I had a thought

Mom's post made me think about something my Old Testament professor said one day in class, when we were talking about Adam and Eve's sin in the garden. He said that all sin results from the thought that God is withholding something from us, that this is something we want because either God is not sufficient to satisfy our hearts at the moment or it's something He is not giving us.
Something that led to was very good meditation on the fact that God never withholds any good thing from us. He gives to us exactly what we need, and even things we don't need. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

It's almost that time

It's almost time for Thanksgiving cooking, tree decorating, Christmas shopping, cookie baking... mmm, how delightful!
I am so happy to be going home for Thanksgiving break; I even get to leave on Saturday instead of Tuesday (which is when break officially starts.) Probably a very good thing, despite the fact that I have all my papers to finish writing before I leave. And program notes for the next orchestra concert. But all my papers are so fun... I get to write about Edgar Allen Poe, Lully and Louis XIV in French Baroque music, Henry Fielding's satiric mock-heroic novel Jonathan Wild, and then write notes for concert-goers on Tchaikovsky and J.S. Bach. Yay.
It has actually been a blessing in disguise that I've gotten sick. Because apparently I have pneumonia, but caught it very early on and got drugs. :-) So I feel fine, but am allowed to stay home and rest, giving me time to write. Thank you, Jesus!
And I'm listening to Ella while I do it. :-)

My living room on a Sunday

Finally, our photographer, Amy, came over! I don't think I've put up any pictures of our living room, so here they are. This is what we do on Sunday afternoons after brunch and before the homework crunch :-) See the white couch cover Natalie brought? And the wonderful red pillows? And the vintage-y old movie posters? I love living here.

Oh yes... this was before Sunday cleaning...

A Day In The City

Guess where I went today?! (photo courtesy of my PhotoBooth :))
We had a music history research trip to the UM music library in Ann Arbor, and after a day of research, we went into the city for two hours. What fun! You should have seen us! In Jerusalem Garden eating falafel... in the two-storyStarbucks drinking mochas on a leather couch and unwinding to Nora Jones... in the used bookstore, where I found What Katy Did Next for $2.50, in a row of delicious books I've loved since I was old enough to read what Dad was reading... in Borders reading the new Vogue!! Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera, so we have no pictures of our adventures in the big city. But let me tell you, civilization is exciting. :-)

In You

In You, by Shane & Shane

I sing for joy
In my remorse
A well within prosperity’s curse
That drowns the mighty oak of pride
But feeds the root of God inside.

In You
I find my rest
In You
I find my death
In You
I find my all and my emptiness
Somehow it all makes sense

In You I’m rich
When I’ve been made poor
Comfort found when I mourn
The prideful one You see from afar
Drawing near to low, broken hearts.

In You
I find my rest
In You
I find my death
In You
I find my all and my emptiness
But it all makes sense

*If you click on this link, you can use the player on the page to hear the song...*

In You Lyrics

It is that time...

And despite the apparent torture, I think I love it. I can't know right now because it hurts too much... oh, the sense of impending failure...
It's midterm time again, and though I've finished all but one for now, this one will be the hardest.
I've *heard* third-hand that Dr. Juroe, professor of my Restoration British Lit. class, is actually not a hard professor as far as tests and papers go; he just assigns a lot of reading. I only know about the reading part right now. Every week (it's a Monday evening class) he gives us hundreds of pages of dense Restoration-period philosophy, satire, political commentary, and literary criticism disguised as innocent English reading. We've read two plays and maybe 20 poems; beyond that, everything else is serious stuff.
The trick will be how to absorb, between now and Monday night, the ideas and key elements of each writer's different works and how they interact with each other and the period as whole.
I'm going to get back to that- with a short break to make a phone interview for a Collegian article- until the orchestra concert, but I just wanted to show you the snapshot of my Saturday =)
My class notes, textbook with margin writing, a brownie that Kiernan brought to our study session, and tea from home. And the sunny view of the gorgeous October day outside the classroom window. Mmm...



p.s. Kiernan made a study guide of her notes from class and her own reading. I love her.

Here Comes The Bride

How many weddings can one girl be in? Well, besides Jane Nichols from 27 Dresses... I don't think I'll be in 27 weddings in the next few years. But that's only because I don't have 27 close friends. ;)
Clara, of course, got engaged in June. We were expecting that one... actually, I used to write on both their Facebook walls and ask if they were engaged yet. It was very exciting when Jason proposed, because it had finally happened. She asked me a few weeks ago to be a bridesmaid, and of course I said yes, because we daydreamed together about her wedding the whole time we were roommates. :)
Then there was Leah, who is a very sweet friend who's dating Natalie's boyfriend's best friend. That wasn't too much of a surprise, because she and Andy are both seniors this year and have been dating since I've known them.
And then came Saturday. Natalie's boyfriend Dane and Mary Beth's boyfriend Jim came to visit; we hung out, played Settlers of Catan, and then they had some couple time... but then they left, promising to return soon, and we sat down to do homework.
So when Mary Beth dragged Natalie and I into my room and shut the door, we wondered if she could possibly be telling us what we thought. And we were right! Mary Beth is engaged!! To make things even more romantic than they already are around here, Jim proposed months earlier than he had planned to- as in, seven months earlier- and said he just loved her so much that he couldn't help asking her then and there. Don't you love it!?
Sunday afternoon Mary Beth told us that she had gone to meet our friend Catherine for church and she had come out of her room with a ring on! She and Tim are very cute together, and even Dr. Clark got sentimental about them in Music History.
Time to start planning weddings... :)