onlyyy during finals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjHK5X8mzE&feature=player_embedded

i watched this twice, and i am crying HYSTERICALLY.
trust me, it's worth a study break. WOW, stress reliever.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

my baby

just in time for finals. :D

today i:

- woke up at 9 am, which is way off my usual routine, and felt oh-so good.

- breakfasted on a homemade banana muffin topped off with Nutella hazelnut spread

- did a refreshing Pilates workout my the basement

- straightened my hair... also an odd thing for me (dad hates my hair straight. he thinks it makes me look older, which makes him feel older. i'm not getting that connection?)

- played with my little sister "hey!! left foot? what do you do? oh... i guess he not gonna answer." (i love my girly!)

- took an AP Bio test (neurons, sodium and potassium ions, somatic motor nervous system, non-ciliated ependymal cells), and completed a lab

- laughed at this picture aboo drew on her dry-erase board:

it says "bays antill crismes" (days until christmas). i love her enthusiasm annnnd her spelling.

- texted good friends about random things

- cleaned my room, freshened my desk

- checked up on blogs, liked things on etsy, subscribed to Elise Blaha :: enJOY it, which apparently i had somehow gotten unsubscribed from in the past year. (great blog, check her out!)

- made yummy French bread pizza for all of my younger siblings while my parents went out.

- babysat for a family in my church ("where's my llama book? i neeeed my llama book to go to sleeeep!" and "ok, i'm going to make popsicles in bed, in my microwave.")


all instead of prepping for finals. they're inevitable, but somehow i continue finding more wonderful reasons for putting of my study time. THURSDAY, DIE.

never grow up

long post alert.

last week, i was babysitting for some little girls (ages 2, 4, and 6), and it brought back the best kind of memories.

= the way the two older girls interacted...

= the way the older one tried to "take care" of the younger one in a motherly way...

= the way the middle girl listened to the older one with huge eyes...

= the way that they all said goodnight to each other, and i knew that forgetting to say "i love you" would have been the thing to make them cry themselves to sleep that night...

= the way they danced around while they sang 3 different songs, with each of the older girls "leading" a song (even if they didn't know the words)...

= the way they all stared at me during dinner and tried to sound old and mature...

... it was all a little surreal. because last time i checked I was the one trying to take care of my younger siblings, and they were looking up at me with huge eyes... I was the one who cried if my mom didn't sing that one certain special song, actually convinced that i couldn't go to sleep if she didn't... I was the one staring with awestruck eyes at the idolized older girl babysitting me...

at one point, all of the girls were playing hide-and-go seek, and the izzy, the youngest one, was the one "hiding." we're all waiting for her to call out "ready!" when all of a sudden she bursts around the corner on her wobbly, fat 2-year-old legs and yells "YOU FOUND ME!!"

the oldest one looked at me with a wise, big girl look. she explained to me that izzy didn't understand the game, really, but that "we should just pretend that she does." she looked up at me hoping for some kind of mutual, big girl understanding between just the two of us.

that is just the kind of thing i did with my babysitters... it felt beyond weird to have the roles reversed. what on EARTH happened?

later on in the evening, all the girls were dancing in that cute little way girls do... jumping back n' forth from one foot to another really fast, sliding across the floor in their sock-ed feet, looking down at their legs. from their expressions, they thought it was really cool, that they were really good dancers.

of course i danced with them, and i felt TALL.

i felt like i was their age.

i felt like i should be their height.

i don't know how to describe it, but i was definitely having "a moment."

you know how different things trigger memories and feelings of nostalgia in different people? i can't even describe how, but it suddenly hit me how OLD i was. after they went to bed i sat down on the couch, just remembering (and maaaaybe crying a little?).

where did my life go? where did my childhood go?

life just keeps accelerating, time passes by faster and faster.

my guess is, it'll only swirl past more quickly as we get older.

i am reminded of how fleeting life is, how little time we have on this earth.

it's so easy to forget, but i want to start living by a more eternal perspective...

thankful [2011]

today i'm thankful for...

* family
parents who always want the best for me, and the most amazingly crazy siblings in the world.

* friends
honestly, i am convinced i have the best friends in the world, who point me to God constantly.

* health
so thankful that almost all the signs of mono have left my body.

* warm houses
hahaha, imagine if we had to sleep outside?!

* my puppy
can't believe i'm saying this, but a cuddly dog just makes life better. it's true!

* sunshine
iiii could not live without it...

* music
 what is it about music that warms you up, or energizes you, or provides the perfect background for midnight studying?

* the season of life i'm in right now
i'm trying to really relax and focus on how blessed i am in this current season of life. i'm living at home with my family right now, and just trying to really slow down and enjoy them.

* the excitement of what's to come
at the same time, realllly starting to get excited for what's coming next as i start college and embrace all the new and unknown.

* the Bible
God's word is sooo refreshing, how it reaches out and speaks to me. every. time. so amazing!

* my Savior
the fact that he came down to earth and gave himself up for me, so i could enjoy him forever continues to grow more precious to me every year. he is my friend, my comforter, he loves me, he died for me, shedding his blood on the cross to save me.

cross country

WOW.

it has been a good four years.

soooo much fun and sweat,

many ouchy blisters and bloody knees,

glaring sun and freezing snow,

thiiiiick slippery mud (georgetown prep and last year's championship),

stacey glasses and waka-waka dances,

prayer and sharing bible verses,

victories and defeats,

AND - most importantly - laughter.

my life as a varsity cross country runner is now over.

on wednesday was the PVAC championship.

i wasn't there. i had too bad of a cough.

my loving mommy wouldn't let me go. weep :'(

my girlies didn't get first place, but i know everyone ran their little hearts out.

i LOVE this team.

