it's like america but SOUTH.

i have been in south america for about two weeks now. i love it more than i can explain!

this is what my week in Peru looked like:

jumping on hotel beds in Lima with friends.

(no i did not run into Jordan Van Der Sloot)

sneakin' a pic with the policia.

a visit to beautiful huanchaco beach

playing with children that are dying to be loved and cared for.

climbing a mountain in the middle of nowhere on a very very cloudy day.

after climbing the mountain attending the most beautiful birthday party ever that was thrown for one of the workers in the garbage dump! she turned 13 that day.

and of course a little bit o' arm wrestlin at chicken sandwhich place!

now i am beautiful buenos aires getting settled and making friends! more posts to come. holla!

let go.

I’d rather help than watch.

I’d rather have a heart than a mind.

I’d rather expose too much than too little.

I’d rather say hello to strangers than be afraid of them.

I would rather know all this about myself than have more money than I need.

I’d rather have something to love than a way to impress you.

on tuesday i leave for peru, weee! i am so so so excited.

south america will always and forever have my heart.

until then, i will be living up every single day in Chicago.

today julie and i played at the montrose dog beach.

it may or may not be one of my fave chicago summer spots.

the dogs are always having the time of their lives splashing in the water.

and rolling around in the sand.

and sniffing each others butts.

and getting the pretty girls to rub their bellies.

You make beautiful things out of the dust.

in just a few short weeks i will be back in peru. i am unbelievably ecstatic. i cannot wait to catch up with old friends, risk my life just by getting in a taxi, go to the plaza for late night cake, and drink cafe con leche at the little corner store down the street. but above all, i am eager to go hang out at the day care, see how far the construction has come on the orphanage, and hang out at the garbage dump. this is a candid photo that one of my role models, jeff, wonderfully snapped.

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. -Mother Teresa

incalink is an incredible organization that i feel so blessed to work with. i wish so badly that i could have been an intern again this summer, but i know that God will have amazing things in store for me in Argentina. i think that everybody needs to check out incalink.net to see how awesome it is! yeee!

Together

I watch this probably once a day. And each time i can't help but get up and dance!

black hawk pride.

so the chicago black hawks won the stanley cup. therefore all of chicago erupted with insanity. friday morning was the celebration parade. needless to say, julie who is my partner in crime in chicago, and i woke up at 7 am to join right in with the madness.

the entire city had exploded in red and black and people everywhere were ecstatic beyond belief. everyone was hanging out of their windows throwing confetti and "chelsea dagger" by the fratellis was playing throughout the streets. the parade passed with the budweiser clydesdale horses, many chicago police, and all of the chicago black hawks players on top of double decker trolleys. and after it passed? well we jumped the fence and joined right in with the riots!

love the black hawks logo sewn on the chicago flag. even better that its hung on a fishin' pole!

the trolleys with all the players.

julie & i are expert weavers. we can weave our way to the front of just about anything.

the streets were packed from building to building.

Police officers trying to hold back the riots.. a minute later everyone shoved through. Needles to say, some people got arrest. oof!

& there it is. the stanley cup. i love this city.

you really got a hold on me.

i love my city. i love my city so much i cannot even explain in words how much i love it.

last week jessica and i frolicked all day in lincoln park with julie. ate delish cupcakes at sweet mandy b's (where i discovered an enormous chunk of carrot in my carrotcake cupcake!). ate awesome pizza at chicago pizza oven grinder. then went to mayfest which was an absolute blast. later we met up with some friends in albany park, homesweethome.

at the beginning of this week i went to millennium park for the free she & him concert.

it was beautiful to say the least. i not only love zooey deschanel's voice, but i love how m. wards compliments it so well. the show was great, the people were great, chicago was and is always great.

tomorrow is the parade for the blackhawks. eeee!

Eeeeee!

today i was so happy, for no reason really at all, i wanted to jump up and down and up and down. boing.

life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent…

memorial day weekend, you are so good to me.

alegría

alrighty.

i've got approximately forty-six days until i depart from north america and head down to south america.

tick. tock.

sometimes i am astounded when i rewind my life back a few years. pause. and think about what my life was going to be in the future. nothing like this, that's for sure. God has taken me on a wild adventure that i quite honestly cannot get enough of. one thing is for sure. and that is the fact that letting go and allowing God to guide my life has allowed me to see beautiful places, meet beautiful people, engage in true community, and above all- experience the full extent of His love. right now i am thinking about the hardest times in my life. the times where i had to whole heartedly rely on God. after i overcame those.. God revealed a much more beautiful plan than i could have ever created.

most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.

live it.

(pic taken by my lovely friend liz while we lived in peru last year)