adorable girls dressed in brown vests... and housekeeping.

I love Girl Scout cookies. I LOVE Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints (with milk of course), and Trefoils.



The past few days have been a struggle for me. Everyday cute little girls are on campus trying to sell their cookies to poor college students like me. I have not been sucked in by their smiling faces and batting eyelashes.

The trick: I avoid ALL eye contact.

Secondly, my goal of this weekend was to clean while my roommate was gone. Has that happened yet? No. Have I gone to the mall with friends, painted my nails "Mint Sobet" and worked on my InDesign project... yes.

I absolutely love this nail color. And the paint does not chip for at least 10 days. It is absolutely fantastic! :]

I hope to be able to add to my list of favorite things this week. It is going to be a busy week. I have a Psych test tomorrow morning... and I am going to Indy tomorrow with my Haiti team to do a building project from 4-10 PM.


If I do not get to my blog tomorrow... Happy Monday all! :]

pros & cons.

Pros and Cons of this week thus far:

Pros:

·         My Psych exam was moved to Monday instead of Friday

·         Natalie Lloyd has had a ton of blog posts lately!

·         Aaron Carter is blasting from the bathroom down the hall from my dorm room. Yes, my wing has a 90s CD with some “classics”, such as “Hit Me Baby One More Time”, “Bye Bye Bye”, “I Want Candy”, and “MMMBop”. Good stuff! :]

·         The snow is gone (for now).

(FINALLY! No snow in the view from my window!)

·         My small group is going to start meeting again this Sunday! :]

·         I got an A on my British Literature test!

·         My Haiti team has 39% of our funds raised with 2 weeks to go (we were at 3% last week)

·         God is good. Always.

Cons:

·         I had a long visit to the Health Center yesterday... I went in to get Typhoid meds for my trip to Haiti. I waited an hour and a half to see the nurse, saw her for only a couple of minutes, then went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription and they were out of stock so I had to go back today to get it

·         I’m sick... which is making me sleepy all the time :[

·         I have a New Testament test on Friday

·         I need to clean my room, but have no motivation to do so...

·         O Leader Interview tomorrow evening... Eep!

·         I was unable to go to see Susie Shellenberger speak today at IWU’s chapel (because of my class schedule I could not go off campus for an hour)

Fashion Find: I am loving Etsy (who doesn't?) Today, thanks to my lovely emails I receive from them, I found this adorable bracelet!



I love it! Too bad I'm super cheap...

I also got the new Anthropologie catalogue today in the mail. (Yay mail!) I am not sure why I taunt myself with expensive jewelry and apparel I know i cannot afford. I just enjoy pretty things, I guess...

Like this dress. Would I ever buy it? Nope. Do I like it & think it is pretty? Very much, yes.

(http://www.etsy.com/listing/59764759/blushing-in-pink)

I love photography, so a list of little things in life which I love I shall make (with corresponding pictures of course)!

Polaroid cameras & pictures

Nutella

"The Princess Diaries"

(I have always loved this dress)

Cornfields (Yes, Indiana is getting to me...)

Jumping in puddles after a storm (which I did this week!)

Since I have a test to study for, this is all for now. More pictures and things I love to come in the next blog (most likely).

dear blank... sincerely, me.

I love letters.

I love mail.



I have an addiction...

...I check my mailbox MULTIPLE times a day. I just love mail.

I love sending mail. I love receiving mail. Postcards, letters, cards, packages, envelopes. I love it all.

I love snail mail. My obsession with mail started early on. I'm not sure when, but I know that it has been since I was little. When I come home from college, I still check the mailbox to see if there is anything for me or the entire family.

I know that I am never going to get a letter like this one...

...but I still love mail. Now that I am at college, mail is more precious. Every once and a while I will get a letter, card or package from my parents, aunt, grandparents or best friends from back home. A little word of encouragement always makes my day.

Inside of the letters I receive from my best friends, we put sticky notes with words of encouragement or Bible verses (or both) on them. I save every letter. I save every post it note. I cherish the people God has placed in my life. I cherish the relationships I have with those people. I am glad God has not let distance change things between me and my best friends. Even though I slack at times and forget to respond to a letter for months, I know they still love me. I know they enjoy getting a letter in the mail as much as I do.

I have proof: "Di! It made my day to get your letter. :]" -One of the besties :]

God created us to be relational beings. He wants us to communicate and encourage one another. So when I see an envelope in my mailbox here at school, my face lights up. When I get a text message or when the icon on my Yahoo mail account changes from nothing to 1 unread message, I get a little giddy. It may sound silly, but I love words and when people use the written word to express emotion. It can be very raw. I love it.

Open up your heart today. Let someone see you from the inside. And make some one's day with a word of encouragement.

journals and coffee.

Yup. So I am that girl. I have almost as many journals as books on my shelf here at college. One journal for trips, one for poetry, one for devotions, and the rest for memories.



I also love coffee. I feel as though most writers do though. It's kind of that stereotypical scene where the artsy/nerdy writer is seen at a coffee shop, sipping out of a coffee mug and writing on a laptop or in a journal, or reading a classic (such as Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre... Yes, that would be my choice of classic novels.), and wearing a knit hat, an over sized sweater, skinny jeans, and Chucks. Okay... So, maybe I just described me, sitting in a coffee shop for hours.



