starbucks cups

Brad and I text message during the day. This is what I received on my phone today at 3:05pm..."The way I see it #35 - Starbucks is basically a reasonably-priced laxative." I'd really like to see them put that on the side of one of their cups.

timing

I've been thinking about timing lately. It started with thoughts on the future, which is understandable, and this has lead to thoughts on the past. Not melodramatic thoughts, really, just the mental wandering down paths traveled, for good and for bad. All the intricate plans that God has for us, some that we catch, some that we miss. And I really think that I have finally learned a lot of things about myself in the last two years beyond the occasional lightbulb experience, and more like the sunrise that gives more and more light until you know you won't forget this time. And this aids the more practical side of my brain which I will admit has been, well, neglected. I can blame it on some shred of artistic mentality, but Brad is much more artistic than me, and yet he manages to live an entirely rational life. Case closed, excuses shattered. I think that my decisions have become a little more useful, a little less complicated, and things make more and less sense all the time. In a good way. How the details are like dominos, and we never know exactly how the pattern will look once they all fall and become more than minutes and hours. Staying up late to take a quiet run around campus, not knowing I would meet God face to face in the rain. Taking a nap outside and waking up with a sunburn. Meeting the principal's daughter next door and looking into the face of a girl that would become as close to my heart as a sister. Walking to a grave and holding my father's hand. Falling asleep next to my mom, not wanting the morning to come and seperate us again. Taking a chance one afternoon to pray with two girls I barely knew, and ending up with two of my dearest friends. Holding Livia in my arms for the first time and crying because I loved her so much. Talking the scalper outside Fenway down from $80 to $30 and watching Boston play Toronto from four rows behind Pesky Pole. Going back for one more look. Leaning over just far enough. Letting a stranger hold the door for me. That first sip of coffee, that laughing run to the pond, that hesitant nod, that perfect note that rang with overtones, that fort in the woods, that ice cream in the convertible, that empty jazz practice room that ended up on the roof, that ended up in love. How thankful I am that my life is set to the wristwatch of a loving God.

alison krauss

It's been a few days since I've written, and as I tend to give emotions to inanimate objects, I feel a little guilty about neglecting the blog, so here goes. Latest news: Brad surprised me with Alison Krauss+Union Station tickets! I'm surprised that he was able to keep the secret from me as long as he did, but finding out about it the day before was perfect. We had talked about it when we found out she was going to be in Boston, but not only were the tickets waaaay too expensive, they sold out too quickly to even consider it. Brad ended up buying two out of the four tickets Seth had gotten ahold of when he accidentally ran across them on EBay and Craigslist just days before the concert. They played at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Crossing last night, and it was awesome. She gave me goosebumps with that voice the ENTIRE time they were all onstage, and they sounded even better live than on their cds. *sigh* It was great. It made me once again wonder the big question, "what if?" followed by the deep breath that tells me that now is not yet the time to pursue that still-hazy daydream.

On a different note, I had the day off work today (I work tomorrow, Saturday), so Brad and I decided to be somewhat productive. We went through all our old receipts, cut his hair in the bathtub (and as always, laughed while we tried to figure out how we will both fit in there so I have a good angle with the scissors, not to mention the nervous comments Brad makes as he feels large chunks of hair falling all around him), got our oil changed and tire replaced, went to the mall for some Chik-Fil-A and Ann Taylor (I have the most patient husband on the face of the planet), organized and cleaned the apartment a little, and basically just hung out and did married-people stuff, which I love. I talked to Mom and Dad more than once just because I miss them, and Kristin called while I was in the shower, which was funny because Brad answered the phone and they talked for a little bit before I was all dry. I love talking to Kristin. She called while she was on her lunch break, and we once again reminded each other that in less than two months Brad and I will be living in Nashville and we'll be within driving distance to one another, and I could hear the smile in her voice as we said it. I was smiling, too.

chocolate raspberries

What a lovely Saturday morning. I'm sitting here at the computer with a cup of chocolate raspberry coffee, like the kind Mike and Ang would make when I would spend the night with them, and Brad just took a load of laundry to the basement (what a good husband I have!), and we are heading to Maine today for a concert, but not until this afternoon, so we have some time to just take it easy and enjoy the sunshine beaming in our windows. I've told Brad that one of the reasons I think I love coffee so much is because it reminds me of Mike. The first time I had my first cup of coffee was with him at Applebee's when I was maybe 12 or 13, and I kept the napkin with the coffee ring stained on it pinned up to my bulletin board even through college. I have two of the best brothers a girl could ask for.

