priceless city





i held the hand of a 108 yr old man today. 

i can’t even imagine all he has seen in his life.

& there he was squeezing my hand.



my best friend in galesburg is a girl i likely wouldn’t have been friends with in any place except galesburg. we are different & our paths probably wouldn’t have crossed. i am athletic & always played on a team. she is artsy & loved drawing. i like top 40 music. she listens to records.  i spent hours in a chemistry laboratory. she spent hours in an art studio.  but boys brought us to galesburg from cities we loved. liking wine brought her to VINTAGES to serve it & me to drink it. knowing nobody in the city brought us the courage to exchange phone numbers & hang out. we found out dietitians & art professors are both insecure sometimes. we found out soccer players & painters both like to drink coffee. we found out catholic school girls & girls who were home schooled both have internal conflicts with politics. we found out maybe we aren’t that different after all. today instead of getting a cocktail or going to a coffee shop we painted at her house. i am not artistic. it is not one of my strengths, but i thought it would be fun & maybe she could teach me something. she set me up with a canvas & paint & brushes to work on painting a picture from my wedding while she worked on portraits she is being commissioned to do.  sometimes i would turn on the stool and watch her. i would watch her sketch, look at her progress, erase, look again, & continue. i would watch how talented my friend is.  it is amazing to watch people in their element. to watch people doing what they love. 

my best friend in galesburg is a girl i likely wouldn’t have been friends with in any place except galesburg. we are different & our paths probably wouldn’t have crossed. i am athletic & always played on a team. she is artsy & loved drawing. i like top 40 music. she listens to records.  i spent hours in a chemistry laboratory. she spent hours in an art studio. 

but boys brought us to galesburg from cities we loved.

liking wine brought her to VINTAGES to serve it & me to drink it.

knowing nobody in the city brought us the courage to exchange phone numbers & hang out.

we found out dietitians & art professors are both insecure sometimes. we found out soccer players & painters both like to drink coffee. we found out catholic school girls & girls who were home schooled both have internal conflicts with politics. we found out maybe we aren’t that different after all.

today instead of getting a cocktail or going to a coffee shop we painted at her house. i am not artistic. it is not one of my strengths, but i thought it would be fun & maybe she could teach me something. she set me up with a canvas & paint & brushes to work on painting a picture from my wedding while she worked on portraits she is being commissioned to do. 

sometimes i would turn on the stool and watch her. i would watch her sketch, look at her progress, erase, look again, & continue. i would watch how talented my friend is. 

it is amazing to watch people in their element. to watch people doing what they love. 



you know what’s fun? finding a cd your friend made you in high school, listening to it on your way to work, knowing all of the words to the songs, and knowing what song comes next. that’s fun. 



swan lake @ the orpheum.

…priceless…



my grandma duffy used to make us VEGETABLE BURGERS (ground hamburger with a couple cans of campbell’s vegetarian vegetable soup on a hamburger bun). 

they were quick & we kids loved them, so they became a staple in our busy house.

i made them for russ tonight & they were a hit.

i think it’d be cool if when we have kids they become a staple in our house when things get busy.



russ & i bought spanish rosetta stone for christmas. tonight was the first lesson. 

…priceless…



happy 2013!

happy 2013!



Top 20 Words in 2012[ get your own cloud ]

Top 20 Words in 2012
[ get your own cloud ]



MARRY christmas.

sharing a bottle of wine on the first one as mr & mrs.

…priceless…



i turned 29 yesterday.

i spent the first day of my 30th year pushing snooze & skipping the gym vowing to go after work. wearing the black diamonds he gave me. singing “jingle bells” with a patient on the skilled floor despite my bad voice. eating birthday cookie cake from my co-workers. delivering my gift of popcorn tins to my floors with “holiday tips from your favorite dietitian.” skipping the gym after work vowing to go tomorrow morning. wrapping christmas presents. & doing laundry.

i can’t wait for the second day of my 30th year.