Obviously, blogging has not been my forte lately. Oops. Maybe my life will suddenly become more eventful so I'll have things to write about. Or maybe I'll just have to post random things every now and then until spring. Either way. Until then, you can watch this.
Merry Christmas Eve! Being the procrastinator (and broke college student) that I am, I did all of my Christmas shopping today between 3 and 5pm. Amazingly enough, I was successful and managed to survive the rest of the last-minute shoppers as well. (Hi, I'm Brittany, and I am awesome.)
Anyway, since home isn't terribly exciting, I've had plenty of time to discover a bunch of random things that I like, so I thought I'd share. Ah, I love the Internet.
"Thought of You" by Ryan J Woodward. I love this. Gorgeous animation, one of my favorite songs ("World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies)...what more do you want?
"How I Go" by Yellowcard. This song isn't new or anything, but I somehow just discovered it. Acoustic guitar, epic strings, and awesome guy/girl harmony. Perfection.
Jason Lee's Photography. For one thing, his daughters are some of the cutest kids on the planet, and I happen to think cute, creative, and funny makes for a good combination.
Yeondoo Jung's Photography. He took children's drawings and then turned them into actual scenes. I love it!
"Virginia is for Lovers" by Mat Kearney. He apparently has a new album in the works, and you can get a free song download if you sign up for his email list!
Lifehacker. Any random information that makes my life easier is definitely my favorite.
That's all I have for right now. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! :)
Listening to: Taylor Swift's new Speak Now album (Finally getting to listen through the whole album is one of my rewards for surviving this week. Yes, I'm 20 and yes, I am entirely serious. I love Taylor Swift. I can't help myself. She's one of my favorites.)
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn."
- John Muir
Today is gorgeous.
Sunny, blue skies, with a cool breeze blowing the leaves off of the trees and swirling them around before they hit the ground...perfection. It makes me wish fall could last forever. It is, by far, my favorite season. I love the colors. I love the cool weather. I love watching the leaves fall from the trees. (It reminds me of music, somehow. If you could see music, I like to think it would look something like that. Random insight into the mind of me. You're welcome.) Today is one of those days that makes me love life, which is a nice change from all of the stress, uncertainty, and frustration I've been feeling lately. I need a little peace in my life, and today is one of those days when it seems impossible not to feel it.
I have sooo many things I want to write about right now. Instead of making this into the longest post of the century though, I'll condense a few of them into a list. I like lists.
A few favorite things...
Hanging out with little kids at a local elementary school for a class service project. I learned from a first grader named Kaitlyn that Ohio is a faraway country in China. Who knew?
Studying in the library with Kristi and Jon until midnight. Actually, I hate the library and I hate studying, but I do love them. Especially when all the studying stress gets to us and you throw Facebook in the mix. Enter posting the alphabet and counting to 50 (multiple times) on each others' walls, then laughing hysterically about the weird way Jon's thumbs bend backwards. Delirious? Yes. Hilarious? Yes.
Having a discussion with my roommate about which characters from the Left Behind series we would be. (More I-hate-studying delirium.)
Backpacker Magazine. Oh, the places I would go and the things I would do, if only I had money...
The Karate Kid. I watched it the other night with Kristi & Mike and liked it waaaay more than I expected!
In other news, I'm really thankful for my friends in general. Lately, I've been discovering that there are people who love and care about me a whole lot more than I ever thought, and that's really weird to realize, but so wonderful at the same time. As completely sick as I am of advice and "talks" and anything of the sort at the moment--and trust me, I am!--I know that it's a reflection of how much they care, and that's something I can't be more grateful for. So thank you. :)
One last thing. I reallyreallyreally want to go here:
Well, this week has certainly been interesting. Let's just say that if it were a rollercoaster, it would have consisted of a million loops and a few vertical drops. Definitely not of the pleasant variety. Fortunately, it seems to have evened out a bit (I think. I hope!), so I think things are going to be okay. Besides, I'm trying to make good use of my sense of humor and optimistic personality and be positive anyway, so without further ado...
Happy Thing #1: My roommate (who has recently developed an obsession with watching Sesame Street videos) posted this on my wall yesterday. It's pretty much my life.
Also, I forgot how much I love Jason Mraz.
