Season's Greetings

Flagstaff, Arizona; where the weather's made up and the seasons don't matter.

Would you believe me if I told you that only a few weeks ago, I was playing soccer barefoot outside?
Well it's true, and I had a broken toenail picture to prove it (but I won't post that here, no one needs that mental image).  The weather in Flag had gotten so nice, people were proclaiming something about global warming and the end of the world.  For me, it just seemed like a good excuse to do minimal homework and maximum fun.  Kayleen and I ended up taking a Saturday to go hiking and it was a day well spent.

While the weather was absolutely beautiful, I did kind of missed the idea of winter.  I thought it would be fun for once to go snowboarding with snow that didn't have to be pre-made.  Looks like I got what I wished for.  Two weeks ago, we were hit with a storm that gave us a foot in a day.

No complaints on my end.

Unfortunately, midterms got in the way, and I didn't get to enjoy the snow as much as I would have wanted.  In any case, the snow didn't last too long and we're now looking at spring showers.

Yeah, Flagstaff is weird.

Now, that I think about it, I don't really know why I felt the need to write about the weather of northern Arizona.  I guess, if anyone is wanting to move here, consider yourself warned.

Fantômes de Guerre

This has been a very difficult post for me to write. Usually I get an idea and I can bust out a few paragraphs in no time. I'm posting this after over a year of it sitting in my drafts. That's not to say that this will be the best post of all time, but hopefully someone will get something out of my muddled thoughts.

  

There are many different war memorials and museums that I visited on my trip. This was to be expected, of course; many of the battles fought in both world wars took place in France, a country where we spent a lot of our time. I came to notice something that I haven't observed as much in the US. The land seemed scarred. Countrysides that had been marred by artillery shells, trenches that had been sliced through the earth, villages left as just a little more than heaps of rubble. All of these wounds of war were just left there. They were ghosts of warfare that happened nearly a century ago.

After visiting Verdun, France, and Fort De Douaumont, my party and I came to the conclusion that perhaps the French people left things as they were because it was a part of their past.  Instead of covering up the scars, or putting everything on display, they left it.  War history is so engrossed in their past, it's something that defines the country.

There's a lot that I wish I could say about these photos.  I wish I could write my thoughts eloquently as to why these were some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  But a picture has a thousand words, so I'll let them do the talking.

 

   

Change......No, not that kind of change, Mr. President.

It's funny to see how much things can change and you don't really notice the magnitude of those changes until they are a thing of the past. I've been through a lot of changes this past semester. Some of them were good. Some not so much. I learned something from all of them.  With some, I'm still trying to learn.

One big change was moving apartments. We went from a 2 bed/2 bath for around $1300 to a 2 bed/1.5 bath for $975. Needless to say, we're liking this change a lot.

As is my wallet.

Sterling Pointe (old and busted)

Aspen Shadows (new hotness)

Another adjustment was saying goodbye to two of my best friends for 18 months while they serve missions for our church. We've known each other since we were 10 and it's amazing to see them grow and serve the Lord. Valon left in August and is serving in Boston. Payge left last month and she is in Salt Lake City.  

Kayleen, Valon, Payge, and me!

So, what is the point of this post you may ask? Not sure. To quote Michael Scott,

Anyway, considering that it's the end of January, I've been thinking about all the new year's resolutions that I've already broken... scratch that; all the new year's resolutions that I never even started.
Yeah, that's more like it.

But, there's no time like the present. So, I decided to work on one goal at a time and once I've masted that, I can slowly add to the list. The inspiration behind my first goal is this quote that I found on Pinterest (the crowning jewel of social media in my humble opinion).

Ah, Pinterest, you just know the way straight to my heart. But in all honesty, I love this quote.  

And that's what I plan to do this year. I plan to dance; when life is hard and the music you dance to sucks, (especially if it's a remix of ANY kind). I plan to get out there and give it my best Carlton. 

I think everyone could do a little more dancing.

Who Knew I Didn't Run the World?

"Bloom where you're planted."


