The Future is Becoming Clear (Kinda)

I'm not a big country fan, but this song keeps coming back.
"Dancing Shoes" by Green River Ordinance
It's slow and relaxed and paints a nice picture. A husband and wife sitting on their porch just being there for one another instead of worrying about the future and, of course, going dancing.
I don't dance well/at all in any way that's considered reasonable by society. It's a joke.
That being said, it's kind of a nice idea to just dance around in your living room.

In my math class, we had a "start your project" day which was very relaxing and a wonderful way to start the day. For this project, we are researching houses and interest rates and all that. I started looking at houses in California and ended up looking at houses on lakes in Wisconsin (my mother's dream!) and pretty much falling in love with these gorgeous properties. I also showed my teacher the $2,499,000 property that's for sale less than half a mile from my high school. Yeah.

Anyway, all of this is to say that God has been present in a very real way in my brain recently. I don't mean visions as much as reassurances and these internal guarantees that things will work out. My work load has been light this week which has given me lots of time to think. I have a peace about my future that's different than I've ever had. Although I still have not declared a major, things are so narrow now it feels like I should just pick one. Also, did you know how easy it is to pick one? You just fill out a form and BAM you're declared. Not to over dramatize, but that's your future right there. Probably. Hopefully. This makes picking a college seem like a cakewalk! What was I talking about "that decides my future"? No. This does.

It's looking like counseling or business administration, if that's even a thing here. I should probably check. Choosing counseling is scary because it pretty much guarantees graduate school. Picking that means all that money and time on top of the next three years and it's scary to pick that if I'm not 100% sure. It sort of feels like God is saying "You need to trust me," and that I should go into counseling even though I know it means all those extra years of schooling. Business administration or like basic business is fine too, but do I really want to work in corporate America forever?

I do not have those kinds of answers. This peace from God that I received this week was more like "You know what, Bethany, everything is going to be okay. I've got this all planned and it's been planned since before you were born."That kind of peace can't exist without Him.

*Woo- I went from calm and loving on a country song to all jacked up and nervous but loving in God. This is the strange playground known as my brain.

Saturday, Oh What a Day

I had a wonderful Saturday! I slept in a little less than I normally do and decided that although I do enjoy sleeping in, I feel better for longer when I do not.
After I got out of bed, I spent two hours watching interviews with the cast of The Hunger Games online, doing some homework, cleaning up my room, and making a decisive list of what I needed to buy for my Old Testament project.
When I was getting dressed to go to Walmart and Goodwill to gather my supplies, I was fretting over what to wear. Then, I had a revelation. No matter what I wear, it is highly unlikely I will be the strangest one in either of those stores. Alas, I was right. The first lady I saw when I walked into Walmart had hair that started at the crown of her head and trailed down to almost her waist and the rest of her hair (where a baseball cap would cover) was no longer than an inch. She was also sporting tall, white socks and Crocs. Girlfriend, who told you that was a good look? The world may never know.

For my Old Testament class, everyone is required to create something that is representative of the OT. The project is pretty open and as long as you can justify what you made, anything is good. If you're not creative at all, you can write a paper. I strongly considered this option as I do not paint, draw, sculpt, or otherwise do artsy things. The longer I thought about it, I remembered that at home I have my closet doors (nearly) covered with pictures I have cut out from magazines. Kate and I used to joke I would take them with me to college if I wasn't finished!

I'm thinking about the Old Testament and what I can create that's collage like and I start to think of the Garden of Eden. Everything was the way God meant it to be because it was around before humans were. Adam and Eve lived there for a while before sin messed it all up. I think that's so cool- what would it have been like? How beautiful it must have been, a perfect array of everything God made without the rotten stench of sin. So much focus is on the creation and then the fall of man, and I forget that there was some time before that happened.

