I just finished my last paper of the semester! I have written so many these last three months. More than any other semester. I almost got excited, thinking it was my last paper in college, until I remembered I'll probably have to write a paper about Roman art for my class this summer.

I'm at the library with Ryan right now. See

That picture was taken moments ago. Ryans eyes match his hair and mine kind of match my shirt.

I'm going to a potluck celebrating Cinco de Mayo tonight. I'm bringing guacamole, my fav.

Yesterday in my Women in Christian History class we again talked about women in ministry and the arguements on both sides--for and against. There are reasoned opinions on both sides (though I think the more reasonable argument is on the "for" side) and good Godly people on both sides. But ultimately, I don't think it is reasoned arguments that convince people of things. They certainly are helpful along the way, but I think what ultimately convinces people that a woman can publicly proclaim God's truths is to experience a woman doing so. Why would you want to silence that? In the same way, I think ultimately what convinces a person to become a Christian is not well thought out arguments, but a direct experience with God, or with someone who is walking in step with him.

What do you think?

So I'm back from my whirl-wind art-adventure in New York City. It was a good time. Basically all we did was eat, sleep, walk, and see art. We went to the Moma, The Met, the Guggenheim, the Frick Collection, Dia Beacon, Chealsea art galleries, Neue Gallery, and .. . I think that's all. It was cool. Expanded my visual vocabulary.

And now I'm off to my final week of classes. I still have two papers to write and a handful of finals to take, but it's all under control. I'm not too anxious about the end of school, in that I'm not freaking out about leaving Baylor and this whole world I know and love. Either I'm in denial or heartless. I think also we have just been talking about this for so long--the end of college, graduating--that I feel pretty prepared for it. It also helps that I know what the next step is--grad school. So I'm sure I'll cry at graduation and when I'm moving out of my apartment and such, but I'm not . . . freaking out I guess. I think that's healthy.

Yup I'm healthy. And hungry. I had lunch just two and a half hours ago and now I'm hungry. Well thats annoying.

I have been very fortunate in the last couple of years to be able to travel a lot. First to Kenya and Europe, and since then I have gone to places in the States I had never been before--San Francisco, Seattle, Long Island, Denver. This weekend I will add to that list by going to New York City. I'll take a big bite of the Big Apple with one of my Art History classes: History of the Modern Self Portrait. It will be a very art-filled bite. In all we will spend about fifteen hours inside art museums (The MOMA, The Met, The Guggenheim, etc.). Hope I don't choke.

I know that last paragraph sounded really pretentious. But really, I just feel really blessed to be able to travel so much. It's fun. I remember my roommate Elise wisely saying that she finds it annoying when people gauge her value by how many plane tickets she has purchased. This was in response to a guy who all of a sudden found her really interesting when he found out she lived in Lithuania for the summer. She was also really interesting before she lived to Lithuania too. I know lots of people who are really interesting and knowledgeable who haven't traveled outside of the country, and lots more who have and are close-minded and foolish. Hmph.

I wonder which one I am. Probably somewhere in the middle. .

I want to take this time and share with you a hilarious moment that happened in Seattle.

All six of us wanted to take a cute group picture sitting on a wooden rail.

But we broke it.

If you are a reader of my mom's blog, or someone who has recently been within earshot of me, you will know that I got into UNT's graduate school. Yessss! I was a bit nervous about it. So, for the next two years I will work on getting a Masters in Art Education, to prepare me to teach art. Right now I'm thinking I'll want to do high school, but we'll see. I can move around.

So that's a relief. I'm really happy now that I have a definite answer when people ask me what I am going to do after graduation. That's a really common question nowadays. I used to hate that question, but now I'm ready for it.

Being apart of this program will also force me to work on some art myself. I feel like I have the potential to be alright in doing art, but I have kind of been afraid of it. That's part of the reason why I majored in Art History and not studio art--Art History sounded a little safer, I could hide behind books and learn about other artists instead of being one myself. This program though, will require me to take twelve hours of more studio art classes (I have taken twelve already, as a requirement for a Art History degree), so it'll force me to explore that part of myself more. I'm excited for the challenge.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This morning, I groggily poured myself some cereal and got out my milk and noticed . . . that my milk was a bluish greenish color. I was so perplexed. It wasn't old and it smelled okay, so I shrugged and poured it over my cereal. I then opened my mango juice and noticed that was green too. But it also smelled and tasted fine. That's when I remembered the conversation I had last night with my roommate Elise . . . .

St. Patrick's Day is Elise's favorite holiday. Growing up, her mom got really into it and made green cupcakes, put green feet everywhere (?), had a scavenger hunt for her kids to find the hidden pot of gold, and dyed everything green (from the toilet water to the milk). So Elise had been sneaky and dyed all our things green! She also made green cupcakes (without refined sugar, since she and Tinsley gave up refined sugar for lent)

I'm wearing green striped pants too. Hope you've got on green!

