coming full circle :: 2014

hello       
                         I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start
                         And I hope to talk about 2015 soon
                         But right now I am looking back at this past year. . .

2014  ::  sensing, learning, adventuring  ::  here I try to unfold the months that left me full

January  ::  grandparents move for the second time in two months  ::  snowy weather hits with a hint of sub-zero temperatures  ::  shell pink fountain pen ink  ::  piano practice with Beethoven  ::  Gramma's dementia/beginning Alzheimer's shows stronger  ::  choreography begins for the Helen Keller ballet  ::  self-defense class in good company  ::  driving and babysitting more than usual  ::  epsom salt baths

February  ::  snow week  ::  weird day of 60 degree weather  ::  ACT take 2  ::  celebrate temporary freedom from practice tests by reading The Fault in Our Stars  ::  winter of the peanut butter cookies    ::  special feature of Swan Lake at the movie theater  ::  first laser tag experience (leave eager to return)  ::  family considers moving neighborhoods, looks at a couple of houses  ::  fun dancing to "It is Well With my Soul" in church youth talent show

March  ::  research colleges while half-watching the Academy Awards  ::  purchase black dress for the homeschool winter dance that comes in handy for a variety of other events throughout the year  ::  open my own checking account  ::  the pups turn #1  ::  learn lots of lifts for the ballet  ::  play the wonderful board game Spy Alley  ::  Third Day/Skillet concert with my favorite Third Day enthusiast  ::  adventures with Whole Thirty eating  ::  watch (and love) the movie About Time 

April  ::  complete Tabernacle project at Bible study  ::  day trip to Omaha to see play of The Screwtape Letters (excellent!)  ::  house painted with a fresh coat of beige and dark brown trim  ::  surprise sprinkling of snow  ::  placement test at local community college complete with logarithms and an anticlimactic fire drill  ::  especially busy week with two college visits and a piano recital on top of normal activities  ::  sit through four-hour-long opera at local movie theater  

May  ::  ballet run-throughs begin  ::  listen to friend play the violin beautifully in a philharmonic performance  ::  college visit at my parents' Alma Mater  ::  grad parties for good friends  ::  grocery store run with my sisters (my first time accomplishing this feat I had long imagined:)  ::  decide against moving, opting instead to finish the basement ::  fall out of a leap—thankful ankle bruises were the worst consequence  ::  savor Croute Appenzell at Andre's    

June  ::  begins with a bang—Middle Sister and I spend weekend on church youth choir trip and Youngest Sister at church kids retreat  ::  ballet dress rehearsals begin  ::  get a round brush stuck in my hair (I don't recommend it)  ::  finish reading Soul Keeping by John Ortberg (I do recommend it:)  ::  plentiful rain makes for green world  ::  ACT practice and final test time  ::  first experience becoming addicted to an app—achieve 2048 tile after a bit too much practice at that game  ::  Pilates  ::  camping with dance friends  ::  art museum visit 

July  ::  picnic while seeing Shakespeare in the Park perform A Winter's Tale  ::  cleaning out basement  ::  refreshing visit to Anthropologie  ::  new waffle iron allows for cashew-based waffle making  ::  thoroughly enjoyable discussion-based Bible study  ::  Helen Keller ballet! preparations with costumes, make-up, and dances, then show week with three performances—such a joy to dance Helen's stunning story  ::  read Son by Lois Lowry, the satisfying last book in The Giver quartet 

August  ::  experience first official interview  ::  become a member of the teen advisory group at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art  ::  substitute teach in 3rd grade Sunday school class with my dad—kids' conversation turns to Frozen and quiets once my dad teases that the sequel will be called "Thawed"  ::  basement officially begins to be finished  ::  ALASKA! (posts here, here, and here)  ::  home to attend the first homeschool graduation meeting  ::  knit lace shawl  ::  Youngest Sister gets her first pair of pointe shoes

September  ::  transition from piano lessons to guitar lessons—keep practicing both, get to know music better as a whole  ::  senior year in full swing  ::  observe the ever-delightful Joyce DiDonato give a master class  ::  cook chicken, egg drop soup, and fried rice for a Tuesday dinner  ::  drive myself the mildly long distance to a teen advisory group meeting  ::  Dallas trip over long weekend—squeeze in a couple of college visits, a couple of museum visits, and a baseball game

October  ::  enjoy watching more hometown baseball games  ::  apple picking and nature walking  ::  write and edit application essays  ::  senior pictures taken by a sweet mother/daughter duo  ::  explore contact improv in lyrical dance class  ::  substitute teach in ballet and beginning pointe  ::  decide on paint colors for the basement  ::  80's themed homeschool fall dance with a bunch of fun friends  ::  begin reading War and Peace  ::  "Blue October" climaxes as the Royals sweep into the World Series, make it to game seven, and end with an almost-there loss—so much excitement!

