The blackbird must be flying.

Sorry for the THIRD post of the day. I really need to wait until the end of the day to blog. Anyways... I got all moved back into my apartment, went shopping, and had a nice mini date with Ethan :) Spring semester... here I come (reluctantly).

Organization:

I used my towel rack as a necklace/ earring organizer..



and my full length mirror as a belt and headband organizer..



and my over the door hooks as a scarf and hat organizer..



Day Six: Part Two: Ten

It warmed up outside and Ethan and I were about the hit the town, so I decided to change :) I am wearing the same jeans as earlier and some blue Urban Outfitters sandals with a white tank top and a Gap vest on top. I wore my new scarf that Caleigh got me for Christmas with the same headband and jewelry as earlier. Ethan told me my outfit was really cute and that I looked really pretty and it made me smile :)












Downtown: Reunited

Ethan and I set up his dorm, well he set up his dorm while I played (poorly) the guitar and made up silly songs. Then, we went to BookPeople and were in HEAVEN. We LOVE BookPeople. Then we walked to Whole foods and on the way, we saw more black birds than I have ever seen in one place at one time and it was actually kind of magical. Then we roamed whole foods and got some dinner. On the way out, we stopped and picked up some unique chocolate truffles to try (and they were delicious)! We got a ginger and wasabi truffle, a Mexican chile truffle, a Guinness truffle (no alcohol in it), a Champagne truffle (also no alcohol), and my personal favorite, a Lavender truffle.





When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
-Wallace Stevens


Goodnight:



Psalm 4:8 (NLT)
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

over and out

Social Experiment: TEN

Be sure to pause the music at the bottom of the page before watching the video!

Social Experiment: Can You Change a Life for $10?

A group of strangers in Portland, Maine are asked to change lives with just ten dollars. See what they did!

Guster- Bad Bad World from Softshell Productions on Vimeo.

This is just so beautiful and such a great idea to apply to my TEN project. I want to do a $10 to change lives project every week. What could you do with $10? Send me ideas, pictures, videos, ect.. to taelorrussell@gmail.com.



over and out

Nuts & Bolts

Day Six: Ten

Okay so I am wearing my light jeans with my Uggs with the fitted white crew neck tee and an aquamarine cardigan. I am wearing gold jewelry (including the same earrings I seem to wear everyday and my favorite necklace from JCrew that Ethan bought me...it has an elephant on it!) and a headband (simply because I didn't feel like doing my hair this morning). I have found that if I pick out my outfit the night before, I don't get as frustrated with having to wear the same thing everyday. It gives me time to think through how I am going to put my outfit together and allows me to not have to think about getting dressed in the morning, which adds to the simplicity of it!

To Do Today:

1. Work
2. Haul all of my stuff up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment
3. Unpack
4. Grocery shop
5. Cook
6. Get organized for school tomorrow








Potential Tattoo:

Well, I know quite a few people who don't want me to get a 2nd tattoo and this isn't a post about a definite 2nd tattoo. Just an idea for what it would be IF I got one. IF.



Its Psalm 119:105 (KJV) "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

School:

All of my classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are the following:
PRESENTATIONAL SPEAKING 08:00a-09:15a
AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 09:30a-10:45a
MODERN ART 12:30p-01:45p
AMERICAN DILEMMAS 02:00p- 03:15p
FRENCH II 03:30p-04:45p

Food:

Okay, so I picked 4 recipes from the 5-ingredients section of Cooking Light because I figured that would lower the quantity of items I needed to shop for and also would make for some easy recipes. I picked a chicken dish and a risotto dish for myself during the week and a salmon and mashed potatoes dish for when Ethan comes over for dinner (because he likes seafood!). Enjoy these recipes if you'd like and I'll do my best to post them as I make them.

Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto

Mushroom-Herb Chicken

Chili-Garlic Glazed Salmon

Mashed Red Potatoes with Chives

Shopping list:
1. Chicken breasts (2)
2. Shallots
3. Fresh mushrooms
4. Dried marjoram
5. Apple Cider
6. Arborio or other medium-grain rice (uncooked)
7. Vegetable Broth
8. Frozen pureed butternut squash
9. Parmesan cheese
10. Salmon filets (2)
11. Chili sauce with garlic
12. Low-sugar orange marmalade
13. Low-sodium soy sauce
14. Red Potato (1)
15. Garlic cloves
16. Reduced fat sour cream
17. fat free milk
18. yogurt based butter spread


Next up:

Finding an exercise program I actually enjoy and can do regularly.

over and out.

Inspiration Sunday

Day 5:Ten
I totally forgot to get a picture of my outfit today! I got home from church/ lunch and got straight into leggings and a sweatshirt and took a nap. Anyways, I wore my dark jeans with the fitted crew neck white shirt. I wore an Ann Taylor Loft black cardigan with a black and red houndstooth scarf and some really cute black velvet flats with bows on them that I found at Goodwill! I haven't spent any of my personal money all week, which is awesome but it about to have to change! I am going to have to go both school supply shopping and grocery shopping tomorrow. Since these are both expenses that I need and obviously can't do in under $10, I am going to be as frugal as I possibly can. Today, I was packing everything to move back to my apartment from my parents house and it was nice to not have to pack ALL of my clothes and try to get it all done in one trip like I usually do. I also realized that, I have been living at my parents house for two months and have had plenty, if not an excess, of everything. Everything I could need and more fits easily in my car (not counting my bed), yet I have probably two to three times as much stuff at my apartment that I haven't touched in two months. Why do I have all this stuff that I don't need, or even use? I haven't decided what I am going to do, but I definitely want to do something to rid myself of excess. Simplicity is my word of the year.

Inspiration Sunday:
Okay, so last week I started my first weekly "Inspiration Sunday" and I was going to try to follow the same pattern but that's confining and totally not inspirational! Today I was really inspired by church, in it's entirety from the message, to the worship, to just the general "feel." Also, because I am starting school back and moving back to my apartment this week, I have a few goals for myself this week.

Praise:
Today was my first day to attend a different church than the one I have been going to for the past 6 years and I was a little nervous because I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I have recently joined Ethan in a college small group that I really love. We both knew the leaders before so transitioning into the group was really easy for me. They invited us to their church and Ethan had been before so I definitely had a safety blanket so I wasn't as nervous as if I was going by myself, not knowing anyone. But despite my anticipation, I felt totally comfortable in the congregation, just the whole feel of the church felt welcoming. It was so so so so nice to be able to attend church with Ethan since our conflicting schedules have prevented us from being able to do that in the past. There were quite a few twists on the way the service went that I wasn't used to but the one I enjoyed the most was that they save their worshiping for after the message. This gave me the chance to hear what God was teaching me through the message and then reflect on it and really spend the worshiping time with God, focusing on what He had revealed to me.

The message today was about baptism, but I got so much more out of it than just that. I won't go through the whole sermon and share everything, but I do want to share what God had my heart focused on.

Psalm 40:6-10 (New Living Translation)

You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”

What I absolutely adore about this scripture is that it was written before Jesus came, before Jesus spoke about what God really wants from us, before He fulfilled the law. Before Jesus came, people did many things to be worthy of God's love and one of these was offering sacrifices to cover their sin. These verses tell us, before Jesus did, that God took no delight in those sacrifices, that He didn't require them, that all we wanted was for us to use our hearts to fulfill His desires. Beautiful!

