farewell, february funk. marvel on, march.

I'm not sure if it was the full-on Seattle weather {Read: cold + rainy almost everyday} or the childish struggle with the adult in me to make rational decisions {Read: staying put for all of February to focus on school and work} or the ever-present battle between my heart and my head {Read: let it go or let it go not?} but I felt in a funk for nearly the entire month. There were a few intermittent days, here or there, where the sun would shine brightly {during a snow shower} or when Sammi came to visit for the day + we ate delightful meals {pictured above} or afternoons when I would allow myself to block out the world to take a candlelit bubble bath {and not feel in the least bit guilty about it} that gave me the energy to light up an optimistic sparkler and celebrate the little things but there's something about spending every day but three in 2.5 weeks in an intensive care unit that can wear down a girl, who misses sleep + home immensely... 

Somewhere along the way, I discovered the cure for home sickness: home in a can. 

But yesterday, I bid farewell to my February Funk. I woke up to the birds chirping outside my window + the thought that spring is coming made me marvel in the fact that February was finally {damn you, Leap Day!} over + yesterday was the first day of March!! The sun was shining ever-so-brightly and I jumped at the opportunity to propel myself right out of said funk to have my very first Skype date with sweet Christopher... and to give March the proper welcome it deserved by putting on our best "happy faces!" {I'm fairly certain you can see my heart grinning from rib-to-rib in the little box in the left-hand corner.} 

It was the exact burst of sunshine {both figuratively and literally} that this girl-in-a-funk needed. Oh, & that coffee mug? Half full, baby. 

I saw my shadow yesterday while on an afternoon run where the rays of sunshine penetrated my skin + the mindset that winter is coming to an end in an "Oh, spring has arrrivvedddd! Take that, Punxstuwaney Phil!" kind of way fueled me to run faster... I have one week left of classes, one mock code, one clinical log, one project presentation, two case studies, one evaluation, one final paper and two final exams and then I am done with winter quarter... where I will only have one year left 'til graduation! 

I revisited my list of wishes + dreams for twenty-twelve last night. January was definitely committed to training and I can happily say that gymming feels less like torture and more like a craving each day, now. I'm adding distance on to my long runs and knocking seconds off my shorter runs... and it seriously feels fabulous. As for February, there was a paradigm shift in the way I view grad school. All of a sudden, I was synthesizing the information on an entirely new level + eager to learn + digest everything at my fingertips... + still craving more. Perhaps, my one little word for twenty-twelve should be: crave. 

As for March, I am going to focus on documenting + preserving. I have joined FatMumSlim's #Marchphotoaday challenge on instagram {follow me @ joc_lense} + if I actually follow through, I have promised myself a huge prize! Instagram is being rather fickle + would not let me upload yesterday {or today} but Day#1 was: up!  

Untitled from Jocelyn Kirk on Vimeo.
T.G.I.F., thirty-eight seconds of awesomeness + all that jazz. Happy weekending! =)