Gaining Skillz

A few weeks back, I organized a Habitat volunteer day for graduate/faculty ministry and it POURED down rain that day.  I don't know if you know this, but apparently Indiana is turning into the set for Jumanji (speaking of, has that ever been a Josharade?  Someone please remind me of how Sperl acted that one out, thanks!).

In any case, I learned a wee bit about vinyl siding, but mostly I primed drywall with mes amis.  This is Jenn, she's a brilliant economist-to-be.  I'm so humbled to spend time with all of these brilliant, inquisitive and Jesus-lovin' folk.

And here's one of me doing some verk...

The woman whose house we were working on from was from Toluca, MX.  And, I don't know if I've mentioned how much I love Mexico and Mexicans, but, Venezuela aside, Mexico is my favorite country, so of course I had to strike up a conversation with her.  She told me she arrived in the states 9 years ago from Toluca to Wisconsin--and I thought DFW to Bloomers was a change!  It was great, she was excited to have a home, and I shared in that with her for a bit.  It's great to step outside of my woes regularly and remind myself that there are many things going on in the world--both good and bad.

Saying my goodbyes to my community and friends of the past two years... (too short!),
MJ

PS - These fotos are not mine... they are courtesy of Sue, my Kenyan public policy friend

Bloomington's Best Beer

Dear Lawry, your beer won.  Thanks for letting me have some.  Dear Uplands, you are always my favorite place to eat in Bloomie.  Best burgers and uh-mazing brewskis.  Dear Bad Elmer, your porter and your badder porter are badass.  Dear Buffalo, you are such better meat than cow.  You make me want to swear off cow meat forever, please start roaming free in Texas.  Dear Jesus, at the Wambrano wedding, will you turn the water into beer if we start running out of Shiner?

"Golly, we should get married" #5: You enjoy discussing our faith with me, I love these times.

Excited to be at under 90 days,
MJ

I only have good memories of this place

Forgive the glaring sun glint.  As nonprofessional photogs, we didn't think of it when we set our camera in the grass for a rapid fire photo session.  We had just had an awesome wine picnic, so sun glinting was the least of our immediate concerns. We had a great time.  Wine picnicing, downtown walking, opera attending, Halloween costuming, fireplace snuggling, Sunday lunch potlucking, engagement picturing, pumpkin pie chai tea latte-ing (HOLY.COW).  Lawry tells me he only has good memories of Bloomington, and while Bloomington hasn't always been perfect for me, every time he's in Bloomington, it's a vacation for us both.
Counting down the days to the next Lawrination,
MJ

Noah, Build Me an Arky, Arky

God told Noah to build him an ark because an epic flood was going to wipe out humanity, but where was my memo to check the washer connection when an epic leak was going to wipe out my September checkbook?!  Oh, well.  I got a message from my spectacular roommate Jess, that said some stuff but all I heard was "water... dripping... ceiling."  Mother.Of.Pearl.  Anyway, I get home and it's all taken care of and such (see: spectacular roommate, Jess), but we've got to pay for le damages and junk.  Erlack-a-pongoes!  Welp, I've got a long weekend ahead (or not, IU doesn't believe in workers' movements), and many things to do and be occupied with!

God, please send me a rainbow of your promise to always remind me to check the washer connection?

Watching carpet and ALL of our towels dry,
MJ

Let me add, all is MUCH better now.  I am drinking a Shiner.  Thank you, TEXAS, for bottling your essence.

Narnia?

Not quite, but perhaps similar?  This is after about, eh 30 something odd hours since the last snow

Chilling at IU,
MJ

Coldly Physical

Does that sound sketch? Perhaps... Anyway, weather.com insists on describing the winter storms in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic in terms of physical abuse.  The latest news from the cold front:

Winter storm will be a WALLOP...

Snow POUNDS...

HISTORIC Snowstorm...

Two-pronged ATTACK...

Thinking weather.com engages in hyperbole,
MJ

Winter was showing off for you

 

Guess who brought a winter storm with him??

In this picture there's probably about 2 inches of snow, it fell in like 2 hours, which is quite fast, for snow.

