A little glimpse into my joy-filled week:
99. dancing in my car
105. wearing sunglasses on my head
116. mango peach salsa
119. blueberries
123. talking to Carrie who is in Guatemala
126. BIG fluffy white snowflakes
carrie
10 Places I Want to Be
1. Eating yummy food in the states (i.e. Panera, Chili’s, Trader Joe’s, Chinese food, etc.)
2. On top of a mountain
3. Curled up in my bed at home with my book and my puppy (Wide Awake by Erwin McManus)
4. Sitting on the deck with Amy G.
5. Walking with Carrie on the beach
6. Time Square with Liz
7. Target with Mom
8. At the library or a bookstore
9. A hot tub
10. Out on the lake
I wish…
I wish…
-I had a car here.
-The weather wasn’t getting cold…and I wasn’t wearing a winter coat.
-Money grew on trees to buy plane tickets.
-I could go dancing
-There was a Target here.
-I could go on vacation and visit Carrie.
-I could take a nap.
-I knew what was next.
-I could eat some good Mexican or Chinese food.
-I could go to Panera.
ht: Carrie
The Year Through Pictures
So…I’m a copy cat. Annie had this awesome post and so I wanted to do the same:
January: Ringing in the New Year–ready for a fresh start
February: A little salsa dancing fun before “real life” aka full-time job-ness sets in.
March: No homework means time to make fun recipes like Cheesecake pops, read lots of books, take a ceramics course, and work out 🙂
April: ” 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
May: I said hello to love at first sight
June: Summer nights with friends and enjoying our sweet deck
July: There were a few crashes along the way this year. A few rough spots, but in the end the plastic pops right out and the head lights are millimeters away from being smashed.
August: Spent some time with family. Said “Look at the bull ship,” which was interpreted as “Look at all this bull shi*” (say that 3 times fast and your family will think you are NOT having fun when really you are)
September: Life may be a little messy, but at the end of the day I can always turn to my “church family” for anything I need. I’m going to miss them…
October: “Ransomed” God, theology, podcasts, blogging, life, and everything in between could always be found in our conversations. I miss her already!
November: “But if the bright lights don’t receive you, you should turn yourself around and come on home.”
December: Stay warm with a puppy, lots of blankets and hot chocolate while looking forward to a New Year.
Good-bye 2008. Hello 2009.
1 Year Ago
A year ago:
- I started blogging.
- I graduated.
- I did not have a job yet.
- I was living with Carrie and Keely (and Abby the dog)
- Liz and I took pictures after graduation
A few things from this past year:
- I kept blogging.
- I got a job.
- I started Seminary.
- I learned about friendships, relationships, heartache, community, church, God, hope, myself, faith and so much more.
- I moved into a different house with Amy and Mandy.
- I got a Mac.
- I helped start a church.
- I bought a bike.
- I accepted an internship.
I could go on, but you get the idea. What a year! I definitely cannot say that I would have ever guessed that I would be where I am today a year ago!
Counting Down
I’m trying hard to live in the moment, live in the present. I don’t want to focus too much on the past or the future. But, I must say that lately I find myself counting down to a lot of things. I’m excited, nervous, still thinking that everything feels far away, and so many more emotions. Here are the numbers in my head that are coming up:
3 days
10 days
16 days
18 days
27 days
29 days
34 days
in alphabetical order the countdowns include: Carrie leaves, Christmas, florida, last day of church last day of work, leave for africa, my birthday
Can you match them up?
Ransomed
So there was one night where a friend and I went out to eat at Don Pablo’s. She had already taken a super cute picture in her Ragamuffin Soul T-Shirt, but we had not taken one together yet. We had good intentions, but just never got around to taking a picture. After I got home from work, I decided to put on my sweet Ransomed Ragamuffin Soul T-Shirt. I pondered calling her to tell her to wear hers too, but since I tend to be on the late side (understatement) I figured she had already left. Little did I know that the same thought (minus the her being late–she’s rather prompt) went through her mind. Once in the restaurant, we unzipped our coats and there we were. Yep, pretty sweet except that we then forgot to take a picture at the restaurant and didn’t take one until right before she left.
“Here let me put my hair up. Wait. You took a picture!”
When I saw this picture, the first thing that came to mind was “Odd. I look like I’m trying to be a bird or something flying with how I’m leaning forward. At least Carrie is normal. But we are off-center too….”
A few tries later=happy picture.
p.s. I’m going to miss that girl!
Cherry Blossoms
In places like Minnesota (aka where the weather turns cold and dark), fall brings gorgeous trees. As my friend and I drove to Panera (to eat yummy soup because the weather is COLD), we noticed the gorgeous leaves. The conversation turned into a verbal development of this post. Though, once we got to Panera I looked into the reasons behind the leaves turning (my biology class memory must be fuzzy).
I found out that the term for the shedding of these leaves or needles or fruit is abscission. Evergreens continuously abscise. Whereas other trees only abscise during certain times of the year. Part of the research revealed that the lack of light (needed for photosynthesis) causes the death or abscise. Interesting, huh?
Well, what if we turn this thought around and apply this to our walk with God. If we are not “in the light” then we will die. But at the same time, newness of life comes in the spring when the tree vibrantly comes alive with green buds and flowers (think Washington D.C. and cherry blossoms…mmm). How amazing that God can transform something so dead and broken into new life if we let the light come back.
p.s. I love this tree so much that if you look closely you’ll see it’s my heading border 🙂
Flowers and Groceries :)
A while ago I posted about doing something interesting with my friend. Well, here’s the corresponding post she wrote! I am SO glad that we actually followed through and did something. I can only pray and make sure that handing out flowers at a park with Carrie is only the beginning! I am excited that this lined up with the intention behind all the DO posting that is going on around the blog world too! Every day opportunities present themselves to DO things. Here are a couple of DO questions to ponder:
What if you did one thing nice for someone every day?
What if you did one thing to help someone you don’t even know?
What if you did one thing to make the world a better place and no one ever knew about it?
What if I did one thing for someone I didn’t know? I almost let an opportunity pass on Monday night. I was driving through campus on my way to the other side to go work out when I saw a girl struggling with a few bags of groceries and two bottles of milk. Part of me thought, I could stop, but then how am I possibly going to turn around on this small road without causing a ruckus and how is she even going to fit in my car!? But then before I know it my window is down and I’m asking her if she needs help to which she responds yes and proceeds to tell me how she had been praying that someone would help her. She indicated that she had health problems so walking this far was really hard and told me that I was an answer to prayer. I was so blessed to hear a little bit of her story and drive her the rest of the way to dorm because if I had listened to some of my thoughts I would have missed that opportunity to DO something. So what are you going to DO today?
Thankful Sunday :)
I am so thankful:
- that this weekend is over!!!! Weird thing to be thankful for, I know, but such is life.
- for the prayers that were said for me this weekend–thank you, Los (and all the people who were praying with him), Carrie, Liz, and anyone else.
- for Mike and Sara…they’re pretty much amazing. I am in awe at how God used them last night through their actions and words. I am not one who is hardly ever able to cry in front of people, but for some reason I can in front of them. Sara sat with me and let me cry before taking me on a walk (I’m definitely a walk and talk girl). There is such power in being able to sit with someone and share in their sorrow without having to talk. (reminds me of Job and how his friends sat for days before speaking).
- board games 🙂 (like rook, wizard and settlers!)
- my bright, happy room 🙂
- and a lot of other things, but I’m tired….so bedtime.
b'ahava 