The Night Before Sophomore Year

Pretty sure my second year of college starts tomorrow.

Say WHAT?!

But we'll skip the part where I go on and on about how fast time flies, how I can't believe I'm already a sophomore, how excited I am to be back at college, how I'm looking forward to seeing what God does in the next year--

Oops I guess I didn't skip that part.

Aaaanyway -- let's see if I can wrap up the happenings of the past few weeks a bit more succinctly... ;)

So, summer in Washington state ended up being really great, and I made lots of memories while my family and I were out there. There was also some serious sister-bonding time (I'm lookin' at you, Dani), which was so great. Lots of laughs, too -- but that's a given with me, right?

Sorry not sorry guys, I laugh too much. Get over it and laugh with me. It's good for you.

Tonight, the last day before my self-imposed deadline, I am about to complete my ridiculous 50-movie summer watchlist, with the 1939 classic Stagecoach (which looks great I'm psyched). Honestly, I still can't decide if the 50 movies was a good or a bad idea, but regardless, I've had seriously so much fun glutting myself on films over the past three months. ;)

No, but seriously -- I feel so much more knowledgeable about filmmaking and films in general, after finally having seen the ultimate classics like Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind. It's been great, guys. Not sure if I'll do it again (maybe on a smaller scale), but it was great.

Oh, and if you're at all interested in seeing what films the list comprised of... here it is. I must give the disclaimer that not all of them were good, per say -- you can see my ratings on the list there. ;) Sometime in the coming weeks, I plan to do an extensive post concerning all the movies that I DO recommend off the list, which is gonna be way fun.

Let's see, what else has been going on.... oh! Just this week, I helped out with the New Student Seminar (and other events of freshman orientation) at my university, to fulfill the required 20 hours of Christian/community service hours for the semester -- and let me tell you, it was amazing.

We stuffed and handed out tons and tons of bags and brochures and T-shirts to the dear freshmen, helped them find their way around the campus buildings, and I think all 35 of us helpers went home with heatstroke -- BUT, I also think we'd all say that it was totally worth it, just to be able to be a part of welcoming the 4,000ish new students. I know I do, anyway!

So, to wrap up this post, and for my final bit of news from the summer...

Drumroll please.

so enthusiastic

A new cosplay is iiiiin the works!!!

can you guess what it's gonna be can you can you

More on that at a later date -- for now, I gotta go pick out my outfit for my second first day of college... ;)

A Long-Gestating Sewing Project

Once upon a time, several years ago, in a department store far, far away... I spied a black shirt dress. I loved the style, the color, the fabric... everything except the fact that it was about 12 inches too short.  And, because I am not one to just put up with that, I snapped a picture, hung it back up on the rack, and made a mental note to make one someday just like it that fit me properly.

And a couple months ago, that project, which I hinted about all last semester, finally came to fruition!

(Photo credits go to my fantastic sister, Danielle)

I highly recommend the pattern that I used, Simplicity 8014! It was a moderately difficult build; not too confusing, just rather time consuming. I made it one size smaller than the envelope suggested, and it fit perfectly without any other modifications or alterations. I'm considering making a second dress from the pattern, perhaps with the mandarin collar and shorter sleeves, out of a more summer-y fabric? We'll see. :)

As for the fabric I used, the black "peach skin" polyester I got from Joann is probably the most comfortable and beautiful fabric I've ever worn.  It literally feels like peach skin, and flows like a nice quality silk.  Literally amazing... buuuut kinda a pain to work with, as with pretty much any silky-style fabric. :P

Oh, and with this project, I mastered buttonholes! Good thing, too, since I had to make something like twenty for this dress... ;D  My oldie sewing machine doesn't have the cool buttonhole setting like some of the newer models, but I figured out how to do them manually easily enough.  It was actually kind of fun, now that I think of it... ;)

So, that's the project I worked on all Spring semester long, finally completed! I hope you all are enjoying your summer (I am!) -- and happy almost August! ^_^

Life Lately in the Summer Months

- Where I Am -

Currently breathing in the crisp air of the great North West.

- What I'm Wearing -

The shirt dress I made over the course of the last semester.
(Blog post on that coming soon!)

i'm no model but i try really hard

- What I'm Reading -
(from the Bible)

Daniel. God will have the glory due Him.


