March 28

March 28: cup

Lenten Photo-A-Day, I know I didn't go to Maundy Thursday service. Why'd you have to choose a word to remind me? I'm going to Good Friday tomorrow evening with my family, and I'm excited about it. ("'Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies" is an excellent song.)

Although I had previous commitments that conflicted with going to church today, I've been thinking a bit about communion and what it means today. (I think a lot. Sometimes I think about how Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes is the worst movie I've seen in a long time.) Jesus took something that was already important (Passover) and just added more importance to it.

Today I took a photo with my water bottle because it's what I used to drink most of the water I had today.

It took me so long to write this that it is now Good Friday.

Good Friday? More like Good Music Friday!

March 27

March 27: help

I thought of the movie The Help. It was also a good book! (I will admit that I committed the horrific sin of seeing the movie before I read the book. But it was requested so much at the public library that I'd still be waiting to see that movie.)

March 21-26

I haven't been taking my photo every day, but today I caught up. I also did some homework, ran errands, and washed my sheets. Not bad for a Tuesday that's still got 8 hours left!

March 21: home

This is my home! We watch way too much basketball during March. I started dreaming about the Southwest Airlines commercial.

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March 22: alone

I know the internet is great for kids who feel awkward and unloved to find their niche, but Facebook is really good at making you feel alone if all your friends are checking in somewhere and you're not with them.

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March 23: restore

I also went to the car wash today to restore my car to its original shine, which was hidden under a thick layer of highway grime and tree pollen. I started sneezing anytime I got in, so it was time to clean it up!

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March 24: blessed

I'm blessed to live somewhere where anyone can say their opinion, as so many of my facebook friends have today concerning gay marriage. (I was honestly shocked. I live in Arkansas, and approximately 75 of my facebook friends posted something positive about gay marriage and only 1 spoke out against it. That goes to show that the anti-gay marriage platform is largely made up of older Americans; in my lifetime gay marriage for all will be legal!)

I'm also blessed to belong to a denomination where things like this happen.

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March 25: rejoice

Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

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March 26: light

Oh my. Light was the word we had to define last night in poetry class. Light is knowledge, holiness, not dark, not evil, safety, and so many other things. Most of our light comes from the sun. The light from the sun is so bright that it looks like I took this in the evening, not at 2 pm.

March 14-20

Spring break has been a non-stop party!!! Emily and I have been doing homework. It's been crazy. Also really fun because I like studying.

We went to Norman on Monday to check out campus; I accepted their offer of admission to graduate school yesterday. I got to eat German food at a restaurant in Norman called Das Boot Camp. It was lecker! I'm excited to be living in the same town as a German restaurant next year! The next step is to find a apartment in the general vicinity of both an Aldi and campus.

Here are my Lenten photos:

March 14: go

Never fear! I took this photo while sitting a red light of the green light for the cross street.

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 March 15: temper

I spend a good part of the day contemplating the word "temperature," which led me to take a picture of my ceiling fan. I'm usually in a good temper when it first gets warm enough to use my fan!

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March 16: surround

I'm surrounded by high school memories whenever I'm at home.

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March 17: new

Spring = new life = pretty green plants

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March 18: rise

Rise & shine!!

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March 19: dream

I had a dream about being a WWI nurse last week.

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March 20: beloved

The new pope seems to be beloved already due to his humble attitude.

March 13th

I didn't upload my photo yesterday. Oh well. But I'm happy for the Catholic Church and Pope Francis I! I wish them all the best as they begin their journey with a new leader.

March 12: silence

Nothing is as silent as my living room when no one else is home.

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March 13: water

I've started drinking more water since I began college. I get most of my supply from this faucet.

Kansas & Lent

I went to Kansas last weekend. It was amazing...despite the fact that since I was reunited with two of my study abroad friends, the weather decided to imitate Germany and it rained the whole time. I didn't take my photo-a-day though. I did go to Mass for the first time; it was interesting and I'm glad I went. Anyhow, here are the pictures I've scraped together for the past two days:

March 9: faithful

Ahhh, Mt. Sequoyah. A refuge for the faithful as well as a place for local pot smokers to congregate. The beacon on a hill - I can see it when I drive from my apartment to campus (at night). It's a good place to go when I need to contemplate something. I love this place so much.

