Flexibility

I never knew what a little dose of sunshine could do! I literally feel like I'm on cloud nine. These past couple of warm days have given my that burst of energy I definitely needed.
So my topic of the day is fitness. For the longest time I used to think that I was only really exercising if I ran my guts out. I really couldn't even relax during the day if I hadn't done a heart-racing workout that morning to justify lounging around the house. Yeah, I know... I've got issues.
Well now I believe I've gotten swept up onto the yoga train, and took a pitstop in zumba land too :) and I absolutely LOVE it! Who knew working out could be so fun! Being a runner, I was always so tight and couldn't even touch my toes (remember the sit-and-reach from elementary school?). After about 6 months of yoga, I can now get my wrist over my toes! Me! It feels so good! I feel like I actually have control over my body. It will listen to me! And I think I might be getting some biceps too :) I started out with some Tara Stiles youtube videos and just got hooked. I'm not into all of the look-inside-of-yourself mumbo, and Tara really focuses on the fitness side of yoga, which is just up my ally. And then there is zumba, the fast paced latin areobic dance class that is just more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
That all to say, I think I am finally learning to appreciate other forms of exercise than running. I may not be drenched in sweat everytime, but I am learning that there is more to fitness than burning calories. It is also about wholeness, balance, and relaxation. We shouldn't always have the mindset of exercising for the sole purpose of losing weight. It can be part of something so much richer. There is just something about feeling in tune with your body, like you belong in your skin, seeing it as your friend instead of some thing you have to beat into submission. I am reminded of the fact that God values our bodies, that He made us as embodied creatures, and He said that it was good. We shouldn't be fooled into some sort of Platonic dualism that tells us our bodies don't matter. Learn to love your body for all of the wonderful things God has created you to be able to do. Give Him a shout out of praise from that side-plank pose :)
So that's just what I've been thinking about lately. Namaste from on top of the Mountain!

newness

I'm finally back on the Mountain! And it feels so good. I've been helping with Orientation Team and the freshman finally arrive tomorrow. I'm super excited to meet them all because they are practically my same age since I'm a youngin for my grade, so its like 200 new friends I get to meet! Also, cross country starts tomorrow, woot woot! We should have a bunch of new runners too, so its doubly exciting! So much newness, but not newness in the stuff that you would be nervous about being new, like living away from home or hard classes, just newness in the stuff that is fun to be new, like friends! I'm really looking forward to this year, to my new room (which I WILL keep organized), to classes that aren't solely sciencey, and to hanging out with good friends.
Also, I'm looking forward to getting a copy of The Mockingjay in my hands. If you haven't heard of the Hunger Games series, you need to read them! It is such a weird and awful premise, but then it becomes the most addicitng book you have ever read. The third one comes out this month. For real, read it! Shout out to Anna Strock for suggesting it!

6 year olds and central america

Well this summer I have been hanging out with little kids alllllll the time. I've done a few odd babysitting jobs, taught the preschoolers at my church's VBS, and most days I hang with a 6 year old named Trey. Some days I thing my head may explode from talking in a sing song voice for so many consecutive hours :) But I really have been enjoying my time with these guys. I don't have to dress up, don't have to wear any makeup, and can be entirely goofy when ever I want. I've learned far to much about starwars and wii baseball, and don't even get me started about sillybands... I can tell you all about the different varieties, the rainforest pack, the fantasy pack, the glow in the dark dinosaur pack. The guy who made these up must be a billionaire. When I get back up to school I am going to have some major growing up to do.

I leave for Guatemala with my church this Friday! I am so excited. I hope I don't bring with me the expectations of my past trips but am able to be completely open to however God directs this trip. I want to be entirely willing to do whatever God asks me to do. I am praying for discernment for everyone in my group, that we have a clear vision of what we are supposed to do there. We've been reading When Helping Hurts. There is so much good stuff in that book. Read it if you haven't.

School is going to be so awesome next year! Every time I think about it I get excited. Like nervous happy butterflies. It's going to be sooooo awesome :)
ttfn

the uncommons

After a long hard day of classes, running here and there, being blown about by the fierce mountain wind, we all need a place to come home to and relax. A place where we can forget about the deadly lab exam coming Friday. The commons. Or as I think more appropriately, the uncommons. For nothing that takes place there is ever ordinary. The Kallah uncommons is never a place to just come and do homework in a more comfortable chair than the one in your room. Here is a list of the happenings you might witness on a visit:
1. a baby named Gracie Lou hanging in a precarious position from a ceiling tile or out the window
2. a random dance party to music of all genres
3. a gigantic tent made from everyone's extra sheets and matresses (along with a no boys allowed sign and a sisterhood of the traveling pants marathon)
4. out of place shouting, moaning, or squealing
5. a large pile of assorted food that you might miss a glimpse of if you blink
6. a tub containig hundreds of bars of deodorant
7. the acting out of old kung-fu movies, with appropriate facial gestures
8. the sudden disappearance of every single item of furniture
9. a zumba class
10. various other stuffed animals all put in near death situations

our haven :)

wonderful wednesday

green grass. warm evenings. strawberry ice cream. new friends. ahhhhhhh..... This Wednesday gave me a taste of what has been missing up here on the mountain. I forgot how simply glorious a sunny blue sky could be. The rain today did put a little damper on it, but now I know that those days are possible. I had forgotten if the mountain was capable of producing them. There is hope, fellow rain cloud dwellers! Besides the outstanding weather, another wonderful thing happened that day, Student Appreciation Day! What a novel concept! Who'd a thunk teachers actually like having us around? In any case, the sugar/sunshine endorphin high put the entire campus in a good mood, and I have to say it may have been my favorite day so far here. There was a ton of work as usual to do, but the sun was shining, so we all knew that everything was going to be all right. I mean, what could seriously go wrong if you were served chocolate fondue at dinner? Thank you Lord for days like these! They are full of refreshment, fun, and a spark needed to get through the next patch of clouds. Come on Covenant! We can make it through!
Plus Spring Formal is Saturday, which is going to be a fantastic, frantic, frenzied time of awesomeness :)

do vs. be

I have an issue. I can't seem to do anything in a balanced, healthy manner. Anytime a new idea or interest pops in my head, I get wayyyy to into it. I drop everything else and totally immerse my self in it. I neglect things that I really love to do, because at the moment, nothing else seems important to me besides this one new grand idea. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster of interests. Why can't I just tell myself that it is okay to like a lot of different things? When I look around at everyone, it seems like most people have their thing. You know, like they really like soccer, or they are the musician, or they are the movie buff, or they're super academically focused. Sometimes I wish I had just the one thing I liked to do so that I could be really committed to it, and it be my thing. But there are so many different things that I love! And whatever is on the top of my list that one random day seems to take my whole attention. Like, I have no brain space to think about anything else... One day I'm super into cross country and want to go run a marathon. Some days I miss the high school drama club days and really want to get back into that. Other days I get really pumped up about reading old books in foreign languages (I know...). And every once in a while I want to pull out the violin and want to pursue that wholeheartedly again. I guess it really is okay to have a variety of interests, but sometimes I feel like I'm in an identity crisis. Who am I??? I guess that's why God tells us to define ourselves in Him and not in what we do. That way we are free to do a lot of things while still holding to the fact that we are not of the world but are His children. I wish I could keep that perspective in mind more.