Rambles and Such on a Rainy Day

My acne is much better!

Rambles and Such on a Rainy Day

So, I've been doing the same things I normally do. Ballet, church, reading. My brother came home for spring break a few weeks ago, and then I got sick. I've had a sinus infection that is slowly going away.

 

I pretty much gave up on trying to get away from the fandoms for lent. It was nearly impossible with all the posts I would see on facebook. 

 

This lent has been really strange. I've really had some ups and downs. Two weeks ago, my former conducting teacher passed away. I was distraught and confused and angry when I learned that he was dying. I knew he was sick and I knew he didn't have much time left, but I didn't know that it was going to be so immediate and that I would never get to see him again. I cried and moped and hid away from the world. This is how I deal with grief. Because of this, I didn't go on the computer for about a week, so I didn't update my posts at all.

This little guy sometimes hangs out in our mailbox! Isn't he cute!

It's Holy Week now. I'm super excited about the upcoming services and the music we are going to sing. I am a little sad that lent is almost over, but I'm excited for all the Easter music we get to sing for several weeks.

My baby plants from my friend Katie

I haven't been going to the gym much because of being sick and I missed a week of ballet. I feel super weak and I haven't made it through a whole class in two weeks. It's super frustrating and I hate feeling sick and useless.

Some Miso Tofu Pasta I made... yummy!

On a brighter note, I've been watching tons of YouTube videos recently. I watched some cool vids about using hair oil and I've been trying that out. I've also been watching lots of videos about herbal remedies for sinus infections... not so helpful.

Today is one of those days that started out gorgeous: the sun was shining, the azaleas were in riotous bloom, the squirrels and mourning doves were chowing down by the birdfeeder, and all was right with the world. Then it started pouring! I thought I was going to drive off the causeway it was coming down so hard! There was lightning and thunder that shook the walls! (It's still raining at the moment, but not as much thunder in the immediate vicinity.) I love this kind of weather as long as I don't have to drive in it. It makes me feel content and homey, like I could curl up with a book and a throw and a mug of Earl Grey and be happy forever.  That's actually sort of the reason I named my blog "Healing Rain on a Sunny Day". These days have a healing quality to them that can't be replicated by artificial means. It reminds me of the first stanza of the poem "Song of the Lotos-Eaters" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

THERE is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,	5
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes;
Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies.
Here are cool mosses deep,
And thro' the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,	10
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.

 Isn't that just gorgeous! Here is the full poem. I urge you to read it and revel in the imagery Tennyson is able to evoke in a relatively short poem. I sang a beautiful arrangement of the stanza printed above in high school women's chorale. Here's a pretty good recording I found of the arrangement by D. Gawthrop.

 

 

So anyway, I'm getting over my sinus infection and I can mostly go through the day without coughing my lungs out. I am getting tired of blowing my nose. I've been through two bags of Ricola and a huge box of Kleenex in the past week... not fun!

I ended up buying a hard case for my ukulele last week when I noticed it was on sale on Amazon. I got it for less than $30 including shipping when it usually costs $60 plus shipping, so I felt like I really got a deal on it. Isn't it cute! It is pictured next to my dad's full size guitar case if you wanted a size reference. I also redeemed some of my birchbox points on a fantastic candle and ordered some sheet music by Samuel Barber. I somehow even had them all delivered on the same day, so I was full of package opening joy.

A candle I made two years ago

A baby palm cross I made after church

I've been really trying to use up my non-cruelty free and non-vegan makeup and beauty products recently. I've been discovering some fun products I had forgotten about and trying new products and samples from the elf beauty bundles and birchbox, respectively. I absolutely adore some of the elf products and I'll do full reviews of them later (the mineral eyeliner is fantastic and I think I've found a lip gloss I actually love).

 

That's about it for now, folks! I'll attempt to update my walk to Mordor either this week, or the week after Easter. Until then, ta ta!

Awesome palm arrangement at church

Me with Meagan's cat that thinks he's a dog... Look how much fun he's having. Courtesy of Meagan!

Lent Madness

Lent Madness

As we dive headlong into Lent, there are different ways to think about God and learn about the Good News. One of the best ways the learn is to study the life of those who lived the Christian life: saints. Saints are awesome because they are just people, usually who had to overcome some obstacle and did amazing things and lived good lives. As an Episcopalian, I don't really know much about most of the saints, since we only tend to talk about a few of them. This is where Lent Madness comes in.

