The Friday Five: It's the experiences, and the little things.

My husband is the hardest to shop for. (From what I hear, this is fairly common among husbands.) He tends to buy himself what he needs, and wants very little. But I recall a conversation we had early in our relationship where we agreed that we'd always go for the gift of an experience over a material thing. That may be we why we've seen five of the world's top guitarists in five years, and why when I put together a photo collage of five summers at the beach, we're wearing the same bathing suits, hats and sunglasses.

I say all of this because looking back over this past week, it is experiences that have stood out the most for me. This is probably the case most weeks, but for some reason it's extra clear as March 2016 kicks off.

This lovely was a birthday gift from my in-laws - it hangs on the bulletin board in my office.

So, friends, what has saved your life this week? Taken you out of a bad mood, lessened your stress load, made you smile or laugh - even for a moment? Here are some of mine:

1. Adventure planning! Sean and I are taking our second trip out to the Pacific Northwest, and over the weekend we scheduled some new and exciting stops.

2. A fun and fruitful coffee date with a new friend this week. It's hard to beat chai and conversation about writing, photography and storytelling.

3. Women's group on Wednesday night was especially good - lovely people, rich conversation, laughter, and two sweet babies for us to fawn over.

#4, AKA: When you grown kids crash your Wednesday night

4. After group, I stopped over to see my parents for a few minutes, and my brother was already there, so we got to spend a little time as our original quartet (plus the dog). This doesn't happen as often any more (for good reasons), and so is extra meaningful when it does.

5. Voting on Super Tuesday - I always consider it such a privilege. And in these days when I achingly miss Jon Stewart, I felt hugely grateful for John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" episode on the Republican frontrunner, whom I will not call by name except to say #makedonalddrumpfagain. It's worth watching if you haven't seen it, and even my Republican friends will tell you that (because they posted it before I did!).

Of course, the little things matter too - sometimes, it's the little things that make days bearable. With that...

Honorable mentions: Stephen and Golden State's epic OT finish, Singing "For the Beauty of the Earth" in worship, watching Fuller House (yeah, I know), finally reading Wild (wow!), burrito night at our house, lemon zinger tea, watching the "Leap Day" episode of 30 Rock (because Leap Day), working out every day even for just 15 minutes, sleeping more soundly (maybe because of those work outs?), and a delish peanut butter chocolate chip cookie delivered at work right when I needed it today.

I dare you: Take five minutes or less and list your Friday Five!

Convergence, Again.

I originally wrote this piece on March 5, 2013. After Saturday night (um, see below, although it doesn't include the high-pitched shriek I let loose), I thought it warranted a repost. Plus, it's March - and we college basketball fans know what that means. Happy Senior Day on Saturday, Wildcat Class of '16!

Top left: December 2006 vs. Elon; top right: March 2008 Elite Eight vs. Kansas; bottom left: February 2009 vs. UNCG; bottom right: March 2010 at his first NBA game in Charlotte.

Stephen and Coach McKillop being interviewed after our win against UNCG, February 3, 2007.

Mama there goes that man! 

LOUD NOISES

WOO HOOOOO!

Steph in the zone!

THIS IS EFFING AWESOME

49

If you never saw Steph play at Davidson... well, it sort of looked like this.

Proud to call this kid my teammate at one point!!!

Speechless

Playin like he did in college

My timeline is going crazy for @StephenCurry30 and I love it! 

#ItsADavidsonThing

The above constituted a mere sampling of the tweets prompted by Stephen Curry's 54-point performance against the Knicks on Wednesday night. (At least three of them are my brother's. He was 17 when he came to visit me at Davidson as a freshman and we witnessed one of #30's first legendary moments - his back-to-back threes against UNCG.)

I got home from dinner just in time to watch the fourth quarter, something I only knew to do because I had been checking Twitter to keep up with the Davidson/Elon score. Suddenly, Steph was raining threes and Twitter was raining Steph tweets.

There I sat, on my couch, by myself, at 10:30 p.m., whooping every time he made another shot - so not much has changed in the last six [now nine] years. I heard my own voice echo through my little house, but I knew I wasn't alone. If we could have one of those cool world maps, y'know, the kind that shows how much electricity gets used across the world, and NYC is insanely bright and the Sahara Desert is pitch black? - well, we could make one for the noise made by Davidson fans across states and even across oceans when these universal moments bring us together.

Converge: (intransitive verb) To come together and unite in a common interest or focus.

Because for us, our Davidson teams will always be universal, Steph Curry and his teammates will always be universal, Mike Maloy and Jake Cohen [and Jack Gibbs] and everyone in between will always be universal. Ours. We will always claim them, no matter what year or generation, no matter what the future holds. And I felt that yet again after this thirteenth consecutive Davidson victory, after a Steph show for the ages, on a much bigger stage than warm popcorn-smelling Belk Arena. Both of these - this particular team and this particular player - I have been privileged to watch from the beginning. And that makes nights like this one even more meaningful.

