Tag Archives: Pictures

Devil’s Lake

A few weeks ago, I went back to Devil’s Lake. I love it there. It’s one of my favorite places in the Midwest. I guess I always find the two 550ft cliffs and beautiful lake a shock after the two hour drive of seeing nothing but corn. And flat land. And more corn. Devil’s Lake is a break from monotony.

There are several paths that go up and around or just around the lake, but that’s not the best way to go. I prefer to go straight up. Instead of hiking along the paths, I go climbing over the boulders.  It’s always a bit challenging especially because I’m slightly lacking in height. But it’s always my favorite part. Something about going off the trail and using every appendage and all parts of your body to get somewhere and accomplish something is very satisfying.

(Thanks to Joanna Kay and James for some of the photos!)

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Turning the Tables

My life has been crazy these past two weeks. Literally insane. It’s not that I’m doing too much, though I have been doing a lot. It’s just that so much has happened in the past two weeks that I’ve had to process. So many new ideas and events that I’ve had to think about. I feel as though my life has completely tuned upside down and now I’m left to sort through the mess and decide what’s worth keeping and what’s best getting rid of. I actually had to think about what was worth my time thinking about.

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It’s probably  just because so much has happened so fast. Bam, bam, bam. There you have it. A whole new side of things. A whole new set of circumstances. Some concerns me directly; some are just things that have happened to my friends. They aren’t even bad things, just things that I had to form an opinion on.

You see, I had a plan. A great plan for my life and what I thought it should be and what I thought God wanted for me. And things aren’t turning out the way I’d planned. At all. So I’m left here in a mess and I look up and ask God what is going on. Did I do something wrong? Did I stray away? Did I miss some opportunity, or take a wrong one? Or was my plan wrong in the first place?

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I’m not sure. But I think God is humbling me. I think He’s turning the tables on my life to make me rely on Him and not some plan I made when I was eight. Because the truth is, I do need to rely on Him. Completely. He is the only thing constant through the trial and the change. My world can spin around all it wants, but as long as my faith is in God I will stand on firm ground.

I don’t think planning is wrong by any means; it’s a good thing in fact. I just need to remember not to be so surprised when things don’t work out the way I thought they would. Accept things with grace, refuse to worry so much, find beauty in the chaos; that’s what I need to do.

Maybe life is just like a record: breakable, scratched, dusty. All awkward and flimsy and something different on each side. But it’s the crackle and pop that bring each vinyl its character. I need to see, hear, feel, live in the beauty of each surprising crackle and each spontaneous pop. Because that’s what makes life worth living, even if it takes awhile to process. In fact, I need to learn how to enjoy the crackle and pops.

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Because the tables will always turn.

They Found Perfection

Like true nerdlets and Hayworths, Alison and Daniel watch Star Trek. Currently this happy couple is hooked on Voyager. Anyway, in Star Trek there is a species called the Borg and this race or collective, as the Borg call it, is on a constant search for perfection and makes all become one mind. Alison and Daniel decided that they are becoming their own collective: One of Two and Two of Two. And they found their perfection.

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St. Louis Again and Ukulele

My sister is officially settling in St. Louie. She’s currently juggling living on her own, a job, an internship, and most currently an engagement! She’s getting married! I’m kind of freaking out. Just a little bit.

My mom and I visited her to help her out and start thinking about wedding plans, but we also walked around the downtown and Mr. D (or Daniel as most people call him), Alison’s fiance — okay that sounds weird — had a ukulele he wasn’t using so he let me borrow it! Me and my uke are quite a pair. I finally got it in tune and smile every time I see it. The only sad part is that I can’t learn chords fast enough to play all the songs I want to on it. And most of the songs I do want to learn are so far removed from mainstream music that I can’t find the chords online. #hipsterproblems

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