Miscellany

Just a few things happening in my life (since I haven't posted in a while...)

I got glasses over Spring Break. This was a great blow to my pride as I have considered myself to have good vision until now. But since I had become one step more near-sighted since last year, I thought it might be time to lay down that pride and improve my vision.

Tell me what you think. I'm still not one hundred percent sure how I feel about this...




For English Literature II this semester, Dr. Betty decided to give a novel test instead of having to grade eighty-some papers. She gave us a choice between two novels: Pride and Prejudice or Great Expectations. Now, my first thought was to re-read Pride and Prejudice. In high school, I had read the book, been involved in the play, and watched the Keira Knightly version of the movie time and time again (as well as the Bollywood version, Bride and Prejudice). So clearly, the smart thing to do would have been re-read Pride and Prejudice and take that test, right? Right. But when have I been known to do the smart thing? Being the overachieving homeschooled kid that I am, I decided I wanted a challenge, so I read Great Expectations. Rather, I attempted to read Great Expectations.

This is the second time I've taken a shot at Great Expectations. You remember those Great Illustrated Classics novels you read when you were a kid? You didn't? Really? Oh, okay...Anyway...I tried reading an abridged, illustrated adaptation of both Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities sometime around middle school and gave up on both about halfway through, so I knew this would be a challenging undertaking. Though we were given the entire first half of the semester to read the book, I waited until the week before spring break to begin, thinking I would get through it over the break. Wrong. I wound up falling asleep on Wednesday night/Thursday morning of the test with nearly eighty pages to go. I've decided not to finish the book for a while, simply out of spite. Take that, Charles Dickens! Certainly, one day, I will repent and finish the last eighty pages, but that day is not today. Or tomorrow.


As I write this, my friend Matt is visiting. This is our friendship, summarized...

Days 23-27

Day 23-give pictures of five guys who are famous who you find attractive

I'm too lazy to find pictures, so I'll just list a few, okay?

1. Orlando Bloom
2. Hayden Christensen
3. Kristian Stanfill
4. Tom Welling
5. Phil Wickham

Day 24-your favorite movie and what it's about

I have many favorite movies, and am tempted just to write "Lord of the Rings; read the book," but I will refrain from snarkiness this once and choose August Rush.

August Rush is about a boy (Evan) who is separated from his parents at birth. His dad actually doesn't know he exists (it was sort of a one-night stand...) until nearly the end of the movie. Both Evan's parents (Lila and Louis) are musicians, and he has a gift for hearing music in the strangest of places. He believes that music will bring his family back together, but he's stuck in a boys' home in rural New York, so he runs away to New York City in search of his parents. You'll have to watch the movie to find out what happens. He-he. It's got a great soundtrack that you'll never tire of listening to.

Day 25-someone who fascinates you and why

Dr. Bain. Why not? Dr. Bain is one of our Biblical Studies professors at Blue Mountain. He teaches Greek, Church History, The Bible and Missions, and The Bible and Ethics, as well as other courses that escape my memory. Dr. Bain is basically brilliant. His students have given him the nickname "Greek Ninja," and I'm convinced he's this galaxy's incarnation of Yoda. The other day when I was following him to his office to make up a Greek test, I just got the weirdest feeling that this is what it would be like for a Padawan learner to follow around his Jedi Master (yes, that was my exact thought. You should already know I'm a huge nerd...judge me).

Dr. Bain is brilliant beyond what I can express here. I'm fairly certain he thinks in Greek. The stories he's told in class about hiking in the mountains and encountering bears...the man carries bear spray. Bear spray! Who needs bear spray? He's told one story about when he was carrying two cans and ran out of bear spray, so he prayed the whole way back that he wouldn't run into a bear because then he'd have to beat it with his hiking stick (which he keeps in his office, in case you were wondering).

If you thought he couldn't get any cooler...his son's nickname is Tank. I've driven by their house to see him in the back yard playing with an Indiana Jones-style whip. His son also knows a little Mando'a. (Those of you who don't know what that is are missing out. Google it and be educated.)

At the risk of sounding psycho, I'm going to stop here by saying that Dr. Bain is just plain awesome and kind of inspires my inner nerd.

Day 26-what kind of person attracts you?

acts like Jesus
confident but not arrogant
genuine and honest
compassionate but not a doormat
knows what he believes and sticks by it
gentle but not a pushover
willing to listen to me whine, then make me get on with things
patient
a leader but not a dictator
loves the Lord with his whole being
funny and kinda nerdy

Day 27-a problem that you have had

I am terribly inconsistent. I have a bad habit of starting thing that I forget about until days or weeks later (as evidenced clearly by my blogging record...), then picking them back up again for a while and leaving off again after a few weeks of actual progress. I'm this way with working out too; I'd been doing well before spring break, but since then I may have logged five miles on the treadmill.

I make excuses for my inconsistency solely to justify not feeling terribly about it. For instance, I've just started a job waitressing at the café down the hill from my school, so I've been counting that as exercise this week. Now that I feel substantially guilty about slacking in these specific areas, the frequency of my working out and my blogging will more than likely increase...at least for a little while...

