Courage.

Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.

-Maya Angelou-

Cinderella.

I had a really fun adventure yesterday. I had to take some pictures for my technology in learning class or whatever, and this is how they turned out. I haven't had a chance to edit them just yet (that's our activity in class tonight). So, here they are in their rawest form. It ended up that it was quite a foggy Valentine's Day, but also... quite a good one. Which I am happy about.

Because, do you ever just have days where you wake up sad? That was totally me yesterday. I must have had some terrible dreams, because I just woke up SO sad. Which is weird for me, and also weird for Valentine's Day. Because usually I love it. It's a whole day where we get to celebrate how great loving someone is! How fantastic is that? I don't care who you are, that is just awesome. Being alone on Valentine's Day has never really made me sad. So who knows, right? Maybe I had a nightmare in which Sarah McLachlan and her wet dogs commercial played on repeat, over, and over again. Listen. It's not that I don't support the ASPCA and all that they do, it's just that I CANNOT watch that commercial without crying/wanting to give my college tuition to save the animals.

Luckily, it took a turn for the better real fast. It was really, really nice of my Aunt Sheral to let me use her nice camera, as my mine doesn't even respond to the zoom function these days. Its glory days may soon come to a close. It was also really nice of her to let me into her lovely home on Valentine's Day and feed me real food. Real GOOD food. We had so much fun, driving around, looking for textures, and "stalking people" as Paige so bluntly called it... it's fine. You gotta start 'em young. I love that family, and my Aunt Sheral. I love the way her house feels. If my house is half that happy/funny when I grow up, I am going to be so happy. I look up to her so much.

Did you know that I have a post with this same title years ago? True story. Totally do. It was about a boy who called me his Cinderella - totally jokingly, but tender nonetheless - and then awkwardly sort-of-dumped me on the eve of my fifteenth birthday (as much as you can dump someone when they're fifteen and you're not actually dating) and the beginning of high school. That was sufficiently awkward, but then also... when I walked into my first period of my first day of high school... he was in my class. And we had to sit next to each other. Hhaahaha. It was so awesome. (As you picture these instances, I ask you to please remember that I was even more flat-chested than I am now, and my hands got even sweatier when I was nervous. I promise it will only add to the reading experience.) And then in an ironic turn of events, on Halloween that fall, I ended up in his driveway in a Cinderella dress and we made eye contact and remembered and it was really awkward because neither of us cared to remember. OH THE TEEN ANGST. We never even held hands.

Welp. This post title originated from a thought process far more sinister, and far less tender. I think I may have tread on a crime scene today, folks. It's cool. There was just a heap of leaves over lumpy ground with a tarp sticking out. And all KINDS of evidence.

Just a tarp? :/

Let's just talk about Mr. Jogger. When we happened upon him, he was struggling. And it was uncomfortable for everyone. And I think he knew it was. Because he turned around and re-ran the route we saw him running in the first place. Every movement of his body cried, "Do-over, do-over!" It was kind of awesome. After he showed us he could do it, and do it much better than we had seen it done, he continued on his run. I loved it.

Watercolor horizon. That picture is just screaming for text in the sky.

Incidentally, my Valentine. She wrote a note and asked me. So.

I really, really wish I knew how to use a camera. Because nice cameras are SO cool and so is life. So.... cool, I guess. Let me know if you have any ideas as to who dead Cinderella could be...? Or like, if she is in a condition where she still has feet to wear that shoe...? Horrifying.

Also. Tell me what to be when I grow up. I'm not kidding. THANKS.

Happy He[art] Day.

^My wrapping skillz and my purple feets^

Have you ever noticed, that you cannot write the word heart without including the words he and art?

I have actually been thinking about it a lot lately, and I'm here to tell you, I'm pretty sure it's no coincidence.

I am full of all kinds of love today.

I love the gospel.

I LOVE my beautiful family, and everything they do for me.

And, I really, really love making art. I'm not very good at it, but it makes me happy. As it happens, I've been making a whole lot of it lately.

Sorry I can't get a quality picture of my finished product to save my life. Just know that it turned out exactly how I wanted it to:

Also, peanut butters. I... love it. I recently just ran out of chunky... and I feel like all Hell is going to break loose?

Anyway. I really, really love my life. And I love all the people in it. So thank you! :)

Happy He[art] Day! I hope you have a good one!!

Happy Tears.

This made me cry. In such a good, good way. :)

Enjoy it!

Real facts, in my mind.

1. Oh, there's some mold in your bread? How big is it? Smaller than a thimble? Just cut that part off. That's fine to eat.

