Reality and Imaginary

Imaginary says, "I can do all the things!" Reality says, "No you can only do some of the things." Sometimes imaginary is more fun...Reality can be such a party pooper sometimes...

Something Different

This week I've been getting these intense desires of wanting to do something different, as in stuff that is completely unrelated to school. I started to dream about life after school and stuff I will in theory be able to do a lot more of...everything from dance to sewing to buying various musical instruments and baking and the list goes on. No I'm not totally stressed out...at least not yet that I'm aware of. The end is just so close that I can taste it. I want to be done school and the finish is within my grasp. Yes the things I will be able to do with more time on my hands. Nice hypothetical thought. And my thinking is starting to resemble the various textbooks I get to read. It's not that I'm not enjoying the semester. I am actually with the exception of a couple classes...or else the good classes make up for the not so fun classes...I have wandered a fair bit but just haven't gotten out of the city. It's just the time of year when I want to do something different or something... Anyway that is my slightly melancholic thought for the day. (P.S. Sorry for the lack of blogging; school is busy with midterms and papers and life in general and sometimes I don't want to think about having something to say on here...) Also the I've determined the Michael W. Smith Christmas album "It's a Wonderful Christmas" is pretty much perfect for anything connected to school work

Gaining a New Perspective

Thanksgiving comes at a weird time in the life of a student. For myself it's the time of year when midterms start to happen and I need to start to seriously look into different paper topics and start on the research. AKA the start of the busy season...However, lately I've found I've lost a bit of perspective. Sure I read my Bible and I talk to God but sometimes my head still gets fuzzled with relationships and other aspects of life that I forget to be truly grateful for well, life and all that is encompassed in it and how truly a miraculous thing it is. Most of all, I sometimes forget that God is the giver and ultimate source of life. This past week I've been a bit out of sorts with various life stresses with school and such and I don't know if there was a time that I was truly grateful in the last week. Then last night I was talking with a friend and she mentioned a book she was reading. This book was a bit of a biography of a lady who was once challenged to write down 1000 things she was thankful for. I believe she completed the challenge and in the process her whole outlook on life was changed. Sounds like a good book. (Can't remember who my friend said the author was...but hopefully there's enough details that an internet search will turn up something if you're interested...?) So ya. On a related note, another friend once challenged me to be thankful for a whole day. I tried it once and it was actually kinda difficult. Not that I'm a huge complainer really (at least in my opinion...) but I don't always give God thanks on a regular basis both for the big things and the small things in life. Maybe I should try it again. There is much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving! Because a thankful heart is a happy heart. I'm glad for what I have that's an easy way to start.

New Year

Well, sorry to all who read my blog for the lack of posting that occurred in the last month and a half or so. I kinda forgot I had one for a bit and life got a bit on the busy side as summer went into full swing. I decided I would rather go out and do stuff with people as much as I could before school came around again and I wouldn't have as much time to do stuff and hang out. Besides, who really wants to be cooped up in front of a computer screen when they don't have to be? That being said summer had all kinds of adventures from camping to rock climbing to games nights and random hang out times. And of course working in between. It's been good though strange as so many of my friends are in a transition period and I'm in the same place for a while yet. There is a reason for it I'm sure but sometimes I wish I could be in the same place of transition. Ah well. It will happen soon enough. On another somewhat related topic, some girls in my freshman year of res were talking and the question came up: What do you hope for this year? I didn't have an answer then and I don't really have an answer now, but it is something to bear in mind so that you don't get discouraged throughout the busyness of school and life as a whole and to remind one that there is a hope greater than life itself and that is what makes life worth living. :) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28 ...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:6

After talking to the roommates tonight about boys and life I was reminded once again that God has every detail of our lives planned out according to his purposes even though we might be able to make sense of the uncertainties of life at the time they occur. Sweet reminder. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take him at his word Just to rest upon his promise Just to know "Thus saith the Lord." ~Louisa M.R. Stead

