Tucking Myself in

As I've grown up, my Dad always tucked me in every night.  My mom would tuck me in when he was on deployment, too.  But, now I'm old, and I don't get tucked in anymore.  We all give hugs and kisses and say goodnight, but I put myself in bed and turn off my own light, now, naturally.  We haven't done the tucking in thing for a few years now, which makes complete sense.  I usually go to sleep later than my parents now, anyway.

I've noticed that without a nightly routine like being tucked in, I become restless.  I don't have that Pavlovian process that tells my brain it's time to shut off for a while.

So I had a theory.

"Uh-oh," you say.  "She's thinking again."

I know, fair readers.  I know.  But trust me, this will help you.  It has certainly helped me!

For the past three-ish weeks, I do the same thing every night.  And it's a miracle.  My mind gets the fact that it's bedtime; no more deep thought is allowed.  I'm going to explain to you my routine, but keep in mind that it sounds a lot more involved than it is.  It really only takes about ten to fifteen minutes, and I've come to really look forward to it.  This is all after I've finished my homework and read my Bible.  This is specifically to quiet my head.  Which takes some doing.

First, I put my hair up in a messy bun and pin my bangs and stray hairs back.  I turn the faucet in the bathroom to hot, and it takes a while to heat up.  While the temperature of the water rises, I drop my upper and lower retainer into a Loony Toons cup (it's cute) and put Vaseline on my eyelids. (I'll explain that one in a moment.  By this time, the water's hot!  I fill the cup just over my retainers, and drop in my Polident.  I promise they're not dentures; Polident (or Efferdent) just works great for sanitizing retainers.

Now, I lightly take my ring finger and rub the Vaseline around over my eyes.  I tell you, this is better than any makeup remover ever.  Also, it's gentle on the skin, and moisturizes.  People forget that you need to moisturize your eyelids and lashes, too!  I use a washcloth or toilet paper (don't shoot me) to wipe the rest off.  Next, I turn the water to lukewarm, and wet my face.

After wetting my face, I cleanse with my Go 360 Clean face wash with a little scrubber that comes with it, rinse, and pat dry.  I rub toner over my face to get rid of excess sebum, dirt, and makeup, and then I put moisturizer all over.  I brush my teeth, and then rinse off and put on my retainers.

Lastly, I put Vaseline in a VERY thin coat on my eyelids and put it on my lashes like mascara, and a bit on my lips.  This nightly treatment has thickened my lashes visibly, and it's also made my lips more soft and less like the Mojave.  I highly recommend (for the ladies, obviously) putting Vaseline on your lashes every night.  In about a month or so, you will thank me.

I take down my hair, but I leave my bangs pinned back.  I refuse to allow my bangs to touch my face at night, because my forehead breaks out if I do.  Plus, I'm growing out my bangs and they're in the ugly phase, anyway.

I hop in bed and grab my Kindle.  While I read, I take my vitamin and my allergy meds.  After that, I rub lotion with cocoa butter on my legs, all whilst reading.  I have very dry skin, and it's worst on my legs for some reason.  I use cocoa butter because it helps prevent and reduce the visibility of scars from scratching in the middle of the night.  If I'm having REALLY dry skin, twice a week I put on some special prescription cream with steroids in it.  This has quite literally saved me. It heals my itchiness swiftly, and my skin has never looked better.

I put some Mary Kay Warm Amber lotion on my hands, and then I read for a bit.  I set my alarm, put the Kindle down, hop up, and turn the light off.  I promptly curl up into a tiny ball on my right side (this is my favorite side on which to start sleeping, for some reason) and I pray for my family and my friends, and then lastly I tell God what I'm grateful for at the moment.  That last little prayer?  Usually includes my pillow somewhere in there.

After this, I drift off very easily.  Granted, if there's something bothering me, I'll usually wake up around 2:06 (not kidding, this is the usual time I wake in the night) and then it takes me a good twenty-five minutes to sleep again.  Most days, luckily, I just sleep through the night.  I like to sleep; it's my favorite.  I'd have two naps a day plus nine hours at night, if I could.  But that would be rather inefficient, I think.

If you have a nightly Pavlovian routine, tell me about it in the comments below! :)

Sleep tight!

Firenze

Firenze Crest.  Source

Today, Mama and I got on the train (far too early, in my opinion) and headed off to Tuscany.  Specifically, we were going to Florence!  In Italian, Florence is "Firenze."  Dad couldn't come on the trip because he needed to rest; he has been sick since they got back from their last field study.

I slept on the train a bit of the way, but what I did see was FOG, and lots of it.  We were worried when we got to Florence because it was gray and cloudy, but it never did rain, luckily!  When we got there, we hurried off to meet our tour guide, and we walked into several churches and looked around the city.

I played the snob, leaning over to my mom and saying in a thick British accent, "This architecture is raaaather Romanesque, but look at the fan vaults.  It's has some devastatingly LOOOOVELY gothic qualities."

Ok, I didn't say it in a British accent.  But I REALLY wanted to.  It just doesn't feel right talking about features of architecture as just a lowly high school junior.  And I was probably wrong, anyway.

