continuity

My quick write for the day was for the word "bridge":

I’m nearing the edge of this bridge. I’ll call it “College.” The bridge was comfortably suspended between two solid realities. I feel like the one at the front. I squeeze my backpack straps until the person behind me gives me a little shove and my toe starts to brush the grass right before I feel this new adventure underfoot –

Biblegateway's verse of the day is: 

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 NIV

I read the verse right after I write the prompt. There's a slight snap of satisfaction that slides down my spine, like the feeling you get when you fit one puzzle piece with another.

Time's flown

Today, Graham turned 17. I woke up to my dad's voice upstairs, "Graham! You know what today is? It's your birthday. ... Oh, all done? Okay." Graham doesn't like the birthday song and he has a bizarre love/hate for candles. We brought a cupcake to his room with a candle on it and he screamed, blew out the candle, and sucked the cupcake out of its wrapper like a push-pop. At first he was upset by his singing Alvin and the Chipmunks card from mom. But throughout the day, he kept opening it to see if it would continue to sing. ... It did.

I remember turning 17 in high school. My friends and I called it "The Year of the Dance" because of the plethora of songs that had the age 17 in them. Can you come up with one or two?

A Game of Shadows, A Game of Nonsense, and A Game of Falling Down The Shadowy Stairs And Looking Like Nonsense

I accompanied my enthusiastic father and my parkour brother to sushi and the movies tonight. (Allow me to elaborate. Parkour is my adjective that refers to someone who enjoys being part of an athletic, dangerous, and pointless subculture. Ben is an actual parkour enthusiast, but I would include oddballs like spelunkers and shark-cage-divers in this category as well. I refer to him as "parkour" instead of "delightful" or "engaging" because he spent much of our walk to and from dinner jumping over and climbing things.) 
--My father, Scott Edward Mueller, would LIVE in a sushi buffet if he could. That's all I'm going to say about that.
--We saw Sherlock Holmes. It was entertaining, and so fulfilled its purpose. I put aside my book snobbery and my movie snobbery and just enjoyed the movie. Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer have an unnatural hold on me. I'm stoked for the last Dark Knight!!!

I then joined a very... burnt... and raw... attempt... at the annual truffle tradition. Matt took my place whilst Chrisper Drawer, Spinner, and Nick waited. We played Settlers and MATT WON. Then we played Spinopoly and MATT WON. It was so good to see Matty again. And to hear Spencer lie about his game cards. And to hear Nick read my mind. And to hear Christine ask ridiculous questions. And to see her give me a scarf she made with her eyelashes and love. (Not really eyelashes. But yes, love. What was I referencing? Spongebob.)

photo courtesy of spencer's cool instagram

In the tie breaker, Spencer decided to be a magical plant that was mentioned ONCE in Harry Potter, the mimulus mimletonia. It took Nick and me about 5 years to get to "Nimbusous Thimbletona." The game ended with Spencer waving his hand and saying, "Alright, close enough."

Everyone had a little wine except me, but it didn't matter. As I was leaving, I missed a step and fell down the brick stairs onto the concrete driveway. I then proceeded to stumble down the steep driveway like a drunkard to get to my car. There is... no hope... for the clumsy.

Sleep Sabbaticals

Do they exist? Can I have one? ... I mean, may I?

christmas eve

spritz cookie fiasco

You'll see where I get my silent laughter from...

Enlarge the video here or click on the youtube link to see the captions in full.

oh, brother

I tried out having Graham eat dinner at the table and he was in a really good mood. I decided to record him and see what habits he has that I could pick out. It's normal to me, but you might think it's interesting:

Graham has Fragile X and autism. He has a generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, and epilepsy. He's also non-verbal. 

update anothah

After my thousand years sleep (Hence the print on the right. Honk if you love dreamin'!), I made a super cute Christmas card. Dad hovered over me while I made the super cute Christmas card... "Are you going to, like, color that in? Or... are you going to spray an adhesive on the back of that?" He's the only person I know who would give advice on the creation of a super cute Christmas card. ... besides me. :]

I went on an impromptu shoppin' trip with the Chavez/Spencer package. Spencer asked me life questions and Nick asked for fashion advice. AHHHH he got me this crazy amazing book at Barnes and Noble. So excited. I'm going to teach with it.

