Happy Christmas from Massachusetts

Christmas this year has been great!  Yes, I know, it's not technically Christmas yet.  But I've already gotten the best Christmas present ever in the form of a young man flying back from Kyrgyzstan!  Therefore, I can safely conclude that this Christmas is the best yet.  (Besides, my Dad is actually wrapping his presents ON CHRISTMAS EVE instead of the morning of! That is record breaking!!!!!)

My family and I are cozily enjoying our first Christmas in Massachusetts.  We like it just fine, but mainly because we tend to prefer each other more than wherever we happen to be at the moment.  North Dakota, Washington, Idaho, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts... It matters not.  We love each other.

Love to you all, especially you (bjh) ;)
Happy Christmas!

p.s. Sledding Picture!

I'm still in awe of Alaska :)

(via)

Who wants to go!?

The plastic bag filled with the remaining odds and ends from my dorm room slapped my leg as I made my last trek between my old room in Thatcher South and my new room in Thatcher.  It was just after 7:00 pm and graduation was happening over in the gym.  My thoughts wandered along the dim alleyways of nostalgia.

Alumni.  Alumnus.  What does that really mean, anyway?  Shoot, you know, I don't really like being an alumnus.  Being an alumnus means you don't really belong anymore.  You once did, but now you don't.  Alumni are the people who come back to remember the "good ol' days", walking along the hallways familiar hallways searching for your picture on the wall.  They see all current students and feel old, mature, and distant.  Being an alumnus meant you once were, but now are not.  How sad.  The thing is, alumni really DO belong.  They slept in my room, sat at the same spot as me in the cafeteria.  They walked our same hallways.  They belong - certainly they do!  Yet, once they drive/fly/ride away that one last time, everything changes.  Sure, for a few years, coming back will bring cheerful greetings from old friends and faculty.  But as the years tick by, as kids are born, as the grey hairs multiply, things will change.  They will return, only to be greeted by silent classrooms and cold sidewalks.  The people they once knew and loved will be gone.


It was then that the thought struck me.  The thought without which, I would have melted into a nostalgic  puddle of misery.

Hmmm.... the people.
Ok, so the place will not be the same.  I will come back, and it will just be cold and empty, despite the young life teeming all around.  Very few will know my place here and even fewer will care.
The people...
It's the people that make the years after school special.
Ashley - nursing friend, fellow beauty lover, boy discusser (yes Barry, she was completely in-the-know regarding last semester)
Marissa - nursing friend, fellow jokester, lover of purple, Assessment buddy
Sarah...
Allana...
Jason...
Jeff...
Kristin...
John...
Alice...


People.  Hundreds of them.  These are the people who I will remember.  The halls don't matter, my old room doesn't matter.  The road that now has a ridiculous circle on it really won't matter.  But the people do.  They are the ones who I will bump into later in life.  They will understand.  They will recognize the common ties and laugh as they remember the good times.  It won't matter whether we meet at Southern, or in Africa.  Because it's the people that matter.  People.


Maybe this thought-process truly marks my entryway into the realms of an alumnus, even though I'm still a semester away.  But surely I can put its principles into practice now, before I become "just another alumnus".

Silent Reverie

Tonight I sat alone at supper.  It's been a while since I've done that.  I wasn't in the back where people expect that if you're sitting alone, then you want to be left alone.  No, I was in the front.  Not that there weren't people I could have sat with, I just chose not to.

So I sat alone.  And as I sat in my silent reverie, I noticed a few things.

1. Have I gotten old or has everyone else just gotten younger?  Spending 4 years in the dorm allows one to observe a full season's cycle of cafeteria goers.  Except for my small group of friends that still eats in the cafe, there are very few people that I know.  Most of those who were here when I began have either graduated or moved off campus.  I felt very old as I sat there, watching those youngn's come and go.
2. The wrapped packages under the cafeteria Christmas tree are the same ones that were there when I first arrived at Southern.  I know this because every year I look at their pretty wrapping and think, "Man, wouldn't it be awesome if there really were presents in those large packages!?"
3. I was tired.  Tired of schoolwork.  Tired of the cafe.  Tired of those chinsy Christmas trees that blink green, then white, then blue.  Green, white, blue.  Green, white, blue.  Tiring, very tiring.
4. Next year, there won't be any chinsy Christmas tree lights turning from green to white to blue. with those same, familiar packages underneath.  And there will be days when I'll miss the cafe, miss the friends that I could have sat with, and miss those familiar old chairs that I've sat on day upon day.

Merry Christmas, Southern.

Happy is the family 

Whose members, being bound, 

Are also free;  

For in utter dependence 

One can never reach his best, 

And to be too free 

Is to be lonely and unhappy

But to be one's best self 

In a life shared with others 

Is like a lone musical note 

Finding its home in a symphony.  

-Leland Foster Wood

Questions

I have many.
But I'm not completely sure what they all are.
Or how I would even go about asking them.

Things I like

twine

{via me}

These stamps by famous cartoonist Clare Briggs.

{via}

This awesome calligraphy/envelope contest

"Brown paper packages tied up with string..." (and all things kraft paper)

{via}

Unique packaging

{via}

Umbrellas...

mbrella:

...a small, transportable roof over your head.

What a silly idea.

Even sillier when, all of the sudden, everyone has one. Just because of a decreased barometric pressure.

What must the aliens think.

Why does it look normal on a cloudy day and absolutely ridiculous all the rest of the time?

I think it looks ridiculous even on rainy days.

I boycott umbrellas.

Except... I must admit that they do a much better job than my wonderful raincoat if the downpour is truly torrential. That's my only exception.

But today wasn't torrential. The clouds were only spitting.

Otherwise, I'd be eating my words and singing their praises.

As I go in completely soaked to Orchestra.

