Friday: Snow + Blogs

Profound realization of the day: snow just makes everything look so cute!

I'm thankful for living in the South, where even a light dusting of snow is cause for a cozy/stay inside/drink coffee/make muffins/read kind of day.

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I have recently become a huge fan of Google Reader - one of Google's many ingenious ideas that allows you to compile all of the blogs that you follow into one place. Every time a blogger posts something new, this site lets you know and you can read it right there on your Google Reader homepage! Such a great idea.

Since I have rediscovered what is now my new favorite website, you can be sure that I have done my fair share of blog-reading this week.

Here are my 5 favorite posts of the week - some on the lighter side, some on the more intense side:

+ 113 Books To Read In 2013
+ I was wrong...I DO need Jesus
+ Five Promises for Your Bible Reading and Prayer
+ Raise Your Hand If You Agree
+ Shed a Little Light

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Happy reading + snow day!

A Thankful Heart

I have learned a lot about God's character over the years. I have read the Psalms, which proclaim praise for who God is. I have witnessed God's character at work countless times. I have personally seen and experienced God's character being put on display in my life. And for all of these things, I am thankful.

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But in the moment, when life is stressful, haphazard, and unpredictable, I often have a hard time looking at my circumstances and saying "Yes - God is obviously teaching me _____."

I seem only able to look back on things that have already happened in my life and point out where I can now see that God has worked and how that has impacted me.

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So, I'm thankful for what I have learned about God and the way he has woven together my life to continually reveal himself to me.

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But, I am also thankful for those times (good and bad) when what I am experiencing points so clearly back to the One who has created those experiences - even as I am still in the midst of the chaos.

My life - at this moment - is one of those times when God is continually making himself known to me. I can clearly see his faithfulness and goodness being proclaimed into my life and through my current circumstances. I am enabled to praise him in the good times, and praise him in the bad.

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The Lord always seems to make his faithfulness and goodness known to me, despite my stubborn nature and unwillingness to see him in my circumstances.

And I am always left with a thankful heart.

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They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 31:12-14

Carolina "Musts"

Life as a second-semester Senior is absolutely wonderful. Yes, it has already been a mix of weird emotions that I can't really put into words, but it's great nonetheless.

I have been asked a question a few times now that freaks me out even more than the "what do you want to do with your life?" question.
"Have you made your Carolina bucket list?"
This is a constant reminder that I only have a little more than THREE MONTHS LEFT at what is arguably the best place in the world.


Kristen Vasgaard Designs

As a self-proclaimed lover of lists, I am shocked that I have not yet organized and written down the list of Carolina-y things (read: jumble of ideas and goals) that I have floating around in my head. I think it is about time to concretely document what I hope to experience while I'm still a UNC undergrad.

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Here it goes.
(I've even included a few things I've already done to jump-start the checking-off process.)

My List of Carolina "Musts"
+ climb the Bell Tower
+ eat a pint of Yopo ice cream in one sitting
+ run (& finish) a half-marathon
+ buy a UNC sweatshirt (how have I made it this long without one?)
+ run a 5k
+ participate in the Holi festival/paint-throwing extravaganza
+ watch the UNC vs. dook basketball game in the Dean Dome
+ rush Franklin Street
+ hammock in the Arboretum (have done once but it needs to happen again)
+ play in the Bynum Circle fountain
+ eat at Time Out
+ play golf at Finley
+ get a Kvetch published
+ see the sunrise on campus
+ take a random weekend mountain trip
+ take a random weekend beach trip
+ explore Carrboro (more than I have)
+ explore Durham
+ go tunneling
+ pull an all-nighter with friends & without studying
+ go Snipe hunting (apparently I've been missing out my whole life)
+ take a trip - maybe fly somewhere exciting?
+ get a job (Praise the Lord I can cross this one off!)
+ take graduation pictures with friends
+ GRADUATE

Looking forward to adding more & simultaneously crossing-off!

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A New Resolution

New Year's resolutions scare me. I honestly don't know if I have ever followed through on goals that I have set at the beginning of a year. As a lover of lists, it is overwhelming when I am unable to cross things off, and my list of resolutions always ends up feeling like a list that I'm never able to complete.

