the past 2 months looked like this:

They also looked a lot like clerking in a law firm, staying up way too late, riding in the car way too much, and getting stuck overnight in the airport...but that's beside the point.

I'm not sure if the blog is going to be back in action now or not.  I really like being away from technology and off the map for a while in Maine and may try to keep that up even though I'm back in Lexington.  But for now, this is what I've been up to, though I doubt anyone reading this has actually been wondering.

A quote regarding many things but somewhat relevant to summer adventuring:

The unrest of the quest ends in the discipleship of Christ.

[Franz Hildebrandt]

Until next time?  We'll see what happens.

I'm going to Jackson

So, I survived 1L.  I will write about that later, but I have to actually process it first.  For now, I feel like I just woke up from a long, intense dream, where all I remember is that my brain hurt a lot and the Lord is really, really good.  Even now that school is out, things are still a slight whirlwind.  Since my last exam on Friday I have watched my sister graduate from Asbury, attended a research seminar at school to prep me for my summer job, gone on a nice long walk in the park in the rain with the boyfriend, had a lot of hammock time, and crashed Mom's 2nd grade field trip to the Arboretum.  And now, as a result of a bizarre series of events, I am leaving first thing Saturday morning to go spend the first half of the summer clerking at a law firm in the closest thing to a "hometown" I have, with my best friends nonetheless!  

Cue Johnny Cash:

I am excited.  Still, leaving is kind of overwhelming, and packing for a real job for 7 weeks is more ridiculous than I bargained for.  But regardless of what makes sense, where the Lord leads we follow.  So Jackson it is, for May and June, and then after that I am "wandering"...yeah.

Really though - this is the 23rd summer in a row I have lived out of a suitcase.  Why break the streak now?

Bluegrass State, thank you for a wonderful first year welcome.  Sorry that I have to leave you now that the weather finally got good and the flowers are all blooming.  I'll be back as soon as I can.

Mississippi, I am not looking forward to your humidity but I have terribly missed your food, your tea, your accent, your culture, and your people.  See you in 48 hours or so!

People of the Deep South, look me up the next 7 weeks.  I'm excited for some time to spend with you!

summertime and the living is easy

The nice thing about summer Saturdays - at least for me, now that I'm back at home and my main job is to "rest" before law school starts - is that they are essentially a free for all.  The morning does have a bit of rhythm - wake up, hot tea, porch swing, Bible, rescue the kitten from a tree (true story, did that today), write letters to brothers and sisters, etc.  But then?  I am blessed and get to essentially do whatever for the rest of the day. 

So for this summer Saturday?  I spent the last hour or so making homemade strawberry jam.  Currently it is thickening; I'm crossing my fingers it turned out well, because there is a lot of it, and I would love it if this afternoon took care of my entire next year's worth of PB&Js.  If this worked out, next stop = blueberry jam.  Or peach maybe.  While I am not that into canning (I'm still too young for that, right?), I am determined to take advantage of this good summer fruit while I can.

And speaking of fruit...

via

Good call, Twain.  Just a bit of Saturday afternoon brain food for you.  Enjoy the weekend while you can, because it's summertime and the living is easy.

summer spontaneity

What could be better than a summer trip to Birmingham to celebrate Katherine's off-night from DeSoto?  Complete with shopping at the Summit, Target, Whole Foods, coffee shops, a lot of hilarious/serious talk, and a spontaneous trip to this place - Steel City Pops.  A shop that sells only popsicles, and some really cool flavors at that:

[Lacey - Avocado, Anna - Sweet Tea, me - Mango, and Kat - Hibiscus]

Getting to spend time with these girls was the perfect mid-summer adventure.  It is potentially going to be a long time before we get to be together again, but it was such a huge blessing to get the little bit of time that we did.  I just love these people, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we left feeling incredibly refreshed and excited for what the future holds, even if it means we'll be apart for a while.  Shout out to Birmingham for being an awesome place, too.  I could definitely see myself liking living there.

