I See the Lord Seated on the Throne

 

This is  new ornament I recently acquired.  I'm starting to build up my grown-up ornament collection, and what better way to do that than with a small reminder of God's huge and awesome presence!

Psalm 72:17-19

May his name endure forever;
   may it continue as long as the sun.

   Then all nations will be blessed through him,
   and they will call him blessed.

Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
   who alone does marvelous deeds.

Praise be to his glorious name forever;
   may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
            Amen and Amen.

Sew On and So On

I’m learning how to quilt!

Quilting was my grandma’s favorite hobby.  I really regret not learning more about it when she was still around, so I’m not wasting any more time now.  Mom is helping me learn the tricks of the trade.  We have such a great time with it- talking about patterns, picking out fabric…this is what I call bonding time. 

I associate quilting with time.  In my family we have quilts from all sorts of relatives that have been around forever, given for any number of reasons.  Essentially, I think a quilt, especially a gifted quilt, is a gift of yourself to another- “I loved you enough to piece together this blanket with my own hands.”  My grandmother gave each of her grandchildren a quilt for high school graduation.  She wasn’t well enough to make mine herself, but she still chose it especially for me.   I’ll treasure it always, as a dear sweet memory of Grandma until I see her again in God’s Kingdom. 

So, with a couple table runners and coaster sets until the old belt, my next project is an actual quilt. to start training so that soon I can give a piece of myself to some one else in quilted form.  It’s going to be slow going, I’m sure, but I’ll keep updating my progress.  Today I finalized the color pattern and started cutting.  Kelsea helped me sew it together too.  

Updates to come!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Songs of Innocence and Experience

Little Lamb, who made thee?

         Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

         Little Lamb, who made thee?

         Dost thou know who made thee?

         Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

         Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;

He became a little child.

I a child, and thou a lamb.

We are called by his name.

         Little Lamb, God bless thee

         Little Lamb, God bless thee 

 

-William Blake, "The Lamb," from Songs of Innocence and Experience

The Summer Recap

So, it's been a while.  A very long, crazy, thrilling while.

Should we start at the beginning and work our way down?

In May I finished my first year at the College of Idaho and moved home for the summer.  It's strange how you can live in one place for 19 years, leave for about 10 months, and find everything completely different.  And it's not just home that's changed- it's me.  For the first few weeks I was home, I would misjudge the width of the hall and smack into the wall while turning a corner.  I would forget where certain dishes were kept in the kitchen.  And I realized how much I enjoyed and took for granted my independence at school.  Dorm living was not my favorite thing in the world, but it gave me a taste of one delicious facet of adulthood- independent living.

June was a heartbreaker.  At the end of that month my beautiful, strong, courageous Grandma went to heaven.  The pain still sears.  Losing her became a power struggle between me and God.  I was angry and hurt, and I thought God should have made it all better.  It took a lot of crying out to Him for me to eventually be still so He could show me His goodness and mercy.  

Before this happened, heaven was just a vague idea that I "believed" in because I was a Christian and that's what we did.  But when my own, only grandmother "went home," I had to seriously evaluate what I thought was meant by "home."   John 14:1-5 says:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  

You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 Bottom line- Heaven is there.  It is as real as Jesus, with His death burial and resurrection.  If He says it is so, then it IS SO.  If I truly believe in Jesus as Lord of Life, I absolutely must believe what he says is true.  So, God took Grandma home.  And one of these days, I hope I'll be going too.

So, riding a wave of grief and faith-angst, I rolled into July.  You know what that means- IVYDALE.  It's hard to put my love for Ivydale into words.  I really feel that I'm only the Christian woman I am today because of the work God did on me through this camp.  I had the privilege of putting in my second year as a counselor at teen camp, which means I was serving God with my best friends while meeting beautiful teens who were absolutely THIRSTY for God to speak to them.  In other words: Best.  Week.  Ever.  Our lessons were based around the old Testament prophets, major and minor.  That's a ton to fit into one week, but our speakers Clint and Kevin gave a Herculean effort and pulled it off.  

Let me say a few things about Kevin:  This man is my mentor.  He's got all the dirt on me, and he still enjoys being around me.  He gives me advice whenever I need it.  He prays for me.  I hope everyone can find a mentor to teach them about Christ and to be an example of Him in life.  

