Today was one of those days...

first day back from vacation.
The first day back from vacation is never a happy feeling, but come to think of it, today wasn't half bad considering. I always picture those days as awful, early morning, slow-moving, yawn-invoking times, but today was endurable. Maybe it had something to do with all of the coffee and caffeine I had today.

running late.
All day. And for those of you who know me well, this isn't really a rare, one-day problem. It's basically the theme of my life. I'm surprised I wasn't late for my birth. It's really a chronic problem that I wish some sort of oral medication could resolve, but there's nothing to be done except turn back the clocks in my house to 20 minutes earlier some day when I'm not home. I'm kidding. But really, it all started this morning when on my slow-moving-still-feel-like-I'm-on-vacation body got out of bed. Actually, I gave myself plenty of time, but the problem is that I wasn't as quick as I usually am. Therefore, breakfast forfeited, and the apple-cinnamon oatmeal I fixed for myself was wolfed down in literally 3 large gulps. I grabbed my thermos of coffee and was out the door. I was scheduled for on-the-job training today until 11:30, and since I was driving and mastering the course of mail run, I lost all track of time. I didn't get done until 11:45 which left me with 10-15 minutes to come up with an idea for lunch before I had to be out to TR for my class that started at noon. I'm not one of these people who gives up a meal no matter what the circumstances, so I sped over to the Kmart plaza in search for food. Chinese? Takes too long. KFC? Ugh, totally not my favorite but I headed in that direction until I spotted the solution: Blimpie! I pulled into the parking lot and sighed when I saw a guy who slid into step just a few feet ahead. Bummer. I was a little bugged he got in ahead of me until he opened the door for me, and his gentleman-like character lifted my spirits. However, the sandwich artists at Blimpie today didn't get the memo that I was in a hurry, so they were moving at some sort of turtle pace. You know when you're in a hurry and the world seems to shift into slow motion? That's how I felt. I grabbed my food and hit the road, SO thankful that the construction work going on at Veterans Road (all for the sake of being able to reach Walmart at all angles of Morton) was somehow stopped at the moment and no guy in a bright orange vest was holding up a SLOW or better yet, STOP sign at me. So I made it through class and rushed home to my list of 5 phone calls that I needed to make. My friend and business partner showed up so I talked to her for a few minutes, then made the calls and shot out a few e-mails, only to find I was 10 minutes late to the Survivor Dinner I was suppossed to be at to take pictures. Fortunately, I didn't miss much, and I was able to capture some nice moments at the dinner.

cops, cops, everywhere.
Even in my reading material. I'm reading this book right now about this negotiator, and basically it's about two cops. Then today, I saw police men everywhere. And it's not that I'm thinking more about them becuase of this book, because at one point I was being followed by a police car without realizing it and then suddenly when I saw him I was very nervous that I had been speeding. He continued to follow me for awhile and then thankfully went straight when I turned. I think it's so funny that when police cars are around, everyone drives like 5-10 UNDER the speed limit. I saw several other law enforcement vehicles lurking around town tonight...hmmm...

fresh air.
I needed it badly so tonight after the dinner I hopped on my bike and started the trek toward Nautilus. The air was heavy and humid and the sky was cloudy, but somehow just pedaling on the road with the wind to my face and music in my ears set the world straight and relaxed me. Often, the art of being active is what winds me down the most. It's quite the backwards concept but it's really the truth. Heather had texted shortly within that time so I committed to ging on a walk with her when she got off work at 10pm. Another much needed session! Walking and talking has always come easily to our friendship...

