crappin

I just posted this from an iPhone and I am crapping my pants!! I want one!!!

Greening--My First Steps!!!

Anyone who read my blog about my zipper already knows that I am starting my own movement...I'm greening.

Besides trying to use less in general, I am starting to take other steps:

Recycling--This was dedicated to Katie, for her birthday! Happy Birthday Kate! I already have a full bag of newspaper!

Non-toxic Cleaners--Okay, so I have almost always mopped my floors with vinegar and water (something my mom always did) but I have found a great website explaining how to make non-toxic cleaners of all kinds, and I'm on that! (website: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/make-your-own-non-toxic-cleaning-kit.html).

I encourage everyone to take some steps of their own too!! Let's make this world a little greener!

Bicycle Lessons

This following is an actual dialogue that occurred between Micah and I as we rode our bikes Saturday:

Micah: "Don't you ever shift your gears on your bike?"
Mare: "No, not really."
Micah: "Why not?
Mare: "I like constancy. I don't like change."
Micah: "So you prefer to it to be more difficult to ride your bike rather than to change?"
Mare: (thoughtful silence). "I guess so."

This conversation was pretty insightful, actually. It's true. I have routines. Patterns. Rituals. I hate it, for example, when Micah wants to change around our meeting place on campus for lunch; I always want to meet in the same spot. I always walk the same way to my classes. I order the same things I always get from restaurants. Oh, and I go through trends with breakfast foods. For almost a year I ate raisin bran almost every day. Then for several months I had an egg on toast everyday. Now I eat a bowl with half honey bunches and oats and half raw oatmeal everday. And, one of the best ones (that drives Micah crazy), I like to listen to my favorite songs over and over again. (I figure, since they're so good, might as well, right?). When I can't do these things just this way, and even when doing these things just this way causes some additional burden or difficulty, I feel stuck. (It's probably not politically correct but I have termed these my "autistic moments" because individuals with autism often have a develop rituals and have a difficult time with change).

From the perspective I'm at right now, it can actually be rather funny, but I'm hoping this blog will serve some normalizing effect. So let me know, world: does anyone else have a similar problem of "shifting gears?"

Peace.
Mare.

Surprises

Well everybody, laugh all you want. Yesterday was my birthday and I am now 22. And boy, do I feel it--I am getting old! (To see birthday pics go here: http://www.micahandmarilee.blogspot.com/ ).

On that note, I want to say a bit about the topic of surprises. You see, I am my mother's daughter. I hate surprises.

To illustrate, let me tell the story of my birthday last year. Micah, being pretty much the the greatest husband ever, decided to do the unthinkable (little did he know). He got up early the morning of my birthday and cleaned the house, made breakfast, arranged some presents he had bought for me (all of which were things I had been talking about wanting lately), and put flowers and balloons throughout the house. I'll include a picture for visual clarity:

So what do you think my reaction was to this birthday surprise? Oh, I cried and cried. And cried. I was so sad. (I know, I am redankyalous). Micah really was not sure about all the had occurred. (He couldn't understand that in a girls mind she really wants to buy new conditioner with their limited budget instead of propel waters, etc. etc.) It was quite the getting-to-know-you experience for both of us.

This year for my birthday I strictly told Micah: don't get up early, don't make breakfast, don't buy me anything, etc. etc.

To continue, let me tell you about John Polkinghorne. He was a distinguished Cambridge physicist and then became an Anglican priest. He has won several awards in science and religion, and works to apply the insights of physics to religious mysteries. He said this of surprises in what has become one of my most favorite radio interviews of all time:

"Mr. Polkinghorne: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I think if working in science teaches you anything, it is that the physical world is surprising. And I was a quantum physicist, and the quantum world is totally different from the world of every day. It's cloudy, it's fitful, you don't know where things are, if you know what they're doing. If you know what they're doing, you don't know where they are. So that it's a complex world and quite different from what we expected. ...Now, if the physical world surprises us and is different from everyday expectation — common sense, if you like — it wouldn't be very odd, really, would it be, if God also turned out to be rather surprising. Things that are just on the surface, easy to believe, are not the whole story. There's a deeper, stranger and more satisfying story to be found, both in science and in religion. " (see here for link to entire interview: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/quarks/transcript.shtml).

Doesn't that statement he makes just kind of feel right? I really believe that what we know of God most of the time can be so limited. Our human minds just can't comprehend, I don't believe, all that God really is. We are always trying to categorize and make things fit neatly in the tightly gripped folders of our minds.

In conclusion, I don't doubt at all that God is a person of surprises. And you know, this year for my birthday I really feel that I stifled Micah's natural personality and creativity. So I am making a vow now to try to encourage and appreciate more surprises in my life.

My Obsession with Afros

So I am always telling Micah how beautiful I think black women are in general, but especially when they have those great afros like you sometimes see in commericials and magazines (like Syesha from American idol). I am always telling him how much I really want an afro, so today he sent me this picture that he made.

Pretty awesome, huh? Comments, please.


P.S. You know you all want an afro too!

One Stronger

There has been this new commercial out on T.V. I love it. I don't even remember the product it was selling, but I think it is for some type of heart-healthy cereal. In the commerical the actors are doing certain tasks and the tag-line is "One stronger." And I am pretty certain that at the end there is a women eating her heart-healthy cereal, and it says, "One Bowl Stronger." Does anyone else know what commercial I am talking about?

Anyway, I love it. I have thought about it often, especially as a motivator for me to get up in the morning and do my exercise, or throughout my day when I am tired. I think to myself: "I am one mile stronger." "I am one bicep curl stronger." "I am one stair stronger."

Today, as I spent nearly 5 hours doing intense research for a professor (as part of my research assitantship job) I had to keep telling myself, "I am one journal article stronger."

I hope that others can use that line of thinking too. It is so important I think, especially for all the little things. Let's all of us be some things stronger. One scripture study stronger. One prayer stronger. One kind word stronger. One grueling run stronger. One plate of veggies stronger. It will all add up, I know it will. So be one stronger.

Simplicity, Antonym

I looked up the definition of simplicity today. One definition was: the absence of luxury or showiness; plainness.

I have been thinking about simplicity lately. It seems it's a part of common rhetoric in today's "greening" society. (On a related note, google "freeganism" and you will see how Micah and I will be living if we don't get any pell grants this next year). In addition, I am getting poorer and poorer. I have gained some new perspectives, which all came into play when my backpack zipper broke the other day.

You see, my backback is over 4 years old. It was given to me as a gift by the Bells in Bountiful. I vowed it would last me all through college. When the zipper broke, my immediate thoughts were: "Great, how will I afford a new bag?" Then, I thought about simplicity. About being responsible with resources. And I thought: "I will not buy a new bag. I will just fix this one, even though the time it might take to do so might be more than it would take for me to earn the money for a new bag."

So what does the above picture have to do with simplicity? Well, that's the point. It doesn't. I got this picture from Anthropologie's new catalog. Anthropoligie is a store, that like many others these days, makes a consumer feel that they are buying into a simple, quaint, romantic and charming life. However, I would like to point out something about this trend: it is a farse. Simplicity simply does not imply buying more and more things that look old, rustic, quaint. This is the opposite of simplicity.

Observe: in order to get the look in the above picture alone, I would pay over $5000 for the items from Anthropologie. Then, if I went even further, I could buy 1600 sq. yards of fabric and sew that fabric to each and every one of my walls. Then I could sew up the windows, etc. etc.

Point taken?