August 26, 2009
July 25, 2009
July 15, 2009
once upon a time…
Once upon a time there lived a sea lion who had lost the sea. He lived in a country know as the barren lands. High on a plateau, far from any coast, it was a place so dry and dusty that it could only be called a desert. A kind of course grass grew in patches here and there, and a few trees were scattered across the horizon. But mostly, it was dust. And sometimes wind, which together make one very thirst. Of course, it must seem strange to you that such a beautiful creature should wind up in a desert at all. He was, mind you, a sea lion. But things like this do happen. How the sea lion came to the barren lands, no one could remember. It all seemed so very long ago. So long, in fact, it appeared as though he had always been there. Not that he belonged in such an arid place. How could that be? He was, after all, a sea lion. But as you know, once you have lived so long in a certain spot, no matter how odd, you come to think of it as home…
“We are never living, but hoping to live”-Pascal
“It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, we must hunger for them”- George Eliot.“And I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”-U2
There was a time, many years back, when the sea lion knew he was lost. In those days, he would stop every traveler he met to see if he might help him find his way back to the sea.
But no one seemed to know the way.
On he searched, but never finding. After years without success, the sea lion took refuge beneath a solitary tree beside a very small water hole. The tree provided refuge from the burning rays of the sun, which was very fierce in that place. And the water hole, though small and muddy, was wet, in its own way. Here he settled down and go on as best he could….
“Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken”-Tina Turned.
Had you journeyed in those days through the barren lands, you might have seen the sea lion for yourself. Quite often in the evening, he would go and sit upon his favorite rock, a very large boulder, which lifted him off the burning sand and allowed him a view of the entire country. There he would remain for hours into the night, silhouetted against the sky. And on the best nights, when the wind shifted to the east, a faint smell of salt air would come to him on the breeze. Then he would close his eyes and imagine himself once more at the sea. When he lay himself down to sleep, he would dream of a vast, deep ocean. Twisting and turning, diving and twirling, he would swim and swim and swim. When he woke, he thought he heard the sound of breakers. The sea was calling him.
“Longing is the hearts treasure” –Augustine
The Sea lion loved his rock, and he even loved waiting night after night for the sea breezes that might come. Especially he loved the dreams those memories would stir up. But, as you well know, even the best of dreams cannot go on, and in the morning when the sea lion woke, he was still in the barren lands. Sometimes he would close his eyes and try to fall back to sleep. It never seemed to work, for the sun was always very bright. Eventually, it became too much for him to bear. He began to visit his rock only on occasion. “I have too much to do,” he told himself. “I cannot waste my time just idling about.” He really did not have so much to do. The truth was, waking so far from home was such a disappointment, and he did not want to have those wonderful dreams anymore. The day finally came when he stopped going to his rock altogether, and he no longer lifted his nose to the wind when the sea breezes blew…
“The danger is that the should should persuade itself that it is not hungry. It can only persuade itself of this by lying”- Weil
“Everybody’s got a hungry heart” –Bruce Springsteen
The sea lion was not entirely along in those parts. For it was there he met the tortoise. Now, this tortoise was an ancient creature, so weathered by his life in the barren lands that at first, the sea lion mistook him for a rock. He told the tortoise of his plight, hoping that this wise one might be able to help him. “Perhaps,” the tortoise mused, “this is the sea.” His eyes appeared to be shut against the bright sun, but he was watching the sea lion very closely. The sea lion swept his flippers once against his side, gliding to the end of the water hold and back.
“I don’t know, “he said. “It isn’t very deep”
“Isn’t it?
“Somehow, I thought the sea would be broader, deeper. At least, I hoped so”
“You must learn to be happy here,” the tortoise told him one day. “Or it is unlikely that you shall ever find this sea of yours.” Deep in his old and shriveled hear, the tortoise envied the sea lion and his sea.
“But I belonged to the sea. We are made for each other!”
“Perhaps. But you have been gone so long now, and the sea has probably forgotten you.
This thought had never occurred to the sea lion. But it was true; he had been gone for a very long, long time.
“If this is not my home, how can I ever feel at home here?” The sea lion asked.
“You will, in time.” The tortoise appeared to be squinting, his eyes a thing slit. “I have seen the sea, and it is no better than what you have found here.”
“You have seen the sea?!”