Until yesterday, I never thought of the Garden of Eden in this way but it became my inspiration for my project. I decided to create a collage that represents the Garden of Eden. Rather than buying one floral fabric, I went to Goodwill and bought a few floral shirts and a dress. I had to model the dress so you could get the whole picture. A classic Goodwill find.

Then, I bought glue and an exacto knife so I could be free to cut up whatever portion of the fabric I liked. That thing is super useful! I can scarcely believe I've never had one before.

When I got back I was crafty for a little bit and got a great start on my project. I'll be sure to put up photos of it before I turn it in.
Jessica and I went to see The Mikado, a comic opera, which was particularly hilarious. I've never seen an opera before (much less a comedic opera) so that was pretty sweet. I wore a skirt with a floral print- I guess the project was much more inspirational than I originally thought! I was going to wear flip flops and, while looking for them I found a pair of wedges that worked *perfectly with what I was wearing.
That's right. I went to an opera on a Saturday night in a skirt and heels.
To the readers who are not my mother, I'm willing to bet you can hear her wildly rejoicing that her baby girl is {FINALLY} so ladylike. Love ya, Momma.

It has been a wonderful day. Just a little more math homework and I'm off to bed. I hope your day was as wonderful as mine!

Daffodils and Styling Skills

I wear jeans every day. It's not literally every day, but it's close enough that when I do not wear jeans, it is unusual. That being said, it is Thursday and today I wore a skirt. On Tuesday, I also wore a skirt but that was sort of or a group presentation.

The Tuesday skirt is long and brown and boho chic. It's not exactly the most fashionable thing I own. According to Wikipedia, boho chic hit its peak in 2004-2005 :(
Anyway, my group had to perform a scene from Tartuffe (see left) which is a French comedy from 1664. As it turns out, I don't own clothing that's true to the time. Instead, I opted to pull this boho skirt up above my waist and wear a ruffly shirt. In my Tuesday afternoon class, Old Testament with Dr. Wilbur Williams, he challenged us to do something different every day in order to break the monotony. Check it out, I was already one step ahead of the game.

 For those of you who watch(ed) the TV show Friends, you may remember an episode where the characters make New Year's Resolutions. Ross' resolution is to do something new every day. One thing he does is ask out a girl, and another is buy a pair of leather pants because he had "never had a pair of really good smelling pants." I'm not down with buying leather (or fur) but it made for a funny episode.


Then last night, I thought, "Hey, I should DO something" so I went to Goodwill. Even though it was 8:30 and the store closed at 9, I still went in. I have a huge fear of being stuck in places when they are closing/closed. It almost happened for real over spring break at the mall and I almost lost it. Anyway, I was standing there and I said to myself "You have to buy something pink" because I have a pink sweater and a pink Power Rangers t-shirt, and that's it. As I looked through the rack, I realized there's a reason that these shirts are at Goodwill. I moved out of the pink racks and found myself in the denim.

My suite mate Jess always wears cool, quirky things and on Tuesday, so wore a denim top with jeans and denim Keds. From my (not so thorough) Internet research, the denim on denim trend hit its peak in fall of 2010. That, however, is beside the point. All I could see was these denim shirts and I thought "Jess makes these work, I can too!" I pulled one on over my t-shirt and made sure it fit. I also made sure it didn't have the name of an elementary school embroidered on it. You would be surprised how many of them did. I purchased the shirt and left the store with plenty of time to spare.

So let's review: Tuesday- wore a skirt before I had the challenge to do something different, but followed through by wearing it all day. Usually I get sick of it and change into pants by noon.
Wednesday- randomly bought a shirt for less than $5 that is unique to my wardrobe.

Wednesday night I ran laundry (and talked with my dad on the phone [I talked with my mom on Tuesday]) with my new denim shirt and restrung my Christmas lights on my bunk. I like them a lot more now than I did before. Anyway, my laundry finished and I thought "What was I thinking? I can't do denim on denim!" and I was mad that I had just bought a shirt I had nothing to wear. But wait- I have skirts.
I proceeded to try on (almost) every skirt I own with my new denim shirt and get feedback from my room mate. She didn't even show her annoyance when I had some ridiculous reason why each outfit didn't work. She laughed at my reasoning, but did not get annoyed. She's great like that.
Finally, I landed on the 2nd skirt I had tried on.

