Greetings, Laughter

OH HAY. Last night my post E-motions – When The Internet Isn’t Cute, went up on HelloGiggles. I hope you all get a chance to read through it, as well as through some of the other great posts there (I'm looking especially at you, Stephanie, Marianna, and Dani) I'm so honored to have been a part of the site, AND you can be looking for me there in the future. I'm extremely excited for this new opportunity, with so many people I respect so much.

Miss u, Blogger

It's summertime, or whatever. Temperatures in the double digits are gone until September, my shoulders are bright red, and (even in Arizona) staying in the house is the far from an ideal way to spend a day.

(all photos via Ffîon)

So yeah, I totally miss you all. And of course I miss blogging like whoa. 

I promise to visit, as often as I possibly can. And you visit me, too.

Tumblr. Twitter.

If You're Born With a Love for the Wrote and the Writ

My semester ends this Thursday at 9:59pm, which may result is blogs being slightly less few and far between, here. In the mean time, you can pretty much expect to not hear from me.
However, quickly, I saw Johnny Flynn this past Thursday, and the whole place reeked of hipsters. It was like AZ Blogger Meetup, part two. Which, logically, leaves me to ask how many of you were there?
And for those of you who haven't yet had the pleasure,

Also, here are two of the poems from my All The Oceans Ink, blog (which has taken a similar break, to this one) I haven't posted any poetry here in a while and I couldn't think of a more perfect time then when I'm trying to stall for another week.
#10-365                                                                  #11-365
in that moment                                                      every turn in your skull
all the trees                                                             was defined
fell to the ground                                                  as your skin fell slowly
all the oceans                                                         to the bottoms of your feet
dried                                                                          and as your bones unhinged
and the voices                                                       and your organs unraveled
in the air                                                                   you looked at me
were silenced.                                                        and said
                                                                                     with your last breath
                                                                                     I wasn't made for this
Until next time, see you on twitter.

In Which I Obsess

I love Natasha King. Soul mates--no question.

Mother's Day (Sans Animals)

I am lucky to say, I have a lot of incredible mothers in my life. I have been so blessed in seeing some of the most beautiful women, also be the most outstanding moms. I could easily post a 10' blog post about every mother I love, here--but to keep it classy, I've cut it to five. In no particular order, five of my favorite moms:
1. Allie - Aside from what a great friend Allie is to me, on a personal level, she is also such a loving and devoted mom. The more I talk to her, the more I see her genuine love and compassion for other people, and those same traits carry over 100 fold, into her roll as a mother. Not to mention--she's betrothed her son to me. So...LUCKY LADY OVER HERE.

2. Cheryl - I post about Cheryl, Luke, and their beautiful baby, Evie here, all the time. But I genuinely can't say enough how much I love them, and what a huge role they play in my life. You know how people say that certain people are just "born to be a mom"? That's Cheryl. When I see her with her daughter, and not only how much she loves her, but how she is loved and needed back, I could cry with happiness. I am so thankful to know her, and her small family.

3. Jess - Okay, for real? You all know her. I have had the pleasure of becoming friends with Jess through the internet, over the past year, and even meeting her and her son Ezra at the AZ Blogger Meetup. She so genuinely loves her kids, and that shows through so clearly even just through reading her blog, and the way she talks about them. Through knowing her, I have been so inspired at the sight of a woman who neither compromises herself, for her children, or her children for herself.

4. Candi - Can I just tell you guys how much I LOVE Candi's kids? Candi has four of the funniest kids you will ever meet, and every time I see them, I have some new hilarious thing they've said to me. Once, her daughter, Saylor, told me that her milk mustache made her look like a man. And NOT because men have facial hair, but because men are a mess. Candi is such an amazing mom to her kids, and some days--I really don't know how she does it. She has such love and patience, and pours everything into her kids, while still managing to be such a great friend to everyone around her.

5. My mom- Um, DUH. Okay I kind of  lied when I said in no particular order, because I totally saved the best for last. Want to fight about it? My mom and I are extremely close, and I can imagine having been raised by anyone else. For as many incredible, and inspiring mothers as I know, she by far takes the cake. My mom has such a big heart, and if I could ever be 1/13 of the the mother she's been to my sisters and me, I would have the sixth luckiest kid on earth. I love my mom so much, and she is such a huge role-model to me, in so many ways. Oh and by the way--do we look like TWINS? People always tell me I look just like her.

