Welcome to Part II of the Trimester.

At this point in the semester there seems to be a general cloud of anxiety hanging over all the students as we shift from the rather easier (academically) first 6-7 weeks to the more trying 6-7 weeks that finish off the trimester. In some respects, this reassures me — that I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. But on the other hand, there’s something to be said about the amount of stress that is placed on us as Mars Hill students at this point in the game.

Personally, I am still experiencing a bit of the tension of feeling called to be here doing what I’m doing while at the same time have lots of moments of not wanting to be here at all. There are days that I practically skip down to that place because I love it so much. Then there are days where I literally have to drag myself there, knowing I’ll have to talk about how I feel or what’s going on in my heart, and just NOT wanting to do that.

I guess I don’t have much of a point in writing this. Just had some things on my mind. I have a stack of articles sitting in front of me that I have to read this weekend. I think, “Can I do it?” and always the answer in my head, “Probably not.” But am I learning alot along the way about God and others and myself and the world? Certainly. So is it worth it? Absolutely.

October Mixtape.

1. Rob Blackledge – Worth Takin’ from the A Song Like This album

2. Parachute Band – Come to the River from the Technicolor album

3. Mates of State – The Re-arranger from the Re-Arrange Us album

4. Hillsong – Desert Song from the This is Our God album

5. Ray LaMontagne – You are the Best Thing from the Gossip in the Grain album

6. Tyler Burkum – Blue as the Sky from the Darling, Maybe Someday album

7. Seth Walker – Picture in a Frame (Tom Waits cover) from the Self-Titled album

8. Christopher Williams – When It Falls Apart from the Sweet Redemption album

9. Jon McLaughlin – We All Need Saving from the OK Now album

10. Matthew Mayfield – Element from The Fire EP

11. Jill Phillips – The Door from the Nobody’s Got It All Together album

12. Josh Garrels – Rabbit & the Bear from the Jacaranda album

13. The National – Apartment Story from the Boxer album

14. Bebo Norman – The Only Hope from the Self-Titled album

15. Laura Story – Might to Save from the Great God Who Saves album

Ocktobuur.

thought: its possible that today i have been the biggest slacker the world has ever seen.

contemplation: how do i communicate the gospel to a dead man that i only know through a book (for school, don’t ask)

film: The Visitor. Very good. Probes American immigration policy.

shame-inducing guilty pleasure: facebook. =[

color: blue & green

wish: that my friend was here, that i could get my paper done, that i didn’t have to make myself dinner

song: “desert song” by hillsong written by brooke fraser

book: not reading anything for pleasure, but enjoyed The Earth is Enough and looking forward to starting the Shack

triumph: less anxiety less withdrawing

celebrity crush: joaquin phoenix

indulgence: coffee (thanks julie)

story: i was recently in kalispell, montana … glacier national park … and a russian woman made me a hotdog and a very tasty mocha. spasiba.

surprise: my bff is on facebook now!

field trip: um. tomorrow. to the grocery store. i know, lame.

feeling: like i could go to bed and not write anymore tonight.

[]

Hello, I am still alive.

So it’s been awhile since I’ve updated with anything semi-meaningful.

In my defense, I have been quite busy.

At any rate, things are going well in the Emerald City. I’ve been busy with class, reading, writing papers, and becoming a coffee addict. I turned in my first paper the other day. I was very happy with it, and am kind of excited to see what remarks I get back. Of course I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. It’s the first paper, and even if I think it is good, it might actually suck. =] So I’ll wait and see what happens.

This school stirs up all kinds of things in my soul. I love that and hate it at the same time. I told a friend the other day, I feel more inspired here than I ever have been in my life and I also feel more frightened here than I ever have been in my life. It’s an interesting tension. We are being challenged to live our lives in ways that are wildly hopeful. But that requires our whole selves, and that is difficult and daunting.