November  ::  events at the Nelson— help plan teen bonfire and volunteer for TedxYouth@KC ::  visit day at a college that included high tea  ::  prepare audition materials for a dance program and learn a lot from the process  ::  night out attending symphony concert with my dad  ::  [finally] visit new Ikea  ::  guitar teacher says versatile line, "There are no wrong notes, only wrong resolutions."  ::  stop by tea shop with my mom, come home with Sencha Claus green and power chai  ::  refill fountain pen after leaving it alone for a few months  ::  listen to 3.14 hours of War and Peace while baking 2 pies (I do love pi and good stories:)

December  ::  listen to Youngest Sister play beautifully in her first cello recital  ::  annual babysitting of two boys and a little girl—thankful for the opportunity to watch them grow  ::  puppy girl attempts to jump from my bed to the yarn on my dresser (is she part cat?!)  ::  memory care unit Christmas party with Gramma  ::  finish reading War and Peace on 12/13/14—rather momentous!  ::  watch The Theory of Everything (especially fun to see as a physics enthusiast:)  ::  hit by the flu, out for a few days  ::  youth choir Christmas presentation  ::  ping pong tournament  ::  turn #18 with ice skating, bubble tea, and raspberry cake  

Thankful for every word,
                                            picture,
                                                            &  moment
That made this year shine.

reading

Falling

Apples 

           falling 

                      into

                            baskets

                                        . . . . . 

Falling 

           onto

                  toasted 

                             bread

                                      . . . . . 

Leaves 

            falling 

                       to the  

                                 ground

                                              . . . . .

Falling 

            onto 

                   a grassy 

                                bed

                                      . . . . . 

The sky
              falling
                          into
                                  sunset
                                               . . . . .

Falling
           into
                  October
                                night
                                          . . . . .

Me
       falling
                    for the
                                  season
                                                . . . . .  amidst the bustle it can incite.
 

a ray of light

A ray of light

An instant in time 

Sunbeam and mirror collide 

A greeting in style

An elusive smile

Girl who couldn't catch it but tried 

wordless Wednesday

adventures in lace knitting

The time in Alaska wasn't simply spent sightseeing. Namely. . . 

I knit my first lace shawl thanks to a Craftsy class. With the final stitches in place,  I arrived home quite eager to try my hand at blocking. . . 

Now I not only feel like a more legitimate knitter, but I also feel quite excited for autumn!  

Anything on your needles, crochet hook, or project pile? 

Waking on Water

The third and final part in my telling of our Alaskan adventure [you can find the other two parts here and here]. . . 

With a view of Denali behind us, we drove up to Fairbanks in something of a daze. A dumpster fire the next morning, therefore, served as a kind of jolt back into reality. Hotel alarms screeched through the building as we scrambled outside in our pajamas. 

A couple firetrucks later and safety (if not sleep:) was restored. Having been awakened to warmth, we switched gears to enjoy the "cool" ice museum down the street. 

Then we drove (along a beautiful coastline and through a frightful one-lane tunnel) to meet a boat called "Norwegian Sun" in an ironic downpour of rain.

Getting aboard was frazzling for our new-to-cruising selves, and we wondered if this was one of our lesser ideas. 

Then we saw how efficiently our room was laid out and how the balcony kept us from feeling claustrophobic with a gentle breeze and nice view. Our "nice view" became incredible when Hubbard Glacier appeared. 

The next day we enjoyed a walk along the shore of a coastal village. 

We adjusted to time on the water, picking up lemonade and snacks at the cafeteria, Sudoku puzzles in the library, meals at the restaurant, and exercise on the deck track (did I mention the fact that we ate a lot of food?:)

We read and rested while on the waves, walking off the boat to say transient hellos to Juno. . .  

Juno's Mendenhall Glacier. . . 

and Juno's rain (forcing us to sport jackets full of extra sweatshirts). . .

as well as greet Ketchikan. . . 

and Ketchikan's salmon swimming upstream. 

Perhaps my favorite thing to meet was the Tracy Arm Fjord. 

An afternoon of sailing through the fjord brought us up close and personal to South Sawyer glacier. 

Even when we weren't in at an especially scenic spot, the views were worth admiring. 

The time became a happy blur. 

We parted from the boat a bit hesitantly. 

 We plunged into a morning of sightseeing in Vancouver before finally catching our flights home. 

Needless to say, our trip has left fondness towards Alaska in its wake. 

Now to adventure into September. . . Thanks for reading!  

Denali Days

Any guesses as to who has arrived home? Yep, that would be me:) I've slowly been returning to the world of humidity and internet connection and oh-my-it's-my-senior-year-of-highschool. For now, however, I'm back here to share more of our Alaskan adventure. . .

Denali National Park loomed on the horizon miles before it officially began. We first admired it at an especially picturesque turn off of the main road.

Once we finally reached the it's border, we learned that cars are only allowed a few miles into the wild. Specially designated bus rides, however, were available for deeper treks. The promise of wildlife sightings and singular landscape made us agree to an eight-hour roundtrip excursion. 

I sipped tea and we slipped out of civilization. There were times we feared we would slip off of the road too! All the while a certain keen woman kept us looking out the windows with calls like, "BEAR. . . MOOSE. . . SOMETHING! 3 O'CLOCK!" 

Thankfully the excitement didn't get to our bus driver who kept the wheels carefully connected to the gravel. We even enjoyed an unusually clear day. 

This view of Mount McKinley (or simply "Denali") stunned us. It looked like fairytale material with snowy peaks and wispy clouds. I believe it was this moment that made me appreciate the gravel road. 

I'm still a bit enamored with Denali. I'm also stuck on the reality of a fjord. More on that soon. . . 

"A" Adventure

Any guesses as to who has experienced four different time zones today?

Yep, that would be my family and me :) 

We left our Midwestern home on a 6 a.m. flight and are now officially on vacation. . .

In Alaska!  

Now if we can just adjust to this whole time change thing (and the consequential fact that we've been up for twenty-ish hours) we should be flying high!