Pictures

The pictures are neverending these days. I even took pictures of my grandparents house and yard yesterday. Just because. I have so many wonderful memories there, and it seemed wrong not to have a picture to represent that. Anyway. To make a long story short, the following are pictures from tonight's pledge ceremony.

Me and my little sister, Andrea!

Julie and Andrea, our MITs

This is going to be a really great semester. It's making me think more about the fact that Fall will be my last semester here with this group. I'm hoping alumni contacts can be strengthened between now and then. It's so nice to be able to include older sisters in current things, but incredibly hard to know how to find them sometimes. Hopefully that will change. It would be nice to keep up relations.

Chasing sunsets

I was on my way back to Milledgeville...between Monroe and Madison...

...just when I thought it couldn't get any better...

This one is my favorite because it looks like a painting

All of these were taken within a span of about ten minutes on Hwy. 83. You can't tell, but the dark fields are actually cotton fields. I didn't edit these in any way. They weren't even opened with a photo-editor. Sheer natural beauty. Enjoy. :-)

"Through the silent arctic air"

I just chugged a cup of Godiva Hot Chocolate, and I'm waiting for the warmth to creep in. It's so nice to be home for a couple of days.

I received a baby shower invitation today. The number of acquaintances who are expecting is astounding, and the number of individuals planning weddings is even more astounding. The baby bug has even hit Hollywood, leaving me to conclude that there must be something in the air over North America. I don't usually think of overwhelming couple-y happiness until Spring. Mmm. Spring. Warm sunshine and fresh air. It can't get here soon enough. ::shivers::

My hot chocolate isn't doing its job, and I keep looking longingly at the warm blankets on my bed. Too bad it's only 10:00. I was thinking of the days when I was much smaller and woke every morning feeling rested. Studies suggest sticking to a regular sleep schedule no matter what. I could definitely use some work in that area. Starting at seven hours and increasing your sleep by fifteen minutes each night until you wake feeling refreshed will help you find the right amount for your body (so says sleep site). This would probably be effective if I didn't habitually hit snooze. I'm very intrigued though, and it might be something that I try. Sleep is good.

"Listen to your heart when he's calling your name"

I'm in a magazine mood. I love flipping through the pages, noting interesting products, admiring photos, and storing facts from articles. Perhaps it is divine intervention, but I forget about the desired products as soon as the pages are closed. I can never decide which appeal to me more...the rich ads with fresh-faced models and flashy colors, or the classic black and white ads that are so timeless and elegant. I don't know why I'm talking about magazines. I just finished a response in regards to special education rights within school systems, so perhaps I'm trying to wipe all traces of critical thinking with brainless conversation.

The heaviest part of the article dealt with a child who was born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. Due to her place of birth, the girl is a citizen, but does not receive many benefits because her parents go to great lengths to avoid being detected. The girl does not speak English, but it is suspected that she has a learning disability. The schools are reluctant to evaluate her and tell her parents to see a doctor instead. They won't visit a doctor for obvious reasons, so the whole thing is a vicious cycle. Perhaps the school system should evaluate the girl, but most of my anger is directed towards the parents. What is to prevent them from obtaining green cards on the basis of employment? Would it not be worth risking for the potential betterment of your child? It's a very heated issue for me on so many levels, and I won't go into my feelings on illegal immigration.

Tomorrow is one of those horizon days. :) I love days without structure. It's so nice knowing that for one day, there is no set wakeup time. For one day, I can complete tasks solely on my own clock. Bliss.

Updateage

I'm slacking on my updating duties again. All is well. The first week of classes flew by. It's amazing how jammed my "free" Tuesdays are going to be. Ah well. Knowing that I can't use it as slack time will help keep me focused when I would rather be anything else. Saturday I went home to celebrate the big 2-1 with my family, joined by Johnathan and David. It was great to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, and I'm glad that they were finally able to meet two of my favorite people. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. I received two coffee makers, but they serve different purposes, so I kept them both. No more paying three and a half dollars for a cup of coffee!

I read some of Dr. Martin Luther King's writings today to observe the day. The only speech I'm very familiar with is "I Have a Dream," but many of his other works are just as gripping and incredibly faith driven. I found them very interesting. Yet a passage from the formerly mentioned speech is still one of my favorites:

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.'"

"...waiting for that sleepy feeling"

Thank you to everyone who has offered prayers and support to the family over the past couple of days. It is greatly appreciated. It seems strange to say that a funeral went well. In fact it's difficult for me to explain exactly what I mean. There's an added degree of peace, somehow. One of the best aspects was getting to know my grandmother better through stories and photographs of her life. The other great aspect was hearing of her devotion to the church and relationship with Christ. It makes me want to get more involved with studies again. I also want to keep ties with family. We have always been close, but more and more, I'm beginning to realize how much I want to maintain that in the future. While the funeral procession was making its way down the road, I observed how many individuals pulled over to the side of the road as a sign of respect. I would guess that the number was anywhere between 50 and 75%. This made me wonder why the remaining individuals didn't show the same consideration. I wasn't offended or anything, but I was taught that it's common courtesy. It makes me wonder if the common courtesy isn't as commonly taught as I thought, or if some individuals are just too busy to notice or care.

I'm not really looking forward to classes tomorrow, but what's new? I just keep reminding myself that this is the second to last semester I will be spending here. Not really sure where life goes beyond that point, but I'll let you know when I get there. Despite dreading classes, there are personal aspects that I'm looking forward to this semester. Spring always seems to contain upwards swings near the end, so I'm always looking for those. I'm looking to strengthen ties with all of the wonderful people in my life, and I want to work towards personally bettering myself in all aspects. My notebooks are stacked, and my lunch is already packed. I feel like I'm in pre-school again. In that case, it's way past my bedtime. Goodnight, dears.

1924-2006