There's no place like home

There is nothing like going for a 3 mile run in the middle of nowhere.  Last week I was overwhelmed by the simplicity and wonder of the information my senses were taking in.  The first thing I noticed was the sound of the gravel road turning beneath my feet as I ran.  A steady scrape, reminding me of the distance I was covering. This was accompanied by two similar sounds, the trotting of my four-legged friends Sadie and Bailey. The dogs always maintain a good speed a few feet ahead of me and I could tell that they were so happy that I took them on an adventure across the countryside. The sound that stuck out the most as we ran was chirping of crickets. If I didn’t know better I would have thought that the small creatures were hiding in the ditches having orchestra practice. How else could such a small insect make such a big noise? In my mind the answer would definitely be that they have organized a symphony just to entertain me. I could also hear a variety of birds singing along from the telephone lines and trees that they were perched on. The wind provided a soothing rustle in the long grass and I must say I am now reminded of August Rush. Am I the conductor? Why no, God is. I am just the audience, soaking it all in. 

The view was just as spectacular. I have run the same roads for years now but it is always just what I need: A peaceful place to burn some calories and let my thoughts flow freely.  My favorite time to run is in the evening, while the sun is sinking lower in the sky. The fields turn the most amazing golden-yellow which complements the oranges, pinks and blues above. I occasionally watch my shadow mimicking me since the light allows me to do so. I run past my grandparents’ farm, by the adorable calves who recently were upgraded from their hutches to a small pasture of their own. They are curious yet timid, always stopping to watch me run by, however, maintaining their distance. I give them my best “MOOOOOO” and I usually get one back. The adult cows are just as curious but a lot more brave. They lined up along the fence line as I approached their pasture and stared at me. To my surprise, when I reached them they didn’t just watch me run by like they usually do. Instead, the whole herd ran alongside of me until the size of their pasture stopped them. What an awesome sight! The one brown and white cow, who I named Caramel, in the sea of black and white was leading the herd. It makes me smile to think that this chase that I created was probably the biggest adventure they had all day.

I could go on and on about the sights I saw and the things I felt forever, but I will refrain. However, I do find it necessary to add that I wasn’t disturbed by vehicles driving past me. I didn’t hear sirens wailing. There was no litter on the ground. I didn’t have to share sidewalks with other joggers. I didn’t have a sidewalk at all. It was truly peaceful. Colorful. Beautiful. And I enjoyed every step I took.

I have learned to like Duluth, but I will always love home.

With Peace & Love,

Stephanie

Many Summer Days

As I chose my outfit yesterday and looked in the mirror, I almost had to laugh because it matched the style I described in my introduction entry perfectly. An obnoxiously bright yellow tank top, with a bright pink tank underneath, pink flip flops, a green peace sign necklace and a blue peace sign bracelet.  Yes, I would say I had it right. Just add a little orange and I would have practically been a rainbow. Luckily that outfit reminded me of this blog of mine and inspired me to write during a bit of my free time today.

It is 98 degrees in the shade at my house today and as humid as humid can be. And what did I do? I mowed the lawn. Now mowing the lawn is huge in this household. I mow a minimum of two times a week on my dad’s orders. He insists that our yard has to look like a golf course and it is much easier to agree than to argue. But I don’t mind. I like the yard to look nice too. Mowing is therapeutic for me. A perfect time to think, pray, and reminisce. Today, in the heat of summer, I couldn’t help but remember many of the summer days that I’ve enjoyed over the years. 

My thoughts first drifted to the summer before we got Central Air in our house, when we slept in the garage all summer because my mom’s asthma couldn’t handle the humidity of the house. We brought out our mattresses and played Playstation 2 and board games next to the little air conditioner every day. Mom let me sleep in a cardboard box because she thought it would be funny. And she was right, it was. My cousin and I caught a jar full of fireflies and we brought it in the garage, only to find that the lid wasn’t on right and they all escaped. We were terrified my dad would be mad when he found out so we spent hours with the lights off, trying to catch them all again.

I remember Kyle and Scott putting up the rope swing at the river and how I was terrified watching Kyle, harnessed to the branch, climbing up higher and higher to tie the rope. As I hid behind my hands, scared he might fall to his death at any moment, Scott and Kory beamed happily, most definitely imagining the fun and adventurous times that the swing was going to bring. And so it did. That summer the trail to the river stayed well groomed as friend after friend came to try out our new pride and joy toy. My house became the most popular place to come on hot summer days and warm summer evenings. There was always wood by the fire pit and mud on the dock from the numerous mud wars that we would host.

Many sunsets were viewed from the top of the 6 foot round hay bales. The dogs would always follow me out to the middle of the field and while I laid on top and gazed at the beautiful colors painted across the sky, my dogs would mouse and cover themselves in ticks, I’m sure.

Making forts outside with the guys always seemed to be the highlight. I would meet at Scott’s kitchen table every day, where he would draw out blueprints and I would nod in agreement to whatever he drew up. I played little help in the brainstorming and was even less of a help in the building but I was a reliable sidekick, always there to keep my cousins company. I was willing to do what they needed, whether it was holding a bucket of nails, fetching a board, or even trying out the sidecar that we made for Scott’s motorcycle. We would stay busy until we lost daylight, only to do it again the next day.

