So... I had a phone interview today and it went really well. I should hear back by tuesday if they want to do an in-person interview [finger's crossed!]. For those of you curious, its a receptionist position in Bellevue. It sounds like a pretty great opportunity. I'll keep you posted ;)


Tonight, I'm off to celebrate these two lovely people on their Big Day!

[Stoked for Tyson + Elsa]

And then, just getting everything sorted for a little road trip tomorrow =)

[via]

Happy Friday, everyone, and here's to a great weekend!!

Part 2 of the Week of Epic Awesomeness: Woah!!

Amazing! That's really all I can say. So blessed to have seen this in London and now Seattle (my two homes). I was very impressed by the sets in this particular production--really amazing. Loved loved loved it! And I'm really glad to have had an uber-fun date with my younger brother Jer.

Can't even believe there's more awesome coming!!! =)

Tomorrow =)

graduation party - sneak peek =)

Part 1 of the Week of Epic Awesomeness: Check!

[menu planning, execution, and pc: Melissa]

And its always good to cross things off the Bucket List (big or small). Well now I can say I took care of:

- Host an event at Heritage Hall

- Host a costume party

Thank you to everyone who helped and everyone else who came--so blessed!

Just wanted to say hello =)

I feel like its been a while. I also wanted to say how exciting I'm getting for my 1 year anniversary of my England Adventures [July 5]. I am very much looking forward to reading journals and blog posts from a year ago. You can look forward to some fun tid-bits and a few "one year ago today" posts [sorry in advance if they get annoying... I'll try to do only the special ones]. But more than just a wish to relive the magic of England, I'm really looking forward to celebrating God's goodness and approaching everyday with renewed gratefulness. It is honestly miraculous what God has done in that 1 little year. And it is miraculous that I'm pursuing what I am right now. But daunting at the same time and, to be honest, I've had a bit of hard time staying as grateful as I should be. I've been looking at these amazing opportunities and while I should be focused on how amazing they are, I've been too preoccupied with how much work they'll take. I mean, here I am, working away on scholarship and school applications--begging for more work? Not to mention the idea of living so far away from home for 4-6 years! Fear and weariness have been really messing with me lately. But, I am so excited to look back and remind myself that God deciding to blow up a vision and fulfill someone's wildest dreams is 1. POSSIBLE--He did it last year and 2. a privilege!! Where I'm at is a privilege and if it costs me more blood, sweat, and tears, so be it. He has big dreams and I'm so lucky to be involved in them--even when I can't see what they entail. So here is God "doing it again" and me celebrating even the hard things--like climbing the arc de triomphe and killing spiders =)

Crossed some things off the Summer bucket-list today:

• See Avengers
• Go to a movie alone
• Booked hotel for the little Frankenstein weekend with the girls next week =)

[via Esther]

Ten years ago today, I was in New York City.

Ten years is too long...

Here's hoping to be reunited in the not-so-distant-future. 

[via Esther]

Truth.

Currently searching for my next life-altering paperback.

Well, it's been a wonderful day, but after:

• FIVE fabulous parties
• lots of wonderful conversations
• a ton of good-bad food [my diet starts monday =P ]
• innumerable new acquaintances
• the summer's first tea-party
• a hundred miles on my car
• three costume changes
• facing a few fears
• a game of badminton 
• swing dancing for the first time in years
• and a host of great memories

... I'm going to bed =)

Moonrise Kingdom = funny stuff!

"Was he a good dog?"

"Who's to judge?"

"I love you... but you have no idea what you're talking about."

Wes Anderson, thank you for a night full of laughs and beautiful art =)

[via]

I need this as a daily reminder.

too many options...

aah! So much to read... and I don't know where to begin.

Current rundown:

The Complete Fairytales by Oscar Wilde*

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury*

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon

haha... that should be Moments of Being [not Mrs. Dalloway] by Virginia Woolf*

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie*

Sherlock Holmes, Volume I by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle*

*started

Some random notes on this particular list... 

- a lot of 1890's-1910's... coincidence? not sure yet.

- short stories? at least 3 of those comprise of short stories--I totally expected myself to get sucked into a novel when I finished school. This is a pleasant surprise.

- Barrie and Doyle were friends and played on a cricket team together =) I happen to be fond of cricket, but am a bad observer--I was way too American in my tendency to clap and cheer throughout the match.

- this is why I should always finish a book before starting a new one =/

- all of these are British except Bradbury (because he was is a genius who transcends being an "American Author")

Well, if there's one you think I should dive (back) into, let me know. Go figure, but Sherlock is definitely the one I feel most drawn to right now...:)

[via]

So glad someone was finally able to articulate that =)

[via]

I look up to the mountains;

does my strength come from mountains?

No, my strength comes from God,

who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

He won't let you stumble,

your Guardian God won't fall asleep.

Not on your life! Israel's 

Guardian will never doze or sleep.

God's your Guardian,

right at your side to protect you--

Shielding you from sunstroke,

sheltering you from moonstroke.

God guards you from every evil,

He guards your very life.

He guards you when you leave and when you return,

He guards you now, He guards you always.

- Psalm 121, the Message

For those of you who have been asking about my interview yesterday... here's the lo-down. I thought I was interviewing for a specific position, but it turns out it was a firm that gets paid by a lot of other companies to hire quality people for them. So, a very nice lady at the firm has my application and resume and said she would get back with me as soon as she finds a good fit. She told me I was "darling" [still not sure if that's a good thing or just a polite critique] and that I "wouldn't be on the market long." Hoping she's right about that.