Back from Seattle! Back into class. I really didn't want to go this morning; last week was really great. I'm not in the mood to be really wordy right now, but here are links to two albums I posted on facebook. Just click on the album titles below.
spring break seattle
spring break seattle 2

Man oh man, I am already on the eve of Spring Break! There is just one class away from myself and it. Tomorrow me and a handful of my closest of friends will drive to Houston, and tomorrow morning we will fly to Seattle. Yeehaa! I'm stoked. I have never really traveled with this group of girls before, though I have lived with them for three years. The girls include: Claire, Elise, Melissa, Rachael, and we will see Jenny up there. Hopefully my Florentine pal Hannah will make a guest appearance as well.

I have never been to that part of the country, the upper western corner, so I am pretty excited. But I am more excited about sharing this adventure with the aforementioned people. Melissa and I are seasoned travelers together, but the rest I haven't traveled with (I know I just said that, it just felt good to put it here too).

We also hope to venture up to Vancouver for a couple of days. Stay at a hostel. Canada is cool, eh? How aboot it?

One challenge is that, since there are so many girls that will be crashing in Elise's brother's apartment, we are limiting ourselves to very little luggage. As in we are not checking any bags. I am going to try to fit everything in one backpack, and my purse. This could prove difficult since the weather will be cold and that requires layers. Further, I would like to bring my laptop as I have some school work to get done while I am there. Laptops take up room. We will see how this goes . . . Should be a fun challenge.

Either way, I'm excited!

Ryan and I found a turtle today. We were riding our bikes on campus and saw on the sidewalk a little baby turtle making it's way towards the science building. It was odd because there wasn't much water around. Perhaps a bird dropped him. His little scrunched up face reminded me of Yoda, so I deemed him Yoda. We contemplated taking him home, but decided to let him free in his natural habitat instead. So we picked him up and walked him to the river/creek that runs through campus. He really came to life in my hands and was crawling all over the place. He especially got excited when we neared the water. Maybe turtles can smell water? We set him free by the water's edge and he hastily scampered in and began swimming away. It was sad to see him go. The river is so big and little Yoda is so small. I hope he is okay.

Yes, finally no more clouds. Today looks like it will be a nice one. Carrying around a jacket can be so cumbersome, so hopefully I can get by with my cardigan.

In the mean time, here are some pictures, fresh off the presses:
Claire and I doing the splits at her fourth-grade themed Birthday Party

The party was crashed for being too loud by our friendly neighborhood security guards. (Luckily there was no alcohol, or else we would have been in a lot more trouble. Fourth graders don't drink alcohol. We told them that there was no alcohol though, and they didn't believe us. We were having too much fun I guess. The one person who was under 21 had to take a breathe-a-lizer test. Poor girl. She passed of course.)

I had to make a self-portrait for my History of the Modern Self Portrait class. Yes, that is my real hair, I saved it from the last time I cut it. You never know when hair will come in handy.

Me and my Valentine at our Valentine's Day picnic


So there's that. Off to class.

Man, this issue about women and Christianity sure did rack up the comments. Thanks for everyone's feedback--anonymous and not.

I love lazy Saturday mornings. I'm sitting at the kitchen table with Ryan and Claire. Ryan is studying and Claire is eating breakfast and playing with my magnetic sculpture people (thanks Santa!)

Happy Valentine's Day! We have been eating a receiving lots of sweet goodies all week because of the occasion. Also because it was Claire's birthday Wednesday.

Okay on to my day.

First here is a picture of my Valentine:

1 Timothy 2:12-15

12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Galatians 3:28

28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

John 4:21-26; 39

21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he. . ."
39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony . . ."

I know it's unfair to give you verses outside of their context, but you can look them up more if you are curious (NIV). This is some of the stuff we have been wrestling with in class--the writings of Paul and the life of Jesus, how to reconcile seemingly opposing messages.

Did you know that when women were trying to get the right to vote, many used verses like 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 to argue against it? A vote is a voice, and women are to be silent.

According to 1 Timothy 2:15 I'm not saved because I don't have children.

It's problematic to take all of literal scripture as eternal truth. I believe there is eternal truth in scripture, but it is oftentimes below the surface.

I have a test in this tomorrow, that's why it's on my mind. I could keep going and going but I probably shouldn't. I have class anyhow.

I'm at my little cubicle in the art building, being a TA. It smells like burnt plastic. PU. It reminds me of the smell of perms. When I was younger I really wanted curly hair and would get perms (that would last about a week). Later, like in middle school, I got a perm because I wanted to be like Felicity.

