hello, snow.

it is official.

i live in a winter wonderland, and im obsessed with it.

{yes it finally snowed. and i was awake for it too! actually i was originally sleeping but my wonderful roommate yelled 'kate its snowing!' which immediately woke me up. i leapt out of bed to see the beautiful scene of snowflakes slowly falling outside my window}

it was just the most beautiful thing ever.

{view outside my window}

{by the lake}

{beautiful college hall}

and to commemorate the first snow, my roomie, neighbor and i decorated our ceiling with some lovely paper snowflakes

{me, callie, april}

{we made a MESS....so what else to do with that paper mess but make it snow?}

in other news:

thanksgiving break was lovely.

i am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends.

it was as if no time had passed at all.

and lastly

it is finally, finally officially christmas season!!! i can finally listen to christmas music freely.

it is truly my most favorite time of year.

and i want to savor every second.

hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

to be continued.

rabbit.

hello all.

hope your weeks have been lovely.

mine certainly has been. {despite my unsuccessful relationship with biology}

we had our first snow fall today in spokane, however it was early this morning and i was unfortunately sleeping :(. i did, however step in a small pile of melting snow on my way to pick up some education forms. i was pretty excited. tonight is supposed to snow even more. so prepare yourselves for some pictas. this time hopefully a.) i'll be awake for some winter wonderland action and b). it will stick so ill have some pictures to share.

a few weeks ago i mentioned my little 'to be continued' sequence i put at the bottom of each and every post, with a promise to explain it later and my dear cecilia has so nicely reminded me that i have yet to do so.

so with that, here it is:

a couple months ago, before having decided on a college, but in the midst of that lengthy decision i was doing some research. just looking on the college websites and such, exploring the pictures and videos each university would post. well i came to gonzaga's website and i was looking through their videos and came to one called '{true zags}'. about 3 minutes into the video the narrator starts talking about one of the jesuits here at gu, father tony lehhman. she spoke of his deep passion for relationships; how he believed that relationships were at the heart of everything we do in life. another narrator goes on to speak about how father lehhman would end each conversation with the phrase "to be continued" insinuating that although that conversation had ended, the relationship that was cultivated in those few moments was to be continued in some way or another, at some point in the future. that 'goodbye' was simply not the end.

this struck such a cord in me for some reason. i am not exactly sure why, but i do agree that the relationships we accumulate throughout our lives should always be continued. circumstances often come along which make this somewhat difficult at times but essentially no conversation or interaction should be left as is. instead they should always be evolving, changing and growing.

this realization then led me to believe that all things in life should never be at a stand still, but instead should always continue on in the hopes of discovering the full potential possible.

how cool is it to think that everything in life is essentially continuing? i think i just loved that father lehhman put that thought into verbal affirmation on a daily basis. maybe reminding himself of that very fact.

when i started this blog i immediately thought of putting that at the end of each post as a reminder to myself and others to live life as a continuing sequence of events.

to always look forward and never back.

i urge you to mentally be aware that the conversations and interactions you have on a daily basis should never be at a stand still, but instead be in search of the opportunities they allow you in your future endeavors.

be in search. be in discovery.

and

may the interactions, conversations and relationships in your life

always end with the phrase:

to be continued.

dixie cup.

when you have a dog who makes a face like this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

and has a face as cute as this...

...its hard not to love life.

and when you have a family as great as this?:

...its even harder.

cant wait to see these lovely people {and dog} in less than 10 days!!

also cant wait for the yummy thanksgiving turkey i will consuming in about a week as well.

thanksgiving? definitely one of my favorite holidays.

just family and good food.

also? it means its time for christmas! my most favorite holiday of the year, and i can not wait!

hope this finds you in happiness, health and love x0x0

to be continued.

beach.

so the beach.

its calling me.

{san louis obisbo}

BUT. i am excited for the snow this week. :))

hopefully it'll happen since last week fell through, despite weather.com's prediction.

little disappointed in you weather.com. maybe you'll pull through this week.

ps. this is my friend katie. she check's the weather obsessively too. on average we check 3 different websites a day. tehe {like me, she can tell you the 10 day forecast including highs and lows} what can i say? we like to know what to expect from the sky.

little added bonus? she shares my obsession for straws.

oh. and we sorta have the same name.

