New Favorite

I've discovered a new album I love. Mark Burchfield, Peaceful Easy Feeling. It's really cool. Take a listen.



Leah

I have writer's block.

So this blog is kind of lame. But hey, I've blogged two days in a row, so that counts for something, right? I'm currently sitting in the snack shop on campus, watching Auburn lose badly to South Carolina. Hooray. In other news, I babysat my two hilarious cousins this morning, Gus, and Lainey. And they. Are. CUTE. We had a lovely time playing in the yard and drawing on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. And then we went inside and watched Lady and the Tramp II, and while they did that I attempted to stomach more of my lousy textbook for music ed. Oh my word that book is boring. And confusing. So after that I made the kids lunch and then my aunt got back from work. I left and went back to campus, where I've been studying/doing homework since 1:00. Yes, it's after 9. I did stop for 45 minutes to eat dinner. And the worst part is I still have to do more junk tomorrow. GAG ME. I have to research the medieval church's sequence. As in the musical sequence. Because I'm doing a 15-minute presentation on it in class a week from Tuesday. And my classmates have no concept of returning books so other people can use them, so I do everything WAY in advance for that class. It's good times. And I've been studying like crazy for my Bible test on Monday, because the teacher told us that the average for the first test is around 83 and I am NOT getting an 83. Not happening. It's not rocket science.

And the first Artist Series is on Tuesday. I don't have a date but that's cool, dating is awkward anyway. I suppose I'll have to get over that feeling at some point, huh. And Taylor Lautner boy knows who I am now. I reintroduced myself to him one time when we were in the food line at the same time. Yay. Nothing like rice and beans to bring people together.
Ok. Enough randomness for one night. I'm going to sleep so I will have energy to do yet more homework and studying tomorrow. Isn't my life exciting?



Leah

Just in case you haven't felt awkward today . . .

 . . . let me help you out.

He doesn't even have sugar in his tank! Crazy! 

Anyway that's Brandon. He's . . . interesting. Ha. No he's fun. He says things like "WOMEN." And "FEMALES." a lot. 

Well. 

MEN. Haha!

Leah

Warning: Woman with Security Issues (wait . . . that's all of us)

I'm reading a book called "Be Confident in your Creation," by Nathan D. Thomas. It's basically about how we should be confident in our lives and who we are because that's when God can use us the best. I'm really enjoying it and I feel like I've learned a lot.

 

The subtitle of the book is "Rejoice in Who You Are." Now, I freely admit that I've always had trouble with that. I've always seen myself as too skinny, too tall, too nerdy, too outspoken . . . you name it. I mean, my sisters were the pretty girls, Abbie always makes people laugh, and people gravitate to her. Especially kids. Deborah is everyone's helper; the dependable one who always gives good advice. I'm just the musician. Great. That's helpful. Super spiritual there. But all through this book he's talking about rejoicing in who you are, and it's been a real challenge to me. At the end, he says at one point, "You are who you are and that is exactly what God wants you to be." When I read that it was like God took me by the shoulders and shook me awake. My first thought was, "Really?" And just as clearly as if he said it out loud, he answered me, "REALLY!"  But all my life I've heard people say things like, "God loves you too much to leave you the way you are," and somehow that translated in my mind as, "God doesn't like me the way I am, so he's going to change me until I'm good enough." I know that sounds stupid but that's really the way I've subconsciously thought all this time. No wonder my self-esteem sucks. So I pretend that I never have days where I feel completely insecure about basically everything, and people think I'm super confident. Add that to my list of screw-ups. But he's saying that God wants me to be me. Not the fake-confident me, but the real me. Obviously I should choose not to sin. That'd be great. But even when I screw up (which is often) he still likes me. He likes me.

 

Even after reading that and thinking about it, it's hard to believe it. I mean, GOD, as in perfectly holy and righteous and true and all that, is really ok with me, the girl who has world-class PMS, attitude problems, and sometimes acts like a really pathetic excuse for a Christian? He likes me?  He wants me to be me? It sounds kind of too good to be true. Like yeah right, God. Funny. But there's a part of me that thinks it is true. I mean, he did make me like this. It's not like he ever screws up.

