Oakbridge.

The last eight weeks or so of my life have been sheer madness. Not in a bad way, just in an “I’m so busy I’m have to stop doing some of the things I would normally do” way. Blogging happened to be one of them. Hence, my long drawn out absence. I had been getting so good at posting once a week, too! Oh, well. But please allow me to use these next few posts to tell you what I’ve been up to.

At the end of February, I spent a weekend in the mountains near Ramona. I am a leader for Wyldlife, a middle school ministry, and there was winter camp that weekend. We left Friday afternoon and drove the two hours there.

I was in charge of three, sixth-grade girls, and they were so great. As crazy as they can be, it really is a fun age to be around.

At our first leader meeting, we went around and said where we were from. Afterward, one of the other leaders from NorCal came up to me and asked where in Minnesota I was from. When I told him the Duluth area, he asked where exactly. Not expecting him to know my town, I was shocked when I said I live in Cloquet, and he knew where I was talking about! As it turns out, he spends a month in Minnesota every summer. His grandma lives in Ely, which is about two hours north of me. I then went on to learn that he knows someone I went to high school with! I can’t believe what a small world it is.

On Saturday night, a crazy thing happened—it snowed! And I’m not just talking about a light dusting; the snow was pouring down. I felt right at home. The students were so excited, and I couldn’t believe how many of them had never seen snow before. I even heard a guy say, “It feels so weird under your shoes!” I wanted to laugh out loud. I might have done so, actually.

My favorite part of the weekend, though, was just my interactions with my girls. We had “club” four times during the weekend, and right afterward we would go have cabin time and talk about what had been discussed. The club talks walked through a salvation message—sin/separation from God, the cross, and redemption. Even for myself, it was a beautiful reminder of the story of the cross. I think there are times in our lives when we need to go back and be reminded of it.

Also, I love the profound, insightful things that come out of the mouths of twelve year olds. For example, one of my girls said, “I always figure that God is going to make me as beautiful as He wants me to be, so that’s why I don’t really like to wear make-up and stuff.”

It really was a great weekend. Please enjoy some of my favorite photos from it:

These were my girls!

It rained, and then it turned into hail!

Before the snow.

After the snow.

The snow poured down.

Please just take in this lighting.

This lighting, too.

Oh, and this one.

Dylan, a fellow leader.

The light hit the house perfectly. It was beautiful.

Not exactly useful.

Can we have a moment of silence for these trees?

Not exactly ideal basketball conditions.

Our group!

Things had already melted a lot before we left.

Mermaid hair and picture frames.

The other day I begged my brother to come outside to take pictures with me. After a little bit of guilt-tripping, he finally agreed to come with me. He's actually gotten pretty good with my camera, and the first three pictures were taken by him.

Sarah refers to my hair either as a mane or mermaid hair. I guess this is why.

Isaac, the brother.

He's actually not that much taller than me. I'm leaning down. I promise.

My classic picture frame.

A Twin Cities Extravaganza.

This last week I spent four days in the Twin Cities. For those non-Minnesotans, the Twin Cities is simply the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. It’s about a two hour drive south of where I live. I was planning on meeting up with my friend Charlie (from Biola), as he lives two hours southeast of the cities. We left our plans pretty open; I was also going to be visiting some of my other friends that either live or go to school in the area. 

I left my house at noon on Wednesday, heading south. It was a nice, sunny day. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab a pair of sunglasses. Big mistake. It’s almost ridiculous how bright it is when the sun reflects off of snow. Luckily, it got to be manageable after the first hour. I listened to my favorite tunes and soaked in the scenery. I even got to talk with my friend Danae, whom I hadn’t gotten to talk with in months. Oh, how I miss her.

