keep moving forward

well. the time is almost here. it's been a weekend of a lot of visits and goodbyes and any day now i'm going to start packing… hopefully tomorrow, because i leave the next morning.  truly my biggest concern right now is that i won't have room to pack my fleece dinosaur blanket and the fact that i've misplaced my iPod.  priorities, right?

saturday we journeyed to toledo and sister had her first red robin experience AND her first onion ring experience.

it seemed like something that needed documented….  we had a great lunch with my aunt, uncle and cousin and then had to say good-bye to them.  why don't people realize that things would be easier if they just moved to ak?? 

  

this is my cousin casey.  he's pretty much the brother I've never had and sometimes we are way too much alike.  he is a sophomore at the university of toledo and i was very hopeful that he would spend his summer in alaska with me this year, or at least that he would visit.  however, he's off on a new adventure. 

this summer he will be spending 6 weeks in croatia on a college campus telling people about the Lord.  what an awesome way for him to spend part of his summer.  selfishly i really wanted him to be in alaska, but i'm so excited and proud to see him serving the Lord, no matter what that looks like.  in the next few months he will have to raise quite a bit of money in order to be able to go on this trip with campus crusade.  if you'd like to hear more about what he'll be doing there, you can click here to email him. :) 

this guy was not one bit sad to say goodbye to me...

today involved a few more 'good-byes' and soon enough i'll be unpacking in juneau and saying so many 'hellos'.  i'm thankful for this extended ohio time, but for now i'll keep moving forward.  

Makin' Memories

i'm currently in indianapolis spending some time with my cousin, visiting some friends and then headed to a few universities next week for camp fairs.  

this week ahead of me contains far too many goodbyes, but that's not all the week is about.  

not even close.  

yesterday at lunch time i got to chat about all sorts of life things with my sweet friend vicki over arguably the best nachos of my life.

by dinnertime i was in indianapolis eating cajun food with one of my life-long friends and her husband.  i got to see the house they just built and moved into and the room in it that will soon be their nursery.  their home is so beautiful and is decorated with paintings and sketches done by her poppy and so many beautiful pictures full of memories.  

now i'm staying with my cousin who is more like a sister to me.  we stayed up too late talking and watching new girl on netflix in the largest, most comfortable ikea bed i have ever experienced.  this morning we made enough breakfast for 4 or 5 people and i discovered my love for both funfetti pancakes and almond milk. yum. 

the rest of our day has been full of some of my favorite things…. starbucks, target and chic fil a.  

   

and even a sunny day with time to go to the park

we also went to the indianapolis ice tree….. which apparently is a thing? it's enormous and pretty cool, but also, melting.  

life is so big and beautiful.  there are so many details that seem so boring or 'everyday', but they're not.  they're different and awesome and we'll never experience these exact situations again.  

i'm so thankful that this week is not about good-byes, it's about making memories with these friends in indiana that i love so much.  memories to last me for a while that i will never experience again.  

-c-