Spring Break '12: Take One

So, it's been forever since I've posted. I think about getting on here all the time, but something else always gets my attention instead. I'd really like to be much more regular about posting on here, but it's hard for me to get crafts done with pictures and up on my computer in a timely manner while I have so much life going on! At least it's a good reason to not have time, right?

Anyway, a month ago was my spring break! My sister, Raychel and I went to The Villages, Florida to visit some of my dad's side of the family there. It was the perfect mix of relaxation in the middle of the semester and fun goings on :] We went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (my second time, her first), saw The Hunger Games at its midnight premiere, and drove around in what we lovingly called The Blueberry for a week.

It was a lot of fun and just what I needed. I can't believe that was just four weeks ago!

For now, I'll leave you with that little ditty. There will be pictures soon of Harry Potter World! And sometime this week we'll talk about the rest of that Easter activity from my Ash Wednesday post :] Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a craft up, too! We're making big goals here, people. And in the words of Bob the Builder and his crew- "Yes we can!"

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!

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 15: A Family Portrait

I didn't realize until now that this could have been any family portrait, not just my own. But I'm glad that I did my family. I, of course, did not draw them as people. I can't imagine trying to give the same features to them as drawings that they have in real life; I'd never get it just right. I really like doing lettering though, so this worked out. As you'll find out in a couple days, I also really like monograms, so this is a good combination of the two :]

You've got my dad at the top, mom on the right, then my oldest sister, Nicole, on the left, middle sister, Raychel, on the right, and me at the bottom left. I picked the icon things behind each person more based on what I can draw than what might actually have to do with them. Raychel is pretty girly, so a flower did work, but a cloud and a lightning bolt for Nicole and my dad? Not so much of a correlation.

Anyway, that's my family. I kind of wish that the presentation day for this one wasn't a Friday when David is here, or else I might talk a little more about my family. I'm sure there's plenty of time to go into that at a later date. 

Do you take family portraits every year, for Christmas or otherwise? Do you usually like traditional family pictures-blue jeans and white shirts, anyone?- or more candid shots? What about the holiday matching pajama shot? That's a good one for Awkward Family Photos!

Enjoy some time with your family this weekend!

L