April 2010
1 post
Reason to Smile #26: Blind Trust
Last night I went to bed around 1:30 in the morning. I was sleeping peacefully, when Jessica grabbed my leg and said, “Olivia, COME OUTSIDE!” So I got out of bed, grabbed my favorite quilt, slipped on my flip flops, and followed her out of the room. It wasn’t until I was walking down the hall that I realized that the fire alarms in our dorm were going off. Although I am...
March 2010
7 posts
Chiasmus
Cold-blooded Murder
The water turned to cloudy grime, but Fibby, she was brave
I saw her situation, and my fish I thought I’d save
So drawing fresh, clean water from the sink was my best plan
And hurriedly, I did so as I filled my little pan
And Fibby waited patiently within her dirty bowl
She watched me as I tried to make her happiness my goal
I switched her water swiftly, and I put her on her shelf
And...
Reason to Smile #25: Play-doh
Remember making play-doh spaghetti and cutting out play-doh butterflies and rolling play-doh into thin sheets? Remember smelling it and wondering what it tasted like? Remember mixing all of the colors to make a pretty, swirly ball, only to watch the whole thing turn into an ugly brown glob? Guess what. It’s just as amazing as it ever was. Eighty-eight cents can’t possibly buy this...
Reason to Smile #24: Hidden Lyrics
So today I was listening to “Watching Airplanes” by Gary Allan. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this song before, but this time I realized for the first time that he says, “I wonder what would happen if you looked out your window and saw me running down the highway, just like I was crazy. But this fence is too high. And so am I.“ And then he bursts...
Reason to Smile #23: Wise Employees
Yesterday I went to the TMC to find puppets for tonight’s night check performance. Our R.A.s always expect us to do something crazy, so I chose the three most unique puppets I could find. The first puppet was a puffy elephant with a maneuverable trunk, my second choice was a cheerful-looking cow, and the third was a rather awkward chicken. After whisking them up to the counter, I asked if...
Reason to Smile #22: Habits
We got a new copy machine at work. It’s beautiful—big, smooth, and heavily layered. After admiring it for a brief moment, I started to make copies. I have always prided myself on my ability to punch in the passnumber at lightning speed, and I poked away at a frightening pace when I suddenly heard a loud “SMACK!” Startled, I looked toward the sound and was surprised to...
December 2009
5 posts
Reason to Smile #21: Grandmas on Facebook
“New message from Marjorie!”
This is one of the most startling things I have seen in awhile. Since when does my grandma use facebook chat? Then I read the message:
“I hope you are feeling better. I know you must have done well on your finals and are anxious to go home. Have a good trip.”
Although she began and ended a conversation in a single message, I felt like I...
When ten minutes in the exercise room turns into a half-hour of intermittently slaughtering the punching bag, you know that it’s time to take a chill pill.
Reason to Smile #20: Unique Prayers
During the closing prayer at church this morning, I heard something like this: “Though our skins, er, sins be as scarlet, as red as blood, as red as the poinsettias, you have covered Collegedale with snow.”
I think that something was lost in his translation.
Reason to Smile #18: Cartwheels
I can kinda sorta almost do a cartwheel now! Ashley taught me how tonight, and I am super excited. I am typically a very unbalanced, uncoordinated, weak individual. This gives me the right to be proud of a feat that most people accomplish when they are four or five years old. Yay!
An Incredibly Odd but Fasincating and Amusing Chat...
Olivia
Wanna hear something frightening?
Not frightening to you, probably.
11:18pmDustin
ok what?
11:19pmOlivia
I took a walk in my neighborhood. It was pitch black, and the wind was eery and cool.
Actually, I don’t remember if it was windy or not.
I just made that up=)
11:19pmDustin
thats ok
your an english major
you’re
sorry
11:19pmOlivia
Okay, so I was walking around...
Reason to Smile #17: Immortal Water Droplets
The guy who sits in front of me came into American History class with dozens of little water droplets in his hair. It was the oddest thing. I guess that it wasn’t raining hard enough to get his hair wet, but it was raining just enough to form tiny little water droplets in his hair. Forty minutes later, he STILL had bunches of tiny water droplets in his hair! A few of them had collapsed...
November 2009
35 posts
Reason to Smile #16: Die-Cut Machines
I hardly had any homework today. I feel so lost! I don’t know what to do! In desperation to fill this void, I went to the TMC and cut out approximately forty-eight Christmas decorations with their die-cut machine. Using it always makes me feel so powerful. So now I have random snowflakes, stars, trees, and socks hanging from my ceiling, and I have candy canes, snowflakes, and stars...
Reason to Smile #15: The Smell of Surface Cleaner
I cleaned my room today! It smells amazing. Half of it looks amazing. I don’t feel like a pig wallowing in the mud when I study anymore. This is a beautiful thing.
Reason to Smile #14: Freshman Comp Papers
“There is no better feeling than going out and tackling someone to the ground.”
Humble
That guy in my Christian Beliefs class and band really IS Humble! I’m sure of it! He may have gotten a bit younger over the past three years, but it is definitely him.
Reason to Smile #13: Hearing Clips and Snippets...
