cheese is good, in small quantities

 My Valentine's Day was wonderful. A year ago, yesterday, I celebrated that day with the same person, but in a completely different context. Little did I know... :) :)

Anyway, I won't blab on and on about what he did for me or what I did for him, but I would like to share my thoughts for the holiday.

Valentine's Day is a great day to celebrate people you care about-- family, friends, lovers... whoever. BUT, it can also make you painfully aware of what you're lacking, if you're in that category.

So before I blab on, I'd like to share two songs that have really been getting under my skin, lately. The first song is from Mumford and Sons (duh), and the second is a song I listened to a lot when I was in high school. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that both of these songs brought me to legitimate tears this week.

But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand,
and we'll hold your hand.
Hold your hand


And I will tell the night
And whisper, "lose your sight,"
but I can't move the mountains
for you

•   “Anyway, on the cover of the box, Steinbeck chiseled four Hebrew letters which spell out the word "timshel,"a word that loosely translates as "thou mayest;" the word suggests that we as humans, with the consciousness we "achieved" by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, can in every moment CHOOSE our behavior; we can choose between good and evil.”
  The Huffington Post: Claudia Ricci: The Magic of Fiction Writing; The Mysteries of Consciousness

As we brace for the sound
Of the deafening crowd
Screaming "Lord, have mercy now",
I hear the words of my King
As they echo underneath
"My hand awaits, rise to your feet".


But die as we may, Your love always remains
And we cannot afford to be afraid anymore.


Let's stay the course and hold on tight.
Jesus Christ Satellites are calling
A-O, We're not alone.



Physically alone, or not... it's extremely good to know that I am not alone, wherever I may be. Loneliness has deep roots, and it's really good for me to remember that the Father can reach those.

Cliche, maybe, but on holidays with hearts coming out of everyone's eyes, sometimes a little bit of reassurance in the form of cheese is okay in my book.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

war-torn world

People let us down.

this city breathes the plague of loving things more than their creators

He won't.

so hold on to what you believe, in the light, when the darkness has robbed you of all your sight

And there, my soul stirs.

everybody knows that you break your neck to keep your chin up

So I just typed up this huge, long post about.. stuff. I felt like I was rambling, and I couldn't even form the right sentences to make my brain make sense.

And this is super nerdy, but I sort of wish that Harry Potter was a real life thing, because I want one of those pensive things. I can't scoop "life" into a box and unpack it whenever I want to. And the lame thing about me is that my memory is about as good as nothing.

Sometimes, there's a moment, and you want to keep it forever. It's one of those happy/sad things, because you're so happy to be in that moment, but you're quickly realizing that the moment will eventually cease to exist, and that's that. You can try and recreate those feelings, and you can even describe them fairly well to those around you, but you can't MAKE them feel what you felt for the same reasons that you ever felt them.

PHEW.

But sometimes there are gross, sticky feelings in your stomach that make you want to vomit all of your thoughts and thinks... along with any leftover food that might be in there... And sometimes you want other people to do that with you, so you don't feel so alone. (RIGHT? Please affirm me.)

You know, because sometimes life doesn't seem fair. It doesn't even necessarily have to be unfair toward you-- because sometimes, horrible things happen to OTHER people, and you don't know how to handle it.

Sometimes these situations make you want to give the world a good shaking. And sometimes you want to yell at God because you don't understand why bad things happen to good people... and normal people, for that matter.

And yeah, you can acknowledge all of the typical answers to your deep, philosophical thoughts, but that's simply not enough.

So maybe, if you're like me, you put together a playlist that maybe expresses those inexpressible thoughts in a way that makes you feel like you're perhaps feeling the right things at the right time about the horrible things that you can do nothing about.

(thanks, Suzy, for introducing me to Grooveshark)

It was like a lemon bar, because I love lemon bars.

Yesterday was a complete success. In fact, I'd put yesterday up there with my top five days... Yes, I think I shall.


