Day 3 of 100

A picture of you in the morning.

Did you honestly think I would post a picture of me on the internet for the world to see without my hair done?

Styling my hair, eating cereal, and doing my make-up are three essentials in my morning routine. 

I have a thing for make-up, particularly eyeshadow.  I have all different shades of grays, greens, browns, pinks, and purples.  I have lots of blues too, but rarely use them.  Today I am wearing three colors, purple on my lids, green at the outer edge, and a light yellow up to my brow.  Yesterday I had on four.  I purchase most of my eyeshadow in pallets at the dollar store.  Cheap eyeshadow is the best! 

A collage I am in the process of making is all eyes with amazing eye shadow.  I want to put it in my bathroom to inspire me when I do my own make-up in the morning.

And I think it will be cool to look at as well as slightly freakish.

Day 2 of 100

Seriously Corey Jones, seriously?

Day 2: A picture that defines your life.

Could he have made the second day any more difficult?

A picture... that defines... my life.  The first thing I thought of was getting a bunch of stuff that "defines" me: some of my crafting things, something that represents my work, something that represents my mother, something that represents my husband, etc... and arranging them on the floor.  Then I could elevate myself slightly above all those things while kneeling before a cross (Doesn't everyone have access to a large wooden cross?)  Decent idea, but way to much work.  This is not a test.  Its supposed to be fun.  Think simple.

Ok... then maybe just me kneeling before the cross.  Easy.  Simple.  Accurate.  Well... mostly accurate.  Truth be told, if I am defining my life, I'm not always kneeling.  Sometimes I'm laying prostrate, fallen on my face before my Lord.  Other times, I am in the fetal position.  Sometimes I am crying and other times screaming.  Occasionally I have my back to him with my fingers in my ears.  And sometimes I am in time out.  There are times I am not even at the cross, but at His throne and in His lap.

So a picture that defines my life.

This is not a test.  Its supposed to be fun.

Yesterday we went to the beach and an idea struck me. 

Easy.  Simple.  Definitely fun.  Perfect.

Day 1

Yesterday Corey surprised me and gave me a new camera! It is a Fugi Film, 12 mega pixel, 5x wide zoom piece of fine working technology. And it records movies in high def! I am so excited! No more borrowing the school camera or using MACU yearbook photos to document our life. Yeah!

But it also came with a challenge (what a creative and sweet husband I have). “100 Days in Photographs” For the next 100 days I am supposed to take one picture every day. Corey already assigned the first 30. I hope I can accomplish this task. I am posting them here in hopes that it forces me to blog a little more too.

Day one: a picture of yourself and your new camera.

And so begins the journey…

Compliments

Before falling into sleep last night, my mind raced with questioning and uncertainty.  That was followed by two bizzaro vivid dreams that I remember distinctly.  I believe I had a third dream that I can not recall now.  I also woke up an hour early for my typical Saturday rising and I sat in my living room feeling what I can only describe as off.  I facebooked (yes, facebooked is a verb) for awhile and then sat staring into space.  "What am I going to do with the next two hours?"  You see, my husband sleeps in until 11am on Saturdays (and that's only because that's when I can't take it any more and get him out of bed).  So I got myself ready for the day and went on a walk around town.  I hoped it would re-center me and disipate my "off" feelings.

And to some extent it did help: being in the sun, getting my blood pumping a bit, walking and thinking...
but then I took a short stroll by the swamp and was overcome by horseflies.  Little, triangle shaped, emerald green, sting like a bee horseflies.  One landed on my glasses.  I didn't like that much.  If I watched my shadow, I could see them swarm around me, landing on my head and shoulders.  That freaked me out.  One got caught in my hat.  That REALLY freaked me out.  I swatted and squirmed and even ran, but they persisted that I was sweet and worth it (which really, who could deny?)  I finally escaped into my cool air conditioned apartment with only a few itchy bumps from successful bites. 

