A year ago (on the liturgical calendar) I became broken.  I could tell you that my heart was broken, as that was the beginning of it all, but it was so much deeper than that.  I knew that one day I'd be able to look back on the whole experience and pinpoint the reasoning for all the suffering and pain.

I still struggle to understand it all.  And not ( Read more... )

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I have such fond memories of my birthday last year ( Read more... )

Few things in Belgium made me happier than my bike.  It was old, having handlebars that curved toward you rather than the straight ones my mountain bikes had made me accustomed to.  People must have been more trusting there because rather than locking it on something, one would simply place the lock over the tire, making it impossible to ride.  ( Read more... )

This morning in the shower I noticed the last few flecks of red nail polish upon both of my big toes. One doesn't take the time to look at her toes much in the winter months, so they caught me a bit by surprise. I remember the day I painted them. I'd run down to the Sarahs' room to express frustration over my latest encounter with him that had, ( Read more... )

I did some city exploration yesterday. I took the train in around 2.30 so I could spend some time at Old Navy on State and chill out with my own thoughts for a bit before the evening's festivities. I took the El up to Addison and dropped off my things at Pete's before heading to Dan's to meet up with a good portion of my friends from Belgium. I ( Read more... )

I broadcast to you live from the basement of the Union. Its "Reading Day" which means that there are no classes and students across campus are settling into their books after a night of heavy pre-finals drinking. The reason I think its a stupid day is because 1) I didn't partake in any sort of drinking last night and 2) its Saturday, of course ( Read more... )

I remember you standing there in the kitchen.  You stood on your toes over the stainless steal counter that was continuously covered in a film of dish water.  You searched for the perfect clean glass in from which to drink that night's selection.  There were always new glasses appearing on the shelves.  Most had been stolen from the local pubs.  ( Read more... )

This weekend was typical Belgian style.

Liz and Miranda drove 16 hours to make it here by Friday night.   They made a stop to Hanover to sleep and pick up boys to bring with.  Although homework consumed me their first night here, I met up with the girls and Dan on Saturday for coffee and my official U of I tour, which mainly consisted of St. John' ( Read more... )