brooke

This is what my day at work looked like yesterday.

2012-02-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

Senior beach day.
Mission Beach, San Diego.
It turned out to be a beautiful day after all.

Celebrating love.

2012-02-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

(Picture taken in my neighborhood.)

We had a couple mini celebrations for Valentine's Day this week- exploring artwork, dinner out, sake bombs, and a photo booth. I'm not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day, but I do love love.

(Have you ever been in a photo booth that only takes three pictures? Shouldn't they all take four? I have to admit I felt like I didn't get the full photo booth experience. The fourth picture was going to be funny faces, the best one, but we only got to take three.)

I love how this quote from St. Augustine so beautifully describes love.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being 'in love' which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from the branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-St. Augustine

I wrote it in Matt's anniversary card a couple of years ago, and it still makes me smile, as it paints a beautiful picture of true, resilient love.

(Pictures of us celebrating Valentine's Day together.)

Happy Valentine's Day.

2012-02-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

(This year I made my own card for Matt, and this is the front. This picture was taken on his 30th birthday this past September. I'm not really a big fan of Valentine's Day because it seems kind of contrived, but each year we like to have a little celebration, exchange cards, and write lovely words in them.)

A Little Reflection on Love

(A journal entry I wrote in the days leading up to Valentine's Day. It is the time of year to think about love, after all.)

The older I get and the deeper I get into marriage, the more I realize that love really is a choice. According to Erich Fromm in The Art of Loving, which I recently read an excerpt from thanks to a recommendation from a few students, "Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a 'standing in' not a 'falling for.'" Love isn't just a feeling, something we fall into and stay in, but it's something we have to actively work on and give attention to. Love is a choice, something we have to put effort into on a daily basis, and if we do that, the rewards are great. Sometimes, the romantic feelings come after making the choice to love.

Matt and I were taught this yet again last week. We got into a pointless fight, got mad at each other, couldn't see the situation from each other's perspectives, and we each focused too much on being right. We are two stubborn human beings with a lot of flaws. In the end, we just had to make the choice to move on and forgive. We didn't solve anything, and it didn't matter. We chose to love, and then we found happiness in ourselves and each other again. Oftentimes, the feeling of being in love comes after choosing daily to love someone, and that choice can be one of the most empowering aspects of life.

Sunset over Switzer Canyon.

2012-02-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

I love taking pictures, mostly because it provides a way for me to pause and appreciate. I take pictures to notice the little things, to document the moments in life that bring me joy. Sometimes when we are driving, if I see something pretty or interesting, I exclaim, "Matt, stop the car." While he thinks I am weird, he obliges kindly. On this day, it was the sunset; it was so captivating. I want to always be the type of person who stops the car and gets out to appreciate a beautiful sunset.

On a separate yet similar note: I don't have a lot of confidence with a camera, and mostly I only feel comfortable taking pictures when it's just Matt and me. I don't know why, but I feel nervous taking pictures when others are around, so one of my new goals is to start taking more pictures when we are hanging out with other people. Like I wrote, I take pictures to notice the little things, to document the moments in life that bring me joy, and some of my most joyful moments are with others.

New recipes// January.

2012-02-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

In line with our food New Year's resolutions, we made one new recipe per week during January, and even though I'm not one who loves cooking, it was fun. The accidental theme for the month was quinoa. We didn't intend for every recipe to involve quinoa, but each did. Here they are, including my commentary on each.

Recipe one: a quinoa salad (quinoa, tomatoes, black beans, green onions, cilantro) with a lime vinaigrette dressing

Commentary: Easy and delicious. Add cheddar cheese if you want. Serve hot or cold; we ate it both ways and it was yummy! Matt's suggestion is to skip making the dressing and just use good green salsa with lime instead. I kind of agree.

From food.com. See the recipe here.

****

Recipe two: roasted brussel sprouts and beets (in olive oil and salt and pepper), toasted walnuts in olive oil and thyme, served on a bed of cooked quinoa, topped with goat cheese

Commentary: My favorite recipe of the month. I love beets and brussels sprouts, and luckily so does Matt.

Recipe made up by us.

