Comic Con 2015...?

I was hanging out with my brother Noah last week (you can find his witty blog over here at http://esomoon.blogspot.com) and we were talking about birthdays and growing up and all the adult-ish things that suck, etc. etc. It was brought up that he'll be 20 (?!) in January, and I told him I should get him something epic.

The conversation continued... who knew I'd have a brother so loving of comics and superheroes and Batman and The Flash....! I suppose, boy things. But the topic of Comic Con came up - it's an annual convention in San Diego of all lovers of comics (thus, the name). Noah mentioned what a dream it would be to go - so I told him "hey, lets go to Comic Con for your birthday!"

....what in the world have I gotten myself into.

I have a Captain America t-shirt, and have seen most of the superhero movies (would you believe my boyfriend is also an avid fan of all comic-like things?), but that's about it. Enter India: dancer, teachers, lover of books and coffee into the comic world. Culture shock? A little.

I've been researching how to get tickets (cough, sorry, they are called 'badges') for this event.... there are a lot of steps. And there's a good chance we may not get badges. You have to get an ID code months and months before the event (at least I've done that, thank the Lord) (oh and also, they can randomly turn off your ability to get that anytime they want).... then they randomly email you and tell you badges will go on sale sometime soon, so you hop on the internet and into their little 'waiting room' and wait for badges to go on sale. If you are one of the lucky people that gets through to get a badge, they are darned expensive (but even that exact amount remains a mystery), and then plane tickets to San Diego....?! Should have told Noah I'd get him a new car instead. So many unknowns... it's amazing.

In all honesty, I am pretty excited about the possibility of going. I know I will be way out of my league and my comfort zone, but after all, it's not my birthday. And who doesn't love experiencing something new? Even the process of maybe buying a badge for this thing has been exciting so far. Don't worry, I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Until next time. 

little things

local college homecoming parade this morning. spent some time watching the floats go by and drinking coffee with my lovely boyfriend.

I have a Captain America tshirt that I'll wear on October 31st. why pass up a reason to dress like a superhero?

it's my little brother's birthday today. 17. how the time flies. excited to celebrate that tonight.

phone call with my bestie yesterday. wasn't long, never is, but worth more than gold.

almost halfway done with work as I type. that's happiness.

to pick up a book and travel to another place is one of the best feelings. to end with a quote from a lovely tv show I'm watching.

"we may sit in a library, and yet be at all corners of the earth." 

between you and God...

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people might be jealous. Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.  

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."   

- Blessed Mother Teresa

once upon a time....

....there lived a beautiful princess in a high tower atop a hill. Tales were told far and wide of her beauty and kind spirit. One day, a prince arrived at the castle, the tales having reached to his home far away. He took one look at the princess and his heart melted; it was love at first sight. The princess, too, was quite taken with the prince, but had one request. He must slay the dragon that lived in the land to the south before she would become his wife.

The prince, thinking this an easy task, bowed to the princess, assuring her that the dragon would be taken care of within the week. He left for the south and the princess was left to wait.

A week went by. Two weeks later, the princess received a note by carrier pigeon that the prince had run into some trouble. First, his sword wasn't sharp enough so he had to get that repaired. Then his horse fell ill, so he was continuing the journey on foot. The princess smiled, hoping that the prince would prevail and come back to her soon, the dragon's head in his grasp.

A month went by. Another note. More problems, bad roads, faulty armor, etc. His note assured her that the dragon would be dead in the next week at the latest. The princess was worried. Would the prince ever kill the dragon and come be with her? She frowned.

Three months went by without a word from the prince. The princess was sad, devastated. She thought her prince was a mighty prince, worthy of the task she had placed upon him. Perhaps not? The next day came with another note from the prince. He was in the valley, camped by the dragon's lair, and was going to kill him the next day. The princess was happy and elated. Would he really succeed this time?

Three days went by. Two weeks went by. No word from the prince. The princess had given up, thinking the prince dead. She sat in her room by the window and cried. This was not the life she had hoped for.

