I'm leaving...

I'm leaving Denver.  

When I graduate from UCD I plan to pack my bags and move on to the next big city, little city, any city.

So!  In anticipation of this change, I've decided to visit as many places in the US as possible, keeping an open mind and heart for my future home.

1.  Albuquerque, NM.  My friend has a gallery opening, so what the hell, I may as well give New Mexico a go.

2.  Seattle, WA.  I like rain a lot.

3.  Austin, TX.  Music and vintage clothing.

4.  Nashville, TN.  Yeehaw.

5.  NYC.  Fashion, duh.

6.  Fort Collins, CO.  I love Colorado and I don't know if I can leave.

7.  New England.  Never been, should probably go.

I kind of doubt I'll live any of these places.

As always, I'll keep you in the know.

  

Frozen ice cube...

I know I just begged the universe for fall or winter weather but DAMN, I'm really cold now.  Poor frozen ice cube Sonja.

But!  I decided to take the day to curl up and conquer some Virginia Woolf with a little Bengal Spice tea by my side.  I guess life isn't so bad.

Fall goals...

1.  Eat better.  This sort of goes without saying, right?  Doesn't everyone always strive to eat better?  Either way, my goal is to incorporate one salad to my daily meals and I will go from there.

2.  Go climbing at school and other gyms.  There is a miniature climbing wall at my school's gym so I'd like to crush what I can there and find other gyms to frequent regularly.

3.  Spend more time with friends.  With the madness of work and school, I've neglected any and all friends that I have in the Denver area.  I'm hoping to step out of my batcave every once in a while for hangtime.

4.  Work on time management.  This will always be on my list.  But I need to hurry up and figure it out or I might just flunk out of school.

5.  Drive through the mountains to see the aspens.  JK LOL, I ALREADY DID THIS!  But really, it'd be fab to go again.

6.  Find new hiking spots.  I have a book about various hiking trails in Colorado.  My goal for the fall is to use this book!

7.  Paint my new room.  This may seem like a small task but I really think this will be the most difficult goal on my list.

8.  Get rid of my "mountain" of clothes.  I found a consignment shop within walking distance of my new place and they'll be seeing me a lot.  Like, every single day.

9.  Drink tea everyday.  DUH!  Tea is so delish and cozy!

10. Plan a trip to the East Coast to visit college campuses. 

I CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE WINTER GOALS!!!

Tomorrow...

One more quick post.

Here is tomorrow's outfit.

What better way to seize the day than by wrapping myself tight in a tangerine trench.

LIKE A BOSS.

Please?

Can it be fall or winter yet??  Please?

Oh, ya know, just planning my life...

Since I know you've all been dying to know,

here is a list of how I'll be spending my day-to-day life from now on.

(I love lists!)

1.  Exercising.  Climbing+Running+Volleyball=Yayfuntimes

2.  Painting and upgrading my room.  Ikea is my new BFF.

3.  Reading/Schooling.

4.  Hanging out with my buddies.

5.  Planning my life after undergrad.
6.  Planning my Eurotrip for Summer 2013.  YEAH BOI.

This is all I want to do from now on.

Today was just... NOT cool.

I made this list to make sure tomorrow and the next day and the next will be THE COOLEST DAYS EVER!!!

AHH!

You guys, my computer crashed.

While I freaked the F out when it happened, I spoke with my computer guy in Iowa and he seems pretty confident he can recover all of my files.

So, now I wait.

AND IT'S BEEN KILLING ME!

I HAVE SO MANY UPDATES!

AHHHHH!!

Until then, here's a picture of me looking like a turd next to a GIANT fossil!!!

"I shall want to live..."

This moment:

"From her feet the ground sloped sharply into view, and violets ran down in rivulets and streams and cataracts, irrigating the hillside with blue, eddying round the tree stems collecting into pools in the hollows, covering the grass with spots of azure foam. But never again were they in such profusion; this terrace was the well-head, the primal source whence beauty gushed out to water the earth."  

-A Room With a View by EM Forster

Relief...

There is something about having an organized bookshelf that gives me a sense of relief.  The rest of my room can be complete and utter chaos but when my books are stacked just so, I feel okay.  Living in such a small space has been challenging for my semi-hoarder tendencies but finding order in this bookshelf has kept me sane.