****

Recipe three: butternut squash and quinoa soup with homemade bread

Commentary: I liked the quinoa in the soup. It made it a little heartier, but still flavorful. Next time, we would use less butter than the recipe called for.

From Food Rebublic. See recipe here.

****

Recipe four: mushroom curry with garlic naan bread

Commentary: This is definitely the least appealing looking of the meals we made, but it was delicious. We served it on quinoa instead of rice just because we already had some cooked up, and the naan bread is from Trader Joe's.

From Serious Eats. See recipe here.

****

New cocktail recipe of the month: Tequila Sunrise.

Commentary: I had never had one of these before. It was so sweet that it was kind of like dessert. Conclusion: I'm more of a margarita kind of girl.

****

Side notes: Thank you to my grandma's tablecloth for being featured in this post and daily on my kitchen table. Thank you to my husband for cooking with me and having similar taste buds as me.

A hike and a picnic.

2012-02-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

I think one of my new goals in life may be to eat as many meals outside as possible. This weekend we accomplished that by eating four meals outside, two of them as picnics on Sunday.

A dam that was built in 1807.

Picnic spot.

Living the good life.

Barren trees. A sign that we do actually have seasons here in San Diego.

We did this same hike last year in March, and it was so different this time with the warm winter we've been having. There is a little creek that runs along the trail, but it was completely dried up this time. There is a little waterfall at the end, which was completely dry. This time the trees were barren. While we liked it all the same, I would recommend this hike in the spring or after a good rainfall like we're experiencing today.

Isn't winter in southern California a funny thing? One day you are having two picnics in 75 degree weather, wearing a tank top and shorts, and two days later it is in the 50s and raining. Got to love it.

Our "we're not watching the Super Bowl" picnic in the park.

2012-02-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

We're not big football fans, and the winter sunshine was too tempting to pass up for watching a football game inside, so Matt and I decided to have a picnic with friends instead.

There was a feast.

Some wrestling.

Looking for fish.

Exploring fountains.

A pretty sky.

And there was some soccer playing. I mean really, look at these moves of mine.

Are we playing soccer or doing karate?

Or are we dancing?

At least I can kick the ball.

The Matts.

Matt vs. Matt.

Matt squared.

Sunset.

A lovely picnic basket.

An awkward picture of me.

The end.

Wanderlust.

2012-02-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

The big decision we made this week:

We are spending the summer in Europe, flying into Marrakech, Morocco and out of Amsterdam.

Our itinerary might go something like this:

Morocco->Barcelona->Italy->Switzerland->Amsterdam

We really have no idea and nothing set in stone except our starting and ending places. We have been to Europe a few times. I spent a summer studying abroad in Spain, but never spent time on the east side of the country. For our honeymoon, we spent two weeks in Greece. We took a trip to visit some friends and went to Ireland, England, and France. I spent some time alone in Bosnia-Herzegovina during grad school. We kind of want to explore new places, but we are open to all ideas. Please give us your suggestions and recommendations!

****

Some people thought our big decision was to start trying to have a baby, but not quite. However, maybe we are going on a babymoon. According to wikipedia, "babymoon can be used for a trip taken by a couple before they even get pregnant. As long as the trip is intended to be a final romantic fling before venturing into parenthood, the term babymoon applies."

So maybe, just maybe, this could be a babymoon.

Swinging at sunset.

2012-02-02T18:14:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, on a Wednesday evening.

Matt: What do you want to do tonight?

Brooke: Let's go swing, just for fun.

Seriously, if you want to make a bad day good or a good day better, grab your camera, go swing, and take randomly timed pictures. You will laugh out loud a lot, maybe even until your stomach hurts.

San Diego sunset. I spy a blimp, do you?

Brooke.

Brooke and Matt.

Jumping off.

The sun has set...

on my favorite city.

Today, a friend at work shared this quote with me, and I liked it, so I wanted to share it here:

"One thing we do know: Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment."

-Eckhart Tolle

In this moment, on this day, I guess I needed to laugh. I hope that you can find whatever experience you need in the moment of life you find yourself in this week.

Snippets from our weekend.

