warning: 3 am ramblings of a senioritis plagued adolescent ahead

I can't wait to be finished with school. I am so ready to move beyond memorizing equations and Spanish verb conjugations. 

When I look at things happening around the world {see labor camps in North Korea, the conflict minerals crisis in the Congo, etc.} my heart literally aches. I want it all to change. 

The tragedies that these people are facing all over the world -- on a daily basis no less -- are heartbreaking and sobering. All of that makes high school seem very superficial and insignificant, you know? 

But honestly, I'm not even 100% sure what I want to do yet, post graduation. {Though I do know that it includes many years of further education.} I have yet to encounter a degree that adequately prepares you for a future career in politics, disease eradicating, and warlord destroying. At least not one that can be neatly packaged in a four to eight year career plan. 

Prayers for my future advisers would be appreciated. Because the closer and closer I get to actually beginning college, the more and more it looks like I actually want to be Ironman. 

Sounds about right. But don't forget the part about warlord destroying, Tony. 

~ Abby

p.s. I mostly wrote this post because I made my housing deposit today, and requested my roommate for the 2014-2015 school year. So I am more than a bit excited. Just in case you were wondering. 

p.p.s. You also might want to pray for said future roommate. I have a feeling that negotiating closet space rights with her might become somewhat of an issue, what with all of my fancy mechanical suits and whatnot. 

monday odium: the last form of acceptable discrimination

via. 

"Ugh. Tomorrow is Monday." 

"Weekends should be three days long. Going straight from Sunday right into Monday is just ungodly." 

"If Lady Gaga and Ronald McDonald had a love child, I'm pretty sure that it's name would be Monday." 

These may or may not all be things that have come out of my mouth at some point. I used to hate Mondays. They were the Green Goblin to my Spiderman. The Mr. Wickham to my Lizzie Bennet. The toothpaste to my orange juice. In a nutshell, I hated them in all of their early morning and school work-bringing glory. 

But my opinions have somewhat shifted recently. 

My ill feelings toward the beginning of the work week began to change when I stumbled upon this gem: 

                                                                                      

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. "

                                                                                  -- Psalm 118:24 

And I just so happened to read it on a particularly bad Monday morning, when I was in a particularly bad mood. Ouch. That's pretty convicting. 

But really now, let's think about this; today is a day that the LORD has made. Like, he made it. Which in it of itself is pretty darn impressive. I can't make a perfectly round circle, let alone an entire day. So it's really quite selfish and ungrateful of me to not rejoice and be glad in it, simply because I don't feel like "getting back into the swing of things". What really needs to change is my attitude. 

So with that perspective in mind, I'm starting down the long hard road of no-more-Monday-bashing. And so far, it's going pretty well. I'm settled in with some coffee, the Train station on iHeartRadio, and my Spanish homework. Plus, I've only checked Tumblr ONCE so far today. {Now if that isn't productivity, I don't what is.} 

My name is Abby, and I've been Monday Hatred free for two weeks. 

And on a side note, I should totally start a support group for this. I could call it "The Monday Lovers" -- TML for short. Yes? No? Maybe? 

Okay, perhaps not.

~ Abby 

come inside for a little homemade tea // confessions

via my flickr stream 

Ed Sheeran is my favorite. And I think he should be everyone's favorite. For real. I mean, not only is he an amazing musician, he wears sweatshirts daily. And he's funny. And he's ginger. What's not to like? 

Speaking of music, I have the most bipolar taste in it ever. Some of my very favorite artists include Ingrid Michaelson, Imagine Dragons, fun., and stuff from the 40's and 60's. But I also have a soft spot for One Direction. I know. One Direction. *covers face in shame*

I use winky faces too often. ;)

I have a weird sense of style. There's one side of me that really likes jeans and sweaters, and another {possibly bigger} side of me that has a great fondness for sweats and hoodies. That being said, I also really like dresses, heels, and red lips. {And someday, when I'm living in N.Y.C. and working as a big time artistic director, I will wear such things.}

#ilikeusinghashtags #evenwhenimnotontwitter #sorrynotsorry

My favorite color is scarlet. It used to be blue, but then I saw the light. It is such a bold, vibrant, fearless color. I like it lots. 

