back to business

Home was marvelous. A whole week home was bliss and just what the doctor ordered.

Now its two straight weeks of MADNESS and then finals until Christmas break time commences.

I love home, but its good to be back in my little Biola nook with my apartment, roommates, classes, lunch dates with friends and my own portion of the shelf in the refrigerator. I love leading a weird double life. I'm a completely different kind of myself both at home and at school. Neither world which I bounce back and forth between will ever fully grasp the other. Two realms that are so deeply important to me will never truly appreciate each other. Odd. Odd and great.

Well... ta ta social life, see you in mid December, let's make it a good one when we next meet.

t.h.a.n.k.s.

"You are my God, and I will give you thanks;

you are my God, and I will exalt you."

Psalms 118:28

This year I am thankful for more things than I can even write down.

Most importantly I am thankful for my incredible family. With the lost jobs, new jobs, illnesses, new life, growth of relationships, and the provision of the Lord amongst it all has been an amazing thing to witness and be a part of.

I am more than ever thankful for health this year. Being sick for 3 months in the heat of difficulty in my life was ridiculously challenging and I constantly wanted to give up, drop out, go home and hide under the covers waiting for it all to fade away, but I didn't. I didn't because of the strength and steadfast comfort of the Lord that I am here healthy and getting better everyday. He is my healer.

I am also thankful that God has led me to where he wants me to be with the choice to pursue photography for my Bachelor's degree and has given me the confidence to seek, learn, enjoy and be immersed in this new train of thought that I had previously pushed aside for fear that I was insufficient and wouldn't be liked or successful. But this year I have learned that is not a good enough reason not to pursue my dream and passion. So, now I am and it's been incredible thus far. I get excited just thinking about it.

I am thankful to even be blessed enough to go to an institution like the one I attend. It's been one of the greatest blessings and definitely the most fruitful 3 years I have experienced to date. The Lord provided once again, when it looked as if I wasn't able to return this year and that was one of the biggest blessings of the year. I can't wait to see what the remainder of my time at Biola holds for me, because I know that is where I am supposed to be.

I am thankful for Shane, this amazing man that happened to me this summer. Everyday, even though we are apart, is better because he is a part of it. He is a lover of God and people. We are completely opposite, but completely similar in many ways that we endlessly compliment each other. I can't wait to see what kind of adventures we will continue to have.

I am thankful for the amazing friends that bless me daily, bring me joy and wisdom overflowing. I can't believe that they will not always be in my life so I want to make sure to take the time to appreciate them to the fullest.

And not lastly, but not at all least... I am thankful for my God. None of these innumerable blessings would be prevalent in my life had he not chosen to pour out his love on me and bless me richly far beyond what I deserve. Everyday is new with him, every mercy is shown by him, every step is guided by him and I am always blown away. Praise him.

propozies

Take a peek at the act of engagement of the soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Witt!

In order to view the show the password is: password

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/RMBHJC/Brooke%20and%20%20Ezra/?albumview=slideshow

tired

tired eyes tracing the page

following tired fingers

taking orders from a tired mind.

upward glances from a tired lap

revel an old couple checking their blackberries.

a young girl watching

her feet kick back and forth

a pensive reader

an aggressive eater

all waiting to file into the tired plane.

music pulsing through tired ears

ring notes of comfort and relaxation.

spending four dollars on gum and water

my tired wallet opens to satisfy the bill.

tired heart within my chest skips a beat

with the joy of knowing that soon

it will be home

where it will find refuge and no longer

possess tired emotions reflected in tired actions.

but will be refreshed like a dip in icy waters

and beat anew with zest and zeal.

my tired self will soon heal.

___________________________________________

wrote this in the airport.

i am now home and it is so great.

Sweaters, boots, sleep, family, meals, hugs, and that wonderful homey smell.

fragments of thoughts

just another thing i've been working on.

we had to do a teach yourself / poster project,

and i taught myself this.

its a pretty crappy photoshop job...

and is still under the knife, but here it is.

______________________________________

this week is pure insanity, and apparently

blogging is good medicine because i am

less stressed as of this very moment.

______________________________________

i got to be part of something really cool.

today i photographed the act of engagement between

brooke and ezra, it was really neat and fun to be a part of.

i've never been part of something like that

and it was a really neat experience.

here's a snippet, more soon.

______________________________________________

i wore my favorite winter coat for the first time this season, today.

it was love.

my windows also got super foggy and i had to use the defroster.

so nostalgic.

i also went to the beach today.

what tangled web of weather am i weaving?

