Day Three Hundred and Seven

The Thirteenth of Friday

No black cats. No broken mirrors. No ladders. In fact, this Friday the 13^th has been anything but superstitious. Rather, surprising, wonderful, and lovely. I met Channing at Starbucks this afternoon and we were met by a beautiful young girl with a gigantic voice. It was the grand re-opening of our favorite neighborhood coffee spot and they treated us quite nicely. Live music, free snacks, and sweet, sweet company. After telling Channing all about my project 365, she began her own a few months back. So, when she took out her phone to snap her picture of the day, I caught my own! It was the perfect way to begin our three-hour “date.” And looking back, I’m still taken aback that three hours went by that quickly! I could talk to that girl for days and days. She’s such a blessing in my life, and I’m grateful that the Lord brought us together five months ago.

With my bike finally back in my possession, I’m more excited than ever to ride. Florida is the perfect place to spend hours on a bicycle, and today, I took my first trek out to the ocean at sunset. Well, it was actually a little after sunset, which made the return trip home quite…dark. Oops. Rookie mistake (I’m ok Mom…still alive). But I really wanted the peace of the setting sun to enjoy as gallons of sweat flew off my body. Call me crazy, but that sounded good to me! It was four miles to the ocean, I rode another 4 along the coast - listening and watching as the waves crashed on the shore - and then made the 8 mile return trip home in almost complete darkness. When you think of Florida, the first things that come to mind are likely palm trees, sandy beaches, and clear ocean water. Jupiter does its very best to maintain that image. And so, street lamps are out. They don’t have many at all here. That means: the streets are dark at night. Really dark. And that’s how I rode home. I’ll remember that for next time. Promise.

And finally, this is what my kitchen pantry looks like presently. My man is trying to gain more weight (wahoo!) and we’re doing everything we can to make that happen…even if that means 6 boxes of Muscle Milks taking up an incredible amount of space in our tiny little kitchen!