On Resolution

res·o·lu·tion

   [rez-uh-loo-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usuallyafter voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club,or other group. Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.

2.

a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to dosomething.

3.

the act of resolving or determining upon an action or courseof action, method, procedure, etc.

4.

the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute;firmness of purpose.

5.

the act or process of resolving or separating into constituentor elementary parts.

I think the two that mean the most to me right now are definitions 2 and 3. I think that when you resolve to do something (definition 2), then there should be a "course of action, method, procedure" to deal with the choice you have made. 

There are a lot of resolutions (type 2) being made today and probably throughout the next 24 hours or so, but very few people who make those goals come up with a way to reach them. They say they want to be healthier, but have no idea how they will make it happen-they don't switch from a candy bar to an apple at snack time, they don't switch from Gatorade to water at the gym. . . they don't go to the gym. They say they want to do better in school, but they don't learn how to study and don't resolve to talk to professors and make study groups. 

I think we learn a lot about making goals in school--we did when I was in elementary and junior high. I think that was still a point in time when going to college was a sure-fire way to get a good job and make a life for yourself, so we basically were all forced to have goals of attending college--but we weren't necessarily taken under someone's wing for that to actually happen. Of course, coming from a city with low crime and low poverty, it wasn't hard for most of us to achieve that goal, but it does still irk me that no one told us how to get there. And that leads to not knowing how to make future goals happen.

My last post is my resolution this year-at the least, this semester. That one boy and I are separated for the time being because I am very intent on completing this goal. I want to hide my heart in the Lord and let him write my love story. I want to figure out who I am, and what I want, and how to "bring good to [my future spouse] all the days of [my] life" (Proverbs 31. . .a bit of a paraphrase). I think that taking care of myself and

 working on me and my heart is one of the greatest ways I can bring good to my future husband. For this whole semester I am going to do just that-answer the question "who am I?" (thanks Janina!) and just focus on me. Sometimes it's necessary to be selfish, I think.


I hope everyone knows that the post about David really was genuine-he doubted it for a while when we were talking and trying to figure this stuff out between us. I really care about him, and I truly want him to have the best and happiest life possible, it just isn't evident to me yet if that life includes me as his wife or just as his friend. I know we'll be a part of each others' lives in the future-the capacity of that is the only question. 


Back to resolution-I resolved to be single and work on me this semester and I have a plan for how to do that. I have a great group of girlfriends at school who challenge me constantly to be a better me. Also, the Wesley Foundation at OSU is having a girls' group this semester with Janina that is all about who we are as women of God. With these two groups and some alone time just thinking things through, I know I am going to accomplish the goal I have set and I know I will come out a better person and with a better understanding of what I'm looking for in life.


What are your resolutions? Do you feel they are cliche? Are they specific ("no Dr. Pepper all year") or general ("I'm going to drink more water!")? Do you have a plan to carry it out?


I honestly hope you reach your goal and that this is more than a usual New Year's Resolution that gets tossed by the wayside within the next month. If you need support or accountability-find it! Ask me :] I could probably use a reason to be somewhat confrontational by keeping someone accountable. . . 


Good luck in 2012 and Happy New Year!! If you go by my mom's way of thinking (mom-"Odd numbered years are bad years." Raychel-"Sooo, every other year?"), this should be a good year for you :] Enjoy it!
L


P.S. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why half of this has that extra space between paragraphs. It's really bothering me, but if you're at this point, you read it anyway :] Thanks! And if you know what's wrong, please let me know!

On Being Womanly

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about being/wanting the Proverbs 31 woman rather than a Victoria's Secret model. The VS Fashion Show aired a couple of weeks ago, and all over facebook and twitter were girls saying they needed to hit the gym, go on a diet, and a number of other things leading to the same conclusion-we aren't good enough. There are a lot of times when I feel less womanly because I'm not exactly "well-endowed" in the chest region. . . But there's more to being a woman than just having curves. There's a way to be a noble woman, which I think is the best kind of woman.
Noble women are:

• Caring and loving
• Strong
• Independent
• Gentle
• Wise
• Hard to find
• Fearful of God
• Modest
• Humble
• Not afraid of what's to come

These are all things we can glean from Proverbs 31:10-31.
The book of Proverbs starts out by saying that they are proverbs with a purpose "to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise," "to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair," so it makes a full circle by the end of chapter 31 by telling men what to look for in a woman to make her his wife; she is disciplined, successful, and wise. She is right, just, and fair.

Another beautiful thing about this passage is that it is an acrostic poem-each stanza begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet (if you can read it in Hebrew. . .)! So cool.

