Update...

Hi all.

Just wanted to give a short update in case you were sitting on the edge of your seat.  Jeremiah's surgery went quite well.  He is still in a lot of pain, suffering from both the psychological and physical tolls of recovery.  I don't envy him, that's for sure.  But he will be entirely healed in six months and has already made great strides.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately.  When my computer crashed (the first time), I bought myself a leather bound journal and have been diary-ing, Anne Frank style, ever since.  I've always loved to externalize my experiences and I imagine I'll continue to phase in and out of public "externalizing" via my various blogs.

Either way, I appreciate you checking in on me!  I hope y'all are well.

I'm headed to Iowa for a much needed break.

My Dad already informed me that he bought the biggest Christmas tree we've ever had to celebrate the boys and my homecoming.  What a lovely man. 

Happy holidays to you and yours.

A picture of my favorite scarf and me at the ranch.

Today...

It's a beautiful day outside.  A beautiful morning.  Good friends and family are helping us through an important day.

This morning...

Please pray for Jeremiah today.  Not only does he have an extensive surgery to power through this afternoon, but he also just received the absolute worst news from one of the insurance companies involved with the accident.  Those dirty animals called him at 7am on the day of his surgery.  If you know Jeremiah, you know he is strong.  You know he can get through anything.  I know he will take this setback and move forward.  Keep him in your thoughts today as he moves forward with his life, insurance companies be damned.

Up in here...

HEY THERE!

Gosh.  It's been a while.

Here are some things I've been excited about lately:

1.  My mom is here in Denver!!  And she has been helping me clean and organize my room and life-space all day today.  Great lady.

2.  Fall.  Crunchy leaves all up in here, up in here.

3.  Europe this winter????? 

4.  Iowa for Thanksgiving.

5.  Sweaters and scarves.  My skin is so happy.

6.  I started club volleyball the other day and my mental state pre-practice was so silly because I almost psyched myself out of going.  But!  I pushed through the nerves and lo and behold, my muscles remember how to pass a volleyball... not quite to the setter, but we'll get there.

7.  Work pushes me to be a better person, thinker and teacher every shift.  I'm le tired but it'll be worth it.

8.  Vampire Diaries. 

9.  I bought a fabulous down comforter at IKEA for cheapy.

10.  We bought eggnog a little early this year.  EEE!!!!

Hope you're having a lovely night.

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

Insane...

After an insane three days of work and school I have finally been able to take a few hours to VEG-THE-F-OUT!!!!!!  So far I've read my much neglected September Vogue (The largest issue each year), watched a few eps of How I Met Your Mother with Morgan, Facebooked like whoa, looked at fashion blogs like whoa, and I'm about to take an epic shower.  EPIC.  I really can't tell you how good this is feeling right now.  To illustrate the madness of my current and semester-long life--and since I know you've all been dying to know--here is my schedule!!!

MW-

Wake up at 7AM 

Finish random assignments or read 50 pages of lit.

9:30-10:45 20th Century Literature with Cynthia.

Submit online response from previous night's reading.

Read 100ish pages of lit.

2-3:15 Ethnic Liturature with IDK her name yet.

3:30-4:45 The American Novel with Gillian.

Go home and read as much as possible before crashing.  Or, on days like today VEG.

TTH-

Wake up at 7AM.

Work at the Writing Center 9-1PM.

2-3:15 Critical Writing with Colleen.

Frantic preparations for next class.

5-7:50 Modernism with Colleen.

Go home and eat and sleep.

F-

Work at Writing Center 9-1PM.

FREEDOM.

Sa-

Climb with brothers or go to South Broadway for pizza and thrifting.

Su-

Sit around, sore from climbing.

Work from home 6-10PM.

I'm busy as heck and already overwhelmed in my second week of school but YEEHAWW!!  I live for this stuff.

First day...

I may look calm to outside observers, but what I'm really thinking is:

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LEARNING!

PENCILS!

NOTEBOOKS!

LIT BOOKS!

OMGOMOGOMGOMOGMOMGOMGG

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I look tired it's because I was too excited to sleep.

Prom...

Oh, ya know, just hangin' out with Case at Prom!!!

Sauna had a fabulous goodbye show at Larimer Lounge tonight.

I was lucky to have such a lovely date!

Bouldering...

I don't usually get psyched on bouldering.  When I climb with my brothers, I often get talked into hiking a thousand miles, only to find that most of the problems are too burly or overhung.  Or, I'm just whiny because I'm not sport climbing.  Either way, I was so excited to find some problems that were just my style in Mt. Evans and the trip was made all the more special because Mike and Westy were there.

I feel so lucky to have my brothers!!!

DA BEST MONO!!!!!!

(These pics are taken on my newest project.  I believe it's a V3 and when I figure out the name I will share.)

Worst...

This, however, was the worst part of the week.

J got in a car accident the day I was unreachable in Mt. Evans and spent 4 hours in the ER.

He is lucky to be okay.

Best...

I'VE HAD THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!

Let's recap:

Tuesday:  Went to South Broadway for library books, Famous pizza, thrifting at Goodwill and then watched Misty and Kerri dominate the beach volleyball semi-finals.

Wednesday:  Drove to the Golden Cliffs to sport climb with some Iowa dudes (Filippo, Matt, JJ, Cho), led and top-roped some routes, ate some cherries, sped back to Denver to watch M&K win the gold, happy-cried a bit.

