Thankful Thursday: freshman year

Hi Everyone!
I thought I'd do Thankful Thursday a bit different this week, with a photo flashback to a wonderful phase of my life.
My freshman year at Gettysburg College was WONDERFUL! I made some really great friendships with people I now call my very best friends, I grew enormously in my relationship with Jesus, I found out more of who I could be outside of the confines of high school, and I just really came into myself. Needless to say, I am so thankful for how I grew during my first year of college, and how the people and experiences shaped my life (and continue to do so).

Here are some photos that document the journey. I hope you laugh and enjoy :)

Happy reminiscing!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I know there are a lot of people who don't much care for Valentine's Day, whether it is because it demonstrates the commercialism/consumerism that drives our country or it is because they are single or something else, but I have to say, I am a BIG fan, and always have been.

I love love and I love celebrating love. Valentine's Day is just this wonderful excuse to send people cards and tell them that you love them :) I'm a romantic, can you tell??

beautiful flowers from JT :)

This year my sweetheart and I are on opposite sides of the country, so there was no typical Valentine's Day date night. However, let me say, we made the most of it! Via skype we had a really lovely dinner date, where we had wonderful conversation and really just enjoyed each other's presence (thank you, technology!). While we were talking, the doorbell rang and... to my wonderful surprise a beautiful bouquet of flowers was dropped off for me, with a sweet little note from my love. Flowers are a sure way to my heart :) It was so great getting to feel so much closer than 3,000 miles away. I got to see the expression on his face when he opened his gifts, one of which was an "edge brownie pan." To me, little things like that are priceless!

[via]

At New Futures we celebrated Valentine's Day by decorating hearts with the Colorful Hands kiddos. Once again, I was impressed--they have such creativity! I also did a similar activity with the kiddos I take care of during the ELL class and also with the wonderful little girl I babysit. Can you tell I love hearts??

by ELL Child Care Kiddos

Audrey's workbench!

Colorful Hands Kiddos working hard!

Hearts by CH Kiddos!

All their beautiful work is pretty precious, huh!?

Wherever this finds you, I hope that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day celebrating with a lovey, a good friend, your family or just some delicious chocolate and a glass of wine.
Wishing you all the love in the world!

handprint puzzles

Today, in Colorful Hands we did a really fun activity with our kiddos. About a month ago, we ordered 12 create-your-own puzzles from Discount School Supplies. Today, we traced each child's hand on the puzzle and then let them decorate the puzzle with dot paints. Each puzzle came out absolutely beautiful and unique to the child that made it. It was a fun process to watch. I also think it is a project worth repeating.

We used our table time (small group) activity time as means to prep for our create-your-own puzzle by putting together our classroom puzzles. This helped clarify how puzzles work and are used prior to getting the blank puzzles out to decorate.

The kids really enjoyed having their hands' traced and painting their puzzles, it was fun to see such focused creativity :)

Here's the process as it unfolded...

Pretty beautiful, huh?!

i love sunsets.

There are a couple things that catch me by surprise and fill me with wonder and awe each time I see one--sunsets are one of those things. I just love sunsets. The colors are so extravagant and striking. I am amazed by the beauty and the mixture between complexity and simplicity. The colors are unique to nature, they are on God's pallet :)  They can't be replicated and photos can't quite capture the depth and beauty of their shades, and that's part of the wow.

Today, as I left work, the sun was setting and there was a beautiful pink glow. Not only was it beautiful, but it reminded me, spring is on it's way. The days are getting longer and the flowers are starting to bloom. How happy is that?!

So today, I thought I'd share some sunset pictures I've collected over the years! I hope you enjoy :)

Manhattan skyline in November

Seattle skyline in September 

trying to catch the sunset while driving in Gettysburg 

March on the west coast of Florida

July in northern California

look how red the sky is? December in so-cal

January in Nicaragua

January in Nicaragua

Seattle skyline

another seattle skyline--the view from my window :)

Today, in SeaTac, WA

Which sunset picture was your favorite?

dear skype, i love you.

Hey everyone--I hope you are doing well today!

Let me tell you about something amazing. SKYPE.

I first discovered skype when I studied abroad--it is a free way to talk internationally and you get to see the face of the person you are talking too! If any of you have studied abroad, or kept in touch with loved ones abroad, I'm sure you are pretty familiar with this friend of mine.

The great thing is, that skype isn't just used for international distances. Any sort of distance is made a bit easier with skype. I played cards with my brothers on skype a few times last year while I was in Gettysburg. Skype is just all sorts of great. If you are interested in trying it out go to www.skype.com !

Last week, I got a text from John saying that he has a surprise. You know what that surprise was? He got a laptop! And you know what that meant? We would be able to skype, and see each other's faces for the first time since he left Seattle to return home about a month ago!

When I saw John on skype, I was like a 12 year old girl meeting Justin Bieber. I was overwhelmed at how wonderful it was. I was so happy, and almost speechless (if you know me, you know that means something!). I was blushing and covering my face and just so excited to be seeing my love's face. It was SO GREAT. I left our skype conversation on cloud nine, and just floated around my apartment for the rest of the night.

Has anything caught you off guard like that and just left you so happy? We have used skype since then intermingled with our phone calls, and boy has it been nice :)
Anyways, just wanted to share with you all how much I'm lovin' on skype, and how much I appreciate technology for enabling the distance to not seem so far. It sure does make a world of difference getting to see someone's face when you are talking to them. So if you have loved ones too far away, check out skype!

Thankful Thursday: my momma

I am so very excited for my weekend guest! My mom arrives tomorrow evening and I can't wait to see her! Christmas time was the last I've seen her, and in my opinion it has been WAY TOO LONG!

I love my mom so very much. Not only is she an incredible woman, she is a wonderful mother! I have so many treasured memories with her, usually doing the simplest of things. I love how my mom knows what I need when I need it and her love is just do darn unconditional, it is a breath of fresh air.

I am SO thankful for my mom, words can't describe it. It feels like a big understatement to even write it out in such a way.

I'm in a bit of happy dappy mood after talking to Megan on the phone, seeing John's face on skype for the first time since he was in Seattle and remembering that my mom is coming to town TOMORROW... so bare with me as my Thankful Thursday post is likely to be a bit different than usual :)

Playing a quick round of word associations
Mom:
love
integrity
used plastic bags
strength
support
travel
funky/weird (in the BEST of ways!)
passion
funny
flexibility

Things I love to do with my mom in a very particular order:
1. sit down at a coffee shop and talk while I sip on a latte while my mom sips on her mocha
2. play games after dinner
3. annual holiday party
4. eat
5. everything else

Man oh man do I love my mom. Or... should I say, woman oh woman? (If you know my mom, you'll catch my drift--she's quite the feminist).

There is so much I admire about my mom. She is so strong in what she believes in, and lives out her beliefs each and everyday. Every day, I recognize more and more of the blessings that she has given me through the way that she raised me, reused plastic bags and all (she's an environmentalist too!).

Happy almost weekend! What are you thankful for today?