Christmas

Okay, here I am. I've been putting this off for months - this blogging thing. I didn't expect my time to dwindle down to nothing when I started college, but it did. It's Christmastime now, though, and I'm a free woman. Want to know what I've done since I've been home? Ordered and bought Christmas gifts, went to a Christmas party, decorated the tree, listened to Bing Crosby sing me Christmas songs, faced the "Week of Christmas" shopping crowds, and wrapped presents. It's been wonderful. Once the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, I want to do a few things. I want to get crafty - maybe a fabric flower here and there, I want to bake some good cakes and pies, and I want to read - I want to soak up all that good literature out there for me. I have this scary feeling I won't quite accomplish those things the way I am seeing now, but as long as I get a start on it (maybe even make a habit out of it) I think I will be okay.

This Christmas season, I've been hit with the realization of what Christmas is about. I know that Jesus came as a little baby and was born in a manger and that is really crazy and awesome, but I never realized what a step down that was for Jesus. I mean, He literally was born to die. I think about the magnitude of Christmas throughout the world, and it's astonishing to me thinking that a little baby's birth created a day that the entire world celebrates, whether they think they are doing it for Jesus or not. It's a one-of-a-kind holiday for sure. And on Saturday, the entire world will be celebrating the birth of our King - knowing it or not - it's what will happen.

Merry Christmas.

T.R.

Tuesday.

First of all, I would like to tell the weather to make up it's mind. I pulled out all my sweaters and scarves and boots and blankets in hopes of many cold morning and cozy nights, but that lasted for about negative 3 days. I love the Fall. It's constantly changing and in my opinion there isn't much more beautiful than watching God's creation bloom into fiery reds and oranges and yellows an browns. WHat I love the most is seeing it change daily or from week to week. It's such a beautiful progression, and from this I learn a lot about life. I think God made all of creation with purpose, to be able for even the trees to teach us humans a little about the lives we lead . We're born and we bloom into these beautiful little things and have so much fun as a child, and then we move on to our summer's where we are full and grown and nice and green, but we have to keep watered or we may well dry up and die. And then comes the end of our lives - the fall - when we should know that we have shown these beautiful colors and parts and pieces of our personalities like nobody's business. Just a thought.

Something New.

Okay, so college has officially been in session for 2 weeks, but somehow it feels like I've been here for 2 years. I like it, don't get me wrong, but I suppose when you're doing it all day everyday, you begin to feel like this is your home. I've forgotten a little about my place on Stratford - I still call it home, and I still miss the musty smell when you walk into the basement, and the creeking old wood floors, but I've found something new. I've found life on my own a little bit. I choose when I eat and when I sleep and when I go out and when I stay in - it's the strangest thing. With that freedom comes a little bit of struggle though. There's this whole concept of letting go and moving out that parents often don't understand very much, and well, mine are experiencing that now. 2 or 3 phone calls a day, one to say "Goodmorning" and another to say "Goodnight", going home every weekend, all of this stuff...it's slowly fading and I'm slowly nesting up here in JC. It's so new. My Mom, as much as she pretends like she's fine with it, has a definite struggle in her voice when I say "You know you don't have to call me 3 times a day?..I love talking, but it's alright" It's happening, and I appreciate this time much more than I thought I would.

Crafty, Crafty

Okay, so I've taken it upon myself to become more crafty. I want to learn to make things for myself - I always have. So, I'm starting with small, easy crafts and I thought I would share some of them with you :)

Cute Notebook Covers for school:

White view binders (the ones with the place in the front for something)

Scrapbooking paper of your choice

Scrapbooking letters & embellishments of your choice.

Basically, you just use one sheet of paper - cut it to fit the front pocket in your binder - then be creative and place your letters, spelling out the name of your class. Here are mine :)

------> this is a dry erase made out of a frame and scrap paper :) Super cute, I thought.

