[Eau Claire Christmas]

Today we celebrated Christmas!

 We're a little bit early, we're well aware, but we just got so excited!

Our family around the tree. 

Kat Kat bearing gifts!

The presents under the tree! Holla!

 Beautiful friends... yeah, you too Jaimie!

Photocredit: Katie

 Our third and fourth roommates!

Photocredit: Katie

Just some creative photography!

Photocredit: Katie

Today was family Christmas here in EC. It was super wonderful. Just giving these gifts, giving words, giving love, it is so evident how well we know each other and how much we care about each other. I feel so blessed to have these five women in my life and I hope they all feel the same way. 

There is nothing better than an hour around a tree, christmas lights on, ripping open gifts and sharing time, company, and laughs together. It was the perfect celebration... even if Bitty did pepper spray us in the end. 

[Thoughts]

I am thankful...

For nights of baking, guacamole, games, laughter, and 

the greatest community I've ever been a part of.

For rooms that finally make me feel like it's Christmas.

 [Insert applause for Lara here]

For snowy walks early in the morning.

For snow clunkers that keep my feet warm and dry.

For walks home from Racy's that look like this. 

Also, for renewed relationships and trust after hard conversations over cups of coffee. 

For mentors that can be friends and reminders that all friendships are beautiful. 

For christians that challenge and encourage me.

For holiday dinners, fake engagement photos, and hilarious friends. 

For my bible study and the love that God gave me for these women. 

[Letters]

Dear Dad- Thanks for giving me Andrea Bocelli. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without this guy. Dear Blessings- This week, you came in the form of a scholarship and a job for next semester. Just another reminder of how God provides. Dear Chipotle- I am so happy you came to Eau Claire! Pumped to go much on your goodness with my friends this weekend! Dear Phone- It was kind of exciting yesterday when you lit up like a rainbow, something new after the white screen of death. However, working would also be good. #newphonecomesoon.

P.S. Sometimes I really love late night caf runs, stupid photobooth pictures, and reenactments of this video. Eau Claire is my home. 

[Letters]

Dear Dad- You are the sauce to my spaghetti, the milk to my cereal, the sweater to my cold winter's day. Dear Avengers Poster- I'm 90% sure you're the coolest thing I've made with markers. A lift the flap, interactive, color-coded, themed, check-off list. AWE to the SOME! Dear Roommate- Thanks for tucking my blanket around my feet when I whimpered to you this morning that they were cold. I don't know what I'd do without you. Dear Day of No Classes- Thanks to you I got to spend 6 hours working on my project looking at this illustrator. 

"The freedom of being able to create without judgment... It never really connected until I watched a child paint – when they're just totally free. And in that you see their inhibitions are gone. It goes directly to the visceral nature of creating. It went directly to the soul of why we create." - Bryan Collier

[Letters]

Dear Dad- Reading this book makes me so jealous that you are experiencing heaven right now. I can't wait to be up there singing with you someday. Dear Presents- I had the most fun making you this weekend and I'm excited to give you away. Good thing you fit "under" my tree. Dear Love of Reading- I think I am slowly, but surely, meeting you once again. This would be the first time since middle school. Dear Avengers Movies- I am crazy pumped to watch (hopefully) all of you my Sophomore year. I even made a poster to check of the movies as I go. 

P.S. I think I have rediscovered my passion for blogging. My mind has started to think in blog-speak throughout my day again. I am happy about this. 

[Over the Weekend]

I am thankful...

For photo shoots that end up like this...

and this...

but still end up capturing this...

and this. 

For successful shopping trips and being dubbed an "A+ bridesmaid"

for Sue's homemade bread smothered with raspberry jam

for renewed inspiration.

Highlights: crafting for hours every night, seeing Marylin again, laughing with Jamie, eating caramel Ghirardelli chocolates, making this delicious treat, telephone Pictionary with the fam, late night talks with Rachel, lifting weights with Emily, acting like a child with 4-year-old Johanna, Buss family charades with Mar, summer staff reunion, learning the beauty of the word “yada" and coming home to watch Captain America. 

[Thoughts]

If I had a facebook my status would say something like: "Best night in a long time!" 

I had a freaking excellent day. I think its because I ignored homework and duties and sleep and allowed myself to be super social and just relax and have fun. I watched "Avatar: The Last Airbender" season 1. Had dinner twice, once with Michelle and once with alla my girls. Hung out with JJ, Eli, Kittens, and Beard. Talked until it was way too late. Greeted my friends who went to the Twilight movie. Got free popcorn. Danced to country music with just christmas lights on because I have no roommate tonight. 

It's nights like this that make me feel alive. 

[Thoughts]

It is snowing here in Eau Claire today and honestly nothing could make me happier. I love the promise and hope snow holds. It is new and it is fresh. It covers everything. 

I sat in the stairwell today just staring at the snow, admiring the white flakes and the way they fell. The wind kept blowing the snow up, it was literally "falling up" rather than down. But I realized, as I watched it, that it was okay that the snow wasn't reaching the ground, that it wasn't falling as it seemed it should be. It is enough that it is snow. 

"Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me." 

[Letters]

Tonight is a Gavin DeGraw kind of night... some of my friends might tell me that no night is a Gavin DeGraw night. He makes me smile, what can I say. 