I found this quote several months ago, and I decided to make it my personal goal. If there's anything that I've learned from living in Flagstaff, it's that I can't always control how things go in my life, but I can choose how to react to them.

I can't control when I have three group projects due the week before finals.

I can't control my apartment management being so difficult that my roommates and I have spent the last two months dealing with them while finding a new place.

I can't control the attitude's of my friends that don't like Flagstaff as much as I do and are counting the days until they get to leave.


Control is an interesting word. It holds so much power to it. There's little room for leeway or discussion.  It's absolute.
But you know what word holds as much or more power?  Choice. The ability for us to make our own decisions and carve our own path. That is true power. It's the mastery of oneself. Not because life is meticulously planned out and controlled, but because we have the power to define ourselves by the things that we can't change. To bloom where we're planted. A sunflower looks beautiful regardless of where it grows.

Choice is a personal thing.

I can choose to turn to my savoir for help when I feel overwhelmed with crazy classes and crazier teachers.    

I can choose to see the experience of moving as an opportunity to step out on my own and grow as an adult.

I can choose to support my friends in their decisions, even if it means sacrificing some of my selfishness when I lose them. 

At the end of the day, it's good to accept the fact that there are a lot of variables that can't be controlled in life. Darn you life for being hard and confusing. Darn you for trying to teach me that I don't always run the show. Darn you for attempting to get something through my thick skull.

But thanks for being worth it.    

Sometimes Mondays are better than Fridays

Well, I thought we were friends, Fall.  What happened?

I guess I just took you for granted.  I'm sorry.  Please come back.

I've been really spoiled with the nice weather here in Flagstaff.  Up until Friday it has been beautiful.  And now? Not so much.  I have an internal struggle of wanting it to snow so I can go snowboarding, and not wanting it to snow because I can be a real wimp.  But I digress.

So, going back to Friday, I have a story!

Kayleen and I promised our neighbor that we would get some guy friends and help her move out of her apartment.  She set the time for 3:30, I was done with work by four, and I was just going to mosey home.  I thought to myself that I would catch the tail end of the move because our neighbor said she only had a few things that needed moving (i.e. the couch, chairs, and bed).  Upon my return, I discovered that the guys that we had come over had been waiting at my apartment for an hour because our neighbor wasn't home.  Keep in mind that I got home around 4:30.  When she did show up, we soon found that we had to move everything.  Literally. Everything.  Into her trailer.
I quickly said goodbye to my afternoon nap.

Oh, and she has cats.  Three of them.  And apparently, one is paranoid of everything (that is not an exaggeration).  While moving one of the couches, we uncovered the hiding place of said paranoid cat, which caused all Hell to break loose.  The cat, Mini, went AWOL and took a kamikaze dive off the balcony and ran into another building.  After about ten minutes and hasty strategic planning we captured the rogue comrade (two different times) and finally stuffed it in its holding cell.

I wish that was the end of my tale, but it's not.

At seven, we met my neighbor at the storage unit and unloaded her crap faster than... I don't even know have a good comparison, but it was fast.
Naively thinking that we were done with this little escapade, we made our way out of the storage place in Kayleen's car, only to be welcomed with the awkward thumping noise of a flat tire.  Ah yes, the tire. The tire was changed in no time, however, we found that the spare was just as flat.  Out of options, and running extremely late for a Halloween party, we drove the car down the freeway at about 15 miles an hour to the nearest gas station.  We pulled in, just as smoke started to come off the sad, little tire.  We parked it and called our friend Eric to come and pick us up.  Keep in mind that it is Halloween and some of us still needed to get costume pieces.  We drove to the mall and made a mad dash into the Halloween store ten minutes before closing time.




