wondering...

so...here's what i've been thinking about lately:
since i'm moving to canton in a few months, i will be very close to places...within walking and bike riding distance of places.
i've been thinking for a while about getting a bike and riding around to work and school every so often. but also having a car in order to have the freedom to drive places whenever i need to. like my parents house, which is a half hour away.
but today my dad came in to talk to me about this idea. he suggested that i invest some money in a good bike and take some bike safety courses RATHER than buying a car.
i honestly love this idea for a variety of reasons.
firstly, riding a bike everywhere would help me stay in shape...it would be exercise that is included in my necessary daily routine.
secondly, i don't like being reliant on oil companies for my transportation.
thirdly, biking is good for the environment
fourthly, i'd save a ton of money by doing this...not buying a car, paying for insurance, paying for gas, etc.
fifthly(?),  i would very much be reinforcing everyone's view of me as a hippie :)

so now some downsides:
firstly, weather...what about the days when the weather is really crappy? (my dad suggested just riding the bus on those days...which would be better than riding the bus all the time, which i was considering for awhile).
secondly, what about when i want to visit my parents (for food) or my grandparents (for free bread)...i guess i could always bum my boyfriend's car from him whenever i need to do something and he doesn't need it. i don't know. only if he lets me.

so...what should i do?

OR.....

fairest of them all...

yesterday my parents took my siblings and i to a water park. it was great fun, especially since i hadn't been to a water park in several years. it was a lot of fun, really. here's the thing: i have extremely fair skin. the last few weeks i have been trying to get some color on my legs by just not putting sunscreen on them. so yesterday, although i put sunscreen on my back, arms, face, etc. twice, i didn't put any on my legs. every safety break, i would lay on my stomach to try and help my legs. this plan probably would have been alright, except that i accidentally took an hour-long nap...

now the back of my legs are super, super red. and on fire. i don't think i have ever had a sunburn this bad. i'm literally hobbling around my house like an old woman. i know this is gross, but i feel like i have giant scabs on the back of my knees, which makes stairs and sitting incredibly painful.

this said, i'm trying to find some natural relief for sunburn. i usually trust aloe with my life, but when i used it this time, my legs stuck together. unsticking them was so, so, so painful.

just to let you know, googling natural relief for sunburn is rather confusing because there are far too many things to choose from. the two things i settled on: black tea and this weird mixture of water, vinegar, lavender oil and tea tree oil (found here), which smelled SUPER weird. i'm really not sure how well either of these things worked. my legs are feeling slightly better right now, but still not great. i think i'm going to try avocados tonight. maybe. for now i'm just sitting in bed trying to not move excessively. i'm really sad that i can't run or really do many other productive things today, but it is really not fun to move. and of course, i have to work tonight.

oh well. at least i'll have some color on my legs now :P

SUMMER TO-DO LIST

1. make some moolah!


2. get a job for the school year.


3. pack up my stuff (down-size too!)


4. make purty things:

make a gorgeous maxi dress

a crocheted shopping bag...

a ribbon necklace

earring hanger

paint chip calendar...dry erase!

glue and fabric flower pots

5. buy a super awesome vehicle.

6. buy college textbooks.

7. sell college books

8. start an online store!

9. spend some wonderful time with arch-man :)

10. visit New York 

11. BLOG MORE...

best friend.

Best friends: they are awesome. Louisa and I have known each other since we were 5, and have been best friends since a little bit after. The stories are different on both sides...I thought she was my best friend by the time we were 6, but apparently she hated me until we were 10 :P

Regardless, we have been friends for a long time. When she moved to Montana when we were 14, right before our freshman year of high school, it was the most heartbreaking time. Ever. 

Since she left, she has visited Ohio several times, and I have been to Montana once (wow, I suck). And hopefully she will be visiting again this summer. And today is her 20th birthday. 

It's crazy to think that we are both 20 now. Time has flown by so quickly. I wish that we could have spent the last 6 years together, but I am incredibly thankful for the times that we have had together, as brief as they may have been. Long distance relationships are always really difficult, and we've certainly had our good times and our bad, but no matter what happens, I always know that you will be there for me. Every time we talk on the phone or anytime we see each other, it's as if you never left. 

I hope against hope that you will be able to visit this summer. I can't wait to have sleepovers again. And eat toilet paper. And stalk Mitchell Davis. And go on roadtrips. And most importantly, I can't wait for you to meet my other best friend, Andrew. 

I love you and I am blessed to have such a best friend as you. Thanks for the insane memories...here's to 20+ more years of those crazy times!

one of our very first wonderful sleepovers :)

the two of us before we sang a duet of "red river valley" together
at a co-op program :)

louisa's first visit after she moved away. according to the
date on the bottom of this picture...summer 2007

we were pretending to be queens...?

a scanned photo from louisa's childhood scrapbook.

i think this was before she left? regardless, we had just had
hot chocolate from muggs, which was really thick and kept
coating our teeth with brown gross-looking stuff. so what
did we do? spent the entire time trying to freak people out
by smiling at them....

summer of 2009

january 2010

summer 2010, our excursion to zacharyland :)

A Month Later...

