Simply Brilliant

My dears, Crystal and Melissa, could, quite possibly, be the most brilliant women of my life. They have a fabulous blog that they share- leaving posts to one another in conversation form. In honor of their fantastic idea, my great friend, leslie and I have created our own entitled: Davenportdame. The link is below if you're at all interested. Once she gets the hang of it, we'll be blogging back and forth on a regular basis....and let me tell you, she's clever. You're all in for a real treat!

Cordially yours,
Heather Lea

Still runneth over

I had a fantastic birthday- one of the best that I can remember. I went to classes, ate lunch with my big brother, attended more classes and then met Johnny, Logan and Megan for dinner at Chipotle. Then, Megan had arranged for the coffee house at church to be opened up for us- and invited some of my favorite people for coffee, hot coaco, music, cards, etc. It was very relaxing. I was able to visit with everyone and felt so incredibly loved....

When we came home, my roommates and I took some pictures to document the evening-


Amber, Me, Melissa, and Sarah.....



There were some friends that I would have loved to see- Scott and Carissa- we missed you a lot! Crystal brought her guitar....and you can imagine how happy that made me. I made a list in my journal of all the friends that were able to make it- SO many people that I love..... I don't even have anything else to say. My cup overflows.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I love my birthday. My mom is very good at fussing over me on my birthday, and I really enjoy that. She lives a few hours away, but she's great about sending letters, leaving money for coffee and dinner, etc. She's just great.

Tonight I've decided to have everyone meet at the geneva house for coffee and fire. I guess I already wrote about that. I'm very excited- it'll be a great way to spend a birthday. This is the ideal day for me...lots of people I love, great warm drinks, games and music.....the geneva house has a grand piano and Crystal is bringing her guitar. I absolutely love when we all get together and listen to, play, or sing........warms my heart unlike any other thing. I'm not kidding.

Also, I will get ready this morning so that I can take my entire lunch hour to go to a coffee house to write. This is also something I love, and on my birthday, I will indulge!

I already feel so blessed today by all the messages and phone calls I've gotten from people. Birthdays are a great way to be reminded of how much we're loved. I think that might be why God lets us have this one special day every year- just to be reminded. :)

What difference do you think that it makes?

Today is my birthday eve....it's been a great eve. I was very productive today and tonight I'm wrapped in my robe drinking tea and working on homework. Bama made dinner and brownies for the Eve dinner....tomorrow we will meet with friends for coffee, fire and cozy visiting. Lucky for my friends, I'm bringing my onix Scrabble board....sweetest scrabble board ever.

I really need to get going on my homework. Maybe I'll take a study break a little later to update.

New PJs

My mother is the queen of finding weirdo pajamas for my brother and I. Last Valentine's Day, I received a pair of matching top and bottome pajamas with giant breakfast foods printed all over them...can't find the picture, but it was pretty awesome. So, they came today to celebrate my birthday early- and I opened another pair of fabulous pj's. This year, they've got little hippie russian dolls....you know, the ones that stack inside one another? What are those called? Anyway, here's the picture......they're priceless.

I also got a copy of Annie on DVD- the musical that i used to watch every day after school when I was growing up.....so now, i'm all tucked into bed ready to watch my new movie in my new pajamas. Life is pretty great.

A Visit from Strangers

Ok, they're not strangers, but I haven't seen them forever! Mom and Dad should be here around 11:30.....not much time to eat lunch somewhere and run around town a bit before I have to work at 4:00... I'm so excited to see them.

Now, unless you know my big brother, this photo might not be funny to you. Christmas Eve, he was rummaging around downstairs in the store room and came up wearing mom's old robe from the 80's. He loved it so much and asked if he could take it back home with him to wear on New Year's Eve. Well, he did. He wore it the entire evening and some man, who had had a little too much to drink, bought it from him for $30 that night. Sheish.

I should get going....

It's about time...

Alright, alright.......the MARTINS are REALLY lonely in far-away-land....and they sit waiting for me to post. So.....here it is.

(Sorry it took so long)

I've been busy? How's that for an excuse?

Uhhh....I met my student that I'm tutoring this semester. His name is Cody and he's in 6th grade- real cute little guy. I'm helping him with his reading and writing....through a program at UNL. It's going to be a great semester- I'm excited to see the growth that both of us will experience.

