Travel Bucket List, Part 2

We're not quite ready for the U.S. list just yet because I keep finding international places that I REALLY want to go to. Here are some more:

• The village of Manarola Cinque Terre, Italy--no words needed:

• I've never seen anything like this in my life: on the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean, there is a beach that is so close to the airport that if you're on the beach, the planes are about 20 feet over your head. 

• Tashirojima in Japan: an island in Japan with more cats than people.

• The island of Capri off the coast of Italy:

• Azenhas do Mar, a seaside town in Portugal. I'm planning to go to Portugal this year, and I'm so excited about it:

• St. John. Ok, this isn't really international because it's in the U.S. Virgin Islands. But have you ever seen a more beautiful beach?

More coming soon!

Thankful. Unshakable. Hopeful.

Right now, I am thankful for long, long talks with my dear friend from law school over dinner at Red Pepper Taqueria, complete with watermelon margaritas and queso and laughing until I have hiccups. The kind of talks where we tell each other that we're valuable and to keep trying and remind each other to surround ourselves with people who love us and push us to be BETTER.

I am thankful for cold and sunny January weekends, where the year is so new you are still taking its packaging off, filled with a stirring and impulsive hope for what is to come.

I am thankful for the technology that lets me talk to my friend who's all the way over in South Korea. And I am so thankful for starting off my day today with a huge life discussion with her--the kind where we reminded each other not to hope in the wrong things. And that life's not about us, it's about glorifying God. And that JESUS is the only firm foundation of our lives. And that we need to stop running away from hard things and instead lean into the challenges and lean into our weaknesses. And that our day-to-day lives are about so much MORE than our happiness and fulfillment and satisfaction; they're about fulfilling kingdom purposes and drawing others to Christ and stockpiling our treasures in heaven. Not here. No, not here. And that if we hope in the Lord, we will never be shaken. No, not ever.

I'm thankful for Isaiah 28:16, which says that the one who believes will be unshakable. Unshakable. I love that so much! The Living Bible translates it a little differently to say, "He who believes need never run away again." Other translations say, "He who believes will never be disappointed." The overall message is so clear--if our hope and faith and reliance is fully and completely in the Lord, we don't need to run away from the hard things or sprint from the storms, because we place all our hope and expectation in the solid Rock. In fact, we can lean into the hard things because of our hope in the Lord. I run away far too much. You probably do too. I run away from things that seem hard. I run away from things that scare me. I run away from things that are outside my comfort zone. I need to stop running away. I don't need to keep running away, because my hope is in the one unshakable foundation and, therefore, I am unshakable too.

I'm thankful for this reminder from Lamentations that I blogged about last year: "Even then, all is not lost. We cannot lose everything. Because his mercies never fail. They are not yesterday's mercies, because they are new every morning. We don't have to try to 'store up' the mercies of God out of fear that we're not getting fresh ones tomorrow, because we are."

I'm thankful that of the three times in my life that my boss has written "good" on an assignment that I did for him, two of them were in the last three weeks (need to keep this streak going).

I'm deeply thankful for each and every song on the Passion: Salvation's Tide Is Rising album. Please get it on your Spotify playlist ASAP! These songs are chock-full of faith and brimming with hope. This is my absolute favorite song on that album and I've been listening to it on repeat every morning while I get ready for work. I also love this one.

I'm thankful for the chance to read through some old journals and have a hilarious and riveting journey through God's faithfulness in my life.

I'm thankful for being in the process of redecorating my apartment (pictures coming soon).

I'm thankful for cute lamps and candles on sale and my "lush Amazon rainforest" and "coconut cake" candles making my bedroom smell amazing.

I'm thankful for the toppling stack of books I want to read in the next few weeks.

I hope you all will find much to be thankful for in the days and weeks ahead!