I even remember when I was younger yet, watching my brother playing that Super Nintendo duck hunting game until mom called us to come eat lunch. We would eat our macaroni and hotdogs and then mom would say “Now go play in the street” and I knew I had the coolest mom in the world for saying that. Of course I wouldn’t pass up an offer like this because it wasn’t every day a mother would say such a thing. However, living in the middle of nowhere with a long dirt road for a driveway had its advantages. Mom knew I would be safe splashing in the puddles with my black mud boots on.

Going to ValleyFair was always the biggest trip of the summer. My dad would take me and a friend each summer. He said it was because I always got such good grades and I knew that he meant that. But, I also knew that he wanted to go on the roller coasters just as much as I did. We would spend all day going on rides and eating junk food until we were completely exhausted from being in the sun. Then I would sleep all the way home, knowing I was safe with my dad driving.

Then there were the nights spent laying on the playhouse roof at Kirstin’s, watching the stars. We would lay up there for hours on our pillows and blankets waiting for shooting stars and trying to hide from the bugs. We would talk about as many things as possible and it never failed that I started to fall asleep. But never Kirstin because she is just a pro at staying awake.

On a particular warm night Kate, Wynn and I went swimming in their pool when it was dark, which always seemed like a great summer adventure. Wynn entertained us by playing a swimming noodle like a trumpet. He was insanely good at operating this unique instrument and we played “Guess this tune” until our skin became pruney.

Kat and I had many adventures down by her river, either on foot, in tubes or navigating a surfboard.  The intensity level was increasing by stinging nettle, leaches, rapids and her dog, Torque. However, it never failed that we would come up with crazy ideas (perhaps about the secret intentions of dragon flies and a mongoose) and laughed hysterically.

Summer. Oh you are so sweet, so fun, so colorful.  I will forever look forward to you, year after year. <3

With Peace &Love,

Stephanie

Kaleidoscope Heart

Blog. I remember when I had a huge grudge against them. Maybe it was just the word, how it felt on my mouth. Awkward and unsatisfying. I remember thinking a blog was pointless and I remember never wanting one. Well look at me now. My very first blog post. You may be wondering what changed. Well I am wondering that too. All I know is that one day I stumbled upon a blog while searching random things on Google and something clicked. I was so intrigued by the thought of getting glimpses into the lives of others. I have always valued my friendships with those in my life and love learning more about others so this was my chance. I became almost obsessed and I would read blogs of my friends and sometimes random people while I had breaks during work or class. I think it was the freedom that interested me the most. The freedom of speech. Oh, and the styles of writing. A blog is a place where people can be who they want to be and express themselves creatively. Now, I am all for that! So here I am. This is colorful me.

I have been working on this blog for quite some time now. If you are reading this you probably know me well and you probably know that I am a perfectionist. So I wanted everything to be perfect, starting with the name. The name itself took me three days at least and I still don’t know if I am very impressed (but it will have to do). I wanted the name to reflect who I am and what I want to do with this blog. Yeah, try pinning a name on that!! I almost named it “Peace, __(insert word I never thought of)___, & Possibilities” but as you can see I couldn’t find that perfect third word. I knew that people know me for being a peace-loving person who wears peace signs probably more than I should, so I figured that was appropriate. And Possibilities just seemed like a cool idea since I want the possibilities of this blog to be endless. There are so many things I can do, so many things to say! However, when I was thinking about what sticks out about me to others the word “colorful” popped into my head. Except it wasn’t some subtle idea, it was like a screaming siren, a flashing sign (in rainbow colored font of course) or like a Howler, for you Harry Potter fans.

I can justify how the word colorful describes me in many ways and I feel like it is necessary to do just that. Let me start with the most obvious: appearance. Ever since I crawled out of my shy elementary girl shell I have been known for having a wardrobe of many colors. And I am serious about this. My closet looks like a rainbow. For a while I was even dorky enough to organize it in rainbow order. Just for fun. And I always subconsciously matched the color of my socks to the color of my shirt. Yes, subconsciously. I never noticed I did it until a very observant close friend of mine noticed that I did it every day. Well, what do you know! I thought that was awesome and continued doing so. If you were to catch a glimpse of my feet now, you would notice that my socks are never white and they never match. Always mismatching neon, sometimes argyle, stars, or polka dots. And my shoes.. I can’t forget about my shoes. I have a tradition of buying the most fun, crazy and colorful pair of shoes at Journey’s . I will post a picture of some in a post soon so you can fully understand what I mean. I can frequently be seen running the sidewalks of Duluth in the most obnoxiously bright yellow shirt that matches the swish of my Nike free trainers. I bet you get the point by now. I love color.

But being “colorful” means more to me than just choosing to buy colorful things. Life is not about possessions, it is not about appearance. It is about the colors God used when He painted me into existence. It is about The Colors Within. I know that I have been blessed with a personality of many shades. A personality that brings joy to others, joy to Jesus. I am going to paint this blog with my colors, so I hope you are fond of rainbows.

With Peace &Love,

Stephanie

All the colors of the rainbow
Hidden 'neath my skin

Hearts have colors
Don't we all know?
Red runs through our veins

Feel the fire burning up
Inspire me with blood of blue and green

I have hope
Inside is not a heart
But a kaleidoscope
        -Kaleidoscope Heart