2.7 Miles.

The hilly route I jog around my quaint town and the neighboring South Berwick is nearly three miles. Every few days, and every other day in a good week, I run this loop. Sprinting up the hills and savoring the meandering downward slopes I've found myself relishing the twists and turns, especially the moment I reach the state line just before my first uphill sprint. Rounding the corner as I take my first few steps on the bridge, I can't help but smile as I see the sign come into view, each lunge focusing the words "Rollinsford, New Hampshire". The Salmon Falls River greets me with its calmness, my first brief stop of the loop and a few stretches loosen me up.

My second pitstop, the Foundry, is the most beautiful. One of my favorite spots in town, the Foundry is a place that has never failed to not only calm but also center my thoughts. Recharging here, I soak up the sunlight and prep myself for yet another hill sprint ahead of me. The most challenging stretch of my 2.7 miles, the run up Foundry Street burns deep in my legs and lungs. This burn, familiar of soccer two-a-days and lacrosse preseason, I welcome and quickly wish away.

2.7 miles honestly isn't a great distance, but for the first time since my three-sport athlete days I can keep up with myself. My body doesn't yearn to wimp out for the last leg, and I don't get winded going up the stairs (embarrassing, I know). Getting back in shape has never felt this good.


live simply.

Things That Make Me Happy.

1. Finding macarons in the fridge.
2. Eating macarons before bed.
3. Using the Indiglo on my watch to check the time at night.
4. Long walks with my camera.
5. Ricola cough drops.
6. A cup of tea.
7. A second cup of tea.
8. Brand new socks.
9. Climbing into a freshly made bed.
10. Getting a new recipe just right.
11. Getting a new recipe wrong but knowing how to make it better the next time.
12. Correctly identifying a tree or plant species with its latin name.
13. Getting "snail mail".
14. Writing letters.
15. Driving on long roads with the windows down.
16. Blueberry/Apple/Strawberry picking.
17. This. 
    
18. The taste of spring water.
19. The sound of a finely tuned guitar.
20. Waking up right before the alarm goes off.
21. The warm, full-body softness of just-out-of-the-shower clean.
22. Puns.
23. Pictures of baby sloths.
24. Pictures of baby animals.
25. Listening to the rain.
26. Jogging in the rain.
27. Singing a song in my head, then hearing that exact song on the radio shortly thereafter.
28. Making travel plans.
29. Reading field guides.
30. Making my own meals.
31. Rereading books.
32. Looking at old photographs.
33. The humming feeling swirling around my body after yoga class.
34. Waking up with sore muscles the next morning after yoga class.
35. Finding things I've lost.
36. Remembering where I've put something.
37. Turning in a school/work assignment before it's due.
38. Tie dye.
39. Wearing tie dye.
40. Making someone else tie dye.
41. Going barefoot.
42. Taking pictures of the people I love.
43. Taking pictures of the places I love.
44. Italian words.
45. Homemade whipped cream.
46. Floating in an inner tube.
47. Meditating.
48. Freckled shoulders.
49. Freckles.
50. Recipe books. 
51. Going to the zoo.
52. Maps.
53. Not using GPS.
54. Lattes in big mugs.
55. Fleece blankets.
56. The Arnold Arboretum.
57. Finding a song that reminds me of a friend.
58. Packing suitcases.
59. Sending post cards.
60. Receiving post cards.
61. Finding geodetic markers. (and getting bonus points in GIS)
62. Emails from my grandma.
63. Casting on a stitch correctly on the first try.
64. Slightly undercooked, slightly stale brownies.
65. Almond milk.
66. Peanut butter and apples.
67. Wide mouth mason jars.
68. Using a blender.
69. Dirty Jokes.
70. Mint.
71. Fishing. 
72. Constellations.
73. The myths and stories behind the constellations.
74. When my horoscope is just so accurate.
75. Walden Pond.
76. Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes.
77. Crossing things off of lists.
78. English muffins.
79. Creme brûlée.
80. Ice cream cones.
81. Campfires.
82. Hammocks.
83. Juggling a soccer ball.
84. Exploring cities.
85. The rooftop garden at Brandeis.
86. Wicker chairs.
87. Bicycles.
88. The Cape Cod Rail Trail.
89. Chocolate coconut non-dairy ice cream.
90. Chai tea.
91. Fall foliage in New England.
92. New England.
93. Live Free or Die.
94. Conjugating Spanish verbs correctly.
95. Climbing trees.
96. Weeding the garden.
97. Avocados.
98. Eating grilled cheese. 
99. Watching TED talks.
100. Watercolors.

