Television and the Lessons It Teaches

It's that time again. The Bachelor is back! Trashy television- heck yes. Good entertainment- definitely. And if there is one thing that the seasons can teach you is that sharing personal stories or even saying positive statements wins you the prize of kisses. I think that is THE only thing you can learn from the show besides the fact that you probably won't find love on the show. Well, that is with the exception of Trista and Ryan, but they were from the Bachelorette and I don't think that counts. With the Bachelor back on air there is all sorts of activity at my house. We watch it as a group with great mockery of the entire premise and read recaps like this one. I recommend jumping on the bandwagon and enjoying the ridiculousness of the show.

Later Days,

Blendy

The Jesus You Can't Ignore

The Jesus You Can’t Ignore by John MacArthur addresses people’s perception of Jesus Christ. MacArthur makes a valid point that someone’s view of God affects his or her outlook on everything. Unfortunately this point is made over and over, before the book even begins. The book has such a lengthy prologue and introduction that it felt like I had read a couple of chapters before I even got to the first one. Frankly, I got bored of rereading the same basic points reworded every four paragraphs. When I started into the first chapter, I had hopes that this would get better, and it did to an extent. However, I still could not get into the book and gave up. I have tried off and on to restart it for the past six months to no avail. While I think this book could be very good and probably is, I do not have the patience to get into it. From what I did read, it is a very well thought-out book, although a bit wordy. It is great for anyone who needs to reread passages to understand them because MacArthur took the work out of that and says the same basic thing repeatedly.

Oh to write a scholarhsip essay

Scholarship essays are things that will give any form of teenager sheer dread. What on earth are you supposed to say for those things? No matter what you put down, you always sound like you A) don't care or B) are a major suck up. When I finally buckle down and write something truly sincere it almost always sounds cheesy to me when I reread it. Although to family and friends it may sound truly accurate, I always feel like the random strangers who will read it to decide the fate of my financial package will get the totally wrong impression me. This state of sad frustration is where you will find me today. Today I am filling out my county's scholarship forms...or at least starting them. Okay...I'm just writing my essays. My real dilemma today is trying to explain why I am continuing my education. It's hard because...I...changed my major. I want to be a writer and so I am now going to be an English major. I've wanted to write for a while, but I had been thinking I would be a teacher...and then I really thought about what that would mean and changed my mind. How do you explain that you need money to write? How do you give your professional goals and how you are going to achieve them? "Well scholarship committee, I am going to become a writer by studying English in college and then writing...all the time....because practice makes perfect. So, you know...I need some money to pay for college....please?" I just feel like that won't go over well.

Later Days,
Blendy

The light at the end of the tunnel

I can see it now, I wake up one morning, totally refreshed, ready for the day. I shower, get dressed, make breakfast, and sit down to a nice cup of hot cocoa and read a book. I dabble in cleaning my room, bake some cookies, call a friend, and enjoy the general splendor of the snowy wonderland outside my house. It is a glorious day- and one that has not yet materialized. I still have a week of school left. One horrid, sickeningly, annoying week of school. And as usual, a class that I am in has a little more work than I realized. Being the procrastinator that I am, I have also put this class off. Not enough to seriously damage my grade, hurt my scholarships, or even miss the deadline. Just enough to make me get little sleep and become rather annoyed. *(I should note at this point that my procrastination has been lessening in degree since last spring...just ask Becky. It was rather ugly.)

This next Thursday is the last day of my enslavement to a class that is both daunting and obnoxious in one fell swoop. Friday, is the day of my freedom...and for work...but the morning is the beginning of the sweet bliss that is Christmas Vacation. May Friday come swiftly for me.

You've Got Mail

Last night I decorated for Christmas with my older sister and one of my good friends. After trimming the tree we decided to watch a movie. We chose You've Got Mail. In the movie, Meg Ryan sends emails to Tom Hanks; in one of the emails she writes almost like people do in blogs...she didn't want an answer to the question that she posed in the specific email she just wanted to "send it out into the void." This struck me as super blog like. And GENIUS that I am, I was like "Oh yeah, I have a blog...I should go write something on it."

I know what you're thinking, why does she have a blog if she never writes on it. Well, ladies and gents, I have one because I want to be the person who writes blogs. I want to write in general and a blog is a fabulous place to do that. I just don't have reliable computes/ Internet at my house. Therefore, I must use my sisters Internet, and frankly, I forget to write stuff on my blog because the tools are not at hand when inspiration strikes. Those of you who know me also know that I am not particularly neat and would lose any scraps of paper that I would write my unparalleled insights upon. Tonight I am staying at my sisters, which is why I am actually writing a post.

However, the fact that I just looked at the clock and see that it is past midnight, I should sign off and go to bed. Big day at Church tomorrow. Double rehearsal for the Singing Christmas Tree (our Christmas pageant, complete with full choir).

Later Days,
Blendy

The Epic Wonderment of Audra and Blendy Gracing Grace with their Energetic Presence

So my wonderful friend Audra went with me on a college visit to see Grace University. So far we have met with counselors, marveled at the awesomeness of the parking spot they reserved for me, chased squirrels with Janelle, and played sand volleyball. (Well I didn't play volleyball...but Jolly and I cheered for her).

Friday, Dad went with us to a meeting and then dropped us off at the dorms. We saw Jolly and Rainbolt, who gave us a lovely tour. Then we saw Becca. After getting settled in, we went to supper. There was hardly anyone there. And a massive clock. Honestly, I thought it made the room look short because they placed it on a very small section of wall in between two windows. It was much too big a clock to be in such a small space. I bet it felt cramped. After supper we went to wal(star)mart and got a redbox, water, ice cream, and twizzlers (all the appropriate makings for a partay. Really, it was a wonderful night.

We went to bed around 4 a.m. and awoke at about 11 a.m. We ate lunch at panera bread and gave Kiel his birthday present...and wandered around Petco...it's where the pets go. Now we have come back to campus and will begin working on homework....or just chat. We may even cook dinner...

Well that's all for now. Mom, here are a couple pictures. The battery died so I couldn't take any more.

Later Days,

Blendy

the unplanned day

day 3

Today we had zero plans. Today we did whatever we felt like. Today we drove through a really sketchy downtown.We started our day by heading to Lake Erie. We found this local lighthouse and went to check it out. It was probably the funniest thing ever. It was like someone looked at it and said, "Hey, let's try to make money by charging people a ridiculous fee." It cost $7 to tour the lighthouse, but you couldn't wear flip flops or sandals. This was something they forgot to mention on the website. You could walk around the grounds for free, but Becks and I felt weird cause there were workers watching us. On the upside, leaving the lighthouse right away led us to an adorable little park with a path down the the shore. It was not a tourist attraction, but it was very nice for a local place to hang out, as many locals did.
We then started our drive back to our town. We had a gorgeous drive along the lake and we stopped for lunch at a cute little town that had a coffee shop/cafe. After filling out bellies, we continued on our way.

In the town we are currently staying in there is a chocolate shop that Becky found online. However, there was road construction and we couldn't find it. This is a fact that I can happily live with because that downtown was totally scary. It was kinda run down and shabby looking. Needless to say, we headed back to the hotel. We then found a dollar theater and saw Killers. * note: I do NOT recommend this movie. I had been curious about it, and genuinely wanted to see it. However, it was a little confusing and had a stupid end.

Tonight we will plan our tomorrow which includes leaving PA and heading back to Ohio.

Mams, here's my shout out to you. Love ya!

later days,
blendy