Summer Skin

Squeaky swings and tall grass

The longest shadows ever cast

The water's warm and children swim

And we frolicked about in our summer skin

I don't recall a single care

Just greenery and humid air

Then Labor day came and went

And we shed what was left of our summer skin

- Death Cab For Cutie

Summerrrrr

There really is nothing like a Californian summer. I've been spending my days catching some sun rays by the pool. Floating the Sacramento river. Laying by the lake. Eating watermelon with the juice dripping down my arms. Making my own Daisy-Duke cutoffs. Sipping iced passion tea at my local Starbucks. Riding around on my bicycle. Watching the sun set over the mountains. Painting my nails bright colours. And driving with the windows down, singing "Wild Ones." Just one more week of summer bliss left before I spend the next few months in southern hemisphere winter at home in Durban. 

Reflections of a BSSM First Year Graduate

It's a good feeling to look back over your shoulder at the year behind you and know that although the risks were many, you do not have a single regret.


Anybody that has seen my post-highschool journey unfold will say it lies somewhere in-between an adventurous travel novel and your average roller coaster ride. There has been much swimming upstream in the name of following this heart of mine, and not so much slipping into the system. I am a firm advocate of being an individual and throwing yourself into the wind of your own dreams whilst not pretending that you're okay with squashing yourself in other people's expectations of what your life should look like. I'm not sure we were created to live under the ceilings of other people's limitations, but were made to run wild and free in the wide open spaces of our heart's longings. 
I made a decision to embrace this way of life when I closed the last high school textbook and although the uncertainties have been ever-present, so has the fun, adventure and fulfilled dreams. 


I made the risky decision to pack my bags last year and board a plane to California with a heart full of dreams, bags full of hope and a collection of question marks in my hands. I spent a year in the middle-of-nowhere at the foot of snow-capped mountains in a small northern California city, and every day as I breathed in the clean country air, I exhaled the peace of knowing that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I can remember waking up daily feeling as though I had been soaking in a bath of God's presence as I knew that I was at the centre of His will for my life and my destiny was blossoming before me. It's almost ironic how God and the dreams in my heart led me to a seemingly insignificant dot on the map which ended up being the place that spent a year carving a statue out of a block of marble that was my life. This year I was refined. This place, these people have looked into me, seen what lies within and then chipped away the fears, uncertainties, insecurities and left me more myself than I've ever been before. Some people that have been here and done this say that they've been changed into a different person, I say that I've been changed into the person that lay within all along yet just needed some help showing herself. So here, under the Californian sun I met myself for the first time. 


And do you know what the best part of this whole fast-paced, whirlwind of a year has been? The people that have stood alongside me through it's entirety. There have been other crazy, burning-ones from every nook and cranny of the globe that heard destiny's call and found themselves here too. Together we have been shown what it really means to live, and discovered have all that a human being was created for. We have learnt that interdependency and not independency is the true order of life and that community is one of our greatest needs and greatest gifts. Has it been tough? Of course. Has it been worth it? One hundred times YES. 


A week from today I will go back to the place I came from, and I've heard it said that you can truly measure the extent of your personal change when you re-enter a place that remains unchanged. My hometown, my family, friends and 'old life' will be the true litmus test of my change. I will be home for just a few months before I come back to California for round two. Second year, come at me. I'm ready for all that you're bringing.

Obsession of the Week

My stationery collection is one that breeds and multiplies itself almost monthly thanks to stores like invite.L which I recently discovered (via puglypixel.com). I am obsessed with those Editorial-styled journals which I would like to convert into a type of travel journal, and would also like to convert the '1000 kinds of stories' journal into a 1000 things I am thankful for journal. Then there's the pretty washi tape which would fine tune my collection very nicely. 
This online store is beautifully designed, teeming with great product at what I would consider to be reasonable prices taking into account that they ship around the globe at no extra cost. Click here to get your order in!

...

