Wish List '10: The direct product of not having anything worth while to blog about

K so I'm bored and want to blog, but since I don't have anything important to blog about, you get to see what's made my list. Now this list is composed of things that will make my birthday list. After my birthday, the remaining items will turn into my Christmas list...which will finally trickle to Valentine's day. The rest...well they'll be lost to, but remain forever, in my fantasies...*sigh*...I know- poor me right? I don't get EVERYTHING I ask for on my Birthday sometimes?! No, readers, you needn't worry. I usually do because I'm spoiled...but so is my list. I'll be the first to admit that it is both lengthy and....(what's a nice word for "I like expensive things"?) ((If you think of one please let me know so I can sound less bratty next year)) So here we go, (in no particular order) kicking things off with item #1!

1) Bobbi Brown Bronzer: So I have recently come to terms with the fact that I'm not as tan as I was in high school. For whatever reason, the sun (or the tanning bed) just doesn't hit me quite as hard anymore. For that reason, it is time for me to swallow my pride and take a step down on the shade latter. Let's be honest, I'm not fooling anyone into believing my skin is darker than it is if my face is the only part of my body that reflects that. So readers, we're going from brown to golden.

2) Classic RayBans: Because I'm tired of asking everyone I know who owns a pair if I can have the satisfaction of wearing them for 5 minutes. I love them. They top the list. Maybe I can find some on ebay....these are Jenna's...

3) Leotards. Ok they're not on my birthday list because I just ordered some. I need them for school...but they were on the list before I did that. My mom said they can go under the "school supply" category now because I have to have them for school. And my high school ones just aren't cuttin it anymore. Here's my favorite one from last year!...when we had to wear navy. That was annoying...

4) Eyelash Curler: So my eyelashes can touch the sky. Ok...THAT would be weird. But I had a really good one from Shu Uemeura.......but I think it got stolen in high school. Or at least saying it got stolen is easier than saying I lost it, but I really do think it might have been stolen. I mean, I went to Lake Highlands- It could happen. Here's a picture of me being like "OMG don't look at my eyelashes, they're not curly!!!!!!!" Haha ok, it's definitely not me doing that, and rest assured I have never done that........I just want an eyelash curler, ok?

Hm....maybe my list isn't as lengthy as I had made it out to be. Ya know what? If I was a really famous blogger, I bet all of you would just send me this stuff in the mail. Ok, note to self, become a world renowned blogger so that people send me stuff. But for now, I'm just a regular blogger, so if you think of anything else awesome I should add to my list, let me know. Can I leave you with this?...though this is the most shallow blog I have ever written, I am fully aware that these things on this list will not make me happy. I'm already happy! Thesethingswilljustmakememorehappy. Can you read that? Haha if you can't, sorry, I'm not translating :) later dear readers

Nothin but love,
Bethany

I'm not necessarily inspired, but highly bored

I don't usually like to blog when I don't have a subject I'm really intent on writing about, but then I think about how this blog started, and I feel a little more of a push to write down the things that don't matter. With that being said, I'll write about my weekend. (Side note to all the minions I spent my weekend with- the opening statement has nothing to do with the time I had with you people this weekend, nor is it an "in other words you people don't matter" line.  It does however, have everything to do with how excessively lazy I am feeling right now...but regardless.....I blog.)

(Clearing my throat) It was a good week, but when the weekend rolled around, it couldn't have been more needed! I finished up on Friday, having had the hardest day in dance classes YET, followed by an hour on the pilates equipment, and a psychology class that I attended in sweat. Friday night (and yes, I did have to think for 5 minutes about what I did on Friday night....(Heaven help me when I'm 80...)...anyway, on Friday night, BEN RECTOR did a personal concert inside the Theta house! It was bomb. Here's photo documentation....

After being serenaded by a married man...*sigh*....me and my comrades searched for our next destination (on account of we showered and looked cute, so movie night with the girls wasn't going to cut it)....photo documentation again...

