one day we got in the car and drove until we found ourselves in the hilly woods.
a cozy cabin was our home that night and a curious raccoon kept us company until the wee hours.
happy times with the best family.

one

two

three

four

i do not have much to say.

just that the days are long and full with school and work and good people.

i am tired. but it is the good kind.

this week has held many surprises.
things that i hadn't even dared to dream about are now becoming reality.
i am more excited than i have been in a very very long time; more later.

and it is only wednesday! think of all the potential that thursday and friday and saturday hold..!

on my way home from school, i drive west into the sunset. i roll the windows down and let the wind run its messy fingers through my hair and think,
"how lucky i am! how lucky i am to be driving down this road, to have time to think and smile until my face hurts."
sometimes i make awkward eye contact with the occupant of the neighboring car at the stoplight and we either look away very fast or--and this is less rare--turn the awkwardness into a smile. i like it when the latter happens.

i was talking with a very very dear friend last night and we were both struck by how different some people seem on the internet.
it's a funny thing.
but rest assured, if you ever talk to me face to face, expect a lot of giggling and maybe a little blondness, but not a whole lot of philosophical thoughts. i'm not that deep of a thinker all the time ;)

that's okay, though. wouldn't it be boring if everyone acted exactly the same all the time?

did you know that there's a website that's simply plays coffee shop noises?
it's supposed to improve your creativity. whether it really does is another matter, but i find it very soothing. i like the atmospheres of coffee shops very much.

i went to starbucks today for that very reason, not because i'm enamored by it (i find it overrated, frankly), but for the atmosphere.
after i ordered my drink, i sat down to do some work, and then realized i forgot my power cord. because my laptop's battery is virtually useless, i found myself instead sitting at my friend's kitchen table ten minutes later.
i couldn't think of a better way to while away the afternoon. friends that let you drop in at a moment's notice are the best kind of friends.

i said i did not have much to say, but look what grew from that first line. sometimes all it takes is a sentence or two to open the floodgates, i guess.

good night, kids. xxxx

You woke up on the couch this morning, disoriented and bleary eyed. All it took was a blink and two weeks were up. Sometimes you look at the calendar, at all those empty squares, and think, "That's all there is?" But then sometimes you look at the calendar, at all those empty squares full of possibility, and think, "Look at all there is!" Eternity and a minute, it's all the same thing.

My older sister Amanda was here for two weeks, visiting from Germany. I always get confused looks when I, a seemingly normal American, introduce my sisters from Germany. I run through the same old script ("My parents are from Germany, but they moved to America shortly before I was born, so I have two older sisters that still live overseas," yadda yadda), but wouldn't dare trade my siblings for the world. I've never had the privilege of living with them, but that just makes our time together all the more sweet.

The two weeks Amanda was here flew by and felt like eternity at the same time. There is something magical about showing your town to someone who doesn't live there; it makes you appreciate the place you live in that much more. But most of all, I reveled in sister-sister bonding time. I am used to playing the role of oldest here at home, but being a middle child feels really wonderful sometimes.

You learn to cope with goodbyes. The sudden absence sucks as usual and when I woke up on the couch this morning, following a 4am wake up call to take Amanda to the airport, it felt strange not to smell her perfume in the air. You learn to cope, but you don't learn how to make it less painful. But still, look at all that's left to live!

Until February, Glichi!!! xoxoxoxo
 

James & Lisa.
August 2013.
Oh, these two. Their joy is contagious; they are filled with so much laughter and happiness and love. I am so happy for them, and so excited for their November wedding!