dripping with passion

on saturday, my roommates (marie, mindy and brenda) and i took a little trip to carmel to celebrate mindy's birthday. we made a quick stop at the beach (ah! it was such a gorgeous day!) and then headed for refuge, a spa that marie had been telling us about for months.  refuge is nestled into a mossy hill just inland from carmel-by-the-sea, and it's a loooovely little sanctuary. we spent four hours relaxing there experiencing the hydro thermal cycle: heat up in the steam room or sauna, plunge in a cold pool, chill out by the firepits or in the tranquility rooms in plush white robes, soak in a hot tub, repeat. i may have over done it on my first heat up/cool down and almost passed out (oopsie!)  but  after my frenzied heart rate and dizzied vision got back to normal, the experience was fan-tastic. i soaked it all in under the sun and later the stars, observing (for the most part!) the spa's "silence policy." those hours of meditation and relaxation, away fro...

i love, love, loved your comments and guesses about my husband list . there were some pretty funny ones in there, and some pretty profound ones that really made me think. thank you for sharing! i'm really grateful for the things i've learned about romance, love and commitment over the last decade or so of dating. these varied experiences have helped me to winnow down my list and discover what truly creates and sustains a deep and strong relationship, and makes that bond powerful and miraculous. from all those hundreds of enumerated characteristics, here's the list of three i came up with a few years ago: 1. huge earning power 2. huge muscles 3. a last name that sounds good with charity okay, not really. here's that true list of three: 1. good, good, good  to the core/golden sparkly hearted/a gooooooood man {this includes a lot of things, so maybe it's cheating a little listing it as only one, but do you know what i mean? someone who is really, truly, purel...

note: i was so amused by the guessing comments in my last post, that i decided to wait a bit to write about my real  husband list. i'd love to hear more of your guesses or general thoughts about marriageable qualities - leave me a comment! i have decided to give two things up for lent. i figured that posting about them on my blog may give me some extra accountability to make sure i follow through. those two things are: 1. using my computer in bed  {sometimes the broken part of me just craves  the numbing of curling up in bed for a date with the netflix or blogs or pinterest. it's not who i am and not who i want to become.} and  2. using my phone while driving {instead, i'm going to listen to the mormon channel and good music, pray out loud, and call loved ones whenever i'm in the car. my phone is going to stay in my bag.} on a pretty much (but maybe not entirely?) unrelated note, i've become quite obsessed with succulents lately. they are so pre...

when i was thirteen, i opened up a blank notebook and wrote MY HUSBAND at the top of the first page with a sparkly silver pen, then added a cute little star on each side of the letters. and i started listing. i was a very melodramatic teenager (aren't you shocked?!), and all through high school i was tremendously lovesick. i spent quite a bit of energy scheming up romantic scenarios in my mind, daydreaming of kisses in the rain, and listing ridiculous musings in my "husband book." {i had to blur out some names of specific boys in this picture - haha!} and by the time graduation came, i had a tattered notebook full of 897 qualities i wanted in a future spouse. i have to say, some of the things listed, even from the youngest years, are pretty significant and profound. but a lot of them are so silly: 10 - puts stars in my eyes every time i see him 60 - tells me i smell good 119 - doesn't really flirt with other girls 132 - takes my breath away 192 - not...

the changing light                       at san francisco         is none of your east coast light                     none of your                                    pearly light of paris  the light of san francisco                           is a sea light                                         an island light  and the light of fog                        blanketing the hills               drifting in at night              ...

                                          my intention is to wake up every morning at 6am, read the scriptures while i eat breakfast, be unrushed and intentional, and leave for work right on time. that happens about 25% of the time, but a combination of a few of those things happens most of the time. i love the app sleep cycle  and the way it gently wakes me up, although i often turn it completely off after a few snoozes because i don't want to get out of bed. i'm totally fascinated by the the stats from it, though! my work days have been quite different the past few weeks, because my role at my school is changing soon. the transition has been stressful, and i anticipate my new responsibilities will be super challenging. {more coming on this soon} when i was down the coast visiting sara, we had to stop in a target and buy some duct tape to use as a tool in keeping my car's bumper from falling off. now, i cruise around with a dozen strips of sil...