Matter...

Today.

At the beginning of Modernism, a woman I've grown to respect, a tough woman and fellow student with a military background stood up, rushed to the front of class, and began to weep as she explained to my teacher that her neighbor committed suicide and she needed to go, she was so sorry, so sorry but she needed to go.

Yesterday.

Another strong woman.  Her eyes welled up as she stood in front of the class and explained that her heart was heavy.  Her lesson plan for the day might be less organized than usual. Her lesson plan might be less organized than usual because one of her students, twenty one years of age committed suicide and she just received the call.

This summer.

I heard a knock on my bedroom door at two in the morning.  My roommate told us there were police cars up and down our block and something was wrong; people were moaning.  People were moaning and screaming.  Our neighbors were stuck sitting in the middle of the street because their husband, father, uncle, son had just shot himself in the adjacent room of their house.

Committing suicide impacts people.  It impacts people because a person's presence, however big or small, makes an impression on the people around him.  A person's presence makes an impression on people because no matter how big or small, each human life matters.

Today, yesterday, this summer.

I've known none of these people but each of their deaths has mattered to me.

Today...

I've had the best day so far.

1. I'm not as sick as yesterday.

2. I had a meaningful conversation with my Ethnic Studies teacher regarding Assata Shakur's autobiography.

3. I made plans for Breckenridge this weekend.  Mmmmountains.

4. I talked to my Mama.

5. I might be taking a road trip with my older brother for my grandma's 90th bday.

6. I talked to Westy which always makes my day.

7. I chatted with two amazing roomies: Ned and Morgan.

8. I'm drinking Tangerine Zinger tea.  TEA IS JUST SO DELICIOUS!

9. I'm listening to country music circa 2005 which takes me straight back to high school.

10. AAANND IT'S RAINING IN DENVER!!!!  WEIRD!!!

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Documentary...

I highly recommend this documentary to anyone who has a soul.

It's rare to find a person who exudes such pure honesty.

WATCH IT!!!!

Best day/Worst day...

Yesterday was the absolute best day but it also happened to be the absolute worst day.
I'll start with the worst as it most heavily weighs on my mind.  I briefly posted on Jeremiah's car accident a few weeks ago.  At the time, he seemed to be fine.  Not a bruise or scratch on him.  But now we've found out he has re-injured a back injury from years ago and might need to have surgery.  On his spine.  I don't think I'll elaborate because we don't yet know what will happen but......  I'm freaking the F out.

Let's move on to the best part of yesterday.  I've been living at a different house for a few months now and although I love the house and especially love the people who live there, I've struggled with getting settled.  My room is tiny and while piles and PILES of clothes have been okay for a while, I finally snapped and organized every clothing item I own into sections for Goodwill, Buffalo Exchange, Plato's closet, and my mom.  I also (FINALLY) organized my books on my bookshelf.  Though these tasks may seem arbitrary, the full-day organization freak-out was absolutely necessary for my peace of mind and also helped to distract my from the above news.

Let's see, what else?  I've had the pleasure of talking to some of my besties the past couple weeks.  I love Meredith and Lynde so much and cherish the brief moments we find to catch up.  I'm also over-the-moon-excited for Ellen and Stacey to visit in a couple weeks.  A girls weekend is much needed!!  Ned's birthday was a fine event at the Skylark on Thursday.  My job has been amazingly challenging.  I don't know that I've ever had to work so hard mentally at any job.  I thought teaching writing would be such an easy task but articulating what comes naturally to me is proving quite difficult.  I must get better.

School has been going well; though, I am beginning to stress out about grad school/job/life after undergrad.  Blah.  Life and things.  I better go.  I'll give another update when I know what is happening with Jeremiah.  I've also been meaning to post about my three years in Colorado thus far.  Who knows, by the time that happens, it might be my fourth anniversary!!

What's in my purse?

My girlfrand, V, gave a peak into her life via the reveal of her day-to-day purse items and I figured I'd give it a go, too.  Check it out and judge away.

 Water//Notebook//Planner//Weekly books//Longchamp purse

Sunscreen//Makeup (Mostly chapstick and lip butters)//Wallet//Sunglasses//Mouth fresheners