My 21st

On my 21st birthday I was extremely blessed to spend the day with my three best friends (one of whom I am going to be related to very soon!)
It was a beautifully cold day in Sedona, Arizona.
We drank wine (don't worry....not too much), took pictures, danced, laughed, and some ate delicious food.

It was a great birthday.
One I will definitely remember. (because it was awesome and because I was sober enough to cherish everything!)

I realized though... as I get older the list of things that I want to do and want to accomplish only grows.
I find myself starring at pictures of distant places and dreaming I was somewhere else instead of where I am right now.
Is that dangerous?
I think so.

Somedays, I do not enjoy where I am in life. All I can think about is where I want to be tomorrow. Next month. Next year. I want a new car. I want a new camera. I want a husband (ok maybe not RIGHT now... but eventually). I want to be in a different country. I want to be serving God overseas. I want to adopt....

Not really bad things... but my future desires are definitely taking priority over my current situations and blessings.

I need to focus on where I am right now. Where God has put me for this stage in my life. Enjoy the road. Every bit of it.
Cause I know someday I will look back on my pictures from my 21st birthday and I will miss that moment.

Thank You Lord.... for every moment of everyday. For this path. This journey. It is preparing me for places and people that I have not met yet. I wait in anticipation for things I have yet to discover and change I have yet to encounter. Shape me. Mold me. I am Yours. 

Finals. Finally.

I guess you could say we are jumping for joy!
Finals are over and Winter Break is here!
Love this girl.

Wall Art.

Lately I have been playing around with this photo editor than I have and I decided to add some spice to my photographs!

I am hoping to do this to a lot more of them and make some cool wall art. Which I currently have no room for... but no matter. They still look cool.

The Moutain

A few weeks ago I hiked Mt Humphrey's peak with my brother.
Wow. It was quite an adventure.

When we started the hike it was a beautiful day out. Not a cloud in the sky. But when we were about 2/3 of the way up it started getting snowy and stormy; before we knew it we were being blasted with wind and snow. Also, our water froze. Joy. "We are going to die of dehydration on a mountain covered in snow" were my thoughts.

I failed to take any pictures of the top.. but it would not have mattered. All we could see was white. My eye lashes were plastered in snow and my goggles were frozen over. Sounds like fun huh?

Haha well it was. It was a lot of fun. and dangerous. and all I could think of was "If I live through this I am getting some hot chocolate and then vowing to never do it again".  Honestly though... I would do it again. Just for the pure adventure.

As I was on the mountain, my thoughts were also turning to God and how absolutely powerful He is. The mountain and the weather are strong, but only because He made it that way.

"For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into the darkness and treads the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven's Armies is His name!" Amos 4:13

He is a powerful, beautiful, amazing, and compassionate God. As big and as scary the mountains may appear... I know they are NOTHING when they stand before God.

"The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth" Psalm 97:5

What an eye opener. Go explore. Discover what He has made and praise Him for it.

Snapshots.

These are my crazy brothers and my awesome friends. 
I love them. 
End of story.