Days 18-22

Day 18-your beliefs

I believe everything written in the Holy Word of God. I take the Bible as my moral standard, and every view I hold to ought to line up with what it says. Maybe you think that's radical, but it's God's best for us as human. It's not meant to subdue us, but to guide us. I believe in God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I believe in the virgin birth, the perfect life, literal death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I believe He's coming back for His children one day in the not-so-distant future. I believe it is my purpose to live a life glorifying to God in everything I do.

Day 19-disrespecting your parents

Okay, this is kind of random...

All I know is I got in trouble when I tried to cop an attitude with my mom and dad, and it usually involved a spanking or grounding. They're usually right. More often than not. Almost always... Wait, are we talking disrespect or disobedience? They're similar but not the same. Disrespect is just irritating. I know I did it a lot as a kid, so I feel I can comment. It's annoying. You're not funny, and you're not cute. So don't. You just look like a little twit.

Day 20-how important you think education is

Loaded question... Education is definitely a must. I don't necessarily agree with the whole let's-put-our-kids-in-school-all-day mentality, but it's a disservice to allow children to grow up ignorant. Everyone learns in different ways, so I think kids ought to be given the choice to learn in the way that most benefits them. It's important to go into life with a good bit of knowledge.

That's really all I have to say about that.

Day 21-one of your favorite shows

Smallville ^_^

Been watching since season one because my best friend was absolutely enthralled with Tom Welling at the time.

Day 22-how have you changed in the past 2 years?

Wow...from seventeen to nineteen. This time two years ago, I was a senior in high school, working my first "real" job, and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. Now I'm a junior in college who's still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. A lot has changed, though...a whole lot. I've grown up in more ways than I ever imagined. In high school, I thought myself ready for a boyfriend and grew frustrated when he didn't magically materialize. Now, I understand that I was not at all prepared for that kind of relationship. As a senior, I thought I was pretty clever and world wise. I've learned that I still need guidance on a fairly regular basis. At seventeen, I believed I was immortal, invincible. I've realized I'm not so invulnerable. It's a strange thing to experience the beginnings of the aches and pains for which I've teasingly ridiculed my parents. I thought I was a growing Christian at seventeen; I'd just hit a rough patch. Now I know it was a signal to me that I had never truly given myself over to Christ.

I'd say the majority of the changes have been for the better. I went through a pink hair phase the first month or two of college, but once I'd experienced a little rebellion, I settled in to a relatively responsible lifestyle. I'm not saying I've arrived. Just ask my roommate-I do dumb things all the time. This is the reason that, when she found me crying to our suitemate in the floor a couple of weeks ago, I prefaced my explanation with "You're gonna be mad at me. *beat, beat* I'm not pregnant!" So, though my skills of judgment have progressed greatly in the last two years, they're still sometimes inhibited by some glitch in my brain.

I'm working the desk and I'm reeeeeally tired. I'll catch up eventually. That's all for now.

Days 14-17

Day 14-your earliest memory

I've got a vague recollection of the Mesker Park Zoo involving giant birdcages, but I'm not sure when it's from. I remember playing Little Mermaid with my sister and our cousins in the the eighteen-inch-deep swimming pool we set up in our backyard every summer. Snapshots of my great-grandparents' house are in the back of my mind as well, but again, I don't know how old I was. My sense of chronology is a little weird. I blame it on being home schooled. No, honestly, I do. I figure maybe if I'd had a different teacher every year when I was in elementary school, I could associate events with that and have a better idea of when things happened.

Day 15-your favorite Tumblrs

I included Tumblrs and blogs...

A Girl Waiting
Reform the Line
More Inklings
Serving Him Blind

Day 16-your views on mainstream music

In case you couldn't tell from Day 11, I do listen to a wide variety of music. I'm kind of frustrating to some people who ask me what kind of music I like because I really can't categorize well. Often, I can hear a song that I like and be completely unable to tell you who sings it or what it's called. Mainstream music, however... Believe it or not, I'm choosy about what I listen to. Some popular music will catch my attention, but I also like music that might not be so well-known. Basically, if it sounds good and has good lyrics, I probably like it.

Day 17-your highs and lows of this past year

October 2009-getting legit
February-May 2010-falling head over heels for the first time
April 2010-the birth of a beautiful little girl to my aunt and uncle
May-July 2010-waiting and hoping for contact with a certain someone, but growing personally
June-July 2010-building relationships with and pouring into campers
August 2010-freaking out in the transition stage between camp, home, and school
September 2010-October 2010-coming out stronger on the other side of heartache
November 2010-December 2010-having "normal" jacked out from under me and learning to adjust, amazing international experience, losing my Sword, learning to lean on God
January 2011-dealing with disappointment once again, but knowing where to turn
February 2011-being stretched and tested and mostly coming out unscathed
March 2011-who knows? =]