C'est la vie!

I know I've been gone a long time...sorry. But I've renamed myself a celebrator of scarves, so you gotta wait for a good one to come around.

Life update: I'm surviving the real adult world. They threw me out to be a big girl and I'm making it. Current city? Nashville. Current occupation? Retail. Current favorite thing? The gals I live with.

Scarves update: the cold weather is right around the corner! Which means scarves will be CALLING OUT to me and my fellow necks across the country!

Before I get crazy all about cable knits and wools though, I wanted to share a really special summer memory that involved a lot of things I love. On June 15, I flew to Paris, France to visit a friend from college. Keller Anne happens to be my closest sister--we were pledge sisters in Sigma Kappa and haven't looked back since! She is more cultured than I am and spent six weeks in Paris studying and eating and culturing, and as a graduation present to myself, I showed up on her doorstep. Don't ask about my time zone horrors, it's really embarrassing.

I had a few objectives for my trip since I'd never been to Paris, much less Europe, and it was a huge life goal being accomplished. They were:

1. Picnic under the Eiffel Tower.

2. Eat a long breakfast at an outdoor cafe.

3. Smoke a French cigarette.

4. Talk to some local(men)s.

5. Buy a scarf and have a decent picture of it in Paris for the blog.

I accomplished all my objectives, except number 5. I only had a few days in the City, and I was having a hard time trying to find a scarf that impressed me and caught my attention over all the other wonderful fashions I saw. I decided to buy one from a corner market stand, since it would be affordable, and I thought kinda local to do. Did I mention my utmost objective was to be mistaken for a Parisienne?? Did I mention it happened more than a few times?? Too bad my French killed the fun..

One beautiful sunny afternoon I met Keller Anne at the Hotel d'Ville for some shopping. I had started the morning with an awkward and language-barrierred interaction with the cleaning lady, so I treated myself to a croissant, Cafe Americano, and Atlas Shrugged (also the company of an older Frenchmen who was very intrigued by my kindle). My heart overflowed with love for the weather, the city, and the belief in what days like those bring. As I walked up and greeted Keller Anne with little cheek kisses, she handed me a green plastic bag*. Inside was a cute navy scarf with white polka dots. A scarf! She decided to buy one for me on her way to class because I couldn't make up my mind about one to buy! That 5 euro piece of fabric was one of the kindest, most precious, most meaningful things that has ever been done for me or given to me. I immediately threw it around my neck and couldn't take it off the rest of the day. Unfortunately the fashion requirements (Parisienne, remember) of my week didn't allow me to wear it again, but I wore it all the rest of the summer once I got home. We snapped a picture while eating some Amorino gelatto later that day and although you can hardly see the scarf, you get a great glimpse of how b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. Keller Anne is. Her outward beauty is only a testament to the beauty that flows from inside of her. We've more than once been referred to as sisters, and I don't mind one bit.

Told ya so. I will love her for the rest of my life. And that darling scarf :) Which I will now call Félicite which means bliss in French. That word best describes everything about that trip!

*Disclaimer and funny side-note: My first thought was that she was handing me a bag of dog poop! As if I've ever picked up dog poop with one of those green bags you see in parks...strange what a brain does!

"can i ask you a question?" "do you go to clemson?"

if there is one thing that i am absolutely sure of, it is this: God is so awesome, and He really does care about things i care about. one thing i absolutely love is meeting random people and finding something in common with them. sometimes it's a bit of a stretch, but today was absolutely one of the more fun times of meeting someone random. and God set it up for me, to plug a little fountain of joy into my morning.

first shameless plug: you absolutely must go to Passion 2012. it will most absolutely change your life. and you can meet people like tyler and anna, who are absolutely so kind and fun. a second thing i absolutely love is people watching, and if i can overhear a conversation, slap me silly, i'm having a great time. i overheard tyler today while waiting for our last session at Passion talking about his scarf, and it's absolutely awesome. but the story is more awesome.

so i gathered all the courage i needed, and this convo ensued:
Rebecca: "excuse me, can i ask you a question?"
Tyler: "do you go to clemson?"

WHOA! ok Jesus.

Rebecca: "dsajhoauebf avhau lfbadvaliudh jds!! yes!! how did you know??"
Tyler: "mutual friends...fca...blah blah..."
Rebecca: (tripping out, must keep cool) "gosh. where did you get that scarf?"

tyler got his scarf from his family group leader, who got it from kabul, which is absolutely unreal, because kabul is in afghanistan. tyler also just graduated from clemson and is moving to charleston to work for water missions international, which provides water and The Living Water to people who are absolutely dying for it. his friend, anna, goes to auburn and has that absolutely psychedelic scarf. her sister, katherine, goes to clemson and we have mutual friends. huh!

morals of the story:
1. shameless plug #2: go to Passion 2012.
2. meet people. especially when Jesus is leading you.
3. if you own neat things, give them to people, bc you might just get blogged about.
4. make much of Jesus.

this scarf i'm going to name سر چشمې which means "fountain" in pashto, the most common language in afghanistan. please refer to someone smarter than i for a pronunciation.

word of the day: absolute. what is absolute in your life besides the things that concern who God is and what He has done?