The Enchanted Owl

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day ~ Christmas Edition!

2013-12-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

This episode was so sad, but this little bit here made up for it.
(And don't worry, this is queued -- I'm probably not awake yet anyway.)
Merry Christmas!

Reblog it here (x).

An Announcement!

2013-12-20T12:08:00.003-05:00

You know how they always say that New Year's is the best time to start fresh?
They're right.

So.

The Enchanted Owl will become Beautiful Eccentricity on January first!

I promise it'll be the same blog, just at a new address, and a new background and design, and a new . . . everything . . . but totally the same blog.

That said, followers, likes, and all of that will be completely reset, so in a way, I'll literally be starting from scratch.

So yes.

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-12-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

And this girl went to the midnight showing. Oh yes. Be jealous.

Pin it here (x).

Just a bit on Christmas

2013-12-16T15:04:00.001-05:00

I've written before about Christmas.
About songs that annoy me and some present mishaps.
But past all the tinsel that's actually pretty easy to clean up, there's something else.
Why do we buy gifts for people?
To prove we love them?
Because it's socially demanded?
In hopes that they bought you something at least as cool / useful / expensive as you bought them?
Or because we really want to give them a gift as God gave us a gift on Christmas?

There are people who are having skinny Christmases this year.
There are people giving gifts of meals, partial tuition, car repairs, and new clothes for work or school this year.
There are people who literally have nothing to give to the ones who mean the most to them.
But we can all give something.
This thing isn't material.
It costs you nothing, so it fits any budget.
And it won't be forgotten by New Year's Day.

Give the gift God gave us.

Give the gift of sacrificial love.
(And I'm not just preaching at you, I'm talking about me, too.)

Love the people who love you.
Love the people who annoy you to death.
Love the people who make your life more difficult.
Love the people who are a bit prickly.
Love the people close to you, because you see them every day.
Love the people you'll probably only see once, because it means more than you might know.
Love the people who think they are unlovable.

We certainly were.

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8b

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-12-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

Thus will I expire.

Pin it here (x).

The Finals are Coming

2013-12-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

Here it is.
The week all students dread:
FINALS WEEK.

It's that week in the semester when BOOM everyone shows up again and you're just sitting in class like "I thought everyone had dropped this class".
It's that time when everyone - students and professors alike - are just so tired that everything is funny. Not seems funny. Is funny.
For example, one of my classmates was tossing an object into the air and catching it during one of our classes. Wasn't bothering anyone. Suddenly our professor turns around and does a double take.
"Is that a hard boiled egg?"
My friend and I started laughing hysterically as our classmate just stared at him.
"No. . . "
"What is that?"
"It's lip balm. . ."
"Oh okay."
"Do you have something against hard hard boiled eggs?"
"I really do not like hard boiled eggs."
"Okay. . ."
Our class was not the same that day.

And here is a haiku about finals:
I can't remember
I learned this four months ago
No no no no no

This is not an overreaction.
Trust me, it is not.

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-12-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

If Bud had black fur and we had grass this tall . . . well, that'd be him.

Reblog it here (x).

Why Newbs Shouldn't Shop with Vets

2013-12-02T14:51:00.000-05:00

(Just a note before we begin: I'm talking about newbs here as opposed to n00bs.)

You've just put away the turkey.
The kitchen's cleaned up.
You shuffle to your bedroom and pull your pj's out of the drawer and---
"LET'S GO!"
Someone in your living room is grabbing their purse and running out the door before coming back and getting a binder full of coupons.
You shrug.
Well, okay, you think. How bad can it be?

Oh my giddy aunt.

Let's just say that next year I'm going to sleep Thursday night and I'm not going to wake up until noon on Friday.

My sister is a veteran Black Friday shopper. She's crazy good at getting good deals on like, everything, and that's awesome.

The problem is that I am not. I hit a few stores and then I'm done.

Not so with the Vet.

She spent TWO FULL HOURS in a single store alone! Granted, most of that was probably the line, but still! I wouldn't know what to do with myself in a store for an hour!

I seriously don't know how she does that.

I think she's magic.

We left our house around 7:30 Thursday night and came back Friday morning at about 9.

Never. Again.

Next year, I am going to bed like a normal person on Thursday night and I'm not getting up till noon on Friday.

But, for those of you who do the whole Cyber Monday thing, Pikcal is having an awesome sale: you can get 20% off your order with the promo code "blogcard20". That's off greeting cards, calendars, photo books, you name it!