 [I realize now, after posting this, that you, reader, may not think we look exceptionally cute and may infact contend that we would have been doing ourselves no injustice to have movie night with the girls. In which case...point taken...but still I will tell my tale] We found ourselves, in no time, sitting in my living room watching television and uploading pictures, while we exhausted our resources of friends trying to find our next social scene. After I had grown impatient, and facebook had no new information for me, I stood up and said, "I'm going to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard.....WHO'S WITH ME?" (of course it didn't go quite like that, I actually remember offering the idea, and then finally winning them over when I reminded them that Blizzards now came in a size more petite than small) We arrived at DQ and all admitted that, although it was the excessively small blizzard size that got us here, we would all be swallowing our pride and ordering a regular sized frozen treat. Long story short, and a lot of aimless driving in between, we ended up at one of our guys' friend's houses, now formally known as the "Monte Cristo", (as announced on Saturday) where we hung out for about 45 minutes to justify our showering before retreating to our designated homes for the night.

SATURDAY...probably one of my favorite days thus far, this semester. On Saturday, a group of 7 girls went to Heidi's house in Katy to lay out by her pool, enjoy some exceptional (and as far as we were concerned, gourmet) food, prepared by none other than Heidi's super mom, Wendy Thomson :) It was game day in College Station, but it was lazy day in Katy. It's always SO nice to get away from the fast-paced college town, and spend time with family (be it yours or your friend's). For lunch, Mrs. Thomson made us chicken salad sandwiches on croissants with fruit, chips, and raspberry lemonade (are you salivating?) and for dinner she made us (on account of my PERSONAL request)....tacos. Mrs. Thomson's are the best. They. Are. So. Good...and don't get me started on dessert...it was vanilla pudding with cool whip and a bit of cream cheese, on top of a crushed oreo crust, with quartered oreos decorating the top. None of us were hungry when we started dinner, but we couldn't stop it with that stuff. It was bad. It was bad, until I noted that we were going to be fine because after some careful investigation, I found the oreos were in fact NOT double stuffed. That would have just been too much.

Shortly after dinner, we drove our charred little behinds back to college station, where we played the "marry, kiss, or kill" game. Heidi assured us that it was a road trip classic. (So if you were thinking about judging us for that, you can stop because it wasn't an option- it's part of the experience.) When we returned to College Station, we all groomed ourselves a bit and then headed back over to the Monte Cristo for some good ol' "Apples to Apples" and some solid hang out time with friends. Have I mentioned that I love my friends? I guess that's a topic for another entry, but seriously, I don't know why y'all let me hang out wit you- you're all top notch.

I ended the weekend with a lazy Sunday that started with a message at Grace Bible that I so desperately needed to hear! Basically it was about rejoicing in suffering and the rewards we receive when we do. Can I just say that God absolutely met me where I am and proved Himself to me yet again? (I guess I can, because I make the rules on this blog). But seriously, it was unreal. After that I went to lunch with one of my besties, Blerina. We had a great conversation over a cheese pizza and my tortilla soup. I love spending time with her! Everything in me wanted to come home and do lots of reading, but I just had WAY too much facebooking to do...it's terribly unfortunate : / I am finishing up laundry, and sitting in a bed with fresh sheets and pillow cases! It's a good feeling :) I hear the Cowboys are playing....that's cool. I'm from Dallas. I'm gonna get back to...well I'm not sure, but I'm finished here for now. Until next time dear readers, I'll leave you with this...1 Peter 1:6-7 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than GOLD, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

My House just Shook

[This episode is sure to be scatter-brained.]

It's raining in College Station today. I love the rain in most situations. I like to watch it, listen to it, fall asleep to it, etc. My dad and I actually used to sit on the front porch sometimes while it was raining and watch it. It would sprinkle us a little when it was super rainy. So, as many storms as I've sat through, you'd think I was quite familiar with the surprises to...expect. Well dear readers, here's something that threw me for a loop- a few minutes ago, when the sky started falling, 602 Montclair shook. Seriously. I wish there was a better, more powerful word than "shook" because it doesn't do the action justice. This is what happened, I'm convinced: a medieval giant (in my head, he looks a lot like Shrek) was crouching behind my house, eating a turkey leg, I'm sure...laughing obnoxiously (that's the sound of thunder), and he just flicked my house and sent it a rockin'.
I killed him...
With a lasso.