{on our shopping trip to norstroms downtown}

{we also pick wheat we find along the trail and display it in our rooms. nbd.}

i hope you are enjoying the weather in your town this week!

and

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

to be continued.

treadmills.

when is enough, enough?

this thought came to me tonight while i was eating my chef boyardee mini ravioli's {gross i know right? welcome to college.},

after getting ready for the evening, listening to the chitter chatter of girls out in the hall, rewinding after a rather hectic day, thinking about my life.

there's that saying, or i don't know if its a saying, but for the sake of this post lets call it a saying, that God will never give you more than you can handle. That if you bite off more than you can chew, well...it'll work out in the end.

but what is more than we can handle? how can we tell if it really is more than we can handle or if the stress, the drowning feel we are feeling is a result of poor time management or laziness?

do we often use these sayings as a scapegoat for our faults? or do we actually sometimes, occasionally all the time, actually have 'too much'?

of course i know with me sometimes it is a result of laziness, or i don't know about laziness but just a feeling of wanting to do something else that is more fun than the task i actually should do.

so. i put it off. procrastination. i'll be the first to admit i have become the queen of that.

however a lot of the time i do what i should do, yet it still feels like im stuck.

like im on a treadmill. im running and running but essentially getting no where.

and that can be a lot to take sometimes.

that is when enough feels like enough.

yet even in those situations we have to keep going, because if we stop running on that treadmill, we'll slip off. which is no good. {i recently saw a youtube video of a guy slipping off a treadmill. although provided me and my friend kellie with a good laugh, it did not look fun for the poor guy haha}

so where does this leave us?

what options do we have?

i am still trying to figure it out. which i honestly think will take some time.

I guess knowing your limits is a starter. realizing you just cant do all you want to sometimes. or you cant do all, that other people can do.

we have different limits and figuring them out for ourselves is a step in the right direction.

i know for me i've started to do that, and i think although i have been feeling a lot like the guy on the treadmill lately, i have started to realize my limits and i have started to think about what i can actually do, and what i do well.

putting my energy into the things i do well and enjoy will make for a lot happier, less stressed and really a more successful me.

start thinking about your limits. what do you do well? what do you enjoy?

start prioritizing and start living your life.

its your life. and the possibilities are endless.

thats a pretty cool thought huh?

do what you love. and love what you do.

{a lovely fall day in spokandyland}

spokandyland you ask? i nicer nick name for my current city than the often uttered 'spokompton. :)

ps. {cutest song ever}. you feel happy just listening to it :)

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

to be continued.

let it snow.

i sit here in the wee hours of the morning up in spokane washington {my place of residence these days in case you missed the memo}, listening to the sirens blare through the cold, wet, previously silent logan neighborhood, tired after a full day of classes and work, a bit anxious about all the stuff i have to get done tomorrow, and yet all i can think about is this:

yes my friends, that is snow in my near future. actual live {ok not live} snow. not in the mountains but in the place i live in. snow! can you believe it?

ok so it is still a week away, and yes it said snow for a week ago too and it didn't end up happening and yes weather.com changes its mind seemingly every second but i have a good feeling about this one...seeing as its 3 days in a row. credibility right there folks. {i am from california, and have never lived in snow, but love snow so am pretty excited about this. can you tell?}

my northface fleece and rain jacket are on their way along with my hunter boots. and i am starting to exchange out the dresses in my closet to make room for my coats.

yes. i am ready for winter.

bring it on spokane.

{some girls in my hall have already broken out their charlie brown christmas tree. and others are blasting the christmas music. i know its still super early but is it bad that i secretly adore it?}

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love. xoxo

to be continued.

let it snow.

a new version of you. i need a new version of mee.

happy 22nd birthday to my beautiful sister!

i miss and love you so much.

hope this day was as special as you are.

xoxox.

