Photos Unlocked

So at some point in the last 2 months my photo card reader went missing in our house. I have searched high and low and to no avail it has gone to where missing things go. So today I finally made my trip to best buy to purchase a new one. So please enjoy the a random selction of photos that have been sitting in my camera since October!

World's Largest 25th Birthday Cupcake!

And she wins!

The glorious day of turning 25!

Wild Animal Park :)

Oreo Mud Cake

Valentine's Day Love

My FIRST apple pie made from scratch!

Smores :)

Snow in Lynden!

Seattle

Christmas time at home :)

Best Best

Total thug :)

Hollywood Fun!

Skyline

Happy Birthday Mum!!

Happy Birthday Mum! I love you so much and I am so thankful for the life you have been given!!

Ava

Meet my two year old second cousin Ava Marie. She is adorable, sweet, and strong willed. I spent this past weekend with her and her sister Siena Noel and I have to say there is something pretty amazing hanging out with little girls their age. Their ability to live in imaginary worlds, love with every little inch they have, and truly just be themselves was pretty fun to watch and be a part of during the weekend.

I watched Ava a lot over the weekend and there was something about her that was so captivating. I told my cousin Steve that I could just sit there for hours and watch her; whether it be sleeping, going down the slide a hundred times, or playing peek-a-boo with her as she latched onto her Daddy. Ava has this ability to be genuinely herself and being a 25 year old it was something that I wish I had more of like this little 2 year old. I would almost say, I want to grow up to be like Ava with a little more life experience :)

They have not always been my closest side of the family but it was a pretty special weekend getting to hang out with my cousin and his family. We are twelve years apart so it always made "hanging" a little bit different or nonexistent. But this weekend was filled with hanging out, catching up, riding bikes along the beautiful California Coast, climbing big hills, and swinging on swing sets...so much fun!

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 :)

The Changing of Seasons

I appreciate my friends abilities to share their lives with me. I appreciate their honesty, their candidness, their ability to share about the seasons in which they stand. I have friends who are on the brink of major changes, unexpected blessings, great sorrows, and certain cross-roads. My friends are standing in many different seasons in many parts of the world. All growing and changing; being stretched in ways in which I think some of them never thought were possible for them. I am surrounded by some pretty phenomenal people with some amazing stories and my view of their lives is as though I get to experience every thing single season within a matter of moments. I am blessed by their lives and their willingness to share a piece of it with me.

The Art of Trust

22 January 2009
Lesson three: Who belongs in your life?

"Where you go I will go."Ruth 1:16 NIV

"Ruth told Naomi, "Where you go I will go." You can spend your life anywhere with anybody doing anything, then suddenly meet someone and sense that there is a connection between you. It's what made Elisha quit farming and follow Elijah, an eccentric prophet; it's why Timothy hung out with Paul, an old man soon to be executed. You know intuitively, "I won't reach my destiny without you in my life." Looking back you realise if you hadn't met that certain person, or taken that phone call, or read that email, you wouldn't be where you are today. On the other hand, "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye" (Ruth 1:14 NIV). Now Orpah's leaving didn't make her a bad person; it just meant her part in the story was over. Recognise when somebody's part in your story is over, otherwise you'll just keep trying to raise the dead. David pleaded with God for his newborn baby's life. "He fasted...spent the nights lying on the ground...and...would not eat" (2 Sam 12:16-17 NIV). But when the child died he had to accept that there was nothing more he could do, so he "got up...washed...changed his clothes...and he ate" (2 Sam 12:20 NIV). Acknowledge when something is over. If God means you to have it, He'll give it to you. If you've tried to make it work and it hasn't, accept His will in the matter. Get up, go for a walk, buy yourself a new outfit, treat yourself to a good meal; start living again! Never beg anyone to stay with you against their will. Their leaving is no accident; it just means God has something better in store for you (and possibly them too), so trust Him and move on!"

• I was sent this the other day and there was just something about it that struck me. By nature I am a "people pleaser" and often I place myself in situations of hanging on to things I should let go of; all because of that fear of being hated. I am a true work in progress, but I agree so much with the start of this devotion. Because of certain people walking into my life I have forever been changed and because of other people walking out of my life I have gone in a totally different direction than I thought I would. For example; I am in a job because of a woman I met in the halls of a building I worked at before moving to New Zealand back in 2006. It is truly amazing how one choice, life, or situation can truly change the course of where God can take you.

74 Days

No words can be placed in my heart

No attitude described

My voice was taken for a moment

My mind washed of every seen thing

500 days seemed so much easier than 74

The knowledge of the not knowing

The great instinct to run

The even greater instinct to stay

My mind knows all the facts

My heart senses it can break away from the ice pack

Beat after beat

Thought after thought

I'll be willingly waiting there

My genuine beating heart and I

Morning Glory

Sometimes when I am in the middle of a moment I want to capture the closest camera I have is my cell phone, sad story I know, but I happened to catch this moment one morning this past week. I got the opportunity (for work) to stay down in Dana Point in this beautiful hotel over looking the harbor and all. Most mornings my internal clock went off just as the light was starting to hit the horizon and can I just say it was breath taking. All the pictures I took on my phone can't even compare to what I saw. My first morning the sky above was this rich royal blue and the line of the horizon was this crimson red color...it was amazing. I sat in the chair closest to the window thanking God for moments like this, moments that I don't get every day. Had I lived in that room my whole life it would not have been as special and I probably wouldn't even get up to enjoy the view every morning, but because it was something special and different it was a treasured view.