But regardless, I still don't use them.

It's a rainy day! Buy a raincoat!

Beauty in the in-between

There is beauty in the in-between,

beauty in the transition

Beauty from the journey

and not just the destination.

There is beauty in the hyphen,

beauty in the pain

Beauty in the almost,

not just what's gained.

There is beauty.

in you.
in me.

in us.

right now.

Love,

God

Joyce-Kilmer Wilderness Area: Fall Break Photos

*

*Picture #4 taken for me by Mr. Westermeyer.

Age

My brother is 22 and I am 21, just for y'all's information. ;)

....the Precious from the Worthless

You know, it just struck me that the word "extract" could easily be "strain" or "sift". But what happens if the sifter has unrepaired tears in it from past snags. What if the sifter is corrupt from a life of sin? And what if it's a strainer of my own making? I wouldn't know what to cast out and what to keep. So, I end up with a faulty strainer that has holes in it that lets things through that should stay out.

I cannot define what is precious and what is worthless. If I do, my strainer will never be pure and trustworthy. God has to define my terms; His Word MUST be my strainer, otherwise, I'm just as blind as the Israelites were.

Mismatched

So lately I've been doing a lot of internet surfing in regards to typography and graphic design.  I've come across some really awesome blogs that post new designs and work by artists all over the world.  While looking at a blog that has to do with packaging and logo work, I came across this.  THE SOCKS COME PURPOSELY MISMATCHED!!!!!!!  Now, I know that kind of defeats the purpose of why I wear mismatched socks (for any of you who don't know, it's because I don't fold/match my socks when doing laundry because it takes so much time) but it's still pretty cool! 

"Proclaim His Grace" by Dr. Bruce Ashton voted for GC 2010 Theme song

Check this out! I really want to sing Dr. Ashton's new song!

Click here for an mp3 version or here for the sheet music.

Trail-mix 101

I'm going backpacking tomorrow. I went to the VM this evening and got some yummyness to cook. Mmmm, I'm all about gourmet cooking over a camp stove!

However, I have a problem: I can't seem to make a small batch of trail mix. I tried really hard to only get small quantities of all the necessary ingredients (walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, sesame sticks, dried cherries, cashews, macadamia nuts, little graham cracker fishies, dried peaches, dried apricots, and bittersweet chocolate chips) but apparently my attempts were not successful. I wish I could weigh this huge bag of trail-mix, I'm sure it would be astounding.

Would you like to help eat my trail mix? [Insert positive reply here] Oh good, I was hoping you would say that! We're leaving at 8:30 tomorrow morning, think you can make the flight?

p.s. Yes, this post is specifically for Barry. ;) But others are welcome to respond to the invitation as well. I'll probably be eating this trail mix for the rest of the semester!

Allow me to brag...

So, I have these friends. Their names are Doug and John. They are best friends.

They ran a marathon today. A trail marathon. A mystery trail marathon. A beastly mystery trail marathon! It was an intense course in the hills of Georgia that had tons of climbs and very technically difficult trails.

Now here are the stats:

Doug - age 23, has never run a marathon before (until today)

John - age 20, has only run one marathon and it was a road marathon (until today)

Are you ready for the really good part?.......

THEY CAME IN TOGETHER AND GOT 3RD AND 4TH PLACE FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE MARATHON!!!!!! (4 hours, 20 minutes... just in case you were wondering)

Yeah... they were pretty awesome! I had the privilege of cheering them on, being their water-bottle holders, taking pictures, and running the last mile or so with them. I want John to be able to post most of the pictures on his blog, but here's a few teasers for you :)

Pre-race banana-feast!

I love this picture! Definitely in the moment! They were about 12 miles into the race at this point. They were also already in 3rd and 4th place overall-a spot they held for the rest of the race!

(If John doesn't post a satisfactory amount of pictures up, I'll be sure to post the rest later because there are some awesome ones!!)

Last of Camp Pictures

I never found time to post a general collection of camp pictures from this summer. Things were so hectic and crazy the last weeks before school started that I never got around to it. These last 3 blogs more than make up for it! Hope you enjoy the pictures! (Note: My camera was broken most of the summer so most of these are not my own, although some of them I did take with other people's cameras.)

I was determined to learn how to windsurf this summer. While I did manage to achieve a marginal level of proficiency in the sport by the end of the summer, much of my time was spent falling off and climbing back on, as the picture below depicts!

My brother, on the other hand, is quite the pro!

Clowning around at a rodeo

Canoeing with my beautiful Mother on a beautiful lake

Shams and my self portrait at the top of Ampersand Mountain

Day off #? Kristin and I went hiking!

I love this picture of Saranac Lake. (Kristin took it.) I think it conveys the feel of the place quite well. It's quite the artsy place and, after our hike, Kristin and I spent a while perusing art galleries! That's where I met Mark Kurtz. Read about it here.

Lizzy and I made a sand-castle/mound!

This was right after Lizzy saw that I had no pudding, so she went and got me a bowl. I was very excited that Lizzy knows the correct way to eat pudding (with the spoon flipped DOWN!)

The premier shower location at Camp Cherokee: THE LAKE! (Sshhh, don't tell P.Dan! ;D)

My handsome brother

Jackie, Meggan, and I on our last Sabbath at Chapel Island

The girls of camp cherokee's one last "hurrah" before camp ended

One Early Morning

One early morning at camp, Shannon and I canoed to a nearby island to have our devotions. Here are our pictures.

One Foggy Morning

One early morning at camp, Kristin, Shannon, and I went out wake-boarding. It was foggy. Very foggy. Here are our pictures.

Kristin's before picture...

Shannon's before picture

Did I mention it was foggy?

My before picture...

Jumping Pictures! (from the tower of the Nautique)

It was beautiful!