The next day dawned bright and clear and awoke the princess from her weepy slumber. A knock on her bedroom door. Sleepily she awoke and answered the door. Not her prince, but a poor, dirty farmer stood in her doorway. He had the head of the dragon in his hand. The princess looked into his eyes, realizing that he, not the prince, had slayed the dragon for her. His eyes were kind, his hair ruddy, and his skin tanned from working out of doors. Forgetting about the prince, the princess smiled at the farmer, overjoyed that he had killed the dragon for her. The farmer smiled back, and offered her the dragon's head as proof of his love and trust for the princess. The two were married soon after and lived happily every after.

The prince? He was still in the field in the south. Pacing up and down, wondering how to get a new horse to help him slay the dragon.

You see, boys and girls, don't be like the prince. For him, all the conditions had to be perfect to slay the dragon, which really meant that he was a coward, and didn't deserve the princess at all. The farmer took a risk and slew the dragon with nothing more than a hand-made bow. He is the one that the princess loves because he risked everything for her. Be more like the farmer who gave everything up for his princess. That, I am sure, is true love. 

happiness is important

My mom decided to take a pottery class. She's wanted to for years and years, and this semester she finally is doing it. I needed to pick up something from her last night, so I snuck into her pottery class for like 30 seconds. It was the best 30 seconds of my life. My mom was glowing, radiant, grinning, wildly happy. I had never seen her that happy before in my life. And why was she happy? She was doing something that she wanted to do, something she was having a blast doing, and just something fun she wanted to do.

I think this is an important part of life. I think God wants us to be happy. Part of being happy is doing what we love.

My mom is a busy lady. She gives of herself all the time for her family, and she does a boss job at it. And I think she's mostly happy doing that - it is a difficult task. But she was so happy doing that little thing for herself.... I wanted to jump for joy; I was so happy to see her that happy.

So take time out of your life to do something fun. Be happy. God likes happiness. There are a trillion Bible verses about joy. So be joyful! Easier said than done..... but do something that makes you happy. Even if it's meaningless in the grand scheme of things (like pottery. :) love you mom) 

time

I had the amazing opportunity a few weeks ago to dwell in God's presence for an hour at a random time in the weeee early morning. It was so cool. During that hour of praising, worshipping, and adoring God, I was reading some Psalms that praised His name. I can't find it now, of course, but there was a spot I was reading at where the author was saying something about offering up bulls and goats and sacrifices to honor God and praise and glorify Him and everything. Old Testament awesomeness.

So I was thinking, as I often do, having land, and animals, and servants, and all that, in the Old Testament, showed how rich you were. So to sacrifice animals, was a big sacrifice, because it was giving away their best and prized possession, in a sense, to God. What can we give away today, that is as big a sacrifice as that? I was thinking it might be money, but no, we have an over-abundance of money in America. Seriously. Everyone is working, all the time, to make tons of money that we don't need. And if you are a 'good Christian' you tithe your 10% with no worries and all is well. I don't think it's very hard for people to give 10%. (and of course there are exceptions to that, but I can see the majority being that way) Anyways, tangent. What is more valuable than money? Time. Duh. Time is a valuable commodity that no one seems to have a lot of these days. Especially me (at least, from my perspective).

I smiled, as I was sitting there, adoring God on that chilly Saturday morning. This is why what I was doing was a big deal. I was giving my time, to God. One hour, of my precious sleeping time (and believe me, it's precious), to adore my Creator. That's what we (or maybe just me. I may be preaching to myself and that's it haha) need to give. Time. God wants us to sacrifice for Him, and what better way than giving time? Giving money is still important, yes. But that's easy. Write a check and boom you're done. Awesome, but easy. Time? That's harder. And being a child of God is supposed to be hard.

I'm rambling.

But yes, the moral here, is give time to God. Especially if time is a precious in your life as it is in mine. 

'religious' art

Context: my brother is in a rap group and they made it to nationals for a fine arts competition. This week has been spent in Orlando, seeing the sights, getting sunburnt, enjoying the ocean, and experiencing a multitude of fine art. I was sitting with my mom, watching a group do a worship dance to a contemporary christian song. She looks over at me and goes "you should make all your dances religious next year". More context. I am a dance teacher. Next year (this up-coming dance season) I will have 15 classes in 5 genres. Exciting! Usually I use some 'Christian' music, because I like it, and some secular music, because I like that as well. Mom was making the point that she would like to see me use all 'Christian' music - or do all my dances with a religious theme of some kind.

