Be Spunky...but not stupid.

The other day I had a particularly tiring day at work so when I got off I grabbed food and went to the movies by myself. Now, the point of going to the movies alone is to be able to relax and be alone, text people during the previews then enjoy the film. But for some reason every time I go, I find myself looking for someone else sitting alone. If I find someone I always want to go sit with them, thus defeating the purpose of going alone in the first place. Why do I do that? When I see another loner I think, "We have something in common. How fun would it be to introduce myself and sit with them? Wait, I came alone, that's the point." And then I sit down and enjoy myself, but I always think for a fleeting moment about the lost opportunity to do something spunky.

Another problem with my new cinema friend: Not very many girls go to movies alone. There is definitely a difference between asking a girl "Is this seat taken?" and asking a guy "Is this seat taken?" In the years I've gone to movies I don't think I've ever seen a woman under 60 alone in the theater. I have, however, seen a surprising amount of guys alone. In fact, the first time I went to a movie alone I was one of two people there. I considered sitting with the other guy, but the movie was Stardust and it was weird that he was there alone.

Anyway, I enjoy going to movies by myself and in the spirit of adventure I'll sit next to the next sane-looking girl I see in the cinema.

What do you enjoy and how will you add some spunk to it next time?

-Young Victoria

Post Script: I saw The Other Guys. I give it 3 stars. It was a 4 star movie, but it looses a star for being too inappropriate to watch at home without fast-forwarding(it was on the same level as Anchorman). Here's a funny clip!

Life is a Box of Stalagmites?

Head lamp: $20
Full gas tank: $40
Climbing through a pitch black cave with my younger brother and sister: Priceless.

Have you ever been spelunking? As one of my favorite children's book characters Fancy Nancy would say, Spelunking is a fancy word for walking through a dark cave. All you do is grab a flashlight, a snack, your hiking shoes and you're set to drive to the nearest cave and spelunk! 
Last time I went home I went spelunking with my brother, Josiah(10), and my sister, Tess(15). My family lives in Bend, OR where there is a plethora of caves near town; so Tess, Joe, and I grabbed a snack(something about caving leaves you famished, but not thirsty), clambered into my car and drove the 20 miles to Boyd Cave.
Quick caving plug: It's easy enough for kids to enjoy, it's naturally air conditioned(we were pretty cold the whole time), and our particular cave was only about an hour long trek from start to finish.

The three of us had so much fun together. As it happens, Tess and I have the same reaction to being in complete darkness, but for the light of our flashlights. Our depth perception and equilibrium get poned. After about twenty minutes the change is noticeable. When lowering from one rock to another three two feet looks like four, when stepping onto another rock your foot hits it just before you thought it would, and if at any time you stop moving you start swaying. My first time spelunking the cave took an hour and a half to two hours to get through and by the end of it my knees were shaking and I could hardly walk straight or without tripping. With about fifty yards of flat cave to go, I asked the person next to me if I could please hold their arm until we got to the cave. The change was instantaneous. As soon as I took their arm I had control again. Alone I felt like I was slowly falling forward because the ground kept hitting my foot too soon, now I was just walking. Alone I was confused and frustrated by an environment that was taking over, now I stood tall and straight and confident.

Life is to cave as people are to flawed.
Arm is to stability as God is to grace.

We are all of us human. We cannot help but make mistakes, and God knows it 'cause He made us that way. When I do something unwise I tend to beat myself up for it, but every time I hear God say, "You're in a cave of course you're going to fall; just take my arm." And that makes me feel a lot better about the whole situation.

Post Script: "Poned" means "Professionally owned" according to my sister. Here it is in context:

Wednesday Win!

Welcome, welcome Wednesday Win! Today's win has so many things going right, it's heard to tell which aspect is the true Win. After slight internal struggle, I give you:

Wednesday Win: Senior Safety Feature Win

The Great Hunt

The successful hunter uses all available resources.;)

It comes in and nothing you can do will stop it. A very dramatic opening sentence, but there you have it.

