study. study. study

i have spent the day studying...

2 tests tomorrow.

2 assignments due tomorrow.

the day has been a little bit better due to my ipod.

i have been listening to...

radiohead

coldplay

fleet foxes

bon iver

& keri noble

thanks ipod! 

[you will thank yourself if you give them a little listen]. 

spring fever

cute. cute. cute.

spring fever.

n. A feeling of restlessness, excitement, or laziness brought on by the coming of spring. {i have been diagnosed}.

personality tests?

I had to take a strengths test for school...

Here are my results. It is a bit more in depth than "retriever-beaver."

1. strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. 

2. activator

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. 

3. empathy

You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.

4. responsibility

Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. 

5. communicator

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. 

sex on fire

happy saturday people.

disclaimer: 

i am referring to a song by kings of leon. 

i do not support scandalous love

**and i got COLDPLAY tickets! 

a cute card

dreamers unite.

I stumbled upon this today and felt that it was fitting. Things have not changed that much...

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

the countdown has begun...

3.5 weeks until i am laying in this chair.

florida you are calling my name

 (very loudly!)

::coldplay::

this summer in nyc

chris martin is coming to texas! whoop.

tickets go on sale saturday...

xoxoxo

happy valentines day. eat a cupcake :)

"all you need is LOVE..."

-the Beatles

superbowl sunday.

katie in her super cool super bowl hat

i know that this is a bit late but here is how my house celebrated the big day.  i am also 95% sure that half of my house didn't know who was playing...

we did however play this really cool game.

peonies

my precious, loving dad called today for his usual "michele is single and its valentine's day chat".  he is simply the best dad in texas, well maybe even in the world. he always sends me a little treat for february 14th.  freshman year it was a massive potted plant that lived all year long and grew to be 3.5 feet tall. this year i requested something that lives for about 2 weeks. thanks dad. i love you.

a little story.

I saw something very touching last night.

Or maybe heartbreaking is a better word.

As I was going down into the chilly subway station to wait for the train, a man was standing on the platform close to the wall.

From my quick peripheral observation (which I sadly have mastered since living here) I could tell he was/looked homeless or very poor.

The assumption seemed to be solidified when I heard him mumbling something to people as they passed by him.

To each person he mumbled the same phrase.

I couldn't tell what he was saying, probably meaning (I thought) he was drunk or a little crazy and wasn't saying anything intelligible at all.

This assessment happened in about 2 seconds time as I approached him, seeing the person in front of me pass on by, not even glancing his way.

I passed by, not even glancing his way.

I felt a pang of guilt. (Guilt or the Holy Spirit convicting me?)

I heard a man's voice behind me say kindly,

"What is it you need, Sir?"

I glanced around and saw the whole scene.

The man who didn't pass by was a business-looking man... clean cut, long nice dress coat.

Again, the man mumbled his line.

The man who didn't pass by asked him to repeat himself because he couldn't understand.

Finally he heard, and I heard, what the man what saying...

"Would you mind doing me a small favor?"

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

(He was just as uncomfortable as the rest of us would have been in the same situation. You could tell he was painfully aware of all the others on the platform staring at the scene, and aware of the potential hazards in stopping... but he stayed)

"Sir, would you mind zipping up my jacket? I'm crippled and can't do it on my own."

Immediately his handicap became obvious... a shriveled hand and forearm stuck up against his chest.

The man who didn't pass by proceeded to move in close... as close as you would have to be to zip someone's jacket zipper.

That's a pretty intimate process... way beyond the boundaries of personal space... it's something parents do for their small children who are not yet able.

He fumbled for a few seconds with the zipper on the dirty man's maroon jacket, and proceeded to zip it up. There they stood, face to face.

The crippled man was obviously touched, saying, "Thank you so much, Sir, thank you so much."

The train pulled up.

I stepped in the same car as the man who didn't pass by, and I could hear the crippled man yell again, "Thank you so much, Sir!"

As we pulled away from the station, we saw through the window the crippled man still standing where he had been.

I looked over and saw (what looked like) tears in the eyes of the man who didn't pass by.

I said to him, "That was really amazing what you just did."

He sadly looked down, shook his head, and sincerely said,"No, it really wasn't. I could have done so much more."

Yes, I guess he could have.

But he did so much more than any of the rest of us were willing to do.

And in his small gesture he gave something invaluable back to this man... his humanity.

He said to him, "Yes, I hear you speaking, and I care enough to stop... and to be patient and listen to what you have to say, even when it is so uncomfortable, and to put my fears aside in order to meet a need you have... in order to LOVE you. And I do this because it is what Jesus has done for me, and what He has done for you."