So I'm still sort of processing it and thinking about it. I'll let you know if I decide anything:)

Leah

A day in pictures

My day started by going to have the geeks look at my computer because the CD drive thingie wasn't working right. But naturally, it was fine once we were there. *eyeroll*

Deb sent me a picture of Jonathan. He's so darn cute! I love this kid!

We learned that people at the local ice cream place don't discriminate based on spelling abilities (or lack thereof).

And there was a beautiful sunset.

The end.

Leah

A Visit from Daddy and Aesthetic Experience.

My daddy's here! I haven't seen him since June so it is super exciting. And he brought me presents too! An iron, three formal dresses I was having altered back home, another blanket, and My Mother's Pumpkin Bread. Ok if you've never had it, you're deprived. If you want the recipe just ask me and I'll post it. It's amazing. So anyway I'm super excited because 1. I get to see my dad, 2. he's fixing my car, 3. Now I have something to wear to Artist Series in a week and a half, 4. PUMPKIN BREAD.

So that's that.

In other news, I'm reading a book by an idiot for my music ed class. This guy says he's going to show the great awesome value of music, and then he says that music is primarily valuable because it's a human activity.

Well thanks, Captain Obvious.

DUH. Ya THINK it's a human activity? What a moron. So he spends three chapters bashing aesthetic experience (which I agree with 75% of the time, not all the time) and then contrasts that with a stupid idea. If music is just an activity, why is it any more valuable than, say, brushing your teeth? That's a human activity. And how is dumbing music down like that supposed to help advocate it in schools? *eyeroll*

Loser.

Anyway I'm done for the night. I'm going to go eat some chips and salsa in honor of my little brother and then go to bed. Hurray for adequate sleep!



Leah

Thursday life update.

It's THURSDAY and I haven't blogged??? What IS this??? I mean, how will people survive without hearing about my life???

Ha.

Ok I'm done now.

Here's your daily dose of drivel.

1. I'm sick of spelling templates at work.

2. I love my Bible teacher, even if he is slightly ignorant about Bible history.

3. My co-worker Brian is the funniest person ever.

4. I still can't figure out why my pictures from Hong Kong won't upload. I'm getting a chip reader.

5. I'm the Lyric Choir VP! Go team!

6. My Uncle J is the greatest. He's a chiropractor and adjusts me. For free. I love it. I feel so much better than I have in a long time. Years, I think. I need to live near him my whole life, I decided.

7. The textbook for my medieval music class is AW. FUL. So bad it's beyond being described. Hard to understand (nigh impossible) and so freaking boring it's incredible. How music that interesting can be described in such boring and yet such hard-to-understand ways is beyond me.

8. My music ed professor is crazy. But he makes class a blast.

9. I miss my Hong Kong kids. They're my babies:( And I'd really just like to get them all together and hug them all one more time.

10. 8 hours of sleep does wonders for my energy level. I found that out when I tried it on Tuesday. It was pretty sweet. Try it and let me know what you think.



Leah

My new favorite!

Yesterday something really amazing happened.

Are you ready for this?

I found a Panera gift card in my purse with $10(!!!!!!!) on it!!!!! That is so exciting!!! So naturally, I ditched campus food and went to Panera for breakfast. I had a cinnamon crunch bagel, toasted and with butter. MmmMMM. And I also had this:

   That's a mango smoothie, kids. And it's amazing. Delish. It's my new favorite. I'm a big fan of anything mango flavored anyhow, but this really is exceptional. Go try it. Tell me what you think.

Yesterday I was a good little girl. I got so much darn homework done it was crazy. I did some of it at the local Firestone, while they were trying to figure out why my car gets 230 miles to a tank of gas all of a sudden instead of the 370 it used to get. And they found nothing. LAME. After that, I popped in the mall for my favorite makeup:

   Bare Minerals is not paying me to say this. But their makeup is everything they claim it is. It's amazing, doesn't make you look "painted," and is all around awesome. I highly recommend it. You should go in and let them match your skin tone though so you get the right shade. They're seriously experts about this stuff.

