Why today is awesome.

• I have a job for this summer. More about this later.
• I'm pumped for going on a week long mission trip in July with my youth group and another one. They created a facebook group today, the first thing posted is "Let's start by having people introduce themselves... tell a few fun facts about yourself and what type of cookie you would describe yourself as."
• Alex has a girlfriend. This makes my life less awkward, now that his crush on me extending from October has ended. 
• I had a really awesome long weekend at a youth retreat. Despite being pissed off at the world for the first day and a half, in which it was dreadfully obvious to everyone, I got a lot of perspective and I got rid of some emotions that I needed to, mostly over the events of last November 29th.

How many times

Can I push it aside?
Is it time I befriended all the ghosts of all the things that haunt me most.

So they leave me alone
Move on with my life
Be certain the steps of left and right don't fight the direction of upright

I'd rather forget and not slow down
Than gather regret for the things I can't change now
If I become what I can't accept
Resurrect the saint from within the wretch
Pour over me and wash my hands of it.

 

 It's time to decide
Which is out of my mind
Cause it'll be me unless I put some thoughts to rest and leave some faults behind
I'll watch the glint in my eye
Shine off the spring in my step
And could be blinding depending on the amount of You that I reflect

Cause I could spend my life just trying to sift through
What I could've done better but what good do what ifs do
There's something I should tell you now

  (Forget and not slow down)

In my case, it's not about the forgetting (it's not good to forget), but the not slowing down. Learning to handle what life throws. Not letting it tear you apart.

Love,

-J-

City buses taken this year: 23

African rain.

The weather brought my some weird perspective today.

It's been raining for about a week. My general impression of the outside world is "soggy" at the moment.

It's strange though, how here rain here is such a bother.

I miss the days in Kenya where I would sit with a cup of chai tea, listening to the rain pouring on to the metal roof, nothing in the world I would rather be doing. The sound of rain on a mabati roof is the most comforting sound in the world.

African rain is welcomed, because of the hope it brings. There were times when it was so dry, rain drops would make little clouds of dust rise. Farmers rejoice for their crops, people are full of happiness. I remember running through the rain feeling nothing but joy. Rain made everything smell and feel fresh and alive. Birds chirped louder, flowers smelled sweeter, grass felt crisper.

I miss having a simple life.

I miss when people had pure, unadulterated happiness.

I miss the sound of rain on a mabati roof. 

I miss Africa.
Love,
-J-

Hey...

A outhouse in Florida that my brother and I thought looked remarkably like a TARDIS. Or, as my brother said, a TURDIS. *shudders at pun*.

 Well, this is awkward.

I feel odd picking back up after a slightly lengthy absence.

So many projects. The occasional bout of nice weather. Drivers ed.

To be perfectly honest, my head has been spinning around and around and I can barely form a complete thought, not to mention write a post.

But anyway, until I get my head straightened out, here is an exert of a zombie apocalypse survivors that my brother wrote for his 7th grade English class:

The wait was boring, just as it had been every time they found themselves in that particular bunker. It wasn't a particularly boring bunker, it just lacked the festivities of curing the infection... with bullets.

I missed the days in school where creativity wasn't beat out of us with endless commentaries and lab reports. *sigh*.

Love,

The still present -J-

City buses taken: 21

Julian Smith- Rendezvous with You

Definitely one of my favorite youtubers.

My adventures with illegal activities and such.

I helped my friend Brittany move today.

I arrived to her house with Katie to find that Maddy, Allan and Fawn were already there to help. They had mostly packed up in the U-haul truck.

At this point, we ignored the sign that said "DANGER. All passengers should ride in cab. Failure to comply could result in serious or fatal injury." We sat on the couch in the back as the truck drove across town. It was amusing that our first reaction as the truck started moving (after the initial panicking as the light went out) was to whip out our phones and update facebook statuses of our illegal activity. After ten minutes of sitting in the dark, we got to the new apartment. It must of looked strange when a U-haul parked on the road, a guy opened the back and six teenagers casually filed out of the back.

It was our job to help Brittany set up her room. It's rather small; it seems like the walls are taller than the room is wide. When we set up her dresser and TV, we noticed something: the entire room is slanted. It looked like we should have put a book under the dresser to make it level. What's even stranger is that the other side of the house is also slanted, but in the other direction. I seem to remember an incident on How I Met Your Mother where something similar happened.

So, what did you do this weekend, people of the blog world?
Love,
-J-