Somewhere in a Far Away Place...

Marathon Training

2012-02-13T17:28:00.000-05:00

So it's official. On March 25, 2012 at 8:30am I will be standing on the starting line for a marathon in Barcelona, Spain. I know, super crazy. Some of you already knew this but others maybe not. I've not really made a big deal about it because up until a few weeks ago I hadn't registered or bought plane tickets. But as of today I officially purchased my tickets and made hotel reservations. It is quite a crazy feeling. I have always thought about running a marathon. And to be honest, I secretly, since I was 18 I wanted my first marathon to be with my brother, John. He and I always shared the same love for running and I knew that when we got older he would train and run one with me. But unfortunately that will never happen and since he past away a few years ago the thought of actually running a marathon hadn't appealed to me that strongly. And then I came to Spain. And I had a ton of time on my hands and got tired of sitting in my room. And then I met my friend Georgia and her goal was to run a marathon in Europe while we were here for 10 months. So I thought about it and decided that I would train.

I've been training since October and the experience of the training itself has been incredible. Granada has actually proved itself to be a perfect place to train and I have been able to explore parts inside and outside of the city I doubt I would have ever found. And as painful as it is to wake up early on Saturday mornings to go for my long run, once i'm out the door it is all totally worth it! I have listened to many pump up music playlists, This American Life podcasts, and spent hours in discussion and story telling with Georgia. The set up for training couldn't have been any more perfect. I have all the time in the world to train and motivation to do so. And although I didn't think i was going to be running a marathon anytime soon, much less in Spain of all places, I am so glad I made the choice to train.

Also, check out this starting line/finish line... unbelievable.

this is the Magic Fountain. that is it's real name, in english.

and check out this course map. It runs you right past all of the awesome spots in Barcelona. And the course is relatively flat. The fun part about doing this race in Europe, besides just all of it, is that the race will be measured in Kilometers which means instead of running 26.2 miles i'm running 42.195 kilometers. Haven't figured out if this is a good or bad thing. I guess we shall see. I've been training in miles only because i have no idea what my 'kilometer pace' is or let alone what my 5k time. Basically my goal is to cross the finish line.

I can't wait. 4 of Georgia and I's friends are coming with us to cheer us on. Now all I have to do is stay injury free.

So. Fired. Up

Climbed Some Rocks. And It Was Fun

2012-02-13T17:02:00.001-05:00

Last week was my first full week back to classes and the start of my SECOND semester in Spain. Unbelievable. It was one of the longest weeks I have had since being here. But I did get to go rock climbing on Saturday. Of course, I got to go after completing a 14 mile run. Let's just say getting out of bed on Sunday was quite the chore but so incredibly worth it. Forgive how I look in these pictures. i forgot bobby bins to pin back my hair so i resorted to a hat to keeping all of my hairs in their place.

this was my view. all day.

i love these pics. total butt shots

Granada is at the foot of those mountains. i'm so lucky.

the best one of them all...bwahaha

An incredible day. so nice to get out of the city after a long first week of classes!

A Breath of Fresh Air

2012-02-02T06:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I started out February the right way by skiing in the Sierra Nevadas just outside of Granada with about 8 friends. I am terrible about taking people pictures so I don't even have a group photo. I always forget, especially if I am distracted by my surroundings. My program director and one of his friends drove us up for the day.

As you can tell by the pics below there wasn't much snow but they had done a great job of making snow all season and so almost the whole mountain was open.

My favorite part of any ski resort is the view from the highest point. And yesterday did not disappoint. A few of my friends had never skied before so I took them to the Bunny hill and gave them a few lessons. But after about an hour or so I was itching to head to the top. So 4 of us left the beginners to practice their technique and headed onward. We got to the very top and we could see the ocean and Morocco. It was insane. I couldn't stop staring at the view. And on the other side was Granada and smaller mountain peaks as far as the eye could see. It seriously felt like a National Geographic special.

The day ended up being pretty expensive but it definitely worth it. It is unbelievable how perfect Granada has been. I love being outdoors and here, the ocean, mountains, hiking, and fantastic views are only minutes away. I am so thankful for my time here and can't believe I still have 4 months to go!

Mark, Georgia, Zach

Me and Zach at the top of the World

it really was a perfect day

just staring at Africa. no big deal

research center

Look closely. the shiny part in the middle is the ocean, and beyond if you look really hard you can see mountain peaks in Morocco. no joke.

My Real Problem

2012-01-28T09:42:00.000-05:00

"Moods are worth my attention. I am discovering during these first few weeks in Genesee that I am subject to very different moods, often changing very quickly. Feelings of depressive fatigue, of low self-esteem, of boredom, feelings aslo of anger, irritation, and direct hostility, and feelings of gratitude, joy, and excitement- they can all be there, sometimes even during one day. I have the feeling that these quickly changing moods show how attached I really am to the things given me: a friendly gesture, pleasant work, a word of praise, a good book, etc. Little things can quickly change sadness into joy, disgust into contentment, and anger into understanding or compassion. Somewhere during these weeks I read that sadness is the result of attachment. detached people are not the easy victims of good or bad events in their surroundings and can experience a certain sense of equilibrium. I have the feeling that this is an important realization for me. When my manual work does not interest me, I become bored, then quickly irritated and sometimes even angry, telling myself I am wasting my time. When I read a book that fascinates me, I become so involved that times runs fast, people seem friendly, my stay here worthwhile, and everything one big happy event.

Of course both "moods" are manifestations of false attachments and show how far I am from a healthy form of "indifference." Thinking about all of this, I guess my main problem still is I have not really made prayer my priority. Still the only reasons I am here-I mean the only reason I should be here- is to learn to pray. But, in fact, much of what I am doing is motivated by many other concerns: getting back in shape, learning some skills, knowing more about the birds and the trees, getting to know interesting people, and picking up many ideas and experiences for future teaching. But if prayer were my only concern, all of these other things could be received as free gifts. Now, however, I am obsessed by these desires which are false, not in themselves, but by their being in the wrong place in the hierarchy of values. That, I guess, is the cause of my moodiness. For the time being it seems so important to at least be aware of it."

-Excerpt from The Genessee Diary by Henri Nouwen

More than Just Words

2012-01-19T13:53:00.000-05:00

I am currently in my second week of a 3 week long intensive spanish language course. I go to a class 5 days a week for 4 hours straight with one 15 minute break. It is intense (haha) but so worth it. I feel like I have learned so much in just 9 days of class. But I guess that is the point. The last two days of class have been even more intense than the rest. Mostly because my professor started teaching us how to do and say things like a local person would. Strange sounding, I know. I have been here for about 5 months and somehow i hadn't learned a lot of this stuff.

A language is not just words, it is a culture. To understand the language you almost HAVE to understand the culture. Learning a language is one thing but learning how to use it correctly is an entirely different thing. One of the hardest adjustments for me in learning/applying Spanish is that the biggest difference is the manner in which Spanish people are polite. Let me explain.

As Americans who speak English we put a lot of emphasis on saying things like 'please, and thank you very much, and sir, and ma'am. We use big words and try to dance around being as direct as possible when asking for stuff from somebody we don't know. Not the spanish. They are very direct people. So when you go to a restaurant/bar/grocery store you don't really say 'please' or 'may i please have' you actually mostly use the command form of the words, meaning you are direct and to the point. The 'niceness' comes in the intonation of your voice, not the words you use. I have been learning about this concept since 8th grade but it wasn't until i was faced with putting it into practice here that I realized just how different that is. I still feel so weird saying things like 'me pone un cafe' or 'me traes la cuenta.' (simply translated into 'bring me a/the_________.) you can say please but not many people do. It is so weird.

It has been such a great experience to studying in Spain. To learn the culture, to understand a way of life very different from my own. And to be able to travel to places I have only dreamed about is pretty awesome. Honestly never thought i might one day get to lay on a beach in Portugal, swim in the Mediterranean Sea, stand under the Eifel Tower, eat raw oysters out of ocean off the coast of France, take the sound of music tour, go on a winery tour through the Tuscany region in Italy and so much more. I'm sure some of you are probably fuming with jealousy right now. But I don't apologize :) I am so excited and thankful for this opportunity and the things I have learned so far and the things i have yet to learn/experience.

And to think I still have 5 months left to enjoy of my experience. I feel like the luckest girl in the world right now.

Untitled

2012-01-15T13:54:00.001-05:00

(sunset in Granada, Spain 12/15/2011)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

– Miriam Beard

Do Like The French Do

2012-01-09T17:02:00.001-05:00

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. There is so much to say. I spent a long time thinking about what to write and I settled on just writing it all. So i shall start at the very beginning because, well, that is a very good place to start.

I left Salzburg Christmas evening to rendezvous with Georgia, a friend of mine I met in Granada, in Paris at 12 on the 26th of December. To give you a quick summary Georgia knew a few French girls she had met in August in Madrid and they invited her to come visit them over xmas break. Georgia really didn't even know them that well but wanted to visit and I asked if I could come along. I ended up leaving my phone in Madrid on accident and had no idea what time Georgia's flight was landing or even what airport she was flying into. So, once again, I just boarded the train and figured I would come up with a plan the next day. Upon arrival to Paris I procured a map, bought 3euro wireless and proceeded to try to contact Georgia. It was a fail. Greatest part was i didn't even know her cell number. But thankfully, while on Facebook my program director in Granada was online and I asked him to give me her number. And i bought a phone card and gave Georgia a call. She was waiting at the Paris-Beauvais airport which if anybody has every flown in there then you know, it is really not in Paris but an hour and a half outside the city. It is the 'economy' airport. Unfortunately i had no idea where that was so I told her to just meet me under the Eifel Tower. You know, like you do. So cliche but it was the only thing I could think to do. So 3 hours later.....Georgia finally got to the tower. She then told me we had to go to the Notre Dame to meet the girls and their parents. So, we hopped back on the metro and headed to the Notre Dame.

We were 45 minutes late, but thankfully, they were still there. 2 French girls ages 22 and 20 and their parents (who didn't speak much English at all) greeted us with lots of kisses on the cheeks and excited smiles. The mom and daughters knew some spanish so for 2 days we mostly spoke in Spanish. It was so weird but so cool. The parents had rented an apartment in Paris for 2 nights and immediately began touring us around the city in their mini-van. It was amazing. I knew I was going to love the trip from that moment on. We drove around a lot and visited so many famous things. Then went to a mass (they are vey catholic) and saw Paris by night. Then headed back to the tiny and very cute apartment. The next day we tried to go to the Louvre but it was closed so we took lots of pictures and went to the Sainte Chapelle instead. Drove around some more and walked a bunch. In the evening we made it to the Galleries Lafayette, very famous department store mall in Paris. They still had all of the lights and Christmas tree up. Just about the prettiest thing I have ever seen. I couldn't stop smiling and taking pictures. We ended our visit by going up to the roof of the mall and seeing a panoramic view of Paris once again. It was incredible. Then we were informed by the girls that we were going to their friend Claire's house for dinner. We ate dinner with 6 other french people our age in a cute apartment house in Paris. It was indescribably amazing. The next day we drove to their house near Vannes in the Brittany region of France. 5 hour drive. And on the way we casually just stopped at the Palace of Versailles. One great thing about being a student is that I get into almost all museums and major monuments for FREE!!!! and especially so when I am with native french/spanish speakers. So we literally ran through the Palace for an hour. It was unreal. I couldn't stop laughing in disbelief. Then back to the car.

I should say that the whole trip (2 weeks) i never knew what we were going to do until about 5 minutes before we were going to go do it. This was very freeing and a lot of fun.

We arrived at their French country cottage. Georgia and I couldn't believe how french it was. It looked like the house in The Holiday, only cooler and of course, french. And the surprises kept getting better and better. The dad played the accordion, painted, made his own jam and cider and was so excited about the little things in life. Their mom was super hospitable and always wanted to make sure we felt at home. The dad had rigged up a sound system and dance party lights in the small cottage and so everyday when he wasn't playing the accordion for us, we had crazy spontaneous dance parties.

Everyday for the next 5 days we had 2 full course meals including appetizers and post meal wine and cheese. We attended a New Years Eve party with the girls friends, ran in the french countryside, visited many famous places, took pictures on the beach, hunted oysters and ate them raw, saw WW2 remnants, stayed up late giggling and laughing, shopped for New Years apparel, and did so many french things i lost count. The girls had 2 another friend over during New Years. The party we went to was so much fun. I danced real dances with a french boy who lead very well thankfully. Also watched several people jump into the Atlantic Ocean before midnight. It was super fun.

One day they all asked me to teach them a Texas song (sorry NC but nobody really knows where you are) and so of course, I taught them "Deep in the Heart of Texas." Listening to french people sing this song brought a few tears to my eyes. We also taught them the Electric Slide. it was epic.

After about 5 days it was time to say goodbye to the family and head to Rennes where one of the girls goes to college. We stayed in her apartment for the next 4 days. We went to an anatomy class in french (Georgia got in trouble for accidentally yawning), ran along the beautiful river, went out with her friends, went to Mount St. Michel, and cooked a lot of fun meals. It was like a dream, the best I've ever had.

Last friday Georgia and I returned to Paris for the day. We spent the afternoon at the Louvre. I saw the Mona Lisa and many many other famous paintings I thought I would never see. We then spent the night in a hotel that felt like a dirty cruise ship before catching a 9am flight to Madrid the next day.

That is but a short summary of my time in Northern France. It was so amazing. I had a 2 week crash course in french, realized how much I had missed butter, fell in love with all things French, learned a lot about myself and saw things I have only ever dreamed about. It was truly an incredible time that I will not soon forget. An experience like that is hard to match. And I hope very much to see the Robino family again. I am forever thankful for their hospitality to us.

Palace at Versailles

country cottage

super cool beach

double rainbow

Carnac

one of the very beautiful churches we went to. I took so many pictures of stained glass windows on this trip i feel like need to create a photo album of them all.

we found this while shoe shopping (obviously). I had just taught everybody my Texas song.

L-R (Floraine, Valentine, Amélie)

cottage exterior

the little tiny village we stayed in

fresh oysters! i ate them

mont st. michel. super cool. very windy

french castle

Now, I am back in Granada. I started classes today. Hard to believe i still (and only) have 5 full months left! whoah.

Christmas Town

2012-01-09T15:35:00.001-05:00

I spent Christmas 2011 in Salzburg, Austria. And although it was quite strange to be far, far away from my family, Salzburg was a great experience. I went for 4 days alone and stayed in a hostel. Crazy, I know. I have traveled a lot by myself but never stayed anywhere alone. It was quite the experience.

I arrived in Salzburg after an overnight layover in Amsterdam in which i properly curled up in a corner with earplugs, a jacket for a blanket and my backpack for a pillow. I surprisingly slept 5 hours straight. it was awesome. Landed in Salzburg, Austria at 9am in the morning with no map, no idea how to get to my hostel and no idea how to speak any German. I promptly ran away from the very drunk Spanish musician who sat next to me on the flight and professed his love for me over and over. I even had to lie to him and tell him i had a boyfriend so he would leave me alone. The whole experience was rather comical. Anyways, got off the plane and vaguely remembered that I could take bus #2 into town but i had no idea where to get off. So, I boarded bus 2, road for about 20 minutes and hopped off. Then walked into a coffee shop, drank an expresso and gathered myself. I was alone, with no directions and it felt amazing. The ground was snow covered, temps around freezing and it was misting slightly. After the coffee I left the cafe and just started walking in the direction of the most people. I eventually rounded a corner and saw Salzburg. And I laughed out loud. It was seriously like being in a movie. The city was snow covered and beautiful. I immediately recognized the skyline b/c of the Sound of Music (parts of the movie were filmed here). I walked along the river until I came into town. First order of business was to obtain a map. After that I was golden. I immediately found the Christmas markets after accidentally walking by Mozart's birthplace of course. If you don't know anything about these Christmas markets they are literally what I imagine when I imagine Christmas. It was the most Christmasy place I have ever been. Eventually, I went to the hostel, dropped my bags and headed back out for a tour of the town. I spent the entire day alone, wandering the streets of Salzburg and then went for a snowy hike above the city. The weather was terrible but somehow made the experience feel that much more amazing.