Whirlwind Week

So last weekend I went camping with a bunch of people I didn't really know at all. Well some I knew and some I knew not so well. It was a good time...In a nutshell it included, rain, sun, sunburns, tenting, cooking over the fire, hot springs that weren't hot, manliness (in this case manliness=stupidity...), mountains, bear spotting, mafia, philosophical talks around the fire, rappelling down rock faces, four-by-fouring, singing/screaming, late nights. Ya it was a good time. Then Tuesday a friend messaged me and she was like "Hey want to learn Korean with me tonight?" And I was like "Sure" since I like random adventures and spontaneity. And by spontaneous I had about an hour's warning on this one...Then after the lesson, which was in the northwest, we decided hey Peter's is in the area, let's go get food. So we did cuz Peter's is amazing. While we were waiting in line a homeless guy came up to us and begged for food. Kinda awkward since we couldn't really communicate what we were deciding with him right there the whole time. So we promised him some fries and he went off to do his thing while we waited in the line. When we got to order our food, we requested a large fries. The guy at the window was looked dubious and was like,"You guys do know that a large fries feeds like 5-6 people right?" And well we had at least 3 maybe 4. But the guy at the window kept checking to make sure that was really what we wanted. It was kinda funny. So ya. Got food and now sorta know a little Korean, except not. There was a lot of grammar talk in the lesson that I didn't understand really...Fun fun. Yesterday after work I got to hang out with my friend Anne. Hadn't seen her in a while since she was in the Dominican for a month ish so it was good to hang out. We ended up getting food from a Superstore in the SW and intended to go to Bowness Park in the NW but got turned around. We then determined we should go to the NE since she had to return a phone to someone there. We ended up going waaayyy past the NE and almost into the country of the city, after wondering if we actually were going int he right direction. Turned out we did and the phone got dropped off where it was supposed to be which was good. We then headed back into the city for Marantha which is at my church in the SE...and we got lost/tuned around finding it and ended up being 20 minutes late...ooops...but it was good. And good to hang out and we had some lovely catch up time/conversations in the car. I like car rides, more than plane or train, or bus rides. And now this weekend I'm getting ready to go home for a friends' wedding. Should be a fun time. I've been lookinf forward to this since April when I booked the flight...Ya...I'm excited for it. Plus I get to meet my now 4 month old niece. Crazy! And I'll get to see all kinds of fantastic people. Yay! Should be a good time. And if the weather is nice enough there will hopefully be a lake and a boat and a tube/various other water sports...that hopefully also include me in them...Regardless of that, it should be a pretty fantastic weekend. I was reminded of this song. Plus Phil Collins is great and the song suits the occasion (I can't seem to spell occasion right on the first try. Just now I had to go back and correct it until the spell check said it was right...err) and Brother Bear is a fun movie. If you haven't watched it, you should... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxT0JNbeC3Q&feature=fvwrel

A Nothing Sort of Day

Christopher Robin: "...What I like most of all is just doing nothing." Winnie the Pooh: "How do you do just nothing?" Christopher Robin: "Well, when grown-ups ask, "What are you going to do?" And you say, "Nothing," and then you go and do it." ~The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh-Based on the books by A.A. Milne That was pretty much my day today. Slept in due to staying up late (even though I should be going to bed earlier since I have to wake up earlier this week for work...oops). But it was and still is super hot outside and I wasn't ambitious enough to do anything other than what I had to do which was laundry and dishes...yup. So ya. I get to start another job later on this month with nannying 2 boys so that should be good. All kinds of things happened last week that I wanted to do but couldn't do all of them due to work or other things going on. Fun times. but ya. I got to help a friend out with her small group on the weekend and that was a fun time. Then Sunday evening after church I convinced some friends to check out My Favorite Ice-Cream Shoppe. Fantastic. Too bad it's a little bit farther away from where I live though. Or maybe that's a good thing since I'm pretty sure I would go there a lot more often...I've been working at detangling a ball of yarn that somehow got to be in a lot of a mess.Sometimes I think I'm getting somewhere with it and then something happens and it feels like I'm starting all over again... :( That makes me feel like I need a life...I made egg noodles last week since I had egg yolks to use up. I think I would make them somewhat smaller next time though. And use a pizza cutter to make them more even than a regular knife...So ya. Oh and I discovered a place to download free piano sheet music. :) That made me happy...Free is good. Speaking of which, we had a clothing exchange at our house on the weekend. I may have come out with more clothes than what I put in... but it was good. Semi disorganized and chaoticish but it was good. About 10 people came out which I would say is not a bad number for a first time around. So ya. That's my life. Also Ultimate has started. woot woot. Have I ever mentioned I love this sport? Cuz I do...Minus not being particularly good at throwingi long distances and therefore not always feeling like a useful team member...:( But hey it's a good time and good exercise which I could always use more of anyway...I can catch the frisbee just fine and I can throw short distances but not long...One day though I will be able to throw the length of the field we play in...It keeps going on. Internet world is lazy and real life adventures are more fun when they happen and blogging about them takes energy that I don't always want to exert...hence the seeming sporadic posts...but hopefully I'll still be able to have the energy/motivation/desire to keep up with it at least once a week or so. Give or take. Anyway. Enjoy the weather wherever you are and happy Tuesday! Lissa