Lazy Sunday, woke up in the...morning...

So, today I did some very interesting things!  Hooray for doing something with my life!

1. I finished reading Game of Thrones!  And later I went out to buy Clash of Kings.  I'm going to be writing a review of GoT soon over on my other blog, but I was too busy to do it today.
2. I wrote a movie review for my other blog, but I'm not posting it until later; I find that I need some time to sit on my opinions before posting them on the internet.
3. I helped make lunch for my family.  It was a feast of appetizers: my mom had wrapped some pineapple in slices of prosciutto, and I grilled some shrimp and some steak and some tomatoes.  That took up most of the afternoon, between the prep and the actual grilling, but I like to think it was worth it; it was really good food.  I am pleasantly surprised that even I can make tasty food when I follow a recipe correctly.  I am slowly (and by slowly I mean with the epic charging speed of a glacier) learning how to cook.  
4. I went to Khol's and bought a dress to wear to the wedding I'm going to this week as well as some jewelry to go with it.  It's so nice to have a disposable income again.
5. I watched Legend of Korra with Ben via skype.
6. I was betrayed by my ally in Diplomacy.  He was playing England, so I sent him a message on facebook:

"When you play the Game of Thrones, either you win or you die."

I can only hope he got the joke.

Anyway, very full day.  And tomorrow has a lot in store for it, as well.  

<3 spadeALLcross

Random things in my life right now...

I spent most of this weekend home alone.  My house was quiet, empty, and I was happy with that.  I haven't spent much time alone--like where I felt like I was alone all around me, like no matter what I did, no one would get in the way.  It's not like the people in my life often get in my way, but it was a novel feeling, and I'm not even sure when the last time I felt like that was.  It could have been painful or lonely or any number of other unpleasantnesses, but it was welcome this weekend.

***

In procrastinating writing a couple papers, I came across this thing I wrote in a letter to someone once.  It resonated with me and I wanted to share it with you.

I remember when I would have a bad dream at night, I would be too scared to get up and go to my mom, because I’m deathly afraid of the dark.  You probably know this…  So anyway, I’d yell for her, “Mom!  Mommy!  Mahhhhhhm!” and I’d hear her hurried footsteps, and I’d just pray over and over again that the monster or burglar or maniac killer wouldn’t jump into my room and close the door before she could get there.  I never realized that, if any of those things was lurking outside my room, she would fall prey just as much as I would.  I just thought she was too strong for them, that they would be scared of her immense power.  
My mom always seemed powerful to me.  She was above everything.  And she would come in and take me out of my crib and sit with me on the couch that was in my room and we’d point out pictures in the shadows on the wall cast by the streetlight outside my room, or by the cars as they drove by.  And when I was older she would come in and sit on my bed, and if I was really frightened, she would hold me as I cried and then sometimes I would ask her to sleep in my bed with me so if I had another bad dream she could be there right away.  And I always fell asleep and stayed asleep after that, and then I’d wake up in the morning and she’d be gone.

***


My sister wrote me on Friday.  I haven't written her back yet.  But I intend to soon.  I like our pen-pal-ship.  I'm happy it's still afloat (badumchhh).


On her blog, she wrote this.  It resonated with me, too.



 I tried to remind myself this morning that God told the world that he was pleased with his son without him even having to do anything. I couldn’t seem to remember that it also applies to me. I don’t have to do anything to earn God’s love. I don’t have to do anything at all to be the apple of his eye.
I am who God has made to me to be. It is not so far away.


***


On Thursday night, Ben and I stayed up late watching Star Trek: Voyager and making granola.  I spilled oil on a chair in his dining room and he put more honey in than he wanted to.  Now I'm sitting with my bowl of that granola on my lap...and the raisins keep rolling around and look like bugs out of the corner of my eye.  But I love the granola and the making-of-it experience anyway.


That's my life right now...this moment anyway.


Hope yours is swell!


<3 spadeALLcross

Second verse, same as the first...

...a little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

- We spend most of the day in transit to day.  While we walked north from our hotel to the train station we'd looked on up the internet, we saw a tractor drive down the street, which seemed odd.  Lea's from a tiny country town in Michigan and she really felt at home.

- It took us an hour to get to the train station, and neither of us was in very good spirits by the time we got there.  We hadn't eaten yet, our feet and backs ached heavily, and it was a rather hot day.  We got to the station and found out that all of the trains leaving from that station to Strasbourg were copletely booked in second class.  So we bought an expensive ticket that left out of a different station, and then went to a cash machine afterwards to nurse our wounds.

I was so upset.  Looking back on it now, I'm very disappointed at my upsetedness--I was thinking how it was Lea's fault we had to pay so much for a ticket, when it was just as much mine as hers, if it was anyone's.  I had told her that we didn't need to book anything beforehand, and that I was excited to figure stuff out as we went.  After we bought that ticket, it took me far too long to calm myself down and remember that spending money isn't going to kill me, and that I could make it up to myself by being frugal later and by getting jobs over the summer and fall.  Hard work and money can go hand in hand for me, thanks to my privileges.  I need to stop feeling like I'm worse off than I actually am.  My father's hard work paid for this trip, and my hard work will repay him one day, even if it takes years.

- After getting cash, we stumbled upon a little baguette place with a fantastic meal deal (sandwich, can of soda, and pain chocolat for 4.90 euros) and I ordered it by myself!  With success this time!  No fumbling, no nervous laughter, and even some French words coming out of my mouth!  This boosted my morale (as did eating) and almost made me forget the train ticket.

