A List! Because Goodness Abounds!

you know, if i'm good at anything, i'm good at dwelling in anxiety. i can spend all day in a cloud of worry, and i can spend all night dreaming about the same stuff (in fact, i had a couple of dreams about staffing last night - it was ridiculous).

but for all my worry and fear, for all my doubts and uncertainty, there are many wonderful things in my life. and rainy tuesdays are good days to list the things in life that are simply awesome. so here are a few:

- spicy and delicious homemade ginger syrup, used to make equally spicy and delicious ginger lime cocktails, to be shared with awesome friends.

- mario kart marathons. and if you think this is going to be the only nerdy thing on this list, think again. you clearly don't know me. 

- good beer by way of a reasonably priced victory variety pack. hop devil, golden monkey, victory pils, and victory lager - yum. 

- God's providence with staffing, as more and more people (especially dudes) submit applications for a summer of ministry.

- job stuff is...well it's not all gloom and doom. there are good options on the table. if i could just surrender my anxiety, things would really be looking up!

- a brand new, totally soft, really warm micro fleece with the ligonier logo emblazoned on the front. for cheap! i love it.

- enjoying the extended editions of the lord of the rings via netflix, while simultaneously re-reading the books (i told you there was more nerdiness to come!).

- time spent with lots of friends - neighbors & visitors alike, who are encouraging, funny, and just all-around wonderful.

- conversations with amy, who patiently listens and faithfully prays for me, even while abroad in germany with her own worries.

- little people (dylan and james, duh) who shout and run to say hi every time i see them. it consistently makes my day.

- netflix. i just...i love netflix. that's all. 

- bread pudding, wii fun, and good tv for tonight!

- simple photoshop tutorials that make my point and shoot camera look like a dslr of awesomeness.

before:

after...see??

- green returns to the trees! spring & the promise of summer! warm days! thunderstorms! delight!

- the promise of vacation, mere weeks away

so things are good. great, even. today is a quieter day in the office, but things in life are happening the way they should - which is to say, as God has set them out to be. my prayers for patience, trust, and courage are answered at the right times. and there are plenty of blessings to temper my anxiety - i just need to take the time to see them.

Chorus, Christmas, & the Coming Lord

This is the weekend of the community chorus concerts, which means I've been singing and singing and singing. This afternoon is the last one, which is kind of bittersweet. I'm looking forward to a little respite for my voice, but I do love singing with the chorus.

The chorus does a spring concert and a winter concert, though the "winter concert" would be better described as a Christmas concert. All of our selections are about Christmas in one way or another. This year we're singing selections from Rachmaninoff's Vespers and Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and a bunch of other stuff including an arrangement of Star in the East with a hammered dulcimer player (it's awesome). But my favorite piece is one by Daniel Gawthrop, called O Come Emmanuel, which the chorus actually commissioned 10 years ago. The music is gorgeous, meaningful to sing, and the text is a poem by Madeleine L'Engle, taken from a collection of her poems called The Ordering of Love: the New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle (Thanks, Google books!). This poem is the second of her "Three Songs of Mary."

2. O Oriens 

O come, O come Emmanuel 

within this fragile vessel here to dwell.

O child conceived by heaven's power

give me thy strength: it is the hour.

O come thou wisdom from on high;

like any babe, at life you cry;

for me, like any mother, birth 

was hard, O light of earth.

O come, O come thou Lord of might,

whose birth came hastily at night,

born in a stable, in blood and pain

is this the king who comes to reign?

O come, thou Rod of Jesse's stem,

the stars will be thy diadem.

How can the infinite finite be?

Why choose, child, to be born of me?

O come, thou key of David, come

open the door to my heart home.

I cannot love the as a king -

so fragile and so small a thing.

O come thou Day-spring from on high:

I saw the signs that marked the sky,

I heard the beat of angels' wings,

I saw the shepherds and the kings, 

O come, Desire of nations,

be simply a human child to me.

Let me not weep that you are born.

The night is gone. Now gleams the morn!

