Generosity

Just recently, I was the subject of what I would consider kind of a random act of kindness. A friend did for me literally one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me before. I was shocked to the point of almost saying no because I could not fathom the enormity of his gesture. But my friend is kind of the deepest parts of his soul and refused to let me say no. So I didn't and it has given me so much joy. And made me think a lot as well. There's a part of me that is jealous because I wish I was able to be that generous for others. Which got me thinking even more. What does it mean to be generous? Does it have to be some grand gesture or can you be generous on a small scale? Does generosity have to involve something material or can it involve some other area, like emotions? My hope for myself is that I will be able to find ways to be generous to others on the smaller scale and look forward to when I have opportunities to be generous on a much larger scale! And just because I feel like making you all think about it too...what is something generous that you have done for someone or has been done for you in the past?

Mountain Sunrise

**I wrote this post a couple weeks ago when I was bored in class (imagine that) and never got around to posting it. Better late than never, right?

This past (way past) Sunday, Easter, a few of my friends and I got up at 4 in the morning to go to the 6am sunrise service at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in the mountains near Denver. For those of you who don't know what Red Rocks is, it is a natural amphitheatre with great acoustics surrounded by beautiful red rocks (duh.). Definitely a small piece of God's handiwork.

Going to this service was a great experience. Walking into the amphitheatre with 10,000 people in pitch black, watching the sun rise over Denver and leaving under blue, cloudless skies is something I will remember for a long time. The service itself was nice but left a lot to be desired, in my opinion. I'm really glad I went though. :)

And now! we only have 3 (actually only 1.5 now!) weeks of classes left in the semester and then one week of "finals" and paperwork. I seriously can't believe I'm almost finished with two semesters of graduate school! Then only two semesters of classes left. And then lots of big decisions need to made. Oiy. But worrying about all of that will come later. First comes playing in the mountains. :) My friends and I are all working on making our Colorado summer bucket lists so we don't miss out on anything. The best part of the summer is that we will only have class 3 days a week which leaves plenty of time to play! Sooo, summer would be the perfect time to plan your visit! HINT, HINT. NUDGE, NUDGE. :)

In all honesty, thoughts of hiking and horseback riding and rock climbing and rafting and laying by the pool and playing volleyball under the sunny and cloudless blue skies are what will keep me going for the last couple weeks of the semester. Here's hoping it will work!

Family Ties

My family ties have gotten stronger and stronger as I get older and move farther away from home. And because of that, I have missed my family intensely since I moved out to Colorado. But then I get to be thankful for things like Spring Break and cars and good highways that bring my family out to visit me!

My mom, dad and sister (we missed you brohan!!!) were out here this past Saturday through Wednesday and it was so awesome to have them visit. We got to do a couple of touristy things (Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Celestial Seasonings factory, Boulder) but the best part was that we just got to hang out. It was so nice to be able to spend time with people that know me well. I don't have to worry about what they think about me because I know they love me no matter how weird or crazy I am. :) In all honesty, if I don't learn anything else about myself and life from being out in CO (which I definitely have), I will forever be thankful for the reminder of how important my family is in my life. And I will work very hard to remind myself of that feeling when I end up having to move back in with my parents after I'm done with grad school. :)