- We walked to the train station adn then sat there for three hours, too tired and sore to want to do anything.  We read our books, were asked several times for money, and once for spare batteries...or at least I think that's what he wanted.

- We then went to Strasbourg.  It was about a two-hour train ride, and about a fifteen-minute walk to the hotel.  After we'd unloaded our considerable burdens (my rucksack was 22 lbs...) we wandered around town, taking in the place and looking for something to eat.  Unfortunately, everything seems to close really early at night on this side of the Atlantic, so we settled on a supermarket and bought apples, pretzels, gummy worms, and drinks.  One of the employees came around and told us (in French) that they were closing, and I thought he was asking for money, like so many people had in Paris, but he explained himself in English, and it all worked out.  We went back to our hotel and watched an episode of Merlin before retiring.

Strasbourg is a beautiful little city, and we're exploring it tomorrow, so expect lots of glowing praises tomorrow!

<3 spadeALLcross

Okay, so I've decided...

...that there are actually a few things that I want to say about Paris yesterday.  Psych!

- There have been several times since coming to France where I have picked up my camera and seriously contemplated taking a picture in order to capture the smells around me.  It's unfortunate that smell-o-vision and it's accompanying camcorders don't yet exist...and it's quite apparent to me now why France is renown for its perfumes.

- The toilettes in Britain are different from those in America, and the toilettes are still more different.  The on ein our hotel here waits for you to tell it when to stop flushing, which is both convenient and probably inefficient.

- We walked, delighted to be unencumbered by our heavy rucksacks, all the way north from our hotel to he Eiffel Tower and took tons of pictures with it together.  Lea's floormates back in York told her they wanted her to take lots of "cheesy" pictures for them, so we've been careful to do so.  We walked under the tower to go see the Triumphal Arch, and as we did, we saw dozens of people selling plastic Eiffel Towers and other really weird souvenirs (including this one wind-up man on a bike; his mouth opened and closed and his eyes rolled around...very creepy, France, very creepy).  Every five feet, someone was selling something.  It made me sad to realize how so much of Paris is not really for Parisians anymore.  That thought made me wonder how much more enjoyable tourism would have been a hundred or 150 years ago, when a tour of the world (or at least of Europe) was almost requisite for upperclass people in countries like England.  Without the same number of hard core capitalists around all the main attractions, how much more wonderful might the experiences of seeing those places have been?

- When we'd crossed the river and were looking at a war memorial or something, one of the men selling cheap souvenirs that was near us walked by us twice and said "very sexy" under his breath to us.  I didn't look at him, and we just walked on as if nothing had happened, but i have to say, I was pretty upset.  In fact, I was surprised by how upset I was.  I wished I had slapped him, which doesn't seem like me.  I know many men aren't like that and wouldn't do that, and even though most of the men in Paris I've come into contact with have been equally or in similar ways disgusting, I know that there must be lots of men in Paris who don't treat all women like objects to be succinctly reviewed in three words or less.  But I wanted to punish this guy.  I thought in retrospect that maybe if I had reacted forcefully to him, he wouldn't be as keen to treat other girls like that, or maybe he'd see that women don't always let men do whatever they want.  More likely, I suppose, I would have just pissed him off and all Hell would have broken loose, right there in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

Like I said, I'm not sure why I got as upset as I did--I've been harassed like that all my life by people I do and do not know, I've watched men run their eyes all over me on the street like it's their right to get whatever pleasure out of me they want.  And strictly speaking, as far as the staring goes, I can't really stop them, so I suppose it is their right.  And other men in my life have done worse.  But this one tower-selling man...I wanted him to feel the weight of his actions like I never have with anyone else.  Don't know why, but it obviously had a profound affect on me.

- Paris, like the walkways around Chateau de Chenonceau, was extremely dusty.  By the end of the day, my feet around my sandal straps and Lea's tights around her shoes were very dusty from our extensive walking.  Paris was not very grassy, except in the ample gardens of a Palais or in some of the other city parks.  There was also a lot of construction, and all the trees and bushes were flowering and stuff, so between the dust, the bits of wood and such, and the buds and bugs flying everywhere, Lea and I managed to keep getting little things in our eyes.  All the time.  Sometimes we couldn't get them out for minutes at a time.  Very strange.  Very uncomfortable.

- I've sen lots of people and a couple models in ads, and a few people in cartoons here in Frane with very prominent gaps between their two front teeth.  I wonder if that's a style here, and if so, why?

- For an early lunch that ended up lasting us all day, we stopped in at a bakery and sandwich place.  lea got a ham sandwich and a pain au chocolat, and I blundered miserably through ordering something that might have been called a foussache or something (basically a really long piece of flatbread with melted cheese, herbs, olives, and mushrooms on it).  It was a horrible experience, not knowing enough of the language to tell the woman what I wanted, or to be able to understand her when she asked me if I wanted it heated.  I was mortified by it, mostly because I really am ashamed that my only real language is English.  And because I hate to perpetuate bad stereotypes about Americans.

So that is Paris more in full.  Hope you enjoyed it.

<3 spadeALLcross

-

Bienvenue!

Bonjour!

Long time no see, eh, comrades?  Sorry about that.  Life got in the way of the internet for a while there.  I'm sure you understand the experience.

