let's catch up + look at blurry photos.

9.8.16
















i'm to the point that i make to-do lists over, and over, and over again.  just to make sure i'm remembering to do the basics, like drink coffee + grab breakfast.  

and my notebooks are lists.  lists of toiletries, electronics, clothes and weird, adult things like laundry soap... yuck.  and it's okay and good.  i'm learning to say no to buying every cute notebook + mug that crosses my path, because shampoo is actually more necessary than the before mentioned items, i guess.  

and class lists, words like matriculation  + learning who i am as an individual is all in this new, exciting curve.  getting to the point where i have multiple forms of photo id to pick from, a wallet that has receipts falling out, keys to remember, schedule to manage + learning how to learn who it is the Lord has me to be.  

and through all this was mt, to ga,  back to mt, to ca, + back to mt.  and long days on the road, lots of fast food, and grainy phone pictures because i guess having a full- size camera by your side while driving is frowned upon... 

how are y'alls summers?  fill me in and spare no sun-drenched details. 

moving forward.

7.8.16




















i like my valley.

where the clouds paint the mountains purple, where narnia is my backyard + the coffee shops play ed sheeran.
where i paint peeling wood white... which turns my hair turns white before its time.
where nowhere is safe from people you know, where everyone knows your face, or at least they should.
where everyone has a cousin who has a friend, who knows yours.  and everyones happy about it.
where it starts to really get hot when logically it should be cooling down, when the little hand touches three + the sun starts to really burn your skin.
where farmer tans are strong but peoples ties to their gardens are stronger.
where the places rarely change, but the people do.

coming back i see just how much i've changed.  i knew it, mentally, logically, physically i felt it.  but only now, being back on the roads i walked + standing next to the building that once felt so tall, do i really feel it.

i'm different.  i've changed.
my eyes are opened to the world beyond, i've seen, smelt + felt so much.  and i'm learning how to not just come back, but to come back well.

to not be a steam roller of opinions + convictions developed over years of learning.  but how to take advantage of the opportunities He brings for me to share what He's taught me. 

i'm learning how to stretch + grow at the rate He has for me.  and knowing that my story is different than others, but it's just right for me.  even when it seems crazy, crunched and wacky to others.

i'm learning how to learn... again.
i'm re-learning culture in some ways that i hadn't realized i had lost it.

 and i'm looking forward to starting the next learning curve that is bible school.  i'm gonna have teachers that aren't my mom (perks of being homeschooled), i'm gonna have roommates that aren't my siblings, and i'm going to learn how to live on a continent half-way around the world from where my family is. 

and it's gonna be good + hard.
it's gonna stretch + pull me in ways that living in burkina never did.
it's gonna open new opportunities for me to grow + it's gonna demand that i lean further into the Lord than i've ever had to.

and as i stand here on another "ledge" of life, looking into the next section ahead of me i feel inadequately ready.  knowing that i will need to fully rely on the Lord, as well as the lessons that He has already taught me + the gifts that He has given me, some of which i'm sure i don't yet know. 

but He does, He's got this.