New Year...New Possibilities

2009. A new year and with so much possibility. After having many conversations about this up and coming year I have been left with the mind set that anything is possible. I have no grand plans. No great resolutions. I am left with the attitude of being open to whatever comes and the idea that when I stand at this place truly anything can happen. Most of my friends can attest to the fact that I can be a bit of a control freak :) but with my open attitude I am doing my best to let go of my controling side and roll with the punches. So here is to a new year with new and endless possibilities.

Journey to the North

There is something to be said for having the opportunity to travel. I enjoy the packing part and figuring out what little I can bring (it is a challenge to myself), jumping in a car or catching the next plane out. I get a thrill out of seeing new places, meeting new people, having new experiences. In some ways this is probably a challenge to me as well. It challenges me not to get caught up in my own box and my own way of thinking. I have to take into account those surrounding me and what is "normal" to them.

I flew up to Washington (state) yesterday morning and have already had a wonderful visit with Kristin. We always tend to meet the most open and friendly people when we are together. We met Dale the art salesman, Weston the Starbucks employee, Sharon the friendly Washington woman all within the last 24 hours. We get a kick out of the people we meet and the stories we get to hear.

I feel a bit more refreshed getting this chance to travel and stretch my wings a bit. Living in Orange County is wonderful, but I know the heart of the matter is that I just don't seem to fit in that type of world. I can make it work and I can excel within it (by God's grace) but I feel suffocated in the process. I think over the years I have become a wanderer. Maybe I was this way my whole life I just so often fought it because I wanted to fit in wherever I went. Now maybe I have come to the understanding that I am never going to fit in the way the world tells me I should.

Washington is beautiful even with snow covering most of it at the current moment. Now off to visit Vancouver and see what adventures we can have up there!

Christmas at Home

So tomorrow morning I get to make the wonderful 4 1/2 hour journey up the coast to the place I spent the first 18 years of my life. I treasure this place so much and I treasure it even more because of how consistently I am told it is one of the most beautiful places in California. And the more I think about it the more I have to agree. I am fortunate enough to return to a house filled with many wonderful memories and to a family that I love dearly.

It is going to rain Christmas Eve, but it is my hope it snows and there is a true possibility it could! Our house is at a high enough elevation that it has snowed before when it gets cold enough. The last time it snowed and left inches of snow to play in was when I was about 4 years old. People who love the snow and have lived in the area for a while will recall those moments with great fondness and with a tone that speaks, they hope it happens again.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Regardless of where you are in the world; I hope this season is filled with love, laughter, and moments of great joy as we celebrate the season in which we celebrate a birth that would forever change the history of the world.

Only You

Take my heart, I lay it down

At the feet

of You who's crowned

Take my life

Letting go

I lift it up

to You who's throned

And I will worship You, Lord

Only You, Lord

And I will bow down before You

Only You, Lord

Take my fret, take my fear

All I have I'm leaving here

Be all my hopes, be all my dreams

You're my delights

Be my everything

And I will worship You, Lord

Only You, Lord

And I will bow down before You

Only You, Lord

And I will worship You, Lord

Only You, Lord

And I will, I will bow down before You

Only You, Lord

And it's just You and me here now

Only You and me here now

And it's just You and me here now

Only You and me here now

You should see the view

When it's only You

~DCB

Sometimes when you allow certain words to sweep over you again and again you begin to truly believe them and embrace them. I laughed at the thought last night as I put this song on repeat to fall asleep to and thought of how my college roommates/friends would have totally detested me for it. Yet, I am so desperate for the reminder and believing that even my sleep can be impacted by the truth.

Old Hollywood

I grew up watching Van Johnson across the screen laughing at his very funny comedian style and admiring his ever serious roles as well. I knew he was getting old and know that no one lasts forever here...still doesn't take away the sting that death can have sometimes.

Decode

I think often some of my best writing happens at night in my dreams. I come up with the most witty comebacks, most expressive poems, and I am the most raw and open me. I don't hold back and I am not afraid of what others may think of my words.

I wrote a really good poem in my dream the other night. I remember the feeling attached to it when I woke up, a feeling of satisfaction too bad though I couldn't remember the exact words once I woke up. That part always seems to be the disheartening part. That I am actually quite good at something in my dreams, but the reality is a bit disappointing when I wake up. I wonder why God created dreaming. I think when I arrive in heaven it will be one of my top 10 questions to ask Him (not that it will really matters at that point in time, but for now I like to think it does). "How does dreaming actually work and what was your intention behind it?" Yup, definitely in my top 10.

The poem, I do remember was about a boy I haven't seen in ages. I wondered how he was doing and what he was doing. I told him I cared about him, because our last conversation really made me come across as one who did not. The words were just right and made the most expressive picture. I guess I just have to keep trying to make it a reality and not a dream.