a poem from the past

dear love,

this is a poem my little 9-year-old sister wrote to me last year for my birthday. she was 8 at the time and i think it's pure genius.

I Love You the Yellowest

I love you

love you the wing of a duck,

the song of a bird,

the heat of a hug,

the gold in treasure,

I love you the yellowest

hey, things work out

dear love,

i just wanted to remind you that sometimes you stress and then sometimes everything just works out. it probably won't work out exactly the way you think it will, but it will. then you will look like this. (happy happy happy)

my roommates

dear love,

i just want the world to know that i probably have the most wonderful roommates in the whole world. it's pretty amazing that we can't even go to bed at night because we're so excited to talk about all the wonderful and hard things in life.

one of them has been through it all with me. she was my very first roommate when i moved here and i have learned more from here than i could even begin to write down. there have been countless times she has given words of encouragement, or even just a knowing look that tells me that she understands and that she cares. my favorite thing about her is how big her heart is—she loves everyone and is always pleasant and wonderful. she is the definition of lovely.

then there's the other one...yeah, her. we decided today that we have the most sarcastic relationship in the world. but even with all the fake fighting and constant banter, we still sit down at night and talk about all the things that matter to us. we just get each other. she looks out for me and i for her and if anyone tries to mess i would kill them. (she also really loves murder). i have learned to pay attention to the small things and to see people in a different way because she taught me how. she is the definition of wonderful.

a dream realized

dear love,

i had a really cool experience that i want to share with you. i don't think anything like this has ever really happened to me, and it feels amazing. please excuse the vague-ness—i want to explain this phenomenon without getting all personal.

here's the deal: i've always had this little dream of what a certain thing in my life will be like. i have explained a certain scenario to my closest friends and family, trying to help them see my vision. it's only one small situation, and only serves as an example of the type of thing i imagine which is much bigger and more important than this smaller example. this one little scene always plays through my head as a sort of dream or goal or wish.

the other day, i realized that this little story/scenario i've been telling people about actually happened. from start to finish the scene unfolded the exactly as i imagined. i didn't recognize that it was happening as it was, but when i took a step back and looked at the situation, i saw how much it aligned with my little dream i've always had. even though that one thing is small, it's kind of wonderful that the things we care about enough really can and will transpire if we let them.

hopefully this made sense. the take home message is this: even a simple ordinary person can have dreams realized.

this is how it works

ok so these words have been going through my mind for the past few weeks. this is katherine's favorite song and we listen to it every chance we get. i finally looked up the lyrics of this one part and i think it sums love up perfectly.

No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took

And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood

And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again

i can't even add anything to this. this really is how it works. thanks, reg.

big spoon obsession

dear love,

confession: i like to eat cereal with big spoons. wow, it feels so good to finally get that out in the open. all my life i've been ashamed, i've been trying to hide my true feelings, but i won't let that happen any longer. here's the story.

cereal is really yummy. and perfect when you are in college because cooking for just one person is kinda LAME. i love love love cooking so much, but when you make one dish and have to eat it for like a week until you cook the next thing and have more leftover, it just gets old. hence, the whole eating cereal often thing. now, because i do eat cereal so often, it has become somewhat of a ritual. i have a certain type of milk i like, a particular requirement for my bowl, and there's definitely rules about my spoon. the bowl HAS to be able to make that blessed "clink" sound when the spoon hits it, no plastic in my house! The milk has to be 1% milk that is REALLY REALLY COLD. and last but most definitely not least, the spoon has to be larger. about the larger spoon—the reason i've always been a little ashamed is that i thought big spoon equaled big eater, or in other words, fatty! ahh scary. so i just tried to eat with the small spoon telling myself that the small spoon is the right choice. just the other day, it dawned on me though. i realized for the first time that it's ok to like the big spoon. and the great thing about it is that i know why i like it now. more milk per bite. every spoonful tastes better with more milk. it's not because i like to take giant bites, but it's that i like to have lots of milk in every. single. morsel. so there you have it—a little insight into my soul.

fringes

dear love,

in england they call them fringes and here they're known as bangs. the thought of having bangs entered my mind the day of my hair appointment, and with the advice of my cute hairdresser, jay, i decided to go for it! if any of you are contemplating a hair change, i say carpe diem.