Still Snowed In

We've been snowed in for the past two days, which is fun, but also makes me a little stir crazy.
I've been looking through old pictures of Sicily and found this one.
Makes me want to go back to those lazy days on the Sicilian beaches drinking wine and eating fresh fruit and tasty cheese, laughing with friends.
Anyone up for a trip? Andrew?

Schools Out!

Classes were canceled today because of this. Yay!!
It's kind of nasty looking now (which was when this picture was taken). The snow has turned into a "wintry mix," which equals dirty slush. Oh well, I won't complain :)

Sailing Around the World

This girl is sailing around the world in this little boat without ever touching land.
She's 16 years old. Amazed? Yeah me too.
Check out her blog here: http://soloround.blogspot.com/
She left for the trip about 3 days ago.

New Photo Project

Started a new photo project at school. I am super excited! I am going to be taking photos like this one (think woodland fairy- fairytale- imagination- nature) and painting over them with beeswax and then painting on the beeswax or drawing in it or something cool like that.

Haiti Prayer Vigil

Tonight I went to a candlelit prayer vigil for the Haitians suffering from the earthquake, and all of the people involved.

This Franciscan blessing was read at the end:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

My prayer is that I will be convicted by this prayer and I will be moved to action.

I pray that you can find it meaningful as well.

Honeymoon Plans

Again not my photo, but Andrew and I booked our honeymoon and are sooooooooo excited!!! We are going to a resort in the Riviera Maya area of Mexico. CAN. NOT. WAIT. It's an all-inclusive place so besides having tons of restaurants and such, we can go sea kayaking, wind surfing, do some rifling and archery shooting and just plain hanging out (my personal favorite). It also has a putt putt course and was made in an environmentally-friendly way so that the rain tree forest has been preserved around it. We will be vacationing in a rain tree forest right by the beach. YAY!!!

Roomies

This weekend, Chels, Jackie, and I went out for some tasty Mexican food at La Guadalupana. Best Mexican food in Memphis, so if you are ever in town, check it out.

Happy MLK Day!

This is not my photo obviously, but I wanted to honor the things that MLK did during his life on his birthday. I have taken a class on MLK and the theology of the Civil Rights' Movement. He is a fascinating man to study and though not without his flaws (who is??), he had some fabulous things to say about how Christians and humans in general should act.
I encourage you on this day in honor of social justice and/or your personal beliefs to check out some of what King had to say.

These speeches are linked to the text for reading:
Love, Law, and Civil Disobedience
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Time to Break Silence-Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam

Japanese Food

Andrew's sister sent Andrew and I the ingredients to make a tasty traditional Japanese feast for Christmas. It was a great idea! I'm not sure she knew how much I would love it since I lived in Japan one summer during high school. It was delicious and lots of fun to make!

Rice balls with seaweed wrap.

Udon Noodles.

Ingredients.

Over break, Andrew and I also did a considerable amount of thrifting. Among our wonderful finds were a Canon EOS Rebel Film camera with the lens in a bag in great condition for only $10! This became my Christmas present :) A new Nikon 17-35 mm lens which I also love. (I brought it back for my photography class and was going to take a picture of it to post, but it was the lens on my camera.) And a couple of books (of course), including this one chock full of vegetarian recipes. I really want to learn how to cook more vegetarian dishes. They are always so tasty and really healthy.

PS- No promises, but I am going to try to go back to the short-lived idea of a photo a day. I figure I'm in photography class so I should be taking at least that many a day. Hopefully I will have time to post them too. Peace.

Praying for Haiti

My heart has been breaking for Haiti this week as I read the news stories and see the photos of the results of the devastating earthquake. I am literally copying and pasting this from a friend's blog, but she has an Etsy shop and all proceeds are going to Haiti. Please support the people of Haiti with your prayers and your gifts. Here's just another way of giving. She has already raised over $250. (Whit I hope you don't mind that I stole this.)

From now until Monday, January 19, 100% of the proceeds from BrighterDay will go directly to World Vision toward their relief efforts in Haiti.

World Vision staff is already on the ground in Haiti, assessing the situation, and preparing an emergency response.

So go shopping and make a difference all at once!

Buy some earrings or a ring or a hair pin and know that your entire purchase will be a donation that will go to our friends in Haiti.

And maybe when you wear your new jewelry, you'll think to pray.

Our pastor sent us some ideas of how we can pray:

- Haiti, as a country, pledged its loyalty to cultic practice and voodoo. It has long been a country that has ignored the Gospel and the God of the scriptures. Pray for spiritual awakening.

- There are many missionaries who have served this country faithfully for years. Pray that God would use this event to cause Haitians to question who God is. Pray that these missionaries would be able to leverage their love and service to reveal the truths of Jesus more directly than ever before.

- Haiti has been a disaster economically. Let's pray that God would use this tragic event to cause other nations to get involved in eliminating corruption and providing economic redevelopment and that children, especially, would no longer have to live in neglect.

To God be the glory in the midst of this unbelievable tragedy.

Relaxed reading...

We had a nice dusting of snow today- just enough to bring little birds out to play in the falling flakes. (It was actually strange how all of the little finches and even blue jays came out. The cold must make the worms come out of the ground.) Anyways, it was the perfect day for curling up in a blanket for some relaxing reading. I've been reading the old "Little House on the Prairie" series and love reading about the simplicity of the life of the pioneers. Makes me want to move out on a farm one day... Anyways tonight I plan on juicing some apples to make homemade cider in honor of the snow. Yummmm....

Wood Carving

I really want to learn how to carve wood. I don't want to take a class, but I'll read books and watch videos. Really I just want to pick up a piece a wood, start carving, and see what happens. Sorry by the way for the lack of posts. What I thought would be a lot of spare time for blogging has been a lot of spare time for family and friends like the lunch I am about to go to to see a great high school friend. I will have to update later about such things. Till then, enjoy the crisp air. And thank you all for the many comments via this post, phone calls, e-mails, and facebook posts about my flowers!! I have lots of ideas and will make some decisions soon!