Hydrangea Heaven

I spent all morning in biology learning about plants, specifically angiosperms aka FLOWERS. Back in Savannah in the summer, the hydrangeas were in full bloom and the absolute most beautiful thing ever. Learning about the intricate plant cells and tissue isn't exactly the most exciting thing but wow, I'm a sucker for a good monocot! Look how pretty they are.

An afternoon in McKinney

The only thing I can think of when I see these peaceful, tranquil photos of a lovely evening in McKinney Texas is "wow. Makeup is awesome." The day before I made the great mistake of going to the inlet and being in full sun for 8 hours...with no sunscreen.

And somehow we think I'm smart enough for college? Only time will tell.

Needless to say, It wasn't my best move. But wow. I'm glad I live in the 21st century where makeup exists because even though my nose was literally bright red and also burning hotter than the Texas sun, you'd never be able to tell. Praise the Lord for foundation and please pray that I don't wind up with skin cancer. 

ATL A-BLOOM

"Let patience have 

her perfect work. 

You have to make it 

through 

winter and spring 

to get to summer."

HAPPY CHAUNNYAAA?

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Hannanuk is an 8 day holiday and It's safe to say that even 8 days of celebrating I still couldn't figure out how to actually spell it.

So why Hanukkah? A lot of my friends were pretty curious. As Christians, we already know the true meaning of Christmas so why celebrate and take part in a religious tradition that is the Jewish alternative for celebrating the messiah?

Honestly, I don't have a deep theological reason. I just kind of wanted too (and the fried potatoes part didn't hurt) and we decided to order a 12 dollar menorah off amazon and go for it. And even though the inexpensive menorah turned out to be kind of a dud and an extreme fire hazard, our house made it through the eight days without burning down via menorah malfunction and our hearts were actually INCREDIBLY blessed from the celebration process.

SUMMER SIXTEEN

SIXTH SUMMER // SUMMER SIXTEEN from @thegirlkryn on Vimeo.

I have actually been trying to insert this video into a blog post for a solid two months. I know I’m only 18 but man, do I feel out of touch. But anyway, in the process of trying and failing to inset the video, Summer seemed to stretch out a little further, albeit only mentally but still!

This was a steady summer, consistent. Every day wasn't thrilling or downright terrible. It was routine and predictable and that was actually just what I needed. I spent a lot of time on self-care, which I had always thought was selfish in years past but as it turns out, self-care is essential for being strong enough to then help others. And an obscene amount of flower photos were taken but I mean, what else would you expect from me?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS SONG[in this video]? Because it is was my summer theme song. Every day, all day. And I don’t even like country! I tried about 4 other “cooler” songs for this video, ones with a better bead and more abstract lyrics but no. Only this twangy country love song (literally all my least favorite things) would do. 

YOU MAKE LOVING YOU EASY // Zac Brown Band

(I promise, if you hate country and love songs and banjos...you'll probably love this too.)

You might be wondering about how well I did with my summer list! (See it here.)  You also might not care at all but just in case you’re part of the first group, I’ll briefly touch on it.

And by briefly I mean, you’ll be here till next summer. 

I actually accomplished almost everything on the list. Can you believe I had never driven through a drive through? I mean, relatively speaking I just got my license last week so it makes a little more sense. Obviously the chopping off of my hair was a success and I had acrylic nails for 3 months as expected, all my childhood dreams came true. However, as I child I didn't realize how incredibly difficult it would be to open ANYTHING with acrylic nails so alas, they had to come off. It's pretty bad when you can't even open your makeup, right?

#firstworldproblems

Thanks to the technical difficulties that prolonged the publishing of this post, we all got to soak in a little more sun and squeeze in a couple more beach days. Who are we kidding, we still go to the beach! But now we bring our textbooks ;)

ADIOS SUMMER!

My mission trip moment

You guys, I finally have it.

That quintessential white-girl-holding-an-african child-, emotion evoking, heart wrenching, Jesus proclaiming photo. 

Only I prefer the term slightly-semi-tan, and the child wasn't African and the photo was taken three seconds before said not african child burst into tears.

 (So I guess it was emotion evoking after all)

It was such a letdown, my mission trip moment! Here I was, serving the Lord in a poor, remote village, miles away from civilization and working restrooms and this child just didn't have the decency to cooperate. Didn't she know what was at stake? How would anyone on Facebook know I gave up everything for a week to serve Jesus if I didn't post a photo of me holding a sweet little black baby?

 Apparently Dominican babies are not trained to make sure that semi-tan short term missionaries feel useful in the kingdom of God.

