First purchase.

I made my first Lenten purchase yesterday.  Things I needed for school: index cards, binder clips, and paperclips.  I came here to make a confession.  It wasn't a rule, but I kind of felt like I needed to buy the most basic supplies.  I didn't.  I got shiny colored binder clips.  They made me happy, as my entire life seems to be color-coded by class and topic. 

So there you have it, friends.  I also bought skittles and lollipops (excellent tongue depressors!) for treatment and have now eaten some myself.  Oops. 

Now I have to get to work turning all these blank notecards into study aids for my 5 upcoming midterms. Eek.

Marked by ashes.

I thought I would post a prayer particularly relevant for my Ash Wednesday this year:

You are the God who feeds and nourishes. 

You are the God who assures that we have more than enough, 

and we do not doubt that

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Even in such an assurance, however,

we scramble for more food. 

After we have filled all our baskets

with manna,

   we seek a surplus - 

enough education to plan ahead, 

enough power to protect our supply,

enough oil to assure that protection.

And in the midst of that

comes your word,

     that we share bread and feed the hungry,

even to the least and so to you.

We mostly keep our bread for ourselves,

       our neighbors,

       and our friends.

It does not occur to us often,

to feed our enemies,

to share your bounty with

those who threaten us.

We do not often remember to break vicious cycles

   of hostility

by free bread

by free water

by free wine

by free milk.

Until we remember that you are the giver of all good gifts,

     ours to enjoy,

     ours to share.

Stir us by your spirit beyond fearful accumulation

toward outrageous generosity,

   that giving bread to others

makes for peace,

   that giving drink to others

makes for justice,

   that giving and sharing opens the world

and assures abundance for all.

We pray this even as we ponder the gift of your Son

   whom we ingest as bread and wine

and tasting, find ourselves

forgiven and renewed. 

Feed us till we want no more!

- Walter Brueggemann

I'm not able to be physically marked by ashes today, but today we all remember that we are marked by ashes.  We are dust, and to dust we shall return.  I wish you well as we journey in to the beautiful wilderness of the Lenten season.

Yeah. You wish you were me.

No camera with me in the library to show you my super awesome study area, so here's me...making approx. 1,007 notecards for my Adult Neurolinguistic Disorders midterm.

Yeah. That's a crayola marker. I don't even care. 

I know I'm gross-looking...but seriously, you can only look so nice when you haven't slept much and are doing something you loathe. 

Lent starts tomorrow...more to come..

Fat Sunday, and a place I want to be.

This Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent.  So as you probably know, the Tuesday before, Mardis Gras, is a day to indulge a little (or a lot) before beginning the 40 day discipline of fasting and avoidance.  

Tuesdays are no fun for me, since the entire day is spent in classes, so I had a Fat Sunday.  Since I will not be shopping for 40 days, I spent the morning at Target, skinny vanilla latte in hand, wandering around, looking at all the pretty things.  Now, I didn't really buy much, and the things I bought I really did "need", but it was so wonderful.  And an incredible example of what an over-indulged American I am.

But let me show you what I bought.  I've had an organizational problem for a while, when it comes to my school and therapy materials. Problem solved. Exhibit A:

Now this was just the beginning of what I accomplished in my little casita today.  My bedroom has been having an  identity crisis lately. It hasn't really been a place I actually want to be.  Not to mention the fact that in my little one bedroom apartment, it has to serve as an office, craft space, and bedroom.  So let me show you what I've come up with so far.  And I would love further suggestions (although I can't buy anything until Easter...).

My workspace:

My sewing machine and computer are now sharing a space. My computer is rarely here (I prefer to study at the dining room table) so it will mostly be for sewing.  I am very excited about having my sewing machine in a spot where I can sit down and sew without hassles! 

Please notice my corkboard, with some of my favorite things:

SC license plate, President Obama, friends, and this lovely piece of art:

Perhaps the best art on the wall, drawn by a sweet (then) 3-year-old.

There is a giant wall across from my bed that used to have vintage (can you call them that?) Communist propaganda posters from the Vietnam War that I bought while in Vietnam.  Although they are super cool and indulge my inner history nerd, they just weren't making my bedroom the kind of place I wanted to be.  I took them down a couple weeks ago, leaving a blah beige wall in their place. So I threw my silk scarves up on the wall as a temporary solution.

This will probably change at some point.  

Then there's the wall above my bed. More beige blah.  I saw once on either Design Sponge or the Purl Bee the idea of putting fabric in embroidery hoops and hanging them on the wall.  I wasn't sure how cute it would be on MY wall though.  I was at Taylor's house this weekend and saw that she had done it in her craft space and it was indeed super cute.  So I pulled out some scrap fabric and put them in some hoops I had lying around, and Voila! Super fast wall art:

Soooo much better than the beige.  Also, ignore the pillows...I'm waiting to find something I really like. It could take a while.

