all this dreary, rainy, grey-sky weather is wearing on me. I’m severely lacking in Vitamin D. And we don’t even have any snow or negative degree temperatures. I have a new found respect for all you mid-westerners and east-coasters.

In Texas, we shut down if there’s a 10% chance of rain and the temperatures are anywhere near freezing. So, there’s that to chew on while you’re shoveling 3 feet of snow in -8 degree weather and then heading to work like normal people.

Anyway, I digress. It’s February. Which means it’s almost March, which means springtime. In an effort to not jump too far ahead, here we go with a recap of January… let’s just say it was touch and go this month. 

Goals for January: 

– I received The Artist’s Way for Christmas. It’s a 12-week self-guided workshop to uncovering your creativity. I want to start that this month. Started it, and am loving it! Morning pages are my new favorite thing.  

– Purchase a nice camera: the first step to upping my photography skills. Haven’t gotten to this one yet. We had a few unforeseen expenses this month so it got bumped. February! 

– Complete my 2014 Annual Review. I found a template for an annual review last year, and loved it. It’s a guideline to help you think big picture about what you want this year to look like, what are your desires, your dreams, and then gives you the framework to plan out how to get there. It’s simple, but eye-opening. The template I use can be found here if you want to check it out! Mostly done, but I have a few other things I’ve been wanting to add for about a week. 

– Finish A Sun Also Rises. Find a good fiction book to read next. I’m thinking maybe this. Done! And ASAR is maybe one of my favorite fiction books I’ve read. My friend described it as “the Wes Anderson movie of novels” and I think that’s so true. If you like Wes Anderson, you’ll love this book. 

– Have a “dreaming” date with Taylor. We celebrated our first anniversary the last weekend in January, and got to spend a few days really dreaming of what we want the next year to be. So fun. 

– Limit alcohol and desserts to the weekends. A little holiday cleanse 🙂 Ehhh… let’s just say I did pretty well on the alcohol part, and not so great on the dessert part. I have a killer sweet tooth. 

Goals for February: 

– Purchase a nice camera. For real this time. 

– Get a membership at Austin Public Library. Our new house is right next to one! Taylor and I are both hard copy book people, so what a great way to save some money and not have to read off a screen 🙂 

– Read one book. 

– Paint the TV stand in our living room a different color. 

– Go on weekly walks around our neighborhood with Taylor and Rio. 

– Limit pressing snooze on my alarm to ONE time.*

*One exercise in The Artist’s Way asked us to list out five subtle bad habits that could be holding you up from unleashing your creativity. Pressing snooze multiple times in the morning is one of mine. It takes me longer to be up once I get out of bed, and gives me less time in the morning to prepare for my day. My prime creative time is in the morning- if I sleep too late, that time disappears. So, this goal is geared toward breaking that habit. 

Crazy that it’s already the second month of 2014! What are your goals to keep you going through this dreary winter weather?