Incandescence

It's hard to believe I left Alaska a week ago already...I love the contrast of the two pictures here--I went from winter to fall again! So far I feel like I'm living in a dream and I'm going to wake up and find that I'm still in snowy, wintry AK. But I look out the window and see the rolling green hills of Ohio and hear the buggies rolling by and realize--this is my new reality, at least for the foreseeable future. I'm settling into a routine. Right now, everything is new and exciting.  Every day I watch the word count of my story grow, explore new possibilities, and continue to create and develop the world that I have nurtured for over ten years. Even if nothing ever comes of it, if I never have anything published, I've had this opportunity to pursue what I love. It's a challenge, but one that I'm enjoying. We'll see how I feel when the first bout of writer's block hits. I've always been the kind of person that doesn't plan too far i...

I just looked back over my 'adventure list' from this spring. I didn't make it through all of them, but I was able to cross a few off. Hope, AK happened. It was pretty awesome. And I did get to take the 10 mile walk out to Gull Rock and back. All in all, it was a good weekend of camping with friends. I also went on a road trip...not the full loop that I wanted to do, but I did travel the Parks highway with a couple of friends, and also drove through Hatcher's Pass. It was such an incredible drive. I would definitely do that again. And I would plan enough time to do some hiking up in there, because it is amazing country. I didn't get to go out to Eagle and Symphony Lakes, or Hidden Lake, but I did go to Rabbit Lake. It is an incredible hike up into a mountain valley. Of course, what hike in mountains in Alaska isn't gorgeous! There were also several trips up Bear Valley/Mountain. Also gorgeous, and the kind of hike that I like--short-ish, and not ...

 I'm not going to lie--the last two weeks have been pretty stressful between a doctor's visit for some health problems (I'm doing better now after a round of antibiotics) and car problems. But something that was also encouraging through this was that I was given the opportunity to take a step back from these problems and stop worrying about everything. They're just so pretty! And smell wonderful :) It was also a little ironic that we had just been discussing the trials that we encounter as Christians, the ups and downs that we go through, in bible study, and then this all happened. While I would rather focus on God's love and grace the stress of the past week brought to mind James 1:2-4:   2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Sometimes I forget that ...

I don't normally share my 'real' writing. Often because I feel like it is too personal, or just that it is not good enough. But maybe that needs to change, maybe I should be more willing to share. So here is a little peek at something I wrote a few months ago: A tidal wave, I’m battered, shaken, soaked in a riptide it takes me where it pleases, threatens to overwhelm and yet there are moments of peace, of calm amidst the waves, moments where I catch my breath against the next onslaught, sometimes fast and hard, sometimes building to a peak, fight towards the shore, battered, not broken, stronger for it, I will win this battle, I will win this fight

This is a topic that I have thought a lot about. One obvious reason is because I am single. I have read some really good articles in the past few months on this subject. I do not want to try and reinvent the wheel. Relevant Magazine has some good articles, and there are a myriad of other articles on the subject as well. I did a Bing search and came up with 10,800,000 results. Clearly, this is a well-canvassed topic. I am an adult, I can handle some teasing when it comes to meeting someone. However, next time you hang out with your single friend, here are a few reminders: 1) We are not always ok with being single even if we say we are. For me personally, I am convinced that being single is God's plan for my life right now and I have made peace with that knowledge. This does not mean that I don't struggle with it occasionally. 2) It is hard to have people tell you you 'missed an opportunity with so and so', or that 'you should try harder' or 'do s...

Sunday we had another beach day. We went to this black sand beach. The beach itself was pretty neat, it was down a narrow dirt road, tucked between sheer rocks and rocky beaches. The water wasn't very inviting, however, because someone informed us soon after we arrived that a jellyfish had been spotted in the water. It was a partly-cloudy day so it wasn't too warm, meaning it was a good beach to relax and read a book at, not swim or snorkel. In the evening we went down to the park across the road from our condo to watch the sunset. On Monday, our last day, we had to be out of the condo by 11, so we went for a quick swim down at the beach across the street from our condo, cleaned up, then went for brunch at Moose McGillycuddy's . It was a warm, sunny day so after our meal we went down to the beach in Kihea to watch some beginner surfers and soak up as much sunshine as possible. We stopped at a bird sanctuary to walk a boardwalk to kill time, but I opted f...

