Oh, the Throes of Life as a Teenager

Journal entries from me as a 13 and 14-year-old

My view on dating. Application was tough.  

"I think dating is in fact very pointless because...most of the time dating is the forces of emotion, physical attraction, and infatuation. Aka. Satan."

Why did I do this?

"While we were bowling we decided to do the spits when we threw the bowling ball. I did it, but a little later, I sat down and I felt something cold on my butt. I split my pants!"

The Weather of Cedarville

Today? Rain. Tonight? Rain. Tomorrow? More Rain. 

Book Review: Velvet Elvis

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think one of the reasons no one likes Rob Bell is because he isn't as "scientific" about stating his beliefs like most theologians. He doesn't use tons of qualifiers and his language is very emotional, which sometimes makes his words appear "loose" or "wishy washy." But, in context, I think it was easy to see that his main audience was different from that of most theologians and thus he wrote in this style. The only part I really didn't know what to do with was the portion at the end about heaven on earth. I really don't know anything about all that.

Here are some of the key themes I really liked throughout the book.

- Yokes: I never understood that verse about Jesus' yoke being easy. It was wonderful to understand the historical context behind what he was saying. Jesus' "yoke" was easy compared to the pharisees'. pg. 47
- Success: Success never makes life easier. We need to examine issues in our life, and allow God's healing. An essential part of this is learning to stop; something I need to work on. Pg. 11-113
- Killing Superpastor: "I am not defined by what I am not...I believed the not-working-hard-enough lie b/c I didn't function like a superpastor...So I had one choice - I had to kill superpastor." Made me laugh but it also brought some tears: I had to kill straight-A student. Pg. 115
- Implications for stumbling: we admit our sin, confess it, thank God for forgiveness, make amends with others, and move on. I can only imagine how much angst I would avoid if I consistently did this.


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Let Me Eat Cake!

All Things Tasty and Beautiful

Simple and Sweet

Pretty in Pink 

Best Two Colors on One Cake

Beautiful Photography

Source: bing.com via Theresa on Pinterest

Source: iciio.com via Theresa on Pinterest

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"Witherirons; just a word everyone should know.  I like that word...that's really the only reason why I'm going over this."


"Given the infinite amount of time I don't have..."


"Little known fact: when something dies, it stops eating and breathing."


(We were talking about secondary protein structure and Dr. H said "pleated sheet" however, some people thought he said, "bleated sheep") 


"No, it is not a 'bleated sheep.' It does not go bahhhhh, and there is no manger here." 

http://catalogliving.net/post/13595745470/rocky-horror

Book Review: Following in the Footsteps of Christ

Following in the Footsteps of Christ: The Anabaptist Spirituality by C. Arnold Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting, thought provoking book. This author uses language that is very different from modern day evangelicals, so it took so adjusting to realize he wasn't talking about weird post-modernism concepts when he used the word "mysticism" or "spirituality." Thankfully, he defines his terms pretty well. It showed me a very unique side of the Christian tradition and I appreciated the read.


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Get Ready to LAUGH!

Dr. Hutchison Advice Column of the Day!

Some valuable life lessons from Dr. Hutchison:

"If you ever feel tempted to dump fingernail polish remover on something very hot, don't do it." 


"If you ever decide to become an evil mastermind, don't attack a chemistry lab. We basically just sit around and dream of ways to use our chemicals to blow things up."


"It would be very wise of you to come to chemistry on Monday (the last day of class). Very wise...because you never know when you might have a pop quiz."

Book Review: Dietary Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Dietary Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Why They Work When They Do, Why They Don't When They Don't by Kenneth J. Aitken
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fabulous, fabulous book! Aitken does a great job focusing on the evidence at hand and not getting swept away in the emotional/political winds of the debate about diet and autism. He is very measured. My favorite book about autism I've ever read, by far.

Simple Pleasures

As the semester comes to a close, stress levels are high, sleep levels are low, and everyone's general demeanor can be most accurately described as "bleh." However, I've found that in these difficult days, you must hold onto little glimmers of happiness. These simple pleasures are what's keeping me going until the end of finals.

God's gift #1: Peanut-butter cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory
Benefactor: My (amazingly awesome) roommate

Can you say, yum?