Rejoice, rejoice, Emanuel.

God's Son, God's Self, with us to dwell.

I'm pretty much a wizard now.

Well. It happened.

I went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

It was awesome.

It was also unbelievably hot, humid, and crowded. But mostly it was awesome. And while I don't have any pictures to post - yet - I'll be sure to add a few on here one Whit uploads them on FB. All in all, the trip was something that came at an opportune time. This job search thing is really wearing me thin; I'm constantly anxious about where I'm going to be in the next months. I know I shouldn't be anxious, because I have a supportive network of family and friends, not to mention a couple of options that, while perhaps less-than-ideal, will certainly keep me from living on the streets. Being able to leave the confines of my house and just go enjoy a vacation made a big difference. It was like a weight lifted for a while.

Anyway, I'll just share a few highlights, because I think that trying to give a play-by-play of the whole trip could get tedious. Whit and I departed from her house in Maryland on June 23, and took two days to drive down to Orlando. We took 95 for most of the trip, and - obviously - we stopped at South of the Border. That place is...awful. Seriously. What a creepy, creepy place. Anyway, we got to Orlando, found our hotel, and spent the next 3 days at Universal (which is where Harry Potter World is; it's a part of their Islands of Adventure park). Like I said, it was really flippin' crowded in the park, but it was fun to be there and just see kids having a blast. It was unreasonably hot and humid the whole time, which made me admire the stalwart kids who wore their HP robes while roaming about. Actually, I was more fearful for their safety than impressed by their constitution. I wonder how many little members of Gryffindor passed out at the park during the first week?

We tried the Butterbeer (duh) and got commemorative mugs (from which I drink everything now), and we also tried the real beer exclusive to the park. It's a Scottish Ale they serve at the Hog's Head, and it was surprisingly good (even at 11AM...wait, what?). We rode the rides which were as follows: The Flight of the Hippogriff (a kiddie coaster), The Dragon Challenge (a suspended steel rail coaster that NEVER had a line...I guess the families and kids at the opening of the park were less into intense roller coasters, which is fine with me...we took advantage of that fact), and the Forbidden Journey, which is the most notable HP ride in the park. The line is a tour of Hogwarts, and the ride itself is one of those simulation rides where you fly around and deal with like dragons, dementors, quidditch, etc. It was pretty sweet, even if Whitney lost a flipflop (RIP) when the lady next to her kicked it off her foot.

Anyway, the whole experience was pretty great. Sure, there were lines to do almost everything, but we didn't mind. We also spent an afternoon watching Toy Story 3, and another watching the USA loss to Ghana in the world cup. We spent a day at Disney, too, which was wonderfully nostalgic. Though Space Mountain? Not nearly as fun as I'd remembered.

The return trip included a day in Charleston, SC, which was beautiful and a two-night stay with Julie Rafferty in Greenville, SC, where we picked her up to take her to Lindsay & Eric's wedding. And the wedding? Awesome. So fun, so meaningful, just...just wonderful. What a blessing to see two of my favorite people get married! I sang Come Thou Fount in the service, which was an incredible gift to be allowed to do. I feel so honored to have been a part of that day in their lives. And, most of my fave people ever were at the wedding, so that was awesome too! We kept the party going the next day, as a huge group of camp folks, current and old (like me!) went to the Pirates/Phillies game in Pittsburgh. And then, finally, after almost two weeks on the road, I came home.

And that's where I am now. I'm in the thick of the job thing again. I have two interviews today, one in just a few minutes on the phone with the DC Public Schools, and another at Best Buy for just some part time employment. Being unemployed is certainly an exercise in trust, but it's getting slightly easier as the days go by.

Summer time!