But the feeling of being off returned and thinking about the horseflies sent me into a crying fit.  Knowing Corey and I planned to read at Muddys I retreated upstairs in search of a new book.  Scanning my shelf of "Books to Read" my gaze stumbled upon a wee little journal I had forgotten existed.  In it are several pages of compliments given to me during my college years that I transcribed.  I read the pages and found myself feeling better, even positive.

So thanks to those who saw something worth complimenting back in the day.  You probably don't even know you made it in this book, but what you said then helped make today good again.

Stupid horseflies.

past post

I used to journal on xanga all the time.  I read some of my old posts today.  This was the last one I wrote.  I thought I would share it here too.

-"Robert Young Pelton's underground classic titled The World’s Most Dangerous Places is over one thousand pages thick.  It highlights the five-star danger zones like Colombia, Chechnya, and Liberia.  Pelton ironically writes not to discourage us from going but to help us get there and maybe even survive.  Nowhere, though, does he warn us about the world's most dangerous place, and he certainly gives us no guidance in how to survive when we're stuck there.  Makes me wonder if he's ever been in love." -Soul Cravings by Erwin Raphael McManus Every morning for the past several days (and this will continue until I am finished) I’ve read an entry from Soul Cravings.  The writer takes the reader on a journey, his journey.   My favorite entry so far was about love and how it is painful and difficult to understand and not needed for survival.  He ranted that if evolution were true, we should have evolved beyond love.  Yet, we continue to look for it, crave it, die for it.  And based on this point alone, there must be something more.   “I turned to God thinking he was a fool for wanting me.  Which, of course, is the nature of love, isn’t it?”  Truth.-

Phases

My life is a series of mini phases.

Take my style.  Previously, my jewelry and make-up always matched what I wore.  If I had a green shirt on, my necklace, earrings, and eye shadow would be green.  Then one day two youth ministers (of all people) made fun of my plethra of green.  I didn't change because of them, but it did bring it my attention.  Currently my jewelry and make-up match, but do not match my outfit.  Like today- I have a green sweater on with purple eye shadow and excessories. 

I also go through food mini phases.  Everyday last week, I ate dried cranberries after lunch.  Before last week, it was jello.  Last semester I ate tuna for lunch for two weeks straight then one day just stopped.  I had a fruit roll-up phase, yogurt phase, BBQ chip phase.  Cereal of course has always been a constant, but even within my cereal choices phases occur.  Recently, I had a Honey Bunches of Oats phase, a Shredded Mini Wheates phase, an Oatmeal phase.

My crafting goes through phases.  At times I make jewelry, other times I sew, and still other times I scrapbook, but rarely will I do them all or any two in a single day or week or sometimes month. 

I go through phases of isolation and exposure. Currently I can't seem to get enough of people.


I have taken note or ushered in big phases, but have only recently started looking for my mini phases as they eb and flow.  These mini phases aren't life changing, but they bring variety to my life. 

I heart Cereal

I have a thing for cereal.  Every morning since I can remember I have eaten a bowl of cereal.  My husband often pokes fun at me because if it were up to me, most of my meals would consist of cereal.  I am very picky about the cereal to milk ratio, but believe I could make a perfect bowl blindfolded.  I already pay little attention to what I am doing and base how much I have put into the bowl by sound.

I don't have a favorite cereal, but I do have a weakness for Coco Pebbles.  I don't know what it is, but every time I have Coco Pebbles I have two bowls.  The first is my average size bowl, which is probably larger for me than most.  The second is always a "small bowl," which is still larger than my mother's regular serving.  Typically I will eat Coco Pebbles in the evenings as a dessert or snack.  But this morning it was breakfast.  Knowing my tendancies, I committed to only one bowl.  A commitment I failed to keep. 

Is it because it is chocolate and I am a women?  Is it because Coco Pebbles aren't filling enough?  Does it leave me unsatisfied so I must have more?  Or it I am so satisfied I over indulge? 

O the perplexities of life.