We Two by Gillian Gill

This post is coming in a time of much stress!  I am dealing with the stress of dead week as well as many thoughts which only God can help me through.  I did want to do a book review on a book I finished a few weeks ago.  I love reading and only recently(within the past few years) have learned to enjoy it.  It saddens me sometimes knowing that I won't get the chance to read all the good books in the world which have been written throughout time.

So, The book is called We Two written by Gillian Gill and it is about the lives and marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince albert in the 1800s.  My interest in this book stirred from watching my now favorite movie, The Young Victoria.  This book takes you through the early life and struggles of Queen Victoria.  It explained a lot of how her life was different due to the fact that she was the only person to be able to take the throne in her family.  It went through the early life of Prince Albert as well.  It went through how Victoria and Albert met and how they fell in love.  The love which is described seems pure and real, incorporating their struggles.  The book also talks about the many children(9 total) that they had and the relationship both Albert and Victoria had with them.  The life of the Queen seems like it would be very glamorous, as you would think any queens life would be, but it was not.  It was very difficult. It ends with the death of Prince Albert and the mourning which the Queen and the country go through.  I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of certain individuals and royalty.  Buy it HERE!!


The book I am about half way through now is...  Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure.  Yes, I am beginning my summer reading list and it's not even summer yet.

I have 9 days until summer  :)

Back in the Saddle

So this morning was the first time I had run since Bloomsday on May 1st.  After the race I told myself I was going to take a little break and that break made me lose motivation for any kind of working out.  I tend to be very rigorous and almost obsessive about making a set schedule on when I am going to workout along with what I am going to do.  Then when the time comes, I don't want to do it because it feels like work rather than enjoyment!  So when I talked to my counselor about it, we came up with a solution!  I very loosely decide which days and sort of when I will exercise(we also talked about changing what you call it.  Rather than working out which sounds so intense, I decided to start calling it exercise or movement.) but not to plan what kind I will do.  That way I can do what feels fun to do at that time and what I want to do!  This will help me to look forward to exercise because I know I am going to be doing something which I want to do at that time and not something I feel like I have to do.
Today was like that.  I planed on going to our school gym and doing something like the bike or something but then I woke up and it was so sunny and beautiful outside I couldn't pass it up.  So then I changed my plan, guilt free, and went for a run outside down the canal.  It was a lot of fun!  Because I haven't run for a couple weeks, I only ran two miles but I also ran up these hills which I usually walk up.  So that was a plus!  They really got my heart beating fast!  I am learning to use exercise as a way to improve my health and enjoyment rather than focusing on weight loss.  Slowly but surely that will happen!

Summer Book List(I know it's a little soon:))

I just finished a book I have been slowly but surely getting through since spring break.  I will soon do a review on it because it is definitely one to read!  I try and read at least one pleasure read during the quarter so I can take my mind off of the madness of schoolwork and still be productive.  Finishing this book has been hard because I realize how much I cling to my pleasure reads in the times of stress for a nice little break.  It is probably a good thing that I finished it before finals and such because then I can't use it as a distraction but it makes me look forward very much to the summer and the books I have planned to read.  My goal is of coarse to read about one book per week.  It is doable and I am actually looking forward to it very much!

Summer Book List:

1.  Reshaping it All

2.  Food Rules

3.  The Case for Christ

4.  Lunch in Paris

5.  A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table

6.  My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time

7.  Marie Antoinette: The Journey

8.  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

9.  The Gift of an Ordinary Day

10.  Choosing to SEE

11.  The Thing about Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead

12.  In Defense of Food

13.  One Thousand Gifts

14.  Devoted

Can't wait to start!  I have three weeks until I am on my way HOME!!

Fall Quarter Classes

Junior Year of College!!  I don't feel like I am old enough for that.  Yikes!!
I registered for my classes for the fall quarter and here they are...

Counseling Theory and Practice
Introduction to Interior Design
Nutrition through the Life Cycle
Animal Biology

But summer will come before I move on to these classes!  And it can't come soon enough  :)

Working Woman

As many of you know, I am now a working woman.  I am still a student but now I am student with a job.  I work for my school's catering company which has actually been a very fun job!  I work random hours throughout the day but am given lots of time for studying, sleeping and class.  That is the nice thing about working on campus.  Along with that, I am also learning a lot about hosting events, the proper way of setting and designing a table and so on.  This is my fourth week on the job and I just got paid.  Now I have not worked a paying job since the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school.  During that time, my parents still provided me with money for the things I needed, I had a car and I didn't have anything I was saving up for.  So, stupidly, I spent my money on things I didn't need.  Now, my parents still provide me with money for food and the essentials(just for this year but come next year, I will be paying for all of that), but knowing how hard I worked for my money, I put it straight into my savings.  Now part of the reason is because I am saving up for an iphone which I will buy when I get home for summer(22 more days!) but the fact that I have worked for my money, spending it on things such as clothes or going out to dinner doesn't seem as though it is worth it.  I am very happy that my attitude toward money has changed and a lot of it is probably due to that summer when I spent it all and how at the end of the summer I felt like it was not worth it.
I am now in the process of applying to a few summer jobs as well as volunteer positions.  I am praying that I will get one and that way I will have money with I will be saving up for next year in college where I will be living in a house off campus!!  I will have more bills than I expected but if I learn how to manage my money well, it should be no problem.

