My Week, Instagram Style #7

I had a wonderful week. What made it so grand? My weekend, of course. I spent the majority of my weekend with some good friends, and as we all know, the people who are in our lives are what makes it special. One big thing that happened this weekend was that my best friend Sydney Smith came home for her spring break! She has been at the Air Force Academy in Colorado for nine months where she has had to go through hell and back and work hard every day to prove that she can handle the military. Well, guess what! She did it! She was recognized last week and does not have to put up with crap from upperclassmen anymore. I seriously could not be anymore proud of her. She had a dream, gave up securities, and did everything in her power to make her dream happen. I think “persevering” is the word that best describes her, and I am pretty positive the words “giving up” are not in her vocabulary. I didn’t get any pictures from hanging out with her this weekend, but she will hopefully be coming down to Cleveland tomorrow. So, I will make up for lack of pictures then :) Have a lovely week everyone!

 

1. This is my favorite page from a book that I bought for 10cents at a library in Uniontown, PA. It is titled There is a Dragon in My Bed, and it tells how to say various silly phrases in French. I gave this book to my French major friend, Nicole, in hopes that it might be of some use when she teaches one day.

2. I stayed late on Thursday to hear a lecture by a Shakespeare professor candidate on the Corpse/Corpus in Hamlet and Hamletmachine. She rocked the presentation, and I would love to sit in on one of her Shakespeare classes.

3. & 4. Some of my favorite little people representing my favorite local universities! Cooper looks like a true Ole Miss student here: dazed and confused. Carmen is as cute as ever.

5. Cooper playing his favorite game: throw the ball. Over and over and over again.

6. Anna Kate and my flower collection for our craft. Most of these were gathered from a lady’s yard in Hernando who we meet randomly, started talking to, and became fast friends with. She willing helped us in our endeavor with her beautiful garden.

7. & 8. The fruits of our labors. Anna Kate found a craft from another blog that was perfect for Spring. You put flowers between paper and thin white cloth and hammer the flowers until they bleed through. It was fun but kind of loud and exhausting.

 

9. & 10. Anna Kate and I had some delicious food. We went to the Brick Oven Pizza in Hernando, and featured above is their delicious margherita pizza. Later we made chocolate chip loaves, because loaves are much more fun than muffins. Not only was our food great, but we had a lovely time talking and hanging out. A perfect Friday night.

11. & 12.  My new favorite nail polish: Mermaid’s Tears. I got a pedicure on Saturday, and I instantly fell in love with this polish. So much so that I bought it. Let me tell ya, no buyer’s remorse here.

13. Saturday, I spent the afternoon helping Melanie with various wedding preparations. We planned, prepared, talked, laughed, punched out little umbrellas and overall took care of business.

14. Sunday, my family and about 40 other people from my church went and saw October Baby. It was a fantastic movie and story. I highly encourage all to go see it. But be warned, one tissue will not be enough. Trust me.

February Photo Challenge…only a month late

One of my favorite things about the iPhone is that I always have a camera. I take multiple pictures on a daily basis, and thanks to the iPhone app Instagram, you can make your regular iPhone photos look pretty decent. Another thing I love about Instagram is that you take pictures of the everyday things that surround your life and bring to light that they really are the special things. Each month there is a challenge to take pictures of specific things every day. And since this is Friday and I usually make confessions, I will admit that I was not very good about keeping up with the challenge everyday. Many of my pictures were not taken on the exact day they were suppose to. Another confession that I confessed last time is that I am extremely slow about putting pictures up on the Internet, and this post is proof. Have a great Friday everyone.

 

1. Your view: Buddha texting at the bar at Hey Joe’s on Trivia Night.

2. Words: Isaiah 26:3

 

3. Hands: Carmen, Bailee, and my hands

4. Stranger: Ethan Frome

5. 10 a.m.: Driving back to Cleveland and getting on the Tunica exit

6. Dinner: Salad in a to-go box from the cafe

7. Button: My Jane Austen and Shakespeare buttons given by the Fords that currently reside on my backpack.

8. Sun: Sol beer. In Spanish “sol” means sun.

9. Front door: My door at school.

10. Self-portrait: Myself in my favorite jacket.

11. Makes you happy: My McArthur Study Bible and Jesus Calling.

12. Closet: My messy closet at home.

13. Blue: The one blue wall in my dorm.

14. Heart: I am all the time getting invitations to ethnic parties. Obviously, they have heard about my ghetto dancing skills. In this heart it says “no sagging pants,” “no baseball caps,” and '”no handcupping" (whatever that means).