The next morning, we had about 4-5 inches total.  It wasn't so bad because it had completely stopped by sunrise, so the roads were pretty clear and Russell's plane took off on time!  Winter put on a show for Lawry this weekend :)

Rusty came to town on a spur of the moment visit! And we took this picture just off of RUSSELL ROAD! Rusty got a full-time position at Reynolds and Reynolds so he decided to the take the rest of the week off from his part time job before he starts full-time on Monday! Praise the Lord! Russell's really been hoping this full time job would go through so he could get some good work experience and work on his computering skills.  I'm hoping his job sends him up to Indianapolis on occasion :) Also, this is super fantastic because I'm 90% sure I'll be in the ATX this summer, so we'll be in the same state and only 2 hours away! Which is still far, but when you compare it with the 14 hours and a time difference we currently have, it's much much better!

Lawry and I ate at A LOT of places!  I think my favorite was the Israeli place, but we had good food all around! We visited Upland Brewery, Stonecutter's Coffee, which is a coffeehouse turned tapas bar on Friday evenings, Bloomington Bagel, Falafels, Mother Bear's, and the Bakehouse for some studying!

On the way to Indy...

Waiting for March,
MJ

Just be patient 'til spring!

Just in case you've forgotten what spring is like. But, of course, mon bloggees live in Texas or the tropics.  So, you've practically got spring all year round.  In any case, something to remind us of what awaits...just a little over a month!

Also, inspired by Moollay's list, I am making list of my own.

Some AWKWARD instances in my life:

1. People check my left hand now and tell me about it.  This isn't awkward in it of itself (I do it to people with serious boyfriends), I'm just awkward, so it makes me nervous...visibly.

2. Impostor syndrome.  It's real, but the awkward thing about it is that you have to say stuff in class and submit questions and junk, but I feel like a phony (thanks Holden) so I always get REALLY hot and red when I talk in class.  My heart races a little bit (read: a lot bit), and then I get nervous and sometimes say too much (about nothing) in class.  Sometimes class is no fun.  But, perhaps if I spent more time reading and less time blogging, I'd be better off? Nooooo....

3. I sometimes touch people too much when I talk to them.  This can be particularly awkward for people that DON'T touch people when they talk.

4.Today some solicitor or whatever came and took pictures of me and my students while I was meeting with them.  It was awkward.

5. I decided I'm not the HUGEST fan of winter.  This isn't awkward, it's just something I wanted to share.  It's mini-blizzarding again today in Bloomie.

 This is what shows up on my dashboard when it's blizzarrrddddingggg outside.

Wondering why cocoa is pronounced coh-coh and not co-co-AH,

MJ

Back in Bloomie!

Boujour mes amies!

Oui oui! I have returned to the blogosphere! I doubt you missed me too terribly much since I got to see most of my readers whilst I was out, but I missed you! Well, I don't know how that logic works, but whatever, I missed connecting with you via (I'm pronouncing this vy-AH, for increased fun) internet!

Speaking of increased fun, Molly (my Ft. Worth counterpart) and I have vowed to have more fun this semester.  These vows are serious! Not as serious as Molly's upcoming nuptials, but nonetheless, very real!

So, I'm back here working on schedules, organizing, and junk, but the winter wonderland is making it quite difficult!  I bought an industrial(y) snow thing and brush deal for my car today.  It's actually no big deal up here, but down in the Promised Land, people would think it was overkill.  Which is why I miss the Promised Land, because you don't need to spend 5 ish minutes getting snow off your car.  I prefer rain.

Well, the people asked, and I am a deliverer, but not with a capital D.  I have pictures of the blankets of snow, but because of the lack of internet connection, I can't put them up quite yet.  Most likely you will get high(ish) quality winter shots of my winter adventures starting tomorrow!

Using a swiffer broom to get snow off my car,
MJ

This is my wintersong to you...

Me in my winter coat and snow boots!  I also have other snow gear (not pictured) :)

Downtown Bloomers on a wet/snowy winter's eve...

The semester is finished! And Texas in less than 24 hours! WHOOP! HOOK'EM! SIC'EM! GIDDY UP! SHOOT DANG! BOY HOWDY! YEEHAW!!!  WELL I'LL BE!!! WHAT IN THE SAM HILL?!?! Yeah, that's all I got, if you have any more TEXAS catchphrases...post'em YA HEAR?!

Things I must see/have/eat/do whilst in the GRAND REPUBLIC:

*eat Mexican food prepared with the loving hands of someone that doesn't speak English
*eat barbeque prepared by someone with opposite political ideology from mine
*see mes amies et mon petit ami
*FARMMMMMMMMM
*be outside

So, let me say that Bloomington has had snow this winter, but the week we really got snow, I didn't have time for pictures.  That is my apology for only giving you a picture of Christmas lights.  In January though, I'll bring you pictures of snow.  It snowed all day today, but no stick.  It was fun to watch.