I told her all my dances were religious whether or not the artist was someone like TobyMac. See, I dance to glorify God and I create art to glorify God. I'm pretty sure I can dance to a Coldplay song that talks about color and still glorify God just as much as dancing to a song by Matt Maher that talks about Jesus being risen from the dead. Art is art, and I think it can still be 'Christian' without using a 'Christian' song.

I once read an article by a man who was talking about how ridiculous it was to put the label "Christian" on music. His point was, if you are going to make a beautiful song, it will already convey God and His love because God and His love are the epitome of beauty. So there can be 'good' music, as in well written and having a good melody and beat and all; just as there can be 'bad' music, with lyrics that don't rhyme or notes that don't match. But you can't have 'Christian' music or 'non-Christian' music just because a beautiful song points to a beautiful God who created beautiful things. It was a good article.

Art is the same way, in my mind. If you have a sculpture of a person, you are elevating that person by sculpting them in a sense... but you are also elevating God who made that person. By thinking 'wow, that sculpture is amazing', so you would think 'wow, God is amazing who made that person'. See what I'm getting at?

Dance is the same. To me. I can praise God no matter what song I dance to or what genre I dance to because He made my body, He made me dance, and it's a talent I can use to glorify His name. Even if I dance to music other than songs they play on K-Love. Because I'm creating something beautiful by dancing and creating dances. 

be real

It's easy for me to be happy all the time. Even when I'm not happy, I'm good at faking happy. But how real is that? How are people going to see God's love in me if I'm happy (or faking to be) all the time? Let me explain. People appreciate real people. Real people have emotions. Happy, sad, angry, giddy.... the lot of it. It's easy to be happy all the time and be all "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" - and claim that that's God. "God is love, God is happy, God is joyful, we need to be those emotions all the time to show God's love to the world." I think that's a lie a lot of people believe - or - it's a lie I believed for a long time. 

Read the Bible. God has a lot of other emotions. He gets super angry. And frustrated. And disappointed. And loads of other things that aren't super happy. And that's okay... because He's real. I think we, as people, and as Christians, need to be more real. We need to be real in a world full of plastic and show our emotions... whatever they are. Yes, do it in a responsible manner. You can't go around beating people up if you're upset. But you can be upset, and figure out why, and fix it - without having to hide behind a wall of happy glass. Be real. The world needs more real people - and they will appreciate you as as Christian if you are. If you can show that, yes, being a Christian isn't sunshine and lollipops all the time. But my God is bigger than that and I can still love life and love God even if I'm frustrated about something. 

I don't know if that made sense. But it's what is on my heart. Don't fake your emotions. It's not worth it for anyone. 

things I'm learning part II

Intentions. Having good intentions is great. Seriously!!! But good intentions are rather pointless if you never act on them. Keep that in mind. Don't just intend to do things. Actually do things. 

rainy days

Today, I enjoyed some chocolate I was saving for a rainy day. Except it didn't rain today. So I thought that maybe the creator of the "save it for a rainy day" saying meant something other than literal rain. Weather, water, type of rain. What if they meant if you were in a rainy mood? If you are sad, down, not the happiest, I think your mood could be described as rainy. And if so, it would be a grand time to have something special that you saved for a rainy day. I suppose that's the English major in me to take something as a metaphor. Kind of cool to think about though.

Today was a rainy day for me. Except it didn't literally rain today.

things I'm learning part I

Sooo there is a lot of stuff in my life that has caused a lot of strife and turmoil, and I've come to a spot where I'm just like "okay God, I can't deal with anything anymore. I'm giving it all to you". Which is a good place to be, I'm sure of that, but it's not easy. So right now I'm in an intense 'seek God and find Him and His plan' kind of time. I'm going to share stuff I've learned and am learning.


