Kijk 4

-// This is my Oma when she was younger, isn't she beautiful??

-// She has Alzheimer's now, and doesn't remember me, but she taught me a lot. She's the reason why I sing all. the. time. She was always humming/singing whether she was gardening, or cooking, or knitting. She taught me how to knit - the Dutch way, with all the Dutch words... She taught me hospitality and the joy of spending time with close friends.

-// I spent a good part of my day Friday at their house. Oma was napping most of the time, so I got to talk with Opa. A bit about the brain and what Alzheimer's does, and a bit of politics - which is bound to come up in any conversation with him.

-// That's Opa. He hasn't change too much, just looks like an older version of what you see here.

-// His unending dedication - and stubbornness - to care for his wife speaks volumes of his love for her. Even in pain that comes with this disease, there is evidence of his love for her and his hope in the Lord that is so beautiful.

-// For food and friends and loving care, Father in heaven we thank Thee. Let us not grow weary, but find our strength in Thee, and enjoy the life you have given us. Amen.

-// This self-portrait kind of happened accidentally, but I'm glad it did because I didn't really have time to take one later! I was just cleaning out the bucket with the window washing soap in it and noticed the mirror above the sink and boom. self-portrait. :) messy hair and all.

-// I potted some geraniums, baked banana bread, trimmed back the roses, clipped some flowers to put in a vase, and cleaned the windows. It was a lovely day outside. Warm with a nice breeze.

-// It was such a blessing to start off my spring break by blessing them in what little way I could.

-//Bethany and I head out tomorrow for Modesto to spend the night at my cousin's and then on to San Francisco and San Luis Obispo!! Can't wait to share photos and tidbits from the week!!!

love,
emily xx

Thursday & Photo Series

There is literally so much going on in my head, and heart, that I don't even know where to begin.  I also am sitting in the dark, in my bed, as my roommate and I were going to bed... and then remembered that I wanted to write a post tonight. And then asking if my typing would keep her up and realizing that she can sleep through anything, and then not feeling so bad for doing this so late at night :) but I digress.... Ya know when you're trying to fall asleep, and you have a million things on your mind and you just go through them in your head in repeating circles of thought? yeah, that was me last night. Those are sometimes the most frustrating nights to get through... it was rough. Anyway, it made for a very long Thursday.

I volunteer Thursday mornings at the VA hospital next to my school in the inpatient physical therapy department, and I usually have another volunteer with me... but not today. She was out of town, so that made for a very busy morning of me running around, doing exercises with patients to help the therapists out [who were also short-handed!], wiping stuff down, changing towels, making copies, you name it! It was a good morning though, I was really busy, but I was also able to learn a lot and connect a lot of concepts to things I have learned in class.

After volunteering, I met up with my friend Jen at an ADORABLE coffee shop closer to downtown Long Beach called Berlin. It is soooo cute! It's styled really well and is connected to both a book store and a record store! [are you kidding me!?] I didn't end up getting any photos this time around - Jen and I were too busy catching up to pause - but I will definitely go back and get some good photos soon! I also got to catch up with Mel later in the day, which was wonderful, as always! It's nice to talk to someone who is going through similar trials/tough decisions as you and you can encourage each other in them. Lovely.

Finally, tonight was a meeting for Women of the Word, which is a series that Navs is doing this month for the ladies. I honestly love this time. Its so great to have an open and honest space to learn, grow, and share as women in Christ. Tonight was about relating with others and sharing Christ's love with others and what that looks like. Using Romans 12 as a kind of template, we talked about genuine love being carried out in our thoughts, words, and actions. One of the girls brought up Psalm 15:1-2 which says, "O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart..." I was just so challenged by this in asking who will be in communion with the Lord? and who will be able to dwell with Him? Those who walk blamelessly - which has been a common theme for me these past few months (1 Peter 2:4-5, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 19, Psalm 101:2-4, 2 Timothy 2:15). And just seeking out what that means and how I can practically live that out on a day to day basis, especially in how I relate to others and honoring God through that. SO GOOD.

Okay. Seriously, this is the last thing I'm talking about. I have been going through my photos from studying abroad, as I want to put together an album or 2. Anyways, I love some of the photos soooo much that I want to share them! But, I love a lot of them, so I thought that when I do share them, that I would share them in a series of about 5-6 photos from the same country or common theme :) Anyways, hopefully I'll have a series to share soon, but here are just a few that I'm loving right now: 

love, 

emily xx

Kijk 3

Okay, so since I have been so reminded this week of all of my travels this time last year, I just had to do a post with pictures from then :)

-// this is one of my absolute favorite pictures that i took during my time abroad. Tenby, Wales.

-// by some crazy-odd chance, i ran into 2 of my flatmates that day! Cerys is from Tenby, so she and Aimee were out in the town and somehow we ran into each other. what are the chance of that!?!?

-// this town was just lovely :) and i loved exploring it with my family.

-// this was taken at Barry Island, close to the end of my time in Wales.

-// my hair did GREAT things while i was abroad. it might be part of the reason why i want to live there...

-// ahhhh. i miss it.

love,
emily

rain, food trucks, and cocoa

Well, I have to say that I've set myself up for a lovely day of blogging, photo editing, and crafting. It's a gorgeous rainy day, sitting in my living room under a blanket, with a mug of Irish breakfast tea (after all, it is St Patrick's day...), with the window cracked so I can hear, smell, and enjoy the rain even more. I love the rain, can you tell?