The basic things that King Lemuel's mother taught him about a noble woman are as follows:

• She is hard to find
• She can be trusted with anything
• "She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life"-not once she meets him, but every single day of her life. From birth to death, even if she doesn't know him, she does him good.
• She gets the best things for her household
• She is good to those "below" her (servant girls in this example)
• She has made her own money and knows a good investment for it
• "She is energetic and strong, a hard worker"
• She isn't wasteful
• She doesn't make rash decisions
• She gets everything on her to-do list done, even if that means staying up very late and rising very early
• She is independent
• She is charitable
• She is her own handyman
• She takes good care of herself
• She supports her husband-they have an equal partnership
• She takes care of her family and is proud to do so
• Her very person is strong and dignified
• She takes things as they come
• She is wise
• She is gentle
• She is not lazy
• Her children and husband respect her
• She fears the Lord

This is not an exhaustive list of things to look for in a noble woman, nor is it a list of things a woman absolutely must have to be considered noble, but it is a starting point for someone who wants to work toward being more godly and the "right" kind of womanly.
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised." There is much more to being womanly than looks, or even superficial personality. Her whole being is full of love and pride (not arrogance) for herself, her family, and her "neighbor."

My study Bible tells me that this is probably not really just one woman. Lemuel's mother is giving him advice in this passage about how to choose a good wife when the time comes. After discussing with a friend, we decided that Lemuel's mother probably knew a woman who she saw in this way and felt that she was the epitome of a noble woman. The fact that it is not just one person who actually holds all these characteristics, though, is helpful in the "rather be a Proverbs 31 woman. . ." stuff-do not try to be a super model, for looks are not everything and perfection cannot be attained, however, you should also not try to meet impossible standards of being a good wife either. Everyone will make mistakes. The mere fact that you want to be a good wife, a loving mother, a supportive friend, and all in the name of God (or not, if that's not your thing) is reason enough to be considered a noble woman.

Until recently, I had been going through a season of ambivalence in my faith. I am always looking for ways to be more womanly, and be "classy," etc. and for that reason, this passage jumped out at me immediately when I watched this video

This video and the saying that "a woman's heart should be so hidden in God that man should have to seek him first to find her" has really jump-started my work on my faith again. I want to hide my heart in Christ until that time when I marry a godly man and can give him my heart that I've been protecting for him. I want him to notice my spirit first, and my looks and personality second. I want to be the Proverbs 31 woman in every way I can for my future spouse, and encourage others to do the same.

I am so thankful for men like Alex Eklund, who made the video above, who look for these characteristics in women rather than who has the biggest breasts or butt. I hope they see that the spirit of the Proverbs 31 woman is what I am trying to portray (and actually be). I pray all of my female friends have the courage to step out of the box of this materialistic, superficial world, and to try with me to be the best women we can be as a "result of our reverence for God" (New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible). I pray my attractiveness would come entirely from my character-that it would start on the inside and display itself on the outside. I pray that my guy friends look for this in their girlfriends and try to be a noble man for her.

To bring it back to my first statements-You are good enough! You do not have to look like a VS model, or any model for that matter, to be a great woman. You are good enough just as you are! If you fear the Lord and try to have the characteristics the He deems important, you will be praised, you will be successful, and you will be the Proverbs 31 woman. Take care of yourself and do your best, and you will be "more precious than rubies."

Picture from KatteBelleTJE on flickr. Quote from Chelsea.

I'm sorry if this post is disjointed or rambling at all. I feel like I have so much to say about this subject, and I'm not completely sure how to get it out of my mind and into yours. Thanks for sticking with me through it!

If you have (or need) encouragement for anyone or that has anything to do with this, definitely post it in the comments. I'd greatly appreciate it!

♥L

The First Gift

The very first gift I gave this year was for a "dirty Santa"/white elephant gift exchange with my Phamily.

Phi Lamb Initiation

I think the best gift of the night was a mason jar that has some sort of current in it that you tap, and a fake butterfly inside flutters around. Whenever I go to the Cousins' apartment now, I always turn it on and start tapping away!

The price limit for gifts was $15. I'm in college, guys, so spending that much certainly wasn't an option. I also hadn't seen any cute things I could give recently. Soooo. . .

I made a gift! A small felt ornament with a couple packages of hot cocoa I had around.

First, draw your outline on some felt. I used a Sharpie and free-handed the Christmas tree. Fold felt in half with the design on the outside, and pin the front and back together so both sides get cut the same without moving around a whole lot.

Cut out the tree (or other festive shape-reindeer, star, snowflake-whatever suits your fancy) and pin on a small scrap at the bottom to be the trunk and a small star at the top.

Using embroidery thread, sew around the whole of the tree making sure to catch the star and the trunk. If you would like to, use a couple of different colors of thread to make ornaments on the tree. I just tied a knot at the end and decided that there would be a front and back of the ornament, so I didn't care how messy it was.

Pick some ribbon to use as the hanger, and hot glue it to the back. At this point I also glued the star to make sure it would stay, and glued the knot in the back so it wouldn't keep peeking out like in the above picture.

My roommate and I don't have a tree, so you'll have to settle for seeing the finished product hanging on a nail where I usually have a couple of necklaces. 

I wrapped the ornament and hot chocolate up in some tissue paper. . .

. . . added a note and a pipe cleaner ribbon and

Ready!

My roommate, who is also my Big, ended up getting my gift, so I got the hot chocolate back :] She doesn't drink it because it has too many calories. . . Oh what she is missing out on! I love me something toasty and chocolatey to drink on cold nights with a book to read or studying to do. Adding whipped cream and feeling the different temperatures at once is the best part-even more calories for miss Gina.

