moved!

I guess the main reason is..."just cuz." haha.

Find me here now.

perspectives

15 days till I get to see my favorite sister in LA.
39 days till the MasterWorks Festival in IN. (haha.)
Only 3 more days of finals.

(Courtesy of my little brother, who gets daily Mutts comics e-mailed to him, then proceeds to forward them to me. *grin*)

spontaneity

I've been itching to take my camera out again lately.

This afternoon I happened to look out the window just as the sun was about to set, and it was breathtaking, especially with "everything else" covered in snow. So...Mom and I were out the door in like 2 minutes and off to freeze ourselves for the sake of a few photos (well, Mom brought the Sudoku from the Sunday paper to do in the car while I went down to freeze myself for the sake of a few photos *smile*).

My mom is so brilliant that the Sudoku was finished with great speed, and she came to accompany me for a few minutes. And then we both ran back to the car.

(It was also quite windy.)

Baird Point brings back tons of memories...from the time we first moved here till now...but I don't think I'd ever been there during the winter before this. The frozen lake was kind of weird.

Even with the gloves, my hands were so cold that they hurt and I almost couldn't drive back. But it was nice to get a breath of fresh air.

And suddenly, it’s so quiet…

…except for the sound of the rice cooker, Dad's online conference thing over in the family room, and my poor laptop grunting because it doesn’t want to hold all the important (and unimportant) stuff that I’ve put on it. We sent Evange back to California on Sunday, and Mom dropped Zac off at Bio class earlier before going out with a friend (I believe the two ladies are “taking a walk” in the mall). I’ve been going back and forth all break trying to figure out if I really like “quietness” or not (not that it really matters if I do or don't), and I’ve concluded that…there’s a time for everything. *grin*

Last semester ended rather quickly—or so it seems, now that it’s behind us—and I’d say it was the hardest thus far, but I thank God that His mercies are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. And…break has been wonderful. More than ever, I’ve enjoyed just spending time with family and treasuring each moment. We had relatives over for Christmas (12 people including our family) and New Year (down to 8), and at times it was definitely noisy, but in good ways. Mostly. (I didn’t particularly enjoy hearing Alan Jackson’s Christmas CD about 23476 times because Mom didn’t like my choice of Christmas music…or being dubbed the tester of a “primitive security alarm system,” as Zac once called it, and hearing a tin full of coins crash to the ground every time I tried opening Zac’s room door. How’d he save up so many coins anyway?) I was constantly in awe as I looked around me and saw people I love…laughing, eating amazing food, playing, just enjoying each other’s company… Truly, I am blessed.

Of course, a big part of “enjoying family” includes Evange. *big smile* Last time she was home, it was August and she had a grand total of 5 days (and she was sick after being on the missions trip in Kenya), and with both of our schedules during the semester, we didn’t get to talk half as much as I would’ve liked. So I’d say we did a decent job of catching up over the past few weeks. Whether it was the late-night-talking, spontaneous jamming, granolaing in front of the fireplace (a must for the Lee sisters), introducing each other to “new music,” movie-watching, praying together…it was just what I needed and I treasured every moment. I loved—and sometimes didn’t love—how she could still read my mind perfectly, even after going to school/working on the other side of the country for “all this time.” hehe.

Anyway, I won’t keep going now, but I’m hoping to write more often. Like practicing piano, I’ve been recently reminded that I do love it. *grin* It helps me remember…and I realize how blessed I am. Blessed, and very grateful.

I love rain...

...as long as I'm not rushing to an important event or wrestling with a broken umbrella with no knight-in-shining-armor in sight ;) This afternoon, as I was practicing piano, it suddenly started pouring, and I figured it was a perfect time to give my hands a rest.










Shortly after I went out, however, it stopped raining. And I also decided that I still prefer taking photos of people. *smile*

Changing, waiting, and waiting to change. Or changing to wait.

A day ago, I was standing in the smallest airport I’ve ever been to, incredibly frustrated that I had missed my flight because they were understaffed. I wanted to scream when one lady finally came to the front desk—after my plane had taken off, thankyouverymuch—and said something about how “the only thing you can do right now is wait.” As if we hadn’t tried that for the past hour.

Around 5 hours later, I was waiting again, but this time it was to board the plane that would take me home. It was a different plane and a very different feeling. I was eating a bagel (Alpha Dining Hall food never tasted better *big grin*), editing some pretty sweet photos from yesterday morning, and listening to Mat Kearney tunes and the voices of people around me. Yet I kept thinking of what that lady said: wait.

And so I’ve come to the conclusion that, even on journeys home, “it’s not over.” (Isn’t that what I’d wanted?!)

Over the past month at MasterWorks, I felt that God was continually reminding me of just that: to wait upon Him…to love—trust—Him…to be still and know that He is God, that He makes all things beautiful in His time… As Matt Morris said in his devotional, it’s not that you didn’t hear that before, yet “life” changes the depth of it all. From piano devotionals to talks with people, quiet time to faculty devotionals, even frustrating I’m-just-a-little-girl moments…the connectedness (for lack of a better word) was almost baffling. Do things just happen like that? I tend to think not. It’s like when Evange and I can look at each other from across a room and know exactly what’s going on in each other’s minds. Something is just a tad bit scary about that. *smile*

And it was hard, I’ll admit. I’m still the girl who desperately tries to be in control, the girl who—despite not speaking out all the time—takes everything in and often lets her mind drive her insane, the same girl who quite frankly doesn’t like to be still. Like yesterday’s airport episode, I don't really want to be told to wait—by anyone. There's something that seems helpless about that, you know? And so I try, in the belief that moving will mean I'm actually going somewhere. I try on my own…and come up so short.

I needed to wait—needed to this past month, needed to yesterday, and still need to now…until…



Anyways.

I have a whole lot more that I want to write about, but I think it’ll take a little more time to process. (Plus the Bourne marathon has officially begun. haha. I love my family.)

btw, have you ever heard “Airplane” by Bethany Dillon? (You should.)

and so...

...I begin blogging once again, since summertime seems to be perfect for that sort of thing. *smile*