Week 2 Reading Diary: Bible Women

The first thing I noticed about the first story, "Eve," was the use of "Lord God," not just "the Lord," or "God," or one of His other names. I think it was the author's way of signifying who God was and how it was important to that story. This happens several times in The Bible, where someone calls God a certain name because of what He's done. A similar tactic could be used in writing; one character may call Josh "Joshua," another may call him "Babe," and another may call him, "Punk," each revealing something about character relationships.

I think it's weird how Adam says "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh," because at the time, Adam hadn't had a father or mother. Did God just give him the knowledge of parenthood at his creation? The author (man, that's a mystery I'd love to be solved) doesn't offer much backstory here. This brings to mind, what background information is important/vital to a story, and what is best left unsaid?

Eve thinks nothing of the tree of knowledge until the serpent entices her. So sometimes a character doesn't seek change for herself, but is persuaded by other characters—but then her strength is revealed by whether or not she stands her ground. So, you can use other characters to really exemplify what lies within your protagonist.

I thought it was interesting that God tells the serpent he must slither on the ground for what he has done. This reminds me pf old folktales that offer explanations for "why the sky is blue" or why zebras have stripes. This "explanation" story is something I'd like to explore with my own writing.

Nearly every sentence in Genesis starts with "And." Just proof your elementary-school teachers were wrong when I told you starting sentences with "and" was against the rules. I do it in my writing all the time. And I like it.

In Rebekah's story, Abraham's servant is looking for a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac, so he sends a servant to find one. The servant finds Rebekah, and he hits it off with the family, and then... Rebekah is asked if she'll go with Abraham's servant. This is The Decision! (This is more of a note from my novel class. In every story, the protagonists decides—or is forced to decide—whether he or she will change one's life. The Turning Point. Stories need this.)

 

(The moment Rebekah's life changed forever)

When Rebekah is traveling to meet her new husband, she sees him in the distance. The author describes this moment from both of their (Isaac and Rebekah's) points of view, and I think that's a neat idea, showing the story from two viewpoints back-to-back.

"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." I just love this quote. It's a simple way to express how much Jacob loved Rachel. (Sidenote: how sucky to be Leah, that your father had to trick a man into sleeping with you! And Jacob... you really couldn't tell it was a different woman?)

These stories are from the King James version of the Bible, detailing the events of women in the Old Testament. The author of Genesis is unknown, though some believe it to be Moses.

Famous Last Words: Week 1

I'm glad (and a little proud of myself, but not very, since I feel it was necessary) that I decided to get ahead in this class before the semester officially started. My goal was to be an entire week ahead (finish Tuesday's assignment on Tuesday before school, weekend stuff before MLK Day, etc.), and I fell just short of that. I finished the weekend assignments today (Tuesday), but since we had no assignments for Monday, I think I should be able to "meet" my goal be the time the day is over.

One of the reasons I decided to get ahead is that I'm a little worried about this semester. (Although, thinking back, I think I get stressed before every semester starts. It takes me a while to "get in the groove," figure out my schedule, and realize that I can do the workload.) I still don't have an idea for my capstone (where we'll be writing a 20,000 word novella), and wedding plans are forcing themselves into my schedule, no matter how many times I tell them that the wedding is more than a year away.

(*wedding ring* Weddings are expensive. Meme courtesy of Post Memes)

I feel like I need to get ahead of the game to stay on top of the game, so that's my plan. I'm enjoying the assignments so far, since most of them involve writing our opinions. I also love writing stories, as long as I have an idea, and the assignments for this class look like they're going to spark many ideas. I'm happy with the short story I wrote, If the Boot Fits. It was a helpful way to get back into the storytelling groove, which is something I really need to do for my capstone. We haven't done much reading for this class yet, but I'm looking forward to investigating the "untold" stories of Mary that Laura recommended to me. 

Learning Challenges: my thoughts

I'm excited about the learning challenges; they all seem like fun ways to learn that would be a nice "break" from regular school work.

Health/Happiness is of particular interest to me because I love to learn about physical health any way I can--reading fitness magazines, working out regularly, taking classes. My minor is Health and Exercise Science, and I always enjoy learning new tips or facts that teach us how our body works in relation to our health and happiness. After watching The Amazing Effects of Gratitude and reading the idea for the "Happiness Jar," I want to merge the two ideas and implement them in my life. I'll either write a journal or a blog post (or both) and write one thing I'm thankful for and one thing that made me happy each day. It'll be nice to see all the positive things adding up!

I also love that "R" is reading! I've been an avid reader since I was little, so talking about books and reading are some of my favorite things. When I have spare time, I usually use it to read more. So that topic won't really be a challenge for me... but I like it.