What's your favorite part about the holidays? Have you bought or made any gifts yet?

L

Day 30: A Congrats Banner For Finishing The Challenge

We made it! Well, I did. If you've been reading for the past month and a half, you made it too! While I have really enjoyed doing these drawing posts, I'm ready to start doing some other stuff and not have the monotony I sometimes felt with posting the challenge. It was really nice to know what I was posting about and always have that to fall back on, so it's kind of scary to jump now and start coming up with posts on my own. I probably won't get one up every day anymore, but that just means it'll be better when you do get to read :]

On to the banner!

I like the fireworks. And that bright yellow "yay!" on the left. I had some trouble with the E in "finished" because I didn't have anything to with which to base how it should look on the curve. Close up and in person, it does look right, but far away it looks wrong because it got a little smudged and the lead pencil makes it look like I colored that far. Anyway, I'm just being a little nit picky. And now that I look at it closer. . . huh. The scanner cropped off some of this picture. The very right of it is missing, but you get the gist of it. There's a flower and a smiley face over there I'm pretty sure, and the rest of a firework. Oh well.

Now that I've finished the challenge, I miss drawing every day a little bit. Has anyone seen any other drawing challenges? Or any suggestions for things I should draw? I've still got quite a bit of space in my two Moleskines, so anything and everything is acceptable! Let me know in the comments (or by email, snail mail, in person, airplane writing, whatever) your suggestions!

Keep rooting for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in our Bedlam game tomorrow! Pep rally tonight if you're in the area :] Pistols Up!
L

Day 29: A Place You Want To Go

For the last year or so, I've really wanted to move to a different country for a year. In many other developed countries, the school systems are better, they have pretty good social programs, and they just seem better. I'm sure I have in my head a fantasy-like image of these countries, France, England and the like-but that doesn't change my mind one bit. I want to go! And I don't want to just visit. I hope to consider myself a citizen of the world, and part of becoming that definitely includes living somewhere for an extended amount of time to actually soak up some of the culture. It's important to me to be well-traveled and "well-rounded," and I hope that it's something I can accomplish and will instill in my future children.

The country I specifically want to visit?

I'm a pretty shy person, so I think up an moving to another country and having to speak a different language would be too much for my introverted brain. Too much stimulation exhausts me and that would stress me out.

Another part of that well-roundedness to me is being multilingual. Currently my goal is to be quadrilingual. I speak English, I'm learning American Sign Language, my boyfriend is Vietnamese, so I want to learn that, and French used to be a language that meant you were well educated and showed status, plus I think it would just be good to learn. When reading Jane Eyre I was sad that I couldn't understand the parts that were in French. When the novel was written, it was common for every woman to learn French in order to be a "suitable" wife someday, so the main audience for the book was all able to read those passages. Now, French isn't seen as being so valuable as a foreign language, so not many people choose to learn it.

Do you speak multiple languages? Do you have any goals that include travel or language learning? Life-long learning in general? Maybe you can give me some ideas for my bucket list (that I have never started. Maybe this is a jump-start?) :]

Happy weekend tomorrow!
Go Pokes!
L

Day 28: Anything You'd Like

Hello friends! How was your Wednesday? I feel like I should call it 'hump day,' but I really don't like that term. How 'bout hill day? Or bump day? Anyway, how was it?
Mine was a little interesting. I haven't had a lot of homework this semester until recently. And now all of my professors are going crazy with assignments thinking they haven't given enough and it's more than I can handle along with my regular social gatherings. I always think this diagram illustrates the conundrum perfectly:

I thought I could handle choosing social life and good grades, but it turns out that getting enough sleep is essential to getting good grades. . . Basically, I stayed up late working on some homework, not even finishing it, and ended up sleeping through my alarm this morning. I have done this once already this semester-at that time I appreciated it and knew it must mean my body needed more rest. The first time it happened, however, I didn't miss a quiz because of it. I missed another boring lecture from a professor who reads off the powerpoint presentation. One of the homeworks I was working on last night was studying for a quiz in that awful 8am class that I ended up accidentally missing. So I'm now missing a quiz grade in there.
Then, since I didn't finish all of my homework last night, I planned to get back from my early class around 9 or 9:15 and have two hours to work on the rest of it before getting ready for my afternoon classes. But no. I woke up at 10:15. I had to watch a 56 minute video for one of my assignments, let alone read two chapters of a novel I have little-to-no interest in, then answer the questions in my textbook with answers synthesizing all three sources. Then I needed to take a shower and get ready and not have wet hair so I didn't freeze when I went outside. . . long story long, I had a long morning and still didn't finish everything-at least not in the way I generally like for it to be done.

My afternoon was much better! I couldn't focus in my 12:30 class because I still had some adrenaline from the morning, I believe, but once I got out of there and took a deep breath, I was able to calm down and keep working on some stuff. Then I had just one class left, which is usually pretty laid back, and non-stress inducing whatsoever. Then I met Dylan and had a double feature-he brought 500 Days of Summer since I didn't like it the first time, and I put on Despicable Me because he hadn't seen it before. It's been fun getting to know him! I haven't had any guy friends in college, so it's nice to remember how loyal men are in their relationships and just make a friend :]

Sorry for the tangents, but on a day where I get to share a drawing of anything I'd like, I figured I can talk about anything I'd like as well. But here's the drawing!