Matthew 28:19-20

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are to be Jesus' disciples and we are to make disciples of all the nations. A disciple isn't someone who is simply saved by Jesus, someone who tries to live without sin and asks for forgiveness when they screw up, someone who uses scripture as a manual of how to live their lives. Although all of these things are great and pleasing to God, it's not being a disciple. A disciple is someone who does everything they can to live their lives as Jesus did. Jesus didn't do the bare minimum, and disciples don't either. Also, what is so beautiful about Jesus is that there is not one thing He asks us to do that He didn't do Himself.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (New Living Translation)

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

This is something I really focused on today, something I haven't really thought about the way I did today. We, the church, are Jesus' body, His presence on Earth. This means that not only should we as individuals be true disciples, but especially the church as a whole. What can we do as a collective unit of Christ lovers to do what Christ did in His life? Church is a wonderful place for community and furthering one's faith, but the purpose I somehow didn't get until now is that the number one purpose of the Church is to be Jesus' body.

1 Peter 2:21-25 (New Living Translation)

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.

God doesn't call us to just BE good. God calls us, calls me, calls you to DO good.

DO= go, serve, satisfy, function, work, to be enough, answer, assuage, quench, satisfy, to carry through (as a process) to completion, accomplish, achieve, bring off, carry off, carry out, commit, compass, follow through (with), fulfill, make, bring about, effect, effectuate, implement; ace, nail, engage (in), practice, work (at), reduplicate, actualize, attain, realize, complete

Food:

Moving back into my apartment means shopping and cooking for myself again. I am so guilty of making something super easy at health's expense, or ordering in food, or going out to eat. I don't remember the last time I shopped and cooked from a recipe. My goal for this week is to find 2 or 3 recipes to make the week from Cooking Light and go buy the ingredients tomorrow, then cook every other night and eat leftovers on the remaining nights. (I am hopeful to post recipes and pictures as I accomplish this goal.)

Opportunity:

So, two weeks ago I decided to apply for an internship at LiveSTRONG on a whim, honestly not expecting anything because its LIVESTRONG! But, Friday, I got a phone call from the director of the internships asking me to come in for an interview. WHAT! I literally sat in awe for 20 minutes before I called her back. My interview is on Wednesday and I am super excited. Although it is an unpaid internship and I honestly don't have enough hours available in the week to dedicate to the internship, it can only benefit me to go and sit down in person and discuss any alternatives available (maybe a summer internship!) Here's a description of the specific internship I am interested in:

Advocacy and Engagement interns will help LIVESTRONG as we work to make cancer a national priority through grassroots advocacy and public policy initiatives. Tasks may include researching grassroots advocacy practices, communicating with advocates, preparing analysis reports on grassroots strategies and helping coordinate advocacy outreach communications.

Books:

I need to start Never Let Me Go. Still.

over and out

Polarized.

Day Four:
I don't have much to say about day four since its rainy outside and I am just lounging around the house today. I will say that this week will probably have its own set of difficulties since re-wearing outfits is going to be unavoidable, and its week one of spring semester.

Date Night:
Last night, Ethan and I went to see Blue Valentine and although we were prepared for a heart wrenching story, written, acted, and filmed beautifully, I was still handed more than I expected.

It seemed appropriate to have box seats to view Blue Valentine, a movie promising unexpected emotional reactions. For $40 (reserved online, matinée) you get two tickets and an overstuffed leather La-Z-Boy loveseat/recliner with dual control; they even throw in a bowl of popcorn and an attentive server to check on you every 15 minutes or so. When we arrived to the theater, we were escorted up the elevator, through the projection room, to our perch. The view of the screen is amazing. The whole setup is absolutely soignée.

I am not going to write a full review and analyze the whole movie, because it really is something you have to experience for yourself instead of second hand. Director Derek Cianfrance had been working on the film for 12 years, and actors Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling had been on board for their roles for six and four years respectively. Cianfrance had some very interesting and innovative methods of filming, from method acting to improvisation to shocking the actors into honest emotion, that really made the movie. The movie was filmed from two perspectives, when the couple first met and then in the present, when their marriage is really on the rocks. For the the scenes when they first met, the actors didn't know each other very well and Cianfrance made them improv a lot which provided the natural awkwardness that exists when people first start interacting. Then, prior to filming the married scenes, Cianfrance had the actors live together in a very small humble house with their on screen daughter (Faith Wladyka who is PRECIOUS by the way). They were placed on a budget, worked minimum wage jobs, and even threw their on screen daughter a birthday party. They would be forced to fight all day and then act like everything was okay when they took Faith to an amusement park. This method acting forced Michelle, Ryan, and Faith to really understand their roles, not only individually but in relationship to one another.

