even before coffee.

“God loves you because you’re a mess, and lonely, and His child. He loves you no matter how crazy you feel on the inside, no matter what a fake you are, always, even in your current condition, even before coffee. God loves you crazily, like a slightly overweight auntie who sees only your marvelousness and need.” -Quote from the book Victoria is reading.

I'm hitting up the four corner of the northwest this break! Walla Walla, Seattle, Portland, Spokane/Sandpoint.
For Christmas I went to see Vic in Seattle.
Earlier, she asked me what I needed for Christmas, and I answered, "Just you! I also need you to pay for my education. But really just you." Victoria is the most determined, hard-working person I know. She lives on her own, doing pre-med at UW, and drives back and forth to Tacoma a few times a week to work a 6pm to 3am charting shift at a hospital.
"That shift is the best! Everything bad happens at night. The other night, a dude came in spewing blood! It was out of control!" A Puerto Rican doctor has taken her under his wing and gave her her first pair of hemostats for Christmas, so now she practices her suturing techniques on fruit and around the power cord of her bedside lamp.
We went down and walked through Pike's Place Market, hand in hand, and laughed hysterically at funny T-shirts and made sure to stop and grab samples at all the vendors selling honey, jam, roasted walnuts, and pasta. The last time we went to the pasta vendor a couple months ago, there was a sign that read, "ASK HOW YOU CAN WIN 2 POUNDS OF FREE PASTA!"

Vic: "So how do I win the 2 pounds of free pasta?"
Pasta Man: "Go outside, catch a pigeon and bring it back to us. I can give you gloves if you want."
Vic: "...okay!"
But catching a pigeon is SO MUCH HARDER than you think it would be! We decided the best method would be to take my jacket, corner one of the poor birds, and then throw the jacket over it, wrap it up and take it to the pasta people. We were not successful and in the end, just put our names on an email list where our chances of winning 2 pounds of free pasta was 2 out of everyone living in the Northwest.