It's nice and springy! I miss warm weather already. I wish there was a season in this part of the world where I could wear boots and sweaters without a jacket on top. I think that mid-October through mid-November could have been like that here, but it's just so windy in Oklahoma. That's probably my least favorite thing about living here. The worst times is when it's been dry and the wind blows dirt everywhere and you get it in your eyes, or your mouth if you try to talk. . . gross.

I really hope your Wednesday wasn't as strange as mine felt, and that you enjoy these last few days before the world ends because of the Bedlam game! No matter who wins or loses, there are going to be some angry people in Stillwater, and I pray I'm not one of them. But maybe the earth will shake again to celebrate a Cowboys win!

See you tomorrow for the second-to-last post of the Drawing Challenge! I can't believe we're to this point already! I've got to start finding other things to post about ;]
Leave me some things you'd love to see on here in the comments!
L

Day 27: Someone You Love

Throughout the drawing challenge, David was always asking me why he wasn't the inspiration for certain pictures. "Why aren't I your best friend?" "Why am I not your inspiration?" "Why haven't you drawn meeee?" Because there was a day just for you, dear :] I love lots of people. Many of the people in my life are people whom I would die for without a heartbeat's hesitation. I care so much about my friends and family; everything I do truly is to make them proud and happy. Thankfully their standards for those things are around the same as my own, so I make myself proud and happy, too. Basically, I love a lot of people, but this day was always saved for my beau.

I told David that I tried to make it manly. I think I may have failed. . . It's the thought that counts though, right? My original idea was much more girly, so this is better than it could've been, at least.

We celebrated 3 years of togetherness at the beginning of October :]

My great friend, Shannon and her boyfriend were kind enough to take some couple-y photos of us a couple of weekends ago while David was here :] David has a DSLR and Josh and Shannon had a lot of fun with that. I was doing some editing on the pictures earlier at the Wesley Foundation (a student ministry based out of the United Methodist Church; I spend all my Tuesdays there) and asked one of the women who works there, Janina, what she though of an edit. . .

Make the flower on my necklace more purple (like above) or keep it the more muted purple that it is in real life? We obviously chose the more purple one; but when I showed her she said "those are cute pictures! You're not engaged, are you, Lauren?!" I thought it was funny, and told her no, it was just for fun. Then I assured her that I will tell her when I get engaged.

On the way to San Antonio for Bands of America Super-Regionals and UIL State marching competitions.

I always think how we got together is a funny story. I'm sure David would tell the tale completely differently than I do because he remembers me from earlier than I do him.
Supposedly we had World Geography together freshman year-I have no recollection of it.
We also apparently had AP Physics B together first semester of junior year. I remember there being an Asian guy sitting next to me whom I would ask for homework help a lot, but I don't remember it being David. I dropped the class at the end of the semester with the support of our teacher who told me "yeah, you just don't understand it." Thanks Mr. Frensley.
In spring of junior year, David played the piano for the prelude at the Bandolera Spring Show (a showcase of our drill team's dances, along with the drumline, country western dance team, and a comedy troupe) and I specifically remember saying hi to him and knowing his name at that point. I don't remember how I knew his name, but I did. . .

In San Antonio on the way to a performance. Please don't judge me on that horrible make-up. . .We celebrated our one month anniversary on that bus :]

Finally, David was named Drum Major of our marching band, and I was a colorguard officer. I was gone for most of August when band camp was, but when I got back we had a guard performance at Convocation. All the teachers in the school district come together for a pep rally type celebration to get excited for the coming school year. A lot of different groups from the schools perform; that year it included the Berkner colorguard (moi), the Drum Majors from all four high schools, the drumline from Lake Highlands High School, and the 1st and 2nd graders from one of the elementary schools who did a cute little dance. Anyway, David and I were both there along with the rest of the colorguard and the other two Drum Majors from Berkner. I had been really anxious all morning because an ex-boyfriend was a Drum Major at one of the other schools and he still gave me butterflies. . .then Emily, a friend from guard and one of the biggest flirts you will ever meet, started flirting with David. I don't know why, but for some reason something snapped, and all I could think was "not him." I just knew that he was "mine." I sat with him on the bus back to the school and made sure he came to the guard end of summer party that Friday. When he showed up, I got his number and sat next to him during the movie-Mean Girls. He was so innocent he even shielded his eyes during the kissing scenes. So precious!

 Band Banquet senior year.

I started texting him a lot and we got to know each other. At Cici's after a home game (the pizza place stays open late for our band the nights of home games) about 3 weeks before Homecoming (a huge deal in Texas), I asked him to go to the dance with me. He said he "didn't know if his plans were going to work out," but he'd let me know. The whole next week went by and nothing happened. . . The next Thursday (1 week and a few days before Homecoming), before practice that morning, my best friend Molly came up to me and said "David told me to tell you not to worry about finding a date for Homecoming. You're not supposed to know he told me to, though." As I went to all of my classes that day I got a rose and an origami crane from each teacher, eventually getting 6 flowers and notes on the birds that read "will you go to Homecoming with." In my last class, guard, the rest of the dozen roses and a crane that said "me?" were waiting on the table at the front of the band hall. I of course said yes!

