i like this one!  fun to get out there and get a good sweat when this one's in your ears!

sitting in a house with mckenzie st. claire, watching her cook a whole chicken.  uninterrupted talking, sharing, listening, and learning.
having a friend like anna mateffy who covers you up with blankets in the middle of the night because she noticed your blankets had fallen off.
slow mornings in a naturally-lit kitchen.  (i'd recommend coffee, too.)
"come thou fount," loud, with mckenzie, driving in the country. (arm chasing wind out the window)
picking berries.
holland kabat.  holland kabat i recommend for the soul.
heartfelt prayers and sweet long hugs in the sun.
longboarding along the chippewa river, sun on everything, delight and thankfulness on everything.
friends that feel like home because they love you like Christ and Christ is home.
streets that feel like old friends.
a kitchen full of people.
pancakes after church in a sleepy kitchen because it's cloudy.
katie ruff, living life.  somehow just knowing that is good for the soul.
rolling wisconsin hills full of trees.
prayers uttered in an empty car.
reminder texts that "God's got you."

life is full of all of the things and all of the emotions, but gosh, love is dripped everywhere over everything when you know Christ.  when you're hurt the most or confused the most or even if you're most content, His love is constant and good, just begging for thankful response.

f a r m e r s'  m a r k e t

b r e a k f a s t

b a b e

n e w  f r i e n d

m a i l  (my heart=spilled on the floor)

g r a y  o n  g r a y  o n  g r a y

l i t t l e  s u n s h i n e s

n o  f i l t e r

f a m

b e f o r e  c h u r c h

h a b e r d a s h e r y

f r e $ h

b a b y  g u r l

h a p p y  a l e x i

c o m e  o n  s o m e b o d y !

v i s i t

"a h h, t h e  c i t y" - m i c h a e l  s c o t t

b u d d i e s

i  d o n 't  k n o w

w e 'r e  s t i l l  o n  t o p  o f  t h a t  b u i l d i n g

s n i p  s n a p  c h i p  c h a p

s l u m b i e

c h a l k i n'  s i d 's  w a l l

b a b y s i t t i n g

h a c k e d  d a d 's  i n s t a (he deleted it.. whatever.)  //  m i s s i n g  h o l l a n d

a couple nights ago, i was asked to babysit for four (!!!) little ones.  i recruited the help of my sis, sidney, because, well, four (!!!).  a sixth-month old, two-year-old, three-year-old, and five-year-old, and our task was to keep them happy, get them ready for bed, and somehow put them all to sleep.  there were two sets of parents, and the mom who had recruited me knew me well because i was her nanny last summer.  as they were leaving and had just given us an overwhelming amount of information, she said, "we trust you!"  

and i suddenly was ready to face the task, and honored to do so.  i was taken aback at how much it meant to hear "we trust you" from her.  trust: what a humbling thing to earn, and what a heartbreaking thing to lose.  because i knew she trusted me, i was eager to prove her right and to do my very best.  the weight of "we trust you" is heavy to bear.

i wonder if God approaches us the same, if He is telling us "I trust you" when it comes to the responsibility of His great commission, the responsibility of living as He did, leading, loving other people, and fighting for those who don't know Him.  that's kind of a terrifying thought, huh!  now i recognize we are human, created, and He is God, Creator.  obviously we will fail and get things wrong and bumble around when we carry one another's hearts, and i know He must recognize that- which is where His grace and overall God-ness comes in (: but still, i wonder if He came to show us the way and is now saying to His children, "I trust you." (of course not leaving us) ...i guess, can God trust us?  He trusted job, right?  and the parable of the talents demonstrates trust, even if all the servants entrusted did not prove to be trustworthy.

and if the Creator God does trust us with what and who we've been given, what does that mean for us?  how are we supposed to respond to that?  it's totally wonderful, honoring, humbling, and terrifying.

(i could be totally missing the mark here, these are just thoughts i've have rumbling around in my head.  feel free to disagree or continue on in this train of thinking.)

halcyon birds by broken back (dang!)
childish people by esta ft. masego (dang!)
coffee in the morning by pools
you've got a friend in me by michael buble :)
landed on mars by atlas bound
wash by bon iver, rework by st south (yup!)
cavalier by james vincent mcmorrow (1975 remix)
we invite You by river valley music
make you stay by jill baylon
faithful by sisterbrother

(and this pic from two weeks ago, adventuring with nicole in the pretty gray, happening upon these white flags)

...that's what google told me this morn, and i thought, "hey!  i saw the statue of liberty one time!"  unfortunately, i saw it in tenth grade in my aeropostale-polo-wearing/ gappy-teeth days, so that's whatchya get... i went to nyc on a history field trip, and my cousin taylor went with (that's who's in that bottom right pic with me). haha, hope ya'll get a kick out of these! (:

my dear friend becca is marrying a really good man, my friend, sam,  in only fifty-two days!  hooray!  i'm so blessed to have friends who believe in me and entrust me with creative projects, like becca & sam giving me the chance to take their engagement pictures (something i've never done before!  eeek.)  they're both so kind & gracious and it was a joy for me to follow them around eau claire for a day, seeing the sweet ways they love each other up close.

hooray for love!  
here's a few photos from our little shoot below, if you'd like to see!

oh wayhoooo!  hey, friend!
i know i haven't been posting much about my heart or what i'm learning, or anything all that deep lately, because the truth is, well i'm more than a little sad these days.  of course good, beautiful things are always around, and having breath in my lungs at all is a gift.  but if you think of it, prayer means the most to me and i'd ask for prayer!  prayer in facing big fears, for direction and obedience, prayer in building community here at home, prayer in being away from the people who hold such big pieces of my heart (man!  maybe i'm wimpy or somethin, but those goodbyes were tough, guys), prayer in my faith (i've found i've been praying, "i do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" about God's promises/character a lot lately), and prayer for softness of heart because i've also seen my ugliest, most critical, skeptical sides lately, and i hate that too.   basically, i need a lotta prayer ha!  but i always want this blog to be a space where i keep it real, and don't just show the sunny sides of my life like it's so easy for me to do, but the hard stuff too.  and it's just been a little hard.

Jesus was, is, and will forever be LORD.  #canigettaamen  

^^ idk.  this picture doesn't have to do with this post really at all, i just like pictures with posts.  found at a local art fair and i thought it was sweet. ^^

the speich family was established on this day, twenty-five years ago!  (well, my immediate speich fam)  mom and dad are celebrating twenty-five years of marriage today!  and what a beautiful thing to celebrate.  so much good has come from this marriage.  it most certainly is not perfect, because when two broken human beings come together as one, of course there is going to be bumps and conflict, and twenty-five years of life bring trials and ugly things, but when i think of what God intended for marriage, i think of my parents.  and i realize that is something special.  something many are not able to say, so i never want to take that gift for granted.  it's just amazing to think of what these twenty-five years have done to them and how they are incredible individuals because of how solid they are together, and how well they are able to be a team, to sharpen one another, cherish and love one another, and point the other toward Christ.  their marriage did not start centered around Christ, so it's just amazing to think how now Christ is what holds them together.
if the LORD ever blesses me with a husband, i would hope my marriage would be as solid as theirs.  i am thankful for such an example.

& here's to twenty-five more!

here are some pics from their wedding, june 9, 1990, if you'd like to see!