This One's for Aurora

Love in a Cactus
:)

Sneak Peak

I am now a qualified elk whisperer

Cathedral Rock In Sedona, AZ

Angels Baseball in Phoenix, AZ

More to come later! Maybe even a slide show? :)

Goodbye California

. . . Hello Arizona!
I love spring break!

Leave a Candle Burning

It is unbelievable how fast I can come down with a serious case of burn-out when I’m not feeding myself with the daily sustenance that only God can supply. I can quickly reduce to a small piece of smoky ash. Similar to a match, I’ll be on fire for just seconds before I have nothing left to give.

The flame of my life is so much brighter, more fulfilling, and it even smells good when I remain connected to the source of eternal nourishment.

Just today's food for thought. =)

Life in the fast lane

I think it’s time to admit, I have an addiction to speed. Typical of a Southern California driver, I’m in the fast lane more often than not. If I ever get a ticket, I’m pretty sure it will be for speeding. This need for speed doesn’t only impact my driving; I also notice it when I’m on the ski slopes. It is SO hard for me to simply weave my way gracefully down the mountain. I have to race. When I type, I have to make sure that my fingers are practically flying across the keyboard. Instead of building a quality sentence from the start, I race right along and consequently hit the ‘backspace’ button at least a dozen times.
This principle follows me into my overall perspective on life! I always have to be ahead of the pack, the overachiever, the one who’s overly prepared, the one who’s always five minutes early, the one who accomplished the most. . . first. This is both something that I’m proud of and something that I find shameful to admit.
It has begun to sink in that life is not all about accomplishing some goal in the most economic, efficient, organized, and time-conscious way possible. It is so much more about the sights along the way!! How sad is it when I’m in the fast lane and all I can see is the center median on my left and a solid line of cars on my right!? I think it’s pretty unfortunate to miss the beautiful landscape along the way. Even if it means that I reach my destination a little later than I had planned, maybe it’s worth it to glide along in the slow lane.
I don’t understand why I’ve always had this notion that I need to plow through my school years full speed ahead. As always, the Lord’s timing for my life is not my own! The motto for my life should definitely be some version of “let go, let God.”
So I’m going to focus on taking it slow. . . spend more time in the slow lane. Enjoy the feeling of coasting down the ski slope, take pride in a well constructed sentence without needing to hit ‘backspace’ after every fourth letter. And maybe even take an extra semester to graduate from college. What’s the harm in that?

If I Were. . .

If I were a month, I’d be April.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Sunday.
If I were a time of the day, I’d be mid-morning.
If I were a planet, I’d be Saturn
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a Sea Turtle.
If I were a direction, I’d be East.
If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a bookshelf.
If I were a liquid, I’d be coffee.
If I were a gemstone, I’d be a (non-conflict) diamond.
If I were a tree, I’d be a Liquid Amber.
If I were a tool, I’d be a level.
If I were a flower, I’d be a Lily.
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be clear skies with a high of 90 degrees.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a cello.
If I were a color, I’d be yellow.
If I were an emotion, I’d be peace.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a peach.
If I were an element, I’d be Sodium (Na).
If I were a sound, I’d be the waves crashing on the shore.
If I were a car, I’d go fast!
If I were a food, I’d be a chocolate cake without frosting.
If I were a place, I’d be the coast.
If I were a material, I’d be cotton.
If I were a taste, I’d be fruity.
If I were a scent, I’d be vanilla.
If I were an animal, I’d be a swan.
If I were an object, I’d be a book.
If I were a body part, I’d be eyes.
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a big dimpled smile!
If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be rainbows.

Name Change

The name that I chose may come as a bit of a shock! However, here are my reasons for changing the name of my blog:

First of all, I wanted to choose something a little more “catchy.”

Secondly, I have been thinking a lot recently about what it means to be a Christian in our current culture; how to be in the world, but not of it and how to aspire to more than the “American dream.” I can’t say I’ve come to any solid conclusions, yet I would still like my title to display the theme.

Leave a comment with your thoughts! (Positive or negative)

The Music of Our Lives

Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,' " let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson!

-John Ruskin

The Wedding Dance

I know that posting YouTube videos isn't very creative on my part, but when I find a gem I just can't let it go unseen!

I think everyone will enjoy this one. :-) I would LOVE to do something like this.

Faithful

There's distance in the air and I cannot make it leave

I wave my arms' round about me and blow with all my might
I cannot sense you close, though I know you're always here
But the comfort of you near is what I long for

When I can't feel you, I have learned to reach out just the same
When I can't hear you, I know you still hear everyword I pray
And I want you more than I want to live another day
And as I wait for you maybe I'm made more faithful

All the folly of the past, though I know it is undone
I still feel the guilty one, still trying to make it right
So I whisper soft your name, let it roll around my tounge,
knowing you're the only one who knows me
You know me

Show me how I should live this
Show me where I should walk
I count this world as loss to me
You are all I want
You are all I want

-Brooke Fraser: "Faithful"

Inspiration

I just saw the movie Blindside and all I have to say is: WOW; LOVED it!

Winter

The dry, frigid winter has come to embrace the High Desert again and I’m finally done with finals! Hurray! I am so looking forward to sleeping in, drinking hot beverages, gift wrapping and most of all: reading! My mind becomes so thirsty for literature during the semester while it is fed mostly with the cut and dry textbook writing style. So bring on the books!
I’m currently reading What Is God Waiting For? Embracing The Divine Delays In Your Life by Marlinda Ireland and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. I would also like to find a novel to read in the near future so any suggestions are welcome!
This season I have found amazon.com to be invaluable for my Christmas shopping! I don’t typically shop online, but these last few weeks have been frazzled and scattered thanks to the various commitments I’ve made. I have very nearly purchased all my Christmas gifts using the internet, however sacrilegious that may sound. The best part is they’re delivered right to my door. :-)
About two weeks ago, my computer practically exploded (In Natalie language that means that it got a virus.) and I lost all my pictures, music, and documents from this semester. What a disastrous event that was. I was amazed to find out how much I really do “store my treasure on earth” in the form of pixels and megapixels. So now I basically have a “tabula rasa” for a computer as I had to reset it to its original state and start from square one. I’m accepting donations in the form of email attachments with any fun pictures from the last year!
Here is one that I was able to salvage:

My Jr. High Tribe

Blessings on you all during this Advent season.