 The mum he made for me and the garter I made for him. It's a Texas tradition to do these at Homecoming. We wear them all day Friday-many people to the game as well. It stems from girls getting chrysanthemums from boys and were originally a sign of popularity.

We got together that Saturday to work on mums and garters with a couple of other friends, did the exchange on Wednesday, the game on Friday, and went to the dance on Saturday. Saturday night we stayed at a friend's house with the rest of our group (usually you go to dinner, the dance, and an after party with a group of friends-we make t-shirts to show which group we're in and stuff) and the next morning David got up and went to church! What a good boy :] I expected him to kiss me on the way out, but he didn't :[

Pictures before the Homecoming dance.

 

The next weekend we had a marching competition in Arlington, TX. After performing our prelim show, we went to the mall over there for lunch and a short break before rehearsing for finals. David and I had been holding hands since Homecoming and did so at the mall, as well. At one point he let go of my hand, put his in his pocket, and grabbed mine again-only there was something in his hand now. I stopped to see what it was and it was a bracelet. He asked me out and put the bracelet on me when I said yes :] It was really cute. Soon after, I noticed him pull our hands behind us a little bit and then return them to where they had been. . . He thought he was being sly, but I knew that he did it to show our friends behind us who knew of his plan that I did, indeed, have the bracelet on. I just love him! So, the rest is history. We've certainly had our ups and downs, nearly breaking up three times in a 3-4 week period freshman year of college, but we're really great now and looking forward to the future. I wear a size 5.5 ring, if he ever asks you ;]

Here are some more pictures from over the years:

Spring band trip to Corpus Christi senior year.

Prom!

One my sister took for us as a senior piture.

Senior Sunday at my church. David was my piano accompaniment for a song I performed.

In Florida two summers ago.

Spring Break '11 with the best friends. Port Aransas, TX.

At the Zoo this past summer.

Just a couple of weeks ago-David's very first NCAA football game in person!

David, you are such a great supporter for me. You are so caring, giving, and all around a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you, which means I'm the luckiest since I snagged you first! I truly could not be more excited for our future (though I'm loving the here and now, as well). Thank you for all you mean to me and all you've done for us these past three years. ♥

If you did this drawing, would it have been your significant other? Your mom or dad? Your best friend? Maybe someone you don't even know-Oprah? J.K. Rowling?

Do you think the word 'love' gets thrown around too easily these days?

Tell me everything! :]

Here's wishing you a warm Wednesday,

L

Day 26: Something You Don't Like

All I could think of was food for this. There are some people I don't like, I guess. And some fashion statements? Yeah. . . food was the way to go on this one. I couldn't decide if it should be a lot of foods I dislike, or just one, but I thought the one I like the least would be best.

I'm not sure if it's possible, but I think disliking some foods must be genetic. My dad and I both hate cantaloupe. I can't stand the smell, the taste, that sickly color. Blech. Raychel and my mom, however, like cantaloupe just fine, so I know what it looks like enough to draw it. Fortunately, David doesn't like cantaloupe either, so I guess our kids will dislike it just from not ever trying it. I can handle that.

The drawing is supposed to be a cantaloupe with a section cut out so you can see that terrible pinkish orange color. Salmon is a pretty color. I love peach and coral. But I really dislike this awkward, like I said, sickly, color to this type of melon. Honeydew is no better. I also don't like bananas (I want to though), so I rarely order the fruit salad anywhere since it likely has all three of those fruits in it, plus a few grapes that have been contaminated with melon juice. . .

I sound like the pickiest eater ever right now, but don't fret. I eat plenty of good stuff. I like apples, and oranges, and grapes. I drink lots of juice (orange, apple, and cranapple), and I like corn, carrots, and green beans. I'm getting more used to fish, and I try to get most of my protein from dairy, which means I'm also getting loads of vitamin D and calcium. The only thing I'm probably missing is iron, which comes from meats and leafy green veggies; I'm trying to work on that though. Basically, there's no need to worry about the fact that I only like a few kinds of fruits and vegetables :]

What's your least favorite thing to eat? If you had been doing this drawing prompt, would you have stuck with food, or drawn something else you don't like?

Tomorrow's bound to be a great post if I do it at a decent time-which pretty much means my laptop will be coming to school with me tomorrow even though it doesn't normally. I really want to do this one justice :]

Until then,

L

Day 23: Something You Need, Day 24: A Couple, and Day 25: Scenery

Ahh! Sorry I didn't post for two days. I thought it would be okay to take a break from the blog posting month in order to spend time with my family and be thankful for everything I have been blessed with. I've had such a great time at home so far!

