PARCELS.

tonight has been grand.

nothing happened; it was true bliss. after leaving my room at 7:30 this morning, i finally was able to come home by 6:30ish. this week is the week of tests; i had a ten page paper that was due this morning for my Classics in Western Political Philosophies class (it may just be the hardest paper i have ever written), a test this morning, a test wednesday morning, and one on friday. like i said, it is the week of tests, but that also means not too much homework. so many things happened today that confirmed that i am doing what i am supposed to be doing and that is always a welcome feeling. after much thought, i have decided to drop the education part of my degree; i have spent time talking to my much admired professor, diana, about it as well as one of my new favorite profs, the distinguished intellectual, gordon william carlson, who is retiring this spring after 40 years of teaching at bethel. he's quite the fellow. i decided that i am passionate about history; i have been since i was a little girl, and so i have decided to pursue only history and a political science minor since i am already half ways there...and maybe one day go to grad school. yikes. i also realized that i am not passionate about teaching per se, but i do love helping people/talking about history and hearing/telling stories. so what am i going to do, you ask? i'm going to work at a museum...my dream since i was at least an eighth grader and maybe even earlier. i have had wonderful teachers that have believed in me from the start and they have talked to me about this with complete faith in me to make something amazing.

today, as i walked into g.w.'s office, he looked up at me (let me remind you that i have only met him four weeks ago and he and i are just becoming friends)(also, we get along g.w. and i. i am an old soul and he is an old man)and said, "well, how is my brilliant scholar doing today?" i think he likes me because i'll always sit and listen to him talk after class as everyone else rushes out. this man dearly loves to hear himself speak and i dearly love to listen. :) anyways, i also met with a career counselor this afternoon. i made an appointment after one of my roommates boasted of the great staff that helped her figure out all her major stuff. i took a personality test and guess what the top two jobs were? it was too perfect, my results came back that people with my similar results were either a curator or an archivist. so, that's what i am going to do.

i have decided that one of the first big purchases that i will buy is going to be camping stuff. two of my friends and i have this plan to just jump in a car one weekend and drive north, pitch a tent somewhere, hike and explore, and just sit by a fire, drinking warm things and reading lovely scribblings. yep, we are going to do it. this weekend, for funsies, two of my roommates and i went and hung out at r.e.i. Bad decision. i left with a backpack that is also like a nice daypack for hiking and other sweet things. it's so cool, so now i want to go hiking even more than ever. oh, the reigns of college that hold me back! not really, but it would be nice to just be able to leave. not that i think that i will be able to do that when i am a "real" adult however. :) i think that's it for tonight. must.do.work.

now that i have four less credits, i will try to actually post more.

good night.

oh, also here is a picture for annie flaunting my new necklace that came in the sweetest little parcel today.

Hodge Podge.

This post will most likely be a jumble of things that have been going through my head since i last wrote. Sometimes when i take a break from posting it is hard to get back to it because i feel like i have to catch people up on why i haven't been posting, so here it goes!

i have decided i am a full blown 90's kid. That's right. i didn't want to jump on the band wagon (like usual), but there is no getting away from it. Every time i see a blog or someone posts something like "if you remember this, you were a true 90's kid..." There were many things that i had forgotten, but the minute you see them, you think, "ah, those were the good times." Movies from the 90's will always be my favorites. For real. During this past weekend i watched the beginning, and only the beginning, of Hope Floats. Made in 1998 and in my opinion, one of Sandra Bullocks best. Whenever i watch it, i think to myself what great clothes she wears in that movie. You couldn't wear them now, but boy, they were so cool then. Another thing i did this weekend was listen to Dixie Chicks. Yep, i will admit that i have a secret fondness for the Dixie Chicks. Don't laugh...they are still the only country band that this girl will endorse wholeheartedly.