The best thing about camp for me, and maybe the part I needed most, was becoming a mentor myself to the girls in my cabin.  There is nothing more fulfilling than watching someone reach closer to God.  I can't believe I was fortunate enough to be a part of that.

Seriously.  God gives me everything I need at exactly the moment I need it!  For example (and I feel like I can tell y'all this without you spilling the beans on me)... 

I have an amazing friend- the kind that I wish was more than a friend, if you know what I mean.  The sheer fact that I met him is pretty much a God thing- this wonderful, hilarious, soulful, Christian guy just happened to be serving in a place that brought him to Ivydale the same year I began work as counselor?  This is no coincidence.  And then he comes back a second year?  How did I get so lucky??  So, it's no secret I think he's a pretty big deal.  But NOTHING'S HAPPENED YET.  And this is frustrating.  As Jane Austen aptly put it, 

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."

 

Embarrassing to admit? Yes.  Scary because it's kind of true?  Also yes.  So.  I have love issues.  Which, I believe, is a tool God has given me with which to grow.  I've come to think that I cannot love anyone until I love myself, and I cannot love myself until I truly realize how much God loves me.  So, step one: loving myself.  I am very self deprecating, as a rule.  I put off baptism for years for fear that I wasn't good enough for Jesus to die for.   But, John 3:16 isn't just words:

 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The world.  Meaning every one.  Meaning me.  Yup.  Little ol' insignificant, silly me.  Amazing.  The very least Jesus deserves in return is my life in service to Him.  I am good enough to give myself to Him.  He is forever, He will never leave me, and He will provide for me.  Which leads to step two: accepting God's answers.  I admit it- I talk God's ear off about my dream man sometimes.  He knows how I feel, and He knows how my friend feels.  If God's plan is to put us together, I will be happy.  If His plan is to keep us as friends, I will be happy.  It's God's call.

Wow.  That got semi sappy and possibly incoherent.  But, moving on...

It's August.  What's up with that?  I start my senior year of college on September 1st.  My sister and I move into our very own apartment next Tuesday.  That's scary.  I have no idea what I'm going to do after i graduate.  I don;t even know if it's even going to be in the same field as my degree.  It's something I have anxiety about- along with my love life, and academic life, and family life.  My biggest struggle is remembering I'm not alone.  Here's something I picked up at Ivydale, from Zephaniah 3:17:

The LORD your God is with you,
   the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
   in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
   but will rejoice over you with singing.”

 

Pray for me, please.  I will pray for you.

Where Do I Go?

I feel like I'm at a crossroads.

Nothing I do here really makes me happy.  I'm not fulfilled.  

I'm afraid of disappointing my family.

I want a change.  I want to do something different.  Something wholly for God.  And I really don't believe I can do that here.

Kensho

Matthew 26:36-46

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.  Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Yesterday in my Bible study we discussed one of the Hard Questions:

Why do good people suffer?

Sometimes I feel like this is one of the impossible questions set before me by my faith.  No matter what I do, I have a hard time finding what I consider a "good" answer.  Is it to strengthen our resolve in leaning on Jesus in hard times?  To lead people to Christ who realize they can't deal with their sufferings themselves?

Today I found another answer.

It is common in Zen Buddhism for a student to be given a paradoxical statement or question (called a ko-an) to meditate on to facilitate enlightenment (sound anything like what I was doing?).  The point of such a phrase is to silence your rational mind to find the deeper meaning.  When a student is meditating, perhaps on such a question, sometimes, if the student were to show signs of dozing off, their master could yell at them, startling them out of lethargy.  It was described to me as shaking a snow globe that had settled.  By disturbing the mind, it opens to new possibilities.

So, could this question not be a kind of ko-an, with no rational answer, but simply a tool with which to meditate on God and how He leads me to and out of these situations of suffering, and how I really just need to learn to surrender consciously to His will?  And also that I need to be alert in order to UNDERSTAND, to become ENLIGHTENED by seeing my suffering through God's eyes rather than my own?

I'll pray about it.  I'll stay alert.  I'll listen for God to guide me in my discoveries of His vast and wonderful will.  I'm ready.

