Jan 7-16

Jan 7- Today I finished Anna Karenina. It was a long journey, and I'm glad I saw it through. I really enjoy long novels that take the time to develop the characters. The ending of this book reminded me of Franny and Zooey because it ends with a main character having a sort of epiphany. I am starting "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer now.


Jan 8- We had my birthday party tonight! It was an Asia-themed party so we had homemade seaweed soup and homemade sushi-yum! Then we went to a Karaoke place where we had our own room. It was very fun. This is a picture of Greg and Nick singing Karaoke together.


Jan 9- Our apartment building's water went out. When we turned on the faucet brown water came out. So after work we had a small bite at a bar close by and brought home cups of water :)


Jan 10- I mentioned before that Alex and I were starting to run together again. We live really close to Lake Michigan so we've mapped out a route that leads us down by the water. At the furthest point of the loop, by the water, we can look back and see the Chicago skyline. It's really beautiful. This is a pic of me running.


Jan 11- Our friends get together weekly and have community dinner. Alex and I hosted it this week. There ended up being a lot of snowfall today so not too many people were able to come but we still had fun. Everyone brought a burrito topping and we made burritos. And Hannah made bread pudding for dessert. I kept the recipe :) This pic is of Hannah, Greg, Joe and me sitting down to dinner.


Jan 12- Alex got me Rummikub for Christmas. We learned how to play it tonight. We played 4 times in a row and I either won or tied every game :)


Jan 13- Alex and I have been working hard to pick up hours for work. In addition to hours at Starbucks I've been babysitting here and there. Alex and I babysat Jocelyn tonight. She sat and watched Hockey with Alex for a few minutes while I tried to get some dinner together for her.


Jan 14- We babysat again tonight! This family is especially fun because they have a dog and everyone knows how much Alex and I love dogs :) This is Snoopy, Alex and little Myles. Myles is very energetic like Elijah and very talkative like Hopey. We had a lot of fun together.


Jan 15- Alex's mom gave me these pots and seeds for Christmas. I planted them not too long ago and they are already sprouting. They grow taller everyday. Fun to watch. I read this book called Seedfolks after I finished Anna Karenina. It's a very short Young Adult story but it's all about a community garden. I'm getting really into the idea of gardening now.


Jan 16- I worked downtown today. The store I worked out is right in the middle of a lot of high-end shopping. I walked past the Marc Jacobs store and this is a picture of what was in the window display. The purse says "Mini MJ"! I would get it for Coco but I don't even want to know what it would cost. It would be so perfect though!!

New Year Jan 1-6

This year I have decided to take a picture everyday. Or try to anyway...

I will try to update it on a regular basis. Here is what I have so far...

Jan 1. We started our year off in DC. Ron and Jerry took us out on their boat, "Another Girl."

Jan 2. Today we did Touristy things... Dad and I visited Capitol Hill Baptist Church. We all met up at the American Indian Museum (part of the Smithsonian) for lunch. Dad, Alex and I split off to visit the Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. That night mom made Flan for me for my birthday.. YUM! This is a picture of "Calvary" by "Master of the death of Saint Nicholas of Munster."

Jan 3. We went over to Ron and Jerry's to have breakfast before getting on the plane to head back to Chicago. Ron made a delicious Vegetable Quiche and Jerry made bacon and coffee cake. Delicious! Then we all said our goodbyes... Mimi stayed in DC for another week, Mom and Dad headed home, Alex and I came home. This is a picture of George, one of Ron and Jerry's three adopted puppies that Alex and I adore :)

Jan 4. My Birthday!! Alex made me breakfast in bed. I got someone to cover my shift that night. Jon and Emily and Ian came out to dinner with me and Alex at the Handlebar, one of my favorite bar/restaurants. This is Emily, Jon and Ian enjoying conversation over dinner.

Jan 5. Today I went on my first run of 2011. Alex and I want to get in better shape before we go to Hawaii in ONE MONTH!! Can't wait!

