Faith, Hope, and Love

If you've been reading the blog for a while (or at least at the beginning of the year), you know that I spent he first week of 2011 attempting to reduce my impact on the environment . No Impact Week was inspired by No Impact Man , who kept a blog, wrote a book, and made a documentary about the one year he and his family lived a no-impact life. It was a gradual process. The cut things out weekly/monthly in order to see if it's possible to have a good life without wasting so much stuff. Which... if we have to admit, as Americans, we waste A LOT. The family had no TV, no electricity. They ate only local foods and ate vegetarian. The rode bicycles are scooters everywhere. They used no toilet paper and cloth diapers for their young daughter (who, as a side note, was super cute!). When I heard the no toilet paper thing at the beginning of the year, I was like, "uh... do I have to do that?" I found him just a little bit crazy and over-the-top and I had no desire to fol...

So, I guess you could say I'm a fan of Francesca Batistelli. I find her some of her lyrics quirky, and other times they are super deep. And to top it all of, she's an alto, which means I can truly sing along to all of her songs with no problems :) Anyway, I was listening to the radio the other day and her latest single came on. And it's come on at least one other time over this last week. And man... can I say I needed this song? Cause there's A LOT of "stuff" that's been driving me crazy and a lot of "stuff" has been getting to me within these last few weeks. And it's kind of nice to get a message that reminds me, "It may not be what I'd choose, but this is the stuff [God uses]" and I've just gotta trust Him. It's especially nice when that message is accompanied by a ukulele and catchy tune :) Enjoy this live performance of the song:

I've always liked you. I want to make sure you know this, just cause I have a lot of friends who feel the opposite. For them, you bring heartache, feelings of loneliness and inadequacy. And I'll admit, there were some years where I felt a twinge of that, too. But, mostly, especially lately, I've really enjoyed you. Like last year, how you brought me a fun-filled girl weekend. A sleep-over, the girlie movies, cookies and candy. There was so much laughter and love . It was better than having a guy buy me roses or chocolate, or take me on a romantic dinner. Not the cookies I baked, but mine were heart-shaped!  And this year, we had a baking party! Desserts galore! Chocolate cake and cupcakes, blondies (brownies sans the chocolate), lemon-line mousse, strawberries with some sort of white chocolate, cinnamon creme. Oh, and I made cookies from scratch ( fulfilling one of my new year's resolutions )! We watched the obligatory girlie movies, and had the obligatory conv...

All my Aggies can rest assured. I won't be becoming a Longhorn anytime soon. That's the easy way of saying that I got my decision from UT-Austin concerning my MFA application . And it was a 'no.' I'm honestly not really surprised. For one, UT is ranked #3 in the nation and it's ranked #1 when it came to selectivity. Only like 1 percent of applicants get admitted each year. Also, I think the short story I think was my best didn't make it into UT's packet since I wasn't done with it by the deadline. BUT... I still kind of hoped. My heart's in Texas. Big time. And while I had fun that one year living in Chicago, and I sort of (but vaguely) had fun that one year living in Missouri (mentioning the actual city is pointless; it was so small), and I think it'd be cool to live in other parts of the country for a while... Texas is my home. I really wanted to stay at home. Plus, I have the cutest  nephew who I hate the idea of being too far away...

Last week, Dallas got hit with a lot of snow and ice. We had school on Monday, and then no school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Four snow days that created a six-day weekend. It sounds lovely, but in reality I hated it, haha. First of all, I was stuck at home. A lot of things were closed, none of my friends wanted (or could!) leave their houses, and I couldn't really leave my apartment either. I spent the four days reading, writing and watching TV. Three things I normally LOVE to do, but when it's all  you have to do, it gets old after a while. (Who would have ever thought I'd get tired of reading ?!?! Although I did read like five books over those four days, so...) Winter Wonderland The one time I tried leaving my apartment went a little like this: I bundle up and head out to the parking lot. With no gloves, my fingers instantly start to develop (very) minor frostbite. I have to avoid stepping on dog poo, because apparently due to the cold people in my ap...

So, it's been about 3 weeks since it actually aired, but I finally found the courage to watch the series finale of my latest favorite show, "Life Unexpected." It sadly, only lasted exactly a year long, premiering on January 18, 2010 and ending on January 18, 2011. But it definitely deserved a much longer run. It was the first show in a long time that I seriously grew attached to since "Gilmore Girls." And if any of you were a fan of "Gilmore Girls," you know how disappointing  that  finale was! I was very concerned that LUX (as it's affectionately abbreviated to, and which also happens to be the name of the central character) was going to be just as disappointing for me. So, I DVR'd it and put off watching it. I used the excuse of being busy with other things. But really, I was just scared. I loved  this show. It made me watch the CW again, something I stopped doing after "Gilmore Girls." And in general, the only shows I ever watc...

Lately, I've been reading books for their lack of depth. Generally it's been all fluff and silliness, because it's what I have time for. If you know me well, you know that I tend to really get into books when I read. Once I threw my copy of John Grisham's "The Firm" across the room out of nervousness. And if the book is good enough, I can stay up until all hours of the night until I'm done with it. Well, with student teaching, work, and just life in general, it's been easier to indulge in stuff like chick-lit and Christian romances. I've had no time to have my emotions stirred too deeply while reading. Not that the books I've read haven't been good. I've enjoyed all of them, and would recommend most of them. But this morning, since school was still cancelled because of all the ice and snow, I sat down to read one of the Texas Bluebonnet Award books. The kids had to vote on their favorite last week, and a few of the books' descri...

I've been asked to blog for two other sites! How exciting is that?! I mean, I've always liked to write, and deep down inside I know I'm a good one. But I'll be honest, I'm plagued with A LOT of insecurity when it comes to the words I put on paper (or online, whatever). I've had friends read my stuff and go, "Wow, that was really good!" and I feel a moment of glee. But then I think, "Well, you know  me. You're my friend. Of course you wouldn't tell me I sucked!" And instantly, I'm refilled with self-doubt about my skills. This year, I had already decided to face my fear and write more . It's why I decided to apply for MFA programs--to stop being scared and finally pursue the career route I've always dreamed I'd take. It's kind of why I decided to start this blog--to force myself to write more often and just put myself out there. Keeping this blog hasn't been easy. There are points when I ask myself why I...