Once I got to the cities, I went to a Caribou Coffee near Northwestern College (NWC). My sister is student teaching this semester, so I wouldn’t be able to see her until later. Shortly after arriving there, I got a call from Charlie that he was at NWC. We met up there, and I realized something kind of funny. Although we both live in Minnesota, Biola/California is the only context in which I know him. I met his friend, Ryan, with whom he would be staying. We also got to see our friend, James, who transferred from Biola to NWC this semester. 

All of us, plus a couple of others, went to Famous Dave’s to eat, and my sister met us there. After that, Liz and I did a little bit of shopping, and then headed back to her place. She had some work to do on a lesson plan, so I just relaxed.

The next morning, Liz left really, because has a somewhat lengthy commute. I, on the other hand, took my time getting ready for the day. I went to Caribou Coffee again, and spent some time doing this and that on my computer. Charlie went to chapel with Ryan, and then met me at Caribou. We skyped with our friends Madeline and Mackenzie—which was spotty at best due to the poor wi-fi. Charlie and I tried to leave Sarah a video message, but our seven-minute video wouldn’t post. We were pretty bummed. 

I left Caribou around noon and went to pick up my friend, Laura, because we had lunch plans. Laura and I met at Girls State—a week-long government program—the summer before our senior year. She’s from in St. Paul and now attends King’s College in NYC. We headed to Café Latte, one of my favorite places. We ate delicious soup and talked about our college experiences on opposite sides of the country. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year, so it was a lot of fun to be able to catch up. 

After I dropped her off at home, I headed back to NWC. I met up with Charlie there, and we hung out for a little bit. I had been wanting to visit my friends at North Central University (NCU) in Minneapolis, and since Charlie and I didn’t have any other plans, we decided to do so. It wasn’t too far of a drive, and the roads weren’t really that bad. My friend, Hope, met us at the door. Hope and I went to different schools over the years, but we grew up in the same church, so we’ve basically been friends our entire lives. She showed me her dorm, gave Charlie and I a little tour of NCU, and then we met up with my friend Taylor. Taylor is from a small town west of the Twin Cities, and our churches attend the same Bible camp in northern Minnesota every summer. I hadn’t seen him since this last summer, when we were both counselors at senior high camp.

The four of us hung out in the lobby of one of the dorm buildings and just chatted it up. It was nice to talk with Hope and Taylor and get to hear about NCU. Hope asked Charlie and I about Biola, which I love getting to talk about. Far too soon, Charlie and I had to hit the road. We stopped to pick up some dinner, and then headed back to NWC. Once there, we met up with Ryan and his friend Lauren, as they would be giving us a crash-course in swing dancing. Yes, we would be going swing dancing that night. Ryan is really good, so he taught us some basic steps—enough for us to get by.

I went back to Liz’s place for a little bit before heading back to NWC to meet up with everyone going swing dancing. We then headed to Social Dance Studio in Minneapolis. The two rooms were filled with all kinds of people—some dressed casually and others dressed-up. Some people that could have been pros, along with plenty of beginners. I had a great time attempting to swing dance, as well as watching everyone else. It made me want to keep at it, too. It was a great night.

Friday was Charlie’s last day in the cities. I went to praise chapel at NWC and then met up with Charlie. We headed to Caribou and made a new eight-minute video for Sarah. After getting some coffee, he hit the road around noon. 

Shortly after he left, Gentry met me there. I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year and a half, so I was really looking forward to getting together with him. He had suggested we go to Mickey’s Diner in St. Paul, so we got in his car and headed that way. For those of you who don’t know, parts of The Mighty Ducks—all three of them, I believe—were filmed there.

Mickey's Diner in downtown St. Paul.

It was a funky little diner with good food. Gentry and I both got burgers and talked about all kinds of random things. After being separated by seventeen months and over 2000 miles, I loved getting to catch up. When you move far away, it means a lot when people take the time to get together with you.

Gentry dropped me off back at Caribou, and I hung out there for a few hours until Liz met me. Before heading back to her place, I stopped to fill the tank of my mom’s car. That was the first time I had pumped gas in five months. A ridiculous amount of money later, I decided that I really didn’t miss it—especially because there was snow blowing everywhere.