That night I met a girl from China and we discussed Chinese politics. It was, special. I went to bed at 9pm i was so exhausted. The next morning I woke up early for my 9am SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!!!!! I could hardly eat breakfast b/c i was so excited. I love the movie and never thought in a million years I would visit Salzburg. The great thing was I booked the tour with Bob's tours. They take small vans of people on tours instead of giant tour buses. There was an Australian girl named Tish on my tour. She was my age. There was also a very snobby American couple on the trip. The weather was absolutely terrible but even that couldn't surpress my excitement.

I ate dinner in the hostel that night with Tish and we met more Australians. And that evening I took my first official verbal beating from a drunk Australian political science major about how terrible America is and how we need to get our act together. It was quite exhausting but i was quite impressed with myself.

The next day was Christmas Eve. And that was when I met Harry from England at breakfast. We ended up spending the next 2 days together. Super fun. Toured the fortress of Salzburg, went for coffee, rambled around the Christmas markets. Perfect. Also met 2 Australian boys who had just finished high school and were traveling around before college. I ended up eating Christmas lunch at an Indian restaurant with them. They wore light up santa hats all day. It ended up being a wonderful Christmas. Salzburg is a wonderful city that I hope to visit again very soon.

first view

Christmas market

Mozart birthplace

Sound of Music tour!!!!!!

SOM tour

yes, the gazebo

Red Bull Headquarters. i know, random

apple strudel in vanilla sauce.

churched used to film the wedding in SOM

interior

the fountain the kids danced around and sang "Do-Re-Mi"

The abbey where all the exterior shots from SOM were filmed

Harry and I atop the Fortress

we have many nutcrackers at my house in Texas. so I felt right at home

It was such a fantastic trip. One of my favorite parts was that Christmas Eve they have a tradition where they fire cannons off the Fortress walls for about 30 minutes. They are super loud and fun to watch. Also, all afternoon/evening of Christmas Eve and all Christmas Day the church bells are ringing all across the city. It was so very magical. I went to midnight mass in the oldest church in Salzburg. So perfect. I even got to skype with my family on Christmas Day. And then, Christmas night, I took a train to Paris. I know, totally awesome.

Come on! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!

2011-12-04T18:13:00.000-05:00

It is Christmas season again. Growing up this meant all the usual, putting up our tree, fighting over colored or white lights, decorating the tree (including outlines of all of our hands dating back to 1993 or 94), making cookies, and of course...my favorite....watching Christmas movies!!!!!!!!!

Watching Christmas movies might be one of my favorite parts about Christmas. I think it was mostly because we had a special Christmas movie box that lived in the attic 10 and 1/2 months out of the year. We like to watch a lot of movies in our family. This tradition usually involved (and still does) everybody fighting for a spot on the couch and then impatiently waiting while somebody makes a batch of raw chocolate chip cookie dough. Yep, i can't ever remember a time that that raw chocolate chip cookie dough ever went into the oven in my house growing up. We just like the dough, raw eggs and all and wash it down with a tall glass of water, b/c the water, it gets rid of the raw egg effects.

During Christmas movie watching was particularly amazing for me because i memorized the entire contents of the box and always knew which movies I wanted to watch as soon as the box was out of the attic. Here are a few of my favs...

obvious classic. leg lamp and all

as much as i love this movie, it always makes me sad and depressed. but i watch it anyways!

another obvious no brainer. possibly my overall favorite.

dur

Jonathan Taylor Thomas. my sisters and I were in love

RUDOLPH!!! my fav of the claymation and i love the soundtrack.

how could you not love Yukon Cornelius

if you have never seen this one, you should

really just liked the first one. we saw it opening day in theaters

Favorite old classic

Starting this year I am adding the NBC show 'Community's Christmas claymation episode to the line up.

I am a claymation junkie. Seriously. So when Community did a claymation spoof, I knew that all of my enjoyment of childhood claymation Christmas specials had payed off.

This year is the first year I will not go home for Christmas and it has been pretty hard to think about. I miss my family like crazy this year. And honestly I just love going home for Christmas. We (my mother) always makes it extra special in some way or another. I love that most all of my family comes into town and gets together and eats way too much guacamole and queso (even if we are eating things like ham or BBQ). And then, there is always family Christmas Brunch! which is to die for. No joke. People wish that they were part of our family just to enjoy this. I am crying right now just at the thought of missing it.

This year I will be spending Christmas in Salzburg, Austria. By myself for 4 days. I think it will be an interesting time with the possibility for lots of adventures. My first European trip by myself. Anytime I tell people this they immediately give me the 'awww. how sad' response. But heck, i will be in Austria, with snow, and Christmas markets, and in the town they filmed The Sound of Music in, and having lots of adventures. And heck, it is only for one year. And it just means that maybe next year will be extra special.

-----------------

never underestimate the power of claymation Christmas movies. ever.

The Double Nickel

2011-12-03T14:16:00.000-05:00

Today is my dad's birthday! and thanks to the marvels of modern technology and good internet acces I just spent an hour on skype with him and my sister Anne. At the end of the call, Anne whipped out a piece of his favorite cake and I was able to help her sing happy birthday to him. I'm sure it made his day but to be truthful, it also made mine.

That's me in the bottom left hand corner singing loudly.

I love my Dad. He is the greatest dad in the whole entire world. I know no one else like him.
I am so very lucky!

¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!

Is this Real Life?

2011-11-23T16:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I drove to Madrid to watch a Real Madrid soccer game. Yes, you did just read that sentence correctly. I drove. 4 of my friends and I rented a car and drove to Madrid for the day. It was epic. I was the only one who knew how to drive a manual so I was entrusted with the task of the 9 hour round trip drive.

This is what I drove:

6am. ready to leave Granada!!

It was so crazy to not have driven for 3 months and then all of the sudden be driving a manual Volkswagen van on a highway in Spain and through the streets of Madrid. I learned a lot about European driving. And while driving around in Granada at very early hours in the morning that street signs just do not apply to you.

We arrived in Madrid around 11:30am yesterday. In Spain, the rest stops consist of a hotel/gas station with a cafe next door and you go in, sit down, drink a coffee, eat a snack, converse and then leave. Stopping is typically a big ordeal and when you do stop it isn't just for a bathroom break. I quite enjoyed this style of traveling.

While in Madrid my 4 friends went and toured the stadium where Real Madrid plays before the game. I wanted to be completely shocked and awed when I entered for the game later so I opted out of the tour. Instead, I happened upon a Starbucks (go ahead, criticize away) and sat there reading and journaling for several hours.

When the tour was over a few of us headed over the Prado art museum via the metro. We eventually all met up for dinner. The entire day at different times somebody would spontaneously shout out "Ahh! I'm so excited!!" nobody could contain their excitement. My friend, Charles, had dreamed about this moment since he was little kid. The build up of excitement before the game was just as fun as the game itself.

For dinner we ate at and 50's American themed diner. Yes, more America. It is hard to just drop your greasy habits cold turkey. They had everything you could think of. Onion rings, french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, milk shakes. I had a BLT with REAL BACON and onion rings. And they were actually the 3rd best onion rings I have ever had in my life. No joke. I was so mesmerized by it all I didn't not get any pictures. After we finished eating we all felt like crap but were satisfied. I talked about that meal all day.

Then came the moment we had all been waiting for. We walked over the stadium and took a few pics outside before wondering indoors. I'll never forget walking through the door and seeing the field/inside of the stadium for the first time. It was gigantic and incredible and I kept having to pinch myself.

And our seats were first row at mid field. It was unreal. We watched both teams warm up and then watched Real Madrid massacre the other team 6-2. They scored 4 goals in the first 20 minutes. It was so fun.

anxiously waiting to go inside

warm it up!

right by the action the whole time

yes, it was raining and cold. but i didn't mind a bit

this is apparently when we were on tv

the crew

so many security personel

parting shot

After the game we exited with the masses and went over to a bar/cafe we had visited earlier on that day. I had a pre-drive coffee and we all watched the highlights of the game we had just attended. It made me very much understand the atmosphere of soccer.

Then we headed for the car and proceeded to get very turned around in the streets of Madrid. Finally, I made it back onto the highway headed home. Then the torrential downpour started and didn't stop until about an hour away from home at which point the stars all came out and it was absolutely gorgeous.

We pulled into Granada at 4:30am exhausted but satisfied. I didn't walk in my door until a little after 5am . But don't worry! I still made it to my 9am class!

This was an experience that I will not soon forget. It still seems so crazy but I have the pictures to prove I was there!

Why yes. This is España

2011-11-16T08:58:00.002-05:00

Found this today in our pantry here in Spain. I think this was that moment when I realized I am, in fact, in Spain. it is ok to be a little jealous...

*i apologize to all the vegetarians in the world. And while i respect your decision wholeheartedly, you sure are missing out on some things.

Los Cahorros y Las Alpujarras

2011-11-12T15:58:00.001-05:00

I never have school on Fridays and I have been sticking close to Granada the past few weeks so this week I decided to do a little hiking. A 30 minute bus ride from the city that cost 1.30 euro took me here...

Indiana Jones bridge

part of the trail was a single track concrete trail and they had these handholds hammered into the side of the valley to help you along.

we made 2 frieds that day. This cow and our new Australian friend, Jack.

this would be when we took a wrong turn and got 'lost'

then decided take a break and turn around. none of us had the desire to spend the night in the woods without supplies.

Then today my program took everybody to the Alpujarras. Picturesque mountain villages about an hour outside of Granada. Unbelievably gorgeous. At one point, while tucked far away into the mountains you can see the Mediterranean Sea and if you go high enough, you can see Africa. I didn't see Africa but I saw this...

my favorite

a local carpet making workshop. pretty cool

The last two days have been just what I needed. And I still have one day left to rest. So amazed by this place in which I get to live for 10 months..

Esperanza Rising

2011-11-11T05:14:00.001-05:00

November. Still a dreaded month in my family. Actually, the beginning of several sad months in my family. What used to be the absolute happiest time of the year for me is now coupled with unbelievable amount of sadness. We are about to hit the 2 year mark of John being gone. And honestly, the 2 year feels way worse than the 1 year. Because it is real. Because I am actually processing. Because I am in a foreign country. Because I won't even go home for the holidays this year. Because a piece of my family is still missing.

Also, this year is probably the first time I am truly grieving John's death. That I am truly sitting in it, thinking about it in a healthy way. And the ironic thing is, I am far far away from anyone who could help me walk through it but yet somehow, it is better this way. Because it forces me to sit not only with my sadness but to sit holding the hand of Jesus only. It has been a gift to hear his voice very clearly. To truly trust his presence and what he has me here in Spain for. And in the midst of all of my sadness and homesickness, I am finding joy. Not happiness, but joy. I cannot do this feeling justice with words but I will say that I feel, for the first time since my brother died, like I am waking up. And who knew it would take leaving every comfortable thing and person behind to make it happen? Jesus did. He knew that I was strong enough to go, to be here in a foreign land. And so, I am here. And it took me a semester almost to get to this point of understanding and obviously it is not like I will reach an end and have complete understanding but I have a Hope (esperanza) and Trust (confianza) in someone is who is way bigger than I am. Thank goodness.

So this November I will cry a lot and laugh a lot because I will remember all of the crazy awesome things about John Noll and his 16 years on earth. Because I sill miss his laugh a whole lot, his sometimes obnoxious whistling and singing, his jorts, his hatred for technology, his simplicity of life, his extreme love for all things outdoors, his kind spirit and his love for his family and heart for serving Christ.

And also making movies of him and with him. I am glad that I have these kinds of things to remember about him. and yep, the movies are real grainy. It was the year 2008 and my camera stunk.

Boone, NC. my senior trip with the fam. John used to laugh so hard he couldn't talk.

part 1 of a movie for John's spanish class. I was 18. Too embarrassed to show part 2

Paella!

2011-11-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my program director took us to a small pueblo outside of Granada and had some of his friends teach us how to make a traditional Spanish dish called 'paella.' It is basically composed of rice, meat, tomatoes, parsley, white wine, garlic, onions, green peppers, red peppers, dried peppers, olive oil, and a few other ingredients. I took notes and hopefully, when I come back to the US I can just travel around and have Paella Parties for everyone. Paella, sangria, and story time.

Anyway, it was a gorgeous day. A little on the chilly side but the hot spanish sun helped warm things up a bit. And if any of you have ever watched Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations, I felt like I was in my own personal episode of the show. It was fantastic! The two ladies who taught us how to make paella were great and i stood by the fire the whole time and they would tell me exactly what they were doing. I have had a few different paellas since arriving in Spain and this one was by far my favorite.

I know all of you love my pictures so here are few from yesterday. I wish I could live this life everyday that I am here..

the beginnings..

fresh 'granadas' (pomegranates)

i chopped all of the onions.

getting closer..

bam! finished product. i stuffed my face

a few pics from our post-lunch walk

Next week, we go hiking in the mountains. I can not wait..

Nature is a Powerful Force

2011-11-01T17:55:00.001-04:00

I was here just a few short weeks ago....

This is unbelievable and so sad. Lots of torrential rainfall caused massive mudslides and caused extreme damage to a few of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre, Italy. Cars, boats, furniture all washed out to sea. The town of Monterosso literally doesn't even exist anymore. So many videos of complete and utter devastation. whoah.

That Day We Walked Off The Map

2011-10-31T17:16:00.001-04:00

Today was one of the best days I have had since coming to Spain. And that is saying something considering I have done some unbelievably amazing things.

We had a five day weekend this weekend (yes Mom and Dad, I am actually learning things). Most of my friends traveled to other places across Europe this weekend. I spent a fare amount of money in Italy and decided it would be best to maybe stay put in Granada and explore the city a little. So Friday, I shopped. For anyone that really knows me it is like pulling teeth to get me to go shopping a lot of the times. Especially when I have to spend money. But not this time. I spent the entire day in and out of stores trying on cute clothes. It was so fun. I even bought things! Saturday we went on a group tour of a neighbor in the area. Sunday I slept in and spent the day mostly around the house. But today, my friends Sam, Georgia, Molly, and I decided we needed to go hiking. Music to my ears. The only thing was we had no plan. I had heard there was some hiking within walking distance from the city center so we decided to just start walking and see where we ended up. So we picked a direction and started walking. And this is where we ended up...

Yeah. How crazy is it that I can literally walk out my front door and end up here by foot. I would do this everyday if time allowed. Since being here I have realized how much I long to be outside. How much I love the mountains. And that I have a God who has been gracious to me and knows that I love being out in the world he created. It was no accident I grew up going to Colorado, that I landed in Asheville, NC for college and that now I am in Granada, Spain at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Call it what you want, but I believe it is all purposeful and not just a coincidence.

A smile has not left my face all day. I am already planning how fast I can get back up into those hills. Because my heart is not satisfied in the city. It never will be. I crave space, greenery, mountains, and fresh air. I love nature because I cannot ignore the hand that created it. I cannot ignore the face of Jesus when I am amongst his creation. I am blessed to have to opportunity to be in the very middle of it.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display his knowledge.

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard. Their

voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

-Psalm 19:1-4

Today

2011-10-28T19:51:00.004-04:00

This is what I looked at today

It was pretty cool. Also pretty cool to know that I moved from one mountain town to another.
Although, today, while shopping I did see a guy's shirt in english that said "Appalachian Trail: Extreme hiking" and my heart and my stomach hurt a little bit. And that is when I knew, Asheville North Carolina has stolen a piece of my heart forever and ever. And I am certainly ok with that...

"Why are you Here?"

2011-10-25T17:05:00.001-04:00

It's only natural for people to ask me the question "why are you here?" when i first meet them. For awhile I gave the standard answer "to learn spanish." But now I know the reason goes far beyond and deeper than that and I am only beginning to understand a piece of it. Let me explain.

