"That is an awesome quote - I think it should be plastered on every girls' wall!"

Hodgepodge.

So lately I joined this site called Pinterest. And it has changed my life. I've become a better woman. Ask people.  One thing I love is that people post funny quotes on the site.  Below are some pictures that have left me laughing.

This picture below explains life well right now. For all of us. My friend forwarded me this picture.

Oh man. I laughed audibly just posting that pic...Ok this next one I found on Pinterest and it PERFECTLY describes my life right now. I will be upset about something or really stewing over it....then I'll go to bed - take a nap, whatever - wake up in the morning and there will be a total difference in me. Someone will ask me how I feel about the situation and I'll be like, "oh, yeah - that's over - I'm good now."

This next image is a bumper sticker I saw when driving down the road. And again, I laughed audibly. And every now and then I'll think of it and laugh out loud again. It just never fails to crack me up.

Mom - if you are reading this - I apologize for the swear word in the next picture. I found this on Pinterest and I LOVE IT because it is SO TRUE. I spent a large part of college and a year in highschool weighing much more than I do now and I feel this next image deep. When I was a counselor for 15 year old girls at camp we told them that whenever they said something negative about their body we, as counselors, would drop and do 10 pushups with the hope that they would realize how often they spoke negatively about their bodies and also that their words affect others. But also this picture is hilarious - because we all relate:

Final picture of the day, I ran across this image on Pinterest and I immediately stopped and just had to think about it. SUCH TRUTH. I immediately sent it to my friend/co-worker telling her that I wanted to put it up on my wall at home and she said, "That is an awesome quote - I think it should be plastered on every girls' wall!" 

I hope you have all laughed audibly multiple times reading this!!!

"I know what you mean...you never forget it."

A tribute.

So three years ago today I broke my leg. I didn't just break it...I broke it reaaaal good. Rod in tibia - 4 screws in leg.  A book that I love, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, talks about living a good story and also centers around the parts that make up a good story. One central part he defines is the inciting incident and how that forever changes a person's story. Here is one of my favorite passages of the book, page 104:

"Robert McKee says humans naturally seek comfort and stability. Without an inciting incident that disrupts their comfort they won't enter into a story. They have to get fired from their job or be forced to sign up for a marathon. A ring has to be purchased. A home has to be sold. The character has to jump into the story, into the discomfort and the fear, otherwise the story will never happen."

When I read this part of the book I knew my inciting incident was my broken leg. Because really my leg shouldn't have broken...I was on a skateboard going REALLY slowly on a carpeted floor. It didn't make sense to anyone...but yet I had a lot of time to think about it...months on the couch. It is a big reason why I am in Austin - I had planned to head up to Dallas after camp to live with a girl and find a non-profit to work for...but as I lied on the couch for 3 months slowly the dream came back...what about political science? What about government?  What about trying that field again - one that had been marked with every rejection possible when it came to applying for jobs/internships/etc.

My broken leg has also taught me how to run. I never was a runner before. During the months after I broke my leg if I didn't spend time every day strengthening my leg it would hurt worse the next day. I would have a more pronounced limp, etc. So I cycled with a resistance of 1 for a month after my surgery -- then up to 3 -- then 9....then the elliptical for a year....then --- I could RUN. Wind passing by my face running. And at first it was a glorified walk, a 12 minute mile, an 11 minute mile, etc.  Which, when I look back on how I have had to pay attention to my leg everyday I see the bigger picture of how we address broken places in our lives.

I met a girl yesterday and mentioned in passing that tomorrow would be the 3 year mark of my broken leg...she had a similar experience and said, "I know what you mean...you never forget it."