Lent Madness is something I found out about last year. It works along the same lines as March Madness for basketball. The idea is to have the saints compete to win the Golden Halo. It is broken down into brackets and the saint with the most vote wins. It is such a fun idea because it helps you learn a little bit more about the saints and allows you a moment to actively think about something that you would normally just gloss over. I hope you go check them out on their website and facebook.

Photo credit: Lentmadness.org

Book Review: Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation: 31 Healing Bible Verses - To Keep You Healthy, Healed & Whole!

Book Review: Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation: 31 Healing Bible Verses - To Keep You Healthy, Healed and Whole!
By: Gloria Coleman

This short ebook is a good beginner guide to daily prayer and meditation. It has 31 different bible verses that are presented in several different translations for the purpose of daily meditation. Those verses are then briefly discussed and a short prayer for the theme is tacked on to the end of the "day". This is meant to be read one day at a time for one month. There are many of these types of books online and in print. This book focused on healing as the main theme, with quotes from Old Testament and New Testament readings (Isaiah and the Gospels in particular).

 

The book itself is a bit repetitive with the instructions that were obviously "copy and paste"-ed in each section (by day 31, I hope you get the gist of how you are supposed to utilize this guide and won't have to use the same information over and over). The verses that were picked for this book were wonderful verses that provoke thought.  Well done, Gloria! Daily meditation on these scriptures will produce peace of mind, even if healing seems far away or impossible to reach. I disliked the tone of the introduction, but on the whole, this was a great book to start out my Lenten journey.

 

When I bought this on Amazon, it was one of the free kindle deals, but right now it is $2.99 for kindle and $8.99 for paperback. I would still spend three bucks for this, I would not spend nine. It is 154 pages in length. This review is made with that in mind.

4/5

Read on March 5, 2014

Lent

Lent. What is Lent? Why is everyone talking about what they are giving up? Why are they giving up things?

 

Lent is a solemn time in the church calendar between Epiphany and Easter that is the time of expectation, deep spirituality, and meditation on God's word. The practice of "giving up" something for Lent is usually a High Church practice, but many people decide to partake in the Lenten experience including Catholics, Anglicans (Episcopalians), Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans. This forty day period is known for covering up crosses and refraining from using the Gloria and Alleluia.

The pre-lent period of Epiphany is a time of celebration. This is Carnival, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, etcetera. This is the time when, historically, all the meat would be eaten and all the plays, operas, and shows would take place. During Lent, these indulgences would be unavailable so all the fun had to be had before the period of fasting.

 

There are three main things to be given up or taken up for Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Prayer:
Prayer is an invocation or an act of seeking God. Most religions utilize some form of prayer in their worship. During lent, prayer is usually used in seeking remission of sins and it is usually a time in which confession is a large part of prayer. Thanksgivings are also important in lent as well, but a heavier emphasis is put on solemn prayer.

Fasting:

Fasting is different for everyone. It is the practice of abstaining from something or self denial. Some people give up all food and just have liquid foods and water. Others eat only bread and water. Others have only one meal a day. Some people give up all meat while others just give up red meat. There are Fish Fridays and Meatless Mondays. Chocolate, alcohol, candy, junk food, carbonated beverages, and other "extravagances" are given up for the duration. Some people fast all 40 days of lent (this does not include Sundays as they are always feast days) while others fast only on Fridays and holy fast days.  Fasting doesn't have to just be about abstaining from food. Facebook, Twitter, television, certain types of books, or "time wasting" activities are also popular things to abstain from in this time of devotion and inward and outward reflection.
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Almsgiving:

Almsgiving is the giving of things to others as an act of virtue. This could be money, possessions, food, time, or any other thing that can be given. Most people donate their time or money to charities, or they set up a change jar that they fill with their change throughout the month and then donate that or a double of that to a charity. Charity and love is one of the foundations of the Christian faith, so this time of reflection is a time for Christians to remember to give and think about it more fully than in their normal everyday lives.

So, armed with these three ideas, what are my objectives this Lent 2014?
 

I'm going to be giving up the fandoms for lent. No more Sherlock fanfiction. No more funny Avengers memes. No more Doctor Who inspired facebook posts. Instead, I will pray everyday and read scriptures. I also will be going through my closet and giving away clothes that I don't wear and I will try to blog every day during Lent, no matter how short or how ramble-y the posts will be. I already have some ideas for posts, so be ready!

If you are having trouble deciding, here are some great ideas for things to do during LENT 2014!