Obviously, I've had a very full plate the past couple weeks; I had a term paper due, my boyfriend came to visit me, I had another term paper due, and, most excitingly, Easter Break began!  The English take three weeks off at Christmas and three weeks off at Easter (which explains so much about why students actually went home for the Easter holidays at Hogwarts...) so, starting after classes let out on April 8th, we all got three weeks entirely to ourselves.

Last week, my mom and brother came and we toured Scotland a bit.  I had a blast, and I can't believe how fast the week went.  In summation, the Scottish Highlands are by far the most beautiful and natural place I've ever seen, (all the wonders of the Rockies without the altitude and dry weather) and I definitely want to go back, while Glasgow leaves something to be desired, and Edinburgh is a wallet-sucker, albeit a lovely one.  I loved having people visit me, and it was great to show my family around to all the places I've been before, as well as experiencing new places alongside them.

Mom and Patrick left Sunday morning from Manchester, and I immediately returned to York to pack and prepare for the next leg of my Easter adventure: a ten-day excursion with my friend Lea (from Calvin) to France and Germany, followed by a four-day stint in London with the Calvin group.

We left York this morning at 10:29, and, after a bit of tubing and training and planing, we arrived in Tours, France, at 5:15 (all local times, of course).  We hadn't realized that the airport in Tours was so small that it didn't even have an ATM...but luckily, we managed to get a taxi driver who sympathized with our plight and took us to our Hostel by way of a "commercial center" (mall) with a cash machine inside.  (I'm sure he had a healthy dose of personal gain in this bit of assistance, but without his help, we'd probably still be at that airport, penniless and tired, so I'm going to pretend I don't care that he might  have been stealing money from us).

By the time we had checked into our Hostel and walked back to the mall (the closest edible civilization, as our hostel is in Chambray-les-Tours, a sort of suburb far to the south of Tours) and found cold pasta in a supermarket there.  Yum.

Since then, we've been planning our trip to some Chateau tomorrow and watching French period dramas and dubbed British and American television, including Jurassic Park 2, The Closer, and the BBC Merlin.

As my journal is running low on pages, I might update this blog more often for these next couple of weeks, just so I can get everything down that I want to.

I had so much more to write, but I am les tired.

<3 spadeALLcross

How much is that doggy in the window?

Happy Friday, World!

This week has been a blur...I don't really know where it went.  But there were some definite highlights, so I'll just hit those up and let you go on your way.

Saturday, as I mentioned before, we went to Cambridge with the York St. John University international department.  We met up with Paul Chaplin, my RA from last year, who's been living there for five months, and he showed us around.  It was a great day, even though it was raining and freezing and I was wearing precisely the wrong shoes for walking around (I'd woken up five minutes after I was supposed to leave to catch the bus, thanks to my alarm clock being analogue and in Roman numerals...).

Sunday was church at St. Thomas with St. Maurice.  I love that church so much.  I wish I could take it with me back to the states.

After church five of us went to the Bratts' house for Sunday dinner/lunch.  So much food.  So much delicious food.  And I love those people.  Such a good day.

A little while after that was tea and toast (a fortnightly tradition at St. T's) which was mostly inhabited by Calvin students, but it was great to talk to everyone about their spring break plans, and talk to Stephen, Laura, and Hannah, who go to St. T's and organized the event.  Stephen used to work on the railways before he became a vicar, I guess, and he has some great stories about the old steam trains (including the Hogwarts Express!  He rode the real thing!) and is generally just a great and funny guy.

Monday, we went to Leeds.  [Insert excitement here.]  It was fun, but I'm kind of sick of talking about it. We saw the Royal Armoury Museum and the Leeds Art Museum, which were fun to see in conjunction with each other, because there was some interesting overlap between the wartime exhibits in the art museum and the parallel exhibits in the Royal Armoury.  And both were free.  Brilliant.

Tuesday...Wednesday...

Thursday! (This one's a long one...)
A bunch of us went to the National Railway Museum on Tuesday to ride the Hogwarts Express (just the engine was available, since the cars are just regular steam-engine cars, as I understand it), and while we were there, we saw that they had actors dressed up as Harry, Hagrid, and Dumbledore.  We didn't manage to get pictures with them, and some people had to leave to be on time for a meeting, so we left without any bounty.

But Lea and I weren't done trying.  We went back Thursday morning specifically to get pictures with Harry.  That's right; it's a half-hour walk one-way, plus we didn't know how long we'd have to wait for him...you only wish you were this hard core of a fan...of HP impersonators...

We got there around 10:30 because we knew that he would be in the 11:00 magic show and we didn't know if he'd be available for that first bit.  Turns out he wasn't, so Lea and I just hung around awkwardly, making jokes about how awkward we felt because this whole NRM wizard week was meant for primary school children on half-term holiday, and there we were, 19 and 21 years old, more excited about this than those kids, just because we wanted to take a picture with a guy who marginally resembled the guy who plays Harry Potter in the movies.

[The Magic show was awful.  Totally bastardized all the HP themes, made a fool out of Dumbledore, and made up all sorts of lies about Hogwarts and Muggle-Magic relations.  Very not okay.]  Then, after the show, the actors said they'd be right back to take pictures with people.  This was around 11:20.  From 11:25 to 12:00, we stalked Harry. Hard core (parkour! almost...).

