Recently // A Few of my Favorite Things.

Here are some things I've been obsessing over lately:

 Music: 

Tenth Avenue North's new album, "The Struggle."

Sidewalk Prophet's {relatively} new album, "Live Like That."

The song "Long Ago" by Hawk Nelson (not necessarily new, but I've been listening to it a lot lately.).

The song "Ten Thousand Reasons" by Matt Redman.

Books:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (not to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey.).

 I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak.

Come to the Well by Mark Hall (lead singer of Casting Crowns!) ((This isn't a novel, but I'm including it anyway. It's actually really good. I was thinking about reviewing it on here?))

Food/Beverage:

I've been drinking hot tea like it's going out of style.

Nutella is delicious. The end.

Pizza flavored Pringles are strangely addicting.

Fall foods (ie, anything with pumpkin in it. I'm a sucker for pumpkin flavored food. Baked oatmeal, waffles, poptarts, bread, cookies, milkshakes, you name it, I'm there.)

Fall Things:

Cooler temperatures.

Leaves starting to change colors.

Drinking tea without sweating.

Wearing jeans and shoes that are not sandals or flip-flops.

{{All images via my Pinterest boards}}

♥♥Kristin

Of Poetry.

Poetry and I have this love-hate relationship going on. I go through phases when I'll read it, quote it (in my mind and aloud. Don't judge), and generally just soak it in. I'll revel in the way the words roll off of my tongue, the way they're crafted to fit together perfectly.Then I go through other phases when the poetry I come across seems tedious, or even downright boring. (I don't write it in any of the stages, because rhythm and rhyme schemes tend to twist my brain into a pretzel.) Now just happens to be one of those phases when I can't get enough. The one line that's on repeat in my head right now (am I the only one who gets poems and quotes stuck in my head as well as music?) is "Do not go gentle into that good night" from a poem of the same name by Dylan Thomas. I am not one to analyze the poems, I had enough of that in AP English, but sometimes they speak to me anyway.

Probably my all-time favorite poet is Emily Dickinson. A lot of people say she's pretty dark, and I'll agree that some of her poetry is dark ("Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me" and etc.) but some of it isn't dark at all. There are a lot of different themes in her poetry. For example, compassion: "If I can stop on heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." She even writes about books! "He ate and drank the precious words, his spirit grew robust." I won't copy down the whole poem, but you get the idea. Click the links if you really want to read them.

That line, ^^ one of my favorites, is the farthest thing from dark and depressing.
Another poet whose work I like is William Butler Yeats. One of my favorite poems of his is "Adam's Curse." I will say that I like some of his works more than others.
Another one of my all-time favorite poets is Robert Frost (last one, i promise!). One of my favorite poems of his is "Nothing Gold Can Stay." "October" is a great fall poem. My favorite of his poems, cliche as it may be, is "The Road Not Taken." And, if you couldn't tell, I Also like typography of lines from poetry:

I hope that I have not bored you too much with my geekery
♥♥Kristin

ps. all images via my Pinterest Quoted board.

Just Little Things.

They're what make today perfect:

1. It's just fall enough outside to wear jeans and my favorite comfy sweatshirt.
2. Nowhere to be (Tuesdays are my favorite).
3. Bread and Nutella.
4. Hot tea and my Kindle.
5. Pandora (Hawk Nelson station).
6. Homework that's actually fun.
7. Being an introvert who enjoys days exactly like this, with noplace to be, nothing to do, and minimal human interaction.

♥♥Kristin

Of Nerdfigthers.