Ben and I watched Seinfeld tonight. He's a great brother. Confession: I've watched the first 7 episodes of "New Girl." It makes me look forward to being quirky-teacher-girl.

MikegotmeapresentandI'mtryingtoguesswhatitisbutIhavenoidea!!! I love surprises.

PS- Thanks for an epic amount of response on "Multiple Choice from Jersey." It was a long post and your comments were SO funny. Everyone knows The Wizard of Oz better than I do!

update

It was an uneventful (and cold!) 9 hour commute to sunny California. I slept with my mouth open... the whole time. Not super cute, but I'll never see friendly Jersey man or quiet girl-maybe-my-age ever again. 

I came home to Heidi (my little shadow) and a fresh little Christmas tree. Graham greeted me with a sideways smile and by slapping his elbow, indicating that "he was happy I was home, because now I could bring him some crackers." More or less.

I got to watch Graham eat at the table. Couldn't believe it. He does dinners there. Dad and Ben presented their juggling skills to me -- so randomly impressive. I got to talk to Anna on the phone. She's doing better, which is great. I watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights with Ben and dad.

I briefly surprised Nick and got to see Shelty and Spinner. They're all doing well. We do this thing where we don't really talk all semester and then BOOM: present everyone with our plans for the next six months. Everyone's always happy and floored and maybe a little bit sad. The plans get a little more big and a little more distanced every year: Argentina, San Diego, Massachusetts, Italy, Japan.

I miss the Conners a little bit already. Look what I snuggled with on the plane FROM said Conners. They're gifters. :]

jersey day 3

This New York Times best seller is written from the perspective of a five year old... and IT-IS-GOOD. A really interesting concept and a charming little boy and a bizarre mother-son relationship... It's also heavy.

The chapters are large: I would label them sections. A bit of advice. If you decide to read this book (Give it a try), don't tell yourself "I'm going to stop after this chapter/section/thingy." It won't happen. There will be blood and almost-dying and rotten teeth. So gripping.
<--LOOKATUS

• SLEPT [IN]!
• Sherlock Holmes triple date. Cater Conner treated the group. Sherlock Holmes was top notch. It was funny and the action was crazy, so Mike loved it. Even though the tone is different from the books, the movie still has a lot of parallels. Big Chris Nolan fan. Big Hans Zimmer fan.
• Hung out with the Conners. Ate crazy good pot pie and brownies. Minor food comas.
• Reading. Talking. Sleeping.

Good day. 

Multiple Choice from Jersey

I detach myself from people when they are far away. Maybe to avoid missing them. Maybe because I'm already distracted by the billiondy things already in front of my face. Maybe because I'm a heartless tin man that rubber trees like to throw apples at.

The answer might be D) All of the above. Nevertheless, Emilie drove down from Princeton today to the lovely Conner house to say hello. As soon as she arrived with her awesome hipster-esque glasses and her homemade crocheted scarf and her super-cool striped "frumpy shirt," it was back to old times. Well, first it was "You're a hipster!" and then it was back to old times.

Bee-tee-dubs, Emilie called her shirt frumpy. If that's true, every shirt I wear is frumpy. I think she thinks loose means frumpy. I'm a frump.

Essentially, Emilie, Mike, and I sat on the couch and talked for HOURS. I don't have a watch, so I don't know how much time it actually was, but I'm pretty sure it was light years. We discovered
a) that Mike and Logan are "the same person." We love to be hyperbolic. But really, they're the same.
b) that Princeton is challenging, intellectual and, as the Christian kids say, "worldly"
c) that the kids these days (not so much the Christian ones this time) are moving in together more and more and getting married less and less and that makes BETHANY sad (Bethany me)
d) that working night shifts at a psyche ward is NOT like a horror movie... unless you work in Trenton
e) that haircuts in north Jersey cost an arm and a leg and a rubber tree reference from the Wizard of Oz

Emilie's the business. She brought chocolately chocolate cookies and zoomed from topic to topic like a pro. I loved it. When it comes to conversations, I tend to be the younger kid at the museum: I read the plaque and look at the stuffed jaguar and move on. I don't stand and talk about the jaguar or ask more questions about the jaguar. I don't feel the need to establish a deeper understanding about the jaguar. It's just a jaguar. It's black and it doesn't really look like the jaguar from The Jungle Book. Even if it did, I didn't like The Jungle Book. I really wish she wasn't moving to New Zealand so SOON!