I downloaded some new ani difranco music....she's crazy. There are a few classics though that remind me of a great friend....."Fire Door" being one of my absolute favs..... :)

Ran into my friend, Nile, today....I was wrong, you can't post comments unless you have a google account.....sorry about the misinformation. :( Sorry, Nile.

Friday night and I'm staying put. I'm pretty swamped this semester with homework, writing, and lesson plans....it's going to be tough...but it's my last one and I'm ready for the challenge.

I've also been running for about a month now....I'm SLOWLY working my way up....not feeling like I'm absolutely going to die anymore.....it's getting a lot better.

Ok, notice those three boxes above my bed. Well, I collect elephants from different countries, and I put some of them up there. Also, I'm a sleepwalker.....the other night I was going to sleep and found one of the elephants in the drawer of my nightstand table......very strange.

In any case, I'm tired and I have a lot of work to do yet. Have a very pleasant weekend. We're supposed to get a bunch of cold again....

Ok, just kidding.....I changed it so anyone can leave a comment.....

Writing with the birds

My fiction writing teacher challenged us to wake up an hour earlier today to write. I did. I was not very productive. It could be because the exercise I was working on is a short story that I don't particularly like. Or, it could be because I wasn't awake yet...or a million other things. He says he likes to write early in the morning because his voice of reason doesn't wake up for at least another hour after him, and that way he has time to write ridiculous things without questioning them. I'd like to think I write without reservation all of the time.....but I could be wrong.

Maybe what I need is coffee.

I have an entire day of homework and projects. However, I have only one class to attend, so I'll have lots of time to be productive. I'm off for now....

Tuesday Schmoozeday

NOTE TO EVERYONE: one week until my birthday. I can start celebrating now, as I allow myself to celebrate for three weeks every year: the week prior to, of, and after my birthday.

I realized yesterday that my birthday this year falls on a Tuesday which, unfortuantely, is my longest day of the week. I start classes at 9:30 am and go until 10:00 pm.....so much for any dinner plans....

I start tutoring on Thursday this week.....excited to get that started.

A very productive day

I had my teeth cleaned today. It didn't hurt, and it wasn't scary. Ryan and I had a lot of fun- he let me hold the sucker thing and I kept spitting into it. I asked how much it would cost to have an at-home spit sucker....he said it would be pretty expensive. Here, you can see how shiny my teeth are- freshly polished!

I ran a lot of errands today, went for a run, and still have quite a lot of homework to do. I'll probably end up at another coffee shop somewhere since our internet still isn't working. But for now, I think it's very important that I take a nap. I've taken a picture to demonstrate my method of napping...works out pretty great.

I did everything for you...

Coffee House, schmoffee house....I didn't get a lick of work done....and the internet was down! I'm not sure what the heck I did for three hours there....but it sure wasn't homework.




I seem to think that I'm the easiest person to get along with and that I never piss anyone off. Please, Heather.

It snowed today.

Martha came over and made dinner for us tonight...it was great food, and a lot of fun to have them over. They're moving to Michigan in a few months- in May, actually....they'll be pretty close to where I'll be when I go to Milwaukee.....which will be very nice.

This is a picture of her husband, my dentist, Ryan. I'm showing him my teeth so he knows what to expect at my appointment tomorow. I do not like visiting the dentist....












And here, Marth and I peer into the camera from the kitchen....

Alright, enough for now. I'm way overdue on my homework...I need to get going.

Baby, it's cold outside.

It's beautiful outside- a light fluffy snow has been falling for hours and glistening off the ground with yellow light from streetlamps. It's been a good day. Friends, coffee, writing, blankets. I attended a piano recital tonight for a senior student and it was phenomenal. I really ejoyed myself.

I've come to the sad realization that my life is moving into a new season. Sad, but very exciting at the same time. As more and more friends move to different states, I understand more now than I have ever before that life will never stay as it is. Circles of friends change with every passing season. People come into our lives so quickly and just as soon seem to leave again. We continue to develop the relationships that are most important to us and somehow let the others slip by without so much as a glance. I'm ok with this.