Ah hair. My hair has been burned, dyed, fried, straightened, and curled. Since I've been a Baylor though, I have let it be how it wants. Freshman year I continued to straighten my hair (which is silly because it is already relatively straight). The summer of freshman year, while working at Sky Ranch, I had the revelation that I didn't have to brush my hair, I could just let it be free. And why was everyone so deathly afraid of split ends? Split ends don't affect my quality of life. Since then I have had a pretty healthy relationship with my hair, I think. I usually let it be how it wants, unless there is a special occasion I need to tame it for. I've also taken to cutting it myself, which is pretty liberating and fulfilling.

So there's that. I don't know where that all came from.

Something that has been in my mind a lot this semester is the issue of biblical gender equality. I'm in a Women in Christian History class, and this has led to lots of dicussion about how to interpret what the bible says about women and how that has been misunderstood and applied for most of church history. I've also talked to people who are confused about the issue or uncomfortable using the words "Christian" and "Feminism
together (I can understand that. Feminism is a loaded term). I've stumbled across some cool websites on the topic. Just now, I've discovered the Christians for Biblical Equality's (CBE) website. You should check it out and see what they have to say.

I liked what Shane Claiborne had to say about the organization:

“This is beautiful work--simple, genuine, redemptive. It shouldn't seem radical... but it is. It shouldn't even be necessary to say 'men and women are equal...' but it is. Hopefully in another ten years, the saints of CBE will end gender inequality and put themselves out of jobs. Until then, may we all live in discomfort amid a booming choir of white men, while the church is pregnant with women who are ready to lead and write and preach but still get funny looks or cold shoulders.”

I have a lunch date with Linh I have to get to now. Let me know what you think.

It's been awhile, I know I know, but here I am. I'm sitting at the breakfast table, but it's certainly not breakfast time. I'm actually a little sleepy (it's ten pm). There seems to be a battle going on in the clouds (lightning). Whoa, and I just heard some thunder that sounded like canon shots. This has nixed my plans to go hot tubbing with Elise (see post below).

Yesterday marked the six month-aversary of Ryan and I (see below).

I'm not usually one to celebrate month-aversaries, but I think six is a notable one. So Ryan took me out to a nice dinner in Dallas and I took Ryan to see a movie. We aren't usually dinner-and-a-movie people so it was special.

That's all I feel like writing for now.

My roommate Elise got a typewriter for Christmas. She was playing on it over break and wrote us (me and my other roommates) this quirky and inspiring letter (she's a pretty quirky one herself). I enjoyed it and wanted to share.

So the GRE is over and I did better than I had thought I would. Go me!!

Classes started today. I have been to two and have one more in thirty minutes. So far so good.

I've also worked towards one of my new years resolutions today. When I was at Garden of the Gods in Colorado, I saw a bunch of people rock climbing and thought it looked really fun and wished I could too. So I thought . . . why don't I? I have free access to a great rock wall at Baylor that I had only climbed once. That is a travesty; I resolved to utilize it more. So today after working I went all by myself (before I could change my mind) to the student life center and climbed the rock wall one and a half times. The first time up was easy, so I then tried a harder route that I gave up on in the middle. I can already tell my forearms are going to be sore. Hopefully I'll go again Wednesday to give it another go. Go me!!

So that's a little update. I have to get ready for my next class--it's an art history class about modern self portraits. Should be cool.

And Caroline--when I upload it I just click the largest option and they turn out that big.

that I should be studying for. I take the GRE on Saturday. I'm pretty tired of studying for it though.

Here are a couple pictures from my trip, not taken by me. I still haven't uploaded mine because I've been too lazy. My cord is all the way upstairs and I'm all the way downstairs . . .

We took a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory/headquarters in Boulder and got some free tea in the process. I'm drinking mine right now--green tea with honey lemon ginseng. Yum! (L to R: Whitney, Hannah, Vanessa, Melissa, Me, Christy)

We played and had a picnic at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs

This is our band pic (at the picnic).

Went tubing down some hills in the mountains.



That's enough pictures for now. Maybe eventually I'll put up some of my own, but you get the idea.

I'm going to study now. Wish me luck!

Well I'm back from Denver. It was a fun trip and a wonderful reunion with my Florence peeps. There was snow and art and good friends and laughter and air mattresses and Family Guy and drag queens and fireworks and mountains and fondue. Good times abounded. My Florence crew and I have decided that next we would do Texas. Most of them haven't been to the lone star state, so Melissa and I are going to give them a tour of it this summer. The tentative plan is to have them fly into Dallas, see some sights here, then road trip town 35 through Waco, Austin, and end up in Houston (where Melissa is from). I'm stoked. Have any suggestions for must sees?

In other big news, today is my mom's birthday


I decorated our tree for her. I consider it quite an honor, since she is the one always decorating it for other people.

Happy Birthday Momma! I love you!