things got worse, then things got better.

i still miss the details, but it turns out i'm not the one, you'd think at a private university they'd actually have their crap together and do things to actually help their students. instead, i'm caught off guard like a freshman.

Friday, I decided to take the day off after the week i'd had... good thing too because while on duty, some people in my building decided to smoke something they shouldn't which resulted in an administrative search... how humiliating, to have some guy go through everything you own. I was embarrassed just watching. I felt pity for them and sadness. We found drug paraphenalia (which the officer had to tell me what it all was, i had no idea...) and just random pills after random pills. Their parents are spending 35,000 on their education and their wasting time on recreational drugs. I don't get it... People make such bad choices.

After the search was over, I was called down to the lobby because a kid was passed out in the lobby and not responding. We got him standing eventually... he had no idea how he'd gotten in the building and couldn't tell us where he lived at first. His shirt was a mess, people had written in marker all over him, and shaving cream on his face and he kept asking about a nonexistant sweater... is this a good night? or is this humiliating? I wouldn't let him leave until the 4-RIDE van came to take him home. He thanked me when he left, a lot of people probably wouldn't.

It's not a matter of judging these people. it's just knowing that they could do better. It's about worrying about people you don't even know and what happens to them and showing kindness when they may not ever remember.

life lessons, life lessons.

hopefully tonight isn't as crazy though.

i need prayer.

i need to get my priorities in order and somehow they unintentionally haven't been.

i need to pay attention. i miss things that everyone seems to get. i keep screwing up and thankfully no one has seemed to notice so far.

i just realized today that i need to register for classes tomorrow.

i kept forgetting to set up interview appointments for site-placement next semester. i pray that i get one. i pray that i get one that will be encouraging. i pray that i don't come off like the complete idiot that i feel like.

i am completely lost in the whole court/arbitration/ lawsuit stuff with K.C. Jewelry... i want to say 'screw it' because the money doesn't matter... but i can't keep being taken advantage of.

i feel really lost right now. i need someone to take care of me. i can't seem to get it together and do it all myself....

weekend in summary....

well, I called Christie and James at 11:00 on Friday night and was really disappointed when James told me they were only like an hour or something out of Richmond, because that meant they we definitely not going to make it before like 1. So at 11:30 when there was a knock on my door Christie was NOT who I expected to see. Turns out James is a big liar (but we knew this) and was actually in DC when I called. It was a very good surprize.

After we parked their car and unloaded their stuff into my apartment, I took them on a secret adventure and didn't let them know what was up until we got off the metro. Soooo, we toured the monuments at night, which I'd heard was really cool. (Technically I heard it was really cool when you're drunk, but as that i don't really. well. get drunk. i thought we'd just go anyways.) So at like two in the morning we're on the mall, looking at how freaking huge the Washington Monument really is. Fun thing to try: if you sit at the base of it, with your legs up against the monument, it looks really really really amazing. We also went through the Lincoln Memorial, WWII memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Wall. End result: it looks really cool at night when you AREN"T drunk as well. And it isn't crowded.

Then at three in the morning we made macaroni and cheese. Because, well... it's delicious anytime, but especially after walking around DC late at night.

Saturday we got up kind of early and Christie and I made breakfast (cinnamon pancakes, hashbrowns and bacon) proving once again that we would make fabulous wives. At least to James. After breakfast we headed to the zoo, which is free. And we made friends with a giraffe. And managed to locate all the animals from Matagascar (well, except the penguins. but we found a pciture of a penguin, so it totally counts.)

after the zoo we met Mary for lunch in Dupont Circle and ate at a very cute French cafe. We saw a man peeing in a urinal (poor door placement) and made a video with the whole crawfish adorning Christie's lunch. I went with a vegetarian dish even though James told me I needed to eat protein and was very happy that I couldn't have a conversation with anything that ended up on my plate.

After lunch we went back over towards the Capitol for some museuming... we ended up going to the National Museum of Art but really barely had time to see much of anything before it closed. Once james gets the museum as his house though, we'll ahve plenty of time. Since we got kicked out of the museums, we headed out to the mall to see the Capitol Building. It was really nice and we got to see the sunset over the Capitol Building and Washington Monument. James got icecream adn i got rocks in my shoes. Even though the three of us were pretty tired from walking about 10 miles in one day, Turkey ball was invented. And it's the best way to waste time walking to a metro station.

the metro is fun. except when you get yelled at for swinging on the poles. But thats what they're THERE FOR, geez.

Saturday night I took Christie and James out to Georgetown... M street is full of cute stores and trendy restraunts... Christie and I tried to go shopping but we forgot James was a boy... We actually randomly found this mall built into the ground or something that was really amazing... We got icecream at Ben and Jerry's which was horribly overpriced but so is everything here. We walked up next to the canal, which I'd also heard was really pretty at night, which it was but was nothing compared to the monuments. We ended up near the Watergate and hit up the Safeway underneath it to get some food for breakfast in the morning.

We came back to my apartment sort of early. I tried to get James to dance to Shania Twain but he woundlt (but i could tell he wanted to.) And we tried to watch Donnie Darko but we all passed out way before it ended...

This morning I woke up early to shower (as there were three of us who had to get ready) and christie started harrassing me after i got out of the shower about making the muffins for breakfast and how she couldnt find the measuring cups... when i finally get out of the bathroom 'ice Cream and Cake' starts playing adn there sit Christie and James with 24 donut holes each with a flaming candle stuck in it. Oh my friends, so sneaky. Turns out Christie had gotten them at safeway without me noticing. I'm beginning to think I'm bad at picking up on things.

James made huge muffins and i accidently burnt them because i forgot to take them out while he was in the shower. They were TOTALLY still edible though. We all went to church at Capitol Hill Baptist and were only like ten minutes late. Christie and James wanted to see the White House so we metro-ed over and tried to find the snipers on the roof, we walked a bazillion miles to the Chipotle near my apartment and got huge burritos (burrithippos) that were very good but definitely not Flaming Amy's. By the time we got back to my apartment and their 3pm departure time was delayed by the fact that we all fell into our beds and had one of the most glorious full-belly/exhaustion naps ever. They finally headed out around 4:30 or so.


It was a good weekend. I couldnt have asked for a better birthday weekend. mostly I was just glad to see my friends and get to share the city with them. its a really fun place when you're not here by yourself. i've gotten tons of telephone calls, text messages, IMs, facebook wallings and emails all wishing me a very happy birthday and i can say without hestition...

it was.


-meredith*

this week is FINALLY over.

monday, I had a presentation on Jeff Koons for my painting studio.
tuesday, I had a 3-5 page paper due on defense mechanisms
thursday, I had a 10-15 page research paper due on scribbling (yes. scribbling.)

needless to say, it was a BIT stressful.

but last night I went to class at 7, turned in my paper, and left halfway through class to go see Thrice and Underoath play at the 9:30 club. I was a little nervous going by myself. but it all went well. because i'm lazy, i'm just going to put up what i wrote in my away message to summarize:

well, i left class halfway through and maybe no one noticed? Found the club without a problem thanks to a very nice homeless man who escorted me there for all the change I had in my pocket. Show was amazing. Leaving was kind of hilarious, at least 80 punk kids all on the same metro. Eavesdropping on conversations today proves that highschool kids are idiots. And I saw not one but TWO of 'those guys' sitting next to me that wore the shirt of the band they went to see. Nice move. Walked back to my dorm (un-mugged) behind what can only be described as a gaggle of nine gay guys. At one point, two started skipping ahead Wizard-of-Oz style... and the response by one of the gaggle was "Are they TRYING to be a victim of a hate crime?" And I laughed quietly and unhomophobically to myself.

and that was my night.

as it is now Friday, i can FINALLY relax. I've been looking forward to cleaning my room all week (crazy, huh). i'm going to do laundry. and i have groceries being delivered (i love the city)... and OH YEAH... Christie and James are coming tonight to spend my birthday weekend with me. i knew there was another reason i was excited ;)

i'm sure there will be stories and pcitures to follow.

till then, mere*

sometimes, words just don't work.


amazing friends. amazing God. perfect timing.

