Just Words.

This post is a bit different than usual, just a forewarning.. Open, if you will. As I lay in my (ridiculously comfortable) bed tonight, my mind no longer mulls itself to sleep over daily things like what I'll make for dinner the next night, or faintly dreaming of the aroma of my French-pressed Stumptown coffee which will greet me first thing in the A.M., or how pretty the purple 'cheer-up' flowers Nicole picked and placed on our windowsill are. Instead, my thoughts tangle over battlegrounds within my own head. Mine fields, trench warfare, you name it- the whole shebang (apparently it's the 1940's in my mind, also). Anyway, right as I was finally falling asleep i heard through my glass-paned doors (for I have no window!) the sound of mad down-pour. Sure enough, despite all forecasts, sheets of rain are now drenching our inaccessible patio.

And it is this, Ladies and Gentlemen, which sits me here, by the candle-lit window, pouring my thoughts, mimicking the rain. It is this that shakes me from the battled ground of my mind and makes me thankful. Here is a list, thirty things I am thankful for:

1. My Mother's confidence, her disposition, and her strength. (yes, that is all one.)
2. My Father's honesty, and his reality-checks.
3. Flanel pajama pants.
4. Peanut butter.
5. Morning salt in the air, carried by the ocean breeze.
6. Finding new beautiful trails, previously undiscovered by your own footsteps.
7. The fact that I once obsessed over the movie Halloween Town.
8. My dog waiting patiently outside of the grocery store, when I know he's really freakin out.
9. School. Lectures. History books. Taking an ungodly amount of really unneccissary notes.
10. Being able to appreciate a clean apartment.
11. Flowers on our windowsill... Well, even our windowsill in general. Heck, the whole damn apartment.
12. Favorite authors and how they can never truly disappoint.
13. Autosaving of drafts. Seriously.
14. Having my brother live relatively close, even though we never hang out!
15. The max red line (hello IKEA)
16. Feeling fortunate to have a safe place to call home.
17. CHAI. chai, chai, chai.
18. Conversations and people that really, honestly humble you.
19. Being able to look on the past as a road map, reminding you how exactly I got here, again?
20. Moving away when I did (but always missing home)
21. "How Stuff Works" podcast with Josh and Chuck. Nicole will surely second this one.
22. Seasons. ( I know, this should really be higher up than IKEA, but hey.)
23. Places that are open late and getting that safe feeling that people are still around.
24. My and Nicole's plans for coffee table replacements (ex. giant working rubics cube, kiddie pool, rabbit cage- complete with a bunny of course, tree, giant nutella cookie- I may have just added that one.)
25. Remembering that our bodies are simply the costumes.
26. Developing the mind. In school, or out.
27. Smells that trigger unbelievable memories, which sometimes make you realize how sweet past times really were.
28. Developing an even deeper understanding and appreciation for old friends.
29. Thinking, dreaming about what I want for my life.
30. Unpredicted storms. The kind that pull you out of a warm bed at exactly the right time. The kind that inflicts so much reality on you at once, that it makes it hard to believe I had ever neglected any of the above things. The kind that ensures the power of Nature.

Rants. Goodnight,

Rachel

Ps, what are a few things you are particulartly glad to have in your life right now? I'd love to hear.