Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Just came across this awesome quote...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye. ~ Miss Piggy

Oh dear =)...

Thankful

You know, life is good.

The above statement may seem obvious to some of you. If this includes you, I am happy for you. I have, however, danced around this idea for quite some time--particularly over the past year. Not that I've had a terrible life. Quite the contrary. I'm sure you can look back over the happenings of your own life and recognize times where you caught yourself asking the questions, "What's this thing we call life all about?" and "Now what?" I am not a particulary existential person. There are times, though, usually after particular highs or lows, when I have encountered such questions. This year has been probably the most intense question-asking period for me.

I have encountered a few changes in the past year that probably have sparked a few of these existential moments. A few of the primary "identities" that I have assumed in the past have changed--which is WEIRD. I've gone from belonging to a family of four, and being a university student, two identities which usually determine your schedule and activities day in and day out. My family has "changed shape," leaving me to often wish I was allowed to be a little less responsible and actually play the role of a daughter. My six years of schooling abruptly came to a halt in June, leaving me wondering if I'd have a summer job, let alone a career to begin as a teacher in the fall.

If you don't remember the title of this blog, please refer to it now. As you can probably tell already, if you didn't previously know, I'm a pretty wordy person. There was no wordier way I could title this entry, though. Trust me, I tried! "Thankful" is an understatement, I still feel, but it's accurate, that's for sure. Even in the midst of chaos in my family's home, God takes care of those whom he loves. Internship went famously, even though all I knew to be consistent in my family--my parents--was falling apart. God gave me focus, supports, and exceeded my wildest dreams. I say that the Lord exceeded my wildest dreams because I came home from Europe at the end of May to a job at Campbell Collegiate, the school at which I had done my internship. Nothing this girl could have done independent of the Lord would ever have deserved such a wonderful position. I could write for days giving you the details about how perfectly catered this position is for me and all that God has done "behind the scenes" to make sure I would be blessed at the outset of my career.

After hearing about the job I would be taking in the fall, I looked at my bank account. Trust me, after last receiving a paycheck in September of '06, I was needing cash, and needing cash quick. Sure enough, the only interview I had in my lame search for a summer job in April paid off. I got a phone call a couple of weeks before I was to begin a short stint as a sessional instructor at the University of Regina teaching ESL. What a blast, and a blessing, that was!

Questioning God, I have discovered, is not a bad thing. Job asked God when everything that was familiar to him was ripped out from underneath him. He didn't sin against the Lord. I know, though, that I have not been as faithful to the Lord as Job was. There have been times when I have been angry at my situation and when I have held God responsible for it. But when I actually sit and take the time to write a list of alllll the ways he's been faithful, I can't help but tear up, praise him, and thank him for pointing me to him. He is good. He has blessed me with blessings even when I didn't realize I needed one, and even in the times when I thought I could use one but didn't even know what to ask for.

How many times has that happened to you? I bet if you made a list, you'd be overwhelmed with thankfulness like me.

Life IS good...because he is.

Honoured

Thank you dear readers for sticking with me through the slump...the slump being the near year and a half that I didn't post. Yes, that's right--a year and a half...which makes you pathetic ; ). Just kidding. I laughed pretty hard when I saw your conversation. Glad I could be hospitable. : )

As for blogging, I don't know how comfortable I feel with it anymore! I think I'm just getting old and eccentric to the point where it's completely embarassing to bare all over the internet! The things I'd talk about--ya, sometimes would better be left unsaid. : )

One thing I have been thinking about lately is life. Yes, life--no small topic : ). More specifically, however, I've been thinking about where I fit. And questions about who I, as a "Christian" (I'm struggling with the term itself lately) am supposed to be in the context of life. I've been calling into question the things I've been constructed to believe, and am growing because of it. Here's a question for you: What is "salvation" to you? Is it a one-time thing? Is it a ticket to heaven? What is it?

No time to think of a title

Hey! I'm writing my unit plan right now (yes, that which has consumed my life), and came across a quote that I loved because it's true:

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you gett loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand"

~Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit~

Can you say creepy??

I know I haven't blogged in awhile (but hey, this is no six months!), but I just felt that I should really share this with you fellow bloggers.

