This last week has been incredibly slow yet a whirlwind at the same time!
I haven't really done much besides get ready for camp and spend time with my mom... however, I was a lucky individual because I got to see, in person, the molly rodgers (in waco) and the jane ellen bryant (she came up to dallas). I also got to video chat with mr. thomas bain and molly selby (who is now counselor-ing at pine cove). And I got to spend some quality time with friends from home... sarah and marge - who I intend to see tonight, because tomorrow, I leave. I will be at kanakuk 'til the end of june snapping photos of campers for their parents to scroll through online! because of this, I will be MIA from this blog, facebook, and twitter (which I'm actually excited about). so, those of you who still know how to use pens (not keyboards) - please write me letters! I can't wait to write people... you can send notes to 1355 Lake Shore Dr, Branson, MO, 65615.
I will miss everyone, but am excited to return to the place that was my summer home for five years as a kid...
xo!
bannejo
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
in bloom (a post from the dallas arboretum)
Kids are running around everywhere - it's field trip day... what I'd give to be able to relive my childhood and appreciate it. Maybe, though, that's how it's supposed to be - you don't realize how good it is until it's gone.
Rode my bike here - first around White Rock Lake and then stopped to smell the flowers (literally). I reminisced when I took a gander at the Beatrix Potter flower display/tribute... Mrs. Tiggle-Winkle, Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tittlemouse. I remember all those books (and hope we still have them somewhere).
One part of the Beatrix Potter tribute. IP studs could tell me what rights a TM grants you...
Flowers and butterflies are the key ingredients to the Dallas Arboretum...
Picturesque Pond
I finally found a semi-quiet spot in the midst of all the joyful/screaming children. I love going and exploring the dirt/gravel paths here... something about the unpaved road. One of my favorite things is the crunch of gravel beneath my footsteps. It reminds me of simple times, Texas ranches, camp. I want to record that sound for a song someday.
On another note, i almost ran over a squirrel riding my bike around White Rock. I think that probably would've sent me flying and hurt me more than the squirrel.
x
feelin' dannedy
Rode my bike here - first around White Rock Lake and then stopped to smell the flowers (literally). I reminisced when I took a gander at the Beatrix Potter flower display/tribute... Mrs. Tiggle-Winkle, Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tittlemouse. I remember all those books (and hope we still have them somewhere).
One part of the Beatrix Potter tribute. IP studs could tell me what rights a TM grants you... 
Flowers and butterflies are the key ingredients to the Dallas Arboretum...
Picturesque PondI finally found a semi-quiet spot in the midst of all the joyful/screaming children. I love going and exploring the dirt/gravel paths here... something about the unpaved road. One of my favorite things is the crunch of gravel beneath my footsteps. It reminds me of simple times, Texas ranches, camp. I want to record that sound for a song someday.
On another note, i almost ran over a squirrel riding my bike around White Rock. I think that probably would've sent me flying and hurt me more than the squirrel.
x
feelin' dannedy
Sunday, May 9, 2010
over: a long post for short year
If there's one cliche that has a lot of truth to it - it's that one piece of advice we've all heard a million times: "expect the unexpected." Right now, I'm sitting on a roll-away bed in a hotel room while my parents watch CNN shortly after moving out of my dorm. Room 514 of Wright Hall is empty, the door is bare (I took the name tags the RA put on it for sentimental reasons), and the keys are gone. Freshman year has come to an end, and summer is here.
When my last final crept up on me and I finally had to head to Biology at five o'clock last Friday, I couldn't believe it was over. And I was sad to think that I would be saying farewell to Belmont, Nashville, and friends from around the country just a few hours later. Summer didn't have the same "ring" to it and I didn't get that feeling of excitement that had taken over my entire brain, body, and central nervous system in years past. Essentially, I'd be saying goodbye to a new life I had created in the last nine months in Nashville and to a time of life that I'd never experience again - freshman year of college.
Now this is starting to sound cheesy, but I don't really care. Never again will we be 18-year-olds heading off to a new place to:
1) learn things we genuinely care about (provided that one's major pertains to what one loves),
2) start taking care of ourselves for the first time (...with the help of our parents wallets),
3) establish a complete new network of friends whom you have no prior background knowledge about (well, I didn't know anyone at Belmont before I came), and
4) ultimately begin to find out who you are personally (without mom and dad breathing down our necks).