[When they came back, Dumbledore was first, and he sot of knocked over the rope line around the little stage right next to where Lea and I were standing--everyone else had left--and he looked at us and said, "That's the Domino theory for you.  Except worse."  It was funny, but his voice was kind of creepy...]  Harry Came out eventually, and we just stared at him. Neither of us had the guts to ask him for a picture, so we were just staring.  [He asked if we were using "Muggle image capturing devices." Wtf?  Harry was raised by muggles.  He knows what cameras are...] He told Lea she looked like a Weasley.  Then he walked into the throng of children that had swarmed up behind us.  Lea and I, kicking ourselves for not being Gryffindors, followed him as best we could.  After a few moments, though, they said they had to go to the other end of the museum.  So they cut through the narrow path through the diner that stood in the middle of the room between Queen Victoria's train and a train marked "Winston Churchill" (whether it was his or not, I do not know).

The crowd of children was following them, so Lea and I made to cut around the diner.  As Harry Cut in front of us, he looked at us and said, "There are two girls who look just like you back there."  We started cracking up.  I felt so silly, but it was such a good feeling to laugh at myself for doing something stupid because of a book I've loved for half of my life.  I don't know how to explain it...

We walked around the side of the diner, which had half walls with frosted glass at the top that were just at the right height to make it look like we were trying to be sneaky.  We probably looked like such creepers as we kept perfect pace with Harry.  Once we got to the end, they started taking pictures again, and we tried to get in, but were too cowradly.  After a moment, they started working their way back through the diner, so we walked around again, crossed paths yet again, and got funny looks from Harry and Dumbledore.  Once they reached the platform stage thing again, they climbed up and started posing. So dumb.  Weird looking, too.  Like synchronized slow-motion disco.

Then finally, as they made to walk outside, Lea and I both, at least, managed to yell, "Harry!  Can we get pictures?" He said, "Sure, just follow us."  So we did.

Out into the sunlight, onto the platform of the Hogwarts express, where we finally got our pictures.  There were still crowds trying to get pictures with them, but Harry pointed at us and said, "These girls have been following us for a long time."  Facepalm.  As I took Lea's picture, Dumbledore asked her, "Where are you from?"

"Michigan."

"Oh, that's a long way to travel by broomstick."

Best. Morning. Ever.

Later that night, I made scrumptious homemade mac and cheese using real cheeses, mushrooms, onions, garlic, oregano...ahhhh.  There's some left over that I'm having for dinner.  I'm exited about that.

And last thing...I cut my own hair.  Below is my demonstration of what it looks like.

Tomorrow, we're going to Fountains Abbey and Ripon.  And next Thursday, Katri's coming!

There is so much to love about this world.  Being this far away from the people and things that I care about, from everything that's familiar, and watching other people's lives unfold without me while I sit in England, feeling like I'm not doing enough to experience the culture...there have been a lot of downer times.  With everything awful that's been going on in the world recently, in New Zealand, Libya, Egypt, and daily awfulness that happens everywhere, it's been so easy to see the terrible.  Life has never been a squeefest.  But this trip is teaching me to appreciate the little things, like the sheer ridiculosity that happens when you cut your own hair, because sometimes they're all you've got.

Granted, England, Harry Potter, Katri's visit, and macaroni leftovers are no little things.  We can't forget those, either.

Tell me how your life is!  This blog is all about me, but I don't want my life to be all about me.  Email me!  Facebook me!  Skype me!  Send me a link to your blog!  I want to know what is going on in your lives, too.

<3 spadeALLcross

And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies...

Since we last talked, tons of stuff has happened.  About a week's worth.

Saturday
Our Calvin group went to Durham and Lindesfarne.  We visited Durham Cathedral (in which photography is not allowed, for anyone who was wondering why I don't have any pictures of the inside) which is the oldest Cathedral in Europe, built by the Normans in the Romanesque architecture.  Interesting stuff, but mostly just beautiful and kind of awe inspiring; I kept wondering how people in the 10th century could possibly build something like that, and how they could make it last for ten more centuries.  There were dozens of stained-glass windows, one of which was made up of broken bits of a medieval window.  The rest were all more recent.  Our conversation with the docent went like this:

"Are those the original windows?"
"Oh, no, those are just from the Victorian Era."
As if the Victorian Era was yesterday.

Then we went to Lindesfarne priory and Lindesfarne Castle.  I talk more about those in my snidgets, so check those out if you want information.

Sunday
I went to St. Thomas with St. Maurice church again this week, and I loved it again.  Everyone there knows our names already, even though they've only met us once or twice.  It's so great; I don't think I've ever loved a church more than I love this one.  Beautiful building, beautiful people, and refreshments after every service.  Is there anything better?
Then, for dinner, I shared a wonderful meal with a wonderful person.

We made our respective meals together (his was lunch), and then enjoyed each other's company while we ate.  A rather unorthodox way to celebrate Valentine's Day, but probably the best one I've ever had.

Monday
Spent this day working on homework.  Sadly, I'm not yet caught up.  You see, the first week.five or so of being here was such a whirlwind of emotions and activities, I hardly got any work done, and I'm paying for that now.  Oh well; I'll get it done in time.  Slow and steady wins the race. 
That night, I had dinner with Josh, Hope, and Ae Hee (Ae Hee made us Japanese-style curry...yumtastic, let me tell you) and then after, I went out for dessert with Josh, Gabe, and Abby, and then we all watched He's Just Not That Into You.  We hadn't planned on it being a romantic comedy, but it worked out pretty well.  I'm warming up to that movie; now that I can watch it with the lowest possible expectations, everything that I actually enjoy seems much better.

