Sushi Night!

November is speeding right along taking the sunshine and good times with it. I have so many papers piling up and I am beginning to think that my efforts to get them done before Thanksgiving will be in vain. I do keep this thought in mind, however, that each time the semester speeds up and I think that there is no possible way to get all my assignments done... I do. Somehow, despite the height and depth of my procrastination I get it all done (all praise be to God, He really is too good to me :)).

Anyway, amongst the endlessness of homework, papers, and tests I am given small, beautiful opportunities to do something fun and new and out of the ordinary. This week's fun has been brought to me by my incredibly thoughtful sister-in-law and brother. They sent me a package containing almost everything I would need to make sushi for the first time! And make sushi I did. And it was awesome.

I was somewhat nervous about the whole process, but I was able to skype Alisha, my sister-in-law, and she talked me through it. I have to say that I had so much fun! It really isn't hard once you get the hang of it. I love it because there are so many different options to go inside the sushi. I made mine with cucumber, avocado, carrot, cream-cheese, green onion, and salmon. It turned out to be very tasty and even my boyfriend, Sam, liked it (and ate a lot of it). I made enough to share with Sam's sister and brother-in-law. It was really great to just hang out in the middle of the week and eat some delicious sushi. Moments like that are kind of nice; the time when one can just take a break and enjoy good company and good food. It clears my mind and is good for my soul.

So I want to send out a special thanks to Alisha and Rob for completely making my week and giving me a chance to take a break from the monotony and grind of school! You guys are seriously the best!

Here We Go Again.

I have been extremely negligent in my blogging this summer. Since I haven't updated for the past three months I'm finding it rather difficult to condense the whole summer into one post. But I will because 1. I am lazy; 2. School has already started and I massive amounts of reading to accomplish; 3. nothing terribly interesting happened this summer. However, it was, over-all, a pretty great summer.To kick it all off my very generous brother and sister-in-law let me tag-along with them on a vacation to Florida! I got to babysit my niece, Morgan, and lay out at the beach.

On the way home I stopped in Milwaukee to spend some time with my friends, Mariel and Allison. Mariel showed us all around Milwaukee. We spend an amazing day together, despite a insistent, not to mention old, business man from "out of town."

I got to spend some time at home, which was greatly needed and always appreciated. My sister and I rode bikes quite a bit.

I had planned on taking a math course over the summer, but it fell through and I was left with nothing to do and no money to do it. Luckily, my friend Ally hooked me and my sister up with a job in Green Bay picking and selling strawberries. It ended up being almost as fun as it looks in the picture. Staying with Allison and her family was amazing. Their hospitality is beyond measure.
The farm we worked on is called Sunny Hill and they really do have the best strawberries (not to mention corn) in the area. Surprisingly, I didn't get sick of eating them.

Josh Groban came to Green Bay. I am seriously at a loss for words to describe how amazing this concert was. He puts on SUCH a great show, and I love him.

Six Flags! It was great, but the older I get the harder this place is on my stomach. Superman was pretty awesome though. Also, why the heck did they get rid of Dejavu (sp?)?!

And now for the "fun" part. Fall semester 2011 has officially begun. Strangely, it feels good to be back. One of my professors went off in class about how much she loves being in school; the structure, environment, ect. While I really want to be done with school (mainly so I can start paying off my loans), I can definitely understand her point of view. After going to school for 15 years it pretty much becomes a comfort zone. What isn't comfortable about this semester is my work load. Below is an incomplete book-list for my two Literature classes. Add Psychology, Spanish, and a religion course chock full of busy work and I have a complete load.
However, I am prepared:
So that's that. And maybe when I feel more inspired I will write more. As can be expected, "What I'm Reading" posts are sure to come.

Two...more...weeks.

I'm tired of school. Can you tell?

Below is a pre-academic school year desk and a pre-finals desk.

I can't even think of anything to say right now. I have checked out, which isn't good because very few things on my list have been accomplished.

I*sob* can*scream of frustration* do*sigh* this.

But isn't my mustache mug the epitome of cool?!

End of Semester To-Do List

One more week of classes, one week of finals and I am done. I have so many great plans for my first couple weeks of summer and I can't wait for it to get here! But this is everything I have to finish before any of the good stuff can start:

Much to Do Report- Report about a New York Times book review
Literary Analysis- Exploring family loyalties in Montana 1948
Finish reading We Are the Ship for Children's Literature
Read The Namesake for Modern Literature
Much Ado picnic!
Oral Spanish final- crap.
Philosophy of Service assignment
Clase de espanol fiesta!
Spanish final- crap.
Modern Literature final
Children's Literature final
Much Ado final

And that's it! It really isn't much. I know people who have TONS more to finish by the end of the semester. I'm not really the "planning" type, but it feels good to have everything I need to do laid out for me. Happy Semester's End to you all!

What I'm Reading

This post should really be titled "What I Have Read in the Past Three Weeks." I haven't been able to keep up with posting this series because school has been so crazy! It picked right back up the second I got back from spring break. At least the next two weeks will slow down a bit, at least until finals week...