- What I'm Reading -
(from the library)

Re-reading Dragon Slippers, and about to embark in the next two
adventures in the series for the first time.

- What I'm Laughing At -

The Russian Hacker.

- What I'm Watching -

Classics of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s... such as, Citizen Kane, Psycho, and The Maltese Falcon.

- What I'm Listening To -

Heathenssssssssssss. And hymns, weirdly?

- What I'm Cooking -

- What I'm Doing -

Riding Icelandic ponies.

- What I'm Not Doing -

Pokemon GO.

- What I'm Writing -

He steps forward.

HAYES

Now see here, sir -- Sirs! What is  

the meaning of this, here, see here 

...? I mean, if I may ... good sir? 

Sirs ... I mean ... you there ...   

here ...                            

Sylvie pats Hayes’ arm.

SYLVIE

Well done, dear.                    

(to the large men)           

You heard ‘im! What exactly do you  

think you’re doing, blocking our    

way in this manner? Do you even     

know who I am?! I’m your princess!  

So you had better have a good       

reason for this outrage, or -- or --

Well, I’ll do something, and I can  
assure you it will not be pleasant. 

The large men’s faces betray their amusement at the odd pair.

LARGE MAN 1

Ah, we’re here to kidnap you,       

Princess.                   

- What I'm Looking Forward To -

Getting back to my university in the fall. ^_^


- What I'm Learning -

Joy is a choice. Choose it every day.

One More Step in the Journey

Every time I go through what I feel like is the lowest low I've ever experienced in my walk with God, I, somehow, a few weeks later, come out of it feeling stronger than I've ever been before. And today, it's time to tell you about the latest in the series.

Hope you enjoy the ride. ;) So, where did this latest low start...

The week after summer break started. I was alone, stuck inside my own head with all my faults, insecurities, and twisted thoughts. I kept things bottled up -- I tend to do that, though you wouldn't think it from the state of this blog. ;) See, until resolution comes, I deal with my own thoughts.

Me and God, that is. But this time, the latter wasn't a part of that equation.

In those weeks, I felt like I just kept learning more and more about God's holiness... and more and more of my own depravity. I sunk deep into a self-made prison, all the while screaming for God to help, to pull me up... but... He just, didn't. And I couldn't understand why.

My heart was so heavy, my mind so cluttered, my soul so dark. I felt isolated.

So there I was. At the lowest low, the tipping point, the bend in the river...

And then this weekend, something changed.

First, God spoke to me, taught me something that wasn't condemnation, and I finally felt a slight sense of peace. The turmoil my heart had became numb to lessened, and a piece of my broken spirit clicked into place somehow, somewhere deep within.

Another day, another click.

I slowly loosened my grip on the shriveled bits of self-confidence I had been clutching to so fervently, and let them go. I stepped out in faith in a few, small ways. I truly and fully gave my decimated self to God, and asked him to put me back together the way He wanted -- because, quite honestly, I was at the end of my rope.

Another day, another piece clicked into place.

Not all at once, but bit by bit, the pieces of my true identity in Christ were put in their proper places. Truth was poured into me from all different angles, until one last drop brought my cup to overflowing -- and there they came, coursing down my cheeks: salty drops of hope, joy, life.

With those tears, peace returned to a different me from five weeks ago.

A good different -- the kind of "different" that only comes through struggling and wrestling and crying and holding in there even when nothing "feels right." The kind of "different" that is not for the faint of heart. The kind of "different" that defines those chosen by God.

The kind of different that feels like sore muscles. A good, meaningful kind of hurt.

To (kind of) sum all this up...

These past five weeks have been really, really hard.

I've been a total and absolute mess. God made me come face to face with some hard truths and some dark places. He dragged me through it all -- and He dragged me out the other side stronger than ever. Growing pains? For real. But growing pains are good. And that's why, now,

I'm okay.

Thanks for asking.

How are you?

:)

P.S. This video is just a little thing I created last week with some footage of that thunderstorm I mentioned earlier. Something of a creative outlet, as well as a creative exploration of God in relation to a thunderstorm.

