THAT time of year. The most important time of year.

I haven't blogged in a while, my apologies on being a stingy blogger. Firstly, I have no homework or studying to procrastinate on, so I find myself being away from blog-land more. 

Secondly, I was in Costa Rica for 5 days. I went with my friend Mollie who I did work crew and summer staff with the last two summers. We laid on the beach, ate a lot, met some Costa Rican boyfriends, rode ATVs to the rainforest and zip-lined, and relaxed a lot. It was a much needed get away. and i'm even a little sun kissed!

 This is our "before tan" picture. We forgot to take an "after tan" picture though. 

Convenient, huh?

 A little sunset over the Pacific Ocean? Don't mind if I do.

 I haven't worn one of those masks since the Swine  of '09.

Just one of those "outdoorsy" pics. 

In the midst of the 87 degrees and sunny it was hard for me to remember that it was Christmas time. I feel like since I've gotten back and I have been in such a lastminutechristmasshopping and workingallthetime frenzy that I haven't had the time to prepare Him room in my heart this season.

My fear is that I will miss it, like so many people do every year and like I have in the many years before. Going through the holiday season in routine, looking forward to the traditions and forgetting the reason.


& then I realize that it's hard to miss it. He is pursuing me every day even when I ignore Him or try and control things or act like my plan is better than His. How can I miss it when I am constantly surrounded by the love and grace that He gives. He was HERE. In the flesh. He came to the shepherds who were the lowest of men. He came to ME who doesn't deserve any of it at all. He came to all of us. and He came only to be humbled and die for us. He saved our lives. and because of that we live freely. I live in that freedom and everlasting joy every single moment. How can you miss that?

Behold the Lamb of God.
Oh, come let us adore Him.
Joy, to the world.

I pray that you are reminded of the depth and beauty of this story.
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Jesus!


Also, if you have never heard it you need to listen to the song "Labor or Love" by Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson. And make sure you have a tissue nearby.


"But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move"

meet Chris.

This is Chris, the Christmas tree. He is the newest addition to the 1201. He's a precious little three and a half foot Fraser fir who likes to have fun and celebrate Jesus' birthday. He brings with him much Christmas spirit and the smell of evergreen. He hangs out with me when all of my roommates leave.

Okay so today I decorated the apartment. It was really extensive, it consisted of the two decorations above. The tree, and the Happy Birthday (Jesus) sign. Two of my roommates have never had a real Christmas tree before and I wasn't okay with that.

This weekend was so good. so good. so good.
I'm feeling more and more like i'm on Christmas break at every moment. what. a. tease.
I'm a visual person, so here's some pictures as I tell the story of my weekend.

This is my favorite Christmas sweatshirt. It has a beautiful/repulsive built in dark green collar. If you have seen me lately, mostly at the library but sometimes in public, i have been wearing this. I wore it 5 days in a row last year as I studied for finals, so I figured it was only fit to bring it back this year. I studied for geology in it the other night and got a 94 on my final. It's good luck. 

Good news to you all, it is in the wash and will be making a comeback soon. 

This is my younglife team again. I told you we are good looking. This was at the younglife Christmas party the other night at my church. Such a good night. We got to be reminded of the beauty in the reason for this season of Advent. We got to be reminded to slow down and not miss it this season. We got to be reminded of how our ministry is not going unnoticed. blessed. 

This, my friends, is before a little something we like to call Christmas Formal. Most fun i've had in a long time. It was a night of sweat and snow and styrofoam and grinding on the wall and slow dancing and water breaks and hurting feet and sore calfs and Megan's birthday and spinning and power outages and fuuuuuun. The guy is my hot date, Michael Vicary. We tore up the dance floor. We thought it would be fitting to pose with the American flag because we love America. God bless the USA. 

Another pre-formal picture. 20 people. Brixx pizza. Everyone across from their date. I know what it is like to be a boy now. Picking 'em up, opening doors, paying for the meal, the whole shabang. I am so glad that i'm a woman and i don't have to worry about that on a normal basis. 

Oh, just a pajama party potluck with my younglife team. We look better in the first picture. We ate white chicken chili, watched the titans, learned about football, talked about love, talked about leggings as pants, got wild, and laughed alot, as usual. I am so incredibly thankful for these humans that I do ministry with. 

Random thought for today:

band-aid makers are racist for making them nude skin colored.

I caved.

It happened. I did it. I caved into the world of blogging. The humans at fault for this are Jessie Hoaglin, Chelcie Crawford, and Delaney Knowling. No coincidence that the birthday of this blog is finals week. Yes, I'm procrastinating. No, I'm not sorry.

Lately I feel like my life is consumed with busyness. This should come as no surprise. I feel like it is the common answer that any college kid will give when asked how they've been. I hate being busy. I love all of the things that I do (with school as the exception) but I hate how scattered I constantly feel. It's like my life has turned into a giant check list that will never have all of the checks. and in my busyness I find myself forgetting to give it all over to the One who brings peace in the chaos.

So then me, being the stubborn human that I am, tries to balance and control everything. I wake up in the morning and automatically think, "What do I have to do today?" Then my brain starts rolling and it's a constant stream of what I have to do. I try to balance my day. I try to be intentional. I suck. I try again. I do it day after day and you think I would learn by now. However, I am finding peace in this little gem that Jim Branch wrote in the blue book:

"Thus, life is only balanced when everything is centered on Christ."

Jim Branch is so cool.
Did I just give Jim Branch a shout out on my blog? I guess that's what that was.

I'm learning to be thankful. I am thankful, but I'm learning to reaaaaally be thankful. Here are a couple of things that have made me smile lately:

my good-looking younglife team. FDT. 

I went to my first sorority event the other night. It was called Wacky Tacky Christmas so my friend Emily and I dressed like Mary and Joseph. She has baby Jesus in her hand.