Wonderful

Life is seriously beautiful.

It can be so hard to see through the sludge that the world throws at us sometimes; even day to day monotony can blur the vision of your soul. Sometimes that blindness can overtake you, and make you think that life isn't as wonderful as you once thought it was- but never believe that cunning little voice. 

Life is so much more wonderful than we could ever imagine. But sadly, some people go through the entirety of their life and never fully realize that. You're made for a purpose that is out of this world- literally! You were made from love for love, in a world created by Love itself. Every laugh, comfy chair, hug, ray of sunlight penetrating the stained glass windows in a beautiful church- experiencing these things is one of the ways in which the God of the Universe expresses His infinite and undying love for you. He gives you millions of flowers every day, and loves you through the people in your life. It's so easy to become critical and negative about the people God has given you, and everyone will, but it's so freeing to focus off of their flaws; because God loves us through every person we encounter, we should try so hard to love Him by loving them. 

Just a few short minutes ago, I was listening to some calming music, talking to one of my best friends with whom I haven't talked in a short while, sitting in a squishy chair, relaxing and thinking about my day tomorrow. Meeting two amazing sisters with MY sister for tea, school shopping, going to Mass with a pair of siblings I love with a big part of my heart... and all of a sudden, I was struck with an almost overwhelming feeling of happiness. I knew that God was and is so present, so active in my life- even when I don't realize it and when I'm having trouble trusting that He is. No matter what mood I'm in, how I look, how many friends I have, He loves me with every drop of his Blood; in understanding the fact that I will never grasp the breadth of His love, I was very humbled, but also filled to overflowing with a deep sense of joy, and I was filled with awe not only for my life but for LIFE. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to live, love, bleed, and die for us. Honestly, the thought that Jesus experienced life just like the rest of us is amazing; he can identify with teenagers and young adults, because he was one. When we feel like no one REALLY understands how we're feeling, he does. Not only because he's God, but because he lived this life, too. So wherever you're at, don't get caught up in whatever circumstances you're in- remember you're immeasurably loved, and that God finds YOU worthy to be a part of the gift of life- which is so overwhelmingly wonderful. 

I thought this was beautiful- not the exact quote, but I read something like this somewhere: 

"The cross turn thorns into roses."

Some of my Favorite Things (Numero Tre)

3. My FAMILY!!!
 This should be number one, I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner.... but alas.
For those of you who don't know, my family is absolutely insane. And by insane, I mean literally. Let's see... my lovely sister who's two years older than me and about five inches shorter (yes, she absolutely LOVES that ;) and I do not communicate using normal language most of the time. Usually it goes like this: I go into the kitchen in the morning to observe my family eating breakfast and take a gander at the unappetizing cereal adorning the shelves of the pantry. (yes I hate cereal, and no I do not eat breakfast; I know, naughty me) I see my sister eating said cereal; I cringe. We make eye contact; I mutter "Neffie!" (I absolutely never call her by her real name, unless I'm mad OR sleep deprived.) And she'll usually make a strange guttural noise. This continues for as long as I chose to linger uselessly in the kitchen, and as we go about our lives during the day, communication between the two of us consists of about 40% of actual English speaking, and about 60% of deranged faces and gave woman noises.
   As for my parents, for the most part I quite appreciate their sense of humor. And their stellar use of electronics. My dad is totally fine, but my darling mother makes some great typos which are autocorrected to things of wondrous hilarity. For instance, just the other day she was texting my sister, telling her that my dad would pick her up from work and that he would bring me. This is what she meant to say: "Will bring BB too." Well, this is what my sister reads: "Will bring Bob too." Pretty funny, but the best part was when my mom was relaying this story to me and started laughing like the world was going to end tomorrow. Since that day, she has taken to calling me Bob, and I have taken to calling her Marley.
   Something about my dad... we have this awesome hug that the two of us do; since I'm only about two inches shorter than him, my poor neck is usually strained to high heaven, but still. Here's how it goes: my left arm is totally limp, and in one fluid motion he grabs it and flings it, in all it's limp  glory, into a hug. Trust me, this looks pretty hilarious when it happens. And it only works with my dad! No one else :D
   Since there's just four of us, we're all quite close; my sister and I are always together. When we were little, people would ask us all the time if we were twins; much to my sister's dismay, we would dress in matching or coordinating clothes for Mass and Christmas pictures, furthering people's assumptions that we were twins. Once we staged out of that, I started growing, so we were about the same height; ain't nothin' changed in the twin inquiries. Then I surpassed her, and we both started getting older, so now it's either, "so you're the graduate, right....?" at me, and my sister has to clarify from five inches below, poor thing =P but it's pretty funny, I have to say-people assume that I'm her and she's me so often that we both answer to each other's name by now. She's my little big sister, and I'm her big little sister :) She is one awesome young lady, people- when she leaves for college (THIS WEEK!!!!!!!) half of me will be gone :( But she shall continue to be in my prayers when she's not living at home anymore!!! I ask all of you to pray for her, if you remember; college is a big transition, and I shall miss her so :( And though one of the Fabulous Four Boyds will be gone, the Fabulous Four Boyds we shall always remain!