Lord, Teach Me to Pray

My prayer life—to put it lightly—is fairly dismal sometimes. I've always seen prayer as some ambiguous religious ritual that was required of me, by God, so I could "hear from him." As a child, I found myself constantly confused that I never "heard God's voice" and when I told my mother that I did not think you could hear God, she would always seem concerned about my lack of supplicatory understanding. Surely, I was missing something.

Yet even then, no one could really explain to me what the model prayer life looked like. I heard the following quote and could immediately relate. Maybe you will feel the same way.

"When it comes to prayer...we all struggle in different ways. Years ago, I sat down to think through some of my frustrations with prayer and perhaps some of these will describe you. I've said things like:

• I wrestle with prayer
• I struggle with prayer
• My prayer life is weak
• All my prayers sound the same
• I know I should pray more
• I don't know how to pray
• I fall asleep when I pray (How many of us can say, 'yes, I fall asleep when I pray!')

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

(Talking about the accuracy of Carbon dating.)

"Plus or minus 1,000,000,000 years? Eh, what's that between friends?!"

(Referring to figuring out which chemical was the limiting reagent--essentially, the first chemical to run out) 

"Just imagine a bunch of furry little eyeless rodents all lined up at the starting line and some of them are labeled 'Au' while others are labeled 'H2O.' Now, start the reaction. The race of the moles is on!"

I've Got Their Love to Keep Me Warm - Brooke

"Look to the golden pillar...It holds up the House!

Everyone, meet Brooke (commonly known as anything ranging from Brookie to Brooklee). This beautiful girl is one of my friends who compliments me by her opposite, but totally amazing personality.When she's "gone with the wind" I help bring her back down to earth.When I'm too overstrung, she helps me loosen up and laugh a little.

The story of how I met Brooke begins two summers ago at Maswterworks Festival, a month long music camp in Winona Lake Indiana. One overcast evening I was hurrying back from the dining hall, rather worried about the thunder and lightening already clearly visible/audible on the horizon. I walked past a small clearing with two metal benches and quaint gardens, noticing one of the girls from my orchestra--a french horn player--crying on one of the benches.

I've Got Their Love to Keep Me Warm - Nicole

As I reflect on this past year, I have come to realize the value of the many wonderful friendships I have. I may not be the most popular person on campus but the friends I do have are wonderfully close, and absolutely awesome! So, I'd like to take the time each day to re-tell the story of how I met one of my friends in my December series "I've Got Their Love to Keep Me Warm".  Please enjoy!

"Niiks" and "Leelee" 

This is Nicole--Niiks as she is known to me. I met her for the first time when we were put in the same chapel band: I play violin and she plays guitar and we both sing harmony only. (Seriously, we sing it so much sometimes we can't remember the melody). We soon found out we were in the same chemistry class and so we said hi to each other occasionally. However, what really brought us closer together was one lovely day when I had the stomach flu. (Just bear with me here!)

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"Skunk scent is made up of ethers--I used these in my graduate research to run experiments.  I actually exhausted all the skunk scent on the market in the US. I couldn't buy anymore because no one had it, so my friend suggested I start a skunk farm."




"So how do we name an amine? We shall call it Fred!"

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"Next we are going to study Markovnikov's rule. Isn't that just a fun name to say? Mar-KOV-ni-kov! You know, I wanted to name my firstborn son Markovnikov. But then, I got married and that idea went out the window VERY quickly."


"I always felt funny coming out of the lab storage closet with two large jugs of 200-proof alcohol."

Book Review: Upside-Down Kingdom

The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald B. Kraybill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is absolutely fabulous. I may not agree with the author about everything he said, but he brought up many good points and it was very convicting. He takes a fresh, new look at standard parables. When Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, was Satan merely tempting him to eat? Or maybe Satan was tempting to do a miracle. Was the Good Samaritan just a story about being nice to others or was it more culturally profound than that? This book taught me to love people. So the question is, am I living in the upside-down Kingdom?


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Break (in Terms of Biology)

I love break. It's truly wonderful to get away from college life for an entire week. However, I'm having considerable trouble adjusting back into normal society. Perhaps if you are a college student, you understand my plight.

1) Species Diversity within a Population

Who knew there were so many different kinds of people? The world isn't completely made up of 18-20 something, college students and a few professors. Who knew?! In addition, these many people do the strangest thing. They go shopping at expensive stores like Target. I honestly don't understand how anyone can afford anything but Wal-Mart. And not only that, but they actually stroll around at a leisurely pace while they shop and buy things to entertain themselves. Don't they have homework to do?

