MR. MOON, MOON, BRIGHT AND SILVERY MOON. . .

Sometimes I like to do things entirely on a whim. Last night was no exception.

As I was heading to bed around midnight, already cozy in my pjs, I passed by a window and the glowing moonlight caught my eye. Standing there for a few seconds, gazing at the bright moon, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I made my way to my room, glanced at the time on the clock and my inviting bed, then turned and slipped a jacket on over my pajamas, wiggled my feet into some shoes, grabbed my keys and headed out the door.

I'm pretty sure that I was trying to recapture the glory of the last full moon I experienced, which just so happened to take place out in the wide open waters of the Gulf of Mexico on board a cruise ship. But when you're attempting to relive a moment as magical as laying in bed staring out the window at the luminous reflection of the moon on the water, whilst being bathed in the cascading moonlight yourself as you gently are rocked back and forth by the swaying of the boat, it's almost guaranteed that it will not be matched. Which, sadly to say, it wasn't.

Rather, last night I found myself driving the empty streets all by myself trying to think of a place that I could go that would A.) allow me to soak in the beauty of the moonlight without it having to compete with the light from street lamps and/or buildings, and would B.) not be a perfect setting to meet an axe murderer face-to-face. As a result, except for my brief foray outside by the water's edge downtown, my moonlight activity consisted of remaining in my car, driving through the back roads and attempting to capture the night sky with my camera -- which resulted with this shot (the best of the bunch, unfortunately):

It may not have been quite what I had hoped it would be when I had opted to have a date with the moon rather than a date with my bed. And I may have run the risk of getting called in for suspicious behavior (i.e. driving slow, turning my lights off and on, stopping in the middle of the road. . .in the wee hours of the night). But it was a unique excursion all it's own that was still worth every minute it.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Following up on the brief mentioning last week of some potential big news to share, I suppose it's time to let the cat out of the bag. . .

I'M MOVING TO DENVER (in July) !!

As of this afternoon I've officially accepted a job offer in the Mile-High City. I figured I've lived on both the West Coast and the East Coast so it's about due time that I live somewhere in the middle. Well, there's that, and other more logical reasons of course.

So it looks like in terms of completing my 25 @ 25 aspirations the professional football and/or soccer games I'll be attending will most likely be played by one of these teams,

my learning to snowboard could very well take place here,

and my intentions to spend a day as a tourist in the area that I live will be quite attainable given that I basically will be a tourist, for the first little while at least.

ADVENTURES IN THE KITCHEN

Consider the first 'recipe a month,' a beef enchilada bake, complete. A success? Eh, for the most part.

Bon appetit! Or, more appropriately, buen apetito!

_

_

Thoughts/reflections from the chef:

- Peppers are hot, use them sparingly. Just because you don't usually cook with them, much less eat them, doesn't mean you have to get overzealous in your attempt to broaden your horizons; all that that gets you is spiciness that masks the taste of the dish, lips that still feel a little zingy, and fingers that, after washing repeatedly, and showering, still smell like peppers. Whoops.

- While leftovers are great (another meal for another day!), perhaps instead of just cutting a recipe in half, actually use your brain and do the math to make an appropriate portion of food.

- A key ingredient for any recipe is, of course, good music. If anyone was curious where the producers for Dancing With the Stars got their ideas for songs, tune in to the Party Favorites channel on On Demand; I swear I heard at least five songs that they've recently used to dance to this season. That I can recognize/remember songs from the show? Yeah, not too sure if I should be admitting to that.

THINKING SPOT

If you don't have a place yet where you can get away from it all, escape into your thoughts, and feel like it's just you and God, then I highly recommend that you find one. It's a glorious thing.

After spending some time at my thinking spot yesterday, I'm darn near close to having some news to share. I'll keep you posted.

25 AT 25

Tomorrow I join the ranks of those living at or beyond the quarter of a century mark. Since I tend to typically be the youngest amongst my friends, by the time my birthday rolls around I usually am more than ready to catch up to the pack. This time around though, the implications of being a 25 year old have got me calming that anticipation down a bit, relishing my last few hours of being in my 'early twenties.' I've heard various accounts from friends and family members who've said that their 25th birthday was different than the ones that have preceded it, a number of people I know have cried on that day, and some have said that it just, downright, feels weird. I can understand that. In efforts to avoid a similar fate however, I've decided that I'm going to turn things up a notch and give myself reason to believe that turning 25 is going to be a magnificent thing.

-

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the list of the 25 things that I'm going to make sure I WILL be doing at the ripe 'ol age of 25:

-

1. Visit at least 2 of the remaining 23 states that I have yet to see

2. Overcome my fear of needles and give blood

3. Catch up on the seasons of The Office that I missed, watching the series from the very beginning

4. Learn to use a barbecue

5. Lose at least 30 lbs. (and maintain a healthy weight/diet)

6. Have something published

7. Join a committee/volunteer/get more involved in a cause that I believe in

8. Run in a road race

9. Become pretty near fluent in a foreign language

10. Cook a meal with a brand new recipe once a month

11. Go to a noteworthy Oktoberfest

12. Take my camera with me everywhere and document life

13. Memorize a Bible verse/passage each week

14. Read at least 5 'classics' -- including sticking with and finishing The Brothers Karamazov

15. Spend a day as a tourist in the area that I live

16. Learn Excel

17. Attend a professional football or soccer game

18. Refurbish/remodel something from a thrift store

19. Relearn how to sew and sew something of note

20. Go on a big-scale hike

21. Grow (and keep alive) flowers and/or a plant

22. Learn to snowboard

23. Attend a big-name concert

24. Blog at least once a week

25. Go for a moonlight stroll/activity with every full moon

-

If you're inclined to join me (either physically or in spirit) on any of these endeavors, please do! And I will definitely be keeping you all up to speed with my progress on this list; check back often to see for yourselves, to hold me accountable, or just to say hi. Here's to the next 365 days, it's going to be a stupendous year!