I'll open up the moon for you.

{I received several CDs for Christmas, and this is one of them. I think it has been in my cart at Amazon for at least two years, but I just hadn't got around to buying it.}

I fell in love with this song...oh I don't know how long ago. But it's been in the back of my mind for a few months.

{Sara's lyrics are always so heartfelt and clever. I always wish I'd thought of them myself. (if you don't believe me, listen to this song.)}

One Sweet Love

Just about the time the shadows call
I undress my mind and dare you to follow
Paint a portrait of my mystery
Only close my eyes and you are here with me
A nameless face to think I see
To sit and watch the waves with me till they're gone
A heart I'd swear I'd recognize is made out of
My own devices....
Could I be wrong?

[CHORUS]
The time that I've taken
I pray is not wasted
Have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love?

Sleepless nights you creep inside of me
Paint your shadows on the breath that we share
You take more than just my sanity
You take my reason not to care.
No ordinary wings I'll need
The sky itself will carry me back to you
The things I dream that I can do I'll open up
The moon for you
Just come down soon

[CHORUS]
The time that I've taken
I pray is not wasted
Have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love?
Ready and waiting for a heart worth the breaking
But I'd settle for an honest mistake in the name of
One sweet love.

Savor the sorrow to soften the pain sip on
The southern rain
As I do, I don't look don't touch don't do anything
But hope that there is a you.

The earth that is the space between,
I'd banish it from under me...to get to you.
Your unexpected love provides my solitary's
Suicide...oh I wish I knew

[CHORUS]
The time that I've taken
I pray is not wasted
Have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love?
Ready and waiting for a heart worth the breaking
But I'd settle for an honest mistake in the name of
One sweet love.



I think what I love about this song is that it's not desperate, or needy, or even overtly impatient. It's not that she's unhappy with her single life; it's more...hopeful about the future.

And I get that, I really do. Because that's where I am right now: content with my life and truly happy, but not too content to lose hope for something more.

We contemplate our own mental versions of what we want. We make silent sacrifices and oaths to cheat time and bring that one sweet love to us a little sooner. We pray that our efforts are not in vain.

And we hope.
We hope that we haven't messed everything up.
We hope that we haven't missed our chance.
We hope that we haven't said too much, or not said enough.
We hope that there is a "you" to put at the end of our "I love..."

Ring Out the Bells on Christmas Day

I love both of these hymns, both taken from poems.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

...

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Ring out, wild bells

by Lord Tennyson

...

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

from this stage I can tell that she can't let go and she can't relax

January 15th*, here I come.

I'm getting ready.

I'm pooling my resources and drawing from what I've learned and letting my creativity incubate.

If I can't show you anything else,

let me tell you this:

I want it.

I really want it.

And I'm willing to fight for it.

*The deadline to turn in my Advertising application.

image via deviantart

You say "ee-ther" and I say "eye-ther"*

Love-to-be:

I hope you don't fall asleep when we listen to "A Christmas Carol," the old radio version. Because my family listens to it every year, and it's one of my favorite traditions.

I hope you like fudge and almond roca, because my mom makes the best.


I don't know if I'll ever be able to cook a turkey or a Christmas ham to perfection like my mother or grandmother, but for you, I'll sure try my best.

I hope that you want to bundle up and go cut down our own tree, and that we'll quarrel just a little bit over which one to get. But we'll settle it over candy canes and hot cocoa.

I hope that you have funky ornaments you made in grade school, just like I do. Because they have so much character.

I hope you like my family. And I hope I like yours just as well.

And even if your family does things differently when it comes to Christmas, I'm okay with that. We'll compromise. And make our own traditions.

I hope we don't get too caught up in the shopping and cooking and planning to remember that his holiday is about love, and giving of ourselves, rather than our pocketbooks.

Because those are always the best gifts.

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so infectious as laughter and good-humor."

-A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

image via deviantart

*I've always been a sucker for jazz. Especially this time of year.

"Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded."

Finals are so stressful.

But then it is WONDERFUL when studying pays off.

image via deviantart

Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 in 1952.

{I found this picture on Sabino. And I liked it. A lot.}

we can blame the media.
we can blame McDonalds.
we can blame technology and Photoshop and plastic surgery.

or we can find that inner love for ourselves.
and accept that beauty has no dictionary definition.
it is an open-ended question.
and we answer it by loving ourselves every day.

we can feed our souls when we feed our beautiful bodies three times a day.
we can say thanks for this amazing gift we've been given by treating it well:
moving it around, filling it with delicious food, getting some shut-eye at night.

because it really isn't about the numbers: 10, 35-29-40, 145....
it's about loving the body God gave you. and doing what you can so you can move it around, enjoy that delicious food, and get some shut-eye for 80, 90, maybe even 100 years.

image via google

A few thoughts of the day:

-about a month ago, I realized my ward (the people I go to church with) rocks.

-i still hate the snow.

-i may or may not be unprepared for finals...however I will do such preparing over the weekend.

-i realized I love mustard on my sandwiches.

-my black sweatshirt from D.I. is my new favorite article of clothing.

-gilmore girls never gets old. ever.

-and on tuesday i am going to attempt to make samosas. wish me luck :)

image via deviantart

A little bit of Christmas cheer.

The Sunday before I flew back to school after Thanksgiving, my family and I went to the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at our county courthouse.

We sang Christmas carols together. We prayed together. We lifted each others' spirits. Most of all. We came together as a community.

This is one reason I'm so glad I grew up in a small town. I think community is so important. Not saying you can't find that in a big city, but you probably have to look harder for it.

It wasn't commercial or worldly or costly. I really felt like it embodied the true spirit of Christmas: Love.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." -John 3:16

Shuffle to the beat.

(I know, I know, this is two posts on a night when I didn't even have time for one.)

BUT.

I'm just so in love all over again with this song. It just came onto my iPod.

His voice. Those lyrics.

I had to share. {Actually, the entire Garden State soundtrack is fabulous.}

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You by Colin Hay

I drink good coffee every morning
Comes from a place that's far away
And when I'm done I feel like talking
Without you here there is less to say

I don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived till I was 102
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

I'm no longer moved to drink strong whisky
'Cause I shook the hand of time and I knew
That if I lived till I could no longer climb my stairs
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

Your face it dances and it haunts me
Your laughter's still ringing in my ears
I still find pieces of your presence here
Even after all these years

But I don't want you thinking
I don't get asked to dinner
'Cause I'm here to say that I sometimes do
Even though I may soon feel the touch of love
I just don't think I'll ever get over you


If I lived till I was 102
I just don't think I'll ever get over you.


Every time I listen to this song, I picture an old man sitting in his house, looking at a picture of his late wife. Still lonely. But content, and still so in love. Isn't that the way it should be? We don't want to be forgotten at death; we don't want to forget, either. Love should last forever.

It doesn't mean you can't move on with your life, it just means that that person is still a part of it.

image via google images

I'm dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you*

I'm taking time out of my CRAZY busy day to post about dance. Don't worry, this is a happy post. :-).

Let me tell you a little story...

From 7:43am until 7:43pm Laura Coalwell constantly ran through lists in her head. Lists of class assignments, lists of dance figures, lists of things to do. She ran to class, to work, to dinner group, and then, at 7:43pm, she stepped into the ballroom in the Richards Building and....

ROCKED THE HOUSE.

Okay. Maybe I didn't rock the house. But the important part is: I danced with my heart. And loved.every.minute.of.it.

And when I dance like that, it always feels like I'm rockin' the house.

It turned out to be a pretty good day.**

Image: Marshall and I, faking our way through the Moulin Rouge Tango.

*"Dancing" By Elisa. Beautiful song. Love this.
**Also, I just feel so loved and blessed to have such incredible people in my life. People who truly care.