2012-01-31T16:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend I fell a little more in love with San Diego. 70+ degree temperatures, a little hike, the beach, a bike parade, beer tasting, a grad school mini reunion, Mexican food, and a bonfire. It really doesn't get much better.

A Friday afternoon walk through the Balboa Park trails.

Dog beach. Aspen did well off leash... until he didn't and sprinted away.

Ready for the bike parade. They even gave me this awesome cycling hat to wear.

There they go.

And there I go.

The prettiest tasters I ever did see.

Thank you to Blind Lady Ale House for having such a fun 3rd Anniversary celebration, complete with biking and beer (sours!).

Apparently, this is the way the cool kids drink pink beer and wear their cycling caps.

Thank you to Normal Heights for letting us bike around your lovely neighborhood.

Matt and I decided to have a Sunday night backyard bonfire to celebrate a decision we finally made, which was fun... until the plastic wheel burned off the pit, and we had to get a fire extinguisher out.

Matt Gonzales + fire = melting plastic wheel + fire extinguisher.

The end.

New local eats// January.

2012-01-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

Like I previously stated, one of our New Year's resolutions was to try one new local restaurant a month. Our choice for January was Tiger, Tiger. It's a local place with tasty food and good beer. We'll definitely be going back.

Beet salad with crusted goat cheese. Pretty much my dream meal to eat every day of my life.

Veggie sliders with lentil and mushroom patties. Delicious.

A game of gin rummy.

Barrels.

Still deciding what to try in February. Any suggestions?

A winter playlist.

2012-01-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

I have a mild obsession with song lyrics. I think I genetically inherited it from my mom. This winter, I felt inspired to create a mini winter playlist, which I have been listening to lately, and I am looking to add to it if you have any winter song recommendations. Listen to my playlist on Spotify here, but for the last song, you'll just have to listen here because it's not on Spotify.

The pictures in this post are from our recent walk along the harbor this past Wednesday evening. I love that it is staying light a bit later each day. I realize the irony of posting a winter playlist in San Diego when it's felt more like summer lately, but if you listen to the lyrics and the mood of the songs, I think they can depict life even during a warm San Diego winter.

"The Dreamer," The Tallest Man on Earth

"Winter Song," The Head and the Heart

"The Wild Hunt," The Tallest Man on Earth

"Blood Bank," Bon Iver

"Little River," The Tallest Man on Earth

"After the Storm," Mumford and Sons

"A Lion's Heart," The Tallest Man on Earth

"King and Lionheart," Of Monsters and Men

In the winter night sky ships are sailing,

looking down on these bright blue city lights.

And they won't wait, and they won't wait, and they won't wait.

We're here to stay, we're here to stay, we're here to stay.

"King and Lionheart," Of Monsters and Men

In that land there's a winter

In that winter's a day

In that day there's a moment when it all goes your way.

"Lion's Heart," The Tallest Man on Earth

Oh, sometimes the blues is just a passing bird,

why can't that always be...

Just enough dark to see

How you're the light over me.

"Dreamer," The Tallest Man on Earth

And there is something 'bout the quiet surprise in darkness.

"Little River," The Tallest Man on Earth

Let's watch phenomenons that rise out of the darkness now.

"The Wild Hunt," The Tallest Man on Earth

Tell me something, give me hope for the night

We don't know how we feel

We're just praying that we're doing this right

Though that's not the way it seems

Summer gone, now winter's on its way

I will miss the days we had.

"Winter Song," The Head and the Heart

And after the storm

I run and run as the rains come

And I look up, I look up,

on my knees and out of luck,

I look up.

Night has always pushed up day

You must know life to see decay

But I won't rot, I won't rot

Not this mind and not this heart,

I won't rot.

"After the Storm," Mumford and Sons

Sunset Cliffs on a Sunday.

2012-01-26T16:25:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday, in between rainy days, we went for a walk on the cliffs. The cold and grey sky gave way to the sun.

We took superfluous amounts of pictures of our dog with flowers in his hair. We torture him because we love him.

Snippets from our weekend.

2012-01-24T18:06:00.001-08:00

Rainy day beauty.