We headed to Kansas City around noon, or so, and arrived around 3:30.  We shared fajitas at a really good Mexican restaurant before we walked around downtown.  I am incredibly directionally impaired, but I miraculously knew exactly where I had seen an antique store- ha. I had to spend a minimum of $10 in order to buy anything, so I ended up with costume pearl earrings and a mini porch swing bird feeder. I'll post pictures when I get it set up, but it's really, really cute.  Thank you, Anthony, for finding it!


Anyway, we killed time walking around downtown until about 5:30. Somehow neither Anthony nor I realized that this was an outdoor show, so my burned self stood outside in the sun until it went down during the concert. I felt like an idiot. I'm not going to go into detail about how gross the sunburn got... haha.

We were probably within the first two hundred people to get in, so we actually got really good spots.  Of course there wasn't any seating, so our "spots" were wherever we found a place for our feet.  I got super lucky and was somehow placed next to a drunk girl that was so determined not to be "that drunk girl at the concert" that she became that very person. She spilled her beer on me several times and I'm pretty sure that I could pick her butt out of a crowd any day, considering that she brushed it up against me just shy of 1,243,346 times.







The first band that played was called Matthew and the Atlas. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is definitely the only opening band that I have ever enjoyed. Honestly, I'd be down for going to see them play, again. You should check them out, for real. I have great taste in music-- I promise.  ;)

The next band to play was Nathaniel Rateliff and the Fairchildren. The lead singer seemed really conceited, and I'm pretty sure that he was high (or was it just his eyes?). Also, his pants were a little too tight for my liking. Of course, this is all opinion and/or speculation.  I will say, though, that their music is pretty incredible and the chick playing the upright bass was amazing.  I am pleased to say that this concert was enjoyable, all of the way through.  If you go to many concerts, you'll know that this is rare.

At this point, the sun was about down, and the direct heat from the sun morphed into sweaty, muggy heat from warm bodies sweating beer.


But then Cake went on stage and all was forgotten. Are any of you guys Cake fans?? They are incredible live. There are some bands that lose the autotune and sound horrendous, but Cake is absolutely not one of them.  They're also very interactive with the crowd, so that was a nice touch. I noticed that John McCrea loves his vibraslap. It was really cool to hear them play live, because their CD is so unique. A lot of times, the sound effects that are used in the studio aren't able to be replicated on stage, but Cake definitely did not have that problem! 

AND AT LAST, Mumford & Sons got on stage. This is when the crowd started to get pretty mean. If anyone tried to get through to the front after leaving for a drink or to go to the bathroom, good luck. I certainly wasn't budging.  Anthony and I had been outside for almost 7 hours at this point, and we got there super early in order to be so close; there was NO WAY I was moving for someone who thought that they were entitled to a closer spot. I actually started to get really irritated with people.  Isn't there some kind of concert etiquette that people can pay attention to? Why would you want to get drunk for Mumford, anyway? Don't you want the full effect of the performance?! Stop bumping into everyone around you and talking so absurdly loud-- you're going to miss them, entirely. I mean, REALLY. 


Moving on, Mumford was INSANE. I have never been to a better concert than this.

I'm going to be completely honest with you all, and some of you may feel offended or uneasy about what I'm going to say, but I am completely comfortable with stating that what happened last night was a spiritual experience for me.  When I first listened to their CD, I had similar feelings, too.  This is not the type of music that I play in the background; rather, it is the kind of music that I play at full blast with my eyes closed, or while I'm driving and can sing along at the top of my lungs.  That is not a figure of speech-- I'm talking about truly  singing at the top of my lungs, feeling every word that comes from my mouth and from the speakers.  I quote their lyrics quite often in my blog, and perhaps that gets old, but for me, they say what I am feeling, perfectly.


But it's not just the words that they're singing that move me.  It's the passion behind them and the complexity of the instruments that carry my soul through every lyric.  


