A little hair COLOR inspiration from Kate Beckinsale...

White Blood Cell chasing Bacteria with Benny Hill theme and ON NOM NOM (2)

They showed this video in our Anatomy class the other day - white blood cell chasing down bacteria in our blood. I almost cried. I'm a nerd, but really, it's amazing that our bodies are made this way.

From a restaurant menu last night.

My lips are not symmetrical. It bugs me a little. I have some theories about this:

1.) Asymmetrical lips are the sign of a genius.

or

2.) My mom smoked weed when she was pregnant.

or

3.) I had a stroke and didn't know it.

I have been so busy with school and haven't had time to do anything fun or creative. I wanted to check in with everyone though.

Lydia is so pretty. I love her glitter eyeliner and pink scarf. She has become quite a makeup and fashion queen. When I was her age I wasn't allowed to read teen magazines and didn't really have a place to get beauty tips. I'm not sure but I think I could've used a little help haha. I let Lydia read Seventeen and Teen Vogue but I go through them first and rip anything out that's not age appropriate. Honestly though, I don't usually find them that offensive. In this month's issue of Seventeen there's an article about what love should look like. It tells stories of several girls who were in controlling or abusive relationships. It's stuff girls need to hear.

Back to makeup though - someday soon I'm going to ask Lydia to do a post about finding good yet inexpensive makeup as well as clothes. She's really good at that and does her research.

I do want to share a random verse that was included in a comment by Mrs B.

 Colossians 1:16-17

¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

I can always use a little help remembering that I don't need to strive to hold everything together because God created it, planned it, and is gonna work it all out.

Art

One thing I'm uncomfortable with about higher education is its complete removal of anything smacking of Christianity...so much so that the system has become almost a pagan religion of its own. Yesterday, for example, I was reading my theater book, and the authors were describing what makes something art. They said that nature is often misunderstood as art, but that art isn't art if it just happened by chance. It has to have a creator. If one were to paint a picture of a sunset, well then THAT is art, but the actual sunset isn't. Get.Out.Of Town!!

I found it sad because many people, whether or not they believe in God, will read that text and not even notice the inaccuracy. God will get no credit for his daily, second by second, works of art in our universe. Not only is he the Creator of the world, he is constantly creating. If the picture above were taken 10 minutes later, the sky would have looked different.

While I know the earth changes for natural reasons, I also believe that God sets the conditions each day to create an ever fluid work of art. I believe he chose the colors in the beginning. He chose the canvas. He creates in ways we can't fathom.

The colors, the beauty, the breathtaking views are His love letter to us, from the smallest detail to the expansive sky.

Removing Him from the picture doesn't make nature and science any more exciting...or Creation any more explainable.

We're spending the weekend in a small town near Knoxville today where my "Gentleman Caller" moved. It's a non-descript little town with a couple of sweet little spots.

This picture was a bit of a failure. There was something on the mirror and it looks like there's something on Lydia's face. It looks funny though so I included it.

There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared. It is the great venture. It can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to mistrust, and this mistrust in turn brings forth war. To look for guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means to give oneself altogether to the law of God, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It's back to school for me today. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Peace

The one little lamp I had on in my house glowed brightly this morning as the wind and rain whipped through our area. Kittie ran for cover and Daisy has been on my lap for an hour with her head shoved between the arm of the chair and my leg. Loud, long rumbles of thunder had me pausing to look out the window to be sure. I wanted to know I wasn't mistaking the sound for that of a monster wind. That's how it's been since April 27th. When we have normal, non-tornadic thunderstorms now I call it Winnie the Pooh weather.

It's so much less threatening to think of storms in that context. I do wonder when Pooh started carrying a weapon though?

ChattState Concert Choir - Awake, Awake

I joined the Chattanooga State Concert choir today. I always took choir in high school and was in the Oratorio Chorus at Palm Beach Atlantic University when I went to school there. Somehow I ended up with a schedule that permitted me to join the Chatt State choir and I couldn't be more excited! Weird for a nursing student to be taking choir and theater I suppose? My schedule looks like this.

Microbiology w/ Lab
Anatomy and Physiology II w/ Lab
Contemporary Mathematics
Introduction to Theater
Concert Choir

The Hunger Games - Trailer 2

Read the first two books - You know where Lydia and I will be on March 23rd and I can't even think about it I'm so excited.

Thank God we can read. Literacy is a wonderful thing, because what else would we do on ramen noodle days....days when there are zero funds to go do anything? When all else fails we sit in the living room, Lydia in her book world and me in mine. Daisy of course just sits and begs for popcorn because the dog knows only one world, and it smells like pigskins and it's trees are made of beef jerky.

I received this wooden ring, crafted by an artisan in Knoxville, for Christmas from Lydia's grandma Mimi. I'm in love with it.

Lydia was born at Doctor's Hospital in Sarasota, Florida. She is a Florida girl to the core. The first time I took her to Illinois the temps were in the teens. I remember walking into a restaurant and looking over to see that she wasn't even wearing a coat. It was like she didn't even know how to use one. Almost every morning I have to remind her to put a coat on before we leave for school, and even then she takes it off before we get there. Don't even get me started on shoes. She's never been one for them either. Who wears shoes when you live two miles from the beach? Consequently we stopped at Sonic over New Year's and as we sat shivering on the patio, a gentleman asked Lydia why she wasn't wearing any shoes. She laughed it off and asked who needs shoes? I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lydia ends up back in the Sunshine State when she's off on her own, despite the crime and angry old retirees.

I love being a female when....

When you're walking into the convenience store, and the man ahead of you doesn't see you and doesn't hold the door. Then at the last second, after he's inside, he sees you and doubles back quickly to open the door and then apologizes that he didn't see you. That's happened to you if you're a woman I'm sure. I love it. I want to hug the man and his mom for raising him right.