there's a taco in my lung

awkward:

- I ate a taco so fast, I felt like it was in my lung because of the chest pain I experienced afterwards.  So.  There's that.
- I got an email from Sears that said "You have $30 in rewards points!" Went to check it out...oh wait, it's actually $0.04.
- Next Wednesday I have two midterms and two papers due. :(
- We must have spent the first hour in my science class talking about a bunch of mumbo jumbo because all those women feel like they need to contribute everything they've ever thought about to the conversation.  Such a waste of time.

awesome:

- my amazing father spent all day today working on my car and saved me and Rachel about a bazillion dollars rather than having to take it to the shop.  He is awesome!!!
- I signed up for an online songwriting course.  It sounds pretty cool!  I'm excited. :)
- I bought some candles from Bath & Body this week and I love them!  I've always wanted to be a "candle person", but I've never really had a place to burn a candle that wouldn't catch a book on fire or be within a pet's reach.  Now I finally have a spot, and I'm taking full advantage of it!  Mmm.
- I got some books at a thrift store this week, and since I'm actually in a reading mood I'm trying to devour everything I've ever wanted to read before the mood goes away.
- Jane Eyre.  I've been listening to the audiobook while working out at Planet Fitness, and I love it!  Mr. Rochester finally declared his love today, so now I have to wait till next week when I go to the gym again to find out what happens.

52 lists : : weeks 7 and 8

list the things that make you feel healthy

working out

eating good food, like salads and fruit and chicken

reading a good book

dressing up

brushing my teeth

taking a shower

drinking water

going for a water and breathing in lots of fresh air

 

list your favorite albums   

 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

Promises and Pieces of a Real Heart by Sanctus Real

Music Inspired by The Story

Joy: An Irish Christmas by Keith and Kristyn Getty

Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man

Peace Like a River: The Hymn Projects by Chris Rice

52 lists : : week 6

List the Ways in Which You Can Love Others

- making a thoughtful, personal gift

- encouragement

- laughing at their jokes

- reading a book to Chloe

- letting them choose the movie

- giving up the last piece of pizza

- sending encouraging letters, emails, or texts

- listening attentively, focusing on them, and responding appropriately

- driving for them

- letting them choose what to get to eat

- helping with household chores

- doing a return

- being random with my acts of kindness and love

- trying to see them as Jesus sees them, instead of just thinking I'm better than they are; focusing on the best about them

- only giving compliments that I actually mean

- striking up a conversation and getting to know them better

when despairing

And there was one occasion, where he would get very melancholy, very depressed. He would go into serious bouts with depression, and she knew how to snap him out of it.

One occasion, the story is told that he was away and returning home, and she dressed in all black like a mourning widow, and opened the door, and he was sort of shocked. And she was standing there, and he asked her, “Who died?” And she said,

“Well, if the great Martin Luther is this depressed, I just assumed that God has died.”

– speaking of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora

let's resolve : : January '13 results + February '13

1. Finish memorizing Psalm 51 and move on to something else.  This chapter was a pain--it took me forever to finally get it.  As of a couple days ago, I finally feel comfortable leaving it behind, and I'm moving on to 1 Corinthians 2.

  
2. Get up earlier on school days so I'll have time to do my devotions and pray before the day.  I have been terrible about this.  If anything, I'm having an even harder time than I did before I made this goal. :(

3. Be disciplined in exercising.  Haven't been terribly consistent, but I haven't quit either.  So that's something.  I'm able to go faster for longer periods of time now, too.

4. Try to complete all my homework during my extra hours at school.  I've been having such a difficult time getting into a groove this semester, but I think it's getting a little better.  This week I made myself a schedule outlining what I have to do each week, and I think it'll really help me!  As for using my extra hours at school usefully, I've been doing pretty well.  When I haven't been doing homework I've been working on some fiction, so at least I'm using the creative part of my mind.

5. Get outside and take some pictures.  I only did this twice, but at least I did it!  I had a really good time, but it's been getting a lot colder and windier so I don't know how soon I'll be going out again.

And here are my goals for this next month.

1. Memorize 1 Corinthians 2, go over chapter 1, and memorize verses with my Sunday school class.  Rachel and I are now teaching the 4th and 5th graders at our church, trading off every week.  They have a verse to memorize every week, and I figure that I should be memorizing the verses I'm telling them to memorize.

