"Hey Christian Girl"

I don't know how many of you all have Pinterest/Tumblr accounts but these "Hey girl" captioned pictures have become pretty popular.  I also don't think I've seen one yet that hasn't made me laugh out loud.  One of my friends posted this link to a Tumblr entitled "Hey Christian Girl" and it is so funny that I couldn't resist sharing.  The one I've included below is one of my personal favorites...  :D  enjoy!
http://heychristiangirl.tumblr.com/

Shopping (ˈ sh äpi ng)

noun [often as adj. ]- the purchasing of goods from stores : a busy shopping area.

Since starting my new job I have come to realize the inadequacy of my wardrobe.  It is hard to believe considering the amount of clothes I have but still, it is true.  Most of my clothes are things suitable for college- jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, etc.  So, I guess I'll just have to go shopping!  However, remember how I mentioned that I already have a lot of clothes?  They take up a lot of space and my closet and dresser are already quite full.  So, this new shopping will have to be done very judiciously.  I have therefore set some guidelines for myself: 

1) Unless I am totally in love with it in the store, I won't buy it.  Otherwise I end up with clothes taking up space in my closet that I never feel like wearing because they were just "eh" when I bought them.  I know this advice comes from The Blind Side, but its some of the best advice about shopping I've ever gotten.

2) Unless it fits perfectly, or can be made to fit perfectly with a very simple little alteration, I won't buy it.  This advice is from my mom and it is excellent as otherwise everything looks just a little bit frumpy and misfitting.

3) I will not talk myself into buying clothes that will fit me "after losing a few pounds."  If the weight loss never happens, then those clothes will never fit.  So, I will work out first and reward myself with buying those clothes afterwards!

4) I will try to only buy clothes on sale.  Otherwise, its too expensive!

So, these are my guidelines.  Notice I say guidelines and not rules as I will probably end up breaking them.  But, now that I have a decent wardrobe, I am trying to be more selective in what I buy so that I only end up with the really good stuff.  I also need to get rid of some more old clothes that I never wear anymore.  The guideline there is, if you haven't worn it in the entire last year, you probably won't wear it the next year either so get rid of it.  Hopefully these rules will work for you too.  Happy shopping!

Book Review: The Wednesday Wars

There are many side effects of going steady with someone who is better read than I am.  Sometimes this makes me resentful- for example when every time a new author is mentioned whom I have never heard of and the description I receive to describe who said author is begins with "He's this really famous guy who..."  Well if he's really famous but I haven't heard of him or any of the other two dozen people you're talking about then I sound totally illiterate.  But I digress.  There are also a few upsides- the best of which is getting free books from his massive collection that overflows the shelves onto the floor AND book recommendations when my inspiration runs dry.  And the last of these recommendations were excellent!

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt includes so many things that I value in books- a compelling plot, lessons that can be extracted and applied into a broader context, and it can be enjoyed by more than one age group...lots of others.  But let me tell you about the book first...

The Wednesday Wars is about Holling Hoodhood, a 7th grader who is convinced from day one of the school year that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him.  This is because Holling is the only Presbyterian 7th grader and, as such, doesn't go to religious class on Wednesday afternoons like all the other Jewish and Catholic students.  So, Mrs. Baker is forced to sit with him last period every Wednesday, making it the worst day of the week for Holling as he is forced to clap erasers, clean out the disgusting coat room, and, worst of all, read Shakespeare plays.  But instead of rebelling against this tyranny like he wants to, Holling is forced to be nice to Mrs. Baker because of her connection to the people awarding the contract Holling's father's architecture firm that Holling's father really wants to win.  However, before long, Holling comes to realize that Shakespeare, previously the worst torture of all, is actually relevant and that Mrs. Baker isn't actually the awful teacher he thought.  How does this amazing transformation come about?  Well I can't give everything away or otherwise you wouldn't go read it like you're supposed to now but I will tell you that if you previously thought that giant rats, major league baseball players, and cross country running had nothing to do with each other- you're wrong :)

So, now- back to what I was saying about the best things about the book: compelling storyline- based on what I told you above, check.  Lessons that apply to a bigger context- check.  I think the way that Schmidt used various Shakespeare plays that Holling was reading and applied them to his life was brilliant.  Each of the months of the school year, Holling read a different play and learned about his own life from the lives of the characters.  He learned about love, friendship, mercy, revenge, overcoming prejudice and many other lessons from plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet.  So yes, broader context. 