-meredith*

wow. where to start.

1) its amazing how well my mom and I get along when we aren't living together.
2) i love target. i spent a lot of money there this weekend.
3) i like showing up unexpectly in places and seeing people's reactions. like afterschool programs.
4)panera+cranium+cookout+stupid videogames+ sleepover is a recipe for a fun night that will last until 4am.
5)my brother and sister are cuter than yours.
6) Meg & Josh are married. and. it was an amazingly biblical ceremony. i think my favorite part was when Chip offered the charge of the husband and then told him to go 'recieve his bride'. How i managed not to cry, I don't know. Music was incredible. Message was incredible. I want to get married just so I can have one.
7)Meg, if you read this... um. I'm stealing the idea of using 'Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee' as recessional music... best ever. Like how i'm planning my wedding and I don't even have a boyfriend?
8)The whole throwing rice/birdseed has turned into a sick practice of pelting the bride and groom quite viciously... I'm using bubbles.
9)Will makes me laugh even when he's making fun of me and I don't question our friendship (though, he might not say the same).
10) I cannot play the drums to save my life.
11) Sometimes Christie answers my questions by nodding... when i'm not in the room.
12)Stay is a very strange movie and I still don't know what happened. But it was a very pretty film adn i recomend it.
13) why is Phase 10 so addicting?
14) everyone should hear Cameron, James and Tyler do Tenacious D's 'Tribute to the best song in the world'.
15) Have you ever heard Cameron Lee make up a screamo song about jewish people? I have.
16) One should not drive when they've only gotten about 13 hours of sleep over the course of a weekend.
17)Know what's fun? Walking out of the metro station in Foggy Bottom and seeing Nicole Kidman just standing on the sidewalk preparing to shoot a scene.
18) Sleep deprivation gives me good ideas for paintings.
19)Naps are awesome
20)my sister Margaret has mono.
21)Group projects consume life.


That's the most concise post I could do, it was that or pages of pages of telling you how awesome my friends and family are.

("He who brings sorrow to those that love Him.")


Thursday night I didn't have class because of Yom Kippur. First time that's ever happened. But I appreciated the long weekend.

Friday night I was on duty, and I thought the night was going to be quiet as normal until I got a call at one in the morning from Nikki saying there was a part on her floor that was a little out of control. Needless to say, when I showed up over there the walls were thumping and you could hear the music throughout the floor. Long story short, the guys there were beligerent and indignant and made the whole think a lot more complicated than it needed to be if they'd have just let us do our thing. Instead, they made it difficult not one but FIVE university police officers showed up, two people were banned from campus and in total five people were found hiding in various uncreative spots in the apartment. It was ridiculous. Whats more ridiculous is that by the time we finished, wrote the report and I got a ride back to my building it was FOUR IN THE MORNING.

i guess this is the price i pay for free campus housing.

the rest of the weekend was mostly a mixture of sleep, studio, internet and tv movies (Paycheck, btw, with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman... not bad. Though i have hard time beleiving ol Benny to be a brilliant scientist.)

I made my mom's spaghetti sauce, whilst while delicious, has made my apartment smell like garlic all weekend.

Painting critique tomorrow and lost of homework to do for Tuesday.

meredith, out.

In Dominique's blog, she wrote a top ten list of things she wants to do before she dies.

I thought I'd make one, just to see what they'd be. I couldn't come up with ten.

-I want to have a family. I want to be a mom. I'd like to have my own kids, but if its not possible for medical reasons... then its okay because I want to adopt anyways....

-I want to go to Africa. But like, really go to Africa and help and just do something.

-I want to go tour Europe. Preferrably backpacking and staying in hostels and riding on trains and looking at the art and architecture i've seen in all my glossy-paged textbooks.

-i want to work and enjoy my job but still have time for my family and friends and making art because those things come first.

and those were the only things I could think of that really matter to me. That I think i'd be disappointed if they didn't actually happen.

i'd still like to skydive. and have someone think my artwork is good enough to put in a gallery. i'd like to help run a gallery. i want to have someone i've worked with on art have their art put in a gallery. i want to paint a mural on a brick wall in the middle of a city. i want my own ceramics studio. i want to have a garden in my backyard.

but those are silly things that might be nice, but really aren't that important.
and all those 'i want' sentences make me feel materialistic and shallow and caught up in worldly experiences.

and they really make me to want a want of nothing.

and i'm really far away from that.

-meredith*

this is a tshirt design i found on threadless. com titled "The Last Days of Summer"
i like it because it has the barn and the watertower.... because. well. it reminds me of the last few days of my summer.

-mere*

Last night I really buckled down and started writing the paper I had due today at one at...like... 10pm. And stayed up till 2:30 working on it. Then worked on it this morning from 8:30-12:30, only taking a break for a shower. So. Once again, Meredith barely made it.

Procrastination. It's like my job.

But, the paper was darn good if I do say so myself. And it was seven pages when it was supposed to be four. whoops.

So yeah, working like crazy on the paper, and then adding in class from 1-8:30 made the day really. really. crappy. I was half asleep all day and doodling was the only thing i could do to pay attention.

In Counseling, its pretty normal for us to do role plays with a partner to practice patient/therapist relationships. Well, today I got to be the patient and Corinne was my therapist. Anyways, I'm sitting there coloring and talking about whatever. So I jsut decided to play up the whole 'oh-i-just-moved-to-a-big-city-where-i-live-alone' thing... so i'm just rambling along as i'm prone to do... and i'm talking about how i'm really close to my family and how my friends are like my family... and how i'm a hugger... and how i haven't had a hug in like three weeks (which, is a lie, because my family came, but. before that it was true). But it ended up sounding really sad and pathetic and I totally didn't even mean for it too. So after class, we were all walking back to the metro(well, i was just walking home) and when it was time for Corrine to branch off she said bye... but then gave me a hug! I mean, she was joking around partly, but it was still nice and touched my heart ... silly, huh?

I walked the last few blocks home alone... BUT. I love walking thanks to my mp3 player. It's like hanging out with friends. I just rock out the whole time i'm walking. And resist very hard the urge to dance. or twirl. ok, sometimes i do twirl, but only when no one is around. I'm totally the people in the commercials whose shadows and reflections are dancing. And I wonder how people would react if i danced and sang along like i want to....

Sometimes, I get inclinations to check my mailbox. Not everyday, just some days I have an urge to check. All this week I felt like I was going to get mail.... sure enough, I checked tonight and found not one, but TWO letters. One was from Libby- who fully appreciates getting mail, especially when you're far away.... and the other from my grandmother Graham... who's letters always end up being really long and encouraging. And a check with $25 makes it even nicer.

I totally started out today in the absolute worst of moods... and in the matter of hour, I'm now just really in a wonderful mood. Totally exhausted. But. Happy. Thanks for the biscuit God, your timing is perfect.

listening currently to the new Thrice CD. They put the entire thing up on myspace for anyone to listen to. I really like it... its way different than everything else they've put out. But, in a completely awesome way. I'd read the lyrics, so I was excited to actually HEAR the album, check out these lyrics:

we're more than carbon and chemicals
free will is ours and we can't let go
we can't allow this, the quiet cull
so we sing out this, our canticle
we are the image of the invisible

we all were lost now we are found
no one can stop us or slow us down
we are all named and we are all known
we know that we'll never walk alone

They're my favorite. and christians. amazing. they make me happy.
check out the new album if you want: http://myspace.com/thrice

But yes. That's your daily update.
At least for Becky, because i don't know who else reads this because no one else leaves comments (hint, hint)

live from our nation's capitol, meredith*

ooh. blog makeover. because i'm supposed to be writing a paper.

