finallyyyyy

spring break 2010 has decided to grace me with its presence.
as of now i am sitting with my empty suitcase before me, my class schedule behind me and my angela blake beside me, while i watch the OC and she reads a horrible sounding textbook [spring break will say hello to her tomorrow] and im still squealing with joy.

and tomorrow i will spend the weekend with my beautiful friend brooke in the bay and head back up home in time for easter. woot, woot.

in the mean time, my computer has decided to stage a sit in and not turn on, no matter how nicely i ask it to. so if you think of it, send some tech savvy thoughts [or advice] my way.

dear spring break,
please continue to be kind.
xoxo, rachel

i hereby challenge myself to....

...write 5 encouraging text messages every day.


i am currently in the middle of writing a paper, getting sleepy, thoughts getting fluffy and irrelevant, distractions coming more often and more unnecessarily. 
and i just got a text from my girl Katie, who's on staff with me, saying, "keep up the good work rach, you got this!" and she had absolutely no idea where i was or what i was doing, but she just decided to send me some lovin & encouragement. so refreshing and kind.
i have now been assured by someone not in my own head that i will finish this paper, and that i've got this.


so, i now want to do the same thing. send random thoughts of encouragement to those laid on my heart at any given moment and let them know someone's rooting for them.
ready? go.
________________________________________________


in other news:


my heart is fluttering at the thought that in t-minus 5 DAYS is... spring breaaaaaaaaak!!


where i will feel like this > > >


yea yea yeaaaa. my eyes may or may not be glazing over at this very moment. mmmm.

looooove my homework.

i get to research FAB photogs such as these:

pieter hugo

gillian wearing

hellen van meene

barbara kruger

daniele buetti

john baldessari

_______________________________________

yummmm.

delicious.

the past few days have been phenom.
my sister & brother in law are in town for their family's spring break and got to spend lots of quality time with them!
full day at Disneyland & another full day in Newport complete with sand volleyball, bbq, bonfire and good company. simple entertainment, friends & giggles around warm fires are a few of my favorite things.


it has NEVER felt more like summer, which is killin me because its very much still March.
only ONE MORE WEEK till my own spring break, full of sleep, nephews, Oregon & San Francisco with Brooke and adventuring, much adventuring.


ps... keep your fingers crossed that the people at the auto parts place will be nice to my broken Jeep brakes and cut me a deal ;)

this gives me happy eyes

recently obsessed with the work of amos paul kennedy jr 

:: crazy good / activist printmaker ::

after being inspired by his work and use of text,

i will be using my own version of text layering for my next print assignment.

:: photos to follow - obv ::

{the artist}

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

watch. it is lovely.

oh... and this too. for it is also lovely.

current aspirations...

learn to paint abstractly.

research editorial photography.

revisit the lovely portland & consider its post-grad living options.

go on more photoshoots.

buy bowls like this for my big girl house someday.

get & exhaust a polaroid camera.

be more crafty.

cuddle my nephews.

so many wants, so little time to fulfill them all.

jesus lovin' men

it is no surprise that i am into men who love jesus.

i would dare to say that its the most attractive thing about a man. 

well, i dont even dare, it is the most attractive thing about a man.

at Missions Conference it was SO refreshing to see my peers love on Jesus. 

so often i feel like [not all, but quite a few] men my age are hesitant to overtly praise God in their worship [closing eyes, lifting hands, etc]. partly because some don't care, partly because they don't feel the need to worship in that manner, and i would assume partly because they may not be comfortable. whatever the case, i have noticed this trend, in this case specifically at biola.

not that i believe raising your hands is the only way to express your worship to God because there is no one way, obviously. but it was such a seriously touching thing to see men of God praising their creator wholeheartedly with all that they are. 

i fully realize that this is odd to blog about, but more than anything it was such an encouragement to see my brothers in Christ living out their faith in such a real and expressive way. and being comforted by the fact that there are men who will rise up and lead with confidence and humility. im all over that.

keep on gettin' it boys.

things on my list lately.

post grad travel bliss.

this little creature.

summer adventuring.

lounging in the most exotic of places.

antiquey things.

soaking up each moment before its gone.

