lovely

I took a spontaneous trip to San Luis Obispo this past weekend! Hannah came down to LA for several days and I suggested driving back up with her and then taking the train back down. I am so happy it worked out. I just love Hannah. And SLO is incredibly b e a u t i f u l.

a work in progress

MercyMe has a song called Bring the Rain.

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

I think it's so easy to be unhappy. It's so easy to think of everything I don't have and to wallow in sorrow about everything I'm going through. I was thinking today about how happy I would be if I found a job. I was thinking about how I would be so grateful that God opened a door and how I'd probably say something like, "God always provides."

And then I thought some more. Why does my gratefulness for God's provision and faithfulness only apply when I'm getting something I want, or something I think I need? If I believe in the truths of the Bible, I shouldn't only recognize God's hand in my life in the good, easy, "happy" times, but also the frustrating and confusing times.

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain

It's a difficult battle and it takes a very intentional [an ongoing] decision to believe in God's goodness throughout all of life's circumstances. But if I choose to believe that God and His character is unchanging, then I want to live a life reflecting that.

welcome home

I was finally able to take some pictures of our new place! It was hard to find angles that really reflected how much space we have, but you'll get the idea. Bear with me, this is a long post!

[1] This is our entryway and the view from outside the door, looking in. [2] We have a cute little table and a mirror. At first, I was afraid that my reflection in the mirror would scare me when I walked into a dark home (yes, I'm that big of a baby), but I have successfully had no incidents of getting scared by my own reflection. [3] I love our two key hangers, right next to the door.

[4] Our dining room is on the right side when you first walk in and to the right of that is a little patio. To the left is [5] the kitchen WITH [6] a dishwasher!

[7] A closer view of our kitchen. Thank you Hannah for that picture and frame. We love it right above the stove! And a shoutout to Stephanie for [8] the cute Washington magnet.

[9] A view of our living room from the entryway. We're still figuring out how we want to arrange things, but we like this layout for now. In the future we hope to buy a flat-screen television and mount it on the wall. To the right of the living room is [10] the kitchen. We want to eventually buy some barstools to put here.

[11] A picture of the living room from the base of the stairs. Behind the couch, we put a chair right next to the window. [12] A whiteboard/corkboard that I got Erin for graduation. It's at the base of the stairs so it's the first thing we see when we go downstairs. It's a good way to keep track of each other's schedules. [13] A small hallway also at the base of the stairs. Our washer/dryer is on the right side and the guest bathroom is straight ahead.

[14] The guest bathroom with a big Ikea picture on the left. This bathroom is bigger than ours upstairs and I may consider moving some of my stuff down here since there is more counter space. [15] Representing Toms!

[16] After all this talk about the stairs, here is proof that they actually exist! Erin and I were super excited to have stairs at our new place, but it was a beast to move our stuff up these things without scratching all the walls. [17] I love this picture/canvas thing that Erin got at Urban Outfitters: HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE. It was in her kitchen at the old apartment and we wanted it somewhere more noticeable here. [18] This is our huge storage area/closet space underneat the stairs. If you look into it, there is a ton of space to the left (though not much now since we have so much stuff packed into it). But seriously. A large person could sleep in there with space to spare.

[19] This is a bad picture of the upstairs bathroom. The door on the right connects to [20] the hallway at the top of the stairs. The door on the left connects to Erin's room.

[21] A better view of the bathroom from the door that connects to Erin's room. It's enough space, but the downstairs bathroom is much bigger. [22] The shower. Obvi.

[23] When you walk through the bathroom into Erin's room, there is another sink. We were super happy about that because we each have our own space for all our bathroom stuff. Erin also has two closets with mirror doors. I don't have a picture of the second one. [24] Erin's room!

[25] At the end of the small hallway at the top of the stairs is my room. This shot is standing right outside my door, looking in. [26] There is a little alcove that I LOVE. We actually got this extra space for free because there was a special going on. I will probably put a lamp and a bookcase there to use as my reading space. [27] Cut me some slack, but here is a picture of my messy room standing from the alcove area. Now I'm wishing I had at least made my bed...or put away my clean laundry. Ha, oh well. My room isn't put together yet because I don't have furniture. I can't wait to get that because then I can start putting some pictures on the wall. So much potential. Just waiting to happen. Oh, also, I have a vaulted ceiling, which you can see in that last picture. It adds a lot of space to the room.

[28] I love having a queen-sized bed, especially after sleeping on a couch for the three weeks before we moved. Better sleep = a happier me. [29] My walk-in closet!

[30] I forgot to take a picture of this while I was downstairs, but this is our patio. My futon was put out there because there is no good place to put it inside. When we first moved and there was a ton of stuff covering the entire living room floor, this futon made it impossible to arrange anything. Putting it outside will give us some time to figure out what to do with it.  [31] Connecting to our patio is a little extra strip of space. We don't have anything there yet, but we've talked about getting a small barbeque.

Well, there is the new place! Hopefully you friends in the Midwest can come visit me sometime to see it in person!

i'm alive

The reason for my absence? I moved! I am still recovering from the lack of sleep and soreness due to lifting way too many heavy boxes [oh, and also from not having worked out in like, forever], but Erin and I love it here. As soon as I can, I'll post some pictures.

I can't believe we got everything organized in two days because when we first unloaded, it was a m e s s. We couldn't see the floor. And now, it's beautiful! It's still not all the way finished because we're waiting to get some more furniture, but there's so much space! I have greatly appreciated having my own huge room and a bed to finally sleep in.

And now the not-so-fun part...finding a job. God help me.

a whirlwind weekend

FRIDAY:

Erin got pinned.

SATURDAY:

Erin graduated.

SUNDAY:

Celebrating Mom's Day with my Grandma in Palm Desert

MONDAY:

Visiting good people

thank you

Today is Mother's Day.

Sometimes I get sad, but I think that this year especially, I've really realized that even though I don't have a mother to celebrate, there are so many other women in my life whom I can. Women that have had a mother-like role in my life. Women that I look up to and love and admire. I think the word mother extends beyond the biological woman who gave birth to you. So today I celebrate and appreciate all the mothers in my life. The world just wouldn't work without you.

home sweet home

Today I felt so blessed and encouraged and loved.

God is big and my friends are the best.

tra la la

On Friday:

[a hike up the Garcia Trail and lots of beautiful scenery]

Today:

Today was relaxing. I went to Rock Harbor in the morning with Kayleigh. Figuring out how to get to the church was annoying because there was a race going on that blocked the roads I needed. But after some directions, I made it and we were greeted with two women holding up hand-made "Finish Line!" signs. It was cute and I appreciated the humor.

After getting back to the apartment, I [one] enjoyed a hot cup of hot chocolate mixed with coffee in my favorite cup that Erin owns. 'Twas delish. A burst of spontaneity led me to Target to buy black nail polish, which [two] provided me an hour of entertainment while I painted my nails. And may it please be noted that this was my first time ever painting my nails black. During all of this I [three] watched the show that will never stop being funny: Friends. I want to be them. Then I got ready [four] to drive over to Hillview for one last partaaaay before the campus closed down completely. It was awkward at first because I knew hardly ANYbody, but then some of my co-workers showed up. Yay! It was good to see them and laugh with them. Though I didn't recognize many faces, I was told that many of the adults there were kids that used to live at Hillview. That was cool...I overheard a lot of them reminiscing about what life used to be like while living in a group home.

Now, I'm back at the apartment...still alone because Erin doesn't get back until tomorrow morning. I'll enjoy tonight with a quesedilla and more episodes of Friends [DUH]. Thanks today, for being good to me.

[PS: Erin and I move in NINE days!! Wahoo!]