This past Saturday, the TWINS came to visit!

Do you see my excitement? I was excited. Marie felt the need to stick out her tongue, and Ren thought eatting his rice was more important than photo opportunities in the food court of the Reagan Building.

Unfortunately, it was the first rainy weekend I've seen in D.C., and the worst rainy day we've had. So, of course, it happened to be the day my family came to visit.




Here's a nice picture of the twins in their rainy-day apparel. You missed the clear poncho that was draped over them as a rain shield. Mostly it looked like we stuck them under a plastic bag and we're breaking the first rule in every child-care handbook.

Due to the rain, my plans to take everyone to the National Zoo weren't going to work out (I'll take comeone else, hello, its FREE). So, we went to the National Aquarium instead.











Marie checking out the fish. The National Aquarium was actually the first aquarium in the US. You can tell.



The exhibits were cool though, and we saw them feed the sharks. Most importantly, the kids seemed to have a really good time.






Yay for camera phones that work in basically darkness. Marie, Ren and my dad "trying to find Nemo"










Marie and I making fish faces. Because, yes, I am twelve. And at this point they're coherent (and gullible) enough to do what I tell them too.

But only for the sake of really cute pictures, of course.

After the aquarium, the twins basically passed out in their strollers, so we (me, dad and mary) headed to the Holocaust Museum. It was really amazing, I want to go back, we got there too late to see the main exhibition. I pretty much held it together until we hit some photographs of some kids that had been euthanized for various reasons.... What's cool is that there is scripture all over the place (old testament, of course).



Deuteronomy 4:9
"Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children, and to your children's children."






After dinner, everyone headed back to North Carolina. Well. Except me. It's hard because the twins don't really understand that I live far away... Ren kept saying "See you Sunday." And they don't really grasp the 'no, you won't' part. Aside from when Dana and Emily helped move me up here, no one has been to visit yet. The difference is that when I visit North Carolina and then leave, i'm occupied with driving back and all that... but when people come here, they leave and its really really obvious that I'm alone. And that's the hard part. I'm glad they came, don't doubt that... its been a long three weeks.... but i wish they could've stayed longer.

Two weeks though until I head home for Meg's wedding, so I suppose I'll survive :)

That's more than enough for now. -mere*

I really like Thursdays, in general. The one class i have is really... fun. Maybe because its just one class, and we're all a little crazy since its so late at night... and out professor is the ONLY GUY in the entire apartment. And he's hilarious.

and we always go to a movie afterwards. (we being me, Vanessa and Mary. And usually other random people- tongiht Allison and Chandra came along too)

and we saw MURDERBALL tonight. um... amazing

i was really excited about it and it definitely wasn't dispppointing. If you don't know- quadriplegics playing rugby. in like. armored wheelchairs.

absolutely amazing. and really funny.

it reminded me about how much i LOVE documentaries. and really made me want to watch Spellbound again (documentary on the Spelling Bee. Probably one of my favorite things.)

Tomorrow is Firday. Good times. Should Probably use it to get ahead on school work. And clean my room. which is super boring.

but.

SATURDAY, my dad, mary adn the TWINS are coming for the day.... so i'm really excited. It's been three weeks since i've seen anyone. No clue what we'll end up doing but i'm sure pictures will be involved!

have a good one! mere*

I got a shout out in Becky's blog. She's the amazing one I talk about who's in Argentina and getting married in December. I like to read about her Argentinian adventures, we also have conversation via our comments, which amkes me laugh.

in other news, its like 1 in the morning. and i have like eight things due tomorrow. and i've been home since three.

tell me again why i'm in grad school? i think i forgot that i'm not really good at school, and that my last few semesters of undergrad were ART STUDIOS. dangit.

um. this is a fun passage from "Self Reliance" by Emerson. You read it in high school. You were just too dumb to understand it then, I was too. But now you get it. Read it. You'll feel smarter.


To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility … when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each or us represents…but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

These are the voices we which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its member. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is it’s aversion. [Conformity] loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness.
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life. may serve as the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find people who think they know what is your duty better that you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character.
The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loathe to disappoint them.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. ‘Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood,’ Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

night, all. -mere*

Weekend in summary...

Friday, the other CF's adn I hosted a Luau for City Hall and the Aston residents. It went over pretty well and a bunch more people than i thought ended up coming out. We had a ton of food, silly outfits and tropical decorations.

Here are the other CF's in my configuration that i've talked about:

l to r: Stephanie, Heath, Spencer, Jessica, Titi, Miki, Jeff (my old supervisor) and Nikki.

These are the first people I really met coming to GW and continue to be some of my favorites... I'm really lucky that I get to work with such fun people.

Friday night was spent basically working obsessively in my journal on this:



Saturday, I met up with Vanessa and Catherine (two girls that I know from the Art therapy department) and we climbed onto the bus and headed to Leesburg, Virginia. First, we headed to some outlet stores... ended up buying stuff i probably can't afford... but got anyways. Found a fun corderoy jacket for twenty bucks- really practical. And based on the weather we've had thus far, the more jackets i have the better. Got a black sweater too. Because. I love black sweaters. It's a problem. Found a pair of jeans too and got a vegetable peeler for a dollar fifty so my carrots can stop mocking me in my inability to eat them. At least I get paid on Friday.

Next, we headed to the Tarara Winery. Interesting fact- the owners called it Tarara because according to the story in Genesis 8 and 9; when the ark came to rest, it was on the mountains of Ararat, where Noah planted a vineyard. Ararat backwards is Tarara. Fun, huh?

Anyways, we tried ten different wines. I really don't know... well... anything about wine, so i learned a lot. I did the whole twirling and sniffing thing... felt very cultured, haha. I'd really never noticed how DIFFERENT wines taste. I really don't like red wines, as it turns out. The Cabernet Sauvignon was the only one i really didn't mind. The Pinot Gris was my favorite, but they have a dessert wine called Wild River Red that was pretty amazing too.

They took us into the cave where they age the wines, and I had fun taking pictures of the barrels, especially the vendor markings they had on them:


They showed us some of the pressing machinery (unfortunately, no Lucy-esque grape stomping):
:

And the last thing we did was take a hayride through the vineyard. Which was probably my favor part. Because, lest us not forget, I'm still five.
Unfortunately, my camera died during the heyride, so i really didn't get any pictures of the vineyard. But we really didn't stop ever, so they probably wouldn't have been that great. Would really like to be able to go to one at some point and jsut wander....

hayride picture:

Vanessa (graduated from RIT, and her family actually owns a winery in Pennsylvania)
Catherine ( was an art history major that's from Little Rock, Arkansaw)
And I'm squinty with busride/hayride hair.

Vanessa in the caves:


Overall, it was a really really fun day. Definitely exhausted when I got back. It was really the first touristy thing i've done since coming to D.C. and it was only fifteen bucks. hard to complain.

Sunday:
For some reason I started feeling really sick at like 7:30 this morning. Didn't exactly make it to church. And woke up still feeling pretty crappy. Lucky for me, both Capitol Hill Baptist and Providence put their sermons online, so I just listened to a sermon at home instead. Like church, just in pajamas ;)
links of interest:
More of my pictures of the luau/winery
Tarara Winery
CHBC sermons
Dave O & the College Class sermons

Prayer requests:
-that i feel better. being sick is nooooo fun.
-Allison is going to Vermont for an extended stay. That she gets the help she needs.
-I need to take school more seriously than I have been.
-I utilize my spare time more effectively

-meredith*

"What do you have that you did not recieve?"

i made a panoramic image of my room. so now you know where i spend. well. basically all of my time when i'm not in class.

you can click on it to make it bigger. and the bigger your browser window, the bigger it gets.

