new jersey love

The week I spent leading a team of 18 college-age volunteers in New Jersey was challenging, wonderful, eye-opening, intense, emotional, and powerful. From the extreme affluence of the Princeton campus to the immense poverty of inner-city Trenton, from day centers for adults with Down Syndrome & autism to Assisted Living homes for elderly people who have lost their independence, from time spent weeding so women recovering from addictions can have a vegetable garden to time spent in conversation with each other and our new friends: God was at work, through us and in us. I have dozens of stories that I would love to share, but all I will say now is this: the demographics that society have forgotten are the people that we must seek after, value, love & adore. We have a responsibility to shed light in the dark. So do it! There are always places where we can volunteer our time & efforts. We just have to find them. 

a big thank you to my gorgeous guest bloggers of the week! I loved reading your posts. I'll be back this week with regular posts & some fun spring photos. xo! 

idahograms

a few idahograms from our trip a few weeks ago. A few times while making the drive, Evan would tell me I was "missing everything" while choosing the right filter on instagram...but don't worry guys, I did it all for you.  No need to thank me, I do it for the love. xo! 

WA --> ID

Our MLK weekend was spent driving across the state and back, from northern Washington to Northern Idaho. The drive was stunning whites & blues & greens, moving from frosty WA to snowy, snowy Idaho. I'm not sure there is anything more picturesque than snowed-on farmland punctuated with red barns and ever green trees--almost as wonderful were the teeny tiny towns we drove through, most of which seemed to be stuck in the 1950s...our stops made for coffee, burgers, or French Toast in these sweet lil' towns were silly and fun. 

Evan & I had a wonderful weekend together! I met his parents and sister, and he met my grandparents and a few aunts + uncles. Everyone seemed to love everyone (fingers crossed!). On the lazy Sunday, we took a walk around the forest near his parents' house, following turkey prints in the snow and studying the crazy way that ice forms on the river when it's 10 degrees out. I am back in rainy Bellingham and missing the foot of snow.

ps: I am re-reading some Walden right now & couldn't resist tossing some Thoreau onto these Northwest photos. I made myself stop with two--he was quite the grump at times but uttered such beautiful things! 

collect moments

The morning of January 1st was freezing cold, extra crisp, and that stunning blue-grey that only Washington produces. I woke up slow; sleepy eyes attempting to take in the soft sunshine. It was my last day before returning to work, the first day of a new year, and the first sun we'd seen in (what felt like) weeks. Evan said to me "let's go on a little road trip". We spent the next five hours driving around in tiny little towns, under towering mountains, through tunnels of snow-heaped Evergreens. We wound around rivers, ambled past grazing horses, ignored "private property" signs. We stopped often, to breathe in and to look and to photograph. At times we were quiet except for exclamations at the beauty of our surroundings, at times we chattered away like you do when you're young and your love is new. It was my favorite day of the year, so far. 

collect moments. xo charity

livin's easy

When you spend the day swimming, boating, jet skiing, and running around in the sun with your crazy extended family and then have approximately 8 minutes to get dressed and ready for another family gathering, it goes something like this: throw on your comfiest dress and slouchiest cardi, add a curl or two to your lake hair and cover the rest with a hat, put on a coat of mascara and run out the door. They're your family, anyway: they have to tell you look good. 

ps: these are taken on just a small part of my grandparents' beautiful property in Idaho; one of my favorite places in the world. already missing it. 

dress: Target, cardigan & hat: Old Navy

insta cali

Mhmm, already ready to go back. 

I spent the last week just outside of San Diego visiting my sister Katie on a last-minute trip. It was perfectly relaxing: we spent the week eating (way too much) amazing fresh food, exploring the surrounding little towns and beaches, trying lots of new cocktails and beers, playing in the waves like we were 5 & 9 years old again,    dancing, watching the sun  set and sleeping in, walking in the morning sun for iced lattes and chocolate-filled croissants, and dreaming about what our futures will bring us. My sister worked the first two days, so I got to wander about alone, which was actually really nice--I read all three books in the Hunger Games trilogy (still reeling, let's be honest), laid on the beach, people-watched, and listened to a cute boy play music in a rooftop bar. I didn't touch a computer all week. All in all, exactly what I needed. 

A year from now, my life could go anywhere I want it to, and I'm seriously thinking I'll end up in California near my sister. This trip just served to convince me further. Time will tell! 

How was your week? catch me up! xo. 

photo diary: Black Mesa, AZ

Apologies for the photo dump--I have over a hundred more, but these are my favorites. 

The week after graduating, I returned to Black Mesa, AZ for a week of service on the Navajo reservation, exactly a year after my first trip there. We lived, learned, and loved at a church called Tse ee gai, House of Joy. I got to return to a place where my life was changed, where I fell in love with the Navajo people and with the others on my trip; a place where the vastness of God is more apparent than any other place I've traveled. 

We dug trenches, mixed cement, and laid cinder blocks to make the foundation for a respite for weary travelers. We taught children about the fruits of the spirit (Galations 5:22-23), and we let the children be children: playing and running and kicking up dirt, coloring and giggling and teasing. We lived without running water, without the luxuries that we hardly give a second thought to at home. There was eight inches of snow, and then there was sun and mud and wind and dust. Our clothing was dirty and our hair was worse. We ate fry bread for dinner and s'more for breakfast. Cowboy coffee flowed all day long. We sang worship songs as we watched the sun peak over the canyon, and we met a calf minutes after it was born. 

We saw the Grand Canyon, and I got yelled at by a French man for standing up on that ledge above. We ended the week with $12 airport margaritas at 11:30 am, and we landed back in Seattle feeling sleepy, blessed, and ready to face everything we'd left at home. Big changes keep happening in my life this month, but my week at Black Mesa, among people that love fearlessly and without pretense, has me filled up enough to be brave and ready for each one. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to return to the Mesa, and I hope to return as soon as possible. If you want to know more about the organization I went with, see their Facebook page. They are a PNW organization and I have nothing but good things to say about them! 

Note: I know this post has nothing to do with style, but many of you expressed interest in hearing more about the trip, so here you are! If you want to know anything else, please feel free to email me at c.hestead@hotmail.com. I've got lots to say. ;)