My Life is Average (and Awesome!)

Tonight I was given flowers for the first time in nearly 4 years (at least.) I am guessing this is due to one of two things. Either I am miraculously becoming popular, or I am getting old and now it's ok for boys to give me flowers again. I strongly suspect it's the latter. It still made my day. MLIA

And good times were had by all!

So, my birthday was this last Thursday, and I am officially 29 years old. I really hadn't planned on doing much to celebrate this year - I didn't even go running outside that morning so I could count shooting stars. Instead I planned on a nice quiet evening in with a frozen dinner, and perhaps a book. Instead, my mum conned me into driving up north for some AMAZING Thai food. Just thinking about it makes me start to melt all over again and start craving another serving of Masaman curry, or Tom Ka Gai. I will definitely be going back. I don't know how I managed to miss it in all the years I have been driving past it. I think from now on I will be going out of my way to ensure that I drive past it.

Then, as an added bonus, on Saturday my sister and I made plans to go to the Real Salt Lake soccer game - the last home game, and last chance for the team to make it to the playoffs. Guaranteed to be a fun game. I wound up leaving early and driving down alone so I could go to a girls soccer game (Utah High school girls state championship game) and also (and most importantly) so I could have a chance to hang out with my good friend Laura (from way back in the good old college days), her husband, and their new baby. I had a delightful time, lots of good conversation, and a rapturous couple hours of baby snuggling. Amazing! Once again, I am getting all gooey and sappy just remembering. Pathetic :)

After they had to leave, I had an hour or so to kill before my sister made it down, so I wandered through a nearby Target and made the discovery of a lifetime. TIM TAMS!!! I have been hearing about these amazing Australian cookies for years now, and specifically, about the fabulous Tim Tam Slam. Observe:

How can you possibly resist something so amazing? I couldn't, and I encourage you all to hit your nearest target and stock up on them (the words 'years supply' are now running through my head.)

On her way down, my sister got delayed (construction traffic was BAD!) and since she had the credit card with the tickets, I couldn't just ditch her and go to the game without. So, I patiently waited, and sent her really random texts to keep her amused on the ride down (no worries, she wasn't driving). After much confusion with the tickets, we finally got into the stadium at about the 77th minute of the game (it is only 90 minutes long), took our seats and had a blast - RSL beat Colorado 3-0, and luckily we got to see the last goal. Afterwards, we crammed our way through the shop, snagged a jersey (half off!) and then went to play with some of my sisters friends in Salt Lake. All in all, we had a great deal of fun.

Next day (Sunday) after we drove back to my place and got done with church, we put the finishing touches on celebrating the birthday - and devoured some amazing pieces of cheesecake that I picked up from Starbucks while killing time the night before. Best cheesecake I have ever had. Yup, that is a match I am using for a candle. More fun that way. MMMM!!

Overall, I had a fabulous weekend. Not a bad way to turn 29.

Also, I think that wherever I move next, they need to have a Starbucks, Target, Einsteins Bagels, Borders/B&N and a nearby soccer stadium. Ahhh, bliss.

Falling

Walking to work the other day I saw someone walking ahead of me swerve suddenly to the side and LEAP to crush an especially crunchy bunch of leaves. It made me laugh, and feel glad to know I am not the only one who does that. I love sound of crunching leaves, I almost feel like they are giggling with me.

My two favorite seasons are the in-between seasons, Spring and Fall. Summer and Winter are lots of fun, but nothing beats the thrill and excitement of the smell of change in the air. It is hard to say which of the two seasons I love more - in the fall, I claim autumn, and come May, I will say spring. I have always loved the saying that fall is a second spring, with every leaf a flower. Perhaps that is why I love it so much. Because I really do love autumn - the air has a unique flavor, tinted with both melancholy and euphoria. It is achingly beautiful, almost overwhelming in it's beauty, the grandeur almost breaks your heart- the land is giving one last hurrah, and celebrating the summer life they have enjoyed by throwing a party and wearing their best formal gowns.

I went for a nice long walk this evening, just to drink it all in - the aspen and birches are bright yellows, and look like flaming torches - lighting my way to my next adventure. The maples are just starting to turn, and are a funny mix of green, yellow and orange, like they have just been to the hair dresser and gotten frosted highlights - but it wont be long before they really burst into flame.