There are times that I sing, "And I'll find strength in pain, and I will change my ways; I'll know my name as it's called again.  [...] So come out of your cave walking on your hands, and see the world hanging upside down. You can understand dependence when you know the Maker's land.  [...] 'Cause I need freedom now, and I need to know how to live my life as it's meant to be."
(Who was I? Who am I now?)

I'm trying to be an authentic person.  I'm not perfect, and sometimes the words I use are not perfect. But to be human is to be raw, I think, and that includes raw emotion.  That raw emotion is sometimes devoid of "holy" language. This song expresses that for me. 


There are other times that I'm singing, "Weep for yourself, my man, you'll never be what is in your heart. Weep, little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start. [...] Take all the courage you have left, wasted on fixin' all the problems that you made in your own head.  But it was not your fault but mine. And it was your heart on the line. I really fucked it up this time."
Maybe this is only me, but sometimes when I'm praying, I use words like that. That may be wrong of me, but sometimes I really want God to know that I know that I've really fucked it up. This might not be what Mumford meant when they wrote the song, but when it comes to me, this is when I admit that I was wrong, I screwed up; I can't blame God. (I really am sorry if this is offensive.)


Other times I'm singing, "And after the storm, I run and run as the rains come, and I look up. I look up. On my knees and out of luck, I look up. And night has always pushed up day; you must know life to see decay, but I won't rot. I won't rot! Not this mind and not this heart, I won't rot. [...] And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears, and love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears. Get over your hill and see what you find there, with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair. And now I cling to what I knew. I saw exactly what was true, but oh no more. That's why I hold, that's why I hold with all I have."


But usually, I'm singing, "Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see. [...] Awake my soul, awake my soul, awake my soul: for you were made to meet your Maker! [...] In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die, and where you invest your love, you invest your life."





(My favorite song, live!)


When I'm angry, God is there. When I'm joyous, God is certainly there. I feel God's presence when I listen to Mumford & Sons. When I'm upset, this music helps me to cry out to God rather than my steering wheel. I blogged about music a little while ago, but here are two things I'd like to repost: 

"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think and see my life in terms of music."

- Albert Einstein

"Music is an energy field-- which affects and interacts with the human energy fields."

- Unified Field Theory

Okay, so aside from that thinking stuff, can I say again that the concert was phenominal?! 

I had a lot of great video footage, but for some reason Blogger isn't uploading it. I tried uploading it to YouTube, instead, but it's taking hours to do so. (literally) I guess most readers skip over that stuff, anyway, so maybe it wouldn't have been worth it, after all. 

On an interesting note, two people fainted during the concert, due to the heat. (ridiculous!) Everyone was yelling at Mumford trying to get their attention so the medics could be notified. They eventually were, and they were carried out. 

Also, there was a car garage pretty close to the concert, and a ton of people were on the top stories of the garage trying to listen to the bands play. It was kind of cool, actually. It must be an overwhelming feeling to be a part of something that 10,000 people (sold out show) showed up for, and even more standing around the perimeter hoping to hear parts of the performance.

We got home around 2:30 am, and I had to work a 12-hour shift today, so I'm pretty tired.  If you read all of that, congratulations! I really do wonder who reads all of the words in-between the beginning and the end. 

I hope that you all will have a great weekend.  Thank you, Anthony, for the best birthday gift I could have hoped for. 

Cheers. :)

I had a match, but she had a lighter.

Well, my birthday is in five days, and my wonderful/amazing/spectacular/fabulous/incredible boyfriend got me tickets to see Mumford & Sons and Cake in Kansas City tomorrow!!!! He is the greatest. Mumford & Sons quickly became my favorite band after I accidentally discovered them on Pandora a while back. A couple of months after I "liked" them on Pandora, a bunch of people started talking about them. Anyway, they are awesome. I've heard that they are going to play a few of their old songs tomorrow, but they are probably going to play a lot from there new cd that isn't out yet!! I can't wait!  I also love Cake. I've been listening to them since I was a sophomore in high school, I think...

