Springtime and thunderstorms

Credit: Unknown

Listening to: "He Said" by Group 1 Crew
(Not usually a huge fan of theirs, but I seriously love this song. It's been stuck in my head for days. It's so catchy!)

(Quick sidenote: I wrote this post awhile back and am just now getting around to publishing it. I'll try to update you guys on what's been going on with me lately ASAP!)

I read something the other day that really stood out to me.

"Spring is for tornadoes and rainstorms as much as it’s for brilliant afternoons and bulbs poking fresh petals through damp dirt."*

Remember back in October when I wrote about autumn and the interesting balance of beauty and pain and how you can't have one without the other? At the time, the point I was trying to make was that pain always brings about a special kind of beauty that can be found nowhere else. Now, I'm beginning to see the other side of it as well.

When I think of spring, I tend to think of the happy, sunny side of things. It's when everything is coming back to life, when I can go outside and throw Frisbee and lay in hammocks, when it's warm and green and just beautiful. Everyone always talks about "waiting for spring" in a metaphorical sense, referring to life, waiting to come out of a painful situation and experience the good, happy side of life again.

We forget that even spring isn't all about the sunshine.

Spring is all about new growth and change and coming to life. And that happens to require a few thundershowers along the way. Yes, the most most difficult part--the dying that comes with autumn and winter--has passed. Still, spring has its own kind of pain, the kind that can only come with coming back to life after a long winter.

I'm finding that every season of life has its own kind of pain--or at least it should. Some runs deeper than the rest, but still: it is all pain. Pain, to me, is a sign of growth. If I am changing, growing, becoming, then pain is going to be an inevitable part of that.

Learning to truly love someone is hard.
Learning to accept grace and His blessings after realizing how much I don't deserve them is hard.
Learning to not stop seeking Him first, amidst the busyness of all He's given is hard. It shouldn't be, but it is.

They're good things, all of them. But they are not easy.

Spring isn't always easy. But the beauty of it is always worth it.

So here's to accepting spring for what it is: rain showers, sunshine, flowers, and a little bit of dirt. It's all necessary for the incredible growth that it continues to bring.

*From Sarah Markley's "The Brilliant Beckoning" at (in)courage

Redesign!

Quick update: As I'm sure you can see, I did a little redesigning of the blog. Considering I'm graduating college in about 2.5 weeks, the last header I had wasn't exactly going to be relevant for much longer...

Random thoughts? Still just as relevant as ever. Probably more so.
College student, though? Not for much longer. CRAZY.

Besides, it needed a facelift anyway. I've been taking a class in Graphic Design this semester and have learned a little about how to use Adobe Illustrator, so I put my new-found skills to good use and made a new header. I really like how it turned out, especially since I ended up free tracing the letters myself! Simple + nature-y. Just my style. I hope you guys like it, too!

My Life in Instagrams

Listening to: "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift (from The Hunger Games soundtrack!)
(Yes, I have jumped on The Hunger Games bandwagon. The books are great, minus the ending, and the movie was pretty good too. I went to the midnight premiere with Mike, Chris, & Elyssa, which was a first for me, but it was fun.) 

Once again, my life in a word: BUSY. Other possibilities include stressed, overwhelmed, and DONE. (Basically, I have senioritis big time.) I'm actually supposed to be researching for a presentation, along with applying for grad school, so I'm going to make my procrastination break quick and update you on my life via Instagr.am pics. It's kind of a sporadic list, but hey, better than nothing, right? (You can click on the pics to make them bigger if you like.)

I've been getting plenty of use out of my Eno that I got for
Christmas! We've had such perfect hammocking weather lately.
I was even interviewed by the Chattanooga Times Free Press
about it when I was laying out in Schimmels Park the other day.

Mike, Darren, & I decided to go canoeing over spring break.
We rented them for 4 hours, and then discovered that the giant
lake was more like a medium-sized pond...

The Kentucky half of spring break consisted of 5 inches of
snow. Random. But really beautiful!

Environmental Science has definitely proved to be my most
entertaining class, for various reasons. I'll have to share a few
quotes sometime. The labs are fun though. Last week, we went
wading in a creek to catch fish. The outfit choices were
quite fashionable, as you can see here.

Another reason to enjoy Environmental: for another lab, we
got to go hiking to see this. FOR CLASS.

I have become addicted to smoothies lately. I've been creating
all sorts of combinations. I've also discovered that you can add
fresh spinach to anything and you cannot taste it. Case in point:
I made some iced coffee the other day and blended it in. Yum.

I FINALLY got around to reading The Hunger Games trilogy.
I know everyone on the planet is talking about them right now,
but they really are good. The movie was pretty good, too. It
could've been better, but I thought they did a pretty good job
at sticking to the storyline (the changes were minor details,
people. Minor details. Calm down).

I've been spending some late nights at IHOP lately. Like right
now. Ugh. Fortunately, my waitress likes to give me what she
refers to as "crack." Basically: doubly strong iced coffee with
a shot of espresso, plus extra flavored syrup and enough sugar
that it's too sweet for me. That's saying something. Trust me.

Spring has sprung! It's so beautiful outside these days. So
many flowers and leaves and just GREEN! I love it.

Pretty, pretty rainbow I saw yesterday. It was so big & bright!
You could see every single color so clearly. I love it.

Spending a lot of time with this guy lately. He's pretty cool,
I guess (see picture). I kinda like him. ;)

Well, that's my life lately. It really is good, just ridiculously busy. I've never been so ready to graduate! Anyway, I better get back to researching for a presentation I have tomorrow, so until next time, enjoy the pictures, at least!