Date a girl who reads...

I came across this and thought it deserved a repost. I don't agree with everything she writes here, but I like her thought process... thanks to thevampiredrinkscoke.

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."

Helping up...

taken 8-13-2009 at The Children's Park

"Two are better than one... if one falls down,
   his friend can help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Valentine's *1 week late*...

{{{So yeah, last week was insane with 3 major tests, bi-weekly meetings 

(that happened to all fall on last week), and mediating between roommates 

on my floor... so this post is 7-days in coming.}}}

The last two years (2009, 2010) I've been at the Renewal conference with the Navigators over Valentine's weekend. This year the retreat was moved to February 25-27th, so I was in town for Valentine's... and I was not looking forward to it.

I'm taking country western dance lessons with a friend of mine on Sunday nights, and last week I was late to our first lesson because I'd been home for the weekend for a friend's funeral. My mind wasn't focused on learning the polka because I was prioritizing the massive amount of studying I had to do and calculating how late I was going to have to stay in "the annex"--the only building on main campus that is pretty much open 24/7 and is a popular hang out for stressed students pulling all-nighters.

My friend then warned me as we were headed back to my room, "Meghan's (my Bible study co-leader) got a little surprise planned for you. I promise it won't take more than about 10 minutes. But be sweet... she's just trying to show she cares about you, your friend's funeral, and the fact that you're stressed."  OK, fine. I'll humor her. 10 minutes. That's it. Then off to the annex to cram for Therapeutic Principles.

I walked into my room and a few minutes later I answered a knock on the door to find not just Meghan, but 3 of my other best girl friends--Sarah, Becca, and Abigail. They brought me Godiva dark chocolate and lots of hugs. :)

Then, my door opened again and our 3 guy friends walked in with roses, chocolate (they brought me ground coffee instead!), and cards for each of us! Sarah's fiancé had been in town for the weekend and he, along with another friend who was holed up in the architecture studio, had been in on the planning of the whole shindig. Meghan knew what the guys were planning and had orchestrated an excuse to have all of us girls in the same room.

The cards the guys had for each of us were perfectly picked. This was the cover of mine...

on the inside it reads "... sure hasn't been to Forks, Washington."

The most epic part about it is what plays when you open the card:

Edward-"I will love you, every moment of forever." 

Jacob-"I will fight for you, until your heart stops beating."

Let's just say that I almost died laughing... beside the fact that every single person who was in the room (girls included) makes fun of my liking Twilight, I loved it! :) I still can't believe that the the guys scoured the Valentine's card section to find the perfect cards for each of us 4 girls, took time to write something in each card, and arranged the whole thing. I've got amazing girl friends who came to cheer me up, and I've got incredible guy friends who went out of their way to make us all feel special.

Ok, it took longer than 10 minutes... but it sure made staying up until 3:15am a whole lot more bearable!

Jello...

Today was all about Jello... I don't think I've ever heard so many analogies using Jello in one day!

It started with my 10:20am Exercise Biomechanics professor likening the squiggly stuff to the matrix component of connective tissue found within your body. It was just too "Facebook quoteable" to not post it! (Ok fine, I'm one of THOSE students who will occasionally text during class!)

Then a friend of mine continued on the medical analogies with: 

Then tonight at leadership meeting for all the Navigator's Bible study leaders Susanna shared another Jello analogy related to verse 1 of  this week's passage, 2 Timothy 2:1-13. 

"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

 2 Timothy 2:1

Paul exhorts Timothy to be strong in grace, implying that we can be strong

 in lots of other things. Grace isn't the first thing that comes to mind when 

someone says "strong." A little like Jello--ever tried to get the bottom hard 

layer off the bowl when you forgot to completely dissolve the powder?

 Jello can be strong stuff!

Now, if you'll excuse me. My microwave's just finished boiling my 1 C. of water... 

*proceeds to tear open packet of strawberry powdered happiness*

REBLOG: "Daddy, Tell Me a Story"

This is beautiful...

From the archives: Daddy, Tell Me a Story

New home...

Some of ya'll may know that my family is moving on from the ALERT Cadet ministry, and with that comes to moving to a new home. For now, my parents are staying in the East Texas area and are moving to the town of Mt. Pleasant.

I spent two days over Christmas break visiting homes with my family. Mom and Dad had already narrowed down the search to about 10 different houses; it was now up to us kids to help them find their home for the next 3-5 years. After that, who knows?

We found a lovely home with tons of trees and a big metal building (which I think will get turned into a CrossFit Box) on a quiet Farm-to-Market road just a few minutes outside Mt. Pleasant. Here's the Google Earth view:

from realtor.com

Songs and Statuses

from overloadedaegyo via lovequotesrus.

Does it bug you when people post song lyrics as their Facebook or IM statuses? It used to... until I found myself doing the same thing.

I figure, if someone else has taken the time to find the perfect words (and they've made those words famous/gotten quite a bit of money from those words) why should I try to find some other way to say the same thing?

And I also figure that if someone sees my status and moves right on because they don't understand it, they obviously don't know me that well. When I get a Facebook comment, a "like," or even a text with either "that's perfect, I totally agree!" or "I'm getting the vibe you're not OK, wanna talk about it?" I know those people care. 

I figure, the people who need to know will understand what I'm (not) saying... and the rest of the world can just read some great lyrics and remember a wonderful song. 

BTW, I'm kind of in love with the faded lyrics, a blog dedicated to bringing Taylor Swift's words to life. Check it out.

REBLOG: "Snow and Grace"

A friend of mine posted this today... seemed appropriate for the "snow day/no school day" we're hoping for here at A&M.


Grace falling like snow... I think that's what I need today. Maybe that's what we all need.

For the entire totally-worth-reading post:
From the archives: Snow and Grace