I will definitely let you know how that concert goes. I am super, super excited. I have some sad news that I'd like to share with you, but today is not the day. Maybe I'll post that on Sunday; I need more time to process things.


Anyway, in other news, my shoulders were patched today because of how bad the blistering got. I looked like a football player/like I was wearing padding in my clothing. (which I guess I was)

this city breathes the plague

Okay- this has been a long, long time in coming. I've mentioned that I was going to write a blog on forgiveness, and here it is. I'm going to ask you to read this in its entirety. If you don't have the time or the desire to read this, it's no big deal; seriously, I'd rather you read it fully or not read it at all.  I have a lot to say, and I've spent a lot of time "researching" and thinking about this subject. 


Maybe this will hit you in some way, or maybe it will not; maybe I'm repeating something that you find to be common sense, or maybe I'll be able to spin this in a different way that makes perfect sense.


I also realize that I use a lot of quotes, but that is because so many people can express what I am thinking in much better ways than I know how to portray.  I wish that I was more eloquent, but since I'm not... I'll just use quotation marks and hope that you read what is in-between. 


As most of you probably know, I have had some "traumatic" experiences with an ex, and it's taken a lot for me to even begin to move on from the situation. But this blog post is not completely about that one person; rather, it's about several people... In a sense, I suppose it's about all of us. We all hurt people, and we all have been hurt by people: friends, family, acquaintances, people we don't even know... There is no way around it. 


So we come to the idea of forgiveness. This is probably one of the most complicated things that I have ever tried to comprehend.  I think, " oh, forgiveness. Yeah. Mom used to make me forgive my sister when she did something dumb. Oh yeah, we have to ask for forgiveness when we sin against God." Gah- but it's so much more than a word!! It has to be an action in order for it to actually exist. 


Maybe I should talk about forgiving myself, first. There are two main things that I've had to forgive myself for.  I'm not going to talk about them on here, mostly because I don't necessarily trust people.  It's also not very important to know the specifics, in this case.  But anyway, there are two, maybe three, things that I've done that have somewhat haunted me for several years. Perhaps some day I'll open up about them on this blog, but as for now, they're going to stay with me.


Anyway, forgiving myself was to free myself.  Please don't get me wrong-- I am dealing with the consequences of what I've done every single day.  That's a bold statement, and I am okay with making it.  Every day I am consciously and unconsciously dealing with the repercussions of my actions.  I do not beat myself up anymore, but the aftermath is something that I cannot avoid. What's done is done; humanity is flawed. It's about time we came to grips with that.  To forgive yourself is to admit to yourself that you are not in the right.  I don't know about you, but I have extreme difficulty admitting that I am wrong.  


Admitting it to myself is almost as hard as admitting it to other people.  Once I even acknowledge that I am wrong, I am consistently unsettled until I resolve it within myself.  By unsettled, I mean that my dreams are invaded, my stomach is nauseated, I cry, I analyze... blah, blah, blah.  It's a nasty process, really.  Maybe this isn't true for everyone, but I'm simply trying to convey to you that my mind is an intense thing.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but it's often a horribly invasive and terrorizing tool. 


I regret what I've done, completely.  Some people will say that they don't regret anything because of the lessons they've learned.  Okay, I suppose that's partially true for me.  I mean, I've learned a lot about myself and other people through the wrongs that I've committed, but there is no way that if I was given a "do-over," that I would refuse it.  (I'm also trying to learn not to lie to myself...)


Moving on from that, forgiving other people is probably equally as difficult for me.  When I see someone doing something that I believe to be wrong, it takes a lot for me to see their side of it.  I'm not talking about little instances with people-- I'm talking about the Holocaust type of wrongs.  There is no way that I will ever say that the Nazis were right in any way.  

"And I reflect that people like him are still being born, people who can be indoctrinated with evil. Mankind is ostensibly striving to avert catastrophes; medical progress gives us hope that on eday disease can be conquered, but will we ever be able to prevent the creation of mass murderers?" (The Sunflower)

But, I will acknowledge that evil has a way of sneaking up on some people in ways that are often hard to pinpoint.  I actually recently wrote a paper on the psychological elements of evil.  I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that there are more factors involved than right versus wrong.