Now, we are up to present day (Thursday) when I sported by brand new outfit. I told Jess that she was the inspiration which she highly appreciated, I think. It is 5 hours past noon and I am still wearing it which is a big change. The thing that really annoys me about skirts is that I'm always thinking about if it's too short, if it's riding up, who is looking at me, what they are thinking, how I'm sitting, etc. Jeans are so much easier! You just put them on and go. Still, it's good to have some variety in life. Even though I wore a skirt all day Tuesday and today, today still counts as doing something different. I've justified it as such because of all the days I have worn jeans when a skirt would have been acceptable.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I received some daffodils today from my parents. Woohoo! They're so fun and springy and wonderful and cheery and beautiful. After daisies, they are my favorite flower.
I also treated myself to a yummy drink- a large carmel iced coffee with cream.

These trees are great to look at, but they smell like fish food. Happy Spring! 

Reading

There are a few assumptions that I make about people who read this blog.
1. That you are reading it because you want to and
2. That you enjoy reading other things as well.
Those things being said, perhaps you can empathize with me. I just finished Catching Fire, the 2nd of 3 books in The Hunger Games series. There is something about finishing a book that only those who love to read can understand.
If the book ends well, you feel this elation with the characters. You get the happy ending just like they do!
If the book ends poorly or unexpectedly or with some shocker, you're left there, stunned, mind wracking with what do next.
The length of these feelings, I find, depends on the intensity of the book. I find this also can apply to watching a movie, but not nearly on the same scale since I tend to do other things while I watch a movie.

All that being said, the worst part is that you've experienced it alone.
Yes, other people on this earth have read the book you are reading. It's possible some of them have experienced whatever emotions you are having due to the end of this book.
But you reach that last page and all you can do is close the back cover. The characters are gone. You have to face the world, sooner or later. Your world, not theirs. Sure, you can open it back up and read the book again, but it can never be like the first time you read it.
Maybe at the end of the book only one of the main characters is alive (see: many Nicholas Sparks novels) and you take on that loss and sadness along with the survivor.
Then you walk around all sad and mopey, or stunned and dazed, or elated and joyful (again, depending on the book's ending) but nothing that happened to you created those feelings.

This is a time when my empathetic nature can easily take over.
This is why I love reading.

Now, lucky for me, there is another book in this series so I get another chance to be in the world of Panem. Reading the first and second books in about 24 hours each reminded me how much I love to read and that I didn't make nearly as much time for it as I should have this year. I had books I love, books I meant to start, books I meant to finish, and books I meant to learn to love sitting on my shelf all year. Yet another beautiful thing about books- they don't mind waiting around until you are ready to sit and enjoy their company.

Videos!

Here are 2 videos to brighten your Monday. 

Sentimental Fun

Silly and Educational Fun

Life is Good

There are lots of great things that have happened in the last 12 hours.

First, I watched "Eagle Eye" again. I think I've only seen it twice before, once at home and the first time when I went with Kayla. We saw that movie in IMAX which was an intense experience. I don't like (see:can't stand) IMAX or 3D because it's just too much. I feel the need to remind the movie to stay on the screen because I am doing my part by staying in my seat. I had forgotten most of the dramatic ending and so I literally gasped when it happened. Fantastic. Usually, there's a point where I remember the movie and then I sort of let it happen in the background but this time, it was like watching it for the first time again but less scary because my computer has a 13" screen.