It's summer! I'm going to say that's 90% awesome, 10% not awesome. Here's why:

+ The weather's been consistently beautiful for the last two weeks. Even rainy days like today feel nice!
+ Speaking of rainy days, this is the first summer in 5 years where I don't have to worry about them. Since I'm not working at camp, I don't have to worry about thunderstorms or rainy day games or any of that stuff. I can sit on my porch and watch the storms roll by.
- However, that means I'm not at camp. And that's kind of lame, honestly. I'm still getting used to the idea that camp is happening without me...which is okay, and most of the time I'm totally fine with it. But occasionally I'll have a moment where I think about it and it's a little sad. More on that later.
+ I'm going to HARRY POTTER WORLD in about two weeks.
+ Lindsay and Eric's wedding is coming up soon, which will probably be the biggest social event of my summer. EVERYONE WHO'S EVERYONE will be there! Well, sort of.
+/- Subbing is over for the summer, obviously. On one hand, that's kinda nice; I can go to bed knowing I won't be getting a 6AM phone call. On the other hand? I have no source of income. Ugh.
- Not subbing allows for a TON of time where I get to sit in the house alone and fret about the future. Will I get a teaching job? Will I have to move somewhere else? Will I even hear back and get an interview anywhere? Will I be able to pay my student loans? Will I have to defer? Will I end up working at Giant bagging groceries? Should I get a retail job somewhere this summer, since I have no income? Will I be here next year subbing all year? Can I even handle that? ...You get the picture.
+ Gardening is cool! We have lettuce, strawberries, mint, thyme, and basil in abundance. On Monday, Anna and I went cherry picking at the cherry tree behind our church, so I have a fridge full of strawberries and cherries. We also planted tons of plum tomatoes, "pineapple tomatoes" (which are an heirloom variety), yellow peppers, red peppers, cayenne peppers, and broccoli. Those probably won't be ready for harvesting until much later in the summer, but I'm seriously looking forward to enjoying them.

I think that's it for the +/- game. This week is going by pretty quickly; Friday I'm hanging out with HS Beth and then going to a Hagerstown Suns game with my brother and aunt. Saturday I'm heading out to Lauren's house in Pittsburgh, and then going to the camp commissioning service at First Pres, then I'm booking it to Olivia's graduation party at the Greensburg Country Club. And then I'm back home! For about a week, before departing for HP WORLD (!!!!) with Whit, then picking up J-Raff and going to the wedding! And that brings me to July.

So the summer will be busy! Not as busy as being at camp, but I think I'm ready for that. Like I said, most of the time I'm totally okay with not being at camp. I LOVE it there but...I can tell it's time to step back. I'm trying to be intentional about praying for the camp, without letting myself feel like I need to be there. So far, so good.

So what about you? How's your summer? And do you know of any jobs out there??

I Make Stuff!

Being unemployed (hopefully not for much longer!) gives me a lot of time to do stuff during the day. "What stuff," you may be asking? Well...I'll tell you! I even have some pictures!

For starters, I've been cooking a lot. I don't have any pictures of this stuff, because hey, this isn't a food blog! Plus my camera is lame, and Dad's nice camera lives with him now. But anyway...on to the list of things I've made recently:

- More tiny jar pies (I've been sharing the tiny jar pie wealth...it's a good deal)

- I roasted garlic and made garlic butter and garlic infused oil. I haven't used the oil yet but the butter is UNBELIEVABLE. If you haven't roasted garlic before, please stop reading this and go do it. It's so easy! And so delicious! And if you want guidance, I'd recommend going here.

- Roasted Red Pepper and Black Bean soup. It's cheap, it's spicy, it's filling, it's unbelievable. I found the recipe here, and I made some cilantro yogurt sauce to go with it. Just put a few generous scoops of plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt, 'cause we had it), the juice of half a lemon, and a big 'ole bunch of cilantro in a blender and give it a whirl. You can thank me later.

- Salsa Verde! I love the Trader Joe's kind, but it's not worth the commute to the nearest TJ's. Ken and I have been tweaking our own to get it right, and I think we're close. 

- The easiest, most delicious tomato sauce known to mankind. Three ingredients: tomatoes, butter, and an onion. Give it an hour of simmering and enjoy. If you don't believe me, take Smitten Kitchen's word for it because she knows what's up!