May your shopping be happier than mine was!

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-11-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

I think we all know this person. . .

Pin it here (x).

Thankful for a Smile

2013-11-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

You know those days when you feel like all you have to offer someone is a smile?
Or when someone's given you a smile and it really does just make your day so much better?
What if you didn't even have that to offer?

There are some kids who don't.
And more than that, for some, it's life-threatening -- babies who are born with cleft palates and cleft lips have difficulty eating, which can lead to starvation. They also have frequent ear infections and dental problems.
In some cases, children given up for adoption with cleft palates or cleft lips have a lesser chance of being adopted.

Operation Smile is an organization that performs life-changing surgeries on kids born with cleft palates and cleft lips. The surgeries are free of charge to the families, who often can't begin to afford the procedure on their own.

If this is a cause you'd like to support, please donate here.

Remember, even when you've got nothing to give, you have a smile.
Be thankful for that.

This post has been sponsored by Campus Book Rentals.
Campus Book Rentals sends a donation to Operation Smile for every book bought and rented.

Getting on my soapbox. . .

2013-11-22T23:44:00.000-05:00

I'll be honest: I generally try to stay away from politics on the internet, and here's why.
1) Things get easily misconstrued.
2) The internet is great for many things, but a political debate - where body language, tone, and physical gestures are very important - is not one of those things.
3) People don't forget, but even if they do, your name is there along with your thoughts forever. Facebook comments are never really deleted.
That being said, I'm going to stand up on my little soapbox and put my name next to my thoughts and opinions.
Okay, now that being said, I am not here to make anyone mad.
I am not here to make enemies.
I am not here to step on anyone's digital digits.
I am here to try to persuade you to come around to my way of thinking, which - to be fair - is what every one does.
That's how people respectfully agree to disagree.
Now.
I am going to give my opinion of what's going on in the government of the United States right now, which you and I have every right to do: we're paying for it.
To do this, I will be heavily referencing the Phantom of the Opera, so buckle up and grab your capes -- we're going for a ride.
This may read a bit like a literary interpretation essay, but I promise you it's not.
I'd never get a grade on this.

Now, let's start at the very beginning.

For those who may not be Phans, I shall give you the bare, bare bones of what's actually a somewhat convoluted plot.
The Phantom has long since seduced Christine Daae into thinking that he is heaven-sent. She performs for him, she adores him, and she'd do anything for him. The pinnacle of their success is when she's at the top of her game. He takes her to his home (not for the first time, curse you Webber -- mea culpa, but your score was fantastic, every pun intended) and she begins to see what he truly is: not the angel he claimed he was, for starters.
Her childhood love, Raoul, shows up as a foil (contrast) to the Phantom. He truly loves Christine, and is more than a little worried about her obsession with some 'angel', even though she swears he's really what he says he is.
The Phantom does not get his casting choices approved for the next opera. He decides to show his acute displeasure by dropping the giant, 7-ton chandelier on the audience, killing some random woman. A freak accident.
Christine begins to really see who he is, though part of her still loves him. Raoul takes steps against him, and plans a way to show everyone what he really is. Long story short, it works. He's exposed, and slinks away, and the opera house is freed of his terror.
There are stories he fled to New York, but that's another subject entirely.

Where am I going with this?
Here.
I'm gonna name names, so if this offends you, I'm sorry, but this is my honest, thought-through opinion.

Obama has ideologically seduced mainstream media to follow him blindly, just as the Phantom seduced Christine. The mainstream media - like Madame Giry - sheilds him, makes excuses for him, and gives out his instructions. The first chandelier crash? I'd say that was Benghazi, the first 'mistake' with consequences of lives lost. That's when people kinda started to wake up, but it wasn't enough. I think this whole healthcare thing is hitting close enough to home that people are beginning to really figure out what is really going on.
The make believe is at an end.

The real question is, though, what's next?

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-11-20T10:29:00.000-05:00

Pin it here (x).

You Are a Failure

2013-11-19T11:53:00.001-05:00

We all have those days when we feel like our brains have stopped working, we can't do anything right, and all our past sins and mistakes just seem like they're hovering over us, waiting for us to fall again.
We all have those days when we feel like utter failures.
The thing we have to realize, though, is that when the world tells us we're great and smart and gonna succeed, they may be right in a sense, but it's a lie.
We have to realize that we are failures.
But here's the key -- we're failures apart from God.
What can a fallen, sinful person do on their own?
Fail. Time and time and time again.
But what about a person filled with God, trusting in Him for everything?
They may fall occasionally, but they will be victorious for His glory.
That's not to say they never feel like they can't do it. That's not to say that they never feel guilty about things they've done or opportunities they've passed up.
The difference is that they admit that and thank God for loving them anyway.
And God loves failures.
And once He changes them and lives in them, they're not failures anymore.
They're victors.