Greg, Alexis, Mike, and me made a ginger bread house. In the old days, our art class would make ginger bread haunted houses and tree houses. This was a good blast-to-the-past. One day, Mike and I will have to make homemade gingerbread houses. Like the one that looks like the Weasley house. But we won't burn it down. That was an extremely inaccurate occurance in the movie, according to Mike. ;)

Last order of business: I read Mike's short story for his prose class today and was floored. He's so talented. Make him show you his work. Ask for autographs now, while you still can.

Guys, I'm Frodo

Instead of a ring, I have essays. Instead of Sam, I have my laptop. I have four Great Eyes looking at me from the towers of Elder, Noggle, and Goodman.

Guys, Kayla is funny

Me: "I think a piece of earphone rubber fell in my ear."
Kayla: "It'll come out in the wash. Do your homework."
Me: "I have to go to the ER!"
Kayla: "EFF NO!!! I don't care if you're throwin' up, we're not going to THE R!!"

"I just want Hagrid to bust down the door and say, 'YOU'RE A WIZARD, BETHANY!'"

Guys, I'm going to finish so strong,

you're going to call me Dave Wottle.

I hope I don't eat my words like soggy oatmeal.

Last fall's finals scream

I was a zombie. There was a ton of snow on the ground. My goal was to release as much pent up stress as I could from my 24 girls. I lost my voice a little bit. Danielle shoved a clump of snow in my ear. I didn't sleep that night.

I like watching them go -- North and South hall. It's nostalgic. They are in such a crazy place. Half of them are going to drop nursing, drop a boyfriend, or drop half a dozen classes. They've got years of college in front of them -- how fun! :)

Praise be

*modeled after Mary's words in Luke 1

Rainbow goldfish

I don't like rainbow goldfish
because we used to give them to Graham
until he discovered
that they became rainbow
mush in his mouth. He'd
spit them
into his hands and rub them
everywhere.
Green and yellow and purple and red
mushy spitty sticky
marks all over
the walls and floors and any surface
his pudgy hands could reach.

Kyla: Rachel, I NEED my time!
Rachel: I need your time!

Nazi library

I just realized the desk clusters on the second floor are shaped like swastikas.

If I'm not careful,

my whole life is going to be one big coffee stain.

new psalm 148 desktop

"Book Hospital"

The library becomes less claustrophobic when I'm wearing my favorite socks. :D

1 am

My birthday is officially (read in the "DENNIS QUAID IS HERE!" accent) one month from today.

I'll be alone on campus, having just been part of my first week of student teaching. Hopefully, the res life staffs will be back and maybe (if they're not in meetings) I'll have dinner with a couple friends.

I will be 22. My first alliterative birthday since 11. How exciting.

"I'm a little mixed up, but I'm feelin' fine"

A little stumbling never disqualified anybody. Unless they were a gymnast. Luckily, I'm far too tall to be a gymnast. I'm also not a big fan of the sparkly leotards. 

So I'm a-stum-a-stum-a-stumblin' a little bit to get everything done. But the end is close. And I am close to ending. 

I had the privilege of hearing tidbits of creative projects from some writing majors tonight. Inspiration! Emotion! Realistic dialogue. Abstract images. I've been inspired to run free. But I've still got this bit in my mouth that's leading me down a path of scholarly rhetoric. It takes like copper. People in stories always taste copper when they're internally bleeding. But I think I'm just unmotivated. ;)

Did I just equate myself to a horse? Oh my lanta, I've got to buckle down and finish up. I'll breathe easy on Friday. What about y'all??