As I handed the uncooperative child back to her mother, I realized how stupid it all was, myself included. I don't know at what point stock photos of missionaries holding babies became the pinnacle of missionary greatness and successful sharing of the gospel, but that's what I had in my head. Because the only way to share the gospel is to hold children, right?

Serving the lord is different for everyone. And I know, we've heard that a million times in stuffy Sunday morning services, but it's true. Being a true missionary, whose sole purpose is to share the eternal Gospel of Christ, is not exactly. There is no "hold and african baby and smile" formula for spreading the good news. Some are called to build churches and some to pastor them, others to lead worship and others to clean up after church.

And some of us are not called to hold african babies, it turns out.

I held this child for three seconds and learned thirty million things about my faith, my savior and my mission here on earth.

And so we wonder, who is the actual missionary here?
SaveSave

The sixth summer

SAYONARA SENIOR YEAR from Kryn Nick on Vimeo.

Sometimes, I just really love my blog.

Which is funny because I've mentioned my blog to a total of 3.4 people and whenever my mother even hints about in conversation with others my first instinct it to scream, run away and then live as a recluse in the mountains. (But you know, mountains that are within walking distance of Starbucks.)

Anyhow, the other day I started recording some videos, never intending them to end up on the internet (but then again, isn't that how all things start out?) and it was all downhill from there. And in the process of filming, editing and uploading this video I stumbled across my forgotten vimeo account that had been resting in peace all this time. Having been buried under buzzfeed articles and contour tutorials, it proved to be a casket for a lot of surprising gems. And if preserving embarrassing memories for the sake of posterity, future boyfriends and laughters sake isn't the sole purpose of my life, I have no idea what is.

So anyway, I love my blog. Why? Because there's a lot here. A lot of typos and a lot of poorly composed photos and headache inducing graphics but yeah, it's my life. And all things considered, I like my life.

That being said, I'm still not opposed to switching lives with Taylor Swift! If she's down for being about 3 feet shorter than we're good to go.

Just like every year, there's a list to interrupt the lull of sleepy summer days and keep me motivated and moving forward. Because nothing says reaching your life goals like henna and sunrises on the beach, right?

"IT WAS ONLY A SUNNY SMILE, AND A LITTLE COST IN THE GIVING, 

BUT LIKE MORNING LIGHT IT SCATTERED THE NIGHT 

AND MADE THE DAY WORTH LIVING."

.Here's to fresh tan lines, salty hair and all that jazz.

(and here is a blast from the past, in case you are curious or bored)
2012
2013
2014
2015

[ Just ] F R I E N D S

I'm thankful that my life isn't perfect. 

Because when I realize how messy life can be,

 I see how perfect God truly is.

Today, I'm thankful for Jesus.
I'm thankful for His love and His grace.
Grateful that His PERFECT love casts out all fear,
and that I can be BOLD because of Him.

I'm thankful for friends that I didn't expect.
Friends that are lightyears older and yet still,
I'm comfortable with.
Through the power of God, I have been blessed
with friendships I couldn't have even fathomed.

I FOUND MY LIFE WHEN I LAID IT DOWN.

I TOUCH THE SKY WHEN MY KNEES HIT THE GROUND.

But the chocolate was good...

Our time in Germany was...interesting, to say the least. It was at that point in the trip where we were exhausted and had been on enough public transportation systems to catch every kind of European Cold that ever existed. And it's also kind of challenging to buy cold medicine when you can't read the label. Heck, German is was starting to look like Japanese or something! (Germanese, let's get it trending!)

We ended up not getting medicine and instead roughing it in the rainy town of Hamburg. Basically all we did was eat (Frau Moller was DELISH but be prepared to wait a few hours or a few days, in our case. Also on their website, they wish you Happy New Year! I do too.) and look at trains (Miniatur Wunderland was weirdly bizarre but fun- but I have ZERO photos. So take my word for it!) and sleep (Hotel Wedina was one of the nicest of our entire trip, German Breakfasts are unreal and the first photo proves it.)

All in all, it was good. But I was really happy to head home...to Paris. ;)

(#snoblife)

HALLO HAARLEM

If you equate Amsterdam to New York the Haarlem is the Brooklyn of this situation. Haarlem (though different from New York's Harlem, I'm assuming!) was amazing. All kinds of amazing cafes and shops and REAL people. Like families and babies and puppies and people who look like they're doing more with their life than tasting pastries.

Which is basically all I do so um...