Jan 6. Today my boss asked me to stay after my shift to talk. He told me he is beginning the process of promoting me to be a shift manager! I am thrilled to get this good news after a hard month. This is a picture of the papers I need to read to get started.

manifesto

I have been assigned a paper in which I am to integrate Anthropology, my Faith and my Life. Narrowing it down a bit more, I choose to write a Manifesto. My professor responds "I don't want to hear anything about the past. I want this day forward." "This will mean very few quotes, mostly YOUR thoughts." So here I go. Brainstorming.

What are the essentials? What do I have to be and do in life from this day forward? What motivates me? Am I allowed to talk about the why's? How do I start?

Manifesto. Proclamation. Statement of Belief.

We went over our Strengthsquests scores again in class today. Some of the advice given to my type...

Attack your assignments immediately. Refuse to procrastinate. Turn in your work ahead of schedule. Enjoy the satisfaction of being done. Analyze how you avoid the pitfalls of "analysis paralysis" and excessive preparation.

Give yourself research deadlines within your overall timelines for completing papers. Without them, you might continue to read and read, never feeling like you have enough information.

Prioritize the most critical information to study. Otherwise, you might become distracted by other information that fascinates you but is not as relevant.

That all makes sense. All things I want to do.

I think I'll start with

what I believe.

what I am committed to.

how do i love you?

why does it take so much?

i have nightmares that you are going to leave. you are not going to stay there. you’re going to walk away again. we want to help you. at some point that becomes impossible and we’re getting so close. PLEASE don’t. please wait. please open your eyes before you get there. stay.

it was so close this last time. you slept on my couch and i woke up in the morning wondering what to do. i went to bed every night tucking you in wishing you were small again. we were a maybe only one shot away from losing you. from the streets. from the agony of having our love completely rejected.

i’m so afraid. i know i’m not supposed to live in fear. i wish i could change your mind. i don’t know how to let go. i don’t know how to watch you walk away.

how do i love you?

through a 4 yr old's eyes

after all of this hard work she took a nap...

hope girl

i couldn't find a better model in the universe to model my clothes

Jesus Christ, Superstar

Daddy, you asked for just thoughts, not a paper. Well, this is a stream of thoughts I had today... completely raw and unedited! lol just for you. so if it's crazy... and bold... well... it wasn't really meant for publishing :) haha

Moral standards change over time; through generations and within lifetimes. Personal experiences and social events affect our morals. Virtue: behavior showing high moral standards. It has often been said that morality and the human conscious of good and evil has derived from the existence of a higher being, or God. Christianity as a religion points to God as the source of wisdom in determining good and evil, and Jesus Christ embodies this wisdom in human form. If God is the Christian’s source of wisdom concerning good and evil, then Jesus is the ultimate virtuous person, and being such he becomes the symbol &/or representative of our faith.

But, is it the historical person of Jesus Christ, and all the virtues he embodied that plays the role as our representative? Or is the Scriptural depiction of Jesus traded in for a more culture-conscious Jesus?

As moral standards change over time, or even as some virtues become more emphasized than others, the human embodiment of a virtuous person looks different. This may be compared to the acknowledgment that the definition of a “beautiful woman” changes over time as perceptions of beauty and sexuality are transformed. This may explain how one generation viewed Aphrodite as the depiction of female beauty and sexuality, while another looks to Marilyn Monroe. This, experience and event informed worldview/morality theory may also be revealed in one generation’s veneration for someone who has “accomplished the American Dream” compared to another’s admiration of the apparently contradictory globally-aware justice-advocate.

Seeing Jesus as a virtuous person in perfection, the church adapts his image to fit the most admired virtues of the day. During WW1 the church promoted Jesus as a Grand Soldier, a 1999 campaign add for a church event depicted Jesus as Che Guevera, and shirts declaring “Jesus is my Homeboy” were mass distributed in 2007. Whether or not one receives these statements as blasphemous or not, she must ask if these depictions have been developed by the culture or for the culture? And, is it possible to distinguish between the two?