Here's a list of things I justify doing when it's rainy
1) Not going to class. (No, mom, I haven't skipped due to rain)...but I have thought, and strongly considered it. And that, I won't apologize for. I did get entirely too excited yesterday, though, when there was a "code maroon" text about a tornado warning. Is it ignorant of me to not get an ounce of fear with tornado warnings because I know that meteorologists are always wrong?
2) Running errands. Elizabeth, my roommate, and I have planned to go to the grocery store today. I have quite a lengthy list. BUT...my first thought when it started raining, was "ahhh man! Now I can't go to the store!"...when did I decide that grocery shopping was up for being "rained out"? It's not an organized sport...no one's going to reschedule it. What WILL happen is I will finally run out of an item I can't get by without, and raining or not, I will be forced to grocery shop. Truth be told, I just don't really like doing it.
3) Homework. Again, just me tricking myself into being unreasonable, and convincing myself that I'm right.
4) Staying awake. I think this one's self-explanatory. Sleep is better when it's raining. Sleeping is better than being awake. Are you asking yourself the same question I'm asking myself? "If she's typing about the advantages of sleeping, and sleeping in the rain, no less....why is she awake?" Well..........it stopped raining.


Moving right along...my guilty pleasure of choice is peanuts and diet coke, what's yours?

Now, I'm still trying to decide if it's my go-to because I'm running low on pantry supplies, and Planter's dry roasted are the best lookin' option I've got, or if they just really are my favorite. My dad used to bring home a little styrofoam cup of them after he worked out at our country club, and I got hold of them one day and demolished them. The rest was history...my love affair with the little nuts flourished when I realized they weren't a gourmet nut, handcrafted at Royal Oaks Country Club. No, they were Planter's. Factory born and factory made. Available to the general public to enjoy for a price that I love, though it doesn't do the little buggers justice.

Last funny story before I go to the grocery store. A few weeks ago, during rush, I made a grocery list. I was going to go to the store after the week was over. When I picked up the list to go to the store I noticed that instead of "Bethany's Grocery List", like i meant to title it, it read, "Bethany's Pledge Class"...as in rush. As in, if that were accurate, I would have a sorority of cereal, milk, granola bars, and cotton balls. Solid. Ok, I'm off to the store, dear readers, gonna get the best PC 10 ever!!

Can we talk about happiness really quick?

Whether or not this post is "really quick" or not, I want to talk about being happy. I think it's terribly sad that I am nearly 20 years old, and it took about 19.75 of them to be truly happy. Happy was a temporary feeling until happy became my constant.

Can I tell you why I'm happy? It's definitely not because I get everything I want and everything goes my way. (Yes, for the most part, I'm a spoiled brat and get what I ask for at the mall)...but what makes me happiest, is being taken care of. Recently, certain occurings that could have been the depressment of the century, should they have gone "wrong", have been glorified wen I simply decided to admit that I do NOT know what I want. That brings me to the point that, for today at least, I don't believe in "wrong". Like...let's be honest, whether we get what we want or not, God's will is going to be done. And if God's will is the opposite of wrong, and God's will always is done...I don't see where "wrong" exists. The only time we get upset about things is when things go "wrong" according to us, but we only get upset about it because we just didn't ask God His thoughts were on the situation.

