on school

While writing my take-home midterm last night, I erased the same line about five times just because I had copied things incorrectly. But one of my favorite pieces of advice is:

Don't be afraid to erase your mistakes

It's true in school, which is why I tend to use pencil whenever possible and carry a large eraser .
It's also true in other areas of life. Though it's harder to actually remove the marks we have made, apologizing, fessing up is one of the most admirable things someone can do. It shows loving respect. Professional mistakes, the first of which is screwing up interviews (done that) are even harder to erase. So rejoice in that eraser!!!


Marian said earlier this week as we were talking about school... "it's an adventure in unfairness".
YES: careless mistakes which cost points, cut throat competition, curves.
bad posture, pre-arthritic hands, sleep problems, _____ you can add your own lamentations here.
When will I be finished with this!?!?!?!

water

I have been so thirsty today. Every two minutes I feel dry again and want another big chug of water. Is my brain still dehydrated? Am I just a camel like Ellen says?

They say that half of the time when people think that they are hungry, really they are thirsty. Am I really always this thirsty but today I recognize my body's true language?

This post would be longer, but
a) what more is there to say? and
b) I really want another glass of water

gym

If you were watching me at the gym today, you would have laughed.

I started on some glidey machine thing, looking out over the pool, reading Abba's Child for about 19 minutes. Then I thought I should do something else, so I did Dante's intense ab work out, and headed towards an elliptical. Climbing on, I decided facing the gym full of people was not my thing. I went for the erg and thought I could do a 2000 m piece. Two strokes was all I lasted-- Abba was calling me. I'm not really surprised that I crave the message of grace in this book. I read The Ragamuffin Gospel twice last year.
So, I returned to the glidey thing, now, the water polo team was starting practice. I finished the chapter of Abba's Child, with a clear sense that my Father had meant for me to read that today.

Brennan Manning asks the question my heart feels on page 63,

"Is my life a disappointment to You? Are You grieved by the shallowness of my soul?"

Yet, I am greeted with a beautiful truth, that he quotes from Gerald May,

"It's important to recognize these self-commentaries for the mind tricks they are. They have nothing to do with our real dignity. How we view ourselves at any given moment may have little to do with who we really are".

What if my ultimate sense of self-worth, my idea of who I really am, came purely from who God says I am?

"Desperate women encountering Jesus"

...is the title of the Bible study that Anna is doing with A D Pi. But I think it is a good title for my life, and the lives of so many beautiful women I know.
I can't wait to see God's face!

why am i posting this?

My dear friend (of ten years!!!!), Courtney Miller, put this up on facebook and I felt compelled to blog it.
I don't really know why.


Yes or No
You can ONLY answer Yes or No!
You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and Asks!

but I disobey the rules bc it's my blog. so there yes or no inventor person!
1. I took out some questions that were lame-O
2. I explained everything because I think explanations are more interesting.

Kissed anyone of your facebook friends? Yes (why is this the first question?)
Been arrested? No
Kissed someone you didn't like? No (oh, the kiss-dodge)
Slept in until 5 PM? I don't think so, but I have stayed in my 'jammies till at least 5pm, and not when sick
Fallen asleep at work/school? I studied math, now statistics. What do you thinK?
Held a snake? YES! Wild Life Reserve, Palm Desert, CA :)
Ran a red light? Yes and then I freaked out because I just realized it was red.ahh!!!
Been suspended from school? No
Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? No
Been fired from a job? No
Sang karaoke? YES - Waterfalls, You're so Vain, co star: D. Newsome??!?!
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes :)
Kissed in the rain? Yes
Sat on a rooftop? Yes
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? Does thrown in the ocean count?
Broken a bone? Yes
Shaved your head? No
Played a prank on someone? Not a good one
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? Doubtful
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? No, but I did have two rats: Oreo and Melissa
Been in a band? In my imagination, many.
Shot a gun? Yes. Thanks, Julia!
Donated Blood? Tried, but apparantly my veins are too small.
Eaten alligator meat? Yes. Tastes like chicken.
Eaten cheesecake? Yes. Who has not had cheesecake?!!?!?
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? The one closest to the alarm so I can hit it faster in the morning.
Talk in your sleep? Yes. and laugh, too.
Laughed until you peed your pants? Don't think so
Play a musical instrument? Yes. Recorder, Piano, Guitar- none well.
Lived outside of the country? Yes, for 6 weeks in Holland 2005, and for 2 months as a European nomad in 2008.
Been skinny dipping? Yes tehehe pool
Gone sky diving? No
Dated someone longer than you should have? Live without regrets, my friends.

din din

Paige and I made a very legitimate dinner on Valentines Day.