So Tyler and I were talking about how we like North Carolina.
And how we'll live there forever and forbid each other in our circle of friends to move.
And how we'll force all our our kids to be friends.

and then. I had a vision. A vision of all of us living side-by-side, back-to-back. and having...

ONE. GINOURMOUS. BACK. YARD.

So. I did what any normal person would do. I made a picture of it in MS Paint.

(Click image to enlarge.)

everytime i think i'm being all grown-up and mature and whatnot, I catch myself doing something like the following:

I've been avoiding doing dishes lately, for whatever reason, and after this morning's french-toast making adventure, there was a fairly good stack of precariously placed dishes in my sink. But, as it turns out, they were stacked in such a way to make a pretty good fountain. Made a few modifications, and probably spent like five or ten minutes playing with my "fountain." Oh. But i forgot to mention the egg-shell boats I had floating around as well.

see for yourself.


i have the amusement level of an eight-year old.

You scored as Martin Luther. The daddy of the Reformation. You are opposed to any Catholic ideas of works-salvation and see the scriptures as being primarily authoritative. Martin Luther 87% Anselm 87% John Calvin 73% Karl Barth 67% Friedrich Schleiermacher 67% Charles Finney 47% Paul Tillich 47% Jonathan Edwards 33% Augustine 20% J�rgen Moltmann 20% Which theologian are you? take the quiz and leave a comment telling me who you are!

i could tell you about my weekend, but it was embarrassingly boring, so i'd rather not talk about it.

Reading Dom's blog however, found this link to a website that would give you the meaning of your name, adn some attributes people with that name might idealistically have.

so here is me:

Meredith

Protector from the sea : Welsh

Your charming, witty and vibrant personality ensures your popularity and usually places you at the centre of activities. You also have a determined will and capacity for leadership which often places you in positions of authority. Your generous, humanitarian and idealistic nature gives you a desire to work towards goals which will be of benefit to everyone. Material and emotional success are a natural result of your endeavours.

and then I started looking up some of my friends and family. Here is Christie:

Christie

Bearing Christ : Greek

Your charming, witty and vibrant personality ensures your popularity and usually places you at the centre of activities. You also have a determined will and capacity for leadership which often places you in positions of authority. Your generous, humanitarian and idealistic nature gives you a desire to work towards goals which will be of benefit to everyone. Material and emotional success are a natural result of your endeavours.

My, my. How. Familiar. Every other name I tried I got something totally different. I just thought it was pretty awesome that we got the same thing. Since we basically share a brain anyways. Dominique didn't like hers, but i tried some and thought I got some pretty accurate descriptions (Christie, Danielle, James, Andrew, Will, Kat...) Though some really didn't fit.

I was humored. Humor yourself: http://www.bostonuk.com/names/

All my art therapy classes take place in the same room. I made a diagram for you guys. 1) because i was bored 2) because i KNOW you want a mental image of where i am for eight hours on Tuesdays and 3) Because it's sort of relevant to the story I'm going to tell. Without further ado, the diagram:
The red dot is me. The black dot is everyone else and the U shaped thing are tables. The black squares are closets full of art supplies, and the brown rectanges are various tables, shelves and storage. The brown square is a podium and the light blue rectange is a sink. Most importantly, the dark blue square is the AIR CONDITIONER.

So. My professor comes up to chat with me and the girl next to me (Corrinne, if it matters) and points out how our hair, papers, etc are falling victim to the A.C. unit directly behind us. I however, admit that i really like sitting in front of the airconditioner. I bring my sweater, hoodie, etc and vie for a spot. Partially because its in the back and i can see everything, and two, because of the aforementioned coveted airconditioner. (Coveted for me at least, some people hate it.) So, after mentioning that i like it, and also happening to mention that I have a fan that blows on my at my desk/bed in my room, Anne (my professor) askes if I've ever heard of 'haptic people,' because I might be one. I hadn't, and assume you haven't, so here we go:

hap·tic ( 'hap-tik )
adjective
1: realting to or based on the sense of touch (the haptic mode of perception)
2: characterized by a predilection for the sense of touch (a haptic person)

Earlier in the class, we had been discussing relaxation techniques. I mentioned that when i was stressed, I'll shower and pay close attention to the water so everything else just kind of tunes out. It really works, for me anyways.

So, between the shower comment and the airconditioning comment, she pointed out that I might just be a haptic person.

Which really explains a lot. The fact that I really can't sleep without a fan. Or sit in a car without some sort of air movement. Why I like hugs so much. And touch people when I talk. Or why when I was little I abhored clothes that were itchy or otherwise uncomfortable.

I'M NOT A FREAK! THESE PEOPLE EXIST! THE DICTIONARY SAYS SO!

And that was the revelation uncovered on Tuesday. Thought I'd share.

-meredith*

Was scattered through Romans this morning, and came upon this:

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope."
-Romans 15: 1-4

And it seemed really relevant to stuff happening this week. But before I really could think about it, my mind made me think of my friend Becky. For those of you that don't know the fair Miss. Brewer (I shall continue to use this name until December), its really unfortunate. I could talk about how wonderful she is, and the amazing things she's been doing in Argentina. But mostly I wish you knew the kind of heart Becky has, and how, so often I wish I thought about people the same way she does. And how, a few years ago I really needed a push in the right direction she was there, loving me enough to help me through it and helping me too see my own error. And that's just amazing.

I think its interesting that when I reading scripture at first, I felt like I could put myself in the position of the strong... but then, not of my own volition, I was reminded that I was once the weak. Oh perspective.

reproach is an interesting word.

re·proach
tr.v. re·proached, re·proach·ing, re·proach·es

1. To express disapproval of, criticism of, or disappointment in (someone).
   
2. To bring shame upon; disgrace.

and then i included the last verse. well. because i like that the Bible affirms itself.

and that's all I have this morning. -mere*

my sister sent this to me:
"contrary to what the cynics say, distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. it's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the ones they love. it's for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough."

apparently, it's been an 'i miss meredith' day in North Carolina. I shan't complain ;)

in other news, it seems i'd forgotten how bad i am at academia when i applied to grad school. oops. Just realized yesterday that I can say "I'm working on my Masters." Doesn't that sound fancy?

i want to take piano lessons.

my dad sent me a very unintentionally funny email about shootings and touring D.C. then told me i should start at the public library.... (Dad, if you read this, I'll do the touring thing, but only so much is free. If you want me to see the Holocaust museum, send me money. ;) )

Did you know it costs $1.25 to do a load of laundry? And that's just washing. Drying is another $1.25. I'm cost effective though and just let one load dry half the time and let it air dry the rest so I can use the dryer twice for my dolla-twenny-five.

I made a thing for Ben's website. Not because I necessarily always agree with Ben, but, i get bored easily.

ME: http://www.geocities.com/whooo1313/global.html
Christie: nice graft nerd
ME: its a GRAPH. nerd.

I love it when people try to make fun of me and it totally backfires. (Love you Christie!)

very random post. sorry. it happens.

-meredith*

after two rather regrettable, unproductive days... church was great. people. food (of both the spiritual and physical variety). amazing, pretty-much-need-to-listen-to-it-again type sermon.

one of the associate pastors at CapBab (the affectionate name for Capitol Hill Baptist Church) actually graduated from NC State and lived in Raleigh for 12 years. I get really excited about anyone from Raleigh. Actually, I get really exicited when i meet anyone from the South. Even More excited when they're from North Carolina. And basically have a very strong urge to hug anyone from Raleigh, that i usually manage to hold back.

