The call at 2 a.m.

It's currently 3:45 a.m. in the morning and I'm about to heat up some water and make a cup of coffee. I guess I'm going to start my day. I was in the middle of a dream--saying "good-bye"-- when my friend from the West Coast called to say HI. The skype call rang to my cell phone and before I realized it, I was picking up in a groggy 2 a.m. voice, not knowing who was on the other end. When I realized it was Dre, I was so excited that she finally figured out how to use skype that I wasn't ABOUT to hang up with her.

I've known this friend since I was 16 years old. (She's the one in glasses). She has been like a sister to me and my two sisters. Last summer we all made a great memory at the India Arie concert in Lake Tahoe. Not only was the concert incredible, I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with any other ladies on the face of the planet. Each one of these ladies is so beautiful to me, so strong, so awesome, such great mamas and wives! I'm proud of each one of them! Anyways, we had so much fun.

Well, she has always been a good friend who speaks the truth and encourages. Man does she have the gift of encouragement. And she's a voice I can listen to and know that when she speaks it's with a unique perspective of wisdom. I say all that to say that the bottom line of her encouragement to me this morning was this:
"Don't go backwards. Move forward. Get over it. Move on. Don't complicate things -- What is Jen ready to do next?" So there you go. My pearls of wisdom that came at a timely moment. I'm polishing off those pearls at this glorious time in the morning and I'll be cracking open la Biblia looking for more.

Dre called because she just moved from Nevada to Oregon and this move has been a long time coming! We've talked about it, prayed about it, dreamed about it and now she is in Oregon getting settled. She's even made it to the Ocean already. I'm really so happy for them. I have to be honest and say I'm holding onto some serious Ocean jealousy, but she reminded me that she felt this same way when I was living in Los Angeles only 10 minutes from the Ocean. Well, two years of being landlocked and I think I will only fully get over my bitterness when I finally move back to the West Coast and plant myself on the beach somewhere in California, Oregon or Washington. You might not hear from me for weeks as I doubt there will be internet access wherever I'll be camping out. But you'll be sure to find me taking in the Ocean waves and sipping coffee as I write, read, swim, reflect, bike the coast, write and try and run the sandy beach. Oh......work??? Work, whats that? Only in my dreams I guess will I live this life, but it sure does sound good. :D

Well, she didn't call to make me jealous. She called so we could swap stories of living life in this crazy world. There is a myth that has been circulated for some time now that women use 20,000 words a day while men only use 7,000, but there actually may not be that wide of a gap. One study says differently, with just a minimal difference of about 500 words. Anyways, when we get to chatting, there's no stopping us.

So, an hour and forty-five minutes later, I am writing this blog and no longer tired but inspired. Self-revelation: I live to be inspired. I'm so inspired I might even get in a bike ride this early in the a.m. Hm, we'll see about that. Sounds good but that coffee and some early morning reading sound much better at the moment.