I Often Go Walking

I walk a lot.

For those of you much older than me: remember being a college student and having no money. You work your can off at a minimum wage job and really don't have much cash to burn.

For those of you much younger than me: this is gonna be you one day.

First of all, I want to say a couple things.

~I am a penny pincher.

~I am very stingy.

~I am a debt-aphobe (and a word inventer apparently).

~I am careful with my money and am very grateful for my minimum wage job.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT MONEY!! I'm just illustrating the setting for y'all.

I have a motor scooter. Not a little put-put mind you. A big Daddy, awesome motor scooter. It is not working, and hasn't been functioning properly since March. I have tried repeatedly to contact the 1 mechanics shop in town and have come to find out that they are not equipped to handle my scooter. So...I walk everywhere. I walk 5 miles every day that I work (2.5 miles each way). I walk to the grocery store. I walk to my friend's apartments. I walk anywhere I need to go! 

My walking time is my happy time. It's a few minutes to myself during this busy thing called life. I don't listen to music, but I do sometimes read. Mostly though, I observe the world around me. 

I watch the cars go by, imagining all the exciting places the drivers must be going. 

I think about the old couple that likely lives in the house with the perfect flower beds and wicker chairs on the front porch. 

I think of the rowdy family that likely lives in the house with the lawn toys strewn on the lawn and the giant family picture I can see through the open window. 

I imagine what new small town story the old man is reading in his news paper while he drinks his morning coffee on the porch steps.

I watch the rabbits hopping from yard to yard.

I listen to the birds chattering in the trees: the cackle of the Raven, the twittering or the Sparrows, the coo of the dove.

I watch the squirrels play a game of tag up a tree trunk.

But my favorite moments of all, are during the last leg of my walk after a long day of work. There's a park near my apartment (about a block away). By this time in the day, my feet are usually protesting (2.5 mile walk + 7-8 hours on my feet + the return 2.5 mile trip), but I can't help but enjoy the scenes that unfold in front of my eyes. I have to take mental pictures and just smile.

Tonight I saw:

A foot ball game.

A Frisbee game.

A new dad pushing his toddler on the swing while mom sat nearby.

A puppy play date (I'm not kidding, 3 puppies of various sizes romping around through the grass).

A newlywed couple playing catch with a baseball.

A game of Quidditch (it was awesome).

A marshmallow gun/silly string tournament.

A couple sitting across from eachother, playing slap jack and smiling ear to ear.

A group of teenagers playing cards at another table.

A couple guys slack lining.

Two teenage boys long boarding.

A group of very pregnant women walking together, talking about baby things (I watching women become moms).

A dapper gentlemen reading a vintage hardback on a park bench.

A group of joggers, dance-running to some awesome song.

A father teaching his son to throw a football to his mom.

And that was just tonight. People bring me joy. The quiet lives of every day folk make me smile. It's the simple things I tell yuh!! I love it. I love seeing happiness and simple pleasures. Life is beautiful. There is so much good in this world. We need only open our eyes and go walking.

That's What Friends Are For

High School was...not my most favorite time of life. Since coming to college, I have not missed it, I have not looked back, and I have not longed for those years again. Any time anyone tells me I'll miss it or that they were the best years of my life, I call them crazy. 

Today, I was hit with a feeling I've never felt before. I never want to go back to high school. I like the progress I'm making and the experiences I'm having. However, I was hit with bittersweet feelings I never anticipated today. I realized that I miss some people. My friends from high school are spread far and wide at different schools, in different states, and on LDS missions in different countries. Every Monday I eagerly anticipate my missionary emails. I love reading about the weeks those faithful missionaries have had. Today I read a line in one of my letters:

"Reminds me for some reason of the time we ended up being a little spontaneous on a date and ended up dancing on top of a mountain, and running through the sprinklers of the capitol building.  Those were good times."

Quite unexpectedly, I felt a lump in my throat and a dull ache down in the part of my heart that hardened against that awkward phase of my life. It served as an excellent reminder to me. Those were comparatively easier times. I had less responsibility, less pressure, and less stress. I had long time friends and I have some great memories.

Times are different now. I wouldn't trade this stage of my life for anything. My reminder was this: Life moves fast. Don't ever wish the time away. I spent a lot of time in high school, wishing for college. Now I'm here, and I'm working to learn to live in appreciation of the moments that make life sweet so that I don't have to look back with a lump in my throat at an excellent experience that I forgot. 

~~~

On the opposite end of this spectrum. I was also blessed today to spend time with the people here at school that are most important to me today. We visited, caught up, and talked about the new semester. We talked about sad things, happy things, hard knocks, and triumphs here at school. As I spoke with each individual that I love so dearly, I felt that same lump as I recognized my tremendous blessings.  God is great and merciful. He never leaves us alone. We will forever rub shoulders with extraordinary people that enrich our lives and fill them with precious moments.

I know my Heavenly Father has blessed me and continues to bless me as I go about my life He always sends people my way that make my life sweet and meaningful. I will always be indebted to Him for that. Too those who mean the world to me both past and present, I love you and am privileged to know y'all.

And now, pictures of some of my sweetest moments with the friends I've made in my life.

 

 

  

Life is too short to go through it alone. Family is most important, but I hope that I can remember that family doesn't have to be blood relation.

Hug your friends today.