________________________________________

in other news:

this is how committed i am to the purity of my trail mix.

survival of the fittest [clearly the nuts & chocolate]

- there are only 8 weeks left of this semester.... 8! ridiculous.

- it feels like summer here, which is causing me to get HARD CORE spring/summer fever just in time to be unmotivated before midterms.

- i get to see lauren & brandon next week [woot woot!]

-all i want to do is nap and lay in the sun, neither of which my schedule allows for.

oh spring break... why are you 3 weeks away?

{calm after the storm}

my heart is refreshed. 

my soul is at ease. 

my mind holds no more signs of confliction. 

my body holds no angst. 

my ears have heard the Lord's voice spoken softly into my life & only good has come from it.

for those of you who may know, i applied to be on a team to India this summer to talk about & live out Jesus. after weeks of confusing uneasiness and honestly painful confliction about my choice & after i applied & was interviewed, God finally brought to my attention that I was doing this for myself and not for Him. 

{Unbeknownst to me of course, until now} 

Which was SO hard for me to understand why this was not where I was supposed to be because it is where I so wanted to be, but God has something else in store. 

After making the decision I found out that I was going to be accepted, and that they were set on me from the beginning which made me feel awful but also thankful that I do have what it takes to set the world on fire for the Lord... just not this summer in India.

After a series of events which confirmed God's hand in this decision, I don't think I have ever been more sure about any one thing. It wasn't an easy one, it was one I tried to run away from just so I didn't have to make it, but it was an important one in a series of future important ones that will continue to grow me into the best version of myself.

I don't know yet what that is or looks like, but I do know what it is like to hear the whisper of the Almighty God like a tickle in your ear, and instantly be overflowing with peace. 

And realizing that even my best intentions, if not in line with the fulfillment of His will, are only going to get me into trouble especially if I don't have my heart and soul in the same page.

I'm still learning with each step I take that I am not adequate on my own and that I need... just need.

Thank you to those who have been praying for me throughout this process and to those who recommended me and told people how much you love me, it was not in vain, if anything you also played a part in the communication of God's will & it really speaks volumes as to how great you are. And please still keep Team India in your prayers as they go out with the power of Christ this June.

now on to the next big girl decision...

playlist for a sun-kissed afternoon

listen to some of these sparkly tunes...


:: Muzzled Bees - Wilco
:: Close Your Eyes - Andrew Belle
:: Sort of Revolution - Fink
:: Airplanes - Local Natives
:: I Like Van Halen Because My Sister Says They're Cool - El Ten Eleven
:: Single Foxes - Mash up of Beyonce's Single Ladies & The Fleet Foxes' Ragged Wood
:: My Body's a Zombie For You - Dead Man's Bones
:: My Love - Lykke Li


... and drink in this beautiful day.

currently missing these creatures.

 xoxoxoooo.

soon soon soon.

yes pleeeease.

woah.woah.woah.WOAH.

my Beirut crush has been reignited.

you may serenade me any time, good sir.

ugh, watch and crush.

{pssst, the music starts at 1:26, if you wanna skip ahead}

exotic lodging lust

i would like to go to Spain just so i could stay at this hotel.

im freaking out over how great it is.

sneak a peak... and freak.

because these things are beautiful & true.

i thank you God for this most amazing by e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
wich is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

girrrrta rouuuuse.

watching juno.
editing pictures from today's adventures.
struggling to keep my sleepy little eyes open a few more minutes.
being thankful campus safety took pity on me & my whining and spared me from a ticket. ptl.
and wanting even more to have a space of my own to decorate & dwell in & create in & love in.
___ __  ___  ___ _ ____ _ ___  _____ ___ _ ______ ___ 


tonight my art therapy class went to a therapist's space and checked out her work.
i. am. obsessed.
i wanted to stretch out on the ground and look up through the rafters and stark white walls and never leave.
i wanted to paint all over the walls, only to repaint them and start over, filling them with whatever and who ever i desired. 
someday. someday i will. and it will be magnificent. 

in other news:

i've been a knowledge vacuum, lately. 

sucking up every inch of truth and skills that are thrown at me. 

again reinforcing my desire to never ever graduate and be a perpetual student. 

mmm, nothing sounds more divine.