This is 20 clove garlic chicken.Yes, we ate all 20 cloves and only half of the chicken.


and these are some strawberries. ------>>>>
mmmm




Paige says that pictures of food never turn out looking quite as good as the food originally was. I think this is pretty much true.

For this reason (and others) I feel somewhat squeemish at dinners with my parents when they take a pictures of dishes that are anything near artistic.

Food was meant to be eaten.

comments

If no one comments on my blog I'm going to lose the desire to post...

happy

hello faithful followers!

so i just wanted to share that my Dutch aunt just sent me vintage cocktail dresses from Luxembourg.
They're soooo cool and I will put up pics soon.

Saw my parents again today and they gave me flowers (what did i say about flowers?!?!)

Also, I made whey, cream cheese, yogurt, butter and buttermilk today.

So yes. dresses + love + flowers + happy dairy products = happy X

But the greatest of these is LOVE!

hoping to make my midnight bed time ;)

warning

I ran over by Camp Holiday Trails today. Actually, I took the dirt road from Trinity and enjoyed the sounds of branches brushing each other, wind blowing through crinkly dried leaves, and the occasional chuckle of the brook to the left of the road (right on the way back).
One thing I often wonder about is these signs like the one to the right. I took a picture of it with my phone because I wanted to BLOG about it. teheheh I'm such a nerd-o-rific blogger. Anyways. WHY!??? does it say 'POSTED NO TRESPASSING'? I have also wondered at similar signs that say 'POSTED NO HUNTING'. Obviously it's "Posted" on this tree here. And if it weren't posted on the tree then you wouldn't be able to read the sign, now would you? The word is quite redundant.
Does anyone get why they say that?

This brings me to another thought: a fun link that Anna found a few weeks ago about silly warning labels. Maybe this is because of our sue-happy society. hmm the joys of shirking responsibility onto someone with more money!

SYNERGY

Synergy is such a great quality of healthy relationships.
If you know what I'm talking about, HOLLER (aka comment with your thoughts on the topic).

flowers

are pretty. When I see flowers I often have an urge to capture their beauty in a picture. I want to keep the life and energy forever!


My parents visited two weeks ago and brought me flowers. Without really contemplating the significance, I took a picture of the lilies.
lovely.

Stacey got irises from Jeff for her birthday. Another favorite. (I think these are not irises, Stace)

One of the laughs of the day------>

Ellen: hehehehahhahahah
Me: Are you tired?
Ellen: I think I am, under all of this.
Me: Under what?
Ellen: Being awake.

Opulence.

DC for the weekend

I came home and amongst other sundry chores, folded clean laundry.

I love having clean socks. MMM It feels so good tucking the little soft white tops over the foot... Having clean socks may be better than having clean underwear. Just knowing that I can work out and change my socks as much as I like makes me feel clean and warm.

red bull

blogs are for procrastinating
e.g. wasting time

Yesterday I witnessed a scandal.
I was slightly late for my 3:30pm Quantitative Models in Finance class. Walking down McCormick Road, just before the gates, I saw a police car pull over the RedBullMobile. I couldn't help but notice the two 20 something year old attractive females inside. They were obviously being pulled over because they were driving through the gates behind a UVA vehicle and it was before 4:30pm. The students at the bus stop next to the gate snickered and "ohhh"-ed, red bulls in hand.

Now, of course I'm wondering, do these RedBullMobile girls have titles? What do they tell people they do for a living? "Oh, I get paid to be hot and give out fake energy boosting liquids to college students".
Now, this picture I found clearly is from Europe, note the license plate (maybe even the middle east? note the palm trees). But it is of the same type of mini-truck-car that I saw yesterday in Charlottesville.
So, is this RedBull giveaway international? And my real question is,where are the hot RedBullMobile guys???? Now, that might make me change my mind about how repulsive the "drink" is.



Then I got to class and my amazing professor, Keenan, complemented my fur hat :) awesome.

initiative... I do not have it.

Stacey joins me as I blog this lovely evening. (with ice cream cake, which makes everything that much better, and hot water and lemon, but not mixed together)
We just came from the AFC and along road home, we passed the University of Virginia Hospital. On top of a wall or something there is a slide show constantly running. It says things like

persisitence
beyond measure

and then

collaboration
beyond measure

we don't know what that means.
One said

initiative
beyond measure

Stacey read it, "initiative, I do not have it".

edgy

I recently arrived from quite an evening consisting of Apples to Apples, MadGab, a very protective dog, Hi-C, and a police report. Texas Anna and Hannah (not from TX but still cool) just ran out to play in the beautiful snow!
Ellen and I, Virginia residents, are only hoping that the snow will cancel classes/clinical. She is the source of my bloggery tonight.
"The button on my pants fell off", I told her. "I think I've had them for too long, But actually, I kind of like it". She nailed why, "it's edgy", she replied with a knowing smile.

edginess.
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