i wish i was invisible.
I noticed this thought for the millionth time tonight as I was walking around at the Survivor Dinner snapping pictures. My task was to obtain pictures of people at the dinner, obviously candid ones. I love taking candid pictures all except for one problem: the people themselves are often an obstacle. Candid cannot be truly candid unless someone knows you're not there. Unfortunately I only had the 50mm lens tonight which has no zoom. YOU are the zoom. A large part of the successful photos captured with this lens are taken at a good 3-4 feet from the person, which means I can't hide in a corner and get a good picture. I have to be willing to get up close and personal. Easier said than done. I've shot enough wedding receptions to interpret the strange looks and brief stares of those mingling that are wondering, "Why is that girl with the camera taking my picture?" Of course I comfort myself with the fact that most people assume I'm a professional photographer and serve a purpose for walking around with 2 cameras strapped to myself while nudging my lens into their space, which is the truth, but sometimes I forget people might know that when I get the apprehensive stares. Then every once in awhile you get the people who immediately react and look away, cover their face, or make a face and look at you like you're holding a shot gun instead of a camera. I guess both do shoot. We do have a lens that allows you to stand a comfortable distance away and zoom in on people from quite a ways back and still get a beautiful picture, which is essential at some events. However this lens was not on me tonight. So I decided tonight that the only real solution to my problem is to become invisible. If I could walk around and get the pictures I really wanted of people being natural, unhibitied, and surrounded in laughter, it would be a beautiful thing. And on some level I eventually get there when the evening has warmed up and people forget I'm swarming around them like a bee by a honeycomb. But until then, and even then, there's still that small, inhibited behavior that resides in anyone that knows a camera is present. I know it because I've been there. And since I'm not at liberty to sit everyone I photograph down and give a speech on "forgetting I'm in the room all night," this is the situation I deal with at most events that I shoot. So obvoiusly I have found ways to overcome (i.e. buy a lens that allows you to zoom in from very far distances). And really, it's not always as hard as I'm making it sound. I just wanted to paint the picture as to how glorious it would actually be to be an invisible photographer.

That's really what I want to be when I grow up.

But I guess if it doesn't work out, a photographer will do.

inbox.
Kristi introduced me to the concept of organizing all of my emails into folders and only having what the e-mail in my inbox as my "to-do" e-mails, and then file them away as I get them done. It's an ingenious idea... when I'm actually around to keep up on it. And most of the time I am, but as mentioned before I was on a family vacation in WI Dells this weekend (good times! I'll post pictures soon), plus my life has been seriously crazy trying to keep up with 3 jobs that have all suddeny increased in busy-ness, so currently I have 42 e-mails to deal with. That's before 18 more come in tomorrow, 1/3 of which I'll immediately delete (I don't need to know about Old Navy's sale or Barnes & Nobles' latest book of the week), 1/3 of which will remain in my "to-do" inbox, and 1/3 of which I'll quickly reply to and file away if requiring immediate attention. Anyway, I heard on the radio this morning that in a work day, you should only plan on checking your e-mail once and it should NOT be first thing in the morning. Evidently that's one of your most productive, creative times, so you should start with brain-heavy work. However, e-mails should be checked once a day and stay "caught up" on so as not to pile up, perhaps around 11 am. I heard this on 106.9, my favorite morning radio talk show.

love you all!
t

Today was the first day in a long while that I was able to enjoy a full day uninterrupted in Morton church. With all of the wedding photography that Imagine Artists has been shooting, my weekends lately have been filled with pictures. It's a wonderful thing... but, I will say, staying in one place all day today was quite a treat. I sat up front this morning, enjoyed a great lunch, grabbed my little nephew and carted him around for awhile (and he fell asleep on my shoulder... oh, my favorite), talked to some friends, and had a great relaxing afternoon.

After church I biked over to Nautilus with my parents, the place where we work out. A lot of people around here work out at Gold's Gym. At first, I wanted to follow the crowd as the "body attack" classes and little community of people and treadmills looked attractive, but now I'm glad I stayed put at our original choice of exercise. I often get one-on-one training at Nautilus including an extra "push" when I need it as well as a correction of form to make sure I'm getting the most benefit. Also, it is my understanding that weight training is the most effective form of exercise to burn fat and stay healthy. I get my cardiovascular exercise in by going on 6-8 miles walks with my friend and by biking to Nautilus on the days I work out, so I feel like it's beneficial all across the board!

When we had successfully returned from our exercising with only a few drops of rain catching us, we decided to bathe our 2 cats. They despise this activity. I'm not sure why cats are so terrified of water but our cats definitely are. I even googled this phenomenon afterward and couldn't find any real good reason why this occurs, but nonetheless, we got the cats nice and clean and brushed.

We then journeyed to Chili's to meet Tate & Melissa and kids for dinner. After that, I hooked up with a couple of my friends. I ended up at Barnes & Noble with Holly by the end of the evening. We got our Starbucks fix and roamed the store finding magazines and books of interest. Among my selections included several books on digital photography and applications, a book on cats, and a book on personality types. I ended up purchasing a book on nonverbal communication (via body language) written by an ex-FBI agent, as this fascinates me, as well as a giant book of Word Jumbles. Those are my ultimate favorite. I look for them every morning in the paper and see how fast I can figure them out. Most prefer the Soduko or crossword puzzles, but I LOVE unscrambling the words and puzzle. Sometimes, if I can't figure out a word, I think about it all day long (in between other activities) until I do.

