my new favorite things

Snickers Dark Chocolate
Sunday lunch
Banana Coladas
girls' nights w/ tim
s'mores
mountain biking
high heels
Cajun Talapia from Applebee's
tshirt sheets
LA Ink
Take Home Chef
tim's old blanket
Wednesday night small group
vintage food ads
painted fingernails
Peanut Paradise smoothies w/ soy protein
yellow
working out early in the morning (gasp!)
library books
Rachel Clemons

another wedding & unfinished offices

lindsay and nick are now officially husband and wife. she was probably the most perfect bride i've ever seen, and nick was probably the most nervous groom i've ever seen! the weekend was full of fun friends and laughs. the girls went and got our nails done, had a dance party, fashion show (really it was only Summer & I), fancy bridal breakfast, jacob came in town for a long weekend, and we stood through one of the hottest weddings ever, trying to stay still with sweat dripping down our legs.

it's so much fun to share in the same season of life with friends. it's pretty easy when it seems like EVERY one of our friends is engaged. it's also very nice to relax and be a part of the celebration without having the stress of being the bride!

i'm starting to settle into my new job. the new school year is starting, and even though i'm not teaching, we have a pretty hectic September along with everyone else. summer events are over, but new teachers have to be recruited, trained, given supplies, and kids have to be promoted to their new classes. this job is all about the people skills and the details- sometimes not my biggest strengths.

i'm a little overwhelmed as i sit here in my office, which is still being pieced together. countertops are just waiting to be taken apart, books on the floor, pictures not hung up. i think once i get a good workspace, i'll feel a little more at home and productive. i'm also overwhelmed by the responsibility of being answerable to so many people who are older than me. i've gained the respect of knowing what i'm doing by my degrees sitting on the shelf, but the every day nervous pit in my stomach that i'm going to run into someone who finds out my secret- i'm still not sure what i'm doing. But until then, I will love people as much as I know how and take it one day at a time.

We're excited about this fall coming up, with summer schedules maybe calming down a little bit. Nick & Lindsay won't be in wedding mode anymore, so they can hang out and do neighborly stuff with us. Our small group is slowly becoming a "Newly Marrieds" group, but we're spreading the love of speed scrabble and mountain biking to everyone we can get our hands on.

We're planning a trip later this month to go see the Gooch family- baby Gooch needs to arrive soon so we can start packing! I'm absolutely and incredibly excited about that trip- I know it will blow me away to hold her and see her with her amazing parents. Let's just hope we don't come back with baby fever!

Well, this has been more of an update on our activities lately, but with those of us who don't live close anymore, sometimes that's nice.

Fall will be hard here on the east coast.

dragonflies and the art of bicycle maintenance

Tim and I have taken up mountain biking. It's something we've always said we'd like to do, so when Dad asked us want we wanted as graduation gifts, we knew this was our chance to get something as a gift that we would never be able to afford ourselves.

Mine is blue (as shown) and Tim's is red. These bikes are incredible. Tim's taken his out on more rides and mini adventure races than I have, mostly due to VBS week. He and a few more experienced bike racers in the church have taken him and Nick (Lindsay's fiance) under their wing and shown them a few good trails around the area.

My parents bought a pair, too. I knew that would happen, given the time that I got a new car and Dad bought one for himself as well. It's awesome to have something for the four of us to go do together. We've ridden everywhere from neighborhoods to the battlefields, and recently, Mom & Dad & I conquered a pretty tough trail full of drops, roots, fallen trees, sand, etc.

My shining (and slightly novice) moment was when I flipped my bike on the trail, rolled the bike off me and stood up thinking, "That was awesome." Lindsay might not appreciate the bruised legs I'll be baring in her wedding, but I'm a real biker now. I can't help it.

We were beginning the trail this last Saturday morning, and I was riding across a wooden bridge in the middle of what couldnt' be named as anything else but just plain swamp, and three dragonflies flew right alongside me for what seemed like minutes.

They kept right in step, flying next to me and never running into me or leaving my side. It was as if we both were of the same make at the time, both thinking, "yeah, I know. it really is beautiful out here. can you imagine what it was originally supposed to look like?"

oftentimes, when caught up in a moment of awe at nature's beauty- even in such an urban area of Virginia- it's as if God reminds me:


"You think this is beautiful, but I really wish you could've seen its orginal plan."

makes you kinda ache, doesn't it?

now that we've been living here

I miss those days
I miss those days
Autumn is falling
And I won’t be going away

I miss those years
I miss those tears
The tears that were falling
Cause no one was calling my name

A thousand people just like me
All frightened and excited to begin
I miss those days
They won’t be coming back again

I miss that life
I miss those nights
Looking for someone
To hold and to cherish
To love me despite

The thousand people I tried to be
Just like everyone
I was looking around for me
I miss those days
It felt good to be sad and lonely

But I am happy now
Oh so happy that I’ve found you
And I am quiet now
Yes, and quite content
Now that we’ve been living here
Cause I’ve got everything I’d ever needed
And half the things I’d ever want
And I miss those days
But if they came back
I would miss you so much more


This song nails it. I can't think of another that exists and would describe the way I feel about fall approaching next month and not returning to JBC.

For the last five years, my life was created and molded by the people and teachings of Johnson. I fell in and out of love several times there. I fell back in love unexpectedly and found my husband. I became who I was by the people I loved and the friends that I made. I met lifelong friends, people who, when I think about being so far from them, makes me physically hurt from missing them. We grew up, learned, fought, cried, laughed A LOT, played, grew tired, grew strong, and loved each other with everything we had in us.

The last verse is where it gets me, though. Although I absolutely cherished every moment I had at school, I wouldn't go back for the sake of having to take back the first 2 months of starting a life with Tim. Now I have, wrapped up in one person, someone to grow old with, learn, fight, cry, laugh, play, grow tired, grow strong, and love with everything I have in me.

"I've got everything I've ever needed here,and half the things I'd ever want."

I miss the hell out of Johnson because of the friendships I left with, but life goes on for all of us, and it's not the last time I'll get to laugh and cry with any of you.

But for now, this is my place.