_____________________________________________

only 8 pages to write about Annie Leibovitz,

a video crit, a chapel and 3 lecture classes separate me

from T-Gives 09. holler back youngin.

take a peek

Ze video I've been working on for my 4D class:

Just in time.

This weekend was full of a variety of things. Lingerie party,quality roommate bonding time, sitting in bed all day doing nothing of importance, being at church with a bunch of rad high schoolers {who i'm gonna miss a lot over these next coming weeks} and being WAY more active than I have been in months, which is weird and a little tiring.

I participated in: capture the flag, volley ball and ultimate frisbee this afternoon. I didn't really even work too hard at it and I'm now super tired. But it felt great to be up and at em again and haveno one pity me for being sick or tired, to just be. And be a kid again no less, hanging out with a bunch of 15 yr olds really makes you appreciate the little things. Now it's an evening of homework and caffiene for the long week ahead. But this week has a reward: home, hugs and happiness.

So, I may not blog again until I'm in Oregon {!} Ahhh, Oregon. You know you live in a great place with great people when you're still excited to go back whatever chance you get. 6 DAYS! Can't get over how soon it came, and how even sooner it will go. But I'm pumped nonetheless.

Here are some pretty things that happened this weekend:

{below and above... faux bridal glory at Emily's lingerie shower.

my bride - Jillian, in the middle - won best dress, duh.

me, shan and amanda know how to dress a lady.}

{much needed roommate time}

{and a lovely lemon tree growing behind my apartment, so cheery}

Come quick please, 3pm November 21st! :)

feel

how i feel about God

how i feel about creating art {comes naturally}

how i feel about the future {wide open}

how i feel about introspection

how i feel about growing up {i never will}

how i feel about life currently

how i feel about my faith and Christianity as a whole

how i feel about the world today

how i feel about travel

how i feel about heaven {breathtaking}

how i feel about the distance between washington and california

how i feel about the importance of perception

how i feel about school {currently, not always}

how i feel about the importance of imagination

i've been feeling a lot through photos lately.

this is such a remarkable thing, and an affirmation that this is finally what i am supposed to do with my life.

so great to make it here.

to know my purpose and to work ever more fervently towards it.

creatures and dancers

For my Digital Tools class, we just learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and our first task was to create 20 bugs/creatures/monsters within the program and present them in a creative way.

So, I hand drew {via computer} these 20 little creatures based on the popular stuffed animals, UglyDolls. They turned out pretty true to form and took about 8-9 hours to create due to the process of Illustrator using tons of layers, vector points and individual manipulations.

Woah, lots of work. And I cut them out and displayed them in a shoe box, trying to simulate the big collecting project from elementary school where you collect bugs and stick pins in them, and put them I'm a shoe box. Shootin for nostalgia.

Here are the creatures, please enjoy their oddities.

In other news...

- Shane Claiborne, author, Christian revolutionary activist is speaking at Biola tonight. I'm a fan of his books, his life and his attitude so I'm stoked to hear him speak tonight.

- This weekend is the lovely Emily Leechman's {soon to be Mrs. Koinis} bridal/lingerie shower. Shannon and I are embarking on a scandalous lingerie quest this weekend. Couldn't be more excited.

- EIGHT days till lots of brisk weather, lots of hugs, lots of scarves and warm beverages, lots of family, lots of food, lots of pictures, lots of rest and lots of merriment.

P.S. This video is fantastic. I came across it while doing a video project for 4D and I can't stop watching it. And soon realized that I must include it in my project.

Please enjoy it's oddities as well.

true confession

at this very moment i am watching season 3 of The OC in bed, eating Nutella and drinking Simply Orange with Pineapple, winding down from a long day and trying to gain motivation from simple girlish pleasures. thanks wednesday, you've treated me well.

in other news...

- thanksgiving countdown: NINE days

- boyfriend countdown: 14 days

-its $1 boba week at bobaya....there goes 10ish dollars and 5ish more pounds {woooorth it}

- Dashboard Confessionals new album is out and in my ipod on repeat.

- may or may not have made THE best christmas mix of all time.

- there are a million mysterious fruit flies reproducing in our apartment. why why whyyy?

- i am OFFICIALLY a photography emphasis {formerly a design emphasis} and could NOT be happier about it!

netflix for art.

For Web Design:

- Had to create a company, a coupon, a banner, and two parts of a site with a specific theme and based upon the libraries we created previously of all the components that make up a site.

My company:

- Abundant Art, basically Netflix for art, which would be awesome if it were real. Pretty much renting art, keeping it as long as you like, sending it back and getting the next one in your line up, or even purchasing it if you can't part with it.

