Like the leaves of autumn...

Listening to: Taylor Swift's new Speak Now album
(Finally getting to listen through the whole album is one of my rewards for surviving this week. Yes, I'm 20 and yes, I am entirely serious. I love Taylor Swift. I can't help myself. She's one of my favorites.)

Photo Credit: 8 Simple Rules

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn."

- John Muir

Today is gorgeous.

Sunny, blue skies, with a cool breeze blowing the leaves off of the trees and swirling them around before they hit the ground...perfection. It makes me wish fall could last forever. It is, by far, my favorite season. I love the colors. I love the cool weather. I love watching the leaves fall from the trees. (It reminds me of music, somehow. If you could see music, I like to think it would look something like that. Random insight into the mind of me. You're welcome.) Today is one of those days that makes me love life, which is a nice change from all of the stress, uncertainty, and frustration I've been feeling lately. I need a little peace in my life, and today is one of those days when it seems impossible not to feel it.

I have sooo many things I want to write about right now. Instead of making this into the longest post of the century though, I'll condense a few of them into a list. I like lists.

A few favorite things...

• Hanging out with little kids at a local elementary school for a class service project. I learned from a first grader named Kaitlyn that Ohio is a faraway country in China. Who knew?
• Coffee. Enough said.
• Adam Young. Still. Go to his blog. Read/listen/love.
• Studying in the library with Kristi and Jon until midnight. Actually, I hate the library and I hate studying, but I do love them. Especially when all the studying stress gets to us and you throw Facebook in the mix. Enter posting the alphabet and counting to 50 (multiple times) on each others' walls, then laughing hysterically about the weird way Jon's thumbs bend backwards. Delirious? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.
• Having a discussion with my roommate about which characters from the Left Behind series we would be. (More I-hate-studying delirium.)
• Backpacker Magazine. Oh, the places I would go and the things I would do, if only I had money... 
• The Karate Kid. I watched it the other night with Kristi & Mike and liked it waaaay more than I expected!
• Goodmorning & Goodnight. I really like this blog. A lot. Good stuff.

In other news, I'm really thankful for my friends in general. Lately, I've been discovering that there are people who love and care about me a whole lot more than I ever thought, and that's really weird to realize, but so wonderful at the same time. As completely sick as I am of advice and "talks" and anything of the sort at the moment--and trust me, I am!--I know that it's a reflection of how much they care, and that's something I can't be more grateful for. So thank you. :)

One last thing. I reallyreallyreally want to go here:

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Road trip, anyone?