Hunger Games

Last Friday night at midnight, Suzanne Collin's best-selling novel, The Hunger Games, unveiled itself as a cinema flick drawing the world into the opening of the epic trilogy. As a faithful reader, I went to the movie on Friday. 

Flashback, when I first picked up the first novel, it was the first day of classes in the spring semester. My friends were all busy with rush for their sororities. I had no classes because my lab had not yet begun. It was a Wednesday. I was feeling a tad bit lonely, so I decided that in order to pass the time I would check out these books that everyone was talking about. Let's just say that this decision turned me into a mix between a monk and a book worm. I read the book in an afternoon. I could not work out. I could not even walk downstairs to put my produce from lunch back in the refrigerator after I had forgotten to do so. I kept saying I would stop at the next chapter. But it's funny how the next chapter turned into the next chapter and so on and so forth until I had just finished. 

But I digress from the real reason I started this post. I was just thinking about why I love these books. For one, the do not idolize the romantic relationship. I think that this is my biggest frustration with Hollywood, the media, and our culture at large. It is easy for women, especially women around my age and younger, to idolize love and the perfect relationship. It is easy to feel that if love was alive and present in my life, then all my other problems would dissolve. This is flawed thinking. Now, you may be asking what I mean by this. The Hunger Games trilogy is really one big love triangle, right? 1984 meets Twilight? I confess that the Hunger Games highlights Katniss's struggles through her feelings. However, the important difference is the ranking of her relationships. Family comes first. Now, I don't ever wish that I would kill someone in cold blood. But I resonate with Katniss. I feel the liquidation of her internal organs when she realizes that Prim is reaped. I sense the anguish in her voice when she volunteers to take her sister's place. Trading life for death. This is how I hope I would respond for my siblings. Not only would I want to spare them from a tragic end, but I also know for sure that I do not want to do life without them. The sibling relationships is usually the longest relationship one has in life. It is also one that is marked by selflessness that is not found in many other relationships. I find myself looking out for my siblings in ways that I don't usually look for my friends. 

There is also significant literature and art dedicated to the exploration of the sibling relationship. The two works that pop into my mind are My Sister's Keeper and A River Runs Through It. They are interesting perspectives through some tumultuous sibling interactions.

I am thankful for my three wonderful siblings. I believe in the quote, "Missing someone isn't about how long it has been since you have seen them or the amount of time since you've talked. It's about that very moment when you're doing something and you wish that they were right there with you." I've been missing those three lately. I'm looking forward to summer when we all be together. 

If I lived another life, I would be a poet

I learned this poem in 5th grade. I clearly remembering sitting in the back of the room in the church building with Mrs. Datema leading a class recitation. I miss the days when I was assigned to memorize poetry. I happened upon this poem as I was searching for a quote that I heard at Chi Alpha on Monday night. When I saw Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's name, memories of my fifth grade poetry series came flashing back. Poetry will definitely be on my mind this summer when I have more time to explore. Or maybe even later in the semester. It will just have to wait until I don't have 3 exams on Thursday, online class and lab training on Friday, 1 exam on Tuesday, and data survey due on Wednesday. More poetry and wonderful literature to come!!

1. The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
    When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
      That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
      The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
      And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
      Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
      And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
      Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
      To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
      A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
      They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
      O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
      They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
      Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
      In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
      Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
      Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
      And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
      In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
      Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
      And moulder in dust away!

Lewis Loving

"Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of--something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possesed your soul have been but hints of it--tantalizing glimspes, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest--if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself--you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say 'Here at last is the thing I was made for.' We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the things we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all." - C. S. Lewis


Slate talked about this quote at RUF tonight. I think it's beautiful for two reasons. First and foremost, Lewis acknowledges our desire for something greater than this world. He verbalizes that a desire exists within us that we often fail to express. It's the aching of our soul for meaning, for an object to worship. I believe that it is our desire for the Lord. Secondly, it tells us about our friendships. Sometimes people just get the world the way that you do. I have those friendships in my life. I need to remember to cherish them because they are a good gift from the Lord.

Missing Jack

This family has really been on my heart lately.

Check out this blog.

I alluded to this in another one of my posts that I wrote back in October when I was just started to blog. Now, the story is told in the blog, but I will give you a synopsis. One of my little brother's best friends passed away in September. Davis goes to a small private school and he has known this boy, Jack, since 3rd grade. This year they entered 7th grade together. This blog is the blog of Jack's mother, Anna. She is an incredible writer and has been a secret blogger for years. She changed the names of her two kids and husband to protect their identity, but after the incident with Jack, the blog has been a journal and documentation of how she is struggling with grief.