Literary Black Jack

I heard a rumor that it was National Book Week or something, so I thought I would share a list of books I have read/will be reading this semester:

On the Road (Jack Kerouac)

The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan)

Rabbit, Run (John Updike)

Why We Can't Wait (Martin Luther King, Jr)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)

A Doll's House (Henrik Ibsen)

The Cherry Orchard (Anton Chekhov)

The Gossamer Years (Mother of Michitsuna)

Democracy is in the Streets (James Miller)

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (Tom Wolfe)

Rabbit Redux (John Updike)

The Virtue of Selfishness (Ayn Rand)

Life on the Edge (James Dobson)

Rabbit is Rich (John Updike)

Rabbit at Rest (John Updike)

A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams)

Cloud Nine (Caryl Churchill)

Fences (August Wilson)

How I Learned to Drive (Paula Vogel)

Proof (David Auburn)

Bright Dawn (S.K. Kubose)

Happy reading!

A Lazy Afternoon after a Midterm

I'm nearing the end of an incredible week.

The jury's still out on if it's the good kind of incredible, or the horrible kind.

Or the Third Kind.

Things I know for sure about this week:

I drink waaay too much tea.

"Big Booty" changed my life.

It's a definite fact that I can't live with anyone by Kelsea.

A day may start out sunny, but as soon as I walk outside it's going to storm.
Rain on the theater roof gives me a strange feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach.

And one more thing: SPRING BREAK BABY.

No alarms at 7:30 in the morning, no strange clumps of hair in the shower drain, no three flights of stairs to crawl up after a long rehearsal... this is starting to sound like heaven.

It Was a Profound Morning

"At some point in your life you've seen that there is something deeper and more profound than the ordinariness of grabbing your morning coffee."

-Anne Spencer

I Dreamed a Dream in Time Gone By

This dream I had was just too weird not to write down.

I find myself trudging into my house after what I suppose was a very long day... apparently at the coal mines.  I look in a mirror and my face is smudged with soot and my clothes are black and dirty.  I drag myself down the hall to my bedroom and pull back my covers to take a nap (dirt and all) and, between my sheets, I find a large cache of tortilla chips, lettuce, and shredded carrots.  And then I yell at the top of my lungs for my mom; she comes down the hall, sees the mess, smiles, and says "Well, the kids just wanted to have a picnic."

I then find myself walking into what I think is a roller rink.  Lots of teams are sitting around the rink stretching and talking.  From across the rink I see my darling friend Aydan in a turquoise tutu at the same time the she spies me.  We run toward each other and and bear hug.  We're talking but I don't know what we're saying, but I suspect it's about the tortilla chip salad in my bed.  As we're talking our equally darling friend Heather runs up to meet us-- except she's about three feet tall and is tugging on my shirttail in excitement.  Then, and old lady from the sidelines says, "They must be seals.  Look how they're hugging."

What does this all mean??

So, It's Been a While

And it may be a while longer.

Life is just... super hectic.  I feel drained.  I know that I'm in a world where most everyone acts differently than me... but I didn't expect this world to be so vastly separate from the one in which I want to live (vague enough?).  

The point is, I need prayers for strength, to live in the world and yet refuse to become a part of it. 

PS- God listens.

I was popping onto an online bible index to search out some suitable verses to leave this blog with, and the verse of the day was precisely what I needed to hear.

Job 23:10-11

“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside.”

If Job can endure all that he did and still praise the Lord this way, surely I can too.

Be strong and rejoice!

Your Jeans Will Wash, Just Like Your Soul

Tonight I had the chance to get edified at C of I's Late Night worship service.

A story about two men crossing the Red Sea in Exodus came up.  The men look down at the ground and all they see is mud, and they had mud in Egypt, so how is this Red Sea thing any different?  What they missed when they were looking at their feet was what was above them.  What is the mud compared to the walls of water God had just moved to create a safe passage?  Instead of finding God in the situation, they ignored Him for their earthly woes.  

They weren't looking up. 

 

I just began a new term at school.  And already, I'm overwhelmed.  I am up to my knees in mud.  Mud makes me grumble.  Mud makes me go through the motions, watching my feet squelch instead of lifting my head and my heart to the glory of all the gifts God has given to me.  He parts my seas EVERY DAY.  I just don't always see it.  I need to look up for God, to see what He has already put before my eyes.  There's a reason Jesus said "Seek and you shall find."  It's because what you need is already in front of you-- God knows you!  He wants you!  Just stop worrying about your mud, look up, and meet Him.

