t'was the night before Christmas...

and not a creature was stirring...

well... maybe just one little mouse...

things I am into... (at this somewhat late moment)

bears

rough-cut wood

multi tools

cable knit stockings

antlers

the color red

the band, The Phoenix Foundation

chocolate covered pretzels

crying for the animals trapped at the zoo

motorcycles in the dessert

sorel boots

snow covered fir trees

fur rugs

vaulted celings

leather tassles

ok, maybe I am just into winter and all that that entails.

merry stormy evening!

live to be free,

kare

Oh how I love going home to my parents house. Warm, Cozy, and wonderful. I especially love the holiday season in our home. Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Be prepared, my Mom's house belongs on a design blog... I am so proud to have her as my Mama and best friend! Can't wait to see the Christmas decor this weekend!

to give

i have always loved thanksgiving. i love the idea of a holiday based entirely around decorating, cooking, a shared meal, drinking, conversing, thinking, napping, and thanking. what in the world could be a more biblical than eating, drinking, and being merrily thankful together? nothing.

things i am thankful for in this season of life:

my dear family

my family of friends

for my Young Life girls

for my education (although i complain about it a lot, i am thankful for it)

for a spirit of adventure

for warmth in heart and life

for seasons

for laughter and smiling

for freedom in truth

for my LORD, Jesus Christ dying for me

for music

for shared meals and yummy food

for a home

for old friends and new friends, distant and near

for rich colors and the ability to see

for hearts that share mission

for love and the countless ways it is shown

the truth is that everything in this word is something to be thankful for. for life in and of itself, for the riches of God's mercy, for people and hearts that are built to love and live uniquely... the earth itself is more a reminder to thankful than anything else.

to give thanks... to give. thankfulness is a gift to be given, a joy to be shared, and a moment to be humbly honest. i am learning to approach life with a spirit of thanksgiving, rather than an expectation of receiving.

live to give.

live to be free,

k

live to be free

things i have learned about myself recently:

i don't wear jeans often. really, i would prefer to only wear stretchy pants (or no pants as i like to call them) every day.

i like looking at design blogs.

i really like croissants.

i like the snow.

i like loose fitting clothing, paired with tights.

i like antlers as decoration.

i am not much of a dreamer.

conclusions i have made:

i want to be a dreamer.

as i begin to think about next year and all of the places i could go and oh, the things i could see i have realized that (although i don't like to admit it) i am a little bit of a dreamcatcher (although i do love a feathered dreamcatchers). nearly every time i come up with a crazy idea about the future, or some sort of long term dream i shoot it down before it can even possibly come to fruition. i have a problem... i am the dreamkiller. i have always assumed that the reason why i do this is because i have trouble committing to long term plans but really, i guess you could just say that i am a realist. ugh, reality. why do i choose to live in it? it is so much more fun to live in a dream...

i want to explore, i want to create, i want to be free. free to come and go. free to move on and free to stay. free to speak and free to have courage. free to love and like as i choose. and free to dream without consideration.

i want to live in this moment with freedom to put my heart out there.

and so i propose to my heart, go little one. be free to go. you may be young but dream as big as the king.

"if the LORD delights in a man's way,

he makes his steps firm;

though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the LORD upholds him with his

hand"

the LORD has me in his hand and so i step out.

live to be free,

kare

lost and now found, here is a post i meant to publish oh, i don't know, about a month and a half ago... oh well, it's never too late to appreciate glorious moments

i have been captivated by fall. it's rich colors and warm memories have kept my heart in a colorful utopia since the day it began to rain leaves. just as quickly as the leaves change colors and begin to blow off the trees, so have new friends come into my life and so quickly they will soon blow away. but yet my heart is joyed by the simple things in my life and in taking ordinary moments deep. here are some of the best moments from this fall captured in all their brilliance...

the "rain or shine (but mostly rain)" YL fall retreat

Tony's new ink! thanks Armen!

oh the night of left handed bowling, a post surgery outing with Collin and friends

a day to play

eugene's fist friday art walk

the Watering Tote

ok, I know that there are probably many other things I could be posting about (seeing as how I haven't posted in 3 weeks...) BUT I was just inspired by design sponge to look at these photographers who make stop motion films that are beautifully joyful. I didn't want to forget who they were, so I figure posting them on my blog would be a good way to remember the name! here they are...

http://baylymoore.com/#/work

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/10/stop-motion-wedding-video.html

More news about my love for fall to come!

Fall is here, hear the yell

back to school, ring the bell

climb the fence, books and pens

I can tell that we are going to be friends.

Yes, I can tell that we are going to be friends.

