Complicated Simplicity

the one oh one...things i love about summer

1. sunny days
2. starry nights
3. ice cream
4. warm breezes
5. trips to the beach
6. driving over mountain passes
7. warm evening walks
8. leaving the windows open
9. sleeping with the window fan blowing on me
10. wearing shorts
11. tanlines
12. lovely sunsets
13. summerfest at church
14. time slows down (at least part of the time it seems that way)
15. farmer's markets
16. outdoor movies
17. roses in bloom
18. views of Mt. Hood
19. and Mt. St. Helens
20. riding bikes
21. sunlight dappled on the ground under trees
22. barbeques and grilling
23. dining al fresco
24. bright colored fingernails
25. and toenails
26. the sounds of people living outside
27. trips to see waterfalls
28. road trips
29. lazy afternoons
30. family vacations
31. sunglasses
32. playing tennis
33. playing frisbee
34. getting out of the house
35. green grass (although we have that pretty year round here)
36. picnics
37. sidewalk chalk
38. water balloons
39. sprinklers
40. sitting on the deck
41. fluffy white clouds
42. sandals
43. sandcastles
44. lemonade
45. fresh strawberries
46. and blueberries
47. and blackberries
48. and raspberries
49. new adventures
50. pristine rivers
51. ice cold drinks
52. festivals
53. fairs
54. fresh air inside
55. laying in the sun
56. beachcombing
57. tidepooling
58. kites
59. boats in the water
60. white water rafting
61. kayaking
62. canoeing
63. soccer at the park
64. pick-up basketball games
65. impromptu gatherings
66. strawberry shortcake
67. rhubarb pie
68. the waterfront park
69. the feeling of relaxation
70. family visits
71. swimming
72. summer reads
73. birds singing
74. blowing bubbles
75. lawn games
76. volleyball
77. hearing of other people's adventures
78. hiking
79. making plans
80. food carts (enjoyed year-round, but they're esp nice in summer)
81. bumblebees flying around
82. a day at the park
83. disc golf
84. cool showers
85. gardens
86. fountains
87. hikes at the Arboretum
88. scenic byways
89. iced tea
90. tank tops
91. short sleeves
92. camping
93. bonfires
94. s'mores
95. hobo pies
96. fruit pies
97. fresh vegetables
98. sand between my toes
99. scenic overlooks
100. the smell of coppertone
101. late sunsets

what are your favorite things about summer?

the one oh one...things about me

i've decided that while i really want to make minis for all of these lists, i'm going to start by simply blogging my lists each week. one hundred and one things.