Maybe you've heard of them. As for me, I'm relatively new to the phenomenon, but I have to say that I'm in love with it already. If you haven't heard of them, it all started with the vlogbrothers, also known as John and Hank Green (John Green as in best-selling author of Looking For Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, etc. Hank is his brother) They post youtube videos on their channel. They are funny, and I love John Green's books, and as a nerd, I revel in this kind of stuff. Now, let me explain a nerdfighter, lest you should take it the wrong way: a nerdfighter does not fight nerds. a nerdfighter is a nerd who fights against as they call it, "worldsuck." I do not exactly approve of this term, but this is what it stands for: basically, boringness. The slogan of the nerdfigthers is dftba, or "don't forget to be awesome." To insert a relevant John Green quote here: "nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. When people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’" You've most likely heard of fandoms. What are they made up of? Nerds who obsess over things. There are fandoms for pretty much everything but mainly TV shows and books. I guess what I'm getting at is that they actually make being a nerd (or nerdfighter) feel like something to be proud of. Nerds "like stuff" unashamedly, and that's who they are. They're passionate. Creative. Intelligent. I like looking at it that way. I guess you could say I'm a nerdfighter myself.
I will make one disclaimer: I DO NOT approve of 100% of the language / material in John Green's books or the videos.

Fall {Because}.

Fall. Colors are brighter, more vivid. A strange hope fills the air. This is the season of second beginnings. Pervading death is overtaken by life. Without endings, there are no second chances. As fall blends into winter, the more perceptive sense a stirring beneath the silent surface. The forgotten season sets the stage for everything to come.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maybe things didn't go perfectly. Maybe the flowers didn't bloom as brilliantly as they could have, or the tree's leaves grew thinly. Fall erases these mistakes, leaving a clean slate, allowing time to regroup, and always a second chance at perfection.

♥♥Kristin

Take This as you Will.

**This is an idea that I got from Katie's blog** 

Things that say a lot about a person:
the way in which they treat the waiter/waitress
how they feel about the weather
whether they dog ear pages or highlight in books
fingernails
and hands in general
their preferred creative outlet
how much they dread/enjoy talking on the phone
whether or not they drink coffee
if they ever forget to eat
how honest they are with themselves (and others)
if they correct your grammar
and whether or not they get nervous before haircuts.

What they say about me (or more accurately what I say about them):
the way in which they treat the waiter/waitress: I'm never mean to a waiter or waitress, and I always try to give a reasonable tip, even if the service wasn't the greatest.
how they feel about the weather: I obsess about the weather at times. I love rainy days. I love sunny days. I love snowy days as long as I have nowhere to be. I love noticing the seasons change. I pretty much love all weather as long as, in winter especially, I don't have to make any special effort to be somewhere.
whether they dog ear pages or highlight in books: I will say that I am guilty to dog-earing pages, if I don't have a book mark at hand, but I make the fold as small as possible and try to uncrease it when I open the book. As for highlighting, I may occasionally underline in pencil in my own books, but I absolutely do not highlight in them. It looks unsightly to me.
fingernails: Okay, this is rather odd to talk about. I rarely paint my fingernails, but I trim them, and I suppose they look nice enough.
and hands in general: Another rather strange one. My hands are small. I don't like wearing rings and I only wear the occasional hair tie around my wrist.
their preferred creative outlet: Writing. Most definitely.
how much they dread/enjoy talking on the phone: I really don't like talking to people on the phone. I'd much rather have a conversation face to face. I occasionally need to talk to people on the phone at work, but I've never quite gotten used to it.
whether or not they drink coffee: I do. It's delicious. But, I have to load it down with sugar and milk or flavored creamers. Black coffee is not my style.
if they ever forget to eat: I am entirely too in love with food to forget to eat it. I may at times neglect to eat breakfast. But forget? Never.
how honest they are with themselves (and others): I'd say I'm a pretty honest person. I try to be brutally honest with myself.
if they correct your grammar: Only if I know you very well and feel that you should know better.
and whether or not they get nervous before haircuts: No, but I haven't had a drastic haircut in a while, and I'm sure that if I did, I would be freaking out.

Draw what conclusions you will from the above statements.
♥♥Kristin

Oh, Hey September.

This month is not quite so exciting as the summer months, but there are still some things I'm looking forward to:

- Getting into the school routine
- Cooler nights
- Hot tea in the evenings
- Comfy sweatshirts
- Moccasins ♥
- Youth weekend near the end of the month
- Leaves beginning to change color
- The official (calendar) start of fall

♥♥Kristin