Pretty cool, eh? I thought so too.

forgive the frenzy of fotos....

... i frequently feel florescent and frisky when i find frames of film that i fancy.

Eye candy

Here are some sweet pics i've been enjoying as of late...

In other news....

-Dashboard Confessional's new album Alter the Ending comes out on Tuesday. Yum.

-Thanksgiving countdown: 14 days

-Boyfriend countdown: 17 days

- I am getting restless due to too much work and not enough play.

Scandy, but great

Please enjoy one of the greatest poems I've laid eyes on for quite some time.

Purity - Billy Collins

My favourite time to write is in the late afternoon,

weekdays, particularly Wednesdays.

This is how I go about it:

I take a fresh pot of tea into my study and close the door.

Then I remove my clothes and leave them in a pile

as if I had melted to death and my legacy consisted of only

a white shirt, a pair of pants and a pot of cold tea.

Then I remove my flesh and hang it over a chair.

I slide it off my bones like a silken garment.

I do this so that what I write will be pure,

completely rinsed of the carnal,

uncontaminated by the preoccupations of the body.

Finally I remove each of my organs and arrange them

on a small table near the window.

I do not want to hear their ancient rhythms

when I am trying to tap out my own drumbeat.

Now I sit down at the desk, ready to begin.

I am entirely pure: nothing but a skeleton at a typewriter.

I should mention that sometimes I leave my penis on.

I find it difficult to ignore the temptation.

Then I am a skeleton with a penis at a typewriter.

In this condition I write extraordinary love poems,

mostly of them exploiting the connection between sex and death.

I am concentration itself: I exist in a universe

where there is nothing but sex, death, and typewriting.

After a spell of this I remove my penis too.

Then I am all skull and bones typing into the afternoon.

Just the absolute essentials, no flounces.

Now I write only about death, most classical of themes,

in language light as the air between my ribs.

Afterward, I reward myself by going for a drive at sunset.

I replace my organs and slip back into my flesh

and clothes. Then I back the car out of the garage

and speed through woods on winding country roads,

passing stone walls, farmhouses, and frozen ponds,

all perfectly arranged like words in a famous sonnet.

Restored.

OMG. I can NOT wait for this day. It give me chills and makes me tap my feet.

Revelation 21:1-7

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

⁵He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

⁶He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Isaiah 35:10

"And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away."

Literally.... hallelujah.

Things.

Happenings in my life as of late:

• New phone. Loving it, and loving having a phone in general after being w/out one for a few weeks.

• Discovered the BEST Mango Sorbet at Fresh&Easy for $2.... made my day.

• Mono is almost gone! Praise Jesus, I should be released to normal activity this week {fingers crossed} which still means I'll be a zombie for a while longer, but still.

• Countdown {18 days} till Thanksgiving in glorious Oregon for SEVEN WHOLE DAYS.

• Since we're counting down, countdown to see Shane at home in glorious Oregon {22 days}

• Cocoa Butter lotion... genius

• My job... still great, still fun, still love to do it.

• School is ridiculous as usual and I'm realizing more and more how horrible I am at design, and how I can't wait to start my photo emphasis next semester.

• The desire to do nothing but sit on my couch and look online at amazing images all day, several times this weekend I have done this for hours at a time... not so helpful for the productivity, but great for the creative imagination.

• Can't wait to start doing yoga again after Mono's over.

• Pretty soon I'll be helping to lead a high school girl's Bible study with the girls at my church, can't wait for that. Saturday mornings spent at Starbucks with some growing Goldly gals, sounds pretty great. I wish I'd had that in high school.

• Electronica and folk music are becoming an ever present part of my audio life, no complaints here.

• Since September I have finished all: 10 seasons of Friends, 2 Seasons of Gossip Girl and am now starting The OC season again... woah. Thank God we don't have real television, I'd be hosed.

• I'm realizing God pretty much always knows what he's doing and I just need to get the heck outta the way.

A few of my favorite things...

Best friend/Halloween time was splendid, as to be expected.

Involving: mexican food, pumpkin flavored froyo {heaven}, too much candy, a viewing of My Blueberry Nights, OC Season 2, couch crashing, best girl bonding.

Morning after almost just as good: once a year McGriddle's run {always make the run together to fulfill our once yearly McDonald's fix}, followed by more candy, OC, and girl bonding. G.R.E.A.T.

In other news, my dearest Emily's engagement shoot went wonderfully! I haven't given her the photos yet, but heres a sneak of a few of my faves...