Getting Crafty!

I've recently gone on a jewelry making binge! Here are some of my creations:

See more here!

Blissfully Not Busy

I'm the kind of person who loves being on the go, thus I pack my school schedule with everything I possibly can. With a full course load, extra dance classes, and as many clubs and extracurriculars I can fit in, somehow I manage to get everything done, and digest anything life throws at me with a smile. Yet, when I got home one week ago I faced a new predicament: I had nothing to do. Slowly but surely I filled my schedule with organizing my room, seeing friends, movies with Mom, and sharing books with my brothers. I admit, I forgot how enjoyable relaxing can be!

my summer reading list 

However since I can't stand sitting still, I prefer having a to do list of relaxing activities.
Here is part of my to do list for the next few weeks:
--Read all those books I'm to tired to read during the school year
--Organize the attic!
--Do something great for Father's day
--Reunite with my high school friends
--Bake something delicious for my family
--Cook myself yummy vegetarian foods
--Fix the sewing machine
--Sew something
--Work on my screenplay
--Find more pieces to complete my tea set

thats all for now, but I'm sure I'll find more things to fill my current blissfully not busy schedule!

New Etsy Listing

I listed a new item on etsy this morning!

Check it out here!

Horrors we hide

Horrors we hide

"Would Americans eat less meat, and would animals be treated more humanely, if slaughterhouses were made with glass walls and we all could see the monstrous killing apparatus at work?"


Would we buy goods made from slavery if we knew the individuals who made them?


Would we look a child in the eye and say, your pain is worth my cheap $12 dress from Forever21?


We don't even have to close our eyes or turn our backs, society does that for us by hiding atrocities with glamourous products, and delicious foods. 

Dance

"Dance is bigger than the physical body. Think bigger than that. When you extend your arm, it doesn't stop at the end of your fingers, because you're dancing bigger than that: you're dancing spirit." -Judith Jamison

Eggs, Birth, and Life

I recently happened upon on a nest of robin's eggs, and am now determined to watch these little birdies hatch. I've been visiting the nest every day, and am hoping they'll be ready to experience life outside the shell sometime next week. 

How cool will it be to witness new life be brought into this world? 

This is something I've yet to experience, but I realized that an even more profound experience, must be bringing that new life into the world oneself.  I'm not a mother yet, I have no idea what it will be like to give birth, but the concept of the way humans (and animals) create new life fascinates me. Isn't it amazing what our bodies can do? Isn't it awesome that we don't have to think about it? Our bodies take care of everything themselves. Or as I believe, God takes care of everything. 

Life is such a miracle. I was sharing my thoughts on birth, bird eggs, and babies with some friends in the dining hall, when one of the women who works in the dining hall turned around and shared a remarkable story with me. When she was 17, she was told that she would never have children. She accepted that this is the way it would be, and eventually married a man with two children from a previous marriage. When she was 27 she felt sick often, but didn't think much of it, until one day it was particularly bad and she decided to go to the doctor. He told her she was 6 months pregnant! She barely gained any weight, but the baby was born perfectly healthy three months later! Almost exactly a year earlier, her father had passed away, so she says the birth of her son was God's way of giving her new life in exchange for the life he had taken away. 

Life is precious, birth is beautiful. Its such a wonderful gift that we have the capacity to share in the creation of life. I know I'm probably romanticizing it a bit. I can't quite fathom the pain that is also associated with birth. Yet, I think the pain is a gift too. The deepest part of love is the willingness to suffer, to sacrifice, and still love unconditionally. God planned that part out too. 

As much as I look forward to a future involving my own motherhood, for now I'm completely satisfied waiting for Mama Robin's baby birds to hatch. 

Do not what is evil. Do what is good. Keep your mind pure. This is the teaching. -Buddha