Enjoyed by more than one age group- check.  I tested this theory by giving the book to my mom and having her read it and she liked it just as much as I did.  The author of the NYT book review article for this book apparently tested it too by giving it to a 10 year old.  The kid also loved it, in case you were wondering.  This kind of relevance to readers of all ages reminds me of (dare I say this?) C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.  While considered as children books, they are enjoyed by people of all ages precisely because they strike that balance of childish fantasy and a more complicated message that is understood by older readers.  This same thing is accomplished in The Wednesday Wars and that is what makes it great.

So, go read it!  And then go read Shakespeare, because you will want to do that too.
Oh, and just in case you're wondering, YES! There is a sequel to it- its called Okay for Now  (but more on that later).

-For your reference, the NYT book review article- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Stone-t.html

sketch |ske ch |

noun- a rough or unfinished drawing or painting, often made to assist in making a more finished picture: a charcoal sketch.

I'm so excited!  Some of the dresses I have been planning in the vintage style are almost finished!  I neglected to take pictures of them when I last visited my grandmother's house for a fitting so instead I can share the sketches I made of my wardrobe-to-be:

Top- Coral sheath dress with white yoke.  Bottom- Shirt waist dress- tan and beige pinstripe with cream colored cuffs and collar.

Top- Blue day dress.  Bottom- sun dress, white polka dots (vintage 1960s) with black lapel & waistband detail (added).

Top- light blue and white pinstripe skirt. Middle- light pink skirt (add bow sash?).   Bottom- bright purple high waist skirt with bow.

Top left- as yet colorless kick pleat dress.  Top right- red sailor dress.  Bottom left- navy and white wide striped nautical skirt.  Bottom right- tritone dress, but maybe a solid color instead. 

 So yeah, things are moving along.  The first two dresses and the polka dot dress are almost finished
 then the next projects are the blue day dress (altho I need to figure out if the fabric I want to use is going to work, there might not be enough) and the blue/white pinstripe skirt.  The other ones I still need to find fabric/patterns for.  But I'm having lots of fun designing my new 50's/60's inspired closet.  Let me know if you want to know the pattern numbers :)

That's Life/ This is the Life (expression)

that's life: an expression of one's acceptance of a situation, however difficult : we'll miss each other, but still, that's life.
this is the life: an expression of contentment with one's present circumstances : Ice cubes clinked in crystal glasses. “This is the life,” she said.

Greetings fellow travelers!

I know its been a little while since I last posted but lots of things are happening in my life that have kept me busy and I am super excited to share them with you:

1) I started working full time: This has so far been an OK experience.   All I've done so far and all I will do until next Friday is sit in a classroom and listen to orientation briefings.  BORING but...also helpful I suppose (she said very begrudgingly).  I am just dying to get to my real office and start real stuff!  Enough of these silly classes and ice breaker exercises...  But anyways, my days are now much fuller than they used to be so I'm trying to figure out how to fit in everything I want to do.

2) I am house and dog sitting for a friend of mine who lives down the street from my parents!  Her dogs are so sweet and happy all the time, I love them.  They are also very well trained which is wonderful- makes it so much easier!

Willow (left) and Bear waiting to come inside- so cute! 

3) I have started planning a new vintage style wardrobe that will soon be made by my very own amazingly talented seamstress of a grandmother!  It began with a pair of shoes (blue with white polka dots and red accent vintage style peep toes by Steve Madden for $7.50 at the thrift store to be precise) and then blossomed into a desire to have an adorable 50's/60's style dress will full swing skirt to match them!  Thus that is the goal and I am currently searching thru patterns and fabric options to get the ball rolling.

4) This is not something that has been consuming a lot of my time lately but I just wanted to share a friend of mine's wonderful blog, Long City Walks and Bright Lights.  My amazingly talented musician friend Kayte Grace is the author and she blogs about the life of a single girl living and playing music in the fabulous NY.  Check it out, she's amazing :)

So that's my life for now- busy but happy, especially from this wonderful beautiful weather!  Hope all is well with you!
-Traveler

frugal (ˈfroōgəl)

adjective
sparing or economical with regard to money or food : he led a remarkably frugal existence. See note at economical .
• simple and plain and costing little : a frugal meal.

