okay fine

Since you asked so nice, here it is...

It's definitely a change! I love it...so light and easy to manage. I believe I'll keep it this length for some time...until I get bored that is. ;-)

a new haircut ;-)

Curious???

Jenny Lewis

I've not yet written about one of my favorite musical artists...Miss Jenny Lewis. 

I first became aware of Jenny Lewis when a friend introduced me to Rilo Kiley. I fell in love with the music. We even included a Rilo Kiley song on our wedding mix CD that we gave away as favors. 

As time went on I discovered that Jenny Lewis sang on various tracks of the Postal Service record [I'm a huge death cab/postal service fan]. I was intrigued with her voice and style. She has impeccable taste! Her clothes, her hair...she's just too cute. 

And her music has such a wide range. She's folky, country, experimental, poppy, rock-n-roll. I greatly enjoy all her music. 

She recently came out with a solo record entitled "Acid Tongue." I just purchased it ten minutes ago thanks to an iTunes gift card that I won from my favorite photographer. I love it! I highly recommend it. 

So yeah...Jenny Lewis is my favorite. :-)

P.S. Not to mention she starred in one of my favorite movies of all time when she was younger.

[as well as several other movies and tv shows] 

worship

Last night my seminary hosted the LifeWay Worship HymnSing with Keith and Kristyn Getty. The Seminary's choir and orchestra also performed. 

It was really great. I had never heard of the Getty's, but I realized I had heard their music. Their most famous song is "In Christ Alone," which is a staple at many churches. I loved all the tunes they played. Kristyn's voice is flawless and the musicianship of all the performers was really impressive. 

That's not the best part. The purpose of the entire concert was to worship God, and that was accomplished. I've been learning in my theology class that the whole point of Christian Theology is to retell the Gospel of Christ in a culturally appropriate way according to the Scriptures. If we are successful at this it will result in right thinking about God and right living before Him. This involves worshiping Him in the correct way. The mechanics and means by which we worship Him isn't nearly as important as actually worshiping Him.

It shouldn't matter if we use an organ or a guitar or a choir or no music at all...the point is we worship God because He's worthy. 

And last night the songs, more than just sounding good, spoke rightly about God and worshiped Him as He should be worshiped. The songs weren't just some upbeat tunes with no real meaning or theological truth. It was the opposite. The songs were packed with meaning and truth and worship.

Does that make sense? I've been having many jumbled thoughts in my head since I began my seminary education. It's hard it to keep it all together and coherently explain everything I'm learning. I'm still getting used to thinking so deeply about these things. 

So let me know what you think. About God...worship... Any thoughts?

SparkCon

What I enjoyed about my SparkCon weekend:

• Seeing my very first fashion runway show
• Amazing sidewalk chalk art
• Learning about different types of [nasty] bugs
• Watching Alex eat chocolate covered ants and fried rice with worms.
• Seeing all the wonderful things that very talented vendors were selling...clothes, jewelry, photos, art, bags, etc.
• Live music
• Watching a lady with a cane get down to the sounds of Bob Marley.
• Live DJ'ing
• Graffiti artistry
• Break dancing
• Magic/Comedy show
• Meeting a homeopathic doctor who adopted a baby from Ethiopia
• Art galleries
• VW Bugs in all their glory

It was a wonderful event. I'm glad we were able to enjoy it. 

Downtown Raleigh is alive and well. 

(yes, I put "fasion" instead of "fashion." I'm tired...sue me)

spiders follow me

I've never been the kind of girl who is afraid of insects or other small creatures. Whenever a lizard or frog got trapped indoors I would calmly pick it up [with my bare hands] and set it free outside. Whenever some kind of bug was in the house I squashed it without thinking twice [or I set it free if I was feeling nice] and moved on with my life. 

But I don't think I ever had to encounter one of these:

Spiders are EVERYWHERE in this town. I've had many unpleasant encounters with these nasty little creatures since we moved here. Once a HUGE one sneaked into the house and I just about freaked out. I called Alex at work and was practically crying about the stupid thing. I managed to trap it in a cup and there it stayed until Alex came home and set it free. Another time I was in my counseling class and there was a spider on my desk...bleh! I swatted it off and stepped on it. Mind you, I sit in the front row right in front of the professor, so I tried to be discrete, but I was grossed out. 

The worst encounter happened yesterday. I was sitting in my theology class. My professor was just beginning class and opened with a joke [like he always does...he's actually quite funny], so I laughed and glanced down and there it was. A spider [sure, it was tiny, but it was a spider nonetheless] was sitting on my leg....my leg! I jumped a little and swatted it away with my pen. I tried looking for it on the floor, but couldn't see it. I tried to forget about it and concentrate on the lecture. A few minutes later, it was on my desk. This spider has spunk. I swatted it away again and this time looked under my desk. There it was. Hanging upside down from the bottom of my desk. I tried to swat at it again with my pen and it jumped and hung by its string! I almost jumped out of my desk. Some guy was sitting next to me so I turned to him and whispered, "There's a spider on my desk..." He just kind of raised his eyebrows and said, "That's creepy." I'm sure he thought I was crazy. I whispered to him, "I'm going to move..." Why I was whispering to him, I have no idea. 

So I, very slyly, moved to the desk behind me. I was satisfied knowing that spider would no longer bother me and I could finally learn a thing or two about theology. 

Nay.