The prettiest cappuccino I've ever had.

On a writing date.

I <3 (vegetarian) sushi.

Breakfast table.

A visit to the beach.

A walk through the neighborhood.

Stone tasting room in South Park. Yes, we did have some tasters. Best neighborhood ever.

Matt.

Home just before the sun went down.

Artichokes. So pretty, delicious, and one of the most fun foods to eat.

Cheese and bread.

Living room picnic.

Then Monday morning came, and that was quite a doozy with two hours of meetings before I even started teaching, not to mention the insomnia that preceded in anticipation. At least it was a refreshing weekend.

Color in the midst of winter// The light that comes after the darkness.

2012-01-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

I read this quote by Albert Camus this morning, and it kind of brought tears to my eyes. I am not sure I can explain why, but it was in a good way.

***

I love cacti. There is so much beauty to be found in something that people often imagine as stark and desolate. There is so much strength to be found in something that was meant to survive in extreme environments that are unlivable for other plants.

This past Monday, on a cold and rainy San Diego day, we took our dog for a walk through the Balboa Park cactus garden. Since it is winter, we were expecting the cacti to be bare. They don't usually bloom until the spring, but it seems that they are flowering early this year.

It caused me to think about our lives. Our reality doesn't always align with what we anticipate it to be. Our seasons of life aren't clear cut, following a set timeline. Our expectations for life may not be met.

***

For the first time, we are in a season of life where we aren't experiencing some major life transition: a move, a new job, grad school, etc. We are both working hard, trying to be teachers who make a mark, an impact. We come home and cook new recipes, eat meals with friends, walk our dog, go out for little date nights. Life is simple and life is good.

This season of life leaves me feeling two ways: 1) I am happy and content. 2) I really need to be doing more to make a difference in the world.

My ambition is battling with my contentment, and I am trying really hard to silence the voice of ambition for now. Much like a cactus, this is a winter season for us where we are conserving, storing up our energy and preparing our hearts and home for what the future may hold, whatever season is next, hoping that we will be able to survive whatever environment we may find ourselves in.

I think about last winter, and how it was a dark season for me personally, and I think about last spring, and how it was a dark season for Matt. Then I think about this winter, and how we are both content, and I want to stay here for awhile, in this season of life, together.

***

Maybe I'm being selfish, maybe I'm silencing the idealist in me a little, and maybe that's okay for this season of life.

Riding bikes in San Diego.

2012-01-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Matt.

Brooke.

Riding bikes in San Diego.

Things I love: husband, weekends, sunshine, San Diego, bike rides.

New local eats// a new year's resolution.

2012-01-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

In December, Matt and I decided on a couple of food New Year's resolutions:

1) Try one new local restaurant each month.

2) Try one new recipe each week.

I am a creature of habit, and I like to go to my same favorite local restaurants over and over, so I am branching out.

We decided this over Christmas break and didn't want to wait until the new year started, so we went to our first new restaurant in December. We had plans to go to an art opening at a tiny, lovely gallery in La Jolla, Thumbprint Gallery, so we looked for a new place to try up there. The Public House boasted of a variety of homemade veggie burgers and an impressive beer selection, so that was our destination.

One thing I loved about it is that you can order a flight of any of the beers on the menu, rather than the ones they have already chosen to put in a flight, so we chose four beers to taste.

We shared a veggie La Jolla Cave Bootlegger burger, which was one of the best veggie burgers we both have had (of course, they are famous for their real burgers as well).

La Jolla + casual vegetarian dining + beer tasting + art gallery = fun evening with good food.

If you wanted to make more of an adventure out of it, you could stop at La Jolla Cove.

Weekending.

2012-01-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

We got breakfast burritos and ate on these rocks.

We walked around and enjoyed the wildlife,

the pretty flowers,

and the cliffs.

We got rained on.

We drove around the hills and got totally lost, but enjoyed this pretty view.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Happy three day weekend.

2012-01-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Happy weekend.

The highs and lows of this past week:

Highs:

-The semester ended!

-We got to see all 54 of our students talk about how they've grown this semester and what they're proud of. It validates teaching for me.

