June 19, 2016: strawberry picking

Our family friends grow strawberries.  Lots and lots of strawberries.  A couple days ago they let my mom know that if we wanted to come pick them, we could keep whatever we picked.  When mom asked if that was something I'd be interested in, of course I agreed.  First of all, I was high on farm life.  Being home after being away for 6 months made anything having to do with fruit, the smell of farm equipment burning gasoline, or slight manual laborer throw me into excitement overload.  Plus I could think of nothing other than strawberry shortcake.  For days.  I had never actually been strawberry picking, but I knew that strawberries grew on really tall tree-like bushes like blueberries did, so it was sure to be a pleasant afternoon excursion. 

Wrong.  Strawberries grow on short little plants very low to the ground.  There are tons of them, so when you think you have an area picked, you don't.  You push a leaf to the side and 20 more of the stupid berries appear out of nowhere.  You are bent over, low to the ground, your back cramping and sweat dripping down your face, neck, back, knee pits, and anywhere else that sweats because of course you decided to come pick the berries in 90 degree heat, and you never quite feel like you're remotely close to being done. I hated this moment with my entire being.  

On the way back home, after we loaded our huge pile of strawberries into the car, my mom thanked us for agreeing to come pick them.  My response was something along the lines of:

"I almost said 'you're welcome! It was fun!' Because that's what I should say. But it wasn't fun.  That sucked butt today." 

I got severe stomach cramps from all the strawberry shortcake I ate this week.  Like, laid in bed and moaned because my stomach hurt so bad.  Stupid strawberries :) 

June 18, 2016: beautiful bride to be!

I love everything about this picture.  One of my most wonderful friends, Tisa, is getting married in a few weeks.  I went to her shower today and had a blast hanging out with her family and parents' friends.  I love this picture because she is so darn cute and is surrounded by so many dead animals. :)

June 17, 2016: chalk prince

We went to the outlet malls in GR today and saw they were having a sidewalk chalk art show.  Can you believe how good this is?!  I am completely blown away at the talent we saw today!! 

June 16, 2016: preach it, thrift store!

Amen!! 

This was at a thrift store in Kalamazoo where I killed 3 hours between my train and my bus back home.

 I love this verse.   God's power and timing is more than enough. 

June 15, 2016: Chicago love

Being back in Chicago for vacation has been so good.  Visits to school, watching Tigers play the Sox, lunch dates with friends, and reading in the park.  And Target.  I have most definitely missed things about my previous home.  As much as I missed this place, I feel really peaceful about not being back for good.  Chicago gave me 9 really good years where I learned valuable lessons about myself, the Lord, humanity, relationships, forgiveness, patience, humility, love.  And a little bit about having fun. :)

I rode the el today on my way back from Katie's house. Today's ride was more peaceful than yesterday's (a guy and girl got in a huge screaming fight and began threatening to kill one another), so it was a good time to reflect on my time in the city.  I am not a city girl, but I will always love this place! 

June 14: visit to STEM

I went to visit my kiddos at STEM today.  It was a blast! I missed these quirky kids like crazy.  It was fun to hang out with them, get the low down on what their year was like, and answer their questions about Alaska.  We talked a lot about bear safety.  :).  I thought this kid's shirt was pretty amazing.  I'm thankful to Jami and Natalie for letting me come in during the school day so I could visit!

June 13, 2016: challenged

It's summer which means I have time to read again!  Two years ago, I started to read through a book list that highlighted one book that was set in each of the 50 states.  I got 4 books read.  This summer I decided to pick up the list again.  If you're interested, the link to the blog and book list is here: 

http://www.bkmag.com/2014/10/15/the-literary-united-states-a-map-of-the-best-book-for-every-state/

Today I am reading "White Boy Shuffle," the book for California.  It was a really great, challenging story.  It highlighted racial injustice in LA.  The main character is an African American man who grew up in a predominately white neighborhood but moved to a black community in LA when he was in middle school.  He starts writing poetry and ends up using his poetry to challenge others to stand up against white privelege.  Throughout the book, people send him their poetry. These are beautiful, raw lines describing life.  The poem below was submitted by the character's dad, who throughout the story was uninvolved and unsupportive of the main character's life.  

This challenged me.  So much is going on in the world.  So many things that I am fired up about, or should be committed to fighting against or working toward.  It keeps me up at night, praying and crying, but sometimes things seems so big and impossible, that it's easier to worry instead about laminating name tags or cutting out game pieces.  Praying is powerful, but I want to make sure I am listening to the Spirit when He is telling me to act. 

June 12, 2016: Chipotle fix

This. Was. Missed. 

Seriously, the Chipotle cravings have gotten better over time, but I still have moments when I want to cry because all I want is a gooey tortilla filled with the perfect combination of beans, rice, guac salsa, cheese and sour cream with those perfect chips on the side.  I know, completely a first world problem, and I am happy to say that I haven't ACTUALLY cried over not being able to get Chipotle in Kodiak.  I did cry once over not having the possibility of renting a movie from redbox and getting pizza delivered.  But I think I was emotional about other stuff that day, and the pizza movie thing was the last piece to my meltdown.  Regardless of where my emotional stability is, I was happy to be sitting in the sun, eating a burrito with my beautiful sister.