What brought on this nostalgia was a movie that a couple of my roommates and i went to great strengths to find last Friday. Never have i knocked on complete strangers' doors to ask for a particular movie...and most of the time i was left looking like a complete dork while the others ran from embarrassment. After the sixth door or so, we found the movie Waitress. It was alright, but the main point of the movie was that this woman was trying to leave her abusive husband and his name was...Earl. The entire movie i was waiting for "and Earl had to die, na na na na naa naa naa..." Much to my dismay, it never did make an appearance. Oh well, we just listened to it the minute the movie ended at top volume and all was well with the world. i hope that i haven't lost all your respect in the world. :)

Classes started and the marathon of the 18 credits has begun. i think it will be okay...as long as i have spark notes. i feel like i am cheating. Even though i am using spark notes for my, ahem, Classics in Western Political Philosophy (stated in your most dignified voice, of course), it is still in the running for my favorite class. The class itself sounds sort of uppity and to be perfectly honest, there is no way to shorten the title. Real annoying. So when i am talking to my roommate about my homework, it usually comes out, "...and i have 164 pages of (insert voice here) Classics and Western Political Philosophy to read by Monday, respectably." Anyways, on to something a tad bit more interesting.

Oh, this is exciting. My sister and her family are all here for the next week and a half, which has already been lovely. Sisters are really great, ya know? i was once told that i speak a lot about my family. i pondered that. It's true, i do. That is only because my family will always be there and so i trust them more than anyone else in the world. i think i had written previously that i am not the type of person that needs a lot of friends; i just need a few really close friends. Well, for me, that is much of my family...and then friends that i consider family because i know they will be there for the rest of my life. Lifelong friends that you can count on is one of the most precious blessings in life. i am blessed.

Within the past few months i have really resonated with the Doxology. When i was growing up, we always sang that song in church before giving the offering. The words are so powerful and it is just short and sweet.

praise God from whom all blessings flow.

praise Him, all creatures here below.

praise Him above, ye heavenly host.

praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Sorry this ended up so long, but i thought we needed to end on that note. :) Have a lovely Tuesday...or whatever day you read this.

Camp.

Not really sure how these two things correlated, but today at church, i was looking at the stained glass widows. It had been a gray, dreary morning (the best) and the effect it had on the windows was phenomenal. Along with the music we were singing and it was pure bliss. The strange part, i had the biggest desire to be at camp and i have been thinking about how wonderful it will be all day long. Oh, summer, go on and hurry up your arrival, please.

Mornings and School.

i just love early mornings. When i am the only one up and i can smell the coffee brewing, it just makes me so happy and content. My roommates get up shortly after i do for their 8:00 class, but i just need a few minutes by myself. This morning was exceptionally great. i was ready to head out to the high school class i have been observing, and had some time to just sit, read, and drink my coffee while watching the snow coming down outside. It is so much cozier when it is still dark out and the lamps are on; it makes you feel so content to sit in a warm living room while watching the snow come down. That is also why i love nighttime as well; that feeling of being home where it is oh so warm and cozy is the best feeling in the world for me.

With only three days left in my junior world studies class, i have decided that i have really enjoyed it. At first, i was scared that they would seem like they were my age and that i would not be adequate enough to be teaching in a high school classroom setting, but it has been surprising. They actually seem really young. i mean, really young and i have never had a hard time answering their questions. i have been shocked at how much detail i can remember certain events, so that has been a big relief for me.

Highlight of today: The students have been taking semester tests and they were not in my classroom at all today. The teacher and i were just correcting tests and he had been looking for a video to show to his senior class next semester. Well, he came across a video that was made by a student that used to cheat and the purpose of the video was to tell kids not to cheat, but he actually told how he used to do it, so i am not sure if it is actually the most effective video, but it was so funny. My cooperating teacher and i actually watched it twice and completely cracked up both times. It was phenomenal. Maybe it was funnier in the context of my classroom makeup, regardless, it was stinkin’ funny.

Have a Listen.

Confusing.

I'm feelin' this lately. This interim i will start my introduction to education classes and am sort of nervous that i will find out that teaching is not for me, which would result in utter loss of what to do with my life. The more i think about my idea of a book/coffee/antique store, the harder it is to get it out of my head. That store is my dream job. Who knows, maybe it will happen someday.

Sweet Louise.

I went with Brookie yesterday to run some errands and to just hangout and she introduced me to this band that opened for Blitzen Trapper and Dawes. They are fantastic. Seriously, I can't stop listening to them. If you need some car dancin' music, here you go! Here is just the first song from the album, but they are all simply, darling. Have a listen...