Pride is horrible. And it's very humbling when God shows you something you were prideful about, that you had no idea about.

Relating to family at age 21 can be tricky. There's a lot of conflict between Bible, friends, how you want to act, how your parents want you to act, how you're expected to act.

Wisdoms is an amazing gift to have. We need to be seeking after it like its the world's most priceless jewel. Finding knowledge, wisdom, understanding. Not much can beat that.

It's better to obey God than man. Find what obeying God is for you (I'm in the finding part now), and roll with it with enthusiasm. No matter what anyone else says.


And more to come. 

NYE

It's 2013!


Yay!


I guess.


:D
Tonight, was fun. It was my first NYE party without my family. I love my family. I do. I promise. But! It was really fun to hang out with other twenty-somethings on NYE and party it up hardcore.

By hardcore I mean.... we....

• drank lots of Mt Dew and cream soda 
• played Catchphrase. crazy intensely. 
• ate oreos. 
• played Settlers of Catan. 
• laughed. a lot. 
• watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. 
• laughed some more. 
• counted down from 10, really loudly........ 15 minutes before midnight. 
• talked about building a blanket fort. 
• threw pillows (and a cat) on the youngest dude there. 
• talked. met new people. laughed. 
• had an overall really good time
• didn't drink alcohol*

I think there was like 11 people there.... everything from single to dating to engaged to married. It was a wide assortment of twenty-somethings, but we all got along great (for the most part) and had a blast. I'm super glad I got invited.... I doubt the hosts will read this, but if they do, THANKS! 

And Happy New Year, blogging peeps. Have an epic 2013. If it's not epic, make it so. Cause your attitude will determine whether you have a fantastical year..... or not. 

Carpe Diem! 

*proof that you can have a really great time without it. 

BATMAN!

So a good friend made me watch the new Batman movie with him last night. It was pretty good! For being someone who likes Pride and Prejudice (but who also has seen her share of action/adventure movies) I enjoyed it. Maybe I enjoyed who I was with more.... but anyways. :) We watched The Dark Knight Rises.

There is a part of the movie where Batman is stuck in this deep prison/hole/thing. The only way to get out is to climb a solid rock wall. A bunch of people have tried it, while being tied to a rope to be safe, and can't make it. Because of how the wall is, they have to jump from one ledge to the other while climbing, and most everyone who has tried it has failed. Batman tries it (so he can get out and save Gotham City - and all that heroic stuff), while being tied onto the rope (the rope, being there, in case you don't make it, you don't fall and die... whatever). And he misses. It was pretty downing. But then there's this older blind dude in the prison and he tells Batman to stop fearing death, and just climb the wall. Without the rope.

It was a pretty powerful moment, as Batman slowly climbs up the wall, with the rest of the prisoners watching, cheering him on. With one last fateful breath, Batman attempts the jump, without the rope.... and makes it! It was really cool. It made me think.... are there things in life that are weighing me down from doing something, because I think it's safer that way? What could I be doing that is more out of my comfort zone, maybe doing something God wants me to do.... but I don't because I'm scared it might be harmful? I know the whole "trusting in God" thing wasn't a part of the movie, but I'm applying it here anyways. Trust. It's hard. Like really hard. But God knows what He's doing, always. Sometimes we have to just jump, unhindered, and trust that He's going to help us land. 

life lessons from... show choir?

All through high school I had the impression that show choir was a big joke. I had never really seen a show, but I had seen my friends who were in it practicing and whatnot. All they did (or so I thought) was stand there, sing, and maybe do a grapevine (one of the easiest dance steps - for all you non-dancers out there). Super lame, right? To make a long story short one of my coworkers/good friends is a show choir choreographer and he asked me to help him teach a workshop today. Sure - yeah - it's easy - show choir is lame anyways - I'll be able to pick it up fast - I can help - no problem. Ha ha ha. It's kind of a killer little sport, there! To do all the choreography, and sing, and move around on stage (and there are these riser things - crazy)...... but not for one song. For anywhere from 5-12 songs. Like 3-5 minute songs. Let's just say, that after today, I have a much greater respect for show choir!

