"Don't ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive,

and go do it. Because what the

world needs is people

who have come alive."

-HOWARD THURMAN

23,000 words worth... and then some.

might I entertain you with some favorite photos and memories from the last few months?

Navigators

1) Practicing for worship before our last Navigators meeting for the semester. Being a part of the worship team is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I've experienced.. and its loads of fun too :)





Music

2) This guys is great. Josh Ray. He's taught me so much about music in the last two years and has a heart for worship that's amazing to see in action. Spontaneous guitar-practicing and music-swapping on the dorm lawns was the best.

Clouds

3) My developing obsession with clouds and my final climatology project left me with about a billion cloud pictures in my iPhoto.

click this to read my blog post about clouds.

<-- cumulus clouds over the grapevine.

TOMS

4) Got a pair of TOMS. Mine are the red ones.

browse TOMS.com - great cause. great shoes.

Lil Sis

5) No, not the sorority kind.. the REAL kind. Got to see my sister play drums in her winter percussion group a few times. She's the one off the left shoulder (your right) of the snare player at center.

The show was unbelievable!

Friends - 6) Quality time with people you love is like nothing else in the world.

... especially when its spontaneous :)

Surfing

7) Alright so, even though I'm still slightly terrified of the sport, surfing in the morning is just about the best way to wake up.

<-- Justin and I paddle out.

Party

8) So we had a birthday party for our friend Athena in the common room of one of the dorm buildings. I feel like everything was fine, fun, and quaint- and then everyone suddenly went crazy! Most of us were acting like 8 year olds who had been given a case of Monster energy drinks.

<-- In this picture we see how much fun streamers can be. Notice them all ripped up on the floor.. yeah.. we had quite the dance party.

Concert

9) Finally got to see Anberlin in concert. They played in Biola's gym (which was so cool). There were some strange people there though. Let's just say that Zack and I spent the majority of the concert tallying up these fine folks and all their weird disturbances (like the two very large mosh pits filled with very scrawny boys in fedoras and American Apparel).

Shoes

10) I didn't wear shoes for a whole day. And I wrote about it too - click here.

Paper Planes

11) I fly like paper, get high like planes, if you catch me in the dorms I've got.. a bunch of guys launching paper airplanes at each other. I was just waiting for someone to get a paper cut on their cornea..

Karaoke

12) Spontaneous karaoke trip to a venue called Ding, Dong, Dang. No joke- that's actually what it's called. It was more karaoke/dance party as you can see from the picture. I rocked Hanson's "Mmbop" with Alissa. Good times, people.

Roomies

13) I seriously had the best roommate ever last year. I think its so funny that we had to travel all the way to Long Beach to meet each other and become friends. She lives about 4 blocks away from me in Modesto... what the what.

Sometimes my eyes look a lot lighter than they do on a normal basis.

14) Like right here. My eye looks so green compared to its normal dark-browned-ness. Doesn't it? That's what I thought anyways- so I had to take a picture.

Prom

15) So me and some close peeps organized a formal dance for all our friends. It was so fun dancing and seeing everyone all fancified and dressed up. I highly suggest formal wear if you want to have infinitely more fun at dance parties.

Fun Times at the Beach - 16) After a short photo shoot on the beach, a soon-to-be-married couple discarded this perfectly good 24 x 36" canvas. We had a small photo shoot of our own and then I took it home with me. I'm still deciding what I want to paint..

Sunrise

17) After an entire night of picture-sorting and video-editing, I decided to take the 10 minute drive to Bolsa Chica beach to watch the sunrise. This is one of the views from the lifeguard tower where I stationed myself. Yeah I know, they say not to climb those things, but nobody's out there at 6 AM anyways... except the giant pod of dolphins I saw playing in the waves!

After Party

18) I feel like half the fun of big events is the after party. Amiright? Some of the best bonding time occurs when everyone is just hanging out. The after party announcement being written on this whiteboard followed an annual end-of-the-year event for the Navigators where we look back on the year and honor the seniors (that's what that all-nighter video project was for).

Greatness

19) These women are great. They're on staff with the Navigators at Long Beach State and do so much for me; including, but not limited to: lending me their oven, taking care of me when I'm sick, giving me a place to sleep when I need it, encouraging me when I'm down, helping me plan things, revealing their immense wisdom to me, offering an ear, driving, and so much more. Right now, Alissa (on the left) is in Russia and Alicia (on the right) is in the Middle East - they're both doing missions work. How cool is that?!

King David

20) With the help of my parents, I finally upgraded to a Taylor 314ce acoustic-electric guitar. I found it on craigslist for a jaw-dropping steal.My mom agreed to buy it for me as long as I paid it back to her in the future. Turns out that the super-nice guy who sold it to me was not only friends with my best friend's brother, but we took guitar lessons from the same guy during the same few years. What a neat coincidence. (I named my guitar King David because he wrote a bunch of really awesome songs).

Chasing the Sunset

21) Dani got a new camera. Photo shoot time.. I mean, who wouldn't? Heather took this photo of Dani and I up on a well, silhouetted against a gorgeous sky. I have amazing friends, and this outing taught me a lot. And hey- I wrote about it! Read it here.

Hope you enjoyed some of these photos of my life :) Real blog post to come soon!