This week.

This has been a topsy-turvey, tumultuous week. I've gone through too many emotions and I'm ready to be back to normal. I am, however, so thankful for my supportive, hilarious, and amazing husband... and for my family who love me no matter what.

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Cities.

I'm sitting in the middle of Denver, waiting for the Marade (March-Parade, MLK Day) to pass by so I can join in the march to the capitol. So I can set aside all the things that are ingrained within me that I fight against daily. Because despite misconceptions we all may have, I truly believe that we are the same. We have different backgrounds and cultures (within a culture), and we have very different convictions and ideas and ways of speaking and disciplining and thinking... But in all our beautiful differences, we're the same. God loves us all the same... We all bring a beautiful, different aspect to the Kingdom of God, and it's amazing, and we're all on an equal playing field. Martin Luther King Jr's fight was so long ago, and sometimes it feels that we're so far past the racist tendencies that he stood against... But sometimes it feels that we're not. Maybe it's not most often between blacks and whites, but it is against hispanic people, middle-eastern people... So let's stand against that, today, 2011.

I didn't even mean to write about that today. I meant to write of my newly discovered love for big cities. I love cities. We just returned from Milwaukee... A city I definitely didn't expect to be intrigued by. But I was so intrigued. Old buildings, similar to Denver... But with a bigger river down the middle. Apartment buildings with marble interiors and creaky old elevators. Midwestern style houses. Coffee shops and places to eat brunch and gastropubs with lots of different kinds of beers (not just Colorado brewed) and a stingy cold that gets inside your bones. 


Chicago... similar to Milwaukee in the giant lake that sneaks up on you. Cozy apartments with fireplaces and yellow painted walls. Funny board game bars and hidden neighborhood gems. So many parks and trees and giant museums and factories. 


San Francisco... Oh, yes. Cold and foggy and a huge red bridge rising up in your peripheral vision. So many trees and redwoods just across the bay. Hills to climb up to see the whole city. Ice cream and vegan restaurants. China town and luggages. I really love San Francisco. 


I could say many things about Denver, but I've either said them already or will say them in the future, so I'll spare you (this time). I want to explore other cities... New York - a stroll through Central Park. Maybe take a quick peek at Time's Square (and then leave, because I often feel overwhelmed by large crowds of people). Seattle - I've been there before, but so want to visit again. With someone who lives (or has lived) there, so they can show me all the secrets. Portland - I've been there many times, but I was too young to truly enjoy it. 


I love cities.

Winter.

I'm in a cheap hotel in Milwaukee... Staring out the window onto that wintry strip mall. Even though it's cold, snowy, and the bleak midwest, I'm thankful for this quick "vacation" with my husband. Being in Wisconsin makes me very thankful to be from California, to be living in Colorado. We get to see the sun every day!

I'm looking forward to wearing this dress tomorrow night... The last time I wore it was the night before our wedding. It's been over a year now, and I still think marriage to my husband is the best thing in the world!

Last week I was talking to one of the kids at work about David, and he sighed and said "Oh... You're just the marriedest". Yes. Yes, I am. Thank you.

Life and death.

We spent time with my beloved family last week. Talking, eating, eating some more, sitting, driving... It was wonderful. We spent so much time at my grandparents' house... Soaking up the life that was soon to leave us. My grandfather (Papa) passed away on New Year's Day. He had spent the week (in and out of consciousness) with his entire living family - had even sat with us at the Christmas dinner table. Watching him slip away was so hard... but it made me know, even more than I alreay did, that God loves us more than we can ever comprehend or imagine. The ways in which the family came together that week, his last week, were divinely arranged. I will always be thankful that we were there - to say hello, to tell him we loved him (and to hear it back from him), to say goodbye, and to pray and hold each other. I'm so thankful for my family. I am so thankful that I got to know my sweet grandfather for 23 years of his life. We spent so much time together as I was growing up, and for that I will be endlessly grateful.

The next day, David and I celebrated our first anniversary. We didn't do much but revel in the thought that we had been married for an entire year! It was the shortest and longest and best year of my life. I have learned so much about love and life and God and myself and him... I can't wait to see what the next year will bring us!

All that to say, we have a wedding and a memorial service in the next two weeks awaiting us, but for now... It's so good to be home. To be working, to be in our home... It's good.