Since arriving in Spain 2 months ago I have had more quiet time than I have had in my entire life. When I close both layers of outside doors and the door to my room in my house here the stillness can be defining. And at first it scared me very much. But after awhile I learned to become friends with the silence and am starting to master the art of being still. well, sort of. Little by little.

And what have learned so far is slightly ironic in my opinion. It is starting to appear to me that instead of getting to run away from my problems I was actually 'brought' here in order to grow and to heal. and apparently to do that, I needed to leave the country. To finally unpack all of those bags that have been weighing me down for a while. The first time I realized this I may or may not have looked up and said "Are you kidding me?" but then I laughed and shook my head because ultimately I have come to discover it is, in fact, the best way. I know that might not be the only reason I am here but so far I have a pretty strong case for it. and I am slowly learning to cherish every moment I have here.

Here in Spain nothing is truly very comfortable. From the food to the language all is different. I have had no other option but to spend time with Jesus. And i LOVE that. At first it was scary and hard to do it. But now I find myself sitting in my room just laying in the silence.

I have also found community where I least expected it and am hopeful for more. Even today, I was super sick in the morning but by the afternoon I felt good enough to venture out and meet up with two of my friends from Minnesota studying spanish here in Granada. We ended up talking for 4 hours in a cafe about life, Jesus and how he is at work in our lives. My heart felt alive again, like I was waking up from a deep slumber that I have been in for a while. I am almost in tears (of joy) at how well I am and have been cared for in my life. I never could have thought it would have taken leaving everything I have ever known behind to come face to face with myself in order to grow. My time here has been so sweet. While there have been many days that have been a struggle, even within those I am learning to find the sweetness. I am being given so many opportunities to be still and to listen, to cry, to grow, to heal, to be honest, to learn, and open my heart once again. It is not an easy thing, but it is good. The God I serve is a merciful God and thankfully, he is not finished with me yet and never will be.

I can't help comparing him to all of the artists of the sculptures I saw in Italy. The Lord is a master sculpture patiently chipping away at me. It is often times a painful process and a lot of times I tend to fight back because it is hard to understand. And that is when I have to learn to stop fighting so much and trying to understand and just trust. and so trust I will...

But I trust in your unfailing love,

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

for he has been good to me.

-Psalm 13:5-6

All things Italy

2011-10-25T09:24:00.001-04:00

It is amazing how time just slips away from you sometimes. I feel like that last few weeks have been crazy but amazing. I returned last Monday night from my 10 day adventure in Italy. It was so awesome I don't know if I have the words to accurately describe it. I had 3 days of class last week and then headed to Sevilla and Cordoba, Spain with my program group. I'll save that for another post. Then Sunday night I got sick. Got worse yesterday and spent the whole day in bed with the most painful sore throat i have ever experienced before I stopped being brave and told my host mom what was happening. She and her daughter diagnosed me with strep throat and immediately rushed off to get antibiotics which I have now been taking like it is my job. Slept through class this morning but thankful woke up and no longer had a fever. Just a throat that feels like someone has sliced it with a knife. So today, I am spending the day catching up on my cyber life.

And back to Italy...for those of you who did not see my 300 pictures on Facebook, here a few for you to catch a glimpse of the amazing time i had

Me at the beginning of the hiking trail between five italian costal villages. More commonly known as Chinque Terre. This beauty of this place was far beyond the well over 100 pictures i took in one day

the gang.

grapefruit gelato and pesto, a fantastic start to my Italian experience

our view for the sunset that night in Rio Maggiore. It was one of the prettiest i've seen

stayed the night outside of La Spezia, Italy and took an early morning train to Florence. I stayed in Florence for 5 days and saw everything from Michelangelo's 'David' sculpture to the Duomo. Went on a wine tasting that lasted the entire day, watched 3 sunsets over Florence, ate more gelato than I should have, and fell in love with Italy. need evidence?

our great hostel in Florence. It looks crazy, but believe me, it was perfect.

Duomo- so big..

And yes, we did go eat at the pizza place that the cast of Jersey Shore worked at while they filmed in Florence. It was delicious. And i only saw 3 native English speaking people there. We felt like it was a must, being so close and all.

the ladies on our free walking tour of Florence.

pear and dark chocolate gelato at 11AM.

dome of the Duomo

Florence skyline from Michelangelo Plazza

Wine tour! Chianti Classico region in Tuscany. Italy apparently has 600 types of grapes...my mind was boggled

first winery

second winery with our guide, Mateo. We also had honey and the best olive oil i have ever had in my entire life

second winery. this place has been open since the 1500's.

the end of our day in the Tuscany region.

beginnings of a sunset of Florence after an incredible day in the Tuscany region

copy of 'David.' the real thing is incredible in real life.

Florence. goodbye for now

While staying in Florence we took a day trip to Pisa to see the tower and also to a town called Lucca of which I had never heard but will certainly be returning to at some point in my life..

how could you visit the tower and not take a pic like this?

seriously, they aren't kidding when they say this thing leans

Lucca at sunset

Lucca, i will be back..

The last stop on our agenda was Rome. I must say it took me about a half of a day to get adjusted to being there. We were able to see all of the major sights while we were there. Sistine Chapel, colosseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain... It was such an surreal experience to be actually seeing some of the most famous landmarks and history on this earth. Even though there were thousands upon thousands of people in these places, somehow i was able to get lost in the magnificence of it all, the grandeur of what has been. It is pretty unbelievable the more I think about it.

Rafael School of Athens. fun fact: this is aslo painted on a giant wall in the Student Union at UNCA.

St. Peter's Basilica

inside

the BEST gelato of the trip. Old Bridge Gelateria. Strawberry and Lemon. I ate there 3 times in 3 hours. it's a long story....i do not regret it

a castle. it was cool.

Occupy Wall Street (rome), protests against the italian government, crazy people rioting in the streets. don't worry, i was safely away from the cars that got fire bombed and caused this fire

Roman Forum

the main attraction...

I honestly felt so strange standing here smiling. And of course, I came home to Spain and watched Gladiator..

check it out, the old and the new..

those Spanish Steps

Thank you for reading the longest blog post of your life. Ironically being in Italy made me even more excited about being in Spain and learning Spanish. I heard so many languages on our trip. It was a fantastic experience. History seems to have more of a tangible meaning to me, at least this small sliver. I also know how to use the Italian train system very, very well.

I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be abroad for almost a year and to take trips like this one. I still have to shake my head sometimes to make sure that this is all real. And it is. Every bit of it. And for that, I am thankful.

Gelato, Pizza, Pasta, Art

2011-10-11T09:57:00.001-04:00

Can you guess where I am??
I hope so. If not, I am in Italy! Spending time in several spots that I will elaborate on in later posts. But it is safe to say I have eaten so well here including pesto in Cinque Terre, walked until my legs are about to fall off, seen more art in 2 days than in my entire life including Michaelangelo's David, eaten gelato no less than 2 times a day each day, learned how to order food and count to 20 in Italian, and ridden many trains.

I have only been here about 5 days and I still have 6 more to go but I am already planning many return trips. In my head at least.

There are not words to accurately describe what I get to experience each day here. Sometimes I walk down the street shaking my head in disbelief that I am even here at all.

I will end by saying Italy is beyond awesome and I can't wait to post pictures. Let's just say I took at least a hundred on the 1st day.
So get excited people. Because I am.

This. Is. Real

Bem-vindo a Portugal

2011-10-03T17:12:00.000-04:00

I realize it has been a few weeks since my last update and that I have failed miserably in keeping up with my blog the way I wanted to. Oh well.

This weekend I went to Logos, Portugal on the southern coast of Portugal. I went with about 25 kids from my school through a program called Discover Granada. It was a fantastic weekend that included lots and lots of beach time. I also laughed a lot this weekend. Probably too much. I laughed so much that tears came. And that, my friends, is the mark of a good laugh. The bus ride there was about 7 hours in all and we departed Granada at 6:15am. While we were walking in the streets to leave for the day, most people were returning from the night. Yeah, people stay out very late here.

Arrived in Lagos and checked into our 4 star hotel which was pretty sweet. They had two pools and a breakfast buffet. Each morning we stuffed our faces because usually all any of us gets for breakfast is a muffin and some yogurt which usually means eating a muffin from the muffin man or a pastry from the pan (bread) lady in-between classes. The muffin man is my favorite by far. Not the cheapest, but he has the best pastries. Anyways...Friday we spent the whole afternoon on the beach followed by a swim in the pool and then dinner in downtown Lagos. The rest of the evening was spent at a place called Gran Cafe, where all 100 Americans who came on the trip ended up. It was special. Let me add a side note to this trip, it was in no way a cultural experience. Lagos is a pretty touristy place so a lot of people speak english. But it was still fun. Lots of fun. And a lot of my Portuguese came back to me. I took an intensive semester last year and so it was fun to be able to read signs and explain the differences between Portuguese and Spanish. I felt nerdy.

Saturday there was supposed to be an optional Sangria cruise where they take you out into the ocean, give you sangria and take you to visit some really cool caves. But unfortunately the waters were very very rough and the company who does the tours called them off completely. So we took the bus to some caves and took lots of pictures before heading to yet another beach. The beach we were supposed to spend the day at Saturday was very large and very pretty. But unfortunately it was very windy and so the sand was whipping through the air so fast it felt like small needles on your skin and got into everything. I am still cleaning sand out of my bag. So everyone went back the hotel and returned to our smaller and less windy beach for the afternoon. Saturday evening we drove to the 'end of the world' to watch the sunset. It was super cool to be on the southern most tip of Portugal staring out into open water from atop of some very high cliffs. Saturday night we went out for dinner again. During dinner a bagpipist and his followers came by the restaurant, played a song, welcomed us to Lagos, and then left. The funny part about that was later that evening some of my friends saw him in a bar and he ended up playing them another song. I unfortunately was not there to whiteness this special moment.

Sunday we went to a beach on the west coast in a national park. It is famous for its surfing and they offered everyone a surf lesson for 35 euro. I did not surf but it was hilarious watching everyone else learn how. The wind was still pretty brutal but it was fun to walk around. We spent the whole day there before coming back to the hotel to take a 'shower' in the pool, change and hop on the bus for a 7 hour bus ride home.

And that was when i had the worst bus ride i've ever had. The company was fantastic and we laughed so much on the way home but the back of the bus had no AC and we were all literally dripping with sweat. Everyone who got off the bus had soaked through their clothes. It was unbelievable. The front apparently was freezing cold and we think they convinced the bus driver to turn on the heat at about 1am. I thought I was literally going to suffocate on the bus. But finally, at 2am we arrived back in Granada. And I woke up just in time for my 9am class this morning.

It was a great weekend to treat as a vacation. We actually had little if no drama in our group and I know I said this already but I laughed so hard I think I have abs again. It was all around solid weekend.

our Hotel

beach 5 min from the hotel

beach essentials

a place that reminded us of Pirates of the Caribbean

i mean come on, there should be dead pirates here..

Greg and me

sunset at 'the edge of the world'

more beach times

And starting Friday, ill be in ITALY!!!!!!!! how bout that?? I am so fired up.

¡Bienvenidos a Madrid!

2011-09-21T12:20:00.000-04:00

I really should make an effort to blog more often. So much happens in just a few short days here. Since my last post I took a long weekend trip to Madrid. And it was awesome!!! I give you a few quick highlights.

My friend Rachel has a friend that lives just outside of Madrid and so we had a free place to stay, which is key especially since i am trying to save for a 10 day trip to Italy in October. We spent 2 and a half days wondering around in the city. We road the bus 5 hours each way. I think i slept the whole time. no surprise there.

We visited the Prado museum and I was able to see several of the pieces of art I studied in Art History my freshman year of college. It made that class mean a whole lot more to me and made me so excited to see Florence and Rome. We also visited the Royal Palace which was gorgeous. It is so hard to believe that people actually used to live in places like that. In Madrid there is an abundance of parks to visit. Park Retiro was one of my favorites. It had a small lake where you could rent a row boat and go out into the middle. It is such a big park that you can hear no city noise. There is also a park called Casa de Campo which was once the Royal forest where they royalty would go to hunt things like bears and take long walks. Now it is public land.
We spent a lot of time just wondering around the city looking at all of the beautiful buildings and visiting famous Plazas.

We also visited an Egyptian temple that was given to Spain in the 60's. The park in which it was located was on a hill over looking the city. Rachel and I spent a few hours Sunday morning laying in the grass listening to a guy playing Spanish music.

We also ate A LOT. Rachel's friend provided breakfast and dinner so we just had to eat lunch lunch on our own. Both days we ended up eating really well for a moderately priced lunch. Lunch here is the biggest meal of the day and so each time we would stagger out of the restaurants and promising we wouldn't touch any more food for the rest of the day. I mean for 10 euro i had 2 drinks, two full plates of food, and a piece of watermelon bigger than my face. We had to go lay in the park afterwards. Rough life, I know.

During the trip about every 5 minutes Rachel and I would turn to each other and say "Are we really in Spain right now? How the heck did we get here?1" It was so cool to literally be navigating the Madrid Metro and Buses on our own. It was a really good feeling. And at the same time a very strange one. After this weekend we felt very accomplished. Here are few (or a lot) pics from the weekend!

Plaza Mayor

crazy sword shop. swords from Toledo

paella. a traditional Spanish dish

me & Rachel

there was a lot of this happening this weekend

The very center of Spain

the symbol of Madrid

Egyptian Temple in Madrid. Egypt gave this to Spain.

guess they have a few to spare.

Royal Palace. This place was huge

Bull fighting ring in Madrid

Thanks Mom!!!

2011-09-14T12:26:00.000-04:00

So for those of you who do not know Chacos are my favorite pair of shoes I own. I would wear them everyday if winter did not exist. So I made sure that they would be part of my attire for Spain. They are clearly not up the fashion standards here but sometimes you just need a few comfort items in your life.
So you can imagine (maybe not) how sad I was when I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean and realized that the one material possession that I kind of actually really cared about was sitting on my back porch baking in the Texas sun.

But thankfully I have a family that loves me very much and understands my love for these shoes. They also understand my sweet tooth because the shoes arrived today accompanied by Sour Patch kids, gold fish and Milano cookies. I did a little dance and squealed a bit. I think my host family thinks I am strange because I got shoes in the mail and ones that didn't smell very good at that. But anyways. Now that I have publicly expressed my love for Chacos I shall be on my way to Flamenco class.

Can't you just see my feet smiling....

Thankful for Eyes that Can See..

2011-09-13T11:24:00.001-04:00

I have completed 2 full weeks here in Granada, Spain and am well into my 3rd. Two weeks has felt like 2 years but each days seems to pass faster than the last. So far my time here has been wonderful. I feel as if I am now just emerging from the shock of actually being here. Thought I would post a few more pictures from the adventures I have had in the past two weeks

mini walking tour with my group. building used to be a market.

walking through the Moorish district of the City.

'The Cathedral' build by Queen Isabel. Houses the bodies of her and King Ferdinand. And for all you history buffs out there Granada is actually where Columbus was when he and Isabel did all of there negotiations about his trip to 'India.' I had no idea..

Basically this translates into "there is nothing worse than being a blind man in Granada."

]

The backside of the Alhambra. Haven't been yet. but soon!

waiting for our Flamenco lesson!

]

The caves. popular Flamenco place

Alba. our instructor

churros con chocolate! delicious, cheap. they even help you lose wait ;)

tapas

more tapas. and these are just the so-so ones. Tapas are a specialty of southern Spain

exterior of the Plaza de Toros in Granda. aka the bull fighting ring. we didn't want to pay to go inside so we just walked around it. Pretty crazy this still goes on

Pomegranates! I mentioned earlier that the Pomegranate is the symbol of Granada because the is what the city name means. These things are literally everywhere...

Cafe Futbol. A place that I frequent quite often. They have a lovely outside area but oddly enough it is cheaper to eat inside. Yay for being a college kid!

This weekend I am headed to Madrid with my new friend Rachel for our 4 day weekend. I know, rough life. She has a friend for us to stay with which is incredible! especially since I am in the middle of planning a 10ish day trip to Italy for Fall Break which by even going the very cheapest way possible is still expensive. But it will be so worth it!