 Thursday:  Cleaned room, worked on school stuff, enjoyed Moscow Mules with my long lost friend Kyle and then went to the Skylark with my new roomies and Aaron.  Laughed a lot and got scared of a bug.

Friday:  Lunched with Ashley at Vine St., went to Boulder with J, and then birthday partied (Fidi and Morgan) with Westy and the visiting Iowa City climb crew.  Shit got real cray-cray.

Saturday:  Struggled to get up, drove a couple hours to get to Mt. Evans, hiked six miles to get to boulders, actually had fun bouldering, night hiked back, and enjoyed some delish impromptu guacamole (avocado, hummus, cherry tomatoes, and tex-mex snack mix).  

Sunday:  Went to the Douglas County Fair to watch J's dad preach and ate free pancakes.

HOLLER!

And that's not even a full week!

UH...

I was being a bit whiny in my last post.

Go figure.

I have a ton of friends here.  And they're awesome.  It's my own problem that I haven't reached out to them lately.

Sometimes a girl just needs a moment to wallow in her own non-problems.

WALLOW WALLOW WALLOW.

Good and bad...

Coming back to Denver has been both positive and negative.

I've had trouble breaking out of old routines and I still feel in somewhat of a slump with my friend scene in Denver.

I mean, what does one do when her best friend is her ex-boyfriend?

The answers are obvious but 

CRAP.

How much easier was it to avoid avoid avoid in Iowa City?

Anyway,

  I also haven't climbed or worked out since being here.

Because I live in a new neighborhood and didn't take much time to explore before my trip to Iowa, I know I must start the arduous process of finding my "spots."

Although I generally find this to be daunting, I'm trying to keep an upbeat attitude and remember,
"THIS IS AN ADVENTURE, SONJA!!!!"

Step one was taken today when I found a local coffee shop down the street.  This may seem miniscule but, shoot, being here has put me back in the writing mood and I'm now more excited than ever to return to school.

The next step will be to find a climbing gym and in the process, perhaps find some new climber friends?

Time will tell.

Ow Ow...

I love climbing, but damn...  I've been getting tore up!

Which means I must get better, so I can stop knocking knees with the wall.

OUCH.

Climb on...

It has only just dawned on me that I will be leaving Iowa City soon.

Though I am more than ready to get back to reality in some ways, I will be leaving behind a whole new group of friends I made while being here.

The climbers at the Rec Center in Iowa City have been the most welcoming and killer group of people to get to know and their energy will be the most sorely missed aspect of my time here in Iowa.

I will climb on, of course, but dangit! I wish I could pack everyone in my suitcase and bring them home with me to Denver.

This is Ellen and me, derpin' around at the gym.

I will especially miss Ellen.  My belay-boo and the fasted BFF I ever made.

TEARS.

Quick list of peeps I met through climbing this time so I won't forget:  ELLEN, Fidi, Filippoooo, Matteo, Mani, Rohith, Stacey, Amy, Jon, Katie, Jacob+Nick+Tony=America, Swathi, Matt, other Matt,  Carter, Tyler, William, Liz, James, Adam and holy mother, countless others.    

Rustic...

My friend Andy has been inviting me to his family's cabin for years.  I have no idea why things have never worked out but the short and sweet trip I took to his cabin yesterday was more than fabulous.  These pictures are not the most accurate portrayal of the trip. There were ten of us who made it to the cabin and for most of the day we lounged on floaties and tubes, rode jetskis and paddle-boated to neighboring docks with offerings of Busch Light and witty remarks.

At night we sat around the fire, roasted 'mallows for s'mores and battled the neighbors in a fireworks contest.  They won.  But since we almost caught the house across the lake on fire, I think we were a close second.

I got the MOST heinous sunburn.  My nose might fall right off but it was totally worth it!!

Sparklers!!!

These two are special.

Such an amazing getaway.

The rest of the pics will go on Facebook when I'm feeling motivated!!

Liar...

Over at my fashion blog, snow me white, I alleged to have worn a certain outfit to pub quiz at Deadwood last night.  I lied.  I wore this variation and of course, kept the cowgirl boots in the mix.

After a couple dances at Yacht Club dance party, after hours led my comrades and me to Pancheros.  After some hardcore nom-nom, I spent the night on a friend's couch.  Because there were somehow no blankets in the house, I got creative and covered myself in coats from the closet.  HA!  It was great.  I slept like a baby and felt totally brilliant in the process.  I may be horrible at trivia, but I proved to be quite clever in a pinch.

A moment in time...

Strange things happen in Iowa City.

I saw someone last night who had a significant impact on my life in my adolescent years and beyond.

Although we were close in the past, I didn't anticipate seeing this person ever again.
Ever again.

How strange, then, that in the middle of an alley in downtown Iowa City, I come across this person chatting with a few of our mutual friends.

The interaction was brief and mostly forced.

But even so, I'm grateful it happened.

Family...

I love my fam.

This is Weston.  And this might be my favorite picture ever.

 A very fun visit at Mike and Addy's house.

 My mum.

 The climbing brothers.

 Cousins!

 Dad.

 Lighting my mom's 59th bday cake.  I thought the house was going to go up in flames.

 Epic.  Also, my mom is buff.

 The aftermath.

 Parents.