Monks in Mayhem and Muff Diving

When your hands smell like Lemon Balm and garlic, you know it has been a good day... and especially a good birthday.

Opening up my computer to over 200 wall posts makes me feel warm and fuzzy!!! I feel so loved! Thanks everyone!
The beer I just had at the pub in Duncan (legally... might I add...) is icing on the cake. **thanks Sarah and Rick! I could not have celebrated more appropriately! We had sushi and then went to the pub, and then came home to perform a 19th birthday canadian tradition known as Muff (women's pubic hair) Diving. It involves a plate of whipped cream with liquor in the middle and no hands... enough said. I'm glad I could be exposed to this respectable aspect of Canadian culture :p

When we came back we moved the big chickens that were in with the chicks over to a different coop so the chicks could spread out. It felt kind of like smuggling, but we needed to do it in the dark so that they wouldn't freak out and start pecking each other. Funnily enough in the morning when they find new friends they'll just assume they had been there all along.

Something I have never realized is how much fun it would be to share my birthday with someone, and today I did. Sarah and I were both born on July 12th, and what a July 12th it was. Starting with a massive strawberry shortcake for breakfast (thanks Rick) we were referenced to as the "birthday girls" for the rest of the day. I spent most of today harvesting: fava beans, and peas both for chomping and shelling. I then tied lemon and mint (hence the DELICIOUS smelling hands). The only embarrassing part of the day was chasing Bella, the only white rooster in a full 360 around the chicken coop, freaking out that she will run away only to bump into Rick and realize that she is the only one that can fly, frequently spending her days outside!

The other thing that I appreciated about this birthday was community. The visitors and little gifts that Sarah received today were priceless, yet so, so meaningful. I feel so luck to have been able to share it with her, and have gained a lot of new perspective today about what a gift and a celebration really means.

I am so, so thankful for all of my friends, but I'm not allowing myself enough facebook time to go through and "like" every single post... in fact there will be no more facebook time for me for the rest of my trip, except to post the link to these blogs.

Other things:
Sarah's mantra is: I live my life with ease and I have abundant time and support to get through each day (or something like that). I am adopting it for myself :)
I haven't decided where I land on the scale of completely conscious living versus wasteful and passive living, but everything I'm learning here is contributing to my decision, so stay tuned.

Goals for age 19: to live my (Sarah's) mantra, to be in a relationship (with a great person of course, granted they come around), to be more carefree and upbeat, and to have faith that I am capable of doing everything I have signed up for, and then some.

Good night moon, please cast wide beams onto my 19 year old path :)
xoxox