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It's all proclaiming who You are
You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You're beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

Translated with Love and Cheez-Its

Earlier this week I mentioned 1 Corinthians, so I decided to to open up the old Greek New Testament and do a little translation of my own.  Here's 1 Corinthians 1:18-25:

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to the ones being destroyed, but is God's power to us, the ones being saved.

19 For it is written:  "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of those possessing understanding I will make invalid."

20 Where is the wise one?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the reasoner of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

21 For since in God's wisdom the world through wisdom has not known God, Good took delight through the foolishness of what is preached to save the ones who believe.

22 And since the Jews demand signs and the Hellenists seek wisdom,

23 now we preach Christ having been crucified, that which causes sin to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles,

24 But to them, the ones called, Jews as well as Gentiles, Christ- God's power and God's wisdom:

25 Because the foolish of God is wiser than man is and the weak of God is stronger than man is.

As you can see from the handy (and handsome) banner, I'm going to, at least once a week, translate a passage from the Bible from the original Greek, to keep me in practice both in language and regular Bible-learnin'.

Also, in my bible study today we discussed a section of CS Lewis's Mere Christianity.  Because of this, I will be spending my break week from school reading this book, and posting what I think of it here.  There, y'all have something to look forward to now.

Teach Me Lord, To Wait

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 

 

I'll just say it- This is one of those nights when I wish I had a boy who was a friend who liked me, who may even be "in love" with me.  That the connection I'm craving right now.

I may not have the "love" I want right now, but I know I have so much love already that it's spilling out of my hands.  I have beautiful friends, and Sister, and Soul Mate, and a Savior and God that has made me smart and pretty- He made me exactly how He wanted me to be!  And He's tailored someone to be my exact fit!  And if I get lonely and gnash my teeth sometimes, I can take comfort in knowing whatever petty thing I'm going through now will be more than made up for when I get him.   

1 Corinthians 13:8-10

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but  

when completeness comes, what is in part disappears."

Rejoice, be strong.

~Kylie

Beginning of the Tunnel

Lately all I've been wanting to do is take a moon lit drive through the desert while listening to "The Funeral" by Band of Horses and other such sad sounding songs.

God's Talking to Me

 "New Fire" by Sent by Ravens

Our families are a weird machine
there’s too many parts to tape back together
before you turn 18
you shake cause you’re not ready
but fear comes back for more
be a light in their darkness
be a glow on the shore
He’ll turn it around
New fire lit in you
a new fire circles this room
may you never be afraid of your faith in
New fire lit in you
a new fire circles this room
may you never be afraid of your Father
Families are a precious thing
there’s too many hearts to break all at once
before you turn 23
you scream cause you weren’t honest
and you left cause you were wrong
I pray for grace in your decisions
and hope you won’t be gone too long
New fire lit in you
a new fire circles this room
may you never be afraid of your faith in
New fire lit in you
a new fire circles this room
may you never be afraid of your Father…
take take that knife from your neck…

This is That Recap Episode We All Skip on the DVDs

Favorite song of the week-  "Doctor My Eyes" by Jackson Browne.  Best served with green tea and a chocolate donut.

Greek texts muddled through- four.  Finally finished "learning" everything our text book and work book have to offer.  Also read from The Didache and what I believe was a demon possession from Matthew.  Time is needed to confirm.

Favorite activity- skyping Soul Mate.  I really do love Skype.  Aside from the medium video quality and the lack of actual human warmth, it brings me a whole heck of a lot closer to Soul Mate than I've been this past year.

Movies I've watched this week-  Sherlock Holmes, Rock N Rolla, half of Ju-On, Interview With the Vampire, Sixteen Candles, and The Big Lebowski.  Best movie moments- The end scene of Interview and Sam Elliot narrating Lebowski.

Number of people who have texted me in the last three days- six. This makes me feel like a popular gal.  Favorite zany topics-  A "Big Yellow Taxi" and a flight attendant who has my eyes.

(Memo to me- Try to like Joni Mitchell)

Sad moment-  Seeing the dead squirrel all alone in the middle of the road.  Not a whole lot makes me sadder than roadkill, as awful as it sounds.