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." - Joseph Campbell

I believe in instant gratification. I also believe in delayed gratification. Happiness comes from within and is amplified by your environment, and never the other way around. Moderation is key.

http://worldobserveronline.com/2012/04/25/15-things-you-should-give-up-to-be-happy/

live simply.

We Are the Echos of Springtime.

Iced tea spiked with lemonade courses through my veins these days. Smoothie-filled mason jars are my salvation, and pages of read and reread novels soothe my bright red sunburn. Less thinking, more laughing. Spanish lessons have resumed, a countdown begun. Cheers to you, June! Keep the good vibes coming.

live simply.

How to Be.

For the first time in a very long time, I'm single. For those of you who know me, flying solo is not something that I've had to do since high school. Closing the door on my fourth semester of college, I'm writing this post from my bed, also known as the couch in my parent's living room. If circumstances had remained as they were just a year ago, I'd be inking this post from the bed of my first and greatest love. Six months ago? Most likely from the comfiest chair in Waltham, entangled in what I can only explain as the most complicated relationship I've ever been a part of.

As I literally shut the door on life as I knew it last week, I found myself searching for a way to anchor my feet back to the ground. My walk out the door was full of goodbyes. To Waltham, the place I call home, a goodbye until January when I return from studying abroad to make my nest in an off-campus house. To one of the most interesting friendships I've come across in my twenty years, a "see you later" loaded with much more than hasta luego usually entails. Tearstained and reluctant, my departure from my sophomore year felt more like a forced leap of faith. Jumping blindly into unfamiliar territory and staring loneliness straight in the eye, I said a few more goodbyes, packed up the truck, and made my way back to New Hampshire. As I sat in the passenger's seat, the eerie, paralleling feeling of my emotions taking the wheel emerged, causing memories and conversations to surface as if I was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs along I-95. Instead, each fleeting word and moment hung on, clanging against the recesses of my mind in the same ironic fashion as the "Just Married" soup cans dragging along some lucky couple's bumper.

If it isn't already evident, this post is much more personal than the culmination of all of my previous blogposts. By no means is this meant to be an exposé, rather, an attempt to smooth the feathers that have been ruffled in my typical late-night-overthinking fashion. Facing this New Hampshire summer and in a few months, Costa Rican semester alone has never been more promising and terrifying. Nights where I'm doubtful of my path, I know I have a fabulous group of women who will reassure each step in the right direction is indeed right, and for the really late nights, a blog that has held all of my words safely since 2010. Although I've been out of practice, being single is starting to feel less like perpetual loneliness and more like a chance to get to know the person that has been by my side throughout it all. Cheers to summer, me, and learning what it means to be.

live simply.

Spring Cleaning.

I write from sunny (but still snowy) New Hampshire with a sense of clarity. Few and far between, these moments seem to escape me as quickly as they fall into my lap, but I hold on to this one just long enough to pen. In an interesting turn of events, the weeks between my last blog post and this one have left me hollow as well as eager to become whole again. Spring is finally upon us; waking us up in the morning with the warmth of the sun, filling our lungs with fresh new air, and with mountains of midterm exams and papers galore. Winter is still pulling at us, wishing us to come back to bed and shut the curtains, but Spring gently kisses our cheeks, breathing light into our bodies.

The time has come to brush off the snow and reach into the sunshine as the fiddlehead ferns do, and today feels like a good day unfold.

live simply.