2) Habitats

My life revolves around a 12' x 8' cinderblock dorm room and a backpack. How my family of four can take up a 1600 square foot house is a mystery to me. I mean, if two people can live in a 12' x 8' room, then surely 4 people only need two of those, right? I feel like I'm in a mansion!

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"The molecules are like Kindergardeners. They buzz around wildly and run into each other. Then, when they run into each other, they might switch coats. Just like molecules exchange valence electrons!"

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Unless You're a College Student

I'm staring at my computer screen right now with this rather vacant, emotionless gaze. My eye lids are drooping even though it's only 7:45 pm. My brain has worked hard all day and it has finally decided to reject all incoming information. If you talk to me, I may or may not hear you. If I do hear you and decide to respond, my sentences will probably be less than cohesive.  I might even stop midway through a sentence and ask you what I was talking about.

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"There are a bewildering number of different units used to express concentration. Most of them are fairly useful, but weight/volume percent is just evil."

Even Robert Pattinson Has to Wear a Retainer

Take a look at my sister blog, stuff: (lost and) found


stuff:(lost and) found.: Monday Nov 7th:

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"When I worked at the library during college, I actually had a whole plan worked out for how we would defend the library if we were attacked by terrorists."

It is always comforting to know that in the face terrorism, we have Dr. Hutchison to protect us!

When Punnet Squares Become Romantic (and Enzymes Become Rakes)

Peas. Yellow peas and green peas. Oh, and flowers! Yes, there were purple and white flowers.

Maybe that's all you remember about Mendelian genetics. Perhaps it has been many years since you last took any high school or college biology class, so you don't recall much (except that your teacher made a point of telling you about peas and flowers). But the heart of genetic--genes, DNA, alleles, and phenotypes--is about so much more than the color of plants or if you can roll your tongue. Genetics is about life both past and present.

Genetics can determine whether you live or die, if you can have children, and what kind of life you will live. Even our thoughts and beliefs about genetics affect us in a large way. It may determine if you are an evolutionist or creationist, pro-choice or pro-life, and perhaps even if you believe in God.

Dr. Hutchison Quotes of the Day!

Allow me to preface these quotes by saying that I walked into class that day and the slide on the screen read, "Applications: Dating." Needless to say, I knew this would be an interesting day in chemistry class.

Photo curtesy of Becca Mattison©

"He's an igneous rock. That means you can date him."


(Don't worry, he was referring to Carbon dating both in this quote and on the slide I mentioned).

"If you think about architectural history--of which I know nothing--you will find that..." 

"Aaaak, we're all going to die!" 

(Talking about how we were going to do a radiation lab next week.)

From The Shepherd's Crook Ministries

A lot of you, I'm sure, already know that November has been designated by our government as National Adoption Month. We need to be praying for the orphans of the world on a regular basis, and this month ought to bring their plight to mind more often than usual. In addition to praying for these children, I ask that you share their stories with at least one other person this month. You can post this message to an on-line forum, to your Facebook page, or print it and share it with your church. We all need to pray for these precious little ones and the millions of other orphans that they represent.

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the Day!

"Beta particles are technically called negatrons, but negatron kind of sounds like an evil robot, so we never use it."




"I heard some students in the Gen Chem lab call a Buret a 'bur-ay.' I had to resist the urge to say something! I just had to keep reminding myself, 'They're not even my students...just walk away....walk away.'"

You Should (you know, like) Watch This (like totally awesome) Video.

My speech teacher showed this video in class today and it has prompted me to begin weeding the word like out of my vocabulary. It's a hilarious, yet pointed video that you must see!

http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=9

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the day!

"I did an experiment yesterday in the lab. Wow, imagine that! An experiment in the lab."

"It looks like electron, tastes like an electron...but it's not an electron."

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the day!

"My little molecules." (yes, I believe he was referring to us.)

Amusing Mr. Milliman Quotes

This is why I have the best spiritual formation teacher! Have fun reading!

                                                      *          *          *          *

(there was a rather large crash outside of our classroom, and it almost sounded like a gunshot)

"Come on in, we'll teach you about pacifism."

                                                       *          *          *          *

Dr. Hutchison Quote of the day!

I have a chemistry professor named Dr. Hutchison. He is a wonderful teacher and chemist, but in addition to these accomplishments, I believe he possess one other talent: a comedian. Thus, I have decided to post his most famously funny quotes.