I don't think i'm wierd though, since no one is actually FROM D.C. everyone seems to really like talking about where they're from, ESPECIALLY Southerners. And Texans. Who think of it as being the south, but its really not. Sorry Texas.

I found a dollar walking back from the metro stop to the Aston. (Christie: "you saw a walking dollar?!!!!!!" ....I found a dollar on the ground while i was walking. ugh.) I like only finding a dollar, because then i don't really feel as bad that someone else lost it. Anything really more than a dollar people might really miss, you know?

The littlest things seem to make me happy these days, just because I don't really have anything else. I had this dream that i was walking through ankle deep water. It didn't really effect me that much, it didn't make it that much harder to walk, it was just... annoying. And that's basically how I feel as of late. I mean, I'm definitely not struggling through waist deep water, and for sure not up to my neck straining for breath... but in a way I'd almost rather be in that situation. I'm used to fighting and struggling, I'm just not used to being, content. Or just 'ok'. This summer was so much fun, and I was really really really just... happy. The skipping and dancing on dry land in the metaphor. So just hanging out, without really the heights or the depths, is so... boring. And I know I shouldn't be complaining, because there's really nothing to complain about, just water lapping at my ankles reminding me there is something better.

from the Screwtape Letters: "Now it may surprize you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of the soul, He relies on the troughs even more than the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else."
-CS Lewis

updating...
The other night after class I went and watched Mr and Mrs Smith with two girls from the Art Therapy program for free at the Marvin Center. I forgot how freaking awesomet hat movie was, though, this time i was actually sitting back a number of rows and not on the first row. Which makes a big difference as it turns out... Vanessa and Mary ended up crashing in my room since the didn't know what the situation with the Metro was and they live in Virginia. So, sleepover. Good times, though it was a little awkward. I don't really know either of them all htat well, though we've hung out before and talk in class all the time. So they learned some stuff- for lack of anything else to do I showed them a bunch of pictures, including the slideshow from camp. I think they actually got the picture on why i love going home so much and why I have so many things reminding me of home around my room here. And then they discovered some kind of weird things... like i bruch my teeth in the shower, which i try to keep on the DL for at least a month or so ;)

Yesterday m0rning I was SO lucky as too be a part of the firedrills and had to report to the other side of campus by 8:45 in the morning. on a friday. when i had no classes. wearing this vest:I must say. I feel pretty cool. Especially being cursed out by the people I'd woken up. I love how people that are probably normal and rational, when sleepy become mean, belligerent people unable to see when someone is just doing their job. So I just tried to look sympathetic and apologized to the grumpy ones and continued to rock out my vest.

Spent the rest of the day with the TV on, and I think by the time i fell asleep I'd watched The Italian Job, American Psycho, something else, and Good Will Hunting. And somewhere in there I got some stuff done around the room. I talked to Allison on the phone (prayers for her) and to Christie & James on their way to Boone for the weekend to visit Ben and Elizabeth. Hope they ahve fun, but not TOO much fun since i'm not there ;)

And now its Saturday, Christie called and got me out of bed ("i miss videogames, i miss my mom") and I'm thinking I probably shouldn't repeat yesterday. So, as of 11am, I'm intending to leave my room today. Because I really need to find a hardware store and buy staples for my staple gun so I can finish contructing some canvases.

It's kind of sad then the only reasons I have for leaving is to run errands. oh well.

things are good, i'm mostly just bored. -meredith*

"Our God is present. He comes to set things right. In his very name is rescue. This is who He is. There is not a moment in human history that has eluded His gaze. There is not a second in your life that He was not around. He is unavoidable. He is inescapable. He is inevitable and undeniable. He is." -DWC

Return Journey #2...

Went home on Friday, but look the long route adn swung by ECU to pick up Margaret and her roommate from ECU. There room is tiny and looks like a freshman dorm room... We all ate lunch where Erin works, and Jeremy met us. Jeremy is hilarious. period.

Ran a gazillion errands once i got back but actually only got one of the things done I needed too, oops. Met up with Christie and Ingram (sooooo glad Christie is the one who took over with Ingram for me, so great.) And then headed over to State's Campus to meet DANIELLE AND PAUL. Paul has never been to Raleigh so we gave him a mini-tour of the old stomping grounds ("and there's the park where one time we we in the parking lot eating ice-cream and cops came and thought we were doing drugs...") It was really great getting to see Danielle, even though we only see each other like once a year adn only talk a little more than that... its nice having a friend that its like nothing ever changed and no time had passed. I shall keep her. And Paul, who FINALLY got to meet my mom. They left kind of early because they had to go to a wedding in Tennesse, which stinks that i didn't get to see them much, but some is way better than none. Afterwards headed over to James' with Christie as a surprize and hung out with James, Ty, Drew and Spencer. We read Calvin and Hobbes. Boys played videogames. Pizza was eaten. Movie was eventually watched.

Saturday I spent a godawful amount of money at Jerry's Art-a-rama (aka my favorite place with a stupid name) but less than i would've spent trying to buy them in D.C. Met Allison and Tim for lunch at Southpoint, such a fun couple. I recommend hanging out with them. Next went over to my Dad's house to see hima nd the twins. Went swimming with my Dad, my sister and the twins (Dad pointed out that he has four children. Which is twice as many as he had two years ago. And I realized that I have three brothers and sisters. Which is weird. Cause I used to only have one.) The twins are hilarious to watch and interact with. I recommend hanging out with them as well. Saturday night I met a bunch of people at Panera- if anything, being gone is great because when i DO come back, i call like everyone I know from the Y and stage get togethers that might not normally happen. Afterwards we went over to Andrew's apartment. We played some DVD/movie trivia game- red team rocked out. After that a bunch of the cool kids went outside and played hide and seek/sardines.

-time out. read that again. HIDE AND SEEK. this is why i love my friends. end time out.-

So Saturday was very fun. and busy.

Sunday I went to church and got to see Emily and Meg, and surprized them because they didnt know i was coming. which was fun. Lunch at Fat Daddy's, i spilled cheese on myself. It was very classy. Ran even more errands. Then went to Erin and Jeremy's food tasting thing for the wedding with the Morins and Smithers (plus christie). The reception hall is really pretty, and the food was good. Minus the vomit salad ("bleu cheese"). And then i went home and hung out with my mom.

And that was my weekend, I left at 6 this morning with my 200 pound suitcase (soupcase). No really. It was crammed full of $80 worth a groceries and $250 worth of art supplies. Oh, and some clothes. I about broke my arm off lugging that thing on the metro and like walking ten blocks. but nothing broke and/or exploded. awwwwe-some.

um. yep. got back with 45 minutes ebfore my painting studio. painted with oils for the first time ever, they are weird. though i mostly got the hang of it by the end.

ummm. yeah.

fun times. i love my friends and family. that is all.

-meredith*

first week of real classes this week. blah blah. good times. made a little man in class made out of twigs and masking tape. on a little romp out to Adam's Morgan with some girls from the department he was named George (Hor-hay). Without further ado, George:

um. yeah. that's about it.

but more importantly....

I'm GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND.

i like home a lot. but there's definitely a special guest this weekend, as Miss Danielle (er, whoa. Mrs.) will be in Raleigh this weekend as well, straight from Texas with her husband Paul (my best friend-in-law). So this is very exciting as I haven't seen her since I was in her wedding last December. As well, there will no doubt be quite a few cameos from some of my other near and dears throughout the weekend. As this trip shall not be tainted with any court related garbage, I'm really excited to try and cram seeing as many people as possible into what will no doubt prove to be a very short weekend.

if i don't get to spend time with you, it's not because i don't love you. it's just further evidence that YOU need to come see ME here in D.C. It's a fun city. lots to do. Plenty of floorspace to crash on. Now scheduling.

off to pack & sleep if i can (going home is like CHRISTMAS. only with friends and family instead of presents. and hugs instead of reindeer.)

mere*

"and I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with in you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
1 corinthians 2:1-5

i went exploring today. on the right is more or less the route i took. I think i was gone like two hours. it was most enjoyable. hardly anyone was out because of the holiday and most shops were closed. but it was beautiful and sunny but cool. fall is coming. I'm excited. I took some pictures, but you can't see them yet. (i'm up to something). -mc*

Actually got to go to Capitol Hill Baptist for the first time today since I moved here-- every other Sunday I've been having to do residence hall stuff.

