Leaving on a Jet Plane

I couldn't decide on an adequate title to summarize what Joy I encountered over the course of these past two weeks. Therefore, I settled on one that portrayed my feelings about leaving. Take a listen (this version is my favorite)
"California" -Joey Ryan

In the words of Joey Ryan. “California. California you know I love you California. When I leave I know you’ll wait for me. Cus’ in the sun and in the weather no one else has loved me better. California, you’re the place for me…So nurse me like a mother, raise me strong just like my father. Let me wander off, discover who I am. I’ll have learned your deepest lessons, gathered up your finest blessings, and return to California once again. I’ll come home to California once again.”

My time home has come to an end and I am overflowing with joy, unspeakable joy! If home is where the heart is, California will always have my heart. I couldn’t have asked for a better break. It wasn’t until it was over that I realized how fast time had flown. Call me naive, but I spent my days living like they weren’t numbered and it proved to be wonderful. I just wish I was able to have seen everyone! So, for those of you who didn’t get much time, or any at all for that matter, please know it was not intentional nor planned. Time simply escaped me. Family hoarded me. And my boyfriend toured with me. :)

I could go on for hours about all the wonderful experiences I had but for your sake I’ll simply resort to bulletining the most memorable. 

*hayley and sarah delivered a more than warm welcome upon my arrival at the sacramento airport
(also known as space mountain since the remodel.)

*i was home for a whole ten minutes before hayley managed to get us lost. standard.

*caryn and jim (aka my second parents) were so generous and hospitable (per usual.)

*i turned 23. it was slightly devastating. i actually feel OLD for the first time. Gross. 

*one world. BROTHER!!

*nothing like ringing in a birthday/ homecoming with lots of partyin partying yeah. the fam bam awaited my arrival over great food, wine, and my favorite cake. butter cream with raspberry filling. mmmm.

*over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we went. christmas wouldn't have been complete without it. 

*CADEN!!! my main man. my how big he's gotten. three years young and as fun, charming, and smart as ever.  gosh he's such a heartbreaker. 

*i learned what life was like for the first time without a car. (but, i also got to drive around my mom's infiniti g35 so i'm not complaining. :)

*JUICE BOX! (that's my dog for those of you who haven't been privileged enough to have been graced with his presence.) he was my roomie every night until i left. 

* stuart came and I got to show him all my loves. 

* yosemite for the day with moms and pops and my wonderful man. 

* san fran for the day with kristi and erica and again my wonderful man. we were blessed enough to run into sarah on the peir and completed our trip with a family dinner at the cox's. my aunt and uncle were able to meet stuart and spend a little more time with me before i had to return back to washington.
* my two main men got to meet. caden and stuart in one place?! i know i know.. i'm a lucky girl. 

* hayley and momma whitesell picked us up from the train station and stuart got to meet my second family. 

* new years with the whitesells!
* quelf! the best board game ever!

* sleep overs with em parr and my twinnie

* sarah tanner!
* all that was missing was arielle gamora :(

* green valley church.

* TWIN TIME! 

I suppose I fit in quite a bit. I only wish I could've extended the hours in each day by, oh i don't know, another 20+. I miss you all. Thanks for a wonderful time. I can't wait to see you sooner rather than later. Back to the real world. I have work at 7am :) 

here are a few snapshots i managed to snag along the way.
click here for pictures :)

Prayer Requests:
The man next to me on the flight in was visiting his son for the first time in years. I don't know much about the situation but he seemed hesitant and nervous. Pray for a blessed visit. One full of love and possibly reconciliation? I know we might take for granted how close our family dynamic really is, but the past two weeks have really opened my eyes to just how blessed we truly are and how many would kill for such a connection.

For work at the school. While I was away a competing facility was shut down due to multiple types of fraud. While I don't know all the details I was informed we were now at max capacity seeing as we just added 120 new students and were in desperate need of teachers and organization.

I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone.

“I like to see people reunited, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone.” 

― Jonathan Safran

California, here I am! I’m  home. I'll say it again.. I'M HOME! It’s my first official California sunrise in a long while and I’m officially 23. I don’t hate it.  I’m yet again traveling on my birthday. Does four years in a row constitute as a new tradition?  

Here’s to a house full of family, food, reuniting, and ample amounts of hugs and love awaiting me. It’s safe to say I’m kind of a big deal today. Yeah, whatever. I said it. It’s my birthday. I can gloat if I want to.

P.s. I bet you have never been greeted by such a sight in your life. This trumps all my airport greetings by far. Don't worry that you don't understand it. Just accept it as sheer genus concocted by young life girls turned sisters at it's finest. 

kkkkty's here!

a walk down memory lane. 

 06.

07. 

08.

09. 

10.

11. 

she's fantastic. you should really get to know her. :)

Tidings of comfort and joy from me to you.

Never mind the fact I'm COMPLETELY done with my Christmas shopping.  Say what?! women around the world are jealous. Fact. Why yes indeed I did make a fireplace complete with logs. (Obviously not lit in commiseration of Fresno's "no burn days.") Fact. Those are dollar store decorations and wrapping supplies. Fact. Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things.  Fact. My humble abode just got a little warmer.

