Serendipity?

I may or may not have took an hour and a half nap on the beach today. Okay, I totally did. And it was so amazing. Let me just tell you how much I love the beach: a lot. It was a bit chilly, but I loved being wrapped up in my towel. The ocean put me to sleep. AND, I got a little sun. Hallelujah!

The rest of my day was so good too! Disregard the fact that I had to miss church this morning because of work. Kind of upsetting, but after Memorial weekend, I am hoping to get my Sunday's off again once everyone is finally back in town. But, I did go to church tonight! And I even had dinner with Olivia and Chase at Dumser's. Yay for rootbeer floats! Oh, and even though I my game was totally off, volley ball was fun too. P.S. Sorry to my team for making us lose about 8 points, my bad.

I really needed a break, and some time with my church friends. So bad. After working a double, I was just so so so tired. I missed actually having a life. But I finally feel like I have my Christian support again. I haven't felt that since I left JMU.

Moo-La!

Oh muh gawrsh, I'm tired. Who knew that Cruiser Weekend would actually affect little old Warren's Station?! I don't think I have seen that many people come in before the week before cruiser weekend. Sheesh. Yeah, all of the cool vintage cars everywhere are kind of neat, but I could do without the sudden flow of people coming into the restaurant with only five waitresses on the floor. I was sweating my booty off. But hey, at least I actually made some money tonight! *Insert happy dance here!*

Now before people start saying anything, let me just say, I am not one for holding money as a high priority. But with an apartment to pay for and school to survive, making money feels so bueno! Not that 100 bucks is a lot, but it's enough!

The Life, the Work, and the Wardrobe.

The only two things I have worn this past week are: my work clothes (move your eyes upward please) and my bum pajamas. I think a wardrobe change is seriously needed here. Shall we add a bathing suit? Oh yeah, I can't. Because the weather is being lame times ten!

But seriously, in addition to a wardrobe change, I need to seriously re-evaluate my life home this summer. I need a small life change. This past week has been, well to say the least, not at all what I expected. When I was at school, what I missed most about home was being with my friends, making money, the beach days, and my family. Well. I've seen all the friends I really want to see. I am making money (if any at all, because people don't know how to tip at least 15%, ergh). There have been no good beach days. And I love my family and all, but SHEESH, waking me up in the morning to clean the house? Couldn't that have waited until like, uhm, noon instead of nine in the morning?! (P.S. I am by no means a morning person, so I was not to thrilled about doing that.)

So let's re-evaluate here:

I felt a bajillion times closer to God when I was at school. I need to find that again. Personal devotions and Bible studies need to be at full speed. Along with hanging with my gang at youth group. And prayer. Lots and lots of prayer.

I feel like a lazy bum. I have worked out twice since I've been home. No, wait. Three times? Ergh, I don't know. Either way: It's not enough. So I joined a gym. Now I just need to get my key card so I can go after work. Woo hoo!

I spend way to much time watching movies. So I got a good book, a.k.a. Captivating. But I still need to find more ways to spend my time away from a screen. Get out the gee-tar again? I think so.

And sleep?! Oh muh gawrsh. If I sleep past noon one more time, I may have to punish myself. Someone please help me make sure I wake up?! Cause I stink at it, regardless of the number of alarms I set. I think my record is seven alarms, but don't quote me on that.

Two Thumbs Up.

Because I am such a dork sometimes, I spent a few hours today watching this documentary. It's called Waste Land. And it was. So. Good. Now, it may just be my appreciation for art or  my weakness for the humble-hearted, but this movie was so beautiful.

The artist, Vik Muniz, make art out of the trash found in the world's largest landfill in Brazil. There are people there who make a living picking through the trash to find recyclable materials. They are called "pickers." Muniz took portraits of a few of the pickers he had met, and with their help, and turned them into huge portraits in a studio using only materials found from the dump. They were amazing! The best part is, all proceeds made from the portraits were given directly back to these people to help them get out of the dump and help them better their lives.