"The Gap" Affect

Have you ever gone to The Gap and looked at all those ads on the walls and in the windows and thought "Man, those people look comfortable." or "That woman looks confident" or "That man looks like he feels respected" - well, the whole idea here is Gap is selling you the feeling the clothes give you, because whether we admit it or not, thats why we buy clothes anyway (other than the obvious reason for being decent). This is what I call "The Gap Affect" 3 Days left here, for the most part. Today my main goal would be to gather all my clothes I'm wanting to take with me. Now, being 20 minutes away from my home, it won't be like I can't jump in the car and drive to get something if I need it, but I would prefer to be completely prepared. I've been putting this off, because you see, picking outfits and clothes is such a "science" to me that it takes me lengthy periods of time and thought to put one outfit together - I can't even imagine 2 or 3 weeks worth. I've been thinking about these outfits for about 3 days, so it shouldn't be so hard...just have the physical work of getting them and folding them and sticking them in a suitcase. (I'll update on how this goes). Another crucial fashion related decision I must make, is what to wear on my first few days of interaction. This is important. I don't care what you say - "ohh, give it a few months, then youll be trudging to class in your PJs" or "College kids don't care about how they look" - first of all, I would NEVER wear my PJs around in public unless 1.I was sick and on my way to the hospital and unable to change or 2. I had lost all of my clothes and had nothing left to choose from. PJs are wonderful...some of my favorite clothes...but they are made for the house, and should remain there. Now, the alternative would be sweats or sports pants - these can be used as PJs but are also cool to wear in public, so sweatpants: yes, PJs: NO. And also, it's not the obsession with how I look or what others perceive me to look like - it's the fun of it...the love of getting up and putting that perfect outfit on that makes you feel like you could take on the World. "Dress for Success" - it's truth. I don't believe it's right to judge others based on their outward appearance, even though we all know we do it to some extent, but I do think that the right pair skirt can make a woman feel sexy, or cute, or fit and the right suit jacket can make a man feel respected and handsome...or how a good pair of jeans and a basic T can invite leisure and fun into a day. Clothes are important - I think, sometimes, that it would be nice for us to all be able to pick our favorite outfit - the one that makes us feel beautiful, strong, handsome, able, or what have you, and just wear that because then we wouldn't have to choose among all these clothes, and we would know that when we put that on, we were going to feel good about the day. (don't get me wrong...we SHOULD NOT base our daily feelings on what we're wearing...I'm just saying that sometimes the outfit helps the feeling out)

TR

No Stress.

Goodmorning! Today is going to be a good & productive day - I promise! Yesterday, I had hopes of that, but my little macbook pro was sitting on my bed, calling my name, and I gave in so needless to say, I got a minimal amount of cleaning done. My room is a clutter - there's nick-nacks and little pieces of paper and tags off of my clothes and countless other things lying around every where. Im trying to decide if I should clean it up nice and neat before I begin packing, just to get it messy again, or if I should pack, and then clean? Who knows? "Nothing to get stressed over" T.I. would say...I have to let that phrase pop in my brain much too often, because I let too many things stress me out. I'm stopping that. Maybe that will be one of my goals in this big change is to stop letting the little things get at me, and focus on the big picture. How 'bout it?

Lets Have A Good Day!

T.R.

Long Time, No See.

Woah guys. I haven't been on here in ages. So much has happened since May or April or whenever my last post was. I've graduated, I've registered for classes at my university, I've wanted to be a nurse and then a teacher and then a counselor and now an Occupational therapist, I've gone to Panama, Central America, I've seen God heal some people (way too cool), and I've grown up more than I can really tell you about. College starts in 9 days - in 9 days, I move into my own little apartment with my own little Phillipino roommate that we'll call Mono, and I begin a life that I've spent the past 13 years preparing for. I'm looking forward to it, guys. I really am. It's going to be full of amazing things. I'm head-over-heels excited about what God has planned for me and those around me. These next few years are going to be preeeeettty serious in developing me into me. So anyway, I'm here to give you a sort of "cast list" of the people you may see on here and that way, you guys will know what I'm talking about.

Mom - well...my mom.

Pop - Dad

P-Ro - step dad

Mono - roomie (Amiga #2)

T.I. - the lovely boyfriend

Em - the best friend (Amiga # 3)

K - other best friend (Amiga # 4)

KRa - soon to be other best friend (Amiga # 5)

CH - other soon to be other best friend (Amiga #6)

The 6 Amigas - the 6 girls, including myself, that will be best friends forever...and will be hanging out with me most of the time. They will be referred to a lot. We're all rooming with each other, you see. I'm with Mono (Amiga #2), Em is with KRa, and K is with CH. Pretty crazy stuff, yeah?

Alright, enough of this computer. Time to sip some delicious coffee and watch Lifetime :) Good stuff.

T.R.

Whats This?

Ramble: Part Two is going to be all about my graduating of highschool and entering into college experience...I'm staring a new part of life, so why not a new blog. More to come later.

TR