I'm listening to "All Shook Up" by Elvis on the Big Fish soundtrack. It makes me want to do the twist.

psalm 104

³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life; 
   I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, 
   as I rejoice in the LORD. 

An early morning paper break

It's like reading the newspaper before breakfast. It made me giggle.

Once upon a time,

I was feelin' a little

,  ,  and.

But if I finish this

,

then I'll be

.

"Everyone understood that Latin was inseparable from whipping. One educational theorist at the time speculated that the buttocks were created in order to facilitate the learning of Latin." -Stephen Greenblatt, Will in the World

So, my friends auditioned for Amazing Race... and all I want is to be able to watch them on TV.

Do pandas eat bamboo knitting needles? Because it's causing tension between Rachel and I.

This weekend is a 15 page capstone project, a 15 page lit crit project, a 5 page new historicism paper.

Bethany: So, you use a comb?
Kayla: Yaya. Cuz Imma black gir'

Bethany: AH, my effing, effing, fr--
Kayla: Frizzle. Miss Frizzle. Yes, that's her name.

• Gracious Professor Manwell


• A literacy class that inspires me


• A brand new extra warm navy blue peacoat


• A classroom strategies assignment that I like


• Bundled babies in mittens and animal-ear hoods


• Kayla's koala hugs (not on me) and Katelyn's koala hat


• Warm sky and cold ground


• Winter socks


• Carrie giggling at me in class


• "Happy Thursday!" Baldwin greetings


• Bursting into laughter when trying to tell a funny story


• Zachary blocking the mallway because we're friends


• New advent knowledge and feelings


• Mary's smile through Teter's windows


• Warm, dark coffee and the hands that made it


• A funny story from dad on the phone


• Sleeping correctly and being hungry and eating :)


• Answered prayers that make me realize I may be having a bad DAY sometimes, but I'm not doing badly


• Feeling confident


• Feeling loved


• Feeling valuable


• Remeniscing about the "dark days" of last fall with everyone who remembers it better than I


• Watching Emily pretend to do sign language


• Having the ability to push back the CLEP test. Phew.

Today, my heart aches

amid my thoughts of thanks. Thirst

for rest and relationship

drains me dry --

my thoughts are needle pricks

that pick my threads of gratitude

until I begin to unravel.

Hope, you are the theme.

I bow my head

to your high ways. You

say yes when I feel maybe.

You say wait when I feel weep.

You say rest when I feel struggle.

You know the hands that hold you

when I am blind.

I ache. But.

But know that aches speak

of remedies.

That longings speak

of fulfillment. That yesterday's joy

affirms the joy to come.

Unravelled. Aching: I hope.

delight

A tiny sprinkle of snow came a couple weeks ago and I celebrated with a hug with Kayla. But not a flake have I seen since then... until TODAY.

I feel as excited as Winthrop in the Music Man when he got his trumpet. Winter is here! Advent has begun! Look at how FANTASTICAL the campus looks!

I've been momentarily infused with the electric joy of Christmas. I could pop. Somebody hold me down. Or just hold me. :D

Every day, I get a single word prompt from oneword.com and I do a 60 second quick-write. Today, the word was "skyline:"

The sky no longer withdraws. It reaches

down so close to the ground that

it casts a grey shadow from earth to heaven.

Every one of its' million white

kisses are pure. They tell us,

"Hush, rest, and wait." So we nestle

under hats and coasts and gloves, and

we trust.

I might end up playing with that a bit.

Back for round two!

My mom drove me the six hours back up to corn land and got to meet Kayla. We went to Paynes. Kayla decided to be a champ and fit between the car seats in the back. PRESH.

After caffeinating me and seeing all the lodge goodness, mother hit the road and told me to get work done. She's a champ too.

Now Anne's back, gramma's tablecloth is on the table, the baby Christmas tree is on the shelf, and it's beginning to feel a lot like advent. My advent reading for the day is Psalm 103. My advent memorization for the day is

"And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant."

Since I'm practicing gratitude and joy this advent, I'm keeping a gratitude journal. The modge podge will come out soon. So if you see statements of thankfulness floating around, that's why!