In Defense of Those Who Drive as a Madman

2013-11-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

People will say that I am a scary person to ride with.

That is totally not true.

What people don't understand is that I drive with purpose.

I drive to get from Point A to Point B with minimal distance in between.

Even when I'm not in a hurry, I strive to drive with purpose, because I don't want to be that person I'd yell at if I were trying to get somewhere.

Not that I yell at people. . .

Because I totally don't. . .

But I kinda view going slow(er than the rest of the traffic -- you may well be doing the speed limit, but hey, you're still going slow) as rude and selfish behavior. It's one thing if you're in the right lane.

That's where slower traffic belongs.

But if you're in the left lane, and you're riding even with traffic in the right lane, you're trapping everyone behind you.

Think about it.

Somebody could be going to a job interview.

Somebody could be trying to catch a flight.

Somebody could be going to a doctor's appointment.

Somebody might have to pee.

And for crying out loud, if your cell phone distracts you,

GET OFF OF IT.

This has been a PSA.

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-11-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

I cheated.

This isn't from Pinterest or Tumblr, but it's a little late and too hard to try and incorporate "Quora" into the title of this series, so yeah.

This is basically the coolest thing I've seen all ~~day~~ ~~week~~ ~~month~~ ~~year~~ ever.

And it's people like this that make me wish I'd kept on in math and piano.

Find the whole thread here.

On Medical Conditions. . .

2013-11-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't changed my mind and become a nursing major.

I'm still an English major.

Yet this is a unique merging of the two realms.

I don't know if any nurses or doctors have actually seen this, but I have, and it's terrifying enough to me.

And yes, this is sort of a grammar rant.

Alzheimer's Disease

I cannot count how many times I've heard this butchered. I know I have very little to stand on, because I butcher words all the time, but I can say that I've never said this particular word this badly.

Y'all, it is not "All-timers" Disease.

There is not a T in "Alzheimer's".

There just isn't.

Stop putting it there.

Please.

Diabetes

Okay, I saw this on Tumblr, so there's no telling whether the poster was serious or just being funny, but "diabetes" is one word.

Just one.

It's not "die of beaties".

I realize it kind of sounds like that, but it's all together.

Lactose Intolerance

This one really takes the cake.

I'm not even really sure where that phrase comes from, but it's true.

I have seen this on Google searches.

On Facebook.

On Tumblr.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Granted, on Tumblr they all flipped out, but still.

People, this particular disorder where your body does not properly manufacture lactase and milk makes you gassy and nauseous is not "lack toast and tolerant".

I kid you not.

A "lack toast and tolerant" disorder means that you lack charred bread slices and are a very understanding person and for some reason you are not happy about this state of affairs.

But yeah.

This has been a PSA.

High Five for Friday!

2013-11-01T14:53:00.000-04:00

1 ~ Halloween with my friend!

My friend and I had a colossal amount of fun last night.
We only had 3 Trick-or-Treaters, of whom was just the delivery guy (we gave him a few handfuls in a baggie), and one of the kids was just a neighbor kid.
Oh well, we looked cool and had fun.

(In case you can't tell, we watched Doctor Who. She's the Eleventh Doctor, and I'm Amy in an episode I totally have not seen yet.)

2 ~ Friends who get your little quirks.

I have a few friends who really get me.
And they are awesome.
Also, a shout out to the friends who still think I'm crazy: thanks for putting up with me!

3 ~ I had grape juice yesterday.

I know, I know, that's not really a big deal, but when it comes to food, I get excited very easily.
Just ask my mom.
I am a pretty mature person, but if you hand me a juice box. . .
Well, you'll end up with 4 year old me.

4 ~ Candy!

As I said, we only had 3 TOTer's.
And we were prepared for a small army.
Alas, a small army we did not receive.
Oh well, more for us.

5 ~ Cooler weather?

I'll be honest, I'm not really too keen on being cold.
However, I am ready for it to start actually feeling like not August.
It is November, after all.
Get with it, weather.