Met up with some people to take a van to the church... definitely nice not to have to take the metro, especially after yesterday... (yesterday they just down a metro station, so i had to get off at one station, get on a shuttle, which, mid-ride, a girl literally right behind me had some sort of medical issue and had fainted. Once she got medical attention, they found us a different shuttle to take to the next station. I would've been irritated, but i was too annoyed with myself for not being able to offer more help when the girl fainted. Anyways, it took me like two and a half hours to get where I was trying to go.)

I met a bunch of nice people while waiting for the van. Once I got to the church, we were hanging out in the lobby and the pastors wife (Mrs. Mark Dever) asked if any of us were named Meredith... she was actually looking for ME. Apparently she'd had a conversation with Dana and Emily a few weeks prior and actually remembered my name. and major. and that I was a CF. I was pretty amazed, and on top of that she was telling me about allt hese people in the church that I needed to meet because they worked in fields that i might be interested in. Needless to say, I felt very welcome. adn that was the first fifteen minutes I was even there.

The service was wonderful- as expected. It's much more traditional than PBC, but i like it. The sermon was amazing, Pastor Dever is doing a series on 'The Church and Her Challanges.' Really relevant to some conversations i've been having recently. Ton of information i'm still having to wrap my head around... I took like three pages of notes i'll ahve to spend some time on tomorrow....

Spent the afternoon putting together some of the things I got at IKEA the other day... very excited, i now ahve a nice little reading corner with a bookcase full of books, a chair and a new coffeetable. My room is starting to actually... look like someone lives here. Somehow managed to visually divide the space.

Had a great conversation with Amanda-- miss her a lot. I guess distance makes you appreciate people and places that you always just took for granted.

Special prayer request- someone I love and care about is ahving a really, really hard time right now. Feeling especially helpless that I'm so far away, even though if i was in Raleigh, there really wouldn't me much more I could do. But some people there are taking care of her that I ahve absolute confidence in... Sorry to be so vague, but God'll know.

Um. yeah. final thoughts: watched the state game. haven't talked to my sister recently, whihc makes me sad. i like things that are made of metal. or are shiny. 'Meredith likes shiny objects' that's basically what I jsut admitted. Even though I really just looked at my lamp. I love lamp.

must. stop. now.

-meredith*

Tonight I had my first real class with the art therapy department. And I must say, I'm pretty excited. All through undergrad I took these psych classes full of theories, and now, they're actually being applied to ART. And it's exciting to me, because I don't have to do it myself, and all those theories translate into something real- or at least applicable, to things I care about. Already, in our first class we talked about Jung and the mandela (something I already knew) but talked about how often mandelas are created unintentionally in art especially by children.

I know 99.9 percent of you don't care. But the thing is. I DO. And so do the 17 other girls in my program.

I'm supposed to be here.

I know I keep saying that, but its so incredibly comforting knowing that there are other people with me going through the same experience and understand how exciting it is when everything (finally) clicks.

I have nothing to complain about. I miss my friends and family, but this experience is so worth it.

Pray for me, but more importantly that I continue to be so content and able to see God heaping blessings over me. Pray for my faith, that it grows stronger and fortifies in these new conditions. Continued prayer for my mission of faith within the Aston- I've, literally, encountered many shut doors... but there is a group here well equipped to change lives. Pray for the girls of the art therapy program- I'll be with the same small group of girls for the next two years. Pray for them. So many come from such diverse backgrounds, and have suffered through a lot in life and have found solace in art and see potential for it in helping others. These are souls with compassion, but good intentions are nothing without knowledge of Christ. Pray for my witness and strength of character that I can exalt Christ in my actions and relationships with each of them.

so. blessed.

-meredith*

Today at my graduate school orientation,

we..... get ready.... sat in a circle and played musical instruments. Like. drums and stuff. Exhibit A: www.drumcircle.com/ ... the thing is, i was like 'oh my... this is RIDICULOUS". But then it turned out to be really fun. I felt like Tyler with my djembe. But um, yeah, what it had to do with anything, i'm not totally sure.

Then we did random crap, like going through the handbook and meeting the higher ups....

then.... we made journals. Out of whatever paper we could find and whatever materials we wanted. And bound them and then and then... i think if this could be my job i found the right thing for me.


hurray.


and there was space in that painting studio. GLORIOUS. and we're using oils! eep!

BMAC: and you go reallly slowly right
ME: that's generally frowned up;-)
ME: i work efficiently.
ME: but i dont rush.
BMAC: haha
ME: i've never had anyone complain
BMAC: haha
ME: plus at like $12-15 an hour i dont really ahve to be slow
ME:wow.
ME: i just realized how dirty this could sound
BMAC: slow and steady wins the race eh
ME: i hate you.
BMAC: haha
ME: i quit.
ME: pretty funny though.
BMAC:i thought so
ME: i love that YOU caught on before i did

we were discussing what i charge by the hour. TO PAINT. You're just as dirty as Brian.

lazy days and mondays....

i've had the past two days off (yesterday adn today) sans a floor meeting. and you want to know what i've done?...... nothing. absolutely freaking nothing. and its been glorious. I probably should be out exploring the city, but you know what? i don't feel like it today. today i will watch bad tv and convert all my CDs to mp3 files in anticipation of an mp3 player. an mp3 player i technically haven't bought yet. that in about 12 hours i might own depending on if i won the auction or not. (i love ebay. it might be evil though.)

judge me if you want. its ok. because its MY DAY OFF.

classes start tomorrow. i'll leave my room then.

-mere*

Return Journey #1.

I went home.... after being gone for a week and a half. Sooooo, I suck at leaving. What can I say...
At least I had a reason- had my court date in small claims against the jewelry store... The jerk didn't even bother to show up, so i told the judge how he took my artwork adn then refused to pay me what he promised, and he ruled in my favor, so now the guy has to pay me the $400 plus court fees. Nice. Hurray for the justice system. Now we just ahve to figure out how to actually get the money from the guy....

Crammed in some time with the twins, lunch with Allison, a visit with Ingram, dinner with BMac, Matt, Michael, Joy, Christie, Tyler, James, and of course my favorite Dominique (Joel was sick, but she still came out to play!!).... oh. and a quick little roadtrip to Charlotte. Cause i ahven't spent ENOUGH time in a car over the past few days.... Christie and James were going to see Matt Wertz play in Charlotte and i decided to tag along... but we left late. And for some reason James' adn I's tickets only cost a whopping $0.00. I basically figured we'd miss the show considering we left Raleigh at like 7 and the show started at 8. I took a bunch of pictures in the car on the way up. And i mean a bunch. like. 200. It was like being in a photo booth on crack. When we got to Charlotte, we picked up Spencer... after we got lost first adn 'hit a Burson'. Spencer is hilarious. That is all. The rest of the evening is best described as such: making fun of Spencer, drug deals and the neverending train. We showed up when Matt was playing the end of his set. We heard like three songs, perhaps if we'd gotten there before 11 we'd have seen more. But i finally got to pee, and we got in for free (never did figure out what my $0 ticket meant) and we met Matt Wertz. He signed Spencers poster "Big Spence". This is getting rambley adn i dont really remember what i was talking about. Um. we got home at like 4.

and i woke up at 8:30 to drive back to DC.

so now i'm here. And i'm on duty. and i have the feeling that since i'm supposed to be in my room or 'touring', that i'll utilize this time to... surf the internet. and tell you fair people about my adventures.

i went to CVS today. bought some milk. it was $2.25 for a gallon. its a 24 hour CVS, methinks this will be useful someday.

um. i need to go staple some fliers to my bulletin boards on my halls.

yep.




end.

