Identity and Modern Womanhood

Happy Wednesday to you all! I hope your week is going well thus far. Today started a little sad for me, Nate left for tour yesterday, but he'll be back right before Spring Break, so that's a good thing. Also, school is so crazy, I'm able to find distraction and comfort at work. I know Nate loves being on tour, and he is living out his dream, so that makes it a little easier too.

Anyways, for the past few weeks I've been super burdened to talk about this subject, but I've had a hard time putting it on paper (or screen). Do things sometimes bother you, but you can't really put your finger on it? That's how I've been since seeing the previews for Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, How to be Single, and The Boss. I wasn't mad about what I was seeing, I was sad.  During the course of these movie previews My heart broke as I watched our mainstream media send a very clear message: Gentleness and Modesty are equal to weakness or backwards thinking, and what you want is all that matters. There are all these preconceived ideas what modern women should be doing. I'm not so sure.

"If you don't decide who you are the world will do it for you." This is a saying I discuss in my high school Bible class. I think applies to all people of any age.What is the world turning us women into? Does strong womanhood and sense of self mean that you are entitled, that you have the right, to indulge your every whim even or especially at the expense of others? I think generally, the World's reply might be "yes" and it breaks my heart. I don't bring this up to condemn, I just want to challenge what modern womanhood looks like. Gentleness, Kindness, Modesty (not having to do with how much our little you wear), are not synonymous with weakness, or lameness. I couldn't think of  a smarter sounding word.

If we look to the Word, the entire book of Ecclesiastes shows that no excess of indulgence will ever truly fulfill us. We won't find who we are or who we want to be by serving ourselves only, we will only find loneliness. Ladies, there are Godly and courageous women all over our Bible. Being Gentle or Modest does not mean we sit quietly and just let the world go by. By no means!Look at Deborah in Judges! When the king is too cowardly to fight for the God of Israel in Battle, she suits up!  Esther, when she realizes her people are in danger of mass genocide, she goes to the king expecting to be killed, but having great faith that Lord the will see her through. Ruth, is a Moabite, but she is loyal, and sticks with Naomi to the very end, eventually marrying Boaz, the kinsman's redeemer and is the grandmother of King David. Mary is a teenage girl engaged to be married and the Lord gives her the Job of being the mother to the Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, knowing he is going to be the Savior but having no clue how it would all go down. Not to mention being pregnant with baby that's not Joseph's. Courageous, Gentle, Kind, Modest. Strong.

What do you think? Do you see this trend growing? Am I overly sensitive? Am I backwards? It's all food for thought, but I would love to hear what you think.

See you soon!

I'm a bit of lunatic with shoes and jackets and jeans

Hi everyone! Happy Friday everyone! It's finally that day of the week that means no school tomorrow. I know you're thinking, "but didn't you ditch school yesterday?". The answer is yes, but there's a small sense (very small sense) of guilt associated with with ditching school. There's not one ounce of guilt on Saturday, it's just a free day. Well, not totally free, I have homework, but I can do it at starbucks, not at school, which I love!

Anyways, this is what I decided to wear today. I might be late to the party on this, but I've found my new favorite jeans, and they are the J.Crew Matchstick jean. They're not skin tight like a skinny jean (thought skin-tight jeans have their place in this world), but they aren't like an awkward boot cut, they're just perfect. I want another pair soon. AND they dont stretch and get weird by the end of the day. Perfection.

 In case you even care, there are no christmas ornaments in that box. Only Nathan's paintings. I've been gettign afew comments on them as I begin to take pictures indoors. It's just too cold to go out without a big coat, He does sell his paintings, but beware, they are always paintings that make some sort of social point, they're not always just feel-good cutesy stuff. In fact, they almost never are. But thats something about Nathan I have always admired, his conviction to stand up for what's right. What a man.

 Despite the fact that my face looks totally weird here, doesn't it kind of look like a crown of Dandilions around my head? How fun!

Here's the painting that crowing my head earlier. Isn't it neat? It was the first Christmas present Nathan ever gave. I think we had only been dating for about a month. It has a really sweet little letter written on the back of the canvas. Sometimes when I'm feeling blue, I take the painting off the wall and read it, then I feel better.

This was my valentines day present. It's a love pig! I know, it seems really strange a two-headed yellow pig, but let me explain. In Mexico, you can buy these little cerdito souvenirs. They're little piggy-banks that are painted with all sorts of beautiful colors. I have about... 1000 of them, I just love them. That's what this pictures is. Its a little bank, only it has two heads. The head with the mustache is Nathan, and I'm the one with rosy cheeks. It also has a cute little message. Gosh, I love my little paintings.