A very important man was in the office behind mine today. I don’t know who he was, but I know that he was very important. He was interviewing Pastoral Care majors, and I got to listen. I don’t know if I was really supposed to listen or not, but they left the door wide open, and I sit right on the other side, so I don’t feel bad. It was so much fun! I learn quite a bit from...
When they said, "featherweight shampoo," they...
Reason to Smile #12: Hand-print Turkeys
I love hand-print turkeys! Usually I love them because they’re pretty much the only thing that I can draw, but today I love them even more. I gave blood yesterday. It was not the best experience I’ve had with blood donation, but my arm is starting to feel a little more normal again today. After I was done, they gave me the CUTEST blood donation shirt that I have EVER seen. The...
“He had his head chopped off in a very undignified manner.”
– Zane Yi
It's a Happy Day
This song is in my head this morning. My parents sing it around the house all the time Actually, they sing many many many songs around the house all the time, but this is the one on my mind this morning:
It’s a happy day
And I thank God for the weather
It’s a happy day
And I’m living it for my Lord
It’s a happy day
And things are gonna get better
I’m living...
Hugs
I’ve been told that I’m not much of a hugger, but it’s really not true. I need a hug so badly right now that I just feel like I’m going to fall apart. And nothing is really even wrong. I guess that means that I’m homesick. But that’s okay because I know that I’ll get my three hugs in only a week and a half.
Reason to Smile #11: Intricate and Extensive...
I was sitting in history class today. It’s the same every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The guy on my left talks to the girl on his left, and the girl on my right talks to the guy on her right, and I sit in the middle and think. So today I was thinking about how sometimes the professor brings up his distant “relatives” when he’s talking about historic events and how...
Reason to Smile #10: Crunchy Peanut-Butter
It made my day so much better. It’s nice to actually be able to chew what you’re eating.
Reason to Smile #9: Stories from the Mental...
This wasn’t the best day. I don’t know why, but the stress of so many things just kept weighing down on me, and I started to cry. Then Jessica (not realizing that anything was wrong) randomly started telling me stories about her clinicals at the mental hospital. Oh my goodness! These people are crazy! I started laughing pretty hard, and everything seems a little bit better now.
...
I have two trials that will haunt me until death: ...
Reason to Smile #8: Shampoo Labels
I read my shampoo label. Listen to this:
Herbal Essences
hydralicious
featherweight shampoo
for hair that needs body
I see you’re wrapped up in my light, lush swirls. So I’ll keep it short. My shampoo and conditioner system whips up a satiny fusion with extracts of water lily nectar & passion fruit that floats in your hand to boast a clean body.
Use Me: lather me into...
Advice for Disappointed Crushees →
“Think of it this way: now you don’t have to lie awake at nights, wondering what your crush thinks of you. “
Reason to Smile #7: Fake Freckles
It’s hillbilly day! I am beyond excited. Eleven hours ago, I didn’t think that I was going to be able to participate. My closet was severely lacking in the hick department, and I was becoming discouraged. Then I got a facebook chat message: “You ready for hillbilly day?” The conversation progressed from there, and twenty minutes before curfew, Dustin offered to let me...
Reason to Smile #6: Blankets in the Sunshine
It is beautiful outside. I don’t think that I have ever enjoyed studying more than I did this afternoon, lying on my quilt and soaking in the Sun’s rays. It’s one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. Also, I’ve decided that the smell of grass makes French homework much more bearable.
Reason to Smile #5: Fluorescent Sunglasses
They made shield your eyes from the sun, but they blind everybody else in your presence.
"Excuse me ladies, but my buddies and I were...
Yes, and happily so.
(That will be my response if this ever happens again.)
Pong –noun 1. an unpleasant smell; stink. ...
“Remember to rip against the grain!”
– Karin
Reason to Smile #4: Orange-Juice Caps
Flick them, slide them, twirl them, roll them.
Reason to Smile #3: Rotating Sprinklers on Campus
If your timing is just right, you can run by without getting wet. The victory is both physically and mentally stimulating. “We’re safely across, we’re SAFELY across!”
"Jollily" is a real word!
"My dad and I walked past the gator, teeth bared."
When I am an English teacher, I will use this sentence as an example every year.
Reason to Smile #2: Catching Falling Leaves
I was sitting in class this morning, thinking about how I had never been able to catch a falling leaf. I had wanted to for a whole year, but the leaves always seemed to dart away before I could grab them. As I sat there in class, I decided that I would make it a goal to catch a falling leaf this November. When I walked outside onto the promenade, a gentle breeze carried some small,...
Reason to Smile #1: Shooting Stars
I saw a shooting star over the library on Thursday. Nobody around me even noticed, and it made me wonder how many things I miss when I’m not paying attention. If I hadn’t looked up at that moment, Thursday night would have been just another boring evening. But I did look up. And it made my day.
Dear God,
I knew there wasn’t anything You couldn’t do for me
But only if You wanted to—if it was meant to be
I knew that You were listening to every word I said
But still I couldn’t hear You when I cried alone in bed
I knew that You had bigger plans than I could see right then
But I just didn’t want to wait, and so I prayed again
I knew there was a reason that it had to be that way
And You would...
I can't believe that I have a blog.