And to all my other favorite mamas, just know I love you. Happy Mother's Day 4 daze, and all that stuff.
"Without us sons and daughters, there would be no Mother's Day. I remind my mom of that every year."

Happy Mother's Day or How I Became a Mother

Or: I Live on a Farm. Or: Why I'm Awake Right Now.
Basically: this.

The short story? Recently, my cat decided that it would be totally cool to have a couple of babies. After an unfortunate series of events she also decided that breast feeding was sooo 2001, and just straight up, stopped doing that. This was realized one cat too late. After the loss of one of the two kittens, matters were taken into human hands and the efforts to convince a week old kitten, that formula is totally "in" right now, began. Fast forward to 2:00am Mother's Day morning, and I'm getting ready to warm up a bottle and feed a cat.
All this to say: it's totally cool if you want to wish me a happy Mother's Day. I'm even thinking about signing up on Circle of Moms. WOULD YA VOTE FOR ME?

Obviously

This is how all of you would describe me, right?

And speaking of how you'd describe me, Thomas Prior's work is really brilliant.

Take Your Time Coming Home

HEY LOOK AT THIS, I'M STILL LIVING AND BREATHING AND ALL THAT. Oh and look here:

The Laughing Heart from Bradley Bell on Vimeo.
I love this video Kim showed me. You can find more of Brad's work, here.
Okay, and also, the obvious thing to talk about. You can consider this post an official return to an unofficial hiatus from blogging. The past three weeks, I've lived the greatest blogging paradox of not having time to blog, because you're too busy living the life you blog about. I found it too cliche, and I'm totally over it. I'm thrilled to be back to regular blogging, and am hoping tobe here even more than before the break.
At some point, each of these will have more in depth explanations, but for the time being, here's what you missed:
-I was sick on my birthday, but it was still lovely
-I paid someone to put a new hole in my nose
-The Phoenix New Times is talking about me
-I found a job
-I'm the proud owner of a Royal Quiet De Luxe
-I'm planning a new weekly guest feature, here
-I'm an unofficial cat midwife
-Easter happened
Oh and some other things happened, too. All in good time, I'll have more posted.

The One Where I Write Quotes + Say It's my Birthday

Today's my birthday. I'm not actually a year older today--because that's just not how time works. But I am a day older, and it had been an official 365 days since my last birthday. So there's that.

I'm not sure what makes this a birthday photo, per say--it just felt like one. 

Not to be 114% cliche and expected, but this year truly flew right past me. I spent it with some of the most important people I could ever know, and have been so grateful for even the worst days. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm exactly where I want to be at this stage in my life (I am nowhere close) but I am truly content. I have no idea what will happen in the next hour, much less the next year--but I think Stephanie said it best a few days ago, with,
"I just have to keep reminding myself that, you know,
1. I'm not in any rush.
2. My hair is just gonna look like that in Texas because I'm Jewish.
3. If I write everyday I will get better.
4. Not having a book deal yet doesn't make me the world's biggest loser even though sometimes I feel that way because, you guys, @molls doesn't even follow me on Twitter or Tumblr and I feel like we could be sisters."
Okay, so 2 doesn't really apply to me--but you get the idea.  
"But when a man has once broken through the paper walls of everyday circumstance, those unsubstantial walls that hold so many of us securely imprisoned from the cradle to the grave, he has made a discovery. If the world does not please you, you can change it. Determine to alter it at any price, and you can change it altogether. You may change it into something sinister and angry, to something appalling, but it may be you will change it into something brighter, something more agreeable, and at the worst something much more interesting. There is only one sort of man who is absolutely to blame for his own misery, and the is the man who finds life dull and dreary." --H.G. Wells
Oh and also? This just always makes me think of a big beautiful party...maybe a birthday party. So I'd consider it relevant.

On Winning

Danielle took these this weekend, and I am just dying of the cuteness.

Sofia turned three last Wednesday, and seriously? She just gets more beautiful every day. I know I'm a little bit biased, but I swear, if there's a prettiest three year-old contest--she totally wins. And if that offends you and your three year-old: reality check time. LOOK AT HER. I'm sure your baby is first runner up.