I check out too many books. Right now I have Ender's Game, Les Mis, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby, The Kill Order, Insurgent, and Paper Towns. And did I mention that Les Mis alone is over 1,500 pages? I know, it's bad. 

I have conversations like this a lot more than I'd like to admit. 

I struggle with not feeling 'good enough'. I think it's partly because I'm an oldest child, and I feel a lot of pressure to be perfect. But I'm beginning to realize that you can't be amazing at everything or liked by everyone, and that's okay. Perfection is impossible, and it's unhealthy to expect that from yourself. 

Because the above has finally dawned on me, I enjoy doing things a lot more. Like painting, photography, scrapbooking, and soccer. I'm not really talented at any of those things, but I do them any way because I like to. Even if I look like a fool at times.  

Also, I eat chocolate too much. Just throwing that out there. :)

Good night and joy be with you all, 

~ Abby

p.s. if you caught both references to ed sheeran in this post, then you my friend, are an awesome person. also, someone should give you a cookie. ;)

of Christmas break

So over the past two weeks I have written a total of four half completed blog posts. They were about Christmas, the New Year, and such -- all oozing various amounts of cheesiness. But, I didn't really feel like writing, so I never finished one. But here's the highlights of my Christmas break:

1) I was in a car wreck, and survived. {Obviously.}

2) I ate chocolate with watched tv with pulled pranks with spent quality time with my awesome cousins. This included large amounts of Apples to Apples, a Christmas Story, and silly string. I'm really okay with that. 

3) I hung out with the rest of my fam, and my awesome friends. 

4) I discovered The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. If you like Jane Austen, or you're just a nerd in general, you should go watch these. You will love them. 

In other {non}news, I am sore and walking like a grandma due to this: 

This is my local studio. It's also pretty much my second home, and my happy place. I pretty much live there, especially during the summer... But I really don't mind.

This is the beginning of one of the routines that my friend Erica {neon shirt} and I are currently working on. It's really simple, slow, and easy, but it'll allow for a lot of facial expression and acting, and I'm super excited about that. {And on a side note, she isn't doing it full out, she's mostly just marking... We literally learned it five minutes before I took this video.}

We're also doing a pretty snazzy jazz number to a remix of "Lights". It's really fast and technical, and I'm really enjoying it. Plus, the three most advanced tappers and I are going to do a dance together. Tap is our studio's strong point, and I've performed a lot with the three of them in the past. It should be pretty epic, if I do say so myself. 

And guess what else?! There's an Orange Leaf literally two minutes away from the studio. Can you say frozen yogurt for dinner? I can. 

Working for three hours on pointe justifies the calories... Right?

How was your Christmas break?

~ Abby

ramble: why i love 4 am and post it notes

At approximately four a.m. last Wednesday morning, I wrote this sticky note: 

As you can probably see, it's a list of school - related things that I wanted to accomplish before the weekend. After completing this little memo, I promptly stuck it on my wall, and forgot about it. Until yesterday afternoon, that is. 

I think the most interesting thing about this little note is that last line. It says "Read HP and do epic things." 

Now the whole "read HP" thing is coming along quite nicely. I'm knee deep in The Deathly Hallows, and am currently camped out with Harry and Hermione in a scary forest, accompanied by a rather corrupted piece of neckwear. But activities of the epic variety seem to have been a bit lacking. 

However, I have made homemade pop tarts, listened to an unhealthy amount of Ed Sheeran, and turned cartwheels with a friend. All of those things are epic; just not a honey badger and Chuck Norris are having a wrestling match type epic. 

BUT yesterday I had a pretty epically hilarious conversation with a friend of mine about how people google funny/weird/random things. And our discussion intrigued me so much that I decided to make a list of the last five things that have been googled on my laptop, and to then attempt to write about the experience. 

So without further ado, here are the last 5 entries in my google search history. (And no, they are not all from the same day... I do not actually google much, apparently.) 

Since I am obviously so technologically savvy, I can only conclude that I googled this just to test Google's knowledge. Never fear, Google knows what it's talking about. 

Now this one is a bit more interesting. And I still am unaware of wear I can actually purchase one of these gems. Google how you disappoint me. 