MAKE SURE TO READ THIS BEFORE YOU OPEN THE LINK:

This is a car ad from Great Britain. When filming was done, the editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out a person was killed a year earlier in the exact same spot.
The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Watch the front end of the car as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you'll see a white mist cross in front of the car then follow it on the road.

Is it a ghost, or simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you'll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial, so turn up your volume NOW so you can hear him! It's pretty bizarre! Also, the mist is kind of small on your screen, so you need to watch closely!

Ghostly Car Ad

So, what do you think?

This blog has been brought to you by Eggs, Papers, and Tests...

Well yoooo helloooo!!! (oh i DO hope Bryan reads this because that was a Mary Poppins allusion just for him!)

I like blogging every couple of days as opposed to every day because it gives me soo much to write/think/laugh about! Blogging is very therapeutic for me, actually. It helps me to not take life so seriously (not that I had a huge issue with that before...at least I don't think ;)...Anywho. Blogging is that time where, every couple of days or so, I can sit and laugh at myself. And believe me, there is a lot to laugh about!

Take yesterday, for example. I had a midterm to write in my evening class--my really really intense evening class. I had even come home from C and C early on Tuesday night so I could study for it as I'd mentioned in my last blog. Do you remember the pillow that was whispering my name so loudly that I couldn't ignore it? Well I am a sucker for talking pillows, especially those that know my name, so I succumbed (haha...just google defined "succumb" and the definition is "to be fatally overwhelmed"...that make me giggle) to the pressure and just went to bed with good intentions of getting up and studying in the morning before my 1:30 class. And, since I'm liking this listing function here on good ol' Blogger, let me use it again to describe the occurrences that obviously justify what I did with my day:

1. Woke up on Wednesday at 8:30, disappointed that I'd slept in--because, after all, I really needed to study for this big midterm that was quickly approaching. Plus, I needed to get ready and get to 1:30 class.
2. Motored downstairs to put the coffee on...in my haste to be fatally overwhelmed in seeking my pillow the night before, I'd forgotten to set the timer button on my coffeemaker so it wasn't ready for me when I woke up. Life is rough, I know! :)
3. Whilst my coffee brewed, I knew that I should eat. It took all the energy I had to go to the fridge and crack two eggs into a bowl and throw them into the microwave. "Eggs and coffee," I thought to myself, "This sounds like the perfect recipe for...indigestion!" But alas, I lacked the energy even to make toast. Oh well. But on with the story!!
4. After a "little bit of time" (time means nothing to me in the morning) I took my eggs out and concluded they needed some more time in the microwave. NOBODY likes the clear runny part of the egg (I guess that would be uncooked eggwhite. I am a genius :P).
5. Put eggs back into microwave for 30 seconds "or so" (see above statement in parenthesis).
6. Took them out.
7. Took a little bite of yummy hot eggwhite and concluded them "done."
8. Just to ensure the yoke was still kind of runny like I like my eggs, I leaned over the bowl and got really close (as if my eggs were my patients and I was the caring doctor or something) and poked gently with the fork at the yoke.
9. *BAM!!!*
10. Wow. What a sucker I am. So there I was in my PJs, all disheveled and morning-like, squinting through my morning eyes (as opposed to my evening eyes?! eek!!), with egg ALLLLL over the coffeemaker, the countertop, the stove, the floor, and my PJ top.
11. After I enjoyed what was left of my eggs in the little bowl and had a large cup of coffee, I sat down intending to study.
12. 10 minutes after starting studying: "I need to have some God time"
13. A good, long time later: "I need to study"...*Jennifer runs fingers through her hair*
14. "OH MY...egg." All throughout the locks.
15. Jennifer showers and readies herself for the day and still hasn't studied. Time is quickly approaching when Jennifer has to leave for class (note the perspective shift. Sometimes stories just demand 3rd person!!)
16. Decision made: Jennifer will not attend afternoon class.
17. Jennifer plays piano, massages jaw.
18. Jennifer begins eating lunch.
19. Jennifer's dear friend Lydia brings her double double and sits and listens while Jennifer talks her ear off about anything and everything except studying.
20. Lydia finally escapes from procrastinating Jennifer.
21. Jennifer warms up to the idea of studying by playing more piano.
22. By this time, it's 3:30 and Jennifer freaks out.
23. Studies for 1.5 hours and...
24. Writes exam. Makes the following conclusion: Jennifer loves her degree because it combines two wonderful, wonderful things: English--the most subjective subject EVER, and Education--lots and lots of reflection.
25. Jennifer successfully wastes a day. And experiences the wrath of yolk. And it only takes her 25 points to convey this. Oh wow. I do like wordiness--guess that's not why I'm in Math. I'll leave that to my fabulous roommates.