I've been doodling a lot lately, too, which resulted in  a Valentine's Day Comic (which I never got around to sending to anyone...whoops.)

I also found and fell in love with the comic My Cardboard Life which is easily the most charming comic on the internet.

Finally, I have pictures of the room transformation that's been taking place over the last couple of months. I think I can say it's finally finished for reals as of today. 

For starters, here's one of my walls mid-repainting...ahhh I do not miss that pink.

...isn't that pink carpet nice? I don't miss it, either.

I think this brown is a little more...grown up. I'm a fan.

There's the same wall, as of tonight. I hung some of my paintings, put out some little wee candles, and I'm enjoying some good 'ole Ikea furniture. 

But really, all of this is kind of old news. I've been done painting for over a month, I've had my carpet about as long, and the furniture has been here since January as well. What's been occupying my time this week has been painting a design on the wall over my bed, which is FINALLY finished as of today:

Ta da! I'm really quite proud of it. I painted some big abstract flowers on Anna's walls at my parents' new house in Boiling Springs, and I got inspired to do the same on my own wall. And there it is! I'm kind of disappointed that it's all over, because it's been a lot of fun this week, making thumbnails, doing scale drawings, and finally getting to the painting part of it. So if anyone out there wants something painted on their wall...just let me know! I'm all experienced now, so I'll hook you up. 

So that's what I've been making! How about you? Create anything awesome as of late?

I'm kind of failing at this, aren't I?

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry about that! I think about writing, but then I go and do something else, like write a lesson plan or something crazy like that.

Student teaching is flying by! I'm finishing up with my first placement this week. In fact, because it's a six-day cycle, I'm saying goodbyes all week to my students. It's pretty sad. I've been given drawings, cards, hugs, and even a round of applause from my students...in addition to a lot of other less tangible lessons. They're crazy, their lives are impossibly hard, but they're so sweet and they work so hard! Well...most of them do. I'm feeling sentimental, so I'm being a bit generous.

Other than teaching, my life is pretty normal...I went home last weekend and went to see Where the Wild Things Are with Ken, HS Beth and Anna. It was, um, kind of a downer. I mean, it was beautiful and well done, toed the line between sweetly heartbreaking and devastatingly painful. There's kind of a sinister thread that runs through the whole thing, with each wild, childlike scene reminding you of how cruel and broken childhood can be. By the end HS Beth and I were both tearing up while my sister tapped me and saying "WHY IS THE MONSTER CRYING???" I wanted to answer her with "Because life is awful and broken and relationships are impossibly complicated!" but I settled for "Because...um...because he's sad." Or something.

This Saturday I'm going with the Thayers to visit Whit, and I'm going to Virginia next weekend...so things are picking up! And starting next Monday I make the switch from poor, Hispanic, elementary school to rich, white, high school. So that should be interesting for sure...

Really, iTunes?!?

Unbelievable.

Other than having the worst recommendations EVER from iTunes, my life is good. Teaching the little babies has been educational, to say the least. Today I had lunch with my former CIT director, which was wonderful. And tonight I might go to a FIGHTNIGHT PARTY.

So yeah, life is good!

11 Weeks Later...

Well, I'm home. What a summer.

It was difficult. I'm exhausted.

I forgot about the physical work that is the CIT job. I forgot how exhausting it is to clean 350 dishes after every meal, or to scrub every sink, toilet and shower, or to sweep...everything. By week 11 I didn't want to touch another dish or broom again. My feet and back and hands ached by the end of each day. But through all of that exhaustion and pain, the Lord gave me deep satisfaction. There's something amazing about watching all of that work get done in a little amount of time. Watching hundreds of bowls and plates go from being disgusting to completely clean in a mere hour is almost miraculous. Doing these jobs was a reminder that God created us to be people who work. And yes, there were days (especially by the end) where it got harder and harder to take joy in work, but I loved being able to come home and think about all of the things I'd done that day.