#AZBloggerMeetup (Image Heavy)

I know this post is waaaaay late, since every day is one blogger year, but here is my obligatory Arizona Blogger Meetup post. I had so much fun "meeting" so many people I already knew and loved, this weekend. It was so surreal at times to look around me and see all these people that I've been talking to online for so long.
I spent Friday day with Danielle, taking her to a few of my favorite Tempe places, and the evening with Chealea, Scott, Kelsey, Jim Bob, Vanessa and Sam, for coffee, bacon ice-cream, and dinner (vanessa and sam were only at dinner)
Saturday day was all according to plan (you can read on Dani's blog) and totally amazing.
Friday:

 

 

(she's not pregnant)

 

Saturday:

 

 

(unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture this weekend, but you can find most of these in the Flickr pool)

Overall, it was a really fantastic weekend and I can't wait to see all these ladies again soon. I feel as though I took a step forward in so many friendships that hold an incredible amount of importance to me. I'm not waiting for another meetup to see these friends again--but if I were, I overheard on twitter tonight, that another is being planned for May (and I am so there)

On Everything (and some other stuff, too)

And by everything, I really just mean some stuff and things. But it's like whoa long...so grab a snack or something.

{Jeff Hamada}

Did you all enjoy the day of silence for Japan? Did you do anything to help Japan, besides not blog? I mean, not to suggest that the lack of blogging didn't help. Everyone knows that with every blog posted, a child in Japan is robbed of a day's worth of food--so that's a really good effort and all. But if not, it's not too late.

Also, I hope you all realize that there is a supermoon tomorrow night. 

Oh, what? "Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than that it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur on Saturday, leading some observers to dub it a "supermoon."" So you'd best be watching...and know I'm watching too...and we'll have a moment.

And, I bought a book tonight that I reckon everyone else in the world needs.

Seriously, do you own 'All My Friends Are Dead' yet? It was one of at least 10 books I was convinced I "could not live without" tonight (the only one with pictures though, I swear) but it was the only one that made me desire to laugh and cry in equal measure, and the cheapest one, so it came home with me. So glad it did, too. Other book-ish things: I finally ordered Evie Paste's Indie Rock ABC book. AND I'm officially a subscriber to 'Psychology Today' magazine (among a bunch of other weird, non-trashy magz) and am already loving that, on the very first issue.
Oh, and everything else? I know I don't blog as much as I used to. And while I don't feel like I owe this blog anything, I do miss being a regular blogger. And I do plan to get back to that, eventually. But to catch you up in the few sentences I have before I lose the attention of the three of you that are reading this? I am buried in school work and for once, I'd like to keep on top of that before I'm six feet under, praying for second (third, fourth, fifth...you get it) chance. Things with my family are great--I love my family to death and we are extremely close. However, I have been struggling with a few issues from the past that I really never dealt with at the time...and it sucks. I'm also in a whole messy situation that I feel like I'm losing (never have had?) control over. A situation that involves another person, and another person that I don't want to hurt, and am most likely going to and...that just really sucks. I don't know another way to say it. Things with God are...well my faith is extremely small, I'll say that. But I'm grateful to have a God whose grace is infinite, and who takes me back, every.single.time. Because that's obviously what I need. As far as friends, if you mentioned the name of pretty much any friend of mine right now, I would probably reply "Oh I miss them so much." Guys? That is on me--the phone goes two ways and I have not called you. It shouldn't always be your job to hunt me down and kiss my forehead, but it seems like that's the kind of friend I've been lately. And I am truly sorry. I'm also looking for a job to start this summer (after I have my head out from all my assignments) Ideally, one of the places I'd be stoked to work at will want me. (see: book stores, record stores, thrift stores, Wild Flower Bread Co. I mean...one of them has got to be crazy enough to pay me, right?) My 365 poetry Tumblr lasted about 17 days. Okay, but I'm not giving up. So it's not once a day? It will be 365 times, before I stop posting there. The anniversary of my birth is in about two weeks...which actually means nothing, except that I'll be a little closer to how I actually feel. The AZ Blogger Meetup is next Saturday, and I'll be spending all day with Danielle AKA Biscuit on Friday. (for sure there will be photos from that) I'm still rewriting songs like it's my job (Hello?) And...I don't know. I have left out so much, but you get the idea.
Basically, my life is a mess and I need to sort that shit out. If you read all of that, I applaud your dedication to finishing what you start.
So...goodnight? Goodnight.
Here's a reward for reading:

Love, and peace, and God be with you all.

Pretend Like I'm Not Even Here

Updates: My teeth are bleeding. It's cute. See also:

{Natasha King}

 {bethfromabove}

{Paul Stolper}

{Christophe Décès}

 {danswenson}

 {baldvinh}

Also see also:
-dancing
-making shit
-not sleeping
-making up my mind (or something)