Sliver

There was a moment my freshman year of college when I specifically told myself, "remember this." It was May and I had just gotten one of the coveted appointed positions in the Student Government cabinet for the next year. We had locked down a stellar cast of roommates for the fall semester, the sorority I wanted to join was courting me and the cute runner I had been crushing on for six months was taking me to the Spring Formal. In sharp contrast to the first quarter where I cried myself to sleep every night and couldn't seem to make a friend to save my life, it appeared that life was finally playing right into my "college will be better" fantasies.

But even at that perfect moment I knew that there were plenty of other shoes to fall and I wanted to slow myself down, absorb and love what was happening RIGHT THEN and also realize that it wouldn't always be like that. But also to know for sure that periods of amazingness are possible and that they often follow periods of utter suck.

I have mentioned before that things have been pretty dreamy ever since I moved to Colorado. So I was due I guess. And that's why when it sort of felt like the bottom dropped out on me a couple of weeks ago I just decided-fine, I'll take it. I can be sad and I can cry and I can be frustrated. But I'l take it. Because I have been here before. And I will be here again. But awesome things will happen between now and then and if I have to deal with this to get more of that then fine, I'm in.

And maybe that's why God elected to throw me a bone last week. I always say when I'm telling people about my job that for every hour you spend talking to gold medalists, you spend six months folding clothes in a warehouse. But this week was one of the weeks that makes the fact that I'll spend the next six days slaving over a forecasting spreadsheet worth it.

My boss and I and two of the Marketing folks flew up to Portland on Tuesday to meet with our athletic apparel sponsor to go through the 2012 Team USA line. We sat in a locked showroom with no photos allowed and saw amazing product that was really athlete focused. It was a crazy few days with a TON of information and decisions to be made but it thrills me to my very toes and completely overwhelms me to be part of this.

So there was that. But then personally it was just like an explosion of little moments that absolutely made me feel like the Lord is so aware of me and the desires of my heart. A selection of highlights...

-Tuesday night. Dinner in Portland. A guy from the swoosh's hockey division who lives in Toronto was in town so he came along. We're doing the typical career path walk through that you do when you meet a new person in your industry. He mentions ESPN and Sports Illustrated, I mention PUMA and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He says-I know there were a lot of people there but did you perchance know a Lori M? And my mouth drops open because yeah, she's one of my dearest dears. Turns out his wife is tight with her too and suddenly the world is smaller. And it's nicer. Everyone else is feeling good from the red wine, I'm drunk on connections.

-Later that night I meet up with two friends who have both moved to Portland in the last year. They didn't know each other yet but I was convinced it would be a girl-match. We met up at a coffee shop and ended up shutting the place down. We laughed and we commiserated about everything from jobs to boys to religion. I stared at the ceiling of my hotel room until the wee hours feeling humbled by the quality and quantity of outstanding people in my life.

-Friday I flew back to the Springs just in time for my friend Aubrey, in town for work, to pick me up and we headed to Denver for dinner. We caught up, ate amazing food and she told me all about the new boy in her life. It was great to see her and to hear that such good things are happening for her.

-Aubrey had a plane to catch and dropped me off at a BBQ joint slash bowling alley where my current favorite band was playing later that night. All my favorite Colorado Springs girls were there, my blogger friend Katie who I had yet to meet came with her husband and they were totally fabulous and then the show was just kinda perfect. A local band called the Lumineers opened. They came out onto the floor for one of their songs and I had the honor of holding their glockenspiel (this is not a euphemism) during the number. The energy was crazy and I could not stop grinning for rest of their set.

-I can't possibly say enough good about The Head and the Heart. My favorite music blogger and good friend Heather has been raving about them for months now and after Down in the Valley became the soundtrack to my roadtrip to SLC, I was really excited about seeing them live. I know I use words like "amazing" and "best ever" kind of a lot. But take me seriously here, their set was magical. This is a band that is juuust on the verge of taking off and you can feel that you are watching something really special. Their voices blend beautifully, the melodies feel like songs you've just always known and the lyrics talk about home and new beginnings and love in a way that had me in tears for most of the show.

2010 has really been a great year for music-I can rattle off ten great albums from this year without even trying-and still this one stands out. Heather talked them into coming through the Springs and doing a house show on their way back West so Tuesday I will sit in my friend Anna's living room and-this is just a guess-swing from grinning to crying for a few hours.

The world is good. People are good. Things don't always go the way I want them to but I'm learning that they often turn out better when I loosen my grip a little.

Watch these videos and see if you don't feel lighter.





This one was recorded in a club so it's not as clear but listen to those harmonies! and the time changes! swoooooon!