Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Turning 24

Just a few pictures from my b-day . . .

It was the warmest day we've had since last summer . . . so I enjoyed the sun, some iced coffee, sour patch kids, a book, and a nap on my deck.


Then a bunch of us got together for breakfast for dinner. And the girls played video games . . .


. . . and the boys cleaned up :-)


I laughed and accidentally blew out a candle before it was time.


Yay for turning 24!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

From Nathan in Hawaii . . .

A New Life Experience

I just experienced something for the first time in my life. I finished a roll of dental floss! Whoa! I must have developed a good habit here. And just to give you an update on my New Year's Resolution of flossing my teeth every day . . . I am still on track! I've flossed every day since December 23, 2009. I must say I'm quite proud of myself!

And side note, I liked my old Crest "Glide" floss much more than my new Oral-B one. But I'm sure I'll go through this one fast enough.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Spring's A Comin'

So as much as I absolutely looooove winter and am not looking forward to summer . . . today really felt like spring. And it was lovely. There's still snow on the ground and it's still likely under 50 degrees (funny how when you live in the snow, that actually does feel warm!) but some people were in shorts, I didn't need a jacket when I left work, there were kids on their bikes around, and the first motorcycle/dirt bike made an appearance. It's a comin'!

This was from my trip to Canada in Sept but still seems spring-ish don't ya think?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Brave New World

Last night I finished reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I had read this in AP Psychology in high school, and since then have always named it as one of my favorite books. And now, a good 6 or so years later, I chose to re-read it for the first time. It was still awesome.

It's the story of a dis-utopic future society where all hardships have been taken away as well as all sense of loving one another and being devoted to the ones we love. People are conditioned to be whatever they are supposed to be in society, and conditioned to see community and society as the ultimate good. The world is stable, people are happy, and life is easy. But it paints a picture of how monstrous this society truly is. It helps the reader see the beauty of struggle, pain, relationships, God, art and individuality.

This is definitely my favorite type of book. I love books that have depth like this that make me think about society and where we may be headed. These books about the future are always more of a commentary about our current state than anything else (and for this one being published in 1932 . . . it's quite impressively modern . . . or maybe it's just timeless). "Readers are Leaders" my friend and it saddens me that people don't often read books with depth very often. We settle for the candy rather than the meat and potatoes of literature, which will be the most rewarding in the end. Maybe one day people will get themselves sick off of it all.

But on second thought . . . only if they take the time to dive into and really chew on the substance of a good book. And most people don't like the effort.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

For Kelly

This is for Kelly . . . since I was lame and forgot to blog about when her and Caroline (and my parents) came to visit! This was back in November. We had a great time just relaxing, making smores . . . and simply enjoying time together.

Kelly is the only friend who's come to visit me more than once since I've lived here. What an amazing friend. I just love her!