Around Town: Easter Weekend (2/2)

Donuts.  Look yummy.  Taste less.  Oh well.

Part 1

Where did I leave off?  Right.  Sunday.  So, while the farmer's market may not be a tradition, Easter Sunday Resurrection Rolls most certainly are.  Basically they are sugar dough wrapped in marshmallows and when they bake the marshmallow melts leaving the dough hollow on the inside.  Yummy, but almost too sweet if such a thing exists.  Tradition I will carry on to infinity?  I think yes.  Just as soon as I lean how to make them...

Anyway, church this year was a combined service at Davies Symphony Hall. <dork> It was amazing! I always hate that they don't let you sing in concerts, but since this was church I could sing all I wanted.  Sweet.  We sat in orchestra which was indescribably cool other than that I was taking a picture before we started and then a man sat directly in front of me.  </dork>

I am purposely not talking about the camera debacle, but there was one, and these will be the last pictures from this camera for a while.  </idontwanttotalkaboutit>

After church we went home to change clothes and then went to go see/participate in Bring Your Own Big Wheel.  Basically, it's a "race" down one of the steeper hill in the city that includes around seven hairpin turns.  I went down on a tiny plastic motorcycle which was awesome, but did not have a way to steer.  Let's just say I didn't win in the traditional sense.  Or in any sense really.  There's a reason there are no pictures of me in the race.

Home.  Dinner of yummy food that I appreciate more and more the longer I have to feed myself.  The rest of the day was uneventful which was actually probably not good considering that I had (have) so much work to do.  It's beginning to be time for mantras and all-nighters.  I cannot even describe how much I'm not looking forward to that part.

In unrelated news I am still somewhat stunned that I had to break this up in to two posts.  I probably didn't HAVE to, but on some level I'm kind of impressed with myself for being able to eek this out for content... I mean.  I could have...  It was...  I talk too much.

By the way: church was at Davies Symphony Hall.

No big deal.

Sister Emma's pic: Mom at BYOBW.

Sister Emma pic: Me and my not very big wheel.

Sister Emma pic: Trying to get through the BYOBW crowd.

Plan Z

A long time ago on a blog I don't remember (this was before I was bookmarking blogs and keeping track), I read a post about imagining the worst and trying to see how it wouldn't be that bad.  The sermon I heard on Easter Sunday this year talked about how even what we are sure is God's last plan for us, is still a part of His plan and can be used for His glory.  He even used the same phrase, Plan Z.

Plan Z is what happens when nothing you have in mind for your future comes to fruit.  For me that would include not being able to use my degree, moving back in with my parents... but I'm getting ahead of myself.  The reason that you think of Plan Z is so that you can think about what you would do in the meantime.  What would make this worst possible outcome better and somehow not awful.  So here it is, Plan Z.

In my Plan Z I am living in my parents basement in some alternate or possibly future universe where they live in the suburbs.  I hate the suburbs.  I am working in some office job where I do mindless data entry or copying for the majority of an 8 hour day.  Somehow, in getting to Plan Z I was injured in a way that I can't climb anymore.  This means that I spend the work day sitting and sedentary, then go home and am sitting and sedentary because I can't go on adventures like I want to.

Like I said before though, the second part of coming up with Plan Z is figuring out how it doesn't suck.  In Plan Z I cook a lot.  Since I'm living with my parents my Dad and I cook together a lot.  Maybe I take yoga with my Mom.  In Plan Z (in any plan really) I am highly involved with whatever church I am attending.  Possibly more in Plan Z because I want to be doing stuff that's not being at work or sitting at home.  I teach Sunday School, I am a part of a Community Group, I am a mentor, basically I am doing a lot of other fun stuff besides going on adventures.

What is your Plan Z?  And how does it not suck that much?

At The End of The Day

I have been struggling with what to say all day.  How to say it.  Because I cannot go through Easter without at least saying, even to the internet, "He is Risen," and waiting for "He is Risen, Indeed."  But how to broach the subject.  I'm teetering on the edge of talking too much about my faith on my blog.  An edge that some would argue doesn't exist.  Because it's my blog and I can talk about what I want to talk about and if they don't like it they can leave.

But I don't want people to leave.  I know that I have very few followers and I'm accepting of that.  I know that blogging for me is more of a personal pursuit than a professional one right now, but I want to be able to cross that bridge someday and I don't want a reputation of forcing religion on people when that transition happens.  I don't force anyone to listen to me, but at the same time I cannot ignore a huge part of who I am because it's inconvenient for my online persona.

Today I went to church.  This is nothing new for me.  I go to church every week.  But today was special.  Because today was a celebration of what God has done for us in sending His Son.  It's a question of life or death that we get to choose to be either all-encompassing or non-existent.  There is no in-between however much society wants there to be one.