I want to keep this blog relatively on track, as I have a tendency to procrastinate and forget to keep up with things that I start. Saying this, I will update my audience of one (thanks, Kristin) :) to our latest activities here in beantown. (And by the way, don't ever call Boston "beantown" to a real bostonian. They apparently don't like that. To be true, they don't like a lot of things, but I digress.)

So Bradford and I went on a hot date on Thursday night, to the mall to eat at Chik-Fil-A (the only one in Massachusetts!), and then to see the movie "Robots," with a handful of 6 year-olds, which was pretty funny.
A little cliche with Robin Williams at times, to be honest, but still a great movie. Strangely enough, we ran into David Taylor at the food court, a guy I used to work with at Linkage, and it was nice to see him. I have to admit that I would have been more excited if his wife, Anne, had been with him. She was one of the girls I worked closely with there, and I just loved her. Anne has since moved on from Linkage, and David said she likes her new job. Seeing David was like peeling off a scab I didn't know was there. Maybe some closure after getting laid off and not really getting the chance to say goodbye to anyone, and it additionally made me even more thankful to be where I am now.

Yesterday Brad took me to Panera for dinner (yum), and then to T.J.Maxx to wander around. This is one of my favorite things. They just have the most wonderfully random selection of things to look at! We always spend a long time in the home section after Brad pulls me away from the shoes, picking up neat kitchen gadgets and talking about our next apartment. Although last night I did find a really cool pair of Timberland sneakers for $20, and once I wear them in a little, I'll probably take them when Brad and I go hiking with Bryan and Tabitha at Acadia National Park in May. They're already really comfortable. I wore them in bed last night while we were watching a movie.

Brad told me that he likes to see me writing again. And not that I'm writing prose or anything else that's particularly important, but I think I did need an outlet, and probably could have done this a long time ago. Either way, I'm happy to be doing this now, especially since it's another fun way to keep in touch. :)

just the crumbs

Brad and I have just gone through the pens, and thrown out the ones that are no longer producing the ink that makes them useful. I fought him a little on a few that hold sentimental value (big surprise), and luckily won most of those battles. Now our phone bill has "Hello, my name is Brad," written all over it in every color imaginable, as that was the test phrase for all the pens to endure. And how I'm in trouble, because my husband just found the almost-empty box of doughnuts that we just bought the other day...whoops.

So at some point, I'm going to write something about why I have decided to join this mysterious world of blog, but tonight is not the night for that. I have to go and solve the case of the missing doughnuts.

treasure hunt

Tuesday nights in eastern Massachusetts can quickly turn from the ordinary to the adventurous when you're with Brad Kerns. Tonight began like any typical evening a few hours before bedtime...we indulged in watching a painful "Idol," followed by a trip to Hollywood Video to return our latest mvp rentings, and as we were on our way home, we decided it would be a good night for a drive with the windows down. The first beautiful day of the year deserves some attention, right? Little did I realize that my husband's sweetness had a motive behind it. A motive called trash day. Initially, I am content to sit in our slowly moving car and look in neighbor's living room windows lit up in the darkness, while Brad scours the area for treasures. But as always, I am sucked into the drama. We begin using our carefully-honed psychic abilities to figure out which streets have the most potential, casually pulling over if another car comes up behind us or if something looks interesting. The best part is when the owners of the trash peek out from behind pulled curtains in their homes. This is thrilling, and possibly one of the things that makes Tuesday night treasure hunting so fun. So although we passed up several choice items...matching vaccum cleaners, a few planks of wood, a rusty fridge, a broken air conditioning unit, and my personal favorite, a full croquet set...we instead set our sights on the biggest and most awkward computer monitor since the ones we played Oregon Trail on in 5th grade. The best part was watching Brad attempt stealth in someone's front yard with a 60 lb. monitor in his arms, because as we all know, one must be sneaky on trash day. Unfortunately his wife was laughing too hard from the front seat to offer any aid.

and it begins.

Brad and I bought a digital camera on Saturday. A pretty big purchase, and possibly another small step towards adulthood. It's funny, but I think we felt more like grown-ups when we bought our first couch than when we said our vows.