A movie like this does two things. One, makes your realize how awesome we have it here in the states. The homes these people live in look like gross shacks to us, but to them, it is a home. And two, makes me want to do missions ten times more. People assume that the pickers are all drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics, because that is what the internet tells them. But talking to the people showed that that they are just trying to survive, are kind hearted, are proud to be pickers, and most of all, need help.

Like seriously, look at these portraits. ALL. MADE. OUT. OF. TRASH. OHHH MUHH GAWRSH!

She is a professionally trained cook, but found herself in the dump. She cooks food, right there within the trash, for all of the pickers, using the neglected food and meat from the markets that come in on the dump trucks.

He is the president of the association that represents the pickers. You'd be amazed at how smart he is. He reads all of the books he finds in the dump, that people have thrown away. 

This girl is 18 years old with three kids, and has to spend weeks away from them at a time at the dump to support them.

My favorite one.

Women.

I finished reading Crazy Love (So good by the way!). And I just started reading "Captivating" by Stasi Eldridge. Mind you, I am only a dozen or so pages into the book, but it is SO good thus far. There is so much truth in it about the women's heart and what it means to be a woman in the image of God.

Here are some really cool passages and quotes and such from the book so far:

"Think about it: God created you as a woman. Whatever it means to bear God's image, you do so as a woman. Female. That's how and where you bear his image. Your feminine heart has been created with the greatest of all possible dignities: as a reflection of God's own heart. You are a woman to your soul, to the very core of your being. And so the journey to discover what God meant when he created woman in his image, when he created you as his woman. That journey begins with desire."

"We're all living in the shadow of that infamous icon, "The Proverbs 31 Woman," whose life is so busy I wonder when does she have time for friendships, for taking walks, or reading good books? Her light never goes out at night? When does she have sex? Somehow she has sanctified the shame most women live under, biblical proof that yet again we don't measure up? Is that supposed to be Godly? That sense that you are a failure as a woman?" (You have to read the entire passage to understand the context, but nonetheless interesting.)

"There is something fierce in the heart of a women.... A woman is a warrior too. But she is meant to be a warrior in a uniquely feminine way. Sometime before the sorrows of life did their best to kill it in us, most young women wanted to be a part of something grand, something important.... And what about women like Ester and Mary and Ruth? They were biblical characters who had irreplaceable roles in a Great Story. Not "safe" and "nice" women, not merely "sweet," but passionate and powerful women who were beautiful as warriors."

"She was no longer eighty; She was ageless. God has set eternity in our hearts. The longing to be beautiful is set there as well."

The King is enthralled by your beauty. (Psalms 45:11)

I MUST!

I've been home for a little over a week now. And let me tell you, I have done nothing but eat, sleep and work. Not exactly the fabulous summer I imagined, but again, it's only been a week. And the weather here has been, well to say the least, pathetic. COLD AND CLOUDY AND RAINY?! Really. Ugh. I need a beach day. Now.

I have been having the worst trouble lately with falling asleep. Exam week always messes with my sleep schedule's head. Bleh. I think the earliest I have fallen asleep in the last few days, regardless of how early I actually laid down in my bed, is about two a.m. But even worse, I have even more trouble waking up in the morning. I have resorted to setting five, I repeat FIVE, alarms. Yet, I still manage to sleep through them? Go figure.

But for real this time, I plan to start my summer work out slash diet this week (a.k.a tomorrow). I gave my self a nice week of rest and relaxation, but now it's time to get back in business. Tomorrow I shall wake up, get my pass to Sea Colony, work out, get my brother pins all set up, drop the pins off, maybe even squeeze sending my books back to Chegg.com in there, and then head to work (again).

I must start being productive! I must. I must. I must.

Yup.

It took me FOREVER to unpack. I lost my room in all the madness. But no worries, I found it again. 

On a side note, I think my dog missed me. He won't leave me alone.