So there you have it. A little picture update on my life the past few days. I probably have at least 10 more posts up my sleeve. It is so hard to sift through to the most important stuff because it is all so blog worthy!

Hasta Luego.

Come To Me..

2011-09-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

So in an effort to save space coming over here I did not bring many books with me. And what books I did bring were mostly devotional books and the smallest ones I could find. This included Sarah Young's Jesus Calling a book of 365 short letters written from Jesus to you with references to the verses she used. It has been perfect for me to read the short letter and then dive into the scripture that follows. Sunday was a particularly hard day for me here and so I went to the park by my house and literally spent hours sitting, thinking, praying and praying some more. And that is when I read this:

"Come to Me, and rest in My loving Presence. You know that this day will bring difficulties, and you are trying to think your way through those trials. As you anticipate what is ahead of you, you forget that I am with you-now and always. Rehearsing your troubles results in experiencing them many times, whereas you are meant to go through them only when they actually occur. Do not multiply your suffering in this way! Instead, come to Me, and relax in My Peace. I will strengthen you and prepare you for this day, transforming your fear into confident trust." -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

The verses referenced for this passage are:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. -Matthew 11:28-30

AND

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you....Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. -Joshua 1:5,9

I almost laughed outloud when I was done reading all of this. A laughter full of understanding. And also because The Joshua verses are what I ready for like a week straight before I boarded the plane for Spain. Trying to convince myself to be strong and courageous over and over again. Well, you can ask many people (Leslie Sloan) how much I failed at that upon leaving.

And for a few days I kept getting mad at myself for not being strong and courageous but then I realized I was doing it for all of the wrong reasons. I had it in my head that it was what I was supposed to do and instead, it should be the fruit of being with Jesus. I should be strong and courageous because He is with me. Not because I am strong by any means, because I am not. And that I can only become this way by spending more time with Him and truly letting him have control of my life. I spend so much time worrying about things and about details I may or may not be able to control instead of just being along for the ride and trusting and letting Jesus turn my fear into a confident trust. So that is my prayer for myself. That my fear would be turned into a confident trust and that I would rest in the Love of Christ that is with me everywhere.

¡Bienvenidos a Nerja!

2011-09-04T11:03:00.000-04:00

This weekend I went to the beach. To be more specific I went to Nerja, Spain and swam in the Mediterranean and got way too much sun. But it was so fun and crazy pretty. It is so pretty here. I mean my face was glued to the window the entire bus trip there and back. We drove along the cost for an hour. Kilometers and Kilometers of coast line dotted with small cities and crazy awesome beaches. And on the way back it was sunset and the colors were unbelievable.

We stepped off the bus in Nerja and had absolutely no idea where to go. It was awesome. We just started walking toward the water. The larger part of our group that had gone was staying the night so they peeled off to look for a hostel. About 5 minutes into our walk we asked a British couple what beach we should go to. You see, apparently Southern Spain is like the Florida of the US, except alot cooler and lots of people from all over Europe. So they directed us to the water and we continued on our way. We finally settled on this beach. It felt so good to just lay on the beach most of the day. The water was sooooo cold. But so refreshing. we would wait until we were almost sizzling hot and then all run into the ocean to cool off. Simply the best.

One thing about European beaches that is hilarious to me that is as soon as you set foot on the sand you can feel free to be as exposed and free as you pretty much want to. But as soon as you step off you have to go back to being as modest as possible. The contrast is very striking and also makes it difficult to take pictures. I was prepared for it but alot of people in our group were not. Definitely hilarious to watch peoples reactions to moms playing with her children. topless.

But anyways, here are a few pictures from the day. It was amazing.

I will definitely be going to the beach as often as possible before it gets cold. I need more days like this one in my life

Granada. The Beginning

2011-09-01T10:20:00.003-04:00

So I haven't taken many pictures yet but I have a few. Mostly of the hundreds of fountains scattered around the city. So here ya go!

me. in front of a fountain. fountains are all over the place here. Also Granada means Pomegranate and those are pomegranates on top of the fountain.

The sun is sooo bright here. Thus, pictures are hard to take sometimes. But it does make for some great contrasting colors. I hear in the winter it is even better with the blue sky, white snow on the mountains, and green trees.

yeah, i took a picture of the public library building..

This is a picture of an outdoor exercise park for older people or "personas mayores" More than 15 yrs old. true life. I can't make this up. comes with instructions: see below.

yeah. I went and saw Bridesmaids in Spanish. It was awesome. But don't worry Wilson Phillips was still played in English and you better believe I sang along at the top of my lungs and was the only one doing so..

ANOTHER FOUNTAIN!!

So there you go. A few pictures to fill you with anticipation for more! Will try to post some of where I am living soon. Tonight, I am going to see a Flamenco dance show. Flamenco for those of who don't know is a dance/type of music here. I am super excited.

I Made It!!

2011-08-30T07:55:00.000-04:00

This is a long post, so hang in there..

Day 2 in Granada, Spain. Hmmm. How to put all that I want to into one post. I simply can not. But I will do my best. I shall start at the very beginning because that is a very good place to start.

I left Asheville August 15. I visited family in Memphis for 4 days and then went to Texas to see my parents and youngest sister. Then on August 26 I flew to Atlanta where the lovely and gracious Leslie Sloan picked me up from the airport. She drove my luggage down from Asheville for me so I wouldn’t have to pay for it every time I got on a plane. What a great friend. We stayed with my friend Megan, who is equally awesome. Seriously, I need to find a way to stop having just less than 24 hour trips to Atlanta.

That night we properly celebrated America by eating BBQ and buying lots of candy for me to take with me. Of course, I was kind of (ok really) a nervous wreck thinking about traveling to Granada. I think I slept about 3ish hours that night. Got up and unpacked/repacked my bags for what was probably the 10^th time. Nervous twitch. Insuring that everything was accounted for except my beloved Chacos which I left in Texas on accident Leslie and I hugged Megan goodbye and drove to the airport. Leslie dropped me off and I cried a lot (not afraid to admit it). Made it to my terminal. My first leg of the trip was to Miami where I had a 10 hour layover. Yes, 10 hours. And might I add the Miami food court has THE worst food choices inside security. But I finally found some food after walking up and down the airport terminals for an hour. Settled down and began making my pre-departure phone calls. It was during those 10 hours when I think it finally hit me what I was about to do. And to be quite honest I had a moment when I considered missing my flight and returning to Asheville. But what’s the fun in that? No adventure there. So I took some deep breathes and boarded my direct flight to Madrid. Oh, did I mention the fact that every single TV in the airport was tuned to Hurricane Irene coverage. I thought I was going to go insane.

But anyways. On my flight I made friends with an 18yr old guy from Honduras who was dressed in a suit and was supposed to fly business class but they oversold so he had to sit in coach with me. He was very nice and spoke English. So we talked for about an hour. Then, the next thing I knew it was 5 hours later. That’s right, I slept 5 hours straight. Woke up just in time for breakfast and to prepare for arrival. When I got off the plane in Madrid I was so nervous. But I went through customs just fine and actually retrieved ALL of my luggage which was blessing. Here is a visual of me walking through the airport/Madrid: I had a large REI duffle back that I carried like a backpack, my rolling suitcase and my red backpack strapped to my front. But the great thing is most people are traveling and this apparently normal.

Found the Metro and hopped aboard. While on the train I overheard a lady asking which way to the bus station. The very bus station I was going to. When I changed Metro lines I was waiting on the platform for the train and she came up and asked me if it was the train to the bus station stop. And so I became friends with her. She is Ukrainian but has a house in Seville, Spain. We ended up going to the bus station together and she helped me find my bus and figure out where it left. Truly a God-send. She would leave me with her luggage while she went and asked all sorts of questions. Then she gave me a speech in Spanish about how I shouldn’t trust anyone but that I seemed nice enough and she liked me. It was crazy.

We said our goodbyes and I boarded a bus for the 5 hour ride to Granada. It was a fantastic bus ride. There was even a bus stewardess who served us many snacks and drinks. But I was so tired and ready to arrive. I seriously would be looking out the window and then a half hour later wake up.

Arrived in Granada 7:30pm local time and my program director picked me up. He drove me to my new home in the center of the city where I met my family. The house is nice and very spacious. I have a small veranda and a room to myself. I get three meals a day and laundry once a week. I walk everywhere and love it!

That night I was beyond tired so Germán filled me in on everything I needed to know for the next 12 hours. I had class the very next morning at 9am which included a placement test in Spanish. Mind you, since stepping off the plane I had 24 hours of speaking only Spanish. My brain hurt. Anyways, I woke up late, my alarm didn’t go off. My Spanish mother walked me to the school where Germán introduced me to the school director and the secretary. I started taking the test and then went to class. During my break I had to finish the test. The school in which I am attending classes is very small and private. So far I like it but the only other students are American and they all know each other. How do I know this? Because I would introduce myself and they would say “Oh you are that girl from North Carolina who came all by yourself. Wow!” It was crazy. I was the total new kid in the class. It was super hard. Germán came to get me at 12:30 when my classes were finished and we met up with another American girl and he gave us a quick walking tour of the surrounding area. My head was spinning at this point. So full of information. Oh and I forgot one minor detail, I was super stressed because I thought I had lost my wallet with all of my essential things. It was so terrifying. But I found it way later in a secret compartment in my suitcase. Good thing my tired self is on top of things.

Germán took me back to my house and my house mother made lunch for me. You see here, they eat breakfast at 9 or 10, lunch at 2:30 or 3. Then comes fiesta from 3-5. Shops completely close down for 2 hours. Then open back up from 5-9 like a completely new day. I spent most of the afternoon trouble shooting my lost wallet. Then my new friend Georgia and I did some shopping in the evening. Right now there are major sales happening that only happen twice a year. It’s awesome. Hanging out with Georgia made me feel a lot better and less overwhelmed. Later last night we even went back out together. She had made an Italian friend who had lots of random friends in the city and we all went out together. I met people from Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Denmark. It was so great.

That sums up my first day in Granada. Started out very hard and ended well. Today is my second day and so far things are a little better. I have class from 9-12:30 Mon-Thurs but the rest of the time is free.

It’s pretty crazy. Hard to believe I am here for so long. Hope you stuck with the entire post. Sorry there were no pictures, didn’t feel comfortable taking out my camera yesterday but I promise, they will come and my posts will not be anywhere near this long.

Until next time..

Here. We. Gooooooo!!!

2011-08-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Life is often times referred to as a book. With chapters and pages and paragraphs. I like this metaphor because a book is always changing. You don't just stay on the same page. You move through the book. New characters are introduced, some of them leave the story, some of them stay for awhile. There is adventure and mystery, happy times and sad ones. And unless you have read the book you have no idea what comes next.

And thus brings me to my point. I feel as though I have just had a major turning of a page and a new chapter is beginning. I left Asheville on Monday morning for a year. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Leslie Sloan and her adorable children, Asher and Lucy, took me to the airport. I cried my face off leaving them all. The last three years in Asheville have been defined by many, many things and one of these has been the Sloan family. They have loved me so well. They have walked with me through some of my darkest days. And I don't know if I will ever thank them enough. They took me in as part of their family and never thought twice about it. My heart is so sad to leave them. I think I left a piece of myself behind and I left it in their spare bedroom. But that is how you know relationships are worth having. That you miss people when you leave them and know that they feel the same way. But you know that even though you are sad, life still moves on. And those relationships are never lost and that they influence the rest of your life.

I left Asheville on Monday. I flew to Memphis where my aunt Lisa, uncle Mitchell and my four cousins live. I will be here with them until Friday when I fly to Texas to go to Boerne and visit my family for a week. During that week I plan to stuff my face with Tex-Mex, get a sunburn, maybe suffer from heat exhaustion, hang out with family, and do lots and lots of Texas-y things. Then, I pack my bags, fly to Atlanta and then wake up on August 27th to begin my journey to Granada, Spain.

Spain. For a year. Not coming home for Christmas. Now that is what I call an adventure. I think the best part will be the getting there. 8 hour lay over in Miami (bleh), overnight flight to Madrid. 1hr Subway ride to the Bus Station then a 5 hour bus ride to Granada. I will arrive at approximately 20:00 or 8pm. THEN I will wake up the next morning and GO TO CLASS!!! yay me! But seriously, I can't wait to do this. I have already accepted the fact that I won't remember the first two days of my experience due to lack of sleep and jet lag will probably be my best friend. I also feel like I need on of those little purses Hermione Granger has in Harry Potter that has infinite storage space inside. Like a mini Mary Poppins bag. That would be wonderful.

My feelings about leaving for a year. I am nervous. I am excited. I am sad. But most importantly, I am super fired up. As the day gets nearer, I feel the excitement building right alongside a healthy travel nervousness. It will be a real test of my travel skills and my ability to keep my cool. And I am ready. I plan to try and laugh at myself as much as possible and be ok when things don't happen the way I think they should. But prayers for safe travel would greatly appreciated and welcomed. Thanks.

I am willing to publicly admit I have cried waaaay to much in the last week. All for different reasons. But looking back on it I think it is because I don't really have the words to express what I am feeling and so I just cry. I cry because I look back on the last 3 years and smile and know that the Lord has provided for my EVERY need whether I asked him to or not. I have never gone without. He has been faithful in so many ways whether I wanted him to be or not. He has loudly proclaimed His love for me everyday of my life, especially in the last 3 years. And I know he will continue to do so and it probably won't look anything like what I think it should but it will be exactly what I need. And it is that love combined with the love of others that goes with me to Spain. I am not alone. The Spirit of the Lord is not something that lives in America. He has a home inside of me and that puts a peace in my soul that can not be moved.

So here's to adventure!! I plan on updating this blog regularly. So stay tuned.

WARNING! this could get pretty incredible.

Yes!

2011-07-29T10:18:00.000-04:00

Well. The waiting is over.

Yesterday I came back from work to the Sloan Family's house where I have been dog sitting while they were in France for two weeks. They have since returned but had to go pick up there kids at Leslie's parents house. So I am still here and will be until I leave Asheville in a few very short weeks. That being said, the cable guy was at there house replacing a cut wire in the yard from some yard work they had done. I sat inside for about an hour before he came to the door to ask me if I could test the cable out for him. And that is when I saw it. The most beautiful piece of paper taped to a glass door you can ever imagine. A slip from the Post Office with MY name on it saying they had an Express Mail envelope for me. The very envelope I left with my passport and paper work at the Spanish Consulate's office in Washington DC about a month ago.

My heart immediately jumped into my throat and I very rudely told the cable dude to come in and try anything he liked because I had to get to the Post Office before it closed at 5. It was 4:30.

Of course on the way to the Post Office I was behind a slow car AND the stoplight took a solid 3 and a half minutes to change. Those might just have been some of the longest 3 minutes I have very experienced. I finally pulled into the Post Office parking lot and it was all i could do to keep from busting open the doors, running in and telling everyone about what a great day it was.

Of course inside was one postal worker assisting an elderly lady mail her 6 packages to her grandchildren. But I told myself not to get frustrated because I waited 4 long weeks for my visa and I could wait a few more minutes...maybe.

Finally some girl came out from the back and happened to see me and so she helped me. This girl obviously did not share my same enthusiasm about getting the package. She slapped it down on the counter, had me sign a paper and then told me half heartedly to have a nice evening. I told her I definitely would.

Before I even left the double doors I was ripping into the package like it was Christmas Day in the 90's. And then the moment I have literally dreamed about for weeks happened. My old slightly beat up passport with a horrid picture of my 16yr old self slipped out of the package and into my shaking hands. I was literally squealing with joy. All I could do was fist pump and say lots of "Wahoo!"s. I thumbed through the pages past my Ugandan Visa from 07 and found what I was looking for. On page 15 (of course they made me look through the whole passport) it was. The most beautiful visa you have ever seen in your entire life. I pretty much kissed it, ran out the door and fist pumped all the way to the car. Several people in the parking lot gave me some hilarious looks. But there was no way I was caring about that. I probably looked a little something like this..

