Next up: SUMMER

I can feel how summer's getting closer by the minute and hopefully before I know it, I'll be done with all my exams, open the door and greet summer at the doorstep. Only a couple of more weeks to go and it's official: I have an education and a great summer awaiting. I have so much to look forward to: camping trips, hiking in the mountains, concerts, festivals, friends, wine, sunshine, swimming in the ocean and strawberries. Life is fantastic!

One of the festivals I'm attending is the Hove festival in Arendal, where I'm lucky enough to have two of my favorite bands playing on the same day: Muse and Paramore. Excited doesn't even start to explain how psyched I am!

Paramore with "The only exception" came up on my playlist and served me a plate of motivation for tomorrow's exam. Time to spread some good music around :)

Today's gift

I spend a lot of time listening to music, whether on my iPod or on the radio. The unimaginable number of songs never heard is so overwhelming that it almost frustrates me. How many great songs have I yet to discover? I simply love the feeling of hearing a song that somehow and in some way touches me and makes me stop whatever it is I'm doing to grasp the journey of carefully chosen notes and words. This happened today as I was sitting in the library cafe studying, and a song by Eva Cassidy was randomly chosen by my iPod. It's called "I know you by heart".

Enjoy. Experience. Listen.

Small and meaningful moments

As I walked outside this morning, I came to think of all the little things I love. The kind of things that you might be the only one noticing at the moment and granting a second thought or even a smile. I'll mention a few of these moments that pass by as any other daily activity for many, but for me, they're sacred.

• I like to walk outside in the morning at the moment when the street lights gets turned off as a sign that morning has come; the dawn of yet another day filled with wonders of what might become of it.
• I like to turn on my iPod and get the thrill of not knowing what song it might come up with. Maybe a song I had forgotten was on my iPod which brings back memories that have been tucked away all too long.
• I like checking the time to find that it's 12:34.
• I like opening a new bag of coffee and the unique scent it lets out.

• I like opening the door at the "Harry Potter"-building at campus NTNU Gløshaugen, pushing or pulling against the wind pounding on the door and eventually feeling how it brushes against my face.
• I like how the snow on the ground plays in the air like a little snow-tornado after a car driven by.

All the little wonders of life...

Stumble, but not fall

You know this day is going to come. You just don't know when or how hard it's going to hit. It might be gentle and maybe almost kind. Well, if so then you know that it's not entirely one of those dreaded days. The day where everything goes wrong!

These days always gives themselves away of being the same as any other day. But one can smell its hidden intentions luring as soon as you open your eyes. You get up feeling fresh and ready for a new day. Next you realize that you might be short on time, but you feel extremely efficient this morning and before you know it you've had breakfast and made lunch, put on clothes and make-up, made the bed, done your hair and packed your bag. Yup, this is going to be a splendid day!

Until you reach the bus stop... You've somehow managed to miss the bus, even thou you're 5 minutes early (and that does not happen too often!). Of course it turns out the bus was so late that it arrives at the same time as the one scheduled after it. No worries, you'll still make it to class in time, so you get on the first bus (the one that was suppose to arrive 15 minutes ago). The bus passes the next bus stop and gets a red light in the intersection. You're on the bus minding your own business, chilling to the sound of the music on your iPod and smiling at the last text message you received. You look up to realize that the bus is for some reason moving backwards! Guess what? Something's wrong with the bus. You have to get off and run to the next bus stop trying to catch the bus that was on schedule and that you didn't get on in the first place.

By the time you get to school it's way too late for class so you decide to go work out instead. That should at least be harmless! You change your clothes and walk into the gym. On the 15 meter walk between the locker room and the gym, you of course manage to drop your iPod 3 times. When you're on a roll you're on a roll... At least you get a great warm up and have to make a quick stop to the bathroom before you continue the work out. You're Clinging on to the iPod since it seems you have some trouble holding on to it today. You make it thru the hallway and thru the locker room without dropping it. Safe. Or? As you enter the bathroom the iPod mysteriously slips out of your hand and you watch it fly thru the air, directed right into the one place you don't want it to land. It's inevitable. The toilet.

After some interesting minutes in the bathroom you get the work out over with, carefully tippy-toeing around the gym in fear of what might happen next. A dumbbell dropped on the foot? Falling of the leg curl machine? Tripping over the yoga ball?

Incredibly enough you make it thru the work out in one piece (as opposed to the iPod). You take a shower; spend a few minutes in the sauna before you do the morning procedure all over again. You walk out of the building with a good feeling; this might be a good day after all. Walking towards the school, turning your face towards the sky, enjoying the sunrays stroking your chin. You smile.

You've forgotten all about the ice covering every inch of the ground. What goes up must come down. Your tailbone will tell you that after an encounter with the icy ground.

Best to get home. Safe. No ice.