But looks like I have my own city to figure out - I'm headed to Kentucky on Monday where I will hopefully finally really and truly learn my way around Lexington.  Until then, just packing up and saying final goodbyes in Oxford.  It doesn't feel real, but I think I am ready.  Regardless, this overnight summer reunion was the perfect way to wrap up June.

high low

Sometimes in small groups or Wesley or Muffin Club we do High/Low – go around the room and tell your highlight of the week and then your low point.  I have grown accustomed to mentally doing this myself, even when I’m not sharing my thoughts with a group.  The past 10-ish days have been filled with various highs and lows.  For example…

High: pool time with friends

Low: sunburn that resulted from pool time with friends

High: realizing it is not too difficult to make homemade pancake batter

Low: realizing there are cockroaches in the flour you just used to make the pancake batter

High: having enough time to re-read Mere Christianity

Low: somehow, even though it is summer, still never having enough time to read what you want

Other highs include the Farmer’s Market, good weather, summer flowers, spending time with one of my incredible role models, and Summer Wesley.  Other lows include the typical missing of my best friends, and also the fact that healthy, delicious summer foods are expensive and I am on a super low budget with little money to purchase them.  My first attempt at P90X yoga falls somewhere in the middle of high and low.  High because it was hilarious, low because if I had to do one more darn downward dog pose I might have lost my mind.  (Seriously, it's always the downward dog - crazy!!)  Overall, the past week or so has been a good one, and I am finally remembering how to relax a little bit and enjoy summer.  Looking forward to the rest of June with hopefully lots more highs and not many lows to come!

so do you remember...with your white dress on

Summer is my friend Katherine's season. She loves it and it loves her. "Summers change people," she has said to me multiple times. "People come back different." I've always nodded and agreed, but I didn't realize just how true that was until this summer when, for whatever reason, I thought I could spend 2 months in new surroundings and be unaffected. I obviously thought wrong and can officially say that my life has been changed in more ways than one. For example...

I have developed an obsession with Magnum bars.

I have developed an equal, if not stronger, obsession with the Train Game.

I have remembered what it is like to live simply.

I will never be able to think about the songs and/or names of certain Christian music artists the same way as before.

I have moved from a state of total panic to one of controlled fear towards my thesis.

I have an overwhelming desire to play outside all hours of the day.

I cannot hear a Ben Rector song without being immediately transported to McCauley Road, driving through horse fields in the bright sunlight while dodging some very low-flying birds.

I have learned anew in my heart - and not just in my head - that God is good.

Kentucky got inside of me, and I wasn't expecting that. And now after all the new friends, places, and changes I am back in Oxford. Home of Nike shorts and oversized t-shirts, where people sleep all day and party all night, and where you are expected to be out (wherever "out" really is, anyway) on at least Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

There are adjustments, for sure, because let's face it: Wilmore, Kentucky and Oxford, Mississippi may be the 2 most opposite places on the planet, and time away from the Ole Miss culture makes the ridiculousness of some things stand out that much more. But I love Oxford, with all my heart, and the Oxford and Ole Miss I know are much different than the Oxford and Ole Miss that most people see at first glance. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the place that I am called to be and to serve, and I have the best friends in the world here to do it with me.

I am going to miss Kentucky. One week of school in and I already do. But I know the inevitable homesickness is a good thing. At 21 years of age, I can confidently say I am a better person because of the surprisingly many places, people, and experiences that have made up my life. So here's to time spent in Wilmore. Here's to Summer 2011. Here's to one more piece of Katharine Elizabeth Smith...

God is so good.

a day in the life

6:00 – wake up to bright sun, roll over and fall back asleep

8:00 – wake up, for real this time

8:23 – eat strawberry yogurt and a cinnamon raisin bagel

8:37 – begin kayaking

9:45 – return to house, eat breakfast for the second time

10:41 – begin laying out on the dock and reading

12:08 – go inside and grab lunch to take it back to the dock

2:10 – go for a swim

2:21 – decide the water is too cold for casual swimming

2:22 – continue laying out and reading

4:45 – take a nap on the hammock

5:57 – eat dinner on the picnic table

7:12 – wander around with cell phone trying to get service and 3G for internet

8:19 – go kayaking with Laura, take pictures of sunset

9:30 – sit at fire and roast s’mores

10:44 – grab sweatshirt and flashlight and stargaze from the dock

11:37 – get in bed, read a section of Psalm 119, drift to sleep, prepare to do the same thing all over again the next day

Day in and day out, this is pretty much how life at Songo Pond goes. Of course, all kinds of places and things to do are right around the corner…hiking trails, outlet malls, rivers, quaint New England towns, etc. We have plenty of other adventures, but more about them another time. Because when the weather is nice, I find myself more than content to simply stay.

In this house

With this view

Let's be real. Could you ever bring yourself to leave?

hit the road jack

Tomorrow, I become a nomad.