{im pretty sure ben covington wishes you a happy birthday too tehe}

ps. halloween pics to come. when school isn't eating me alive. ick.

to be continued.

dear god,

{so cute right?}

there were some struggles in getting all the messages in... some are kinda unreadable so:

favorite:

dear god,

i went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. is that ok?

niel

also:

dear god,

please send dennis clark to a different camp this year.

peter

and chris is onto something. those 'guys' in bible lived till they were 900...why cant we?

i love the shoes one too. {of course}

actually i love them all.

i hope this finds you in happiness health and love.

ps: in other news:

the weather here is spectacular. i LOVE the colors. its like the trees are on fire. everywhere. hopefully ill post pictures soon.

and whats even better??

THE SNOW IS COMING!! :)

this makes me happy.

oh and happy halloween weekend!! BOO.

to be continued.

oh hey its the month of october

{HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULES} oct.17

{HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICH} oct.17

{HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGEINTON} oct. 27

I LOVE YOU THREE INSANE AMOUNTS

we have a good time eh?

hope your 19th birthday month is splendid.

many xoxo's

to be continued.

pitter patter.

i woke up to rain today.

this made me happy because:

a). i got to wear my rain boots

b). i got to use my new umbrella {given to me by my dearest michi}

c). i got to go on a morning walk to safeway in the rain, with my boots and umbrella

d). well...it just does.

{oh and also it rained all day. it wasn't just a teaser of like an hour. nope. it kept coming and i was loving every minute of it.}

{please admire my ADORABLE umbrella}

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

{an appropriate tune for such a day} click.

to be continued.

to the sea.

{jack johnson at the gorge}

some v.w. action

the gang

the place where it all went down

to the sea

{the man of the hour}

so i pretty much love jack johnson. he was cool and all before i saw him live, but after seeing him in concert? holy moly. in. love i tell you. you have not experienced his music until its right there being played in front of you. this man really knows how to put on a good show.

jack johnson + the gorge {which is really spectacular if you've never been}=perfection.

i hope your weekend was filled with happiness, health and love xoxo

{and maybe some good music too :) }

to be continued.

birthday time.

a little shout out to my september birthdays:

MEREDI. {sept. 4th}: HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

CECILIA. {today}: HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

love you guys so much. hope your birthday month has been spectacular.

xoxo

to be continued.

weeping willows.

so i went for a little walk today. this is what i saw:

{lake and art museum}

{favorite spot}

{beautiful weather}

{weeping willows!! seriously so cool}

{of course i found some daisies in the grass. made me so happy}

{also for you cece :)}

i am currently in the library attempting to get some work done. went earlier this evening to get some annual tuesday fro yo at didiers with my favs, ellery, her brother a.j, cortney and kristie. {delish ....although doesnt beat 21 choices. when cort and elle visit this summer i am taking them there. they will fo sho appreciate its greatness}.

now i am off to the dorms once more to get my english book which i forgot to bring to the library...whoopss

and then maybe its off to bed early tonight?? we'll see.

i hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

to be continued.

{ah and remind me to one day blog about the story behind 'to be continued'}

some love.

here is some love.

because i think everyone can use a little more.

p.s i LOVE {this}. its my theme song for the year.

to be continued.

{as love should be}.

new life.

i am currently in spokane washington, sitting in my dorm room, listening to some coldplay, hearing my roommate, callie, flip through the pages of her assigned reading {probably something i should be doing to0, but oh well. im blogging :) }, and i am exhausted, but happy. why? because im in college!! finally! i have not had a spare moment these past 2 weeks to do anything but to pack {which was hard}, say bye to people {which was even harder} and to move into my life here at gonzaga. for the first week of 'college' i was on a pre orientation trip in montana, which consisted of biking, hiking and rafting activities. seriously so much fun, and i met the best people. when we got back we went straight into orientation, which was also so much fun, but also exhausting. we had to be at something everyday with nothing but an hour or so between each activity. annndd today was my first day of classes...im a true college girl now. also exhausting. but also just a blast, love my profs, and went the whole day without getting lost or going to the wrong class {although i did walk into a class early and the previous class was still going on...a bit awk but the professor was really nice about it tehe}. the people here at gu are some of the greatest people i have ever known...i mean ya i've only know some of them for 4 days or less but for some it seems as if ive known them for so much longer.

