Life List

Yesterday, while watching the World Cup (*hugs Argentina*), my mom and I were discussing the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeeemer) statue in Rio de Janeiro.

I've known my mom's wanted to go for a while because every time she sees the statue on television she talks about how pretty it is and well, I can take a hint.

So, being the dreamer that I am, I got to looking up what it would take to get there. It was silly at first but then once we saw pictures and reviews we really wanted to go and now we've started talking savings.

Because I know my mom, I can't count on her being super serious about going and mind you, i'm still a college student with student loan debt to pay come next summer, so we can't go right away, but I do want to make it my personal goal to take her one day. 

Anyway, amidst all the dreaming (we talked about visiting the Statue of Liberty too!), I realized why it is that so many people have bucket lists. I mean, if we don't write it down and make it a tangible goal to go, then it's never gonna happen is it?

So i've decided to start my very own.

I'll call it a life list* because i've never liked that it's called a "bucket list." What even is that, you know? Besides, I don't want this to be a "I have to do this before I die" kind of thing, but rather a "these are the things I want to do in my life" thing.

So, here goes, Elizabeth's very own life list:

1. Visit Rio de Janeiro and Cristo Redentor with my mom

2. Visit New York City. Once with my mom, once on my own. Seriously, some of my favorite bloggers are based in the Big Apple and uh, Law and Order anyone? I'd love to drink some bad coffee out of those little blue cups. Haha!

3. Finish reading all of the books that I own

4. Reverse my financial family tree

5. Document one year of my life with a disposable camera. I know a guy who does this and I love that it's becoming more of a thing! No more instant gratification.

6. Live somewhere other than in the Pacific Northwest, for a year

7. Learn another language (Preferably French, Latin or Portuguese)

8. Learn how to play the piano

9. Finish learning how to play the guitar

10. Get out of student loan debt

11. Own a dog

12. Trace my lineage

13. Buy season tickets for a team that I love

14. Write letters to people that I love for a year (minimum, once a month)

15. Learn how to make espresso

16. Read my bible through and through

17. Donate money to a charity that I love

18. Visit every US National Park

19. Take photos in a photo booth once a month, every month, for a year

20. Graduate from college!

21. Fall in love

This list will grow, but since i'm 21, I thought that 21 was a good place to stop while I keep working on this :)

Stay tuned for the updated list!

*inspired by this life list

A (School) Year in Review

In light of recent events, transitioning from school to summer and being really sick (i'm talking nausea, chills, sleep all day kind of sick) the last few weeks or so, i've been really off my game.

so to catch you up on where I have been lately, it's here: thinking and reminiscing on the blessing of what this last school year was for me.

so, without further ado, i give you (my) school year in review:

september:

i got to spend the better part of september training to be an RA at SPU and then about a month later being joined by my babies residents (i liked to call them babies but they didn't like it as much). it was quite the privilege to serve with my RA Staff despite our ups and downs and my floor, man, for them, there are just no words. these women blessed me beyond what I deserved. we may have been small but we were fierce.

october:

ah, october. a beautiful time filled with ferry rides, retreats to Camp Casey, skipping rocks, sitting around campfires and making new friends. oh, and being really *happy* campers, of course(hah!) i miss those faces.

november:

a time for going and coming home. a reminder to be thankful and a time when you can share your city with your family. what could be better?

december:

a time for missed train rides (and making the best of them), the festival of lights with my beautiful family and a time for celebrating (¡21!) in the city of my birth

january:

a time to stress while watching football games and subsequently celebrate the Seahawks Superbowl Championship. a time to get out of the city and a time to celebrate snow (!!!) and most importantly a time to reconnect with old friends and to remember the gift of life. life is short and a privilege, let's not forget that.

february:

a time for adventure, trying new things and making new friends and a time to grow in patience as planes got delayed, flights got cancelled and we were sent to Las Vegas in the middle of midterms. did i mention it was a time for adventure? hah! in all seriousness though, february was more about intentionally learning about the things God's heart cares about like shalom and reconciliation.

march:

a time for rest and to reconnect with my family and more importantly my favorite little man, a time to learn about what love does and a time to explore new places.

april:

phew, april! what a month. april was a time to step outside my comfort zone and campaign for a student government position at my school and a time to celebrate when i won (!!) running in an election was the scariest thing i've ever done but also the most humbling thing i've ever done. it's crazy for me to think that people actually believed i could represent them well and for that i am so thankful. aside from the election, april was a time to explore new and familiar places with friends :)

may:

a time to celebrate a good year and to look towards a new one, a time to suck it up and pay for the ticket to the concert of your favorite band (needtobreathe) that you really, really wanted to go to and a time to enjoy it. a time to be thankful for the blessing of a floor that you got to share life with this year (something you too often took for granted)

 a good month.

june:

a season that was "supposed to be normal," and how i wish it had been. a hard season but more than that, a season more so defined by how a community responded to a tragedy and a season to mourn but also dance because though the events of that tragic day changed those of us who were a part of it, they also reminded us of the gift of life and that love wins. that life is still good and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot understand it. 

overall, this year was a beautiful one. a year that i did not and could not have made happen on my own, but instead, one where God guided my steps and was evident, a year where i was stretched beyond my own limit, and where i learned and grew a lot.

i can't believe this marks my third year at SPU and that just one year from now I will have graduated (eek!)

however, if the last three years are any indication of what's to come, i know that one year from now, i will be looking back on my four years saying with full confidence, God has been good and all manner of things have been good.

yes, indeed, God is good all the time.

and all the time, God is good

xoxo,

Elizabeth

currently listening to: hide away by ben rector

My Hope and Refuge, the One in whom I trust.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

((Reflecting on this on this winter day after going home for the funeral of my friend who recently passed))

On being grateful and 2014.

Shoot.
It's been awhile, hasn't it?
Does anyone else feel like this year took them by surprise?

I know I've sure felt like that lately.

January just flew past me and then I realized just the other day that it's 2014.

Okay, not literally, but you know what I mean...

When you look up one day and realize, shoot it's today! I feel like i'm in elementary school all over again...

Anybody feel me?

Anyway, all that to say that this year has been really hard already. Lots of unexpected and unfortunate events have taken place in my life lately and lots of challenges have come up as a result.

And I know that God is faithful and in fact, I am being reminded of that every day.

For example, Did you know that God is closer to you than every breath you take? I know, i know, that's weird. Or at least when I first heard that I thought it was weird, but it's also super cool because that means that he's never too far away from you so as to not understand what you're going through.

But instead, he gets it.

He knows what you're feeling and the things that hurt you and he hurts along with you and well, in times like the one I find myself in, I am really thankful for that

Anyhow, God has also been speaking to me about loving others and reminding them of their value lately so i'd like to encourage you with this:

Don't wait to recognize and encourage the good you see in others. We have the power to use our words for empowerment and good or for destruction and bad.

Let's choose good and lift up those around us that we love today.

After all, we never know what the day holds.

That may sound really morbid but a friend of mine passed away just recently and this makes two friends of mine to pass away in just the last two years and aside from that really sucking, it's also really got me thinking.

Why is it so easy to talk about the good things after someone's gone?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's wrong to do that, I just wish though that I had also chosen to point out the good in said friends of mine before they were gone rather than be so quick to think about those things now that they're gone.

Because when they're gone, well... they're gone.

And we can only hope they're in a better place but we just don't know, do we?

Anyway, i'm gonna stop before this gets even more morbid but just think about it.

How are you pointing out the good in those you love today? Right now?

Remember, what we do in love will last, all the rest will just fall away.

Grace and peace,

E