I got home on Tuesday and went with my mom to dinner thinking it would possibly be just the two of us, but my dad, sister, and boyfriend were all able to make it in time to eat :]

On Wednesday I drove to Bedford, TX (about 40 minutes) to eat lunch with my long lost G Big from Phi Lamb, Erica! I hadn't seen her since her wedding on June 4th, so it was great to see her and catch up! I didn't realize how much we had to talk about since the last time we'd hung out, but we ended up talking for an hour and a half. I also have a friend, Dylan, who lives in Colleyville, TX, which is 10 minutes away from Bedford, and he came to meet me there so that we could hang out. We went and saw Happy Feet Two! It was a really cute movie and there weren't a lot of people there, so we were able to talk and joke throughout the whole thing. He and I have only been friends for a couple of months, so we're still getting to know each other and seeing a somewhat cheesy movie was perfect :] And then David and I went to our good friend Tommy's house to see him and Molly, and a few of our other friends from high school. We made oreo turkeys! It was a bit of a Pinterest fail (when you try to make something from Pinterest and it doesn't quite turn out), but we got about 5 good turkeys out of it. 

Thursday morning we woke up early and went to the Turkey Trot in downtown Dallas. There were so many people there! The YMCA that hosts it is owned by T. Boone Pickens who graduated from, and is a large donor to, my university! I wasn't able to run-I had a stress fracture in my foot during the time I would have trained, and my asthma is worse in cold weather-but I walked with my mom and we had fun. It was pretty chilly, so we 'cheated' at one point and took an early turn where we found a coffee shop and I grabbed some hot chocolate. It was a good time for the most part, but there were so many people walking with strollers and dogs that kind of got in the way.

After the Trot, we rested at home, took showers, changed clothes, and did a little more cooking, then headed to Lewisville for Thanksgiving "lunch" at my Aunt Leslie and Uncle Randy's home (we didn't eat till 3pm or so, therefore it has quotes around lunch). Leslie's dad always makes a deep fried turkey and we have all sorts of fixin's for the sides. My sister Nicole is obsessed with Granma's cauliflower and cheese, so we had that, then there were rolls, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and franks, and sweet potatoes, not to mention the two turkeys and all the pies. After lunch, David, Raychel, and I went upstairs for some quiet time, where David and I discovered a stockpile of Nerf guns. We loaded up and got my little cousin Ben to get Nicole's boyfriend Burch upstairs and we immediately waged war on him. We had a great time with it. It was so much fun running around the house and shooting everyone. They make automatic Nerf guns! You fill the clip and a spring shoots them out like a machine gun. Craziness. After running off all the food from lunch, we went downstairs and had some pie with homemade whipped cream, had another war, then went home after a long day. I slept in the car I was so worn out. 

Today was pretty good-woke up late, had lunch with Molly, Tommy, and David, played Dance Central on the Xbox Kinect, and went to play some football with friends. Molly and I didn't play for very long, but sat and caught up with each other-we hadn't seen each other since August, the day before I left for school! We also got some Frisbee-ing in. Then I came home and Raychel and I went to her friends' house to see their twin baby girls! Ellie and Evie are so precious! Jenn and Eric did such a good job making those two :] When we got home we watched some more Kinect and had some homemade lasagna that my dad made! It was vegetarian, too, just for Raychel. Now, I'm sitting on the couch with my family writing this and dancing on Dance Central Two (a Black Friday find). Great few days! 

Now that you know where I've been, let's get caught up on those drawings!

What makes up 70% of our bodies and falls from the sky on a (somewhat) regular basis?

Water! A couple people who've seen this in person and didn't see the small label on the bottom right of the drop thought that it was that I "need to cry." So sad :[ I don't need to cry, guys, I'm okay! I'm not very good at drinking water every day, or every week for that matter. I tend to drink about a soda a day and then lots of juice and Ovaltine. I'm still alive though, and pretty healthy, so apparently I get enough H2O without drinking straight water. It's hard to do in Stillwater because all the water tastes like chlorine and when it's frozen into ice, it tastes like salt-who wants to drink that?! Not I.

For the couple I took inspiration again from art.com. There's a drawing on there with a boy and girl on a hill looking at stars. I drew a mountain and a boy and a girl, supposedly David and I according to my friends, looking at stars from the summit of a mountain. It's the only drawing in the whole challenge colored with crayon instead of colored pencil, so that's kind of cool.

It's a little hard to see the stars under all that black and blue sky, but you get the idea!

For the scenery, I remembered that I often drew trees and park benches when I was younger (even as recently as high school, though), and used that. 

I tried to get some good perspective, but I did it during a school day and didn't have a straight-edge with me, so who knows how accurate it is. There are some more mountains from the previous day and a cliff in the background, plus a lake. I like the ones that take more time like this and are more complex. I like trying to get the right color and the perspective-maybe I lied at the beginning and really am some sort of artist :]

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and your Friday has been fantastic. See you tomorrow to post. . . I don't know what! Maybe a draft of the Advent Calender I'm wanting to make!

Until then,

L

Day 22: Something You Miss

My puppy!!

When I'm at school, I always miss my dog! I have other friends with pets and I am so jealous of them! I'm not sure where I'll be living next year though, so an animal may not be an option. I got home today for Thanksgiving, though, so I'm spending some time with Peanut :] She's huge, as always, but hasn't jumped on me, yet!