I also made another goal while in Barnes & Noble tonight. I'd like to make an Andy Warhol Art collection. I really love his quotes and B&N sells his art-quotes in squares, now framed, there. I almost bought another tonight to add to my 1 (I know, my collection is HUGE so far!) but I decided I have plenty of time to accumulate and I left it on the shelf. I would someday like to have 5-8 hanging in a row by my desk when IA has a bigger office.

Well, that was my day. Thought I would share. Sounds kind of diary-ish, but, oh well. I'm going to try to head to bed, I have a big week ahead!

Also, I had an idea for Top Ten this week so if I'm not running around like crazy by then I might post. It's not out-of-this-world spectacular or anything but it's post material, so maybe check back Tuesday.

Love you all!

T

I fear that I have been going through a bout of writer's block.

Every time I come to the posting board, I freeze. Usually, all that I really have to do is pull up the white screen and start typing, and some sort of post formulates.

Lately, it hasn't come. For the first time in a long time, I cannot put 2 sentences together in a meaningful way to save my life. I don't like it.

So I decided to dedicate this post to imagery to get the focus off of my writing (or lack thereof).

Before I show the gallery, though, a preface:I am not saying this to be repetitive or just because I feel obligated to say it "as a photographer," but I really do mean it... in the past few years, I have come to better experience my life through photos. Allow me to explain... whatever I'm up to, whether it's an outing with my girl friends, a family cookout in the backyard to celebrate birthdays, or a random night on the town, I feel like my best "story" of it is through images. Not only do I see the night more artistically, but snapping photos creates a visual record. Post-production allows me to add additional creative flair and social networks and technology such as Facebook and Blogger gives me the opportunity to share it with others.

Following will be a conglomeration of my March-April-May "Favorites" from my "life" image gallery. I'll let you pick up to 3 favorites since there are so many choices this time. It was hard to narrow down so I just decided to put up anything that I loved.


Vote for your 3 favorite titled images! Love you all!

T

It's the summer of 2009, and Imagine Artists is officially working together in the same office.

Hooray!

...but, it's been interesting.

There are several little idiosyncrasies popping up.

It's one thing to be friends with someone..
It's another to be business partners.
And then it's entirely another to be friends & business partners who work in the same office space.

Let me go over a few quirks about Kristi & I that we have been "learning" over the past few weeks about one another... just another set of bullet points to add to our "differences" list!

I will note, though, that while we have a lot of differences, I truly believe it is what makes us such a dynamic team!

Watching the Clock
Kristi is a very prompt individual, if not insanely early. I remember when we'd run around together back in our early college days and we were both still living at home. We'd set a time to be somewhere, and about 25 minutes before that time she'd walk into my house.

Of course, I'd be upstairs in my bathroom, just thinking about getting ready. So she'd sit and wait on me while I changed my clothes, fixed my hair, brushed my teeth.

Anyway, it's an attribute that is positive-- we should all aspire to be on-time individuals. There is a reason we have clocks and schedules and calendars, so we should learn to adhere to these policies for the most efficient turnout.

However, my brain must have trouble processing that simple request. It is very hard for me to view "time" in the correct concept. In my mind, the party hasn't started until I'm there. Often, I feel like I have more time than I really do. I think, "Oh, that'll take me 5 minutes." An hour later, I'm finding out that I was wrong. Also, sometimes I am in such deep concentration over something that I don't even realize that time is escaping. It's crazy, really. But definitely an area that needs fine-tuning in my life! Let's just say that it's a good thing one of us is so prompt, or else we'd be in deep trouble!


Work Space
Kristi cannot even begin to think about working until her desk space looks flawless. No clutter. It would be the end of life for her to have to edit pictures or design a logo with a pen out of place or a cup off to the right. It would best be taken care of.

For me, I'm the biggest clutter bug on the planet. As I type, I have 2 pens, masking tape, a coffee cup, 2 stacks of checks, a customer folder, my calendar, a bunch of sheets of paper, my phone, and several folders all within reach. What if I need something? No really, though, I have to make a mess IN ORDER to start working. The clutter means I'm actually getting something done.

So, it's interesting when, Kristi looks over at my desk on a daily basis and says, "How can you work like that? Don't you have to clean that up?"

And I look over at her desk and say, "What are you doing? Where's all your stuff?"