it is such a relief to be here and to begin to immerse myself in my life in spokane. i already love the city as well. forget whatever negative comments you've heard about spokane, b/c its seriously the best. sure its a bit sketch at points and we sometimes, fondly though of course, refer to it as spo-compton, and you gotta watch out for the "spokey's" but other than that, its pretty great and im looking forward to exploring it more these next 4 years. :)

overall my gu experience has been amazing so far, and i cant speak highly enough about it. plus you cant beat the beautiful campus, free farmers market {more on that...read on} and the school spirit is amazing... i can't wait for basketball season to begin!!..im ready to get my cheer on :)

hope this finds you in happiness, health and love xoxo

{my bed}

{my friend cortney and i with our fruit finds, from last saturdays free farmers market on campus. now how many people can say their college did that??}

{downtown spokane}

more pictures to come..these arent that great, but just wanted to give a little taste of my new life :)

to be continued.

l. o. v. e.

photo creds: google

i got the following in an email a while back and just rediscovered it and thought i'd share. hope you enjoy this little bit of cuteness as much as i did!

------------------------------------------------------------------

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds ,

'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined

See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis , she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time , even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love..'

Rebecca- age 8


'When someone loves you , the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth...'

Billy - age 4


Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5


'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6


'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4


'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him , to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7


'Love is when you kiss all the time.. Then when you get tired of kissing , you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8


'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)


'If you want to learn to love better , you should start with a friend who you hate , '

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)


'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt , then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7


'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6


'During my piano recital , I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8


'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6


'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5


'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7


'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4


'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4


'When you love somebody , your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7


'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6


'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it , you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8
And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry , the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard , climbed onto his lap , and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor , the little boy said ,

'Nothing , I just helped him cry'

----------------------------------------------------------------

sometimes, i feel like little kids know what love is better than grownups do. we know too, but forget at times.

these are good reminders of what love is and how best to love.

i hope you love extra this week xoxo

ps. my favorites from this are billy's, chris's, lauren's, & mark's. too cute.

to be continued.

its not about your scars, its all about your heart.

i've been feeling sad about leaving recently.

its all starting to become real, and it just sorta blows my mind. how did i get here so fast??

i had always been so excited to go off to college... even in 8th grade i just wanted to fast forward to this time, and now that im here im wishing i had only known then how fast the time would go.

a little over 2 1/2 weeks is all i have left with everything unchanged, the same as its always been and when i come back things will be different. even my town will be different. {my little town, i think, has this idea that it has to expand and upgrade and keep up with the changing times. i really wish it wouldn't. its starting to not even look like my town anymore. please stop little town of mine. you were perfect in your imperfections, and you were perfect the way you were}.

today, i booked my flights for thanksgiving and christmas.

i received my schedule.

i've gotten my dorm assignment.

my roommate is next.

i think i might have to pause time for a little while.

is that possible? sometimes i wish it was.

side note: {this song} has been playing non stop in my room for the past 3 days. and i have come to the conclusion that it is one of the most comforting songs i have ever listened to. it is almost up there with monster ballads.... almost. :)

do yourself a favor a listen to it.

bedding news?: i have almost completed my bedding. finally. its not exactly what i had in mind, but i have accepted that it won't be perfect, and that really is only my freshman dorm room, but i am growing to love it. stay tuned for dorm pictures when i move in :)

oh and i just took a lovely 4 day vacation to coronado with some of my girls. so relaxing. post to follow.

i hope this finds you in happiness health and love xoxo

to be continued.

happy birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom! (a couple hours late)

you're the best!

love you!

{xoxo}

to be continued.

its just beyond the fear.

ok so here's another christmas post for you...

not necessarily on purpose, (although, who doesn't love a little christmas in july??) but i was listening to this song, by garth brooks, on my way home from arrowhead today (went up with my babysitting fam this weekend, who have a lovely house up there), and was reminded of how amazing it is and what a wonderful story it tells... and it gives me chills. always the mark of a good song. :) i especially love the last couple of lines. enjoy.

{click}

...
But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's just beyond the fear

No, heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's for us to find it here

i hope you get to find a little piece of heaven this week and i hope this finds you in happiness health and love xoxo

p.s- shout out to my baby brother on his 15th birthday!! love you bud! :)

to be continued.