New try- Arizona tea products.  Too sweet for this Oregon girl.

News flash-  PURPLE COYOTE COMING SOON-- check it out at thepurplecoyote.blogspot.com

Week recap done in approximately 36 minutes.  Writer's block- neutralized.  For now.

Two Words: "Soramimi Kekii"

A little "がんばれ!" to help us finish off our week!  "Do your best!"

"End" Rhymes With "Friend"... and "Trend". Whatever That Means.

To stave off the attacks of 30 Day List lethargy I've been experiencing, I'm combining the last two days in one post.

Day #29-

"Something you could never get tired of doing."

Day #30-

"A photograph of youself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days."

I could positively never get tired of hanging with Twin Kelsea.  It's borderline illegal how much fun we have together.  And the things she says to me- she's a riot.  There was something about cornquistadors today.  It doesn't matter what we're doing- harmonizing on a song, battling at Scrabble, or muddling through a Greek translation- we have FUN.

So, here I am, plenty more than 30 days later.

Three good things that occurred during this blog cycle?

1)  BIBLICAL GREEK happened, and I'm a better, more thoughtful person because of it.  Expect some Greek posts soon!

2)  TRUE GRIT happened.  I think this speaks for itself.

3)  SOUL FOOD happened, and it gets and exclamation mark!  Soul Food is a sweet bible lunch get together thing I do with a bunch of cool girls from around campus.  I can't wait for the next one!

For now, I'm off for my lunch break.  Tune in next time to see our heroine lasso the rare grey whale making its way down the Oregon Coast!

By Way of a Post Script

Kevin Kline.

Jared Leto.

And Much Ado About Nothing.

Brad Pitt Wins the Day

Day # 28:

"Your favorite movie."

I love movies.  Period.  It's hard to have a favorite.  So, I'm going with favorites from certain categories on this one.  It makes me feel dirty (like the Golden Globes) to do it, but it's the only way to get all my faves in...

Movies Based on Novels-

There Will Be Blood

Pride and Prejudice

Crazy Heart

Teen Movies-

Dead Poet's Society

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Mel Brooks Films-

The Producers (Gene Wilder version)

Young Frankenstein

Disney Movies-

Hercules

Tarzan

Beauty and the Beast

Musicals-

White Christmas

Sweeney Todd

Superhero Movies-

Iron Man

Batman in general

Epics-

The Return of the King

Legends of the Fall

Gone with the Wind

Rom-Coms-

You've Got Mail

Sleepless in Seattle

Bridget Jones' Diary

Movies With Adrien Brody-

The Brothers Bloom

The Darjeeling Limited

Classics-

Bringing Up Baby

Rebel Without a Cause

A Streetcar Named Desire

Mind Benders-

Fight Club

Zodiac

Horror Movies-

Psycho

Interview With a Vampire

Jaws

Movies that Should Have Won Academy Awards -

A Single Man

Do you know that this isn't even all the movies I love?  This deserves a part two some time.

That's a Sign for the La Quinta, You Know

Listening to: Crazy Heart play over and over in my head

Day #27:

"A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?"

Spring Break 2010

I know, spring is officially a few months off yet, but this was a very good time for me.  I had just finished a production at my old college, made a truck load of fun new friends, and, as seen in this picture, was traveling to Salt Lake City to check out prospective schools at which to finish my bachelor's.  This might be the best spring break ever- a nice long road trip with my mom and sister culminating in seeing a sweet school and even sweeter people (this happens to be the last time I have hugged Soul Mate).

 Christmas break at Jolt and Juice Company World Headquarters

Here are a few things that have changed:

My hair is longer and browner.  Jolts is bigger and better.  It says C of I on my uniform.

Yep, I didn't end up going to SLC after all, though then I could have sworn that's where I was going to be.  I think I made the right decision.  

I guess the one thing I really miss about a year ago is feeling like a part of a community.  I've said it before- I get lonely here.  But, I've also grown up.  Charlotte Bronte writes in Jane Eyre. "The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."  Frankly, I don't have to care what people think of me anymore, and that's a huge change from a simple year ago.

"The Head is Not More Native to the Heart"

Day #26:

"A photo of somewhere you've been to."

Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  This is a view of the outdoor amphitheater from Ashland's park.  Last year y college theater group went to Ashland for a weekend to catch a pride of preposterously grand plays.  Two words: Dan.  Donahue.

I love pretty much everything about Ashland.  The weather is akin to that of Portland.  There's a slow moving, almost hippie type air about the place.  The downtown Starbucks carries morning buns.  Louie's, right down the block from the OSF theater, has the best burgers in town.  And, of course, OSF is pretty much the finest Shakespeare festival in the country.

My Dorm Room is Cleaner Than This

Listening to: "Ai Ai Chiki Chiki" (Tackey and Tsubasa)

Still Reading: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) 

Day #25:

"What's in your purse?"

I just dumped my purse out onto my bed in order to answer this question... not a pretty sight.

Here's what I would keep in my purse if I lived a perfect, organized life:

1 cell phone

1 wallet

1 set of keys

1 lip gloss

2 pens- 1 blue, 1 black

1 planner

Here's what's actually in it:

2 sets of keys

3 bobby pins

1 pack of Benadryl

1 note pad

1 planner

2 lip glossses

1 Red Robin comment card

1 copy of Jane Eyre

6 writing utensils- 1 pencil, 2 red pens, 2 black pens, 1 blue pen

2 broken bits of candy cane

$1.31 in spare change

Cabin 2: Represent!

Listening to: Brothers (The Black Keys)

Reading: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) 

Day #24:

"A photo of something that means a lot to you."

Ivydale!

Camp Ivydale is a wonderful church camp outside of Idaho City.  I've mentioned it before-  I've been going there every summer since I was eight, and now I'm a counselor.  I love this place, I love the people, and I love what God does for and through that place and people. 

This Feels Like a Script for a Blind Date...

Day #23:
"15 facts about you."

1)  I am a born again Christian.

Yes, I suck at living life righteously, but there's a God for that.  He's helped me through a load of bad times, and given me plenty of good ones too.  I owe my everything to Him.

2)  I love a little place called Ivydale.

I've spent every summer since I was eight going to this church camp.  Last summer was my first year counseling, the summer before that I met my best friend there, and the summer before that one I was baptized in the pool.  I have met most of the important people in my life up at camp.   God does amazing things there, and I hope to remain a part of it as long as I can.

3)  I tend to crush on guys with curly hair.

For serious.  Last two boyfriends- curly whirly hair.  I must think it adds whimsy or something on a subconscious level.

4)  I want to go to Japan like nobody's business.

I took four years of Japanese in high school and have spent almost half of my life pretty much addicted to all things Japanese- music, literature, movies, manga, anime, maneki nekos, etc.  It's only right that I go to the country that birthed my obsession.

5)  My Scrabble score is much higher than my bowling score will ever be.

My Scrabble score has been known to break 200.  Bowling?  About 47.

6)  There is certain jewelery that I never remove:  

A braided rope bracelet and purity ring on the left, and a WWJD bracelet and never-ending-loop ring on the right.  In summer I most always wear an anklet as well.

7)  I don't drive.

So stop telling me to start, OK??

8)  I'm a donor.

I donate blood when ever I can.  I love knowing that I can help save three lives with just one pint.  Also, I'm an organ donor.  Says so right there on my learner's permit.

9)  I'm a grammar Nazi.

You've seen what happens when one ends a sentence with a preposition and I catch them doing it, right?  I'm like that with billboards and newspapers too.

10)  I love books.

Favorite authors?  The Bronte sisters, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Natsume Soseki, Vladmir Nabokov,. and JK Rowling.

11)  Speaking of, this is how nerdy I am.

If I was in a fictional book series, I'd be in Harry Potter.  I own a Harry Potter shirt for just about every day of the week.  There is a HP calendar on my wall.  I've been known to listen to "wiz rock."  I nearly cried while watching Oprah's interview with JK Rowling.  I definitely cried about 100 times while reading The Deathly Hallows.  But, my nerdiness is justified-- I literally grew up with Harry (The Sorceror's Stone came out when I was in third grade).

12)  Sometimes I get lonely.

Oh no... this one's kind of a downer.  But it's true.  

13)  My fragrance of choice is "Twilight Woods."

Shut up, it has nothing to do with vampires, werewolves, or whiny girls.  Go to Bath and Body Works and check it out- it's delicious.  No pun intended.

