diamonds from heaven

it's snowing outside, but not the typical snow that rushes to the ground as if its racing for its life. this snow is literally falling so gracefully it almost feels like i'm watching a perfectly choreographed dance. as the light reflects the snow in the black night sky i remind myself that it's not a field of fireflies, although my mind would like to think so. what's so remarkable about this snow is the way it lays on the ground below. looking out the window it appears as if diamonds are naturally coating the patio furniture, an unusual phenomenon to say the least. i walked outside a moment ago and after looking closely i could see the unique designs of these marvelous flakes, each one different in their own right and i can't help but wonder at the beauty of it all. as i stare out my window i almost get this feeling that heaven is meeting earth and that maybe this spectacular show was put on just for me. that's silly i say to myself as i continue to ponder.

and then in the stillness i hear my Father's gentle whisper,

"My darling: these swirling, twirling beautiful designs were made with you in mind."

friends and fun in the city

this weekend i was able to go down to washington dc to visit 3 of my friends that i did the school of worship with. we've been trying to connect for some time now and it finally worked out. after an emtionally draining last week i definitely needed some encouragement and lots of laughter which i was able to get. it was fun just hanging out and walking around the city. sometimes it's good just to get in a new environment for a few days to clear your head. my friend lisa and i had a lot of good talks and she was really encouraging.

tonight i felt like i needed to get out of the house so i decided to go to barnes and nobles. my little brother wanted to come with me so he did and i got a chai and read. it was really relaxing and lots of fun. i love the atmosphere of bookstores and coffee shops... i don't know what it is that draws me, but i like it!

there are so many things swirling around in my brain right now... i can't seem to catch any of them long enough to think about for more than a few seconds. i feel so scattered at times with what i want to do. it's so hard being such a passionate person... i need to learn to focus better but it gets hard sometimes.

i really should get to bed.

goodbye's never get easier

today is a really sad day. my dog of 14 years had to be put down today. snickers was a yorkshire terrior and he brought so much joy to everyone who met him.

14 years ago my family decided we wanted to get a little dog. after a bad experience with a yellow lab we thought a smaller dog would be a good way to go. i don't know how they decided on a yorkie but somehow we got in touch with a breeder who had a litter on the way. we purchased snickers before he was even born. we even named him so that the breeder could call him by his name for the first 6 weeks until we got him. the mom's name was kitkat so on our way home from the visit with the breeder i decided that we should name our dog snickers (to keep the candy names in the family). i guess everyone agreed and that's what we decided. on new years eve we got a call from the breeder who told us that the litter was about to be born. 6 weeks later we had our snickers.

somewhere along the way snickers got really attached to me and i to him. the breeder told us that yorkies usually picked one person in the family and kind of stuck by them. that was me. when i started working for my parents in 2000, snickers started coming with me. it stayed that way for the next 6 years. it was so nice to have a little dog running around our business and making people smile. he loved the attention and the treats. i remember a few years ago a lady came into our store and she saw snickers and says, "snickers you changed my life!" i thought she was crazy but then she told us her story. she said she had come into the store about a year earlier, met snickers and got a heart for yorkies. she lived in baltimore and decided to start a yorkie rescue mission for abandoned and abused yorkies. i couldn't believe it. it was so precious and made me love my dog even more.

i was away from home most of 2007 but when i would come home, snickers would welcome me right home. while my other dog daisy took time to warm up to me, snickers recognized me right away. it was so precious... but i guess we just had that bond. over the past couple of months he just wasn't the same anymore. he slept all the time and i knew it wouldn't be much longer. but this past week it got worse. he stopped eating and had trouble walking. then on tuesday night i ended up staying up with him all night. he cried a lot which broke my heart. it was then that i knew he was really in pain.

letting a pet go is so hard. they're always there for you no matter what. they never judge you or talk back. they're always excited to see you and when you need something to hold, they're there. it's sad to me to know that i can't look in his cage and see him sleeping or catch him drinking at his water bowl. i'm so grateful i still have daisy, though. it would have been really hard to come home to no dog at all.

anyways, i don't want this to be sad. i loved snickers so much. he was truly such a good dog and so special to me. my family used to tease me that he was my boyfriend because we spent so much time together. i just loved his company and i think he loved mine. i hope he knows how much he was loved.

i know people say animals don't go to heaven, but that's baloney. there's animals in heaven, so why not our pets? i always said it wouldn't be heaven if snickers wasn't there and i'm sticking to it.

non-fat chai- yes please!

my sister and i have now made over 30 pairs of earrings since sunday. i've really had a good time being creative. it's relaxing for me which is nice.

i went to this new little coffee shop tonight in town. it was so cute! i had a chai tea in this cute mug and it was delicious. the atmosphere was so cozy. it just reminded me of my secret little dream to have a coffee shop someday. now that i posted that on the internet i guess it isn't such a secret anymore. haha...

anyways, it was cool and i definitely want to go there more often. it was a nice place to curl up with a good book or a good friend or both!

discovering new hobbies is fun

yesterday i was at sam's club with my mom and sister and we saw this startup jewelry making kit there. it looked pretty cool so we figured we'd buy it and try it out. it cost $30 and came with all the tools and supplies you need. so this afternoon kate and i sat down and we made about a dozen pairs of earrings. i must say that it was a lot of fun. it took me a little while to get the creative juices flowing but once i got the hang of it i really enjoyed myself. it was cool to know that you made them and when people compliment them i can say, "thanks i made them." score!

in other news...

kate and i hung out with my bff lyryn tonight and her amazingly cute little boy jayden. we didn't really watch the super bowl which was fine by me. it was still fun and we ate pizza! yum!

i did watch the last 30 seconds of the game and i'm glad to see the giants won. it's always fun when the underdog wins. who doesn't love that?

so it was a less-than-exciting weekend but that's fine by me. i had some good times with friends and i couldn't ask for anything better than that.