I may be a nerd, but I do not care. I mean, coffee is amazing. I thank God for such an amazing substance quite frequently (...no joke). Coffee tastes good, smells yummy, goes great with just about everything, and helps me wake up for my 8 AM New Testament class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If only I could have an amazing breakfast like this one every morning instead of a Chewy bar or a piece of fruit...

Oh well. God still provides so much for me. I would be lost without His provision (and strength to get up in the morning).

whimsical frocks and warm fuzzy socks.

Last week was amazing. For a good majority of the week it was 50-60 degrees and the snow was gone. I felt crazy walking out of my dorm with a light sweatshirt on and not my big winter pea coat. It was fantastic, but now... back to snow & cold. At least my room is a sauna and I have plenty of thick blankets and fuzzy socks. :]

(Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chikistar/4210482756/in/photostream/)

I was also introduced to a new line of clothing by Anthropologie this morning called B H L D N. The line has wedding dresses, accessories, and cocktail dresses... A few I am in love with. Like this one...

And then there is this dress, and this one, and this one (which is the same as the one pictured above, just in "grapefruit"). I love fashion. Unfortunately for Anthropologie, I am not willing to spend that kind of money on a dress.


This weekend has been very slow. I have slept a ton and have done almost nothing. I need to study for a British Literature exam (which is going to kick my butt if I don't study enough), write a devotion for the devotional book (which is being put together for all of the teams going on spring break mission trips this March), and clean my room (which includes washing a months worth of clothing. Yes, I have a lot of clothes...).


I just need a hot cup of coffee and a good book. Too bad time will not allow me to do just that. But, if anyone needs a book to read, I highly recommend Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones. The book came out February 1, 2011 and I was lucky enough to review it for Christian Book Previews. If you want to know more about the book, you can head on over to Jenny's website or read Natalie Lloyd's blog (She has posted her take on the book and she will have more about it in her post on Monday).

(Source: http://pinterest.com/anapina/favorite-places-and-spaces/)

Happy Weekend! :]

eenie meenie.

This week has been quite interesting. I am adjusting into all of my new classes, getting to know new people, and missing the people who are now gone.

The song below has no correlation to the blog post, just a dedication to a friend who is going to be in Panama this semester instead of at Taylor University.

Miss you, Jess. This one's for you! :]

Vaa... Val. Valen... Valentine's Day. Ugh.

(Source: unspokenwordsoflove.tumblr.com)

Love. This time of year the world is erupting with the word everywhere. The problem is that how many people focus on worldly, meaningless love? How many people say "I love you" and do not really mean what they are saying this February especially?

The cyber world is littered these days with cheesy pictures and quotes about "love." Do I like a good cheesy quote and picture every once and a while? Why yes, I do. But, my point is...

People are missing out on a pure, true, and complete love. People think the love we can show each other is great. And it can be. But the kind of love my heavenly Father shows me is unfathomable. I will never be able to completely understand God's perfect and complete love because I can not possibly display it myself. I would love to be able to love the way God does, but it is not humanly possible.

I just wish that people walking around this earth could understand that the "love" that comes on Valentine's Day is not the purest love. God's love is.

the forecast for today...

I am currently sitting on the floor of my dorm room as I type this... at 3:10 AM. Am I crazy? I think so.

Here I will give you the lowdown on today's events:

*Woke up at 10 AM since my first class was not until 12:30 PM.

*Got ready and went to lunch.

*Ate lunch, sat around for a while before I braved the storm to go to my class in the KSAC.

*Went to class, got a syllabus, filled out an information sheet, and left.

*Walked back to Olson then realizing I had to go to the ETC to purchase a Turning Point Clicker for Bib. Lit. 2.

(Can someone please tell me why this thing that is smaller than a deck of cards costs $30?)

*Got to the ETC, got the clicker, and left Reade to go back to Olson before my legs even thawed.

*Walked back to Olson, all the while being pelted in the face by tiny little ice pellets.

...I hate them...

*Did my homework until dinner.

*Went to dinner and stayed in the DC as long as I could before I had to face the ice demons again... >:[

*Walked around the DC for 10 minutes after I got my meal to find a fork. None of the baskets had forks. "Why," you ask? ...Because EVERYONE seems to go to dinner at 5:30 now.

*Finally found a fork, ate my dinner, treated myself to Moose Tracks (yum!) because the DC was SO HOT from too many bodies occupying such a small space.

*Went back to Olson, screaming all the way as my face cried out in anger from the pelting of the ice demons (yet again...)

*Did some more homework and watched some TV...

AND THEN...

Taylor canceled school for tomorrow!!!

...now back to the list...

*Screams erupting from all wings in Olson as all the girls read their email from the university.

*Dance party in the halls of 3EO.

*Made videos for the girls who are not on the wing this semester.

*Did some homework that is due Friday. (Yes, I am a nerd...)

*Watched Hitch in Katie and Hill's room.

And now, I am here, on my floor, because at the moment I am too lazy to go to the couch to type this. Plus, I do not want to wake my sleeeping roommate.

Tomorrow, I will be going outside maybe twice for meals. The rest of the day will be spent watching movies on the wing because Trier thought ahead and got a projector from the ETC the other day, just in case we did have the second of February off from school.

Tomorrow will also be my "get ahead" day for Professional Writing. I have two books to review by the middle of the month: Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones, which came out today, and In the Shadow of Evil by Robin Caroll which comes out March 1st.

                    

 I hope the snow treats you well tomorrow and is not demon-like to you.