days like this.

Listening to: country music on shuffle. Remembering why I love Carrie Underwood.
Quote Love: “So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when really, shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Kathleen Kelly, from You've Got Mail.

On days like this, I sit on the floor with a book on my lap and a cup of cold coffee on the floor next to me. Think, read, dream & drink coffee. The clouds are slowing rolling in, gradually darkening the sky. It smells like freshly mown grass & rain outside. I'll still be awake when it starts to rain. I'll go out and lay on the trampoline in shorts and a tanktop. I'll put my sunglasses on, the plastic ones that won't rust, so the water doesn't run into my eyes. Someone will come out to join me, and inevitably, we'll begin pushing each other down, slipping and falling on the slick surface.

Can skin be thirsty? Mine is. It’s thirsty for rain. For water pummeling down from the thick clouds, Sinking into my skin and running down my eyes. My ears strain to pick up the sound of the thunder, My eyes, for the sight of the lightning slicing the black sky in two, for the feeling of the water. My soul is thirsty for God the way my skin is thirsty for rain.

I'm feeling nostalgic today. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the beginning of a new school year, maybe it's the jeans and sweatshirt I've been wearing all day making me wish for cooler weather and changing leaves. It's the most beautiful time of year, filled with so many different memories. Bringing out the hoodies, jeans, and boots. Drinking hot cider and snuggling down in camp chairs at the edge of the soccer field. Raking up leaves then jumping in the piles. It's my favorite time of the year.

The mornings have been thick and foggy, each day the fog lingering longer than it did on the previous day. I wonder how long the mornings have been like that, and if I'm just now noticing since I'm awake then. From the porch I can barely see past the corn fields on the far side of the road. It's misty, beautiful, and mysterious. Anything could be behind that mist.

School has gotten off to a good start. Two days down, one hundred and seventy-eight to go.

changing names.

I've decided....

Beauty Like a Kaleidoscope.

From the Natalie Lloyd quote:

“Beauty isn’t some pinpoint we’re all shooting for aimlessly. Real beauty is more like a kaleidoscope, shining out of every part of our lives.”

You'll be able to find me at beautylikeakaleidoscope.blogspot.com.

I'm not sure when I'll switch it, cause I start school tomorrow. I want to make a new header and have it ready before I change the name. I hope to have it switched at least by Wednesday, and I'll be back then with some better posts. Possibly something about the three Israeli kids I spent time with last Friday at the airport and the Hebrew cuss words I learned. Possibly something about convincing my parents that I didn't need to take Latin again. Possibly something about the Hokey Pokey. You never know.

Thanks so much Natalie for letting me use your quote for my title! I really appreciate it. :)

home.

It's been so good to be home. I missed my family so much, and it's been amazing to be back with them. I loved being at church on Sunday and getting to see everyone. After working at middle school youth group on Sunday night, Ali came over. We spent the night at my grandma's in the little cabin down by the pond. That night we were sitting on the benches down by the pond when a bat started flying above us. It kept flying closer and closer, and all of a sudden it flew into Ali's arm. We all screamed and ran back into the bunkhouse and slammed the door shut. It was a fun night.

I just won a giveaway today! I'm getting a print and a set of notecards from this Etsy shop. I can't wait until they get here. I requested "Get Me Out of Here," in 11x14. I cannot wait to see it. Thank you so much Mandy!

I finally read the book that I've been wanting to read since before I left, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It was so good. In the next week or so I'm going to read it again slower, much like I did with one of Donald Miller's other books, Blue Like Jazz. I think that I've read that book three or four times this summer.

I've gone swimming nearly every day since I've been back. It's rained. I've biked and trampolined with my sister, and we re-did a chair. It's been a good almost-week back home. Missing everyone there.

going home.

Leaving tonight at midnight. I fly into JFK, then onto Indianapolis where I'll meet my parents. I can't wait to see them, but just not ready to leave.

to do: (everything last minute.)

Listening to: Looking Up, by Paramore.

Quote love: “It hurts to love, but it’s worth it. Love wouldn’t be so beautiful if you didn’t have to die a little bit to create it. Love has always cost pain.” Donald Miller.

1) Go to Petra.

Petra is a Nabataean ruin, a city carved into a hill. The archeological dig that I went to was built by the Nabataeans, both over 2000 years ago. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to go, and it's something that I've planned on since the beginning of the summer.  Likely I'll go on Thursday, cutting it just a little close to when I leave.

2) Shop.

If you know me well, you know that I'm not much of a gift giving person. I do like to give and receive gifts, but it's not the most important thing for me. I do want to bring back things for my family and friends, and I haven't gotten much at all. We'll try to go downtown tomorrow, maybe, so that I can get some things to bring back with me.

3) Pack. 

This is just as, or more, important as the other two, but just a little easier. I already have everything except for my clothes packed up, and thankfully, I have enough room. I'll probably finish packing on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. 

I'm just a little concerned about getting everything done, after all, I do only have two days left. The closer I get to leaving, the more I'm ready to get home. It's been a really great summer, and I'm not at all ready for it to be over, I'm just ready to be home.