The desire for Purpose is unstoppable. We all have one, a Purpose. Most of us are hunting it. A lucky few have actually trapped it and managed not to screw it up. This is, of course, the person we all wish to be. The Purpose Trapper and Tender. Much like actual hunters--successful Purpose Trappers come in all shapes and sizes. Wither they knew what they wanted to do when they were 6, 16, or 60, at some point they went into the wild, took the shot and now have a lovely White Tailed Purpose mounted in their den. I, being a twenty something with the world at my fingertips, have been wondering recently what my purpose is. I know that overall it's to love Jesus and serve the Church and love people. That's my big picture, whole life Purpose and I love it. However, in the finding-your-purpose-is-a-hunt analogy this overall purpose is like the forest I'm hunting in. It will always be there as the thing I'm hunting in as apposed to the thing I'm actually hunting.

I started writing this a few days ago and I believe I discovered the secret to this hunt: It isn't one hunt, it's one thousand hunts. All of us have a purpose for right now, today. In six months it will have changed at least in some marginal way. In six years it could be completely transformed. In real life there are no Trappers or Tenders of Purpose. We are all of us hunters. We catch one and then we release it so that we may find the next one. The beauty of this is the vast room it leaves for mistakes. We can always redirect our path or start over if need be. The only ones who fail the hunt are the ones who stop or never tried.

When I catch today's Purpose, I'll try not to be too satisfied. First I'll celebrate, then look for tomorrow's, remember to check my progress on next years, and pray a little about that Purpose fifty years from now. And so it will go, a long and exciting life of catch and release.    

Happy Trails,

Young Victoria

Friday Fail

Life is made up of victories and failures small and great. To honor these moments I am posting Friday Fail and Wednesday Win in the hopes that we may celebrate in the successes of others and be reminded that at least we're smarter than that guy.

Here is your first Friday Fail: Inspiration Fail

Game On.

Color me surprised. About two weeks ago I mentioned to my friend and coworker, Dale, that I wanted to write a blog, but I've started that project a lot and always ran out of steam(and topics). Dale then insisted that it wouldn't be hard for him to find things to write about and so I challenged him to start a blog as well and we'll see who can can keep writing at least every week. This was mentioned kind of in passing and never brought up again. Now, weeks later, I discovered on one of the work computers that he actually did start a blog(check it out: mrdalealexanderjohnson.blogspot.com). I've never been one to take a challenge lying down--particularly one that was my idea--so here is the first post on my blog. I'll be checking in at least once a week to flex my writing muscle, but here is a little something I wrote last year:

An Ode to a Friend
Fall is not come
It has come in my heart but not on my hands
It should be here by now and stick to our plan
Yes Fall is my time, the season for me
For Fall is the season of seasons for trees
For crunchy and cracking
Brown, yellow, and red
For flat shoes and strong brews
All wrapped up in plaid
Indeed, of the seasons, this season is true
To the season of me, what season is you?
Have you ever talked to one of those people who’s biased against something you really like and you’re not really sure why and it’s kind of annoying ’cause you want to give your thing a good shot? Well, if you like Winter, Spring, or Summer particularly more than any of the other seasons, I’m going to annoy you. You know why? Because Autumn is the most spectacular season of all, that’s why! Autumn is the season that eats other seasons for breakfast; if it weren’t eating apple dumplings for breakfast already. Here’s my reasoning…

• All of the other seasons are jealous of Autumn’s clothes(even flouncy Spring).

• Autumn is better than Winter because there’s no snow making you change your jeans every hour, but you still get amazing holiday food.

• Autumn is better than Spring because you love getting to wear jackets instead of resenting them because you wish it were summer already. And again, no snow.

• Autumn is better than Summer because instead of sweltering heat that leaves you with no makeup and sweat circles, it’s crisp(my favorite) and you get to wear scarves! Honestly, scarves are the only clothing item that can make me hyperventilate.

Wow, so much to look forward too. If you’re a fan of another season(for reasons beyond me), tell me what it is and why it’s better than the others.:)

Hoping Fall comes really quick,

Young Victoria