I think that the White Stripes had it right; fall is here and friends are near.

I can't say that I was absolutly thrilled about going back to school after the wonderful summer I had, but fortunately (as always) the Lord blessed me this last week with many wonderful things. Being reunited with classmates, my bike, Young Life kids, the University district, the woodshop, my house on the hill, agape feasts with dear friends, a win for the Ducks, curry, and 4:30am stillness that I have become quite comfortable with somehow made this first week of school enjoyable.

Since I only have classes on Tuesday and Thursday... Monday, Wednesday and Fridays are my days to spend quality time with the Lord and with others (mostly hopping from coffee shop to coffee shop). Most of my day Monday was spent with Young Life kids (as usual) and preparing for my first day of school on Tuesday.

Here is a picture of Shelby on her last first day of school!

On Tuesday I had my las first day of school... Strangely enough it was not full of sentiment it was mostly full of frustration and sweat. Right as I got down to the bottom of our hill on my bike, my little baby girl got a flat tire and I had to walk the rest of the way to campus. I ended up being 35 minutes late to my last first class only to walk into a full lecture hall sweaty and disheveled. The rest of my day was really quite enjoyable in comparison to this, however.

On Wednesday I recruited Joel to help me repair my bike and bring her back to full health. Here are some pictures from our day together. (notice they are all Joel... wonder why)

All spiffed up!

This weekend was time well spent with long distance friends, family, yummy food, and of course a DUCK victory! Return of the Quack commencing...

Falling in love with Fall,

Kare

It would be hard for me to describe in detail the happenings of this summer. I feel like I always go into the summer expecting it to be the best 3 months of my life; sun, adventure, the Lord, and a break from the harsh reality of deadlines and "have-to"s. Although each summer is memorable, this summer has undoubtably been the best above the rest. So here it is; the highlights of my summer and the highs in my heart...

June 13th: Tony graduates from the U of O! 2 down, just me to go...

June 26-July 2nd: Greater McKenzie goes to WAFARA! 67 kids and a great week full of the Lord, vibin' all over the Canyon, all for the sake of 'MURICA. Yeeee-haww.

July 3rd- July 31st: Summer Staff at Saranac, Saranac Lake, New York. What can I say? It was truly the best month of my life. Best friends. Late Nights. No Regrets. Summerstaff 2010 (just kidding, it wasn't really like that). Well, I was the only Oregonian (most people struggled with knowing where Oregon was) and was assumed to have dreads, Raise Bioson, wear wolf tees for real, and play the Oregon Trail Game all the time. Although there were many misconstrued views of who people thought I was, I came away with a better understanding of who the Lord has made me to be and my true and deep love for Sour Patch Kids.

July 31st- August 9th: The Oregon Trail: Manifest Destiny. 16 States in 8 days, a road trip from Saranac to Portland with my brother was by far the best way to come home from Summer Staff. Stopping for a night in NYC with Johnny and Michelle, then off to the Connecticut coast to eat fish and chips on the Ocean during a boat ride, then to Columbus for a little OSU love from Sarah, Brian, Grady, Sara, Lindsey, Gabe, and the Coupe, Mt. RUSHMORE, Cody is Rodeo (new life goal, be in a Rodeo as the American Flag bearer), Yellowstone... Ole' Faithful sure is Faithful, Tony sure is a tourist, and Sulfer sure does make rock some crazy colors.

August 13th-15th: GRMCKYL Staff retreat on the Metolious. It just feels so right to be re-united.

August 28th: The Williams Wedding; 5 became 6! Before and After shots of the space, Stacie; my new sister, the beautiful Orange Dallias used, the Bridesmaids, and the Happy Couple. 1 down, 2 to go...

August 31st- September 2nd: Regional Staff retreat at Breakaway Lodge, Gerheart, OR. My first trip to the Pacific Coast of the summer. It was actually beautiful weather and my Sperry's very much enjoyed cruising the sand.

September 3rd- 10th: The Williams do Maui, Hawaii. As the happily married couple took set flight to their Bali honeymoon, the remaining Williams (Dad, Mom, Tony, and I) took a relaxing vacation to Hawaii. With not a day of rain this vacation looked like a postcard.

September 25th: So-long Sweet Summer. I woke up this morning feeling adventurous, so to say goodbye to a beautiful summer I packed Bailey in the car and drove to Cannon Beach to then come home and watch the Ducks.

Coffee. Pumpkin Bread. Bible. Bailey. Beach. Book. Beer. BBQ. Football. Living the dream and loving my life.

And so that is it. My summer in short and now I am off.

Live to Love (and I advise you to do the same),

Kare