But for now, I'm back to job hunting. Kinda fun... kinda overwhelming, exhausting, and difficult =)


Today, though, I took a break from all of that to graduate. The English department graduation was rather fun and I loved seeing so many friends--especially Miss Lois!! Just lovely =)

[finally reunited with Lois =]

[Katie - love her! Her thesis topic: George MacDonald and Percy Shelley]

[Beks <3 ] 

[Josiah, myself, and Suzzallo]

[Hannah! My main Honors-partner-in-crime]

There was much cheering and hugging. [I've officially decided that Academics don't do enough hugging. I don't need a hug the day I graduate, I needed a hug the day you told me my paper sucked... but I digress.] One of my friends told me my hair was "immaculate"--especially meaningful coming from an English major. Oh! And it was productive, I had a very good (and extremely necessary) chat with one of my professors about my scholarship process this summer. All that to say: 

Samara Surface

cum laude, departmental honors,

phi beta kappa member, annual dean's list

Bachelor of Arts, English

Wow!! I can't even believe it! So in awe of all that God has done. I'll try and post more pictures later, because it really was a fabulous day.

Now, tomorrow, I face a completely different type of challenge: I'm teaching second grade. All day. All by myself. I'm taking over my mom's class because she has jury duty. =/

Pray for me, if you think of it. There are only five, adorable kids, but its just a bit nerve-wracking!! Hopefully I will have plenty of fun stories to tell on my next blog post =)

Had to struggle against the rain all day to keep my hair nice for my interview, a photo, and an awards thingy.
It's finally in a bun + I'm finally comfortable!

Magus choice today: The Complete Fairy Tales by Oscar Wilde

I'm stoked! I was expecting I'd get a novel, but I think this will hit the spot.

I have already read "The Selfish Giant" and I have high hopes that this collection will be amazing.

I read one today, "The Happy Prince." It was one of his earlier works and his faith is still evident in a really beautiful way (of course it's beautifully put--it's Wilde!)

Anyway... I hope to put some good Wilde quotes up soon.

Adventure for tomorrow: interview! Pray if you would =l =)

Just wanted to give a HUGE shout out to some friends who became parents last week:

[Ryker William Stevie]

Shane and Kort - you amaze me and I'm so proud of who you are and how you've fought for your son. I'm so grateful that he's here now and pray that he grows up knowing just how much you love him.

[Norah Lielle Brickner]

Isaac and Shainia - congratulations!! She is beautiful and I'm so excited for you and the adventure that lies ahead. Love you and hope I can some see you all soon =)

[via Esther]

Just finishing up my last night of homework for UW...

C'est tres bizarre!!!

After my Philosophy final tomorrow, I am celebrating with a ( last )= Monday Date with Julia, a book from Magus, and a movie with Beks (who is finally home!! =)

I am also meeting with my advisor for the scholarship process this summer. To be honest, I've had a bit of a hard time preparing myself for a summer of chasing hard after dreams. I'll probably be working nearly as hard on academics from now until January as I prepare multiple scholarship applications, study and take the GRE's, and apply to 9+ universities. Yikes! After some setbacks (both academic and emotional), I've been struggling to have faith in such impossible dreams. I was--not disillusioned--but, pretty deflated. Honestly, I felt a bit like this:

"I can't even fly out of the window!"

Ok... maybe not that bad, but it's been hard to believe in something so daunting. I've felt so small, so inadequate to accomplish the big things--or even all the little steps to get to the big things.
Well, today Pastor Norm shared something that blew my mind and revitalized my soul. He said:

"The more we discover about favor, the bigger God gets, the smaller we become. That's good news! We can be as small as we are. We don't have to psych or puff ourselves up. We get to walk in favor which means Christ overrides the rules of the natural and gives us special advantages and a special dispensation of grace."

WOW! I. so. needed. that. I am small, but He knows that. He's going to use my itty-bitty person and He can do miraculous and marvelous through me. Selah.

Alright... well with that encouraging thought, I'm heading to dreamland and preparing for the end of one season and the beginning of "the unknown new."

So blessed I got to celebrate a bit of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee today =)

Got to indulge in some Eton Mess [woot! - see above] and sticky-toffee-pudding and other British delectables. 

I've decided desserts are Brit's strong suit and I loooved having some favorites from last summer [the first time I had Eton Mess was at The Eagle and Child =] as well as trying some new ones.

Grateful for enthusiastic friends, especially Mr. + Mrs. Andrew White, and for connections across continents.

Celebrating 60 incredible years (the equivalent of 12 US presidents) and hoping for many more years--along with more weddings and great-grandchildren ;)


God Save the Queen!!!

I have so many friends in England right now, several more falling in love with Sherlock, and I get to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with some British friends this weekend. It all makes me feel... connected. 


A woman I greatly appreciate told me something priceless after I got back from England last year. She said, "I've realized, some people are threads that make up a piece of fabric. They are the foundation to community. But some people are the threads that hold two different pieces of fabric together--and they feel the pull. They are woven into one community, then another, but without fully belonging to just one. It can be painful, but without those threads, we wouldn't have the interwoven, interconnected Body of Christ."
I've realized I'm one of those threads. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant--its more heavy than it is enjoyable. But I do feel the pull of a far off place... and I don't know when I'll be able to return. But like I said, receiving post-cards that have made the journey and talking with other "threads"--some who feel the pull much stronger than I do!--it helps. It sometimes feels like a workout for my heart's capacity, but it helps.


Even with feeling like an interwoven thread, I hold onto a promise that becomes more real, more pertinent everyday:

"My dear Sam, you cannot always be torn into two. You must be whole and one for many, many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be and to do."

I'm waiting for that wholeness. And I know its coming. But until then...

God save the Queen!