Goooood Day.

Things i LOVED about today:

-waking up next to the beautiful Erica Lynn.
-Coming home to the most delightful of surprises, a gift from a dear friend: beautiful, rustic, hand-decorated frames.
-Seeing my NEPHEW Cohen for the first time, & seeing one of my dearest friends, his wonderful mother, Kate, & father, Victor.
-Seeing old good friends.
-Pizza, Cookies, & Wine with the Olavarri's.
-Games & sweatpants till wee hours of the morning.

Today was goooood. Amen.


Danielle Nicole.

Growing up & all that jazz.

"gah i wish life was a movie.

for many reasons, 

1. everyone in movies looks amazing, duh. 

2. things work out in the end, & 

3. you can fast forward, rewind, & pause." 

Quote Dani Davis, tonight. & Let's be honest we can all relate to this a litttttle bit, right? Or am I alone in this? ha Nonetheless, tonight I had such a filling conversation with one of my dearest cousins & it really made me think about growing up & how I am currently in one of the biggest, or most influential stages of "growing up" in my life. & the scariest part is realizing it. This conversation was honest & raw & full of a mixture of logic & emotions. Pain and lessons being learned in the moment and realizing that these are the things that are shaping who we are becoming & the decisions we are making & will make in the future, even when the lesson is: never do that again.

To just let our hearts unfold to one another really allowed our hearts to intertwine & produce something that really pierced my soul. Its that new level of friendship that you unlock when something raw and messy breaks the ice & the friendship still stands, & it stands deeper, more solid, with more love. The kind of level of friendship we need with at least a few people, or at least one. The level that allows you to be you, beyond the degrees, or the facebook friend requests, or the make up, or the job, or the role model you think you have to be. This level is you, just you. Raw, messy, but living, breathing, learning you. & the only thing that makes some of those hard lessons seem okay and bearable are those who walk alongside us through it & have raw, intimate friendships that remind us we are human & grace is thick.

Thank you Erica, you're beautiful,
Merry Christmas.

Danielle Nicole.

Break for the Holidays, Amen.

Let's just be honest about this past year: I have notttttt read 40 books yet (which was my goal for the year)

Buttttt I am on my 26th & about 7 halves of other various books ha, oh me & my quirky reading habits. But that is still a major feat I feel for me this year, it's been a crazy one.

Okay now that that's out of the way, Lets just talk about winter break 2010.

Observations:
-Classic Davis house Christmas tree: white lights, red ribbon, & lots of white/crystal ornaments intermixed with classically home-made ones of the famous Dani & Nicholas Davis, iiiii thank you! ha love it.
-A severe lack in number of houses with christmas lights, or christmas lights lit at 9:30pm: a sad realization, however also allowing for good conversation with the greatest of a friend.

-The nature of growing up: #1 factor, facial hair factor on guys from home, what?! When did this happen, & When did you all grow into men? ha, also just the general maturing of friends & years inbetween our last meetings & memories, oh how a small trip home will remind you of the unstopping clock of time.
-A line of nike/vans in my room/closet: The beginning stages of a sibling taking over your room, ahhh I thought this day would never come! NooOOOOOO. haha, okay fine Nick, you can store your shoes, but i'm drawing a line.

