I was outside today, running

 

1 bright sun
50-something degrees Fahrenheit
1 husband taking care of our kids

4 hours' worth of music in a playlist he created for me ("the world was mine today")

1 bottle of electrolyte water
countless trees

1 neighbor I know and adore running past me in the opposite direction

other people walking or running -- some with a friend or a stroller or a dog

4 soda cans left on the ground

1 faded "I VOTED" sticker among some leaves

1 church sign saying "some have to do lists, others have to be lists"

1 camera in my small purse

over 12 miles traveled

1 body to challenge and appreciate
2 nourishing hours alone to think and feel and love life

time for your thoughts on the new design

This should be a quick post, on this historic day for Egypt (not that I know a whole lot about what's happening, and the tasks I need to do are the real reason I need to get off the computer). I have spent some time today -- I don't really know how much -- changing the look of my blog: its colors (lavender-y instead of orange-y), layout, font, etc. I have stuck with Blogger. I don't want to put money or too much time into web design, and I'm not at all an expert on things like html. I think I love the new look! I am not satisfied with the header, and I am not done adding links to other blogs. I hope the links within my posts stand out well enough. Any thoughts on the changes or my pages (the five (for now) things across the top of the blog, just under the collage)? Please scroll all the way to the bottom before letting me know. Thanks!

queen of randomness

Maybe I have mentioned before that my roommate Emily (my first-year-of-college-Emily, not my second-year-of-college-Emily) accurately referred to me as the queen of randomness.

I have had so much on my mind lately. I know that doesn't make me unique, but it's just so much: 

• decision-making and depression in my family
• running my first half-marathon soon, and considering a full marathon
• friendships
• my annoying phone that I'm using because my pink one is missing
• birth politics and other topics I like to learn about (I am not pregnant)
• my girls fighting over things and screaming
• how I might use my degree someday
• my unfinished craft projects
• taxes
• pride
• homelessness
• obesity and disease
• our bathrooms that I need to clean
• the fact that I never feel like putting away the laundry
• the news
• the difficulties of relationships
• the decorating we haven't done
• my relative who recently finished his prison time
• radio stations and home-based businesses I would support if we had more income
• my grandpa's funeral at the end of January
• how nice it is to simplify our food by focusing on vegetables and fruits and using only a few coupons
• beauty and blessings
• whether or not I care about changing my blog template . . .

I figured I may as well share more randomness, shown in some of my January photos.

I used the JoAnn gift card from my sister, plus there was a sale, so this is about $84 worth of stuff and I only had to pay $27.

We visited a friend who lives about 2 hours away; her husband blessed their youngest and baptized their oldest.

Our big girl loves to make "computers" out of books.

I let her finish the oatmeal.

Saw this adorable dog while leaving the post office. My husband wants a pug.

Our church building.

Shboogoo had so much fun pushing her own cart.

I bought Shboogoo some new boots.

Snow on stone.