Dear Dad- I really wish I could talk to you about these confusing plans for my future. I think I know what you'd say though... especially because you were always disappointed that none of us pursued foreign language in our education. Dear Varsity Night Live- Nothing like some amazing a capella groups, a good drum line, and a hilarious comedian/H&M mannequin to make my stress ebb away. Thank. Goodness. Dear Sickness- You were inevitable, considering I spent over 10 hours this week dealing with snotty (just in looks, not in personality) Kindergarteners, 1-year olds, and pre-k kids, but PLEASE go away. You are making my throat feel like death, which is less than desirable. 

P.S. The Graveyard Book is one of the greatest books I've read in a long time. Please ignore the "ages 10 and up" written on the back, this book is for adults. College students especially. Read. It.  

"If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained." - The Graveyard Book

[Remembrance]

A year and a half, today. I miss you every day, daddy. 

So glad I can still talk to you though my prayers. 

"Through My Prayers" [The Avett Brothers]

And yes I know you loved me, I can see it in your eyes
And it was in your struggle and it was in your mind
And it was in the smile you gave me when I was a kid

Feels like no one understands
And my only chance
To talk to you is through my prayers.
I only wanted to tell you I cared

[Over the Weekend]

Today my sister, my mother, and I completed a half marathon. (Notice I said completed, not ran.) My mom finished the whole darn thing, and pushed it to the limit whenever we ran. SO proud of her for accomplishing our goal of sub 3:00:00. Can't wait to do it all again next year. 

Now I'm at Starbucks, studying for the weeks exams. And drinking coffee and ice water. Fighting off a headache that is either due to dehydration, caffeine withdrawal, exhaustion, or massive amounts of homework. 

I'm so joyful that I get to spend next weekend at home in Eau Claire. First time in a month. So pumped for sleeping in, studying at the library, homecoming celebrations, donuts at the caf, and a day away with my govs IV community. 

Feeling mighty blessed and mighty tired on this Sunday, fall, afternoon. 

[Letters]

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

 [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

The brick KT and I decorated for our room!

Ahh friends...

 Beauty. 

Photocredit: Meghan

LOOK WHO CAME TO VISIT! [Finally]

Olive Garden September 2011

Olive Garden September 2012, not much has changed...

(We wore the same dresses on purpose, don't worry.)

Dear Dad- Remember when I would get super excited about getting good grades and I would go on and on about it when really, you just cared that I tried? This week would be one of those weeks. (Do you think Mom will buy me chinese food?)  Dear Olive Garden Reunion- You were the perfect social outing to end the week. Breadsticks, hilarious conversations, homemade cards, too many sweets, and a quick prank to round out the outing. So. Much. Fun. Dear Seester- Thanks for letting me photograph your ceremonies tomorrow. So stoked to practice my photography skills and use a lens that makes me feel like I might tip over. 

Humanity High: Dear Paul P- I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation in the car ride today . You seem like a good chap. Thanks for giving me renewed hope in mankind. And when I say mankind I mostly just mean college-aged males.

[Letters]

Dear Dad- Holy Moses I miss you. Thought about you a lot today. I like that I still sat on your lap when I was 17 years old, that's a pretty great father-daughter relationship if you ask me. Dear Meeghan- Thanks for being a patient princess when I tell you all of the wrong answers in Physics. Hopefully we'll get it all figure out in the end, and maybe even pass our test! Maybe... (Also, thanks for giving me the idea for the funny side notes in my homework responses, hopefully Jim thinks it's as funny as we do!) Dear Diet Coke- I think my addiction is coming back. I've drank three of you in the past two weeks, thats more than I drank in the past year. Yikes. 

Humanity High: All of the women in my small group are really opening up; they are revealing the inner parts of themselves to each other in order to promote healing and build community. It is so encouraging and forces me to be more open as well. So good. So, so good. 

[Monroe: Cheese Days 2012]

Over the weekend I drove down to Monroe to surprise Garrett at Cheese Days. 

New Glarus brewing company 

Boys by a pond... I'm fascinated by country living

Classic swiss alphorn

Cheese days on the square

A little one in her swiss dress

 Annette and Garrett at the parade. Love my second family!

She has two older sisters...can you tell?

Sometimes the nature trails I walk on look like this... I ignore it. Adventure. 

More photos from my stops on the way home to come... I'll spread them out through the week as to not overwhelm today's post with photos. 

Highlights include: Driving through hilly southwestern Wisconsin when the leaves were changing, the confused look on Garrett's face, the dancing Norman Bates, trying the famous batter-fried cheese curds, learning about true hillbilly Wisconsin, hearing tales from the Hetrick, Scott, and Augsburg families, laughing, drinking early a.m. coffee, quiet time in Romans, trying my first frozen banana, surprising my Grandma, eating Hetrick's homegrown pears and grapes, and stopping along nature trails to take photos on the drive home.  

[Letters]

Dear Dad- A rainy day like today requires your good home cooking and an evening spent inside watching one of our favs. I miss my bud. Dear Hanners- Holy potatoes. Thanks to you, I have officially received my first Save The Date. You and Joel are kind of the cutest thing I've ever seen. So happy you get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend. Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day. Dear Schedule- Traveling 5 out of the first 7 weekends at school means hectic, stressful, and overwhelming weeks. When is a girl supposed to do her homework if she doesn't have a weekend? (If you find out, let me know.) 

Humanity High: My Children's Literature professor getting all worked up about poetry analysis. "Damn that! Damn! Why do we need to analyze everything? Who cares about memorization? Why can't we just enjoy poetry and let our kids enjoy it!? These are the important things in life - having fun! Damn!" Love that guy and all of his lessons.