When I said "expect the unexpected," I spoke from experience. I had no clue what I was getting into when I decided to go to Belmont. I had applied to the place on a whim (after I had found the school on Google), visited for the first time after I had been accepted, and enrolled in late April when the May 1st deadline was approaching and I decided that I had felt slightly more comfortable on Belmont's campus in comparison to the other nine schools I had applied to.
Considering these things, I'm glad Belmont was right. And for reasons unexpected.
I didn't expect to find such a good friend in my roommate. Although we had requested to be each others' roommates, we had only met once before school started. I think we both agree now that we had completely erroneous perceptions of each others' personalities before we moved in. Considering that, we worked pretty well. From late night conversations (she was good at telling when I had something on my mind) to spontaneous dance parties, no one could ever replace Molly.
I didn't expect to forge such solid friendships early on. I remember leaving town one weekend in mid-September and missing everyone so much after being gone for just a couple of days. When I got back and Jane and Molly Selbs sprinted to give me a welcome back hug, it felt as if I was seeing them for the first time in months, when in actuality I had only known them for less than a month. Now I feel like I've known everyone for years when I've only known them for nine months.
I didn't expect to have so many friends from Texas. But I also didn't expect to have friends from so many other places as well - Ohio, Georgia, California, and even Canada... just to name a few. I didn't expect to spend time with friends in so many different places outside of Nashville, either... from some random state park off I-40E (for a spontaneous camping trip one night) all the way to the Big Apple (for a three day weekend celebration).
In addition to these great things, I found a great church in a matter of weeks and classes went very well. I had the chance to enjoy a good number of concerts and experience a lot of what Nashville had to offer. But there were also some unexpected hard-times this year - I struggled with division between various friends and my roommate leaving Belmont. Very recently, Nashville was devastated by a disastrous flood (although I personally was not affected, the city and its population will be recovering for years to come). On a less serious note, I didn't expect Miley Cyrus to be my first celebrity sighting... how disappointing.
All things considered, Belmont was an adjustment - but a relatively easy one at that. I can't believe the year's over. I'm already missing everyone. But instead of looking back, like I've done in this ridiculously long post, I'm looking forward to a summer of growth - I'm excited to work at Kanakuk, to spend time with friends from home, to travel, to invest more time in my hobbies, and to enjoy simple pleasures.
love,
flat anneley (take me with you on your adventures)
When my last final crept up on me and I finally had to head to Biology at five o'clock last Friday, I couldn't believe it was over. And I was sad to think that I would be saying farewell to Belmont, Nashville, and friends from around the country just a few hours later. Summer didn't have the same "ring" to it and I didn't get that feeling of excitement that had taken over my entire brain, body, and central nervous system in years past. Essentially, I'd be saying goodbye to a new life I had created in the last nine months in Nashville and to a time of life that I'd never experience again - freshman year of college.
Now this is starting to sound cheesy, but I don't really care. Never again will we be 18-year-olds heading off to a new place to:
1) learn things we genuinely care about (provided that one's major pertains to what one loves),
2) start taking care of ourselves for the first time (...with the help of our parents wallets),
3) establish a complete new network of friends whom you have no prior background knowledge about (well, I didn't know anyone at Belmont before I came), and
4) ultimately begin to find out who you are personally (without mom and dad breathing down our necks).
When I said "expect the unexpected," I spoke from experience. I had no clue what I was getting into when I decided to go to Belmont. I had applied to the place on a whim (after I had found the school on Google), visited for the first time after I had been accepted, and enrolled in late April when the May 1st deadline was approaching and I decided that I had felt slightly more comfortable on Belmont's campus in comparison to the other nine schools I had applied to.
Considering these things, I'm glad Belmont was right. And for reasons unexpected.
I didn't expect to find such a good friend in my roommate. Although we had requested to be each others' roommates, we had only met once before school started. I think we both agree now that we had completely erroneous perceptions of each others' personalities before we moved in. Considering that, we worked pretty well. From late night conversations (she was good at telling when I had something on my mind) to spontaneous dance parties, no one could ever replace Molly.
