Hello, Goodbye - Good News & Bad News

Okay, there have been about a million and a half amazing things that have happened to me since I've been here in New Hampshire, and I can't even begin to explain them all in a measly blog post. There's just absolutely no way. So I'm resorting to pictures instead. If you haven't noticed, I get to be outside a lot and I love taking pictures of God's creation. I definitely put my iPhone to good use!

Last week we hiked Mt. Kearsarge, about a 1.2 mile hike with GORGEOUS views at the top. It was a ridiculously hard hike to make, especially after being mostly sedentary in the comfort of my home AC for the past 5 months of living in Arizona. It was super steep, but definitely worth it.

Here are the pictures I took!!

A little New London charm...there were three bathrooms...one for women, one for men, and one for politicians. However, one door hid a delightful surprise! Oh man, small towns crack me up.

the sign reads: "in new hampshire, you never catch a politician with his pants down..." HAHA!

That's the good news...aight, now for the bad news...I have to tell you, I feel compelled to take a bit of a break from my blogging. I am in this new season and I have a lot more on my plate than I used to, and I really want to devote this time to God.

SO

I will be back, I promise. But as of right now I am taking a break. So, thank you for reading, and I will be posting again eventually...just not now :)

Ta ta for now!!!

Blessings,
Jourdan

I Went A'Walking

Today I made the epicest decision to go on the epicest walk ever. So I did! I turned out of the drive and made a left and just kept on walking for hours and hours. I took my lovely iPhone (that I love so much) with me and took some great photos of some great locations. I ended up finding a hidden little lake around some trails I headed down...it was such a delightful surprise! It really reminded me of the lake we used to camp on like 8 times every year. My family reading this will understand... :) Twin Lakes. Without mistake, the most legit redneck "resort" of all time.

I have hundreds more pictures from this one walk, but I pared it down for ya. Pretty sure if I put up all the ones I liked, you'd be scrolling down my blog page for about 45 minutes before finding the 'comment' link. Consider yourselves lucky...

Welcome To Streams!

Today is my second day as an intern. It is awesome so far! I went on a walk down the road from the intern house and the sights were absolutely beautiful! Someone I know once said it looked like a mixture of Ireland and the Pride and Prejudice field...I could not agree more. Here are some of the pics I took with my phone:
















And, my personal favorite:

My Last Day in Arizona

I woke up this morning with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and a hazy cloud fuzzifying my thought process...Today is the last day I will get to spend with my family before moving to New Hampshire to be an intern at Streams Ministries.

HowEVER! It is also my last day to get all my packing done in preparation for this year long adventure! Mind you, I had absolutely no motivation to do anything having to do with packing...It is my very last day in this house, with this family, and I still have a bunch of packing to do before I get on that plane tomorrow morning!

So when I woke up at 9:00 (earrrrly for me) specifically to finish all the projects I had started over this past week and realized I had such strong feelings against all things packing, it caught me off guard! I have less than 17 hours to pack up my room, make sure that all of my clothes and such fit into my two suitcases that I'm allowed to take with me for a year, and hang out with my family for the last time, and I am what??? Too tired?? Unmotivated? Really??

I suppose the reality of how much time I truly have left didn't quite override the not so reality of "oh i have plenty of time to finish that stuff...sleep is more important!"

Who am I to be so selfish in these last precious hours of my time here with my family?

So after staggering out to the kitchen to make some Mac'n'Cheese for breakfast (I know...I am super unhealthy...what else is new?) I made the command decision to be sedentary no longer. Now I have eaten breakfast and I'm totally ready to start my jam-packed day. Haha, quite literally!

Now all I have to do is pack up the remains of my bedroom and bathroom, clean out my car that I won't be driving anymore, weigh my suitcases to make sure Delta won't be charging me $125 dollars a piece for each suitcase over 50 lbs, do a load of laundry, and find my winter hat. Among other things :)

Oh yes, and the family is all going out to dinner tonight no doubt in a last-ditch attempt to keep me home just a little while longer. They've only come up with about 170 reasons for me to stay...God, I'm gonna miss them.

Hopefully that hazy cloud around my head will get burned off by all the sunshine, because I have all to much to get done to deal with a head-cloud simultaneously.

Feel free to pray for me while I set off on this new God-filled adventure! I'm scared out of my mind, but I know that I know that I know that this is God. I know I'm supposed to be there, and that peace in my heart is the only thing keeping me from staying here.