Some of my Favorite Things (Numero Due)

2. Stringed instruments.

I harbor a deep affection in my soul for stringed instruments. Can I play a stringed instrument? Absolutely not. But I do listen to others playing them! I have a special spot in my heart for the cello, though. Even if I never learn how to play it, I want to have one someday, so I can at least LOOK at it. There's quite a variety of the circumstances in which I listen to strings; there are the legendary classics, like Chopin's cello sonata, a lovely Bach prelude, the cello version of Lizst's Liebestraum, and perhaps my favorite being Rachmaninoff's cello sonata, Schubert's Ave Maria for strings, Dvorak's romance for piano and violin.... the list goes on and on. (Oh, and Shostakovich's Waltz no. 2 :) Some of my favorite songs of the more contemporary era have some sort of strings incorporated into them- Lana del Rey, as I have mentioned before, has strings in lots of her songs, which I seriously LOVE. It adds so much depth to her songs, it's crazy.
    Here is Rachmaninoff's cello sonata (performed by Yo Yo Ma). This is a song I listen to in the after-midnight hours when I'm studying- everything is dark except for my lamp and my computer screen, it's usually cold enough to snuggle up in a blanket, I'm kind of stressed out, I'm concentrating, and wondering how I'm going to survive- and this song makes all my worries seem so distant, causes time to freeze, and for six minutes, it feels like I'm the only person on this earth; it's just me, Rachmaninoff's cello sonata, and the world. It's splendid :)
    So that was the classical example of wonderful string music; as for modern music that I love with strings? Heck, there's even a Depeche Mode song with them! It's called One Caress... the lyrics are pretty cheesy, but the music is awesome. Not really what you usually hear from Depeche Mode, either. And of course, there's the aforementioned LOVELY Lana del Rey- a multitude of her songs feature strings, including Blue Jeans and Carmen (two of my total favorites!) and the classic Video Games, to name just a few. Check em out, if you're a Lana fan! If you don't really go for her, I totally understand; not everyone does. But the music is seriously fantastic :)

Some of my Favorite Things (Numero uno)

Okay, so I'm going to, in a series of mini-posts, introduce to you a little listy of some of my absolute favorite things of all time. The below item on this list is a specimen of superior of awesomeness. Enjoy!

1. Roses. 

I love flowers of all kinds, but I have to say, my absolute favorites are roses- there's seriously nothing better than big, full, deep red ones. Not only are they terribly romantic, (and by romantic I mean in the authentic sense of the word.... if you know what I'm talking about, you'll know what I mean. Romantic in a kind of mysterious and alluring and beautiful way... hard to explain) but they're also terribly underrated. I mean that red roses so overrated that they don't get the appreciation they deserve most of the time. They've been reduced to being commonplace... oh, sinful. 