1. i have never lived in a landlocked state (mi, il and or)
2. oregon feels more like home to me than illinois ever did (although michigan will always be true "home")
3. i love story and the art of storytelling
4. i've only broken one bone-my left pinky
5. i love making lists (i'll make them for anything and everything)
6. i am extremely introverted...EXTREMELY
7. that said, when confronted with a small talk situation, i tend to overshare and ramble on and on
8. you can tell when i'm comfortable with you by how silly/relaxed i am acting
9. i strive to see beauty in everything...it's there, you just have to look
10. i collect travel guides (books/brochures/magazines)
11. autumn is my favorite season
12. i suffer from chronic headaches (sometimes they get so bad that they keep me from functioning)
13. country music is my favorite
14. i used to be embarrassed that i liked country music (because my brothers and sisters hated it)
15. i place a high value on my brothers' opinions (too high sometimes)
16. i love tv and movies that are well-written + have well-developed characters
17. if i get into a tv series i will watch every episode i can one after the other
18. nail polish is the one kind of makeup i collect (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure only)
19. growing up, i firmly believed i would be a doctor someday
20. i love reading blogs and have well over 100 in my reader
21. i am obsessed with office supplies-especially notebooks and writing utensils
22. i am working on our family tree (paul's and mine combined)
23. i have a small collection of tiny t-shirts and other things for (hopefully) our future baby
24. i absolutely love living in a 450 sq ft one-bedroom apartment (it's forced us to pare down)
25. i used to hate doing the dishes, but now-with a dishwasher-i don't mind it as much
26. i do hate cleaning the counters (paul LOVES this job, thankfully)
27. i also hate sweeping and mopping (paul doesn't mind this one either)
28. i love reorganizing shelves and cabinets (which paul hates-we're a good pair)
29. i went on my first date when i was 19 years old
30. it was with Paul
31. we were married eleven months later
32. if i could go back in time, i would talk p into eloping and have a formal ceremony later
33. i live in t-shirts and jeans or shorts
34. i wear flip-flops/sandals all year long
35. i love being barefoot
36. i love crafty types of things
37. my fridge is covered wtih drawings and notes from karla's girls
38. mexican food is my absolute favorite
39. pizza is a close second, but i'm picky-i only really love $5 pepperoni pizza from little ceasars and the california club pizza from california pizza kitchen
40. i love riding the MAX light rail, there's something kind of magical about it
41. i love love love camping (and every single thing about it)
42. i love travel and hope to visit all 50 states someday
43. i like my fingernails super short-like no white tips showing short
44. the Columbia River Gorge is my favorite place in Oregon-for two reasons: it's beautiful and super close to home (20 min or so)
45. the ocean has totally captured my heart...i love it
46. i have a goal of doing the "around the mountain" hikes for Mt. Rainier (wonderland trail), Mt. Hood (timberline trail) and Mt. St. Helens (loowit trail)
47. i am hoping to be ready to do my first "around the mountain" backpacking hike next summer
48. i would have my mom's sunday dinner for my "last meal"-roast, mashed potatoes, peas, her biscuits with butter and honey, and strawberry shortcake for dessert
49. i love music and have over 5000 songs in my iTunes library
50. i think texting is one of the greatest inventions of all time
51. i have five sisters and two brothers
52. my favorite color is green (has been since middle school), closely followed by grey
53. i love words and their meanings
54. i also love names and their meanings (and our children will have very meaningful names)
55. wawa is our pup-we named him for a town in Canada we like to visit on our brother/sister hiking trips
56. i love wawa almost as much (maybe as much) as if her were our child
57. i get stressed out and anxious about totally ridiculous things
58. i am very particular about how i study my Bible-it took me until this year to find a system that works for me (and i'm sure i'll tweak it in the years to come)
59. i can't stand dvd players in vehicles (it's fine if you like them, i just don't-personal preference)
60. i fell in love with the Kia Soul when p's mom rented one last month-it's a strong contender for our next vehicle (if we can find a used one in our price range-and i hated the look of it at first, but it grew on me)
61. i win giveaways (p and my siblings say i'm lucky), i won a kitchenaid mixer (yup i did), gift cards, stationery, stamps, and other things
62. autumn is my favorite season, but summer in the pacific northwest is surely winning my heart
63. the next time i see my family (in Dec), it will have been 17 months since i last saw them (July 2010). this is the longest ever.
64. skype and text messaging and phone calls make the distance and time seem not as great-technology can be awesome
65. i have only one thing on my christmas list this year-amazon gift cards
66. i want amazon gift cards because there is only one thing i want to use them on-an iPod touch 64gb
67. i want an iPod touch because i want to be able to use instagram (and put more podcasts on p's iPod by getting more of my music off of it), angry birds, plants vs. zombies and having my own music on my own device (meaning we can both listen to different things at the same time) are only added perks
68. i wear my contacts until they are so dry they may damage my eyes (and i only wear them when we're doing something special or going somewhere-otherwise i wear my glasses)
69. i really need to get new glasses and contacts, i am down to my last pair of contacts
70. i'm really good at pinning things to pinterest and have 109 boards and 4609 pins
71. i hate most photos of myself
72. i will usually only take a self portrait if i think my hair looks good
73. i cannot wait to go back to Disney World and am thinking we need to check out Disney Land while we're on the west coast
74. i have all of my parent's old photos
75. i need to scan these photos in and back them up and share them
76. i am crocheting my first afghan for kbird's birthday
77. i really love our church and am so glad we found it so quickly
78. i love canoeing and rafting and kayaking
79. i am a super strong paddler-it's like i was born to do it
80. i love trees-especially gnarly naked ones
81. i really want to grow a garden-it's the second reason i eventually would love to rent a house (second to having a fenced yard for the dog/future children to play in)
82. i have no desire to ever own a house again-renting is perfect for us
83. we live in an upstairs apartment, which is awesome
84. the only thing that would be better would be to have an apartment in a one-level complex (so i don't have to worry about using my feet on Just Dance and Wii Fit)
85. i have no desire to ever go on a cruise-i'd rather have the ability to explore more than the ship's decks at any given moment
86. i honestly love vegetables-there are very few that i dislike
87. i love them even more than fresh fruit-honestly
88. i love "special drinks" (as paul calls them), my favorites are the berry lemonades from Burgerville (when in season-the raspberry and blackberry are my favorite), pumpkin spice frappuccinos from Starbucks in autumn and almost anything from Jamba Juice (current fave is the strawberry lemonade refresher)
89. i really want to love cooking, but i don't enjoy it at all
90. produce is so much more affordable here than in illinois (and maybe michigan, but i don't remember what the prices were like there)
91. i really would love to learn ballroom and latin dance
92. i love going for walks or drives at night-especially in the summertime
93. i collect cancellations/stamps from national parks (and any other places that have them)-it's silly but totally cool for some reason
94. the short story is my favorite form of literature-i absolutely love it
95. i love photographs and photography
96. there is absolutely nothing hung on the walls of our apartment yet
97. i like to tuck my hands when i'm going to sleep (like under paul's back/side or between the bed and the wall or under my pillows)
98. i love salty and sweet together-esp pretzels in ice cream (and pretzel m+ms)
99. i could eat good tortilla chips and salsa every day for the rest of my life
100. i love taking the scenic route and will do so at every possible chance
101. i never want to move away from this area, i have utterly and completely fallen in love with every single thing about it

