a formal affair

Last Saturday night was... well... kinda crazy. Maybe it was the fancy food no one could eat because it looked like someone forgot to cook it. Maybe it was the worst DJ of all time, the dim light, the high school prom in the next ballroom and principal who glared at me every time I went to the bathroom. Maybe it was the impromptu karaoke, Roshan's bowtie, the Marilyn look-alike, or the tape I had to use to adhere my dress to my chest. Whatever it was, I know I won't be forgetting Saturday night anytime soon :)

The couples: Julie and Roshan, Nicole and Chad,
Katy and Chase, me and Bart...




The dancing...




So Bart thought he was being all clever and taking a candid picture of us dancing, but we were on to his sneaky ways...





Aww. He's just so darn cute!





The dress may have been a tad revealing...





The sweet suite girls (we miss you, Erika!)...





To my girls: I know I'm graduating, and we are all going in different directions this summer, but I want you to know that I love you both so very much. You are my girls, my best friends, my monkeys.

clearing the stage

Last month we celebrated Rez Week on campus-- short for resurrection. It is a Christian celebration in the middle of campus, which includes nightly events, a coffeehouse, singers, performers, artists of all kinds, discussion boards, and a 24/7 prayer tent.

Year after year, it is my favorite time on campus. There's nothing else like it. This year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and attempt something new-- designing and producing a mural. It was quite a challenge, but such an awesome experience.

The theme this year was "Clearing the Stage: bringing down the barriers between you and God." Our murals were supposed to reflect something that people use as a barrier. My barrier was pain. I based it off of my friends who don't share my faith. More often than not, when I ask them why they do not believe, the answer is pain. This is a physical pain, and emotional pain, a general suffering-- but some form of pain.

I illustrated several forms of pain that people in my life use to separate themselves from God, then I wrote in my thoughts on pain from personal study. My conclusion is that pain can actually bring us closer to God. Through scripture and study, I found pain to be both stewardship and fellowship-- meant to draw us to Him.

Katie (center) was on the planning committee and worked her butt off all week. Katie and Dawn are my accountability partners-- we meet weekly and share our lives and pray together. It's one of the best parts of my week. These girls are pretty amazing :)

a franciscan benediction

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

smitten

This picture is from two years ago, but I don't have any recent ones of us. Yeah, we're back together. Me and Bart-- and I'm kinda smitten :)

a new poem

Orientation

only from Back
can Front see
what Top
should have seen
when Bottom
was Behind

Front becomes Top
Back, Bottom
at which point
Mind
(once located up Top)
must migrate through Body
air bubble trapped
buoyed to Front

Mind meets Heart

only from Back
can Mind see
where Heart lays
where Heart lies

an old poem

#3

Curiously comfortable
And altogether grand
The feeling of your warm embrace
Like when you hold my hand

But instead of fingers intertwined
I can feel your heart in mine