The whole drive back all I could do was laugh, cry, yell, laugh some more. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone around to share my joyous news with, except that lovely cable guy still working away when I returned. I thought about telling him but I don't think he would have appreciated it. I think he probably thought I was flirting with him because I was so overly nice and bubbly to the guy. oops.

So that's that! I spent the evening celebrating and relaxing and breathing one of the biggest sighs of reliefs I think I ever have. Still lots to be done before departure but that all seems doable now...I think..

Today, I am hoping to move EVERYTHING that still remains in my apartment, out. And then I shall be cleaning and painting, and making sure everything is just right for my land lord.

This. Is. Happening.

The Waiting Game

2011-07-18T12:52:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd put up a little update on a few things on the other side of this screen. As most of you know I am trying to go to Granada, Spain for a year to study abroad. The phrasing "trying to" has a purpose as I will explain.

If you have never applied for a visa to go to another country for a long time here are a few hints: start the process waaaaaay earlier than you think you should AND take care of business as soon as possible.
For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to attempt this process all by myself and it ended up causing much stress, sleepless nights, and worried days. And then I actually got everything lined up perfectly and NOTHING went right. Sent documents to Raleigh for Authentication and one of them was denied which meant I had to drive to Raleigh before heading to Washington DC to apply IN PERSON. Yep, I had to go to the Spanish Embassy and hand them my paperwork and leave them my passport.

Let me back up and share with you a few of the requirements with you:

-you must show up and turn in application in person
-have letters from the university in spain you will be studying with
-Applications for this type of visa will neither be accepted more than three months in advance nor less than one month before the departure date. (straight from website, can't make this up)
-once you turn in your application you cannot call to check the status of your visa. you just simply wait for it to come
-and lots and lots of other crazy important things

It was nuts. Thankfully Leslie Sloan went with me to Raleigh/DC and kept me somewhat sane during the whole process. Not sure what I would have done without her there.

When I finally got to DC I had no idea what to expect and when I handed in the application I apparently didn't have the right payment form and had to go get cash from an ATM.
Walked out of the Embassy feeling a lot lighter and then we drove back to Asheville. All seemed to be going well until the next day when the Consulate called to tell me I was missing a letter from a school IN Spain and I had a week to get it. Two weeks later I overnighted that letter to the Consulate.
I have no idea if all of it was received or where m paperwork is in the process. I am not allowed to call and check on the status of all of my documentation.

So now it has become a waiting game. I honestly have no idea when I will get my visa back. All I have been able to do is carry on with things as normal. I am moving out of my apartment and am already half moved out. I am not enrolled in classes at UNCA. So all I can do is wait, pray, wait, trust, and wait some more.

Right now I am working on really trying to rest and trust that things will work out in the end. I have to be honest, this is very very challenging. My plan is to leave Asheville August 15 head to Memphis to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins for 4 days before heading to Texas to see my family for 1 week before flying to Atlanta where I will fly to Madrid on August 27/28th. I won't return to the USA until sometime in July of 2012. Yeah, that's a long time.

The date is fast approaching and I am very excited and nervous and curious as to what the next year of my life will look like. I feel harshly unprepared but I think that once I have that passport with my Visa stamped inside I might just pass out from sheer joy and relief and not even care that I am unprepared. Seriously, you might hear me shouting with joy around the world on that day.

So far this summer has been great. I have a part time job hostessing about 25 hours a week, I have done a fair amount of babysitting and have also gotten to do some fun things with friends. There has also been lots of alone time and I am trying to use that to my advantage but even that has been a challenge. I have also dogsat a lot for people. About 1 month total out of the summer.

So there you go. Another scatter brained update on my life right now..

Peace Beyond Understanding

2011-06-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

'When I said, "My foot is slipping." your love, O Lord, supported me.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.'

-Psalm 94:18-19

Stuff and Things

2011-06-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

So this one time on June 3rd I ran a 5k. It was 90ish degrees, sunny, there were lots of killer kills and I was wearing sweat bands. And this is what happened to me. Yep. I straight up stopped right after the finish line. There was no 'powering through' for me.

Don't be jealous. You all want to be me...

But i did finish the race somehow in about 26 min flat. The race was actually loads of fun, mostly because I did it with other people and hanging out afterwards is always a good time.

And THEN I discovered the magic of trail running. And I can't believe it took me this long to discover just how much I love it. I can spend 2 hours in the woods, just running. Falling, covered in mud, sweating like a crazy person and loving every minute of it.

It is incredible. I don't know if running on roads will ever be the same.

Oh! good news, I just got a camera so expect lots of dumb pictures to appear here soon. Like these..

this is me being dumb in a hammock during a rain storm

]

and this is precious Lucy sitting on a pile of mulch outside of Kmart.

don't ask..had to throw one crazy one in here

and this is where i get to live all the time.

like I said. dumb pictures. get used to it. there is a whole lot more where that came from..

To Dad

2011-06-22T22:01:00.001-04:00

Sadly I was nowhere near internet access in order to write this post.
Dad, this is for you.

I wanted to say how thankful I am for this man I get to call my Dad. I am very lucky to have a dad who loves me as much as you do. You are a manly man yet also in touch with your sensitive side. You may be small in stature but your heart is bigger than most and your contagious personality makes you seem 7ft tall. As each year passes I realize how much I love you and just how much you love me too. In high school I used to brush you off and pretend I didn't care. But behind your back I was telling everybody how cool you were and everyone was telling me how cool they thought you were. I see how much people love and respect you and I am proud. You have worked hard for everything you have.

I look up to you so much. You have taught me so many things in life. Everything from how to catch fish, shoot a gun, to how important a good work ethic is and that no matter what, you should always treat people with respect. Your laughter is contagious. You never cease to surprise me with your jokes. I think when you and Mom make each other laugh it is my favorite.

You have suffered much deep loss in your life yet you have kept on living a full life. You were never bashful about your tears. I used to give you a hard time for crying at all my awards ceremonies and graduations but deep down, I knew it was just one more way you showed me you loved me.

I have so many great memories of you taking me fishing and waking me up at 5AM so I could go sit in a deer blind with you. When I was finally old enough to sit by myself I used to secretly wish that you would sit with me. I'll never forget when I shot my first deer and you were more excited than I was. Funny thing about all my pictures is that you are hardly in them because you were (and still are) always the one taking them. I make fun of you but it is fun to know you were behind the camera.

And then that time we were at Inks Lake and I caught that record holding bass. I couldn't even lift it up. You were giddy with excitement.

I used to think you made me do useless things. Like that one summer on the Ranch when you made Ryan and I go out into our 100 acres with brush clippers and clip down cedar trees under the hot Texas sun. Horrible times. Then there was also that time you and Mom made us build that crazy rock wall. 5 years we built it. I now know that it was all just a ploy to keep us busy and distracted. And like Calvin's dad always says "It builds character."

Thanks for all those times you used to come outside even after a long day at the office to shoot baskets with me in the driveway. I love(d) every minute of it.

Your stories from college and high school never fail to make me laugh. And you saying "Do as I say not as I do."

You love your family better than most. You always make me feel special. Especially on Valentines' Day every year when I would wake up to flowers by my bed that you had put there in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. And even now. You still send them to me. My freshman year of college when you sent them to the Sloans I was so surprised. And I walked around with a smile on my face for days.

Thank you for giving me an example of Jesus' love for me. For being an example to follow always. For that, I will be forever thankful

In short, I am so glad that you are my Dad. Don't think I could say it enough. Can't wait to see you in August!!

love,
me

Nervous Sweats

2011-06-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

So I feel like I have had several slightly depressing posts recently. So here is a fun one for you.

In two weeks I will be traveling to Washington DC to turn in my Visa application for Spain IN PERSON. You read that right. They don't accept it in the mail and they want to see you one time before you leave the country. No guidelines. Just show up and hand in your paperwork and hope you have everything they need. If not, well...I don't even really want to think about that.

This whole process has been a learning process. Lots and lots and lots of paperwork. Lots of reading and translating websites (with some help from Google Chrome translate feature). My favorite part though might be when I tell people I have to go to DC to turn in my paperwork? The responses have varied from "are you sure you are doing that right?" to "really?" and "I've never heard of that before." Thanks a lot. As if I wasn't questioning every move I've made so far.

But as tiring and time consuming as the process has been it has definitely cemented the reality of leaving the country for almost a full year. Somedays I am ready for it and somedays I am not so sure. But in the end it is happening and I am going to be ready whether I want to or not.

But hear me, I am super pumped! I mean, the more I talk about what I am doing the more I realize just how amazing this opportunity is. And that gets me super excited. The possibilities are endless and terrifying at times but somehow exciting non the less.

So there. A semi-upbeat post. Trying to procure a camera soon so I can actually post my own pictures soon. My fingers are itching to be taking pics again. It has been 6 long months without one and I kind of would like to document the rest of my amazing summer in Asheville.

Tomorrow

2011-06-03T22:49:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow John Noll would have graduated from Boerne Champion High School. Tomorrow I would have been in Boerne, TX celebrating with the family. But sadly, I am not. My parents and sister are still going. I can't even imagine what that will be like for them.
Yet another thing to get through. Another reminder that my brother isn't here anymore and will never be. And to be quite honest, it hurts a lot. No surprise there, I guess. The ache now ebbs and flows. Today I felt the loss more than I have felt it in several months. I thought these moments of consuming sadness would end. But they have not. And I know realize they might never end. But somehow, by the Grace of God alone I have learned how to sit and them, to drink them in, and to not ignore them but at the same time not let them completely consume me. I can even smile through them sometimes. Laughing at a memory or remembering a joke.

O how I wish I could be there with my family. To walk through the painful day together.
Even through the heartache today I still remembered how far I have come. Even from a mere 6 months ago. How far we have come as a family. And how far we have yet to go. I talked to my older brother, Ryan, on the phone tonight. It was so so good to hear his voice. It is a strange thing. Death seems to have brought our family closer together. A closeness I wouldn't have guessed would have happened this fast.

So many conflicting emotions, it is hard to keep them straight sometimes.
Thanks to all of you who continue to love me and my family. You are Christ's love physically and visibly present in our lives.
And it is because of His love that I am here today.
Thanks to those who have continued to honor John Noll. It means the world to me and my family.
Seriously.

Senior trip to Boone, NC.

TRUST- It's What's for Breakfast

2011-06-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

Where to start...

Well, about two weeks ago I was totally panicking a little because I had no job, no money, and I hadn't done anything about getting my Visa for Spain or booking flights. Usually my reaction is to become so stressed out that I literally don't have to capacity to completely any tasks. Pretty much how I have been handling everything lately. I have started labeling it my stress ADD. It comes out at the worst times. But this time around I've been trying a different approach. I called it the Chill The Heck Out And See What Happens approach.

2011 has been all about Trust. And when I say trust I mean trusting that all I need will be provided for me. Trusting that when I actually let Jesus do his work, it all gets done. This has been a very scary concept for me. It sounds wonderful on paper and in theory should be a no brainer. So in this past January I tried not stressing or doing really but praying, waiting, watching, and trusting. In the beginning that process turned out to be way more stressful than my original attack method. Mostly because I think things typically don't get done or done right unless I do them myself. Well, I believe I am learning my lesson and am every so happy to be learning it and I think I will be learning it my entire life. But somehow, I am ok with that.

All this to say little by little for the past 5 months I have been slowly giving up control. It has not been an easy thing. And I still have days where I wonder how in the world I am going to make it but those days are significantly less. My new approach of trusting hasn't been a walk in the park but at this moment in time I am already seeing the fruits. So much fruit in fact that some of it is rotting on the ground because I can't fit it all in my basket. Never thought I would have that problem. And this is how I know that Jesus has the most wonderful sense of humor and I think we shall get along just fine.

I mean oday, I have a part time job hostessing at the Grovewood Cafe that literally found me about a week ago (thanks Hunter!!!). I get calls for babysitting and other odd jobs everyday. I have a few dog sitting jobs lined up. Things for Spain are slowly beginning to fall into place. And I feel more loved and blessed than I have a quite awhile.
The freedom and contentment I feel right now is ridiculous and awesome and sometimes I want to slap myself to make sure this life I am living isn't a dream or somebody's idea of a bad joke. But it IS real. And it is mine, given to me by the One who choses to love me and lovingly rub it in my face just how much he loves me. And I am entirely too grateful and humbled for words.

This is the first time in almost 2 years that I can remember being at peace. The tables have turned in my favor and I know how they got there.
People always tell you to enjoy it now because it will be gone sooner or later. But I am not so sure that I believe that. Because what I do believe is this. That I serve a God who loves me so much that he sacrificed his own life so that I could be with Him. And I believe that while the blessings may not always look THIS fantastic they will continue to come, but only if I let them. And they won't always look this grand and spectacular. But they will be there. Providing for my needs big and small. I need only to give up the driver's seat.

Somebody very smart, wise, and successful (insert rolling laughter here) once said,

"Je-e-e-e-sus take the wheel!"

But for real, it's yours Jesus. I am road weary.

Healing

2011-05-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

I got up this morning and realized that it has been a year and a half since that horrific night I found out that I wouldn't get to see John Noll's sweet smiling face again. The actual day was this past Thursday and I write this because I didn't even notice. Granted, I was busy that entire day but that day a year ago was traumatic and full of tears and frustration. And this time around it caught me completely off guard this morning. I miss him terribly. And I honestly have no more understanding than I did that first night.

But I am healing. Slowly and surely. By the Grace of God alone, I am healing and always will be. Thinking about just a short year ago or even 6 months ago I wasn't sure I would ever feel 'normal' again. That I would ever be able to make through a day without having a major emotional breakdown and feeling hopeless. But the days have passed and they have brought much life. I have experienced the love of Christ deeper and richer than ever. I have found friends where I wasn't looking. I am learning to daily trust Jesus to actually provide. Which is way, way harder than I ever thought. It should be very easy but I definitely struggle with this one.

John would have graduated high school this spring. I still think a lot about all of the things I will never see him do. But I also want to remember the things that I did get to see him do. Because those are the things that actually matter. The reality of it all is still sometimes just as shocking as in the beginning but as the days pass I find myself enjoying life once again. And for that, I am truly thankful. I will always walk hand in hand with sorrow and sadness but I think I will be able to do so with a joy that I didn't have before and an understanding beyond words. The Lord is good. ALL the time.

To Mom

2011-05-08T21:49:00.001-04:00

This year I don't get to be home for Mother's Day. It was actually a strange feeling to wake up in my own apartment and not be near my mother. To not be able to actually celebrate her all day long. To not make signs and decorate the house. Make horrible looking hand made cards that were so ugly but she loved them anyways.
Ok, and also sad to not eat Mother's Day brunch. There, I said it.

But in all seriousness it was kind of depressing. So instead I am writing this blog post in celebration of Stacey Noll, my mother of 14 years and counting!!

I have never blogged about this that I can recall. But I once had a different mother. One I did not get to know very long. Her name was Gail and she was lovely. Here is a picture of my dad, Gail, Ryan, and I. 1989. Those legs are lookin' good, Dad.

I don't have many memories of her but the things that people have told me are all good. I would have liked to know her and what she was like. A natural reaction. But sadly she suddenly and tragically passed away a few days after my youngest sister, Anne, was born due to some health complications. January 13, 1995. I remember it all pretty clearly. One day Mom and Dad were going to the hospital to "get my new baby sister" and then Dad came home alone with Anne. All very sad and very confusing to my 5 year old self. But life marches on. My dad was left with 5 children ranging from 7 to newborn. So many relatives in and out of the house. A few nanny's here and there.

But THEN.
Then my dad met a beautiful young woman, Stacey. She was a school teacher who went to our church. Very much single and attractive. I honestly do not remember much about her before they were married but every time my dad talks about her and that time his eyes light up.