Happy Thing #2: I love, love, love my friend Anna. I met her at camp the summer I turned 16 (see picture), and I've literally only seen her once since then (which was 2 years ago), but she has been one of the greatest friends I've ever had. We try to keep each other updated on our lives through a series of ridiculously long Facebook messages. It's funny how I can be so open and honest with someone that I never, ever see, but I love it. She's one of those people who I can almost always count on to get exactly what I'm talking about, just because we're so alike. She's wonderful. :)
Happy Thing #3: I LOVE THIS SONG!
Sorry it wouldn't let me post the actual video. Embedding is disabled. Lame, I know. But for real, it keeps getting stuck in my head. Lyrically, not exactly a happy song. But musically? It never fails to brighten my day.
Happy Thing #4: Thanks to fall break, being exempt from a midterm, and not having Taekwondo class this week, I only have classes today. Kiiiinda awesome. Plus, in said classes, I only had one midterm, and I swear it was the easiest exam I've ever taken. Seriously. I also got my Humanities exam back (the one I completely B.S.'d), and with the extra credit we're going to get just for watching the movie Troy, I have an A. Needless to say, it's been pretty good day.
Happy Thing #5: While it doesn't exactly feel like fall yet (the 80-something degree weather is killing me), the leaves are finally starting to change. One of my favorite things ever. Yesterday evening, I was driving around with Kristi on these random country back roads, and the sunset (which was completely gorgeous) paired with the reds and oranges on the trees was pretty much perfect. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I don't think pictures would have done it justice. It was amazing.
Okay, I'm done now. I'm heading to my last class in a few minutes, and after that... Helloooo 5 days of freedom!!
Because of this, I have had "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry stuck in my head for the past 5 days. I don't even like the song that much, but I do love this video...even if it is a little creepy.
I've only been in class for a week, am just now about to start on my first homework assignment, and I'm already using this blog to procrastinate. Old habits die hard (and I'm thinking this one won't die until homework is a thing of the past anyway). But, I mean, I haven't updated since before I got back to Lee. It has to be done sometime, right?
Anyway, I am super glad to be back at Lee. I have to admit, though, that I am so ready to get past these initial weeks. They're always so...weird. I don't like them. Hopefully, things will settle into a nice, normal routine pretty soon. Since being back, I've managed to:
Make 15,000 trips to Walmart (more or less--probably more)
Go cliff jumping, complete with floating down the river in the dark
Go swimming at the Blue Hole with about 30 friends
Go hiking with Mike, Will, and Diff (complete with climbing slippery waterfalls and hacking my way through the woods again. Not that I mind, of course!)
Start Taekwondo! (I know, it probably sounds lame to a lot of people, but seriously, it is so much fun. I'm so glad I'm taking it!)
It's been fairly interesting, at least. Also, I am loving having an apartment! Not that I spend much more time here than I did in the dorm (I just can't stand to be inside doing nothing for long), but it's so nice having more space, and my own kitchen, and a dishwasher, and a couch, and...yeah. It's awesome. I'll have to post some pictures sometime.
On a completely random note, I love how my playlist goes from stuff like Mumford & Sons (I love them so much, by the way) to LIGHTS to Yellowcard and pretty much everything in between, and I hardly give it a second thought. It's such a random mix. I love it. But yeah, one song I've been listening to a lot is "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons. Soooo good (though I have to say my favorite by them is "The Cave").
"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair." - "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons
Okay, I think I'm out of things to say for now. Hopefully, more things will happen by the next time I have homework so I'll have things to write about. :)
This song has been stuck in my head all day long. I just love Breanne Düren (aka the girl from Owl City's "The Saltwater Room"). Seriously, cutest person ever. I admit, this song is slightly cheesy, but it's just so darn catchy. I can't help but love it!
P.S. If you go to her Myspace and join her mailing list, you can download it for free (which is how I discovered it in the first place).
"When did I arrive?
I don't recall ever leaving Alaska
Why do I hate the dark when I'm alone?
I was on my way
To a brighter day I'm still chasing around
But somehow, I believe that this is home
It's so good to be home."
- "Alaska" by Sky Sailing
Oh my gosh. I love this song so much. The new Sky Sailing album, An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, is amazing. The combination of Adam Young's voice and lyrics with an acoustic guitar and piano is making me really, really happy right about now.