For 21 consecutive years now, I have spent a considerable portion of the summer roaming around the country (and, sometimes, world). It's just one of those things that goes hand-in-hand with being a member of the Smith family. Last summer, I lived out of my suitcase from the middle of June until the day school started back for the fall. This summer is not quite as drastic, but still - things are about to get a little crazy. Here's my itinerary for the rest of summer break:

June 30 - July 1: New Garden, Ohio

July 2 - July 24: Bethel, Maine

July 25 - July 27 - Wilmore, Kentucky

July 28 - July 30 - Jackson, Mississippi

July 31 - drive 10 hours back to Kentucky

August 1 - August 7 - Sumpango, Guatemala

August 8 - August 11(ish) - Wilmore, Kentucky

August 12(ish) - Leave for Oxford, Mississippi for SENIOR YEAR of college

Jealous? I thought so. Really, though. I am about to have some incredible adventures. Leaving Kentucky is going to be so much harder than I thought; it's amazing how quickly this place has become a part of me, and I only have about a week left at "home!" But I am so, so excited to get to Maine. Three full weeks in a cabin on a lake with my kayak, lots of books, and - hopefully - lots of sunshine. Because of this whole nomadic lifestyle traveling thing, I'll have limited internet access, but I will attempt to share some of the good things that take place over the course of the next month when possible. If you need me, call me (no matter where you are, no matter how far...)

T-19 hours until departure time (because every normal family leaves at 5:30 PM for a road trip) so I better get back to that suitcase. Here's to a hectic but beautiful rest of the summer!

singing in the rain

I'm sitting at work watching some serious lightning out the window right now. Sometimes I love rainy days, especially good summer rains. Because the weather's been perfect lately and just yesterday I spent hours outside, today I would be completely content to stay inside for a change - sit at work, watch the dark clouds out the window, read a book, and top off the night with some old school indoor fun such as, perhaps, the Train Game.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest game ever. Officially known as Ticket to Ride, it is more affectionately referred to as the Train Game, and several nights have been set aside specifically to play it so far this summer. What better way to spend a rainy evening than by building railroads from Seattle to LA and by fighting with friends over access to Montreal? (You think I'm exaggerating, don't you? It's ok. I thought Laura's friends were exaggerating too. Confirmed. They're not. Buy the game, catch the obsession, then call me up to come play.)

So why not? Why not have the calm day and restful Train Game-filled night, staying out of the storms? Because, friends, today is the first day of Ichthus. (Ichthus for my Mississippi friends = a 3 day Christian music festival that brings unprecedented numbers of people to Wilmore.) The "Expect Heavy Traffic" signs start as early as Man O' War on Harrodsburg Road, and we've watched each day this week as more and more tents go up out at the field. They joke that it rains every year, but the show always goes on. Hope they're right, because the forecast for tonight says "Strong Storms" and Hillsong is supposed to go on the Main Stage circa 7:00.

A little water never hurt anything, right? Still crossing my fingers the storm rolls out, but, if not, looks like thousands of people tonight will still be singing in the rain. Looking forward to being led in worship by these guys tonight, whatever the weather.

school's out for the summer

The end of school/start of summer transition was especially chaotic this year, for various reasons. Here's a recap of what's been going on.

[PART ONE: end of school]
Finals' week presents the question - is it better to be very disciplined and study gradually over a long period of time, or keep hanging out with your friends whenever you want and have a blast and then be forced to stay up all night writing a paper on Moby-Dick's relationship to 19th-century America? This year, my approach was totally the latter. Play while everyone's awake, then work while others are sleeping. 3:00 in the morning isn't so bad if the daytime fun makes it worth it. What am I going to remember in 30 years, anyway? A sleepless night full of history essays, or a sunset at Sardis, spontaneous trip to Gum Tree, and dinner with friends? I think we both know the answer. All this to say, school was ROUGH the last few days, but everything worked out just fine in the end.

[note to self/others...procrastinating in Spanish = more problematic than procrastinating in English. proyecto final took me an eternity even if it was about fútbol.]

[PART TWO: fun-filled weekend]
Some people aren't going to follow me for this part, but others will immediately understand. I made it back to Wilmore just in time to change clothes and get to work helping with the Francis Asbury Society Building Dedication Ceremony weekend. Extremely busy but absolutely awesome way to kick off the summer. People from all over the country, and, really, all over the world, came together for camp-meeting style preaching, fellowship, celebration, and prayer for the new FAS Ministry Center. The weekend was, naturally, filled with encounters with lots of people who I don't know but who know me (shout out to my fellow preachers' kids, I know you understand that one!). We also got some bonding time with some of our closest friends and Laura's and my "adopted" big brother and sister from New Jersey! We are so blessed. I will explain FAS in detail later, but for now, this will tell you everything you need to know.

Ministry Center Video Tour from The Francis Asbury Society on Vimeo.

