The Starshine Report: It's Back On, Baby!

The other day, my own dear Mother wrote this on my Facebook wall:

"Missing you on the starshinereport :("

When Mama comes calling, I try not to disappoint!

I was very excited when I found out that the theme for September blogging over at NaBloPoMo was "Return".  Here is their explanation:

September's theme for daily blogging: RETURN. Returning -- or turning again -- is about reflection, about going backwards, about revisiting a spot or memory. Sometimes people think that it can be a negative thing to live too much in the past, drowning in nostalgia. But a lot can be learned by mentally returning to a moment, replaying what happened in your mind, especially if lessons are learned in the process.

That seemed like good inspiration for me. So check in during September! I'll be writing! xoxo

This is how people described me as a child, and how I saw myself:

As a child, I was full of laughter. I always had the giggles.

My best friend's mother was a very serious woman who was forever telling her kids to "run along" so she could get on with her business. When I would go over to their house to play, my giggles would so irritate her mom! (My friend once admitted that to me when I asked her why her mom didn't seem to like me.) I never understood how a child's laughter could be so off-putting to an adult.

Laughter is still something I cherish at 35 years old. When Uncle Albert sang "I Love to Laugh" in Mary Poppins I knew he might have looked like a fool, but deep down? He got it!

I knew that you just might be "the one" when...

We were taking a walk one afternoon or evening and Brian told me that he wanted to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas together. I so appreciated his openness and forthrightness about it. I knew he was serious about me. It was during those relationship-defining conversations (along with the way he treasured and treated me) that I began to feel more and more secure in the relationship, and believed it was one that would last a lifetime.

Part of Brian's seminary program included a three-week silence and solitude retreat. (He's monk-ish that way!) We were seriously dating, but weren't engaged yet, and I began to grow a little anxious that all that time alone in a cabin would somehow cause him to change his mind about me. Thankfully, he sensed my anxiety, and it was during another late-afternoon walk (actually, it might have been the same one as above) that Brian told me that he thought I was "the one". He just wanted me to know before he left, so I wouldn't be worried. I told him that I thought he was "the one", too.

It was such a sweet and exciting time in life. All those years of waiting for God to bring us a marriage partner, and suddenly we realize that we've met that person, and a new life together is stretching out before us--a life together.

Some things we did on our early dates were...

First Date: Dinner at Chandra and Ice Cream in Pasadena.

Second Date: Brian picked me up at the air port after being in Texas for a visit. He drove me back to Studio City, where I was living at the time, and we had coffee and deep conversation. I remember being surprised at how open I was with him about my life. I was diggin' him!

Third Date: A four course dinner at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant. We were sitting in this romantic little corner booth, and at one point in the evening he turned his whole body toward me (sort of shifting his attention to me completely), and I could tell that he was diggin' me, too!

Fourth Date: We heard one of Brian's seminary professors speak at his church. I met several of Brian's friends that night. Brian later told me that he was soooooo nervous because so many important people in his life were in that room--his friends, fellow seminary students, his mentor, etc. I guess I made a good impression!

Fifth Date: Brian told me that he wanted to spend the whole day together, so he picked me up in the morning, and took me to the Getty Center. We had lunch there at the lovely restaurant. I remember my meal (lamb!) because it was so good, and Brian was giving me flirty eyes across the table. After lunch, we strolled through the beautiful gardens and he reached out and held my hand for the first time. It was fuuuuuuuuuuun! Can you say "butterflies"?! We had dinner that evening at Houston's (grilled artichokes!) and saw a romantic comedy (Failure to Launch). Needless to say, it was a good day!

This is how I remember the first time we met...

Brian and I met on eHarmony, so our initial conversations were over e-mail. Soon, we talked on the phone. Not long after that we had our first date--dinner at a Thai restaurant called "Chandra" in Pasadena, CA. Brian was seated at the table when I arrived and stood up to greet me. My first thought was, "He's tall!", and I liked that. Dinner conversation was easy and light-hearted. I knew he could be my good friend, but didn't know yet if we would become more. Brian asked me out for a second date at the end of the first. I said yes!

This is how our first date was arranged....

Brian and I had been communicating through eHarmony for a few weeks, and had recently had one or two phone conversations. One morning, before I headed out the door for work, I checked my eHarmony account and found a message from Brian asking me if I'd like to have dinner with him the coming weekend. I happily accepted!

On our first date we...

met for dinner at Chandra in Pasadena. I arrived first, but I didn't want to seem too eager, so I went for a walk around the block. By the time I walked back to the restaurant, Brian had arrived and was waiting for me at our table!

I remember talking over dinner about our Myers-Briggs personality types and thinking that Brian was a pretty delightful guy.

After dinner, we walked through Old Town Pasadena and got ice cream!

[Fun side note]: After ice cream, we walked back to Brian's car, and there was a parking ticket on it. I felt so bad for him! I remember being so impressed, though, with how he handled it. He just put it away and calmly said that he'd deal with it later. Something like that could have really put a damper on our evening, but he didn't let it get in the way of enjoying our time together, and that said something to me about his character that I really liked.

[Really fun side note]: Brian still buys me ice cream on a regular basis, and his wonderful character is still one of the things that makes marriage to him so great!

National Blog Posting Month

It's that time again--November is NaBloPoMo! And since I'm in serious need of some blogging inspiration...I'm in! One post for every day in November.

I have two books I'll be using as blogging inspiration: The Book of Myself and The Book of Us, which I've mentioned before here. As I write on my blog, I plan to record the same stories by hand in the books, which I hope I'll enjoy reading as I get older, and perhaps my kids and grandkids will enjoy reading them one day, too.

Let the fun begin!!!

SHINE!--A NaBloPoMo Challenge

As you may know, November is National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), in which many bloggers choose to take the challenge to post something--anything--on their blogs everyday for the entire month. This will be my third year to participate, and I always love the challenge. The only problem is that usually about halfway through the month, I begin to lose inspiration, and I can't think of anything to write about.

So this year, I thought I would give myself (and anyone else who'd like to join me) a little inspiration. Below, you will find something to inspire you for each day of NaBloPoMo--either a word, a phrase, a quote, or an image to use as a jumping off point for your blog post. I have always been intrigued by how we can all look at the same thing, but see something different. I thought this would be a fun way to come together as a community and allow our diversity of thought and expression spring from the same source of inspiration.

If you'd like to take part in the SHINE! Challenge, leave a comment below, so we can all know who is participating. Feel free to grab the badge on my sidebar and add it to yours.  You can also join the SHINE! Challenge group on the NaBloPoMo website, though it is not necessary in order to be part of this challenge.

And now...30 days of inspiration!  Happy blogging!

1 - First kiss.

2 - Winds of change.

3 - Shhh.

4 - Political.

5 - If you could tell the newly elected President one thing, what would it be?

6 - Generation.

7 - What is she smiling about?

8 - Silly

9 - Vent

10 - Inner child

11 - Flawed

12 - Soulful

13 - Gym class

14 - 

Photo found here

15 - Best movie ever.

16 - Tell about a book you really enjoyed.

17 - 

18 - Joy!

19 - Travel story

20 - Good friend

21 - 

22 - In ten years...

23 - If you woke up tomorrow and the news said that the internet would be down for the next twenty years without any hope of repair until that time, what would you do?

24 - Bored

25 - What is the most memorable gift you have ever received?

26 -  

Photo found here.

27 - Thankful

28 - 

29 - "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" - E. Pola and G. Wyle

30 - Closure