“Yes. Come closer” whisper the tortoise, “and I will tell you a secret I am not a tortoise. I am a sea turtle. But I let the sea long ago on my own accord, many years ago, in search of better things. If you stay with me, I will tell you stories of my adventures”
The stories of the ancient tortoise were enchanting and soon cast their spell upon the sea lion. As weeks passed into months, his memory of the sea faded. “The desert,” whispered the tortoise “is all that is, or was, or ever will be.” When the sun grew fierce and burned his skin, the sea lion would hide in the shade of the tree, listening to the tales woven by the tortoise. When the dry winds cracked his flippers and filled his eyes with dust, the sea lion would retreat to the water hole. And so the sea lion remained, living his days between the hold and tree. The sea no longer filled his dreams.
“we have sailed too close to shore, having falled in love with life, we have lost our thirst for th waters of life.” –sir Francis Drake.
It was in May that the winds began to blow. The sea Lion had grown used to wind, at first he did not pay much heed at all. Years of desert life had taught him to turn his back in the direction from which the wind came and cover his eyes with his flippers, so that the dust would not get in. eventually, the winds would always pass. But not this time. Day and night it came, howling across the barren lands. There was nothing to stop its fury, nothing to even slow it down. For forty days and forty nights the wind blew. And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. The sea lion lifted himself to have a look around. He could hardly believe his eyes. Every single leaf had been stripped from his tree. The branches that remained, with only a twig or two upon them, looked like an old scarecrow. And I do not need to tell you that there was no longer any shade in which to hide. But worse than this, much worse indeed, was what the sea lion saw next…the water hole was completely dry.
Three weeks after the wind ceased to blow, the sea lion had a dream. Now, as I told you before, there were other nights in which he had dreamed of the sea. But those were long ago and nearly forgotten. Even still, the ocean that filled his dreams this night was so beautiful and clear, so vast and deep, it was as if he were seeing it for the very first time. The sunlight glittered on its surface, and as he dived , the water all around him shone like an emerald. If he swam wuite deep, it turned to jade, cool dark and mysterious. But he was never frightened, not at all. For, I must tell you that in all his dreams of the sea, he had never before found himself in the coupany of other sea lions. This night, there were many, round about him, diving and turning, spinning and twirling. They were playing. Oh, how he hated to wake from that wonderful dream. The tears running down his face were the first wet thing he had felt in three weeks. But he did not pause even to wipe them away, he did not pause, in fact for anything at all. He set his face to the east, and he began to awlk as best a sea lion can.
“were are you going?” asked the tortoise.
“I am going to the sea.”
July 9, 2009
hello sunshine; summer ‘09
so, right now i’m sitting in a little coffee shop, second floor, over looking all of Taylors Falls. I’m drinking coffee and listening to my “acoustic” play list while looking at wedding pictures *sigh*
Two of my best friends are out of the country, in Mexico…I miss them. My brother and his two best friends just left for China…7 weeks 
I work…40 hours a week. and go to school. I NEED AN ADVENTURE!!!
haha, but…life is so so good right now. Summer is just so great. sunshine summer ‘09. let me show you. look. see? summer’s so great:
I hope your summer is going fantastic! I’ll try to update more often.
Love love love!
-Jojo
June 10, 2009
rain drops on roses…
here’s a few pictures from my first ‘photoshoot’ with my new camera.
i’m in-love
i love crossing things out!
[Summer 09 baby! summer’s comin!!! Here’s my list of things I want to…and am GOING to do this summer. SUMMER 09. the summer of joy.]
so, i’ve been crossin things out and checkin things off. slowly, but surely they’re gettin’ done. here’s what i’ve done so far:
4. Build a sand castle5. Go puddle jumping
7. Get a new Camera
8. Watch a sunset on lake superior
10. Dance in the moonlight
12. Get lost
14. Go rollerblading in down town minneapolis at night
17. Go fishing
22. Have a real picnic
24. Sit on Lake superior at watch the sunrise
26. Learn to salsa dance
28. Photograph a wedding
30. Dance in the rain
34. Run through a field and make the butterflies dance
36. Not wear makeup for a week
41. Go to a Thunder game
and a few things i’ve added:
1. get a fisheye lense
2. ride a crotchrocket
3. ride in a convertible jeep
4. read all of C.S. Louis’ works
5. attend a real poetry jam
June 5, 2009
June 3, 2009
the journey of desire…
I’m reading the book, “The journey of Desire” and the chapter I read this morning really hit me…it made me put the book down and just sit in my room in silence…seriously thinking. It was something along these lines:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” 1 peter 3:15
Why does peter say this? It’s not like when I’m out shopping people just come up to me, stop me in my tracks and say, “wow! Please, you’ve got to tell me; be honest ok? How can you live with such hope in this economy?! Here does it come from? Please, I must know the reason!”