This beautiful, heartbreaking picture reminded me of what Jesus said about loving.

[this was borrowed from the blog of my bible study leader from this past summer in new york city. this story is one of the reasons that new york will forever hold a dear place in my heart.  my heart changed last summer. i was broken. praise Jesus. listen to amos lee, "keep it loose, keep it tight."]

Team JILLIAN

Let me begin by saying, I have been an opponent of the Bachelor for the past few years now.  I believe that it is completely unrealistic, staged and ridiculous.  Living with 6 girls this year has changed my television habits... From the hours of 7 to 9 on Monday nights, 304 Ayrshire is glued to the television surrounded by cookies and wine.  It has become my guilty pleasure.  Now that Jason is down to the final 3, I have chosen my favorite: I am now on TEAM JILLIAN.

I just think she is the cutest.

a new york kind of love.

it is simple. 

new york city.

i miss you.

i want to visit you soon...

5 things i would do first:

1. magnolia cupcake [yellow cake with chocolate icing]

2.  afternoon in central park

3. walk from the village to greenwich

4. evening church service at Apostles

5. williamsburg dog park with the boss lady and stella louise

sweet leaf tea co

this past weekend I was in our lovely state capitol. i saw sweet leaf tea company everywhere! i cannot wait for everything that this summer holds. they were also announced the number 16 best company in austin to work for 2008. woohoo

25 attempts at being interesting.

1. I recently found out that I am named "Michele" because I was supposed to be a boy named "Michael." My parents didnt quite want to let that name go... and they still gave Cody the first name Michael.

2. I still sleep with a stuffed animal. I never named him because I thought it was childish.

3. My favorite movie of all time is Steel Magnolias mostly due to the fact that Ouiser reminds me of my grandmother. "Clairee: Ouiser, you sound almost chipper. What happened today - you run over a small child or something?"

4. I was born in England and lived there the first three years of my life with an English nanny, which resulted in an English accent.  I lost the accent when we moved back to the US and my best friend was a black girl named Shawnee.  Bring on East Texas accents :)

5. When I was 12 I had my first moving vehicle collision. It involved a cow, a mopehead, and our garden fence.  

6. At the age of 15, I had my second collision. This time it involved my mom's suburban and Stacy's garage door... not to mention the lovely and encouraging words coming from the backseat. My Dad was pretty vocal as I forgot to how to hit the breaks at 5 miles per hour. 

7. I was the soloist and star of my fourth grade play. My role was a giant teddy bear that lived in Santa's Toy Shop. Our choir program wasn't very popular that year.

8. My roommate Catherine's favorite song is "Fancy" by Reba McEntire. She gets pretty intense when she sings it. 

9. My family celebrates our family reunion at a Volunteer Fire Station in Rosevine, Texas every summer. It pretty much sums up my extended family and east texas all in one. 

10. Midnight Yell. [enough said]

11. One of my best friends has 4 cats. The last one she got was from a poor hispanic family, so we named her Rosa. It just seemed to make sense.

12. I went through my awkward years before straighteners were invented. I have naturally curly hair and I only weighed 100 pounds while being 5'9. Just picture that...

13. The only animals I ever had growing up were fish because I am allergic to cats/ hate them and my brother was attacked by a dog at the age of three. They were great pets until the water got to hot during a fish tank cleaning.

14. I was the only girl on the back row of our 8th grade panoramic picture. 

15. My first and last name are spelled "wrong". Or so I have been told

16. My mother loves sports more than anyone else that I know. She somehow manages to say exactly word for word what the announcer says about 30 seconds before he says it.  She also has season tickets to the Houston Astros. We live in Nacogdoches.

17. My first car was a Chevrolet Blazer. The only thing I liked about it was that it was black- and the fact that I took it flying down a huge hill about once a week. We usually got about three feet of air.

18. When I lived in the Chi O House sophomore year, I fell down the three staircases seven times. I was completely sober. 

19. My athletic abilities are somewhat lacking. The only sport I have ever been good at was 300 meter hurdles in the 8th grade. I won first place against my darker skin girls.

20. I took a clogging class for six years. My outfit consisted of a red, white, and blue sparkly ensemble.  We clogged to Tim McGraw, Jock Jams, and Jose Cuervo. The outfit also had stars.

21. I made a shirt in high school that said, " Yes, I am really tall. No, I do not play basketball."

22. I spent one whole semester of college painting on navy sheets. And it has been my favorite one yet! 

23. If I could do any job in the world it would be hosting a show for the travel channel.

24. My favorite drink is Coca Cola Classic.  I once was a Dr. Pepper fan but the 23 flavors changed it. 

25. Cussing at random times is just something that brings me joy and makes me laugh really really hard.