Making Wishes

Started this sometime last week or whenever I did that shoot with Mel recently. Finally got all the kinks out tonight. I am pleased.

I choose a copper coated Lincoln

Kiss him goodbye as I send his little head sinkin

Into a fountain, down, down he goes

I threw him in and I’m the only one who knows

A small fraction of a dollar, he’s just a penny

He’s one of my hundred wishes, yea I’ve got plenty

He falls to the bottom where he lies down to rest

Of my dreams I gave him my absolute best

He sleeps there nightly in his underwater bed

He’s only holding his breath; I know he’s not dead

I gaze just for a moment at that bronze faced man

Forever he’ll hold the wish that was once held in my hand

Fall Feelings

Went to the parking garage tonight. Didn't get very good pictures but it's better than nothing. I went up there to enjoy the view and perhaps read and/or write a little... But that didn't end up happening.

 

I stared at this most of the time.

 

Occasionally turning around to look at this.



And up of course.

 

I didn't stay long.

 

Later, Mom and I went to McDonalds to get ice cream cones. And fries. Good comfort food.

 

This morning I woke up to a dark bedroom, although on any normal day it would have been bright. But turns out, that it was cloudy and rainy ish. Sadly I missed pretty much all the rain, but we still had cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast. Yum.

I sat outside for a while attempting to write, but pretty much just ended up listening to the music I had playing.

I walked to the store to get a couple things to make taco soup for dinner and had one of those first "fall" feelings. The changing of seasons. It was stinkin hot out, but there was something in the air that made me feel like fall was near. Maybe the placement of the sun for the time of the day. Perhaps the clouds. Who knows. But it was lovely. And I can't wait for it to get sorta sunny California cold so I can wear jeans and scarves and hats. Woo.

 

 

My Experiences Are Shaping My Future

So I was looking through some old pictures and felt like sharing the following. Each one is from a key part of my life, or just a particular day that I love, or even one that I hope to have again in the future. (They are all from a year or two ago so nothing recent, really.)They all take me back to that moment, and each one helps to make up who I am, what I love, where I've been, and what I long for.

 

May 2011: In Kenya, on a safari.

 When I think of my time in Kenya, the first thing that comes to mind is "life changing". When I see this picture and my expression and body language, I think "bliss". I think of how much I loved that place.

July 2010: At a friend's house in Oregon.

I don't know who took this picture but I love it because it captures the fun of that evening. (Or at least it reminds me of it)The boys were climbing the tree and the rest of us were just having fun. That summer screams "freedom" to me. Free and fun and full of hope.

Summer 2010: At the Portland Saturday Market with my sister. 

The Saturday Market is one of the coolest, "out there", smelly(in good ways and bad), artsy, creatively wonderful places I have experienced. Sadly we only went once, but it was wonderful. Portland just seems to me "whatever you want it to be" or "whoever you want to be". People are so weird but chill up there. I just love it.

October 2010: Day at the beach with Ignite friends 

 Alyssa snapped this as I ran on the beach. I loved this day. There was a lovely sunset, and I really felt God's presence. I decided to run back to where the group was and it felt so exhilerating! When I see this pic, it just screams "free" to me. It also makes me think of my time in Ignite as a whole, which I see as "transformation".

May 2011: Kenya

 I just love this picture and even more so, this day. Each of us had one, two, or even three kids hanging on us as we walked as a huge group to an open field. There we played games, volleyball(best game ever), girls got their hair braided. This is where I witnessed a young girl split one tiny candy into three parts so her two friends could enjoy it with her. This is where I laughed as the girls were surrounded by at least six children each, as their hair was pulled in multiple directions. And this is where we played the most fun volleyball game ever with a bunch of Kenyan men. I love it.

2009?? Warner Pacific College, Portland, Oregon.

 I can't remember what year it was but this was the second time we visited this school. The first time was two years before(I think??) when Bre was looking at colleges. Not sure on the time. Whenever it was that we first visited the school, I loved it. I felt at home there. The second time I went, it was for me to check it out. It still felt good, and I was accepted but I chose to do the Ignite program instead. But here I am three years later... and I still think about it. I still dream of what it would be like to go there and do their Urban Studies program, in Portland. When I think of going to Warner I think "opportunity" and "making my dreams a reality"... It scares me but excites me just the same.

Dec 2010: River of Refuge Project, Kansas City, Missouri.

I love this picture because it shows me doing work! We were helping a church transform an old hospital into apartment buildings for underprivileged families. As you can tell we were still in the very early stages, but they've come a long way in the last year and a half. I think back to KC and I think "experience". This was my first real missions trip and I think of it fondly. It was an experience working in the city with people and for people that are hurting and need hope.

Each of these experiences have helped shape me into the person I am today. A lot has happened since the most recent of these photos(May 2011) that have also done a work on me, but I am still sorting through these things and trying to learn from them. Right now I look at these older photos and I realize how they have shaped me and how they are going to shape my future. Whether I'm working in Portland, serving in the inner city somewhere in the midwest, or spreading God's hope to people of other nations, each of these passions will guide me further into God's plan for me.

