begetting blossoms

Yesterday was the First Day of Spring! HAPPY DAY!

I would have posted yesterday but I was busy working and then driving an hour to meet up with my friends to go to a Utah Jazz game. It was quite the jam-packed adventure. I worked 8 hours and after my shift I booked it out of work, drove, pulled into my boyfriend's driveway, got in his roommate's car and we took off to Utah! The Jazz played the number one team in the western conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they WON! [Keep in mind, I know nothing about basketball, it's my boyfriend's sport. But he's been feeling out of sorts lately and when he asked me if I wanted to go with him I threw all my previous NBA judgments out the window and went because I knew it would make him happy. We ate nachos and drank beer and called the referee a sonofabitch! :) and laughed a lot!]

I had never been to a basketball game before and it turned out to be a lot of fun. The Jazz's mascot, The Bear, is hilarious! I love that guy! And during halftime they had these dogs that were AMAZING at catching frisbees! They would run around the guy and jump up in the air to catch the frisbees and do little flips. It was so cute. I love animals!

The weather was fairly nice yesterday, and it's even better today. There are even rumors that it'll be up in the 60s this weekend! I hope so, because I had a harder time with winter than I thought I would. And it was a very mild winter by eastern Idaho's standards!

These are some things I'm looking forward to this spring:
-going slacklining with my best friend
-going/learning how to rock climb with that same friend
-practicing yoga in the sunshine with the lovely Alisa!
-hopefully getting a bike so I can go riding with my brother and his wife
-learning how to longboard so I can cruise with my boyfriend
-reading books under a shady tree
-taking walks by myself, with the doggy, and anyone else that wants to go :)
-and starting seeds. I need flowers in my life [my boyfriend is awesome and knows this; he bought me a big bouquet of yellow and orange flowers 2 weekends ago. They still look great :) ]

Thoughtful Thursday [wk.8]- BREAKING DOLDRUMS

I've been sad and slightly mad the past few weeks. I feel stuck and anxious to change it.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This message has reached my ears several times in the past week. Just yesterday, my boyfriend said to me, "Don't let a time frame trip you out; life takes as long as life takes." And it's so true. Anything in life that's worth anything takes a long time to attain. Instant gratification never lasts that long, it's never very strong.

I had quite the day yesterday. To put it in a nutshell, my job is a joke and the lack of organization is driving me insane. Thus, change is needed. So I turned to my trusty ol' pops. He's my go-to person when I'm feeling like complete crap over my life. He's been around a while, he's dealt with his share of crap. We talked for 2 hours on the phone. Then I chatted with my oldest brother about my lifecrap when he got home from work.

My father and brother have been the biggest support and push to better myself throughout my entire life [and they've both had endless amounts of patience with me. Bless their souls]. It's wonderful because they have different points of view, so I don't feel like my family is a broken record [or like they're conspiring...]. I get the greatest feeling of hope after I talk to my father and brother when I'm in a rut. The advice they gave me: write more. Really, that's the conclusion they both came to! I thought it was pretty interesting that I could get different perspectives but the bottom-line message from both of them was the same. I should listen.

Both of them believe writing is my way out of this string of crappy jobs. [Deep down, I believe that, too.] The thing about writing [and why I don't do it as often as I should] is because of the amount of time it requires. I'm impatient, I want to see results quickly, I'm lazy. I have a gift I don't exercise. What a mess! So this comes full circle to Mr Emerson's advice about being patient. Only with patience can the most beautiful, worthwhile things be achieved. The secret to help you out when you're in the pits? Determine your goal and have patience. In my case I don't only need to have patience with the time it will take to make myself, I need to have patience with myself.

Wish me luck!

hurry spring! i want to plant flowers for my niece's birthday!

Every morning that I've woken up this winter, the sky outside at 6 a.m. has been pitch black. I would drive to work in the dark and at 6:30 a.m. I would flip my neon "OPEN" sign on; it would illuminate the cold ground in front of it and the reflection would bounce off the window into the dusky cafe. It would be at least an hour before the sun peeked over the mountains in the distance. I waited so anxiously for that every morning. 

This morning I was met with quite the surprise when I opened the door at 6 a.m. The air was lighter, not like the density that comes with the dark night. There was a hint of twilight; a faint peachy glow on the horizon. The sun! I could see hints of the sun at 6:15 a.m. this morning! Hallelujah!

[This morning was especially beautiful because of the moon. The dusty peach overtook the eastern horizon, and on the western edge the moon sat just above the horizon. Big, fat, and glowing orange against the navy sky. It was magical, I tell you!]

When the sun comes up, the rest of the world wakes with it. I no longer feel so alone in my corner coffee shop at that moment. And I can't describe my happiness over the fact that the days are getting longer! It means spring will be here soon and I can get my hands dirty with my brother, his wife and the kids. My niece has requested California poppies for her 8th birthday. And a Minecraft cake, haha.

A-Z

I found this on another blog and I thought it might be fun! If nothing else, it's a time killer as I'm sitting in an unbearably slow coffeehouse... 
A. Age: 23
B. Bed size: Twin, aka, too small
C. Chore that you hate: Vacuuming and cleaning the oven
D. Dogs: I like lap dogs, haha. French bulldogs, Boston terriers, pugs, mini pinschers, yorkies
E. Essential start to your day: A tall glass of ice water
F. Favourite colour: Green, blue, purple
G. Gold or Silver: White gold, because I like the look of silver but it tarnishes so fast sometimes! :(
H. Height: 5'7"ish
I. Instruments you play: I played the flute in junior high
J. Job title: Barista
K. Kids: None of my own
L. Live: Idaho Falls, Idaho
M. Mother’s name: Jeanette Lorena
N. Nicknames: Claudi, Cloudy [with a chance of meatballs], the Claudster, Clarissita
O. Overnight hospital stays: When I was born
P. Pet peeves: Oh, so many...
Q. Quote from a movie: Too difficult!
R. Right or left handed: Right handed
S. Siblings: 2 older brothers and a throng of step-siblings
T. Time you wake up: 5:30 a.m Monday-Friday. I really like to sleep in on the weekends
U. Underwear: Should be comfortable
V. Vegetable you hate: Olives
W. What makes you run late: Procrastination
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, feet
Y. Yummy food that you make: Baked goods
Z. Zoo animal: I try to avoid zoos. But I love big cats! Rawr!!