My Travel Bucket List, Part 1

I'm sure that most of you know by now that I really love to travel. I'm one of those people who wants to go to every country in the world, explore the most remote places, and have some crazy experiences along the way. My personal travel bucket list for my life gets longer every time I read or hear about a new place, but here's the most significant places on my list, with Part 2 coming soon (with some pictures to inspire y'all to want to go there too!):

• The Great Salt Flats in Bolivia--This used to be a huge lake, which dried up leaving only salt behind. During the rainy season, it reflects the sky like a huge mirror. 

I especially want to watch the sun rise here and watch the stars come out. This is why: 

• The Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan. 

• Lapland, Finland: This is where you can watch the Northern Lights from your own personal IGLOO. 

And this picture is of a place in Lapland called Santa Claus Village:

• The ice caves in Iceland. I just went to Iceland, and it was my favorite place I have EVER been, and I want to go on my honeymoon there/ retire there/ etc. But check out these amazing caves:

• Zanzibar, which is in Tanzania:

• Prince Edward Island in the autumn (which is in Canada):

• Chefchaouen, a city in Morocco where all the buildings are painted blue:

• The "swing at the end of the world" in Ecuador. I want to get on the swing too! No safety harnesses or anything though:

• There's this beach in the Maldives covered with bioluminescent phytoplankton that look like stars:

• And the black sand beaches in Iceland:

• Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland:

• The "glow worm cave" in New Zealand:

• Of course Santorini. I've been to Greece, but I've never been here:

• Machu Picchu in Peru:

• Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway:

• And of course, Antarctica. And I want to go scuba diving in Antarctica, too:

I don't just have a travel bucket list, I have a "photo bucket list" and I want to take photos at each of the above locations myself some day! Coming soon this week, Travel Bucket List Part 2: United States Edition. Until then, I hope I have helped some of you add to your own list!

Europe Recap. And Everything Else.

SO I'm just going to act like it's not been 57 years since I last blogged . . . right. Hi. I'm back. And I'm sitting at Starbucks planning to write this post and do my taxes and finish a project for my boss all in the next, say, hour and a half. So, first, I need to tell you all about Europe! Or instead, I'm mostly going to show you because I have some really great pictures. And because this was an amazing trip and I had so many wonderful experiences that I really don't know how to put them all into words!

This was our itinerary: We started out in Paris for 4 days. Then we spent two days in Rome, two days in Florence (which included a day trip tour of the gorgeous Tuscan countryside), two days in Venice, and two days in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

Some of the most memorable moments: This BEAUTIFUL little town in the Tuscan countryside called San Gimignano, home of the world's best gelato and most stunning views! Going on a bike tour of Paris at night (most nerve-wracking experience ever, but fun! I had not been on a bike, except stationary bikes at the gym, since 2007). Traveling around in a "water taxi" in Venice. Climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower, to the top of huge hills in Rome and Florence, and to the top of a cathedral in Reykjavik. Experiencing the "polar nights" in Iceland because you're so close to the North Pole and it's December, so there's only 4 hours of sunlight each day. Three words: blackberry lavender gelato. The Louvre and seeing the Mona Lisa up close and personal. Touring massive "Christmas markets" in Paris. The Sistine Chapel and seeing Michelangelo's "Hand of God" painting. Sunset over the Venetian canals. The Colosseum at sunset. Going to a pizza-making class at the Florence Food and Wine Academy. Ferris wheel rides over Paris! Seeing the aurora borealis in a boat off the coast of Reykjavik. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Lunch at a Tuscan winery. The best almond cookies in the world in Siena, Italy. Seeing the painted houses on the island of Burano off the coast of Venice. Going to a Vivaldi concert in Venice. Having the best brunches EVER in Iceland--they do brunch right! Tromping through 18+ inches of snow in Iceland and wondering what I had gotten us into!