Another champ I'm thankful for: Anne Johns.

Bethany: So, all the boys came to your house for thanksgiving, hm? You gotta stop makin' those milkshakes.

Anne: No, boys just come to my yard for turkey.

My brother is a leprechaun werewolf

and I love him

Things I learned in Nashville:

1. Southern people are FRAND-LAY.

2. Hurricane weather is a lot less scary than earthquake territory: "You just get a generator and board up the windows and you're good to go!"

3. Biscuits and gravy don't really exist elsewhere.

4. If I ever need a church ever, all I've got to do is walk up to a stranger and say so. They'll hook me up.

5. Don't call tow trucks. Big men will push your car through the mud because their mamas raised them right.

6. My mom loves me and loves to buy me clothes.

7. I have unlimited picture texts? Holla.

8. Homework is a monkey on my back until I appease it with some bananas work ethic.

9. There comes a time to hand over one's facebook and pinterest passwords to Shelty.

10. Cracker Barrell is always good.

Thanksgiving was, overall, a cozy day of cozy, new clothes and witnessing some cozy families eat cozy food.

Post Script -- The amount spent on Black Friday shopping could pay for the whole world to have clean water. I'll always remember that statistic. It'll leave an imprint on my future shopping habits. Something to keep in mind. How will I integrate giving into my family?

confession

last summer, I took a library book to Haiti

Bambi was sad

, but this was such a great moment.

Rachel: Who wants a humping rabbit? Nobody.

up for grabs

Tornaydo, tornahdo. Let's call the whole thing off.

There was a funnel over campus. But was class called off? Unfortunately, no. No, it was not.

Mike: "I think because of the hurricane, a lot of people cancelled their appointments."

Bethany: "Tornado?"

Mike: "Tornado. I get my natural disasters mixed up."

I love me some Misfits

"Gotta go to McConn for some juice. Gotta juice up. Gotta gas up. Gotta get some juice." -Kayla Johnson, psyching herself up for a long night

Allison: "I got a courtship offer today."

Kayla: "WTF."

Jennifer Aniston's real name

is Jennifer Linn Anastassakis.

I was shocked when I read here how many famous people have changed their names!!

homework

check list

• Crochet rug
• Bake dragon cookies with cool small groupers
• Compare seminary pens with Zachary Aument
• Exist on The Island of Misfit Toys with Hips (Allison), Beams (Anne), Curls (Kayla), and Dimps (Kate)

The weather today was gorgeous.

I rode my bike and the air against my face was warm. The trees are still holding their colors. People wore shorts. It was probably 65 degrees. :)

Anecdote: I almost fell off my bike when I swerved to avoid a GIANT praying mantis that was crossing the sidewalk. Somebody probably thought I was drunk.

It's now 12:35 AM, which means it's Wednesday. So the day after tomorrow, Mike and I will have been dating for six months. That's half a year! 26 weeks. 182 days.

Here are some other halves:

Half a cup

Half a tree

Half a strawberry

Half a pie

Half a moon

Well, reader, I hope you "half" a great morning/afternoon/evening/night! ;]

Today, I'm thankful for Emily treating me to McConn. I'm also thankful for Kayla Johnson. And her southern accent. ;)

oh crap

No more internet for the next couple days. Mk? 'Kay, cool.

I'm looking forward to:

-growing with the Misfits

-learning about Rachel and Kyla

-6 months and some good birthdays, all at the same time

-Thanksgiving with mah mawm in the south

-One on ones with Noelle and maybe a laugh or two with Lindsay and Emily

-Every day of the rest of my life. Is that saps? It's saps. But it's true. Which makes it ridiculously great.

I found a site of typographized Bible verses. They're fun.

-shel silverstein

one day

my kid'll be like, "mom, what was the deal with fake mustaches?"

and I'll be like, "I dunno, it was just a thing"

and my kid'll be like, "Ewww."

I know because one day

I was like, "Mom, what was the deal with real mustaches?"

and she was like, "I dunno, it was just a thing"

and I was like, "Ewww."

