Adventure is Out There!

I never did really blog about my summer. After making the trip home, I did try. I felt out of place, I ached for all of those I said good-bye to and I yearned to be at the place that had become my summer home. To deal with that, to express it, to find words to match, I tried to blog. The draft is still sitting in my list of posts, unpublished. Now, I'm sitting back down, typing up this blog post in a coffee shop by my apartment. My ice coffee is long gone. My waitress has long since left, I have a new one that keeps checking up on me. I'm in a good place. Not just physically (though this coffee shop is a delight) but emotionally and mentally. I love moments like this, moments you can just sit, smile, and think,"Life is good." It truly is. For those that I've connected with over coffee or over cookie dough or even those that may have seen my sporadic snap chats, you already know that this past summer for me was truly incredible. I've grown. I'm a diffe...

Sometimes, you come across the goodness of life. You pause, breathe in, and can't help but find yourself smiling. Here, living on a mountain, I'm breathing it all in, I'm living to the fullest. I can honestly say that I love it here and have been the happiest I have been in awhile. I'm running, swimming, looking at the stars, researching, learning, reading, laughing, loving, eating, It's beautiful. I'm surrounded by the most incredibly intelligent people in such an incredibly gorgeous place. I've picked the sweetest wild strawberries for goodness sakes! How can life not be good?! For the people that helped me get here thank you. Because this summer, these experiences, are the good stuff. and yes, I'm sappy. I'm well aware. But honestly, I can't help but be sappy because sappy is how I'm feeling (especially surrounded by these old library books here in the library). If life's feeling humdrum or lacking luster, go for a ru...

Sometimes the thoughts race. They rampage through your mind, refusing to stop, refusing to breathe. Questions question questions. The racetrack is an endless circle, never ending. No light at the end of the tunnel. But then you find yourself sitting there. Looking at an old fire place, framed by bookshelves of books. Old books. Books that smell of the wisdom they contain. You breathe in. breathe out. The deep bass echoing in your earphones absorbs you, encompassing you, enveloping you and pushing out those racing thoughts. You sit there. You breathe in. breath out. It's all good. Life is good.

It's been a week..a week and it feels like I've always been here, but at the same time just got here.  My typical day starts at 6:00 am, just as the sun is waking up. Dressed in all the layers and with binoculars in hand I either assist my grad student injecting females or search for nests.  These birds, dark-eyed juncos, are songbirds that nest on the ground. Yep, on the ground so they are predated a lot . This means that majority of nests fail (so sad) and we are constantly looking for more new nests or re-nests. When I found my first nest, you should have seen my face. It was the week's highlight.  That's in the morning. In the afternoon is nest checks, where we check up on nests and/or take measurements/blood samples from the nestlings/parents. These birds are so goshdarn cute. Today I held day 0 (just hatched) nestlings. Nature is incredible. Hands down. Incredible. These little guys are so dang small, so tiny. You can see their hearts beating.  ...

As I stand there, brushing me teeth, I stop. The most random thought just jumped to the forefront: "Life's really a boxing match. Life's a boxing match and I'm playing it all wrong.... Why am I throwing the punches and taking the hits? God should.  He shouldn't be on the sideline, waiting to sub in.  I take a stab at it, get overwhelmed, and then tap out.  Really, though, I should be letting him take my hits, take my punches." Weird toothbrush thoughts, right? I don't know where that came from, but it was something I had to write down, had to share (despite the already crazy number of life analogies out there).  Maybe writing it down, maybe seeing this weeks, months later will remind me that God's the best boxer there is.  I just need to trust Him. 

I'm sitting here, thinking on what to write. It feels like ages since the last time I was able to sit down and sift through my thoughts. At first, nothing. Life's been a whirlwind, but nothing quite stuck out, beckoning to be written down. But then I realized, spring break starts in two days. Wait...what? Not even two days. That is insane! Where did my semester go? Is that not crazy? It was January yesterday. At least, it feels like it was. Time's so precious. I forget that sometimes, actually no really a lot of the time. Realizing that, though, forces me to step back and take a second, take a second to breathe and realize I have a week. I have a week chalk full of potential. Okay, so I will have to study at the end of it for a test. Sure, I do have to work. But besides that, the TIME that I have to myself, to my own adventures is sitting there, waiting for me. I can't waste this. No, not time like this. So..what will it be? Hiking with Claire. Finish...

A new year. Instead of January 1st feeling like the brand new start, yesterday did.  Okay, yes, technically the new year began January 1st, but my new year began yesterday.  Today is day 2 in the 22nd year of my life. Wow.  Just, wow. 21 years? I've been blessed to live 21 incredible years!! When you ask people on their birthday, "Do you feel any different?" The response is usually,"Uhhhh no?" It feels like any other day. But, this past birthday, it hit me. It whammed into me and left me breathless.  I.am.so.blessed. Also, I realized this birthday, that to me this day is more than a celebration of my birth (weird and formal sounding, right?). It's about appreciating the people that brought me into this world (parents that's you) and about the people that have made me who I am today. When I look back, I don't see me. I see all of the people that have impacted me, all of the people who cared. And to all of those people, I do...