"I guess I shouldn't be telling you about this. But then again, you'll be prepared if terrorists ever come and attack your house. Here's how to make a bomb with household cleaning supplies..."

My mother always warned me about this day...

Like most children, I always said I'd never be like my parents. I'd never have those annoying parental idiosyncrasies around MY children. And surely, I'd never care about keeping anything clean. Or perhaps not...

My mother would faint if she read these.

The (slightly morbid) Hobby of Writing Poetry

I have a mind to know,

what fate doth seal my lover.

Where destiny hath taken, 

her slender figure and light feet.

Does she sleep upon the moor, 

lying in purple clumps of heather,

her chestnut hair caressing fair skin, 

lying pallid and cold by the turns of the weather?

You Know It's Midterms When...

As a college student, I am learning that midterms mean a whole new way of life. You know it's midterms when...

1.  There are post-it notes stuck to everything
2. Your hand hurts from writing flash-cards
3. The words "Going to fail..." have come out of your mouth an uncanny number of times in the past few days.
4. You haven't changed clothes in 3 days

Chelsea and the Dress

The following post is a fun piece that I wrote last year for my old blog. Please enjoy!

Once upon a time there lived an extremely awkward, frizzy haired teenager named Chelsea Clinton. She was daughter of the renowned couple, Bill and Hillary Clinton. (Wonderful liberals!) Chelsea met a handsome young man named Marc Mezvinsky, son of Ed Mezvinsky who is more or less famous, due to also being a politician and serving prison time for charges of bank fraud. They were a picture of Democrat perfection! After breaking up in high school and then getting back together later in life, they decided to get engaged. Their recent marriage sealed the deal, but this love story didn't end in a splendid, fairytale wedding. The day they tied the knot had a few serious problems. The first of which is the wedding dress.

Early on in the paparazzi game, it was discovered that Miss Clinton intended to wear a gown by famous designer Vera Wang. (Although Chelsea did take great pains to hide herself.)

 

Trapped in Life

I wake up in the morning to the sound of my alarm. Worst sound in the world. Beep……….Beeep……….Beeeeep………BEEEEP…….…BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!! I finally hit the snooze button only to be awakened by the same horrific noise five minutes later. As if the alarm clock isn’t enough, my mother comes in and reminds me in a very grumpy voice that if I’m not on time to school, she’s gonna take my cell phone away.

I finally get up and drag myself to the shower where I sit under the hot water feeling temporarily happy. It’s warm and comfortable, clean and quiet, so I am contented…that is until my mom marches into the bathroom and reminds me (again) not to be late for school and yells at me for wasting so much water.  Once I’m out of the steamy tub, the cheerful part of my day (aka. sleep and shower) are now over. 

Graduated!

My Graduation Speech

Homeschooling takes a lot of commitment, as most of you here well know. There’s a reason that homeschooled mothers start dropping like flies and sending their kids to school around 6th grade, or High school. It isn’t easy to parent a child and also be responsible for their entire education; it’s especially difficult if your child happens to be anything like me. I admit that I did hide my cursive

What Not to Wear

You've probably seen this show, or at least heard of it. If any of these dresses made it onto What Not to Wear, I'm sure they would be in the trash bin in seconds. The retailer claims they are vintage masterpieces...I claim they are disasters!

Sentence Collection: Jane Eyre

The following passage is one of my favorite quotes from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. This takes place right after she decides that she cannot marry her lover, Mr. Rochester.


"I wanted to be weak that I might avoid the awful passage of further suffering I saw laid out for me; and conscience, turned tyrant, held passion by the throat, told her tauntingly, she had yet but dipped her dainty foot in the slough, and swore that with that arm of iron he would thrust her down to unsounded depths of agony."

I don't know about you, but I think that that is some of the most beautiful writing I've ever heard. If you haven't read Jane Eyre, now is the time!

Sentence Collection: Gwen and Cecily

From The Importance of being Earnest. Gwendolen and Cecily have just broken off their engagements with their lovers and are watching from the house window to see if their recently-dumped lovers will follow. This made me laugh because, although many females may not admit it, this is exactly the kind of thing we like to do. We just hide it under clever sentences. Enjoy!

GWENDOLEN
The fact that they did not follow us at once into the house, as any one else would have done, seems to me to show that they have some sense of shame left.

CECILY
They have been eating muffins. That looks like repentance.

GWENDOLEN
[After a pause.] They don't seem to notice us at all. Couldn't you cough?

