Remember When

This past weekend, Nick and I went to visit Matt & Renee at EWU. While we were there we got to spend sometime with his childhood friends, Grant and Gabe. For someone who moved a lot while growing up, childhood friends is a foreign concept. When Nick and Matt were in high school, Grant and Gabe moved to Spokane. Even though they only saw each other a couple times a year, nothing changed between them. Nick once told me, 

"We just pick up right where we left off."

But. How? Haven't you changed a lot? Aren't you worried they've grown in different areas? Or that you won't connect over the same things you did when you were kids? What if they don't like Star Wars anymore? What are you going to talk about? 

My questions were endless. 

During our time in Spokane, we went camping one night at Liberty Lake. At the campfire, stories from the past kept rolling between the four brothers. There would be long silences and randomly Gabe would laugh to himself and say something like "Boom my balls" and they all roared in laughter. 

I had no idea what was happening or what the heck boom my balls meant, but their laughter was contagious. 

I headed to bed a while before the guys did. My eyes were beginning to close and just before falling asleep, I heard Gabe say

remember when...

That was a very common theme this weekend. 

There are countless memories for these four and there are many more to be made. 

I am so thankful for the brotherhood of these four. Their loyalty to each other is unlike anything I've ever seen. They will truly be friends forever. 

Restless

I don't know what it is, but recently I have had an aching for an adventure. A long car ride with countless stops at sculpture parks, run down diners, and places to climb. 

I want dirty feet, torn jeans, and scrapes and bruises of all sorts. I want to visit national parks and stand on the edge of giant rock formations. I want to make new friends and learn new things. I want to stand on top of a mountain and listen. I want to take thousands of pictures and be thrilled. I want black coffee and waffles from local cafés. I want to sit in open fields. I want to live out Joe Greer's Instagram ( seriously, check it out if you haven't. ioegreer)  I want my heart to race. I want my hands to be open to all that is to come. I want to go.

Am I selfish for wanting these things? Cause as I write them, I notice there is a constant pattern. 

I want. I want. I want. 

I want my days to look like this: 

( photo cred: Joe Greer) 

Those days would be everything I want, but right now I've got it pretty good. 

I have friends who listen and understand and want to start a cooking club with me.  I have a boyfriend who is truly beyond my wildest dreams and reminds my heart to be still in times of utter restlessness. I have rents who love the heck out of each other. I have siblings who are real and present and who love me way better than I deserve. I am a part of a family that stretches to all corners of the earth. I am living in a place where mountains, trees, and black coffee are all accessible. My coworkers are a wild bunch, but all lovely. My job is talking to people while they eat local & super delicious pizza. Seriously? The best. At my other job, I get to practice spanish everyday. I am meeting new people everyday and learning new things everyday. I now know that chèvre is goat cheese, butternut squash is delicious on pizza, vegan cheese is tapioca based, I still don't like olives, and super c is a type of tractor. 

I may not be wild and free but I am having a few adventures. Here's what those look like: 

Here is my final prayer: 

That my heart would be content. That my adventures would be in love. And that every person I meet would encounter grace.