15. Phone: This is Dr. Ford’s phone. Look at that thing. It is one of the old Nokias that could probably survive an atomic bomb, and you can play “Snake” on it.

16. New: New shampoo that makes me happy for two reasons: 1. I like the exotic smell 2. The blue color and the fact that Moroccan is in the title makes me feel like princess Jasmine.

17. Time: My favorite time of day simply because that is my birthday.

18. Drink: My National Guard water bottle that is always on my desk in my dorm.

19. Something you hate to do: Leave these sweet kids on Monday morning.

20. Handwriting: One of my daily note cards for American Lit.

21. Favorite photo of you: Me in a clown outfit that my Mamaw made and all of the grandkids wore for their first Halloween.

22. Where you work: The Writing Center at Delta State.

23. Shoes: My new glittery gold shoes

24. Inside bathroom cabinet: Bathroom cabinet at home.

25. Green: Green notebook made out of papyrus paper that Sydney gave me for Christmas. I absolutely love it!

26. Night: Writing my Ethan Frome book review.

27. Something you ate: Celery

28. Money: Leftover Mexican currency that will be put to use this year when I go to Mexico.

29. Something you are listening to: Dandy and (most of) the Lions at the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

Maybe I will be more on top of things with my March photo challenge, but I doubt it. Happy Friday! :)

Confessional Friday

Oh, I am so, so behind. Spring break is the time to catch up on life, right? Well, I must admit, I have not done a single thing to get ahead on school work or improve my blog. But, I have been having an amazing time and making wonderful memories up here in Pennsylvania with some of the most loving people: the Cook family. I am so grateful for this time and opportunity, and I must confess that I love them and kinda, sorta want to stay here for a while or just move off from Mississippi. Who knows what the future holds.

So here goes the real confessions:

• Goldie Hawn movies such as First Wives Club, Overboard, and Protocol are some of my guilty pleasure movies.
• I enjoy learning new facts about people.
• I have always wanted to be a tour guide at a historical place such as a plantation or old home.
• I have recently realized that for almost every phrase said by someone else, it makes me think of a song, and if I do not start singing out loud then I sing in my head. I also realize that my entire family does this.
• I can eat and enjoy raw sauerkraut from a can.
• Anything having to do with World War II fascinates me.
• I do not like shopping for specific things; it never works out. Like with most things in life, when you are not looking for it, you find it.
• While driving on Wednesday to Greensburg, I must confess that I was very confused and concerned for a cow that had its tail sticking up. I freaked out thinking the cow had a mutation, only to be informed by Leah and Sarah that the cow was merely using the bathroom. I felt stupid.
• I am fascinated by people who live in seclusion such as nuns, Amish, fundamentalist Mormons, and princesses locked away in towers.
• I love magazines and have a secret desire to work for one.
• I wish I was a better piano player and could play by ear. I do realize though that the only thing stopping me is myself.
• Usually, when packing for a trip, I pack the night before, and I am still packing even up until the last minute before walking out the door.
• I love the fact that I have a constant camera with my iPhone. I am all the time taking pictures.
• I have never seen any of the Peanut’s holiday movies.
• These past few days in the Cook’s home surrounded by six kids has only affirmed that: 1. I love children and want some of my own one day 2. There is very few sounds better than kids laughing 3. It is one of the sweetest things to have kids who love you and love on you.
• Before coming to Pennsylvania I had never heard of, nor worn “snow pants”.
• I am terribly slow at putting up pictures on Facebook, and this fact drives my mother crazy. It will be a miracle if I get my pictures of Pennsylvania up any time soon.  But here is some for all of you, because generally, I confess, I like the blogosphere much better than Facebook:

 

        This is Arrena and Zeb. They are pretty spectacular.

  Leah and myself riding up the incline to snow tube.

 

Even though this picture is blurry, I still adore it because this shows five of the six little Cooks and myself playing “Crack the Egg”. This picture has a very Lord of the Flies vibe to it as heathen children jump and scream in a circle.

This is yesterday at the Carnegie museum in Pittsburgh with the ever wonderful and oh-so-lovely Sarah and Leah Cook.

