senior week.

SENIOR WEEK | THEME: "WHAT REALLY MATTERS?"

It was finally here. The week that everyone
had been posting statuses about. The week
that we all counted down to. Text were sent
out/received that said "I'm so excited to see you".
Excitement was so high that you wanted to
scream, jump up and down, pee your pants,
laugh and smile all at the same time. It wasn't
just because of the people we were going to
see. It was also because we knew this week
was going to be filled with awesomeness and
God.

People started arriving at camp. The excitement
was building. We screamed and hugged.
We signed up for cabins. We unpacked
our bags and rehashed old memories and what
we had been up too. We could tell it was going
to be a good week.

Senior week was nothing but fantastic. We were
vulnerable with each other. We admitted things
to each other. God grabbed us and showed us
what we had been missing. We put out trust in
God together, as a camp. We worshiped Him.
We spent 16 hours in prayer. We anointed
each other. We laughed, we cried and rejoiced
together, as a camp. We learned what really
matters. We formed a community.

We had fantastic discussions and talked for hours.
We helped each other. We formed new friendships
and strengthened old ones.

Camp had its serious times, but it had its fun times too.

We put together a fantastic talent show. We (as in my
cabin) dyed out hair purple. We played capture the flag.
We cracked jokes and made silly faces. We made tons
of friendship bracelets. We wrote notes. We made
 mailbags. We all dressed up for banquet. We sang
"you and I" over a hundred times. We bonded.

Erica gettin' her hair bleached! 

Maddy, our hair dyer!

(picture taken by megan) This is what my hair looked like after it was dyed. Pretty rad yes?

teaching my camp friends how to shoot in manuel/how to use a camera in general. It was hilarious. "What's ISO again?"

It was one of the hardest days ever when senior week ended.
I was standing by my friend Caris and after we finished
closing circle she said: "Marissa, we will never be campers
again... I'm going to cry..." and then we hugged and both of
us just cried for a few minutes. It was like a piece of our
childhood had ended- which in a way it had because camp
will never be the same for us.

As sad as it is that I will never be a camper again, senior week
will always hold a special place in my heart. Camp will always
be a part of my life, is some way or another.

xo. marissa.

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Check out Megan's senior week post: borderless: senior week.
View full photo set: flickr set-senior week

the coffee house

There is this place that I find myself spending a lot of time at. Maybe it's because I work there. Or maybe its because I have an extreme love for coffee. Maybe it's because I just like spending time there, hanging out with the people, taking deep breaths of the coffee scented air... This place, is the coffee house.

The coffee house is a cozy little place. With plenty of tables and chairs, comfy couches, soft lights, big windows and good music. Not to mention the coffee is pretty rad tasting.

One of the biggest reasons I love this place is its 'welcoming' feel. Starbucks although it's often a lovely place to go, doesn't seem to have that same feel as a privately owned coffee shop. This might sound biased, but I have often found that usually these privately owned coffee shops have better tasting coffee then the "brand name" places. I won't argue with you about it though, because everyone has different tastes. 

This place which I love so much, is also a place to connect with people. Friends often get together here to chat. Bible studies come to drink coffee and discuss topics. Old friends gather to reminisce the olden days. 

We baristas love the regulars who come in, always so friendly and nice. We love to create art with coffee, try out new flavors and brainstorm new drinks. It's one of the best places, in my opinion, to work and hang out.

I love the connections and growth in friendships that have happened here. It's truly a special place. 

do you have a favorite place to get coffee?

on the dock

I've always loved the water. Living in Michigan for five year helped arouse this love. Beaches, waves and sand between your toes. Its a wonderful place, a place near the water. I miss being by the water.
Iowa is not the place to come if you love the water. Fields and prairies fill the land like no other state I've ever lived in. There comes a time when you just need to see something different for a change.

My friends have this lovely little pond in front of their house. I love this place because when you sit on the dock, you get just a small feeling that this isn't a pond, but a lake, and just for a moment you can pretend that you are actually seeing water for miles and miles with no land in site. It's a darling place to spot tiny frogs and take a ride in the paddle boat. This pond gives me that little taste of a water mass that I need. This little dock is my favorite.

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p.s- Due to the fact that in two weeks I will be taking the ACT test, I decided to take a two week break from blogger. But, I did line up some awesome guest posters for the next two weeks! So be on the look out for them! See you in two weeks!

Surviving + Enjoying a midnight premiere 101

In my years of midnight premieres (okay, I've only been to 3... but still) I have learned some valuable things. So, here is a guide for you to study, read and memorize, so that you to, can survive and fully enjoy any midnight premiere.


1.  Buy your tickets ahead of time. 
This is probably most important. Obviously you can't see the movie without a ticket, so don't even take a chance by waiting to buy them at the door. Just buy the ahead and then you feel more accomplished and you know that you are for sure getting in. Plus, when the theater opens its doors, pre-boughten ticket people usually go straight the the front of the line and you don't have to be pushed and shoved! Bonus!

2. Invest in nap time. 
Nap time is your best friend. Seriously. Especially when it's time for a midnight showing. Don't be the person who falls asleep during the best-movie-ever.
As a side note, if you don't get up until 10am, then get out of town because you don't need a nap. Us people who get up at 5:30, 6 or 7 even, do however, need to indulge in nap time.
A two hours nap should do the trick, so plan ahead.

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3.  Psych up. (as in mentally prepare)
Get in the mode of over-the-top-excitment by watching interviews, red carpets, pre-released clips and trailers the day of the premiere. You will start freaking out and jumping around and get totally into movie mode by doing this. Plus you learn about the actors/actresses this way. Extra bonus!

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4. Dress accordingly.
This is actually optional. Some midnight premieres (like Pirates of the Caribbean) are hard to dress for. But themed stuff is always good. For the Hunger Games I wore feathered earrings and a HG necklace and a few of my friends braided their hair. See, it doesn't have to be a lot!

5. Caffeine. 
Caffeine is your best bud during a midnight premiere. Especially if you didn't get your nap in. Try to go for coffee first before soda, other wise you might have a case of "sugar crash" and that wouldn't be fun.

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That my friends, are my five tips for preparing and enjoying midnight premieres!

Now, let's talk Hunger Games.


Who all went the movie this morning??? Was it not the best ever? It was so perfect. Even the differences were fine because it was just so good and all made sense. I loved how they added other scenes (as in, parts not in the book) in the movie. SO good. Gary Ross is just a genius. 
Also, could Woody Harrelson have been a more perfect Haymitch? So good. Perfection. 
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were also completely amazing. As was Liam Hemsworth and Elizabeth Banks. Oh goodness, all of the cast was so amazing. Just perfect. 
The filming was also just fantastic. The score was amazing. The emotional scenes were.. emotional. The whole thing was just great. wonderful. amazing. 


Also, has anyone heard the soundtrack for the movie? Oh goodness. That is perfection. Just a game by birdy is like... the Hunger Games all in one song. So good.

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Discuss! 

If you saw the movie, what did you think? If you haven't seen it yet, go see it and then come back and tell me what you thought of it! I'd really like to know! :) AND what did you do in preparation for the midnight premiere?