I've decided to create a list of things I want to do/and or see this summer. I feel like growing up we usually did the same things--dip netting at the Copper River, fishing down at Valdez in the fall, hikes around the Glacier View area, and, while these are all fantastic, there are a few things I have always wanted to do and so this summer it is time to stop wanting to do them and actually do them. 1] Thunderbird Falls: Any time we drove into Anchorage as a child I wondered about this place. I've always loved waterfalls, so this sounded really fantastic to me. I have never been there so this summer it is time to cross it off my list! 2] Eagle and Symphony Lakes: I did this walk/hike last summer and it is a gorgeous, about seven miles each way. The scenery can't be beat as you hike in the valley between mountains. 3] Hidden Lake: out at Glacier View, this is a hike I've only done once before. It's a pretty easy hike and worth the effort. 4] Chena Hot Springs:...

Just when you think I'm done with Hawaii I come back with part three. I knew by about our third day on Maui that I prefer it to Oahu. Don't get me wrong, Oahu will always be special because of the memories I made there right after college; however, Maui is bigger, less populous, and has some really amazing natural sights that I either just didn't get to see while on Oahu. Nakalele Blowhole On Friday we went to the beach and then in the afternoon we went down to Nakalele Blowhole. I could have sat and watched for hours, and took a ridiculous amount of pictures. And according to a guy we spoke with, this wasn't even that big, sometimes the water can go upwards of 75 feet! It wasn't just the water, or the rainbows, even though those were both gorgeous, it was also the sound, that was incredible. If you go to Maui, make sure to go to the blowhole! After the blowhole, we continued around the western part of the island. The drive was incredible. It was also a li...

I my previous post I included pictures from our first three days. I realized as I was going through my pictures that I took almost no pictures on my family and I. I always feel like I'm taking so many pictures, but when I look back through them I usually regret not taking more. Gotta love the digital age when you can literally take hundreds of pictures and sift through them for a few good ones. Wednesday was a cooler, rainy day, so we drove to the town of Lahaina to walk around. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard when we got there so instead we went to a whaling museum and then found a place to eat. Thursday we were up and on the road to Hana early. I had heard about the road to Hana before, and was curious to ride it for myself. Basically, it's a lot of hairpin turns, some one-lane road, and gorgeous scenery. Here are just a few of the beautiful waterfalls and hairpin turns. It was also a good day for the trip, it was overcast and 'chilly'...

I just got back from a week in Maui, Hawaii. It was incredible! There wasn't a single thing about the trip that I did not enjoy. Even the rainy days were wonderful. I wanted to write while I was there, but I just had my Kindle and didn't feel like trying to type on the little keyboard. I posted some pictures on Instagram, but I thought I'd round out my social media by posting some here as well. We stayed in a condo complex called Hale Kamaole , which was really close to a nice grassy park, walking trails, and most importantly--beaches! We saw some amazing sunsets, swam with fish and turtles, saw blowholes, black sand beaches and drove up a mountain to a giant crater. And also drank some amazing coffee. This beach was right across the street from our condo--literally a two minute walk. The view from our lanai. Sunset on our first day. Big beach. I didn't get any great pictures of the beaches we went to, but you can still see the sand and the water, which wa...

I like to listen to movie soundtracks. It started back in high school with the Lord of the Rings, and grew from there. My current/all-time favorites (at least for now) are, in no particular order: 1. Black Beauty , Danny Elfman 2. Anne of Green Gables , Hagood Hardy 3. The Lone Ranger , Hans Zimmer 4. Schindler's List , Itzhak Perlman, John Williams 5. Little Women , Thomas Newman 6. The Last of the Mohicans , Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman 7. The Man From Snowy River , Bruce Rowland (mostly because of Jessica's Theme) 8. Interstellar , Hans Zimmer 9. Memoirs of a Geisha , John Williams 10. Pride and Prejudice , Dario Marianelli I have to give an honorable mention to The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore, and The Legend of Zorro, James Horner. So there you have it, some of my favorite music to have playing while I write or read.