All in all though, it was a fabulous day. I love to dance, I love to dance with my friend, and even though the kids didn't pick up the choreography super fast, they tried their hardest and were doing a fairly good job! I'm super excited to keep working with them.

I was talking to another friend about this and they said something like "it's good to do things you aren't used to doing - expanding your horizons and whatnot". Which is so true! How many of us just stay in our perfect little circle, our little bubble of life. It's safe there, we know what's going on, and life is peachy. That's all well and fine but is that really living life to the fullest? Go! Try something new! Even if you suck at it (believe me, I messed up more times than I want to admit with this show choir business today) - you should try it.

This post slowly morphed itself from a random life story to a random life lesson. Not how I planned for this post to go but sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own and I just roll with it. Perks of being an English major. So yeah - go try something new. Step outside of the comfort box you're in, and experience life. I highly doubt you'll regret it in the end. 

halfway :)

Friday marked the halfway point of my math teaching career. Well, hopefully not career, but of my long-term sub job. After 4 weeks, a lot has happened! Had a lot of ups and downs, good days and bad days, but as of right now I'm loving it. I've gotten a lot more comfy with the students and I think they have gotten a lot more comfy with me. I definitely have a different teaching style than the regular teacher, which took them a bit to get used to, but it's all going good. :)

All my classes are so different... I have my group of hard workers that wants to do 2-3 lessons a day and wiz through it. I have my class of lazy bums that doesn't want to do anything but play games. I have my class of kids that aren't the sharpest pencils in the box - and no matter how many times I explain something it just takes awhile to sink in. I have a class of kids that compliments me on everything all the time to try and gain extra credit. Every day they tell me "Miss India! I love your shoes!" or "your dress is so pretty" " .....do I have to do today's assignment?" with a huge grin on their face. Makes me laugh. Then I have those students who tell me they want me to be the teacher for the rest of the year.... and that gives me warm fuzzies times twenty.

You know how you never know where you'll be a year from now? Well, a year ago, if you had told me I was going to be the high school math teacher at a school of 200 kids, I would have said you were crazy! It's cool where God can take you. :)

random thoughts. I put these <> things around it but it didn't like that :( so now it's boring

-Every now and again, my family sits around our living room and just talks and laughs. It doesn't happen all that often because we're all so busy, but when it does, it's awesome. Last night we were talking about the worst and best times in life - oh how we laughed. When a story starts out "remember when" you know it's going to be good.

-I'm going to be busy this fall. Teaching math, which starts whenever the math teacher goes into labor... I'm being her long-term sub while she spends time with her baby. Teaching dance, of course. I'm teaching 19 classes this year - soooooo.crazy.excited.!! Subbing at the other high school - which of course I can only do when I'm not subbing for the math teacher. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to be too busy - but we shall see how things go.

-Violin. Who knew how much I missed it? Certainly not me! I was thinking 'oh, I have a good violin, and I want to be able to play worship songs when everyone gathers around a piano and starts singing' - but until I started taking lessons again I had no idea how much I loved it or how much I missed it. I'm still in the stage where I'm figuring everything out so apologies to my family when I practice.... but thanks for putting up with me. :)

-I've gotten to spend good quality time with good friends this summer - it's been pretty amazing. I get to spend some more good quality time with them later this week, and I'm really excited! As long as my car works so I can drive there, all will be well.

-Overall, I'm just beyond blessed. Problems come up in life that I stress over and worry about, it happens to all of us I think, but when I step back and see all the things God does in my life - it's kinda crazy. I really don't have cause to complain, just because the good overly outweighs the bad. 

LVN4FRI

That was a license plate that I saw in my hometown last week. I imagine it's the shortened version of 'living for Friday' - this blog post is based on the fact that that's what it stands for. I could be wrong - but that doesn't negate what I'm about to say. Oh well haha.

When I saw that on someone's car, and it made me really sad. Obviously this person wasn't happy Monday - Thursday... which makes me think that he/she doesn't like their job. How sad. The economy in my town is actually pretty good - there are hundreds of open jobs all the time - so why not find one you like? It doesn't really make sense. I realize that there comes a point to where providing for a family and making money to live is important, and how you get the money is less important, but if you hate your job so much that your license plate reflects that.... I'd find something else to do.

