A Brief Hiatus

Oh, hello reader-friends! It has been quite a while since I have managed to be present in the blogosphere. Between the end of school craziness, maid of honor duties, traveling, and just life itself, I have been overwhelmed and not had time to write a decent post. My last post promised to be updated in two weeks. Well, that hasn’t happened, obviously. It is just one of those situations where you become so overwhelmed by all you have to do and say, that instead of actually being productive, you just sit and let more things accumulate as you think about actually doing something. You’ve all been there.

To be honest, I have missed blogging. I have missed writing, sharing, and connecting with people. I started this blog to test out a different form of writing from the analytical papers that are required in college, and as a result of my experiment, I have found that I love this form. I love the challenge of writing about personal matters. One would think that writing about yourself and your life would come easy, but it takes a spoonful of courage to be honest and raw. And that is the challenge. I am not making some impersonal, analytical statement about how James Joyce uses setting to better help his readers understand characterization in “Evelyn”. I am not scrutinizing some third person. I am having to analyze and expose myself.

So, in short, I am back from my brief hiatus. However, for the next three weeks I am on a different type of hiatus. I am living in Pennsylvania with my good friends Leah and Sarah Cook. I am working on Leah’s farm, living somewhere different for a little bit, and getting a new experience. So, you all can be expecting posts about life as a farmhand intermingled with posts detailing various trips I have recently taken. This past week as I got home from a trip to Greer’s Ferry with my friend, Laura Beth, my mother in all her profound wisdom quoted a line from Steel Magnolias that is pretty accurate for my current lifestyle: “I love you more than my luggage”. I believe if I ever told anyone that, it would be a sign of true affection. I really feel like my luggage has been my constant companion this summer, but we will talk about that later.

Anyway, here is a few shots of life so far in PA. More will come soon (this time I mean it).

A two hour delay due to an overbooked flight in Memphis, a broken plane, and unexpected plane swap in Cincinnati.  

Compensation for my pains.

The most welcomed sight of the day: my girls and some of my little Cookies. Please take note of Zeb being a gentleman and getting my bag :)

The flowers Lucas and Zeb got for me when I arrived.

Myself with the famous Duda logo.

My new place of employment.

Myself, Sarah, and Leah (using the Target windows to apply lipstick) after Panera Bread.

Some of the crazy kids.

If you can’t tell by my pictures, I am already loving my time  in PA. I cannot wait to see what blessings are still yet to unfold!

Confessional Friday

• First and foremost confession: I miss blogging. School is overwhelming and consuming at this present moment.
• I probably shouldn’t be taking the time to write this post.
• I have two papers due next Thursday: An eight page paper for Paranormal Philosophy and a critical analysis that will probably be about six pages for American Lit.
• I am in the middle of my first paragraph on my eight page paper. However, I almost have one page because of this paragraph.
• I want these papers done before next Wednesday night when Amber and I go and see the Moscow ballet perform Cinderella.
• I am overly excited to be going to a ballet. Probably has to do with the long lost dream of being a ballerina.
• I am both excited and saddened that Amber is graduating. I am going to miss having her to keep me sane in classes and while working in the writing center. However, how can I not be excited for her? Homegirl has worked her tail off for four years now and is about to start a new chapter in her journey.
• I have been working out nearly everyday for a month now and it has been fabulous.
• I heard the song “For the First Time” by The Script on the way back from my canoeing trip, and I cannot stop listening to it.
• I have two more weeks of school, and I am so beyond ready for summer.
• Once summer is here and I have more time to blog, be expected to have an overload of posts and Instagram pictures that I have failed to put up.
• I bought a hula hoop about three weeks ago. Yes, I know I am 21, but it is tons of fun and good exercise. So, that is that.

 

My suitemates Katie and Zara thought I made an excellent purchase. I guess you are never too old for some things. :)

Have a splendid weekend, and I hope everyone else who is swamped by the end of the semester work is not too stressed and does well on their finals. See ya in about two weeks!

Easter and Behind on Life

Sooooo much blog neglect…..It has been a crazy few weeks, and the next four weeks that stand between me and summer only promise to be even more crazy. I have so much to share with all of you, but as with most things in my life, I will probably be late getting around to it. 

However, today is Easter! I love this holiday, but I have to agree with my pastor that every Sunday we should celebrate the fact that we have a risen Savior, otherwise worship would be in vain. In fact, that is why we even choose Sunday as the day of communal worship, in order to commemorate the fact that He arose on a Sunday. Still, I am thankful that at least at one time a year that many people take time to remember the fact that there is a risen, all powerful Savior who conquered death sitting at the right hand of God, who is reigning in glory. I also like the fact that it is another excuse to get together with the family. Sadly, I missed the get-together with my mom’s side yesterday, but I did get to see some of my dad’s family today.

So, here are some photos to recap my day. Happy Easter, everyone!

My new favorite photo of these two, so candid.

Isn’t my sister-in-law the cutest?

My sweet girls after a long day. Please notice how their feet are crossing over each others in their sleep. So adorable.

I hope you had a blessed Easter!

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! :)