For the first time this summer, I closed my eyes and handed God one of my most cherished possessions. When I started giving the pieces of my life away to God that I wanted to hold on to more than anything in this world, He answered my prayers.  I stopped praying a LONG time ago that things would go the way I wanted them to. I not only prayed for God's will to be done in that area, but for the first time, I WANTED His plan to dominate mine. It's similar to when we were kids and mom was making dinner, and everything in us wanted to touch the hot stove because it looked cool. Well, duh! Mom was not about to let that happen, because SHE knew that if we got what we wanted and touched it, it would hurt us. In the same way, I'm cool, sophisticated, and 20 years old, sure, but I STILL want to touch the metaphorical stove all the time! I have to realize that there are stoves in disguise everywhere I turn and just pray that He would slap my hand away before I get hurt.

What's even cooler to realize is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with some of the things I think I want in this life. Some of the things I desire are great things. The cool part about that is that when God takes away GREAT things, that means that He has planned to fill that part of my life with something greater than what I was already happy with. When we are obedient in our walk and consistent with the faith, God is faithful by making hard things...happy :)

Goodness, I just get so fired up about it! You will not know true happiness until you rejoice in sufferings because you know that our God is a God of purpose and that He put trials there because He MEANT to!! Realizing that enables me to look back on the short journey of it all and see God's hand protecting me here, covering my eyes there, and ultimately picking me up and placing me EXACTLY where I needed to be when the end of the road came. Because in this life we need nothing more than Jesus, but it is His way of romancing us by filling our road with treats that He places right in front of us. Let's stop tripping on them!

Here's a picture of the bachelorette weekend...love you both :) I'm so excited for you, Sarah!

So...happiness, look it up, do whatever you want...but you don't need a dictionary for this one.

"Happiness" (noun)
pronunciation: happ-i-ness
definition: Jesus

I walked home from school today

Ok, first of all, consider the last post  a grand make up for a lot of days missed due to recruitment.

NOW......we had to make "personality pages" for the new Theta babies so that they can get an idea of the people they're about to be associated with, and who will eventually become the new members of their Theta family :) So I thought it would be fun to share pieces of mine via blog. But first!...summa my Thaytah fraynds on day 1!

Hokay....personality page.....BETHANY STUTSMAN PC '09

Likes:

dance. Jesus. snacking. diet coke. laughing. my family. estate sales. the smell of white out. doing hair. fashion. the food network. SYTYCD (So you think you can dance). peeling things. dogs. blogging. kanakuk. peanut butter. the sound of crinkling newspaper. weddings. boys that smell good. the beach. writing. my cousin, ella. glasses. did i mention dance?

John 16:33

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. I this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

Dislikes: 

running. mushrooms. hamstrings. waking up early. driving. having bad seats at shows. twitter. myspace. being pale. people chewing with their mouth open. home depot. the bank. being late. swimming in the ocean. the smell of exhaust from big trucks. waking up from naps in a weird mood. running errands by myself. not dancing. (below is my "dislike" face) 

Hmmmm...that's interesting...

i sleep with one eye open. i've never had a "PB&J". my dad is officially "america's funniest dentist". i've never dyed my hair. i can talk inside my mouth. i'd always rather be on a beach. 

Doesn't all this nonsense make you want to be a Theta, and more specifically, MY little sis?? Probs not, but unfortunately for someone, i WILL have a little in Theta, and all of these things will remain true. 

"An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal" Happy first day of school

            Cheers…..to a great first day of school. As I sit outside of my ballet class 30 minutes early, I am reminded of the extra 30 minutes I gave myself last year that was fully spent wondering around with my fingers crossed. A&M is a huge campus, and even bigger/more complicated for someone as directionally challenged as myself. It’s SO weird being back as a sophomore! It was incredibly liberating to be able to tell the woman stationed at the top of the stairs at the Read building to help people find their way, that I knew where I was headed. 

            Last night, as un-excited as I was to start school, I still had a case of the “first-day-jitters” as I found it impossible to fall asleep despite how tired I was.  I spent a lot of time thinking about the year and all it would entail. This year, I am trying to make a conscience effort to always consider, not WHAT I’m living for, but WHO I’m living for. Lately, the Lord has given me a real passion for obedience, and a fire to be encountered. I have experienced what it is to reap the benefits of walking closely with the Father, and now there’s no turning back!

