sunday afternoon.

Watching: Amazing Race. so happy it's back on!
Loving: this spread in the March/April edition of the English Home magazine. I'm loving the pink and the floral. And that is now my dream car. :) I think that my girly side is coming out in full force in retaliation to spending two hours in the car three times a week with the brother.

I'm in love with Sunday afternoon. I've also decided that when I grow up I want to work for English Home magazine. It has everything: Europe, pretty pictures, interior design, photography. I could be the photographer...or the graphic designer...or the writer. Dream job! My other dream job (at the moment) would include living in Paris or Amsterdam, designing/photographing book covers, and running a coffee shop on the side- but only maybe about the coffee shop. I don't plan on staying in America for long.

Besides perusing British magazines this afternoon, I looked over my littlest sister while she baked brownies and wrote a letter to (who else?) Bleah. It was so relaxing.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, which should include coffee with Liz and getting the first two Hunger Games books from the library. Needless to say, it should be pretty amazing. Wednesday is the other best day of my week: the Belgium restaurant in Indianapolis, and hopefully Barnes and Nobles.

Anything fun going on this week?

today's randoms.

Hey there: you should enter Libby's giveaway. It's pretty amazing. :) this giveaway too!

Quote love: “My life is a series of changes. A series of hits and misses, ghosts and corpses. I’ve lost a lot and gained what I’ve taken. This time next year I won’t be this girl and more. I create my existence out of change.”

This was going to be a post about my love for Anne of Green Gables, (mainly Gilbert) and a few choice tidbits from my nine year old journal. That post will come, just...not yet, because: I've been working on it for two days. It's time to start fresh.

Well. I have homemade Oreos downstairs waiting to be filled. There is mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer. The choice is killing me.

Last night I packed up all my camera gear, blanket, warm clothes, water bottle, book, flashlight, ect. to go take a photo of star trails. Guess what? I went out there, and it was snowing. Tonight I'm trying again. I'm so excited. I love stars. I can handle an excuse to sit out there for an hour. :)

I'm falling in love with Madeleine L'Engle's books again. I'm working my way through the Young Unicorns. It's the last book in an everlasting series that I didn't even know was a series. She is, overall, such a poet. Her descriptions and her characters are real.

I'm currently loving Five For Fighting. They sing my theme song for the year (which I'll write more about closer to my birthday). The lyrics, his voice, beautiful.

I'll be back with a more coherent post tomorrow and hopefully a photo of some star trails!

Happy weekend!

it's my best day ever too.

Just read this blog post.

And it made me wonder.

Because today was my best day ever. I've been so anti-social lately, and it was amazing to get to hang out with my friends. Because we threw straws and sauce packets at each other, and they stole my wallet. Because Nine Square really is better with only girls. Because my mother doesn't want me hanging out with college students. Because we're reading Edgar Allen Poe and he's my favorite. Because I still have a bracelet my friend made me a year ago. Because I just realized that if I go to my cousin's graduation I get to see my favorite fake cousin. And because I haven't seen her in years and she's way more amazing than I remembered. Because your comments made my day; because I'm breaking the Golden Rule of Blogging and publishing a post without a photo.

And it was my best day of my best year ever.

Guess what tomorrow will be?

(guys, feel totally free to go ahead and use the the I like you idea. doesn't bother me a bit. :)

bumblebee.

Realized: I think I stole this whole "Listening to; quote love" deal from Natalie Lloyd.
Realized: I don't think I ever gave her credit. I feel terrible now. So, without further ado: Natalie Lloyd thought this up. She is brilliant. You can find her amazing blog here: natalielloyd.blogspot.com.

When I got dressed this morning (12:00; the beauty of homeschooling and non-Taylor days) I, um, wasn't thinking. I look like a bumblebee. Personally, I think it's hilarious.

(my torso's not really that long. long cardigan, you know.)

Drawing like crazy. I have a big hand project (I know, I thought we were done) due tomorrow that I'm frantically trying to finish.

Counting down the days till Puerta Rico. It's been too long since I've been out of America. Not sure why, because I was like, just gone all summer. Also not sure if Puerta Rico counts, since it's almost part of America. At least it's different. We saw pictures of the hotel today and it looks like this place:

The money in my Paradise Falls jar is gradually growing. It's mostly spoken for already. So no Paradise Falls for a while. (I know Paradise Falls isn't a real place, buuut there is a real waterfall that the fictional one is based on. I'm going there someday.)

Sigh. I feel restless, done with winter, ready to go somewhere like France or the Middle East or the Netherlands. (Random? Not entirely. I can speak those languages. ha. not really. I can, however, say that I can only speak a little bit of each language in each language. I've practiced many many times.) When I was in this city:

I actually sat at breakfast saying French phrases over.and.over again in my head. They varied from "the small boy ate a large loaf of bread," to "the very fat women have many umbrellas." It's good to be prepared.

