Remember the signs, believe the signs

"But long before she had got anywhere near the edge, the voice behind her said, "Stand still.  In a moment I will blow.  But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs.  Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night.  And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs.  And secondly, I give you a warning.  Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly:  I will not often do so down in Narnia.  Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken.  Take great care that it does not confuse your mind.  And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there.  That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearance.  Remember the signs and believe the signs.  Nothing else matters.  And now, daughter of Eve, farewell--"

The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis

Day 11: Something you miss.

This is almost too easy to answer.

I miss my Megan.

She's off gallivanting around New York having a swell time and I'm stuck here to navigate the waters of home repair/decorating without her.  A tragedy.

Megan and I throwback from a 2003 youth group mission trip to Mexico.  I knew no one, but lucky for me I sat right next to Megan and Sarah.  The rest, they say, is history.

BAM.  Photographic proof of our high-school awesome-ness.

The adventures only began in Mexico.  SO many amazing memories since then.

I miss Megan all the time now that she's gone.  Thankfully she puts up with my random late-night texts and absurd tweets.  She's awesome like that.

AND, she gives me a perfect excuse to take a legitimate vacation to New York.

She's doing her thing, and I'm doing mine.  Sadly, I wish those both existed in the same city.  Hopefully in the future.

From our beach trip January 2010.  A random sunny day at the coast during the winter.  WIN.

 

Love you Megan!

Day 10: A picture of your favorite place to eat.

With three minutes to spare... (today was a busy day!)

La Hacienda Real

and La Perla

Yep, I love Mexican food.

Day 9: Something you don’t leave the house without.

I don't voluntarily leave the house without my cell phone.  My absolutely fabulous iPhone 4.  I lived with one of those pitiful flip phones for ages, and then finally upgraded.  Best. Decision. Ever.  I love this phone.  Is that weird?

I can access my mail, internet, and day planner wherever I'm at on my iPhone.  Good or bad, the world is at my fingertips all the time, and when the "world isn't within reach" my world starts to tip on its axis.  It's almost like leaving an arm or a leg at home.  How else do I share thoughts that come randomly, or thoughts on something I've seen?  How do I check the ingredients to a recipe I didn't (have the time to) write down?  How do I know when my mortgage bill is due?  Thankfully I can count on one hand how many times that has happened.  But when it does, yikes, I actually feel sort of naked.

I lived without a cell phone when I studied abroad in Mexico, and somehow I survived.  Perhaps life with cell phones (i.e. mini computers) necessitates the constant need.  Without them life would be simpler.  But also much less optimized.

And since I take a lot of pictures with my phone, this isn't actually my phone.  I didn't have the time to pull out my camera to take a picture of my phone.... busy busy life.

Day 8: A place you've traveled to.

I don’t generally have the “bug” to travel, which is semi-surprising since I’ve literally been to over 30 states and 5 countries in my short existence.  The bug seems to be creeping in however.  New York and Las Vegas are in my near future, I can feel it.

Here’s a smattering of specific places I’ve been to outside of the United States.

Mexico City, Mexico:  Central Mexico, generally referred to as D.F. (“day, effay”) or Distrito Federal.  It is the capital city of Mexico and coincidentally the largest city in the Americas, and third largest in the world (after Seoul and Tokyo).  The estimated population in 2009 was 8.84 million people (in 573 sq miles).  It’s huge, obviously.  Not a lot of land space, so most of the buildings go up.  We visited Mexico City while I was studying abroad in Queretaro, about 130 miles north(west) of Mexico City.  It literally took 3-4 hours just to drive across town.  This is a picture of a friend of mine from atop our hostel.  We were right on the edge of the Zócalo (main square in the heart of Mexico City).  You can see some of the great old buildings and cathedrals in the background.

Teotihuacán: Mexican pyramids.  They were definitely cool to see, especially since some of them let you climb to the top (we're on our way down in this picture).  You can see one of the smaller pyramids in the background.

Dachau Concentration Camp (Germany):  A sobering place.  Part of a touring trip taken during my Senior year of high school with other kids from my school.  We wandered around the campus, taking it all in.  I don’t remember anyone really saying much.  The concept of concentration camps can be so abstract until you’re actually standing in one of the gas chambers.  The metal gate upon entering has the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" on it, which translates in German to "work will make you free".  Sadly, not true for this place.  They believe over 25,000 Jews and other non-desirables died here.

Neuschwanstein Castle:  This castle in Germany is actually what Sleeping Beauty’s castle was designed after.  It appears to float in the sky, especially when low cloud roll in.  We were in Germany (during the high school touring trip) in late November/early December and we definitely saw some snow.  Do you see the small curved walkway to the right of the castle entrance?  The walk up to the castle took about an hour.  The path winds up and around the mountain all the way to the castle doors.  A nice fun walk in the snow.  I think we spent approximately 10 minutes inside and then trekked back down the mountain.  Absolutely breathtaking views, despite the cloud cover.

Paris, France:  Also part of the high school touring trip, we stopped in France sort of en-route to Germany.  We visited the famous Eifel Tower and Louvre Museum, obviously.  Lots of cobblestone walk ways and small little quaint stores.  Although I could have done without half of our group getting lost on the Champs-Élysées the first night.

Day 7: Post your favorite photo. Ever.

If you've met me, you know how I dislike making decisions.  And picking one photo seemed so limiting, so I decided to break the rules yet again.  Surprise, surprise.  Although I'll admit that the last one is one of my all-time favorites.  All but one are photos I've taken--for some reason I love pictures I've taken more than most others.

And I should note, you're actually lucky.  Lucky?  Yeah, when I got my new laptop I transferred all my pictures over, but the organization didn't exactly work like I wanted.  Now all of my pictures are in one giant folder in a completely haphazard manner.  **sigh** no time for that battle today.  It's certain that I've overlooked favorites of mine in the hour-long process of scrolling through my entire visual library.  So, consider yourself lucky, this post could have been twice as long.

 

I took this picture on Alki Beach, looking into downtown Seattle.

 I didn't take this picture (below), my mom did.  She sent it to me when I was studying abroad in Mexico.  A pleasant reminder of home.  I don't think she had any idea how much it meant to me.  PLUS, seeing that chunky dog in that tiny sweater makes my day--pretty much every time I look at it.  See the tuft of skin/fur/fat sticking up behind his head?  He doesn't fit in the sweater anymore, I'm not sure he ever really did.

 This is my favorite.  If you force me to choose.  I love this dog.  He's perpetually brimming with personality and spunk.  To me, this face says "Seriously?? What do you think you're doing?"  It has "indignant" written all over it.  Love love love it.

Day 6: Favorite quote.

I’m a sucker for quotes.  Quotes tend to speak to me in poignant ways (guess it was inevitable that I would join Twitter, I love concise thoughts.)  They roll around in my head until they become deeper though.  A provoking idea.  A new way to explain something.  I claim credit for none of these, although I hope that some of my thoughts, someday, will impact someone else as these quotes impact me.

So here are some of my favorites, collected over the last couple of years.

"You know your life has enough salt when people are thirsty for Jesus."  John Stumbo

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”

“When God takes something from your grasp He's not punishing you, He’s merely opening your hands to receive something better. “

“The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.”

“Worship is losing my glory in His.”

"My worship, service, and devotion does not make Him God.  He IS God.  My worship, service and devotion makes me obedient... makes me His." 

"A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man must seek the Lord to find it." –From the book Captivating

Certain scriptures have the same effect on me, and since I’m including pictures in all my posts, here’s my favorite scripture.  I wrote it on an index card over four years ago, today it’s taped to my computer at work.  A daily reminder.