25 before 25: part two

1.leave the country.
2.own a record player.
3.throw a party.
4.give a toast at a wedding.
5.go on a date.
6.play cello.
7.go skinny dipping.
8.sponsor a child.
9.learn to cook.(well)
10.donate blood.
11.go to a drive-in movie.
12.bike 25 miles.
13.israel.
14.shop anthropoligie.
15.climb a mountain that's over 10,000ft.
16.go to the coin laundromat.
17.go sailing.
18.get my head shoved in a cake.
19.backpack around Europe.
20.own a wingback chair.
21.see the opera.
22.sell a piece of artwork.
23.learn to drive stick-shift.
24.speak french(well).
25.get married.

2012!

The honeymooners

honeymooning: road trip down the oregon/california coast.

his now

it seems like i had been waiting for july to come for forever.

11 months ago my best friend asked me to marry him, and now he's the love of my life. we tied the knot on a rainy day in the midst of a pretty meadow, and it was the best.

july has been full of some of the sweetest days.

i've experienced the best adventures, gained a second family, and became a wife. I've had the privilege of setting up my own little house, and an even greater privilege of making it home with somebody i am head over heels in love with. getting married is good for a lot of reasons.

i'm only 12 days old a wife, and marriage has already taught me too much to write a blog post on.  but i really really like that. i like that i'm out of my element and challenged every single day. i like that i get to wake up to the best looking guy i know, even when he has morning breath and the cutest bed head. it's the best thing knowing that i have someone to adventure with for the rest of my life. he's pretty amazing you guys, and cute, but i could be extremely biased.

that's all for now folks.

love,

t

lists about: starting and love

hi guys!

- i'm blogging again!

- this is me and my S changing one of my best friend's flat tires. 

(this is also going to be my favourite picture of all 2k15.)

- i'm going to marry him in 267 days.

-i'm 22 years young now.

- get ready for rants about jesus, my love, coffee shops, and college classes. cause that's my entire life!

end of list.

welcome welcome back.

cheer cheer hoorah

my heart is so full right now,

because here we are once again getting ready to welcome in a brand new year.

i'm saying CHEERS to 2014
for all the love, adventures close to home, and for the growth in relationships with friends, family, & new neighbors near and far. for all the flowers on the kitchen table, the thai food date nights, and the hours spent stargazing with my best friend. cheers to being blunt and making decisions. cheers to working hard, saving money, and cheers to days off. cheers to a new kind of family at a new little church. cheers to teaching little girls about the important things in life and helping countless little boys with math. cheers to bussing tables and taking orders. cheers to being content, in love, and happy in this small little town.
cheers to Jesus, because he's the only reason i made it this year.

in 2015,
i aim to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love to my life. i aim to study the word, pray without ceasing, & do what i know to be right. i aim to give my time, talents and life for others. i aim to start school again, meet new people, and learn new things. i aim to love the people closest to me, even when life gets hard. i aim to adventure deeper, wider, further than ever before. i aim to be simple.

but above all, i aim to glorify my King. 

oh, love

tonight, my best friend hugged me in the middle of the street.

& i was reminded that// the simplest moments are the best moments.

even so

so, after many long months, i finally have found my way back to these familiar stomping grounds.

with new purpose, new loves, new hope for what is to come. i have grown in ways i've never dreamed these last months. i've made many small victories and found love in the shadows. i've learnt, laughed, and loved.

tonight, i sat on the car hood with my bestfriend.
and it was then i realized i'm head over heals excited with the choices placed before me,
my biggest dreams,
and my every next step i get to take.

life's a joy.
(even in the storm)

all or nothing

i am learning about love this week. how sometimes it can be the loveliest thing in the world, but other times it's harsh and uncomfortable and hard to give.

i'd like to be good at loving when i get older. even when it's not easy.

that is all.

already here

how do i begin?
words have been few around here the past weeks. 
i've been trying to be better at a lot of things lately. writing being one of them.
my sad attempt has left checklists of my days past and unanswered questions in my journal though.
i am in the in-between-stage-of-life it seems. the one where you don't know where your foot is going to land next or even if it will slide a little when it hits the ground.

last year i felt such confidence. such boldness. such knowing.
this year, God has been teaching me the complete opposite. & this year, i'm learning what i've been missing. being in a season of uncertainty and questioning, it is so much easier to fill in the blanks with how i think God's will for my life should play out. and in my heart, it happens all the time. i grow my own selfish words and end up whimpering and waiting for even just a whisper that "this is it." <THIS IS WHAT'S NEXT> this is what He wants me to do. but lately, there's been no answer. no sureness. no urge or rebuttal to the pressure that's been building up around me.
i must confess,  in many ways it's nice. it's nice to wait it out. to accept that maybe i am doing exactly what He has called of me right here, right now -- even if it feels nothing like last year.

maybe it doesn't seem as brave as leaving the country like i did last year.
& maybe it's not taking orphans by the hand.
& maybe it's not giving up my entire summer to intern at camp.
& maybe it's not wearing 1 dress for an entire year.

but now, more than ever, i am realizing that being brave comes when you are exactly where God wants you to be. when you are in the center of His will, no matter what that looks like.