This picture of her is my favorite! I'm not really sure why she ended up having a tutu on around her neck, but the picture got sent to me on my phone and it makes me laugh every time!

Do you dress your dog/pet in funny/cute clothes? Send me pictures! :]
L

Day 21: Something You Want

In the past, I have been a member of the group who felt that the day after Halloween was too early to start any Christmas celebrations, but this year I have switched sides. I am excited for Thanksgiving, but I can't wait for Christmas! It's such a fun holiday spent with family and friends and I get almost a month off of school. It's my birthday and the first snow and warm coffee drinks from Starbucks. I just love it! Not to mention, in other countries, Christmas is the next holiday after Halloween, so of course that's when they start preparing! I have a friend from Canada and she said that the 1st of November is always when her family puts their tree up, even now that they live in Chicago. So here's my drawing:

Certainly not the best drawing of a Christmas tree ever, but it'll do. I kind of like how the branches at the bottom look like elves feet :] 

I can probably think of dozens of other things that I want right now, including the holiday season to really start, but I don't think you really want to see that list. 

Safe travels to everyone who will be driving or flying anywhere this week to be thankful with family! Have a merry Monday for the rest of today :]

L

Something Crafty!

I am making an earwarmer! I haven't ever done any sort of complicated knitting before with increases/decreases, ribbing, or anything other than a straight knit stitch, but I really wanted to make my own head warming device :] I have a red one and a black one that I bought last year at TigerLily, so I bought myself two skeins of gray yarn and got to work!
I bought the pattern from Etsy. The directions are pretty simple and easy to follow, and in just a few days I'm already halfway through the decrease portion! Not to mention the pattern is just $5! How can you beat that? I will wear this probably every day of the winter and it will surely pay for itself in usage.

Also crafty, I started sewing a simple skirt from MADE over the summer. . . I picked this cute vintage-y fabric and some lace for the edge of the shorter tier, and bought a little extra fabric. I never actually remembered to cut the width shorter (that extra fabric :/) and completed the skirt, except hemming, before realizing what I'd done and how bulky it was. Not cute. I bought that fabric and started that skirt in June. I just today got out my seam ripper and began the process of fixing my mistake. Small steps, people. I love rabbits, but I know the tortoise wins because he's slow and steady and, people always seem to forget, humble, which the hare obviously was not.

So those are two projects to be completed shortly which I am excited to show you!
What have you been working on?
L

Black Friday Came Early

The Cowboys' hearts were in Stillwater. Pokes lose 34-37 against unranked Iowa State. It was Iowa State's biggest victory in school history, I'm told. It was the lose with the most sting for Oklahoma State. Though our hearts are still broken for this season, football is just a game and we are OSU without the BCS Title that we were hoping for. There are many more important things that make us the Brightest Orange in the Nation.

Proud and immortal, bright shines your name. Oklahoma State we herald your fame. Ever you'll find us loyal and true to our alma mater O S U.

Day 20: Something Orange

My Cowboy heart is hurting. Yesterday afternoon, two coaches of our Cowgirl basketball team died in a plane crash in Arkansas. Not only has the Orange Nation come together to mourn, the whole of the Big XII is supporting Oklahoma State.
God is funny sometimes in that today was the day I would share my drawing for 'something orange.' It was meant to be shared today; to remind us all of our unity as Cowboys and the good times we have all shared as a part of that.

I knew what I would draw today from the get-go; a cowboy boot with OSU...what I didn't know is that we would be the number two team in the nation! It was so exciting to see that news! This year I started hearing the term "Poke Choke" because our football team does really well in the first half of a game and then 'chokes' during the second half. Since the season started, I have not heard that term again! We are still undefeated with a record of 10-0 with a game coming up tonight. With this tragedy on our minds, we are sure to win for our school, for our orange family.

For those of you who are religious, lift up prayers for the families of Kurt Budke and Miranda Serner. Pray for peace for those who wear the Brightest Orange in the Nation, and especially for the girls these two great people coached. If you're not the praying type, think encouraging thoughts!

To my fellow Cowboys, we have gotten through this before! We will get through it again. We will always remember. Keep your heads up and rely on the each other as we move forward.

Remember to say "I love you," give hugs and kisses, and wear your orange with pride!

If you have any encouragement to give to the Cowboy Family please, please put it in the comments! We appreciate every good thought and every prayer lifted.
L

Day 19: Something New

I was over at the cousins' the day I was drawing today's drawing(s), so I asked my littles for advice. I thought it should be something new to me, but one of them had a great idea that wasn't something I myself  had recently acquired/experienced. But I had to use it! Not only was it going to be cute, it was easy to draw, and I knew exactly how I'd do it as soon as the word had come out of her mouth.

"A baby!" Swaddled in a precious pink blanket with a little curly-q of hair and big, pink lips. I wish I knew people having babies! I want to hold one so badly just looking at this!