 So after that I went to Starbucks with friends Hope and Joy, and we all got coffee and sat there doing homework and mooching internet. It was pretty sweet. So my goal today is to be as productive as yesterday. 

Hey! Don't laugh! It could happen!

Leah

A play, a pirate, and Taylor Lautner.

Not in that order.


Yesterday night I decided to go to a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on campus. I heard the players had done a good job with it and this was their last performance, so I decided to go. I'm a fan of Shakespeare anyway. It's so twisted and cool. So Hope and Joy and I went together, and while we were standing in line, Hope grabbed my arm all of sudden and squeaked out, "RIGHT THERE." and pointed. I looked where she was pointing and all I saw was this old guy walking toward us. "What's right there?" "RIGHT THERE!" She said again. "WHAT'S RIGHT TH-" "PATCH THE PIRATE."

And at this point I almost passed out.

See, Patch the Pirate is basically my childhood hero, more or less. His real name is Ron Hamilton, and he lives and works around my university. He writes and records stories for kids, all based on this made-up character named Patch the Pirate. He had cancer in his eye in his 30s, so the doctors had to take his eye out. They gave him a cool patch to wear over the missing eye, so the kids at his church started calling him Patch. Anyway so I've listened to those stories on cassette (am I old or what?) and CD since I was 4 and he's basically my hero. And I was hoping I'd get to meet him while I'm here but I didn't have my hopes up or anything.

Back to the standing in line.

I waited for about two seconds and then I told Hope and Joy, "I'm going to go talk to him." So I did. I walked right up to him (he's shorter than I thought) and said, "Are you Ron Hamilton?" And he laughed and said, "Well yes, yes I am!" I almost passed out again. The only thing I could think was "Oh my gosh my sisters are never going to believe this!" But I said, "Oh wow! I've been listening to Patch the Pirate since I was four, I think. I've always wished I could meet you!" He laughed again and held out his hand. "Well," he said, "I'm Patch the Pirate. What's your name?" "I'm Leah." "Nice to meet you Leah." "Nice to meet you too!" Then he said, "If you remember some of my sailors, I'm here with Princess. (Princess is his daughter Megan) I've got to go find her. Bye!"

At which point I went back to my friends and said about 20 times, "I can't believe I just met Patch the Pirate."

*big breath*

Most exciting thing at school, by far.

Here's a picture (a really lousy one), in case you live under a rock and don't know who Patch the Pirate is.

Other than that yesterday I went to class and work, and the choir picnic. The picnic was TONS of fun. We played a bunch of games, ate awesome barbecue, and sang (because we're in choir and that's how we roll). And when we sat down to dinner I ended up with a couple people from Chorale, one of whom was Miah. WOW. Best looking man I've ever met IN. MY. LIFE. He looks like Taylor Lautner only way hotter. I almost died right. there. Have you ever met someone who's so good looking it's hard to talk to them? Well that's how this guy was. Except he was really nice and totally normal. Shocking, I know. He's a grad student too (2 points), majoring in Organizational Communication (I have no idea what that means), and he's in his first year, like me (2 more points).

Did I say this kid was really good looking?

Well he was.

Really really.


Ok I'm done now.

Maybe.




Leah

The Great Moody Beta.

Commodore is moody.

I think he's PMSing.

He is MY fish, after all. He won't eat, he doesn't even want to swim. Poor 'lil guy just sits there most of the time.

Actually, he's building a bubble-nest. I don't know if that's the technical term or not, but it means he's looking for Mrs. Commodore and he's making the bubble nest to put the eggs in.

Sorry buddy. You'll be waiting a lifetime. No beta babies for me.

Wanna see?

That's him, sulking moodily underneath the bubble nest.

Here's a close-up. In case you're super excited about my depressed fish.

See? Toldja I'm exciting.

HA.




Leah

Meaningless drivel for your reading pleasure.

Well I'm just so darn exciting, huh.




Ha! I can't even say that with a straight face!

So here's what happened today. In the super-non-exciting life of Leah.

I woke up and found about 50 ants all over my sink. Since facilities management was just in here three days ago, I was just a LITTLE not happy about that. So I called them again and smashed every one of the buggers and then washed them down the sink.

