Sweet and Lovely

So my pictures are locked away on my camera until I can get a new cord to download them on my computer. However here is a mere glimpse of what a wonderful Saturday I had. I spent several hours with those I loved, baked my first apple pie ever (Mum would be so proud...oh and she was because I called and left a message about how excited I was that I finally had made one from scratch without her!), watched an action flick, and all around just had a wonderful wonderful day. I know there are people out there who dread the month of February and come to think of it, at some stage I think I was one of those people, but over time and an understanding that bitterness does nothing for me I have embraced this month and all the "hallmarkiness" that comes with it. Thank you S for being my Valentine and embracing the month with me! Happy February!

Negatives

Over the last few days I have been attempting to organize my photography; going through negatives, trying to download photos off my camera, finding random roles of film I have yet to develop. It has been a total wild ride especially to go through my negatives. The photos that came from the negatives have either been given away, stored in an album, or somehow disappeared. Seeing some of these images represented in the negatives showed me how much life has passed me by and how full it has really been. I thank my Dad for giving me the desire to capture life through a lens (and his faithful patience as I learned the process) and I am so thankful to have some of my crazy memories documented in what to me will always be a timeless form of art no matter how life continues to move forward in this area. Here's to a wonderful 25 years and here is hoping to capture a few more of those crazy wonderful beautiful moments!

Appreciation

I appreciate friendships were words can be exchanged and understood. I also appreciate friendships that you are able to be silent and still in. There is something to be said for the latter in my mind. I used to be the clingy type of friend that was always worried if I would be left behind and lets face it that girl still comes out from time to time. However, I would like to say that I have grown into the kind of friend that even though time has passed it does not feel like it. There is a common security between both friends knowing that we are loved and appreciated. Yes, times may have changed. Our seasons may be polar opposites, but that ability to just be with that other person and with no great expectations is truly a beautiful thing. I appreciate these people in my life. So whether it means picking you up at the train station at 7 am after not seeing you for months just so we can fall back in to bed for another 3 hours or if I see you every day and you just want a place to come and be quiet yet loved I am here. I appreciate those who do the same for me. I appreciate the full, loud, community filled places and I appreciate the quiet spaces you make for me to be me, nothing more, nothing less.

The Heart of the Matter

The older I get the more understanding I have for myself and for God's heart. My heart isn't attached to the city in which I stand. It's attached to the people in it. Over time though I have discovered that my heart is really drawn to the cultures and people that are beyond my own territories.

It truly makes me laugh to think about, because of how it all fits into my story. Back in 2002 at the start of college the idea of living somewhere other than the comfort of my own country was nothing but something that brave, passionate, "cool" people did. Yet, there was a shift, a change, a charge...whatever you want to call it, at some point in that first year of my last stint of education. I got a charge to love others that were beyond my own territory. But now this lesson has come full circle. It is also about loving those that surround me in this place that I once had been so comfortable in that I never wanted to leave. It is learning to have a balance of both in my life.

I had a conversation with a good friend on Sunday and we were reminiscing about the past and discussing the dreams of the future. We were both left with a sense of amazement how our dreams and desires "way back when" have in many ways shifted to our "todays" versions of those dreams and desires. The somewhat scary part (and I wonder why it is that I did this) is that I didn't really dream past college. I had an idea of what might come after that last year of school but my dreams really stopped there. These past three years have been wonderful...a true wonderful mystery written out day by day. I have excelled in ways that I never thought I could. I have gone far beyond that girl in the cafeteria those special Wednesday nights. It has been so much more full and richer than I could have ever dreamed. And the best part of it all, if God wills it, there is so much more mystery and balance to be discovered in this life.

Movie Month Again!

So I think my theme (for the most part) the last month or so has been to see Oscar nominated films :)