Goals for Summer 2010

1. Learn to do my hair. Not merely straighten it. Like be able to bust out a curling iron and walk away NOT looking like a mental patient.

2. Work on articulating myself. I feel like when expressing myself, I tend to say "You know what I mean?" more than I actually SAY what I mean.

3. Spend more time with the fam-bam. Seriously. My family is AWESOME. I need to learn to appreciate them more.

Aw, aren't we such a precious family? Yes, I thought so too.

4. Stop stressing about the future. This one is the most important-and also the most difficult to accomplish. I used to never stress. But this past semester has brought on a whole new level of worry to my life that was never there before. I drive myself absolutely CRAZY worrying about things that are not a big deal at all. I concoct absolutely ridiculous situations that have no possibility of occurring and obsess over them. I need to relax. It's summer, the weather is absolutely gorgeous, and I should have no cares in the world (besides finding a job). The future will take care of itself. I need to learn to live in the present. What happens will happen, and I have no power over it. So why worry? It's summer!

Changes

I'm feeling... weird. I still can barely process it that my freshman year of college is O-V-E-R. Every day I have to remind myself that I am now a big, bad sophomore (and I pronounce it soph-o-more in honor of good old Bowlesie). When I first landed back home in New Mexico, it was all I could do to keep from crying all over again. I missed everything about Lomaland that much. But as I've begun to settle in to life in the 505, summer is looking better and better. Sure, I won't have the beach right outside my door. But I have plenty of pool parties to look forward to! And stargazing in New Mexico beats stargazing pretty much anywhere else in the WORLD. Seriously, people. You can see for miles, and there's little to no light pollution to get in the way. Another crazy thing about this summer is watching my little sister graduate. I feel like it was only a week ago that I graduated, so watching her experience the exact same feelings of excitement, tension, and nervousness that I did is really crazy for me. Basically, I'm learning just how weird day-to-day life is. But I'm also learning to roll with it, and enjoy the ride. Because that's what life is ultimately about, right? I'm convinced that life doesn't get any better than it is in the summertime. So when I found myself dreading summer vacation this year, it really threw me for a loop. But now that I'm here and living in the moment, I'm really starting to enjoy myself. So cheers everyone! I hope you all have an awesome summer!

Everything Is Going To Be Alright

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6nRnuC/www.goldeggs.nl/yes/

Cynthia Jean<->Claudia Jean

Soooo, Tori totally put this pic up on her blog... But the more I look at it, the more I feel like it totally explains my Mom and I. Seriously. The older I get, the more similar we become. This is not always a good thing. But I totally love my Mom. She's pretty much the best ever. And I feel bad that I wasn't there to celebrate one of her special days with her. So Mama, this is for you! I love you to pieces (even if I don't always act like it...) I would be nowhere without my Mom. And she knows it. So she totally deserves this recognition, even if I can be a little grudging about giving it sometimes, haha. Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you, and will see you soon!

Trembling with Fear at the Thought of Fear and Trembling

Basically, I HATE PHILOSOPHY. Nothing against my professor, but it's such a STUPID subject. I leave every class feeling very frustrated and annoyed. So, when we were forced to read Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard, I was resigned to hate it. But a funny thing happened. I didn't hate it. Now, I didn't understand it, either. But there were definitely little snippets of immense wisdom to be found amongst all the mumbo-jumbo that fills most philosophical texts. And I really enjoyed these beautiful little phrases, so I'm sharing them here. Read and ponder.

"No one shall be forgotten who was great in this world; but everyone was great in his own way, and everyone in proportion to the greatness of what he loved. For he who loved himself became great in himself, and he who loved others became great through his devotion, but he who loved God became greater than all.

"But Abraham believed, and therefore he was young; for he who always hopes for the best becomes old, deceived by life, and he who is always prepared for the worst becomes old prematurely; but he who has faith, retains eternal youth."

Eden

On Friday, we saw Phil Wickham and Leeland in concert. It was pretty much AWESOME. There was one song that really stuck out to me, so I felt like sharing it. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGlLL_m4dWQ

The Songs of Summer

Soooo I am massively procrastinating on writing my 12-page autobiography (sad, I know), so I am going to compile a perfect summer playlist. The perfect summer playlist must be able to be played anywhere-the beach, at a pool party, while grilling at a barbecue, etc. And I've been listening to my summer playlist while "working" on my paper, and all it's been doing is filling my head with the thoughts of summertime. So, without further ado, here are the perfect songs of summer.

1. Doin' Time-Sublime

2. Summer Girls-LFO

3. Is This Love-Bob Marley

4. Good Vibrations-The Beach Boys

5. LDN-Lily Allen

6. Control-Mutemath

7. I'm Yours-Jason Mraz

8. Hotel California-The Eagles

9. Daydreamin'-Lupe Fiasco

10. Strawberry Swing-Coldplay

11. Ignition-R. Kelly

12. Check Your Time-Westbound Train

13. Soul Meets Body-Death Cab for Cutie

14. Come On Get Higher-Matt Nathanson

15. I Told You So-Keith Urban

16. Californication-Red Hot Chili Peppers

17. You Make My Dreams-Hall and Oates

18. Some Kind of Nature-Gorillaz

19. Happy as the Sun-Tyrone Wells

20. Blessed-Brett Dennen

Samwise and His Wisdom...

My roommate and I have been watching the Lord of the Rings for the past few days. Apart from drooling over Aragorn (my ideal male... not even joking...), we have been talking about how much we love Samwise Gamgee. Seriously, Sam is pretty much the best character ever. And there's a particular part in The Two Towers (my favorite of the three movies, by the way) that I've always loved. So I felt like sharing it with you all. Enjoy!

"By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why."

'Til the Sun Comes Up

Last night (well, actually, this morning) was probably the most epic night of my college experience. No, I did not go out and get shmammered, as one would expect of an epic college night. Instead I sat in my room with some of my best friends and talked. We talked and talked and a minute passed, and the next thing we knew, it was 5:00 in the morning. We laughed and laughed and 5:00 turned into 7:00. It was honestly one of the best nights ever. I won't disclose on what was said, because as Tori said, what was said in the room, stays in the room. But I will say that close friends became closer, and memories were made. I will miss this so much over the summer. These girls have grown so close to me, and it's going to be SO hard to leave this behind. But I am comforted in knowing that August will come soon enough! In short, tonight/this morning was wonderful. It was just what I needed. And I'm going to miss this so much.