Tuesday - Wednesday
Class.  Meh.

Thursday
Went to class and then attempted to be culinarily creative; I made a sort or weird stew stir-fry thing, with boiled potatoes and carrots, stir-fried onions and garlic, and white rice in a cheese sauce made from garlic, and orange and white cheddars.  I used too much oil to facilitate the cooking, so it was less healthy than I had hoped it would be, but I enjoyed the opportunity to experiment, and Josh ate half of it, so I didn't clog my arteries too much.
Then Josh, Ae Hee, Hope, and I all watched Mulan together.  That was brilliant; not only do I love that movie, but that is a group of people with whom it is just fun to watch Disney movies.

Friday
That's today!  Class, some utilitarian shopping for food and scissors and folders and hair products and the like, and, later tonight, a little shindig at the Bratts' house.  It's all very exciting.

Tomorrow we'll be going to Cambridge where my RA from last year lives, so I'll be spending most of the day with him and other people in the group who know him, which will be fun.  It's supposed to be rainy, though, and it's really cold today (my fingers are protesting typing all this out...) so I don't know how enjoyable the city itself is going to be.  I don't mind getting wet, though, I've found.  As long as I don't get sick afterwards.

Don't forget to check out my Flikr/Facebook photos and my YouTube account if you're interested and you haven't already.


<3 spadeALLcross

This day we fight!

Good day, all things considered. Woke up, did some stuff around the house [quietly, as the roomies were a-sleepin'] and then went and hung out on the floor for a bit. That was really fun. I got to see everyone again, and I even met some of the freshman. Sometimes I wish I still lived there. But then I come home to my house, and I remember that I love it here too.

Then Ben and I went to Meijer. (Who is surprised?) We tried out the "new" Meijer on Kalamazoo, which is closest to our houses, but also the most jankity. It now has everything we'd want to buy, but it's all very hard to find. Generally pretty good, though. It doesn't have a full parking lot yet, which could cause problems in the future.

Then Ben and I went back to his house, watched some NCIS with Jonathan, watched some TNG by ourselves, and then went out separate ways for dinner. I tried to unpack some stuff, but was so distracted I didn't get much of anything done before Ben V came over and he and Amy and I started hanging out. Then Carley and Christie came home from their respective haunts, and then Ben N came over. We played Catchphrase.

Oh. My. Word.

That was the most hilarious game of catch phrase ever. Possibly the brightest highlight: Ben N, a man who does not swear or use dirty words, possibly more because of a physical handicap than a moral compunction, frustratingly yelling the sentence, "THE VERB FOR BEING PUSHED OUT OF A VAGINA!"

I was not on his team, which is good, because I was laughing too hard to be of any use anyway. Also, Carley said, "It's a big store, kind of like Marget!" The answer was Target, she was trying to say Meijer as a clue.

Then we played question/answer telephone, which was also very funny.

Then everyone went home, I did some last-minute stuff before classes tomorrow, and then I went to bed.

Then, at 4:00 am, a car alarm went off and didn't stop going off. It woke me up, and now I am blogging about it.

Summer is officially over.

Goodnight.

<3 spadeALLcross

I didn't hate this Monday.

Trotted over to Calvin, picked up an application for the York semester abroad program, registered my car for on-campus parking, was perplexed by the freshman-orientation posters, etc. Then went to Meijer and got some much-needed grocery shopping done. When I got home, I had an email from Calvin telling me that I should go back and pick up the textbooks I ordered. I rolled my eyes and baked some cookies, then went to the Bens' house to watch them play D&D.

Carley was going to start playing tonight, but they had to work her into their quest by finding her and rescuing her from her imprisonment or something like that. Long story short, Carley, Jasmine, and I ordered pizza and played rockband, and the party never found Carley and they almost died. Pizza was good, though. Really good. Dang...I want more now.

And now I'm going to bed earlyish.

<3 spadeALLcross

The day that got away...

I had so many big plans for today. I was gonna go to church, then to Meijer, then do some reading, then hang out with Ben and co, then veg out.

The vegging out happened, and the Culver's, and the vegging out. And Monopoly of epic proportions. The church and the Meijer not so much. I did have a good conversation about some Old Testament stuff. That was fun, and made me wish I knew more about the Old Testament in general.

Also, Carley, Christie, and I made breakfast...and kind of failed, but had an adventure in doing so, so not a loss by my estimation. The bacon burned intensely, the pancakes looked like overgrown sanddollars without the cool star pattern in the middle, and the eggs turned out a grayish green color because they were cooked in the burn-encrusted pan after the bacon was finished.

And Monopoly was crazy. I was banker, and we were playing with the modified rules of my challenge-obsessed friends. (Read: I lost)

All in all, a good day, though. Very good day.

Tomorrow, I am for real going to Meijer. And to Calvin to pick up some job applications. And I'm going to watch the Bens and their housemates and Mark and Carley play out the last bit of their D&D campaign.

And now a word from our sponsors:

(Note: this video isn't directed at anyone, and does not pertain to my own current situation in life, but I love it anyway)

<3 spadeALLcross

Excellente

Woke up, read Joshua 1, balanced my checkbook, bought headphones, played gin, went to lunch (excellent Qdoba coupons that got me a burrito and a FUZE drink for $2.32!) played some N64, napped, moved the rest of my stuff in, played some Wii, arranged the rest of my stuff, and am now blogging about everything I just did, and will soon be going to bed.

