For whatever reason, I've always been a person who gets really good at something and then randomly drops it. It's an incredibly frustrating habit. When I was younger, I water-skied and wake-boarded behind my parents' boats and jet-skis like there was nothing to it. I learned tricks and never wiped out. Then, one day, I decided that I was terrified of the lake. I didn't go in again for years.

When I was in college, I was briefly a Spanish major. I had grown up with the language, so I fell into my studies with ease. I was starting to have dreams in Spanish when I dropped the major, not even considering a Spanish minor. One of my classes gave me too much anxiety and I didn't think I'd be able to go back. I've always known that pursing a degree in English was one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself, but I do regret giving up on my Spanish fluency. 

My whole life, I've been a skier. I learned as a little toddler and always felt comfortable with my boots in bindings. I took lessons and mastered my skills. And my family went to ski resorts every winter. Then I turned 17 or 18 and just stopped skiing. I hadn't been on skis in years, until Thursday.

I just got the urge to go. My mom goes twice a week and I knew she'd be there, so I called her up and asked her to bring my stuff. She actually seemed confused, and called me the next day to make sure I was still coming. I met her on the mountain and clipped my boots into my bindings and skied down the mountain.

It was a nice way to start the weekend.

--

It reminded me of a time this summer, when some of Rob's friends came to hang out with us at my parents' house on the lake. They wanted to try wake-boarding, and, as you know, I hadn't been in the water in years. I then accidentally drank half a bottle of wine, gathered some courage, traded my dress for a life jacket (luckily I still had my bikini on underneath) and jumped off the dock with my board. 

Sometimes, you just have to give yourself the benefit of the doubt and then be a little bit braver than you feel.

Looks like it might be time to break out the old Spanish books.

--

This weekend continued with almond flour pancakes stuffed with apples.

And, of course, coffee.

And then we woke up to a beautiful, quiet frost.

Wishing you a warm Monday with plenty of opportunities to tackle your fears.

After the recent holidays, I feel like I've barely actually stayed at our apartment in Charlottesville for a weekend in weeks. But this weekend, we stayed put. We spent time together. I cooked a lot. And baked! Our apartment is spotless and amazingly, we managed to keep it that way. I've never been so proud.

I made breakfast. I went to work. We went out to lunch. I made dinner. We watched LOST. I read. I woke up early and worked on my thesis. I made breakfast again. Shawna and I went for another run--we're on a roll! And then Rob and I spent Sunday evening in sweatpants with takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings. He watched a football game on television and I looked on from my computer. Then the Red Carpet coverage of the Golden Globes happened, which reminded me that I care way too much about some celebrities. We then watched the awards, ordered some more food, and went to bed.

We were lazy this weekend. It was nice. Sort of the perfect way to spend the last weekend before Rob starts class again and our apartment building fills up with noisy undergrads returning from winter break for another semester. 

A weekend morning at home means I finally got to break out my new espresso maker.

Cutting carrots for beef stew.

Paleo-friendly Brownies. I can't stop eating these. Recipe courtesy of The Paleo Project.

Sunday morning productivity. Word document is open. Just doing a little research on Mean Girls.

Sunday morning procrastination. I made all this food for the two of us after I started getting antsy at my computer.

B-dubs on the couch and some football. Rob's really cute. I like him.

What did you do this weekend? Do you have work or school this MLK Day?

Happy birthday, Dr. King! 

[Reflection of Downtown Roanoke in my coffee, taken December 2011]

It's almost nine this morning and I am just waking up with a raging caffeine headache. One of the owners of the coffee shop is out of the country for a month, and they need me to close instead of open on Fridays while he's gone. I was looking forward to sleeping in a little bit, but missing my 7:00 tea and 8:30 espresso really is taking its toll on my body. 

You know, withdrawal.

So now I'm sitting with my computer in my favorite chair--it's all asymmetrical and artsy--waiting for espresso to brew on the stove. It looks freezing outside, my head is pounding, Rob is still asleep in our warm bed, there are episodes of LOST to be watched and I also just started a new book that has nothing to do with my thesis but has me hooked and I really just can't put it down. I'd rather not go to work this afternoon. It sort of feels like Saturday.

Rob got home from his trip to Portland yesterday and I felt kind of bad, but immediately went out to go running with Shawna. But we still had all afternoon to hang around, then I made dinner and Shawna came back over and we all watched a movie and polished off a bottle of wine. It feels really nice to get back into running. Yesterday was really warm and it smelled like spring and it made me want to drive to Farmville and visit my professors at Longwood and then walk around Hampden-Sydney. I might actually do that the next time it gets unseasonably warm. Or I can wait for real spring.

It doesn't take a lot to make me miss college.

So that's what you get when I'm home on a weekday morning instead of at the coffee shop. My thoughts, scattered as they may be, as they work their way out of this caffeine-addicted brain.

Have a really happy weekend, friends.