My Collection of Sentences

In my opinion, there is nothing more artful, more clever, more beautiful or more perfect than a well-crafted sentence. My next thread of blog posts are going to be on my favorite sentences and quotes from well-known literary works ranging from Great Expectations to Jane Eyre.

This week's quote is from Shakespeare's Hamlet:

(After Claudius finds out that Hamlet murdered Polonius, the King's chief advisor. Hamlet has been pretending to be "gone mad" and continues to do so in this dialogue.)
Claudius: Where is Polonius?!
Hamlet: At supper.
Claudius: (looks frustrated) At supper where?

Homeschool Class of '11

My parents decided to move when I was 3. My little brother was on the way and we needed a bigger house, but my parents also wanted to be in a good school district. Then, right before we moved we met the Harrison* family, our neighbors one street over. They were a quaint little Mennonite family who had four little children, all of which never told lies, listened to their parents, and wore traditional Mennonite clothing. Despite these oddities, the strangest thing about the Harrisons was not their clothes or the way they behaved...it was where they went to school. Matthew and David (and eventually Elizabeth and Grace) all attended school at home!

My mother was intrigued, but when Mrs. Harrison suggested she homeschool me, my mom only laughed. She and my dad had just bought a house because they liked the school system, and plus she wasn't even a teacher. Why would she ever want to homeschool? Although she allowed me to play with 2-year- old Elizabeth Harrison, my mom avoided Mrs. Harrison's strong ideas about home education.

But God, in His infinite wisdom and great sense of humor, had other plans.

Questions for Heaven

Have you ever thought about compiling a list of questions to ask God when you get to heaven? I think this is where I would start:

1. Where do all the mechanical pencils go?! I start out at the beginning of the year with a brand new pack of eight shiny, colorful little pencils and then by the end of the year I can barely scrounge up one.

2. Also, where are all my bobby pins?

3. What exactly is a hot-dog made of?

Just One More Reason to "Kiss Dating Goodbye..."

Most of us have broken up with a boy at least once in our lives. It's sad, painful, heart wrenching...breaking up leaves you practically senseless! 

That's why you really need the new break up recovery kit! Say goodbye to the conventional break-up routines of crying on a friend's shoulder, eating chocolate, and going through a box of tissues in a few hours. This new break-up recovery kit has everything you need from a male candle (because you know you want to burn their head off), all the way to helpful herbs such as "Controlling Witches Honey," "Separation Oil," "Break up Powder," "Break Up Incense," and "Keep Away Enemies Soap." (Because we all know that powder, soap, and incense posses MUCH power.)

You've Got to S-M-I-L-E

(This post is from my old blog that I started at the beginning of the school year. Enjoy!)

Like most other high schooler in the US, I have done my fair share of groaning about going back to school this year. After all, who wants to quit texting their friends to do homework, or give up facebook to work on a project? Who, in short, wants to be disciplined when they've spent almost three months doing things that seem more fun?

I was a particularly sad to see the summer gone and particularly anxious about the ensuing school year for a few reasons. First, this is has been one of the most amazing summers of my life! I went to two music camps, started watching the (extremely) addicting TV show 24, and
made some amazing friends from all different parts of the world! Coming off of such a wonderful three months and facing school again has made me very grumpy. 

(Me and my friends from camp watching "24." As you can see, it was pretty intense.)

Another reason is that  I have been anxious is...duh duh duuuuh...senior year! 

My (chaotic, silly, complicated, funny, difficult) Life

Moms have their blogs where they chat about how chaotic, silly, complicated, funny, and difficult their lives are. When they do it, other adults and young people alike laugh at their jokes, and sympathize with their problems. Even if we teens don’t quite get what parents mean when they say “kids are such a pain,” we at least figure that they’re right.

Not so with young person blogs. When we write about how chaotic, silly, complicated, funny, and difficult our lives are,  adults simply say to themselves, “they live charmed lives and their problems are nothing compared to ours.” Maybe they are right, but I’m not a middle-aged female with kids and a husband! My life feels chaotic, silly, complicated, funny, and hard to me.

So try this…

Adults: Remember what it was like to be my age. Enjoy reminiscing over when you thought that this was the most chaotic, silly, etc. time of your life.

Young people: Enjoy empathizing with me. 

Hopefully as I continue to update this blog, people of all ages will be able to laugh, cry, smile, and remember right along side me.