Little Thing

Take a feather in a rainstorm
throw it off into the wind
watch it fall down to the earth
before its flight could begin

Watch the grain of sand get washed away
by a single wave of sea
unsettled for just a moment
but then the earth will let it be

See the branches in a snowstorm
struggle under heavy sheets of ice
then glimmer in the moonlight
in the clearest of winter nights

See the exhale of smoke from a burning fire
dance across the prairie sky
a gust of wind unsettles the rhythm of chaos
and soon even the heat will die

Listen to the lonely owl
whisper secrets in the dark
watching at dusk for his prey to sleep
in the shadows of the park

Hear the breath of the morning
as the sun climbs the rungs of space
to greet each miniscule matter of life
that bring a smile upon your face

Hit the ground runnin'

After two weeks off of running due to a grade 3 ankle sprain, my legs were getting so antsy that sometimes I woke up at night with them twitching and needing to be moved.

Restless leg syndrome, we meet again...

Two Tuesdays ago, while running around in the twilight of morning, I sprained my ankle. I fell off of the concrete trying to save an infant child, crossing the street from a runaway truck barreling down the highway strait towards us while looking at my ipod trying to find a Ke$ha song.

The doctor warned me not to get back into the saddle before my ankle looked completely normal without bruising and swelling, but I couldn't help it. The weather cleared up from a stormy morning, the temperature rested right around 75 and the humidity was low. In other words, to this runner's mind, the atmosphere was whispering "perfection".

I laced up my new Brooke Ghost 5's and put on my compression socks. Whether these gave me any kind of stability, I won't know.

But getting back to the pavement felt so good, I decided to run 4 miles instead of my originally planned 3. Although my ankle was a bit more tender after the run, a brief RICE session brought the comfort level back to normal.

This is a good sign considering I'll be running this little relay in the fall... Bring it on, ankle! Can't hold us down!

Don't Whine! Do Wine!

I love painting. Am I a natural Van-Gough? *cough* Ha! Funny joke! *cough*

But I really do love the art of splashing paint on a list of different kinds of canvases. Using water colors, pastels, and oils on paper and wood pallets was my go-to when stuck at home on the farm...

 When I was in college, wine bottles littered the streets outside of the campus perimeter on Saturday and Sunday mornings . So it's no wonder I became a dumpster diver to rescue interestingly shaped bottles to place my own story upon...

Remember my Mickey Mouse venture?

Or my Pixar dream that came true after I just kept swimming towards the final product?!

After taking a short hiatus from my wine painting days, I believe the time has come to get back to my roots and get the juices flowing again. Especially after a midnight walk that led me straight to a plethora of blank canvases just screaming to be painted...

Looking for Adventure

I found this article via Facebook and had to share...

Date a Girl Who Travels...

I don't post this as any personal ad or self declaration WHATSOEVER, but solely as a reminder to everyone- Explore the world we have set out before us! What is it if we stay in one spot and experience the same schedule day after day?

When I went to Canada and Alaska, I met some of the most interesting people in a no-name coffee shop reading Kierkegaard, I tasted the freshest native foods, appreciated the snow--and glacier water--on my tongue like never before...

Traveling to places outside of our homes opens the doors to so many possibilities and endless encounters with deeper perspectives we ever thought imaginable. We may not be able to take trips every month or every year, but when the opportunity arises, make sure you travel somewhere that will broaden your horizon. 

((Can you tell this girl is getting antsy for another adventure...? But to where...))

(Santorini, Greece)

(Mykonos, Greece)

(Cliffs of Ireland)

(Barcelona, Spain)- Get my Spanish tongue a-talkin'!

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.
Miriam Beard

Sit In the Green Garden (playlist)

There is little I love more than a good playlist to rock my mind into sweet spring time.

Check out my playlist below by clicking the next arrows... I promise you'll find at least one new song to add to YOUR own list of personal favorites...

Free Fallin'

This past weekend, I had a few visitors stay a while. We spent Friday night sipping Harris Teeter's finest and crunching on potato chips. Truth be told, we ladies like to indulge in the world's delicacies...

The next morning after a good breakfast at the Flying Biscuit, Emily and I made our way to Carowinds for a day of roller coasters...

cotton candy...

 

Pink Tongues...

 

and a little thing call skyflyer. 

 

Ever wonder what it's like to be lifted up 150 feet above the ground by pulleys and bungee cords? When I was younger I would pass these contraptions at amusement park after amusement park, ride to ride, without a second thought. But today, the arch caught my eye as a group of people fell from the sky and rushed forward in vests and vines. Being the adrenaline seekers we were, we signed up without hesitation...

The day was a complete success...

 

Another weekend, another adventure. Now on with the work week, where the pace of everyday is much like the fall: full of excitement!

Happy Tuesday!

The Tale of the Improvised Capresse Stuffed Chicken

Let me tell you a little story about how this little baby was born...

It was a Tuesday, the sun was finally peeking through the clouds after days of rain, kickball ended on a happy note around 7pm, and I was so hungry, my stomach as about to implode upon itself. As I staggered up to my car in the second level of the office parking deck, I turned on my Ke$ha at an embarrassing volume and headed home ready to make dinner and watch trashy MTV reruns.