Barn party crew. My sister (stole stuff for me to sleep in), Courtney (was as suprised as I was), Me (with crown, no less), Christie (party planner number one, deceptor two), Elizabeth (kept the secret), James (party planner number two, deceptor one/pathological liar), Tyler (makes everything more fun). 

I'm in DC! Prepare for a long post....

Let me start off by telling you what an amazing last few weeks i had in Raleigh... camp was phenomenal- so thankful for all the new friendships i made over the summer. I crammed in as much time with friends in the evenings as possible- some nights were especially memorable thanks to certain people (they know who they are).

The night before i left was no doubt the most spectacular- what amazing friends I am blessed with that put like a months worth of planning into a farewell party for Courtney and I. ANNNNND i almost ruined it by trying to have a party of my own on the same night. Luckily said friends are extrememly good at lying and deception and managed to derail my party without me knowing.

I shall repeat... without me knowing. A ton of people seemd to have thought i knew something was going on, but i assure you, i had no idea. When the lights came on in the barn and everyone that had bailed on my party was there... complete shock. Everyone who came out, thank you. So amazing. So blessed.

James, Christie and Brian helped to put together a video for Courtney and I... of pictures, video, adn some especially touching footage of people that knew us telling us goodbye. I cried. I cried a lot.

Barn party was fabulous-- got to hang out with everyone, climb on haystacks, take pictures in old carriages, DJ BMac had music going... wayyyy better than my party would have been.

After most people left, some of us stayed (well, i didn't know i was staying- little did i know i'd been kidnapped and Margaret had packed me stuff to sleep in) for a sleepover at James'.

Last surprize/lie of the night- the boys had set up a bonfire for all of us... We looked at stars, James played guitar and Ty played the djembe... it was pretty amazing.

---Time out. I write this and realize that there is no way i could possibly convey what really happened that night. I just remember being really overwhelmingly happy. I remember being amazed that so much time and planning, and well, love went into the whole production and how much i didn't deserve any of it. And maybe if you saw it you understood, but its hard to descirbe something indescribeable.----

At some point that evening, I broke down... and realized that I was ready to go. For the previous weeks i'd been dreading moving and leaving all the people that had come to mean so much in my life. And while i'd known it in my head, my heart was finally prepared to leave. I had nothing to fear- the people i loved obviously loved me in return, and had no reason to doubt that they'd stop.

________________________________________

The next morning I went home, scrambled to pack all of the stuff i'd failed to the previous evening- literally throwing things into boxes. Ah, how very... me.

Dana, Emily, and Lindsay actually all drove up to DC with me, i wasn't totally sure if they were going to, but then they did after all. Reasons I'm glad they did:
1)All my crap filled up BOTH cars
2) Having deep converstationswith Em in the car is way better than riding alone
3)moving all those boxes/parking all of a sudden was half as difficult.
4)i didn't spend my first night in DC all by myself
5)When I had an 'oh my gosh, what am i doing here' moment, they were there to talk to
6)They actually met a fellow CF (Community Facilitator- what they call RA's here) named Stephanie, at church and had lunch with her. When i met up with them, i realised that we'd actually met at our interviews. So in the first day i'd already met a christian girl that goes to Capitol Hill.

So basically, God sent them with me so I didn't have a complete meltdown.

They left on Monday morning, and literally 45 minutes later I was on a bus with the other CF's to Mount Vernon. A little geography: The central campus at GWU is located in Foggy Bottom. Yes, Foggy Bottom. Which is where I am. Mount Vernon is an off-site campus for GW thats like 15 minutes away by shuttle. But here's the thing, Mount Vernon doesn't look like its in the city at all. No tall buildings in sight... there are trees, adn grassy fields... it looks like North Carolina on a campus like Meredith College. Granted, i wasn't really sick of the city at that point, but now i know there is this place really close by that if i just need a little dose of home- there it is.(BISCUIT!)

we stayed at Mount Vernon for three days of rather intense training- the best part for me was getting to know some of the other CFs in my configuration (My configuration is two buildings: The Aston-where i live, and City Hall. There are 8 CFs in my configuration, and like 100 or so for the entire university)

So here is a quick rundown fo the people in my configuration...
Stephanie... is from Minnesota and a Junior. She dyes her hair red adn looks a little like Nicole Kidman. She's the one I really talked to first and we really hit it off. We're pretty different but i think our personalities match pretty well. She's aslo never been a CF before, so we kind of comfort each other since we don't really know whats going on.
Jessica.... was my roomate for the three days we spent at Mount Vernon. She really knows whats going on and is great about answering any questions I have. Really personable adn fun to be around.
Spencer... is actually friends with Stephanie- the CF that goes to Capitol Hill. Foudn out from her that he's actually a christian (a rare find in DC). One of the absolute nicest people I've met.
Heath... the other guy in our configuration. Really funny and sarcastic. Likes sports. Not gay... also a rare find in DC.
Titi... is from Nigeria. Spent all her life going to American and British Schools in Nigeria and then came here. Really involved with a lot of campus activities. Really like talking to her. She's also a christian (!) and was jsut as excited as i was to find out.
Miki... is from hawaii. Sweet girl. Laughs a lot.
Nikki... i don't actually know that well. She was a CF last year in Thurston- which i've learned was once named the second most sexually-active dorm in the country. (gross)

and these are basically my friends in DC thus far. haha.

What's really interesting is that Titi, Spencer and I are all Cf's in the Aston... If you hadnt noticed, we're all the christians. In one building. Perhaps it isn't mind blowing to you, but it was to us. Pray for what God has in store for The Aston this year.

So that's basically what i've been doing since i've been here. Lots of training for being in the dorm and bonding with the people i'm going to be working with.

So far, its been so great. So much better than expected. I've been so busy, i really haven't had time to get homesick. I think my attitude has been really good-- it's just so evident that i'm supposed to be here. I've known all along that I was, but God is just continuing to be faithful. It's been very convicting at times, how doubting i was... but too many things have happened at all to purely be coincedence.

Before graduating, I decided to listen. I decided that i couldn't do it by myself, and for quite a while i've held "the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" close to my heart. And it worked. It takes so much to be confident in the Lord, i was resistant so often. It wasn't enough when I was told I got the CF position- which meant free housing and a part time job. It wasn't enough when i found a church in DC that I loved. It wasn't enough when I got into GW, even when it wasn't the only place I applied....

Then the night before i left... i realized i wasn't leaving anything behind that wouldn't still be there for me.

And He sent with me two people that had been my roomate for three years, and who became some of my best friends despite being strangers when we first moved in together. He sent them with me so i wouldn't be so alone in a huge city.

He reintroduced me to someone I'd already met, a member of a church that i'd already been to.

He gave me Mount Vernon, a home away from home.

He gave me two Christians living mere floors apart.

And he came with me and plans to stay.


so blessed. -meredith*

stolen from my sister:

"Wait for the guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares. The one that puts you at the center of his earthly universe but still leads you heavenward. The one who turns to his friends and says, "that's her..." "

silly girl things....

like threee days until i move and my stuff is still everywhere.... eep.

today i saw this deer out the window while sitting at my computer.... 

i fail at updating. i'll get back on the ball eventually, i'll probably update more after i move to keep people caught up with life in D.C.

as of now, summer is amazingly fun and busy.

The previously posted conversation is funny if you..

