My Subconscious Has Declared War...

Amy Winehouse, to use the vernacular, is one hot mess. Fine contralto voice, songs that became legend, first English singer to win five Grammys—there is no doubt that she is an amazing person who had an incredible career. But there is one thing Miss Winehouse is not….a role model. And for that reason, I haven’t been a big fan.

But my indefatigable inner musician triumphs over my logical mind in that I do deeply admire her voice. Amy Winehouse formed a lot of my current musical taste. She’s the reason I like Adele so much, who has herself been dubbed “the next Amy Winehouse.” Lately, more than ever, my subconscious has been plaguing me by constantly bringing the song “Valerie” to my attention(The weirdest part is, I don't ever remember consciously being aware of this song). I find myself singing or humming it at least twice a week. Let us examine the lyrics:

Well, sometimes I go out by myself
And I look across the water
And I think of all the things, what you’re doing
And in my head I paint a picture

‘Cause since I’ve come on home
Well, my body’s been a mess
And I’ve missed your ginger hair
And the way you like to dress

Won’t you come on over
Stop makin’ a fool out of me
Why don’t you come on over Valerie?
Valerie, Valerie, Valerie

I cannot fathom what exactly my musician self is trying to tell me with this. That I’m lonely? Well, I already know that. No need to rub it in. Geez. This song kind of reminds me of a friend I have who is always getting herself in trouble—kinda dizzy, she is—and the fact that I have to go help her out of her self-dug holes doesn’t bother me, I just miss her. She only needs me when she NEEDS me to help her. But I don’t mind being a push-over. Ha. So either, I’m too much a loner or I need to stop being used. That, and I need to NOT analyse every song that gets stuck in my head.

"Daily Affirmation".

It has been nearly a full year since I posted anything on here. The only reason that I remembered that I had a blog at all was that my pastor's wife came up to me at church tonight and said "I read your blog." I had a bit of a mental glitch(notice that I was trying to be mature and not say "brain fart"...yeah, who am I kidding?) and then I said "Oh.....how did you find it?" Apparently I had linked to it on my Facebook page and that is how she came to read all this drivel. For which I sincerely apologize.

Anyway, I had only started this blog basically because I knew that summer was looming upon me and I would have to leave all my school peeps. The only way I felt I could compensate was by having some sort of cyber-relationship. So. That is my story and I will stick to it.

However, (1) now that I find myself in a similar situation as I did last summer and (2) since midterms are upon my school peeps I believe that a motivational ramble followed by a video of a cute child is in order.

(Commencing motivational and slightly self-deprecating ramble)

Dear school friends,

Spring semester always goes by faster then the fall semester. So much is going on....there's a banquet to start off, a week long choir tour, and North/South. And, of course, in between all this you have work and classes and homework.....which is actually the point of going to college(shocking, I know). And NOW I hear that midterms is upon you! These last few months have seemed interminable, but midterms surprises me.
Now, some of you are having an easier time of it this semester; some of you may have been overly optimistic at the beginning of the semester and now find yourselves overwhelmed. I've been on both ends of that one, so just remember...It doesn't matter if you finish the projects weeks before due date or minutes--so long as you throw yourself into it and give it a good go. Which may sound like the type of advice a procrastinator would give. And you would be correct. But really now....as long as you get it done and don't give up, you're going to do fine.
The most important thing is to remember that "This, too, shall pass." And years from now, you'll think about college and think "It wasn't so VERY bad, was it?" And everyone needs to get some education...imagine all the nursing majors out there. Think of all the biology terms THEY have to memorize. *Shudder*
And so, to wrap up I think we need to see a video of a very confident little girl. Feel free to emulate this into your own life(but make sure to explain to your roommates first, so they won't be concerned. V9S7ZAJRP7C8

Meditations between Levitations(Or ramblings of my mind while I wait for my next flight to board) :P

