places

Over the past couple weeks, I sifted through my belongings at my folks' old house and recycled (gasp) almost two entire trashcans full of papers! How is that even possible? Apparently I never recycled anything since like 1st grade.

While I was going through stuff, I found a list of my favorite names from 1996. It was super funny--because I realized the list is almost identical to my favorite names today! Nothing's changed, apparently! I think I have one or two names I didn't like then and do now...but otherwise, same story. Not that I want to have a baby any time soon (nor did I want to in 1996)--just to name one. Perhaps that the writer in me: I think I've always loved thinking about names because I've always loved thinking about words. And to pick a word that will define someone for the rest of their life! (This is a good time to mention, my best bud Kristin Jones Bankston just had a baby boy & named him Ezra Lewis Bankston. Good choice, huh?)

Lately, instead of baby name lists, I seem to be making mental lists about the places I've thought about/would consider moving to in the not-so-distant future. Of course, who knows where I'll end up--so many possibilities--but it's fun to think about (& keeps me sane while living in not-so-exciting-missouri.) Here's my most recent list:

Portland, OR.
Mountains, ocean, great music, lots of chances to wear my favorite raincoat. A really great store where you can buy patchouli soap (it's intoxicating.)

Colorado or Wyoming
Great hiking & skiing, everybody wears chacos & fleeces. Great friends who also love hiking and camping and snowshoeing! Loved living out west.

Chicago, IL
Friends, family, Shane's Deli (the best deli in the world) & great indian food. All the street names are in order of the presidents (so I could finally learn that.)

St. Paul, MN or Westboro, WI
It's freezing in both these places, so I can't imagine myself in either for long. But I have old friends in both (& have a hankering to run the Twin Cities marathon again.)

Bergen, Norway
My summer love: cobblestone streets, mountains & fjords, a chance to finally really learn Norwegian. But really dark winters (aka 22 hours dark.)

Riga, Latvia
Again, dark & cold & just post-communist, but such lovely friends. Also, there are the banas (which definitely add some big points). If you haven't been to a bana, you're missing out. Big Time. (Imagine a sauna ten times hotter than what you've ever been in, where men in speedos hit your back with branches dipped in oil. You feel like a boiled potato. It's wonderful.) Maybe a short stint in LV?

Southampton, U.K.
My Navigators friends, Steve & Debs, Lowri & Tim, Steve & Holly, Adam, Kim, Kate, Jane. These people saved me when I fell through a glacier. (This place actually is pretty high in the runnings. I've been thinking about doing Navigators Staff for a year there & trying it out.)

Runners Up:
Ireland, Italy, somewhere else in Europe, Montana, Central America, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Boston, Seattle.

Anywhere interesting you've thought about moving?