Happiness is...

- Increasing the font of a paper, double spacing it, and changing the font, all to realize that you are only one page away from finished.

- Lunch with a dear old buddy and dinner with a precious friend, 2 of the most positive and uplifting people I know.

- Looking forward to something a year away, 6 months away, 2 months away, 1 week away, and 1 day away, all at the same time.

- Being overwhelmed with life's blessings, and thus overflowing with smiles.

- 3 day weekends, even if there is a little work involved.

- Having a song stuck in your head when you don't know its title and artist, and later finding the title and artist after an extensive hunt (it was "Corner" by Allie Moss, by the way).

- Thinking of where I was a year ago and praising God for the epic growth that has happened since then. I never could have guessed that I would be where I am now, spiritually and relationally.

- Pictures of babies. You know it's true. Pictures of babies make everyone happy.

Convicted.

Going to India to serve God.

Don't know when or how or with what, but it's happening.

I feel like I forgot all that and hinged my following God on things like graduation or financial security or parental blessing. These things are all great and beautiful, but they don't come before serving God.

I was going to say something like "I don't know when my priorities got out of order" but the truth is, I don't know that they've ever been as fully in order as they are right now inside my terrified heart.

I don't know what I'm doing. But by the grace of God, I'm going to do it.

He has bigger hands than I do--I should let Him hold onto things from now on.

I feel so legit.

I just sent in an order for mugs.

Like, ceramic coffee mugs and travel mugs.

I'm a grownup.

The travel mugs have this kickin image on them:

















copyright Tracy Bristol

Just try to tell me you don't want to buy one.

Also, I've begun a knitting project from this set of instructional cards:




















I'm making a scarf (don't hate on the easy sounding project--this pattern is going to be crazy) in the "Margarita" style pattern. If it looks lovely when I'm done, I'll put up a picture. If not, I will hide it in shame and the scarf will never be mentioned again.

Happy Belated Anniversary!

We've been together for 1 month (and 1 day).

Well. This blog and I have been together for 1 month and 1 day. You who are reading this? You're at least a week behind.

Paper due tomorrow. Summer school paper.

*hangs head*

Thought we were done with those for a while. False.

In other news, Trinity Shakes is coming along great! I nearly forgot about class tomorrow because of it! I don't understand... My whole life I've been really good at navigating school, personal life, and other important stuff. Not this summer. I keep forgetting that I have one of the 3 going on. And usually it's the first one. Which is odd considering the fact that I have class every day for at least 2 hours. How could I forget to plan for Dr. Walsh's class?? I haven't forgotten to go to class, but I've often wondered why I'm going to bed early, or why I have Microsoft Word open, or why I can't go have lunch with the beau on a Monday morning--OH! IT'S BECAUSE I HAVE CLASS! Weird.

Following the Sartorialist's blog

Have you ever heard of the Sartorialist?



He captures mad style in the different cities that he visits.



Unique colors, shapes, styles, patterns, combos...



In other news, have I ever told you how much I want to have a child with red hair?

Ah... :)

I'm exactly where I need to be--where I was created to function at my best. My planner is my right hand man/object, and my job is to schedule, plan, organize, coordinate, email, etc... Some people read that and feel ill. Not I! I see a list of "things to do" and I get giddy excited about checking things off that list. Step one, email everyone. Step 2, create a spreadsheet. Step 3, deliver the fruits of my efforts to those that I am working to serve.

Seriously.

This is my happy place.

And while you're at it, check out the website for the festival!
http://www.trinityshakes.org

Blessings :)

Things that I DON'T have to do:

The semester is done. Yes, there is some summer school coming up, and a job that started, oh, yesterday, but these are things that I WANT to be doing. I'm brilliantly STOKED about those things in my summer.

But the things that I just left behind... Ah...

Things that I don't have to do for a long time:

1. Write papers. Zero paper writing on the horizon. Done.
2. Take exams. No exams. Bye bye scantrons and hand cramps!
3. Read books that make me want to rip out the pages after I've read them.
4. Research... Anything... (Unless I want to :D)
5. Take 17 hours of classes, mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Nope. That schedule is DONE, BABY!
6. Feel guilty about watching movies or *gasp* reading!!
7. Spend quality time with 4am (ahhhh... I am so excited about a new sleep schedule)
8. Put off cleaning my bathroom... Eeee...

Thanks for muscling through it with me!

4 AM

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/rives_on_4_a_m.html

This link makes the fact that I'm writing a paper--the last paper of the semester--feel incredibly epic.

I'm so close!!!

God's preserving me--no seriously. I am AMAZED that I am still cognitively functioning right now. I love it.

I have a couple of joyous exclamations to share with you!

1. I survived 2 finals back to back with only a moderate amount of stress. Praise God.

2. I got my Trinity Trails research paper back and there were some pretty darn complimentary notes on that sucker. Proud of that.

3. That paper that's due Thursday by 3? Now it's due Friday by 8. Cue happy dance music.

4. I got a nap. Such beautiful, blessed things... I love sleep so so much.

5. I am about to take a bubble bath.

Please excuse me while I indulge myself unnecessarily and prematurely. I'll get to that paper sometime tonight...

Salmon

Dude.

I just ate the best salmon I think I've ever had.

I love salmon. In all it's many shapes and forms. This statement is a big deal.

