Today, my heart aches

amid my thoughts of thanks. Thirst

for rest and relationship

drains me dry --

my thoughts are needle pricks

that pick my threads of gratitude

until I begin to unravel.

Hope, you are the theme.

I bow my head

to your high ways. You

say yes when I feel maybe.

You say wait when I feel weep.

You say rest when I feel struggle.

You know the hands that hold you

when I am blind.

I ache. But.

But know that aches speak

of remedies.

That longings speak

of fulfillment. That yesterday's joy

affirms the joy to come.

Unravelled. Aching: I hope.

delight

A tiny sprinkle of snow came a couple weeks ago and I celebrated with a hug with Kayla. But not a flake have I seen since then... until TODAY.

I feel as excited as Winthrop in the Music Man when he got his trumpet. Winter is here! Advent has begun! Look at how FANTASTICAL the campus looks!

I've been momentarily infused with the electric joy of Christmas. I could pop. Somebody hold me down. Or just hold me. :D

Every day, I get a single word prompt from oneword.com and I do a 60 second quick-write. Today, the word was "skyline:"

The sky no longer withdraws. It reaches

down so close to the ground that

it casts a grey shadow from earth to heaven.

Every one of its' million white

kisses are pure. They tell us,

"Hush, rest, and wait." So we nestle

under hats and coasts and gloves, and

we trust.

I might end up playing with that a bit.

Back for round two!

My mom drove me the six hours back up to corn land and got to meet Kayla. We went to Paynes. Kayla decided to be a champ and fit between the car seats in the back. PRESH.

After caffeinating me and seeing all the lodge goodness, mother hit the road and told me to get work done. She's a champ too.

Now Anne's back, gramma's tablecloth is on the table, the baby Christmas tree is on the shelf, and it's beginning to feel a lot like advent. My advent reading for the day is Psalm 103. My advent memorization for the day is

"And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant."

Since I'm practicing gratitude and joy this advent, I'm keeping a gratitude journal. The modge podge will come out soon. So if you see statements of thankfulness floating around, that's why!

Another champ I'm thankful for: Anne Johns.

Bethany: So, all the boys came to your house for thanksgiving, hm? You gotta stop makin' those milkshakes.

Anne: No, boys just come to my yard for turkey.

My brother is a leprechaun werewolf

and I love him

Things I learned in Nashville:

1. Southern people are FRAND-LAY.

2. Hurricane weather is a lot less scary than earthquake territory: "You just get a generator and board up the windows and you're good to go!"

3. Biscuits and gravy don't really exist elsewhere.

4. If I ever need a church ever, all I've got to do is walk up to a stranger and say so. They'll hook me up.

5. Don't call tow trucks. Big men will push your car through the mud because their mamas raised them right.

6. My mom loves me and loves to buy me clothes.

7. I have unlimited picture texts? Holla.

8. Homework is a monkey on my back until I appease it with some bananas work ethic.

9. There comes a time to hand over one's facebook and pinterest passwords to Shelty.

10. Cracker Barrell is always good.

Thanksgiving was, overall, a cozy day of cozy, new clothes and witnessing some cozy families eat cozy food.

Post Script -- The amount spent on Black Friday shopping could pay for the whole world to have clean water. I'll always remember that statistic. It'll leave an imprint on my future shopping habits. Something to keep in mind. How will I integrate giving into my family?

confession

last summer, I took a library book to Haiti

Bambi was sad

, but this was such a great moment.

Rachel: Who wants a humping rabbit? Nobody.

up for grabs

Tornaydo, tornahdo. Let's call the whole thing off.

There was a funnel over campus. But was class called off? Unfortunately, no. No, it was not.

Mike: "I think because of the hurricane, a lot of people cancelled their appointments."

Bethany: "Tornado?"

Mike: "Tornado. I get my natural disasters mixed up."

I love me some Misfits

"Gotta go to McConn for some juice. Gotta juice up. Gotta gas up. Gotta get some juice." -Kayla Johnson, psyching herself up for a long night

Allison: "I got a courtship offer today."

Kayla: "WTF."

Jennifer Aniston's real name

is Jennifer Linn Anastassakis.

I was shocked when I read here how many famous people have changed their names!!

homework

check list

• Crochet rug
• Bake dragon cookies with cool small groupers
• Compare seminary pens with Zachary Aument
• Exist on The Island of Misfit Toys with Hips (Allison), Beams (Anne), Curls (Kayla), and Dimps (Kate)

The weather today was gorgeous.

I rode my bike and the air against my face was warm. The trees are still holding their colors. People wore shorts. It was probably 65 degrees. :)

Anecdote: I almost fell off my bike when I swerved to avoid a GIANT praying mantis that was crossing the sidewalk. Somebody probably thought I was drunk.

It's now 12:35 AM, which means it's Wednesday. So the day after tomorrow, Mike and I will have been dating for six months. That's half a year! 26 weeks. 182 days.

Here are some other halves:

Half a cup

Half a tree

Half a strawberry

Half a pie

Half a moon

Well, reader, I hope you "half" a great morning/afternoon/evening/night! ;]

Today, I'm thankful for Emily treating me to McConn. I'm also thankful for Kayla Johnson. And her southern accent. ;)

oh crap

No more internet for the next couple days. Mk? 'Kay, cool.

I'm looking forward to:

-growing with the Misfits

-learning about Rachel and Kyla

-6 months and some good birthdays, all at the same time

-Thanksgiving with mah mawm in the south

-One on ones with Noelle and maybe a laugh or two with Lindsay and Emily

-Every day of the rest of my life. Is that saps? It's saps. But it's true. Which makes it ridiculously great.

I found a site of typographized Bible verses. They're fun.

-shel silverstein

one day

my kid'll be like, "mom, what was the deal with fake mustaches?"

and I'll be like, "I dunno, it was just a thing"

and my kid'll be like, "Ewww."

I know because one day

I was like, "Mom, what was the deal with real mustaches?"

and she was like, "I dunno, it was just a thing"

and I was like, "Ewww."

Acts 12

One of my favorite passages of all time.

Hello, November :]

"be the poem"

-anonymous