Haha...I'm apparently really bad at keeping up with the blog.
Since my last post, a few things have happened:

1. Jesus rose from the dead! Pascha was gorgeous. It was wonderful to

see all of my newly-illumined brothers and sisters experience the

absolute joy of the day for the first time. And, it is so wonderful to still

be singing "Christ is Risen". For some reason this year, the Pascha

service felt shorter than it ever has, and the 40 days following have felt

way longer than they usually do, which is nice. I like singing "Christ is

Risen" and "The Angel Cried" for such an extended period of time. It's

helpful to remind all of us about how important Christ's resurrection was and still is.



2. ANDREW'S HOME!

That was something else that made Pascha absolutely

incredible. Here we are the night that he got home. This

picture was taken several hours after he got off his flight from

England, and after he had only had about 2 hours of sleep in

24 hours. Poor guy...he was totally exhausted. But it's so, so,

so wonderful to have him home again. Of course, now that it's

summer and we both have to work a lot, we aren't really able

to see each other a lot, but it's still great to know that he's only

a half hour away :) I love this guy like CRRRRRAZY!

3. Chorale tour. We wandered through various places in Ohio,

went to Rochester NY, and finally ended up at Niagara Falls.

Although the actual places that we visited tended to be kinda

lame (except for Rochester and a small town in Ohio called

Granville), it was wonderful to spend so much time with such

a fantastic group of people. I miss everybody a lot. Especially

my tour roommate and wonderful friend, Alex (who is actually

in Italy right now...). I can't wait for Chorale stuff next year :)



Since getting back from tour, very little has happened. Just work. And housework. And for some reason no blogging...which is going to change. Happy summer!

Burp-day

Yesterday was my 20th birthday. As I mentioned in a previous post, I really don't know how this happened, but it is rather intimidating. And exciting. An exceptionally wise gentleman at my church keeps telling me that I shouldn't be afraid of this, rather I should be so excited, because I will have so many great experiences and adventures in my 20s. So, what I approached before as something that was frightening and intimidating, I am now approaching as an opportunity. An opportunity to get a few steps closer to the person I am meant to be and the person I have always wanted to be. In fact, every day truly is an opportunity to do this! Life is so scary and SO exciting!
And I do have so many adventures ahead of me. I'm so excited to see what happens in my life in the next few years :)
Since my family and I were not able to have cake yesterday, we had some today for breakfast.

Got a lot of comments from my siblings about the amount
of fire that was on my cake this year :P

I directed my family in singing a medley
of birthday songs. 

Applauding my family's singing capabilities

I took my time in taking the first bite of cake.
I just like making my family suffer as they wait
to eat theirs :P

DEE-licious, as always :)

Mama and daughter enjoying some birthday
deliciousness

So there you go. Happy day everyone! It's trying to snow here in Ohio and that is not especially pleasant for my sandaled feet (I wore them  because I was greatly wishing that it would be nice today. Apparently the weather does not pay attention to my wishes...). May your life be treating you beautifully today!

Counting Things

So many reasons for Hallelujahs today!
1. 30 minute presentation in Language Development and Differences (the equivalent of our final exam in this class) is DONE! It was a full half hour all on my own. I got to be the first one to present, which was ridiculously nerve-wracking, but it's amazing to know that I am done. The only thing that I have to do in this class in the next 4 weeks is to sit and listen to everyone else and then eat the lunch that our professor brings in during our final exam period :) :) :)

2. We're at 11 DAYS until my Mr. Archer comes home to me. Today, 11 (my favorite number) means something even more than it usually does :) I cannot wait to see him, hold his hand, hug him, go to church with him, have coffee with him, go on walks with him. Just in general, I'm so excited. So, so, so  excited. All I want to do right now is just sit down and smile for a long time...I am so unmotivated to do my school work.


3. 1 cup of coffee. I definitely love going to Muggswigz onTuesdays. I will certainly be keeping this up when school is done. I love being in Muggs so much :)

4. SIX more days and I will be 20.
Oh tomatoes...when did this happen??
I still feel like I should be 12. Since when
am I almost into the double decades?
Yeah man....this is some crazy stuff here.

5. Pascha (Orthodox Easter) is in 12 days. I am so pumped, both for Pascha and for Holy Week. Holy Week is the most incredible experience, in which one, through the services of the church, walks with Christ as He approaches the Cross. We spend at least two hours a day in church during Holy Week, starting with Lazarus Saturday (the Saturday before Palm Sunday). On that day, 5 of my wonderful friends are gettin' "Orthodoxed", and I am so happy, happy for them!

More on Holy Week and Pascha later :)