In my mind I have grand aspirations to be a wife and mother who is infinitely resourceful and doesn't have to spend a lot of money to provide a lot.  I want to clip coupons and save tons of money on food.  I want to bake bread and cake and cookies from scratch so that they are always on hand and the house smells like a delicious bakery when my kids come home from school.  I want to have unique decorations in my house that I made myself.  I guess basically I want to be supermom and it probably will never happen (I am not crafty or incredibly creative) but nevertheless, to this I aspire.
Today while perusing my Pinterest homepage I came across a pin that led me to find the Fake-It Frugal blog on Blogspot.  Horray!  A like mind who publicly posts how she achieves these frugal aspirations.  Reading her blog, I am provided with the ideas that my non-crafty, non-creative mind can not conceive of independently.  I am one step closer to the dream.

PS- I especially liked the Fake Bettey Crocker cookie mixes idea.  This will be where I begin.

Humility (h)yoōˈmilitē

noun
a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.

Everyone enjoys recognition for what they have accomplished and it is very upsetting when you feel like your hard work is ignored.  I think it is part of our human nature's desire to be special and stand out from everyone else.  This is where the humility aspect has to come in but this has always been something I struggle with.  I am no stranger to the desire to be the center of attention and I'm told that this began when I posed for pictures at age two, modeling my new bathing suits.  In high school I found a new outlet for this desire for attention- the stage.  I joined the choir and participated in all of the variety shows and musicals.  The stage is a place a place to display one's talents and can often to a diva complex unless one is careful.  The long hours of rehearsal and sore feet from dancing were well worth the standing ovation from the audience at the end of the show.  The thrill of standing behind the curtain before the lights come up combined with the praise of friends and family after the final bow paid for all the work leading up to that point plus some.

However, last night at the end of tech rehearsal, I was reminded of something more important than the praise of men.  Something that, as performers, we should keep in the front of our minds.  We should be humble, recognizing that the audience's applause is not the ultimate reward that we should be seeking.  Instead, we should strive to do our best on the stage because by doing so we honor the Lord.  And so, I head off to dress rehearsal tonight, striving to keep in mind that humility is the prettiest costume I could ever wear on the stage and that glorifying the Lord is much more rewarding that all the praise of the audience.

Costume rack backstage for Annie Get Your Gun (photo credit Alyssa Bouma)

Tranquil (ˈtra ng kwəl)

adjective
free from disturbance; calm : her tranquil gaze | the sea was tranquil.

I hesitate to admit this but... it is true that I enjoy traveling through Europe more than I enjoy touring the United States. While I am a little bit ashamed that I have seen so little of my own country, I am simply much more drawn to the sights abroad. Whenever I travel thru Europe I am always struck by the amazing architectural sights that are present in almost every city. And the history, ah...the histories are so rich. Anndd...time for another confession- I love monarchies! The stories of royal families- they are so filled with romance and intrigue...so thrilling. Seeing the luxuriant opulent places where they lived and spent their lives is one of my favorite stops on a European tour.  The best is when I can visit places that combine beautiful architecture, a fascinating history, AND some aspect of the life of a monarch!  Here are a few pictures to demonstrate...

Majesty (ˈmajəstē) noun
1 impressive stateliness, dignity, or beauty : experience the majesty of the Rockies.
2 royal power : the majesty of the royal household.

Buckingham Palace

Grace (grās) noun
-Simple elegance or refinement of movement : she moved through the water with effortless grace.

Westminster Abbey

Power (ˈpou(-ə)r) noun
1 the ability to do something or act in a particular way, esp. as a faculty or quality : the power of speech | [with infinitive ] the power to raise the dead | ( powers) his powers of concentration.
2 the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events : the idea that men should have power over women | she had me under her power.

Edinburgh Castle

It was not until this trip however that I also realized the incredible beauty of nature. This realization came upon me in Ireland when we went to the Cliffs of Moher. In person the cliffs were towering, powerful, majestic, graceful, breathtaking, enchanting...everything that a picture can not completely capture. But attempt to capture I did as I snapped picture after picture of various angles and aspects of the cliffs.