Twitter told me that the team was barreling back home from Burlington, with the TVs on and tuned to the Garden. Watching a player who sat exactly where they were sitting, a player who knows what their lives are like right now, the life of a Davidson student-athlete preparing for the SoCon Tournament, that one chance to dance. A player who, perhaps, made them want to come here. A player who, though he never played alongside them, has come back for summer camps and games and 5Ks and season banquets and even classes. A player who made a home here and still holds it dear. Watching him sink shot after shot, watching him dance in celebration and point up to the sky, these guys know that he came from moments like the one they are in, late night bus rides after a gritty win. (And Steph Curry knows something about gritty wins at Elon, that's for dang sure.)

On Saturday we celebrated Senior Day, and four fantastic players who have truly made their mark on this program for years to come. They were freshmen when I was a senior. Their first season was the first without Steph. Both of those things made it a bittersweet season for me - I didn't know the program without Stephen, and I couldn't imagine what the future would bring for me after graduation. And it's wonderful now to be able to look back and see the journeys that have sprung up in the last four years, for all of us. I love celebrating what they have done. Coming into the program during what could be called a rebuilding year (and that would have been an understatement), these four have been leaders since the beginning. And not only have they broken school records and hung their hats at the top of nationwide stats and given us countless memorable moments on the court, they have grown to love this place as humans, as athletes, as students, just as we all have. They know it, and they love it, and come May they won't let it leave them. They'll be there for future generations the rest of the way. I don't know them personally, but I know this about them. I just do.

Before the game, Clint Mann tweeted: Great day to be a wildcat. Senior day at Belk Arena. Bittersweet, but what a great journey.

And from somewhere on a plane or in a hotel during the Warriors' East Coast swing, Stephen Curry tweeted back: Congrats Clint. Finish out the year strong.

We are a family. Don't ever doubt it. 

Quiet Resistance.

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and I get to go vote. Don't know about you, but I already feel incredibly drained by this whole campaign, and it's not even convention season yet. The racist, sexist, anti-immigrant/Muslim/gay/disabled hate speech that has already been so casually slung around at every juncture, that seems to be winning, the idea that America is a nation above apology, above playing by the rules or being a mediator, makes me feel frustrated and on edge - emotions that I can easily see turning to anger and despair by the time November hits.

“Life is not something we go through or that happens to us; it’s something we create by our decisions.”

— Kathleen Dean Moore, 'If Your House is On Fire,' from The Sun Magazine

So here are some things I'm going to try my best to do, no matter who is elected president.

1. Savor the small but strong communities that make up my daily life - my marriage, my work team, my women's group, my family, my church.

2. Speaking of church, I'll keep going on Sundays - to recite liturgy, sing hymns, participate in this tradition that is older than me, bigger than me, and yet somehow still seems to meet me in the moment - whether I'm doubting or certain, glad or sorrowful. If I wasn't a churchgoer, I would seek out a community that makes me feel the same way.

3. When I'm in church and out of it, I'll pray. Maybe not intelligibly or out loud, but I'll send up gratitude and hopeful thoughts for the world. If I wasn't a pray-er, I'd still send up gratitude and hopeful thoughts for the world.

4. Take the media with a grain of salt. Realize that while they do have an impact on our world, they don't have a direct impact on my day-to-day life. And also keep in mind that their job is to amp us up - often for the wrong reasons.

5. On that note, I'll take regular breaks from social media - even if it's for half a day.

6. When I do use social media (which, let's be honest, will be a good amount), I'll do my best to use it to affirm.

7. Encourage people younger than me in their passions and endeavors.

8. Talk to older people; learn and value their stories.

9. Invite people over for dinner.

10. Read lots of books.

11. Give time and money to schools and charities working for education and social justice for all.

11. Actively learn more about other cultures and what's important to them.

12. Be a Christian who lends my voice to the importance of interfaith education, conversation, and community.

13. Speak words of kindness.

14. I put this in my "28 things to do before I turn 29" post, but I think it deserves repeating: Look at everyone around me, especially strangers, with the assumption that they mean well. This doesn't mean being completely oblivious to my personal safety, but simply aiming to assess situations by recognizing the good and the humanity of the person in front of me before moving forward.

15. Listen to others. Don't be afraid to ask questions and start conversations.

16. Be active in recognizing my white privilege and learning how I can use it to stand up for black lives and civil rights.

17. Create authentic art.

18. Cook and bake for others.

19. Work out, meditate, and write every day - my three touchstones that are just for me, but also seep into my relationships with others.

20. Laugh. Keep it all in perspective. Remember that another election is just another Leap Day (and some change) away.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

— Romans 12:21