May: an overwhelmingly wonderful month in 2008, 2012 and 2013

I’ve been thinking a lot about life recently (a familiar theme, it seems!), but this time it's a bit scattered as I reflect on life now, life a year ago and life five years ago.  I wasn't able to get a lot of what I was thinking and feeling down on paper over the last year because at times I was just too distracted by the living part of life and really trying to absorb as much as possible.  So from time to time, I may wander back to times past as I look at where I have been, where I am and all that came in between!  

The cocoon of trees that gave me much needed peace

As many of you know, this time last year, I was just beginning an adventure that would change, enrich, and improve my life exponentially.  I had just hurriedly moved out of the apartment that I had come to love and in which I had hosted many special occasions, both big and small, with many different friends. I had put all of my stuff in storage for a month until I could get it up to Pittsburgh and taken a suitcase to a place I had only seen once from the outside.  And, thanks to the generosity of a really fantastic gal I know through one of my best friends, I moved into “Ruth’s House” in northern Mount Pleasant in DC…a gorgeous old mansion of a house that has so much old charm and character.  Ruth's House was to be the first home of many throughout the year that I was invited into by loving, caring and kind people who allowed me to make their home my own for a small piece of time.  I fell in love with everything about Ruth's House and all the beautiful years of life living within the walls as I spent my last four weeks in DC there.  I sat out on the old porch so many times, both alone and with friends, sharing the quiet cocoon that the trees create there in that space.  It always felt that although I was in the middle of Washington, DC, I was so far removed from it all and just hidden amongst the trees. 

I never knew Ruth, but living in her home definitely
gave me the chance to feel her spirit!

Sun rays shining down on a little pocket of heaven

The gorgeous stove I got to use :) :)

Late night porch time...always beautiful!

I cherished that little piece of peace and comfort, especially during that bittersweet month.  I went through a lot of emotions as I sat on the porch in the old rocker and lived those last weeks in the city that I had called home for another three years…six years in total. I was starting to free myself and open myself up to all of the possibilities of the months ahead and all of the upcoming adventure and unknown.  But I definitely had my moments where I didn’t know if what I was doing was “right” or if it made sense…so I talked through them with loved ones or on my own and moved right back to feeling free and happy.  I knew that no matter what happened in the end, it couldn’t be “wrong” because it was going to help me to find myself again…and, because, if something didn’t feel “right”, I didn’t have to stay there forever!  I could always head home to my family, whether that be in Pittsburgh, Norfolk or Brunswick.  So last year at this time, I had a lot to look forward to and I was very excited and had a happy, yet sometimes heavy, heart.  DC is a beautiful city and was a wonderful place to call home for so many years; and it allowed me to stay close with my sisters and parents and many relatives as I was close enough to see them regularly and be a part of their lives.  I am glad that I lived there, in all of the different stages of that life, all of the different homes and random roommates (some of whom are significant friends in my life!), friends from so many different chapters of both DC life and life in general…so many ups and downs, lots of laughs and smiles, some tears, lots of love and great memories. All of the growing pains that come with life as we live it as best we can.  DC has such a very special place in my heart, I am so grateful that it was one of my life homes!!  But, I am so happy that I took the opportunity to move on in search of something else J

This May, as I have watched the slow mountain spring start to spring….green leaves slowing growing all around, dandelions scattered around the lawn with some lovely purple flowers too, birds just chirping away, the warm sun and fresh breeze, I look back and I am grateful to the Marci that was able to leave all that she loved in DC/East Coast in search of the unknown.  Because that Marci who was a bit lost and broken at the time led me to the Marci that is typing this today: an overwhelmingly happy and whole person, full of gratitude and peace in her heart; calm, stress-free and relaxed. Last year’s Marci headed out on the open road of the U.S.  (and the open skies of Europe), to an amazing Berlin fall and winter, back home to the East Coast and then out west to a state and city that a year ago as she sat on Ruth’s Porch, was not yet a glimmer in that Marci’s eyes.  It seems that if we go freely and openly, we can end up anywhere...and I just couldn't be happier about ending up here!

From yesterday's beautiful sunrise hike

Simple beauty

In front of two of my favorite things here:
the hammock and the mountains!

As I sit and watch Boulder spring into the gorgeous summer season, I’ve also been thinking about my life five years ago when I was off on a very different adventure in East Africa. There is this amazing organization here in Boulder, BeadforLife (beadforlife.org), that works to eradicate poverty in Uganda with a bead program that they started almost ten years ago.  It’s much more than teaching women how to make beads (which are made into beautiful jewelry)…it’s an 18 month program that teaches them how to bead while they also learn entrepreneurial skills and make plans to be small business owners with the profits they save from selling their beads jewelry. In addition to the Bead Program outside of Kampala, there are several other life-changing projects that BeadforLife has initiated including a Shea Nut Program in Northern Uganda which helps people who are trying to rebuild their lives after years and decades of living as internally displaced people due to the terrible reign of terror of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (2013 Update).  I was so surprised when I found a Uganda connection here and knew immediately that I wanted to be involved in their work in some way…either by volunteering or working with them. As it turns out, luck seems to be on my side because they had a new position that they were interviewing for these last weeks and I was able to get in to meet with the team before the interview process was over. So, after a year on the road, I’m very happy to announce that this past Wednesday I actually accepted a full-time job offer to be the new Support Team Manager and I started the new job with them yesterday!  It all happened a bit quickly, really, but it just seems like the universe’s way of telling me that this is where I am supposed to be for a while J  What are the chances that I would find an organization that does work so close to my heart in a town where I had never really considered making a home before!?! With all of this going on, it’s been hard not to think about my time in Uganda five years ago.  What an important time in my life that was, as well…so very different from this last year, but so very important.  Below is a link to what I was doing in Uganda in May 2008…I hadn’t thought about this specific trip in so long, but reading this post made it all come back to me a bit!  

Three weeks traveling!

Those three straight weeks of traveling around Uganda and Kenya were quite an adventure-filled time...I hope you enjoy the stories and photographs ;)