Sorry this post is scattered every which way. Have a lovely week! And again, new followers, send me your links, ok? :)

swirly-cloud shadows.

Enjoying: the rain today. It didn't last long, but it was amazing.
Quote love: "Unbeing dead isn't being alive." EE Cummings.

This weekend: swirly-cloud shadows and one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen. Fruit for breakfast and ice cream for lunch and breakfast for dinner. Checking out four children books from the college library. I Am Number Four. Non-typical photos. Reader hair (I will expand on this one). Spring break excitement (more on this one too). "How is your Dutch?" Rip Van Winkle. A new sweater. Wearing a skirt for the first time in who knows how long. Alice in Wonderland. Only one book left. Cold cups of coffee.

Weekends= love.

So my best friend called today wondering if we (sister & I) wanted to go on spring break vacation with her. Yes, of course.  To Puerto Rico. (Did you know that Puerto Rico is like an American colony?) I'm sososo excited. I hope that this trip entails beaches and flip-flops and lots and lots of photogenic moments.

As I mentioned, it's been a very reading-filled weekend. The by-product of this (something that happens often to me) is reader hair. Reader hair happens when a reader (maybe I'm the only one who does this) curls up on a bed, head on pillow, and reads. When the reader is disturbed (say, by a parent with a job for the reader) and she gets up, the side of the head she was lying on is all mussed up. It happens to me all the time, generally when my hair is perfect, so of course I have to go mess it up. I love it. 

And you? How was your weekend?

a little bit of sunshine.

Listening to: Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. Three things you should know about this song, 1) It's my all time favorite Beatles song, excluding Eleanor Rigby; 2) It exactly describes our weather this week 3) and I'm technically not listening to it. It's just playing over and over in my head. 
Quote love: "I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun." Suzanne Collins. (I wouldn't swear on it, cause I can't remember this particular quote from any of the books, but I'm almost positive Katniss said that. It sounds like her.) 

The title says a little bit of sunshine, but really, it's more like a lot. It feels like spring here, people. I'm enjoying it as much as I can, because supposedly it's supposed to be back down to the twenties next week.

For now, this week has been full of sunshine and birds (really, when I go outside I can hear them. it's exciting) and open windows and puddles. I love it.

My week has been weird. My parents returned from Alaska on Tuesday night. While they were gone, we were home alone. Yes, it was one big, nearly-week-long party. :) Ok...maybe not quite.

We modeled at class on Wednesday. It was awkward. Thanks to alphabetical last names, I was second. I should have been first, but thank goodness the professor randomly picked on another kid first. It was an experience I would be totally fine not repeating.

So how has your week been? Frigid or warm like mine? (ps. want to help with a super secret project? you should email me.)

hello. hope you're having a nice day.

Listening to: Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. John Mayer. Whoever you like best. 

Quote love: “so much depends 

upon 

a red wheel 

barrow

glazed with rain

water

besides the white

chickens." (quotes about love are overrated.) (this is my new favorite poem. thank for introducing me, dad.) 

 

Having an amazing Valentine's? I hope so. While you're at it, have some chocolate, listen to a love song or two, and have a relaxing holiday. Happy Valentine's!

the one before valentines.

Listening to: the theme song of Good Luck Charlie. I really don't enjoy Disney shows. 

Quote love: "I see my life in terms of music."

Ivanhoe's: home of 100+ different milkshakes and sundaes. See? Look at that. It's delicious! Maybe if I'm lucky I can convince my brother to take me there tomorrow, since it's Valentine's Day and all. :)

So twice in the last two weeks I've received signed copies of books. I really don't know why I'm telling you this, except I was really excited and I thought you might want to know. :) I actually took a picture of the signatures, but my camera is upstairs. I don't believe I have time to upload, edit, and post. Tomorrow, maybe?

I promise that this is the last time I mention drawing. And I promise this is the last time I say this: I.hate.hands. I've got the hang of feet, but hands, not so much. It's funny how much trouble I'm having with drawing. I walked into this class thinking it would be the easier one, and Lit would be the hard one. So far it's the opposite. Exciting moment of the week: my presentation partner for this week was in the Middle East in January. My Middle East. In my country, the one where I spent almost three months and made tons of friends and miss like crazy. That country. I'm so happy.

And your weekend? I'd love to know what's going on! Me? I'm watching Disney movies, spending time with my baby sister, and enjoying the melting snow.

funny how things change.

Listening to: Happier by A Fine Frenzy. 
Quote love:  "Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence."

woah. old photo. 

I'm a big fan of change- always have been, always will be. In fact, it was that very thing -hunger for change- that brought about my trip last summer. Out of nowhere, I asked my mom if I could go to England. She said yes, and long story short, the trip to England (a country I love like crazy and miss so much) turned into the Middle East, almost three months and three countries and many many new friends.

