a little bit of pumpkin spice

It is October, which means FALL IS COMING. I love fall oh so much. My favorite part? Pumpkins. All things pumpkins! Carving pumpkins, pumpkin spice latte's, pumpkin scented wall plug-ins, etc. I am ready for fall!

The semester is going well. I am keeping myself busy, of course. A couple of weeks ago I was home for a short time before I went to Atlanta with Hannah, Blake, & Bobby (Hannah's special pal/friend of me & Blake) to see COLDPLAY. So. Good.


I got adventurous and put some red highlights in my hair. They are hardly noticeable.


Last Thursday I took a little (or not so little) trip to Philadelphia to surprise Blake for his 20th birthday. He was quite surprised! I got to stay until Tuesday because of fall break. A few highlights include a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a Groupon date at an Italian restaurant, and carving my very first pumpkin! It was such a wonderful time.


Hope you enjoyed my updates & documentation.
--rjl

laborful labor day.

I got to work the Labor Day weekend family retreat at LFR this weekend. It's neat to have a place where you know you will work yourself tired & still be refreshed. Lake Forest is that place for me. I also got to hang out with Hannah & Bobby. It was super fun.





And then back to a rainy, chilly reality here at school. I would like to be curled up with hot cocoa listening to Christmas music (first hint of cold calls for some merry tunes). Homework calls, however, so instead my lead/charcoal-covered hands are rotating between working & procrastinating (hence, blog post). It's a Bon Iver kind of night.

In Mary Nelson life-- We had our 1st hall program last week. I'm excited for what this semester holds.


Also, this afternoon I made cookies with some 2nd floor friends from China!


--rjl

restorative

This table I found on campus, soon to be trash. I couldn't help but see it's potential.

It was pretty disgusting. I cleaned it, and then proceeded to sand my fingerprints off. It was very time consuming and strenuous. If I weren't on the save every penny not spent on books, art supplies, and tuition budget, I would have invested in something to strip that sucker down. But alas, I settled with elbow grease and regular old Walmart sandpaper. I found some reject paint (also at Walmart) in a pretty sea-foam green and painted just one coat. I wanted it to look kind of beat up...you know, fake-ish kind of antique look, so I sanded a lot of the paint off. I also lined the little drawer with pages from an old book I got at a local antique store last year (we have some great ones here in Clinton). I think it turned out a-ok.

The only other thing I'd really like to do is take that wood handle off the drawer and replace it with a cute-ish little knob. Like this one from Anthropologie:


Anyway, that's all.
-rjl

college and things.

After a way-too-short but very, very good summer in Nashville, it's back to school for this girl. I got to spend a couple of weeks at home before I moved back to Clinton two weeks ago for a week of intensive RA training. My first class was this past Tuesday night. I am exhausted already. I have no complaints, only slightly slowed down by a sinus infection which is slowly inching its way past my immune system. Nothing ridiculous amounts of water, vitamin C, & herbal tea can't flush right out; nothing a college sophomore with way too much on her plate can't take (considering who's on my side).
Currently I am sipping on some warm lemon mint tea in between bites of this one savory piece of Dove dark chocolate I have allowed for this night/morning writing session. (my wrapper message was "Feed your sense of anticipation" in case you were wondering...)I'm in for the long haul this semester, that's for sure. I am taking a 19 hour load of classes, most of which I really do like so far. I've got everything on track to major in Art Education (K-12) with licensure credit in Special Ed. (7-12) as well. I'm taking all art & education classes, except for British literature. I also have my 30 hours of classroom observation this semester, where I'll get to experience this crazy thing I want to do for the rest of my life (or at least some of it). So that's the school aspect. In other areas...I have adopted 36 freshman girls into my heart and life this year by deciding to be a Resident Assistant. So far, it has already been very rewarding. I have such an awesome opportunity to minister & God taught me so much last year as a freshman, I can't wait to see what He is going to do in their lives and how He can use me. Among those thirty-six, I have 6 international students from China! It's quite challenging breaking the communication barrier (for instance, try explaining what a microwave is...or better yet, an RA). They did pick out American names, so that is very helpful! Pray for these girls as they adjust to life in what other place than teeny tiny Clinton, MS. I also still have the job I had last year, which is tutoring/babysitting a 5th grade boy about 15 minutes from campus. I really like working with that family & it's great preparation for my vocational choice. I'm working some weekends at Lake Forest this fall too...including this one and the next. It is quite refreshing to get out of this place & be in the woods for even a short time. Ropes course work is fun, of course too. Especially the blisters.
Additionally, my sister being here is pretty nifty. She steals choclate milk from my frig and stores her dresses in my extra closet. We hang out sometimes too. And I am still dating Mr. Philadelphia, FYI. (nosy, nosy)
So...that is the plan for these next few months. Also, an optional social life will fit in when possible, but it's not looking positive.
Thank you for keeping updated on me & for praying for me. You are missed.

-rjl

Haiti & Cheesecake

Wanted to share this awesome fundraiser:

http://sarahholsombeck.tumblr.com/post/4447863026/haiti-cheesecake

Sorry, I couldn't insert it as a link.

-rjl

victory and other things

I have been thinking (dangerous thing, actually) about victory lately and the necessity of just some of that stuff every once in a while. Of course, there are the "big" victories, like Good defeating Evil and such. My victories come in more condensed packages, such as: 3.95 for a baby teapot at anthro, 93 on history test I didn't feel so hot about, finding chocolate I didn't know I had (which, you see, rarely happens), and the fancy footwork award for intramural basketball. These things are silly, yes, but victories for me nonetheless. These led me to think of ultimate Victory: Jesus Christ. I got my guitar out yesterday and kind of wrote a song, which I haven't done since last summer. So that was good. It was about victory, that's how that connects with what I've been talking about.

Oh, and another semi-victory: I am going to be an RA next semester. That's sort of really exciting. And two more exciting things, then I'm done.
1) basically three and a half weeks left in my freshman year
2) Blake comes next week. YES.

sufficiency

For you, Mrs. Joy.
It has been since October that I wrote. Too much has happened to account for in this itty bitty blog post, so I will skip over a bunch. Some highlights: my first semester ended, Christmas break and holiday and rest, winter came and went and is kind of back for a (hopefully short) visit, trips to Birmimngham, New Orleans, Nashville, Philadelphia, and New York occurred, and Yahweh is as faithful as ever. Classes are challenging and my schedule is a little too much, but mercies are daily renewed, which is probably the greatest thing ever. The Lord is currently teaching me sufficiency; that is, He is the only wholly sufficient thing in existence. Education, social status, monetary gain...none of these provide the identity that our souls search the world for. Only He can give us rest that fulfills us and only He is able to give us genuine joy in life, even through sufferings.
I love to be inspired by people...you know, the ones who face suffering that would put any normal person out in heartbeat does not even dim their joy and passion for life. The ones that actually know life, and love, and God. The ones that have the light of Love so evidently glowing through their skin to the degree that it is blinding. The ones that are alive. They make me want to be a little like them, which is a little like Jesus. God works through ugly monsters like jealousy. (I mean if He can work through me, then duh He can work through jealousy)
Those are my reflections.

And this....this is my stack of books I am in the process of reading/desiring to read:

Only slightly daunting.