I adjusted the recipe to be just for me (in related news, my gentleman caller is coming back THIS WEEK and I'm brilliantly excited), so mine didn't quite look like this [ahem--it looked better, but I ate it quickly so my camera missed it], but here is the salmon with sesame ginger glaze recipe:



•¼ c packed brown sugar
•2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
•1 Tbsp grated fresh or 1 tsp ground ginger (don't skimp here. This stuff is gold)
•1 Tbsp sesame seeds
•4 6-oz wild Pacific salmon fillets, about 1" thick, skinned
•½ tsp salt
•½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Coat rack of baking sheet with cooking spray. Preheat broiler.
2. In small bowl, combine sugar, mustard, sesame seeds and ginger. Season both sides of fillets with salt and pepper. Place salmon on broiler rack and brush glaze on top. Broil (6" from heat) 8 to 10 minutes or until fish is lightly browned.

Fun fact, parchment paper does not like the broiling thing. Don't try it. Just trust me. Also, why do they say 6-oz salmon fillets? Half a pound is 8 oz. Why would they mess with me like that? Is 6 oz of salmon a serving and I've been a 2-oz-over fatty for all this time? Not that I'm exactly a stickler for servings *cough cough* chocolate *cough*. I just like recipes to make good sense.

When I get the hiccups, I have them for a day. Sometimes for multiple days. I'm not necessarily hiccupping all day long, but they come and go for at least one day, usually more. So I woke up this morning with a hiccupping fit and they've been gracing my presence all day.

AND I have 2 finals tomorrow. Oh dear sweet Jesus....

Studying in the school bookstore

They've got some atmosphere music playing.

"Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka.

Let that just sink in and get good and stuck in your head.

In other news, a storm's a'brewin'. The swaying light pole outside the window and the shifting and squeaking of the building is making me a tad nervous. Are electric lines supposed to swing around like jumpropes in the wind? No?...

Makes me think of the first part of The Wizard of Oz. You know, the part that's not in Technicolor. "It's a twister! Auntie Em! Auntie Em!"

That may be my celebratory "finals is over" movie. I love Judy Garland so very much.

Mhm it's officially finals week

Mildly freakin out over here, folks. Many of you will roll your eyes at this ridiculousness. I'm aware of this. However, in the nerdy-world, this is business time.

This is the part of the week where I have a minor meltdown and my procrastination hangs it's sorry head in utter shame.

SHAME, I TELL YOU!

Procrastination can be fun---EXCEPT---why would you put off what's going to hang like a heavy grey cloud over your head for the next x amount of time? It puts a jolly damper on you and your fun! But did I listen to this advice? No... So here I am at finals week, staring at what I haven't done yet.

Facebook? I shun you. I block you [again]. Google reader? I'll be back, but it'll be a while. Blog? I may need you as an outlet this week. You are spared.

Ok. Nutrition tomorrow (it's a cumulative whopper), Ethnography on Tuesday (let's discuss how Cole hasn't finished the reading for that one) and Aging Social Policy on Tuesday (let's talk about how Cole hasn't even made a dent in that reading material...), and a paper for Evangelicalism on Thursday (currently that paper is a page of typed notes and about 20 pages of research that has to magically become a paper in, oh, my spare time).

Current GPA: 3.86
Possible GPA after this finals week: 3.45

That's going from magna cum laude to zilch, folks. That's "what a sweet little scholarship I have" to ZILCH, folks.

THAT'S ONLY 3 B'S, FOLKS! I also realize that it is possible for me to get A's in those classes. But that looks like it would be a holy miracle as I face it all now.

I'm gonna go study and stuff. Thank you for letting me stress at you.



***edit***

Don't try to do math when you're stressed. Scratch that potential .41 drop in my GPA with 3 B's. That's a big burly [comforting] mathmatical mistake. That kind of a drop would mean that I made D's in ~3 classes. I do liberal and performing arts--not math and science.

Provocative question time!

"If you could ask God one question, what would it be?"

Depends on my situation. If I am in heaven, not to return to earth, I'd ask Him to explain His divine purpose behind major natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc). I know there are reasons, but I don't see them. As far as human-induced tragedies (holocaust, genocide, wars, oppression, etc), I don't see and understand their purpose, but I see the root of the problem as being caused by the evil in men and women, rather than being something caused by a divine hand. Darkness is the absence of light, and evil is the absence or rejection of God by man.

However, if I'm just asking God a question and returning about my daily business here on earth, I have a whole LIST of questions, but number one would be, essentially, "Who do I need to talk to about You?" This boils down to a basic theological question. If a boy who lives in the heart of China dies, and he has never heard about Christ, but he would have accepted Him had he had the chance to know about Him, does the boy go to heaven? If so, the sense of urgency that Christians feel to reach that child is kinda pointless, and if not, there are a lot of folks going to hell simply because of where they were born. I have a difficult time believeing that God would reject someone in heaven if they didn't know about heaven to begin with. That's not fair, and my God is a just God. Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." But little boy in China would have gone through Jesus, he just didn't have the opportunity! So is he going to go to hell because a missionary didn't get to him in time? That sure does sound really hinged on the presence of a missionary, but it's not "no one comes to the Father except through a missionary." It's Jesus. But then is "go and make disciples of all the nations" unnecessary? Because that sounds really wrong.

Different theological groups have differing opinions on the matter, and I'm not trying to start anything fierce. Just voicing a confusion. Someday God and I will get the chance to have a sit down chitchat, probably over a cup of perfect tea, and we'll discuss such things. In the meantime, what are YOUR thoughts?