It is a classic story really. My desperate father needed to higher summer help to take care of his unruly kids. And so he asked Stacey if she would do it. And so she became our summer baby sitter. Taking us to the pool, feeding us, and making sure we stayed out of trouble, mostly. And then, the next thing you know, my dad falls in love with the nanny!!! so classic. They used to go running together all the time. One thing led to another and on June 8, 1997 my dad married Stacey and she became my new mother.

what a good looking family.. '97

our first trip as a new family. West Texas summer of 1997

Taylor Park, Colorado. Week long horse back riding trip through

the Rockies. 2006

As you can imagine things didn't just easily fall into place. There were lots of rough spots starting out. On both ends. I cannot imagine being very young (29) and very single and then all of a sudden being married and handed 5 children ages 10, 7,5,3,2 (roughly). But she took on the responsibility and soon had us whipped into shape. As the days passed, we all grew more comfortable with each other. Eventually she would legally adopt us as her own children. I remember that day very clearly. I think I was in 5th grade. We all got out of school for the day. We had a special breakfast and then went down to the court house where a judge asked us if we wanted this lady to be our Mother. We all said yes. And from then on Stacey Noll has loved us through the good days and the bad ones. She has raised us up to be respectful, responsible, clean, and independent. Both of my parents love Jesus and so I have been blessed to be raised in a home that was full of His presence and love.

This next part is addressed directly to my mother..

Mom, as I am sure you will read this I want the whole world to know how much I love you! And how I am so thankful you are in my life. You have brought so many wonderful things to our family. Thank you for loving me as your own. You have loved each of us so well. Because of you (and Dad) I am who I am. Thanks for putting up with all of our nonsense. I know it has not been easy, especially in the beginning. The more I process those early days the more your resilience shines through. Your life points me and others directly to Christ. I firmly believe that He gave you the patience and love to put up with all five of us at one time. I know I wasn't the easiest person to be around in high school but know that I have loved you every second of every day. Even when I was throwing my teenage temper tantrums (which i guess still happen occasionally). You took us on so many adventures I have lost track of them all. You convinced Dad that we needed a travel trailer so that we could travel the US. We took that thing everywhere from DC to Colorado and all the way over and up to Canada. And all of those summers at Young Life camps. Simply incredible. My friends were always jealous of our summer adventures.

Thank you for being involved in my life and for being a parent, not a friend, even when it was hard and you didn't want to do it. I am excited now, to become your friend as well :)
These past few years we have experienced yet another deep loss as a family. A cut so deep it will never fully heal. I am so glad that Dad (and Anne) have you at home. The way you have all daily lived life in the midst of such horrible loss is a testament to your love. The balance you bring, the life you bring, the love you bring are such a blessing.

I can't fit all of the things I want to say in this blog post but know that I love you very very very much and you will always and forever be MY mother!

Christmas 2010

Here is our family today. We stand here having weathered many storms together. Having suffered much deep loss. But I believe we have been pieced together directly by hands of Christ. Always firmly rooted in His love and our love for each other. I would not change any of it.

So here is to you, Mom!! I hope that Dad and Anne treated you well and made you feel like the special person that you are every day.

I LOVE YOU!

He Loves Me

2011-05-06T21:16:00.000-04:00

I have been out of school for 3 days. Long enough to freak out about going to Spain for 10 months, get stressed out about finding a job, do some babysitting, and also have a little fun.

This weekend I am working at Windy Gap, the Young Life camp about 15 minutes from my apartment. Usually I work on the ropes course but this weekend I am working in their snack bar called The Sippin' Parlor or the "Sippie." I have done this on and off for about 3 years. But as of late it has been difficult to carve out a whole weekend to spend at Windy Gap. I am so thankful to be here this weekend. So very thankful.

I absolutely love coming up here. It is ridiculously gorgeous and the fact that it takes me under 15 minutes to be on camp property from where I live is a true gift. It is nestled up in the mountains outside of Asheville. This place is never ugly. Rain, shine, snow, leaves or no leaves, I have never been disappointed.

I talk about all of this beauty because tonight I was thinking about why people love places like this place and other Young Life camps. They seem to be held higher than many other equally beautiful places. One, the presence of Christ is felt richly in these places. Two, you cannot ignore that fact that Jesus is telling you he loves you. I was reading Psalm 19:1-4 tonight, a passage that I have read countless times. But tonight it took hold of my soul and really took me deeper into the truth. The truth that He loves me. I say it and people say it to me all of the time but I need to do a better job of acknowledging it. This passage reads:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the works of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the end of the earth."

A contant whisper of "I love you" is found all around me. I need to take the time to notice it more. To see it in the big and small places. I find proof of his love in every minute of my life. He loves me loudly. So loudly that as of late, it has been almost impossible to miss it. But sometimes I choose not to see it. But even then he still lets me know.

My good friends the Sloans have this children's Bible that is seriously THE best children's Bible I have ever seen. It is so good, in fact, that sometimes I want to get a copy for myself. I have to pleasure of reading it to their two children before bedtime when I babysit. Throughout this Bible Jesus' love is described as "Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always, and Forever." I am not even kidding when I say I tear up every time I read it to them.

That being said I want to feel that love every second of the day and help others to feel it as well.

Because His love IS real and is

Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever...

The World Spins Madly On

2011-05-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I officially completed my Junior year of college at UNC Asheville. I kid you not when I say I walked out of my last exam and shook my head in disbelief (but also with a sigh of relief). It was the strangest day. I have to keep reminding myself that I am actually old enough to be done with 3 years of college and that these 3 years weren't just some sort of crazy dream. And they weren't! They have been filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I can honestly say that I would not change a moment of them. Even, the darkest of days..

Yesterday did ended wonderfully by going to see the band The Civil Wars at the Grey Eagle with some amazing people. Seriously. If they come to a town near you, do what it takes to go see them. Couldn't have asked for a better way to end the semester.

In August I will heading to Granada, Spain for 10 months to study abroad. Yep. That's a long time. And for so long I have just talked about it, filled out some paper work, and read a lot of Rick Steve's travel guides. But today, I have a Skype meeting with the director of the study abroad program, Germàn. Talk about making this thing feel real. Not messing around anymore. Although there is much, much, more to be done for my departure I am starting to feel like I am leaving next week and not a little under 4 months from now.

But for now I must get a job and stay in one place for the first summer in my life I can ever remember. Definitely will be an adjustment but I think I am welcoming the change of pace. Whatever that pace may look like this summer.
Time to turn yet another page...

A Visit

2011-04-26T15:19:00.000-04:00

Easter weekend came in went in full force. My parents and sister, Anne, came into town late Thursday night. Anne stayed with me and my parents stayed downtown at the Hotel Indigo. That place is in the words of Miley Cyrus.. "prettycool."

Friday rain had settled in over the Asheville area so hiking was quickly out of the question. Instead we ate a lot and spent most of the day meandering in and out of stores downtown. Started the morning at Early Girl Eatery, a most fantastic place to get some grub. Shopped all over and then ended up at Tingles Cafe for a late lunch. It was fabulous. Then my dad had heard me talk about Discount Shoes so we made a very successful visit there before heading over to the Carolina movie theater on Hendersonville Rd. via the Blue Ridge Parkway (that's right, I use it to actually get places. so great) to pick up our movie tickets to see Jane Eyre. My sister and mother have been dying to see it. We ended up doing dinner at Chai Pani before heading to the 7:30pm showing of Jane Eyre which we followed up with a visit to the always lovely French Broad Chocolate Lounge where you can never have a bad time. And that was all just in day 1!

Day 2 Anne and I made a fantastic breakfast spread at my apartment (including my first ever poached egg success) before heading to Hot Springs and then up to Max Patch. 80 degrees, blue skies, and green grass are the perfect recipe for a picnic at this place. Wanna see?

just walking at the top of the world. no big deal

a reflective Stacey

who are these goobers?

shot #423

Why not finish a beautiful picnic off with an ice cold cheerwine in a glass bottle!

We finished the afternoon by taking a soak in the Hot Springs themselves watching rafters on the French Broad River. It was almost too perfect.

Finished up the evening at Tupelo Honey, one of my parents favorite dinner spots in Asheville. It was lovely.

Sunday we headed to an 8am Easter Service and then parted ways. I was sad to see them go but It was so great to have them come visit. I felt like I was on vacation in my own city! A rare treat indeed.

Classes are finished and the final finals push has begun!

May 3. What a happy day that will be. I just have to make it there first..

Parks and Rec

2011-04-23T17:25:00.000-04:00

So this one time I met Aziz Ansari. In Atlanta, on my 21st birthday in September. It was AMAZING! (thanks again to Leslie, Betsy, Sarah, and Megan). Oh look, here we are:

He is one of the stars on NBC's tv show called Parks and Recreation. If you have not seen it, you should check it out. Because you will experience lots of Aziz, Amy Poehler, and many more hilarious characters. Here is what Aziz's character Tom Haverford calls everyday items..

Overload

2011-04-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

This is how I feel right now. Last full week of class before finals start next wednesday. Finishing a round of papers so that I can actually study. My brain is indeed very full.

But keeping my eye on the prize!

MAY 3!!!!

rescued

2011-04-14T08:32:00.002-04:00

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me."

-Psalm 18:16-18

Words To Live By

2011-04-13T22:37:00.003-04:00

After my senior year of high school they shut down the school, bulldozed most of the buildings and rebuilt it. Because of this my pre-cal teacher, Coach Fulkerson, who was also my Cross Country, coach let all of his students decorate his walls with whatever they wanted. Yeah, a whole lot of crazy happens when you give a bunch of 16-18yr olds colored sharpies and tell them to have fun. Coach Fulkerson had been at Boerne High School for like 20 years or something. He didn't care.

People wrote and drew all sorts of things. Somebody drew ALL of the ninja turtles on the wall. Other people drew stick figures and wrote song lyrics. Me? I wrote this piece of wise wisdom that I just felt needed to be passed along to the world..

Don't you ever forget it...

Technology Loop

2011-04-10T10:41:00.009-04:00

I love technology! I love how easy it is to Google things, map things, stalk people (just kidding). You can find out pretty much anything you want to and even lots of things you never wanted to know.

But I can get a little, or a lot, carried away.

This clip from the TV show Portlandia is basically how I feel sometimes....ok a lot of the time. ESPECIALLY with finals right around the corner. I like to distract myself by checking everything device I possibly can. I honestly don't have that many but what I do have is just as dangerous. Check out Fred..

Guess it is time to start putting my Netflix account on hold, and put parental controls on my own computer. Geez, I never thought it would come to this. The funny thing is I, too, like Fred would only have to look at a picture of myself from high school. Cause I didn't enter the technology world until my second semester of senior year. And yes, that would be January of 2008. I was a lucky one. I mean, it gave me more time to do stuff like this:

you know, kissing camels in downtown Boerne, TX and whatnot, just the usual stuff.

So thanks Mom and Dad! Seriously, I owe you one...

Go Spurs Go!!

2011-04-08T15:55:00.007-04:00

As we all know I am a San Antonio Spurs fan. Have been as long as I can remember. I always get made fun of here for being one because no one really likes the NBA so I try not to be too overly obnoxious. I don't like the NBA too much, I mostly just like the Spurs. All growing up I went to game after game after game. Some of my best memories. The announcers are so fun and the Coyote (official mascot) is super entertaining. The music is fun and there are so many cheers to keep the fans involved Also, the Spurs are San Antonio's only major sports team. Literally the entire city loves the Spurs. The team spirit is unbelievable and the AT&T center is pretty much full every game. It is hard to describe the pride I have for them to people who have never been to a home Spurs game. Too me it is even different than loving a college team or having a favorite team in general. It runs deeper than that. Call me crazy but it literally is the team that I have cheered for through thick and thin.

This week I had a different Spurs experience. My friend, Megan, lives in Atlanta, Georgia and is also a huge Spurs fan. We have bonded tremendously over this and other things. In February she asked me if I would like to come to see them play the Hawks in April. I said yes. She then told me I didn't have to buy my ticket. Unbelievable this girl. For two months we had a countdown going, it was hilarious and probably annoying to everyone else.

This week was the big day. I left class on Tuesday and drove from Asheville to Atlanta. Megan and I went to Taco Cabana for dinner. Yep! there is one lone TC in Atlanta that somehow continues to survive. Sometimes I think it is there just for me. Then we headed to the Arena. The whole time I had no idea where our seats were going to be. Megan wanted it to be a surprise and so I let it be one. We walked around for a few minutes before descending towards the floor. I still had no idea where we were going. All of the sudden I heard the words "floor seats" and and I was super pumped. THEN I looked up and realized not only did we have floor seats but they were front row, directly behind the Spurs bench!! I cannot lie. I was literally in shock. Even Megan who had purchased the tickets, was in shock. There is no way to describe it except to say, it was awesome. We were so close.

Close enough to reach out and touch every player (if not for the security guards).

Close enough to read all of their tattoos and to see Manu's bald spot up close and personal.

Close enough to literally be standing up and part of the huddle every time a full timeout was called.

Close enough to rest drinks on their team water cooler (before we were caught).

Close enough to get Tim Duncan to smile at us and George Hill to turn around and stare deep into our souls.

Close enough to see hear Tony's accent and coach Greg Popovich get very angry.

Close enough to personally encourage each player. Especially Tiago..

Need proof? (all photos courtesy of Megan herself)..my camera is still broken

We even had better seats than Danny Ferry! he used to play

for the Spurs.

The night was unbelievable! and one I am sure never to forget. Megan and I had so much fun cheering and laughing and yelling. I apparently was on TV a alot in San Antonio. Several friends told me as much. There were two younger guys sitting next to us who provided just as much entertainment as the game itself.

I have never felt so involved in a game before. I can't even count the number of Spurs games I have been in attendance at but this one pretty much topped almost every single one of them in respect to closeness to the players.

At the end of the game we ran over for high fives. George Hill was the only one who stopped to give us one but honestly, he was the only one we were really hoping for. Perfection.

It was so fun to be there and it to feel like a quasi-night in Texas. Megan is super fun and awesome. I have been to Atlanta twice in the past year and have yet to be disappointed!

It was also very fun to talk about afterwards. I have replayed the whole game and looked at the pictures (all of which were taken my Megan) so many times just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

So far, it might have been the overall best night of 2011.

Here's to you Megan Hafer!!!

This guy

2011-03-28T09:53:00.004-04:00

Last night I had a dream. Don't remember what it was about but this guy was there!

And he was my grandpa in the dream and it was awesome. I have absolutely no idea why the heck I would be dreaming about John Wayne. But this morning I woke up very puzzled. And then found this quote in one of my old journals. I went through a quote phase and I tried to find all the coolest quotes and write them down (ok I may still be in that phase). And I found this one I wrote down Junior year of high school

"Courage is being scared to death-and saddling up anyway"

-John Wayne

And thus concludes my strange post about John Wayne.

Romans 8:38

2011-03-27T11:09:00.006-04:00

This morning I had plans to go to church. I really did. And then the rug was pulled out from under me. I have a picture on my desk of the day we climbed to the top of the Continental Divide as a family. The picture is of the five of us kids smiling in our 'rat clothes' (everyday shorts and t-shirts-go ahead and giggle) holding the family dog, Winnie, just thankful to not be climbing anymore. It is without a doubt my favorite picture of all of us. I see it every day but for some reason or another it just set me off. I started sobbing uncontrollably, like ya do, and weeping because I will never on this earth understand why my smiley little brother chose to end his own life. A question that I will undoubtably ask my self every day for as long as I am breathing on this earth.

Well this crying led me down the path of everything. The path of everything is what I call my ADD grief mode. When I just start thinking about things randomly one after the other. Sometimes they tie in together sometimes they don't. I have had to learn to keep myself in check while on the path of everything because sometimes it can be way to overwhelming. This morning the path of everything led me to think about how I am remembering John. How I am defining who he was and still is in my memory. And I became sad because I realized that I have been defining him so much by how he chose to end his life. And yes! that is a big deal. Most people who knew John on the surface level, that is how they will define him forever whether they realize it or not. To all of Boerne, TX we are the family whose son/brother killed himself and John is the amazing kid who tragically took his own life. Harsh sounding I know but it is true. But I think I am trying to begin reaching a point where this does not bother me because I don't want what I remember to only be about the final moments of his life. It will always be a part of what I remember and sometimes it will overtake the other good parts in my mind but I will fight to never let it be the bottom line definition of John Noll.

