Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 354

Today's Daily 5:

1. sweet and juicy raspberries from the farmers market - a whole case for eating and making birthday treats with
2. waiting out a bad thunder/hail storm in a used bookstore
3. finding several great books while waiting
4. a quiet day, mostly away from my computer, with lots of reading
5. a great new haircut, complete with my first bangs in a decade, and a purple feather

Bangs and Feathers

Tonight's Daily 5 is coming shortly, but I thought I'd show you my new hair cut.  I hadn't had my hair cut in probably 8 months, and was WAY overdue, and so I booked an appointment at a new salon, using a livingsocial deal I bought a while ago, and hoped for the best.  I have crazy thick hair, that can't decide if it wants to be curly or straight (the only reason it even tries for straight is because of the weight of all of it), and haven't always had great luck with stylists being able to manage it.  I'm really pleased with how the appointment went tonight, I'm loving the way my hair looks at the moment, and I'll definitely be going back to this stylist since she's about $60/visit cheaper than the only other stylist I've found in the city who can successfully manage my hair!

So, I have bangs for the first time in a decade:

And I totally splurged a little (like a $10 splurge) and had her put a purple feather in as well, to match my new purple specs:

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 353

Today's Daily 5:

1. a really juicy nectarine for breakfast
2. a long hot bath with a novel
3. planning food to make while housesitting next week, and then buying the ingredients
4. sitting outside in the sun for a while
5. Mexican food with mom and dad for an early birthday dinner since they'll be away - seriously, why has no one ever told me about mole sauce before???  I love Mexican, and while this probably wasn't the most authentic I've ever had (that honor being reserved for either California or Mexico itself!), this mole sauce was some sort of revelation, and SO GOOD!

You Ask, I Answer, Take 16

Today's You Ask, I Answer question comes from Christianne, who asked:

What's the biggest possible dream you ever dream for your life?

Wow.  That is not a question I have to find a coherent answer for on any kind of regular basis!

I'm not actually sure that I have a coherent answer.  The biggest dreams that I have for my life would be a patchwork quilt of the following:

• the chance to spend a great deal of time traveling and/or living overseas
• working in the nursing field, both in North America and in the developing world
• spending time with people who share my heart - friends or family
• writing, and having that writing be used to encourage or minister to people, whether here on my blog, or in some sort of book format
• living a life that is creative, full of color, and marked by joy
• a life marked with books and words, with great food and flavors and wonderful company
• building a family and home of my own - however that ends up looking, and wherever it ends up being

My dream is a life that is rich - full of beauty, in whatever form that comes.  I've learned over the years that it comes in very unexpected, and even painful forms.  I want to live with joy, and with hope.  I want to live a life marked and defined by my relationship with Christ, one where all of my other dreams flow from that place in my heart.   I want to live a life that is deep, one with deep friendships, with deep trust, with much love.  And I want to write about that life in some form, because it is when I write that I begin to fully absorb and understand.

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 352

Today's Daily 5:

1. accomplishing something I'd been putting off
2. a really good salad
3. an ice cream cone
4. marking a whole bunch of things off my list
5. planning some yummy new recipes to make for the weekend