Montana 1948

By: Larry Watson

I loved this book. It isn't easy to read. It deals with a lot of difficult issues such as family loyalty and justice. The events that take place in this book are disturbing but I was pleased with the resolution at the end. The ending isn't very happy, but it's real and it gives really good insight to underlying truths within families and communities.

Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding

The general themes and insight into human nature makes this book great; along with the writing and imagery used. However, it was really hard for me to get through. A group of boys stranded on an island is bound to end poorly. Much the same is an earth occupied by sinful human beings. This book is sad, but not surprising.

As I Lay Dying

By William Faulkner

This book came very close to being the death of me. One might notice all the pink sticky-notes sticking out of the book. This is because I just turned in a 10 page paper about the way Southern Gothic is portrayed in the novel. I handed the paper to my professor this morning and instantly a wave of relief washing over me and took with it the weight that has been suppressing my shoulders for the past week and a half (haha, dramatic much?).

Anyway, this book is pretty out there; the Southern Gothic genre as a whole is pretty out there. However, Faulkner is pretty genius. He makes the most grotesque and morbid characters and situations... funny. You can't deny it! Even though it is grossly humorous, it is not a feel-good read (surprise, surprise, it was assigned for Modern Literature). I think I would have liked Faulkner.

P.S. Excuse the bags under my eyes. This research paper raped me of precious sleeping hours.

Fill Up My Love Cup

I have been back in school for two weeks and I already feel exhausted. I feel really... empty; like everything that I'm doing is for nothing.

I know exactly what's missing. And I know exactly what to do to get it back. But I have to wonder when I let it slip away? And why do I let it happen time after time after time?

I don't feel like my world is shaking, I feel like it's melting into a great blob of nothingness (yes, I realize how ridiculously existentialist that sounds). What I mean is if I'm not maintaing my relationship with the One who fills that empty feeling every time I ask, then what am I doing? I am comfortable in my Christian college taking my Christian based classes, going to church and following the rules but days, even weeks, go by without me telling a single person what God has done in my life. Me and God need to have some words.

I hate screwing up on no ones account but my own. I hate drifting from God. But I am SO thankful for His love that keeps drawing me back.

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38,39

"God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and earth."
Steps to Christ p. 7

So here is to a God that never gives up on our simple beings. May He "grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and lenght and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19

Dear God, fill up my love cup.

What I'm Reading

This semester my booklist is HUGE. I'm still deciding if this is good or bad. So far, so good. This is what I'm reading:

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

This is what I'm not reading, but can't wait to read:

Autobiography of Mark Twain.

HumDrum

Here I sit at the front desk. I've been here since 3:30am and only have an hour left to go. I don't actually have anything to blog about. It's just that I haven't really had anything for some time. Life has been pretty humdrum.
I have officially reached the point in the semester when I'm sick of all my classes. Each and every one. Ok, I'm not sick of Medieval Lit, but I'm so ready for Linguistics to be over. I'm finding it hard to see the purpose in such an intensive study of sounds within the human language. We have them, we use them; what else is there to discuss? Anyway, the fact that it's potentially lowering my GPA does not make me a happy camper.
After Wednesday I will most certainly have more interesting things to say because I'm going to see Shakespeare in Chicago! I've never seen a live performance of his plays, so I'm uber excited.

Back to School Bug

I'm getting the back to school bug. You'd think that after 14 years the excitement of a new school year would rub off; it has some, but the urge to buy school supplies has not. The sad part is that not nearly the same amount of supplies are needed for college. No crayons, markers, glue stick, finger paint. Now all I need to buy is clicky pencils, notebooks, and textbooks. This isn't to say that I won't buy the former anyway. I am excited about my English Literature textbook; it's massive. The most exciting thing about this textbook: I was able to get it used! (I bought mine too late last semester and had to get almost all new textbook. boo.)

I'm also excited about my desk. It's usually my favorite part of my dorm room, or maybe it's my bed... Sadly I don't see that as often as I would like.

Summer in a Nutshell

What is it about school that makes me excited and anxious and dreadful all at the same time? Here I am again getting ready for another school year. It seems crazy that I'm already headed into my third year of college. This summer has been really great, and I truly did need it. I can't say that I accomplished everything I hoped to, but I learned alot about cooking, my family and myself. I'm sad to leave home. Especially since I won't be coming back for more that a couple weeks at a time. Here is Summer 2010 in a nutshell:

pie. fresh basil. painting. baking. swimming. anniversaries. sweet little girl.

fairs. family. bikes. boyfriend. driving. water parks. chocolate. rain. sweet corn.

green beans. love stories. farmers market. books. cousins. concerts.

cleaning. babysitting. cookies.

laughing. loving. learning. growing. praying.

My last care-free summer is coming to an end; it's bittersweet. Tomorrow I start the 8 hour trip to Michigan... to work... to classes. But I'm anticipating great things for the next school year and the beginning of my adulthood life. Things like meeting new people, enjoying all my english classes, my new job, being with my best friend, spending time with old friends and growing closer to God. Here's to Summer 2010 and here's to the start of another school year.