WAKA WAKA!!!! :D

ohhh the early years. :)

sooo attractive... hahaha.

last year:

this year:

i loveee this team, and it's been so much fun.

the end of the year party is tonight... and i am at a loss for words.

it has been awesome! but i'm so sad to be finished!!

:) :)

senior class picnic

today we had our senior class picnic to plan some graduation details for this coming spring.

really weird to think about graduating and leaving high school in just 7 months or so.

we took a lot of pictures... some of them are blurry since certain people (ahem!) don't know how to focus a camera. but that's ok, we still love them. :)

and i had to model the faaaaattie penguin outfits...

priceless

yesterday i was studying in the mc library.

and there was this larger guy fast asleep on a couch.

and he was sucking his thumb.

i. died.

i was trying so hard not to laugh, i snorted.

and it made my day so much better.

chocolate peanut butter cups

Ingredients


1 (11.5 ounce) package choco chips, divided
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
.................................................................................


Directions


1. Trim 12 paper muffin cup liners to half of their height.
2. Place 1/2 chocolate chips in a microwave safe container. Microwave for 2 minutes, stirring after each minute.
3. Spoon melted chocolate into muffin cups, filling halfway. With a spoon, draw the chocolate up the sides of the cups until evenly coated. Cool in the refrigerator until firm.
4. In a small bowl, mix together peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Divide into the chocolate cups.
5. Melt the remaining chocolate, and spoon over peanut butter. Spread chocolate to edges of cups.
...................................................................................


Nutritional Information


Amount Per Serving  Calories: 290 | Total Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 9mg


source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-peanut-butter-cups/detail.aspx


mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

book dedications

i think the dedications at the beginning of books are always so interesting.

there are some that get your attention and reveal a lot about the author.

my favorites are the ones that are simple and sweet, and the ones that you don't quite understand but you know hold a lot of meaning to the person they are honoring.

they are so cool!

here are some that i've stumbled across.

let me know of any ones you like if you want!

in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis:

To Lucy Barfield
My Dear Lucy,

"I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C.S. Lewis"

in Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman (which i have not read):

"You know how it is, you pick up a book, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated a book to someone else and not to you.

Not this time.

Because we haven't met yet/ have only a glancing acquaintance/ are just crazy about each other/ haven't seen each other in much to long/ are in some way related/ will never meet, but will, I trust, despite that always think fondly of each other...

This one's for you.

With you know what, and you probably know why."

[maybe a little cheesy, but i like the ending.]

kitchen

http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/eat-in-kitchen/eat-in-kitchens/

i love this. its a restaurant booth, in a house.

i love, i hate.

i love the rhythm, the schedule that fall brings. there's structure and certainity.
i love going to bed at night after a mentally and physically exhausting day.
i love that the cross country season is well under way.
i love the fall weather that's coming soon, and all the holidays and yummy, warm junk food.

i hate sitting inside at my desk all day, memorizing the definition of moist stratified squamous epithelial tissue.
i hate not going to the beach, going to the pool, and having all this free time to read good books.

i love that soon i'll soon be going on bike rides around d.c. on clear, sunny, breezy afternoons.
i love that school is strechting my mind, getting me mentally back in shape.
i love going to my county college and getting to meet new people and listen to new professors.

i hate that soon the sky will be gray instead of blue and that all the vibrant colors of summer will fade and become drab and dull.
i hate knowing that i will soon have to be trapped inside, that it'll be too cold or slushy outside.

i love the new things in store in this next season of life, coming oh so soon!
i hate that all the old, amazing things are coming to an end- summer, childhood, sunshine, pools, beaches, vacations.

i love that fall is coming, i hate that summer is going away.

til i hear you sing - RAMIN KARIMLOO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XegytVAM5WU

gahhh. i'm dying.

as the summer ends, i'm getting out of my country / bluegrass craze, and back into my old addiction to musicals... les miserables, into the woods, phantom of the opera, wicked...
SO GOOD.

siesta key!

well hello everyone. :)

its been a while since i posted here, and i've been meaning to do a post on our may vacation for many months now. oops. you see we came home in may, and it was graduation party after graduation party. then summer celebration. and then (yay!!) i got baptized on sunday, at our church, which was very exciting! :) after that it was local missions and then i had an internship last week... plus babysitting, finishing up school work from last year... ok, you get the picture.

but here it is, our third annual trip to siesta keyyyyyy! in sarasota, florida.
(on that same vacation, we also spent a week in st. augustine... that's coming later.)

i still can't believe how amazing and gorgeous and tropical this place is.

umm, pretty sure this was a cell phone picture snapped in a moving vehicle.

the soon-to-be marine biologist.

 the colors are so amazing.

cell phone pictures don't do it justice. 

 

the sunsets there... i have no words to describe them.

 "keep our beaches beautiful!! ...nudity prohibited."

mhhhhmm. naturally. winning.

coming up... week #2: st. augustine, florida.