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March 10: ate

This might be my submission to "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" if that's still a show on the food network. I don't watch TV on a television anymore, so I don't know about that. It was delicious, and I enjoyed it with some amazing friends in one of the best cities in the world. Weisswurst and Bratkartoffeln: dinner of champions.

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March 11: happy

Studying abroad is one of those things that can make a person totally giddy for 2 months straight. I still miss it so much; my classmates were rad and we got to do awesome things like climb a mountain. I was so perfectly happy during this time.

March 8th

March 8: find

I took a screenshot of AVPM because, as everyone knows, Hufflepuffs are especially good finders.

March 7th

Catching up...as always, I took the picture on the proper day, but neglected to upload it here.

March 4: bless

"Praise God from whom all blessing flow." = picture of a semi-flowing creek in the gardens.

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March 5: night

I took this outside of my garage before going to a band concert.

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March 6: shadow

I usually know how trees look by their shadow, since I often look down to walk so I don't trip.

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March 7: no

No parking!!! 

March 3rd

March 3: thirst

Fountain without water is thirsty.

March 2nd

March 2: leave

The first step in leaving is walking out the door. I'm off my creativity game today; I'm also not very interesting.

March 1st

I definitely didn't do this yesterday. But I thought about the picture for yesterday...just didn't follow through. I didn't actually take either of these photos (unless taking a screenshot counts as taking a photo), but they are some of my strongest associations with these words. Anyhow, 30 days to Easter!

February 28: earthly

There is nothing more earthly than Tom Haverford's love of things. Treat yo' self.

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March 1: prophet

The word prophet always makes me think of a line from The Gospel According to Larry in which Josh's dad refers to him as "a for-profit prophet." This was very ironic because Josh/Larry's whole philosophy was that materialism was bad...kinda the opposite of Treat Yo' Self. This book is excellent. You should read it.

February 27th

February 27: hear

"Where'd you hear that?" is a common phrase now...and probably always. People hear things through 3 main sources today: face to face interaction, online sources, and phones. The three can be intermixed (thank you, skype), but "hearing" something generally implies learning new knowledge. There's a lot that I haven't heard yet, and a lot that I've already heard. C'est la vie.

February 26th

February 26: lift

One of my absolute favorite things to drink is Lift, which is the brand name for apfelschorle, which is total lecker. It's carbonated apple juice, and German apple juice is so good - not too sweet. So I've been searching for an American equivalent ever since I got back, and the best I have found is Izze. It's not pure apple juice though, but mostly apple with added juices. Drinking it tends to lift my spirits. It reminds me of how happy I was all summer (I'm still happy, but that level of euphoria couldn't be sustained more than a summer), and makes me smile.

February 25th

I took these pictures on the correct day, but I didn't upload them in a timely manner. Oh well.

February 23: live

There are stairs to nowhere in UCA's fine arts building. I climbed them anyhow. Climbing on stairs to nowhere is symbolic somehow...I guess. The thing is, I knew the stairs weren't going anywhere, and that meant I had to climb them. A set of stairs that went somewhere weren't of interest to me! It's the opposite of life...where we don't want to get stuck going nowhere. Hopefully, my life will not be like these stairs. Hopefully, I will live.

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February 24: vision

One needs vision to run an organization. Hopefully it's not short-sighted vision, but sometimes that happens to all of us! I spent this day thinking of "Be Thou My Vision." I don't like that song very much, but my reason for disliking it isn't very strong. I should give it another try.

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February 25: cover

1) I have had the song "I'll Cover You" in my head all day. I don't really like Rent.

2) My first thought was to take a selfie of myself in my dripping raincoat because it covers me and protects me from the rain.

3) Then I saw this sign in the bathroom at Pat Walker. Part of it at the bottom says "get covered!" Pat Walker is covered by the student health fee, and other stuff is probably covered by insurance. I'm fortunate enough to have both of those paid by someone else at this point in my life (yay not being 26!). We're often fortunate enough to have something or someone covering us. I know I try not to take it for granted, but I need to think about that more often.

(Side note: antibiotics are covered by insurance, which makes going to the doctor and getting a prescription way cheaper than trying to get better using over the counter medicines. So happy to be covered. And if this post is odd(er than usual) I blame my excellent coverage.)

