Adventure #23: Discovering the Order in Disorder and the Comfort in Both

There I am.  Yup.  First thing in the morning.  I'm going to be obnoxious in this post.  I'm going to casually attempt to reference all of my Adventure pics to this thought that crossed my mind in playback mode all day yesterday.  The idea is this:  I flip flop between appreciating the order and disorder that surrounds my life.  From chaos to alignment to disarray to neatness.  I manage to make both work for me and adjust my life accordingly.  So how will I attempt this from my initial wake-up on a Friday morning?  Well, look at that mop of hair on my head.  Is there any kind of order to it?  I think not.  Certainly not.  I give it some help shortly after arousing myself from sleep each day.  Sometimes a mass of tangled curls is good.  Typically for time spent in the public eye, not-so-much.  So there you have it:  short-lived chaos turned to acceptability with a small amount of effort.

Not enough disorder for your taste?  Well, I'm not sure how you'd judge my desk area.  It's an orderly mess.  Everything to the left of my chair is grad school stuff in progress, so that's an expected pile of papers (until I'm DONE!).  The papers directly to the right of my computer are notes to myself/lists.  Again, these bits of mess help me function, and too much order with this would not be productive.  So there you have it:  I can wake up in the morning to this amount 'mess' and can be completely satisfied.

Oh hey--this is my dresser.  This is the getting-ready-in-the-morning state of my dresser.  Pretty organized despite the amount of 'stuff' chillin atop it.  socks needed for Adventure Day.  Phone needed every day.  Hair tie goes around my wrist for emergencies.  Jewelry goes on after lotion.  The stuff lining the back is jewelry/hair stuffs that always chill there.  I'm ashamed to say the nail polish has been there awhile...I gotta paint my toesies some time soon because I just haven't gotten around to it in what seems like ages.

One thing that I've come to realize is that I am happiest when the kitchen is in a complete state of order.  Even when I'm rushing and hustling along in the morning making my lunch and getting breakfast for myself, I tidy up one mess after the other so that I can stay sane.  (There is an exception to this...but I'll get to that later.)  There you have it:  I'm OCD about certain aspects of my life being tidier than others.  (To the right is my most-used kitchen counter space.  Drying hand-washed dishes while prepping breakfast, I believe.  To the left is the semi-organized display of magnets and coupons on the fridge--of which I could care less about how it looks.)

Were ya curious about the promised containment of my bedhead? Final result pictured to the left. (Yup, ponytail day. We all have those days...) 

So what WAS the breakfast deliciousness that I prepared for myself on Adventure Day?!  Well, things I had actually 'prepped' earlier in the week.  A nectarine (or is it a peach?) was going soft on the counter so I had chopped it up.  It was the morning to eat it.  And I had made Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal on Wednesday, and I had another whole portion to eat.  But it was hot in the apartment, and I decided that I would see what it tastes like cold.  Hey guess what?  It tasted delicious cold!  (To me...)
Where's the disorder and chaos, you ask?  Well, when it comes to food, there typically isn't much of that in my life.  I love to cook and bake and plan meals and know exactly what I'm going to eat--it helps me to fully enjoy it.  So I usually go to sleep at night with thoughts of what I'll eat for breakfast the next morning.  (Sometimes that's even because breakfast needs some preparation the night before.  Yup, I mean business when I eat!)

 

Above is an awkward photo of me realizing the misfortune of my hair's current state.  See the lil curl on my forehead?  It drives me crazy.  Can't do anything with it.  Definitely fits with my theme of things not fitting in with the alignment that they're supposed to.  And this is a bit of disarray that I am NOT ok with.  (Not a bad hair day, just definitely not a cooperative hair day!)

Not only was yesterday special because it was the selected day for the weekly installment of the Adventure Blog happenings--but it was also Hannah's birthday!  In my opinion, birthdays are simply awesome.  Once a year, I believe every person has the full right to enjoy their day as much as they possibly can.  I was sure to wish the birthday girl a Happy Birthday, and here we are pictured at her work space, where I successfully bombarded her with my enthusiastic greeting.  (No discussion of order/disorder here.  Just fun times in CoFo Land.)

 

Ooo, a picture!  Yep, I've been having a rough time lately being away from Fish for so long, and I came to the realization that I didn't have any pictures of him at work.  That was quickly resolved--and now I can work productively and know that with a lil glance to my right, there he is, being goofy with me in a picture from his cousin's wedding.  Totally helps and motivates me.

 

So before the next 'exciting' thing happened, I did some typical work day stuff.  Made a bunch of contact attempts, trolled my CoFo Facebook, worked on a couple mini projects.  Ya know, normal stuff.  But THEN...I had a MEETING!  Yes, us Completion Coaches get excited about meetings because they successfully break up the day and re-energize us.  However, this scheduled meeting was to occur at the end of the work day--and it was only 1pm!  Why, you ask?  Because we were all headed to the capitol to get 'sworn in' as Americorps members.  Pretty cool stuff, especially since it all still counts as part of our contracted hours. 