Emotions:
-Joy: as I think is fitting as my first to write about because it is the one I feel the most of consuming my heart at home for this season. I have been so stressed & depressed lately, as a result for anyone trying to juggle 3 jobs & an endless list of bills & holiday expenses to top. Coming home & resting, breaking from my normal life, & jobs, & routine was a necessity & the people who have included me in their lives here this week have made it a true blessing from the moment I stepped off the plane. One of my dearest friends picked me up from the airport (I can't thank you enough, especially for waiting for my late flight & carrying my obnoxious ripped open box of holiday gifts! you're a gem, as always!), breakfast at Sylvia's before being taken home, a classic tradition I hope to keep forever & ever, amen? hah & since being home, spending time with those great friends, playing games, catching up & being encouraged & inspired from their lives & thoughts.
-Peace: Being up here has calmed a huge part of me. The part that goes from shifttoshifttocoffeetolunchtoballoons,&students,&friends. (If you didn't catch it there, that sentence leaves no room for breath, reflecting my lifestyle best). Not only have I been calmed from the general absence of work & duties I am responsible for, but being away from Orange County & my students really puts my job into a bigger picture for me. Just the 3 days I have been away I have talked to multiple students of mine, through text, call or the ever-favorite, facebook, and the amount of care and connection we have has been very amplified through absence. I always find it funny how life does that, allows you to see what you're in or doing when you take yourself out of it for a little while. I am looking forward to going back & loving my jobs separately, & with naps in between ;)
-Nostalgia: Of course, what would a Christmas holiday back home be without a little nostalgia right? It's not a deep longing that has got me thinking of quitting my jobs & moving back home, but it is an emotion I am feeling & perhaps always do & will at this season when I return home to where things are changing, but also seem constant & familiar to my senses. Seeing old, dear friends will do that to you when you sit around remembering the days you got your wisdom teeth out together & had to drink soup for dayyyyys, or the dances you danced away together, & the Napoleon dynamite dances you may or may not have learned every step to. Ha, these are the memories you remember that bring nostalgia, however, hearing about the degrees & families being made, & dreams being sought after are almost jusssst as good :)


Yes, this has definitely been a successful winter break, & much needed break at that, this year & for that I am thankful & ready for the holiday. Bring it on Saint Nick ;) Merry Christmas Eve everyone!


Danielle Nicole.

If I may.

Quote Tangled: "BEST DAY, EVERRRRRR!"
Now if you haven't seen tangled, well, neither have I, but go watch the trailor, & then let's go see it together. But once you've seen the trailor & understand the tone & weight of this quote, then proceed to my rendition to describe today:

Tangled Quote subtract BEST, *Substitute:Worst.... = "WORST DAY, EVERRRRR!!"

Ohkay now that I have described my feelings on today, let me then proceed to explain. First & completely foremost, I hate money. I hate the way it clings to me, in control of my every move & breath. & Just when I get a grip of it & decide i'm not stressed out over finances anymore, something monstrous always happens, let's be honest, this is life. It's like life can't hit you hard in one area at a time, but when life hits, it falls apart in every aspect. As if just having no car right now wasn't hard enough, or having 3 jobs & no car, but no the fix to the car has to be the "worst case scenario" as the Tow Man told me in options yesterday, & again my mechanic then reiterated to me in the form of a very close to 4 digit bill. Not the kind of thing you want to hear, ever, but especially while working 3 jobs and wondering how you're going to get home for the holidays, not to mention i'm avoiding the christmas gift issue entirely in my head. (promise i'll be a better gifter next year loved ones!)

However, as overwhelming this day was all before noon, I was overwhelmed with another, completely contrasting, emotion as I stepped into my apartment after work: Blessed. Funny how that happens on a day like today.  You see, because today I walked into my apartment to find a pretty good sized package sitting on the floor with my name on it. I opened it & completely full to the top it was, with tons of white chocolate reeces! One of my faves! I literally just stood there with tears streaming down my face, overwhelmed with the contrast of such a horrible morning & yet having such wonderful and thoughtful friends. I know you're totally thinking about how ridiculous I am to cry over white chocolate reeces, but hey we're all allowed to be a little wacky sometimes & today's my day.  So here I am today, stressed but humbled, & so thankful for such good friends and family, now on to the 2/3 left of this day.


Danielle Nicole.

This season.

This holiday season, I am focusing on simplicity.
& As for today, I am simply appreciating the little things of my day, becuase the big things are bringing me far more stress. So today, I am focused on my high school girls & their adventures of high school, & homework, and faith, & boys. Today I am focusing on my apartments recently added christmas decorations; a tree & stockings & garland, which have reminded what white christmas twinkling lights can really do to your heart & how I should probably leave them up every day of the year. & Today the way that braided bangs transform a bed-head into a masterpiece. The kind of masterpiece that people are lead to believe must have taken you a whole 20-30 minutes to do when realistically you had no choice but to rapid fire the braid into your hair in the 2.3 minutes because the snooze button was too enticing this morning to pass up...7 times before you remember the reason you set your alarm in the first place; to shower & prepare for a busy day. Thank you today for my girls, Christmas spirit, & the [in]famous unfailing braid.