And for all of the physical exhaustion, there was the emotional and spiritual exhaustion that comes from living in tight community for a long period of time. Ministering to the girls and trying to meet their needs as a mentor and friend took all that I had. I learned quickly that "all that I had" wasn't very much, so the Lord had to step in for the rest. Living in community also means that, eventually, you're going to see and experience your own brokenness and the brokenness of the people around you. I learned so much about intentional community this summer; how do we address our brokenness with each other? How can I meet your needs, and how can you meet mine? What a blessing to be able to ask those questions of people who know me and love me. And what a blessing to know that we are able to know and love each other because we are known and loved by the Father first.

I'm still reflecting a lot about this summer. I loved my job so much. I loved working with Geraud, I loved living with Lauren, I loved being with my CITs, and more than all of those things, I'm seeing (and loving) how the Lord is transforming me in real and concrete ways.

I learned more this summer than I could'v hoped for, and more than I've been able to fully process. Last night, Whitney spent the night at my house and we just debriefed the summer for a few hours. It was a blessing to verbally process the things that are happening...I'm excited to keep doing that.

Camp happened. It happened in a big, big way...I'm glad it happened, I'm glad I got to be a part of its happening, and I'm glad - in some ways - that it's no longer happening. It's time for the next stuff to happen.

But for right now I'm sleepy and ready to do nothing for a while. I've made plans and committments to friends with whom I'm going to be intentional, and I'm ready to spend some time with my family. I might go to Pittsburgh this week for a Pirates game, and Washington over the weekend for a Steelers/Redskins preseason game. I might go to the Thayers after that and spend some time with my second family :)

It's good to be home, even if it's a tough transition to be away from so many people whom I love...but the Lord is faithful and I'm where I need to be.

Aaaaaand, I'm OFF!

I leave for camp today! Which means I may or may not write in this blog...but that's okay. Because the summer is going to be wonderful!

If you think of it, it'd be awesome to have prayer for the campers and staff as we work to do some serious ministry this summer. Please be praying for effective training, safe travels, and open hearts that we would hear God's word and be struck by it anew. And pray for safe activities - from rafting to paintball to GOLDRUSH! The Lord prepared some incredible things for this summer, and I'm SO excited to see what those are going to be!

Post-California & New Adventures

California was beautiful!!!! And I had a wonderful time meeting Lisa's friends and seeing her school, her coffee shop (what a weird thing to say is "hers" but she spends a ton of time there...you know how it is), and her church. I love seeing where my friends live, especially when they're far away. It's fun to know their context and being able to match names to faces and locations to images.

Speaking of images, here are some pictures!



This is a view from Pepperdine University. That campus was...incredible. Hello, ocean!



Malibu! There's a man in the bottom left hand corner who looks like he's showing off his butt, but I don't think he is...



Sunset from the Santa Monica Pier



The Getty! A sweet museum with beautiful gardens, a nice collection, and no contemporary art! (We asked to make sure we hadn't missed it.)



One of the many fountains at the Getty



Flower trees from the Getty gardens



Tourism! I made Lisa take me down to the Chinese Theater. We were in Hollywood anyway for church, but this photo proves I'm still a tourist.



Fun!

Anyway, today I'm just relaxing at home. I have some fun stuff going on tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. And on Friday High School Beth and I are going to catch a movie and hang out, which will be a nice time. And a week from Friday? Helloooooo CAMP!

CAL-I-FORN-I-A

Well, I go off on the first leg of my adventure today in about an hour. I'm driving down to the Thayer's house tonight to hang out with Mr. & Mrs. Thayer (but um, not Whit or Liz...) and then tomorrow morning at 6 in the AM I'll be departing for the airport. And then (after 6 hours on a plane) I'll be in CALIFORNIA.

Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone.

The only thing bumming me out right now is the fact that it's Two Stamp Tuesday without CB and Marilyn(d). Buuuut...other than that, things are awesome.

I'll be back with pictures and stories, I'm sure!