101: happy-an update

You can see the previous 101 posts here: 101.

So, I've not been doing so well on my 101 minibook so far. I just couldn't seem to get motivated to get working on it. I love the idea, but was putting too much pressure on myself to do more work than I really need.

Here's the new plan. I'm leaving the pages I've done as they are. I love them they way they are. For the rest of the pages, I plan to write whatever it is that makes me happy in bigger letters and then write a little bit about why. Just words and paper. Makes my heart happy and means I will actually have a little minibook of 101 things that make me happy by the end of the month.

This is the format I plan to use for the rest of the 101 minibooks (although I may change my mind yet again :-). Keep an eye out for photos of my finished minibook coming at the end of the month!!!

101: happy

I had grand dreams of making this a weekly project. Then I got started on my first 101 minibook, and realized that was just going to be too much! Haha! :-)

Instead, I'm aiming for one each month, so we'll have twelve 101 minibooks at the end of the year. Sound good?

The first topic is this: 101 things that make you happy

Seems really simple to come up with 101 things, but it was actually difficult. I took my time and came back to my list over the course of a week until I finally had 101 things listed. I listed really simple things (flip flops, good mail, etc), feelings (love), people (Paul, my family, etc) and interesting things (rainy days, summer breezes, etc). Anything that makes you happy should go on your list.

I'm still in the process of working on my little pages (I decided to get creative with this one, but may go a bit simpler for the next-we shall see), but wanted to share a few I've completed below. If you join in, please leave me a link or e-mail so I can see your project and get even more inspired! :-)

101...what it is

101 is a minibook project that I dreamed up a couple of weeks ago. I was working on my project2011 list, and looking through some of the things on day zero. I came across one that was to "make a list of 101 things that make me happy". I loved that, and added it to my list. I also found "make a playlist of 101 of my favorite songs". I loved that too, since music is so important to me, so I added it to my list as well. Immediately, I thought "what if I list my 101 biggest inspirations as well?". So, I added that to my list too. And I realized the possibilities for 101 lists were endless. There were so many cool lists to be made.

I decided I didn't want to just make these into lists that would get tucked away...I wanted them to be visible. Something I could look through on a regular basis to remind me or inspire me or encourage me. That's when I came up with the idea to turn each list into its own minibook. Simple ones. Small ones.

Each book will consist of white cardstock cut into 2x3 size. Fifty-one pages per book. I'll cut two pieces of patterned paper to 2x3 for the front and back covers. Each book will be portrait/vertical in orientation and a hole will be punched in the top. Each white page will be numbered (front and back) 1-101 with a simple line border drawn around the page (with a Sharpie pen).

I've prepared two so far (I used different numbering styles on each)-photos below. I plan to follow the same format for all of mine because I want it to be a simple project that I can whip together super quick. The creative part for me will come as I'm filling in the pages. I plan to use Sharpie and colored pencils and cut-up photos and magazines and catalogs. I plan to use handwriting and printed out type (cut into strips or squares or to fit the tag). I plan to use glitter and glue and really just do whatever I feel like doing. Or....I could just simply choose to write them in without any fuss. :-) No rules. Just a fun little way to make lists.

I would love to have you join me on this little project. Every so often, I will post a new 101 minibook (with a new topic for the 101 things, of course) and then I'd love to see what you come up with. You can follow my minibook blueprint, or get as creative as you choose. It's your minibook, after all-inject your style into it! :-) Are you interested? Look for the first minibook topic/post to come in just a couple of days!!!