February 22nd

February 22: spirit

I've been watching too much Parks & Recreation lately. Mostly because one of my favorite fictional characters, Ben Wyatt, got married on the show last night, and as a devoted fan I felt compelled to watch the episode 4 times.

So the word of the day is spirit. I chose to take a picture of Li'l Sebastian...which seems odd. But it's not what Li'l Sebastian is, but what he represents (in the world of the show. not seriously). He represents the spirit of Pawnee, Indiana. It's hard to capture the spirit of small-town life in a single object, but Li'l Sebastian successfully portrays how ridiculous a town can be while remaining entirely sincere.

My first thought when I think of "spirit" is air, but it is hard to take a picture of a light breeze.

February 21st

February 21: love

I wasn't sure what to do for this one until I got home from class and checked the mail. I had this card from my mom with a picture of Bobama on it...just because she'd never sent me anything at my apartment before. I have a really outstanding family.  

    

February 20th

I finished catching up on my photo-a-day today, and I found Drake Field, so now I have a more accurate picture for wonder. Today it snowed, and everything was icily beautiful. Days like this don't happen everyday...or even once a month. I'm glad I got to see the U of A blanketed in snow once more before I leave.

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February 17: settle

Over the past few years, it has come to my attention that selling insurance is a way of "settling" in life. (Unless that's what you wanted to do originally.) I don't want to settle for anything short of my dreams...I just need a bit more time to hone in on exactly what my dreams are.

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February 18: world

J. William Fulbright. This man epitomizes my dreams. He opened the way for me to even have a hope of going to Europe next year. People like Fulbright who came from humble beginnings, but distinguished themselves inspire me and encourage me to persevere in my studies.

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February 19: wonder 

Yes, I already did this one, but now I have a photo of an actual airplane.

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February 20: evil

Evil is a concept difficult to define. I considered this for a while before going with a gun for today. I almost took a series of pictures of good things in an attempt to define evil by what it is not, but I decided to go with this. 

So why the gun? Yes, I am liberal and in favor of stricter gun controls, but I don't believe that every gun should be taken away from every person ever. I support more education and limiting gun purchases to those that can be used for hunting. Guns do, however, symbolize war. Guns are used to kill other people. Guns can accidentally kill people if misused. I know this can be said of other things, which is what makes evil so hard to define. Guns don't do exclusively evil things, which lends itself to the conclusion that most things can be utilized for nefarious purposes. 

Lenten Photo-a-Day

Lent has become more important to me over the past few years. Last year, I started going to church in Fayetteville during Lent, and this year I'm really excited for this season. I'm using it as a time to better myself and reflect on the past four years as I prepare for major life changes in the coming months.

It's almost a full week into Lent, but I just discovered this photo challenge for Lent, so I decided to begin it late. I already caught most of the ones I missed, and I'm planning to capture the other two today or tomorrow.

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February 13: Who am I?

Humans define themselves using words. Therefore, there seemed to be no better way to demonstrate who I am than by taking a picture of part of my book collection. The words contained within these novels can define me, as do the experience of reading and contemplating their stories.

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February 14: return

The word return has two common meanings: to go back someplace and to give something back to its owner.  The most common return in my life is returning materials that I've borrowed from either the public library or Mullins.

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February 15: see

My vision is very important to me! Without glasses or contacts, I am virtually helpless and incapacitated. I suppose that's a good sort of spiritual parallel - we need help to see things in our lives.

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February 16: injustice

Injustice is a common problem in the world. However, finding a way to capture it in a photo was a bit daunting, so I chose this symbol of injustice. 

Many students struggle to pay for their collegiate education. Even more drop out or do not attend due to this high cost. It seems ridiculous that the athletic department can accrue enough donations from alumni to build a new workout center for the football team when people are unable to utilize the University for its true purpose, education, due to tuition and other costs.

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February 19: wonder

There is nothing that is guaranteed to turn me into a squealing eight year old more quickly than flight. Airplanes seem magical to me. I don't understand why man thought he could achieve this, and am still completely stunned that it was achieved and is accessible to everyone with government ID and a few hundred dollars. As such, I'm in awe of birds and how banal something so incredible must seem to them.

(Birds do know how to use their skill of flight well, however. It was almost impossible to get a picture of one when I was walking to my car today.)