LEVI'S WINKEL

So what a coincidence that I'm talking about pastries next! (Is Pie a pastry? Or its own category? Carry on.) This cafe is unique because It's owned by a 14 year old boy, who we saw in the flesh and I was tempted to ask for his autograph. Just because, you know! There's a video on it here (all in dutch, granted) but I will tell you that Levi has had a haircut, thankfully, and now looks as good as that pie. Well....almost, because pie.

TEN BOOM MUSEUM

Everyone and their second cousin has read the Anne Frank Diary, which is fine and all, but that means its way more popular. Instead of waiting in the 3 hour long line at the Anne Frank House we went to the Corrie Ten Boom house in Haarlem. It was incredible and in my opinion, better than the Anne Frank House simply because the tour was lead from a Christian perspective (and the wait was probably 15 minutes so basically Ten Boom>Frank House. But suit yourself.)

Grote Markt and Ons graan jouw brood
After the house tour we walked around Haarlem and explored the Grote Markt and the smell from Ons Graan guided us in. It was a nearly divine experience. Forget boys, fresh bread is the way to my heart.

On another note, I can't figure out why my clothes are a little tighter.
The two can't be related. ;)

You can take a Kryn camping.

My friends all doubted my camping abilities. Somehow the fact that I wear skirts and dresses 100% of the time clouded their judgement. You know, I did grow up in Montana and all. But no! Skirts trump childhood experiences. Would I be able to sleep in a tent? Swim in Alligator infested waters? Go without internet?!

YES!

Ironically enough, the father daughter camping trip did not involve my father. He was in Paris. I was in a canoe with one of my dearest friends. And it worked out well enough! (He was supporting my rather unhealthy shopping habits, I caching up on all the things I am oblivious too in our circles.)

 I've been friends with MaryHelen for a while now but we've actually never gotten a decent photo together! Thankfully thanks to our superior self timer skills we got quite a few this weekend. MaryHelen has a heart of gold and (and for God!) and I was so BLESSED to be able to be with her. I swear, she's a saint.

It's a long story....but I couln't remember canoeing before. MH was new too which meant our chances of tipping were much higher. But! We navigated alligator infested waters without getting any of our belongings wet, mild spider bites and no terrible sunburns (and feeding wild monkeys!) At one point we turned on some music and sang as we paddled (slowly) along. It was quite magical.

So can Kryn camp? The answer is HECK YES. Can she do it with a gold watch on? HECK YES. And sure,  I could have done without the tick or the chigger bites. But the tan I got? Makes it all worth it. (and the memories we made....those too ;))

#ktaem #freebiscuits #amichoking #whitedress #simmerdown #monkeys #fruitsaladgang #darlingiwillbelovingyoutill *insert random number here* #peoplefallasleepinmysteriousways #emergingfromthewomb

that last one was really awkward.

#BLESSED

If we rate my weekend based on my laser tag score, then it was wonderful!

But if we are judging based on my go kart driving abilities.....

Is being lapped 3 times a bad thing?!

Our youth group winter retreat was this weekend. Which honestly, not sure why we bothered stressing the winter theme of it because really! Look at the photos! Between general sessions (teen pact vibes!) and a sleepover (where we actually got some sleep!) it was a good weekend. 

The best part was mini golf right at sunset! (I seem to have an sixth sense for sunset timings!) After we got dumped by the 20 year old guys we were playing laser tag with, we snagged Bostwick and hit the course. Somehow we managed running out of time (maybe it was a few too many "hole in 439's")   but as we ran through the final holes (with only momentary pauses for photos!) it was without a doubt, the best part of the weekend.

I happen to be friends with quite a few 15 year olds, but Bostwick tops them all. (especially when he offers to hold my jacket for me...and then ends up wearing it for the rest of the night.) My first encounter with him was the opening night of Pride and Prejudice. I was behind the curtain and suffering from extreme stage fright. My friend Andrew was consoling me and then out of the blue, some red head kid joined in and somehow we all just ended up hugging one another and bonding and sharing a really deep emotional moment.

Or something like that.

But anyway!

CAN WE JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO ADMIRE THE ALIEN WHO FLEW HER UFO TO EARTH JUST TO PHOTOBOMB. Oh wait....it's just Emily! Also, these 3 are gems beyond words! I love them all to death.

So anyway, yes. It was a wonderful winter retreat....minus the winter of course! (and despite my lack of driving abilities.) It revealed WHY God put certain people in my life (some to test me, some to bless me!) And I am thankful everyday to be apart of something bigger than myself. 

#blessed #life #hatersbackoff ;)