Super Sufjan

I hadn't heard of Sufjan Stevens until about halfway through my time in Dublin. The first song of his that I heard was Casimir Pulaski Day. I wanted to cry. Listen to the lyrics... the song is about his girlfriend and it is a true story.





And here is a newer one that I only just heard today... I do not see myself giving up Sufjan's music anytime soon...

I Love this State...

Today I went with my Aunt LaRue to her Ladies Bible study. Her friends took this opportunity to show their Love and Enthusiasm for their Home State, as well as to welcome me into the fold!
Here are a few photos of this wonderful Texas experience... (I didn't take photos of the actual study but I promise that happened too)

They had an "Honorary Texan Certificate" ready for the Ladies to sign!

Texas shaped everything!

Delicious Texas Shaped cake on Texas plates!

Presenting the Certificate

Kisses from Jefferson!

Seven wonderful Big Sisters in Christ.

It's true. Everything really is BIGGER (and Better) in
The Great REPUBLIC of TEXAS!

HalapenYO

For anyone who has ever eaten a Jalapeno, anyone who has ever spent 10 minutes straight chugging milk and eating bread to quench the inferno causing irreversible damage to their taste buds... this is a must see video...

(please click on the link below)

MVI_2961.avi

This is why I should watch Friends...

Over the Hill and Through the Woods!

So just a couple hours ago my mom told me that she and I need to leave tomorrow for Texas to give my Grandmommy a helping hand. She just got her knees replaced and needs help around the house and considering the fact that I am not really tied to much here in PA at the moment I happen to have the perfect opportunity to get to know my grandmother better.

My mom and I will be leaving around 7 tomorrow morning. My mom will come home on Monday and I am going to be down there as long as she needs me. I will be helping around the house and running errands and really just anything she might need. I will be taking my drawing things and my cowgirl boots... I am not sure if I will have internet access so I may not be able to post on my blog or on facebook... but that might just be what the doctor called for.

Please pray for safe travels and that my time down there would be a help and a blessing.

New Friends and New Possibilities...

So, lately I have been a bit directionless, so to speak. Since returning to the States the process of readjusting and the process of getting a job and the process of figuring out what the next year or so might look like have really been overwhelming. I am not the kind of "Go get 'um" type of girl... I am not exactly business minded. I am a procrastinator (which has been driving my family nuts, for good reason). I am very bad at doing things I do not want to do. My brain is usually floating off to some distant country that I have yet to explore and the people there that I would meet and learn about and love...

So in short... I have been in quite a rut this summer...

But, through a series of what would seem to be absolutely happy random events, I may have found some of the direction that I have been searching for... And what makes this even greater is that I in no way believe in Random.

While I was in Dublin, I hosted a girl in my apartment for a weekend, while she was on her way back to Scotland. Her name was Eliza. We really and truly hit it off. That weekend was one of those events during my time in Ireland that God gave me exactly what I needed when I needed it. As it turns out, Eliza and her family live about 30 minutes from my family here in PA. We determined that we really had to hang out once we were both back home. So last week I went down to meet her again, and it was so great. We got to catch up and we both learned even more how much we have in common. It has been such an encouraging thing. So I got to meet her family and a girl that is living with them, Steph. Last week Steph and I only got to talk a little but we hung out a few days later and as God would have it, Steph and I also mesh super well AND she attends the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.


In the past couple weeks I have gotten back into my painting and drawing and I am realizing more and more how much it is a part of me... and that I really might want to continue my art education. So I have been looking into the PA College of Art & Design and instead of the queezy gut feeling that I have always gotten from looking at admissions sites for colleges, I have actually been feeling like there is potential and possibility there for me. Now don't get me wrong, the whole idea of it still scares the crap out of me, but this time it is different. Better. Exciting and Encouraging.

So I am hoping that over the next few months I can really continue to dive back into my art and begin to rebuild a portfolio... It would be really great if I could actually get a job in the meantime to help support myself and afford at least some of the expensive supplies that are needed for all that I am wanting to create. I am thinking that I will work and paint and draw and try to go either in spring or next fall.

I am going out again later today to fill out even more applications... I hope that something will work... but even if it doesn't soon I do have my paints and pencils here to comfort me again. I had forgotten how wonderful and comforting creating a new painting or picture really is for me.

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
Genesis 1:27

Finally!

My Sister

This is my sister... For those of you who are not familiar with our family, this may surprise you. But in reality her sweet little girl suit is quite convincing, but not real. She is actually a large bronze body builder that spends his days bent over in confusion...
You can see her appearance in the new movie Night at the Museum II:

I heard it was fun... I am afraid to see her on the big screen showing off her big bronze.... guns. Maybe when I grow up I might find the courage...

Convincing isn't it?