A Taste of Kenya

I met a man at a bible study in Wisconsin this summer. He shared that his son and daughter in law were going to Kenya for six months(I think). I asked him about it and he shared their blog with me, and every so often I check and see what they are up too. You can see read their blog here if you are interested. They posted this video a while ago, but I wanted to post it here because it so captures what life in Kenya is like. I love it. (Apparently, I posted the video including their playlist, you can watch them but I only meant for the first one to play. Sorry bout that)



The music, dancing, sights, skies, beautiful people. This really is a great video of life in Nairobi, Kenya and the surrounding areas.
1:05, definitely used a "toilet" like that a couple times. I'm pretty sure that I went down the streets in the driving scenes. It looks so familiar. The glass soda bottles at 4:24 ish and the meat hanging at 4:30... it seems like such a long time ago, but I can still remember it clear as day.

It's Time

So I've been listening to this band called Imagine Dragons a lot today. I heard a song I liked at a store the other day and wrote down some lyrics so I could look it up later and see who made that lovely music. It ended up being this band and the song called It's Time. And sadly, really I am very sad, I hated the music video! At first it seemed like it was the wrong setting for the type of music they were playing(It was all dark and stormy). It seemed like they should have been playing metal or something heavy. And then it totally goes off in this other direction and they find these glowing bulbs, bury them in the ground, and then they explode and the dude goes flying. Really weird. Maybe I'm missing the artistic side of this or something, but it was disappointing for how much I enjoyed their music. And I can honestly say that I really like every song on their Continued Silence EP, especially one called On Top of the World. It is really quite so lovely.

BUT! after doing a little more searching on youtube, I found this lovely little thing. I think this should be the official music video. It's just awesome. It makes me want to see them live. Yay.




On another note, I've been reading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. It's a truly wonderful book, good for any woman. There is so much good advice, biblical and personal, along with practical applications. A few things have stuck out to me while reading...

"God says that he will thwart our efforts to find life apart from him... He does this in order to wear us out, get us to turn back to him in thirsty longing. Then he begins to woo us. He often takes us aside from every other source of comfort so that he alone can have our heart's attention."

This is scary to me but also so lovely. Frighteningly true because I have experienced this many a time(you'd think I would get the point by now, ha!), and wonderful for the reason why he does it. Because he loves us. Tremendously. To be wooed by God and taken away(for a short time or permanently) from the things we hold too much value in, in order that our heart's will focus on only him. It sucks at times, but I'm grateful. Sometimes I forget the importance, the value, the amazingness of him who has created me.

O something cool that happened today. I had been reading the book and for a while it had been talking about how women are beautiful and we get our beauty(among other things) from the Lord because he is beautiful. Without really knowing it, this had been on my heart, wondering what other specific things I had gotten from the Lord, but I guess not really grasping it all. And all of a sudden he spoke to me, "You are a creature. You were created. You love creating, and so too, do I." This was so special to me! As an artistic person, it's true, I love to create things, and I love what I create. And by God telling me that I was created, and that he loves to create, he was saying that he loved creating me! First off, this just makes my heart glad, that the God of Heaven took pleasure in creating me and making me exactly who I am. And second, I feel like I have a special connection with him. I get my creativity from my creator. He creates all kinds of wonderful things and he has also put that gift in me to do the same thing. How lovely. Just Yay.

And on top of that, there is this:
"Instead of making me into someone else, he is making me more me. And that is one of the beautiful things about him. That the more his we become, the more ourselves we become; more our true selves."
 The more we grow close to him, the more we grow into who we truly are. I just think that's beautiful. Especially for everyone(myself included) that occasionally(or more often than we'd like to admit) wonders who the heck they are, or what kind of person they are meant to be, etc. We need to stop worrying about it! And become more his. Then you will become more you and I will become more me. 

This is how I feel tonight>>>>
"Praise be to to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me."!!! Psalm 31:21 With exclamations at the end :)

And this empowers me whenever I see it. No it's not talking about an actual woman, but o well.>>>
"God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day." Psalm 46:5

Yay.

Green Eyes

I took a picture of myself the other day when Mel and I hung out. My eyes looked super green and it made me think of this song.
Love me some Coldplay.

We Are Beauties

So today was quite delightful. Melissa and I hung out around downtown La Verne this afternoon and had a splendid time. We sat in Granny's Yogurt for quite some time, not talking much because I was sorta out of it, but we took a few pictures and she got some yogurt.

 

 

Then we walked around ULV, admiring the campus, enjoying the weather, and being silly us. We took a bunch of pictures, a lot of which are on my facebook.

 

 

We stopped and chilled at the fountain, where we both threw pennies and made wishes.

 After all that fun, we headed to the park behind the high school to take some more pics.

 

This girl, she gets me. She knows me as well as I know myself. Always knows what will make me feel better. Always gives the best and funniest advice. I couldn't have asked for a better, more beautiful(inside and out) friend.