Someday

Luckily, I took a picture before I knew.

Josh and I have a spot where we like to go, and above you can see the view from that spot as it was Thursday evening. The first time we went there, we got to see that view, and a man walking his goats, "How's it goin'? These're mah goats" he said. Why is there ever any question of why we love Salida? My absolute favorite part to see of this spot, though, is how the fish jump. Those suckers come clean out of the water and shimmer on their way back down. It's a small lake and you can see the ripples pulse across the entire thing. Something about fish jumping makes me giggle. How easy it is for fish to take such a huge risk... to jump out of the water that they need to stay alive. And they just bail, knowing that gravity will settle them back home. But I digress.

It's a short walk past some cattails and red-winged blackbirds to get down there and there is some type of herding dog that sits on the hill to your right and barks at you, even though you're all the way across the river. Bring a light coat and some bug spray and if you're lucky, your boyfriend will offer to bring his guitar. And so, last Thursday, when I knew that my boyfriend was coming home for the weekend, I put on my eyeliner and favorite fleece pullover and made sure my hair looked good enough to go watch fish with him. I have a tendency to wear yesterday's jeans, though, because they're a lot softer on day two.

When Josh went to get his guitar out of the case, though, it wasn't his guitar at all. It was my guitar. Which was a little confusing because I don't have a guitar, or at least I didn't know I had a guitar. But actually, the boy didn't go buy me a guitar.

He built me one

Not from a kit or anything, he sanded it, he bent the wood for the sides, he made the design on the front. It took him 115 hours and four months of working every night in the garage when he got home. It is the most beautiful piece of art that I've ever seen.



And on the top, he inlaid two J's together.



I didn't just get a guitar, though. After he handed me the guitar and I got done reading what he had written on the inside, I looked over at him and he was already down on one knee holding out a ring.

It doesn't get better than that, I tell you what.

So, like I said, I'm glad that I took the time to get the picture of the view that I love so much before we sat down and changed who we are to each other. I've always known that he's the real-deal guy, but it all feels so much more happening now.

I love you, Joshua David Smith

Familia

Last weekend my family had a family reunion. I remember being little and going to these things, the annual water fight and the fifty plus people there who were, yes, all related to me. I guess I forgot to mention that my family has these reunions every single year. We don't do these things to remember the long-losts, we do these to be around the people we came from. The people whose faces lit up when they saw your soul for the very first time and who fed you Cheerios on the kitchen floor just to watch you pump your chubby fists in excitement. So here we go, disaway.



This is my aunty winda, or Aunt Linda. One of my favorite stories that I hear of being a baby is when she dropped me behind the changing table and I sat there, stuck between the table and the wall. I'm sure I got there mostly on my own, and it makes me believe that someday when I have children, it's okay if not everything goes perfect. Maybe it's okay if babies cry sometimes.


la

One thing that I love about my family is that they love color. I have a tendency toward grey, but after being around these ladies you can't help but be on a color-high and a crayola craving.



Jack took us out on his boat. Tell me how it gets better than that for two boys with fishing poles? And R2D2 fruit snack bait?







These two are how we got our start, and we love them for many more reasons than that.





















and then there was coffee. we drove two hours to coffee and two hours back because if you're going to do something you might as well do it right. You might as well do it with the people who count.







See how beautiful they are? That is what I love about my family. We are not the American Dream. We are real and tangible. Covered in beads and hair product, greeted by Lily the parrot when we come downstairs.



So come on in.

This is the image of my ideal Monday, and it is what I'm doing this Monday. The local coffee shop here has punch cards - and a wonderful, beautiful thing called double punch Mondays. That is very sympathetic and real if you ask me. Mondays, be default, should bring perks. We all know that they're something that needs counteracted before they even come knocking on your bedroom door to wake you up.

Introduction noise

Usually when I write opinion pieces, I’m very pressed for time. At least that is the way it has been for the past three years of my life because I was writing an editorial for my high school newspaper. I always wrote it the day that the paper was due, so I didn’t have much of the luxury of time. That is why I think that blogging will be a little bit difficult for me, I will put off writing because I have no deadline. I work well with deadlines. Maybe I shouldn't call this blog an opinion piece as much as a things-that-I-notice-and-find-interesting piece. That's more friendly.

I know that I don’t exactly have an audience at the moment, but maybe someday I will. And when that day comes, I hope to have a routine of deadlines and a series of interesting topics. I guess I felt like I had to have some sort of introduction piece before I could move on and actually write about stuff. So here it is.

Hello.