So once the sweats were on, the TV set, I turned to my kitchen which had just recently been stocked... Thank Goodness...  I wanted to make the Caresse Chicken recipe I found on Pinterest, so after getting chicken breast out of the fridge that had thawed overnight, I looked for my basil leaves that I had picked up for just the occasion... Only they were no where to be found. "Left at the grocery store, most likely" I thought.

Anger rising, I pulled out my last clove of garlic and a bag of baby spinach... "It's just not the same!" I moaned as I chopped the garlic and tossed it into the hot skillet on the stove. A Tbs of coconut oil followed accompanied with a cup of baby spinach. Sauteed and warm, I took it off the stove and set aside. I couldn't help but feel like it was my new least favorite kid in the family... such a let down without the basil.

So in a foil-lined baking dish I sprayed with cooking oil, I laid a raw chicken breast, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with several slivered grape tomatoes. Topping the spinach and garlic onto the chicken breast, I looked for my mozzarella to melt within... Good job, Maxann... you bought shredded parmesan...

Oh well... At this point, it's going on no matter what. All piled on, I folded over the chicken much like a taco and stuffed it into the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

This 15 minutes was enough to turn the previous disappointment child into a miraculous butterfly that I couldn't help but love and exude pride from every pore of my body. It was DELICIOUS! The tastes melted in my mouth, the chicken was tender, the cheese and spinach blended like a beautiful symphony of sound on my tongue, and the tomatoes popped with flavor.

So lesson learned... when all else fails- Improvise! No matter how you prepare this dish (how I did, or how the recipe calls) you won't be disappointed.

The Weekend I Needed

Sometimes I feel like the weekend can be one of many things. It can be a period of time to re-connect with friends, staying busy with plans of excitement and outings all over town. They can be a time of rejuvination, away from the stress of having concrete plans and relaxing with the knowledge that nothing is required of you except vacuuming the carpet and grocery shopping.

And sometimes it can be a mixture of both, with a sprinkle of traveling up the I85 corridor to visit friends that aren't always in the day-to-day, trying new restaurants, shooting the breeze with strangers, and enjoying runs in the rain.

This weekend, I traveled to Raleigh for my college roommate's wedding shower, held at Mia Francesca's at North Lake Mall. As we celebrated the soon-to-be Mrs. Torres, we shared stories of our days on the track back in school, where we were headed in our careers (a whole other story) and everything in-between.

While also in Raliegh, I visited my friend Annie who showed me to a relaxing evening watching the Kentucky Derby with Mint Julips, arguing with the bartender about why 90's music is superior to all other forms of sound, and eating breakfast at a hole in the wall diner gold mine.

It was a nice reprieve from the normal weekends I've grown accustomed to here in my new home-town. Coming up around the one year mark of my new residence in Charlotte, I feel as if this weekend served as a great reminder that this journey known as my early twenties is more than just finding a job and existing. It's about making new friendships, maintaining the old, striving for new and exciting opportunities, all while appreciating the moments that make up each day.

It's a difficult task, balancing the new and old, the plans and the unplanned- but I am thankful for weekends like this one that have their own way of whispering through the chaos- "You're right where you're supposed to be."

Happy Monday, everyone!

Dance Dance

I was never a dancer... perhaps in another life I could shimmy and shake with a little more grace than this current body I inhabit...

As much as I wish I could dance like a ballerina with smooth, crisp movements and grace like a swan on a placid lake... I'm more like a cat thrown into raging rapids- flailing and gasping for air...

No matter, I am still captivated by those who can do something so mesmerizing using their muscle control and concentration alongside a melody.

What a Weekend!

This weekend was such an incredible break from the busy life! Believe me, I would have liked to update OTW all of last week, but with 5 full days of work, marathon training in progress, cooking meals, and making the most of what available social life I have, I haven't made it to the blogosphere. My apologies...

But thank goodness this weekend let me explore a little outside of Charlotte with lovely people doing just what I love to do the most- Explore and Have Adventures!

The weekend started off with a 10k race up at The White Water Center. My first trail run (let alone first race since last year's turkey trot) I still wanted to get a sub 8min-mile pace going and get around 45 minutes. Although I didn't make my goal time, I still got first in my age division, third overall female, and I got to run next to some incredibly beautiful, God-driven people. Win-Win-Win in my book!

Next... I was off to Raleigh for some fun in the sun with friends...

No one told me about the death of our inflatable friend...

 Oh well... RIP- We still had a good day without him.

After swimming in the quarry until even prunes would be jealous of my fingers' state- it was time for tacos and rest before a little baseball! 

We headed downtown Durham for a Durham Bulls Game!

 

((And when you let these girls 'wander out for a beer', of course, we come back beer-less and faces painted!))

Topping off the night with a Dirty Shirley, inspired by my cousin and I's long love for Shirley Temples. Enjoying wonderful company in an exciting time in each of our lives was such an incomparable feeling! Best wishes to my cousin Kelsie as she starts HER big adventure next week heading to London for a few months!

Hope you all had a lovely, restful weekend! Here's to the next 5 days, minor speed bumps leading to where our next weekend adventure awaits!