The real way I want to remember John is rest of the 16 years that I kew him. And I can't think about John without thinking about Jesus. I've never known somebody so young driven by their love for Christ quite like John and I don't think that I ever will. I thought about how John's love for Jesus manifested itself in his life. Most of my favorite examples involve Young Life camp. And one summer that sticks out like a sore thumb to me is the summer of 2006 at Sharp Top Cove in Jasper, GA. John was 13. I was 16. I was 16 and irrationally upset with my parents for making me go to Sharp Top with my mom (dumb hormones). John was 13 and a servant. John spent every single day of the 3 weeks we were there in the kitchen washing dishes. Not exploring, or doing things he wasn't supposed to do but elbow deep in the nasty dirty dishwater of 500+ people EVERY DAY. I, on the other hand, stayed near the house and did some babysitting and pretty much mostly things I wanted to do. I wasn't all that bad but I remember being so embarrassed that my 13 yr old brother was doing more work than I was. But it was what it was. And looking back on that summer (which kind of changed my life in many many ways) I will always appreciate how John was so selfless and always willing to help out. I can really only remember a handful of times when he didn't put himself first.

John was always giving me life advice that whether I wanted to admit it or not, was mostly truthful. He used to tell me about boys and about how I needed to stop being so uptight all the time (he was right). And I used to tell tell him to go away. He was the best button pusher I have ever known. I don't think I have ever gotten so mad at somebody as I used to get at John. But that is how it goes as siblings. I used to feel guilty but now I don't. John and I loved each other and showed it in different ways but we were also siblings and knew how to stir up trouble with each other.

Everyone including myself always used to talk about what an old soul John had. And I agree, he always did seem to be an old man in a young boy's body. He hardly ever seemed to really 'act his age.' He did have his moments but they seemed few and far between. But when he finally was in high school and got his license I remember my parents telling me stories about him and laughing because he was real teenage boy after all, full of mischief and shenanigans but all the while still loving Jesus and because of that, serving and loving others so well. I mean, I don't think there was a kid at Boerne Samuel V. Champion High School that has a bad thing to say about my brother.

My favorite mischievous story might be the time I came home as a senior in high school to a flaming coffee can in the driveway surrounded by gasoline and a hairspray bottle. I totally freaked for a lot of reasons, mainly we lived in the middle of town, and John just calmly told me he was making a goblet of fire like Harry Potter. I was so mad at him. He was such a pyro.

I also remember being a junior in high school and going to church with the family and everyone fighting over who had to sit by Mom and Dad (don't worry parents! we still loved you). But not John he would always take the seat next to them so the rest of us wouldn't have to. A small thing but all of the small things are starting to add up.

All of this to say I want to do a better job of letting Christ define John's life. Going to Boerne will always be hard. Always. But I hope that I can learn to treasure ALL of the moments I had with John. The good ones AND the hard ones. I will never understand why by his own choice he chose to leave us and I will always feel a deep sadness for the time I don't get to spend with him but someday I will get to hug his scrawny little neck again and punch him in the arm and tell him how much I missed him and how proud I am of him because

"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:38

I believe this truth with all of my being. Doesn't mean I am not sad or miss John or that I won't continue to be attacked by grief but I know that he loved Jesus and that no matter what he did Jesus still loves him and wants to remind me of the same thing. He wants me to rest in this confidence. To stop living for myself and trying to make myself better, because that will lead me no where, but to day by day moment by moment place Him first in my life trusting that he will take me and do with me what he wants. And not in a cheesy way but in a confident, hope filled way. The impossible became the possible in my life and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it but the thing that remains firm in my heart is the truth in Christ and that he can handle it all and more. There is so much more I could write about John but I'm sure it will come out in many more blog posts in the future. But for now, John, thanks for being awesome. So sad you are gone and will be always but thanks for being my awesome little brother.

John using the only operational flame thrower

in Texas after a WWII reenactment of which he took part in regularly in Fredericksburg, TX.

He was so proud of it that he called me and ask me how he could email it to me. I

had to walk him through how to send an email. He hated technology

and that is something I love about him.

SPRING BREAK!!!

2011-03-26T11:33:00.010-04:00

So I had Spring break a little over 2 weeks ago. Crazy. Last year I stayed in Asheville and my sister, Mary, came to visit from Wheaton College outside of Chicago. I learned the hard way that it is not a good idea to stay in town for Spring Break. Mary and I had a wonderful time but there were lots of activities and things that I felt I had to be present. I could have said no but I didn't.

This year Mary and I decided to spring break again together. In the brainstorming process, Mary decided she wanted to do some camping and hiking in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. So I started figuring ways out to make this happen also knowing there was no way we would be able to camp for a full week in early March. So I enlisted the help of my friend Drew who is an experienced backpacker. And we planned a two day two night trip to be followed up by Mary and I heading to Nashville, TN for 3 days. My friend Brandon also accompanied us on the backpacking trip.

We left Monday morning and hit the trail by 1:30pm hiking 5 miles before setting up camp for the night. Well, I let the pictures tell the rest of the story..

cr-v beasted the snow.

just like Little House on the Prairie! haha

campsite #1

yep. this is normal :)

Day 2: 13 mile day. first 4 straight up.

i don't even know..

atop Hemphill Bald.

Music City!

All of their posters are hand printed. It is kind

of a trade mark place in Nashville.

One of my favorite places we ate.

you can probably smell the butter

wafting out of the computer screen

Parents were married here in the 80's. Sadly,

the original sanctuary burned down 5 yrs ago.

but the steeple is in the same place...

Centennial Park with our friend Daniel.

Self guided tour of Vanderbilt University. So cool

View of downtown Nashville at night from a walking bridge.

Overall the trip was great. There were a few speed bumps and hard times but it is a trip that produced many many stories (both wonderful and terrible). But I think that is what I am beginning to love about it. It was real. Frustrating at times but very rewarding in others. Being removed from it I am beginning to look at the pieces individually and discover the goodness in all of the moments. I discovered that my body can put up with mentally and physically a lot more than I thought it could. I am beginning to learn the art of true patience and being ok with being lost and that things never do really turn out the way you want them to and that is actually have the fun. If things actually always turned out the way I want them to I think I would actually be even more frustrated.

I believe that Spring Break 2011 will be fondly remembered for years to come.

"SPRING BREAAK!!!!!!!!"

(always yelled as loud as possible while waving

two sets of rock and roll fingers in the air and followed by a woohoo!)

Frozen Peas

2011-02-22T22:39:00.005-05:00

Yes the title of this post is relavant to its content. kind of..

Tonight I had the pleasure of playing in the UNCA coed basketball championship game. I actually ended up on a team this year after a crazy string of events. The season was short but I had so much fun and definitely made me wish i still played regularly.
I am not the best player but I can still hit my shots and make some passes and hold my own. I have been playing basketball every since I could walk. My dad was pretty much a 5 ft. 5 super start in high school. I was never an all-star but I was constant, extremely competitive (still am) and I actually had a LOT of fun playing. The one thing about me playing basketball is that I tend to always walk away from a game with a multitude of bruises and scrapes. To me, that means it was a good game. If I didn't walk away with something hurting I knew I hadn't played hard enough. I think my knees are permanently purple from diving out of bounds and trying to scrape up a jump ball or four. My size has always worked against me so I have had to learn how to play smartly. One of the things about being short is that you are always at elbow height or being smashed into a pick if your team isn't watching out for you. Posting up isn't really an option. I swear to you that I lost a contact lens every game. I would have to pick it up off the deliciously clean court and put it in my mouth to 'wash it off' and pop it back into my eye so that play could continue. It is amazing that I don't have a disgusting eye disease.

I have always loved the after a game feeling of being exhausted and feeling a little beaten up. Tonight I got my money's worth in minor injuries. I walked away from the game with a bloody lip and knee, a bruised elbow, two slightly jammed fingers, court burned knees BUT with a championship t-shirt. Please hold your applause, this is big time stuff..

It has been so good to be back on the court again and almost makes me regret giving up basketball. But just almost. It has been so great to be able to play for fun. Hopefully I will continue to do so.

Oh, I forgot one small detail. I can get pretty fired up on the court. In high school I learned to channel it into playing harder. But sometimes an alternate me just kind of slips out and heated exchanges can happen. Especially when playing with guys. Tonight, my fiery side came exploding out after being intentionally elbowed by a guy on the other team after we were both going for a ball. In response I may or may not have just intentionally fouled him. To me, that is just lazy basketball on my part but sometimes you have to let them know that you refuse to let them walk all over you. In the end we made up and I apologized for everything and we walked away smiling.

heh heh heh. You thought I forgot the frozen peas. Nope! Right now, I am no attempting to ice my lip and elbow at the same time. Ice cube for the lip and frozen peas for the elbow. Peas are the best. It is a special scene really. My roommate asked me if I had been at a boxing match. Kind of feels like that but definitely worth every bit of icing.

So there is my random blog about intramural basketball and my weird injuries.
I am not fragile, I just play hard.

Oh, and you will be pleased to know that I received my first shirt with the outline of North Carolina on it. For our win, we received shirts that say Intramural Champion. Underneath the lettering is a small outline of NC with a star for Asheville. If my camera wasn't broken I would have posted a beautiful picture of me in my shirt. I will spare you this one time

I know, it was big time. I am proud (of the shirt)..

Troy and Abed

2011-02-15T23:43:00.008-05:00

I have blogged about the NBC show called Community no less than 5 times I am sure of it. But here are some clips of my two favorite characters from the show, Troy and Abed. I would go as far as to say they are my favorite characters on TV right now. They always bring the laughs

I could go on and on...

And now I shall leave you with this:

"If you love brownies, you love life." Thank you Shirley. Couldn't have said it better myself

Granada!

2011-02-09T22:40:00.008-05:00

Well. I have waited for some time to actually do this post.

Spain. This is where I will more than likely for the entirety of my next year in school. I turned in my application to study in Granada, Spain yesterday. Everyday I get a little more excited about the idea which will hopefully be a reality soon. I am a Spanish major at UNCA and have been talking about it for months trying to imagine what it will be like. I am hopefully going with a program called Granada Sur Experiences. It is a smaller program, which I like, and is in connection with the University of Granada.

As you can see from the above map with Granada circled in red it is a city in southern Spain close to the ocean but it is also at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I really don't have much reasoning for picking this particular place. I spent a fair amount of time talking to a few of my professors and friends who actually studied there. I also seem to just 'run into' a lot of PBS specials on Spain and in particular, Granada. So I have decided to go there. I hope to see lots of this:

and maybe some of these:

And then stare at this view for awhile:

I think I could also be ok with being less than 45 minutes from this:

All this to say is that I'm going to start reading all I can about this fair city of Granada. From what Wikipedia tells me it is a great town for university students (check), has a great night life (check) and is a wonderful city (check). Who knows, maybe I'll even meet a cute Spanish boy... (don't worry Mom and Dad, I make sure he checks out).

Also, it will be great opportunity for me to take a few side trips. That being said, I am starting a list of all the connections I could possibly have in Europe while over there. So, if you know of anyone that wouldn't mind a surprise visit (planned of course) from an American college kid trying to see Europe, by all means let me know!!

Stay tuned for what will be more fabulous posts on this new adventure I may be having in the life of mine!

Life is Like a Roll of Toilet Paper

2011-01-27T12:39:00.004-05:00

I am a Spanish major. Every time I say this out loud the responses vary widely. I have received "Oh. that is neat." to "What the hell are you going to do with that?" I say this because I have chosen not to pair Spanish with a minor. Probably not the smartest decision but I will figure that out later. I feel like if I know a foreign language I'll be ok somewhere. That being said it has given me lots of room to take some interesting classes at UNCA. Last semester was Portuguese and Political Science. This semester is peppered with Meteorology and Media Ethics. Yep. Kind of weird. This post is dedicated to my Meteorology class.

I have actually always been interested in weather. It fascinates me how much it can control our lives and how it is THE constant variable in any conversation between people. Always. So I thought I would try it out. Only two weeks in and it has been a very special treat. My professor has already become my favorite I have had in my time at UNCA. He is a small Asian man with a very thick Asian accent. This proves difficult at times in class but he is very good at writing words on the board so we know what he is talking about. He also gets off on random tangents in class about life and life lessons. Today it was toilet paper.

He had brought in a plunger to talk to us about air pressure and vacuums. This also means he brought in a roll of toilet paper just for fun. After completing the demonstation he gave the class a five minute speech comparing our lives to toilet paper. Even within that speech he spent 30 seconds talking about how ugly new borns are. Back to the toilet paper. He held up the roll and said it was a metaphor for our life. Of course everyone giggled. He then talked about how the roll starts out big and becomes unwound. Slower feeling at first and then when you get down closer to the core it seems to go faster and faster. Then he broke a piece off and told us we were all fragile and our rolls can break at anytime. He then told us to go out and live a good life and ended by raising the roll high above his head and saying "cheers to you all." We then casually went back to talking about air pressure and jet streams.

Yeah. That basically sums this class up. I learn a whole lot about weather and whole lot about life. He is a very smart man and I enjoy his musings very much. I have yet to leave that class without a smile on my face.

And as funny as it is...

Life IS like a roll of toilet paper. Lot's of different kinds, sizes, patterns, textures, and opinions about how it should be unrolled. But in the end it is essentially toilet paper with one supposed to be Ultimate purpose (insert assertions here) and when it is used for other things like cleaning up spills it doesn't work out so much...so..

Cheers to toilet paper!

side note. I actually strongly dislike the Charmin commercials. They are what you would call a def awk sitch (definitely awkward situation for those who don't do abbreviations) but since these bears had no toilet paper I gave them a second chance.

The Cutest Little Girl

2011-01-18T14:21:00.005-05:00

Here is a picture of me with the cutest 4 year old I know, Lucy Sloan. Seriously, I DARE you to find a cuter girl.

This picture was taken a few days ago when my sister was in town. We had gone with the Sloan's and Murphy's after church to lunch at Chili's. The wait was agonizingly long and the building waaaay over crowded so Anne and I took Asher and Lucy outside to have snowball fights and play tag. At one point Lucy was sitting in my lap looking at Anne's pictures and she kept stopping and turning around to give me big hugs. Then she said "take a picture of me and Amy Noll." This is that picture. Thanks Anne Noll for capturing a moment of cuteness too great for words.

I'd say I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend like Lucy. Like I said, I dare you to find a cuter little girl.

The Things You Forget..

2011-01-17T13:28:00.003-05:00

So Anne came to visit me this weekend and once I get her pictures there will be a longer, more detailed post of what we did. But for now I feel the need to inform you all about one thing.

Anne and I did a lot of 'Remember when' this weekend. The things we came up with were hilarious. We talked about my dislike of being anywhere near a Talbots because we were made to spend what seemed like hours in that store (love you Mom!). We talked about how we remember our aunts and uncles at our ages and how we thought (and still think) they were so cool and old. There were also the conversations about what movies we used to think were hilarious and much talk of old Disney Channel shows.

My favorite thing we brought up was our weekly grocery store trips to H-E-B. I know I promised to give 'all things Texas' a rest for awhile but this one is too good not to discuss. Especially for people who can relate. Anne and I discussed how we used to love our weekly shopping trips with mom to buy our 2 baskets full of groceries (yep, once a week). We liked these trips so much because there was always the chance that we might be bought an ICEE from the machine in the deli section. This did not happen every week but the promise that there could be kept us all on our best behavior. I cannot imagine taking 5 small children into a crowded grocery store. Bless you, Mother.

Anne and I further discussed the things we used to have to do in the grocery store. And that is when I remembered.. Taco Cabana in Boerne used to be located INSIDE of H-E-B! You might be sitting there thinking 'so what?' and that is perfectly alright. These are the two places I seem to miss the most about Texas. And the fact that I had forgotten they used to be joined together blew my mind. I then remembered how it was my job to buy a regular Coke and 4 flour tortillas for us to split whenever we were shopping. I mean, seriously, Taco Cabana + H-E-B = the best combo of places ever. Trust me on this. It was awesome.