Home, Sweet Home

Well...it's true. I'm finally home. Actually, I've been here since Wednesday...I've just been busy doing lots of fun things like cleaning my room, hanging out with my family, and helping my 8-year-old sister clean HER room. Which was a disaster...the room, not the cleaning. The cleaning was a success! Hopefully she'll start to learn how to keep it that way, lest it devolve into the wreck it was before Saturday.

I'm home tomorrow still, and then on Tuesday I'm driving down to Galena, MD to hang out with Mr. & Mrs. Thayer (love them!!) for the night. Then Wendesday morning...I fly! And around noon California time, I'll be hanging out with Lisa!

I also heard from a friend of mine from high school who's been living in LA since we graduated. I haven't seen him since high school, but we might try to catch up while I'm out there. It's strange how someone can go from being in your life every day to...well, not at all.

I've been thinking about that a little with Kutztown lately...next semester isn't going to look like this one at all. I'll be living with CB (yesss) which will be a lot of fun...and if I weren't living with her, I'd probably be dreding next semester entirely. But there will be a lot of my friends from this year whom I will pretty much never see. And that's a little bit of a bummer.

And speaking of school - I had a nightmare last night where I failed one of my classes and was trying to beg my painting professor to change my grade. Ugh, I work up anxious about it. And while I know I don't have anything to worry about...well, it made me worry. Not that I usually need much encouragement in that department...

Anyway, I'm going to bed! And tomorrow I'm packing and probably running a few errands. I have a car full of stuff to take to Goodwill, and a few things I need to buy for my trip. WOO California!

Thank You Day

Today was Thank You Day at Kutztown. I have no idea what that means, except that I got a free t-shirt out of the deal. Which is pretty sweet, if you ask me. Maybe they're thanking me for getting all of my money? I'm not really sure.

Anyway, speaking of school - my time living here (since I'll be in Lancaster for next semester) is drawing to a close.

I'm going to pause and think about that for one moment...

....yessssssssssssss.

Today was my last day in painting and watercolor. It was my next to last art history class. Tomorrow will be my last early field class. On Friday I take a test, and then...

...then it is finished.

Well, except for the Praxis II at 7am the next morning. But that hardly counts! And then the end-of-the-year fun begins: Dana visits, Wing Night with CB and Marilyn on Monday, and then a Dip Party (I might be making the famous buffalo spinach artichoke dip) and the Swain Art show on Tuesday. And then HOME!

Also, it's worth noting that I'll be in California in two weeks.

Do you know what California looks like? It looks like this:



And this:



Oh, and a little of this:



I WANT TO BE THERE.

Two Stamp Tuesday!

Yesterday was Two Stamp Tuesday at Rita's, so CB and I made the trek out to the closest one (about 15 mins away) and braved the rain for some deliciousness.

Once we were back in the warm car and out of the blustery rain, I realized that I couldn't feel my fingers. Those cups get cold! After complaining to CB about this, she excitedly jumped out of the car.



Moments later, after she dove into her trunk, CB resurfaced with a proper cup holder: one of those foam soda can holder things. It was excellent, as was my mango gelati.

In other news...tomorrow is my last day of teaching at Swain. Sad day! I've really grown to love those kids. It'll be hard to say goodbye to them. After school tomorrow, I'll be driving out to Ligonier for the night. I'm staying in Leeanne's house (even though she won't be there because she's on vacation) and then at 7AM on Friday I'm driving out to Antiochian Village to go to a CCO interview. It's something I've been praying about and thinking about a lot lately. I finished my application yesterday, and I'm going to have first interview over breakfast. I'm not really nervous right now, mostly because I've realized that if the Lord is calling me to work for the CCO, then I will. If not...I'll go where he leads me.

Then Friday night when I get back to school...well, I'll be "hitting the books" as they say. I have LESS THAN TWO WEEKS (HALLELUJAH) before the summer!! So I just have to pump out some finals and take the Praxis II and pack up all my junk.

And THEN on May 5th I'm driving down to visit Mrs. Thayer (love her!) and on May 6th I fly out of Baltimore to visit the one and only Lisa Lockwood.