There's a really obnoxious tiny moth crawling around my screen, as it is the only light in my room right now.

Kay. 'Night.

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I'm too excited to get to sleep to be able to blog effectually.

Really busy day today. Mom came up and we bought/moved in my furniture and clothes and books, and then went out to lunch and dinner. It was great, and there's more that I should say, and I need to post pictures and stuff, but they're going to have to wait, because I've missed sleeping in a bed. Also, my room isn't set up properly yet, as someone else's desk is in here waiting to be moved out. So I'll hit you up with those some time next week.

Then Carley and I watched Gilmore Girls. It was very adventurous, as we had to get innovative with our seating, and we almost had to improvise on the connection from the DVD player to the television. But it all worked out, and everything's great. I'm psyched about life right now.

But not too psyched to sleep. Catch ya later.

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It's nice to, at least sometimes, know what to expect

Today went mostly according to plan, considering I didn't really have much of a plan. Church was great; I haven't gone in a long time due to sleepiness/vacation, so I'm glad I got to go one last time before the school year starts. Then I came home and literally did nothing the rest of the day. Hung out with my mom, Annabelle, Dennis, and Patrick. Ate way too much food, in general, and played a half-hearted game of monopoly, where I was owning everyone. (No matter what Dennis says to the contrary.)

Molly made (makes? I mean, the comment is still there...) an interesting point about the similarities between the greek system and religion. And, dang, but going through and replacing the words in the paragraph she picked out is eerie.

I thought about it a bit, and I realized that the greek system makes me laugh because it can become a religion that doesn't really have a base to speak of: why is everyone so excited about being in frats and sororities, and why do they believe in the traditions that they continue through the generations? Probably because doing so makes them feel like they're part of something larger than themselves, and that they have a community they can count on. (Not coming from a greek background myself, this is all hearsay of the worst degree, you understand) But that is all their traditions are based on: the traditions of their community.

And that, at their simplest levels, is what some religions are based on, but from what I've gathered about the world's religions, that is not how they were designed to function. As far as my personal faith is concerned, it's not a bunch of traditions that I simply perform because someone who went before me told me they were a good idea. Nor is it a detailed list of appearances I have to keep up in order to make the world think a certain way about me. My faith is based not in the Christians around me or my relationship to them, and it's not necessarily at its strongest when I'm supported by them.

I'm a Christian because I believe in God, that He created the world and has a plan for me in it. Not only because the Bible tells me so, but because I've seen the hand of a higher power in my own life, and I feel that, after creating me and saving my life countless times, I owe such a higher power my allegiance. My parents and other Christian mentors don't dictate for me how I should live my Christian life--God does, though often times through such people. I have a personal relationship with God that I cannot get anywhere else, as well as a community of like believers who can support me in ways that any strong community supports its members. It's the pair of these that make up my faith, which is probably not true of any sorority I could join.

Maybe, like with rushing a sorority or frat, I chose God for one reason or another, and I could be living a roughly similar life had I chosen a different deity to follow. But, since I actually believe in God and don't just think of him as an abstract idea or analogy, I believe that that's not the case at all. I did voluntarily choose him, but my life would be drastically different if He weren't in the picture.

But yes, organized religion and many of its mindless followers can be a cult-like, confusing turn-off. And I don't understand that anymore than I do greek life and traditions.

It is also true that the greeks aren't the only ones with lavaliering-like traditions. People at my school do the same thing, except they call it Pearling, and I think it's equally ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous because I don't agree with the conventions of their relationships, but, yes, that's just my opinion.

I also realize that this was a bit of a lecture, and that Molly doesn't really care about any of it. I appreciate her calling me out on my hypocrisy, though, because I needed to do a little soul searching to get a response, and that's never a bad thing.

I feel weird addressing her in the third person, as she's one of five people who read this thing.

Hey Molly. You're cool. Stay in school, don't do drugs, and text me sometimes or something...like you have been...just...yeah. 2good2be4gotten.

Now I just look dumb.

Tomorrow = final day of packing. Woo...ugh. Almost done.

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Psst...can you keep a secret?

...I'm not actually posting this on the 18th. I slept over at Cari's house on the 18th, so I didn't have my computer. Don't tell anyone...

But it was a very productive day, all things considered. Ripped another audiobook (Nineteen Minutes) shipped a sold textbook, packed up the rest of my books, and burned a [non-functional, but who knew that?] DVD. Then we celebrated RC and Dennis' birthdays over an excellent steak dinner, which was fun. After dinner, Cari and I went to Best Buy to get her TV for school, which was also kind of fun, and then we went to her house and watched The Office. I am now almost completely caught up, except for the last two episodes from the fourth season, and I don't know how many episodes from the sixth season. I'm not über excited about those, though, so whatever.

Cari leaves Friday for school. Carney leaves Thursday. Summer is ending. Curses.

Tomorrow (Thursday), I'm going shopping with my mom, and I need to rip some more CDs.

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Better Late than Never

Schwoops. Didn't update last night. It was a combination of forgetting and being out until 4:00 in the morning, so not really wanting to delay my rendezvous with my bed. I'm going to write this post as if it's still Friday...

I watched Dylan for the last time, although I'm going to be watching him tonight, too. But he'll be asleep, so we won't have our routine from the week. But we'll always have ... well, not Paris, certainly. But something, I'm sure.

