salt water

Yesterday was beautiful, but hard.
And emotionally draining.

As you know from my previous post, Oma passed away last week and yesterday was her memorial. The service was beautiful and really highlighted what a woman of faith she was. Her dedication to my Opa, to her role as a woman of God, a wife, a mother, and our Oma. She was always busy caring for her house and garden, how she presented herself, for others, with an unfading joyful spirit.

She is in Heaven now, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord. Whole and complete, made perfect in Him. What a joy and hope for such a time as this! The Lord is so gracious to give us this comfort. Though I will miss her dearly, I can't wait to see her face again someday, and praise our Savior in perfection for all eternity. Praise Him, for He is great and has blessed us beyond what we could ever ask for or deserve!

Yesterday, there were tears. Today, there is hope for the future and joy in the memories of my beloved Oma.

Ik hou van je, Oma.

Last night, my Oma peacefully passed away.

She was the woman who fed my love for singing as I heard her continually humming or singing as she was cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc. She taught me to knit, the Dutch way. She loved her garden and it was always full of roses and other beautiful flowers, we would spend many afternoons out there enjoying the garden and laughing with each other over a cupje thee. She would always spoil us grandkids with snoepjes, oliebollen at Christmas, and other delicious Dutch treats. Above all these, she was a woman of great faith, and for that I will always look up to her.

Last night as we were sitting in the hospital, waiting for some paperwork and such, the whole family was just sitting, enjoying each others company, and reminiscing and laughing at some memories with Oma. And there was a moment where I thought, no one who walks by us right now would ever think we had just lost a loved one. And although all of us are sad and hurting, we all have hope and know without a doubt that she's in the presence of the Lord in heaven and she's praising and glorifying His matchless name. Absent in the flesh, but present with the Lord. And though she's no longer here, we know that we will see her again, when we are in heaven praising the Lord with her.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." - Lamentations 3:22-24

Ik hou van je, Oma.
(August 23, 1925-August 24, 2012)

Kijk 9

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--// So here I sit, in Portfolio coffee house down on 4^th street, looking up new topics for the Pilates X blog and whatnot and there must have been a change of shifts, because I suddenly feel like I’m in a deeply intense game show with the best announcer ever. Imagine this: super deep voice with just the right amount of drama and flair added to the words coming out of his mouth. Except he’s calling out drink combinations instead of scores or things the contestants are doing. Medium blended green tea. Tall nonfat peanut-butter mocha. Medium orange delight. Large Chai. Single red eye. And I am really enjoying listening, but it is also highly distracting!! Haha oh well, anyways, I guess I should fill you in about Pilates X!

--// Randomly one day a couple weeks ago, I walked into Pilates X which is right by my apartment. Since starting my job at California Therapy Solutions (which I will refer to as CTS from here on out), I've become more interested in learning more about pilates, so I wanted to get some info, see how much their classes were, etc. I ended up talking with the owner for about 20 min and we started talking a bit about my schooling and the internship I had last summer. She had just started a blog, but didn't really know where to go with it so when I told her that I did blog posts for the company I interned for, she gave me the opportunity of working with her on their blog!We've got a lot of great ideas and I can't wait to see where it goes! 

--// Work is great! I'm loving CTS and everyone there! I was really surprised at what a light-hearted and comfortable atmosphere there is. Everyone works hard and is ready and willing to help each other out! The therapist I'm paired with is really awesome and he's taught me a lot already! So far, we're working pretty well together, getting the system down and such. Having a super busy schedule right off the bat has kind of forced us to kick it in high gear, but it's going well! and I'm loving working there! 

--// The SF half is a month away! I can't believe it's so close! But I'm really excited to do it and double excited that I get to see Carissa because of it! :) and I think she's gonna dye my hair ;) 

--// The 4th of July is this week! Not sure what I'm doing yet, but I can't wait to celebrate!! 

--// I'm working on putting together a book of all my photos from studying abroad and it is making me miss being over there sooooo much! I'm gonna try and see if I can save up enough to go out there again before I start grad school... Hmmmm.

 ahhhh cardiff. take me back. <3

love, 

emily xx

Kijk 8

--// This girl is crazy blessed. Fact.

--// I was just given another awesome opportunity today! God is so cool! Can't wait to tell you more about it :)

--// Tomorrow is my last official day of training at California Therapy Solutions! Although technically I'm covering for someone else and I'm kind of on my own... but still can't believe I've been working there for 2 weeks now! Yay!

--// Looking forward to this weekend: cleaning/organizing, starting new things, bridal shower, checking out a new church... it's gonna be grand :)

Hope you all are having as wonderful a week as I am!!

love,
emily xx

Bethany: Graduation Shoot

Okay people, time for me to brag about my roommate: she is awesome. And that is an understatement. I have known her for a little more than three years now and we have shared countless memories together. She will be finishing up her degree in dance at CSULB in the fall! She is a crazy talented dancer and uses her dance to praise the Lord! How awesome is that?! I have loved sharing our college career together: refounding ADX, being roommates, and so much more! Well, none of this truly does her justice, hopefully these photos do a better job!

You are a beautiful soul, inside and out, roomie! Love you way more than you will ever know!

love,
emily xx

Kijk 7

ok guys, seriously, it has been too long!!!

--// This girl is a college graduate. BS Kinesiology, Exercise Science. what. up.

--// I am finding the recent lack of a strict schedule is completely throwing me off and I have no idea what the heck to do with myself!! The past few days have been lovely - aside from being sick... I've gotten to spend time with great friends, to be crafty, and to enjoy the lovely warm weather :)

--// I'm so blessed by everything the Lord has showered me in. Blessings of quality time with my ADX sisters and with other lovely friends, the ever present support and encouragement of my family who always seek the best for me and push me to succeed, spending time in His creation - feeling so tiny in the vast, unending ocean is probably one of my favorite things, making books of pretty things that inspire me, playing with photos of my beautiful friends and of my adventures abroad last year, Jane Austen movie marathons with the roomie... the list goes on and on!

--// I've gotten my first sunburn of summer already. joy.

--// Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
In love with this verse right now!

--// I love this girl. End of story. I honestly cannot even tell you.

--// My baby sister is allllll grown up!!! This is right before she left for prom, isn't she gorgeous!! She's graduating from high school next week! How did that happen?!

--// Some of my favorite shots from my 2 most recent photo shoots!!

--// Both of these girls are so dear to my heart and made taking photos sooooo easy! Ahhh what would I do with out them?? (more to come soon!)

--// ok, last photo, I promise! I haven't even gotten to edit this one yet, but I just had to include one from graduation!! The traditional photo in the fountain! Love you girls!

Hopefully, the next blog post won't be too long from now :) I have a lot more to share, I'm sure, I just have to get it all sorted in my head before I just ramble off on here!
love,
emily xx

Photo Series: Venice, Italy

So, I've finally gotten to go through and really edit some of the photos that I took while I was abroad! Yay! This, however, is a really bad time since school is over in 2 weeks and I have a lot of tests I should be studying for... Anyway, these are some of my favorites from my time in Venice - there are definitely more, but these are the first ones I got my hands on :)

I get to spend all day today with my ADX loves and then I get to take my roomie's grad photos tomorrow!!! Feeling super blessed and soaking up the last weeks of my undergrad!

love,
emily xx