(Library meme from Learning by Heart site)

P.S.- Does anyone know if OU will rent out The Great Reading Room for weddings...? *insert goofy smiley but also serious emojee here*

One thing that could be a challenge for me is empathy. I've never been an emotional person, and when other people get upset for a reason I don't understand, I have trouble sympathizing with them. (Sometimes my family refers to me as Sheldon.) I know I don't always give peoples' feelings the respect they deserve, so I want to do some of the empathy challenges as well.

Growth Mindset: My Thoughts

("I love a challenge" meme from Laura's Growth Mindset Memes blog)

I'd never heard of the Growth Mindset or Carol Dweck before this assignment. I was really pleased with the ideas she presented, though, especially when I thought about my little sister.

Ella is brilliant, but she's also a little immature, and oftentimes when she's presented with a task she's unable to complete, she gets really frustrated and gives up or wants someone else to do the work for her. She wants to get 100% on all her school papers, and if she misses one, she's disappointed in herself. At the same time, she's a perfectionist, and can be very independent. I think she would thrive under a growth mindset atmosphere.

I really appreciate and agree with the idea of praising students for effort and improvement, rather than a simple score or correct answers that came easily.

I can see how I would benefit from the growth mindset. Sometimes, I have a tendency to stray away from activities I find difficult (like math) and gravitate heavily toward things I know I'm good at (like writing or art). I have a feeling this is something most people do, though, since it's generally not enjoyable to do something you're not good at. That is, unless your mindset is learning and growth, rather than immediate achievement. Our society has a tendency to gravitate toward anything that gives us immediate gratification anyway, rather than something we have to work and wait for. The growth mindset encourages improvement and patience, which are attributes we could all use more of.

I'm really interested in learning more about the Growth Mindset and applying it to my learning this semester. I want to strive to challenge myself rather than stay in my comfort zone of "easy."

Storybook Favorites

Mermaids: An Eternal World of Waters I’ve always loved the idea of mermaids, and stories revolving around them. I’ve been wanting to read Hans Christian Anderson’s version of The Little Mermaid for a while (since I know it’s not the same as Disney’s), and I liked that her storybook embellished the stories a little more. I’m not familiar with the stories (other than The Little Mermaid), but the storybook made me want to read them. I also liked the idea to use a secondary character to unfold the story of the mermaids, which many of the storybooks did.


Creek Stories: I like the simple layout and the fact that Cameron told the stories from the characters' perspective. That's one major difference in old folktales and novels today; folktales are typically more distant from the characters' feelings, whereas now, authors put us inside the characters' heads—and I think people like that more, and it's more captivating. However, I wasn’t sure what the storybook would be about before I clicked on it. I thought it might be something akin to “fireside stories,” but since most folktales are something along the line of a “fireside story” or legend, that still didn’t give me much information.


LSD in a Yellow Submarine: I love the idea of incorporating a modern day theme (The Beatles) with the ancient folktales. I especially like this idea because I don't always enjoy reading ancient stories if I don’t like the setting, but putting them in a funky setting like this makes it more enjoyable to read. The layout also matched the stories really well, with the colorful backgrounds and photos.

(LSD in a Yellow Submarine) 

The "Bad" Guys of the Bible: Their Side of the Story: I love anything that has to do with the Bible. I believe The Bible is Truth, but I also love any side-stories people tell from its history. These re-tellings of "the villains'" sides of the story are entertaining in themselves, but I also like the script-style layout of the blog, and I think that adds even more humor to it.

Overview of Untextbook: my reading choices

So many stories!

For my first reading, Week 2, I've chosen Bible Women. I've been reading the Bible since I was little, so the stories are familiar to me, but I'm interested to see them told as "stories," rather than straight from the Bible. I've always had a particular interest in the women's stories, because these women played vital roles in the life of Christ and his history! Like, Mary... can you imagine going through that? I've also wanted (for a while now), to write a historical fiction novel about Mary, from her perspective.

(Elizabeth and Mary, 15th century painting) 

Other than that, these topics sounded interesting to me:

Alice's Looking Glass: Who isn't fascinated with Alice in Wonderland? I've read that story, but I haven't had the change to read Through the Looking Glass, though I've wanted to. I love how whimsical and ridiculous it all is.

Brer Rabbit I/II: When I was about six, and my family went to Disney World, one of mine and my dad's favorite rides was Splash Mountain. In fact, it's still one of our favorites. This ride is based on the story of Brer rabbit, so I think it'd be fun to learn about the story more in-depth.

Celtic Fairy Tales: Way, way back, my ancestors on my dad's side are Scottish, or Irish, or both; I don't remember exactly. But I've always loved Irish culture and wanted to learn more about it, and I also love fairy tales. I've never really read anything from this genre, so I'm excited!

Grim (Ashliman): I love classic fairy tales and making them into something new (like Once Upon a Time). I know the popular stories, and I have the Brother's Grimm book of Fairy Tales on my shelf, but I want to read some of the lesser-known titles and possibly recreate something from them.

