Family

Family.  These are the people you trust.  The people that you run to when your scared.  You have hurt each other, and you have healed each other.  Family has been your strongest support, your constant assurance.

Family is not just a word.  Family describes a bond that goes deeper than time and distance.  Family sees past all the things you can not see past in yourself. 

Family will not baby you.  They will spank your bottom and tell you to get over yourself.

But before you ever get a boyfriend, warn him.  If he breaks your heart, Family will make him regret it.

Family has hurt itself.  It has torn shallow gaps across a deep bond.  Sometimes those gaps take a little while to be sewn back together, but they are eventually either fixed or forgotten.

All this is because it is Family.  It is what we do.  Family.

~Anna

Ps.  Lindy, your writing challenge for missing a day is as follows:
       A poster, a penny, a poodle, and Nigeria.
       Go!

Thirteen Already !?

     When I was two months short of being two years old, my little brother was born.  He was a big baby weighing almost eleven pounds.  All the normal things that happen when a baby is born happened.  Our Aunt came to take care of Lindy and I.  Everyone was excited.  People made us dinner.  There was a lot of excitement, but eventually things quieted down.  Apparently, I got tired of all the quietness, and decided to make our life a little bit more interesting.
     It happened early on a weekday morning.  My dad was getting ready for work when he heard a horrific noise coming out of the nursery.  It sounded like air being forcefully driven out of someones lungs, and then being raggedly dragged back.  This sound repeated itself several times.
     My dad rushed into the nursery to find me happily jumping on my younger brother.  Dad quickly knocked me off, and scooped up my brother.  He just stared up at my dad and smiled.  He was perfectly fine.
     On the twenty-seventh, that little newborn on whom I jumped turned thirteen.  I can't believe it.  I remember hours of playing in the backyard with him.  We argued over everything.  We made each other cry. Then we apologized because we were bored and needed someone to play with.  He has frustrated me to no end.  He's my best friend, and will point out when I'm at fault even if I don't want him to.
      Even though I jumped on him, he turned out pretty well.  I can't wait to see him grow more in the coming years.  I love my little brother, and I don't know what I would do without him.

What I'm Currently Listening To

I had this great idea for a blog. It was going to be so great, and it was going to go viral!

But for some reason I can't seem to write it right now. Instead I'm going to give you a list of some of the music I've been listening to lately. (Don't worry, I'll write the other one eventually.)

"Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz

"Demons" by Imagine Dragons

"Pompeii" by Bastille

"Best Day of My Life" by American Authors

"When We Were Young" by Take That

Wonderful Things are Upon Us

Now that we are at the end of summer, I find myself looking forward to the fall and winter.  There are so many wonderful things that happen over the next two seasons.  Instead of trying to write out all my favorite fall and winter things in a descriptive paragraph, I am just going to compose an eloquent list.

1. Over sized sweaters
2. Snow flakes in my hair
3. Beanie hats
4. School ( mostly for the social aspect, but the actual learning part is not half bad )
5. Christmas
6. Winter wonderlands
7. Pumpkins
8. Dried corn stalks
9. Pumpkin pie
10. Thanksgiving
11. Colored leaves
12. Bared tree branches
13. Pumpkin cappuccino
14. Hot cocoa
15. Curling up under warm blankets with a book
16. Scarves
17. Seeing little children dressed up in adorable Halloween costumes
18. Brisk air
19. Animal tracks in the snow
20. Snow days 

                                                                                                                                        ~Anna

Beads

The front cover of the current issue of "Baily's Beads"

My English class this semester is entitled "Literary Editing and Magazine Production." Since I will probably end up in some sort of magazine work after graduation, I was extremely excited when I discovered it's title. A class entirely dedicated to the science of magazine making! (Call me a nerd, but I get excited over this sort of thing.)

However, it gets even better. The main portion of this class is actually comprised of editing and publishing the school's literary magazine, "Baily's Beads:" a magazine that has won several national awards.

I'm not entirely sure what my role will be in the creation of the publication. We only met for the first time today so I don't know how everything will work out. I know for sure that I will be on the promotion committee with some intensely creative people that I look forward to working with.

The most exciting part for me is being able to work with other people in my department. These are the kinds of people who I will someday share a workplace and a professional field with. The magazine is also opening up a whole field of opportunities for me to establish a network and meet people who make a living doing what I want to do. It gives me opportunities to share God-given gifts and talents.

While I still am feeling overwhelmed and disjointed, I'm looking forward for the rest of this semester. I feel like it has something special to offer. Something that, like a bead, will gleam brightly on my string of college semesters.