My Dream House: Missouri Manor

Every day on my way to campus I have the pleasure of driving by Missouri Manor, the former bed and breakfast that sits there vacant with no one to enjoy its beauty... but I enjoy it from afar.

It has been for sale for the past two years. Last year I would drive by and daydream of all the wonderful possibilities that the beautiful home could have. And then after the owners couldn't sell it for a long time, they auctioned it off this past August. So my dreams of owning it (although never realistic dreams) were crushed. Then the people who bought it in the auction put it up for sale, and the dreams have somewhat been rekindled...

I would love to buy this house, or just live or work in it, really! So if anyone is looking for a B & B (or it could be a coffee shop, or ministry house, or anything...) right smack dab in the middle of good ol' Missouri to invest in, I'll live in it for you! Here is a website about it. Even if you don't want to/can't buy it (because really, who can?), it's still pretty fun to look at. I wish my pictures did it more justice, but I didn't have much time because I felt like a creeper taking pictures of a house that wasn't my own. Maybe someday...

(It even has its own sign and a spiral staircase... perfection!)

Sigur Ros

I typically don't write much about music because I leave that to the experts, my brothers Joel and Cory. Joel gave me some music of the band Sigur Ros yesterday though, and I can't get enough of it! Their music is pretty low key and they sing in a different language (they are from Iceland, so it may be icelandic (?) but I think I've heard before that they sing in their own language; someone, aka Joel, correct me if I'm wrong) so I can still enjoy the beauty of the vocals without worrying about the lyrics so it's perfect study music.

Below is the video of a song that I can't stop listening to right now. I would tell you the title but it makes no difference (ok, it's "Vid Spilum Endalaust" in case you are inspired to download it.) The video is weird, and like I said, you can't understand the lyrics, but the music is powerful and inspirational, and I really like it a lot!

Symbolism

Last weekend before leaving for Georgia I told myself I needed to take a picture of the beautiful budding tree in our backyard. It was a perfect expression of Spring. I never got around to it, and now look... The buds are covered in ice and snow. I feel like this picture is symbolic of Missouri weather. Right when we think Spring has arrived, we get ice and snow.

While I am a BIT annoyed, I know this snow will make me that much more thankful for Spring when it is truly here to stay so I supposed I should consider it a blessing.

Georgia!

I haven't had a chance to write this past week because I have been in Georgia for my Spring Break with my lovely friend Mary! We had a wonderful time! Here are a few pictures and highlights:

-Listening to 'N Sync for the first 10 hours of the trip. Mary and I have been 'N Sync fans for just about as long as we have been friends. So she made a playlist of all the 'N Sync songs we own and we listened to it until it stopped. 10 hours. Wow.
-Eating Subway. We had it 3 times.
-Putting my feet in the ocean water...
-Relaxing and reading a lot. The theme of the week was picking a beautiful spot and reading there. The last day we took some chairs to the beach and read for a few hours... and we got sunburns! It was great!
-Enjoying the carpool lane in Atlanta. Only Mary and I would make it work so that we went through Atlanta right in the middle of rush hour. But thanks to the carpool lane we probably saved an hour on the road.
-Keeping ourselves awake in the car by singing Celine Dion at the top of our lungs. "There were nights when the wind was so cold..."
-Laughing... We did a lot of laughing. Made a lot of inside jokes. It was lovely.

The whole trip was great. One of those things that I will remember forever. It sure is good to be home though. Rumor is that we are supposed to get snow here tomorrow. On the beach one day, in the snow the next.

Pizza 51

My family and I tried out a new pizza place in KC last night called Pizza 51 and it was amazing! It was in an old garage so the atmosphere was fun and the pizza was delicious. I guess all I have to say is that you should go!

(It's a map of the U.S. with license plates! Their geography is a little off though...)

I leave for St. Simons Island, Georgia tomorrow with my good friend Mary for our Spring Break. Let's just say that the 17 hour drive better be worth it... I'm sure it will be great though!!

More cupcakes!

About a month ago my friend Mary and I went to this cupcake bakery, Cupcake A La Mode, in Kansas City but it was randomly not making cupcakes that day because it was preparing for the next day (Valentine's Day.) So today while wasting time before our dinner plans my parents and I stopped by and got some cupcakes! They were a little overpriced but we really enjoyed them. We got one that was chocolate with some fudge and peanut butter icing and a Kiss on top and another chocolate one that had strawberry buttercream (I think) icing and a fresh strawberry with chocolate drizzled on top. SO good. The picture above is the peanut butter one called Peanut Butter Kiss.

