dead pigeons + 31 days : : seven

awkward:

- I was in the Walmart bathroom the other day with Rachel.  Not knowing she'd gone out of the bathroom, I heard someone in another stall who sounded like they were taking a lot of toilet paper, so I decided to ask "Rachel" if she was planning on taking the entire toilet paper roll.  And then I realized Rachel had left, I was criticizing a complete stranger (who didn't say anything, by the way), and I dashed out of there as fast as I possibly could.  I always do stuff like that. :(
- tripping over a curb.  Thankfully this didn't actually happen to me, but I saw a guy do it and now...I'm going to be really paranoid about those humps of concrete sneaking up and getting me.
- Rachel ran over a pigeon this week.
- I slept on my neck wrong last night, so it's killing me today.  When I told Chloe about this she said that I didn't sleep on it wrong--I obviously have chicken pox. ;D

awesome:
- I'm finally on spring break!  So happy to be done with the midterms I had, and have my papers all written.  Praise the Lord!
- getting out of my last class today a whole hour early!  My teacher was basically like, "Here's your test.  Take it home, bring it back after spring break.  Bye."
- Dairy Queen has this awesome special where you buy a blizzard and get one for $0.99.  We will be seeing that place a lot this month.
- working out four straight days this week!  I always find a reason to skip a day, but I didn't let myself this week and I'm really glad. 
- Chloe and I are planning a sisters' day next week for spring break--we're going to go see a movie, buy some new nail polish, and maybe go to the zoo.

March 7: My dream job

31 days : : five & six

Today I'm pretending to be smart and am writing a reflection piece on an article about quarks.  Someone translate this for me: "Consider an up quark colliding with an antimatter down quark, yielding a positively charged W boson that decays into an antimatter electron, or positron, and an electron neutrino."

Poor me.  On the bright side, once this paper's done I'm pretty much on spring break!  Yay. :D

March 5: Favorites movie you never get sick of watching

The Patriot

Little Women

The Lost Valentine

A Little Bit of Heaven

While You Were Sleeping

March 6: Your last random act of kindness

Well, the other day I let this woman know that her dress was tucked up in her...unmentionables.  She was pretty grateful. :)

31 days : : three & four

March 3: What makes you happy???

Family

reading

 via

joy

 via

this old Coke advertisement

 fresh flowers 

via

March 4: Best childhood memory

I already wrote about one of my favorites here, so go check it out!  It was pretty awesome. :)

I hope everyone had a good day.  Mine was pretty great. ;D

31 days : : two

Favorite Quote(s)

I have about a bazillion favorite quotes--I sort of collect them in documents on my computer--so it was kind of hard to actually find my favorites in all the jumble.  Here's some I like though.

"I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge, The Vengeance, the Juryman, the Judge, long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long long to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.
   "I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace. I see the good old man, so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward.
   "I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both.
   "I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place- then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement—and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.
   "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." 

-- Charles Dickens, "The Tale of Two Cities"

But was a man in a mountain of ice, yet if the Sun of Righteousness will arise upon him, his frozen heart shall feel a thaw; and thus it hath been with me. -- Unknown

She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom. -- "The Scarlet Letter"

Thus I began my new life, in a new name, and with everything new about me.  I felt like one in a dream.  The remembrance of my old life is fraught with so much want of hope.  Whether it lasted for a year, or more, or less, I do not know.  I only know that it was, and ceased to be, and there I leave it. -- Charles Dickens, "David Copperfield"

No poor creature stands in need of divine grace more than I, and none abuse it more than I have done, and still do. -- David Brainerd

The happy fact of His presence changed the appearance of all the things that seemed against me. -- Susannah Spurgeon

"The purity of your life is evidence of your deliverance," I said.  "You should not worry about the dings and the dongs, they are nothing but echoes." -- Corrie ten Boom, "Tramp for the Lord"

This last one is really long, but it's probably one of my favorite quotes ever--I really hope you'll take the time to read it!

If God has called you to be really like Jesus in your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put on you such demands of obedience that He will not allow you to follow other Christians; and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things that He will not let you do. Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their schemes, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent. Others may brag on themselves, on their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing; and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, but it is likely that God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, and that is helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege (the right) of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury. The Lord will let others be honoured and put forward, and keep you hidden away in obscurity, because He wants some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory which can only be produced in the shade. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will let you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time, over which other Christians never seem distressed. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has the right to do as He pleases with His own, and He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. He will take you at your word and if you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things which He will not let you say or do.

Settle it for ever that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not deal with others. Now when you are so possessed with the Living God, that you are in your secret heart pleased and delighted over the peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven. -- Hudson Taylor

31 days : : one

Hi everyone!  So I've kind of been in a blogging slump lately after going crazy at the start of the year, and I thought this series might be fun to kind of get me back in a groove.  I can't promise I'll post every single day--you all know how I am with scheduled blogging = a quitter--but I'll definitely cover all the topics even if I have to double up some days.  If anyone wants to join me just download the list below.

March 1: Self Portrait and 5 random facts about yourself

One Since the beginning of the year I've started writing a ton of fiction.  I always used to write little dribbles here and there, but I'm actually completely things now.  Yay for consistency!
Two I have no clue what I'm doing with myself this summer.  I had all these great plans, but they've all sort of gone out the window.  Guess we'll just see what happens...but that's a wee bit stressful.
Three I really like pop music, like Demi Lovato.  Also sad classical songs.  They sort of inspire me.
Four I signed up for a six week songwriting course and, seriously, what the heck was I thinking.  As if I didn't have enough on my plate with 16 credit hours (and my classes are all really challenging this semester), now I get to spend another 6ish hours a week writing songs!  Oh well.  At least I actually have some experience doing it, and hopefully it'll be fun!
Five I am officially brunette.  I'm still having a very hard time wrapping my mind around that.