Loneliness Can Be Cured

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured." Kurt Vonnegut

I'm falling for Autumn

(photos via design crush) 

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile." 

-William Cullen Bryant 

It feels like Fall is officially here! 

I enjoy all the seasons, but fall is definitely my favorite. 

Colder weather, boots, cardigans, pumpkin everything, soups and hot drinks, my birthday, and Thanksgiving are some of the things I love most about this season.

Today is Wednesday, meaning the school week is half over, huzzah! For the rest of the week I'm planning on studying, cleaning my room for my G-ma's return, making more pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (recipe found here), going to Amelie's with some lovely friends, trying out a few new recipes, and doing lots of pilates. 

Also, I found my long lost camera charger, so hopefully I'll have some new pictures up soon! 

- emily

My wish

The cooling twilight

photo from weheartit.com

"So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight ." 

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I read The Great Gatsby over the summer and while it was interesting, it was throughly depressing. Poor Gatsby (not in the monetary sense). Currently though, I'm reading Their Eyes Were Watching God and then I want to check out Everything Is Illuminated. Have you read any good books lately? 

-emily

The Dream is the Truth

"Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly." 

- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

photo from weheartit.com

Smiling

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

- Dr. Seuss 

I wish I felt more like smiling. 

That is all. 

- emily

Wish You Well

Inspiring quote of the day: 

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."
- J.R.R. Tolkien 

Well today starts off another week. I have mixed feelings about Mondays, but anywho. Since I last wrote, here's what's been going on. 

• My lovely cousin Sarah came to visit us!!! 
• Abby and I went to Bounce U with our Key Club which was tremendously fun! Basically Bounce U is a indoor bounce house for kids and grown ups. Sounds awesome right? 
• Katie made coconut cupcakes which were delicious. 
• I read the play Our Town and started To Kill A Mockingbird. 
• I dissected a sheep's heart. 
• Abby and I's volleyball team won another game! We are unblockable! 

Fun stuff. Here's a lovely song by Katie Herzig and Brandi Carlile. Enjoy!

-Emily

Musical Mondays

Today I've been a little out of sorts. I wish I could be a perpetually peppy person (try saying that five times fast), but I just haven't mastered that art yet. Circumstances, people, and my own failures too often get me down. But I'm not giving up. I'm going to try to focus on the positive. I found this quote today:

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." 

- Leo F. Buscaglia

I need to be more caring. If I'm focusing on others, there isn't as much room for sadness. So here's to caring! 

Also, I hope you enjoy this loverly song by DeVotchKa! Oh violins how I adore thee! 

DeVotchKa "Clockwise" from Marshall J. Baumgartner on Vimeo.

- Emily

Wonderment

Photo by Joseph Saxton 

Isn't this photograph lovely? It makes me wonder. I wonder who she is, what her life is like, and what she faces. 

"We are perishing for want of wonder, not want of wonders." 

- G.K. Chesterton

-Emily

Thoughts

"Her own thoughts and reflections were habitually her best companions."

- Jane Austen's Mansfield Park

These past few days, the above quote has applied to my life. I've been thinking a lot about the future, God's will for my life and who he wants me to be. Why does growing up have to be so hard? 

But on another note, my family recently joined the YMCA and I'm really enjoying it! I'm trying to be more physically active this year. I just hope the motivation remains and doesn't fade. Also, I love impromptu dance parties! They're radtastical!

One more thing, i really want this dress. Yay for Christmas money! 

- Emily

Musical Mondays

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music."

- Sergei Rachmaninov

Dark Hotel - K.S. Rhoads 


I hope you enjoy this song! Happy Monday!

- Emily

Musical Mondays

Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap 

This song was featured in the movie 500 Days of Summer which I loved! The movie comes out on DVD in December, (just in time for Christmas). Speaking of Christmas, can you believe it's only twenty-six days away? Time flies. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy Monday!

"If music be the food of love, play on." 

- William Shakespeare 

- Emily

Musical Mondays

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of every day life." 

- Berthold Auerbach

I've decided to start a new series on our blog: Musical Mondays. Every Monday (hopefully), I'll be sharing a song to enlighten and delight your ears! To start things off, here is a song I've been listening to constantly. Literally. As in I listened to it for two hours Saturday. And yes I do have a life, I was traveling and cleaning while it was on repeat. Enjoy!

- Emily

Beach Bliss

"The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."

- Kate Chopin

This past week our friends the Carroll's took us to Hilton Head Island for mine and Abby's birthdays! We had a wonderful time swimming in the frigid ocean, enjoying the hot tub, watching movies, shopping, boogie boarding, star gazing, dolphin watching, picture taking, and being with our lovely friends Aubrey and Rebekah and of course Aunt Kathy and Uncle Todd. Here are some pictures taken with my birthday present!

Abby and me

Aubrey and me

Abby, Rebekah, and me. Isn't that tree lovely?

Sunrise!

And now back to real life.

- Emily

The first three photos were taken by Rebekah Carroll and the last photo was taken by moi.

Rainy Days

"When we are full of hope, it's not because everything in the future is certain to us, but because the future itself is filled with promise." --Erwin McManus

School officially starts in eleven days. That means in eleven days I'm going to be a senior. Scary. I thought the above quotation was fitting because although I'm uncertain of my future and what it holds, I'm trusting God and I'm full of hope because He holds my future in his hands. On another note, it's raining cats and dogs today and while I usually don't like the rain, I'm loving it today. I think a hot mug of tea sounds delightful on this rainy day. Here's to rainy days filled with hope and tea!

- Emily

photo from nickbaines.wordpress.com