14)  Relaxation exercises.

Through my acting classes, I've learned some very useful breathing/relaxation/pronunciation exercises that keep me limber of limb and tongue.

15)  I know what time it is in Dubai.

That's because a dear friend/sister of mine lives there!  Aydan was an exchange student at my high school.  She's amazingly smart, cute, and funny.  You should have seen us in physics class.  Even though she lives thousands of miles away, she's one of the most important people in my life.

The Boom-Boom Bathroom Break Up

Listening to:  coffee brewing

Reading:  chapters 27-28 of Basics of Biblical Greek (William D Mounce)

Day #22:

"A letter to someone who has hurt you recently."

Dear 3rd Floor Simplot's Uncanny Exploding Toilet,

I'll admit it-- you were my favorite stall.  You had the most amusing "Bathroom Chats" as well as the Goldilocks effect of not being too big or too small, but in fact, just right.  I longed to use you my first day back from winter break, but for some reason- intuition, let's say?- I passed you by for the more cramped and frosty corner stall.

Good thing I did.

Not two minutes after I dried my hands those foul smelling brown paper towels and walked back to my room, I heard the sounds of an angry water typhoon.  You, yes, you sir, had EXPLODED all over some nice girl's Uggs!  Really, I was astounded when I heard.

Though this instance left none but the Ugg boots worse for wear, I have to say that you have broken the sacred covenant of trust between a girl and her toilet.  I fear that we can no longer do business together.

Adieu, good sir.

Sincerely, etc,

Kylie

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Beach Bum's Life For Me

Listening to: the heater humming

Reading: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard)

Day #21:

"A photo of something that makes you happy."

No, not seagulls... THE COAST!

The Oregon coast to be specific.  I just love it there!  I took this picture at Lincoln City, one of my favorite destinations.  All that sand, all that water... the coast is on my top three best spots on earth.  I've been thinking about the coast for a while, and today I had a briny feeling in my stomach, the same feeling I get when I can smell the ocean but just can't see it yet through all of the trees...  sweet and salty anticipation!

Not only does Lincoln City have beautiful, though somewhat chilly, beaches, it's only a stone throw away from Newport, which houses the aquarium, the wax museum, and an epic walrus hang out.  Then, there's the glass blowing studios!  Once a year the glass blowers and the town send glass bulbs out into the ocean for people to find when they wash up on the beaches. 

So there you have it!  I'm going to live on the coast one day.  I have a feeling it would be hard to feel angry or anxious about anything... except maybe the odd typhoon or two.

Moon Soaked Singularities

Listening to: assorted Asian music <3

Reading: whatever comes my way.  I have soo many books started.

Day #20:

"The meaning behind your blog name."

"Sun Dried Sundries"

A clever play on words describing my wonderful world, that is not only "sun" dried, but "Son" dried as well.  Well, maybe "Son soaked" describes it better... but yes.  A variety of subjects which have been baked by that big ball of hydrogen in the sky.  And doesn't that just make you feel all warm inside?

This is OREGON, Not CANADA...

Day #19:

"Another picture of yourself."

Here I am with my sweet niece waiting for Soul Mate to skype me!

Jesus Drinks at Jolts and Juice

 Listening to: Infinite Arms (Band of Horses)

Still reading: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Jeff Lindsay)

Day #18:

"Something you crave a lot."

Hershey's Chocolate with Almonds and white chocolate mochas, preferably from Jolts and Juice.  These are my FAVORITE treat choices.  White chocolate mochas are like liquid love.  I could be a happy spinster if I was allowed to have a daily WCM.  And seriously, what better to pair with designer coffee than chocolate??  Yum.

More seriously, I crave to be a better person.  Frankly, I screw up a lot.  I lose my temper.  I overreact.  I misunderstand things quite often.  Doing these things make me unhappy with myself.  But that's what humans do- they create situations that inevitably make them feel terrible about the way they are.  Otherwise, why would we need a loving God to forgive us and help us to find a better way to live?  I just wish I was a better listener. 

Call Us Rosemary and Vera

Listening to: Kelsea chomping chips

Reading: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Jeff Lindsay) 

Day #17:

"A photo of you and your family."

This is my sister Kelsea and me!  You're not seeing double... we're twins.