Tuesday, April 21, 2009

"...Feel the morning (whispers) though a sunny day"

Volbeat: "The Human Instrument"

I can't believe that I'm 21 now. My birthday celebration was great last Saturday, good times with good people! I even made a new friend (a friend of a friend), and it was just fun! Yay for being now fully legal to do pretty much anything in this country, woo.

Oh yeah! My friend couldn't get into the bars (she wasn't 21 yet, but will be in a week and a half), so she called the guy she liked, and now they're officially dating! (he asked her out, it was a really cute story!) The bummer thing is that she was one of my last single friends, so now I'm one of the few that's not in a relationship. It's ok though, I know now's not the best time. Every guy I seem to even remotely like, in the tiniest bit gets a girlfriend. I guess I'm like Chuck in the movie "Good Luck Chuck" except that I don't have to sleep with the person, heh heh. (good movie btw) Besides, I have a feeling that I'm going to marry a foreign guy (that is not American or Finnish, no offense to anybody who IS though), so I have at least that to look forward to. &hearts

I also can't believe that the semester is almost over, but I really can't wait for summer. Why you ask? Well, I'm *hoping to* go to Ruisrock, this big rock festival in Finland. I'm also hopefully going with a friend from the US (studying Finnish, will be in Finland for a summer program) and my second cousin from Canada (who is also really cool). The more I check out the bands, the more I'm excited! I've always wanted to go to one of the many Finnish rock festivals in the summer, and now's (maybe) my chance! Woo! Now it's hard to concentrate, but at least I just bought the Danish band Volbeat's CD, and I'm enjoying it. (one of the songs my dear friend Tiina posted, and I remembered that I liked it!) Plus they're one of the bands that will be there, so that'll tide me over until this summer. I'm so excited!! Woo! /o/ \o\ /o/

Monday, February 2, 2009

Another week.

So I've been (trying to) go the gym every morning. It worked out pretty well last week, and I had planned to go this morning, but I realized that I had forgotten to do a small essay/study for a quiz for today. I pretty much decided to stay home and work on that stuff instead. TOMORROW, I plan on getting up at 6:30am, get to the gym by 7~7:15ish and go on the elliptical/bike for a half an hour or so, and get home. Luckily, I have class at 11am Tuesday-Thursday, though I have class at 9:55am MWF, so I don't have as much of a break between workouts and class then. I'm trying to lose weight, but not because of my body image...well, sort of. I'm just tired of it. I'm tired of trying to hide my flaws, and whine about it. I've also noticed some joints starting to act up. So to put less stress on myself and my joints, I'm going to watch what I eat, work out, take care of myself, etc. It's not that I hate how I look, but I'm just done with it. The Bible says that our bodies are "a temple" so I should take care of it, right? Right.

It seems like I'll be headed for China again for Spring Break. My dad, however, will be in Finland. My mom and I didn't want to go to Finland, seeing as it's crappy that time of year (all gray, muddy, and all around icky), so we decided to go to China by ourselves. There are still some things I haven't seen in the city my dad lives/I lived (like some ancient gardens) and my mom's never been to Shanghai, so we're going to just hang out around there. Now that my Chinese is decent, I can get around a bit easier. I'm kind of excited to go back, mainly because I miss the AMAZING FOOD!! *drools* Some people are nervous, but most Chinese things are cooked (the Japanese like raw things, and even that's not bad, I love it). As long as you have an open mind, you probably won't have a problem. Heck, I've eaten lamb barbecue on the side of the road at 2am, and it was freaking amazing. *sigh*

That's about it. The only reason why I'm writing is because I'm just trying to get out of reading 100 pages of International Business, heh. (I don't HAVE to read it, but I feel like I'm behind in the lectures) Oh yeah, I have to read a few pages in Soil Sciences (one of two Soil Sci departments in the country, I guess). oy.

Oh, and I've also decided that Hedgehogs are incredibly cute. Maybe I'll have one as a pet someday. :D

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Upon reading "Blue Like Jazz"

I've just finished reading Donald "Don" Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz. On the cover, it says "Nonreligious thoughts about Christian spirituality," which intrigued me. My friends had all recommended it to me (as well as any other Christian I've spoken to...well most of them.), so I took my Christmas money and bought it.

This book reflects my own "journey" and some of the doubts I've been having. Can I still be "indie"...ish, and still be a Christian? of course. Is loneliness normal? no, it comes from sin. This leads me to a realization which this blog post is about today:

Loneliness.

If you've paid attention to this blog, or know me in general, I've been a bit of a recluse this past semester. (a recluse is someone who shuts his or herself in their room a lot, somebody asked, so I put the definition) Every day I came home from class/other responsibilities, and was just exhausted. What also exhausted me was being around people. I avoided other people, even ignored them, because I thought (as Don Miller put it) "the play was about me." That I was the lead role, and all other people were the supporting actors/actresses. Unimportant. Not Useful to my character development. This is so not true. It's not healthy to be alone so much. I've started chattering to myself a lot, seeing things, imagining things that seem real. Don Miller, having gone through a similar stage, even saw Emily Dickinson when he visited her home. Like actually saw her, though he was going a bit crazy at the time, like I am. I've been craving social interaction. I need to be around other people. I laugh more, am happier, and can grow in my walk with the Lord through others. I'm kind of in a transition phase right now, which was put on pause due to my crazy semester (I changed Bible Studies, am changing campus ministry groups...), but I want no need to get back on track with my social life. It's been getting sad. I've spent my whole winter vacation at my house. I mean C'MON! heh.

So yeah, this post wasn't about anything in general, I guess. Just a realization of how important a social life is. I'm tired of being a recluse.

I've also been trying to lose weight, like for serious. Pray for me?