nightingale sing us a song

i was surrounded by moments of summertime bliss this weekend.

picnics.

me and jonathan at stephens park friday night. i was inspired to make brie and apple panini.

two days of fresh flowers.

these purple flowers (lilacs and irises, i believe) were FREE at the earth day festival.

sweet, sweet tea.

studied at mcalister's with sarah. she "went for it" and put 9 splenda packets  in her tea. we like our sweet tea SWEET.

sarah and i wanted to see the sunset on the river. we decided to make a picnic out of it and head to rocheport. the following is proof.

 directions to rocheport are a must.

our fearless driver.

that's not the river...

what a lovely bench for a picnic though!

we were trying to figure out where we were in reference to the river.

sarah spying on the cardinal trying to attract a mate.

the loveliest branch of flowers that sarah broke the law to get me!

les bourgeois. skip the wine and fancy dinner. go straight for the flowers and view of the river.

no sunset, but it felt wonderful by the missouri river.

oh hey, what are these creepy face sculptures for?

the farmers market bouquet with our new addition and souvenir from rocheport.

fresh-cut flowers from the farmers market. it's a beautiful thing.

Happy Earth Day!

Anyone who knows me well enough knows the great love I have for my K-3rd grade school in Lexington, Ky: Providence Montessori.

But no day reminds me more of how much I loved that school than Earth Day.

I remember preparing projects every year to present to other students and families on Earth Day. One year it was on roots, so I had carrots and potatoes as props. One year it was on love birds (yes, love birds legitimately exist). Another year I studied dolphins and whales (and proceeded to think I would be a marine biologist one day... oh, how young & naive I was :) )

Then we would always have a great outdoor picnic and carnival, followed by a sleep over with my 3 best friends. It was simple bliss.

Ever since then I've missed doing special things on April 22. But today was a pretty good 'grown up' celebration of the day. We had the first ever farmer's market on campus, there was the Missouri Energy Summit going on at Jesse Hall, people for STAND and Jewish organizations were demonstrating and informing people on genocide, intense advertisement was going on for tonight's Crossroads event (featuring Jon McLaughlin!). It was just a great example of community (as Jonathan put it) and uniting on a lot of different fronts for important world issues, both about the direct earth and those who live on it.

So yay for the earth, for God's beautiful and artistic creation.

COLUMBIA -- Citizens in central Columbia clashed with an outlawed criminal gang using machetes, axes and clubs, killing at least 28 people and leaving streets stained with blood, police said Tuesday.

*NOTE: This is NOT a real article.*

This is:

GATHAITHI, Kenya (AP) -- Villagers in central Kenya clashed with an outlawed criminal gang using machetes, axes and clubs, killing at least 28 people and leaving streets stained with blood, police said Tuesday.

I edited it to make a point.

What if we read world-wide stories with an eye that it was somewhere closer, somewhere more immediate to us, somewhere that felt like it had an impact? Would we be as numb to tragedies? 

I wondered this today when I almost didn't think twice at the previous story on the home page of the New York Times' Web site. It was easy to glance over. But would it be as easy to glance over if it occurred in my town? or my state? or my country? I know it wouldn't be. Just as I became enthralled in the coverage following the earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy, recently, I know I pay more attention to stories that somehow strike a cord with me. 

But when did a tragedy of any sort, in any place in the world, stop striking a cord? It baffles me how the world is so vast and large, yet humbles me when I realize how little and alike we all are. I wish I was reminded of that more often so that caring for someone took on a real form for me whether that person was an acquaintance or not.

so i can't remember the last time i was this excited.

so excited i wanted to cry from joy.

so excited my legs were shaking and my heart was beating out of my chest.

so excited i wanted to hug strangers.

God made the sun shine extra bright today. He knew I'd be getting the great news that I am a summer intern for the Home Department at Good Housekeeping this summer. He knew that after months and months and months of sending cover letters and resumes, feeling defeated and not good enough, He knew I would find my place. He knew where that place would be. 

i can't remember the last time i was this excited...

a treat for you.

21 free songs from urban outfitters.

they're awfully random, and some awfully techno, but hey, they're free songs.

stay 'tuned'... this week could bring great or less than great news for summer plans.

let's just say, i'm compulsively checking for new emails.

window sill garden

that's spearmint, superbell peach, cilantro, superbell apricot punch, and basil. the herbs are jonathan's (but our window sill gets better sunlight so he's renting out our sill :) ) and the flowers are mine. there's something really fresh and enjoyable about having live plants inside. this is my first attempt at keeping a plant alive (besides a mini bamboo plant in my room that is the easiest thing to have besides a cactus) so wish me luck! it was nice to visit the nursery that is down the road from our apartments. there were so many beautiful flowers and plants i wanted to take home and beautify stuff with. maybe one day when i have a house of my own i'll be an amazing plant lover/gardener.

gmail autopilot

Gmail autopilot

funny april fool's joke? or creepiest technology idea yet? you decide.