Funny how things change, isn't it? In August, I loathed all things school-related, but now that I have a whole summer ahead of me without any of my friends or any teenagers I find myself dreaming of the study and classrooms. I've been sitting here feeling lost because I don't have any homework to work on. What's really bad is the fact that I have plans for how to keep myself "academically occupied"(nerdiness prevails once again). I plan to buy the Rosetta Stone program for learning Spanish so that I can test out of Spanish I next semester. I want to take Greek, so I wnat to get Spanish out of the way so I can focus on learning Greek. I love languages, and I took two years of Spanish in high school, so it's a simple matter of reveiwing everything I've forgotten due to not having anyone to speak Spanish with. I would also like to take Music theory next semester, which means I need to start playing piano again.
Secondly, it's funny how places change too. My mom told me earlier today that one of the most essential families in our church is moving away. They don't really want to, of course, but he hasn't been able to find employment for the last two months. They have three little girls 6, 5 and 2--I remember when the oldest was a newborn! since I've been away the littlest one has forgotten me, but she was my favorite baby in the church. There are a few new faces too...so many people that have become a part of our church family while I have been missing so much at college(how awful is it to be jealous that new people are being loved by your church family? I'm not really jealous, but I feel bad that I have not been a part of anything at my church for so long).
(Now I'm home and it's after Wednesday night church)
And last of all, it's funny how people change--some of the men in my churhc seem to have a lot more gray hair than they used to, and the kids are getting so big. The "babies" are walking, the "little ones" are starting kindergarten, and my sister is starting high school! Some of the kids are so tall now, and some of them are old enough to go to youth conference in OKC this summer!!!
Well, this has been one rambling and rather sentimental post, so I'll stop now...to all my peeps in Oklahoma and abroad, I miss you guys, so keep in touch okay? Later gators!

Choir Tour

(Sorry this post is so late. I started it the day after we got back and have finally finished it just now. Yeah, I'm lame, I know.)

This past week has been one of the most interesting of my life. The college choir went out to Navajo reservations in New Mexico to sing at various churches. Many of the girls had never been so far out in the country before--some of the churches had no running water or electricity. Several experienced that milestone of using an outhouse for the first time(cue groan and eye roll).

The geography of New Mexico is unlike anything I have seen--it is wonderful and terrible at the same time. Wonderful, unique rock formations, twisted trees, endless blue sky, winding ditches, glassy-smooth plains, and rippling sand; terrible scorching sun, swirling dust clouds, a land with only a single river winding through its vast plains. I didn't want to leave, but at the same time I couldn't see the beauty of the place. I have never had such an odd, mixed-up feeling about a place. I loved the people--that's what could keep me there. I don't feel any particular calling to the Navajo people, but I would still like to go back there and see those churches again.

This was a wonderful choir tour--I heard one of the junior girls say that she felt it was her best choir tour so far. We all had an opportunity to ride a horse, which was exciting and scary...all the first timers did an excellent job and caught on very quickly. Friday we went to Carlsbad Caverns, a magnificent cave--one of the most fantastic things I have ever had the privilege to see. For about half a day I had a wild but probable(in my mind at the time) dream of becoming a caveologist. I have no idea if that's what they're called but who's asking? Okay fine, I dreamed of being a spelunker(one who goes diving in caves)....proof that I still have no direction in my life whatsoever(sarcasm).

Anyways...I had a very good time getting to know some of the girls better, especially the home students who sometimes seem a little out of the loop. One of the girls started a joke about being lost in the desert so we took pictures of different people in "dead wanderer" positions with "DAY 1" and so forth written beside them in the sand or spelled out with rocks. Lindsay is working on a power point of choir tour, so when I get it, I'll try to put it up.

School will be out soon, and I am going to miss everyone sooooooo much! I'm going to have to print off a bunch of pics and something along the lines of an OBC shrine on my bedroom wall at home. On a slightly less creepy note....Finals have now begun and note to self--never try to memorize eight pages of notes at two in the morning after your caffeine buzz has worn off. Pretty sure the colours were not flying on that test. :P

Last, just a few pics of my "homies", as Christina S. would say.

Andrea, Emily, me and Vanessa

Emily and I

Lindsay Larson and I

Lindsay L, Andrea, Mandy and I

Just thought I'd share my favoritest song evar with you...

Spring Break

Ahhhhhhh spring -the magical time of year when a young man's fancy turns to love.........0_0 .......no idea what that quote has to do with this post--ANYWAYS.......

So Spring Break just ended and I accomplished nothing that week...except that I added Wisconsin to my list of "States That I Have Visited." Emily C. and I spent the week at Jana's house in Madison. Besides sleeping in til 10:30 every morning, other activities included: walking the dog, taking pictures at the park, and cooking Peruvian food(and fumigating the house with garlic in the process). Basically, we had a good time together--the three of us don't often have the chance just to hang out. :)

The month in review

Top moments of January 2010