Anyways, on to the real topics :)
Last week, there were about 6 food trucks in a parking lot on our campus (CSULB)! So, naturally, my roommate and I wanted to check it out. Now, I know that food trucks are becoming really popular lately, but I haven't really seen many or had the opportunity to check them out. So, we ended up ordering from the Lime Truck, which is one that I had seen on TV before, and let me tell you, it was delicious. We ordered their carnitas fries and slammin' lamb sammie. Delicious. Next time you drive by a food truck, its probably worth a stop and a taste of their food :)

1. The Lime Truck

2. Their menu

3. Carnitas Fries 

4. Slammin Lamb Sammie, Bethany and me :)

P.S. after taking these pictures, I think I would be a really 

good food photographer, they look so appetizing right?!

Bethany and I love Trader Joe's. We can walk there from our apartment and they just have amazing food, what's not to love? So we were out of Nutella and bought their cocoa almond spread. oh. my. goodness. 

I love almonds, which is probably a family thing, seeing as my Opa has a almond orchard and we always have giant bags of almonds in our house because of it... So, when I saw this spread I was soooo excited to try it! It is delightful. It is not as sweet as Nutella is, but I kind of like that and its just rich and nutty and delicious! Mmmm. And this mug just reminds me of the Netherlands and all of my travels that were about to happen this time last year... Lately so many things are reminding me of being abroad and making me miss it so much!! This mug, beans and toast, people I know going on trips abroad, tea with milk, rain, and the list goes on!! All of this has spurred me on to go over my photos again and spend a little more time with them and editing as I have wanted to but didn't really have time to. Maybe I'll share a few next post :) 

As I have written it has gone from a light rain to a torrential downpour. I love it :) God is so magnificent!! 

love, 

emily

Kijk 2

-// This is Meagan, my ADX lil sis :)

-// Let me just tell you what a wonderful blessing she is. She has such a beautiful heart for the Lord and for ADX. In my almost 2 years of knowing her/being her big, I have seen her grow so much into the gorgeous lady that she is and I am so glad that I get to watch her grow even more!

-// She is WAY better at being our treasurer than I could ever be... I'm not good with money at all....

-// Last weekend, we had our retreat at her house in Carlsbad, CA, and had such a great time of bonding and togetherness. She was such a lovely host :)

-// Needless to say, I love her. A LOT. And don't know what I would do without her!

-// Where do I even begin? This week has been a challenge. And, oddly enough, it went by really quickly.... which is strange because it seems like until now, weeks have been going really slow.

-// I have 2 exams on Monday. Biology and Applied Biomechanics. I will probably be getting very little sleep. But, I figure this is the best weekend to not sleep because we "spring forward" tonight, so technically, I would be losing an hour of sleep anyway, and this way, I'm just keeping myself from sleeping 1 hour less than I would be had it been a regular weekend... right?

-// I trimmed my bangs (or fringe as they say across the pond... although I think of all that dangly stuff hanging off shirts and boots and such when I think of fringe...). They were soooo long and soooo annoying. I've always had my bangs about the length in the picture above, so if they get really long, I don't really know what to do with them. And then they get annoying. More exciting than this, is that I will be getting an actual haircut in about 2 weeks when I visit my cousin. Long overdue, let me tell you.

-// God has been seriously convicting me of a lot this week. Unresolved sins keeping me from being open and inhibiting my fellowship with others. Trust. The way I act when I'm really stressed out... which is not so nice. My role as a leader. Patience. Am I really loving others as I should? Oh goodness, its a lot. But I think it's really important. I'm just not sure I would have asked for all of these lessons (and probably more!) all at once....

-// Spring break is 2 weeks away, and I can't wait!!

-// Girl scout cookies are sent straight from heaven. I'm pretty sure that anyone who disagrees, really just doesn't understand and has never had the caramel, chocolate, coconutty goodness that Samoas offer.

love,
emily xx

ADX, ADX, ADX!

Okay. I have been crazy busy/stressed/freaking out lately, and since it takes a long time for me to go through my pictures and make them look the way I want, I thought I would just give you a few of my faves from the past few major events: all of which just so happen to do with my awesome sorority, ADX: Georgia - ADX convention, Big Sis Reveal, and our Retreat in Carlsbad!

1. Atlanta Skyline

2. A group of us in front of the Margaret Mitchell house 

(the woman who wrote Gone With The Wind)

3. Keys of a typewriter we got to play with

4. Inadvertently captured Abbey Road picture lol 

5. The Biltmore

6. The awesome ADX house :) 

First off, let me say that this whirlwind weekend was AMAZING in so many ways. It was the first convention I was able to go to, and it was just such a wonderful time of fellowship with my sisters from all over the country! It was definitely overwhelming, but so rewarding.

  

 

1. Actives and Alum! 

2. In the process of revealing!! 

(please ingnore my little's obnoxious funny face ;)

Big Sis Reveal is a really fun tradition that we have. The new pledges get to meet and talk to all the actives and based on lists we get and lots and lots of prayer, we pair up each pledge with an active member who will be their big sis. It's a really amazing process and I'm always astonished at the pairs God puts in place, but it always make sense in the end. Congrats to all the new big/lil pairs! You all are soooo adorable :) 

1. ADX 

2. Our friend Alexis who caught sand crabs with us :) 

3. my little and I <3

4. Some anemones on the side of the rocks at the tide pools 

5. I love this picture - everyone kinda doin their own thing: talking on the beach, taking pics, checking out the tide pools...

6. me, adventuring in the water 

7. All 19 of us! 

8. The very reason why I love all of these girls... well, at least one of the reasons :)

Okay. Retreat was wicked awesome. It was such a great time of fellowship and bonding as we hung out and read the Word together. The weather was GORGEOUS! We had a ton of fun hanging out at the beach Saturday and checking out the tide pools. Amazing. I honestly cannot tell you how blessed I am by each and every one of these girls. They are all truly unique and I would not be me without them. 

YAY for updates!! Hopefully tomorrow I will have my self portrait posted and a little bit more about the current happenings of my life :) 

love, 

emily xx