My heart has been breaking for them lately. This past Sunday would have been Jack's 13th Birthday. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for them to go through this weekend wishing more than anything that their precious boy could have been with them.

I have just been rambling as I always do, but the point of this blog post is to encourage whoever might be reading to lift this family up in prayer. They have been on my heart. I am encouraged by Anna's honesty in dealing with her grief and the authenticity of her emotions. I continue to want to her heart to mend and the Lord's peace and sovereignty to wash over their family. Please pray for the Donaldsons.Read Anna's blog. You will not regret it. I assure you.

Homemade Brownies

Spring break 2012 is definitely one for baking. One of Julia's best friends is turning 16. She was going to make her a box mix of brownies, but I had been wanting to try out this recipe so I figured that it was the perfect time to do it. Plus, box mix cannot compare to this recipe. This brownie recipe is so rich that I wanted to split it up between a few people and get some of it out of the house due my and my dad's lack of self-control with baked goods. Brownies get me every time because I just keep nibbling and nibbling and before I know it, half of the pan is gone... WHOOPS.

I stole this recipe from one of my lovely housemates because she has made these brownies a few times and my house devours them. She has made a few varieties including mint and peanut butter, but I chose to stick with the original found from Buns in my Oven. You can find the original recipe here.

Homemade Brownies!!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks of butter)

2 and 1/4 cup of white granulate sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 and 1/4 cups of cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (You could change it up and use peanut butter or mint chips if you wanted to add some variety. I decided to stick with the classic chocolate)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 by 13 pan.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.

Once the butter is melted, add the sugar.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar mixture. Mix in eggs, salt, baking powder, vanilla, and cocoa powder. 

Add the flour.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into greased pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until done. According to the original recipe, the edges should be firm, and the middle should be done, but still slightly gooey. This gives the brownies the fudgy texture.

These brownies are delectably rich. My siblings loved em, and so did my parents. Hopefully, the birthday girl did too. I can't wait to ask Julia about it when she gets home from track. 

Friendship

I am so thankful. I am blessed with amazing friendships, both old and new.

Tonight I spent some precious time with a dear old friend. It's one of those friendships where you can go for months without speaking or seeing each other and the minute you finally get together, you fall back into the routine and you forget about all the months that you spent apart. 

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."

 - Elisabeth Foley

I love this quote. At first, I was hesitant if I actually believed this. If you are true friends, wouldn't you stay close forever? I have learned that proximity is a very powerful force in friendships. You are close to those you spend time with and see often. This is not always a bad thing. It simply means that you are invested where you are. It's a valuable thing to be fully present where you are placed in the moment. It's hard to be close to those at home and close to those at school. 

I don't really know where I was headed with this post, but I guess what I want to communicate is that I am thankful. I am reminded that there really are irreplaceable friendships in this world. I was blessed and reminded tonight of one of them. There really are people who love you for being you. Some friendships will be unlike any others ever experienced. They go deeper than asking about your day or how you are doing or what you will be doing this summer. Hold on to those. Don't take them for granted. They will be the relationships that you will reminisce about to your kids one day.

Secondly, be invested where you are. Old relationships will not be lost. They will just be deferred for a time. True friendship picks up where it left off. Don't lament that things have changed because that degrades what was and currently is. Everything is made beautiful in it's time and friendships are no different. Appreciate a friendship for what it was and rejoice in what it still currently is. This allows you to hold friendships with an open hand. 

Blueberry Muffins

It's my first full day at home! I woke up early because at school I wake up with the sun, so that habit has yet to be broken even though I am at home. I figured I'd get up and start my day. I decided I might as well wipe up some blueberry muffins that I have meaning to try. The recipe I used was adapted from allrecipes.com which you can find here.

Blueberry Muffins!!

Ingredients for muffins:

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup of milk

1 and 1/2 cups of frozen or fresh blueberries

Ingredients for crumb topping:

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter - cubed

1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a muffin pan with muffin liners or grease the pan.

In a mixing bowl to make the muffins, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to get your dry ingredients.

In another bowl, combine the oil, egg, and milk for your wet ingredients.

Mix these together on low speed until blended. Fold in the blueberries by hand.

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter to make the crumb mixture! This is my personal favorite. It makes the muffin. Now, I followed the recipe above and it made 10 muffins with generous crumb topping!! Pour the batter into the lined muffin tins.

Then top with the crumb mixture. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture of this step. 

Bake for about 25 minutes. 

This made 10 large muffins!