As always, I was inspired to make my own. So tonight I made some chocolate with buttercream icing (my first time using it, not a big fan actually...) and rainbow sprinkles (always a hit!) My cousin Brad and brother Cory enjoyed them so I consider them a success!

Morning Pictures

Often I wake up and feel like my brain doesn't wake up with me. It's like my body knows it has to be up but my brain resists for about 15 minutes or so. Twice in the past couple weeks I have woken up and my brain quickly decided that something was worthy of taking a picture and I'm pretty sure it wasn't awake yet.

The first instance was legit. I woke up at 6:00 and looked out the window to see a beautiful sunrise and I just had to capture it.

The second instance was a little ridiculous now that I look back on it. I woke up at 3:30 (I'm a baker, you know...) and my hair was pretty crazy from sleeping on it wet the night before. So I decided to take a picture. I tried to make funny faces while taking the picture. But looking back now, I was just plain out of it.

Anyway, here are the two morning pictures. Enjoy! :)

Soda, Pop, or Coke?

I was on MSN's homepage today and saw the advertisement for an article called "Soda, Pop, or Coke?" Living smack dab in the middle of Missouri, there is much debate over whether to call the generally brown, bubbly liquid Soda or Pop (I mean, no one around here really calls it Coke.) People from St. Louis think it's Soda, but the more educated folk from Kansas City say Pop... So I clicked on the article hoping for answers. Unfortunately, I didn't find any. But I did find some semi-interesting information about the different dialects of the U.S. and how every area has different vocabulary.

The lack of answers to what I really wanted to know spurred me to research a bit and I found the above map. As you can see, the state of Missouri is pretty much split down the middle between Pop and Soda. But if you look at the rest of the country, Pop seems to dominate... then comes Coke, and Soda is used the least! (One more reason why St. Louis is inferior.) Anyway, if you are at all interested in this silly debate you can go here to read more. All you really need to know is that Pop is used the most, Kansas City is the best place in the world, and St. Louis is... well, you can choose the vocabulary from your own regional dialect to negatively describe it.

Un buen dia...

Today was just one of those good days. It started with me waking up early and driving back from Kansas City. I didn't like the waking up early, but the morning sun was beautiful and the drive was kind of nice. I got to Columbia and survived my one class of the day. I skipped a few others because...

My cousins Julie, Anthony, and Brad came to visit on their way to St. Louis. We ate Shakespeare's, played disc golf, then finished the afternoon with some Kaldi's. I loved having them come and experience my town.

Then tonight the Bible study I lead met for ice cream at Sparky's. I had gotten so my tips from Kaldi's this morning ($43! That may be a record) but thought that I had lost a 20. On my way to ice cream I prayed that God would help me find the 20 and that if He did, I would treat the girls to ice cream. I know I shouldn't be putting ultimatums on God... but He provided nevertheless so I treated the girls to ice cream and it was a lot of fun. I like them a lot!

The overall theme of the day was simply joy, because the weather is beautiful and I have been surrounded by people I love.

A wedding!

My cousin Eric got married to the lovely Christina today. After a little stress of what to buy for the shower and what to wear to the wedding (Jessie, don't hate me, but I didn't end up wearing the dress...) the weekend became a spectacular one. It was filled with lots of get-togethers and eating yummy (aka too much) food and I loved it. Above is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

Anyway.... not much to report except for that I had a great time this weekend. I should get back to blogging more now that the busy weekend is over. Although I do have a big Spanish midterm on Wednesday... If you are a praying kind of person, prayers would be appreciated! :) Gracias!

Highlights: From Pre-School to the College Classroom

There is this guy that sits a couple rows in front of me in my education class and he is always messing around on his computer. I've noticed that he always is looking at two of the exact same pictures of different sports teams side by side and I thought that was weird. Until today, I realized that he was playing a game where you have to look at the two pictures and figure out what the differences are... It TOTALLY reminded me of those "What is different?" games you used to play in the kids magazine Highlights while waiting to get your teeth cleaned at the dentist. I did a little searching online to see if I could find this game, and here it is. Apparently it's on ESPN's website.

I just thought it was funny. Who would have thought that we would be stimulated by the same kind of thing that we were as a 4 year old while seating in a college classroom learning how to stimulate 4 year olds. Well, I'm not so sure the guy in my class is learning that much but I tried the game and it is kind of fun. Just thought I would share this strange circle that kept me entertained during class.