Communication
Kristi's dream would be to video Skype chat with me while sitting just 4 feet away in the same room. My dream would be to turn my head 90 degrees and say, "Hey, Kristi, what do ya need?"


For real, though, ever since we both got our imacs, Kristi's been trying to call me and video Skype me. Perhaps I would do a good thing to just remove Skype from my Applications. I'm kidding... it's all in good fun. And trust me, we do plenty of verbal (and sometimes even nonverbal) communication while together, miraculously without the help of Skype.

Style
We both have very different styles. It's nice that we've been able to collaborate and create a "look" unique to Imagine Artists, but as independent artists we are two totally different creators! It's crazy. We often sit and view images together before posting final sets online, and it never fails: time after time, I'll love an image that she'll hate, or she'll absolutely adore a picture that does nothing for me. There are plenty of times we compromise or actually agree, but in general, we are so different!


Rate
Kristi is very quick and efficient. She sees something needs to get done, she pulls it up, and she does it.

I tend to take my time. I think about something, I analyze it, I make lists about it, and then when I finally do it (if I do), I do it very thoroughly.

Both methods have their pros and cons, but it's been really evident as we both work on projects together!

Doer vs. Dreamer
Kristi is a doer. She sees something that needs to get done and she does it... right then.

I'm a dreamer. I think about something that needs to get done, and then I develop an idea about it. Then I write it down. Then I print it off and add more to it. Then I check over it with Kristi. Then I bounce my idea off of several other people. Then I might do it. Or I might not, because something else might come up.

This is manifested itself in our "daily" tasks. I make lists about everything under the sun-- all our projects and all our ideas. Then I decide the proper order to do everything and I go through and start working... often bounching from project to project or changing things along the way. I am a "big picture" person who wants to see the whole gamut.

Kristi is more of a "here and now" type of girl. She knows what she needs to work on... today. She sits down at her desk and she gets it done. A to-do list like mine would put her over the edge. In fact, it does. Often I bring it out and she about falls off her chair.

I might note, since "personality typing" is so near and dear to my heart, that this describes a good difference between being intuitive and sensing. I am an intuitive who wants the whole picture. I NEED to know what's going on in all aspects... and I have to see it. Kristi is more of a here & now, present day, let's-focus-on-facts-that-matter type of worker. That's a Sensing characteristic.

---

It's been fun working together, and I'm sure as time goes on we will discover more and more differences and quirks in our "working" styles. As I stated above, a lot of these differences I attribute to our personality types. It makes so much sense that as an intuitive feeler perceiver, I'm often distracted, late, all over the board, dreaming, and looking at everyhing but today. And with Kristi being a Sensor, her mind is set on "today," all the relevant facts of the "now," and would rather take action than sit around and dream.

Fun times!

Love you all!

T

It's Sunday night. Almost 11 pm. I'll tell you what I should be doing-- sleeping.

When it's past noon, sleep in my mind is overrated. If the alarm is going off at 5am then there is very little that I'd rather be doing than sleeping, but once I'm up and into my day, sleep is usually far from my mind. Even when I'm tired, I'd rather busy myself than rest. That may be slightly ADHD on my part but I guess it's how I'm wired. It almost kills me to relax unless it's either scheduled or so far removed from anything else productive that I could be doing that distraction is not even an option. Such as, I have no problem laying by a pool in the sun. But when it comes to watching a TV show at home or sometimes even taking the time to read a book when I'm busy, I almost feel guilty. I can't sit still or focus. Too much to do.

The other day I was working out at the gym and there was an older gentlemen next to me.

A comment was made about how it's unbelievable that the year is already half over.

"Time seems to go faster the older you get," I remarked.

The older man nodded his head. "That's for sure."

Then I thought: That's a universally accepted statement. Most would agree that time seems to speed up as we get older. It must be true because no one is getting younger. We're all getting older. So if we all agree that years go by faster the older we get, then it must be true. Is it because as technology increases, we are more accustomed to lives that deliver instant gratification, or is it simply because age equals a "faster" perspective on life? Perhaps a combination of both. Either way, all that I know is that I must take time to slow down.

Life is too short to let it rush by me.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Nobody ever laid on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time at the office."

While this pertains to workaholics, it also applies to life that is "wasted" in general. Whether it's work or something else, we all find ways to misuse or waste our time, sometimes without even realizing that we're doing it.

Yet at the same time, we must find a way to conduct a meaningful life while allowing time for enjoyment. It's not as if we should sit in hammocks all day sipping lemonade and reading our favorite novel, but every once in awihle, it's good to make time to do that.