So yes, here be supplies of the day...kinda.  The weird paddle thing is a fan (actually came in quite handy once we were outside in the muggy-ness) and the ceremonial schedule was printed on it.  My College Forward shirt was what I wore to work yesterday, but we were given official Americorps shirts for the event.  Free stuff is good--although I'm sure you all know my feelings about t-shirts.)

 

So it was off to the capitol building!  I was carpool driver, and I had lofty plans of making a quick stop at the central library to pick up a book that I put on hold.  Unfortunately traffic had different plans, and I went straight there with Aeryn and Kathryn riding along in Babs the minivan.  (Yes, I name things.  Don't judge.)

 



Oh look--it's the capitol building!  Pretty awesome building, super large, and super impressive-looking.  We were out front for the ceremonial Americorps stuffs.  To the right are some of the people.  At first glance, it's a jumbled mass of random people in shirts.  At closer look, we are actually pretty organized in organizational cliques, with the occasional mingling from those who were brave enough to recognize others--or actually meet someone new (*gasp*).

There's a speaker here.  Use your imagination.  Right now you are getting Ali's view of the ceremony.  And this is me standing on a curb to add a lil more height.  Ohhh I'm so short.

Some CoFo peeps as the victims of my photo-taking for the blog.  They have no idea.  And actually, Aeryn was the sneak-attack photographer here, since I was awesome and left my camera in the van.  Thanks, Aeryn!  Pictures much-appreciated!

Not sure if the next pics are visible enough, but the one to the left is when we FINALLY made it back to the apartment.  The reason that I phrase it this way is because of dumb one way streets, difficult parking, and traffic problems when finding the library.  The mission was eventually successful though and obviously we DID make it home!  And the above right pic is just the apartment complex's office, but I was in the car while Aeryn checked the mail, so I thought I'd take a pic.

 

Next on my agenda was FOOD!  Yep, I was hungry.  (It wasn't even that late yet, but I had big plans to cook a yummy dinner.)  Below is a work in progress:  diced carrot and potato bubbling around until soft enough to be the stuffing for stuffed bread rolls.

 

 

Stuffed bread rolls were mostly successful (see my photo album on Facebook called 'The Foodie Files' for pics), but the mess you see to the right is the end result of a delicious meal:  DISHES!  It's inevitable that the dishes are going to be aplenty, though I usually do my best to keep things rinsed and organized by the time the meal is done.  Yes, this is my exception to the morning's kitchen rule:  when I'm cooking/baking, I can make as big of a mess as I want.  Sometimes it even helps me be more successful in the kitchen--go figure.

Pretty sure I sat down to eat dinner before I cleaned up the dishes, and again, I'm ok with that because I was way hungry at this point.  (By the way, I shmeared pesto on top of the bread rolls.  Yummy-er that way.)  While I ate, I decided instead of TV time, I'd read.  I've been neglecting reading as a hobby for quite some time, and now I'm part of a CoFo book club, and the reading HAS to happen--especially since I tracked down the book!  First book club book shown above--The Poisonwood Bible.  Aeryn and I are going to share it and pass it along to Kathryn, if possible.  It'll be quite the accomplishment for me to finish it on time!

There haven't been any pics of the actual Adventure Shoes yet, so I thought it was necessary.  'Autocorrect' on the photo editing program I used did this cool grainy color edit to them--I kinda like them like this.  No crazy story about the shoes today, they just got kicked off ASAP when I got to my room at the end of my Friday.  It had been quite the week! 

My evening rounded out with me making some more sense of some of the mess that was existing across my grad school pile of papers.  I filled a form out to be mailed off, I sorted through which personal statements need to be written.  I got myself ready to really finish these last steps so that I can be DONE.  (Pretty sure the whole world will know when this happens, haha.)

 Snack time came around, of course, because I always reach that point at night when I need tea, an apple, and something sweet.  I discovered a greek yogurt with honey that I forgot that I'd bought last weekend--a perfect treat!  And I'm proud to say that I spent quite a bit of time reading my new library book--I made it past page 30!

I wasn't able to Skype Fish last night, but there is promise to Skype him today.  October is almost here, and I am so excited to see him in a few short weeks.  Not wishing time to go fast, just wishing for it to certainly not drag out the next few weeks.

 

One quick thought before parting on this day-after-Adventure-Day:  I see and am updated on every view to my blog with an ever-changing number.  However, I get feedback from viewers very rarely and would love to know who it is who reads and follows my blog regularly and especially what is thought about it.  It's still my coping mechanism for this giant leap I've made in Life by graduating and coming to Austin, Texas, but I'd like to know what other purposes it might serve.  I welcome any and all comments, because despite what is said and shared, I am set to continue it until the year is up. 

 

 Happy Saturday, everyone--Next Adventure Day post coming again soon!