the beginning of the first solo adventure.

the last blog was written at the end of what was probably the most golden point of the semester.

since then...

grandma hazel passed away on friday the 27th and her funeral was the next wednesday. there were lots of family things going on and despite our huge loss, there was something special about us all being together under circumstances which i had never experienced before.

her funeral was the most beautiful thing in the world and the Holy Spirit was more than present.

in light of everything that had happened, school was put a little bit to the side but not so bad that any major problems would ensue from it.

except that my hard drive crashed the following tuesday (and i lost everyyything) which set me back a solid 5 days on school work.

this added a lot of stress to what was already going to be a heavy finals week. THEN a few days after that i found out that my small baby sister was now dating someone and not being entirely sure how to handle that situation, major family drama ensued.

and then finals week happened and it was hell. beginning on monday morning at 8 and not ending until thursday night at 7.

normally these (the school/family drama) are the details i would like to forget but because they are the reason i am where i am now, they're kind of significant.

on wednesday night i realized that i was totally fried/out of focus and knew that i couldn't go into Christmas like that.

so, i booked a 3-night stay and left socal for a hostel in point reyes, a small town (pop. 300ish?) about an hour or so north of san francisco.

i have only be here a night but i am quite certain that this may be one of my favourite things that i have ever done.

in short...

for starters, i am completelyyy alone. this is my first time ever going away like this by myself and it is SO LIBERATING.

it is especially liberating b/c i cannot stand being by myself for long (longer than a few hours...) but i needed some major Jesus/nature/refresh re-focus and this is the only way it would have happened considering the cricumstances.

so far i have been neither bored nor disappointed.

the hostel is WONDERFUL. it is 20 mins. out of town up a small winding mountain-y road (which is lined by greeeeen grass, sooo many mossy/beautiful trees and lotsss of hiking trailheads!) and everything up here is just so beautiful.

it is SO GREEN, so lush (it has been raining since i got here) and just so quiet and wonderful.

i wish i could explain it better, i am just so in awe. so thrilled and so thankful.

also, i wasn't going to be using my phone anyway but there is barely any service anywhere up here (i need to call my dad from time :) otherwise i wouldn't care) and it is the BEST!

basically, this is the best ever.

+ seeing ANGELA and MITCH on wednesday before i drive back down to malibu for Christmas!

so many wonderful things. thank You, Jesus.