Now for the living room.  I have another big empty beige blah wall there, too. (See a theme? Beige is really the devil).  I've been trying to get some pictures together to go on the wall, and I started putting some up this weekend.  This is only the beginning, though...I need more frames.  But here's the start:

If you don't see your face up there, either 1) I don't have a frame yet, or 2) I don't have a picture of you and you should send me one.  It's a family and friends wall, and I pretty excited about seeing these lovely faces every day. 

So there you have it, the latest additions to my tiny abode. Now that I've wasted my entire Sunday, I must go plan tomorrow's therapy and study...it might just be a long night in my happy new workspace!

Another year.

Older, that is.

I'm officially 23.  And I have to say, I have some pretty rad friends. 

The difference a day makes.

As I was tidying up my place the other day, I looked down and saw these two piles.  A perfect illustration of how different my Tuesdays and Thursdays are from my Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. 

Left: Assorted textbooks, diagrams of the brain, class notes, flow charts, etc. for the five classes I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Right:  Treatment plans, coloring book, crayons, play-doh, and stickers for therapy and preschool on MWF.  (Not pictured: a whole ton of other shiny bright plastic stuff that keeps kids happy while trying to meet treatment objectives...these are merely the basics that are always in the bag). 

Happy Valentine's!

I've had a lovely day, or as lovely a day as one can have while still studying and working on a research project. 

My day was spent here, doing this:

My day was brightened by my chocolate cupcake, and copious amounts of coffee. (So much my hands started shaking...oops!). 

I love this day, if only because I have an excuse to eat that thing. Yum.

Never fear, I was not alone, my classmate Taylor joined me and was an excellent sounding board for my research ideas, and just a lovely companion for the day.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

It's coming soon...

No, not my birthday, even though it is approaching. And aren't these lovely Valentine's/birthday flowers from my parents?

Yes, yes they are.  And the best ones have yet to bloom.

Anyway, I'm talking about Lent. The season that I really do love and grow so much through, but one that I appreciate the most because of the struggle.  I have been wrestling with what it means to not be owned by consumption and consumer culture, wanting to have less and buy less. For the environment, for my well-being, for people less well-off than myself.  So...this lenten season, I'm not buying any non-necessities. (Necessities being narrowly defined as groceries, things I need for a specific therapy session/class, and used books - not new).  Other than that, no etsy browsing, no impulsive purchases at Target while I'm "just buying groceries", none of it.  I feel weighed down by all the things I don't need, by the time spent shopping, browsing online, wandering through stores looking for something else I just have to have.

Truth is, I have everything I need, and then some.  And since I wasn't sure I could actually do this in the first place, I know that I need to. 

So I have less than two weeks to buy everything I want!  I need to get to it.

Just kidding.  That would defeat the purpose.  But I think I will be getting some knitting needles and yarn so I can at least have a Lenten project.  Nothing wrong with that, right? Right. At least indulge me, please.  

After all, my birthday's still coming.

Oh so good.

You know how sometimes you want to make a recipe, but then modify it so much that it's unrecognizable as the original?  Oh, is that just me? 

Well I did it again with this fella, that Sarah told me was amazing.  What I got was this:

+ this:

which made a tasty this:

Yum. Trust me, whether you make the original, or this hybrid I made with zucchini, onion, broccoli, and vermont white cheddar, it's certainly worth a try.

In other news, I got an assignment back from one of my professors today with a note on it that said "I've never seen green staples before."  Made me laugh.  At least it didn't say "you suck at this, find a new career" which is the comment I'm always afraid of...

But I always staple my papers with green staples.  I'm just cool like that.

Nothin'

That's what I have for you.  I think it's laughable that I thought last semester was difficult and a time crunch. Hahaha.  I spend about 40 hours a week in the Allied Health building, and that doesn't even count studying and reading time. Why did this sound like a good idea a couple of years ago?!

So anyway, I think I will share 10 things that are keeping me sane these days: 

1. Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!  Highlight of my week. Peter Sagal, if you're reading this: Please leave your wife and marry me. 

2. The Gym.

3. Friends who call me just because. I've been sucking at communication lately.

4. Being able to watch full TV episodes online. Since I now miss my shows while at the UCO library, studying. 

5. Coke Zero. Don't judge my un-healthiness.  I already do.

6. Daydreaming about being out of school.

7.  Rachel Maddow. She's freakin' awesome.

8. Carrots with hummus. Yum.

9. Getting to see this lady about once a week.  Seeing someone who is A. a lovely friend and B. has nothing to do with school, is more than wonderful. Although I'm sure she's realized I don't know how to talk about non-school things anymore.  Apologies to everyone who knows me. 

10. Reading TPM during class. And Facebook. And The Pioneer Woman.  And the New York Times.  You try spending 7 hours a day in the same room getting lectured to, and tell me you don't do some web-surfing.  Just sayin'.

What about you?  Any tricks for not going crazy?