O'Brien's Tower

But then, when I looked down into the gray-blue water, I realized that the true beauty of the natural landscape is found in its tranquility. As the waves crashed at the base of the cliffs in their steady rhythm, a wonderful sense of peace descended upon me. I was mesmerized by the water. The waves came towards me as the wind blew sideways, creating little ripples and eddies that I could have watched for hours..another thing that the camera can’t completely capture :) Part of this fascination was because we had been spending the majority of our time in busy cities and I was glad for this foray into the countryside, away from the noise.  But the other side of this mesmerize-ment was due to the overwhelming calm that arose out of the strange amalgam of raw power, bitter cold, and desolate view that are these cliffs.  It was then that I stopped trying to take pictures and instead let the peace of the cliffs surround me, watching the water and listening to the wind fill me with a sense of the true beauty of nature.

Exhaustion (igˈzôs ch ən)

noun
1 a state of extreme physical or mental fatigue : he was pale with exhaustion.
2 the action or state of using something up or of being used up completely : the rapid exhaustion of fossil fuel reserves.
the action of exploring a subject or options so fully that there is nothing further to be said or discovered : the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives.

So I recently returned from Alex’s and my trip across the pond. In retrospect it was a wonderful trip and, speaking for both of us, we had a great time. However, we had a very rough start. Perhaps a brief outline of our schedule at the beginning of our trip will be helpful…

9am EST Monday 1/9: Wake up and finalize packing
6:30pm EST Monday 1/9: Board plane
7:15am GMT Tuesday 1/10: Arrive in London
11:45pm GMT Tuesday 1/10: Board bus to Scotland
12pm GMT Wednesday 1/11: Arrive in Inverness, Scotland
7am GMT Thursday 1/12: Board bus to Edinburgh
11am GMT Thursday 1/12: Arrive in Edinburgh
7pm GMT Thursday 1/12: Board plane
9pm GMT Thursday 1/12: Arrive in Dublin

As you can see, it was quite a whirlwind tour of London on Tuesday, the Scottish highlands on Wednesday, then Edinburgh and Dublin on Thursday. And up until Wednesday night, Alex and I hadn’t gotten any sleep except for a few hours on the plane/bus where we dozed on and off. We caught up on sleep when we got to our hostel in Dublin, sleeping in til 1pm on Friday, the following day. After that, there were cases of minor exhaustion but nothing like we had experienced at the beginning of our trip.

Going into the trip, I thought it would be OK but looking back, I will never plan a trip like that again! Of course I have always known that traveling is exhausting but it took us a few days to figure out that most of that exhaustion is mental. The constant need to figure out where you are, where you need to go, when you need to get there, how you are going to get there, and when you have to leave to get to the place you need to be to leave for the place you are going...it is incredibly mentally taxing.

HOWEVER!- The trip was overall a wonderful time- I got to see a lot of things I had heretofore only read about in books! Our tour was in part a literary tour as we visited places like Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter), Magdalen College, Oxford (Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels), Tower Bridge (Sherlock Holmes) and Inverness, Scotland (Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander). We saw a lot of other amazing and beautiful things too but that's material for another post :) So, until next time...

Off to a New Adventure!

Hello fellow travelers,

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas season and a Happy New Year. I haven't had all that many new years in my life but it was nice to think back and remember where I was 5, 10, 15 years ago. Because of all the drastic changes in my life, this new year is especially exciting to me. I am still in the semi-vacation phase that followed the ending of the semester and precedes beginning my grown up job but the holiday season has been filled with joy and celebration for the things past as well as those to come. One of these such things to come is my trip! Monday evening my roommate and I will embark on a travel adventure together- to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales! Its going to be a whirlwind trip (for example, we are only going to stop in Edinburgh for 6 hours!) but it will be lots of fun. I've always wanted to go to the UK and I'm excited to finally travel to places where they speak English! The history of several of these countries has always interested me and I look forward very much to seeing the places I've read about as well as sharing my stories with you on my return. Please pray for safe travels and few incidents along our path- several of our connections are closely timed so missing a bus could be catastrophic! I will be sure to take lots of pictures and stock up on things that I learn to report when we get home. So... until the 21st!

With love,
the Traveler