on tuesday one of my best friends turned twenty-two.  i could tell you all about how beautiful she lives and how much of a gift her life is, ooorrrr you could watch this video and see how well she loves and how well se lives.  the lives that are impacted around her are evidence of Christ within her and it's beautiful.

nou renmen ou, coral <3

(why yes, i did google translate that :))

well geez, louise! if that smile doesn't just say "wanna be friends and share this cupcake with me? and then i will make you feel loved and valuable all the time because i have a heart of stinkin gold" then i don't know what does.. (:

but seriously, friends.  this one's got a heart of gold.

this is my dear friend, syd, and she LOVES Jesus and is always always letting her heart be shaped by Him and she has a passion for people to know Him, especially high school kids, and she reminds me of truth and points me to beauty and she watches documentaries and reads about women's rights and she wheezes when she laughs (: and she loves beyonce and she's a fan of patagonia and french press and just people in general.  i wish so badly that everyone could know her!  but if it's not possible for everyone to know her, i am honored to be one of the ones that gets to be touched by her life.

getting to know her heart is one of the biggest honors for me.  i do, i feel honored to learn more and more pieces of the heart of this incredible human. 

sometimes i just get the itch to document life and friends and the little things that happen!  it's my joy!  like tonight, when my friends and i found ourselves making music together at a local coffee shop's open mic night.  that place is so homey and these people are like family.  ..and gosh, they're oh-so talented! 

hey, if you're in the eau claire area, come by next time!  there's always room for ya at cafe 420!
where there's wood floors, cheap coffee, talented friends, and a seat for YOU!

these videos are my favorite thing to make!  i absolutely love being able to show you all these people who are so special to me, and the unique ways they bring beauty to the world and to celebrate the great JOY it is to be ALIVE!

this one is documenting becca on her twenty-first birthday, and my idea behind it is to show you how she creates and how she loves and how she is always inviting into adventure!  i dearly love becca and thank God for the gift of twenty-one years of her being on this earth, creating and loving like she does!






** & please keep in mind that the focus in these videos that i've been making is on celebration, love and light and laughter, which i think requires one to recognize going in that this is only one part of life, the sunny side, but that life and friendships are not perfect and hard things happen too!  i just never want to give you all a false impression of how life is, so please keep that in mind! **

i have this friend.  her name is holland.  not helen, not the place in the netherlands... holland.  she says 'zoombazoo' and is fluent in both english and spanish and she wears farm shirts and she makes everywhere she goes a home and she believes in humans and loves the rain even though she is like sun and she loves big, wide, and deep.  and it just makes sense that she would be born on valentine's day, because being with her is like getting hit over the head with a valentine all the time! (:  she notices and creates beauty everywhere she goes, because she herself is beautiful in a way that could only mean Jesus is inside of her. 

and yesterday, i got to not only celebrate LOVE on that favorite holiday of mine (besides christmas, and probably easter... okay, it's not my very favorite holiday, but it's up there! :)) but i also got to celebrate LIFE and beautiful living with some of my very favorite people!  holland turned twenty and that means we blindfolded her right up and took her on various surprises, and then to her final destination: a cozy sleepover!  she is one who sure lives life beautifully, and is most special to me!  so this day was JOY.




& i'm trying to get my foot in the door a little more with videography, so sorry not sorry for the quality (: i'll get better, promise!  but for now, hope you enjoy!


p.s. a little disclaimer: that is sparkling juice at the end.. not alcohol (notice the zoom in :)) ha

life is indeed worth celebrating.  thanks, Jesus, for holland and for life and love to the full.

http://simpleandsincere.weebly.com/1/post/2014/01/you-are-the-air.html

thanking God for my beautiful friend becca and her words that breathe deep love for Jesus.  touched my heart today.  oh, i love this girl dearly.

this is the part that gets me the most:

"they may seem dead, these straight white boxes
but my God has a way of loving that reaches into all depths
and pulls me out of all darkness
even if that darkness is the steady glow of artificial light on white walls