Back at her place, we hung out for a little bit, and then prepared to leave again. Gentry was playing a show in Uptown that night, and Liz had been planning on visiting her friends in Uptown. Perfect. Better yet, we learned that the coffeehouse where Gentry would be playing was less than half a mile from her friends’ house. We picked up Taylor from NCU on the way there, and Liz dropped us off at The Beat. Taylor and I listened to Gentry’s band, Boy On A Bike, play their set, and I shot a bunch of pictures. For organizational purposes, I will be creating a separate post with some of those pictures.

After the show, Liz picked us back up and we dropped Taylor off at NCU. Snow had been falling all evening, and the roads weren’t in great shape, so Liz and I took our time heading back to her place. I shot some pictures as we drove.

These ridiculous birds were everywhere.

Traffic light bokeh.

Liz slept in Saturday morning because she’d been getting up before 5 am the past few days, so I just hung out. When she got up, we went and had pancakes at her friend’s apartment down the hall. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and watching a movie. I didn’t want to drive home in the dark, so I headed north after that. 

My drive home was similar to my drive down—good music and plenty of trees to see. I love birch trees—I really miss them while I’m in California.

Highway 61 Revisited.

I thought about all the fun I’d had in the cities and all the people I’d seen. As I was nearing home, the sun was setting out my driver’s side window. It was a photo-finish to four amazing days. 

Sunset over the snow.

Snowy drives at 5 am.

Waking up at 4:45 am is always interesting. I don’t care what time you went to bed the night before—it’s still early.

I had a very specific purpose for waking up that early, though. I would be going with my mom and grandma to the airport. I, however, would not be going any farther than that. Rather, they were heading to Florida for my aunt’s birthday. They were flying out of the Duluth airport, which is about a 25 minute drive from my house. My mom would drive there, and I would drive her car home.

When my alarm so kindly went off that morning, I rolled out of bed and grabbed socks and a sweatshirt. Now, don’t judge too much—I was already in sweatpants and would be heading back to bed once I got home. I didn’t find it necessary to change.

My mom had been up since 4 am, so she was all set to go. I pulled on my coat and boats, and we headed out the door. My grandma lives nearby, so we picked her up and hit the road.

That good old Minnesota weather decided it would get in our way, though. It was snowing, and the roads weren’t in great shape. My mom took a back way to the airport and drove well under the speed limit. The drive took longer than normal, but we got there safely.

I said goodbye to my mom and grandma, and my mom instructed me on the route that she wanted me to take home. Hoping that the roads would be the clearest, she told me to head through downtown Duluth and to the interstate. That meant I would be driving down the hill, which I was a little nervous about.

I plugged in my ipod, and selected my most recent playlist. I was going to enjoy my drive. I was wildly alert for the time of morning, so that didn’t worry me. I find that my awareness instantly heightens when I’m behind the wheel. If for some reason I even felt the smallest ounce of sleep, I already had someone in mind to call.

It was a funny thing driving through Duluth at 5 am. I drove past the mall and surrounding area. Everything was lit up, but it was as dead as ever. There was something oddly peaceful about it. Even though the roads weren’t great, there were only a few other cars to compete with. I headed down the hill without a hitch, and got to take in the lights over the lake.

Once I got onto the interstate, I realized something: I really enjoyed the drive. I enjoyed the stillness—the emptiness.

The traffic started to pick up as time went on—people heading into work. I only saw one car in the ditch, though. Everyone was moving pretty slowly.

Once back home, I sat on the couch for a little bit, drove my brother to school, and headed back to bed.

It snowed lightly for most of the day. Fresh snow is the other thing that brings stillness to an area. I couldn’t resist; I headed outside and took some pictures.

Oh, to be in Minnesota.

Snowflakes in my hair bring me joy.