"Were we truly all made of the same stuff? If so, why were some murderers and others victims? Was there in fact any personal relationship between us, between the murderers and their victims..." (The Sunflower)

I also recently read a book by Simon Wiesenthal called The Sunflower.  The premise of the book is "on the possibilities and limits of forgiveness." Basically, a dying Nazi soldier summed a Jewish boy into his room to ask him for forgiveness.  This Jewish boy had never seen this soldier before, so granting him forgiveness for what he had done to other Jews was something that he was uncomfortable doing.  

"You have suffered nothing because of him, and it follows that what he has done to other people you are in no position to forgive." (The Sunflower)

He ended up not giving the soldier an answer, so the rest of the book was an account of how the Jewish boy dealt with the idea of forgiveness.  There were instances where he regretted not forgiving the man, but there were also instances where he felt like he would have been doing wrong by giving the man forgiveness.  

"If we survive this camp-- and I don't think we will-- and if the world comes to its senses again, inhabited by people who look on each other as human beings, then there will be plenty of time to discuss the question of forgiveness. There will be votes for and against, there will be people who will never forgive you for not forgiving him.. But anyhow nobody who has not had our experience will be able to understand fully." (The Sunflower)

At the back of the book there are responses to The Sunflower by lots of people, including the Dalai Lama.  In my class on the Holocaust, we had a class discussion over whether or not we would have forgiven the soldier.

"The crux of the matter is, of course, the question of forgiveness. Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make the decision. You, who have just read this sad and tragic episode in my life, can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the crucial question, 'What would I have done?'" (The Sunflower)

One of the guys in my class said this: "To say that man cannot get to a point where they realize what they have done and be repentant is to diminish all of mankind."
I can't agree more.  Although some people may never apologize or repent for what they have done, there are those that will; and whether someone deserves forgiveness or does not, that is not the point. 

I guess for me, forgiveness is rather selfish.  I get exhausted harboring so much angst and resentment toward people; I have found that there is freedom in letting those emotions go.  Yeah, there is a part of me that hopes that people get what they deserve, but more than that, I want to move on with my life.  I will always have reminders of the hurt that I have experienced, but I don't want to drag around the grudges that went with that hurt at one time or another.

"When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free."

- Catherine Ponder

"The problem of our time, of our century, is to achieve a global compassion; otherwise we run the risk that we will destroy ourselves."

- Paul Ekman, Psychologist

Forgiveness takes time.  I have to truly process what forgiving someone means before I will claim it.  I still have negative thoughts (a lot) toward people who have hurt me, but it is gradually getting better.  It takes a lot of energy to hate, I've realized.

This song is not necessarily about forgiveness, but I find it to be a fairly good representation of humanity's limitations. 





"This city breathes the plague of loving things more than their creators
...
But hold on to what you believe in the light
When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight"

Now, I realize that this is almost ten minutes long, but I promise you that this is well worth your time. Please, please listen to the whole thing.  Anthony showed this to me one day when we were talking about forgiveness, and this was incredibly eye-opening to me.

Is there some lesson on how to be friends

I think what it means is that central to living 

A life that is good is a life that's forgiving

We're creatures of contact regardless of whether

We kiss or we wound still we must come together

Though it may spell destruction we still ask for more

Since it beats staying dry but so lonely on shore

So we make ourselves open while knowing full well

It's essentially saying please come pierce my shell

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."

- Mark Twain

So I've done quite a bit of writing about forgiving people who have wronged me, but if I can be honest with you, I have my limitations, too.  I was writing this and realizing that yeah, sure, I have begun to understand how to forgive people, but I have no idea how I would react if someone hurts someone that I care about.  I have difficulty looking at the atrocities of the Holocaust objectively; I cannot image how I will be if someone dares harm my family or friends.  I suppose that this may appear to be hypocritical, but I have admitted to only skimming the surface of this subject. 