I didn't expect to forge such solid friendships early on. I remember leaving town one weekend in mid-September and missing everyone so much after being gone for just a couple of days. When I got back and Jane and Molly Selbs sprinted to give me a welcome back hug, it felt as if I was seeing them for the first time in months, when in actuality I had only known them for less than a month. Now I feel like I've known everyone for years when I've only known them for nine months.
I didn't expect to have so many friends from Texas. But I also didn't expect to have friends from so many other places as well - Ohio, Georgia, California, and even Canada... just to name a few. I didn't expect to spend time with friends in so many different places outside of Nashville, either... from some random state park off I-40E (for a spontaneous camping trip one night) all the way to the Big Apple (for a three day weekend celebration).
In addition to these great things, I found a great church in a matter of weeks and classes went very well. I had the chance to enjoy a good number of concerts and experience a lot of what Nashville had to offer. But there were also some unexpected hard-times this year - I struggled with division between various friends and my roommate leaving Belmont. Very recently, Nashville was devastated by a disastrous flood (although I personally was not affected, the city and its population will be recovering for years to come). On a less serious note, I didn't expect Miley Cyrus to be my first celebrity sighting... how disappointing.
All things considered, Belmont was an adjustment - but a relatively easy one at that. I can't believe the year's over. I'm already missing everyone. But instead of looking back, like I've done in this ridiculously long post, I'm looking forward to a summer of growth - I'm excited to work at Kanakuk, to spend time with friends from home, to travel, to invest more time in my hobbies, and to enjoy simple pleasures.
love,
flat anneley (take me with you on your adventures)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
living now
I've been pretty bad at updating this blog weekly (which was my original goal at the beginning of the semester) mainly because 1) I haven't been making time for it and 2) I haven't thought of interesting things to blog about.
When this week came about (last week of school), it was my intention to blog a sort of "recap" on the whole year. Freshman year has definitely been a whirlwind and lots of things in my life have changed - but the idea of writing a 'recap' and how I've changed, etc, got me thinking... how much time do we spend dwelling on the past? That is, remembering the good times and trying to forget the bad?
Think about it. A lot of this here blog just recaps past events. I was going to recap my entire year in this post, but decided not to (maybe in a couple weeks when I have more time to think about it). We all post photo albums and comment on them. We quote inside jokes from the 'good times.' When we have nothing to talk about with friends, we ask them what they did that day or how their week has been.
At the same time, we try to block out all the bad memories. I just got a gig as a photographer for a camp this summer, and when I was talking to my mom, she said "Just don't tell them about that time you dropped the camera at the middle school dance!" Horrible memories rushed to my head. I had blocked that night from my mind, and when she brought it up, I remembered it vividly - dropping the school camera, bawling my eyes out, having to explain to my yearbook teacher what happened. I hated that I remembered it and never wanted to think about it again. Even now, when it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, I don't want to think about it.
I don't really know what to think about this whole concept - people always say to "live in the present" when so much of our lives depends on what we've already done. What if we started anew everyday?
Just food for thought.
x
anne
When this week came about (last week of school), it was my intention to blog a sort of "recap" on the whole year. Freshman year has definitely been a whirlwind and lots of things in my life have changed - but the idea of writing a 'recap' and how I've changed, etc, got me thinking... how much time do we spend dwelling on the past? That is, remembering the good times and trying to forget the bad?
Think about it. A lot of this here blog just recaps past events. I was going to recap my entire year in this post, but decided not to (maybe in a couple weeks when I have more time to think about it). We all post photo albums and comment on them. We quote inside jokes from the 'good times.' When we have nothing to talk about with friends, we ask them what they did that day or how their week has been.
At the same time, we try to block out all the bad memories. I just got a gig as a photographer for a camp this summer, and when I was talking to my mom, she said "Just don't tell them about that time you dropped the camera at the middle school dance!" Horrible memories rushed to my head. I had blocked that night from my mind, and when she brought it up, I remembered it vividly - dropping the school camera, bawling my eyes out, having to explain to my yearbook teacher what happened. I hated that I remembered it and never wanted to think about it again. Even now, when it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, I don't want to think about it.
I don't really know what to think about this whole concept - people always say to "live in the present" when so much of our lives depends on what we've already done. What if we started anew everyday?
Just food for thought.
x
anne
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