"Vaguely Homeless"

To say “I travel a lot,” is a bit of an understatement.

I play in a band, and we sometimes tour for months at a time.

I love it.

I love every aspect of it.

Meeting new people, trying new foods, sleeping on the floors of strangers, getting up on that stage every night with my best friends and playing songs together, trusting God that He will take care of us every single day. 

But I don't know where home is anymore.

I haven't stayed anywhere for longer than a few months in almost two years.

It feels like pieces of me are scattered all over the country.

Places I want to be, people I want to spend time with.

When boys at parties ask me where I'm from, I smile and answer that I'm vaguely homeless at the moment.

They usually reply with something like, “Oh man, that's so cool!”

Yes. It is.

But,

sometimes, 

I can't help but wish I had somewhere - or someone -

to come back to

and know that I was where I belonged.

My sister's mother-in-law's brownie recipe! (I'm posting this here partly so I can find it easily later :P)

"You know one me.

Just like I know one you.

But you can't know every me.

And I can't know every you."

- David Levithan, Every You, Every Me

A Walk in the Woods

Winter is so lovely sometimes.

Trees. Frost.

Frozen spiderwebs are so beautiful. Walking through the woods and seeing them everywhere feels so magical.

Music You Should Know About: Lauryn Peacock

I first met Lauryn two summers ago, when we were both on tour and happened to be staying with the same host family. I didn't actually become acquainted with her music until several months later, when my brother-in-law, Tyler, put on her CD in the car one day. Since then, her debut album, "Keep It Simple Let The Sun Come Out," has become one of my favorites and is probably my most-listened-to album of the year.
The album, produced by Daniel Smith and full of guests such as Mike Weiss and Denison Witmer, weaves together stories of love, loss, regret, hope, and healing; painting pictures which are sometimes carefree, sometimes haunting, and some both at once.

Untitled

Two strangers

Each with their thoughts

Walking hand in hand

Under the moon

He climbs the fence

To go down by the lake

Glances back with a smile

“Are you coming?”

She hesitates

And she wants to say “No.”

But she doesn't.

No, she doesn't.

Two strangers

Walking hand in hand

By the water

Under the moon

Without her permission

He kisses her lips

And she wants to say “No.”

But she doesn't.

No, she doesn't.

Thankfulness

(A list I actually compiled last December; I stumbled across it again today and decided to share it.)

I'm thankful for:

-Outer space, and all its terrible and beautifulness that declares God's glory over and over again.

-Science. All the wonders and mysteries of how the world is put together. All the little details. The miracles.

-Fantasy books, stories, and all of my favorite authors. Each of them has changed my life a little bit.

-My dear sisters and their husbands for being such awesome role models and for always encouraging me to be the best that I can be.

-God, for being Him. Enough said. All the amazing things He does I wouldn't be able to list right here.

-Food. Vegetables. Forests where you can pick food right off the path and eat it.

-Music. The bands that have gotten me through rough times.

-The fact that I get to be in a band and travel all over the country. I can't even express how cool it is that I get to do that.

-That God always gives me what I need.

-Basically everyone I have ever met or had a conversation with. I wouldn't be who I am today without all the other people who got me here.

-Coffee, tea, and fruit smoothies.

-Hospitality.

-Sharing. Seriously, that verse of “Mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice” serves to make life SO MUCH more awesome.

-The internet.

-Snail mail.

-Art.

-Theater.

-Spending real life time with real life people.

-Spring time.

-Clean clothes.

-Cookies.

-Okapis, giraffes, owls, squids, hedgehogs, turtles, and all the other animals that make life that much more silly or cute or fantastic.

-That the Real World is so much more fantastic than we are often taught to believe.

-That I had the privilege of being homeschooled.

-That even though we are so constantly rebellious and selfish and we screw up constantly, Grace is still amazing. We never run out of second chances, or seventh, or twenty-eighth, or four-hundred-and-ninety-fourth.

-Colors. Pink and green and purple and red and black and white and blue and all the other colors.

-Creativity, and all the wonderful ways that it can be expressed.

Dear Christian

Dear Christian, take heart.
No matter how tired you are, no matter how broken, no matter how drained
Hold on.
There is healing. There is comfort. There is rest.
There are safe places in the world.
Not a stronghold, but a place to be vulnerable.
A place to cry.
A place to be healed.
When the church comes together as a family, crazy things happen.
Those magical moments when you are exactly where you are supposed to be, and God is present.
A group of friends hanging out in an attic
A family sitting around a kitchen table, talking and drinking tea.
A group of musicians meeting at a farm to sing and play music for each other.
Like the safe places of a secret society
Strangers become allies
News is shared
Souls are encouraged
Hearts are broken, so that they can be remade.
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.
It starts small. Seemingly insignificant.
But it grows.
It grows and grows, becoming ever more annoying and intrusive, until it takes over everything.
Transforming.
God does crazy things!
Look for Him.
Wait for Him.
Wait.
And do not give up hope.

"His rule gives room for good things to run wild, 
Yes, His rule gives room for good things to run wild!"

Caramelized Banana Cake

Moist, caramel-y, and not too sweet, (not to mention really easy to make) this is the kind of cake you can snack on all day, or save for those nights when all you want to do is eat dessert and watch movies.
(This recipe is adapted from the book College Cooking. I thought their version turned out really crumbly, so I added an extra egg.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar
3 bananas

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, vanilla, and milk. Add dry ingredients, stir until smooth.
2. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly in 13x9" pan. Slice bananas and arrange in pan. Pour batter over bananas.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until done.
4. Remove from oven and immediately invert onto cutting board or baking sheet.

Enjoy!