i aspire.

i just recently turned seventeen. the forever-memorable friend called sixteen slipped out the back door unheeded one night, and then i woke up the following morning to discover a new friend in its place: seventeen. 

as i test it on my tongue now, i like it... a lot. there is a certain maturity, and innocent whimsy to its sound; but i miss the innocent, child-like sound of sweet-sixteen. seventeen always struck as an in-between kind of age...not as young as sixteen; not as old nor heavy-sounding as eighteen. gone are the days of singing, "i am sixteen, going on seventeen." because, though i plan on keeping the remainder of the song intact, i'm no longer sixteen, and it sounds just as awkward as my thirteen-year old self singing it only four years ago... is that even possible? 

i suppose the only point to come by in this little note is simply, i blinked. the year changed, coming and going in what seemed a few blissful seconds. one year closer to adult-hood, and all the fancies that come with it. for the longest time, i just wanted to stay sixteen, and stop growing and getting older (even though i knew full-well the impossibilities of that wish). but here i am- past that, and i do want time to go on. i want to enjoy what G-d brings me as a seventeen-year-old young lady in this year. i want to get married, have children, and plan and decorate my little home with yellow curtains and kitchen bookshelves- which is one of my age-old fancies that i will never put away from my heart. 

this year, i want to have a gift for seeing beauty, like a brightly-colored sudden balloon, floating along beside me. 

i want to let my spirit shine... no, radiate. 

and i want to beam joy; as in, whenever i feel like dancing, the rest of the world wants to join in. i aspire to be wildly excited about each day simply because it's a brand new one, and new things always make me feel more than just a little hopeful. 

i hope- no i pray- to become a woman of valor..set apart..a reflection of the light my Jesus brings. 

dear seventeen~ i like you. let's hope you like me back. 

just listen//waking up.

//just listen// hosted by www.hishandmaiden.com. 

this playlist is for the risers who like to awaken to music in their hearts. 

i'm thinking of starting a link-up to this...let me know below- what's on your "good morning" playlist; and would you link up your playlist on my blog? 

Countless Cups of Coffee.

When vising my family in Florida over March, we had the opportunity to go to The Oxford Exchange, a little coffee-and-tea-house-and-books-and-gift-shop-house in Tampa. This same place was where C.S. Lewis and Tolkein came when visiting from across the pond. The coffee and books under one roof alone made this place for me... add that little tidbit, and I wanted to pick it up and move it into my house. It was filled with exquisite novelties.  Plus Tiffani and my Aunty Eunice were there, and my camera was constantly in action, and there was an abundance of beautiful and unique light.

 ---->I quite loved it. <----