I feel like this one needs some explaining; you see, I started wondering how much energy it takes for a human just to exist. My mom, being the ex nurse that she is, told me that you can calculate that by figuring up a person's basal metabolic weight. {Which, by the way, varies depending on height/weight/gender.} I found out that my body would use up about 1,400 calories even if I just sat around all day! I suddenly don't feel so guilty about those pizza rolls...

I'm finding it rather ironic that I googled this twenty minutes before I googled the basal weight thing. 

I have no memory of searching this -- in fact, I have no idea of who he is. So I guess someone in my family looked him up, which I'm kind of finding slightly creepy. I'll just say that the family ghost did it. 

In addition to these life changing things, I also learned some other interesting tidbits as I gallivanted around the Google. Like, did you know that Google is a Taylor Swift fan? 

Speak Now? Get it? I'll be quiet now. 

Also, Google did not understand the clicking of my camera's lense. Pity. 

What's the weirdest thing you've googled? 

~ Abby 

EDIT: I found out who Chris Pine is. He apparently played that one guy in The Princess Diaries 2. Here's a picture of his face:

Yeah, I'll just go with the whole family ghost thing. 

where did summer go?

Warning: This post contains grainy pictures, and incomplete thoughts. Reader discretion is advised.

:hanging out with dear, dear friends::state fair and all of it's craziness (second in the state baby!)::frappe break during photography judging with some amazing girls::Kevin the Lemon, the employee of the month at the junior leader's stand, and consequently, the real star of the 4-H fair::sno cone runs with friends::new hair, because sometimes you just need a change::shopping with little sisters::new soccer cleats::

Where has this summer gone? Seriously. I start school in nine days, and it's almost surreal. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to the new school year, but I'm not quite ready to let go of this summer.

But on the other hand, I am SO excited for fall. For one thing, dance starts back up again. Oh my goodness, I have missed it so incredibly much. In fact, I'm so excited that I may spontaneously combust the moment I walk through the studio doors. But I digress.

And I guess summer isn't completely over yet; there are still sleepovers to be had, and King's Island passes to be used. Still, August is passing quickly, and it's taking the last few freedom - filled days with it.

How's your summer been?

~ Abby



the epic tale of the three peacocks

It all started innocently, with one small purchase on a Saturday night. I bought a pair of peacock earrings, thinking that they were cute and unique. {Note to future husband: I really like avian themed jewelry, apparently.} The more I looked at them, the more I liked them. So of course, I did what any girl would (probably) do: I wore them the next day.

{Note to self: backless, dangly earrings do not hold up well when worn through countless v-ball games and water fights at open houses.}

Yep, I lost one.

I paid *insert large amount for a poor teenager here* dollars on them, and they didn't even last 24 hours.

I was disappointed, to say the least.

But then the sun shone, and my lovely mom and sister surprised me with another pair today. I was very shocked, especially considering how far out they had to drive to pick them up. Just the fact that they thought of me meant way more than the actual earrings.

As I began to write this, I had a very clever, thought provoking way to wrap this post up. But it has left me, unfortunately. So I guess while this {somewhat pointless} little story may not be epic, it does explain why I have three peacocks.

Do you enjoy poultry themed adornments?

~ Abby



of writing and obnoxiously colored pants {aka my summer so far}

This summer has been great this far. Earlier this week I went on a small shopping trip, and actually bought a bright red pair of pants. And a pair of cobalt blue ones. Yes, I have worn them out in public, but only to Walmart so far. {And let's face it, the people at Walmart aren't particularly known for their amazing fashion choices either, so I suppose I blended in.}But rest assured, the pants shall be worn proudly throughout this summer -- any weird looks I get will simply be a bonus. :P





One of my best friends got her license recently. So naturally I wrote her a cheesy congratulations-you-got-your-license-celebratory-poem, because that's what best friends do, right? Of course it is. The poem was about roses, ghosts, bacon, and a lot of other poetic stuff. It was a work of literary genius, if I do say so myself.

And speaking of writing, I actually finished my first short story this week. This past school year gave me a lot of opportunities to develop my writing style, and I've decided to continue writing creatively throughout this summer. I also have an ideas for a few other stories, one of which I may or may not attempt to turn into a novel. I suppose that remains to be seen.