Welcome to My Morning.

For the first time in many, many moons, I can breathe. No longer am I pacing over and over in my mind, going over each and every step I've taken since last August. August, you ask? Until now, August was the last time I felt sure of myself and the path my life had been following. I felt comfortable, and over the ensuing months I lost my footing more times than I can count. The path I had so confidently strolled since first setting foot on my post-high school journey started to twist and turn underneath my moccasins into something that I no longer walked with grace. Comfortability was replaced with uncertainty, security with a foreign concept of freedom. Never before had I felt such a fervent desire to be something other than I had ever been, and the thought of evolving in such a way was terrifying. This terror awoke a fear I had so long ago pushed aside, but it also embedded a new sense of realization. 2011 and 2012 brought about immense growth, but not in a way that resonated deep within the recesses of my 5'6" being. Leaving what was once an integral piece to my essence behind in order to find the other pieces of myself has been no easy battle, but I leave behind in good hands.

I stood at a crossroads last semester. Two roads diverged, laying themselves before me, and as much as every fiber of my being wished I could take both, no longer could I carry on without making the decision for myself. Plagued with uncertainty, this path has proven to be just as rocky as I expected. What I didn't anticipate was finding hands willing to clench tight, hands prepared to wipe tears away before they fall, and hands to hold as I figure it all out. Some of these hands belong to unexpected souls, but they are infinitely appreciated regardless.

An immense pressure has been relieved and an air of curiosity has replaced it. No longer am I searching for relief and tending to my battle scars but instead embracing the rockiness. A few bumps and bruises are welcome; anything to remind me of Robert Frost's road less traveled. So far, it's made all the difference.

live simply. 

It's All Uncharted.

Surely two of the most disjointed roller coaster ride of weeks that I have experienced in a while, these last two have been an interesting adjustment to life post-EFS. Lectures and classrooms feel foreign and unnatural, and the closeness I found with my 14 EFS-ers is pretty broken up. Not in a bad way by any stretch of the imagination, but broken in the way it feels when you end a really great conversation-- the door shuts on a topic and the thing between you and that other soul becomes momentarily disconnected.

That being said, two weeks is not a long time. Although it feels like I've been at Deis for months now, I still have a significant amount of time to re-adjust and make the concessions necessary to keep calm and carry on. And today felt like a good starting point. Wish me luck.

live simply.

Kick Out the Epic Dollar-sign.

Tonight I tried my hand at something I've only really done in my head over the last few months. I sat down at my desk, scanned my iTunes playlists, downloaded an app, and put a track of my own together. Inspired by the opening weekend of Recruitment, I hung up my dusty video editing skills and tried on DJ moccasins for the evening. What I had imagined over the last weekend swirled in my mind as I frustratedly attempted to sew pickups and drops together minding beats per minute and decibel counts. An hour or so passed before I realized that I had only pieced a minute and a half's worth of material together. Ecstatic I had finally (somewhat) matched the counts of my choice tracks close enough, I soldiered on through 1 AM. Three hours and four songs produced just over five minutes of haphazardly laced volume fluctuations.

Oh, you want to hear it? Not yet. It's just the first draft.
And even though it's clearly amateur, I still created it.

Proud of myself? You bet I am.


live simply.

4:14 AM

An original title, I know. This is not going to be long though, I just need to evacuate some of the thoughts and words and emotions that just coursed through my veins over the last few hours.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm actually upset. Feeling settled, the walk back didn't seem as bad but for some reason, walking into my cold, dark room on Hass 6 felt much more lonely than how I had left it. Unraveling the truth over what has been happening since the end of winter break, I'm not surprised with how the things turned out. Instead, I'm surprised that breaking the threshold of my single brought slightly more emotion than I had just been feeling and talking about. Obviously I'm not going to divulge the details of my evening on here, but the hum of my laptop and the clicking of the keys as I translate tense, jumbled thoughts into erratic phrases has proven to be comforting, just as it used to be.

