Happy Place

The last few months has felt quite similar to trudging through a field of sinking mud. if there were such a thing. While exciting, is very draining physically and emotionally. A couple of weeks ago I came up with a remedy to this feeling, something

attainable and relevant to my big picture. forts. While this may seem childish, much like the tree house concept, think about how genius it sounds to build yourself a happy place during times of emotional unrest if you are physically unable to go to your usualone. Of course the picture in my head surpassed what I was able to build initially...(I found this on google and LOVE it)...But I ended up with a quaint and aesthetically pleasing product in the end.

The weather was beautiful and since my sliding window opens to a flat and pleasantly accommodating roof, I figured "why not build myself a sanctuary (fort) out here". I imagined a classic teepee on the street-side roof of my inner-city apartment building. I bought beautiful fabric and decided I would figure out the technicalities as I went. Bad idea. There was nothing to stabilize the long sticks i found in the basement and the chairs I tried using for draping blew over with the wind. My best idea stringing together soccer socks creating a makeshift rope I then attached to a flowerpot hook and tied the fabric to at the bottom. This way the fabric hung at ease and all I had to do was weigh it down. I brought out pillows, blankets, and even a small lantern-style light, it was every four year old's dream. Turns out, the it wasn't weatherproof. I took everything down except the string of soccer socks before sundown.

If it wasn't enough to have the shame of a failed fort hanging over my head, the hanging socks created an inconsistent but badgering sound similar to that of a rusty swing-set. For three days I listened to the sounds reminiscent to a horror movie while coming up with a new plan. I have now transplanted the fabric, pillows, blankets, and lantern into the space between my bed and the slanted incline of the ceiling. A space big enough for one person and oodles of thoughts.

Premature Summer Lovin

As I sit in my third floor apartment during the first day of finals underneath the antagonistic skylights which proudly display what I estimate is the 12th day of rain and gloom (I have lost track), I can't help but zone out and mentally plan the summer that I anticipate will be the cherry on top of an incredible year. In five long days I will board a plane to my new "home" in Mineral De Pozos, Mexico where most of my immediate family moved last summer. Not only am I excited to see my brother, sisters, mom, and grandma, but I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first niece, due to grace us just around my birthday at the end of May. She will create the fifth generation of living women on my mother's side of the family, and not to be morbid, but you never know how long that will last, which adds even more magic to the coming summer.

Much like New Years, I often make a list of things to do, read, and watch before summer comes. I sometimes finish one or two items on the list; this year I am determined to achieve a much higher percentage, which is why I am releasing it onto the world wide web, to add a little pressure.

• Read, Read, Read: finish Anatomy of the Spirit & Let the Great World Spin. Start and complete Dawn Light, Wanderlust, Twelve by Twelve, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, Life of Pi, The 8 Human Talents, Columbine, and probably a few others I forgot to list.
• Write in my journal and on this blog at least every two days.
• Play with my sister, her new baby and my little siblings who I have grown to miss very much despite their pre-teen behavior.
• Jump rope every day: this one has potential to lose steam very quickly. I am gonna need all hands on deck to keep it going. feel free to badger.
• Walk with my mom: after the jump roping I will trek into the mountains and around the town with my mom, talking and laughing all the while.
• Create a large 3D map/list of the places I want to travel and what I want to do in each place
• Begin writing and creating the book that my sister and I plan to co-write.
• Laugh

That is all for now, I am sure I will revisit this when I don't have a biology exam to study for.

Peace cats.