I'm really enjoying this "beginning" of the summer. Being able to stay up until three or four in the morning,  {without having to worry about school the next day,} has been amazing. Spontaneous plans with friends are suddenly possible, instead of everyone having to pass because of homework. It's been quite lovely.

How's your beginning of summer going so far?

~ Abby



shades of gray

image courtesy of weheartit

I really, really love the color gray. It's such a comforting, natural hue. Nothing about it particularly stands out, but it looks so pretty.

 When I see gray, I think of old black and white photos, fuzzy new kittens,and comfy old sweaters. I think of the sky's color that moment when it's not quite morning, yet not quite night. I remember singing in the rain with friends, and goofily waving at passing cars. I think about driving for the first time, and the feel of the vehicle's gray leather seats. I think of pencil sketches, melting snow, and new CDs. I think of gray.

Do you like this wonderful shade?

~ Abby

p.s. For some reason blogger published this last Thursday when it was still a draft. Awkward. ;)

just some awkward rambliness

image courtesy of weheart it

I had an amazing, amazing Easter. It began with a great church service, continued with some quality food and fellowship time with some friends at Wendy's, and then concluded with some rather unexpected family time at the end of the day. It was good.

I broke my toe on Saturday night. Which consequently, is why I wore black oxford knockoffs with my white sundress to church on Easter. When I came out of my room, my mother may or may not have given me the "I can't believe your teenagery self" look, and she may or may not have told me that I looked like I belonged on the "special bus." I love my mom, she never tries to sugarcoat it. :)

I am currently obsessed with the above photo.

I am also currently obsessed with tumblr.

That may or may not be a good thing.

I ordered a pair of yellow shoes last Thursday. {They were $6.50!!} This has sparked a love for the color yellow, and now I am contemplating painting my room yellow this summer.

This girl is without her iPod right now, and is going through a music/texting withdrawal. This girl also likes talking in the 3rd person.

My dear, sweet, awesome brother knew I was having a rough day today, and bought me a Hunger Games movie poster, and a chocolate bunny. The poster has been hung, and the chocolate bunny eaten. The world has been put to right.

I found out today that I don't have to take a chemistry test tomorrow. I almost died of joy when I found out.

My fingernails are blue, and that makes me happy.

I believe I have rambled enough. Besides, I really want to go finish reading Black by Ted Dekker. Because it is awesome.

~ Abby



those lazy sunday afternoons {a short ramble}

There is just something about Sundays. Maybe it's the getting dressed up and heading to church, or spending the afternoon reading and hanging out with the family. Either way, spending my entire day relaxing and in worship is quite refreshing. It clears my mind from the hectic week, and focuses my heart on what is really important.

I shall now leave my lovely readers with a picture of boots. A little girl at church today was wearing these, and quite frankly, I'm jealous. {Besides, who doesn't love boots?}

Now if you'll excuse me, I have tea to make, and a book that is calling my name.

~ Abby

P.S. I guest posted on Fernweh today. You can check it out here. :)

ho hum

{image courtesey of weheartit}

I spent the last 48 hours without the internet. Yes, I am alive, but I may or may not be suffering from a severe case of PIDT. (Post internet deprivation trauma.)

I never quite realized just how much I use the internet. In fact, I sort of took it for granted. But going two full days with no texting, flickring, tweeting, IMing, instagraming, blogging, or video calling has completely cured me of my ungrateful spirit. However, spending two days without such a huge amount of distractions also gave me a sort of break. I'm honestly feeling quite refreshed and inspired.

In fact, the quiet gave me a chance to do things that I don't often have time to do. I had more time to spend reading my Bible and praying, baking, and reading. I even found time to make my new banner! (I feel so proud and productive. :P) Perhaps some quiet time is good for a person.

That being said, I didn't seem to find enough time to clean my room. Hmmm...

~ Abby



The new year, nutcrackers, and skinny jeans

2012 is off to a good start. :)

On January 1st, I went out with some friends. We ate at Olive Garden, went shopping, played games, and giggled uncontrollably. (And perhaps a bit too loudly at times.)

Oh yeah, and we also creeped on some nutcrackers.

This is Roger. Roger Duncan.