If I were to make a list of goals for 2013 it would be full of things for me to do: read my Bible daily, be truly present where I am, joyfully go where God is leading me, invest in relationships, be a better daughter/sister/friend/roommate/girlfriend, etc. This, to me, is an intimidating list. How do I tangibly complete these things that I so desire to be a part of my life?

The only way that I will outwardly display these characteristics and complete these goals is if the Lord changes my heart. 

Refine (v):

• To free from impurities or unwanted material.
• To free from moral imperfection.
• To improve or perfect by pruning or polishing.
• To become pure or perfected.

My resolution for the new year is to allow the Lord to refine my heart; purify and cleanse it; give me a heart that allows me to love others well, be present in all circumstances, and joyfully enter into the unknown, all in response to what God has already done for me. I'm excited to begin this journey of scripture reading/memorization and prayer as I trust the Lord to continue changing my heart as he has faithfully been doing.

"...I will put this third into the fire,

and refine them as one refines silver,

and test them as gold is tested.

They will call upon my name,

and I will answer them.

I will say, 'They are my people';

and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

Zechariah 13:9

"Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name." Psalm 86:11

Psalm 86:11

My prayer for the end of 2012, the start of 2013, & forever:

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

Life Lately

[snippets of life & a few favorite finds]

1. My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers | "Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."

2. Forever Like That | Ben Rector



3. Beautiful old & new friends. Who introduced me to the above song when we (unashamedly) went to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 on opening night.

4. DC visit with these girls...

...and this guy.





















5. Family time.

6. Thanksgiving at The Slant with the roomies + friends (aka "Slantsgiving")

7. A new city post graduation: Indianapolis, IN



8. Next on the list to read: Counsel from the Cross | Elyse Fitzpatrick | (psychology AND the gospel!)

9. Favorite drink of the season. (probs shouldn't actually read the nutrition facts)

10. Only 3 more days!

The "Mem Jar"

In my previous post, I included a picture with the caption "The Trip ate lots of Yopo and cracked open the Mem Jar." If you are not one of the people who were specifically involved in this occasion, the chances that you know what the heck I am talking about are slim to none. I have wanted to explain this for a while (because it's so awesome), so now's my chance!

The Trip

"The Trip" is the name that my roommates from junior year (Amy and Dana) and I gave to the room where we lived. It was a triple - made for 3 people - in Old West, right next to the Old Well, and is arguably the BEST place to live if you choose to remain on campus. Over the course of the year, "the Trip" came to mean much more than just the physical location in which we lived, but it essentially became a label for the 3 of us. Our friends would invite "the Trip" to go watch a movie or to go get ice cream, etc. and we still tend to refer of our outings together as "Trip dates."

A perk of living in Old West was that we were SO CLOSE to Franklin St. And what better way to take advantage of this closeness than to visit Yopo a lot. And by "a lot" I mean all the time. We pretty much became regulars. (It's yogurt so it's healthy, right?) I have no regrets of the fact that my junior year was defined by lots of Yopo outings.

Our view from Old West

So now for the "Mem Jar." Over the summer before junior year began, I came across this on Pinterest. Thinking it was a neat (and yes, cheesy) idea, I decided that my roommates and I should do it throughout the school year. I had no idea whether or not it would really catch on and happen, but it did! We deemed it the "Mem Jar" and throughout the year we filled it with fun things that happened, sweet things that friends did for us, notes to each other, exciting occasions, hilarious quotes, pictures, newspaper articles, and even a few embarrassing things that the public will (hopefully) never see. Everything in the jar related to one or all three of us. We promised to open the Mem Jar together one day at the end of the year and celebrate with Yopo (obviously).

The Mem Jar explosion

Unfortunately, the Mem Jar Date day had to wait until we returned to school as seniors, but it did eventually happen and we were able to go purchase the long-awaited pints of Yopo. (We also played Friends in the background while we were opening the jar, because that also was a staple of our junior year.) That night was so fun and full of many, many laughs (and maybe a few happy tears?) as we reminisced about our time together in Old West - when we grew so close through the happy, fun, memorable times, as well as the hard and stressful times. I am forever grateful for the time Amy, Dana, and I spent living together in the Trip, and love that "the Trip" has lived on, even past our time when we were crammed together in a dorm room.

Mem Jar + Yopo pints

Here's to a senior year full of as many memories as junior year - maybe even more than the Mem Jar can contain :)

Love, Kayla