Love,
emm. jay.

Dreaming of Tacos and Barbeque during Midwestern Winter BLAST

So yes, Texas is HOT in August, but I think I'll take miserably hot over miserably cold.  It's supposed to feel like zero degrees (which in my head I'm calling "love" degrees, like tennis, 'cause it sounds warmer) when I leave my apartment tomorrow.  Well, at least it won't be negative degrees???

So, mini blizzard(?) today.  COLD squalls, constant snow, but thankfully minimal ice.  I'm still mesmerized with the way snow falls, so it was hard to be annoyed with the precipitation.  The cold wind though, that got old fast.  Also, got my SNOW BOOTSIES for my FEETSIES today! Except they are too small, must return.  But Rusty helped me find an even better deal online.  What a good boyfriend!  New shoes should be in on Saturday.  In time for one week of cold! They will be very worth it.

N*SYNC's "Merry Christmas" is a little bit more enjoyable when snow is falling.  And you are indoors.

Wearing two or more of everything,
e-me.ho-ta (¡español!)

Red Leaves, Go Big Red (IU)!, and Russell's Red Hair

Out at Hesitation Point, Brown County State Park

A cold per base.  Out at the amphitheater.

Russ has gotten so good at this!

Russell came to visit me!  Oh how I wish Texas was in Indy!  If I could move Texas northeast...

Not having a nervy B yet...

Some of my thoughts this week...

I feel like a child. (In class)
"I'm just going to start over" (I actually said this out-loud in class)
BABY SQUIRREL! (Walking)
Why I be so short? (Standing)
I just ran into a tree limb and there are people there who saw me, I should laugh so as to seem self-assured and unfazed. (Walking into a tree)
I'm never ordering anything labeled "Mexican" again from someone who doesn't know what el Tri is. (After eating a delightful "Mexican Mole" burrito at a local place.  The problem was that it that there was NO MOLE! It wasn't even a dark color.  For those of you who don't know, mole is made from chocolate, even if it's bad, it's at least BROWN.  Also, no cilantro, no sauteed bell pepper or onions.  Not even tomatoes. I miss you, Tex-Mex)
Oh yeah, I'm only okay with popular culture. (Yes, I said popular, not pop.  I was slightly ashamed of my inordinate amount of pop culture knowledge, no one else in the room knew it or was even a fan...)
And one last one...
my professor in class was talking about civil society and he was going on about how we seem to be growing uncivil and he even heard Colin Powell use the c-word earlier this week. (In my head: "The c-word? Crap? Why wouldn't he just say "crap" instead of "the c-word"? WAIT, WHAT?!?!" Also: I saw people across the room exchanging confused glances)  Then my professor says, "Yep, Colin Powell, and pretty soon we'll hear the president talking about CIVILITY, too.  (In my head: "Ohthankgoodness."  Across the room:  Ha, civility.)

I could really love this place...

There's interesting graffiti everywhere, this is just one alleyway I found myself in on Saturday evening. I've found many more since then.

I love books. And colors. This combines that love well.

The old theater where I saw the Thief of Baghdad on a Sunday afternoon.

Around the courthouse. I found out a big business man here bought the courthouse a few years back, remodeled it and then sold it back to the city for a dollar.

The Smith-Holden Music Store, they have Three Epitaphs for Brass Quartet painted on the side of the building. The mural was painted in honor of the IU Jacobs School of Music and for the professor who wrote Three Epitaphs (by the way, the guy was from Yoakam, Texas, also he started his undergraduate at Baylor and graduated from UT).

Flying Toy Horse!!

So today I went to church at this old church downtown because it was pretty. Yes, because it's pretty. I did like it though, and I might seriously consider it for a church home, but yeah, I went because it's pretty...what? :)

Anyway, afterwards I walked around the square, ate, drank some coffee, and watched an old movie at the old Indiana Theater, now know as the Buskrik-Chumley Theater in downtown Bloomie. I saw The Thief of Bagdad! It was fun, I laughed, I enjoyed, overall a good afternoon! I think a lot of my day has gone well because of my focus today, this morning the reverend preached on Exo 16 and the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and his sermon in nutshell was this: Trust that God will provide for today and tomorrow like he has always been faithful to provide what you need. Easier said than done, but a wonderful thing to keep in mind.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning, new mercies I see!

All I hath needed thy hand hath provided,

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!