It's funny to me how different this year is, how much things have changed. Last Valentine's was chocolates and a handmade necklace and an awkward phone call. This year? Taylor Swift, the last of my Christmas Nutella, and a yet-to-be-chosen book. (So far, it's a toss-up between Darcy, Gilbert Blythe, and Peeta Mellark. I'm thinking that Gilbert is gonna win this one.) A chick-flick with my sister might be added to that mix, but I'm betting that we'll give in and watch Fight Quest, because the boy, who is bigger and older than me (and, arguably, bossier.) (ok, I'm bossier. Oldest girl. I can't help it.) insisted. I don't mind, though. Who need a chick-flick when you have Gilbert?

Anything fun planned for your Valentine's Day?

Tomorrow: signed books, milkshakes, and I still hate hands.

favorites.

Listening to: Man Who Can't Be Moved by the Script.

Quote love: "We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them." 

This girl. 

This item on my bucket list. (The Book Thief reference, anyone?) 

  This city.

nope, I don't know why the watermark is so big, but I like it. 

This photographer.

This cover of Teenage Dream. 

This Kate DiCamillo quote. 

This poster.

What are your favorites today?

thinking about the bible and creativity and hands and feet.

Listening to: Angel of Mercy by OneRepublic. 

Quote love: "Stories, like people and butterflies and songbirds' eggs and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things, made up of nothing stronger or more lasting than twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks. Or they are words on the air, composed of sounds and ideas-abstract, invisible, gone once they've been spoken-and what could be more frail than that? But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some of them have outlasted the lands in which they were created." 

This whole art thing is exhausting. It seems like the 365 and the drawing I have to do for class are competing all the time. It's like having these two commitments that are both emotionally draining in the same way, and on their own it's fine, but together, it's just almost too much. 

My professor (who happens to know my grandma and other family) is teaching us about contour lines, which means for our sketchbook assignments he's having us draw hands and feet. I hate hands and feet. I would show you an example, but a) it's terrible, and b) I'm too lazy to get a picture of it in good lighting. 

Anyways. 


I am so proud of myself right now. For the past 88 days, the five oldest people in my family (that is, everyone but the two youngest girls) have been reading the Bible. All of it. In 90 days. Annnd, I finished today. I.am.so.happy. That was the first time I've read through it, not to mention cover to cover (metaphorically speaking; I read it online). Not that I wouldn't have done it without incentive, but this adds a little extra something to the whole deal: sometime in the next few weeks, my parents and I are going out to eat at the Belgium restaurant in Indianapolis. Most definitely the highlight of my week. 

Followers, you were just so sweet in your comments on my last post. It was fun to see the few, "I'd love to write you a letter!"s (not sure how to word that last phrase) and I think it would be totally fun in I could write all of you, but there's the slight problem of "I don't think I'm comfortable with you giving your address to strangers," and what Mom says is law. And then there's the whole lack of creativity (see paragraph one) problem.


So. What's been up with you?

the converse shoe box.

Grateful for: a friend taking time to tell me he likes my blog. I love it when real life friends take time to tell me that they read it, and even more, like it.

Quote love: "A letter is always better than a phone call. People write things in letters they would never say in person. They permit themselves to write down feelings and observations using emotional syntax far more intimate and powerful than speech will allow."Alice Steinbach.

(pssst: do you see my new watermark?)

If you've sent me a letter in the past year, chances are I kept it. They're tucked away in a Converse shoe box underneath my bed. I don't open it nearly often enough; likely because I received most of them during a time I miss enough without a reminder.

The box is full. Its shape won't allow the letters to lay down flat, they have to stand up, some of them tall enough to push the lid permanently open. Even so, it's perfect.

The letters come from all over, from everyone.

There are the letters I received from a church in Florida. They were sponsoring the event I was attending in the UAE, and when I arrived to my room the first night, I found a whole stack of letters from college students. My favorite: "and yes, I did mean to write this upside down, haha."

I was a mess heading home from church the Sunday I left for the Middle East. Already crying because of goodbyes, my mom handed me a stack off letters from Sara, one of our youth group leaders. I spaced them out, saving them so they lasted the entire summer.

This one made me cry. It was Tuesday night, and I had just opened my suitcase in my home in the Middle East. It was sitting on top; I assume my mom smuggled it in there during the final stages of packing. When I saw it, I was exhausted and overwhelmed, and I missed my family. Reading the letter felt like some part of home.

There's the hugely encouraging letter from my best friend's dad, 

the thank-you notes from my pastor's wife, 

the welcome home cards I received in August, 

the letters of support and blessing before I left,

the huge stack from my best friend, (and no, my name isn't spelled Kaite :)

And my most recent favorite, my first letter from my new penpal.

There's so much inside that one little box. So much there saying people love me, care about me, are praying for me. Most of them have heavy memories associated with the Middle East this summer, and reading them brings back so many memories.

On a less nostalgic note, I just realized today that approximately eight people on campus know that I'm a highschooler....this could be fun while it lasts. :)

What's been up with you? Anything that makes you feel nostalgic or brings back memories?