[PART THREE: everything else]
Since the weekend, I have unpacked, done a lot of work organizing the August Guatemala trip, worked some (but of course not enough) in the LSAT practice book, clocked in a good number of hours at the FAS building, and (no surprise) started reading a C.S. Lewis book. Kentucky is beautiful in the summer. I'm looking forward to all of the adventures that I'm sure are on the way.

(17) days of summer left.

17. That's all? I have mixed feelings every August because summer always feels so short yet so long. I've certainly been to plenty of places: Guatemala, Ocean Grove, Delanco, Oxford, Jackson, and back and forth, and back and forth some more. And I've done plenty of things. While this seems to be the case every summer, I always wish I had done a little more: read more books, watched more movies, eaten more homemade ice cream, simply relaxed. Because once school is back in session, there is never enough time for the simple things.

That being said, 17 days is still 17 days. I may have to spend them packing, and going to meetings, and moving back to Oxford, and getting ready for class, but they are still good summer days that can be used for good summer things. I will take advantage of them.

I am reading back over this and laughing because I already know what my next post will be. Today I'm in the "end of summer" mood, which means any day now I will catch the "back to school" mood and be elated. I truly, truly love when school starts back, and several things put me in the mood for starting school every year. But I'll leave those things for the next post, whenever that new mindset catches on. For now, "end of summer" it is. Time to take advantage of the time that I have left!

freedom is not free.

The dorky history-major side of me comes out in full force on the 4th of July. It's inevitable. Have you read the Declaration of Independence? The words are beautiful, and were painstakingly written in the midst of years of fighting and hundreds of sacrificed lives to get us where we are today. Look at the land outside of your window; look at the floor under your feet. Someone died for you to have that.

Most 4th of Julys I am in Maine at the cabin. This year, however, I found myself home alone in Jackson while the rest of the family was still in Jersey. Luckily, I was not really alone. As an "orphan" for the weekend, I became an adopted member of the Kelly family. My friend Scott Brabon was there too; his family is on the mission field in Taiwan, which obviously makes him way more of an orphan than me this summer! Anyway, the Kellys are wonderful and took both of us in for a couple days of food, fun, and fireworks.

(American flag cupcakes confession - not actually made for the 4th of July. Made for the USA/England World Cup game a few weeks ago. But it captures the patriotic spirit of this post nonetheless...)

(Me, Gracie, and Scott with some celebratory sparklers.)

It was a great weekend. I am now back in Oxford and currently find myself, once again, in the Union watching the World Cup. Uruguay 1 - Netherlands 2 in the 72nd minute. Let me also mention that I am the only caucasian here; literally, it is me and 20(+) international students. I can understand a bit of the Spanish being spoken behind me...wait...GOOOAAALLLLL! Uruguay 1 - Netherlands 3. Looks like the Dutch are about to take this one. Better go watch the rest of the game with my new foreign friends! Until next time.

it's been a while. (part 2)

More pictures from the last three weeks. I'm glad to see my Mississippi friends again but, oh, how I miss these places and these people...


Of course, pictures and words aren't really enough to sum up all of the randomness, which - at bare minimum - involved long walks and talks with the cousins, Jersey corn, Wawa, tents, beach tags, Maplewood, midnight diner trips, Boost, midnight Italian sub marathons, and reunioning with some of our best family friends. People headed to the mission field, people temporarily back from the mission field, other preachers' kids, Laura's and my adopted big brothers and sisters, and countless other people we have literally known for as long as I can remember.

I love Mississippi with all my heart, but it's so good - and so necessary - to remember where I come from.

(114) days of summer

There are not, unfortunately, 500 days of summer. There are, however, 114. I intend to fill these 114 days with things that make me happy. This is a long list - most things in life make me happy in one way or another! But here are some of the fun summer things that I am especially looking forward to...

Reading books of my choosing.
Playing the piano.
Being with friends from home who I only get to see in the summertime.
Making lots and lots of friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss.
Eating strawberry shortcake.
Fondrening. (yes, we invented a verb for that!)
Going to Anthropologie, sadly not to buy things, but to get ideas of cheaper things to buy elsewhere.

The list goes on and on. I tend to think of ridiculous craft projects; crafts make me happy and there is definitely no time for crafts at college. Today I have occupied a large amount of time making birthday cards to bring to Guatemala in a couple of weeks.
I so love the beginning of summer when there are seemingly endless days just waiting to be filled. The goal is to be productive while still relaxed, to have a plan but to always be spontaneous. The ultimate goal of my summer is always to do something good with the time I've been given. To leave the world better than it was before, and to come back to school a better person than I was before. Make that your summer goal too. We have 110 days left to do something amazing, and counting...