May 18, 2012
and the wait begins…
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May 13, 2012
us at Wind Rock
My sisters and I learned to sew our own clothes when we were nine years old, including matching plaids at seams. My mother made sure we knew how to write a check and keep a budget. She taught us to cream butter and sugar without an electric mixer. I learned how to soothe or distract a crying child, how to set the table, how to weed, shuck corn, string beans, and how to identify native Virginia wildflowers. She taught me to be fair and have patience. My mother taught me to have faith in God and to believe in myself as well. I learned lots of skills that have served me well in my life, but the learning was always fun. Mom would read aloud to us (Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan) while we sat on the floor and cut out pattern pieces. Through all these lessons my mother exemplified strength in adversity and grace under pressure and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her and miss her.
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May 11, 2012
It is hard to believe that I’ve been home for almost a whole week. In preparation for what I hope to be many fun adventures in London and the rest of Europe, I’ve been working long hours at the pool. One of my favorite things about guarding is that I’m able to read when I’m not sitting on the stand. I’ve read two great books this week:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I’m probably the last person in the United States to read this series, but I absolutely love them! I read the first book the week before finals, but had to wait until exams were over to read the second two. They remind me of other books I read in middle school about dystopias, a subject I find just as fascinating now as I did then. I appreciate that none of the violence in the books is gratuitous, but serves as a greater statement on power and the infrastructure that provides order. Collins perfectly balances this greater overarching theme with an emotionally moving plot line centered around Katniss Everdeen. I would love to take an English/PWAD class that discusses these books in such a context.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: My mom lent me this wonderful collection of short stories, all of which are set in Crosby, Maine and in some way feature the character of Olive Kitteridge. This may be my favorite book I’ve read this year; Strout writes beautifully. I often reread passages, just because they were so well-written. Olive Kitteridge won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009, so perhaps no Pulitzer Prizes in Fiction were awarded this year because Strout set the bar so high. (Although I don’t accept this as an excuse, Pulitzer Prize Board. There were so many great works of fiction to choose from this year.)
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May 8, 2012
Work in Progress
Washed and dried and ready to be cut. Can you guess what it will be?
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May 7, 2012
school project :: diorama making
(photo taken before the painful hot glue gun incident)
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May 4, 2012
In just a few hours, I’ll be leaving Chapel Hill until January 2013. Although I’m excited for the adventures I’ll have at home and in London, it is bittersweet leaving. Enjoying this view on the quad, surrounded by my best friends, is one of my favorite ways to spend my afternoons and I’ll miss those hours in the sun with them dearly.
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May 2, 2012
Can you believe we are STILL picking strawberries? Tonight we had them over lemon poundcake with whipped cream. Yum!
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April 29, 2012
relishing the quiet moments in a weekend packed with big events: Musicale, Dogwood Parade and senior prom
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April 26, 2012
This picture is a little blurry, probably because I was shaking with excitement, but I love how much fun he is having!
Tuesday now ranks as one of the top five best days of my life so far. I woke up very early in the morning to wait in line for six hours with my friends so we could see President Obama speak. The hours we spent huddled in the cold playing cards, reading, and meeting new people paid off when we entered the arena and snagged spots right in front of the podium. After several more hours of waiting, President Obama came out on stage and began to speak.
I have always admired our President, most especially his intelligence and articulate manner of speech. It was incredible to hear him speak and to stand close enough to see him smile. He interacted in a very candid manner with the crowd, responding to things people shouted out from the audience. Although he is consistently under an extreme amount of stress, he seemed relaxed as he spoke on the importance of keeping interest rates down on student loans. He shared his own experience of graduating straddled with student loans and working out a plan with Michelle to pay off their debt. He said many things about access to higher education that really resonated with me, as well as the rest of the audience. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to hear him speak, and am even more thankful for the opportunity I have to study at UNC while such a brilliant and compassionate man is making policy decisions that concern my future.
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April 22, 2012
We had a rare evening with no kids at home last night and got to try Brookville Restaurant. It was raining out, but we still had a nice stroll on the downtown mall, fabulous food and some great people watching (with two area schools holding proms last night). Didn’t take the camera, but couldn’t resist capturing the colored candlelight through the Mason jar water glasses with my phone. Brookville features local ingredients and serves what is in season. Last night one of the dessert choices was a Ham Hock Ice Cream Root Beer Float (all ice creams made in house). Check it out!
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April 16, 2012
This is the earliest we’ve picked ripe strawberries. And we’re certainly not complaining.
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April 6, 2012 Good Friday
returning adventurers, full moon, milkshakes, blooms, visiting cousins, The Lion King, blessings abound ...
