Christmas for a College Student

I've been counting down the days until I take that journey home to be where my heart lies.

with my family.

My mom asked me the other day "what do you want for Christmas?" and the only thing I thought was, "to be home and surrounded by the people I love the most."


So, what do I want for Christmas?
I want to watch The Christmas Card with my dad on the couch.
I want to bake all day with my mom while listening to Christmastime by Michael W. Smith.
I want to build castles with Ella and see Luke's smile light up when I make a funny face.
I want to spend every night cuddled up with my mom on the couch watching Christmas movies.
I want to wrap everyone's gifts for them while singing along to A Muppet's Christmas Carol.
I want to bake cupcakes with Nicole and laugh over a glass of wine.
I want to hold a candle at church on Christmas Eve and sing until my heart's content.
I want to smell that familiar, indescribable scent of home.
I want to read 10 books because I have nothing better to do.
I want to take trips to Starbucks at midnight with my favorite friends.
I want to stay up all night talking and planning with my best friend.
I want to read by the fire, drinking the best hot chocolate in town
I want to be home.

I don't think I've ever been more ready for a semester to be over.

The Art of Assisting Discovery

"You see, it's not enough to leave school and just desire to succeed in this cold, cruel world because then you simply become a part of it. You must also have the desire to change it."

-Mr. Feeny, Boy Meets World

If one more person asks me "Why would you want to be a teacher"in that ridiculing tone I might just scream. I hope this answers your question;

My first response to this question is always "because it matters!" but what I really mean is "do you really not understand how important teachers are to the world?!". Maybe most people don't have the strength or patience to teach high school Chemistry but it's something that I'm very passionate about. 

1. There's a great need for math and science teachers in the state of Texas 

2. There's an even greater demand for good teachers. Not tenured ones who are just doing the job to get paid. Not gym coaches forced to teach math. Teachers who care whether you learn the material or not. 

3. You would be nowhere without the teachers in your life. I wouldn't be a Chemistry major if I didn't have an amazing Chemistry teacher in high school. Other than family, I believe teachers have the most influence in our lives. 

Since I was 6-years-old I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I've always known where I'd end up. For a while I let everyone discourage me from teaching, with arguments of low pay and a dysfunctional system. But I realized that money will never make me happier than doing what I love, and I can manage on whatever God gives me. I don't have to be making millions, I just want to touch lives. 

I want my class to be the one that students look forward to going to each day. I want to make the learning environment comfortable in order to maximize the absorption of material. I want to inspire students who wouldn't normally have an affinity towards math/science. I want them to actually want to learn instead of just doing everything possible 'to get that A.' 

So the next time you look down on me for choosing to be a teacher instead of working for a big company, just know that you wouldn't be anywhere without someone like me.

“Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.” 

Jacques Barzun 

Today, Today is Awesome

Today is a good day.

Today, you rock.

Give today a chance. Maybe you overslept, didn't finish your homework, are having a horrid hair day and are sick. But don't hold that against today, you haven't given him a chance yet. He'll bring you a shining moment in lab or cross your path with a chivalrous fellow. Next thing you know you'll be skipping to your car and singing along with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. 

Maybe you'll bring sunshine to someone else's day because today shined on you. 

Remember that the next time you wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

Fabulously Where We Are

"Lets just be fabulously where we are and who we are. You be you and I'll be me, today and today and today, and let's trust the future to tomorrow. Let the stars keep track of us. Let us ride our own orbits and trust that they will meet. May our reunion be not a finding but a sweet collision of destinies"
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli


I'm finished forcing and yearning. Now I'm exploring and observing.
If it is meant to be, God will make it happen.
If not, no amount of desire will change that.

I have faith He will lead me in my direction.

After the Storm

"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.

And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.

Get over your hill and see what you find there,

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."

Thank you, Lord.

I do not deserve your mercy, nor your grace. 

I am so blessed. 

Be strong

(it's absolutely possible)

Have faith

(it will all work out)

Love always

(so you can be loved in return)

I leave for Lutheran Valley Ranch, Colorado in a mere 9 hours. I cannot express the joy I have welling up in my heart paired with excitement for being in this peaceful place for a week. I feel so connected with nature and with God while I'm there, unattached to social media and any sort of technology. My mind has space to wonder, to bounce off the millions of stars and explore through the galaxy. I feel I'm at my best there, with no distractions and material worries. That, that is the true Rachel. There you will see her blossom. 

Bring it on Cedar Mountain, I haven't conquered you in a few years. 

    

DIY Goodness: Day 1

A little break from the norm, a post about the projects Josh and I have started!


My brother and I are moving into a new duplex in August and we've accumulated a lot of stuff to fix up. Today we finally decided to tackle the big projects. My parents gave us an old dining table set of theirs so we decided to stain the table top and repaint all the chairs. The chairs were originally two-toned and they've been scratched up through the years so it was needed anyway. Josh and I went with Almond Cream for the chair color and a dark brown stain for the table top (which of course I can't remember the name of). We also found a beautiful old coffee table that had the top tiles broken out of at Goodwill to revamp for our living room.

Everything before we started working today. Josh had already sanded the table top. 

This coffee table was originally $25 but the tile had been broken out so they let us have it for $10. This is by far my favorite piece for the living room, now. 

We originally planned to paint this to match the chairs but once Josh started sanding it we realized how amazing it looked just natural. Neither of us have the heart to paint over this- even if it doesn't match as well.

The chairs before. I've never really liked them so I was super excited to paint over this.

The chairs after. We used liquid sand before we painted them so that we didn't have to go through the tedious task of hand sanding them. They weren't easy to paint but look so much better now.

My dad coached us on how to stain wood. We practiced with the back of the table to ensure we didn't mess up the top.

The table after one coat of stain. It absorbed it quickly!

After the second coat of stain. We thought it was dark enough to contrast the chairs with only two coats.

The final products!!!

Josh and I still have a lot to do but we got a huge chunk out of the way today! All of this only took about 5 hours with the two of us. Tomorrow I'm going to seal the table top and make shelves out of old shipping pallets! Needless to say we're going to have a pretty eclectic, bad ass place this year. 

I'm so excited!

Sunny Summer Sunday

"I'm laying in the grass in the front lawn of my best friend's house on a sunny Sunday when I suddenly feel so at peace. The sound of life echoes in my ears through joyous birdsongs and the quiet splashes of water. The sky is beautiful by this perspective, through the scattered rays under an old tree. 

I've been waiting for a day like this, a day that finally feels like summer is in full swing, a day unable to be captured by anything but the mind. 

In these moments I find myself itching for a thought-provoking conversation. I need to flex my brain and hear my thoughts run down the pavement."

This is all I had time to write on Sunday when I felt so inspired. It's not great but it perfectly conveys the warmth I felt.

Six short months later and I'm finally fully enjoying laying in the grass on a lazy Sunday. I can longboard down the street without a single regret-filled thought running through my head. In one of my earlier entries I commented on the "Joy of Living" but I truly didn't understand it. I had just gotten a glimpse of the light from the shadows of darkness. Now that light has engulfed me and I'm just basking in the warmth.

Live for those little glints of light. Eventually you'll shed the cloak of darkness and life will be as it seems again, I promise. It's okay to feel lonely. It's okay to regret. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be angry. It's okay to feel something.

Just keep faith and have hope.

You'll be smiling again before you know it.