I'm chillin at my new apartment in Waco. Ryan is behind me, supposedly napping, though this picture proves otherwise. Its fun living by myself for a little while. It has only been three days, but I'm not tired of it yet. I can put my stuff wherever and walk around naked. Blare music. I don't have a TV at all, only a plant where the TV should be. It's a pretty entertaining plant though. Lots of colors (mainly green). I have been making a lot of smoothies.

Today summer classes began. I went to my Roman Art class and went to work. Nothing too exciting. It's nice though. The summer is slower in Waco. Though class is faster, people move slower, and there are less people around in general. But still enough to keep me entertained. Tonight I will be visited by some of my favorite Baylor people--Tins and Melissa. They will sleep on my floor and my couch.

I'm living in the same apartment unit my Dad lived in for a spell when he was getting his undergrad at Baylor. Crazy! It's a nice, and quiet, and safe place.

I go back to Waco tomorrow. Weird. I already said bye to you Waco, yet you keep playing with my heart. Not really, its okay. Got one more class to take before I can graduate. These past two weeks have been so great and relaxing, I don't really want them to end. They have to though, because one can't have too much relaxing. Then one gets bored and lazy and fails to appreciate it. And it'll still be pretty slow in Waco, as I am taking only one class now instead of two--Roman Art--and working in the art building--which is a pretty chill job. Way better than standing behind a cash register and making wraps. I'll be sitting at a computer, probably making powerpoints most of the time, for the Roman Art class I'll be taking, so I'll also be studying.

So I'll be returning to Waco a little tanner (thanks to time spent by and in the pool), a little thinner (thanks to the colitis), not totally back to normal, but closer to it anyway.

If you are a reader of my mom's blog, you know that on Tuesday she and I played at Buon Giorno's open mic night. It was great fun. We both played two songs, me first and then momma. Momma was for sure the hit of the night. As she was playing, all the baristas stopped working and listened. To each other I heard them say "She's really good." And to me they said, "Any mom that can play guitar is okay with me," and, "Did she play you to sleep when you were little?" and, "She looks like a rockstar!"

Here's my rockstar mom:


She is a natural.

And then here is me


It was great fun.

Figured it was time to write again, since it has been a week and all. I'm chilling on the couch, Momma is on the adjacent chair. We are both on our laptops, probably both writing on our blogs.

On the health front, I have still been having some digestive troubles. I have Ulcerative Colitis, which is an Irritable Bowel Disease (click here to learn more about it, if you are curious). I've known I have had it for a while, but have been fortunate in that the symptoms haven't flared up much. But right now they are flaring and have been kicking my butt. So I'm back on my meds and really monitoring my diet. There has been some improvement.

My family and friends have been really great about it. My great Momma is making me scrambled eggs right now. Ryan has been by my side and helping me through all of it. Great people. I feel really loved.

Summer school starts next week so I will be back in Waco. I'm a little nervous about it, mainly because I was hoping to have been feeling better by now. I was hoping to be back to normal before starting summer school. I still have some days left I suppose.

The eggs are ready.

First, for Caroline, here is a picture of how my semi-permanent hair color has lightened up in the past week:

It's lighter but still there.

Man what a week it has been. It was been full of packing, camping, tubing, packing, moving, hanging, stomach aching. And yesterday I went to the Emergency Room again. But this time it wasn't for me, but for one of my roommates who ended up having a kidney stone and kidney infection. Yeesh. We are all just too stressed out. Quarter life crisis.

But I'm moved out now. I couldn't have done it without the help of Ryan, Momma, Will, Bailey, Matt, Nick, and Robert. Thanks guys. I expected move out day to be really sad, but it was more just stressful. The least stressful part was the Emergency Room actually. I just chilled next to said roommate from 9 am to 3 pm whilst the aforementioned people moved my stuff into a UHaul for me. Then I joined the fun. I didn't finally get back to my home in Colleyville til a little after midnight. Phew.

It has been a good past week, even though there have been health issues and sadness over leaving. There has been lots of quality friend time and lots of cute pictures taken. Like this one, from camping last Tuesday.

Ah! I dyed my hair! Don't worry it is semi-permanent and will probably only last a couple of weeks.
But that isn't the interesting part of my day. Oh what a day.

I went to the Emergency Room this morning for tummy troubles (thanks for the ride and support Claire! I got her out of bed to take me). They stuck a tube in my nose to my stomach. Good times. My friends and family proved themselves though, by coming out in record number to keep me company. So wonderful are they. We got in trouble because there were too many people in my room.

And then I sat around in my apartment for the rest of the day. I got bored so I dyed my hair (thanks for the help Tinsley). I feel better.

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.