All told, in two weeks, we went to 4 countries, including the smallest country in the world (Vatican City), 8 cities, and multiple islands, and walked more than 100 miles through Europe. In one day, we traveled by boat, bus, metro, plane, train, and car--I wonder if I'll ever do all that in one day again! We had such a great time and are so grateful to have the chance to travel together. Next up for us? Prince Edward Island, Morocco, Spain, and Portugal are on our list for this year . . . because life's too short not to ride a camel and go surfing in Africa and explore Madrid and see the Anne of Green Gables house, and I could go on! I have a million pictures, but these are my favorites:

And since coming back, I've been incredibly busy with the holidays, volunteering at the Passion 2016 conference, lawyering, and planning goals for the new year (post on this coming very soon.) I hope you all are having a very happy new year . . . more coming soon!

Rainy Sunday in November . . .

These are actually some of my absolute favorite days. Yes, it's rainy and freezing and just . . . November, which already has a reputation for being dull and dreary. But I got to sleep in this morning, already put in some laundry and loaded the dishwasher and picked up the apartment, and am now sitting at Starbucks having some coffee cake, journaling, listening to my "Faithful and Fearless" Spotify playlist, and writing this post before I head out to do the week's grocery shopping and work out and go to the 5:00 church service.

This has been a very intense year, and I've been feeling very reflective this morning even as I contemplate how we're less than 8 weeks away from 2016, and how TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY I'll be on a plane touching down in Paris (!!!!!), and how two days from today marks my one-year anniversary of becoming an official member of the State Bar of Georgia. It's been an intense year of learning and growth and adjustments to a new lifestyle--being in a new city, my first professional job, being a lawyer--that have been much harder than I imagined they would be. Yesterday I was reminiscing about just how scared I was that day in August last year when I loaded up everything I owned in a moving truck and took off for a city where I knew virtually no one. It has been quite the ride, and it hasn't been easy. There's been a lot of struggle in the 15 months since I moved here--struggles to make friends, struggles to adjust to a new career where I'm pushed to perform at a higher level than I often feel capable of, and struggles to figure out what matters most to me as a twenty-something in a demanding profession in a big city, even as I KNOW that God wants me to be here now. I am totally confident about that, and even though my emotions sometimes scream at me that this isn't working out exactly the way I thought and maybe I should re-think things and go somewhere else, I have felt, and still feel, a deep and abiding peace about being where I am. I'm supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be practicing family law and am called to do that, and I'm supposed to be leaning in to what God has for me here.

And y'all, I just keep learning that God is faithful. God is faithful when I don't know if I can push any harder than I'm already pushing it, but somehow I have to. God is faithful in the times when I feel stuck in a rut or when I wonder if this place will ever consistently feel like home. God is faithful to always be the firm foundation of my life, absolutely no matter what. And that is worth celebrating, and writing about, even in a year when just trying to get on my feet has made me neglect this blog SO much. The other day I sent my best friend some really old blog posts I had written--like, from 2012--and she told me they had really blessed her, so I decided I need to start writing again. Officially. As much as I can. This is not going to be a formal "devotional" post, but I do want to share this with you. I've been reading in Hosea lately (absolutely amazing book, by the way), and have been given so much hope and encouragement by this verse lately: "I [the Lord] will make the valley of trouble a door of hope." (Hosea 2:15). YES. The Lord is the only one who can make the valley of trouble a door of hope, and reading this passage has meant the world to me in a season of my life where I've been spending a lot of time in the valley, a lot of time trying to figure things out and make sense of where I need to be and how I can serve the Lord in a life that's just so very different from anything that has come before this for me. But He is still here, and I've had conversations with a lot of people who love me and care about me lately that have helped me see that door of hope beginning to crack open, even in a season in the valley. And again, I could say this 100 times and I probably HAVE said this 100 times on this blog, but it's still just as true as ever. Jesus is enough. He is always, always enough. Not Jesus PLUS the perfect job, the perfect relationship, plenty of money, plenty of friends, and everything that Instagram makes me believe I need to have to have a perfect life. Just Jesus. He is enough. He's just enough.