      I had an interesting experience with a red rose once... actually a whole bunch of them. It was at school one day; I had started a novena to St. Therese the day before, and I had heard that she sometimes gives actual roses to those who pray to her.... I thought that was AWESOME not only because a saint giving someone a rose is seriously mind-blowing, but because roses are my faves :) This rose-giving phenomenon was on my mind as I was taking out the trash for my end-of-the-schoolday job, and as I flung the trash bag swollen with used paper towels and other garbage paraphernalia into the dumpster, something bright and clean caught my eye- oh, rarity-! and I took a closer look. To my utter astonishment, there was a large cluster of strikingly beautiful and startlingly fresh red roses. Needless to say, my jaw was on the grass in an instant, and I grabbed one. Their aroma was in the air, even around the dumpster. To this day, the head of the rose is on my dresser; dried, but still perfectly bright red. I've dried other red roses, and none of them have retained the same brightness as my St. Therese rose :)

Enjoy your day, and eat some candy. 

 

Music, Booklings, Muh Hair

        So as some of you know, I like Owl City- Adam Young's unique voice and electric music have rendered me a bit of a fan for a couple years now. By no means is he my favorite artist, but there was a time- oh, there was a time. I was a frequent visitor to the Owl City website, and kept up with all of the goings-on in his musical life. I phased out of that after a little while though, and for about a year now, Owl City has shifted out of the center of my music mind's eye.

     Just a short while ago, I was listening to music on Youtube. I finished a video, and some suggestions loaded- one of them caught my eye. It was Owl City singing "In Christ Alone." I listened to it, and it was beautiful.

THERE IS HOPE FOR HUMANITY, PEOPLE! 

    The video already has over 3,000,000 views and over 30,000 likes- I would encourage you to give it a listen and a like yourself! I would seriously love if he made more music like that. I mean, subject of the song aside, his voice sounds great, accompanied only by a piano. 

Okay, slight change of topic; I'm reading (as are many of you) a Tale of Two Cities for pre-school reading. (Not as in preschool- as in PRE-school ;) and it's been afflicting me like a disease. That's a good thing. I'm seriously in LOVE with this book! I can't put it down!!!! I stayed up until two fifteen the other night reading is, and was a complete blubbering mess by the time I forced myself to close it. Let's just say I love Sydney Carton. Call me crazy if you wish, I give you full license- and perhaps that opinion will change by the end of the book, I have absolutely no idea- but let me tell you, I love him. It's a really bittersweet thing though, and honestly maybe more than love I feel like the poor sap needs an AA sponsor and a hug. He's a total lost soul before he meets Lucie, and of course she can't have him... (AHHHHHH. That's when I was crying). And for as happy as I was when Darnay and Lucie got married, I was kind of sad. Not implying that I wanted her to marry Carton... you know, this is just so complicated. I seriously need to finish this book, not only because I need to read another one before school starts, but because I'll lose every ability to function if I don't, AND because I'm going to write a post about it when I'm done, (I hope) AND because as soon as I finish TTC and my other school reading, I can resume reading Anna Karenina! (That's another great piece of classic literature, birthed to the world by the most revered Leo Tolstoy... The movie version with Keira Knightly was wonderful, by the way. Just throwing that out there.)

Okay, well this is just so relevant, but for those of you with long flowing locks, the best deep conditioning thing I've ever used is Coconut oil. This stuff is seriously magical, and I could write an entire post on it's magical properties and uses, but I shan't. I shall only tell you that working about a teaspoon of this miracle through your hair in the shower and leaving it there for about five minutes before THOROUGHLY rinsing it out is a very very good idea. That's what I did this morning, and muh hair be smooth. Give it a try! 

Have a lovely day ;)

OL of Good Counsel.... and Bloglovin'

Muh Bloglovin'! Gimme a follow! :)

Hello, amazing people! Well I certainly hope you're all having a wonderful day! 

      So the past week or so, I've deepened my devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel- an AWESOME source of grace I've hitherto left untapped- thanks to a simply amazing Novena to her in which I strongly encourage you to participate! 