I read a poem once that I have never been able to find again that I always think of at this time of year, comparing fall tree's with Moses' burning bush on Mt. Sinai. Perhaps it the poem didn't even explicitly make the connection, but led me to make it myself - but now, in every firey autumn tree I see a miracle and remember God's love for us.

Fall is the brisk, smoky spiced air of late September afternoons. It is sipping cider around the burn barrel. Fall is the smell of the fallen leaves, decaying as their colorful corpses blanket the sidewalks.

"Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." Carol Bishop Hipps

Take the risk, take it seriously.

Wow. I feel like I really don't know what to write - there is just so much banging around in my head! It has been a wild and crazy month and a half - each week becoming more and more intense, hence the lack of posts for the last little while. I apologize.

I never thought I would actually care about any sport - I have gotten interested in teams in the past, cheered for players and felt some measure of excitement at a good play, but I have never really been emotionally invested in either a team or a sport. Basketball, football, baseball... they just don't hold my interest. (I fell asleep at last year's homecoming game.) But over the last four years of working with the High School soccer team I have become not just interested, but invested, fascinated and at times, more than a bit crazed (soccer is the only time I even come close to swearing). Soccer is the only sport I actively look for when I get the chance to watch TV, so you know I have truly been won over to the sport (I can't wait for the World Cup!)

"If you don't take it seriously, it's no fun, if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart." Arnold Daly might have been talking about golf, but his words are true on so many levels. I always thought it was ridiculous to get all worked up and upset over a silly game, but he is right, it is no fun if you don't take it seriously. To really enjoy it, you have to let yourself become invested and become passionate and allow your hopes to build up.

Hope is one of those emotions that I try to keep in check, well, at least keep it reasonable - I am naturally an optimistic person, but I figure if you let your hopes fly too unreasonably high, chances are good that you get bit in the bum when they crash and burn. I am no Anne Shirley. But hope is one of those emotions that arouse a passion for the possible - and as our season progressed my hopes soared on exhilarating thermals - going to state became a very real possibility, because when our team was on form, I can honestly say we were the best in the district. The more of a possibility it became, the higher my hopes flew and the more excited and passionate I became.

It has been an emotionally intense, exciting, exhausting soccer season - the first winning season our school has had for a long time (8-3-2), and one of the best Varsity teams the school has seen since the program began. We had our ups and downs, our team has a history of inconsistency, and we struggled a bit with it in the middle of the season, shutting down either offensively or defensively, or on a few (horrifying) occasions, both.

We made it three games into district playoffs, winning the first in an emotionally draining battle, and loosing the last two. But if we had to loose our last game, at least it was one to be proud of. The boys fought the good fight, they gave it 110% and left their hearts on the field. It was an amazing game with great ball movement and strong defense, and a lot of good opportunities. Our only struggle was in finishing. We held the score to zeros though overtime, and went out with a crap shoot - PK's. PK's pretty much come down to luck, which Keeper guesses right. Basically it's Fate sitting around and tossing dice, laughing at our cries of anguish when the ball brushes off our (phenomenal) keepers glove and into the net.

It was an emotional end to the season, especially for the seniors - you sometimes forget that guys really care because they so rarely show their feelings. They weren't the only emotional ones out there, I was having a hard time holding my own tears back while I interpreted, and I wasn't entirely successful, because a few leaked out.

I doubt I will ever have this kind of an opportunity again - to work so closely with a HS soccer team composed of such high caliber

players - both in skill and character - and lead by one of the best coaches I have ever had the privilege to work with. I have worked with a lot of other coaches in this district, and observed many others through the years, and there aren't many of them that I like, even fewer whom I respect. He is one of the few. Passionate and knowledgeable about the game, he honestly cares about the players and is willing to do whatever he needs to do to help his team pull together and give their best.

I know I was probably a bit of a nuisance, the lone girl among 35 or so guys, always tagging along, butting into the middle of the 'inner sanctum' of the team like an annoying little sister. But because I was able to invade, I was able to witness first hand some quality coaching, I got a taste of what it must be like to be part of an amazing team, and I now have some of the best memories of my life. I will always be grateful for these last four seasons, and in my book this team will always be the best.