A few minutes later, it was back! This time it was crawling on the wall...towards my direction! I couldn't take my eyes off of it because I was terrified it would do one of its ninja jumps right into my hair. So I watched it as it slowly crawled across the wall and all of a sudden it stopped and looked at me. It looked at me. I was taken aback and filled with terror. He kept crawling and when he reached the edge of the wall [right next to me] he jumped. Again, I almost jumped out of my desk and I'm sure anyone who was sitting behind me was very amused by my odd and unusual behavior. Thankfully the spider jumped on the floor, not me. By this time it was 12:15, class was over at 12:20. 

So what did I learn in theology yesterday? That spiders are cruel and vicious creatures that follow me and enjoy seeing me squirm...and I think some stuff about the Bible too. 

driving around

I'm really enjoying our new town. Surprisingly there's a lot to do around here. Like this event that Alex and I are planning on checking out this weekend. And this festival that I'm excited to attend on Sunday. I also love that Super Target is just a couple minutes away. It's pure bliss. 

There is, however, one thing that I certainly do NOT enjoy. The street system. It makes no sense. The streets are all curvy and there's a million "Elm Streets" and "Main Streets." There's no sense, no order. In Miami all the streets are numbered, and the numbers go in order. There's nothing confusing about 1, 2, 3. Also, all the streets go east to west and all the avenues go north to south. [or maybe it's vice versa, I'm out of practice] Getting around Miami was a breeze. Getting around Wake Forest is a headache! Even Google Maps isn't much help at times. It has led me astray more than once.  

So that is something for you Miami-ans to be thankful for. 

You're welcome. 

Polyvore

A while ago my friend posted about this website that allows you to create collages using all kinds of images from the internet. I'm sure this could be a great tool for somebody studying fashion or interior design. However I use it as a great time waster. :-)

I actually really love all things beautiful. I read tons of design/fashion/photography blogs and am inspired by all the creative things people come up with.  I'm no fashionista or anything, but I think I have a pretty good eye. And even if you don't agree, that's cool, go make something better. ;-)

Here are two polyvore collages I created today. The first is more simple and has a more cohesive theme. The second is more eclectic and is really just a collection of things I like. 

I Love Owls

I don't know where my love for owls came from...but it is a love that is deep and true.

I have owl earrings, an owl sweater, a mini owl statue, and an owl bank [think piggie bank]. 

I think they're cute. When Alex and I were in Greece on our honeymoon they said that owls were a symbol of wisdom. I suppose that's true in the U.S. also...we all remember the tootsie pop owl, no? 

Here are a few more owls I've come across on the internet to brighten up your day. 

interesting discussion

Don't want to get into it too much on here...but I thought this was an interesting discussion.

Check it out. Share your thoughts.

Raleigh International Festival

This past weekend Alex and I were able to experience the Raleigh International Festival.

Living in the South, it's easy to forget that you're not the only minorities in town! We don't get to experience many other races or cultures in Wake Forest, so it was nice to go to the festival and see people from all over the world. 

I'd say that Alex's favorite part of the day was finally being able to eat some Colombian food! There was no fritanga (boo) so I opted for some Filipino food. A lot of people think I'm Asian anyway. It was delicious. Also, I finally tried the bubble tea that seemed to be so popular in Miami. I was...disappointed. The drink was good, but those little tapioca balls were odd.

We were also able to see various typical dances from different countries, see displays of traditional clothes and instruments, have our last name written in Japanese, and I got some henna on my hand. 

The fair was a part of Raleigh Wide Open. Downtown Raleigh was basically closed down and they had all kinds of vendors and live music on the streets. We caught the end of one rock show that looked like it must have been a lot of fun! The singer was all over the place and the crowd was loving every minute of it. 

It was a great day. 

P.S. My mami's birthday was yesterday. She's the best and I love her. Happy birthday again, mami!

a new church

Alex and I have been searching for a local church to be a part of here in North Carolina. We've felt incomplete without a church to serve and grow in. Ministry has been a part of our lives for so long that not having a church in which to minister has been strange. 

We've visited quite a few churches in the area and...well...they didn't feel right. I don't know if that's a good thing to say or not. I'm sure God's main concern is that we serve in a local body, not whether the church seems "cool" or not. But nonetheless we hadn't found a church that we felt compelled to join and start serving in. Until now.

We finally decided on a church. And to tell the truth, it's kinda scary. This church is kinda...big. Bigger than what we're used to. And something about large crowds makes me nervous. But despite its "bigness" there are a lot of things I enjoy about this church, the main one being the preacher. When I heard him speak on Sunday I was blown away. His message wasn't watered down or out of context, he didn't go off on any tangents. His preaching was direct, honest, intelligent, and spiritual. We enjoyed the musical aspect of the worship service as well, which is always a plus [especially since we're musical snobs, who are we kidding?]. 

Basically, they have a lot of good stuff going on. I think the rebel inside of me would prefer not to go to this church...because it's so big and popular [you know I've never been down with the cool kids], but I can't help to be drawn to what they are accomplishing. I feel that Alex and I could learn a lot here.

Also, the name of the church reminded me of this hilarious blog post. I'm a fan of this blog. You should definitely bookmark it and read it on a regular basis. 

fawn

Two of my lovely friends from Miami have created their own design company...

It's called fawn. Believe me when I say that these girls are talented. Check out their blog. 

Soon they will have an Etsy store up and running.

I know I'll be waiting to do some shopping. Go show them some love.