2. Just drink water.  As I wrote about in my post yesterday, I'm just drinking water for the 40 days of Lent.  Let me tell you--it sucks!!!!  I actually really hate water, so this is kind of one of the most difficult things I could have ever decided to do, but we'll see how it goes.  I'm on day 3. :(

3. Pack my lunches for school.  Since I'm going four day a week now, I'm realizing how much money I could potentially spend just on food for those days.  Gas is expensive enough, so I'm really trying to take my lunch every single day.  So far I've been doing pretty good about it!

4. Go to a monster truck rally.  Yeah, this one's kind of random, but my dad's been talking about taking us to one and I think it'd be a blast!  So I want to make it a goal to kind of make sure it gets done.

5. Figure out my summer plans???  I'm not really sure about this one--as of now I'm sort of lost about what I'm doing, but maybe things will become clearer over this next month.  Here's hoping!

let's drink water

 via

awkward:

- taking this 40 Day Challenge where you only drink water for the 40 days of Lent.  I've never done Lent before--never even really knew when it was until I worked at McDs last spring and it seemed like all we sold was fish--but I thought this was an interesting challenge, and I can always drink more water.  I admit, however, it's a bit daunting--I drank a gallon of peach tea in preparation.
- the wall mirrors that go all the way around the main room of Planet Fitness.  I have scoliosis and walk kind of lopsidedly, but I never realized how bad it was 'til I saw myself walking in one of those mirrors.  So, thank you, Planet Fitness, for slowly breaking down my positive self image. ;)
- my science teacher this week, after he realized that Valentine's Day was coming up.  After we all teased him about not getting anything yet for his girlfriend, he proceeded to inform us that every day with him is like Valentine's Day, "and every night is like the Fourth of July."

awesome:

- quitting my 365 challenge.  It is such a relief to not have to worry about taking a picture every single day. Yay for failure!
- Valentine's Day!!!!  I ended up skipping school today (because my car is falling apart), but I did go to Walmart to join the masses of boyfriends, fiances, and husbands desperately searching for some passable flowers and maybe some chocolate. I had a hard time holding myself back from running down the aisles singing "All the Single Ladies".  Go watch this cute video for some Valentine's Day cuteness--my favorite is the little red-haired girl. :)
- prayer for Djamsel would be awesome--there's some issues with the center he's been attending and I'm not really sure what the outcome will be.  Hopefully it'll all be resolved soon--please pray that his center won't be closed!
- an A on my science test!
- getting tested to see if I'm able to donate bone marrow this week!  I was encouraged to do this by my science teacher, who knew someone who has leukemia and is in need of a transplant.  The only thing that was kind of weird was that, when I went to my teacher's school to get tested, of course he was there.  Nothing like chatting with your professor while awkwardly swabbing the inside of your mouth--I felt like we were really bonding. 
- Happy Valentine's Day!

 

365 photography project : : week 6

Tuesday // I went out to Sal's grave after I got home from school--isn't the view beautiful?

Wednesday // Forgot to take a pic--here's one from the day before.

Thursday // And another from Tuesday.

Friday // Chloe lost another tooth!

Saturday // My wretched math test that took me three hours to finish.

Sunday // Rachel's fox sweater.

Monday // At school.

This is going to be my last 365 photography post.  I feel like it was a good endeavor, but I am just so sick and tired of having to take a pic every day!  My goal at the beginning was to gain more experience in photography and enjoy it, but I actually just don't even like getting my camera out anymore.  So it's time for it to stop!  I feel like that's what I always do when I say I'm going to schedule posts--I back out of it.  Scheduled blogging just isn't for me!  Oh, well, I hope you all enjoyed these posts while they lasted!

52 lists : : week 5

hemming my jeans

awkward:

- new experiences.  Specifically ones where I just don't know what's going to happen. 
- tearing up when writing tragic fiction.  Argh.  Seriously, why do I get so attached to fake people?  *runs up to a mannequin for a hug*
-staying up 'til midnight so I can watch the next episode of one of my favorite shows on Hulu.  And then the ending was so horrible, I was literally speechless.  I honestly couldn't even think for a straight minute, my brain was so fried.
- the heater being turned up way too high in my classroom, and all of us sweating our skin off.  My teacher miss-spoke when someone asked a question and blamed it on the heatstroke he was suffering from.  Then we couldn't find anything to prop the door open with, so someone had to just sit against it.
- almost crashing...while driving someone outside of your family.  Oh, don't worry, I do this all the time--ahh!

awesome:

- this picture that I found while looking through my old archives.  Tell me that isn't the cutest little face you've ever seen.
- Valentine's Day is next week!!!  I can't wait to get all dressed up and go to...school.
- jeans that are actually too long.  So exciting!  I actually had to hem them...I don't know if that's ever happened before.
- God's sovereignty and grace even in little things like my dog dying.  It was perfect and fast and painless, just how I'd hoped even though it didn't go according to my "plan" at all.
- having a science today--completely unprepared for it--and then it was open book, open notes, and we all partnered up.  Awesome!
- Oreos.  Oreos are clearly awesome.