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

What do you mean no one answers their phone at 4am? Can't you see I'm falling apart over here!?

It's way too cold. It's way too late. I've eaten far too much (or so I thought). I've counted numerous times exactly to the minute how much sleep I'd get if I fell asleep right this second, two hours later.. awake. Fantastic. It's been nothing short of torture. There’s now no doubt in my mind that for the second time in three weeks I was about to endure food poisoning in its harshest form. Let me start off by saying I don’t use the term ‘endure’ lightly. Three weeks ago I found myself all but in the hospital hooked up to an I.V. due to severe dehydration and let me tell you, the only reason I wasn’t was because of my own stupidity. It took every ounce of energy, hope, and life I had left in me to fight off my first bout and was praying this time it would be different.

I’ll spare you the details, but all the signs were there and I felt it coming. It was only a matter of minutes before it became official. I’m not sure if it was the mere memory of the terror I fought through just three weeks prior (and was still recovering from mind you), or the thought of facing it yet again alone that scared me senseless. Regardless, whatever it was I am beyond thankful for. 

As soon as my mind registered what was happening, I prayed. Quite literally the first hour consisted of “God, please just don’t let me throw up more than ten times!” That’s it. I’ve never pleaded with God more nor have I ever felt so helpless. I kid you not I prayed straight through hours on end that night.  I did end up throwing up, but only twice and I was done with it.  Granted I had other issues that had to be worked out, but compared to every 15 minutes for two days straight,* I considered it a victory.  

Two things happened over the course of those 24 hours. 1. I was forced to slow down. I was forced to rest. I was forced to bask in silence. I was forced to be alone with God.  All, though wonderful and necessary, were things I had cut out of my life for weeks upon weeks. I know. I know. Shame on me. 2. I recognized my complete and utter NEED for my savior.

Not to over spiritualize my sickness but, in hindsight, I feel like he was just trying to get my attention. This semester has completely consumed me with maters that only concern myself. While my work as a pre-school teacher is teaching me much, I am depriving myself of so much more. Sundays were added to my schedule and while at first they were taken hesitantly, podcasts became my only source of spiritual nourishment after a matter of weeks. There has been no real time for community in a 60+ hour work week. My financial security in the adult world has consumed me and I am loosing myself in the process.** I go home tomorrow for winter break. It couldn’t be welcomed with more open arms. I’m looking forward to this time of rest. To a time of relaxation. To time of carefree living. We’re talking good solid nourishment in it’s purest form.. FAMILY.

*you do the math
**applications for a life coach are now being accepted. 

ABC.. as easy as 123.

All right. All right. All right. I've gotten behind yet again. I never ended up calling comcast and time has once again managed to escape me.* Needless to say mass amounts of blogs are about to be posted. Most written on time, just never published. :) Internet really does play a vital role in my day to day. Who would've thought it would take me until now to realize how dependent on it life really is these days. 

Let it begin.. 

Hello to you my nearest and dearest. It has been brought to my attention that I forgot to mention this in my last post. Thanks to your prayers and encouragement I have landed myself a job far beyond my skill level. I am now officially a preschool teacher!** I work 30 hours a week teaching lovely 3 and 4 year olds (pre k’s if you will) all about Jesus and the A.B.C’S of life, quite literally. Yes you heard right, Jesus. I was hired on by a well-known Christian early childhood development and enrichment center in Spokane not too far from my apartment. God is beyond good. I’ve only been here a few weeks but it’s proving to be a good fit. Challenging, but you know how much I love challenges! I guess all the hours of early childhood education that Moody didn’t take in transfer units paid off after all. ;)


* I'm starting to think that's why flava flave wears a giant clock around his neck at all times.
** God be with me. 

Fridays are for Frozen dish soap.

Yup, I said it. Frozen dish soap. It was this morning when I woke up to frozen dish soap and a thin sheet of ice layering the top of my coffee pot I realized just how cold my lovely abode was getting. If it weren’t for my droopy eyelids I might have even been able to see my breath, but for the sake of my sanity I’m refraining from such thoughts. I know what you’re thinking; there are easier ways to discover how to live like and Eskimo. Truth be told it hasn’t really been that bad, but as the temperatures keep dropping and snow is now falling, I’m thinking something’s gotta give. Our tenant’s downstairs were conveniently enough our landlord and his lovely wife. Since they’re expecting they’ve thus decided to invest in a larger place to call home. While we’re quite excited for them, Melissa and I’ve realized their absence will not go lightly. Through facing the loss of losing irreplaceable neighbors, we’re realizing we lost a lot more. The power downstairs for one that no longer lends life to our washer and dryer, porch light, lobby, and bottom portion of the stairs. Our “free” wi-fi’s absence on the other hand wasn’t felt as harshly at first. That is until weeks of solitude and productivity were replaced with the haunting reality that life in your 20’s is pretty much unmanageable without the world wide web. Needless to say Comcast has been called. Which leads me to our newest discovery recently added to our list of losses.. HEAT! Without the Taylor’s to heat our floors we’re fighting a loosing battle with our electric bill and our sanity. All this to say, we’re ready for a renter.