In the Black: Stats

hours spent with Jake: approx 35
pictures taken: 0
hours spent in lines: 0
food consumed: a lot
thankful for: laughter
reading: Ake: The Years of My Childhood by Wole Soyinka
brain power: 78%
NaNoWriMo: failed
learning: Psalm 19
looking forward to: listening to Christmas carols
not looking forward to: Jake leaving
highlight of the week: sharing highlights on Thanksgiving

Weekly Update:

Melissa and I usually have a tradition of Black Friday Shopping at Target (and truthfully, I do enjoy the whole "Black Friday experience") but we decided to skip it this year because neither of us had anything particularly pressing to purchase. 

Of course, I've been enjoying my time with Jake this week. Even when we've run out of things to "catch up" on, we still manage to find things to talk about. Most of our week has been spent talking, playing music, taking walks, and working on homework. It's not a bad life. I've been trying to relax, even though the homework due this weekend makes it hard. The time is passing me by too quickly. The end of the semester (and the three conference papers I have due then) will be here before I know it and I find more and more I am not ready for it. 

Tonight, I'm hanging out with the Inksanity crew for the final NaNoWriMo push before tomorrow night. I kind of failed at NaNoWriMo this year. I knew I wouldn't reach 50,000 words, but even the small goal I set for myself was too much. Oh well. Better luck next year. I've pretty much given up at this point (or to put it nicely, "realized my limitations") but tonight, I have a couple short stories to work on, so I can hang out with my friends.

Thanksgiving in Review

Some Thanksgivings, I can remember very vividly. For instance, there was the one year when the Coffins hosted and Lynsey fought Miss Jessica for the last piece of praline torte by licking the top of it. Or two years ago, when Jake was going through chemotherapy and he stole mashed potatoes off my plate; I didn't have the heart to protest because we were trying to fatten him up in preparation for chemo treatment. Or last year, when Jake regaled us with stories of "Humans vs. Zombies" on his college campus. All of my memories involve beautiful weather, playing football in the front yard, and of course, lots of food.

For some reason, this year was different. This year didn't feel like Thanksgiving, and I'm not sure why.

First thing in the morning, our family (minus Cam) walked a few laps around the park. It's one of our traditions to go for a walk before or after dinner on Thanksgiving. Pat was such a trooper! Dad even jogged with him a bit and he walked further than he has in a while!

Dad and Pat

This was by far the smoothest Thanksgiving we've had. Mom divvy-ed up the dishes so we only had to make a third of the meal and the rest was potluck style. Two turkeys, two sweet potato casseroles, one salad, and three stuffings later, we had a full-on feast on our hands!

After dinner, we took the whole crew back to the park for a little Thanksgiving football. I am proud to say I made the first touchdown! Our team won 21 to 7.

So thankful for my man!

I think it was the differences that made it not feel like Thanksgiving for me. We ate at 2pm, a few hours earlier than usual, played football at the park instead of the street, brined the turkey before roasting it. We totally forgot to go around the table saying what we were thankful for (though I'd been asking people all day)... Just little things like that. I guess at the end of the day, they added up. 

But after everyone left, Jake stayed and we were able to relax and detox a bit. Jake, Dad, and I sat on the back porch talking and playing guitar for a while. Or we were all sitting on the couch while Mom and Dad sifted through Black Friday ads. Jake and I went for a nice walk and talked about a whole bunch of different things. All things considered, it was a great day, just not exactly the feeling I expected.

Post-Thanksgiving sandwich

Jake's Musical: Act II

What is this you ask? These tiny squares lined up on a small table at Starbucks represent the entirety of Act II of Jake's musical. We sat down and planned it out together this week. Jake's been working on this project for a little over a year now. He finished Act II back in September and I helped him plot out the scenes for Act II. I think he had a good idea of what he wanted/needed to happen, but just not the details to get from point A to point B.

The musical is tentatively called, "Being Jack McGarvey" and it is about a boy who is simply misunderstood--a prodigy, an artist, a creative genius, but nobody gets him. Jack strives to make his dreams come true, in spite of oppression on every side. Conceptually, it is similar to Calvin and Hobbes, but with an angel instead.

I am so proud of all the work Jake's put into the project and very excited that I get to be part of the process of its creation. Through this little exercise, I learned that I gain a lot of energy from the brainstorming process. Something about coming up with ideas makes me feel energized and enthusiastic! Jake is hoping to finish the musical over Christmas break, after which, it will go under a workshop review at his college.

Autumn at a Glance

As autumn comes swiftly to a close, I decided to give you a pictorial representation of these last few months.

This Autumn's Highlights:

• Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks
• Taking the Freshman girls up to Mt. Lemmon
• Finding a gigantic watermelon at Sunflower
• Sewing Simba blocks for a massive quilt project
• Jake's surprise visit!
• The creation of Inksanity
• Voting for the first time

Transfer Trouble: Stats

days until Jake arrives: 4
brain capacity: 60%
tiredness level: high
mood: overwhelmingly discouraged
good news: Christmas is coming!
bad news: two of my 300/400 level credits transferred at the 200 level, messing up my degree template plans.
learning: to count my blessings
highlight: started my Christmas shopping!