I’ve been wanting to get out and take some pictures to post. I just haven’t had a chance. And it has been raining alot, of course. But this week looks as though it will be nice, and I should have some time. I’ll try and get some stuff posted.

In the meantime, here’s a list for your viewing pleasure.

Things I love about grad school in Seattle:

5. Walking through the marketplace downtown to get to school.
4. Listening to people say “fer sure” like 1000 times a day, especially when talking about Jesus.
3. Coming up with different Buber slogans that would make great tshirts to sell at the school.
2. Drinking some sort of coffee product multiple times a day.
1. Being constantly challenged and inspired.

Josh Garrels

Found a musician I really like alot this week. His name is Josh Garrels. Just bought two of his albums, Jacaranda and Over Oceans. He has great lyrics, which you can read on his blog here.  He has a great voice, does some neat stuff on the guitar, and has awesome instrumentation.  It’s unique and refreshing!

Check him out:

http://www.joshgarrels.com

http://www.myspace.com/joshgarrels

TAG!

Ok, I’ve been tagged by Kendy.

7 random/weird facts about me:

//7. I HATE cake. I’m talking HATE it. It makes me want to yak. Not sure why. I like muffins, which are kind of similar to cake. But I just can’t eat cake. I know, weird.

//6. I’ve been out of the country twice – once to Port-au-Prince, Haiti when I was 16 and once to Beijing/Baoding, China this past May. I’ve always had a little bit of wanderlust, but it only increases with each passing day.

//5. I used to hate to read. It wasn’t until I got to college that I found myself enjoying it again. And now all I do all the time is read. But I love it! I always buy books in hopes that someday I might actually have time to read them. That doesn’t always happen, but I will get around to them eventually.

//4. The very first real song I learned to play on guitar was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles.

//3. Last months I used 3450 text messages, the most I’ve used in one month to date.

//2. I’ve lived about 1.5 miles from Sandcastle for 23 years, and the first time I ever went there was two summers ago.

//1. The one major dream I have always had as long as I can remember is to ride on a hot-air balloon over some beautiful place at sunset.

This is hot.

Tired of Reading.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. And it’s only the 3rd week of school!

September Mixtape.

I’ve been wanting to do an updated mixtape, but just haven’t had the time. So here goes! Click on the album cover to link to the artist website.  This is what’s been playing on my itunes recently:

1. Aaron Shust – My Savior My God from the Anything Worth Saying album

2. Kyle Andrews – Sushi from the Real Blasty album

3. Chris Merritt – Virginia from the Hello, Little Captain album

4. Paper Route – Are We All Forgotten from the Are We All Forgotten EP

5. Ben’s Brother – Let Me Out from the Beta Male Fairytales album

6. Matt Redman – You Never Let Go from the Passion: Everything Glorious album

7. Mat Kearney – Breathe In Breathe Out from the Nothing Left to Lose album

8. Chris Tomlin – God Almighty from the Hello Love album

9. The New Frontiers – The Day You Fell Apart from the Mending album

10. Tenth Avenue North – By Your Side from the Over and Underneath album

11. Jadon Lavik – Come Thou Fount from the Roots Run Deep album

12. Micah Dalton – The Grandest Prize from the Pawnshop album

13. The Meadows – Been So Long from the Self-Titled album

14. Decemberadio – Drifter from the Self-Titled album

15. Ruth – Cross the Line from the Secondhand Dreaming album

Fun times in the Emerald City.

So I love Seattle. I do wish that all my friends and family lived here. Then it would be perfect. But regardless, I love it.

Yesterday my roommate Julie and I were driving through Belltown (part of downtown, where the school is located) and we were stopped a a red light. A lady walked over to the driver side window, extended her hand with what looked like poop and said to Julie, “Do you want some shit?” At which point I busted out laughing and Julie said, “Um…no thanks!” and we drove off. I have to be honest with you, I cannot verify 100% that it was really poop. But I will tell you this much, it sure LOOKED like poop.