I got terribly excited farther along into our trip because we saw the church, house, and neighborhood of Dante Alighieri!  He wrote The Divine Comedy, and we saw the place where his beloved Beatrice was buried.  (Fellow Omnibus-students: coming to Europe really makes the curriculum come alive!)

We went the Uffizi Gallery, and they had so much lovely art.  I saw a lot of things that I had actually just studied this week.  My jaw nearly dropped when I saw a large print of the Annunciation, and I said to my mother:  "Mama!  I read this in sister Wendy's book on Monday!!"  Now, I'm not Catholic, but I highly appreciated this art.  It's just... breathtaking.  Lots of gold leaf and deep blues.... truly marvelous.  This one is my favorite, though we saw lots of images of the Annunciation.

Source

We saw the one painting by Michelangelo that is in Florence (in which Mary's muscles are oddly pronounced), and lastly we walked through the Caravaggio exhibit.  It's obvious that Caravaggio was very talented, and we saw the Medusa, but most of his paintings are too grim for my tastes.

Caravaggio's Medusa.  Source

Mom, our British buddies, and I all went shopping during our two hour free time, and had a blast.  We bought lots of things, because Florence is known for their leather working and they have great street stands everywhere.  There was haggling, there was purchasing, there was strolling, and there was much happiness with all of our "winnings."

We finally met at the train station at around 7:15 if I recall, though I could be wrong.  I'm very tired.  But, it was a great day!  I really want to live there.  It's a beautiful place, and it's a lot less chaotic than Rome.  I also like the Romanesque qualities of the churches mixed with the Gothic pieces and extravagance.

*snort*

BOO!

WELL.

Italian internet, how you spite me.

Yesterday we were having terrible weather, like the day before.  And the day before that.  And, well, the day before that.

So, it wasn't much of a surprise when yesterday our internet dropped out.  I couldn't connect at all.  Mom's and Dad's both went out as well as mine, so it isn't me.  I promise.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Mum's internet came back.  And then Dad's came back.  And then.... mine didn't.  Basically, my computer is dead to me, and I have a Skype study session scheduled with my rhetoric homies and now have to use my dad's computer.  His webcam makes me look like a ghost.

If you hear screams coming from parts of the continental US and Mexico, it's because they are beholding my ghoulishness.

Have a lovely day, and don't take internet connectivity for granted like I did.

Don't be like me.

Thankful Thursday part Deux

It's Thankful Thursday again!

This week, I'm thankful for:

• A new microwave.  Our old one was broken for over 10 days!  The horror.
• A healthy body.  With so many people sick and hurting, I count this as a tremendous blessing.
• Parents and grandparents safely back in their respective homes.  Everyone made it ok, although there are some colds and some tiredness going around.
• My mama's veggie and ground beef soup.  On a cold, stormy day, there's nothing better.
• Herbal tea.  I have a new found love for a good cup or two of herbal tea in the afternoon with just a tiny dash of sugar.  From Teasy, of course.  Is it odd that my favorite one, flavor-wise, is Herbs for Men?
• Bread.  This may sound strange, but our market across the street has such good bread; so much better than simple loaves from a supermarket.  Can y'all tell I'm hungry?
• My life in Italy.  It's opened so many doors and given me such great experiences and I wouldn't change it for the world.
• My best friend.  I'll say this every time, because she's my best friend.  She's exactly what I need.  Now, to somehow fly her to Europe.......
• My parents.  They are truly amazing.  They happen to be my favorite parents ever. 

What are you thankful for this week?

All Hail the Weather

Oh dear.  Today's weather has been terribly strange.

First of all, the wind has reached absurd speeds.  It's whistling past the apartment so loudly that it's utterly distracting.

Second, the clouds were gray this morning, and just kept getting darker and darker.  The rain came, and fell fast.  It burst through the clouds in a very abrupt manner, and low rumblings of thunder turned into raucous claps within minutes.

I knew the storm was directly upon us when there was barely a second between the thunder and lightning, and I looked out the window for a while to watch the weather do as it would to the city below.

Finally, I sat down to get on some research for rhetoric, when suddenly I heard little tinkling sounds at my window; different from the ones rain makes.  I ran to the window, and sure enough, it was HAIL.

HAIL.

I haven't seen hail since I was very little and I was going to sleepover at my aunt Bonnie's house, and even then I was too excited to care because she promised me she would put my hair up in rags that night.  Having curly hair takes precedent over ice falling from the sky for little girls, you know.

So, back to today, yes, it was hailing.  Then the hail turned to rain, and suddenly there wasn't a cloud in sight! Only blue skies and sunshine.

About five minutes ago, the sky turned black and the hail is back.

Back in black.  Sorry, I had to go there.

Ah, and now I hear thunder again!  What odd weather.

This post is about fashion. Prepare yourself.

So, jeggings.

I got some.

Or, should I say, my mom got some for me.  I never would have bought them on my own.  This is not to say that I'm not willing to take risks in fashion, nay, I'm all about fashion-forwardness.  But jeggings... I was afraid.