On The Topic of Invisibility

Talking about my invisible illness (crohn's, IBS, UC, or whatever exactly it is I have -- I was never given an official name) seems kinda taboo. Yes, it is embarrassing. It is a weakness. But it's also something I have to deal with every stinkin' day of my life. So, seeing "Crohn's Disease" trending on facebook today made my heart skip a beat, because seeing someone dealing with something much worse than me shout out to the world what she has to deal with... well, it made me want to shout out to the world what I have to deal with.

So, let me tell ya about me and my invisible illness, because its effect on my life has been pretty extreme. First of all, it has hindered me from so many opportunities I would have loved to experience (missions trip? not even an option). It has turned some fun times into disastrous experiences in mere seconds. It has made me struggle daily against living in fear of it. It has also made me the best person to ask where the nearest restroom is. ;)

But I thank God daily, because it's only by His grace that I didn't end up just like that girl who made Crohn's trending. He gave me my mother, who knows about nutrition and naturopathic methods, so that instead of having my entire gut removed, I have to follow a very limiting diet. It's tough, it's embarrassing, it's sometimes socially isolating. But I would choose not eating ice cream over having a bag attached to my stomach any day of the week.

With all of that said... I wouldn't trade my invisible illness experience for anything -- because it has brought me closer to God than anything else would have or could have. When just getting through a day of classes and work is trying, I have no option but to rely on God to help me through. And that's the beauty of an invisible illness, I think. When God's the only one around who knows what's going on, you learn to become very reliant on Him -- for strength, hope, and perseverance.

Friends, I pray this further knowledge won't make you view me any differently, but that it will just serve to deepen your understanding of my character and why I am who I am. Because, at my core, I'm just like you -- a sinner, saved by grace, fighting through a trial God has allowed, to become the person He wants me to be.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and God bless. ^_^

College Semester 2: ...And Accounted For

Current feels:

These past two weeks have been pretty much the fullest two weeks of my college experience so far.  And I loved every moment.

May 2nd & 3rd: Last classes, Monday and Tuesday.

May 4th: Wednesday off; HAPPY STAR WARS DAY hehe.

May 5th &6th: Finals Thursday and Friday -- as well as CIVIL WAR.

YES TWICE.

With screenwriting peeps. :D

First of all, Winter Soldier still has 1st place in my heart out of the Captain America trilogy. ;)

Second of all... IT WAS SO HYSTERICAL AND SPIDEY WAS PERFECT AND BLACK PANTHER WAS SO COOL AND THE REFERENCE TO STAR WARS WAS THE BEST REFERENCE EVER MADE EVER AND I LOVED BLACK WIDOW (AS USUAL) BECAUSE SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO REALLY CARED ABOUT UNITY AND I KINDA SHIP SCARLET WITCH AND VISION AND WHY DID THEY PUT BUCKY BACK TO SLEEP I SWEAR IF HE DOESN'T COME BACK IN BLACK PANTHER I WILL BE SO MAD BECAUSE DEAR BUCKY IS FINALLY KINDA OKAY AND CAPTAIN AMERICA PUT DOWN THE STINKIN' SHIELD AND SPEAKING OF WHICH AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT STEVE NEEDED TO DIE IN THIS MOVIE AND THE SHIELD NEEDED TO GET PASSED TO BUCKY BECAUSE SO MANY REASONS THAT I WON'T GO INTO RIGHT NOW

Ahem.

May 7th: Saturday, I participated in the first annual LU Four Hour Film Festival!!

I was assigned the manager position, which I thoroughly enjoyed, basically being a producer type of person.  But it was really a collaborative effort between all of us -- fun, crazy, nerve-wreaking, and nooooow I just want to do it again because there's so many things I would do differently and so much I learned about making a film in four hours. ;)

Overall, it was wonderful for just getting experience shooting a film off the cuff, with a group of people you've never met before, in a very tight time frame, with absolutely no prep, no budget, no actors, and no equipment except the cameras on our phones.  Plus, I had fun, and it made me even more excited to get into the film program where I'll be able to make movies all the time.

ONE MORE YEAR, GUYS ONE MORE YEAR.

Sooooo... a few photos from the day courtesy of the festival's Facebook page:

Our team, "Rogue Two," being given our genre to work with.

Shooting...

Hard at work editing before the 5:30pm deadline!

