I know, I know, it's been ages since I've written. I know you all have been anxiously been checking my blog once or twice daily to see how everything went. Well here's a brief recap.

Scott actually made his connecting flight in Chicago but I didn't know for sure so Amanda and I waited at the airport only half expecting to see him. Actually, not expecting to see him. I was freaking out. But he arrived and I was so excited and we hugged and made the cute older Oklahoman lady cry. She was touched.

Everything's been fun so far. Scott is so nice to me. He's so good with all my friends and my parents and my brother and he's making this a really good trip. I dreamed last night that he left and when I woke up this morning I was relieved he was still here. I got up and went to the living room to wake him up and tell him so. And he wasn't even annoyed. (It was a little early.)

I know this is short and I could tell all sorts of stories but we're on our way to Graceland in a few hours so I have to go pretty up my hair and pack my bag. More on this story at eleven.

Well I had a merry Christmas. Got lots of kitchenware. In fact, I don't think I got much of anything else... A shirt, a blanket, and kitchenware.

Lots of it.

I hope my dear readers also had good Christmasses/Hanukkahs/etc. May you all get more kitchenware.

Love,
Lori

PS. My darling will be here in approximately 48 hours.

But then again, he's so wonderful.

Having a boyfriend in another country is risky business.

I'm scared out of my wits today.

Choices, Choices

It's a winter break Saturday and I have so much I want to do. I want to clean the house. I want to write poetry. But most of all, I want to read books.

But there are so many books I want to read. So far this morning I have started three different books and couldn't settle with a one because I wanted to read so many more. I'm torn between meaningless fiction and quirky poetry and classic short stories and theological treatises and Christian Living... I want to read James Tate's Shroud of the Gnome and James Joyce's Dubliners and Voltaire's Candide and Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories and C.S. Lewis's Four Loves... I don't have enough time to read all the books I want to read before school picks back up, and I'm forced to read Hamlet for the millionth time and Beowulf again...

I can't wait to graduate and start reading all the books I've collected over the past four years that I've been unable to read.

Today at work is party day, like in elementary school when it was the last day of school before Christmas and all the mothers brought in snacks and you had a party day and you cleaned out your desk and didn't have to do any work, you just got to bounce in your seat til it was lunchtime and after lunch time you ate lots of snacks like cupcakes and candy and juice and cookies. Today at work is like grown-up version of that with all kinds of grownup snacks like cheese spread and cheesecake and a vegetable tray and crackers and truffles. Yummmm... Yeah for Christmas food!

Dean's List

I made all A's!!!!!!!!

I have a 4.0 for the semester!!!!

Jesus is so incredible!!!!!

I get a letter from the Dean and from the Chancellor to put on the fridge!!!!!!

I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!


[Edit]- Just for the record, my three Shakespeare test grades are as follows:
Test 1: A- - -
Test 2: B (+)
Test 3: A-/B+
A professor who gives grades that descriptively is a professor I'd take again.

I found this article from a friend's blog. I think this is right on. Calvinist ideas are tough to accept and even tougher to convince others of. Since I'm so inadequate in my understanding, I'm always pleased to find someone who knows what he/she is talking about.

All right, last time I kicked ass with an awesome 3.9 on this picture:


I'm setting my sights a little higher. Let's see if this hot photo is hot or not. (May take a day to load. Come back again and revote for me if it's not up. And then come back again and keep voting over and over.)

Twice this past week God has blessed me out of a grumpy state.

Last Friday a group from my office went to the nursing home to sing Christmas carols to the people living there and to deliver presents. I woke up from a nap grumpy and needing to leave. I had my Shakespeare test the next day, and I needed to study but I'd already committed to this. I was grumpy with my roommates about it and not looking forward to it all. I went with a bad attitude, but God blessed me anyway. Seeing the look on those people's faces when we sang and their eyes lighting up when they got presents filled me with joy. One lady in particular captured my heart. She is a very alert old lady who's family lives in New York. She doesn't get many visitors or Christmas presents. We asked if she'd like us to help her open her presents. She said no, she just wanted to look at them for a while. My heart broke for her as well as welled up with love. I left feeling so happy that I'd gone and feeling such joy for lighting up a few lonely lives.

The next morning I had to wake up at 5:30 for my final. (See a few posts down for picture.) I was so grumpy and mad that the snow hadn't canceled school and that I had to go take this test I was not ready for. I found it appalling that I had to be out and about at such an early hour. But again, God blessed me. Driving through the snow at the break of dawn was the most beautiful thing I'd experienced in a long time. The sky was the lightest gray as the sun slowly came over the horizon. Everything was white. It felt holy. I listen to hymns a lot in my car and one particular hymn was playing as I drove to school. Morning has broken like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, praise for them springing fresh from the Word... I felt so at peace with the Lord and so blessed for all the beauty of the world he made for us, thankful for snow, thankful for Him, thankful for this early morning drive through creation. Praise with elation, praise every morning God's recreation of a new day.