So when my mom was in the U.S. last week (I'm a little jealous) she got to go shopping, and I had mentioned my need for some tights and some leggings to go with my fantastically wonderful Target boots.

Cute, right?  Well, they look fantastic with leggings and skinny jeans, and mine were getting worn out.  So, I gave her my list of all the things I wanted her to get from America.

I forgot to put Twizzlers on the list, darn it.  But I guess that's a good thing because JEGGINGS.  If you are not aware, jeggings are leggings that look like they are denim, or jeans.  So, maybe I shouldn't have any Twizzlers any time soon.

Moving on....  I finally tried on my jeggings today, and you know, I don't get why I was so worried.  They're really cute!  They're like any other leggings, but blue and textured.  I paired them with an oversized, pink, a-symmetrical shirt, my Alfani flats, 

a lace headband, and big earrings.  

I'm a child of the 90's, yet somehow I look like something straight out of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Now, I shall leave you with a little helpful tidbit.  And this is not a suggestion, no, it is a command.

Do NOT ever wear leggings as pants.  They are the sister to tights, and you would never wear tights as pants, would you?  It doesn't matter if you are incredibly fit or if you're just going to work out.  Do not, I repeat, do not ever wear them unless your rump is completely invisible to the world.  A girl I know and I call that the bum rule, and it applies to everyone.

Have a lovely day.

I'd Seen the Light

There was a small period in my life where I just wanted to be like everyone else.  Basically, I would have preferred to be of the world, instead of just in it.  That was a rough time, but I came out of it completely unscathed, and this is only because God's mercy.

Being a teenager is hard, and now I've seen what's on the other side of the spectrum.  In my own life, problems are resolved with Scripture, prayer, and wise advice from family and true friends.  But, I have seen how "everyone else" deals with their problems.

During that time, I would tell a person about my problems, and they'd give me some celebrity quote or a movie/play quote, they'd tell me to do what "feels" right, or they'd hug me and tell me it would get better eventually.  Because to them, that's the only hope they really have... that it will probably get better.

Every time anyone would give me one of these culture-postulates, I would generally smile and nod, and a few times I would try to follow, but it all seemed so empty.  There was something that I couldn't understand; it seemed somehow cheesy.  It was like they were grasping at straws, and everything came out touchy-feely and... lacking.

So why didn't I follow the advice?  Why didn't their little maxims warm my heart and make me feel better about the things I wanted to do or was having trouble attaining?

Because I'd seen the light.

I was a Christian before this time in my life.  I believed in Christ as my Savior, but I wasn't living it because it was really hard.  I will stress again: being a teenager is hard.


People may say that they'd love to be a teenager again for the ease, or that teenagers don't know what pain really is.  But we do.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

Just because I am young doesn't mean I don't "get it."  Being a teenager is very difficult, especially because there is so much pressure to believe in something so opposite of what God would want me to believe.


Let's face it, the little aphorisms that today's culture so willingly hands out don't exactly cut the mustard.  In fact, I never found them to even bring little "insta-reliefs."  I just felt unrest, because I'd seen the light.  


I knew what peace that Christ's love had to offer, and I knew exactly that everything I was trying to reach in this world was not getting many any more happiness than I already had.  


I thank God for showing me all this.  Now, seeing what I see now, it's unbelievable to fathom how amazing it is that the Lord saves non-believers.  If I hadn't seen the light before, I can't imagine the kinds of trouble into which I would have gotten!  When one has the scope of Christianity's promises on their side, all of the other junk that the culture promotes becomes even more worthless.  

28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'

Job 33:28

All in all, I just wanted to share what was on my heart today.  Think about the matchless mercy that this proves!  Think about how great that makes God.  He pulls us out from that sad, empty continual grasping for hope, and plops it right into our laps.  No longer having to struggle to make up little sayings and bywords, we see the light.  Every possible adage we could ever need is written directly into Scripture.

I'd say that's pretty amazing.

Adventures in Babysitting

Things I never thought I would say, but now say regularly because of my gig as a babysitter:

“Buddy, please don’t lick your sister’s head.”

“Would you please throw away this dirty nappy, bud?”

“Did Roo get a good nap, honey?” (Roo is a stuffed animal.)

“Darlin’, please tell Miss Caroline before you remove your pull-up by yourself next time.  PLEASE.”

“Oh, sweet pea…. don’t… don’t put chicken in your nose.”

“Sweetie, Miss Caroline will give you back your toys if you just put your pajamas BACK ON.”

“Don’t put your toes in your mouth, little guy.”

“Thanks for going to the potty, big man!  Good job!  Here’s an M&M.”

“Miss Caroline has to eat her dinner too, so please stop touching her face.”

I’m not sure why taking care of children gives me the unusual feeling that I must refer to myself in the third person, either.

....A whole new world..... A busy place full of baby doo, but when I'm over here, it's crystal clear, that I am in a whole new world of youth.....

-Aladdin.  (Paraphrased, of course.)