So basically, I'm ready to be in California. Like...now.

Oh, and then CAMP. LOVE IT.

Candy Sushi!!

Here are pictures of the AWARD WINNING masterpieces I made with College Beth on Thursday.



We wanted to use green Fruit by the Foot, but I don't even know if they make that stuff anymore. So we had to use some ridiculous "Berry Blast!!!!" flavor - aka neon blue. But it worked out anyway!



As you can see, we were pretty tenacious in our pursuit of detail - bamboo mat, little grassy things, chopsticks, etc.

The most amusing part is that neither College Beth nor I eat sushi. I mean, I've had it, but not any particularly good experiences. Not that I haven't enjoyed what I've had, but I've never gone out just to eat sushi. And CB is pretty much against it, due to its raw properties. So a lot of what we made came from very careful research (...Google).

And, for the record? These were not particularly tasty. I love all of the components because, well, they're candy! But the overall "flavor profile" is weird. CB and I balked when we tried them, but some people insisted they were really good. These are probably the same people who insist that regular sushi is really good. So try at your own risk! They are, however, reaaaally easy to make.

Today was AWESOME. Because I did NOTHING. I finished a book, I watched some basketball, and I started knitting some socks. Which is tough, because I'm using double pointed needles for the first time...I just started them, so we'll see how it goes!

Grove City and Grocrey Bags

Well, the weekend is drawing to a close. And it was a very enjoyable one, that's for certain. I went out to Grove City, which included seeing a Jinks' senior recital, raspberry chocolate chip pancakes, something called dessert theater, and just nice times spent with good friends. My trips to the other side of the state are equal parts exhausting and refreshing. On one hand, it's a lot of time and money to get out there...but on the other hand, it's so good to recharge with some people who love you.

So now I'm back at school and getting in gear for the week. I'm pretty much over the sickness that plagued me for the last several days, and this week should be full of fun. What fun, you ask? Well, on Tuesday I'll be spending time with Amanda who is home on spring break. I'm also making stuff for the Edible Art Contest on Thursday with College Beth. And on Thursday I get to go on a field trip with my kids at my early field school! AND I don't have my first class tomorrow, and I'm class-free on Friday! Wonderful :)

On a separate note, I just found this website demonstrating how to use plastic grocery bags as yarn. And can I just say, THANK GOODNESS. I try to be as environmentally conscious as possible, but sometimes I just fail miserably. One really obvious manifestation of that failing is the rather large pile of plastic grocery bags stored up in my room. I've kept them because I can't bear to throw them out, and I'm glad to have finally found a way to use them.

So hopefully I can make something super cool like THIS. How exciting!

A New Week

Ughhh my brain feels like mush and I can't stop sneezing. And it's Monday morning. I got a cold this weekend that's taking it's toll mostly by making me feel totally exhausted. It's not the worst cold I've ever had, but it's pretty inconvenient, I'll tell ya that much!

But other than feeling sick, things are going well. My weekend was very nice; I went home to celebrate my sister's 8th birthday and my grandfather's 80th birthday. We had a big party with all of our family, and there was delicious food and poems and crying and a lot of love. It's unusual for that side of my family to be so...open about how much they care for one another, so it was great to hear people saying it.

I had an art history test this morning. It probably went well...right now I'm just glad it's over. Remember the brain-mush thing? Yeah. Me too.

So, I should be showering, getting stuff ready for painting, or doing my homework. But I think I'll opt for a brief nap before going off to painting for the rest of the day. I have a watercolor painting due today too. What's that? You want to see it?! Ohh, okay! Here it is:



It's of my grandparent's farm. And it's due today...soooo thankfully it turned out pretty a-okay.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm exhausted. I'm ready for the weekend. This week should be pretty painless; I don't have to teach on Thursday and I'm driving to Dana's on Friday night! We're going out to GCC this weekend to see our friends and to catch Jinks' senior recital. So that'll be nice. And hopefully by then this cold will be loooooong gone!