Camp JOY Preparations Today was my last day of work until camp actually starts! Holly & I drove around the ghetto of Columbus, delivering flyers about camp to all of the housing projects. Definitely an interesting experience. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk door-to-door like we initially thought we would. Thank goodness. It was fun getting to know Holly a little more, though. We had a few little adventures, like being stopped by the same train 4 times (and accidentally driving back behind some theater neither of us knew existed...). Good times. Oh, I did find out that I'm only getting paid like $5 an hour for all of this. Not exactly what I was expecting, but since God kinda gave me the job (no, for real--He did. I'm not just saying that), I figure I'll be okay. :) And really, I can't complain too much--at least it's a job, and the type of job I really wanted at that!
Trip to Europe! One week. I am so excited! For real, I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. I'm ready for lots of adventures and new things, and that's pretty much guaranteed. It's also going to be fun getting to know some new people. More friends is always a good thing. :) Let's just hope that it doesn't rain the whole time, like it's currently supposed to... However, if it does, please don't do it on the day we visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Apparently, when they've visited in the past, it's been too cloudy to really see anything, but seriously, I am dying to see this in person:
That view right there? Number one thing I'm excited about. I'm getting the urge to jump up and down just thinking about it. You have no idea! So seriously, rain and cloudiness--take the day off on June 9. You deserve a break.
Classes. Ugh. Unfortunately, before I can even think about hopping on a plane to leave the country, I have...
Approximately 1,100 pages of psych books & articles to read
About 20 or so pages to write on said books & articles
18 hours of class to sit through
All by next Thursday. Funnnn. Then, of course, there are the post-trip assignments. But whatever--I get a trip to Austria, Switzerland, & Germany out of it. It's totally worth it. (Just making my life a little more stressful than usual at the moment. Heh.)
Music, music, music For some reason, music is so much more enjoyable for me to listen to during the summer (and that's saying something, but I really enjoy music all the time). I don't know why. It's weird, I know. But anyway, like I said in my last post, I've been listening to Mat Kearney a lot. "Closer to Love" is definitely one of my favorites. I also really like "All I Have," "Where We Gonna Go From Here," and "Here We Go." Good stuff. I've also been listening to The Postal Service quite a bit. I didn't used to like them all that much. I'm not really sure why though, because now, I like them a lot! Oh, and one of my favorite songs of the moment (I had never heard it until about a week ago, but I discovered it hiding on my computer): "The Fear You Won't Fall" by Joshua Radin. Sooo pretty! I love guy/girl harmony and I love really chill music like that. Good combination.
All that being said, I am going to be super, super busy for the next month. I'll try to update you guys about my trip and camp and such ASAP, but that may or may not be until July. We'll see, I guess!
First of all, Easter break is going much better than spring break did...even if it isn't much of a break with all this homework I have to do. Oh well--such is college life! At least the lack of classes still applies.
So. Things have been a little crazy lately in pretty much every area of my life, but I'm surviving, and I think I'm getting myself back on track. It's funny (only not) how easy it is for me to lose my focus, especially when it comes to God. That's never a good thing--as if my life needs to be anymore weird and complicated than it already is to begin with!
Last weekend was a lot of fun (which was much-needed!), albeit completely random and spontaneous. Basically, Kristi and I decided we would go hiking at Chilhowee since we've been dying to go and the weather was gorgeous. Instead, we randomly ended up driving down all these back roads, when all of a sudden...
Kristi: "Umm...we're definitely 20 minutes away from my house."
We ended up in Knoxville. Awesome. We decided to go to her house for dinner, then went to watch the sunset (our "hike" of the day...if walking up a paved 0.4-mile path counts as hiking). After we finally made our way back to Cleveland (7 hours later), we worked on our presentation for Sociology, then met up with Mike at midnight (which, if you put it that way, sounds kinda sketch, now that I think about it). We proceeded to get back in the car, with Mike in the driver's seat. Every time we came to a turn, Kristi and I took turns deciding whether to go left or right. This turned into a 3-hour adventure on more random back roads that landed us in Athens, TN. It was so much fun though. They are two of my favorite people on the planet, and the perfect ones to have that sort of adventure with.
Oh! Random discovery. My brother told me about this earlier, and it is seriously one of the most amazing things ever.
Is that incredible or what?!? I can't even comprehend having enough patience to do that. Just thinking about attempting it stresses me out.
In Christ Alone "In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My comforter, my all in all Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save ‘Til on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny No power of hell, no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand ‘til He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand."