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

  You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:1-11

Daydreaming of a More Relaxing Time

Some beautiful flowers in my
backyard from last summer

It is that time of the quarter when my motivation to do anything is very low.  I feel like I have only been doing the minimum and not really preparing ahead(which I usually tend to be very good at).  It is ending week six which is a little crazy to think about because that means we are half way done with the quarter.  On top of that, it is spring quarter so that means we are almost to summer.  I am so excited for summer to come.  In all my years of school, I think this is the summer I am the most excited for.  Not that I am doing anything fantastic(although I do plan to do fun things) but because I am in desperate need for a long break from school work and people.  Don't get me wrong, I love both school and the people I am with, it is just difficult having 9 months straight of both.  I really enjoy studying and learning new things but I am really looking forward to getting through books which I want to read fast.  I love reading books but it is hard to read personal books at a fast and consistent pace when you have a stack of textbooks staring at you from across the desk which should have higher priority.  I do give myself breaks and read personal books but I wish I could read them faster.  I also love the people I am with and live with.  It being the last few weeks of living in the dorms forever is a bit of a strange feeling.  It is great living with 45 girls but I am very much looking forward to next year when I will being living in a house with my best friends.  It will be fantastic!  I have been looking up new recipes I want to cook at home and am so excited to have the freedom to do that.  I don't have a kitchen here at school where I can cook meals and I am so excited to have one during the summer.  I plan on sharing many of these recipes and my adventures in cooking them on my blog.  I am also looking forward to the little things like catching up with old friends, meeting my mom for her lunch break, swimming and, of coarse, reading!!  I also plan to run a half marathon on August 28th which will be a blast as well.  I am really just looking forward to the peace and comfort of everyday life which is not filled with stress, deadlines, and constantly feeling like there is not enough time in a day.  I know it seems a bit soon to be daydreaming about summer but what can I say, I am from California(which it has been in the 90s there this week) and living in Seattle(which has been raining).  What can I say, I miss the sun.  I am really excited to help my parents in the garden(they grow tons of food and one of my favorite things to do is to go out and pick what we will be having for dinner) and sit out on the patio, getting tan and drinking iced tea.  It will surely be fantastic!  I am also excited to hang out with my sister and go to the college group at church.  I am excited to grow in my relationship with God as well as the other people in my life!  There are many things I am looking forward, I can't write them all down!  :)

Beautiful Weekend

Friday afternoon I went on a walk.  The weather was absolutely beautiful so I decided to go on a walk to Starbucks.  I went to the Starbucks in Fremont which I walk by the canal and over a bridge to get there.  There were lots of boats out on the water!  Pictures tell a better story than I can  :)

The bridge goes up when boats need to pass through.
It is inconvenient when you are driving but it is fun when
you are on a walk.

Crossing the bridge and overlooking the canal!

A beautiful tulip :)

On friday afternoon, my friend Lindsay and I drove to Spokane.  While I was there I got to meet up with my friend Tami who goes to Whitworth.  It was really good seeing her because I hadn't visited her since we all moved to school.  The next day, Lindsay, her friend Rachel and I are ran in the annual Bloomsday race.  It was so fun!  The race was 7.5 miles and I did a lot better than I expected.  There was a total of 50,611 runners and we placed 18,000th.  I want to do it again next year because it was so fun!  I encourage you to run or walk in a race.  The events are really fun and they often raise money for charity.  Here are some pictures of the race!

Before the race and the view of people.  The amount of
people  was as far as the eye can see.

Lindsay and Rachel

Lindsay and I

Our shoes with our timers on them.

People throw there jackets in the trees and after the race the
workers collect them all and donate them to charity.

It is really hard to see but this is the beginning of doomsday hill.

This is the three of us after the race with our finisher shirts!

The weekend was so great and I am so glad we ended up going.  You should go next year!  After the race, we were all so tired and our bodies were in much pain.  Lindsay and I had to drive back to Seattle and sit in the car for 4 1/2 hours!  It did go by fast though and it was fun driving with Lindsay.  I love friends so much  :)