Secondly, I started "The Hunger Games" last night and finished it today. I'm so happy I know what happens and that I can understand/appreciate all the excitement about the movie. The movie adaptation comes out on March 23 so it's not too far away! People on the Internet have been pretty excited about it for a while but I hadn't read the books. I have access to the second book as well once my roommate is finished with it. I enjoyed the story and would recommend you read it if you're into futuristic stuff, books about teens (without vampires, hallelujah) or competition and strategy with a human aspect. Some of it was really brutal and I don't know how they are going to do parts of the movie. Whether or not they make "Catching Fire" and "Mocking Jay" into movies depends on the success of this movie.
Now that the Harry Potter series is finished (that was tough to write) I wish I could read all of them for the first time again and recreate the scenes in my own mind. I don't remember how I laid out Hogwarts and all the surrounding scenery was in my head. With "The Hunger Games" I made myself slow down and create the scene in my head. I always want to read things fast because I can and so I tried to make an effort to do that this time.


Thirdly, it's gorgeous here. The sunshine really makes me happy. I love Chicago but I think I may have to be a snow bird my whole life. It is St. Patrick's Day (happy holiday to those of you who are Irish today or all year round) and I am sitting outside in a t-shirt and jeans sipping coffee and writing this post. THIS is the good life. 


Fourthly, I did my nails sort of fancy and I didn't even mess them up. Holla! I always have cool ideas but I am not patient enough and then I become frustrated because there's a big finger print on the nail when I see if they are dry and alas, they are not. I did deep blue on 8 nails and then aqua blue on my left pointer finger and right ring finger. It's abnormal (kind of, that's sort of a thing now) and fun.


Fifthly, I found a ring I bought in the Dominican market 2 years ago. It's one of the coolest rings ever. One side is the stone of the Dominican, a light blue, and there are two bands. They flip around and the other side is amber. I'm not explaining it well but it's sweet, I assure you. I didn't lose the ring per-se, but I had lost track of it in my mind and had forgotten its existence. 


Sixthly, our lit group got together today to practice for our presentation on Tuesday. We are performing Act 4 scenes 5-7 of Tartuffe. If you've never read it or have forgotten, it's pretty funny and easy to read, seeing as it was written in 1664. The whole work is rhyming couplets which also makes it easy to say. 


Seventhly, I looked at our school calendar for how much time is left and instead of a feeling of dread washing over me, I experienced an "I can definitely do this" kind of moment. What a relief! I know the semester is far from over, but the rest of the time seems really manageable- especially if it's going to be this beautiful. 


One sad but not entirely sad thing that happened this week is that my mom's head pastor from her hometown went home to Jesus. I never knew Pastor Dave Martin when he was fully well, but he did have a sort of glow of Godliness about him. Pastor Martin and his family really meant a lot to my mom growing up. He had been sick for many years and his wife, Carol, passed away a few years ago. I'm glad Pastor Martin can be with Jesus but it's been tough on my mom, his family, and all those who knew him. 


Enjoy the rest of your weekend and hey, go sit outside and enjoy this fantastic March. 

The Week After the Break

My mother affectionately calls the time where one must return to work or school after a break or long weekend reentry.
This week, my reentry wasn't too crazy. It has been so beautiful in Marion this week! What a blessing. I like to see kids out on the lawn relaxing. This gives campus a more welcoming feel than trudging along class to class, head down to block out the wind and snow. Plus, who doesn't love sunshine?

One unfortunate thing about the lovely weather is campus golf. Allow me to explain.
Many of the doors on campus are numbered. I don't know why. I have never gone from each building to count each door. I don't know how high the numbers run.
What I do know is that the doors and the numbers they have been assigned are a crucial part of campus golf. This game involves golf clubs, tennis balls, and boys. Today I saw one girl to the 35 guys playing this game. It's pretty much only played by males. They turn the whole campus into a golf course and, as far as I can tell, the objective is to hit your tennis ball against the door which is like getting a golf ball in the hole on a real course. This means that there are groups of boys, usually 5-7, with clubs and golf balls flying all over on campus. Supposedly, if you are hit by a golf ball, the boy must give you his phone number. I'm willing to bet that no serious romance has ever resulted from such a meeting.
I'm just trying to walk around campus, but I am faced with the question "Does he see me walking, or is he so focused on the shot that he will swing through that I will receive a tennis ball to the temple?"
This is one thing I do not like about spring.
I have enjoyed a few meals with my suitiemate Jessica outside this week which is just lovely.

