Chats and the Centennial State

Promise me you'll always remember:  You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.  -A.A. Milne

This Saturday I got to spend part of the afternoon with my beautiful friend Katie just chatting about life and catching up.  I first heard about Katie when she was a freshman.  I remember seeing her around RC's campus and she was always smiling and talking with people (she was hard to miss with all her red hair).  It wasn't until my junior year, her sophomore, that I really got the chance to be blessed by her.  It was my first year as an RA and she was my resident, her room opening into the same quad as mine.

Yesterday's chat was much needed.  There were things I was able to verbalize with her that I have a hard time putting into plain English with many of my other friends, and there are a lot of things where our thinking is very similar.  Katie and I have one of those easy friendships, and we can go months or longer without seeing each other but each time we get together it's like no time has passed at all.

One of the things that really stuck out about our conversation was a desire that's been on my mind for a few weeks now.  A fellow youth group leader had mentioned to me, after I told her some of my dissatisfaction with my small corner of the world, that she thought I would fit in well in Colorado.  While the idea of moving terrifies me, I haven't been able to let that comment go.  In our conversation yesterday, Katie mentioned she'd been thinking that moving might be an adventure she needed.  Neither one of us has ever been out west but I'll give you one guess where she's been looking...

Isn't this beautiful?

Katie's leaving mid-week to return home to PA to help build a house for her grandparents.  We've promised to be in touch about the potential of moving and have some Skype chats together.  It's always so cool to me how God will plant an idea or desire in your head and then bring people around you to make it happen.  Who knows if anything will actually come of it, but it's nice to think about.

'Tis the season

Wedding season, that is.

This past weekend I was privileged to watch my college friend Jenna get married.  Kat, who was a bridesmaid in the wedding, and I drove up to the DC area Friday afternoon for the Saturday event. 

Jenna made a beautiful bride, and I was thrilled to be able to share her special day with her.  Unfortunately, all the pictures I took were on her sister's camera, so I'm waiting for her to send me some of the better ones.  (These are stolen goods from Facebook).  Because Kat and I only took one car, I was her shadow for a lot of the pre-wedding doings, which I didn't mind one bit.  Having been a bridesmaid before, I was more than happy to fetch things and take pictures to document the day - if only I didn't have to be in heels for most of it...

The trip was short as both Kat and I had to be at work on Sunday.  The ceremony was in the morning, which was convenient, so we were on the road about 3pm.  We had crammed a lot into a short period of time:  wedding rehearsal, ceremony and reception, a quick visit with my friend Christian, and shopping (we'd stopped at the Leesburg Outlets on Friday and Saturday went to Kohl's and the Harrisonburg mall), so needless to say we were pretty exhausted upon our arrival back home.

I'm so happy I was able to share this special day with Jenna and Dan, and while I don't know Dan very well, I know that if he was lucky enough to be picked by her he must be pretty special.  Congratulations to both of you!