Heavenly blessings,

XOXO
Jourdan

Best Daddy

The best daddies are the ones that take you for walks
Down the street with a smile on your face
With an ice cream in your hand
And a sprinkle on your chin...



Today me and the daddy went on a date.
We drove all the way to Scottsdale (a 1hr drive) to go to the swanky mall and pretend we were swanky too :) We listened to The Kooks and rocked out in the Volvo, we drove through the Phoenician (which was so ridiculously exclusive, it was almost comical), walked around the mall and looked at Jimmy Choos, ate some delish food at The Yard House, then drove all the way home with some 'She Moves in Her Own Way'...fabulous day.

Only my dad can make a girl feel truly special, I'm sure of it.
Even if we didn't buy anything nice or expensive, and even though we weren't technically checking in at that fancy hotel, and even though we parked in free parking instead of letting the valet drive our car around, it was one of the best days ever.

The Yard House was uhh-mazing. I had mac'n'cheese that was to DIE for. It had apple bacon, wild mushrooms, chicken, and some funky shaped noodles. Oh. My god. Yeah, let's just say the leftovers are now in the fridge with my name and 'please do not eat' sharpied in big bold letters across the top. Simply scrumptulescent.

And to top it all off, I found an awesome charcoal grey sweater (that is soo soft) at Urban Outfitters to take with me to New Hampshire. Now I'll be uber cozy in my new home.

Perfect.

*me and pops*

Autumn Air & Spiced Cider Cups

(me and my sis)

It's a season of magic...a time of wishes and dreams...


Autumn wishes begin around September, when the air gets all crispy and so do the leaves...when you start hoping for that blissfully chilly air to invade your summery solace. That tingle-nose feeling when you breathe too much in - an overdose of oxygen. When you start to crave a mug of hot spiced cider...that's when the Autumn wishes start.

I wish I could feel those crunchy leaves under my toes, bare footed and all.

No shoes in the tangy air, just the colorful ground and my rolled up jeans.

I love not knowing if that squishy cold thing was a slug or just a water droplet...oh well. I'll find out later. I love wearing warm snuggly clothes and leaving the warm snuggly house to indulge in a greater kind of creation - His. Just to venture out into the unknown,

a field somewhere you didn't know existed, or a quaint little run-down cottage full of forgotten memories. You can find all sorts of little gems if you just take a walk and look. What's even more fun is when you take a walk and look with your spiritual eyes. You should try it sometime...A spirit focus vs. a soul focus. Watching out for the cool stuff God's doing in your everyday life.

I think everything is more beautiful in the fall...

Hills and plains,
Houses and chimneys,
Overgrown paths and tree lined roads,
Whimsical girls and conquering men...

Everything looks rosy through rose colored glasses, and everything looks magical in the most magical season of all.

Memories - Cali Fun Times

Well, Cali was awesome.

We went to the beach at least once every day - it was brilliant.

I got to help the sis put together her brand new dorm room and hang out with her till all hours of the night too, which was awesome as well :) Because she's going to be an RA this year she won't have to share her room with anyone else...besides me...when I come to visit...which I most likely will.

I got a wicked sunburn that made me look like a redneck - literally.

I think it's funny that I live in a state that stays at 120 degrees all summer long and I have to go to 70 degree California weather to get a sunburn.

I didn't know I had the stamina to drive 5 or 6 hours straight...good to know.

I found out that The Kooks, The Strokes, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are the BEST artists you could ever bring with you on a long-a$$ road trip.

We (the siblings) realized that turtles are the best pets ever. There were a few at the house we stayed at. We named them Geoffrey and Leonard.

I laughed a lot on this trip.

The end.



Now, I realize you will have no idea what I'm talking about, but I just have to write down these memories...shout out to the sibs!!!

**Unforgettable Memories**
*mama had a baby and her head popped off!!
*noah sleeps with his eyes half open
*the matrix for windmills..(ominously).....they're grown.....
*boogie boarding on the nude beach (it wasn't really nude, but the random kids were...)
*Taco Hell
*we're all techies
*the creepy italian guys learning to surf for the first time
*getting so frickin pissed at zack that you can't help but laugh so hard you pee your pants because right after he ticks you off he says something so hilarious, you can't help but forget what you were mad about in the first place. mm. good times.