 

Well everyone, thats about it for me today. Since I didn't do anything school related yesterday, I should probably do some school related things today. Maybe not. Who knows. There are always so many fun things to do. Anyways, I hope you all have a great rest of your Friday, and an even better Saturday! See you soon!

the great charm of all power is modesty

Clothes are such a funny thing aren't they? They say so much without us even knowing. That's why it's so important to really think about the things we put on. There are people who think that it's shallow to care about clothes, but let me discuss why it's not.

Our clothes communicate so much, and they can sometime dictate how people respond towards us. There's so much to consider when thinking about dressing your body. Like, what might look great on someone else may or may not look good on you, and vis versa. OR, what I would wear on a date with my husband would not look at all like what I would wear to lead worship on a sunday morning. Or even what I would wear to lead worship at school, would look different from what I would wear to lead worship at church. Your outfit communicates so much!

Our clothes need to be an extension of who we are, bringing out our very best, not distract people from it! 

Here's an example that speaks volumes. Here's Nicole Richie. Now, while I wouldn't necessarily endorse her initial method of weight loss, or her relationship with the law, I am convinced that since having her baby and getting married, she's a different woman, and I'm a big fan of hers. But here's what we used to know of Nicole Richie: Paris Hilton's wild friend with fried hair. Yikes. If you told me that she was going to be one of my favorite fashion icons, I would laugh in your face. What does this outfit say about... anyone? How would you expect a man to treat you? What kind of friends would you attract? What type of Boss would be likely to hire you? I'm actually saddened by the fact more people dress like this than the latter...

 But look at this!!! Is she not totally gorgeous? What does this outfit say? She looks like, and I believe, she actually is a different person now! Look how much more confident she looks! More sure of herself. This is the Nicole Richie that guest stars on Project Runway with significant influence. I want everything in her closet.

 Soooo.... all this to say, when you have a public speaking engagement (even if its just a high school presentaion), think about what you're communicating!! when you put your booty shorts on before you go to the mall... think about how many people will be there, and the fact that creepers are everywhere. You can look totally cute, HOT even, without your booty shorts. What do you want your clothes to say about you?

Sir one more comment like that and I will strangle you with my microphone wire!

Hi Everyone!I've been emotionally preparing for this day for a while, as today is my first day back to school. Whenever I hear the phrase "Back to School", I think of Adam Sandler in Billy Madison, "Back to school! Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool!" thats some good 90's comedy right there folks. Maybe I'll watch that movie tonight with my wubby when he gets home from work. I'm sure he will not protest an Adam Sandler movie. Any man in high school in the 90's loves him. Ask any guys, I'm almost positive that I'm right. But I'll say this for myself, the Wedding Singer is my favorite Adam Sandler movie. It's a category, I checked :)

Anyways! This is what I decided to wear today. I look quite... womanly in this dress I must say, but thats okay, sometimes a little womanliness is good. My friend Donovan, who I have to say is probably one of the best dressed males on Jessup's soil, says that this dress says "You're young and your newly married! Enjoy it!" He's right, I think. Everything about this dress appealed to me when I spotted it at Freestyle. The colors, the print, the length, the sleeves, the 70's-ness of it... just everything. This has quickly become one of my favorite items in my closet. Also, this dress couldn't look better with my wooden platforms. I love this dress. Thats all.

Again, because it was first day back from Spring break, and I had time to get cute, I decided to go for a full face of make-up. I have naturally super pink lips, so I just chapstick everyday. My mom-in-law put this really great strawberry bananna chapstick in my easter-basket (how cute is that, right?!) so that gives me a little but more pink. More pink is always great!

Here's a random fact about me: My toes are abnormally short. Whenever I wear peep-toes, my toes never peep out! Isn't that sad? So it looks like my shoes are too big, but they're not!

Oh platforms. Flat and tall at the same time. Can't beat em.

So that's about it for me for today. kind of a short post, but I got peoples to see, things to do, homework to finish! I have memorize so much music! I can do it. I'm not too worried. Anyways, I better get going before the traffic gets too crazy! I hope your tuesday has gone as well as mine has. Math wasn't has horrendous as I was anticipating, in fact I felt pretty good about it today. I'll do okay until the graphing comes....oh my. Anywhoo, see you soon!!