I have the chance this year to start it out right. I want to get to the point where spending one-on-one time with God is not something to check off of my list, but something that I can’t get through my day without. I believe that’s what God wants for us…to just be needed.  He’s like any other Dad whose day can be made with a phone call, or a text just to say, “I love you”. I haven’t been texting God lately, but I do believe it’s the same sort of idea. If we just admit that we have no control and give back to God what is His in the first place, doesn’t that make life easier?

A big topic that helped mark my Summer was that of holding on to things in our life. I think that it took me hearing the advice I was giving my kampers, and then taking a step back to re-examine the way I live myself, before I really understood this whole subject. An awesome analogy that my sister shared with me is that, as humans, we keep our fists clenched tightly, holding on to the things of this world, and one by one, God peels our fingers back, trying to get us to just let go. The things we know we can give up to God, but can’t muster up enough trust to hand them over, are the things that hold us back from a real, walking, talking, encountering, romantic, desperate, perfect, bright, and just plain happy relationship with our Maker.

I finally was convicted enough to practice what I preached recently, because after something I always knew to be true was vocalized…by me…I realized that it really IS just as simple as it sounds! The point: NOTHING bad can come from a full reliance on Jesus. It’s always been simple. God has been romancing us all our lives, but we don’t notice until we DECIDE to notice. He leaves sweet reminders of His hand in our lives all over life’s path. We can keep tripping over them like we have always done, or we can broaden our view, take off our blinders, and appreciate the sweet reminders for what they are.

It’s true, God is not tangible. Sometimes we don’t feel His presence. But that’s faith. Faith is believing in what you KNOW and have EXPERIENCED to be true instead of what you SEE to be fact.  One of my campers in cabin 11 said it perfectly when she explained a spiritual revelation in her own life that came from NOT feeling God. She explained that just because she did not feel the spirit moving through her at that dry phase in her life, she could cling to the times when he did encounter her, and for that reason she said, “so I worship anyway.” Faith cannot be based on a kamp high, or faith would fade as soon as the world was on attack, but deciding to stand up and worship even without that tingly feeling inside is really getting more to the point of worship if you ask me. Isn’t worship about God? Yeah, it’s a cool bonus when we feel good doing it, eyes closed and arms lifted high, but…shouldn’t it probably be one of the most selfless things we do?

So I don’t know…next time I worship at church or at Breakaway…I’ll probably feel good doing it. But what about when I had a terrible day and it was easy to blame God for what happened? Will I stand up and sing along still, or will I be selfish and make the one thing in my day that was supposed to be for God…about me? I’ll have to see I guess, but it is rather convicting to consider, huh? Anyway……..that’s it for now, dear readers. Hope you enjoyed the glimpse into my first day of school and the things besides Ballet, Modern, and Psychology that were going on in my head

Oh, Silly Sunday

I have to be at practice for skit today at 12 so Zami (Amy) and I decided to go to the early service at Grace Bible in College Station. It starts at 9 so she calls at 8:47 to tell me she's outside....oh and she also wakes me up. Yes, friends, it's true, I over slept. I hopped out of bed and in a record 3 MINUTES I had a dress on, a gronala bar and Bible in hand, and was sitting in Amy's car. Here's the second funny thing- Grace actually doesn't start until 9:15 so I sat there for about 20 minutes being bitter about the sheet marks all over my body and my greasy face I thought I didn't have time to wash. It was fine though...we sat behind some corp boys...I think they saw right past my....morning "glow"....

Short story I know, but the message was a really good one from Joshua about Joshua being obedient to God when he did not understand at all what he was being asked to do. A great reminder to stop questioning God and just follow. Just be obedient. When we are obedient we don't have to understand each step we take, but trust that each step is being guided by the one true, and mighty protector. How could we mess up?

This is quite a scatter-brained entry, but here are some pictures of my cabin 11 girls, as promised :)