community

Every month, all of the Greek houses on Butler's campus get together in a sort of....gathering. For lack of a better word. It's put on by Campus Crusades for Christ, or Cru. But, it's people of all different walks. Each month looks completely different.

For our February meeting, we watched short films with discussion afterwards. I came to the revelation that I really like short films. Like YouTube. Or music videos that I made in high school. It's just interesting to see what people can cram into a few minutes; how the message must be compressed and only the most important parts portrayed.

Either way, the four movies we watched were all great. Check them out. They inspired some deep thinking. Perfect for 10pm on a Wednesday night, right?

1. A cool French movie
2. A strange one about toilets, called Flow

My favorite one is not making an appearance as of right now. Who knew it was so hard to find random obscure Christian videos on the internet these days????

the man of the madness

So, in case you were living under a stupid rock (ten points for naming that YouTube video...my fav)...Indianapolis is currently the host to the Super Bowl. Which means that millions on millions of people are descending on the city to spend millions and millions of dollars of money. I'm not one of those...I live here...and I'm a poor college kid.

But, still there are benefits. One of the main ones is that there is this hilarious, talented, fairly attractive man who is gracing Butler with his presence all week. His name is Jimmy Fallon. He is the bomb dot com.

This past weekend, I went to his comedy show at Clowes Hall on campus. Which is where I fell in love. He sang songs, interacted with the audience, and imitated other comedians. So great.

Then, he came back on Monday to film some segments for his late nights shows this week. He was in my freshman dorm, people! What!?

My roommate, Meredith, and I may or may not have been standing outside the building trying to see him through the basement windows. We also may or may not have stood around the various entrances for an undetermined amount of time waiting for him to come out. What can we say, we really like Jimmy.

That's him in the basement. Totally normal that we took this picture...

So, he did end up filming things at Butler, which will air on Super Bowl Sunday as a commercial showcasing Indianapolis and Butler. So watch.

Taping a segment at Butler! 

Because in addition to that, you might see my face. I'll be there with my roommates and friends for the taping. COOL! We won tickets in the lottery for Butler students and are going to be a part of the first live taping of his show. It's going to be great.

Read this article about him from today.

And, in case other certain people need incentive to watch his show this week...Tim Tebow is a special guest on his Wednesday show.....

right now.

things i love right now...

1. jasmine green tea
2. candle warmer  
3. butler mittens  
4. insomnia cookies that get delivered right before i go to bed
5. art class  
6. younglife club planning
7. tp-ing my area director's house...woops  
8. iCal and Google Calendar together
9. sleeping with our high speed fan on
10. wedding videos from Capture Studios

brilliant, gorgeous, talented, & fabulous

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. As we let our light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

This is one of my most favorite quotes that I found in a magazine a few years ago. I cut it out and it has stayed by my side through it all, from Colorado to Indiana. This semester, as I head into a season of busyness, I need reminded of it more than ever.

one day...

Saturdays are the best days. Especially Saturdays after the first week of classes. When I can go back to doing what I've been doing for the last month. Sleeping. Eating. Watching Friends. Pinteresting. (totes a word!)

And most importantly, watching wedding videos with my roommates, Meredith and Brady. We may or may not have spent the whole afternoon doing that. It's fine.

Here's our favorite from the day.

preview of what's to come

The first week of classes is weird. I think it's important to go to class so I know what to expect for the rest of the semester. But, it's SO boring. Professors just talk about nonsense. Literally. One of my professors talked about his adventures at Wabash College for a good 30 minutes.

But, I do love the first week of classes because I get to set my expectations for the rest of the semester. And, usually I'm really excited. I love the feeling of being able to look at a syllabus and see how much I'm going to learn. I love sitting down in a random seat on the first day and looking around at the other people in the class, thinking about how some of us might be friends after this is all through.

It's a nerdy thing to say, but I'm excited for what will happen in my classes this semester. I'm excited to be able to redeem myself in Statistics, read British literature and pretend to be an English major, learn about how my brain works, and listen to some crazy professors who are extremely passionate about what they do.

But, most of all, I'm excited for art class. We are going through the process of creating one single work of art from brainstorming to experimentation to finally showing it to the Butler community. It's going to be a great journey, one that scares me a little bit. In class, I'm surrounded by people who seem to be professional artists. It's intimidating. They all have practice in drawing and painting and they all seem to have big ideas about things they want to create.

On the other hand, there's me; nervous, confused, and feeling like I have NO idea what I'm doing. But, I think it's going to be okay. For an ongoing project, we are all supposed to start what is called an "artist's way" journal.

We spend a few minutes each day and just write down everything that we are thinking about, everything that we are worrying about, everything that is filling up our heads. Word vomit on to the page. The only rule about this journal is that you're not allowed to look back at any previous days entries. It's supposed to be a helpful exercise to try to eliminate all of the daily worries and pains that fill our heads and try to make room for more creative and thoughtful thinking.

 At the end of the semester, we're going to look back on our journal and compare it to what we actually made our work of art about. Hopefully, we are making art that reflects the things that are the most important to us and the things that are we are the most passionate about.

I think it's going to be a great project. (Thanks for the journal, Mom!)

I need to not be scared and to just create things. Like this!

days go by

    It's been too long that I've been gone from the blogging world. But, sometimes a break is what is needed. A chance to step back and do something different. Christmas break was great, as was the beginning of second semester. But, it's hard to get back into the swing of things. Just like it was hard for me to want to start blogging again. I want to...it's just the act of getting starting that's difficult. It's easier for me to just continue what I've been doing...like inertia. Like laying in my bed and hitting the snooze button for another five times instead of getting up. So, here is the first attempt at getting back in the groove, when all I really want to do is sit here and watch more episodes of Friends. 

Christmas Eve appetizer dinner and lights in the Miller household. 

Brother & Sister! 

Downtown Los Angeles.

Whale watching.

Some beach time and seafood.

Tailgating & the Rose Bowl game. 

And three great final sunsets in Colorado before I headed back to the cold dreariness of January in Indiana. 

Attempt complete. Success questionable.