Nowhere is Safe

Yesterday was consumed with Harry Potter. Literally, I spent OVER twelve hours either reading, or watching something Harry Potter-related. The first part of the seventh movie was released today, and of course I had to go to the midnight showing. Now, I'm always that obnoxious friend that asks my friends to save me a seat so I can show up at 11 pm. My friends are the INSANE people waiting outside the theater at 6 am. This time, though, I got to be that insane person waiting outside the theater all day. None of my friends could get out of class earlier than about 5, and I was done at noon. So I found myself sitting outside, armed with the seventh book, prepared to sit and sit. This really wasn't as bad as it sounds, though. I had a full day to read the seventh book, which I had not had any time to read previously. In addition, I was waiting outside in San Diego. San Diego in November is infinitely nicer than Albuquerque in November, as my Albuquerque friends' pictures show. And one of the girls in front of me let me share her blanket. So I had some company. The movie itself was incredible. It was also really dark. I knew it was going to be dark, but somehow I underestimated how dark it really was. There were parts (Bathilda Bagshot, anyone?) where I found myself genuinely scared. And I've read that part a million times! It was well-made, though, and I had a really great time, though I really missed my friends back home at times. The number one thing I found myself thinking as I left the theater, though, was "WHY IS JULY SO FAR AWAY?"

Why Thanksgiving is the Best Holiday EVER.

Everyone who knows me knows that my all-time favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I love this holiday for many reasons.

1. THE FOOD. Seriously, though. The Thanksgiving meal is one of my favorite meals ever. I love turkey, mashed potatoes, STUFFING, cranberry sauce... All of it is just so good! Once Halloween rolls around, I just start tasting turkey like crazy.

2. No pressure. I love Christmas (it's my second favorite holiday). But I really dislike all the pressure to buy gifts. I'm not opposed to gifts, necessarily. But I value quality time over gift giving in general, and I love just being with my loved ones. Gifts are slightly unnecessary, I feel like. So I love that on Thanksgiving, I can just hang with my family and enjoy myself without having to stress about gifts.

3. The Christmas season in general is my favorite time of the year. I love the music, the food, the parties, the decorations... And I love that Thanksgiving starts the whole thing off! So on Thanksgiving night, I'm always a little bummed that my favorite holiday is over. But then I remember that the Christmas season has just begun!

4. I love the whole feel of Thanksgiving. I love that we get a day off to just relax, eat delicious food, and enjoy our loved ones' company. I love that for one day we don't have to worry about anything but giving thanks for what we have. I love that we can relax and be content and forget about the hectic pace of our lives for just one day. And I love how "non-commercial" Thanksgiving is. It's a simple, beautiful holiday.

5. Psalm 100:4-5, Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

What's in a Name?

I've been wanting to change the title of this blog for a while. It's kind of late to do that, I know, but hey, better late than never, right? I've been thinking and thinking for a long time about what I wanted to change it to. Nothing really clicked until I remembered my favorite verse: Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." I love this verse for so many reasons, but I think the main reason would be the first sentence-that God really does make everything beautiful in His own time. The more I thought about it, the more I liked how it sounded. Bada bing, bada boom, I have a new title! Just needed to give you all a heads up on the changes going on around here, haha.

Called

"Vocation: It comes from the Latin vocare, to call, and means the work a person is called to by God. There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Superego, or Self-Interest. By and large a good rule for finding out is this: The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world needs most to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing cigarette ads, the chances are that you've missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of your time you are bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have bypassed (a), but probably aren't helping your patients much either. Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." -Frederick Buechner

Life To-Do List

Really, I'm just procrastinating on studying (shocking, I know). But I was thinking about things I want to do before I die. This turned out to be a slightly harder list to write out than I thought. But as I think of things I will do before I die, I will add to it.

1. Go to Africa. I cannot get Africa off my mind. Like everywhere I look is AFRICA. So, yes, before I go anywhere else in this world, I need to go to Africa.

2. Be at a Presidential Inauguration. I BEGGED my Dad to go see Obama get sworn in (forget the guy's politics for a second, you have to admit that it was history in the making). But it sadly just was not possible. But this will not stop me from attending an Inauguration. Hopefully the one I end up at will be just as historic, like the first Female or Hispanic President!

3. Go sky-diving. Bungee jumping is pretty much out, because I can just see how much that would hurt my back. Still, I will not miss the chance to hurl myself out of an airplane thousands of feet in the air for anything in the world.

4. Spend the night in Ryan Library. This is something my friend Julia and I have been wanting to do for a long time now. And we will before we graduate.

