To the Virgins, to make much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,	5
The higher he 's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he 's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;	10
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,	15
You may for ever tarry. ~~Robert Herrick~~

Oh Thesis, My Thesis!

Disenchanted. That is a good adjective to describe how I am feeling about the thesis process right now. There are now 8 days between me and the deadline for turning in my proposal, which constitutes about 60% of my grade in my Research Methods class. Intimidation! Not to mention that I absolutely abhor APA formatting! Where has my beloved MLA gone? Grad school can be a beautiful, terrifying beast. I am uncomfortable with my jobless state-correction...my professional jobless state. I do not count Cracker Barrel as anything but a dead end job. I am collecting applications to turn in around Cleveland and perfecting my resume, but I feel like it is going to be really difficult to find anything in this current job market. Maybe I should just shut up and be happy I have a job at the Cracker. -_- Anyways, today is super hot too. I about melted into a sweaty, gross puddle when I went around campus getting applications. Also, physical plant has been power washing the side of our apartment complex and it really is very life threatening. I was almost power washed walking out of my front door this afternoon headed to class. Well, after I wrap this entry up I guess I will pay the internet bill and do some library research. Always a great way to spend the afternoon. On a happier note.....Picture of the Day!

Say YES to Carrots

I have seen the light in regards to health and beauty products for my hair and face. I have officially gone green/natural or whatever it's called. And I am loving it! Last week, I was strolling through a Walgreens looking for some face wash/lotion when my eyes caught an ad for "Say Yes To Carrots". Puzzled, I stopped and read over their summaries and descriptions.

I was intrigued so I bought some lotion and face mask stuffs. Let me just say this. This product is MAGICAL! My skin has never felt softer or smoother. There is nary a pimple on my face and my hair is the softest I have ever felt it to be. Plus I just feel really healthy rubbing carrot and tomato stuff on my face and hair. It doesnt smell like carrots either! It smells really fresh and clean. I absolutely love it! It contains minerals from the Dead Sea and all the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables. I highly recommend this face and hair product to anyone and everyone! You can find it in Walgreens, Walmart, Target and online at their website www.yestocarrots.com. Their prices are reasonable as well. They average about $7-8, while some of their more expensive choices are in the $20 range. Definitely worth checking out. 

All Hail Nerds

For we shall inherit the Earth. Today I am basking in the joy that is loving books, loving school, and loving my calling to be a teacher. I feel like the highest calling we have as humans, besides our Christian duty, is to be well educated. I want my learning experience to be life long and never ending. If I haven't learned something new today then today has been wasted. I have been re-reading Anne of Green Gables (the entire series, not just the first book) and finding myself wishing that my outlook on life was similar to Anne's. It is days like today that I truly wish I had my childhood imagination back. Boy, it was a wondrous thing. The fun my sister and I used to have playing together. It simply cannot be reproduced.

I love the feeling of empowerment that school gives me. Last week I was in the ditches of despair almost literally due to the writing of my Master's Thesis, but this week it seems as though I have been reawakened. I want to travel and live an unusual life. I suppose I signed up for that when I married a Korean though. My fridge will NEVER smell the same. These are a few of my favorite pictures I have collected (aka stolen from Google) over the past years.

My greatest joy is in experiencing the freedom that life can bring

and of being continually with the one I love

while never losing that spark that drew us to one another.

Well, I am in a very expository mood which I am sure will soon be squelched by my Research methods class. I don't have to work tonight and this instills a huge amount of happiness and frantic joy in my heart. I can CLEAN my apartment now! Because of all the doubles I worked this weekend, our apartment looks like it combusted internally. I almost can't wait to vacuum.

Future furry Felines

So Kaleb thinks it is ridiculous that I am planning out the names and types of cats we are planning on getting, but I believe in knowing what you want. Just wait till we start having kids. The names will be picked out before the first ultrasound, I'm sure. I actually have a lot of homework to be doing right now, but I love to be distracted over meaningless things.

To start off,  I know I want to have three cats. And being an English buff, some will have literary names and maybe one will have a Korean name. lol. Let's meet my imaginary cats.

1. This one shall be named Keats. Keats is one of my favorite Romantic poets and my first cat shall be a tribute to him.

 2. This one will be named Dante because I LOVE Dante's Divine Comedy. After reading it, that is really how I picture the afterlife.

 

3. This one will be named Maru. It means "floor" in Korean, but I really like the way it sounds. Apparently Nabi is a really popular cat name in Korea, but I didn't like it as much. 

Kaleb is laughing at me as I write this, but I think it is great fun planning out my cat names. 

Comedy of Errors

Today is one of those days where you feel as though you have recovered from a long and foggy sleep. You might compare it to hangover. Whichever you choose. I'm not to fantastic at this blog thing; it seems as though every other blog I read is soo much better than mine. I just ramble about ridiculous things that don't seem to apply to anyone but me. I'm sure I am not the only one out there. Anyways, today has been strangely productive, but a type of forced productivity. I've made the bed, and cleaned the kitchen, made a pitcher of tea, checked the mail and even gotten in an hour of reading. I am trying to make this more of a habit.

Yesterday felt like an out of body experience at work and I couldn't seem to wait until I got off. I am in the beginning stages of writing my Master's thesis and it is already giving me gray hairs. The stress is really starting to get to me and yesterday I was lucky I didn't dump gravy or pinto beans on a guest. What I think I really need is a quiet, relaxing afternoon with a book and a cup of tea. That would be fantastic. Will I get it? Probably not, since CB is calling my name tonight.

Update on Korean stuff: My language study is going fairly well, but slow. I have written out a list of important vocabulary and am resolved to increase it a bit everyday. Kyounghee is trying to study English alongside me as I work on Korean. That way we can keep each other accountable. I am still terrified every time his parents call that they will ask to speak to me. But sad at the same time because I so desperately want to speak with them. My Korean cooking is far behind my language skills. Nicely put, I suck. Kyounghee does not hide that fact from me. If anything, I married an honest man. Tactful, no but very honest. I am still getting used to cutting up kimchi which burns my hands when I touch it. Tastes great, just don't rub your hands in it. Kyounghee once told me that spicyness is not a flavor, it is actually pain and your tongue's reaction to it. Who knew? That actually makes sense though. I am really getting eager to finish up this crazy Masters nonsense and move  to Korea. Kyounghee needs to finish up school too. Will appreciate any type of prayer regarding that. Turns out it is rather hard to do anything at all as an international student if you don't have a green card...or money. Money is an important but elusive thing.

Update on us: Being married is certainly very fun, Kyounghee and I are learning things from each other and about ourselves. I find I am having to rely more on God to instill patience in me because I've found that I really am not a patient person at all when it comes to husbands. 

Doesn't this just make you wish you ate Korean food on a regular basis? Oh so good.