(insert interesting and well planned segue here)

Tomorrow morning I have a math project due. Do you know anything about linear programming? Ugh!
I was extremely frustrated yesterday because I felt like the project sheet was not clear at all. All I wanted was a little more direction! Fortunately for me, I have a sister who 1. actually likes math and 2. is willing to teach me.

I spent about an hour and a half Skyping Kayla as she explained this crazy math thing to me. She walked me through each step. Guess what, she didn't even know how to do it but she was teaching herself and me at the same time. That is awesome. She stayed up a lot later than she normally does and totally got me through. It's unlikely I could have turned in this project without her help. Yay sisters! This photo was taken right before Kayla's bachelorette party.

Now, I have to finish the project so I can submit it in under 12 hours. Blergh.
Speaking of math, I signed up to sell merchandise for the Concert for a Cause we are holding in a few weeks. A bunch of high school students come to campus overnight and huge bands come and play a show and there's an awesome speaker. I'm not great with math (duh) but when I asked the people taking volunteers, they said there's no taxes or anything so everything is flat and I can have a calculator if I want. I think selling merch will be sweet! He said if I can break a $20, I should be good to go.
It's not my strong suit, but I do want to help. Hurray for volunteering!

Spring Break in Pictures

I would love to write more about these, but there's too many!

This is the weather I drove home in. 

Yes, my break was only a week long. Why do you ask?

Pretty tree outside my house.

Max!

Maximus! I missed him.

A Shamrock Shake on the way to La Crosse, WI.

Jackie, my aunt and uncle's new dog.

We picked up my cousins from school. I don't think they were too embarrassed. 

Mom took Grandma and Grandpa and me to Pogreba's for Grandma's birthday.

This chicken and spinach pasta was to die for!

Mom had steak and some kind of noodles I had to look up and now can't even remember. 

Radar and Jackie, my aunt and uncle's dogs. What can I say, they love me. 

Those are eagles! We saw (at least) 20 bald eagles fishing on the river. It was awesome!

See, I did spend spring break on a beach! 

There's Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom checking out the eagles. 

I got Chipotle back home with Kate.

Getting to burn candles in my room :) Kayla and Ben bought me this for Christmas. 

Before the dye job

During the dye job

After! Woohoo!

Chicago! 

The city :)

The view from our hotel room.

We were on the 17th floor.

This was the Freudian interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Our seats were awesome!

We had Starbucks for breakfast in the Dominick's across the street from the hotel.

We ate at the Park Grill for lunch. I had a steak salad (yum!)

We could see the ice skaters and I continued to make up stories about their lives.

My first trip to the Art Institute! These sculptures of judges were funny. 

This is a famous painting.

A glass candelabra. 

A sweet teapot. 

Another famous painting. 

Hey Claude :)

These are famous.

These are famous. 

A sweet pitcher!

A cool decanter and some other sweet stuff.

Cool tea things.

A toast rack- how fancy!

This is the same red they use at Takeda.

The breakdown of the Obama campaign symbol was really interesting! 

I knew this was a Jackson Pollock without looking at the plaque. Thanks, required Fine Arts course.

Native American jug

Cool earrings

An angry, pudgy dog sculpture.

Rings with animals on them- not a brand new idea. 

Also, statement bracelets, not a new idea. 

Gilly suit-esque clothes at Arts and Artisans. I got a sweet bracelet there!

Delta who? Delta Nu!

The show was so fun!

Overall, spring break was so great. Hurray for a break in the spring!