Ok, let’s be honest here. This has never, ever happened to me. Has it to you? I mean, I hope I’m prepared if it ever would happen…but it never has. So….what’s wrong? Why don’t people ask? To be blunt…is there anything about my life, your life, about our lives that is even worth asking about? There’s nothing intriguing about our hopes, nothing enough to make anyone curious. Do I even have enough hope? No one sees anything out of the ordinary, so no one wonders…so no one asks. We NEED desires in our lives….if we abandoned desire, we have lost hope. “we can only hope for what we desire” –C.S.Lewis. We need to desire God. If we desire him with our while lives, then we can hope. If we have hope, we can have joy and then that joy will radiate off us…THEN, people will possible start to inquire about the hope that we have. then we will need to be truly prepared to give a reason for the hope we have….
vacation!!
this crazy group of people, is my amazing family. last week we all went on vacation and this was one of the things we did: boys vs. girls baseball game. it was incredible! i looooove my family.
my minneapolis adventure
One thing I love about Minneapolis is that there’s ALWAYS an adventure. Today, while I was in Minneapolis, this was my adventure:
Random man: “wow, I heard you giving that man your phone number; I heard it; I probably have it memorized, but don’t worry! I wont call you and tell you how nice your teeth are. You have very nice teeth.”
Me: “umm…haha! Well, thank you!”
Random man: “You’re welcome. You should actually be a teeth whitener model. You have such great teeth!”
Haha! I just smiled…then laughed…then he laughed too…then everyone around me was smiling and laughing. I love when people connect. When the world around me is happy and joyful and when people see the joy in other people.
XOXOXOX!!!
and these are a few of my favorite:
those little things in life. the simple things. the small things. the things that seems so insignificant…i love them.
- taking photographs
- rain storms
- Singing at the top of my lungs with my car windows rolled down
- Pretending to have a British accent
- The sound of rain.
- Summer sunsets.
- Kayaking on silent rivers
- Laughing till my eyes water
- Looking at maps of the world
- Sweet ice tea and black hot tea
- Generic coffee shops
- Black and white
- The smell of pear blossoms
- Elderly couples holding hands
- Lilacs
- Frolicking through open fields
- Dancing and spinning
- Back roads in the country
- Innocent, silly questions from little children
love love love!!
XOXOXOXOXO
May 22, 2009
iLove this song.
Regina is a little bizare, but honestly…how can you not like this song? 
iLikeIt. lots.
xo-jo
May 21, 2009
slowly…but surely…it’s getting crossed off
Summer 09 baby! summer’s comin!!! Here’s my list of things I want to…and am GOING to do this summer. SUMMER 09. the summer of joy.
1. Eat sushi
2. Have a tea party
3. Fly a kite
4. Build a sand castle
5. Go puddle jumping
6. learn to water ski
7. Get a new Camera
8. Watch a sunset on lake superior
9. Eat a pint of ice-cream in one day
10. Dance in the moonlight
11. Squish my bare feet through mud
12. Get lost
13. Make a bonfire on a beach
14. Go rollerblading in down town minneapolis at night
15. Sit on a rooftop drinking tea
16. Yell at the top of my lungs
17. Go fishing
18. Go kayaking
19. Go three days without seeing another person
20. See a moose
21. Go canoeing and camping in the BWCA
22. Have a real picnic
23. Go to as many states as I can
24. Sit on Lake superior at watch the sunrise
25. Throw a rock in all the Great Lakes
26. Learn to salsa dance
27. Get another piercing
28. Photograph a wedding
29. See Mount Rushmore
30. Dance in the rain
31. Swim at night with my favorite people.
32. Hug a child who doesn’t know love
33. Take a three day road-trip
34. Run through a field and make the butterflies dance
35. go on a spontanious adventure and not tell anyone where we’re going or what we’re doing
36. Not wear makeup for a week
37. fall so in love with Jesus
38. have a candle lit dinner.
39. Go up in a hot-air balloon.
40. Visit Hot Coffee, Mississippi
41. Go to a Thunder game
42. learn french. again.