He streams through the windows, penetrating my eyes and my skin
He whispers "hope" while my education professors scream "hopeless"
He brings child after child to me to show His tender physical touch
He speaks in the voice of dr. stephens, reminding me it is all about loving people
He gives me an attitude and a confidence i know are beyond myself

even here among these suffocatingly white walls and straight chairs
you are the air that breathes life into this dusty soul"

mm.

so many faces so dear to me.  so many moments so special.  thankful thankful for this season, and all of this LOOOOOVEEEE!!

sometimes i just get so cheesy with saying my heart languages but i don't even care. 
like what even is a "heart language?" WOW, what a great question!  i'll tell ya! (;
i'd say they're little things that just getcha right in the heart... certain things, like trees and music, that you just can't put words to as to how they move you or make you feel.

one of mine is my name.
i haven't always liked my name, but i'll tell ya, when someone says "what do you think?" compared to "what do you think, alexi?" it just really means a lot.  i'm not sure why.

but my favorite favorite thing is when people call me lex.
and i think i've figured out it's because anyone can call me by my name, but only those who feel truly comfortable enough around me call me lex.. those who really know me, i think.  cuz an acquaintance isn't just gonna come up to me and call me lex.  so i feel like when people call me lex, it's like an honor.  it's almost like a trustworthy thing and a deeper knowing.
my family calls me lex. 
and lately so does my family here, at eau claire.  and it just means the world, i can't even tell you.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1

^^^and here's a song that I've literally played about fifteen times straight, passed along by a person who means a lot to me.^^^

for towers and for this community and for each of these beautiful people ^^
for going around in a circle and each saying one thing we are thankful for
for mini pumpkin pies... that steph larson is gooood at making mini pumpkin pies, holy cow...
for a homemade sign made last minute with a deformed turkey hand (: (yep, that would be my work ;))
for getting to know sweet girls on my floor, emily and amber
for movies that are sold out
for eggnog from fancy gas stations
for drinking that eggnog in cherry cups and clinking glasses together
for games in a homey home with really wonderful people
for cinnamon gummy bears that taste like christmas
for really sweet notes
for austin and bryan and maija and katie
for steph and christine and two cassies
for harry potter with friends who love me and feel like my sisters
for angela
for sitting in sunshine
for cassie and for the ways she loves me... like sitting with me on my floor for a long time and laughing with me and putting up with my crazy weird antics such as looking up pictures of foot bunyons and disfigured feet on google and letting me show her hillsong videos (:
for meghan and her friendship and her cozy room with blankets
for devyn and her stories and her love
for sarah and her hugs
for lord huron, a band that austin showed me... guys, they are sooo good.. ya gotta give em a listen!
for diane comer and the wisdom on her blog that just gets me every time!

for this little chili (: yep, I hear ya, little guy!  It's cold out there these days!
for just feeling God assuring me over & over that He will never leave me
for getting to learn more signs in my American Sign Language class
for breakfast sandwiches... those bad boys have been my new staple lunch these days, gosh, I love em!  Pair them with an apple and some coffee? mm! haha nom nom nom
for my sister, Paige.  She is a brave soul with a perseverance that I admire.
for Nic Ferch and Taylor
for Meghan and her realness
for a group of people I feel safe sharing my heart with.. one who I know loves me with a love not their own.
for God defining my worth and reminding me that He does that.
for my new sweet friend Ellie, from Oak Ridge.
for Jenna.  I just really like that she is in my life.
for hearing Christmas music in our bathroom for the first time of the season!  I think my heart stopped for a halfa second (:
for Christmas countdowns!
for Austin and that we're friends.
for Yui and how he is just a really good brother and friend.  He always points me to Christ and cares for people so, so well.
for Becca, and her talents and sass and immense JOY that she gives me.
for Rachel, and how she calls me Lex and that I get to see her for sure three times a week because of class!
for my bed
for really sweet notes on our whiteboard when we come back from class
for Isaac and his great care and deep love for people
for grandma socks with slippers