A friendship was saved and yet something great was still lost. Well, temporarily misplaced. Still, coming to the realization that what once worked so well is essentially an impossibility at this point in time is a hard pill to swallow.

Truthfully, all I can do is hope that this pill will help ease the pain.


live simply.

I'll Keep Dancing On My Own

Sometimes, I do silly, silly things that backfire. Like make a hilarious joke that doesn't seem so hilarious just a few hours later. No worries. Eventually I'll learn. For now, I'll just keep dancing on my own.


live simply.

Blue as the Sky, Sunburnt and Lonely.

Courageous has never been a word to describe me. One soccer season early in my defensive career I got the nickname "Tenacious Taylor", but not quite courageous.

A quick Google search of the word "courageous" sets you up with this simple, concise definition:

cou·ra·geous 

/kəˈrājəs/ : Not being deterred by danger or pain; brave.

Looking back over the last few months, I must say that I've had my few moments of courage. I've made decisions I didn't want to but knew I needed to. I pushed myself past the point I thought I would break and instead found myself bending and springing back into place.

I'm not going to use this blog post as a vehicle to toot my own horn, but I did want to take the time to recognize my own efforts. The last few months have been an immense learning experience for me, and although I didn't necessarily do the best, I still did a good job. So I'll go ahead and call myself courageous for just this one time. Disagree? Go live your own Experience then.

live simply.

Singin' In the Rain.

Considering the fact that my subscriber list and blog views have significantly plummeted since January 2011, I no longer feel that it's necessary to censor and "code" everything I write about.

That being said, I know how wordy and "blabber-mouthy" I can get and so this will still be somewhat censored, as in actuality I have no idea who even reads my blog these days.


Relevance. Brought up by a "friend" a few weeks ago and more recently, earlier today in my Anthropology class, the idea that in only seconds a place or time or person can become entirely relevant to your life continues to both fascinate and baffle me. Unfortunately for the average reader of this blog, I'm not going to go in depth on this topic, or really even scratch the surface of it. Instead, I'm just going to say what has been slowly burning in my chest longer than I've wanted.

One of my all-time favorite, ultimate good-mood films has now been tainted with the reality of my indecision and inability to speak up. Being tongue tied has left me with the irrevocable pang of realization that when you are singing in the rain, all you are doing, in fact, is singing in the rain. Once you've been soaked through, an umbrella will not change the fact that your clothes are dripping wet and your shoes probably do that uncomfortable squishing thing when you take a step.

All of these seemingly irrelevant details that I took the time to blog about? Exactly that, irrelevant.
However, reality and relevance could be just the thing slapping you in the face if you're singin' in the rain too.



live simply.

2+0+1+3 = A Sunny Disposition

Cheers to the New Year, folks! Here's my first blogpost of 2013.
Coinciding with the first day of classes, this blogpost has fourteen days of stories, tears and laughter concealed in my typical thinly-veiled composition.

Two weeks have passed since my last thoughts of 2012, and although those seemed pertinent to deliver into the blogosphere, I've decided to start fresh. With all intentions of upholding the cliche tradition, my new resolutions-- which I've come to realize are actually rather old and just never executed with any real intention of follow-through-- lead the way for this relatively quickly composed post.

Let Go.
An irrational fear of mine, letting go of control and allowing the flow to be gone with is not something that I am used to. Newly twenty and feeling wholly out of control of many things, this concept, as scary and unnatural as it feels, has been strangely liberating. Sure, I slip up from time to time and feel myself fall back into the same anxious tendencies, but the vice grip in my chest I usually experienced when I felt like I was losing my footing in a situation has loosened.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that really all of my resolutions and the things I'd like to do differently about 2013 than what I did with 2012 fall under the resolution to let go. Letting go of 2012 is actually going to be very difficult-- two weeks in and I'm already reeling-- but I figure if I can give into 2013 and relinquish control, I'll find twenty to be a year for the books.

Cheers to keeping your face towards the sunshine.
The shadows will always fall behind.

live simply.