Me personally, I love my jobs. Sure I complain about the management, or the hours, or the bratty kids at times, but at the end of the day, I really do love what I do. I know my dad loves what he does despite the workload, stress, and stupid people he deals with. You can tell when people are happy with what they are doing (Proverbs 15:13) - and it makes all the difference in the world. Why wouldn't you choose to be happy?

in which India remembers she has a blog

Wow, I think I had forgotten that I had a blog. It's been so long since I've clicked "New Post" and stared at an empty page thinking about what to write! Sad! It means life has been full and overflowing though. I will spare you most of the details of the past month - and just give today updates, and summer goal updates. For anyone that cares. If not, skip to the very last paragraph :) (and you won't offend me if you do, promise)

Today: last day of summer dance camp! Whoo-hoo! That means I have now approximately one month to start planning for my fall dance classes. Exciting! I think I get to teach more than I did last year, and that will be cool.
Also today: had my (4th? 5th?) violin lesson. I can't remember if I have told you, my bloggy friends, if I was taking violin lessons. Well, I am! And they are going quite well. My teacher is pretty amazing - she reminds me of my old teacher and that is a good thing. I've learned a lot and have been having fun doing so.

As far as my summer goals have been going, I've knocked 11 of 19 things off my list. Over half - yes! One of the things that was on my list was "get a slight tan" - I've never tanned before, and I wanted to see if I could do the right things (not including fake baking) to get tan. First I burned, badly, then I got white again, then I spent a few hours at a time in the sun..... and I now have a slight tan! Mind you, it's very slight, but it's the tannest I've ever been. It made me super happy when one of my co-workers said to me "India! I can tell you've been in the sun.... but you're not burnt! It's kinda tan!" <-- day made. I know this is lame, but for a red-head, I think it's a big deal. :D

This up-and-coming weekend is the summer state swim meet for my brothers. I don't particularily like swim meets - but I do like watching my bros swim crazy awesomely and I do love helping to time. Since it's outdoors, I can work on my 'tan' ;) :D

That's probably long enough. Happy August-in-like-6-days - OH! and Happy Olympics! So excited to watch it. GO USA!

nostalgic moment

My brother bought a car this afternoon. My.Brother. He's 17! And growing up. So I was thinking about growing up.... how all my siblings are growing up.... how I'm growing up.... and it was kind of a sad moment. I remember how my brothers and I would build forts in the living room, how I used to put all kinds of hair ties in my brother's hair. How we'd go in the woods and play 'spy' and how we'd pretend to buy all the things in the store when we went shopping with mom and dad. And those don't even skim the surface of the memories I have with my brothers.

I'm not sure why the act of Noah buying a car made all these memories come flooding back.... but it did. And it made me realize that we're not little kids anymore. We're - like - getting old. Getting to be adults (well, I'm already an adult technically). I'm glad we're growing up - cause it means awesome times to come in the future, but at the same point I kinda miss the past. Those were pretty good times too.

Noah and I - 7 years ago :)

ahem! funny post - ready set go.

So I'm in Alaska at my good friend Esther's house, (you may have remembered when she guest posted for me awhile back?!) and it's super late, and we were thinking.....

....if Mark Zuckerberg has Google +........

then was Adolf Hitler a Jew?
did Steve Jobs use an HP?
was Louis Pasteur dairy-free? (Esther had to explain to me who that was! oops)
was Milton Hershey a health-nut?
did John Calvin believe in Armenianism?
did Lady Gaga compose concertos?
could Molly Brown sink?
was Amelia Earhart afraid of heights?
did Fidel Castro start the Peace Corps?
did Henry Ford drive a horse and buggy?
did Martin Luther King Jr ever struggle with insomnia? or nightmares?
does Tom Brokaw actually watch the news?
did Mozart listen to the radio?
was Benedict Arnold loyal?


....yeah. that's what 2 hyper girls come up with at like 1am. :D