5. This one is hard to explain, but on certain holidays I want to be in the places they are most famous for being celebrated. For instance, I want to spend both Thanksgiving Day and New Years Eve in New York City. I also want to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras (although I don't drink, but hey it's the experience that counts right?) I've already been to D.C. on the Fourth of July, so I can cross that one off my list, but there are still several other holidays to be celebrated.

6. Write a book. I don't know about what, or for whom, or when I would even have the time to sit down and write it. But before I die, I would like to be able to say that I wrote a full book, even if the only person who enjoyed it was my Mom.

7. Visit Israel/Jordan. After Africa, these two countries have my heart. I so badly want to walk around where our Lord walked. I want to get baptized in the Jordan river and see Petra and just experience that incredible region of the world.

8. Compete and finish a full triathlon. I will probably end up doing what my Mom did, and save this for after I have kids and want to get back into shape (which is impressive in and of itself). But as long as I do it sometime in my lifetime, I will be stoked. I'm pretty sure (as in 99.99999999999% sure) that the triathlon I end up competing in will NOT be the Iron Man, but hey one can dream right?

9. See U2 in concert with my Daddy. I love U2 because I was raised on them. My Dad loves U2 even more than I do, and I would love to see them in concert with him. Plus the song that I'm dancing to for my father-daughter dance at my wedding (getting a little ahead of myself, but hey, I'm a girl) is U2's "Sometime You Can't Make It On Your Own".

Here's the song I love so much by them. It's just one of many favorites, but it's beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuDqHtAR6L8

10. Write legitimate letters, and have a boxful of years of correspondence with someone. This is inspired by Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot, a book the centers around the correspondence between Elisabeth and Jim Elliot, her husband, before they got married. It's easily one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, and I would love to have such tangible evidence of my love and life with someone.

11. Learn to cook. This is a very practical thing to want to learn to do, as I may someday have a husband who would like to eat more than just Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches (though I do make a mean PB&H, if I do say so myself). I'm not saying I want to become a world-renowned chef. But having a few standard dishes that I make very well would be a very handy skill to have. And the way to a guy's heart is through his stomach, right??

12. Meet John and Stasi Eldredge. These two are such a blessing to me. While I've only read three of John's books, one co-authored with Stasi, they all profoundly touched me. And I would love to make it up to Colorado and visit their ministry, Ransomed Heart Ministries.

13. Visit all 50 states. I've visited quite a few states, 23 to be exact, but there's still so much more to be experienced! I have yet to see Mount Rushmore, Hawaii, Boston, Disney World, Alaska and many other things in this beautiful country.

14. Spend at least one year in transit. Yet another thing my friend Julia was telling me about was this plane ticket that you can buy for like $2,000. And once you have it, you can just get on a plane and go as far as you want, wherever you want in one direction all over the world. This would be pretty much the coolest thing ever-to get on a plane with no money, and just go. We want to do this and experience just how much God truly loves us and provides for us, haha.

15. Buy a huge container of flowers, walk downtown and just hand them out to whoever walks by. Flowers are the way to my heart. And just looking at a flower makes my day that much better. I would love the chance to bless others in this way, and I can guarantee that I would meet some awesome people and come back with some crazy stories!

16. Sing in a legitimate karaoke contest. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but I'm one of the few, if only people I know who honestly thinks this sounds fun. I don't care if I win, I don't even care if I sound good. I just want to have fun and sing and laugh and make a crazy memory!

17. Hug a Koala Bear. I have a friend whose dad is Australian, and she said that Koalas are actually really mean. But I refuse to believe this, and every time I go to the zoo and see them I just want to hug them! Hopefully the ones at the zoo are nice, right?

18. Witness the Northern Lights firsthand. These have captivated me since I was a little girl. I've never really felt the need to go way up north, but I will totally make a trip just to experience these in person.

19. Learn to play the guitar. More and more, I'm feeling like I should know how to play the guitar. I took voice lessons for several years, and I'm fine with just singing out loud whenever wherever. But there's something much more effective about being accompanied by an instrument when you sing. And it's just a good instrument to know how to play.

20. Eat a food from every different nationality. I've experienced most of the Asian foods, a lot of the European foods, and some African foods. But there are so many different types to eat that I still haven't experienced yet! It doesn't even have to be full-course meal, but I want to say I've eaten some kind of food from each different nationality on this earth.

That's all I can think of right now, and I've procrastinated long enough. But as I think of things to add on, I will! And remember that while it's wonderful to dream, life is the most beautiful when it's experienced in the here and now.