Invasion

Alright. I know I was singing the praises of Albuquerque in my last post, and don't get me wrong I still love it here, but these last few days have been MISERABLE.

There is a moth invasion in Albuquerque.  The other day when I started my car, a cloud of moths flew up around my windows.  At Young Life on Monday, there were like 10 moths fluttering around the lights distracting the kids - GET OUT MOTHS. When I was younger, I was deathly afraid of these critters - as in scream until the moth was dead, "Dad, I will not go in my room if there's a moth," kind of fear. Thankfully, I'm over this mortal terror, but I still don't like the little buggers and their "moth dust." Also, Jamie and I figured out that they pee on you. Can moths get any worse?? No. Their only redeeming factor: they saved Gandalf from the Tower of Orthanc (credit: Daniel and Katie Swaim - thank you for alerting me to this fact and therefore decreasing my bitterness these past three days).

Today was an ugly day.  Every so often, Albuquerque takes a step back in time to the 1930s and reenacts the days of the Dust Bowl. I could not see the Sandia Mountains for most of the day. The wind whipped my hair back and forth in a manner aggressive enough to make Willow Smith proud. And I got a free exfoliation treatment from the sand pelting into my face. Awe-some.

However, so as not to rant for this entire post, I did eat a green chile cheese bagel for dinner tonight. YUM. And I caught up on the current season of Gossip Girl. Today was not wasted.

One more thing! (Did anyone watch Jackie Chan Adventures in the olden days? I always think of Uncle when I say "One more thing!"). Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." This verse is amazing. God has already planned good works for each and every one of us to complete - pursue these deeds wholeheartedly, love your neighbor, do good.

Calo anor na ven! Yes, I did just leave you with an Elvish phrase. It means "May the sun shine on your road." Watch out for those moths!

Confessions

First off, anyone who immediately thought of Usher because of the title of this post wins.  Because that's what I was thinking of when I wrote it. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.  I feel like all of my blogging thus far has revolved around revealing strange things about myself. So why not continue along this path...

1) I have a strange fear of falling through grates in the ground. I traversed campus all day Friday running errands, and I had to keep avoiding the grates because they're scary. What if it broke as I walked across it? Yep, there go both of my ACLs and femurs...terrifying. Seriously.

2) I love dogs.  A group of us from The Mission volunteered through Spring Storm at a pet adoption event in Albuquerque this morning, and we basically just got to hang out with and walk dogs for like 3 hours. I fell in love with some of the pooches! Some of them were so sweet and calm, and I just wanted to take them home with me! So I came to the realization that the minute I can realistically afford/house/care for a dog, I will get one. And then probably another one. And then another and another...Some people say getting tattoos is addicting - I'm going to have a canine addiction.

3) I like playing sports I didn't play in high school. Like volleyball. I've played the past two nights and really enjoyed it.  In high school this wouldn't have been the case because I hated doing things I wasn't good at.  Now, there is no pressure, just fun. I realize that I've mellowed out a lot since coming to college - I'm still competitive (let's be real, I'm a Worland, that'll never completely disappear), but I can actually enjoy competing without kicking, punching, or throwing things. I like to call this "progress". Plus, I get to hang out with my awesome roommate who I rarely see during the week...I don't see her "for dayzzzzzzz!" Haha.

4) Albuquerque is great.  I thought coming to college that I was going to hate living here.  Surprise!  I love it.  Getting involved with Young Life and The Mission has played a big part in my change of heart because both ministries have allowed me to meet amazing people and to live life with them. Playing volleyball under the lights. Laying on the rooftop hollering at the Greeks.  Eating Oreos in the Dion's parking lot.  It's great.  Albuquerque nails home the adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover."  Any city is amazing and offers unique opportunities - you just have to dig a little and get out of your comfort zone for awhile!

Find something you love to do, even if you're in a place you do not love.  After all, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."  Peace and blessings, y'all!

Pottermore

One thing you should know about me: I get really obsessed with things. Ask my roommate Nicole. At the beginning of the year, I would spend hours on my computer searching for apartments. I don't need an apartment. I don't even want an apartment. I've got the sweetest living set-up on this side of the Mississippi for crying out loud! I just got obsessed with apartment hunting...

Purpose of this confession: my new obsession is Pottermore. It's this amazing website all about Harry Potter. If you know me at all, you know I love Harry Potter like I love cake - and that's impressive. Basically you join the site, and then proceed chapter by chapter through the books, discovering new information from J.K. Rowling, shopping in Diagon Alley, practicing brewing poitions, casting spells, etc. It's amazing. I feel like I'm at Hogwarts. I got my wand - Elm wood, Phoenix feather core, 14 and 1/2 inches, hard - from Ollivander, of course. And the Sorting Hat placed me in Ravenclaw - no surprises there. Every Sorting Hat test I've ever taken (and let's be real, folks, I've taken a lot of them) has placed me in Ravenclaw. Not that I'm complaining! "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." Hahahahaha.

Anyway, I know a lot of people don't like Harry Potter. They have their reasons, and I get it. But the amount of imagination these books took to write and the detail of the information J.K. Rowling included is astonishing. I love reading about the little nuances of each of her characters, the extra plot lines she wasn't able to include, and the influences of her own life that carried over into the books. She started with nothing and went on to create an entire world from her imagination. It's really quite inspirational.

So my point is not that you have to like Harry Potter (although, I really think you should give it a shot!). My point is that you should appreciate literature, reading, books - anything that encourages imagination. I'm an English Lit major, and oftentimes people ask me, "Why the heck are you majoring in that??" Well, I want to teach English, but also, I love to read. I love the way a book can steal me away from reality for hours at a time.

I really have no idea how my blog is going to work or what the point of my blog really is. And it figures that my first real post would be about Harry Potter! But I'm challenging you, over the span of the next few months, to read a book. Not for school, not for a reading group, just for you. Get lost in the story, get attached to the characters...just READ. Let me know the book you choose :) I'm always scouting for a new series!

"Words, in my humble opinion, are the most inexhaustible source of magic we have." Albus Dumbledore.

Greetings

This is an experiment. I'm not going to make any false promises of "a blog a day" and what not because, let's be real, that's not going to happen. However, last night as I worked on yet another essay into the wee hours of the morning, I realized I need to write for fun. I need an outlet for my writing that's not a journal but also not a formal essay. So I'll dip my toe into the blogging pool. Another motivating factor: I'm going to spend the summer in Europe, and I needed a forum to keep friends and family updated on my whereabouts and adventures. Therefore, without further ado, I present my as-of-yet untitled blog (btw...open to suggestions!) detailing the awkward amazingness that is my life. Peace and blessings, y'all.