Danielle Nicole.

Women Sparkle.

"It is nearing the end of the sixth day, the end of the Creator's great labor, as Adam steps forth, the image of God, the triumph of his work. He alone is pronounced the son of God. Nothing in creation even comes close. Picture Michelangelo's David. He is.. magnificent. Truly, the masterpiece seems complete. And yet, the Master says that something is not good, not right. Something is missing... and that something is Eve.


And the Lord God casts a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the Lord God built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman and He brought her to the human (Genesis 2:21-23 Alter).


She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch. How we wish this were an illustrated book, and we could show you now some painting for sculpture that captures this, like the stunning Greek sculpture of the goddess Nike of Samothrace, the winged beauty, just alighting on the prow of a great ship, her beautiful form revealed through the thin veils that sweep around her. Eve is... breathtaking" (John & Stasi Eldridge, Captivating, 25).

I love this.
This part of the book Captivating by John & Stasi Eldridge definitely points out something that captures my heart and contrasts what my mind has grown to believe about myself as a woman. I have recently looked into a couple different sources that take the Eve creation story and use it to redeem the expectations and demands that this world has put on women and their appearance. I think this is such a strong truth. Not really one of those things you can debate or argue, Genesis spells it out pretty clear that Eve is the fulfillment of something missing, that she is good, & designed to fill man's void, & designed completely in God's mind & image. & How absolutely outrageous does that sound? But what is even more outrageous is the way I cannot find the ability in me to believe those things daily about myself the way I can believe it about Eve when i read the story. I continue to daily believe that there is always something more I could have or buy that would enhance my beauty. That there is always something more or less I could be doing to make myself a more-perfect woman. That I was created slightly less than beautiful.

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend another of Shauna Niequist's Bittersweet Events, this one at the church I attend currently, Rock Harbor Church Fullerton, & this image and story of Eve; breathtaking, hand-crafted, & completing, came to my mind. This event was for women only, with the exception of pastor Steve Carter who lead discussion. Looking around at all the different women in the audience & then up at the stage at Kendall Payne capturing everyone's hearts during her performance, & up at Shauna sharing her heart and passion through her writing & lifestyle, I was reminded of the biblical truths about women, this Eve concept. The beauty of women, & the way it doesn't come from the make up we wear or the cutest boots of the season that we own. But it comes from deep within, this breath taking, void-filling character of a woman is found in her desire to nurture, & to host. Her passion and deep emotion for those people in her life, & the ways she finds to care for them in her own unique way she was designed to.
I look next to me, to my D-group girls. I see breathtakingly beautiful women, not because of any extensive hair-do's or designer clothes. No, their beauty is at their core. Don't get me wrong, these girls also could school me in any fashion show declared on any given day! But even the shabby chic natur of these girls is not what holds their beauty. They are beautiful because of the way they love each other and those around them. They are beautiful when they laugh because they are genuine & strong and honest. They are beautiful when they cry because they are real & compassionate. They embody beauty in the way they act & love. I couldn't have ever asked for girls in my life to love me, call me their own leader, & challenge me in the ways that they do, naturally.

So girls, a few thoughts tonight for you are don't hide. Don't hide behind make up, pony-tails, roommates we think are prettier than ourselves, & even Starbucks cups. & Don't run from God, especially in the doubt of your beauty. Go ahead, get angry at him, disagree with Him or the way He made you, have some doubt, but take all these things and turn to Him with them. Argue with Him, be mad at Him, but don't run away from Him. He is so much bigger than anything you could possibly feel or bring to His table & He is all-wecoming of it. So fight Him & doubt Him, but don't run away, let him walk with you & prove to you He is so much bigger and truer than you sometimes can believe. Let him pursue you & affirm your beauty because He designed you just how he wanted you, as His beloved.

I love you girls.

Danielle Nicole.