2. If you're having a bad day, where you're discouraged, lonely, whatever - think to yourself, what would make me happy right now? If someone did ______ for me? (Don't make it dirty or weird) And then do whatever it is you would love someone to do for you, for someone else. Odds are, someone else is having a day like you, chances are, you will think of the right person to help, and fact IS, it makes you feel 8,000 times better than wallowing. I have proven this study.

3. But how many calories do you think you've burned thinking about whether or not to eat it? It's probably fine.

4. If you've been running for five weeks in a row and your name is Shelby... something is wrong with you? In a good way?

5. The girl in the stall next to me at school today was either bulimic, or a witch. With those noises, it honestly could've gone either way.

6. Nothing is more aggravating than kids who ask the same questions seventy times at the end of class, causing everyone to stay 5 minutes OVER time. You know, the ones that don't realize that the professor has already answered those self-same questions at least eight times to another kid. Calm it down and actually LISTEN.

7. There is something so terrible in chewing something crunchy in what should be a completely soft desert. You reach that pivotal point where it's like, do I just swallow this really fast before I process what this could be, or do I spit it out in front of everyone in the room?

8. The summer should be happening now. And classes are done. A's for everyone! But sincerely. Why... is this still happening? Spring semester in college is like Senioritus, but less fun.

9. Calendars make me feel prestigious.

10. I fell in love with a man's stache in a picture posted on UTA today. I smiled at it occasionally the whole ride home. It wasn't until the stop before mine that I realized it had words below it: This man is to be barred from all UTA services, due to everyday involvements in UTA police. Or something like that. So. Guess you CAN'T judge a stache by its cover.

11. There is nothing more fun than having your mama come surprise you with a hotel room on a Thursday night that is otherwise, bleh. Unless you of course increase the fun by beating up vending machines, eating chips in bed, and watching FAT CHEF. I don't know why, but I just feel like it should be shouted. Every last time it is said.

12. Your mom will not only back you up on a miiiildly untrue story so you can try on a wedding dress just for fun, she will supply it with surprising ease... Yes, yes, it's for a cousin with my exact measurements? WE HAD FUN OKAY.

Welp. I have to go take passport pictures. Seeya later.

There's the ticket.

Sometimes, you kill yourself over a paper, for an entire 12 hours or more. Then you come to class, and you find out that on Monday, when you were sick, everyone belly-ached your teacher into changing the due date. So here you are with a completed paper and a lack of sanity.

The silver lining? I got my first paper back - just a three paragraph ramble to show that I understand paragraph parts. Written on the bottom, it said, "Good use of paragraph parts - but you ramble a bit" - oh, you think? "However, your style and sense of humor are truly outstanding. I am still laughing." That from a teacher who told us he'd never give us nice comments on our papers.

:) Well. If that doesn't just put a smile one your sleep-deprived face, I don't know what will. Also, a kid approached me on campus and invited me into a Shakespeare club because of my jacket, which has Shakespeare wearing sunglasses on the back. He's on the board of producers for Grassroots Shakespeare. Knew I wore this jacket today for a reason.

AND. Now I have time to brush up an already decent paper before it is due, time before my next class to take the bus home and finally wash some pants to wear ( don't talk about it..) AND FINALLY SOME TIME TO NAP. :)

I like lists.

I was creeping on my friend Marissa's blog today. She made a list. I love lists. I like to send people letters with creepy lists in them, of all the love I have for them. It's kind of my THING.

Anyway. Here is a list of my thoughts right now:

1. Why is the education building the coldest on campus? All I want to do is be warm, but there's not a hospitable chair or heat vent to be had.

2. I have just finished reading ten or more 15 page, peer-reviewed journals for my research paper. I highlighted them, made notes in the margins, and organized them according to relevance. As for the actual paper? It's due tomorrow, and I haven't actually written that much of it. Or any. I feel like with all the researching I've done... that should just count. And I should just be done. Grade my scribbled notes and forget a 3-5 page paper. Amen.

3. When people disregard the fact that we are sitting in a quiet study area, I just want to look at them and be like, Really? But then, I know in my heart, I wish I was talking rather than doing homework as well.

4. Sleep is the reason I look forward to the weekend. I feel like it's my almost-boyfriend, and the thought of a nap is better than the promise of a date after a long week of school.

5. Getting mail is one of my favorite things in the world. But not getting mail when you expect it is one of the worst. Word up.

6. Whenever I pack a lunch, I eat it all before it's actually lunch time. The worst, right?

7. I love church. So much. Self-righteous people? Not so much.

8. I'm kind of fascinated with how white I've become lately. Can human skin look like that?

9. I love when people wear their hoods all the time, and they're being serious. No. Legitimately, I love it. I feel like I'm doing my homework next to some kind of super-hero.

10. All I want to do right now is put the painting in my head on paper. I even have new paints and pencils. What I don't have is the time. WHAT IS THIS.

Welp. Seeya later.