21 November 2012

OVER//FLOW

i was recently given the honor of designing a tattoo for my dear becca. after "dating" the idea of this tattoo for four years, she finally decided to get hitched! i got to tag along and watch becca get inked this week. pretty cool to think my handwriting has been permanently etched onto the skin of such a legendary girl!

may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
[romans 15:13]

19 November 2012

GIVING//THANKS


we are headed to florence, mississippi, to celebrate thanksgiving with my mom's huge, wonderful family. i could fill a book with gratitudes, but here are a few things i am particularly thankful for at the moment. sometimes i feel like the most fortunate girl in the world. life is pretty wonderful. i hope you're feeling that way, too.

03 November 2012

BECCA//LAFFERTY


rebecca[lynn]lafferty

[the story]: i have the distinct pleasure of attending school with the awesome rebecca lafferty. we have had many mutual friends throughout our time at samford, but i didn't get to know her until last spring. we met at a picnic table in ben brown plaza, the birthplace of all great friendships.

[your soundtrack]: “As Tall As Cliffs” (Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s), “Bust a Move” (Young MC), “Full Circle” (Cheyenne Kimball), “Savannah” (Relient K), “Can I Have This Dance?” (High School Musical 3, Troy & Gabriella), “Body in a Box” (City & Colour), “The Age of Worry” (John Mayer), “Autumn” (Ben Rector), “Just Friends” (Jonas Brothers), “Forever and Always (Piano Version)” (Taylor Swift), “Heels over Head” (Boys Like Girls), “The High Road” (Broken Bells) “Bury the Castle” (Paramore). GOSH I JUST LOVE MUSIC SO MUCH I CAN’T MAKE DECISIONS LIKE THIS.
[your script]: I have an awful time picking favorites when it comes to movies, but a few that I can (and have) watched over and over again? Remember the Titans, The Bourne Trilogy, She’s the Man, A Cinderella Story, Crazy, Stupid Love, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, Pitch Perfect (new inductee but deserves a spot on the list), Stick It, Miracle, High School Musical (mostly 1 & 3), The Lion King, Tangled, The Help.
[your library]: The Fault In Our Stars AND Paper Towns by John Green; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger; Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot; The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath; Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky; The Help by Kathryn Stockett
[your shade]: Coral is my all-time favorite color and has been since the ninth grade. I think I love it because it is bright and happy but it isn’t orange or red—it’s more smoldering than that. It’s a slow burn.
[your inspiration]: People’s stories inspire me. Music inspires me. Traveling inspires me. Books inspire me. Walking outside in sunlight-filled cold air.
[your mantra]: “Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.” (Henry Rollins)
[you love]: I love Jesus Christ and living in a community of believers. I love laughing more than most anything. I love weather that consists of sunshine and 55 degree weather. I love traveling. I love watching people in airports. I love ink. I love spending time with friends and listening to their stories.
[you hate]: Abuse.
[your purpose]: To love others. To keep learning. To spread the Gospel.
[you believe]: In Jesus. The rest is inconsequential.
[your influence]: My parents. My “aunts and uncles” that I grew up with as a missionary kid. My high school English teachers. Lindy Williamson. My discipleship group.
[you admire]: Confidence, joy, and peace.
[your escape]: I watch silly television shows and take naps.
[your origins]: I don’t know where I’m from. I was born in Virginia. I moved to Pakistan shortly thereafter. Lived there for seven years and then moved to California for a year, Virginia for three years, Indonesia for five, and Singapore for two. I love every place I’ve ever lived for different reasons—mainly for the people there. I would say that Indonesia holds my heart the most—I love the culture and the people and the food and the landscape. I love everything I learned while I lived there.
[your childhood ambition]: Ever since the first grade I wanted to teach high school English. Or be on Barney.  
[your fondest memory]: Being obnoxiously loud at basketball games in high school or watching Gilmore Girls with my second family, the Milams.
[your perfection]: Not being anxious or depressed.
[your challenge]: My biggest challenge is not comparing myself to others and anchoring my identity in Christ.
[your fantasy dinner party]: Emily Dickinson, Zac Efron, my future husband.
[your humblest moment]: It involves my jeans ripping completely down the back at an intramural game. Ask me sometime.
[your shining moment]: My proudest moment was during my senior year of high school when my school created a school spirit award (one had never been handed out previously) specifically for me. I treasure it above any other award I’ve ever received. 
[your aspiration]: I want to be someone who brings joy and light to others—someone who continues to learn and desires to learn and shares that passion with others. 
[your wildest dream]: If I could sing and make a living doing that without being a celebrity, I think I’d do it.
[your destination]: London (because let’s be honest, that city is my soul and I’ve never been), Lynchburg, VA (to see my sister), or New Delhi, India (to see my family…I’m going in December!)
[your pet peeves]: People who sweep problems under the rug rather than talking about them, “How are you?” “Good.” NUH-UH, YOU AREN’T GOOD, NO MAN IS, when people play with their gum. Ew. 
[your vice]: Buying nailpolish. I can’t help it. I just want them all. Also: thrifting. I’m completely addicted.
[your site]: I am constantly on tumblr (feel free to follow my poetry blog: riotousrambling.tumblr.com) and I always check Today’s Letters.
[your last purchase]: A movie ticket. Typical.
[your location]: I’m in college studying English Literature and I don’t know what the rest of my life looks like but I’m okay with that.
[your surprise]: what is something that few people know about you? I’m an introvert (most people don’t believe this or refuse to believe it). 
[you like]: that I’m a listener and most people tend to feel safe with me.

becca, you are a work of art. you exist at the point where beauty, intelligence, emotion, and meaning meet. you embrace life -- the good, bad, and ugly -- wholeheartedly, which is why you are the supreme listener, understand-er, and confidant. being with you is so refreshing because you are real. you like what you like, and you refuse to apologize for it. becca, you are eloquent, adventurous, honest, enthusiastic, extraordinary... not to mention stunningly beautiful. it has been an honor and privilege to be a part of your life, which is sure to be legendary. keep feeling it all, my brilliant girl. 

you are [delightful].