I realize that the Bible asks the followers of Jesus to forgive.  Can I make a point?  Forgiveness is a matter of the heart.  When it comes to something like tithing, for instance, you just do it. Sure, it takes courage sometimes to let go of your money like that, but when it comes down to it, you just do it.  Forgiveness seems so much more complicated to me.  You can't "just do it."  Forgiving someone does not require that the person receiving it knows that they are forgiven.  It's a mental/emotional release, rather than a physical one.  To obey God's command in this way is extremely difficult for me. 

I think I'm telling you guys this because it's been such a heavy issue for me.  I have a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around how people can do so much wrong and cause so much pain for other people.  I mean, come on! We're all human!  Let's do each other a favor and get our acts together.  I know-- it's not that simple.  I terrified myself when I was doing research on the bystanders and perpetrators in the Holocaust and when I was writing that paper on the manifestation of evil, because I am becoming more and more aware of my own evil tendencies.  I wouldn't describe myself as evil, but who knows what we are capable of.  It's a scary thought.  Perhaps by bringing this to my attention I will be more aware of where evil stems from.  By making myself more consciously aware of what forgiveness entails and what I must do to actually forgive certain people, I am hoping that I can at least eliminate some bitterness that I have been harboring for so long. 

Well, I'm sure that I could continue rambling, but maybe this is enough.  If you stuck through everything, thanks.  I'd like to think that this was worth reading. 

If you have the time to comment, I'd love to hear what you think.  Do you think that you would you have forgiven the Nazi? What's your take on forgiveness? 

Blah. I am officially mentally exhausted.  This is a heavy topic.

Thanks again for sticking with me.  Cheers.

Credit.

I'm a firm believer in saying what needs to be said.

So, here it goes.

God is saving me, daily. I have gone through a ton of crap this last year. As we all have, I'm sure. This semester, I've been dealing with a lot of death. (friends, family, etc.) It's tough. I am extremely comforted by the knowledge of heaven.
If you know me at all, I'm not the type to shove "religion" down anyone's throat. In fact, this very thing has destroyed some friendships lately. That's another post for another time.
But you know what, I love God. I believe in God. I trust in God. I may screw up and I may question/doubt, often. I'm okay with that. I'm a thinker and I want to learn more about the faith I defend.
Anyway, this just needs to be said.
God is awesome. Death or life, he is awesome. He is sovereign. I believe that. He keeps me going. When I blink and something else has gone wrong, I find evidence of Him.

For example:

Anthony. I love this guy. I mean, I really love him. He's taken me on so many "dates" I can't even count them all. When I was dealing with my break-up, he was there. When I freak out about my super deep thoughts, he's there. And just when I need him, he shows up. He's funny, too. So he gives me a break from my mellow tendencies.

And you know what? He introduced me to his family. His family is amazing. Amy and Dave are incredible. Their kids are awesome, too. I have started hanging out with them a lot, and although it's weird for me to feel close to people so quickly, they are suddenly becoming close friends.

And you know what? They introduced me to Hannah. She is awesome! I barely know her and she invited me over when I was hearing super freaky noises tonight.

And you know what? This blogging "universe," of sorts, is amazing! I have "met" some wonderfully inspiring people through this.

And you know what? I can't even name all of the people (Heather, Carolyn, family, coworkers) who have made my life so superb.

I'm happy, you guys! I'm at peace.

I can be sad and restless, too, but overall, my soul is restful.

I'm proud to say that.

So, people, thank you. Thank you for putting up with my rambling. Thank you for listening to my tangents. Thanks for letting me freak out and making me feel like it's okay. Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your understanding.




"So come out of your cave walking on your hands and see the world hanging upside down. You can understand dependence when you know the Maker's land."

Cheers :)

Terrible pancakes, paintings and good music.