The second drawing was one I came up with myself pretty easily. The night before is when I experienced that 5.6 earthquake. There had been two other earthquakes in Oklahoma while I was here before then, and there were three in California the week I was there a few years ago, but I had never felt one! I felt so left out from all the Facebook statuses and the feeling of an earthquake in general. So I had to draw that, too :]

I think it might be hard to know what this is if I hadn't already told you, but it's perfect for what I had in my mind. As Laura was talking about the baby drawing, this is the picture that kept popping up in my head as something new for me. It was fun to see something so clearly in my mind and then get it out on paper, and pretty closely to what I was imagining at that! There was another earthquake the day after I drew this, but I didn't feel any shaking again, I just got really dizzy. The fluid in my semi-circular canals must move around a lot when the earth shakes. Gotta love those anatomy classes ;]

On a completely separate note, I went to see a play tonight! It was so funny! I didn't know the theater program at OSU had such good actors and actresses! If you ever have the chance to see the play Noises Off, snag it, for sure! It was honestly the funniest stage show I've ever seen. The best part was that it was interpreted into ASL by some of the students who are working toward certification for interpreting! ASL is a full of expressions anyway, but watching those students interpret something else that is always full of expression was amazing! It was even more funny watching the interpreters and really exciting when I knew what they were saying! Sorry for all the exclamation marks (another one's coming), but it really deserves it! I had a great time and I learn so much at every event I attend where there are plenty of deaf people for me to converse with. I'm sad that the last Silent Dinner of the semester is on Monday :[

I hope your Thursday was as good as mine and that you'll have a fantastic Friday! It's initiation night for the Phi Lamb babies! I'm super excited to spend some time with my g-little and the rest of the family just for fun.

Has something really interesting happened to you recently? What 'something new' would you draw? Have you seen any awesome stage shows? I want to know! Tell me in the comments, please :]
L

Day 18: Just a Doodle

I'm not super proud of this drawing. It was a weekend when it was "assigned" to me, so I didn't have a class to doodle it during. It is what it is, though. It's got pretty colors and lettering of course :]

I'm a fan of monograms, initials, names, etc. I just think they're fun to draw and color and there's so much you can do with them! I wish monograms were more in style as a way to recognize people instead of just something pretty on the towels they get at their wedding.
At the daycare I work at during the summers, we did American History last year as the topic of the summer and at one point made calling cards. The kids got to pick a couple of outlines for their name to go in and then they passed them out to each other to put in their little pouches for safe-keeping. The pouches were made of paper painted silver that the kids got to use a special pen on to make their monogram with some guidance from Miss Lauren :] It was fun and the kids were so excited that Miss Lauren and Mrs. Burgraff gave them their calling cards! It was precious! I miss those kids. But that was one way that I experienced that monograms could be useful and stylized.

That's it for today! Two drawings tomorrow! I had two things that I really wanted to draw that both fit the prompt :] Have a thrilling Thursday tomorrow!
L

Day 17: Favorite Plant

Sorry! I didn't post on Tuesday, technically, even though it's still Tuesday in my book since I'm still awake :] I use Blogger in a separate internet browser than I do my cerfing (I promise that's really how it's spelled. A deaf man with the last name Cerf was one of the pioneers of the WWW) since my school email is with Google, but it doesn't allow any of the Google Apps, ie., Blogger. Anyway, I forgot to open up a Chrome window when I first got on the computer, so here I am at 1:15am to do a post. The life of a college kid.

I've never heard of someone asking what your favorite plant is. Flower, sure. But plant? I just stuck with flower because that's a type of plant and I actually have an answer to that:

The drawing says it's a daisy, which is my favorite flower, but the fact that I felt I needed to add the word to let you know what it was shows that I don't think I did very well at drawing one. I was actually wanting it to be white, but that just didn't work out. I like the red, but I think it's something you'd see on a gerbera daisy more than a common daisy. This actually takes me back to my younger days (not that I'm particularly old at a spritely 20 years) when flowers were the main thing any of my friends ever drew. There may have been a wonky bird or heart or rainbow with pot of gold and smiling clouds every so often, but flowers were an everyday, multiple times a day drawing. They're just so girly and there are so many ways to draw them!

There's actually a great drawing of a daisy that I love from art.com, but I can't get the gallery to work/show me other people's drawings. As soon as I get it to work, I'll get the real link up. Until then you should have some fun doodling your own drawings on there. Maybe you can press the 'view another' button enough and find the daisy on your own! It's really good for an online thing, especially since I originally saw it on there a long time ago before tablet computers were popular. If you are going to try drawing on there with a tablet, iPads won't work because the site does require Flash. I was hoping that Apple would start allowing Flash on their electronics since it was Steve Jobs who disliked the program (is that what it is?) so much, but we'll see as the New Guy starts putting out more products.

I'm off to bed with a glass of Ovaltine, and maybe a cookie or two. I have got to start trying to go to bed at a decent time! This whole fall asleep between 2 and 3 in the morning and wake up at 7 thing is just not doing it for me. And coffee doesn't help-not only does it make me nauseous a lot of the time, caffeine just doesn't wake me up, and it's not very good for you.

Anyway, goodnight! I hope your Tuesday was good and you'll have a wonderful Wednesday! It's going to be a chilly day for me :/ High of 57 with an overnight low of 28. Yikes. Keep warm if you're going to be in similar (or cooler) conditions!
L