So there you. My filler post until I am finished catching up on all of the school work I threw into the corner for the weekend. Thank goodness for holidays. I am trying to enjoy this one because it is the last one before Spring Break. But that being said, I wouldn't mind a few snow days between now and then.

Hint, hint weather man..

Sweet 16!

2011-01-09T12:21:00.005-05:00

Today is Anne Noll's 16th birthday (She is the first on the left in the above picture). Sadly, I am not in Boerne, TX to celebrate with her. But the good news is she is coming to visit me later this week so we will definitely have a birthday celebration then. Turning 16 was the coolest. Makes my top 5 favorite birthdays list ever. And yes, I know I've only had 21 of them.

Anne is probably just about the coolest 16 yr old you have EVER met. Seriously. She sews. Like sews as in has a sewing machine and has made me purses and skirts. And they are legit. She is very crafty and can craft the heck out of just about anything. She finally broke the Noll family height curse and is now almost the tallest member of the children. I might be just a little jealous.

Over Christmas break I got to spent a little time with her and see what she has been up to in her life. She has a tree house in the back yard and we spent 2 full days decorating it with fabric, pictures, and maps, and cool trinkets. That's right, I used the word trinket. Deal with it.

I trust this girl fully with a vehicle (not that I have any say in the matter). She looks older than me, is taller than me, and is waaaay cooler than I ever was at 16 or even now for that matter.

So....

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

2011-01-09T12:11:00.003-05:00

Ever since I saw the new True Grit on Christmas Day I have had this hymn stuck in my head. I grew up singing Leaning On the Everlasting Arms all the time but never really paid much attention to it. They use it throughout the movie and it is the song you exit to. I have since then researched it and found out that it the verses were written by Elisha Hoffman and the chorus was added by Anthony Showalter who added them after he had heard about two of his friends losing their wives.

Not a bad song to have stuck in my head..

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain

These words speak for themselves

Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

2011-01-05T10:27:00.005-05:00

For lack of things to blog about I have decided to write about the events of last night. Mostly a 5-10 minute window but those 5-10 minutes were something special.

My friend Sarah is in town for a few days and has obviously been staying with me. Visitors are fun especially when you like them. As always this means that parking in front of my apartment can be challenging and spots get confused but it is never a big deal because there are plenty of other places to park, like down below my apartment on a section of the "road" no one ever drives on. Sooooo last night when Sarah and I got back from dinner and a movie, that is where I parked. No problem. Been doing that for about a year now. No one has ever told me I should not do this. That is until last night.

We came home and then decided to watch Friends re-runs for the rest of the night. I feel asleep on the couch (surprise surprise) at about 11:30ish. Sarah woke me around 12 and I climbed into bed. I have this strange habit during the winter of always looking out my window for snow before I go to bed. I know, I am ridiculous. Well this time when I peeked through the blinds there was a cop car outside and a few cops walking around. I jumped out of bed and put some more clothes on to see what was going on. I like neighborhood drama. It is horrible but true. I think we all secretly do. I went into the living room and Katie, my room mate, immediately informed me that the cops were actually here for ME. What? They apparently I had parked in a bad spot and they were forcing me to move my car.

At this point I have no idea what is going on. All I want to do is go to bed. Not go outside in below freezing temps in pajama pants and a sweat shirt to talk to cops. But I did. As soon as I walked downstairs I realized that not only was there one cop car outside but THREE and there were FOUR cops standing around with their thumbs in their belt loops doing their best to look threatening. So I approach them and calmly ask what the problem was. Apparently, cars are not supposed to be parked down the hill and they assumed it was a suspicious person prowling around looking for trouble. So they began investigating. Wow, I never thought my 2008 dark blue CR-V with a Young Life sticker on it was that suspicious. I guess I was wrong.

So I went to move my car. Of course it took two cop cars to wait and make sure that I was actually moving my car.

The best part about the whole night? I had my pants on inside out and backwards. Those of you who know me know this happens regularly.

All this to say I am grateful that the Woodfin Police were actually paying attention and trying to do their job. They sure do know how to scare the heck out of a 21 yr old at midnight.

So well done Woodfin Police! I hope you actually stopped real crime last night.

Laaaaater 2010

2011-01-01T23:33:00.006-05:00

2010 New Year's Eve was probably the best yet. And the funny thing was I spent it doing things I really don't ever do. I spent the night with my family Two Stepping in a dancehall located in the heart of small town Texas. Yep. There probably isn't anything more stereotypical that I could have done. I spent my whole life here in Boerne, TX and never really appeared in the dancehall scene. Part of me thinks I missed out on alot but the other part me tells me that I now get to appreciate it even more for what it is.

Growing up we have never really gone crazy about the New Year. We do all of the traditional things like eat tamales, toasts with Martinelli's, and black eye peas on occasion. This year my parents took a big leap and decided to something crazy. They bought tickets to a BBQ, live music, and dance in Sisterdale, TX. A few things you should know about Sisterdale. It is old, very old. It is out in the middle of nowhere, and it's population is about 13. The dancehall is one of about 4 building that makes up the 'town,' a winery, old cotton gin, bar, and dancehall. And it is absolutely gorgeous. The most involvement I have had with this lovely place was driving through on the way to somewhere or stopping at their small store to pick up ice on our way to a fishing adventure.

The dancehall in Sisterdale up until this past year was fairly rundown but still usable. It was recently sold and the couple who bought it fixed it up very nicely and have recently opened it again. So my parents bought tickets along with our friends Pete and Lori Johnson and their kids. We all dressed in our finest Texas attire (you know the stuff) and headed out for what promised to be a most interesting night.

I can't seem to find any pictures of the remodeled dancehall but I found a few of the old one and the landscape around the area:

Sisterdale Bar

winery! this is on my list of places to visit at some point

This is the old dancehall exterior

Here is the website to the dancehall if you are just super bored. haha

I have to say, it was one of the finest nights I have had in Texas since leaving for college in the mountains of North Carolina. The stars were bright, the music was loud, the food good, and the old people really drunk. All joking aside it is good to remember your roots every now and then. The band was actually pretty good and I polished up on my Texas Two Stepping skills once again. The BBQ was delicious and made me never want to touch any other again (that's right, you too NC). Succulent Texas smoked brisket, cream corn, green beans, and of course a loaf of white bread to go with it accompanied by an iced tea. Let's just say the servers in the buffet line and I became very very good friends.

After dinner the dancing began. People are always a little shy but once they have enjoyed a few longnecks and glasses of hill country wine the night begins. I was whirled and twirled around my the Johnson's son Dan. I even danced with my lovely Dad. The most dancing that I have done in a very long time. Made me wish I had someone to go dancing with more often.

After about 3 hours of that we decided to run across the street to the saloon to play darts and shuffle board while we waited for the midnight toast. That was a most wonderful experience. I miss drunk old men giving you advice on how to keep creepy men away and telling you that you are "damn good" at everything.

We then headed back to the dance hall for 1 more hour of dancing. Then toasts to the new year. But wait! There was more! Breakfast tacos and black eye peas for all!! It was hilarious to watch a bunch of drunk people fighting over bacon and egg breakfast tacos. 1am breakfast tacos never tasted so good.

This trip really has been good. Good to be with family and good to be here in Boerne, TX. For the first time I have truly appreciated where I grew up. I have spent the last 2.5 years trying to run from it. While I don't see myself moving back anytime soon I will continue to appreciate my visits.

One day more...then heading back to those western North Carolina mountains.

"The road goes on forever and the party never ends!"

-Robert Earl Keen

And now...I promise to be quiet about Texas :)

My Spurs

2010-12-31T01:16:00.006-05:00

Everyone has 'their team.' That team that you live and die for. The one you never try to miss a game or at least check the scores. That team that no matter if they win or lose you will always stand behind them. That team for me?

The San Antonio Spurs.

Ginobili, Bowen, Parker, Duncan, Oberto

(the Spurs of my high school days)

I have been a Spurs fan for as long as I can remember. I have pictures of me blowing out birthday candles with my #50 David Robinson jersey on, hunting easter eggs in my #50. I loved that thing so much that I even wore it for halloween one year and called myself David Robinson.

I loved going to games growing up. They used to play in the Alamodome which was right next the Tower of the Americas. This tower had a revolving restaurant in the top of it that slowing turned while you ate your food. And one year as a reward for good grades my dad took me to dinner there and then to a Spurs game. I will never forget that. I was the coolest kid for one night.

I have watched that team go through many transitions and have seen many great players. Avery Johnson, Sean Elliot, David Robinson, Malik Rose, Will Purdue, Steve Kerr, Antonio Daniels, Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry, special guest Robert Horry, and Fabricio Oberto. Of course now I watch Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Gary Neal, Matt Bonner George Hill, and Richard Jefferson rule the court.

I know those names mean nothing to you but to me, they mean alot. The Spurs are the only professional team in San Antonio (if you don't count the Rampage hockey team). In my opinion they are what keep this city alive. Spurs games and fans are crazy. It is never quiet. There is always music playing, announcers shouting, and fans cheering. Through thick and thin attendance is always high. Around playoff time almost everybody has a spurs flag on their ca and Go Spurs Go! signs pop up everywhere around the city. They now play in the AT&T center which is where I have done a majority of my attending. I was really lucking growing up because my dad has the greatest connections in the world and was able to score us box seats most of my high school career. Box seats are the way to go. You eat, you talk, you play with the fancy TV and you watch the game from the best seat in the house. So wonderful.

They have come a long way as a team. Gregg Povovich has done an incredible job. He has coached them to 4 championships since 99. I respect him very much. Tony Parker, you still have some trust to gain back but I still love you. Their logos has also come a long way:

mmmm. the 90's. I actually miss this logo but they had to change it (2002) so that people would take them seriously. Here we are in 2010 and people still don't take them seriously.

ahhh. serious logo. It took me so long to get used to it

I know that nobody who isn't a spurs fan does not care about them. And that is ok. feel free to bash them all you want but anytime I ask people what there favorite thing they've done when they visit San Antonio they pretty much always say it was going to a Spurs game.

They will always be my team. Even when they lose and that will happen someday. They will always be my deep rooted connection to Texas no matter where life may take me.

I guess I like them for sentimental reasons too. My childhood is full of memories involving the spurs. Many games with the entire family and some with just my dad.

I will stop there so that I do not bore you too much with other details. That would just be cruel. But you should know the Mavs suck and so do the Lakers...

GO SPURS GO!!

Turquoise, Adobe, Mexican Food, and Walking

2010-12-29T16:19:00.009-05:00

This Christmas my family packed up the family mini-van and drove to Santa Fe, NM. If you have never been there you should make it a travel destination at some point in your life. It is literally the strangest and neatest place all at the same time. The city has decided that all buildings must be of the adobe style within a certain milage of downtown so it is like the entire town is frozen in time. So much character there.

We stayed in a house that my lovely mother found. This couple has two houses in Santa Fe. One they rent out and one they live in. We ended up staying in the one they live in because they were on vacation. And a funny development as of today, the couple was actually in Boerne, TX today and called my mom to ask her some questions. How random is that?

It was a pretty legit house and is conveniently located within walking distance on downtown. Here is a virtual tour of part of it:

living room/kitchen

back patio. Fire place to the left of the pic

The greatest part about the house was on the outside it didn't look like anything special. Seriously, you had to drive down a dirt alley to get there and it is surrounded by other adobe houses that look very unkempt. You would never guess that you were about to enter a million dollar home. So fantastic. Here is a pic of part of downtown. Literally all of the buildings look like this:

We met up with some great family friends, The Foersters, for the entire trip. Every day consisted of sleeping, some form of shopping, walking alot, people watching in the square downtown, and then stuffing our faces with mexican food every evening. It was wonderful.

New Mexico is just that, a newer Mexico with some Native American traditions mixed in. I used to thank it was the strangest place ever. I still think that but I have also come to appreciate it. Turquoise, tourists, adobe, dirt streets, and mexican food are a wonderful combination.

Christmas Eve we made reservations at 3 different restaurants before finally deciding on a 9:30pm at an Italian restaurant I have already forgotten the name of. Before dinner we walked down a street with about 30,000 other people looking at christmas lights and other things. The restaurant ended up being unbelievably fantastic. We also had free entertainment because and elderly lady who was apparently a regular had enjoyed several glasses of wine and was telling lots of stories with elaborate hand gestures. When she left she apparently wrote a note for her waiter and a waitress read it out to the entire restaurant. It was awesome.

Christmas day consisted of the usual presents and brunch. Then lots of laying around the house. Right before sunset we all hiked up to the spot my parents were engaged at about 14 years ago. They hadn't been there since. A special family moment.

The happy couple

It was so nice to be in a place where we could all walk where ever we wanted. It was also fun to be there with The Foersters. They are some of the funnest/greatest people I know and always bring the good times.

Santa Fe is also the land of turquoise. I have never been a huge fan but I like to look at it and I even walked away with a nice ring. People come from miles around to set up shop on the sidewalk to sell their goods.

The people watching in Santa Fe was my absolute favorite. You could sit in the square for hours and watch children, homeless people, sweet old couples, engaged couples, rowdy teens, japanese tourists, lumberjacks, indian chiefs, and much much more. Some seriously good stuff. I wish I had had a camera to document it all.

Our last night in town we decided to build a fire in the outdoor fireplace and smoke cigars in honor of our last night in crazy New Mexico. We being my dad, my sister Mary, me, and Shelton Foerster. So we did. It was a special moment really. My dad gets a kick out of smoking an occasional cigar with me and I love it too. I'm a sucker for a good cigar. Definitely a great way to end the trip.

I am now back in Boerne, TX eating as much Tex Mex as I can get my hands on and enjoying the 70 degree weather. One thing about coming back is the more you are away the more you appreciate the things you knew you always loved but you didn't know how much you actually liked them.

Here's to family!

(not the best pic ever but you get it..)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Nativity Story

2010-12-23T20:17:00.004-05:00

I know many of you have probably seen this video by now or heard about it or even posted it on your own blogs but I love it and have watched it far too many times.

It is the Nativity story told by children and was done by a church in New Zealand and it is amazing, adorable, and worth sharing with everybody.

Whether this season be joyful, sad, long, hard, frustrating, or great I hope that you would be able to appreciate it and find moments to just be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Detox

2010-12-20T16:32:00.005-05:00

Christmas break finally came. After a semester of what felt like crawling and clawing myself to the finish line. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad but it certainly felt like it.

Classes ended last Tuesday and I was scheduled to fly out Wednesday. Didn't make it. Weather in Atlanta had me worried so I stayed in Asheville an extra day. Worth it. Finally made it to Texas and have been in a whirlwind of family activities. Today has been the first day I haven't had an agenda. Kind of. At least, the first day I've had a few hours to myself. And I want more of that. Hopefully it will come.

I usually post some pictures right about now. And I would love to but there is a small problem. My camera finally broke. I've had a little boxy Sony camera for like 5 years. It has traveled around the world, been dropped like crazy, slammed around, and moved cross country. It finally decided it was finished working about two weeks ago. This means no Windy Gap pictures, no Boerne, TX pics. No pics of my adorable cousins or of our Christmas trip to Santa Fe. sigh...how depressing.

I should just go out and buy one. But I decided I need a new pair of running shoes instead. So it looks like I will be cameraless for a little while. I kind of feel lost without it. I carried that thing everywhere and documented alot of life with it.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy being. Literally just being. Being still, being around family, being free from school, and being able to rest.

Well, we are off the see the Christmas lights at the River Walk in San Antonio accompanied by a trip to Taco Cabana, of course!

Christmas Shenanigans

2010-12-09T23:19:00.003-05:00

THREE blog posts in one night?? I'm on a role. Or just procrastinating. I'll let you be the judge.

My friend Taylor Wood made this lovely holiday e-card using all of the girl leader's faces on our Asheville High Young Life team. I'm sure you have seen your far share of them but go ahead and take a little looksy

I hope that you are as blessed by this as I was:

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

You're Welcome