Introduction to an "ingaged" girl

As you may have read in my “Favorite Place” post, my boyfriend and I went on a trip to Disney World over the break. On our third night, he proposed, and since then, my life has been a whirlwind of “You’re engaged!”

On our way home, we stayed with my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Tim, who live in a big house in the woods in Arkansas. Debbie is one of the sweetest people I know, and after giving her a “thank you” gift for letting us stay with her, she brought out a big white box. “I was going to wait until later to show you this, but… I changed my mind!” she said. Smiling, she set the box on the table in front of us, revealing a cake with a photo of me and Josh (the one we’d posted on Facebook right after we got engaged) on the top! I’d never eaten a cake with my face on it before, so I thought it was pretty exciting—and incredibly sweet. No pun intended.

(Our cake, courtesy of Debbie Howard—she had it made the morning after she heard the news!)

When we got home, my dad and step mom had prepared a special dinner, complete with “engaged” themed sugar cookies from our neighbor, and popcorn with a sign that said, “He popped the question!” My seven-year-old sister made a poster with the words, “To the ingaged two: Have an ingaged welcome!” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense grammatically, but was incredibly adorable. On the poster, she had drawn a picture of one monkey proposing to another monkey. (I don’t know why she decided to depict us as monkeys.)

(Ella's poster, which she hurried to finish before we arrived)

(Our neighbor Brooke's cookies; she's super talented!) 

On top of that, my mom has been calling and emailing with different venue ideas and requests to schedule appointments to visit places. On Saturday, we’re going to a bridal show in Tulsa. In short, I’m really excited about the engagement (mostly because I love Josh and I can’t wait to be married to him), but it appears my family is…even more excited. I guess it shows how much they love both of us, and I’m thankful for that.

Update: The initial excitement and flurry of activity has ebbed somewhat, replaced by the chaos and routine of school and my family focusing on their own lives. I miss the feeling, but I can't say I'm not happy things have quieted down a bit. And I do like my routine.

Despite the fact that things have settled down, though, I now have a baker (Amy Cakes!), a gelato/espresso bar (Il Dolce), and a DRESS picked out! I'll share a picture of the back, because I think that's safe, and it's not like my fiance is ever going to see this anyway...at least, now he's definitely not. (By the way, Megan at Silhouette Bridal is the best! She's so sweet and accommodating and her shop is wonderful.)

(My wedding dress! That sounds so weird.)

Besides being engaged, I’ve been trying to focus on my “normal life.” So, as I push aside fleeting thoughts about cakes and dress ideas, I’m in the process of moving out of my parents’ house and into a house closer to campus with my best friend, Kessa. Kessa’s a dance major, and we’ve been best friends since we met in Kindergarten at Flower Mound elementary school. We both love dorky things like reading, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and… food—which is not so dorky. 

(Me and Kessa at our senior prom)

Update: I'm loving my new house, and living with my best friend! (And no, we still haven't become un-best friends because we live together.) Cooking for myself has been a blast, and I'm glad to have the practice. It's also great to live so close to campus, whereas before, I had to drive across town when I was done with class. I also think living with my two roommates instead of my family has given me the chance to focus more on school, because we're all doing school! (Instead of me holing up in my room while my family was watching a movie or something.)

   (Pot roast! MY first time using a CrockPot.                             (Mediterranean tilapia)

     Although I can't take credit for cooking 

     the meat; my grandma did that.  :p)

  (More tilapia, with mushrooms and veggies)     (This is actually the breakfast casserole and                                                                            sweet potato I made for Josh on Valentine's Day...

                                                                        it took an embarrassingly long amount of time to cook.)

(Oh look, more sweet potato.) 

On top of that, I’m working to “up my game” at my job, since we have a new owner and I’m having to learn new marketing skills. I’m the administrator at a CrossFit gym, and I introduce new clients, post the workouts, and do other tasks that none of the coaches need or want to do. I also love working out there.

Update: We just moved to our new location on Wellsite Drive, and we are officially CrossFit 405 South! It's been a lot of fun meeting the coaches from the other gym and adjusting to Aaron's programming. I also registered for The Open this year (first time!), and I'm competing in Bricktown Throwdown (team CrossFit competition) in May! I'm not much of a "competitor," so this is out of my "I really wanna do this" zone, but I am excited! The people in our gym are really fantastic and supportive.

(Me deadlifting at 405 South, taken by Ryan Pratt, coach)

So that's me, for now! My main focuses in life are Jesus, my family, and exercising (besides school), but as you can see, right now my engagement is clouding a lot of it. And I think I'm pretty much okay with that. I'm a professional writing major (less than a year to go!) and I'm excited about knocking out this semester!