Read a wonderful interview with Ryan and Michelle here.

There were many scenes that had me emotionally tied to the story; many were just emotional and some were graphic. Could the meaning of the movie be obtained without the graphic scenes? Yes. But, what they did successfully add to the movie is making the audience feel just as awkward and uncomfortable as the characters were in the scenes. There was some humorous relief during one of those scenes whenever Ethan declared disgusted with a bite of his sandwich in his mouth, "I'm eating" and I burst out in a very loud laugh, during a scene where laughing is VERY inappropriate. I was very thankful for our private seats right about then.

There are lots of very harsh criticisms of this film, but what is beautiful about it is that Cianfrance didn't write it to appease his audience. He wrote it to tell an honest story about falling in and out of love and to emotionally grip his audience, whether positively or negatively. Ryan Gosling answered in an interview, "when we were in Sundance, we were reading bad reviews, and Derek [Cianfrance] was more excited about the bad ones than the good ones. He wanted to make a film that polarized people."

I had thought I had escaped letting the movie really get to me, as I had assumed I could simply appreciate the film without being affected. I was wrong. As we were driving home discussing the movie in depth, I had to suddenly stop talking to prevent myself from crying and then after a few minutes of composure, I was okay again. Ethan and I were torn about what we believed the ending meant. I won't ruin the ending, but I wanted so badly to be optimistic about what would happen, but Ethan pointed out a symbol at the beginning of the movie that foreshadowed otherwise. I am still torn. But, the point, I think, isn't to figure out what happened to the characters of the story, but to really think about what one would do if they were in the same situation. To relate the story to themselves and really decide what is important.

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLV)

"Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit."
1 Corinthians 13:8 (Message)

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Love never gives up.

over and out.

Come let's mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks or um-ber-ellas in their mitts: Puttin' on the Ritz

Date Night:
Tonight is Ethan and I's last "fancy" date night before school starts and I am extremely excited about it. We analyzed our love languages the other night and realized that quality time is high on both of our lists. SO, we made a post new-year's resolution to be intentional about spending special quality time together. We are going to see the much anticipated Blue Valentine starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling that I have been writing about in most of my recent blog posts. It's a heart breaking love story written and directed by the extremely talented Derek Cianfrance, and Blue Valentine is only his second film! Both actors are up for Golden Globes and Satellite awards for the film and one of my favorite bands, Grizzly Bear, is very prevalent in the sound track. I am SO excited! Anyways, to add excitement onto excitement, we are going to see it at the Alamo Drafthouse: The Ritz which is on 6th Street downtown. I decided to surprise Ethan by purchasing the only slightly more expensive balcony seats but I couldn't keep it a surprise and told him already. BUT these balcony seats are supposed to be amazing. There are two separate balconies, each with room for two couples. Each couple gets a RECLINING love seat, a private waiter, and the best view of the screen. I will have to blog when I get home about not only the movie, but the balcony!


Day Three: Ten
Last night, I was skyping with one of my good friends Chelsey and I was telling her how I was about ready to give up on this whole "Ten" challenge, at least the clothing part of it. There is some sort of angst inside of me that wants to rebel against something I am being forced to do, apparently even if it is self-inflicted. I am pressing on though, despite my reluctance. Finding this stubbornness and lack of commitment to a challenge, especially so early on, is really disheartening BUT I will not give up! I am slowly learning what this challenge is going to do for me and am anxious to see the ending results. Today, I dressed up a little bit more since it is date night after all. I wore my dark jeans with my over the knee faux-suede black boots. I decided on my over sized white tee, belted with one of my favorite belts from Forever 21 and gold jewelry. Since it is still cold out, I have a black swing style sweater and some grey JCrew gloves.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but do not have love, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but do not have love, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but do not have love, I would have gained nothing.

over and out

Tattoos and Puppies.