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April 2, 2012
I love you guys and want to share some of my recent favorite things with you:
1. Holi Moli
This annual celebration of color is one of the coolest things I get to participate in here at UNC. The event is fun but messy, so I was better prepared this year than I was last year for the post-celebration clean up process. This year I also had a friend who wasn’t participating take pictures, and she did a fantastic job!
2. These applesauce pouches
I found these at the grocery store a month ago, and I love them. They don’t have any high fructose corn syrup or preservatives, and they are mess free. I like to eat one every morning for breakfast on the way to class. I’ve yet to see them catch on with the rest of the collegiate population, but I think it’s only a matter of time before they’re a university hit. Plus, they’re kosher.
3. Saturday mornings
My roommate and I have been in town the past two weekends without class or other commitments on Saturday morning, a rarity for both of us. We’ve started spending our Saturday mornings snug in our “Ave Cave” doing work and catching up on other things we meant to do over the previous week. If it’s been a particularly rough week, we will take a break to giggle over New Girl, our new favorite TV show. The last two episodes have been hilarious, and we’ve watched the last five minutes of “Mr. Fancypants, part 1” about seventeen times. It makes us laugh every time. We also recently learned how to do the handshake from the “Parent Trap,” and it’s a fun new thing we like to show off as roommates.
4. “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush
Now that my Spotify study playlists are public, my friends have been teasing me about the amount of Justin Bieber and Jesse McCartney that I listen to while I do homework. I haven’t been able to stop listening to “Wuthering Heights” recently, a song that was released before Jesse McCartney was even born. Wuthering Heights is my favorite book and I love how Kate Bush uses Kathy’s dialogue from the book for a portion of her lyrics. The ghostlike qualities of the song match the haunting tone of the book. Listening to Kate Bush also gets me excited for my visit home next weekend.
5. Maple View Farm
I went here this weekend with some friends of mine and couldn’t believe I’d never visited before. Maple View Farm has great ice cream and it was fun to sit out in the fields and talk with my friends. It also smells just like our family’s dairy farm in Appomattox, so I was transported back to being eight years old with my first inhale at Maple View.
6. Making new friends in my major
I love the curriculum in my major but don’t know many of the other students in my classes. I’ve worked on some group projects recently and met some girls in my major who have a lot in common with me. We’re going to some department events together and it is exciting to finally have friends in my major.
7. Spring and all the trees blooming on campus.
Pollen abounds here in Chapel Hill, which is unfortunate for many of my friends with allergies. I am lucky to be unaffected by pollen, and have enjoyed sitting in the sun while I study. I think our campus is the most beautiful place on earth in the spring and I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to study here!
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March 27, 1012
tree on college campus
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
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March 20, 2012
spring break fun!
I should have known that with the rest and relaxation of spring break, Chapel Hill would have a multitude of craziness in store for me when I returned. Classwork is hectic as we near the end of the semester, but I love what I’m learning. I’m excited to finally be studying development in my international relations class (an issue more near and dear to my heart than global economics or hegemony and political structures). This past weekend, we had 16 hours of EMT class. On Sunday, our instructors brought in volunteers and gave them realistic looking injuries using makeup, fake blood, and other tricks. They set up car crashes and other accidents, and then we were split into crews and had to run calls from dispatch to patient transport to the hospital. It was fun to put together everything we’ve been learning this semester. Some of the scenes were fairly routine, like a car vs bicycle accident. Others required us to think on our feet, like a shooting at a nightclub, during which gunshots were fired as we treated our patient. Tensions have been a little high on campus with multiple wrists injuries among our basketball players. Mostly, the student body is just extremely proud of our team, as well as thrilled about the Lehigh upset on Friday, even if it did ruin all of our brackets.
While finishing papers and studying for impending finals, I’m also looking forward to next semester. I committed this week to studying abroad in London next fall. I will be taking a few classes in London with British professors hired by UNC and will also be interning in the city. I won’t know all the details of my internship until later, but I’m getting excited (and a little nervous!) to live in London for an entire semester. I have some good friends who will be in the UK and other parts of Europe at the same time, so I can’t wait to plan visits and explore with them.
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March 18, 2012
Found this on our doorstep last night. How sweet is that? And they smell divine!
Thank you Suzanne and Lise!
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March 17, 2012
Green played green today for St. Patrick’s Day. Green won!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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March 12, 1012
Can you believe how long the quince blooms are lasting? This picture was taken a month and a half ago.
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March 9, 2012
It’s ridiculous how excited we are about this place opening next week. But, come on, they offer over forty flavors of milkshakes, including peach cobbler, mocha and caramel cheesecake.
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March 8, 2012
Bono sleeping late with his buddy on delayed start/standardized test day at the high school.
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