That said . . . here are some other things that have been going on in my life lately:

• Yesterday I chopped off a ton of my hair and dyed it red and I LOVE it.
• I've been hiking: 
  
• And taking painting classes: 
  
• And I'm taking a French class in an adult continuing education program at a local university. And I DON'T GET IT AT ALL. This is why I only took Spanish in high school! But I'm going to keep working at it. 
• I'm handling a lot more at the office than I was a year ago--giving clients lots of legal advice on my own, handling a couple of simpler cases with only very minimal supervision, writing much more substantial briefs and motions for partial summary judgment and similar items, jumping right into the fray with discovery disputes with opposing counsel, and you get the idea. 
• I've been reading a LOT this fall, especially after coming to the alarming realization that if I read a book a week for as long as I can expect to live, I only have time left to read about 2,800 books in my lifetime (I somehow thought it'd be 10,000 or so. Not so much). I've read this book about young investment bankers on Wall Street and this amazing book about poverty in America and of course a Jodi Picoult book. Now I'm reading this book about neuroscience (I never said I wasn't a nerd) and this other book about poverty in America and of course this classic about life in Italy. And this book that my pastor wrote. And this Lisa Scottoline book (love her work). So much to read, so little time!
• I am LOVING the career advice in this article. Despite the title, this is great stuff for professionals of any age. Especially great parts: "Carve out time in your week to prioritize your own learning." "Lean in to your weaknesses." "The best form of networking is absolutely crushing results in your job." And I could go on, but just read it yourself! Along the lines of this article, I've set myself the goal of reading 5 professional articles each week at my job (on any topic that's relevant to my career), of going to more seminars, of seeking out more feedback and actually using it, etc.

And now I am totally fired up and it's time to start drafting some goals for 2016! Enjoy your Sunday!

A Day in the Life . . .

Hey y'all, so after discussion with my sister about just how incredibly interesting "day in the life" blog posts always are, and given that I need to catch you up on my life anyway because I haven't blogged in months, I decided to do a post on a "day in the life of a lawyer." This sample day in my life reflects some things that went on both on Wednesday and Thursday last week, so it's not really one specific day, but all of these events happened on one or the other of those two days and this will give you a good idea of what my typical day is like:

5:11 am: Wake up because Max (my cat) is meowing like the world's about to end (as he so often does at the crack of dawn). I manage to tune him out and fall back to sleep until about 6.

6 am: Wake up and pay all my bills on my iPhone, and check emails and my calendar, while lying in bed.

6:30: Shower.

6:45-7:15: Go "back to bed" for 30 minutes. I do this every day after I take a shower. It helps me start the day on a relaxed note. I use the time to read articles I want to read, get on Facebook, update my to-do list, even journal if I feel like it.

7:15: Get ready for work. Drink an Arden's Garden smoothie for "breakfast." If you've never had one of these, you should because they are delicious and really healthy.

8:15: Arrive at the office. Check work emails. Get coffee (which I will probably not actually drink more than 3 sips of, as those who know me well can attest).

8:30: Phone call with client. Work on drafting requests for production of evidence for several subpoenas for a case.

10:00: Case list meeting. My whole practice group gets together every few weeks to get a game plan on cases, figure out who's working on what, and discuss strategy.

11:00: Draft motion for contempt for another case.

11:45: Meeting with my boss about a client's settlement agreement.

12:20: Go get a salad at the cafe next door.

1:00: Conference call with one of the expert witnesses for a case.

1:30: Meeting with client.

3:00: Phone call with client about a settlement agreement.

3:45: Legal research.

4:30: Draft a motion in limine, which is a request for the court to exclude certain evidence from trial, typically because it is legally irrelevant or prejudicial.

5:30: Wrap up my work on the subpoenas from this morning.

6:00: Leave the office for the day. Go run my errands (pick up dry cleaning, buy food for Max, and get gas).

6:45: Get home, make dinner, watch TV, phone call with my parents, and phone call with my sister.

8:15: Go to my gym and go swimming.

9:30: Return home and read my book (Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller) and get ready for bed.

11:00: Go to bed!

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my typical day! Maybe I can even start including "write a blog post" in more of my typical days . . .