This event was followed up with some Chinese takeout where I had some of the best beef fried rice ever. And I got to use chopsticks. The combination of the two makes me happy.

I have decided that Wednesdays in Seattle are particularly crappy. I’ve only had three so far, and each one has been uniquely ridiculous and depressing. The first wednesday I was here I had to drop my little bro off for his semester of outdoorsy activities. This means at that point I was actually left by myself in this big, scary town. Up until that day my dad had been here, then my bro was here for a few days. But that wednesday, I was really by myself! The second wednesday I went to one of my classes and hated it. I’m still not a 100% sure why. And I liked it better last week. But I left there and had a mini panic attack and got really homesick and complained to my friend on the phone. This past week (my third wednesday in Seattle) I was SUPER anxious and upset waiting to hear some news from back home and in the midst of that discovered someone had thrown a giant rock through my passenger side car window. INJUSTICE! ha. I had to pay to have it replaced and was not happy about that. And the sons of guns didn’t even take anything. They just wanted to be jerks. So I’m not looking forward to tomorrow, because it is wednesday and so far I equate wednesdays in Seattle with bad things.

This has turned into a really random post, sorry!

I have been enjoying the AWESOME weather. Sunday I spent several hours studying at a beach on Lake Washington. Hoping to do more of that today. Classes are going well. I’m keeping up on my reading. And other than missing friends & family, am doing just fine.

Check back soon for more stories about crazy people!

Seattle has too many numbers.

I can’t keep track of streets here. Too many numbers. When people give me directions to places, they say, “oh, that’s on the corner for 45th NE & 25th Ave, to get there you should take 102nd St. N and then make a right on 54th with will take you past 68th Ave and then you make a right on 85th….blah blah blah.” Honestly people! I don’t understand you!

Thank God for the invention of the GPS.

One piece of paper.

///So my first official assignment for school was to take an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper and tell about who I am. We were allowed to do whatever creative thing we wanted. Here is mine:

Getting settled.

So I am slowly getting more and more acclimated to Seattle. I’m learning where places are. Learning how to dress so I don’t get soaked every time it rains. Learning how to take the bus. Learning that not being a coffee drinker is a cardinal sin. Learning that when I’m wide awake at night I shouldn’t text my friends, because they are asleep. Learning to put my phone on vibrate at night so when my friends text me in the morning, they don’t wake me up at 5am. Learning that its better to drive towards the right side of the lane on the highway because the concrete hasn’t been worn with tire tracks yet.

I’m getting there. School starts on Tuesday. WHOA! Excited to go. Scared out of my face to go. But I’m here, so let’s go!!

HOW I AM DOING.

thought: I need to do something more productive than play on my *new* mac all day. Even tho it is really fun to play on ….

hero: still jesus. always Jesus.

contemplation: Nothing specific, just trying to get mentally prepared to start school next week.

film: I haven’t seen anything recently, but really wanting to see Into the Wild again. I keep listening to the soundtrack…its addicting.

shame-inducing guilty pleasure: Recently, playing on the mac.

color: blue and green

wish: That my best friend lived in seattle.

song: Aaron Shusts “My Savior, My God’ LOVE it.

book: Began reading for school, The Art of Scripture and the gospel of Mark

triumph: I’m actually in Seattle, and loving it.

celebrity crush: still Joaquin Phoenix!! ha. (always.)

indulgence: lately, chocolate toffee almond things. mmmmm

story: Christine (who is about to have her baby) sent me a picture on my phone yesterday. It was a picture of Camden (5 yrs old) dressed as a dr. with many plastic tools in his hand. He came into her room early one morning and said “I’m here to get the baby out.” And then proceeded to try and get the baby out by using a blow up toy and trying to “suck” him out. He is special. Makes me laugh so hard!

surprise: I live in Seattle, and don’t like coffee. AHH!

field trip: yesterday to Mt. Rainier, today to Mt. Vernon

feeling: happy, sad, missing folks, meeting new folks, excited for school to start, scared out of my face for school to start