In other news, I decided not to study abroad. Just thought I would let anyone who cares know.

Symphony

The movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium was on HBO the other day so I kept it on while doing other things around the apartment. First of all, I randomly love that movie. Second of all, it has some really good music. I was standing with my back to the screen when I was overcome by the amazing score that almost gave me goosebumps. I thought to myself, "What a wonderful feeling it is to be surrounded by such quality, emotion-filled music."

Then I realized, I should go to a symphony! I can't imagine the feeling of being able to see the beautiful music actually being created! It would be incredible... So before I die, I am going to a symphony. Hopefully one in a fancy music hall where I will be encouraged to dress up and go to a nice dinner beforehand. But any symphony will do.

Project for Anthony

I was commissioned (ha, right...) to do a painting for my cousin Anthony after I told him he couldn't have my tree paintings because they were going to my mom. He showed me the picture below and I painted the picture above. Not nearly as good as the original, but it was my attempt to recreate it. I think I might add a few more things... it's just a little empty in places. Anyway, I didn't have anything else to write about so I thought I would show ya'll what I've been working on.

Oh, camping...

Last night some of my friends and I went camping. I was a doubter. I was a firm believer that camping requires planning... and big tents and sleeping bags! But we, well my friend Jonathan, managed to pull it off.

We sat around the campfire. Told ghost stories (we really did! V even looked some up on her Blackberry... that's 21st century camping for you.) Ate s'mores. Danced a bit. Played some Guesstures. Then we went, or attempted to go, to bed.

Sarah and I got to share a 2-person tent. It was so short that my legs couldn't extend all the way, so that was a bit uncomfortable. And then the coyotes started going crazy. And then it got really cold. And then someone started snoring. I think the hour from 2:15 am to 3:15 am was the longest hour of my life. BUT, Sarah and I eventually got smart and hopped in Jon's car and slept the remainder of the night there. My first time ever sleeping in a car overnight.

We woke up to a BEAUTIFUL morning. The weather was amazing and the sun was out. We packed up and then went to Cafe Berlin for breakfast. We all felt like we were on vacation. It was a wonderful retreat from college life. Now we are back preparing presentations and studying for midterms but there is something special about waking up outdoors that will stick with me for the rest of this crazy day.

Inspiration

A while back my wonderful aunt Georgie saw an article about cupcakes in Martha Stewart's magazine and thought of me. :) So last night she sent the link to the story and I have been in the mood to bake cupcakes ever sense. Now I'm not Martha's biggest fan, but after finding out that she dedicated a whole show to cupcakes, she definitely went up on my list.

Anyway, I made cupcakes tonight. I somewhat copied one of the cupcakes that I read about in the article... but copying is the greatest form of flattery, right? White cake with lemon frosting.

Wish you were here to try one!

25 Things I Hate About Facebook

I seem to be the last to hear about YouTube videos because I'm not one of those losers who spends hours on it like many people I know. :) But I saw this on someone's Facebook today and thought it was pretty funny... even if I am one of the last people to see it.

Google!

March 2, 2009- Dr. Seuss's Birthday

Google has the honor of being my search engine of choice. I don't know why... it just is. What I most enjoy about Google is the creativity of its logos. I get incredibly excited when I type in "google.com" to search something like cupcakes or Spanish translations and the screen pops up with a logo that is different than the usual. I've been wanting to post about this for a long time but haven't had enough to make it count. Here are a few special logos that I have been saving over the past few months.

January 28, 2009- Jackson Pollock's Birthday

February 14, 2009- Valentine's Day

I have even more saved, but they are being a pain to upload so this is all you get for now! Enjoy!

Mas arte de arboles.

I just can't get enough of tree artwork. Since I saw the above album cover of Jon Foreman's Limbs and Branches, I have wanted to recreate it somehow. I have been waiting to find a brown paper bag to work with, and randomly found one in the apartment when I was cleaning yesterday, so last night I went to work. I used the verses John 15:1-9 to act as the leaves. I guess you could say I'm decently happy with the end result. If nothing else, I enjoyed making it.
Speaking of artwork, I still haven't done anything with the bare tree paintings that I painted over Christmas break. Does anyone want them? I think my mom has first dibs, but if anyone else has a desire, their yours. (My feelings won't be hurt if no one wants them though.)
In the meantime... Go Jayhawks!!