why do i blog?!

Today, i had such a great weekend. skiing yesterday was amazing, the first time in about 10 years, i think. And, it was beautiful and sunny. but, dang, i am so sore today. hello hip flexors! hello lat's. it feels so good to be a little sore today. and then, at the end of the day, I participated in a "raclette" with some friends of mine from school. it was delicious. and, all of this, and a bit of the sermon at church this morning, (apparently, the pope has just encouraged roman catholic priests to start blogging.) got me thinking.

why do I blog. a lot of people have asked me that before, and I guess i blog because i find that it is a nice way to get out some of my thoughts. it's a bit like a journal, and it is a way for people to keep up with me, when we don't get the chance to see each other often...

you see, since i live a slightly nomadic lifestyle (i have lived, since I was 16 in the following places: mill bay BC, for 3 years. Morgantown WV for 4 years. Vancouver BC for 3.5 years. Montreal). so, i have friends everywhere. not to mention the people i have met while traveling. blogging is easy. And, i know that not everyone reads me. but, for those who do. its kinda nice.

but, this is all to say, that blogging never ever makes up for the face to face. our technology can never substitute for the relationships that we have between people. We still have to take the time to slow down, and to sit and to talk and to relate. we have to be in community, and love. and you can never think that you know me, if you just read my blog, and never get in touch in real life with me. (if you are one of those people... please look up, and hit that email button at the top! send me an email. get to know me... cause I would love to know you.)

right now, i have so many things going on in life. and, i have just really been thinking about how much I enjoy the simple things in life. and, to make you have a heart warming moment, let me share some (a very short list) of those things with you:

• cheese melted on vegetables.
• potluck dinners.
• sunshine on a crisp winter day.
• accoustic guitar.
  
• meeting new people.
• connecting with old people.
• not waking up to an alarm, when every day you do.
  
• remembering times in your life where something significantly lifechanging happened. when you found refuge.
• sleeping naked.
• phone calls from people to just say "i was thinking about you this whole last week."
  

but, i also blog because i can find old hilarious photos, and share them with the world.as a hippie. senior year (04-05)

in the dallas stock yards. Circa Jan 2003

rowing, fall 2003 (can you recognize anyone else in this photo!?)

Russia, summer 2003, post banya. yup, don't ask. you get naked, and get beaten by birch branches. ha.

west coast trail, 2005. After I fell on my face.

Alaska, Summer Solstice. June 2006

June 2oo6, tongariro crossing, new zealand. it was freezing cold!!!