Dang bugs.


I went to work, class, work, lunch, class, violin lesson (before which I cried because I was so darned stressed out and sick of bugs all over my room), work, grab n' go dinner, off to Uncle Jared's (chiropractor) to get adjusted, and back to my room.

Where I'm sitting now, blogging about my super-non-exciting life.

And putting off homework.

And munching an apple.

Like I said. Super-non-exciting.

Oh I forgot! My friend Britt saw me in the Fine Arts Building today when I was having my stress-bugs-cryfest, and gave me a big hug and came over to my room when I got back from Uncle Jared's just to talk and catch up. I haven't seen her since April, so it was really nice. Plus she's like the sweetest person ever and she makes me feel better. It's almost like having a sister here. Almost.

In other news, I'm taking my car to get worked on this Saturday. It has really bad gas mileage all of a sudden, and doesn't want to go over 45mph, and I'm pretty sure the two front tires are leaking.

ilovebeinganadultilovebeinganadultilovebeinganadultilovebeinganadult...


I'll just keep saying that till I forget how much this is going to cost. K?

On the real upside, I have my window open, it's about 70 degrees outside, not humid, and I can hear the cicadas talking in the tree outside my window. It makes me happy. :)

Now I'm going to stop procrastinating and do theology homework. Joy.


Leah

In a handy list format.

1. I'd like to slap the person who thought it would be a good idea to have a fire drill for my dorm in the middle of the night. Seriously. The most inconsiderate people in this city work for BJU Public Safety.

2. My classes are amazing and Dr. Turner (music ed) is my favorite.

3. I got a fishie! His name is Commodore Bartholomew:)

He's a beta, in case you can't tell. And he's moody right now because it's his wife-hunting season, apparently, and he's building a bubble nest but there's no Mrs. Commodore, thankfully. No fish babies for me. Anyways.

4. I'm exhausted. Going to bed now.

5. Goodnight.




Leah

LOATHE (except the endorphins)

I hate exercise.

I know. I went to Pilates for like a year with the Mother Ship. And it was lovely, except for the planks, which I hate. Good exercise, but fun because it was in a class, my mom went with me, you know. Girls are social. Deal with it.

But now I'm at school and there's no Pilates class with Mom to go to. LAME. I know I need to exercise, as much as I loathe sweat in general, so I decided I'm just going to make myself do it. Yesterday friend Hope and I dragged our sorry, out-of-shape behinds to the gym and went running/speed walking around the indoor track. Two miles later, I still hated exercise, but the endorphins make me want to do it again.

I'm a glutton for punishment.

Gag.

But I'm going back tonight. Like I said, glutton for punishment. Someday I'll be one of those cool athletic girls that runs twelve miles before breaking a sweat with her iPod blaring the whole time.
Right now I'm not that girl. But I'm working on it.

Off to the gym!



Leah

Streaming consciousness on school.

Well my Bible class is 600 million tons of work. But. The first quiz went quite well. I only got one wrong! And I think my Medieval Music class is going to be AWESOME. The teacher thinks a lot like me, honestly. And we get to sing Medieval music! For class credit! My music ed class is also going to be trainloads of work, but this IS a graduate degree, so what was I expecting? I'm not really sure. Anyway. I was a little disappointed by being put in Lyric Choir, because the quality of the ensemble is just plain lower than what I can do. But. I think maybe if I do my token semester there and really work hard and rock the audition next time I might get moved up. Hey, at least I'm not in freshman choir. And my choir teacher is AWESOME! SO nice but he doesn't let us get away with stupid mistakes (any mistakes, actually) which I'm very happy about. The choir in general needs a kick in the behind about diction, but I think he'll get us in line. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things and focus on vocal technique again.
And violin lessons! They have me down for a 25-minute lesson! What is THAT garbage?? i can't even legitimately warm up in 25 minutes! I'm going to talk to the teacher and see if I can get a longer lesson. I mean seriously. What a waste of time. LAME.
In other news, I actually like Wednesday night church services at my church here. It's a new experience for me, and I rather like it.

That's all for now kids!


Leah