The passage that the sermon I heard this morning was based on (Mark 16:1-8) ends with Mary, Mary and Salome -- a group of women who were followers of Jesus -- fleeing the empty tomb in fear and not telling anyone about what happened because they were afraid.  The man they saw who told them Jesus had risen gave them direct orders to tell everyone, but they were so afraid they said nothing.  I don't want to be that.  I am confident in my God and my faith, but at the end of the day I am still afraid to speak out.

Fat Tuesday

I've never been quite sure how I feel about lent.  I didn't grow up celebrating it, and even when I did participate I never really got much from it.  I find that there's something terrifying about finding something you would be willing to give up for a month.  To be honest, I still only loosely grasp the idea behind it, but I'm going to take a whack at it nonetheless.  Besides, this will also fulfill my 21 Before 21 goal of going a month without mirrors.  And then I'll do my learning makeup to do on, or immediately following, Easter.  I do like that I have a plan for it.

In any case, this is the last self-portrait in a mirror for a while, and then a picture of the mirror all covered up.  I want to make that vast expanse of white prettier, but we'll see if I get around to it.

In other news, my sister is on her way to my apartment from the airport.  Yay!

Of Routines and Adjustments

As the semester continues and I become more overwhelmed, I am trying ever so desperately to get back into a routine.  A system of doing, finishing, and consistently working.  For some reason in my head that was going to be easier with a more steady job, but that's pretty much a flat out lie.  Even now I'm realizing that I forgot to change the laundry.

Honestly, how do people do it.  A job, school, and a life.  Can the three actually co-exist?  I'm beginning to believe in the "choose two" charts that I'm always seeing.

I think what I need more that a weekly routine though, is a daily routine.  I need to know that I will be able to write in the morning and have my quite time when I get home for the day.  I want to establish these as actual and true habits so that even when my schedule is out of whack I can still hold these things true.  I'm still trying to figure out how blogging fits into that, but it seems to be going alright so far.

*Rachel looks at the clock only to realize that it is just past midnight.  It is much later than she thought it was.*

Well, that failed.

Right Then

{This week instead of doing a Right Now post I'm doing Right Then as an end of the year reflection.  Hope you like it.}

I tried to spend my time more wisely this year and was continuously trying to see where I could be doing things that would better myself.  I'm not sure that this directly lead to more activity, but I think it did make me more aware of the ways that I could be wasting my time less.  It's a start at least.

I took on more responsibility this year, work-load-wise and financially.  It was really comforting to be able to say that I feel prepared for being financially independent.  I know that I'm nowhere near that now, but I'm working with the stepping stones of it.  I also feel more confident in my ability to keep house.  It's strange how domestic I am sometimes, but I really like having a nice place to live in.

I started planning and organizing differently.  I've always been a pretty organized person, but when I moved into the new apartment in Chicago I kind of took it to a whole new level.  This has lead to more health contentiousness and more budget contentiousness.  Awesome.

I learned a lot about myself and how I deal with leadership (not well) by being a leader in InterVarsity.  I didn't really talk about the process and reasons for me leaving on this blog, and may never quite be comfortable enough to explain it on here, but suffice to say I learned a lot and grew in my faith and in knowing myself.

Overall I'm really happy with 2011, and I'm looking forward to what 2012 will bring.  Travel, planning, new projects, and new possibilities are all on the horizon.  Bring it on.

'Tis The Season

It is worth noting that I have about 10 versions of this picture in trying to figure out what was up with  the camera.  I actually had to go to a camera store to solve it.  Turns out I just don't know how to use a camera.  Baby steps.

'Tis the season to talk about faith.  Because I believe that faith is true and Jesus is real.  Relatedly, I also believe that forcing other people to listen to what I believe isn't the way to make them change.  I know that I can't make people believe in what I believe, just like you can't make me believe that humans evolved from apes.  I'm not going to try, so feel free to leave now if you're uncomfortable.  I'll wait.

That being said, I also believe that there is a time and a place for religion, and Christmas falls under one of those times.  So, I will come out, tell you what I believe, and that can be the end of that.  Or the beginning, but that's more up to you guys.

I believe that Jesus is God's son who came to earth as a sacrifice for our sins.  I believe in the whole bit, the virgin Mary, the wise men, and the shepherds out in the field nearby.  I know that we live in a broken world, and I believe that Jesus came to put a stop to it.  I believe that's something to celebrate.  I believe in the forgiveness of sins, and in everlasting life in heaven.  I think there might be some credit to those conspiracy theories, but that's probably a conversation best had in person.

Three more days till Christmas.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

To Worship You I Come

In speech bubble: We are the Children of the King

Under speech bubble:

more than anything

we are his.  Light of the world

City on a hill, and this city is the

city waiting to be changed.

Under eye:

And the Rythem of the Night echos in my 

head with the beat of the drum following a thum-

thum-thum.  I believe and I know you

are Kind of all.  King of me at least.

