Recommendations!

Since I started working overnight, I have done a LOT of reading.

Here are some of the great things I have discovered so far and would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good book.

1. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

This is an absolutely lovely book about Ernest Hemingway's wife, Hadley. It begins with the day they meet and the story is so wonderful. If you're a fan of the '20's, read it. If you're a fan of Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, or Ezra Pound, read it. If you like books, read it. If you like life, read it.

2. Man Walks Into Room by Nicole Krauss

I am a HUGE Nicole Krauss fan. I recommend all her books, but this is the one I read most recently. It's about a man who is found wandering in the desert with no memory of how he got there, or anything else. He does not remember his wife, or even his name. He decides to participate in an experiment done by a scientist, and the book tells about his journey. Nicole Krauss has a way with words, and this book, along with any other she has written, is definitely worth the read.

3. Stepping on Roses by Rinko Ueda

Stepping on Roses is a manga. If you've never read manga before, it takes some getting used to, but this one is worth it. It's about a young girl named Sumi who lives with her older brother, who has a soft spot for orphans and is always bringing them home to live with them. The problem is that they can barely afford to feed themselves. One day, one of the orphans gets very sick and no doctor will treat that child for free. In a desperate moment, an extremely wealthy man who she has never met asks her to marry him, and in exchange he will guarantee financial security for her family. It's a beautiful story with beautiful illustrations, and I'd recommend it, no matter how much experience you have with manga.

Inspiration

I take inspiration all around, and see things often that inspire me to find out more about them, or cause me to wonder why I never noticed them in the first place. Almost daily, I am inspired to create, and, even more so, things that change my ideas about fashion. In the last few years, fashion (particularly alternative fashion) have become a passion of mine as I see more and more how creative people are and how beautiful it is to be different from everyone else. One thing I love about alternative fashion in particular is that not everyone is going to like it, but that's okay, because it's your art. Just as a painter paints on canvas, and a musician makes music, someone can create a work of art using his or her own appearance. It also celebrates that no matter what you look like, you can still be glamorous, creative, and lovely just by being unique. Of course everyone is absolutely beautiful, but it's more about how you feel inside. If I love what I wear and how I present myself, I will feel beautiful and confident. Here are some things that have made me feel inspired one way or another this week, in fashion or otherwise:


(Source: wanderlust-paradise07.tumblr.com)


(Source: tokyofashion.com)


(Source: weheartit.com)


(Source: weheartit.com)


(Source: moon-of-mine.tumblr.com)


(Source: prettypinkpage.tumblr.com)


(Sourice: tokyofashion.com)
**PS - If you like this one, you should take a look at the whole photoset here

Lately, I'm liking...

From the taobao shop Shirley Deer (shirleydeer.taobao.com)



I love this because it's elegant, not too childish, and winter-friendly. It would be a lovely snowy photo shoot choice. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. It's priced at 486 yuan, which is a little over 78 USD. Not cheap by any means, but not priced any less than it is worth (especially when you consider its weight and that it IS a winter coat). My favourite thing about it: as a future teacher, I could still wear it - even when going to work! Score!

Have a blessed day!

Busy, busy...

My life has taken a 180 degree turn over the past few weeks! I went from sitting around at home watching Netflix all day to working overtime every week between two jobs. On top of that, hubby-to-be and I are in the process of finding an apartment for the fall. We're having to do this online since we can't make the trip down to Iowa! Although we won't be moving until August, a lot of the apartments in the area are already spoken for, so we're going to have to find one soon.
This coming weekend, we will be heading to Kansas to visit my family and get some things done for the wedding, including our wedding shower, which we're very excited for! We're getting married two months from today - the time has really flown by :)
Between working so much and trying to figure out the future, there hasn't been time for much else. The trip will be an awesome break!

Busy morning!

Well, two great things happened this morning: First, Patrick and I decided officially that we will be moving to Iowa in August, attending Iowa State University! Second, I got a job offer - which will help keep me busy until the move, and help us have the financial stability to get settled into a new place. I'm really excited about both of these things!
The job that I was offered is at a place called the Good Samaritan Boy's Ranch. It's a place where boys who have been removed from their homes for whatever reason (whether they have gotten into legal trouble or there are issues with the family) temporarily live, go to school, and receive the help that they need. I will be working on the night watch crew, meaning I'll stay up overnight in one of the dorms as a security measure. It will be an interesting job, and I am excited to get started and work at a non-profit organization!
As far as out decision to go to Iowa - we learned that I will receive in-state tuition since Patrick will be working at the school! That is such a blessing for us, as my potential tuition costs were the thing that was holding us back from accepting their offer. Thankfully everything worked out perfectly, and all my prayers from the last few months are getting answered :)

Decisions, decisions.

Now that Fiance and I have visited all the options for a potential grad school (and undergrad for me), we are finally at a point where we can make a decision. We are both leaning highly towards Iowa State University. However, we can't decide officially until we figure out a way to get around me paying out-of-state tuition. Both of us have been communicating with the school trying to figure everything out so we can make an official decision. I have sent in an application, but it won't be reviewed until the school has received my transcript. However, my school will not send out my transcript until I pay off the final $200 I owe to the school. After paying rent and some bills for this month, I decided today wasn't a great time to pay that off! Prayers that I can have my transcript sent soon. Just a short and sweet little update, because it's difficult to tell other about your future when you don't know anything about it yet :) Thanks for reading!

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Lately, I have been celebrating beauty. Looking around, I've seen the most beautiful things - of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that's something I believe with all my heart. Some may look at a landscape of colorful trees in the fall and feel there is no greater beauty. Others may prefer to go to an art museum and look at oil paintings. A man may look at a woman and think there is nothing more beautiful in the world. All these things are beautiful, of course. But today, I want to give a glimpse of some things I find to be extraordinarily beautiful. Man-made or not, glory to God for creating such things and the people who make them.


Vincent Olinet
Pas encore mon histoire - installation view Wanderland, Tilburg, 2008
Via laurentgodin.com


Via schalott.tumblr.com


Via september-irises.tumblr.com

Not much to this post, but just felt like sharing some pretty things with you.
Here's a quote to end on:

“Love beauty; it is the shadow of God on the universe.”
Gabriela Mistral

And a verse:

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."
Ecclesiastes 3:11