"take me where love is needed" is what i say when i wake up every morning now.
and for now, that's right here.
in this little town.
with my little family.
with a little job.

it may be a season of "little" things for now, but it's everything He wants for me. & i'm okay with that.

-t

growing

// i miss the village.
the way it felt to stand in the middle of
the dirt road and play with all the
smiling faces.

// i miss long walks and good talks with
a pretty amazing woman.

// i miss walking outside my front
door and having church in the
backyard.

// i miss colorful houses &
cobble stone streets.

// i miss orphans.

// i miss not understanding what
everyone is saying.

// i miss walking absolutely everywhere.

// i miss sitting out my windowsill
gazing at stars and praying for the
people back home.

// i miss spending my afternoons with
11 of the most lovely yet equally hardheaded
children in the world.

// i miss simple.

it grows a little more everyday.

i miss the feelings & smells & hands & faces

that will never leave. it comes out of nowhere.

driving home from work and all of the sudden,

the village is parading in your mind.

all of the sudden, you wish you could see what he's

like now, the little abandoned boy that was just

learning to walk when you left.

it's growing my heart too. maybe it hurts a little, but

it's still growing. 

they're there, they'll always be there, 

ever growing, ever changing,

whether you are with them or not.

-t

2014:

is for pancakes is for being kinder is for loving more is for buying homeless men coffee is for journaling a little longer is for writing letters
is for counseling girls is for overusing the record player
is for spending more time with family
is for being an aunt is for not worrying is for taking less & giving more is for being better is for helping more is for being more inlove with jesus

life is a season

i'm going away for a while,
and maybe not ever coming back.

perspective

2012
1. i lived out of my suitcase this year more than i ever have before.
2. i found out i will gain the status of 'aunt' in the coming year.
3. i was in one wedding and went to plenty more.
4. i planned a project for RHO Missions.
5. i made new friends & kept old ones.
6. i grew in relationships with family, friends, and my savior.
7. i worked at summer camp and loved on some little girls for two weeks.
8. i spent a large chunk of my earnings on skinny ties for the future husband and dishes for me.
9. i made the bulk of my money from coloring and playing with 2-6 year olds.(who can complain about that?)
10. i was given a pair if hunter boots. (love at first sight)
11. i left 2012 behind with the status of 'single' and didn't mind one bit.
2013
1. i will start a new box of letters for my husband-to-be.
2. i will make life less about me and more about others.
3. i will take action on the project i planned for RHO Missions.
4. i will "officially" gain the status of aunt with bay-bay coming in june.
5. i will fall more in love with Christ.
6. i will bake more, love more, and eat more.
7. i will be more diligent at the task of shaving my legs.
8. i will step out of my comfort zone more often than not.
9. i will probably not go to as many weddings as i did in 2012.
10. i will do more art & take more pictures.
11. i'm entering 2013 with the status of being 'single' and don't mind one bit.

LBD video

happy merry

it's a happy merry christmas over here.
we just got done with the chaos of opening gifts after a nice breakfast. there's a pile of wrapping paper up to my knees sitting in the doorway.
i am now the proud owner of hunter boots, some lacey unmentionables, a load of dishes and ikea knives, art books, and a french record. i like all those things, but most of all, i like my family.

happy christmas to you.
i hope you like what's important most of all.

mandy

it is so

i am not a feminist, but i did take pride in cutting the tree down this christmas. so much so, that i might do it from now on.

this love is seasonal

my house is full of love lately.
i blame the holidays.

lights are up. cookies were made today. presents under the tree. there are twelve boxes of gifts laying around the living room. much blessing is being poured into our little home this season. i am so thankful.

i am counting down my days of freedom with much dread and uneasiness. i love these days so much i don't want them to go. who could complain of such holiday bliss? thinking of the school term ahead doesn't make life any sweeter. yet, i remind myself this special time comes once a year. that's what makes it so special.

i hope you are having a very happy holiday.
hold your love ones tight and enjoy every single second of it.

tree.

a g a p e

[Agape love] is spontaneous. There was nothing of value in the persons loved that called forth such sacrificial love. God of His own free will set His love on us in spite of our enmity and sin. [Agape] is love that is initiated by the lover because he wills to love, not because of the value or lovableness of the person loved. [Agape] is self-giving and is not interested in what it can gain, but in what it can give. It is not bent on satisfying the lover, but on helping the one loved whatever the cost. [Agape] is active and is not mere sentiment cherished in the heart. Nor is it mere words however eloquent. It does involve feeling and may express itself in words, but it is primarily an attitude toward another that moves the will to act in helping to meet the need of the one loved.

D.W. Burdick