arch madness.

Took a quick and dirty trip to St. Louis this weekend...

1. Union Station   2. Hanging with the best friend from home, Jason   3. Lionesses fight over water at the zoo   4. the CITY MUSEUM (look it up NOW.)   5. The world's largest catsup bottle   6. Flying Spongebob at the arch   7. The most precious baby ever at the zoo   8. Turtle Park classic after our noon picnic   9. First view of the arch   10. Two of the best travel buddies ever   11. Arch pics   12. Last views of the STL

sb2k13.

It's been weeks, but I feel like I just need this right now. It's getting down to the wire here in college town. It's the time and place of the semester where everyone's response to the question of "how are you?" is BUSY. TIRED. OVERWHELMED. TOO MUCH TO DO.

It's true for me too. So, I'm just going to take a moment to think back to the middle of March to get me through the rest of April. I need to remember the sunshine, the freedom, the laughter, and the ice cream. Oh, the ice cream.

So, yes, the summary of my Spring Break includes butter beer at Harry Potter World, the best bible studies, hunting for gators in our pond, playing games, eating granola, people watching in the middle of nowhere Florida, running club, interval workouts led by Annie, and so much more...these are my top three moments of the whole week...these are the ones that are keeping me sane.

1. Dancing with Kylie at the Villages Retirement Community (if you haven't heard of this place, look it up) I don't think there's anything more joyful in the world than dancing with a child.

2. Splash Zone at Sea World with these three friends. Just like Bob Goff says, sometimes you have to sit in the splash zone of life, it might be messy, but it will be worth it. And it was.

3. Dream Day. This was my third official one and it was just as great as the other two before it. It was the perfect end to our time at YL Southwind, full of water slides, sunsets, dance parties, ice cream, nail painting, rocking chairs, and the swing. And of course, a bonfire on the beach. Too good to be true.

Here's some more pictures that I just wish I could dive into and go back to these moments in time. Cheers.

a blanket of memories.

One of my least favorite questions in the context of interviews or getting to know you groups is "What is one of the things you're most proud of?" 

What? Dumb. I don't really like the word, pride. It seems silly and weird and unnecessary. I'm not really doing anything to be proud of, I'm just living my life. That's why I've given the same answer to this question since senior year of high school. 

Until now. 

Yes, that's right. I have a new answer. Finally. 

Here it goes...

A mother. A daughter. Twenty hours. Forty five t-shirts. A sewing machine, an iron, and a whole lotta cutting. 

All of that creates this. 

It's so perfect, I could cry. It's the perfect weight on my bed layered with other blankets. It's the perfect size to wrap up in or lay out on the grass. It's the perfect combination of beautiful colors and meaningful memories. And it's one of those things that I never thought I would be able to do. I sewed a whole quilt. WHAT!? 

wildness.

This upcoming summer, I'm going to be headed on a backpacking trip through the Colorado mountains with Young Life. A group of girls and I will hike, camp, and experience the wilderness together. For most of them, this is a first in their life. They've been stuck in flat land Indiana.

Now, Indiana is beautiful and wonderful, but it's no mountain top view. So, when one of the girls texted me the other day about how she is getting herself pumped up for the trip, she reminded me that where you are and where you spend your time can directly affect how you experience God. 

"Every particle of rock or water or air has God by its side leading it the way it should go; The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness; In God's wildness is the hope of the world." 

Gosh, that's so true for me. And I can't wait to experience that with my friends and to be in the Colorado mountains together. 

ah-rt.

Just a little photo update from your budding, struggling artist here. Over the past few weeks, my photo class has done projects on exposure, depth of field, light, shadow, and color. And, I have frolicked through creepy woods at night, taken pictures of other people's houses, made my friends model for me, carried three lamps around campus, thrown things, broken things, and gotten plenty of weird looks. 

It's all this weird stuff that we've been doing that makes my photo friend, Olivia and I say...

"It's for the ah-rt!" (in a weird sort of French/English/Indian accent)

It's our motto for the semester. Neither of us take the best pictures in our class. There are others who are more artistic and have more experience. But, we're the ones who don't really care if we try something new and it messes up. I can't figure out what I love to photograph and what ways I can creatively do that.  

togetherness.

If there's one thing that I learn from being a part of Young Life, it's that having people who love you and accept you is one of the most important parts of life. It's having a family where you belong to them and they belong to you. It's living life together. This community teaches me that being part of something like that is important every time I show up and sit together and listen and laugh. I've found myself tearing up and feeling a deep sense of something recently about this. There's nothing more beautiful.

Some highlights from the past few weeks of the North Central #ylfam community:

1. The Great Banquet
      Every YL camp does a giant banquet toward the end of the kids' week at camp. Our group of seniors decided to have the dream, the whimsy, and the heart to put a banquet on for the other students at North Central. They brought salad, pasta, bread, and desserts to feed a small army of high school kids. They decorated the room with lights and tablecloths. And because of their hard work and willingness to actually live a life that showed God's love for others, over 70 kids sat at those tables and ate and talked and broke bread together. To quote my area director, Jon: "It was a holy moment; an experience where God was vividly present & the light of Jesus was more powerful than the darkness of this world; a reminder that our faith should inspire us to dream, to create, and to act, just as these Seniors did and are doing everyday."

2. Our YL Harlem Shake video 
      It's all the rage everywhere. Google it. It's crazy. Obviously we jumped on the band wagon. The making of one of these videos is hilarious. Every just watches as one weird person dances and then everyone goes crazy. Who doesn't want to have a dance party with all of your closet friends?

3. All City Club at the Indiana Pacers Game

      A lot of times I forget that other people do Young Life around the city, the country, and the world. Until we all come together and I see my other college friends doing the same thing: sitting with a kid in the crowd at club or awkwardly being on stage trying to make kids laugh. And high schoolers are the same everywhere too. It's a reminder that this is something bigger than just me and the girls I know. Big picture, people, big picture. 

4. The Breakfast Club
      I think if there's any sort of theme from the last few weeks, it has been food. I believe in food. I believe in meal questions. I believe in eating together. Hence, Saturday Morning cartoons club, the perfect combination of cereal, pajamas, and Rugrats.

a skirt, some earrings, and straight hair.

A truth I know...

Sometimes putting on a dress and doing your hair can pick you up & make you feel better. Sometimes looking good is the incentive to get back on track.

Hence the cute outfits from Alpha Phi initiation brunch and my pale, pale sickish face from being ill for three days.

Fake it and make it, I say. Fake it and make it.