A catch-me-up... for you-who-care

So I was trying to figure how to make this short, sweet and painless... this blog isn't really about my life - at least, I try to keep it that way - but I feel like I owe an apology to those who have suffered almost an entire year without my adorably snarky and amazingly deep blog posts. So. Don't take this as an excuse, 'cause it's not - I haven't been so very busy as to not even post once a month; I have no excuse. This is my way of making it up in some very tiny smallish way to you, my awesome readers.

(to mix this up, I will not be numbering my list. try to figure out the thought process that went into these symbols, and enter the jumbled mess that is my mind-in-progress.)

! (not.) Work continues as usual. This June I will be celebrating three years at my current job, though there is a potential major career change currently in the works. You may or may not get to hear about when/if that does/does not work out.

@Camp Iroquoina: for the first time in several years I was able to travel with the greater portion of my family to pretty much my favorite place on earth. A whole week of drinking in nature, getting to hang out with my best PA friend, helping out - or getting in way, depending on your perspective - in the kitchen (hello first ever mass-produced dish that I made all by meself)... truly the vacation I needed.

#lastsemesterEVER hopefully. I rounded out my school career with journeys in Algerian Literature, Utopias and Dystopias, Technology in Society and Culture, Insects and People, archery, fitness walking (never again), social dance. Utopias was probably the class where I learned the most, and social dance and archery tied for first place in the 'best class ever' category.

'$' stands for the money I will soon owe the government for funding my college career, since I graduated magna cum laude with my B.A. in English from North Carolina State University on December 15, 2012. *commence belated confetti tossing* That was an amazing weekend as well, since I got to meet a pen pal - and not just any pen pal, but the one I've have the longest - when she came up from Texas especially for the graduation.

[90]% = the time I have spend sleeping and working since my aforementioned graduation. Job-hunting, helping out in various and sundry ways at home, getting into contra dancing and other random activities have taken up the last 10%.

^_^ contra dancing deserves its own mention here, since it's one of my new dancing obsessions. Ballroom dancing is a little hard to come by when it's not in a controlled PE environment, but contra dancing - which doesn't require you dragging a partner along - is great fun, a good way to hang out with friends and get some awesome exercise at the same time... in a nutshell, most diverting. You should go check it out now. go, shoo! this post will be here when you get back.

& last but not least, a relationship update: I'm not going to gush about all the 'God moments' I've had, because that's not what I do - here or anywhere. It's still a journey of seeking, finding (mostly still seeking) and soul searching, and I'm not anywhere near where I want to be. But I'm okay with being a work-in-progress, because God is definitely at work here.

The Generous Mr. Lovewell - MercyMe

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~ James 1:27

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.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:2

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

~ Romans 12:10

But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ~ 2 Corinthians 8:7

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

~ Galatians 5:13

Class Assignment: Passage in a paratactical style

Assignment: Write a 200-word descriptive passage in a paratactical style.

I had just come home from school and it was dark outside. I walked down the driveway toward the house and the lights came on. There was a crack that I did not see and I tripped and stumbled onto the grass beside the concrete. The cat was sitting in front of the door. The garage smelled musty and was full of boxes and bicycles and coats and shoes lay scattered about leaving almost no surface clear. There was light coming from under the door and I could hear laughing and rattling dishes. I opened the door and set down my backpack beside the garbage can. My little sister ran to me and I gave her a hug. Bread was baking in the oven and my parents were playing cards and two sisters washed and dried the dishes, chattering and arguing faster than they scrubbed. The dog was at the door barking at the invisible intruder behind it. I picked up my baby brother, he laughed and I shuffled over to the couch and sat down and sighed happily. It was good to be home.

Class Assignment: the Tale

It was a quiet bedtime ritual he had come to look forward to as much as his children: reading a book out loud. Tonight was no different; little Rose and Freddie sat rapt on cushions before him on the floor as they followed Almanzo Wilder of Farmer Boy out to his father's barn and to the forbidden pen where the young colts were kept, then crouched in fear beside him after he lifted the latch and they flooded out the gate, threatening to trample him. His voice galloping along with the 'thundering hooves' of the colts, he had to check himself as he was interrupted by a small voice: “Um, Daddy?” “Yes, honey.” “Thundering hooves?” “Well sweetie, that's the kind of sound their feet made on the ground while they were running.” “Ohhh, thunder--no lightning.” Wow, did this three-year-old just say what he thought she said? He was feeling pretty impressed with himself and the child he had produced, that she had made that kind of connection. What a kid. Having finished his explanation, he settled back into his chair with a smug smile and prepared to continue the story. “Dad?” It was five-year-old Freddie this time—but now he was prepared. Placing the book on his knee, he looked affectionately down at the little boy and asked, “What's up, son?” With a beaming grin on his face, Freddie declared to his expectant father: “I like cake.”

Class Assignment: the Fable

Once there was a scruffy dog who was fed his owner's leftovers, had a rug in the corner, and was occasionally forgotten outside at night. He was, however, allowed to roam wherever he pleased, and he believed that he led a happy life. One afternoon, he happened upon a well-fed dog on a leash who told him of a home where they were fed three square meals a day, never forgotten outside, and slept on cushions beside the fireplace. The scruffy dog, curious as always, decided to see this wonderful house for himself. He discovered while watching it that the small yard was surrounded by a high fence, dogs who did not come inside immediately were switched, and very few of the cushions were near enough the fireplace to feel its warmth. He discovered the truth that “those who trade their freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security.”