Then I deposited that check ($$kaching!$$ now I actually have money to spend this coming semester!) and came home to do some stuff with paying my parents back for stuff, making more lists, and eating dinner.

After that, I went over to Carney's house to steal from his magical mystery hard drive of many cinematic wonders. And we went to Cuba Marsh...still don't know why. That was his idea, and it resulted in about seventy mosquito bites all over my foot...so restitution may be in order.

Finally, there was The Ripper. Oh gosh. Not going to lie, I was kind of dozing off during most of it, but still, it was the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while. 1996 ideas of the future + attempts to make a video game fun and challenging + the often-poignant commentary by spoony of spoonyexperiment + Christopher Walken = hours of laughter.

Oh dear. Hilarious. Just sayin'.

And now a word from our sponsors.

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Where my thought's escaping, Where my music's playin', where my...love lies waiting...silently...for...me...?

Not so much that last one. But yes, I'm home. We left at 6 am on the 31st, and got home between 1 and 2 am on the eighth. I didn't blog on the 30th because I forgot, and I didn't blog on the 8th because I was exhausted. I cried and was mopey for no good reason yesterday. I was able to control myself most of the day, but then my brother's girlfriend put coffee in my CUPPS mug and was going to take it with her down to Bloomington, and I flipped out and told my mom and ran upstairs and bawled my eyes out. It was really pathetic. Luckily my mom had her thinking cap on and simply told Claire that it was mine and not open for the taking, and everything worked out fine. And I got a fair amount of sleep last night, so all is well today.

As for last week, I will give as brief a synopsis as possible.

The [16-hour] drive to Idalia, CO was uneventful, but more brutal than usual. It was Annabelle's first long trip, and she didn't much enjoy being cooped up in the car that whole time. But by 9:00, we were at my aunt and uncle's house in Idalia, eating pizza with Jimmy, Kathy, and Jordan. RC, Annabelle, my mom, and I all left in our van around noon, following Jordan in his car to Denver to pick up his sister from her apartment, get Starbuck's and pick up some things from Target. Then we caravanned the rest of the way into the mountains, to a place near Twin Lakes, CO called Lakeview Campground. My cousin Heather, her husband, Eben, and my aunt and uncle Jon and Diane were already stationed there, and Dennis, Patrick, and Remy showed up pretty quickly.

It was raining pretty heavily. Wasn't a great time to set up tents...but what can you do?

Monday, my aunt Margie arrived, as well as Jimmy and Kathy. We played Gin, Tenlum, Rummy, Bananagrams, etc all day. Some of the menfolk went fishing. We had an amazing Chicken Braai (South African barbecue) as well as some Bathsheba (it has a real South African name...but I don't remember it now, since we called it Bathsheba all week, and I couldn't spell it anyhow) all courtesy of Eben and Heather. Katri and I roasted marshmallows periodically throughout the day. Needless to say, I took myself off my sugar-free restrictions for the week.

Tuesday, my cousins Kaleb, Joby, and Erin, as well as Erin's children, Charlie and Robert, and Kaleb's girlfriend Kathleen arrived. More fishing, more gaming, we added Monopoly to the mix this day. Katri got whooped by Dennis and Jordan (well, it was one of those things where Jordan was really sucking, but Dennis was pulling him along, making deals with him to get his monopolies) and then we all got whooped by Jordan in a later game. Baggo and Horseshoes were also played by all. For dinner, we had Jimmy's world famous Chili and Kathy's squash casserole.

Wednesday it rained a lot. We played more Monopoly, (Katri won this time, and so was in a much better mood) and more Gin and more Tenlum and more stuff etc etc. We had brats and chili for dinner.

Thursday, Margie and Joby went home. We had steaks for lunch, cooked by Patrick and Eben. Fantastico. Roast corn as well. Mmm...so good. We all took turns chopped wood. I owned. It was great.

Friday, we left around noon. Jimmy, Kathy, Jordan, Dennis, Patrick, RC, Annabelle, my mom, and I all caravanned back to Idalia and arrived around 5, ate leftovers for dinner, and showered. Ahh, sweet showers. We reminisced for a little while, then hit the hay.

Patrick and Dennis left at 12:30 in the morning. Heaven only knows why.

RC, Annabelle, my mom and I didn't leave until 9:30 or 10:00. I drove about half-way, RC drove the rest, and my mom and RC took turns keeping Annabelle occupied. She didn't really like me. We listened to HP 2, which I happened to have on my iPod. So good. We had listened to some of Playing the Enemy on the ride up. I want to hear the rest; it was really interesting. We unpacked yesterday, vegged out, celebrated Denny's birthday, had a good time.

And now it's over.

Today, I babysat for my old English teacher, Mr. Schaefer. His son, Dylan, is adorable, if a bit drooly.

Also, today, I set up a tumblr for NaNoWriMo 2010! A little early, I know, but I want to get a lot of pre-season work done this year, since my schedule's bound to be packed, and I want to make the writing as smooth as possible, so I can both win and sleep. Check out the blog. It's kind of cool; you can add stuff if you want. I really want your input, whoever you are. I've got some ideas, but they're very rough, and I'm not sure if they go together.

Well, I'm off to...find something else to do. I'll probably elaborate on some of the past week's festivities at some later date.