Acts 12

One of my favorite passages of all time.

Hello, November :]

"be the poem"

-anonymous

Bet you don't*

Do you ever hit that point in the middle of the night where you know you're going to be up for a while, so you might as well just start eating breakfast, showering, and pretending like you don't even want to sleep?

I hit that point. I've not missed that point. I was hoping never to greet that point ever again.

I've scheduled in (PENNED in. BLOCKED in. PROGRAMMED in.) about 20 hours of homework/project/reading time per week for the rest of the semester. Somewhere in there, I'll have to schedule in at least 5-10 more. Additionally, devos are now a morning requirement. I'll be taking attendance.

*unless you're Anne Johns

Philippians 1:9-11

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Bookmark

Kayla, Anne, Allison, and co. are watching a movie and Zach is watching Mike play in the house band and Katie is making hundreds laugh.

All good reasons to stick a bookmark on page 93 and go someplace that's not here. But not good enough reasons to stop before page 198. Because tomorrow the bookmark has to go in page 322.

Shakespeare, your life is eating up my life. It'll be a ten hour meal.

Lessons

God teaches us them. And it's okay to be open as a tool. But not like a cold, metallic tool. A living, breathing, fluid creature.

Vulnerability is so important. And love is so important. And God is so loving. Thank goodness.

a couple things I appreciate

My new-ish friends, Rachel and Kyla.

My old-ish friends, Anne and Kayla.

An awareness of God's love and a desire to pursue Him -- and all that pursuing implies.

A break from practicum before student teaching!

Zachary Aument, with his puppy-dog-eyes in all his genuineness.

Michael and his Michaelness.

Everything about the learning and relationships in small group.

additives

I added a Shelfari widget to the right-hand side bar. You can flip through to see my favorite books. If you hover your mouse over the book, it tells you things.

I've got everything I've read, am reading, and want to read listed and organized on Shelfari. I rate and review what I've read.

Fun. Helpful. Useful in the classroom. There you go.

Optimism. In this case: the cow is half full.

I've got time to get everything done. The papers and projects and tests will happen.

I'm going to get an alarm clock soon. I'm going to switch phones. I'm going to wake up on time and answer texts.

I'm going to love God and people and learn a lot about God and people. And stuff. I'll learn a lot of English-y, philosophical, historical, social, mathematical, psychological, Biblical stuff.

And I'll keep lists of things I'm thankful for and I'll keep track of memories I've lived in and I'll keep track of thoughts I've had amidst the thankful memories.

And hopefully, I'll continue this life-project of more God, less me. I'll look up more.

snapshot stories

This picture tells 4 short stories:

1. The floral couch lofted in East Lodge 202. I sat here when Nick, Zach, and Chris came in to do homework and play silly boy card games.

2. The cashmere sweater is soft and grey and Zach Aument's. He's washing my hoodie because Mike happened to shake me at the same moment that I picked up my coffee.

3. My eyes see Zach dancing to Over the Rhine's jazzy music.

4. My hands are holding 5 reference books that Mike gave me. I'm leading small group this week. Week three of our Advent study will focus on joy. No problem. Joy is my middle name.

Rachel: Mike, do you want to become a monk? Got Monk?

Mike: I... would like to go... to a monk place.

Bethany: For every pair of shoes that you buy, you should donate a shoebox full of stuff for that thing...

Nick: Children without borders.

Bethany: ...

Mike: Um, Operation Christmas Child.

Do this before you vote

Here is a website that gives a rundown of the educational platforms of all the presidential candidates (see the bottom of the page). Bookmark it and set aside an hour to review this. Education is the future of your children. There are some huge changes that are trying to be made, some of which are a little scary.

biebs

Bethany: Anne. Your lip's my biggest weakness.

Anne: What? Me?

Bethany: Yeah.

Anne: Wha -- do you know who I am?

I got Bieber on the brain.

1 minute of your time

35 seconds: It took 6 months, but I'm finally out of Ginger Peach Republic of Tea.