1. Owl City Um, yes, Adam Young is amazing. I've listened to this guy for about 4 months straight and I'm still not sick of him. It has got to be the most versatile music ever made. If I'm happy, it works. If I'm sad, it works. If I'm tired, it works. If I have tons of energy, it works. Big cities, the mountains, the beach...it just works. I still get really happy every time I hear the opening notes to "Fireflies" or "The Saltwater Room" or "Hot Air Balloon" or...any of his songs, really. So good!
2. Lonely Planet This site is my new best friend. I discovered it while I was spending the past few days planning a trip to Italy for a class project. Anywhere you want to travel (which, at least in my case, means everywhere), it has all the information you need to know. Restaurants, hotels, transportation, cool things to see, whatever--it has it. And it's not worded in a really boring way. It's actually kind of fun to read.
3. Global Perspectives ...Because it's why I get to go to Europe this coming summer. Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, here I come! I am super excited. Obviously, I can't wait to go to see the cities and stuff, but what made me most excited was when I realized that I'll be in the middle of the Alps. YESSSS!!! (I know, I would get worked up about that sort of thing. I can't help it. Mountains are my favorite.)
4. The Annie Moses Band's Version of "We Three Kings" Please ignore the fact that this is a video clip from TBN. :) I'm a huge fan of just about any sort of stringed instrument arrangement, and this is definitely no exception. Gorgeous.
5. Making New Friends This seems to be something that has happened quite a bit in my life here lately. I'm definitely not complaining! I love having more people in my life. It makes things so much more enjoyable! :) I'm just hoping they don't turn into the whole we-hung-out-once-and-now-I'll-pretend-you-don't-exist thing. I hate that.
6. Sporcle Hello, addiction. What could be more entertaining than 2,319 random knowledge quizzes that occupy your life for hours at a time? Yeah, it's a good time.
I know, I know--it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I can't help it! I held out longer than I usually do, so I think that should count for something. I just love Christmastime way too much. A month of it is not enough! I'm especially looking forward to it this year. I'm not sure why, but I'm definitely more excited than usual! (Three words: The Polar Express. YESSS!!)
Anyway. Today, I realized that I definitely go to a Christian university. On my way to class, I passed a guy and a girl having a conversation in the middle of the sidewalk, and all of a sudden, the girl says, "You just need to rebuke those devils in the name of Jesus!" She was completely serious, and it's funny because that sort of thing is seen as totally normal around here. The Lee U Bubble--what can I say? (Bonus: I had two friends post Facebook statuses asking for "praise reports," and actually get serious responses. Only at Lee.)*
I selected my classes yesterday...sort of. I've been doing a lot of class-switching, which is super frustrating. Looks like I'm going to end up with Searcy again, just so I can free up a time for the new section Ortega might be opening. Ortega is so worth it, but I still don't really want to go until 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Oh well. Let's hope she actually does open up another section and that I didn't give up my better time slot for no reason.
A rather vague reference to my life: I was talking to God a couple of days ago, and this is what He told me:
"None of this is by accident. Everything that has happened has worked out exactly how it was supposed to, from beginning to end. I didn't warn you at the beginning because it was all supposed to happen. You are right where you're supposed to be."
Kinda comforting, and maybe even a little freeing. I still may not like it, but I feel more at peace with my life now. New perspective--check!
P.S. I really, really like The Weepies. Their music makes for a great rainy day/chill soundtrack. Some of my personal faves: "The World Spins Madly On," "All Good Things," and "Gotta Have You."
*Clarification: I have nothing at all against telling people about the cool things God is doing in my life, nor do I necessarily disagree with sidewalk girl (though I would never in a million years use that wording). It's just the fact that it's normal is really amusing to me.
Sometimes, I get a little obsessive about a certain song (and/or band), and I'll put it on repeat for hours on end, just because I can't stop listening. It's happened with "Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin, "Unsaid" by The Fray, "Come On, Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson (though I can't let myself listen to that one anymore, for various reasons...which sometimes makes me sad, because I do love that song), and who knows how many others. Well, my current obsession is "The Saltwater Room" by Owl City.
Oh my gosh. So good.
Fortunately, my roommate loves it, too, so she doesn't mind my listening habits too much. But for real--that guy is awesome. I'm not usually one to listen to electronica-type stuff that much, but dang. I can't stop listening to them (or him. Whatever. It's technically a solo project, but it sounds weird to refer to it as a singular thing). The girl's voice makes the song even better, and I love guy/girl harmony in general. Also, I think the lyrics are pretty wonderful.
"When did I arrive?