52 lists : : week 4

To read more, go to my bucket list.

365 photography project : : week 5

Tuesday // This was not taken at one in the morning.

Wednesday // Neither was this.

Thursday // So much pink in my bathroom.

Friday // Forgot to take a pic, so here's some more pink. 

Saturday // Jonah's saying hi.

Sunday // I love this song!  Go here to listen to it.

Monday // My dad actually took this pic today.  My dog died last night, and this is what sweet Clovie put next to his grave--her favorite barrette and some flowers.

be mine - a Valentine's Day post

Hey everyone!  So I thought it'd be fun to do this little Valentine's Day questionnaire.  I absolutely love Valentine's Day--actually, I love all holidays, so hurray for Valentine's Day!  I got this little quiz over here, so head on over to check it out if you're game!

 

1). What is your favorite part about Valentines Day?

Like I said, I'm really just a holiday freak.  I dress up for all holidays--a bit of red for Christmas, red and pink for Valentine's Day, green for St. Patrick's Day...if there's a holiday, I'm joining in.  All that to say, I really just like the love part of it.  Not even specifically romantic love, but just love in general.  Valentine's Day reminds me of how much I love my family, and how thankful I am for them.  But let's not bash the romantic aspect of it, either--that part's pretty great too.

2). Your favorite romantic movie

There are so many.  To name a few--While You Were Sleeping, Sweet Land, The Lost Valentine, Pizza My Heart, Everything You Want...the list goes on.

3). Dark or milk chocolate?

Definitely milk if it's available, but dark's okay too.

4). What is something you do to make Valentines Day special?

I like to really dress up for Valentine's Day--pinks, reds, skirts, dresses--just a fun kind of day.

5). Which would you prefer getting as a gift on Valentines Day: Flower or chocolates?

Definitely flowers.  I love getting flowers.

6). If you're married, what do you enjoy doing with your husband to celebrate?

Darn it, you found out about the man I've been hiding in my closet, huh?  Haha...just kidding...it's actually my husband + our three children.

7). If you're single, what do you hope to do with your husband if you get married someday?

 Well... let's go ice skating!  That'd be fun...and a bit childish.  I guess if we were acting like adults we'd go out to dinner and eat our $20 steaks while murmuring solemn words of love to each other.  Nah, I'd prefer ice skating and laughter. :)

apologies aren't accepted here

I got a letter the other day from my little girl, Majoie, who I sponsor through Compassion International.  Her letters are very scripted--she's only six years old--so my favorite part of her letters is usually at the end where she asks me a question.  This time she asked, "When are you coming to Togo?"  If only she knew how much I long to come and meet her!

I also got a letter from my correspondence child, Cristian, several days ago.  He's fifteen years old, and I really enjoy his letters because he's much older and actually answers my questions.  We actually have conversations!  He is so encouraging to me in my faith, always sending me verses and telling me he's praying for me.  I just love getting letters from all of them.

Chloe asked me to tell her what my science teacher looks like.  When I told her his skin is about the same shade as mine, she automatically took that to mean that he is actually my twin brother and my mom left him at the hospital when "we" were born.  Not sure where Rachel fits into that picture...

Chloe was pretending to read a book we had lying around about marriage, and she told me: "Oh, you know what the book says?  It says that about six months after you get married, you get a baby sometimes!"  Then she told me that the book also said that "right after you kiss [at your wedding] you feel like you're married."

"If I ever get a Chihuahua, I'm going to name it 'Ouchie-Wa-Wa'."

She has this thing lately where, every time I say something's wrong with my physically, she has to go tell our mom.  "Chloe, I have a hang nail."  "Let me go tell Mama!"  "I don't feel very well."  "Mama!!!"  "My eye looks a little red."  Mama has to know.  It's a bit annoying--I have to constantly be in perfect health now. 

The other night Chloe gathered all of us to have a tea party at the table.  She'd watched the American Girl movie "Felicity" and wanted to recreate it.  She was making sure we were all very proper, and I accidentally added cream to my tea without realizing that she was the one who was supposed to do it.  She looked at me aghast and I said, "My apologies."  She lifted her nose primly and replied, "I'm sorry, but apologies aren't accepted at this tea party."