(Going across from top left)

1.) Follow your bliss - Words to live by

2.) Spring nail color palette

3.) A pinterest-worthy bridal shower

4.) Hannah and I close the chapter together

5.) Proof of a year well spend - BSSM 1st year graduate certificate

6.) Self-portrait

7.) New journal - 1 Q&A every day for 5 years

8.) Picked wildflowers and delivered to friends' doorsteps

9.) Empire coffee inside an old train cart

10.) Favorite necklace - Opal

11.) Lace and the lake

12.) Solar eclipse over Whiskeytown Lake

InstaCRAZE

I am a self-confessed Instagram addict and love the thrill of photo editing and photo sharing. I came across this article the other day about a possible launch of an actual instagram camera, and I couldn't help but share it:
"Designers over at ADR Studio in Italy have recently showcased their newest creation, and it appears to be even more addictive than the phone-based version — if that’s even possible. Not only does this square guy boast a 16 GB mass storage device, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it’s also touchscreen operated, with two lenses and an inbuilt webcam application.

Following on from ye olde Polaroid tradition, the camera would also have an inbuilt colour printer, so your shots would be processed instantly on sticky-backed paper. People would even scan your name (which appears on all the paper) to follow your Instagram account online. Stalker alert! It may only be a concept design at the moment, but given the popularity of the iPhone app, we wouldn't be surprised to see this being made for the mass market soon." - Oystermag.com 

Ps: If you're an Instagrammer, follow me. Username jessicaleeswart

Spring.

Colourful handbags. Headscarves. Longboarding. Mint jeans. Coral nail varnish. Pink lips. Retro bathing suits. Baby pink. Straw hats. Flowers. 

Girl meets world

An excessive amount of adventures have cluttered the last four weeks of my Californian life, hence my month long blogging silence. But, I am officially back and ready to tell tales of my escapades across the country. 


Tijuana, Mexico was a culture shock and a half, and after a week in the country I had eaten enough Tacos de Carne Asada to cover my carbohydrate intake for the rest of 2012. On a more serious note, it was an experience that I've waited my whole life for yet never quite knew I was waiting. There were many 'I was born to do this' moments as my team and I got to share the Gospel in some of the darkest spiritual atmospheres we've ever encountered. After seeing people healed, prostitutes loved, the lost find their way home and children meet their maker, we knew we had all had a date with destiny. 
Personally, it was week of discovering 'what I'm made of' and seeing the first glimmers of gold as it makes it's way through the process of refinement. 


Some of this past month's other undertakings have included a road trip up the Californian coastline, visiting the beaches of San Clemente and Santa Monica whilst simultaneously crossing items off my USA bucket list. Spent 3 nights in the lap of luxury at a Malibu mansion, feasting and relaxing post mission trip whilst shopping and dining in Los Angeles in-between. There aren't too many places that beat California during spring break; it truly is the land of Daisy Dukes and bikinis on top. Sometimes, I think I'd fit perfectly on a beach cruiser, wearing a straw fedora and faded denim riding along a promenade in the OC with one hand on the handlebars and the other on my surfboard at my side. Maybe one day?


A series of spontaneous events then led a bunch of friends and I up to the middle of who-knows-where in Oregon to spend the weekend at a Cabin in the snow-drizzled woods. It was a weekend of all things hillbilly; flannel shirts, shootin 'em shotguns, riding 4-wheelers and leaving pennies on the train tracks. The weekend was full of magical moments, especially seeing the contrast the snowflakes made as they fell upon the backdrop of the dark night sky. Being young, carefree and without copious amounts of responsibilities does make for some wonderful adventures of the spontaneous variety. 


Spring has streamed into Redding like the morning light through the blinds, and everything has come out to enjoy life. Lake days are the norm yet again and I am proud to announce my skin tone is getting back to it's former glory and is no longer see-through. Spent Saturday floating down the Sacramento river on  blow-up Walmart mattresses with beautiful people; yet another one of those moments when nature seems to be nodding it's head in agreement with my life. 


School ends in 2 weeks. Teary goodbyes are inevitable. Savoring what's left of life as I currently know it. Realizing how much I need sunshine and was not built to live without it. Stocking up on bright nail polish and colorful attire to match the season change. All seems so right with the world. 

(Team Oregon: Photos by Eryck Quesada)