Some of us do a great job of decompressing and allowing time for "self," and others of us overcommit and find ourselves spinning in circles with too much to do and not enough time to do it. The key is balance.

Whether we are bored or busy, one factor that should stay constant is time w/the Lord. That's a challenge to me. Often I find that when I am busy, it's easy to make exceptions in my schedule and the most important thing in my life is the first thing to go. Often having too much time on my hands can also be a detriment. "Oh, I have plenty of time. I'll get to it later." The key to consistent daily time in the Word and prayer with the Lord is to make it a lifestyle. It's not an option not to do it. I don't go a day without eating or drinking; it's essential. Anyone who knows me personally could tell you that I'd be a train wreck if I tried to pull that. I'd be an emotional disaster. It would have a big physical effect on me. So if I cut off my spiritual nourishment, shouldn't hte same effect take place?

Sometimes I begin posts and I have no idea what I'm going to write about. Tonight was one of those nights. I never worry... there's usually always post material floating around in my mind somewhere. I even had a few topics that I've been wanting to cover, but this wasn't one of them. It's interesting... I don't know why certain thoughts come out of my mind but tonight, this was the one.

Today...
Start a good book, grab coffee with a friend, play an instrument, go on a walk, pick some flowers, listen to your favorite song, or sit outside on your porch.

Even if you don't think you have time.

Because more and more... I'm finding that with myself, I have time for what I make time for.

Love you all!

T

Nothing is as it seems anymore.

I took a 5 minute "break" tonight to get a Dairy Queen with my mom. I was sitting in our SUV in the parking lot of DQ, thinking. I looked over to the Carius Root Beer Stand and saw the lights flicker off. It was 9pm, and the place was closing. A girl stood by the screened windows slid them shut, locking up for the night.

It took me back to when I worked at DQ. I started when I was 14 years old. Owned and operated by a dear family in Morton who are friends and relation to our own, it was an amazing place of employment. Summer nights would bring scads of people, with 2 lines reaching out to the street corners. Little kids ordering blizzards too big to finish, friends walking up and ordering mister mistys, and friends waving outside the window... all of this would pepper the outer perimeter of DQ. You could work one night and see more people you knew than in 7 days put together. It was lively, fun, and a great high school job.

All of this still seems so fresh on my mind. I feel like I was there just yesterday. Just yesterday. Just yesterday, wasn't my friend and I going out every summer night? This evening, one of my good friends texted me to see if I wanted to go roller blading. Sadly, I had to decline because of my giant to-do work list, but it took me back. It took me back to the warm summer nights when Laura and I would go roller blading almost every evening. We would strap on our blades and take off, owning the street, or so we thought. Sometimes we'd stop at the gas station and get Gatorade; sometimes we'd grab DQ, or sometimes we would just roller blade our 8-mile route and then sit out on my driveway upon returning and talk for hours. Our wheels would often get caught in the hot tar on the road and we'd trip and fall. Once we even roller bladed to Steak 'n Shake in East Peoria, but that's a whole nother story for a different time.

It's the time of graduation parties. What is weird for me is that I feel like that was just yesterday, too. Lately I have been stuck in something of a time crisis. I feel like life has rushed on without me. It's as if I should still be in high school, roaming the halls, stopping at my locker to grab a book, and writing a paper for class. In so many ways I still feel like I'm 16. Is that weird? I hate to say it, but it's almost as if I can't accept it that I'm not that young anymore.

Then I think aout how much I've been through since then and it seems like a really long time ago. We fast forward to early HS graduation. I was out of Morton HS by the end of the first semester of my senior year. That January I started full-time at ICC. It was marvelous. I had class 2 days a week and had M-W-F OFF to work at... you guessed it-- Dairy Queen!

ICC days were fantastic. I loved them. It was a clean slate for my life as far as I was concerned. I remember thinking that people were so different, more "real." All the high school pettiness seemed to fade away and in walked a whole new crowd. And I was loving every second of it. I quickly became a huge socialite with many new friends and activities to invade my calendar. I was also very happy with the Multimedia degree I was obtaining... a lot of really fun classes.

ISU was equally amazing. More great people... living away from home... an awesome Arts Tech program... a wonderful internship at Caterpillar.

Then I graduated from ISU.

Talk about a skewed reality on time. I feel like I just graduated from high school yesterday and in reality, I've been graduated from college for 2 years!

That's weird.

And now here I am. In 2009... just taking the last bites out of my chocolate dipped cone.