-We spent Thursday night hanging out with some dear friends who have a beautiful 5 month old girl. There's a case of baby fever going on around these parts. (And why didn't I take any pictures while they were over? Sometimes I'm awesome at capturing joyful moments, and sometimes they are only beautiful memories in my mind.)

Lows:

-I wrote 20,846 words worth of comments about my students in the time span from Monday to Friday. Now, my brain is mush and I can barely put words together at all.

-Mice are out to get me. We found a dead mouse in my office at school, and a live mouse ran down my hallway. This is not okay.

Other snippets of our weekend.

2012-01-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

In addition to the long and lovely walk we took through our neighborhood, we filled our weekend with other simple things like soaking up the sunshine, the clouds, and delicious meals.

Watching ten foot waves from the Ocean Beach pier. They don't look very big in the pictures, but they were shaking the pier and splashing up onto it.

A special cocktail at my favorite San Diego restaurant (and we had the best meal ever).

A picnic in the park soaking up the afternoon sunshine.

On Sunday night, the nerd in me reared its head (which it does on a daily basis), and I told Matt my great idea of putting all the blankets we have on the living room floor (we only have about three, because we live in sunny San Diego and when do you ever need more than three blankets?), having a living room picnic for dinner, and watching movies. Matt thought I was a nerd (which he does on a daily basis), but he went along with my plan anyway. So, that's what we did to finish out the weekend (and now I've used all of my allotted parentheses for the week).

Now it's Tuesday, and I am behind at work because I spent this weekend in no work and all play, but it was well worth it.

On a Sunday.

2012-01-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

When nature takes over. Our fence in the alley. These beauties arose out of nowhere.

Love this.

A newly painted wall.

What are they looking at?

Spread some.

Old stairs. Love the color.

A message.

Succulent love.

Succulent love again.

Make a wish (and look silly doing it).

Mammoth.

2012-01-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we left for Mammoth with Matt's family and my brother. There wasn't much snow, so we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves. We discovered the wonder of a few frozen lakes and an icy hike through the woods.

Twin Lakes.

Sister-in-law.

Lake Mary.

Brother.

Husband.

Taking in the beauty.

The Gonzales Family.

Looking down on Twin Lakes.

On New Year's Day.

2012-01-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

It was so nice to sit in the afternoon sunshine and talk about our hopes for the year. Silly little hopes like trying new recipes and restaurants, and serious hopes like creating a happy home and preparing our marriage for children.

An afternoon coffee date in the sun may just become a new New Year's tradition.

As for me, one thing I hope to continue to do in the new year is take pictures and reflect on the little things in life that make me happy like I did in this post. Taking pictures of random things I come across in life helps me remember to look around, observe, and appreciate things. Although it may be trite, this little corner of the internet really helped me to focus this year on being positive and appreciating life's little and big moments. Sometimes life is challenging, and I can get to the point where I mostly focus on the negative things like struggles in our marriage, or the exhaustion that comes with teaching, or feeling inadequate, or... the list goes on. However, life is good, actually really good, when I change my perspective and focus on the good, so I plan to continue to do that in 2012.

(Side note: Sorry to those of you who follow me on Google Reader. Apparently, there have been some glitches lately. Reader posted my happy new year picture four times, and never even posted my 2011: a year in review once. Oops.)

nye.

2012-01-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Writing things we want to leave behind in 2011 to burn in the fire.

Opening champagne with a machete.

As we sat around the fire, fondly remembering 2011, sharing what we want to leave behind, hoping for 2012, debating over musical interests and dislikes, and catching up, there were a lot of smiles. I spent the last night of 2011 feeling grateful for the past year that has been so full of family and friends. It was the perfect way to spend New Year's Eve for me, in our backyard (which is really our front yard), surrounding a fire with some of my best friends. Friends who accept me for the nerd that I am when I put out index cards and sharpies for New Year's Eve reflections. Friends who encourage me. Friends who have supported me throughout the recent years.

I begin 2012 with a grateful heart because of all the people who have been a part of my life throughout the past year. If you are reading this, that means you.

2012-01-01T18:22:00.000-08:00