And if you'd care to see the amusing end result, entitled "Gum-Shoe"... it's odd, be forewarned.  We had to include a shoe as a prop, the line "Trust the process" at some point in the dialogue, and our assigned genre was "mystery," soooo... yeah.  This is what came about. ;D

Oh, and keep an eye out for my little cameo (heh heh)...

May 8th: Sunday was church, chilling, and studying.

May 9th: More finals Monday, and the last 2nd Monday Cinema of the semester.

2nd Monday Cinema is a movie night the film program puts on every month, and this month, they showed all the short films shot at the Four Hour Film Festival, gave out awards to the various winners, showed BTS from the day -- and, of course, had everyone dress up for the occasion. ;)

Accepting our award of "Best Use of Dialogue," at the 2nd Monday Cinema awards night!

May 10th: LAST FINAL, for Screenwriting class, that Tuesday!!!  My script was finally read out loud (the very last of the whole class), and I turned in the final draft of my script, The Final Truth.

(Speaking of which... if any of you are interested in reading it, shoot me an email @ adventuresofanelvenprincess@gmail.com and I'll let you do just that!! It's only 13 pages, so no time commitment. And, feedback, people. I'd love to get some. :D)

May 11th: Wednesday we went to a matinee showing of Beauty and the Beast, which I've been helping to create the costumes for, for the past two months!  So that was kind of awesome... and the show really was wonderfully done.

May 12th: Thursday was my last day of work at the costume shop until the Fall -- 'twas a bittersweet day. :)

May 13th, 14th, 15th, & 16th: Finally time to chill out and do all the things I said I'd do once the semester came to an end, because...

Summer is finally HERE.

Fifteen; Counting down to Summer and Civil War

I thought this last full week of classes of my freshman year would go by sooooooo slooooooow... but it really didn't.

A few things that happened this week...

• Friday was opening night for the production of Beauty and the Beast that we've been working on in the costume shop for the past few months!!  It's wonderful to have all those costumes finished.  And I'm so excited to go see the play myself Tuesday after next!  I've heard it's absolutely magical.
• In a literal throw back -- or rather, throw down -- to my childhood, I skinned both my knees and elbows quite nicely as I dashed to meet my sister, who was waiting in her car to pick me up from work.  Don't ask me how it happened. One minute I was on my feet and the next I was on my face.  Oh well.  Battle scars to add some realism to my Cap cosplay for next week..? ;)
• Also on Friday, I completed my apparel project in sewing class!!  I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it's a winter coat -- and it turned out quite nicely, I'd say!  It's seriously such a lovely design.  I'll be sure to share some pictures once I get it back from being graded. :)

Now, a few things that will happen in the next two weeks...

• In only nine days, my first year of college will be over.  In just nine days!!  Half of me is thrilled, and the other half is kinda depressed...  But, honestly, I do think I'm ready for freshman year to be over, and to move on to sophomore year.  Sophomore year is gonna be fun. :D
• But, also in nine days, summer will finally be here!!!  So. much. excite.  I'm still waiting on God for direction of what exactly I should spend my three free months doing, but in the meantime, just the thought of being able to sleep in and not having to do homework... EEP.

Finally, to address the event we've all been waiting for...

IT IS COMING PREPARE THE MORGUE

Ahem. Only four days until we get to see Captain America: Civil War.  FOUR STINKIN' DAYS.  Need I remind you that I've been waiting for this movie since forevaaaaaaaaaah... basically since Winter Soldier, but mostly since Age of Ultron...

And now it's almost HERE.

Ah.  I'm so scared, guys.  Seriously.  I just know I'm gonna be traumatized.  At least it'll be fun to get all decked out in my ol' fem Cap costume again...and cry my eyeballs out, but ya know, it's all good.  UGH it's going to be so good.  SO GOOD.  All the review so far are stellar.  And, hello, according to Rotten Tomatoes it's 94% fresh, versus Winter Soldier's 89%.  And we all know how good Winter Soldier is.

Speaking of which, I'm gonna watch that piece of cinematic brilliance tonight in preparation for Civil War, following The First Avenger two weeks ago, so I better head off and continue plugging away at homework for COMS (speech) class.

Au revoir, mes amis.  If you don't hear from me next week, I think you know what my cause of death will be.