Oh, and HAPPY SPRING :)

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY! Hopefully you're out there enjoying the day safely. Today has been...well, interesting. On days like today, sometimes I find it much simpler to use bullet points to sum things up. Sooooo:

TODAY I:
- Really enjoyed my Art Education practicum class, where we discussed inquiry-based learning. I'm a nerd.
- Went to Cabelas with College Beth and Marilyn. If you haven't heard of Cabelas...well, you obviously aren't from where I'm from. It's the like the Mecca of hunting, fishing, and all things outdoors-y. We went in search of boots. Our search turned up empty, but we did get to see well over 100 dead animals including, but not limited to: white tailed deer, a skunk, a gray fox, a moose, a black bear, a mountain lion, a ruffled grouse, grizzly bears, polar bears, mountain goats and some turkeys. Additionally, we visited the "Bargain Cave," the "Gun Library," and the Aquarium. That's not in quotes because there is really an aquarium in this place. There's also a restaurant. And an two story "mountain" complete with a waterfall and all of the aforementioned stuffed and dead animals. And outside is a 20 foot long sculpture of Native Americans canoeing with a moose in their boat. It's a magical place.
- Enjoyed a very...green drink with Marilyn. Which was very suiting, since it's St. Patty's day. The drink started out very vibrant, since we used a melon liquor that's pretty much the color of green apple Jolly Ranchers..but it ended up looking like snot, since Marilyn added - among many other things - cranberry juice and ginger ale. Unlike every other student at Kutztown, however, we only had one drink. The bar opened at 6am this morning, so that should give you an idea how things are going here.
- Saw many, MANY students who've devoted themselves to Ireland for the day. In a very liquid way, if you catch my drift.
- Watched "Fievel Goes West" while enjoying the green drink mentioned before. That movie is...well, I loved it as a child. But in retrospect, it's pretty creepy and weird. Why is there a Russian Jewish mouse in the Wild West? And why are their cats with cleavage? And why is there a really fat cat in a tiny tshirt, pretending to be a dog? These are many of the questions I asked myself while revisiting this classic.

And, to finish up this St. Patty's day post, here's the trailer to one of my favorite Irish movies: Waking Ned Devine...hilarious!

Rascal, the Knitted Kitty

My sister's 8th birthday is coming up. What do you get for the little girl who has everything, and who only wants MORE High School Musical stuff? The answer? Meet Rascal, the Knitted Kitty:



He's cute, isn't he?

Yesterday I stumbled upon the pattern to make Rascal. It's SO simple! You can find the pattern here.



Making Rascal was a lot of fun, mostly because it doesn't take very long. I'm a novice knitter, and it shows in some ways. Rascal is a little wonky and lumpy, but he's still cute.



I'll be making my sister a different knitted kitty, now that I have a feel for the pattern and so on. Hers will probably be purple or blue.



I love making hand-made gifts for people. This year for Christmas, I think I only bought one or two gifts for my friends and family. Being an art major means I get to spend my time making things that end up being pretty good gifts for my loved ones. But I love making something especially for someone. There's something special that happens while you're creating something with a person in mind; you spend that time thinking about them, praying for them, and loving them - even from afar.



And if YOU want to learn how to make a knitted kitty, you can do it! Just go to that link. You know, the one up there! Or the one right here! And if you're thinking that you'd like to make a knitted kitty, but you can't knit...well, just learn! It's a pretty easy thing to do...I'm sure there's a little old lady at your church or in your community that would love to teach you. And, if that doesn't pan out, the Internet is FULL of knitting help. There are videos, tutorials, forums and tons of blogs devoted to the craft. Most of my knitting knowledge came from the power of Googling. So just...do it! It's a ton of fun.

Finally, I need to think of a name for the kitty I give my sister, unless I want all my hard work to be named "Troy" from High School Musical. So if you have any creative kitty names, feel free to share them!

The Internet is Somethin' Else: Creating a Fake Band & Album

Sometimes I find interesting things on the internet...and what better place to share those things than RIGHT HERE?

So here are the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it