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First snow. #Christmaseve #charlottesville

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I’m sorry for posting so many similar photos, but I can never decide which are best. 

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My hair will always be wild.

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I love my porch. This town is so beautiful.

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Hot summer evening on my porch in Charlottesville, VA.

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Charlottesville, VA outside of Urban Outfitters in the downtown mall. Mudhouse Coffee is incredible. I’m excited for this to be my home.

A change of pace: of fresh mountain air, new places, old songs, familiar feelings, and a red leather bag.

How hectic my life has been! I wish I could slow down and think of the past weeks, the past months, the past two years! From the slow chiming of the monastery bells to signify the passing of time in October 2010 to the carbon monoxide poisoning in April 2011 to ringing in the new year with Switchfoot on exactly midnight, January 2012. I am moving three years in a row. I feel like I’m a child again, it reminds me of all the houses I occupied in the Charlotte area year after year. Then, it was a grand adventure…now, I feel a great sadness along with a soulful yearning. Tears sting my eyes as I remember all that I have left behind and how am I about to add to those numbers, some I may never see again. It’s true that I have hated this part of Virginia. It has not been pleasant for me, and I feel like I’m covered in the filth of a long-fought battle. Still, here and there I found glimmers of pleasantries, treasures and kindnesses and things to remind me that the human experience is beautiful, the human experience is worth it, and that the human experience has much to teach those with an open heart.

I am moving to Charlottesville (how funny) in the next couple of months as a place to rest and prepare for my next transition to who knows where. I leave Hampton Roads a much darker person than I was when I arrived, so much of my wide-eyed innocence siphoned and stolen in the night from those who wished the girl I was, a bedraggled mess of a seventeen-year-old, perversion and filth. They will bring you to your knees if you let them. I miss the sights and sounds and lights of my old resting places. Breathing the beauty of things I find comforting, welcoming me, beckoning me with their stories and secrets. I wish to once again walk those halls and hear those whispers, but things will never be the same. I know this. 

Working With Switchfoot.

Switchfoot’s crew is AMAZING. Getting to know Bobby, talking to Josh and Ryan and all of them, meeting their big manager - Bruce - it was all eye-opening, not to mention spending some time with the band themselves. What humble, loving, servant-hearted people. All of them. Bruce, who lives in Charlottesville, brought a whole bunch of kids to the Charlottesville show and let them each pick out a t-shirt if they wanted one. They were all pretty content, though, and only a few girls wanted shirts. I have a soft spot for anyone who loves and treats kids well, so that action really won me over.

One of the girls I ended out working with has been to 97 Switchfoot shows! (I thought I had been to a lot.) Her 98th will be in Lynchburg, where I’ll probably be working with her again. That’s some dedication! I watched Jon plan his climbing route in Charlottesville, which made me laugh. I always kind of thought it was spontaneous, but I guess that wouldn’t make sense. In Richmond, Jon played 24 for me on the sidewalk for the second time that night. I didn’t know he had already played it because I was packing up the merch, but he had apparently played it before I got out there. When I asked him, there was no hesitation, he just played it for me again. “Here’s a song for Alec!” And the little crowd pulled me to the front. What a fantastic feeling.

So much happened that feels almost sacred, and I don’t think I could type it all in this little box. I’m definitely looking forward to working with them again in the future. I’m happy to serve them, and happy to be forming these relationships. 

P.S. My birthday is tomorrow, ya’ll. No big deal. 

It looks like I’m working Switchfoot’s merch table in Richmond and Charlottesville this next week. I’m pretty excited about that. Best birthday ever. Maybe I’ll see you there?