Now that I've killed the precise amount of time that I needed to, I'm going to sign off.

"I'll get you next time, Gadget. Next tiiime!!"...nope...just doesn't have the same ring.

Closing comments for all those out there writing midterm exams:

"Instead of studying for finals, what about just going to the Bahamas and catching some rays? Maybe you'll flunk, but you might have flunked anyway; that's my point."

________________________

"Instead of having 'answers' on a math test, they should just call them 'impressions,' and if you got a different 'impression,' so what, can't we all be brothers?"

~Jack Handey~

Most Bizarre Day Ever!!

Hey, all you faithful blog readers. First off, let me just say thank you for all the support regarding my "resurfacing" in the bloggosphere! Haha...I would especially like to thank my anonymous spammer, whoever you are. What a loverly welcome back. Gracias. Gracias indeed.

So I will not blog about today since it was kind of uneventful, but rather, will recount some of my memories (if these are actual memories--yesterday was bizarre enough that I don't discount the fact that I could be making these up ;). Anywho. So here I go:

1. Squandered my morning at home not feeling too pressured to do any homework. Played the piano and strained my jaw. Go figure.
2. Sat down for about an hour to work on homework before my 1:30 class. Felt a yawn coming on. Stretched. OUCH. Chest pain and arm pain like I was having a heart attack (because I know what that feels like :S :P ?? uh...just go with it). Felt nauseated and achy the rest of the day.
3. Had a paper due at 1:30 pm, but alas, was not finished. Had emailed prof and asked her how long I had before it was late. Said as long as it was under her door by 8:30 am Tuesday, it would not be late. Had worked on the paper (only a 6 page requirement!) for about 13 hours already. Don't ask why it's taking me forever to work this year. I won't have an answer for you.
4. Went to gym. Nothing unusual happened there.
5. Walked back to my car and almost got hit in a parking lot whilst I was walking.
6. Ate supper at home.
7. Came back to school for class and almost caused an accident. Can you say tired and distracted? I can!: "Tired and distracted!"
8. Tried to contribute in class but because I was making no sense, the prof told me not to bother! Haha...wow.
9. Sat and typed on my paper at the university after class from 9:30 till 2:3o am!! Got it "done," or at least written to the point where I could no longer keep my eyes open and my mind alert enough. Highlight of evening: At 1:30 a.m. when the late-night hunger hit, a guy and a girl randomly walked through the computer lab giving away pizza. Pizza with shrimp no less! Yummmm...
10. Tried to print out paper. Alas, there was no paper in printer. Had to photocopy nothingness in order to get paper to put into printer. Not impressive at 2:25 am.
11. Tried to hand in my paper but realized I was pretty much locked into Riddell and couldn't hand it in to the building I needed to get into.
12. Got to sleep at 3:00. Woke up at 6:30, drove to university after getting dressed but not having brushed my teeth or hair, or done anything about makeup. I was a sight for sore eyes...or sight to make eyes sore...I'm not sure! Said hello to the friendly caretaker and to my old Psych prof, handed in paper, came home and fell into bed for another hour before I had to get up and go to class.
13. Two words: GONG SHOW

What I'm doing now:

1. Finishing my pre-study popcorn.
2. Looking at the mess my room is in and hoping I won't feel compelled to clean before I begin studying for tomorrow's midterm. ICK.
3. Looking longingly at my bed. Maybe I'll just go to bed.
4. Thinking that the perfect way to end this blog is to leave you with some profound words:

"I bet when the neanderthal kids would make a snowman, someone would always end up saying, 'Don't forget the thick, heavy brows.' Then they would all get embarrassed because they remembered they had the big hunky brows too, and they'd get mad and eat the snowman."

-That Jack Handy quote was for you, Tyson. And that man in Batman Begins did not have weird eyebrows.

Until next time, Gadget....until next time! (Wait a minute, what DID Dr. Claw always say at the end of the show?) Regardless, arrivederci!