Do I have to grow up?

Love you all. T

Today's top ten is devoted to my favorite coffee beverage shop: Starbucks.

Upon entrance into any SB store of choice, you will hear festive jazz music drift into your ears, a wonderful coffee aroma will dance under your nose, and a friendly barista will take your order any way you like it.

These are my top 10 experiences pertaining to Starbucks. Choose your favorite or tell us about one of yours.




1. One day about 3 years ago I drove through a Starbucks drive-through. This was in the Spring of 06 shortly after I obtained an internship w/Caterpillar and was working there in communications. I ordered my usual and when I pulled up to the window to obtain my drink, the friendly girl there started chatting away with me.

"Hi!" she said.

"Hi," I returned.

"How are you today?"

"I'm good!"

"Great-- what are you doing in life right now?"

"Well, I'm going to ISU and will be graduating in a year, and right now I have an internship at Caterpillar in communications. I also have a small design business."

At this, the girl looked out at me with a sincere smile, and reached her hand out, saying, "Wow, that's great. I am SO proud of you."

2. *(Note, to anyone who reads my blog word-for-word, you may have already heard this story. For anyone else-- and that's likely MOST of you-- enjoy.)

Once I was in Arizona, one of my favorite states =), and I was visiting-- you guessed it-- a Starbucks. I was waiting in line to order my coffee and for some reason I was also eating a banana. The lady behind me smiled and said,

"That banana looks SO good, I just want to take a bite right out of it!"

Cute. I smiled at her.

"You know, I used to work at film festivals in Hollywood," she went on to tell me, "and instead of Coke breaks in the middle of a long day, they would have 'banana breaks!'"

3. Starbucks always has the best stuff on sale. Such as really cool games and books, coffee mugs and music. I once saw a book there that I thought that I had to have... I just love unique books w/lots of great quotes and random facts & knowledge... but that was awhile ago and I forget what it was called. And I never bought it.

It was a cool book, trust me.

4. Starbucks is a great place for meeting a good friend to catch up. One of my favorite friends to meet over coffee is Tricia P, and we have done so many times. She is actually a SB veteran... she used to work there and served up many cups of coffee!

5. When I worked at a publishing company in Peoria for a year (07-08), I am pretty sure I kept the Starbucks on the corner of Knoxville and Pioneer Parkway in business. I would go there on average twice a week. In fact, often on nice days I would take my sack lunch there and eat outside on the patio tables and order a shaken iced tea lemonade (highly recommended!) to accompany my food. Also, my mornings were early. I had to be at work by 7am, so they saw me a lot at my best time of day- 6:50 am (not).

6. About a month ago, I was driving through the Starbucks in Pekin. I ordered my drink, and when I pulled up to get it, the guy working gave me a big smile. "How are you today?" he asked.

"I'm good. How about you?"

"Oh- you know. Just living the dream."

I smiled. "For some, it IS a dream," I told him. "In fact, for me-- it is. I've always wanted to work at Starbucks..."

I forget what his response was but I imagine it was something close to, "You would be the best Starbucks barista in the world."

(Ok... it probably wasn't. Had it been, I would've asked for an application right then and there.)

7. Once I was coming home from Peoria and I was on my way to a friend's house. I stopped to grab a Starbucks and I ordered my usual. When I pulled around to get it, the friendly face at the window told me, "We accidentally made this for a previous customer who wanted something different," she said, holding up a large caramel frappuccino. "Would you like it?"

I said yes.

8. Starbucks features "The Way I See It" quotes on their cups. I love this.

9. A year ago I was staying with my aunt & uncle during the Spring. It was a Sunday morning and we were getting ready for church. Around here (at home), Sunday mornings are just hectic because I usually sleep too late and then I'm rushing around to get ready.

Well, I was doing something close to the same and my uncle walks in and hands me a cup of coffee from Starbucks. He had gone on an early morning coffee run and remembered the exact hot drink that is my favorite from a few days before.

I don't know why this was such a big deal to me but it just was. I love small little acts of kindness like this... just know if you are the one handing me a cup of coffee during a busy morning rush, I'll be REALLY happy you did. =)

10. Need a coffee? On the road? Have no fear... there should be a Starbucks strategically placed on a city corner w/i the next 10 miles.

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As much as I love coffee, I will note that just like everything else in life, it is best enjoyed in moderation. =) Too much coffee makes the heart beat faster and knocks off quality sleep.

Love you all!

T