1. Know Tyler (see picture)

2. Saw the guitar stand monster (see picture)

3. Read the article about the exploding toads. (click link)

I made this easy for you.

quick re-creation of the guitar stand monster. Just pretend that top part of the stand is poked through the piece of paper with the face drawn on it. And don't ask me why i made this. because i just do crap like that. that's why. 

Two things about Tyler: 1) Tyler is very skinny. Look... a burrito from Flaming Amy's is as big as his neck. 2) Tyler can make is chin disappear. This is not actually relevant to understanding the conversation below, but I really try not to miss a chance to point out that Tyler has no chin. 

Christie: i think i slipped into a black hole
Christie: : is that possible?
Meredith: no, cause i think you get squished in one of those. or turn out like those german frogs.
Christie: : haha, i forgot about that
Christie: : that was a funny thing
Meredith:: esp because Dan hadnt finished his sandwich.
Christie: : gah, he was soooooooooo skinny
Christie: : like a different person
Christie: : he's like a twig
Meredith:: he's approaching Tyler-land.
Christie: : haha, population: 1
Meredith:: two. kate moss.
Meredith:: and that one olsen twin.
Christie: : you beat me to it
Meredith:: yesssss
Christie: : actually w/o the chin tyler might also be befriended by a stick-insect, in his tyler-land... Like the one from a bugs life
Meredith:: or my guitar-stand monster.
Christie: : haha, ok fine, tyler has left kate moss and the olsen twin to live w/ a stick insect and a guitar stand, in almost-inanimate-object-land
Meredith:: i think tyler is better suited to live with a bug and a guitar stand more so than a supermodel and a billionaire child actress.
Christie: : yeah, what were we thinking. dan so deserves that spot more
Meredith:: haha.
Meredith:: this conversation is so getting posted somewhere.

today i....

burnt the crap out of my hand doing some raku firing.

got to see the lovely Jennifer Carter who happened to see me spraypainting stuff outside studio.

finished my lovely raku chess set. pictures eventually.

worked for forever and took a mini-nap on a plastic slide at the park.

got coffee with Kat who was in town from Minnesota.

found a wedding present for a friend who isn't even engaged yet. (but its perfect!)

.........


Charlotte tomorrow for Katie's wedding. Back Sunday with yet another bridesmaids dress I probably will never wear again.

where my new dorm/apartment is in DC. 

if boredom strikes...

one of the more amusing conversations i've had in a while:

Meredith: i can however, write backwards in cursive rather quickly.

Meredith: but this requires a non-computer demonstration.

James: Really?

James: That's pretty impressive

James: ALthough you could be lying and I guess I'd believe you

Meredith: that would be a silly thing to lie about.

James: I saved the whales once

Meredith: really? i instigated world peace. and lowered gas prices simply by shaving my legs.

James: I stopped the Black Plauge

Meredith: i learned how to spell PLAGUE and then finished editing the entire dictionary. in thirty different languages.

James: crap

James: I found America three weeks before Columbus

Meredith: I helped found the colony on the moon that no one yet knows about because I own the FBI and Russia.

James: Oh? Well then you'll probably be pretty upset to know that I'm responsible for the collapse of the USSR

Meredith: actually, i made you from specially engineered organic machinery to do exactly that- using my NuFlesh (patent pending) technology

James: Actually, that was God. And what.

James: I stopped World War One from happening three times

Meredith: It was God. me and God. we negotiated a merger.

James: Haha

James: Blasphemer

Meredith: I think it happened twice though. And Bush is in office so we'll see about that third time.

Meredith: Blasphemer and a Democrat. EVICT ME FROM THE CHURCH!

James: haha

James: I also got Bush into office

Meredith: I'm the one who made his daughter have a drinking problem.

James: hahahaha

James: I found Sadaam Hussein

Meredith: I found the Dead Sea Scrolls.

James: Too bad that happened in the early 1940s

Meredith: I also invented a time machine, duh.

James: One time, Kristy was being attacked by a Dragon and I knocked the dragon out......but Kristy was unconcious, so I had to pick her up....but by that time the dragon was coming back up.........so I had to attack him and carry Kristy.....then out of no where another dragon came carrying Andrew in his mouth......so I had to kill that dragon.......then using a series of difficult mathmatical equations I made the second dragon appear to look like Kristy and the first Dragon just ate him instead. Then, just when I thought it was all over, a dragon came carrying Tyler. And then I left

Meredith: hahahaha

Meredith: i took Tylers chin.

Meredith: ...and I'm a ninja.

James: I founded the ninjas

James: And gave the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles their ooze

Meredith: i was the first to slice bread. and made the first wheel.

James: I found fire

James: And then made bread

Meredith: I gave Michael Jackson the idea of wearing one silver glove.

James: I helped George Washington win the American Revolution

Meredith: I taught Bill Gates how to type.

James: I introduced you to Bill Gates

Meredith: I introduced your mother to your father.

James: I invented Pepto Bismol

Meredith: I told Pythagoras about his theorem and threw the apple at Newton's head.

James: I built a sandcastle and watch the ocean destory it then made up some story about Atlantis

Meredith: I helped Hydrogen and Oxygen in a counseling session so they would bond and make up your silly ocean.

James: I taught Einstein the Alphabet

Meredith: I gave him his infamous haircut.

James: I started the fad of wearing underwear

Meredith: i invented the loom and threadmaking process.

James: I named toliets "Johns" after a buddy of mine

Meredith: i coached Mona Lisa on how to smile.

James: You didn't do a very good job

James: No offense

James: I taught Robert Frost and Walt Whitman how to write poetry

Meredith: I taught Shakespeare iambic pentameter.

Meredith: and was the inspiration for Juliet.

James: hahahahahahahaha

James: that was a good one

James: I ended slavery

Meredith: I stopped AIDs in Africa.

James: you did a bad job of that too by the way

James: I told U2 they should start a band

Meredith: I gave Bono those sunglasses as a birthday present.

James: I founded the YMCA

Meredith: I told Jim Henson that Kermit should be a frog and not a giraffe.

James: haha

James: I told Henry Ford that I thought people could make sandwhiches much faster if they each had a sepearte job in what I called an "Assembly Line" and then he applied it to cars

Meredith: I made the first gear by cutting holes in that wheel i'd invented a while back.

James: I gave Michael Jordon his first basketball and told him how to play

Meredith: I forged metals in a mineshaft and later used them to make zippers for Levi Strauss.

James: I invented the Internet

Meredith: liar. That was Al Gore.

Meredith: I gave Doc the idea for the Flux Capacitor.

James: I played Michael J. Fox in those movies

Meredith: Oh, then i'm sorry that i was the first medical expert to diagnose Parkinson's.

James: I'm known as the Father of Modern Medicine

Meredith: I gave you the silly name Hippocrates.

James: I divided Africa up into countries

Meredith: I found dinosaur DNA in a mosquito encased in amber and revived the species on an island with the assistance of Jeff Goldblum.

James: I kissed Shania Twain once

Meredith: I'm the reason Brad Pitt ended his marriage with Jennifer.

James: I started Baseball

Meredith: and i was behind the whole Ben and JLo thing too

Meredith: I caught Babe Ruths first homerun.

James: I built Washington DC using some popsicle sticks and chewing gum

Meredith: i was the first person to ever use a fork.

James: I invented the Spork right after I founded Bojangles

Meredith: I defeated the South in the Civil War.

James: Please don't tell me you're a yankee

Meredith: and told Martha to make the flag red, white and blue rather than magenta and orange. (yes, Born and raised in New York)

James: ouch

James: I discovered fishing

Meredith: i told grammarians the proper way to use a period, comma, semicolon, exclamation point and question mark.

James: I hope you realize we're building a relationship completely based on lies

Meredith: perhaps that’s the secret to success and happiness?