.....You thought it was over, didn't you? Thought that was a happy,little ending to my story? Wrong!
Of course something else had to happen before we could be on our merry way.  Something like almost getting hit by a car.  Yeah, that happened.  Leaving the mall parking lot, a car came careening into the side of Eric's car, knocking his driver side mirror.  You know that moment when time slows down and you can think of about a thousand different things at the same time? I guess one half of my brain is very calm in the face of danger, because I was strangely calm while this was going down.  I was sitting behind Eric, so the car would have hit us first.  While I was watching the car speed towards us, all I could really think was, "Why, that car is coming towards us awfully fast.  I believe it might ding the side of the van.  The side I'm on.  Oh well, I've had a good run."  Really brain? Come on, son.  Somewhere in the depths of my subconscious, the reality of the situation stuck.  Good ol' logic was trying to make sense of what was going on.  "You are going to die and someone else is going to finish your box of goldfish."

But obviously, we didn't die.  I guess the moral of the story is...... is that, that night made for a good story.
Yeah, that's all I got.

Here's some pictures from Friday.  Consider it a reward for making it this far in my post.

Tire changing pros

  

I found my true calling in the Spirit Halloween store.

Twinkie missed all the action, but we got in a photo opp.

Of course, the picture with the roomies.

Running

I've never been one to really get into running. I mean like, really into it.  I don't have much desire to run races while being surrounded by dozens of other sweaty people.  Running for me is a personal thing.  I like to run by myself and listen to music while doing so.  That's another thing- I've found that I don't spend too much time thinking about the deep secrets of the world while I run.  I realize that a lot of people use running to do that.  I, on the other hand, run to get stress, anger, and frustration out.  Maybe I use running to avoid my thoughts.

How often do we go through life, trying to avoid our inner thoughts, struggles, and questions?  Where is the breaking point? After the run?  That's how it is for me.  Once I'm done and tired, I take my music out and the only thing I hear is myself. 

So, of course, I have to tie this into my daily life.

I've recently come to find that avoiding the important things because we believe we can do it ourselves is not a very smart move to make.  That's how it's been for me for about a month now.  I thought I had made the best decision I could and I ran with it (pun totally intended).  I made that decision to protect myself.  To avoid getting hurt.  There's that word; avoid.  As the weeks went on, I found that the decision I had made was a hard one to stick with.  I questioned and second guessed myself.  I had reached the end of my run and taken the earphones out.  After that, I knew that I couldn't carry on with the way things were. I had been trying to do my own thing without taking my decision to the Lord.  I tend to do that.  I think the worst thing about being so stubborn is knowing that you are and wanting to change, but not know how to go about it because you are so used to doing it all by yourself.  In my case, the desire to be so independent left me closed off and aloof to those around me.  I'm starting to find that it's okay to be open and vulnerable, because in order for others to love you-I mean truly love-you have to be vulnerable.  Being so does leave us open to get hurt, but it also allows us to love more fully.

I still have a lot of progress to make.  Miles to go.  Walls to break down.  But I guess it's just like running.  You don't meet your goal the moment you tie your laces for the very first time.  It's a process; challenging, yet fulfilling.      

Hello Fall.

Ah fall, the season where sweaters are worn in abundance and the smell of pumpkin spice lattes permeates the air.  Now, I'm not hating.  I love fall.  I love the changing of leaves, finding any excuse to wear boots, and just the weather in general.  There's just something in a fall breeze that excites me.  It just hints at the change that is bound to take place.  You can't stop it, you just have to roll with it. 

I have been in my second year of college for exactly a month now.  It's funny how I stayed in Flagstaff during the summer, but once school starts up again, everything changes.  But I guess that's the way it works.  Life's always changing.  I grew and changed during the summer, and here I am now..Changing!

Before I let go of summer completely (because, trust me, I love summer.  Come to think of it, I really like all of the seasons.  For different reasons...anyway) I just wanted to look back at some of the things that happened to me in the past few months.  Granted, I did not go on a grand European adventure like I did last summer, but I wouldn't trade this summer for anything.

 

My birthday consisted of donuts, a bookstore, and snow. What a great combo.

Starlight, our frequent yet unwanted house guest.

Spent an afternoon at beaver creek. 

Note to self: buy GO GO boots.

I went to Utah twice this summer.  Worth it?  I think so.

I found out that I like snakes.  No, really, I'm serious.