25 seconds: here's Anne attacking the inside of Rachel's boot

MUGS

Mug shot

I realized that I didn't get a picture with my dad or Mike or anybody while we were in Michigan! So I switched my profile picture to a throwback from New Jersey, instead.

Mugging

I'm reading about gruesome murders via Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in an attempt to "get on the stick" with my capstone project. Lemme tell ya, this weekend is going to be AWLL about the HAWMWORK. Time to play ketchup. Ketchup and mustard.

Muggy

The inside of my head is a big, grey muggy sky. Seinfeld probably said it best:

“I never get enough sleep. I stay up late at night, cause I’m Night Guy. Night Guy wants to stay up late. ‘What about getting up after five hours sleep?’, oh that’s Morning Guy’s problem. That’s not my problem, I’m Night Guy. I stay up as late as I want. So you get up in the morning, you’re exhausted, groggy… oooh I hate that Night Guy! See, Night Guy always screws Morning Guy. There’s nothing Morning Guy can do. The only Morning Guy can do is try and oversleep often enough so that Day Guy looses his job and Night Guy has no money to go out anymore.”

Mug mug mug mug mug mug

I caved and got the mug I've been eyeing!!! AH!

spontaneous!

My dad was in Detroit visiting family. A measly 4 hours away. 29 hours closer than usual. SO! Mike and I drove up to surprise him. My grandparents, aunt, and uncle were in on the ruse.

We were a half an hour late, and my grandma tried to stall my dad from going to my uncle's house by pretending to call people on the phone. I didn't know she was such a trickster! She also told us that she needed to go to the drug store to pick up a muscle magazine so that she could cut out a picture of a muscle woman to make a card for her physical therapists. She's graduating from the rehab program for her shoulder. She also joked about using a playboy magazine: Mike, my dad, and I all covered our faces in shock.

Surprising dad was so much fun. I knew he was excited when he brought us a pizza after he dropped grandma back off at her house and stayed with us at my uncle's house. It was 11 pm and he bought a pizza. He took so long in the place that my uncle texted him, "Are you applying for a job??" There was much laughter that night: my uncle's full of "yucks," my dad is big on puns, and we watched Brian Regan.

The next morning, dad attempted to get us coffee. Since he didn't have a car, he wandered (with zero sense of direction) down the street in the pouring rain until he had to give up and come back. He, my uncle, Mike, and I went to Cracker Barrel. Mike got down to 2 pegs on the tee-game. My dad and I got down to 3.

After watching the Michigan/Michigan State game, dad left for the airport and we did homework. Grandma took us to Big Boys. We watched the neighbor's tree collapse onto his house. And then we took off. Mike was the DJ, so we jammed to classic rock, R&B, and some smooth John Mayer.

We hung out at East Lodge for a bit, attempted to find the tree frog that Zach had caught and then accidentally let loose, and talked about the classy Illinois fans with Jordan. The most eventful two days I've had this semester.

"Do you know if anyone owns an American Green Tree frog? Because I found one in the recycling room and they aren't native to Marion." -Zach Arneson, text

fence post

Make that clicking noise with your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

That

is the sound of a fence post

being planted.

Fence post? Is that the word?

Marker? Monument? Monolith?

October 11th. The day Peter the Great became tzar of Russia. Babe Ruth hit two home runs in a World Series game. A woman walked on the moon -- one small step for woman, one... small step for womankind. Mike and I have been dating for 5 months.

It's just one of those days, you know? Good to circle on the calendar.

MORE Bible stuff??? Yes. Yes, indeed. This just seems like good stuff:

“Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:20-21 NIV

If I were to remind myself of what my favorite book of the Bible is, I would say, "Well, it's Philippians!"

If I were to remind myself about my favorite verses in Philippians I would say,

Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 2:3,5-7

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves... In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Philippians 4: 4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

And to that I'd say, "Oh crap." And I'd get back on my knees and take my nose out of every body else's business and stick it back in my Bible/prayer journal, like I HAVEN'T been doing.

I'm thankful for the peace of grace and the promise of joy and the reminder for humility.

Long lost Nicholas

I found a picture of Nick Chavez's child-spirit on pinterest.