Isn't he handsome? :P

And guess what we saw while walking around the mall?!

Leah and I pointing to our Hunger Games shirts. Her shirt says "You love me. Real or not real?" And mine says "I <3 Peeta Mellark". Yes, we are nerds.

Seriously, I can not wait for this movie to come out! Hurry up please, dear March 23rd.

Then yesterday I bought my first pair of skinny jeans. After two years of saying how much I despise them, I gave in. We're only 3 days into the new year, and I've already had to eat my own words. Shameful.

Now, I'm going to go for a run. I haven't ran in several weeks, and it will be interesting to see if I survive the experience.

~ Abby

Happiness

Drinking tea in pretty cups: this makes me happy. This kind was called "Nutcracker Sweet", and I'm pretty sure I can feel sugar plum fairies and other such magical creatures dancing on my tongue when I drink it.

Words: these make me happy. Especially when they're spilling out of my awesome peacock pen.

Carrie, if you're reading this, know that this is for you. :)

Red nails: they make me feel sophisticated.

My iPod: which I believe has greatly helped me to preserve my sanity.

Currently listening to "Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City.

Photography: this makes me very, very happy.

Jana, that one is for you. :)

Happy Tuesday!

~ Abby

P.S. IT IS SNOWING OUTSIDE!!! :D

The wonders of sunday afternoons

Sunday afternoons, in my opinion, are one of the best times of the week. After church, my family and I normally swing by the local taco bell, before heading home and enjoying a relaxing afternoon of nap taking and book reading. Today however, deviated from my regular Sunday program.

You see, I have this awesome friend named Leah. And she has an awesome personality, and an awesome sense of fun. So you see, she's pretty much an awesome person.

And this Sunday we decided to go on a little adventure.

 Our journey first began on a mile long walk to the nearest mcdonalds. When we arrived, we proceeded to eat delicious ice cream and take pictures of ourselves seductively eating the treats. The foremost was exceedingly easy, but we pretty much failed at the second. Then, seeing a store right across from Mickey D's, we decided to do a little shopping.

We encountered many colorful characters on this escapade.

Elmo, my childhood hero.

Seriously, these were disturbing. What kind of person would want to stick their child's foot into Spongebob's mouth? *shudders*

We even met a celebrity... The pig from Angry Birds himself! 

And we ended our shopping experience with a photoshoot in the toilet paper aisle, 'cause we're awesome like that.

We completed the day with pizza, a round of sardines with some friends, and one epic ping pong tournament. Yes I know, we're such party freaks.

 Life is good. :)

 ~ Abby

Today i am...

Drinking peppermint tea

Hoping it will snow soon

Listening to Christmas songs

Eating breakfast for lunch

Wishing I could do this:

Wearing purple tights

Loving this:

Yup, pretty much my first ballet class as a 5 year old. :)

Wishing I was at Hogwarts. Or Middle Earth. Or Narnia.

I’m not really picky.

Happy Monday :)

~ Abby

 

Seeing red

I do believe I’ve fallen in love…

With the color red. :)

It all started when I purchased a dress for an upcoming winter formal I’m attending. The dress I chose is black and sparkly, so I’d thought I’d purchase a pair of red heels to add a pop of color.

These are pretty similar to the pair I bought. No, I do not find them difficult to walk in, but that may or may not be because I’m a beast. :P

After buying those shoes, I suddenly began to realize what a gorgeous color red really is. (I’ve always been a blue kinda gal for the most part). But really, red is such a confident, bold, fearless color. Plus, there are so many fun ways to say it; scarlet, ruby, rose, crimson, etc.

Now I’m beginning to see red everywhere, including when I’m at the store trying on crazy hats.

It’s even on the Macy’s logo, which happens to be where I bought the dress that started my crimson craze.

Nope sorry, not going to show the actual dress… At least for now. :) It is under wraps… Literally! :P

Now due to my scarlet obsession, I’m in love with the classic red nail. It makes me think of old fashioned movie stars, and the 40’s.

I’ve even gone as far to purchase a red sweater-thingie. Oh well, I’ll blame my splurge on my very serious ruby disorder. :)

So what colors do you love? Am I the only one with scarlet fever?

~ Abby