The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

I came across this quote from Donald Miller this weekend: “I do not believe a person can take two issues from Scripture, those being abortion and gay marriage, and adhere to them as sins, then neglect much of the rest and call himself a fundamentalist or even a conservative. The person who believes the sum of his morality involves gay marriage and abortion alone, and neglects health care and world trade and the environment and loving his neighbor and feeding the poor is, by definition, a theological liberal, because he takes what he wants from Scripture and ignores the rest.” ― Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

This was pretty much the perfect holiday week. Nancy and I went to see Breaking Dawn on Tuesday night at the iPic theaters. I love going to those theaters for special occasion movies! You sit in Lazy Boy chairs and you get a blanket and pillow and they wait on you during the movie. And we loved the movie! This is the best one yet! I wish they would go back and remake the other ones, especially the first one, now that they've figured out how to do it. There were only 3 criticisms I have: 1. The whole conversation the wolves had in their heads was just ridiculous. I almost laughed out loud and chose that scene for a bathroom break. 2. I had to close my eyes during the birth scene. Too gory for me. But that's how I felt about the book, too. 3. I wish they'd had more of the Jacob/Rosalee banter that they had in the book. Other than that, I thought it was well done and don't know how I'm going to wait for the next one! I definitely want to reread the book now, but it'

1. Canyoneering in Vegas for my 30th. 2. Going to the Shake Your Asana hot yoga class with my cousin Katie. 3. Spending all day Wednesday crafting for Christmas. 4. My mom's mac and cheese and fruit salad and French Silk Pie. (My Thanksgiving dinners are a bit non-traditional. 5. The Muppet movie 6. Possibly subletting an apartment from Nina's brother that has washer and dryer IN-UNIT! 7. Going to see Breaking Dawn with Nancy tomorrow night 8. Winning in both my fantasy leagues 9. Black Friday sales ($3 waffle iron! $10 blender!) 10. Practicing for the Do-It-Youself Messiah

When I left Chicago, I was convinced I’d never find a small group as special and amazing as the one I had here. I loved being a part of this group of girls who were all close to my age and at the same place in life. I loved being an Incubator. But when I was finished incubating, I ended up in Phoenix and found myself attending a Mennonite church. Who would’ve thought? I was eager to join a small group, hoping that would help me get to know some people in the congregation. I had no idea how these women would change my life. Amanda and I instantly connected because she’s close to my age. We went out one Friday night to Pita Jungle and then made mosaics at a craft place, and I totally fell in love with her. We just had so much in common! To be honest, when I met the other ladies, I wondered what I’d have in common with them. Denise and Ellen are close to my mom’s age, and Jodi and Sheri have kids in high school. I was afraid I’d feel all awkward and we’d have nothing to talk about. I was

This weekend we celebrated Whitney's 30th birthday! Her boyfriend is visiting from India, so we spent all day at the Shedd Aquarium, which is just such a cool place. We were especially fascinated by the Jellies exhibit. Jellyfish are so crazy; Whitney and I just don't understand how they are even alive without a brain, blood, etc. The exhibit piqued our interest, and we continued to read about jellyfish after going back to her apartment. There is this one kind of jellyfish that has tentacles that are 120 feet long! How ridiculous is that? Anyway, that night we went out to Whitney's favorite bar in Andersonville, In Fine Spirits. Their menu is a lot like The Violet Hour; I don't understand half of the ingredients on the drink menu, and just one drink is guaranteed to knock you on your ass. I was super excited to see Buffalo Trace bourbon on the menu (I picked up a bottle of that down in Kentucky a few weeks ago), so I ordered a Manhattan. Bad idea. My cheeks were flushed

Well, my list of things to do this summer was a total failure this year. Although, to be fair, I moved across the country and went on an epic road trip (that I'm still trying to organize into blog posts) and did some pretty awesome things. But still- time to get back to making a list to ensure I'm never bored and not wasting a single day of my life. That's really important to me, as I'm sure everyone can tell. Anyway, Nancy made a really great winter list, and she inspired me to make one, too. So, this winter, I want to: Drink peppermint hot chocolate Go to hot yoga at least once a week Go ice skating in Millennium Park Watch the entire 1985 season of Bears games with my dad (When I suggested this to him, I was like, "Let's not look at the box so we won't know who won and it will be even more exciting!" And he was like, "Well, sure... but you know they were 15-1 that year..." That's okay. That one game they lose will be a surprise.) Go sn

So I won't tell my coworkers to suck it. But I really really wish I could. I'll just have to hope that they have strong enough inferential thinking skills to understand that when I say, "As you can see, the data supports what I was saying about..." they know that what I'm actually saying is, "Suck it, motherf-ers."

During my first year teaching in Calumet City, I was part of a disturbing conversation at lunchtime. My coworkers were all sharing stories of former students who had died or gone to prison. I realized it was inevitible that I would someday have stories like this to share as well, but I hoped it wouldn't be for a long time. That time finally came on Friday, when I found out that one of my very favorite students from last year died on Thursday. At the beginning of the year, I thought, "There is no way I'm going to make it through a whole year with this kid." Edwin was defiant, disrespectful- a classroom management nightmare. But our team all shared the philosophy of not giving up on kids, and so we persisted with Edwin. Especially Lanette, the writing teacher. And all of a sudden, it was like someone flipped a switch in him and he became such a sweetheart. He was in my room every day before school, and I'd make sure he had everything he needed to get through the day

I'm going to come clean here. I've been acting like I'm fine for a while, and I'm not. The only times I've been truly happy in the past few months have been my weekend with Kristin and my weekend in Kentucky. The truth is, I hate my new job. And my coworkers hate me. Seriously. I have no friends at work. The truth is, I'm questioning my abilities as a teacher and wondering if I'd be better off somewhere else. I'm wondering if I should even be teaching. The truth is, I'm subsisting on a diet of Xanax, Diet Coke, and chocolate to make it through the day. The truth is, I don't feel like seeing or talking to anyone. I just want to lay in bed and watch TV. The truth is, I feel like my whole life is on hold while I'm living at my parents' house. I feel like I'm in high school again and have no life. I've been trying to read my Bible and pray and focus on the good things (because life is never all bad) and spend time with people who make