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-10-30T10:09:00.001-04:00

Pin it here.

If you'd like this to be a link-up, comment below!

High Five for Friday!

2013-10-25T10:30:00.000-04:00

1 ~ Business Writing Class

Doesn't sound like it would be, but that class can be a blast.
We're supposed to be working on proposals for a program for our college, which actually is pretty interesting, but we talked about every type of project but that for about half the class Wednesday.
But classes like that are usually only fun because of the professor. . .

2 ~ Professors Who Cancel Class on Fridays

Yep, it's my Business Writing professor.
He's awesome.
And to his credit, he cancels class on Friday because we turn in a report on our work, so it's not like we're getting a totally free pass.
But still.

3 ~ I got the internship I really wanted!

I've been volunteering at a local non-profit organization for about two semesters, and the work I've been doing has become more and more computer based and complicated.
(One of them actually didn't realize I was a volunteer and was about to hire me as a consultant.)
But now, I can get college credit for working, and I'll get a ton of experience!

4 ~ Mushrooms

I just love mushrooms, but we don't often have them.
We did last night, and that made me very happy.
And while we're on the subject of food. . .

5 ~ Doggy Antics

. . . Our dog Bud has a bad habit of begging.
We don't cave.
"Never?"
"Never! -- Well, hardly ever. . ."
But last night, I heard the telltale sounds of happy licking.
I had dropped some food earlier and picked it up and threw it out, but I figured Bud was just savoring the vapors.
Um, no.
He climbed onto my chair and ate an entire bowl of fettuccine alfredo.
Doggone it.

A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

2013-10-23T12:30:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning a new series where once a week (probably Wednesdays) I'll post a gif set I've come across or a cute / inspiring / hilarious / etc. pin.

You're welcome and enjoy.

Find the pin here.

Confessions: I have a terrible sense of fashion.

2013-10-21T13:56:00.000-04:00

I know, I know.

A blogger with no fashion sense.

Sad, but true.

I mean, I can do makeup and stuff, but . . . well, no, because I can't really do hair . . .

I can do makeup.

But I'm more than a little lost when it comes to mixing and matching clothes.

Now my sister's really good at that.

And she has this beautiful, long hair that does whatever she wants it to.

Except that she tries to curl it and it's fine so it doesn't hold a curl, and I used to straighten mine, but it's thick, so it doesn't really hold a straight.

Basically, she's a brunette Rapunzel:

and I'm a blonde Merida.

Anhyoo, my sister's really good at clothes.

She looks cute in just about anything, and can pull off things I never could.

And she can pull off black eye liner.

That makes me just a wee bit jealous.

But I'll gladly admit that I've stolen more than a few ideas from my sister's outfits.

. . . Not at the same time she's wearing them, because that would be a little embarrassing for her, I think, but I have.

She brought the scarf fever to our house.

And the boot fever.

And a few other fevers that haven't quite caught on yet, but give it time.

They will.

But yeah, I'm just not very good at the whole fashion thing.

I could sell you on just about any cosmetic product ever made, but let's just say I'm sorta glad my sister's better at that than me.

Because it's better to get killer deals on cute clothes than mediocre deals on mine.

High Five for Friday!

2013-10-18T15:59:00.001-04:00

I've decided to participate in this lovely link-up because

1) it's pretty fun, and

2) it's good to get in the habit of looking back and being grateful for things, no matter how small or inconsequential they may seem to be.

So, here we go!

1 ~ Fall Break

Oh come on, if you're telling me you are / were far too studious to be excited about a break, you're lying.

Really.

Of course, even if you aren't / weren't studious, you probably still have / had plenty of work to do, because not only do some professors seem to not understand the concept that you're enrolled in more classes than just theirs, they also seem to have a poor grasp on the term "break".

2 ~ I got my wisdom teeth out

I know, this sounds really sick and grisly, but when you've been in on-and-off pain for about 4 years which became far, far worse in the past 3 months, and way worse in the past 3 weeks . . . well, you'd be pretty excited to get that over with, too.

Plus, Fall Break (see above) allows me basically a whole work week to recuperate, and since I'm making sense typing all this, I'd say I'm coming along nicely.

Minus the chipmunk cheeks.

3 ~ Mashed potatoes, grits, applesauce, ice cream, and basically every mushy food there is

Yep, mushy foods have been my dear friend the past day and a half.