Well, I've been [officially] snowed in for two days. But keep in mind that I was sick all weekend, so technically... I've been a hermit since Saturday afternoon, minus a stretch at work on Tuesday. School's canceled again for today, but I'm going to try and get to work this afternoon. Wish me luck! I don't want to get stranded again!!

Anyway, being home alone, I decided to make the most of it. I started off by making myself blueberry cheesecake pancakes. It sounds like heaven, and it LOOKED like heaven. It was gross. I took one bite and spit it out, and then I threw it all away. 

In my defense, I didn't make it from scratch. I had a mix leftover from this summer, and I figured this would be as good a time as any to try it out. FailFailFAIL.

Luckily, my friend "Smeather Freelman" asked me to make her a painting for her dorm room wall that was empty. 

"You should paint a picture for me while you're home. My roommate and i rearranged our room and we have a wall with nothing on it. Have any canvases sittin around?? I'll pay you for it. ;) Black, brown, burgundy-ish/maroon... "

Ha- thanks for the description.

Well anyway, I painted her this anchor-like thing because she's obsessed with anchors. I should have left the "chain" off of it.. I think it's too bright. And it's not very... realistic. I'd like to htink that it looks better in person, but quite frankly, I am not an artist. 

She's going to like it, though. I will make her like it.

         

After that, I cleaned my entire house and did laundry. I feel so accomplished! I also finished Burn by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy. It was excellent, much like their other books. AND, I started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I'm so excited! Like I said in an earlier post, the movies were superb and I'm sure the books will be more so.

I also watched The Chaos Theory, which is one of my favorite movies. You should all go watch it! I also watched When in Rome and started a ton of other movies on my free-trial of Netflix! (not to mention an assortment of 15 tv episodes)

Like I said... I've been snowed in. I have had an entire week without classes.

Moving right along, in another post, I talked about how I listened to Mumford & Sons in excess and it kinda put me in a not-so-happy mood. (This is only because their lyrics are insanely powerful and their music is rather mellow... and I take things way too seriously.) ANYWAY, I have found some "happy" music. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Sometimes I wish I was Swedish.

So I've realized that my downer posts may have been a result of too much Mumford & Sons... I'm not very good at switching up my music-- I like to internalize entire albums for MONTHS before switching to another artist.
When I realized that Mumford & Sons is going to have to be treated like Keane, I put the album aside. I am now on a mission to find happy music! Pandora is currently playing of Montreal. I think I really like them.

Anyway, so as far as the weekend goes, I worked two doubles in a row. This is going to be a weekly adventure that I am not looking forward to; however, it'll be good to get some money-making hours into my schedule.

I've had a great weekend, seriously. I hung out with Amy, her hubs and Anthony on Friday night, Saturday was spent at work, but Sunday was spent with Anthony! We went antiquing. It was awesome. I forgot to change the settings on my Instagram app, though, so my pictures didn't save.. :( I'm waiting for Anthony to send me the pictures he took so that I can actually blog about this awesome adventure. Hint @Anthony.
Today I cleaned my entire house. I swept, mopped, did laundry, organized my closet... the whole nine yards. New Year's Resolution: check! (And I'm still on track with my diet!)

Also, I watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire. My next goal is to buy the books and read them. (I also need to find The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, but Family Video didn't have it..) How have I not heard about this?! Why is nobody talking about this movie!? I think it came out in 2009???
These movies, especially the first one, were incredible. I tried to watch them while cleaning, but since it's in Swedish, I can't exactly multi-task. Apparently there's going to be an "Americanized" version of these movies coming out pretty soon, and I will not watch them. Usually, I like to read the books before I see the movies, but I was at RedBox and saw the first movie for a buck and figured I would check it out. I had no idea what it was about, and I had no idea that it was a foreign film. It was the best accident, by far; but, I definitely want to read the books.

* Warning: This movie was insanely intense.

This post was rather scatterbrained, but I had several things that I wanted to mention at one time.

Keep posted for my antiquing adventure, AND Amy is making my blog layout!! I love her; she is so awesome. I'm stoked!

Cheers, everyone!