       "Holy Virgin, moved by the painful uncertainty we experience in seeking and acquiring the true and the good, we cast ourselves at thy feet and invoke thee under the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel. We beseech thee, come to our aid at this moment in our worldly sojourn, when the twin darknesses of error and evil plots our ruin by leading our minds astray. 

         Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the victims of doubt and error so that they may not be seduced by evil masquerading as good; strengthen them against the hostile and corrupting forces of passion and of sin.

          Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from thy Divine Son the love of virtue and the strength to chose, in doubtful and difficult situations, the course agreeable to our salvation. Supported by thy hand we shall thus journey without harm along the paths taught us by the word and example of Jesus our Savior, following the Sun of Truth and Justice in freedom and safety across the battlefield of life under the guidance of thy maternal star, until we come at length to the harbor of salvation to enjoy with thee unalloyed and everlasting peace."

Well, resume your lovely day!

Back after a long summer's nap

Well, I'M BACK-! for now.... we shall see how I keep up with this here blog over the school year =P It's been such a long time since I've even looked at this thing! Hopefully I can start to post somewhat regularly... or regularly irregularly...

Yeesh, it's August already! The past week or so I've mused on the fact that 2013 is already over halfway over, so I've been in a pretty nostalgic mood; listening to slow acoustic type music, wearing jeans and light sweaters, (!!!!) and thinking about the fall weather I adore so much. If there's one thing I love about the psychotic, bipolar disaster we call weather over here in Michigan, it's autumn. As summer fades, anticipation for winter builds- so it's this freakishly awesome in-between-state where warm and cold are constantly at war, and the result is colored leaves, crisp air, and sheer happiness! :) (I'm an October baby through and through, if you can't tell) Even the fact that my feet and hands have been colder than usual is making me excited =P

The prospect of going back to school is also surprisingly welcomed into my mind.... kind of. I've been doing some school reading lately, and the weekly routine of getting up, going to Mass, going to classes and seeing my siblings- erhm, classmates- for hours, cuddling up with some tea and a blanket to do my homework, everything- it sounds so appealing to me right about now. School can get crazy and be WAY too stressful, and after staying up until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning every night can be slightly exhausting after a while, especially when there's a full day of school the next day and a couple hours of ballet to be endured on top of it, BUT- the education both my classmates and myself are receiving really is remarkable; we are blessed more than we know. The sacrifices our parents have made to ensure that we have a rich and rigorous authentically Catholic education are immense, and I'm so thankful to my mom and dad that my sister and I have had the opportunities that we've had, that we do have. So my question is: WHY NOT be totally excited to start another year there?!?!?!??! By the end of it, we'll have had two semesters to love each other more and become better friends, two semesters to strengthen our relationship with God and to deepen our understanding of the faith, and two semesters to grow more brain!!! (or at least stuff even further what brains we do have ;) 

So to the class of 2015: These two years are our years. Our years to really stick together and be awesomer than EVER!! This is our high school class! these years will be the memories we'll look back on after ten years, when we have children of our own, and when we've settled into our various vocations. So let's make 'em count! I LOVE YOU!!!! 

So on the fourteenth of this loverly month, I will be doing a photoshoot with my friends Aubrey and Emily! The pictures will be taken by Naomi Earnest, a talented photographer in the Ann Arbor-Saline area- she's already snapped some lovely shots of the beautiful Emily, which I would encourage you to check out on Mrs. Earnest's blog here. I shall try to post some of the pictures after the fact, but I really don't know if that's going to happen for sure or not =P for you Facebookies, I think Naomi will post them on the vortex, if you're interested.

HERE, have a song. "Down there by the Train" by Tom Waits. It's quite melancholic if you listen closely to the lyrics, and his voice takes some getting used to, but he's won me over for the most part. His voice sounds like Fall and Winter to me. Hehehe :)  (It is an acquired taste though, let me tell you.) This is an example of what I've been listening to lately ;) 

Alrighty, well if you've read to the end of this, I applaud you. ;) God bless! 

xo

B :)