Weekly Update:

It's been kind of a tough week. I found out this week that two 300/400 level classes from BYU transferred into to TESC at the 200 level, thus messing up my degree template (which requires 18 credits in my area of study at the 300/400 level). I had just enough credits before, but now I am short. In addition, two of the classes I'm taking right now are also through BYU and I am worried those won't transfer at the 300 level either. All this means that I could possibly need to take 1-3 additional classes next semester if I can't get it sorted out.

When I realized this, I wanted to cry.

I have been working so so hard on this degree, I am reaching the end of my strength. "I just want to be DONE! I'm tired!" My friends and family keep telling me, "You're almost there." but it's so difficult! I'm so close, and yet I'm still a little further away. Next week, I have an appointment with my advisor to find out what I can do. At this point, I think I can appeal the evaluation and try to prove the classes are worth being at the 300/400 level. Until I talk to my advisor though, I just have to keep plugging away as there's not much else I can do.

I guess on the bright side, one of the A-s I received transferred as an A, so I still have a shot at 4.0 gpa (but that also means continuing at the same pace and standard of excellence that I have all along--an exhausting endeavor). I just hate feeling so discouraged with the holidays around the corner.

Life After Art

I recently finished Matt Appling's Life After Art: What You Forgot about Faith after You Left the Art Room. It brought back so much nostalgia for me from my elementary school days! Ever since kindergarten, I loved art; it was always my favorite time of the week. Appling repaints these elementary school memories to illustrate his points about what we've forgotten about art and faith since leaving school.

Appling argues that all children are artists, we are all naturally born to create because we are made in God's image and God is a creator. The challenge however, is to remain an artist as you become an adult. He paints a picture of the epidemic of lost creativity that pervades society and a world without beauty. We live our lives with a "good enough" mentality, forsaking excellence and embracing low standards. We limit ourselves and fear failure. But when we overcome these things, we can "remember" the lessons we forgot after we left the art room and embrace our role as creators of beauty wherever we're at in our lives.

Final Thoughts: 

I really enjoyed the book, but I felt that it was not written for me; it was written for a very specific audience--adults who don't necessarily consider themselves "artistic" or "creative" and have experienced what it is like to be in an art room or art class. I think those who have never been in an art class/room (home-schoolers primarily) would have more trouble relating to the imagery Appling draws from to illustrate his points. The creative types (like myself) who pick up the book for its title may find that they already know and practice what Appling has to say about the significance of creativity in our lives and how it relates to our faith in God. 

Artists can definitely appreciate Appling's perspective on art, beauty, and faith in this world, but for us creatives, he's very much "preaching to the choir." But I'd recommend it to other Christians who want to gain a better understanding of the role of creativity in our lives.

Image Credit: Photo by LexnGer used under a Creative Commens attribution-noncommercial license.

Tell Me Your Story: Part 1

[T]here are surprisingly few occasions--or rituals--in which people are

expected or invited to tell the story of their lives from whatever they think the

beginning is: or to tell the even odder story that is their dream. (`The Telling of

Selves' Phillips On Flirtation 1994:75)

If there's one thing you should know about me, I love stories. So when I came across this quote in my African literature class, I was captivated. Ever since I read this, I have wanted to change it. Ever since I read this, I have been dying to ask someone, What is your story? What is it that made you the person you are today? Who are you and why are you here? What is your purpose? What do you wish you were doing? These questions roll and toss around inside my head, but I haven't given them voice, yet.

I want to be the kind of person that gives you space to tell your own story. I want to provide an exception to this quote. Part of this is my love for stories, the other part stems from my personality: I have a strong desire to overcome obstacles and constraints. Don't tell me something is impossible, because I will try to prove you wrong. There is something invigorating for me about struggling for something and achieving it, making the reward that much sweeter. This quote is just a constraint for me to break. There are few occasions for people to tell their stories? Then I will give them occasions. I will give them chances. I will give them spaces to be heard.

Last week, Jake and I talked about something similar to this. We were talking about life when he said, "I think the first episode of my life ended when I was diagnosed with cancer." Then he asked me how I would divide up the episodes of my life. The question caught me off guard, but I enjoyed answering it. I found that the first episode of my life ended when we moved away from Santa Rosa. I loved seeing how we split up lives differently. Though we've grown up together, we don't see ourselves the same way and I love that diversity!

I was telling him about how compelled I was by this question, "but I haven't asked anyone yet." I've been tempted; I've thought about it. But the words just haven't come out yet. So we turned it into a game: first person to ask someone else what their story is wins "a prize" (which will probably be merely mild gloating rights. It's not the prize that makes it fun; it's knowing that someone else is doing it too.). Jake was all, "I'm going to ask someone tomorrow... No, I'm going to ask someone right after I get off the phone!" "Whoa whoa, that's not fair!" I protested, "I'm going to sleep after this!" (Secretly, I also think it's not fair that he has such a large pool of people to pull from being at college, while I study locked up in my room all day!)

I get the feeling that this will become much more than just a game and it won't end with one story r two stories. (Hence the "Part 1" in the title of this post!) I see us collecting a multitude of stories like little puzzle pieces--fragments of a larger story that is begging to be told.