And as these Pennsylvanians would say:

“Have a great Friday, yinz!”

Ok, one last confession: I think the word “yinz” is much more impractical and ignorant sounding than “y’all”  :)

Technorati Tags: Confessions,travel

Confessional Friday

• The opening monologue from Sabrina is one of my favorites.
• The closing monologue by Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is also one of my favorites.
• I want to read the Hunger Games.
• I find it sad when people do not try their best and give up because things get too hard.
• One of my first memories is spilling chocolate milk on my arm when I was about three. I remember wiping off the milk and screaming and crying because there was a spot that wouldn’t come off. I thought I had stained my skin, but in reality, I had discovered a birthmark.
• I get angry and frustrated when I do not fully understand something. I will keep asking questions until I get sufficient information, and then after I know what I need to know, I usually forget about it or don’t think about it again. This can be a blessing most of the time, but it can be a curse with class work.
• I do not handle scary movies well at all. The only slightly scary movie I have seen is Signs, and I wasn’t right after seeing that for months.
• My favorite color is red, but I mostly buy turquoise things.
• I really prefer to have other people drive me, because I get nervous while driving.
• Speaking of driving, I thought I was going to die yesterday while driving home. There were streamline winds, and myself and several other cars had to pull over while our cars shook and objects were being thrown against them.
• Also, when I am in the car and I get scared I tend to cuss. I’ll admit, it is usually the “s” word.
• When I am scared I get mean.
• If I could, I would wear a dress everyday.
• I have a collection of heart shaped rocks.
• Photo booth pictures are some of the best to me. I love the spontaneity they capture.
• I like men with talent.
• To further prove my above point, as a child I wanted to marry men like Aladdin, Luke Skywalker, and Robin Hood. They were the best of the best, and I now realize this is a pattern. I like when a guy is the best at something, no matter how insignificant it may be.
• Now, I would really like to marry Gilbert Blythe. What is his talent you may ask: putting up with one of the most difficult women in the world, Anne Shirley, all with a smile on his face and love in his heart.

Technorati Tags: confessions

My Week, Instagram Style #6

I am yet again late for the weekly link up with Jenni. Despite my tardiness, I hope you enjoy my week in pictures!

1. On Tuesday, the sweetest couple came to my Spanish Conversations class and spoke to us entirely in Spanish about themselves and their travels. They are SO in love after more than forty years of traveling the world and being missionaries together. And guess what, the man happens to be my professor’s brother! Also, sorry the picture isn’t that great. I had to be super sneaky and covert so I would not get caught using my phone in class.

2. Wednesday after trivia there was a Sadie Hawkins dance, and Dandy and (most of) the Lions gave a performance. True to the their folksy style, they wore nothing but overalls. It was pretty grand.

 

3. I worked at the annual Farm and Gin show all day Friday and Saturday. I remember as a kid loving to go with my dad to the gin shows to crawl on farm equipment, meet people my dad worked with, and get free stuff. Needless to say, I experienced some nostalgia.

4. Myself and a sweet girl from my church, Karah, behind the pre-registration area. Actually, almost everyone who worked this area was from my church. I very much enjoyed working back there because of all the interesting people we got to meet and assist. Also, if you look in the distance you can see my father in a blue shirt checking in and chatting at the Presenter’s registration area. He worked at his company’s booth on Friday, and I got to slip away a couple times to visit with him. :)

 

5. This is an example of the farm equipment on display. I mean seriously, look at that monster. As a kid, who wouldn’t love to come crawl around on one of those?

6. Pretty flowers my dad got for mom on their 40th wedding anniversary.

7. My grandmother had a stroke on Thursday, and Sunday night I went up to Baptist hospital and spent some time with her. I enjoyed talking to her and hearing old stories. She is doing pretty well, but she does not have full control over her left side. Please keep her in your prayers.

8. I picked this book up again on a random whim this weekend. I read it on a trip to Canada in the summer of ‘09, but I was definitely in a different place than I am now. I think I am more open to what this book has to say than I was almost three years ago. Back then, I was trying to fit the book’s message into my circumstances and resisted some basic truths that I did not want to see. Now, I realize the book’s message of God’s sovereignty over every aspect in our lives and relationships  is pertinent at all times, no matter the circumstances.  While being encouraging and real, this book also makes me see God’s glory even more and the fact that no matter what, I am to trust and praise Him.