Instagram-y fun

Ever since I first discovered the Instagram app on my smart phone, my photos have reached a new eschelon of coolness!  (Ok, well at least I think so.)  I love the daily deliberation between the Sutro, Lo-fi and Valencia filters, and the finished product seems to elevate everyday scenes to something I might see in a magazine. 

At the very least, I'm taking more pictures, which is always a good thing. 

Last Wednesday, I walked with a small group of thirty others into Chicago's, a cheerful hole in the wall that serves burgers, gyros, and pizza. The murals on the wall portrayed the Rocky Mountains in the best colors of every season, and the kitchen was only an arm's length away from where we stood. This man was fully absorbed in his work, brow furrowed with intensity as he mixed and poured and clanged dishes. I wondered how his day was going. 

A few days ago, hubby and I stole away from the YMCA for an afternoon date at a coffee shop. Like kids hiding away in a tree house, we took our drinks up the twisty stairs to a cluttered and cozy upper nook above the shop. They had checkers. We played four games, sipped our mochas, and let the world turn without us. I love that man so much. 

You know what else I love?  Skype!  Blessings on the inventor, whoever he or she was. I have missed my friends so much this summer, and last week I had a fabulous two hours chatting with this wonderful girl. Love you, Lissy!

Most cities have traffic jams, but I bet an ELK JAM is unique to this part of the country. This herd of thirty elk was leisurely crossing the road to Estes Park last Wednesday. 

Every once in a while, God gives me "valentines" through nature. Check out this fluorescent green lichen heart that I spotted on a rock the day we flew balloons. 

Tiny bits of colored glass and rock are sometimes as good as a canvas when I get the urge for self expression. (I can't show the finished product here because it's a birthday present for my sweet 22-year-old sister, but I promise--I will once she gets her package!)

And...I saved the best for last: the Trash & Tray Creature! The staff that work in the dining room will sometimes create odd structures out of fruit and send them through the tray conveyor to us. This one had quite the personality.

That's all for now! :)

No Worrying Allowed

All this mental stretching, the waiting, the groaning under the weight of everything that I have to do.

Hmm...I think final exam week must be a small taste of what the final stage of pregnancy is like.

A) Pregnant girls can't go to the rec center and work out very hard, and neither can I.

B) They can't get very good sleep, and neither can I. 

C) They also have weird cravings for certain snack foods. (My craving: salted, roasted almonds, mixed with chocolate chips.)

If it's not a good comparison, my pregnant friend, Mrs. Kroeger, can correct me later. 

In the meantime, here's a little guy who made me smile today while I was walking on campus: 

Someone put a bowl of food for him outside their office window. Mr. Squirrel was so absorbed in his meal that he hardly noticed as I crept close and snapped this shot with my phone. 

It brought to mind something that my Savior said one day to a crowd: 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:25-34) 

Yes. My heart totally needed that reminder. If God feeds this little squirrel, He can certainly give me enough time and energy to finish this paper. 

And to get ready for graduation. 

And to pack for Italy.

And to train my replacement at work. 

He is faithful. :)