In my InterVasity chapter we talk a lot about how we can use our art as worship in some way.  This is what I came up with when I was given the space to do just that.  Both the eye and the crown have been re-occurring themes whenever I draw these days.  It gives me the idea that God is watching over me.  The crown reminds me that I am an heir to the throne of heaven, just because I am a child of the King.

20 Before 20: A Disappointing Wrap-Up

As many of you know it was a goal of mine to attempt 20 new things before my 20th birthday.  Sadly my birthday has come and gone, and half the list goes undone.  I hold out hope for next year though as I am putting the finishing touches on the 21 Before 21 list, and putting in place plans to actually go do the things on the list.  Yeah.  Anywho, here goes; the list of 20 things that were done or not done by my 20th birthday.


1.  Have a fancy tea party.  Not done, but I threw one for my old roommate's birthday which was immediately after mine.  Counts?
2.  Try out a crown braid.  DONE.  Has become a near-staple.
3.  Knit a hat. Not done, learning this winter from Elspeth.
4.  Bake a pie.  DONE.
5.  Read the whole bible.  Not done, on the list for next year and already working on it.
6.  Sew a pair of pants.  DONE.  Sort of, shorts count.
7.  Grow a herb garden.  Not done.
8.  Go on a hike.  DONE
9.  Go to a real concert.  DONE
10.Learn to navigate by bike  DONE
11.Send a care package.  Not done.
12.Organize a clothing swap.  Not done.
13.Learn to apply make-up.  Not done.
14.Be in a performance.  DONE  Sort of.
15.Go to a Critical Mass ride.  Not done.
16.Teach myself to play a song on the piano.  Not done
17.Post poetry online.  DONE
18.Skip class and go out to breakfast.  Not done.
19.Try yoga.  DONE
20.Go camping.  Not done.


Total things done: 9
Total things not done: 11
Things from this year on next years list: 7


Next week look for my new list of 21 Before 21.

Around Town: Austin

So, in keeping with tradition, I will do a post on my weekend trip out to the Austin neighborhood for my InterVarsiy chapter's retreat.  I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that this isn't a normal "Around Town / Around the World" post in that I didn't go to Austin for a vacation like the other places I've written about so far.  Also, I am notoriously bad at remembering to take pictures, and since the weekend was so short I have no pictures whatsoever.

Now that all is out of the way let's get down to it.  I went to the Austin neighborhood with a handful of other members of my school's InterVarsity chapter.  We meet up with a handful of students from DePaul University's InterVarsity chapter as well.  On Friday night we spent time getting to know each other, eating way too much cheep, off-brand candy, and talking about what God is doing in Austin.

And God is doing so much.  Austin is a neighborhood that was radically changed in the 60's with white flight and is now a heavily black neighborhood where a significant percentage (I don't remember the number) of the population is living under the poverty line.  I struggle sometimes with how I should be dealing with race in my daily life and this retreat was occationally uncomfortable in that I was usually the only white chick there.

Being the minority is a switch for me as in most other places I am the majority.  I was a good experience for me to be the one that looks out of place.  My school is big on diversity and is always bragging about our amount of diversity, but I find that it isn't mentioned much outside of the admissions process and the office of Multi-Cultural Affairs.  The thing is though, that we are all broken people.  "Black", "white", "red", "brown", "yellow", what-have-you, we are all broken somehow by the pain and hardships that come with living.

The amazing thing is the community that grows when people are in such tough situations.  On Saturday I went with a small team to a local church and we helped them with cleaning their sanctuary; sweeping, mopping, cleaning bathrooms and polishing pews.  I learned that the church building is nearly a hundred years old and was built as a catholic church.  The current owners of the building are a Baptist church, and they've been there for 18 years.  The church congregation has been meeting in some fashion for nearly 50 years in the same neighborhood.

Saturday night we went out for Soul food (am I spelling that right?), and debriefed with each other talking about what we'd done in the afternoon.  Once again we ate too much food.  This time it was more nutritious than candy.  That night I sang hymns because I freaking love hymns.  Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.  Apparently this is abnormal for a person my age.  I don't even care.  I could also talk for a very long time about stained glass windows, but I'll spare you.  For now.  I feel like there will be a post about one or both of these subjects at some point in the future*.

My love of hymns was actualized even more so when we sang a few in church Sunday morning.  I was in awe of the love and peace that surrounded the church.  The sermon talked about a lot of things, but the part that especially stuck with me was the mention of tithing.  I needed that reminder and still do as I figure out my finances for the rest of the school year half based on the atypical month of September.  Which is now October and feels to be very officially fall.

The chill in the air followed me back all the way to the Loop as the whole lot of us took the green line home again, home again.  Beginning again with "normal" life was a bit of a strange experience.  There was homework to be done, dishes to be put away, and Doctor Who to watch (Umm, guys?  Doctor Who? Anybody?).  Good-bye Austin.  You've taught me much, and I wait to see what else I have to learn.  Thank you for letting me stay, and bringing me back.

*But I also promised a post on farmers market meals and an "Around the World" post for my Denver / Boulder.