Unpacking the Unpacked Adventure

If you've been reading here at my little corner of the internet for awhile, you'll see that things have changed stylistically (is that even a real word?) in the last 48 hours or so. I've decided to go undergo a new me, a new blog and become a new dream chasing girl - one that I've always wanted to be but what scared me so.

You see, it all started back in the days of xanga when I would read my high school friends blogs and posted one of my own. The problem with high school xangas is they are very high school. I say this in love though, I've volunteered with teenagers for over five years now and adore the age group no matter how awkward and confusing it is. As I moved up to blogger and wordpress though, I began to see true writers that posted hours and hours of content - funny, engaging, brilliant, thought provoking, life affirming stories and encouragement all surrounded by great designs and beautiful photography.

Well y'all, the comparison game is a thief of joy and I have been its' captive way too long. 

I'm at a definitive crossroads (I guess you really could say I have been at one since I graduated college) and it's time to step up and be the true me here. I don't know where it's going to take me. I know that there's a lot of adventures ahead. I'm currently on one now. Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like has been a writer of one of my favorite blogs for years now and he tweeted out the other day that he would like information sent to him about his followers. He wanted real information emailed to him to take us on an adventure that may include a machete and a passport. I don't usually respond, but I did.

He's invited me and 2000ish other friends to go on an adventure to punch fear in the face and start what we have wanted to start all along but have been too afraid of. He's named it the Start Experiment after his book I'm currently reading entitled, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters, which I highly recommend (along with his other books - I'm a bit of a fan). Here goes my START!

Unpacked Adventure. It's a weird name. How do you unpack an adventure? Don't you usually pack for an adventure? Unpacking isn't the fun part - it's the thrill of getting everything together before a journey, packing your necessities and heading off. I don't know what the adventure looks like. I know what I hope it involves: transparency, a deeper level of writing, a consistent blog, some encouragement, a less fearful me, a few crafts, some reviews of some great restaurants, books and digs along the way, a few fashionable moments, a few thoughts and adventures, creative projects and photography.

Here's to dreaming!
Here's to hoping!
& Here's to STARTing!

'Fall Retreat 2012'

I've been thinking about Fall lately. It's my favorite season. I believe I am one of the few that genuinely love this season. We took a poll during all of our VBS Music Station groups this summer. I was the Lone Ranger standing at the end with Fall as my favorite season.

It's not just the colorful leaves and the advent of scarves that I love. Ever since before I was in sixth grade, I have been going on Fall Retreats. I have a ton of memories of these from moments around campfires to funny skits to great speakers.

This year is different though. This year I didn't have a Fall Retreat to attend with a church youth group. It's been a weird feeling. It's been a weird nagging at the back of my mind. It's okay though. I finally got my 'Fall Retreat 2012'.

I spent the past weekend driving across Texas and like most years, there was a terrific campfire, great speakers and laughter that could rival any skit. I spent approximately 10-11 hours driving across Texas listened to podcasts on my way to see my Forever Roommate, Christy and our friend Sara.

We ate more Mexican food in one weekend than Christy could probably stand, but my heart was fiercely in love with it and it was a pretty good exchange for being forced to watch Twilight. We made a campfire Saturday night and sunk our teeth into some well deserved s'mores.

Flannel, S'mores, Girl Talk, Laughter, Mexican Food, Jesus, Friendship, Fellowship. 
It was a 'Fall Retreat' to rival the best of Fall Retreats.

Y'all, I needed this. My heart longed for this. I'm so glad I got to see these two amazing women this weekend. May there be a Spring Retreat as well!

Today, I'm Missing Friends, Family & Retreats

There's this wonderful family called the Williamsons that I have lived life alongside of for years. I got the chance to go on family retreat with them awhile ago, like two years ago. It was great catching up with them as I don't get to see them too often. There were awesome moments of teasing and SkipBo and more laughter than should be permitted. Here's some memories from that retreat that I never got around to posting:

 

Seeing these pictures me miss the family a lot.
Good thing I should be seeing them soon.
Also, I kind of want to go on a retreat now...

Costa Rica Update + Fun Things

I'm here on one of my last nights in Costa Rica trying to process that this whole thing is over. Well, I say I'm processing, but I'm really waiting to leave for our Mother's Day Church Party. Tomorrow, here in Costa Rica, is Mother's Day. I will wake up and say goodbye to my Costa Rican Mom, Gracie, and return in Houston to say hello to my Mom. It's so strange to think about and draws tears to my eyes, so I try not to.

I did break down last night. Cristina and Angie spent the night last night with me. We had the big room with all the bunk beds to ourselves. With 4 bunk beds, we decided to crawl (all 3 of us!) into one bed to spend our last night shedding tears and laughter together. I wouldn't have changed my last night with them for anything. Before bedtime, we had a bunch of the families over for some games, dinner and goodbyes. It was wonderful. This morning, we trekked around the neighborhood for a bit, cleaned up the house and had lunch at Alejandro and Yendri's before heading back to San Jose. I still can't believe that I'll be in Houston this time in two days and not waiting to head back to Rio Frio.

So, to not think about it, let's talk about something less well, SAD!
I read blogs late into the night a few weeks before I came to Costa Rica delving into photography, design, typography, fashion, etc. etc. Here are some fun things I found through those readings:
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First off, my heart longs to canoe. Second, how great would it be to see through the canoe?

I hate to see things like cassette tapes fade into the past. Making it into a MP3 player? Yes, please!

Icebreaker games can be so hit or miss. Icebreaker nametags though make me actually kind of want to wear a nametag.

Who knew your face could be a blank canvas? Mustaches and beards as art is cool.

How cute is the kid in the rocket ship? Adorable? Yes, that's what I thought.

Sticky notes, you have become so fun. Floppy disks, apples, tweets? Fabulous!

I love traveling. Clyde does too. I'm sure he's too big for this, but he does need an airstream.

This cracks me up! Guess no one will be stealing my sandwiches anytime soon...

Who says knowledge can't be mapped out? Especially by nerdy kitties that make everything better?

USB Drives either seem to be the ugliest computer accessories or the most interesting. A roll of film USB makes me smile.

Sometimes cheesy things are, well, cheesy. Sometimes I love them. Have a ball this summer!

Last summer, I transformed a lions tail into a leopards tail. These could have come in so handy.

Embark

I'm embarking on an adventure.

This will be an unspoken adventure for the time being.
I'm not really sure where it will take me. (Shocked? Ha!)
This adventure begins with a necessity for this:
wix.com/stegokarlen/joyephotography