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Minimalist effort

Okay, so it's 3:30 in the morning. I don't have the brain power to actually make a real post here. At some point, I plan on telling you all about my new car, Seamus, but, again, I want to wait until I'm not using drool-propelled touch-typing.

Today, I watched Annabelle. She was kind of antsy all day, and when I put her down for a nap (because she was getting all cry-y and that usually comes before the "kerplunk!" that sounds as her already sleeping head hits the pillow) she stayed awake for two hours before doing her little whiny I-threw-my-blanket-on-the-floor-so-you-will-now-come-pick-it-up or come-come-now-I'm-obviously-not-sleeping-get-me-out-of-here cry. Knowing it was not going to stop, I went in there, saw that yes, indeed, her blanket was on the floor. So I gave it to her. Then I told her to go back to sleep. She told me she had poopies, and, thinking that sleeping would be hard if you were covered in your own excrement, I picked her up out of her crib and put her on the changing table, only to find she didn't have poopies. I told her that she shouldn't lie to me, and that I was going to put her back in her crib anyway. She started crying. I left. She didn't stop crying for forty-five minutes. But then she slept for an hour and a half. Ugh. Naptime has never sucked so much.

But the rest of the day was excellent. Well, besides the debauchery with the better business bureau an their jankity answering machine message, and the fact that I tore up the inside of my mouth with all the fried chicken I ate. I take-two-ed the going out with the belowmentioned friend, and it worked this time. I haven't seen in him in months, and haven't spent six straight hours with him in years. It was really great. I love that feeling you get when you rediscover something, like all that money I found a few weeks ago, or the diary I'd kept when I was six or seven (that I now keep in my car to keep track of gas mileage), or the friendship that I thought I'd lost.

Anyway. Excellent day. Ending late, but excellent nonetheless.

And now, a word from our sponsors.

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Schwoops, catch up time.

Not much happened today. Cleaned my room a bit (not really to any noticeable degree) picked up a DVD from Molly and "helped" her pack for school/watched Jeopardy! and Gilmore Girls, made dinner, went over to a friend's house, but then came home before actually going out with said friend, (long-ish story that's probably none of your business, unless you are said friend, in which case you already know said story and my recounting of it will probably just frustrate you) came home, read Dune, went to bed early.

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Lucky I'm in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been...

Saturday. Whew. Saturday.

It started at 6:30 in the morning when I woke up to a thunder crack, scared that my plans were going to be foiled for the day. Because I had a big day planned, you know. Ben and I had decided to try to meet halfway between Grand Rapids and Chicago (approximately New Buffalo, MI) and go to the beach for the day.

I checked weather.com, which told me the worst of the storms was going to pass within the next hour.five, so I calmed down and leisurely got ready to go. Around 8:15, I popped into my new car(! that's right, I didn't tell you about it so that it could be a surprise for Ben, because I know he reads this stupid thing, even though I tell him not to) and drove away.

However, thanks to aforementioned thunderstorms, in under an hour.five, Seamus and I looked like this.

Yeah, it took us about five hours to get to Michigan City, IN, which was three hours more than I'd planned for. (Really, the highest water we drove through was only about two feet or less. And Seamus is made of hearty stock. I'm proud of him) But then the day went up hill. It was a gorgeous beach day, and we spent most of the good sunlight lying in the rays and playing in the waves. As my RA from last year says, "So good!" And we went north to New Buffalo for dinner and we watched the sunset from the dunes, and we sat in the rain and watched the clouds (including those issuing from the natural gas steam things) and had a lovely day/night. I left around 11:00 and got home around 1:30, too tired, smelly, and sandy to want to blog. So there you have it.

While we walked around New Buffalo, we saw a lot of water fowl. Including this one that was hanging out with all the mama and papa geese, but was definitely not a goose.

Poor little gangly teenaged swan. Reminds me a lot of myself in Junior High. Luckily, I'm far more graceful and elegant now...

Anyway. Very awesome day.

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Can't get down, can't get level; when I'm up, I can't get down...

I barely slept at all last night. I had a lot on my mind, worrying about a lot of inane stuff that, of course, turned to nothing in the morning. I don't think I'm the only person I know whose sleep is so connected to her waking, but I'm the only person who will admit it. My dreams always have something to do with things going on in my life, be it video games I'm playing, things I'm worried about, something I was doing just before bed, and they often carry the same weighty emotions as those real life events. If I'm anxious or excited just before getting into bed, I often can't sleep, and when I do, I have very vivid and immediately recurring dreams of whatever is making me anxious or excited. Sounds pretty straightforward, but it feels really disruptive. I know a few people who have really odd dreams, but they never actually pertain to life, and they rarely ever have trouble sleeping because of their subconscious.

I sometimes wish I was like that. But then again, this is my superpower.

Anyway. Other than that, I learned how cashier's checks work today, and I saw Despicable Me today with my mom and Dennis. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It seemed kind of lame at first, and it is pretty predictable, but it's really cute, and Steve Carell is really good, I think.

Then I [kind of] made dinner. I started making dinner, and then Patrick took over the chicken because he likes grilling things, and my mom took over the macaroni and green beans, because she thought I was doing the chicken and she didn't want anything to explode. So...I set the table...? But it was good, so I don't care.

Tomorrow, to Radio Shack. Also, I think I'm watching Annabelle. Also, I hope I'm seeing Sorcerer's Apprentice. If not, then I shall see it another time.

Okay. Gone now.

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