Good job I actually like all those foods, otherwise I think I'd be on a strict ice cream diet, and that doesn't bode well for the running I plan to be doing soon.
Oh, and also for me mum, who spoon fed her 21 year old daughter the applesauce, and for my dad, who makes awesome mashed potatoes.

4 ~ Yogurt + granola bites

I'll be honest, I'm feeling a little too lazy to get up and see what kind of granola it is I'm talking about (let's chalk that up to post-op dizziness), but I know the vanilla clusters I got are in a blue box, looked pretty healthy, and I got them from Target, so they're automatically awesome, right?

Also, I'd have lumped this in with #3, but I think granola's a no-no right now.

5 ~ Netflix

Need I really say more?

Being 21

2013-10-14T14:16:00.000-04:00

Remember when you were a kid and you thought Sweet 16 was so far away? I mean, heck, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Snow White were married at 16!

And then you turned 16 and you realized that you didn't know anything and what the heck were those girls thinking, getting married at 16?!

You just got your driver's licence!

You thought 18 was the thing. You could tackle anything when you were 18.

Until you turned 18.
Then you realized you totally do not have a handle on much at all.
The next milestone is 21.
21.
Where you can literally - and legally - do anything you want.
Within reason, obviously.
Well, let me tell you, Girls-younger-than-21, 21 is not what it's cracked up to be.
Yeah, you can basically do whatever you want . . . but with that said, there's a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.
I know a lot of gals my age - including myself - that would just love nothing more than to curl up with a tub of ice cream or and popcorn and watch Disney Princess movies all day.
And maybe ~~a little~~ a lot of Doctor Who.
But we can't.
We've got college.
We've got jobs.
We've got bills to pay, assignments due, and people counting on us to get things done.
That's not to say that we don't have moments of calm or just time to have fun and relax, but those moments don't come often.
Girls-younger-than-21, treasure your moments of freedom.
You might be bored, but another word for boredom is free.
And treasure the innocence.
And the simplicity.
Enjoy it while you can.
It's not going to last.

"But I just wanna help. . ."

2013-10-09T13:17:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty sure we've all said that at some point in our lives.

To most of us, the desire to help seems natural, almost impulsive.

We have to do it.

We want to do it.

And ~~sometimes~~ most of the time, we can't.

Not in the way we wanted to, not as much as we wanted to, or sometimes just not at all.

I saw this the other day on Pinterest:

It reminded me of a time where I was trying to help two individuals, but it just seemed like every time I tried, I hit a brick wall. I felt like I was giving, and giving, and giving, and giving, and it was just going nowhere.

One simply wasn't listening to advice - and instead making me their personal shrink complaining about problems they could have prevented, not if they'd listened to me, but if they'd used a bit of wisdom and common sense - and the other was simply convinced they couldn't forgive themselves for mistakes made in the past and that they couldn't change.

Needless to say, the fact that I wanted to help them so badly and I couldn't didn't exactly make me feel like a very good friend.

I felt like crap.

And that didn't help anyone.

That period ended, and those two friends and I just sort of . . . stopped.

Stopped everything.

Whether or not their situations got better or not, I don't know, and I'll probably never know.

I hope so.

All I wanted to do was help.

Fast forward about ten months.

I see that pin.

And I start thinking.

I realize that whoever made this pin is right.

You can't help everyone.

That's not to say your desire to or advice you may give isn't worth anything, but it just may not be what they need right then.

You may not have the experience, the knowledge, the skill, or the wisdom at that time to really help that person where they are.

But there's Someone who can.

And last time I checked, He takes referrals.

But there are people you can help.

People that need your experience and wisdom from where you are to help them where they are.

You may find those people to be few and far between, but they're there.

While you may not be able to help everyone, you can help someone.

And it's the someones of this life that count the most in the next.

If you won't learn from your own mistakes. . .

2013-10-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

. . . at least learn from someone else's.

Namely, MINE.

Okay, freshmen, listen up: no, you don't want to cram your first two years full of gen-ed classes because you don't want to be slammed with whatever classes are required for your major.

You'll go crazy.

But don't slack on your gen-eds . . . Like I did.

Namely, I was really good in taking my foreign languages while they were still fresh from high school.

I waited about four years to take my math.

I waited about five years to take my sciences.

Ten out of ten would not recommend!

So if you're one of those stubborn people who doesn't learn from your own mistakes, at least learn from mine.

(Oh yes, and I also have to take speech; ironically after I've given the bulk of my class presentations.)