aunt mickey

i am finishing up my work for my writing class this semester and i had the assignment of writing a holiday memoir. basically, write your favorite holiday memory. seeing as i am a member of the hopkins family, pretty much every holiday is memorable because we are a hilarious group, if i dont say so myself. but i had absolutely no problem choosing which holiday to write on because this particular holiday will stick out in my mind for years and years to come. i wrote on thanksgiving 2006, which is when we found out that great aunt mickey, who is now deceased, was a lesbian. who knew?

wisdom

in an attempt to find consistency in my life which is so very inconsistent right now, i looked to a reading assignment. (keep in mind, i do realize that all consistency comes from the Lord...He uses daily things to reveal that to us) Saint Catherine of Sienna wrote this sometime between 1347 and 1380:

Wisdom is
so kind and wise
that wherever you may look
you can learn something
about God.

Why
would not
the omnipresent
teach that
way?

it is amazing that this speaks to me today. her poetry has reminded me of His consistency in my life, even when it is overwhelmingly crazy and bizarre. and even when i feel as though i am in the storm of my life, His wisdom [healing, love, peace, etc] is there. i am able to find it anywhere, as long as i am in a position to receive. i am blessed to be able to find Him in my daily work. who would have thought that i would receive revelation in the middle of my english class? [which i so badly wanted to skip today]

i carry your heart

i just finished my last major paper of my undergraduate career. it feels pretty good. i've passed over a significant bump and now i can move onto the rest of my work which is yet to be completed. "i am so over this semester" is my quote these days.

my paper was over this poem which in my opinion is the most romantic poem in the world. (someone gave it to me once, but it has a different meaning to me now)

[i carry your heart]

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

-e.e. cummings

daily wisdom

i get a quote of the day on my google homepage and i dont always read them, but i sure am glad i read today's quote:

"I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words." -Ellen DeGeneres


don't worry ellen, i don't work out either. i don't necessarily get bone density tests...but i sure as heck find other ways to not work out.

corny-corncorn

last night we were watching the news. [i know what you're thinking...i do watch the news from time to time] they had this little bit about corn being used for that new fuel...e-something or other. with more corn being used as this new fuel source, the price of corn is obviously going up. i believe they said it has almost doubled. well, they interviewed this farmer who was complaining about the price going up because he feeds his cattle corn.

PAUSE. now, for those of you who know me well, you are very aware of my corn allergy. i avoid corn at all costs because it is a quite painful process once i have actually eaten any kind of corn product. so i try to eat plenty of meat, and pasta, because those two things are pretty reliable when it comes to not having the corn in them. but this farmer feeds his cattle corn...and then i eat the meat! it is practically impossible for me to have a corn-free diet. why is this so? i cant get away from it. corn is everywhere...how many farmers feed their cows corn?? does everyone know about this? am i just unaware?

maybe i need to watch the news more.

rejoice

"Rejoice in the Lord always, Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:4-7

probably some of the best advice ever.
as easter is approaching,
i am thanking God for Christ Jesus
who makes that peace possible.
the kind that surpasses all understanding.
i am rejoicing in HIM.
The Lord is at hand.

cooking disaster

ok so i'm not the best cook in the world. and here is why: i think i'm cursed!

i have a few things that i like to cook, but mostly i just make whatever. i slap something together and i call it a meal. (it makes me feel accomplished, dont judge) however, i have one meal that i am QUITE proud of that i make about every two weeks or so. this meal would be called chicken tetrazini. now, i'm not sure if thats how you actually spell it and at this point i am way too lazy to look it up, so we're just going to go with that. first of all, chicken tetrazini is my favorite meal IN THE WORLD. i would most definitely choose it for my last meal if i knew it was going to be my last meal. combined with texas toast, it is quite possibly a little slice of heaven. CT (which is how i will refer to it from this point on) consists of chicken, cream of mushroom soup, cheese, noodles, etc. it is made in the form of a "casserole." you may or may not have heard of "casserole" because it seems like no one makes casseroles these days.

anyway, i make this delicious meal about every two weeks. but somehow something goes wrong every single time. never with the actual food, but always with me. the last time i cooked CT it was awesome, perfect even. and what did i do? oh i forgot to put the rest of it in the refrigerator! so i ruined it. well, last night as i was boiling the chicken for the CT, something was in the burner from a previous cooking experience. it decided to burn and to smoke all over the kitchen and i somehow inhaled a HUGE amount of the smoke therefore burning my throat and lungs. i had a cough for the rest of the night and today i sound like a frog. i'm wearing green. how fitting!