Think:
Matthew 14:22-31

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

This passage, one that I have heard over and over again, took on a completely different meaning for me last night (thanks to Rob Bell's Nooma video entitled "Dust"). I feel like the common thought, at least for me, is when Jesus says "You of little faith," that He is accusing Peter of having little faith in Jesus and that is why he began to sink. An interesting take on it is that Jesus had faith that Peter could walk out on the water with Him shown by His invitation to Peter to "come." Maybe the reason why Peter sank was a little faith in himself. He doubted that he could do what his Savior was doing, and that's what caused him to sink. Jesus has faith in us as His disciples. Look at John 14:12 "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Jesus tells us that we will not only do what Jesus did, but even GREATER things. That is how much Jesus believes in us. It's our doubt in ourselves that hold us back and prevents us from accomplishing those GREATER things.
Back in July, I got my first tattoo, "Faith" on my left wrist facing me. Depending on whatever circumstances life has given me, the meaning behind the tattoo seems to change and I never expected that to happen. Originally it was a physical representation of how my faith grew through going through some difficult things. "Faith through pain." "Faith through (tattooed) pain." It was a reminder of what Jesus has done for me (and still is). Then as I went through a phase in life when I was trying to figure out the directions I was to be taking in life and really struggling with it, it was a reminder to me to not forget that God is faithful. Hebrews 13:5 "because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” But even though faith represents both of those things to me still, and will continue to, both of those reasons are pretty selfish if I do say so myself. It's (pardon my cliche) a "what can my faith do for me," instead of "what can I do for my faith." Now my tattoo serves as an inescapable reminder that Jesus has faith in me to do GREATER things for His kingdom, and that I need to have faith in myself and not let self-doubt hold me back. And as a little side-note, how incredibly awesome is our God that He has faith in us, broken lives filled with sin? He loves us and He believes in us and that just overwhelms my heart with thanksgiving and joy!

Day Two: Ten
So, yesterday I talked about how it was just so easy and fun to already know what the base of my outfit was going to be and how I didn't anticipate a real challenge at least for quite a few days. Well, I was challenged this morning. Not to create a unique outfit, but simply to challenged to stick to my goal. I wanted to badly to put on something other than my simple white shirt (I wear jeans too much to want to not wear jeans already). This struggle about something as silly as clothes made me realize the depths of my materialism. It's frustrating to me that I felt that way, but I am thankful to be challenging it and hopefully ridding myself of it. Anyways, today I am wearing my light jeans, the long sleeve white tee, my UGGs, a cream cardigan from Marshall's, and my very lovely headband/ear muffs thing my mom got me for Christmas from one of the most overwhelming, but awesome stores I have ever been in: Sam Moon. If you ever want any kind of accessory, anything you could ever think of, go there. Plus the one in Austin is right by the Lifeway Christian store... so my money seems to go pretty fast if I go to that shopping center. Speaking of money, I didn't spend $10 yesterday and I don't plan on spending anything today. But, it is a good thing I saved because I am going to see Blue Valentine tomorrow at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown and that will cover my ticket and a snack!







Olive:


This is the precious little ball of sweetness (and also spunkiness) that I get to love on every morning and snuggle with when I have some down time. She is staying at my parents house because unfortunately with school and everything else, I don't have the adequate time she deserves to train her completely. (Don't get a dog in college, I love her so much and I don't regret it, but I was NOT prepared for the responsibility) Luckily I have incredible parents that have taken her under their wings, despite her more frustrating characteristics. I am moving back to my apartment this weekend due to the spring semester starting and I am going to miss seeing her precious little face everyday.

over and out.