spring 2011 finals countdown...

University of Kansas, April, 2011.

I can't believe it is already finals week. This semester flew. Actually, the past nine semesters have flown. This week I am going to do some final countdown posts though my finals are all tomorrow. BUT I fly to Germany Tuesday so don't think I have abandoned you if I don't post for a few days! -- I'm just in a storm of to-do's at the moment. eeps!

xo-

Adoring Adele.

♥ADELE♥

Rolling In The Deep

Someone Like You

these two songs on repeat have helped me through this stressful week. 

if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed, take a minute to dance around to these gems. 

such a wonderful way to boost your mood.

xo-

My Senior Year Manifesto.

 Learn.Live.Love.

Learn: time management.  how to save money.  to cook. calligraphy.  to simplify.  to protect your heart.  not everyone means what the say.  respect is Love. to laugh. never fear. 

Live: with hope.  happily.  respectfully of yourself.  respectfully of others.  for today. for tomorrow. proudly.  gracefully.  filled with Faith.  with gratitude.

Love: all.  often.  life.  yourself.

xo-

day five.

{via: tumblr.}

the end. 

i had a wonderful finals week & am so relieved to be finished!  thanks to all of your encouraging comments & messages--you make even the most hectic of days beautiful. thank you for that.

I bid you adieu Spring Semester 2010.

we had some good times.

i can't say i won't miss you some.

thanks for being pretty swell,

and for creating so many wonderful memories.

here's to a perfect summer & lovely Fall Semester 2010!

Love, Anna.

original graphic credit.

xo-

is it friday, yet?

{via: tumblr.}

dearest darlings,

this week has been quite funky. everything has just felt a little...off. you know what i mean? perhaps i was too spoiled by our fall break last week & got too comfortable lounging around, sipping apple cider & watching the office all day...

anywho, i've been super busy with lots of exciting projects, & of course, with all of my courses... math 101 has been stealing so much of my time away from your lovely blogs!! math is not my friend...

i'll definitely update you soon about all the goodies i've been working on!!
don't think i've forgotten about you, i could never!

hugs to You all!

p.s. if you want to contribute a special something special for the october giveaway email me (aeallen@gmail.com) & let me know! i need a little help... (wink, wink, etsy-ers, wink, wink...)

{The University of Kansas} through the seasons...

“Stretching out on its own unbounded scale, unconfined...Combining the real and ideal, and beautiful as dreams.”

— Poet Walt Whitman on the view from KU's hill

i love my university.
doesn't it have such a beautiful campus?
we are lucky to have a wonderful dose of all four seasons...
oh,
& did i mention that
i am proud to be a jayhawk? : )

xo-

i wonder...

{via: flickr.}

sometimes i wonder how one day can be absolutely happy for no particular reason.
i wonder why some days our hearts are far more tender than normal. i wonder how people can say such disheartening things. i wonder if maybe i have done something to make someone else sad. i wonder what people are thinking about in their hearts as they go about their daily lives.

perhaps the girl reading flashcards on the bus is suffering from a newly broken heart- the boy across the aisle in class, who stares ahead so very intently, maybe his mind is running non-stop with about fears of losing his ill grandfather-- & maybe the shy girl in the front row, who takes diligent notes, is really about to explode with excitement over a wonderful date from the night before...
people hide so much from the world, i think we all do.

i wonder how sometimes i can be laughing about something so very silly & within the next minute be brought to tears from something which hurts my heart so. & then there are days in which nothing seems to be going right & you wonder if you were naive for having woken up with a feeling of hope for the day. the day which later would slowly prove to be a day of disappointments.

today i became very discouraged. i wondered how much my life would be impacted by a low grade on a single test, or the fact that i forgot one little assignment.
then i realized:
it can matter for the moment, but i won't let it sour my overall feelings.
i will be sad. i will feel disappointed...but at the end of the day i must dust myself off, get up off the ground, and let the world know that i will sometimes fail.

but my failures will only make me wiser, make me stronger, make me me.

xo-

"what i did at school today..."

[except really this was two weeks ago, minor detail...]
One day in a very invigorating lecture, in a very difficult course, a girl named Anna decided to test herself.
No, she didn't test herself on anything she had been currently studying, rather she chose to channel her inner-fourth grader & see if she still had "it". "It" being a very nerdy ability to name all 50 states in less than an hour-- with out even the outline of a map.
"Could it be done?" she asked herself, hesitating when realizing how long ago fourth grade truly had been.
But Anna wasn't one to just turn down a challenge. So, Anna flipped to a fresh page in her lecture notes spiral notebook & embarked on the challenge. Although she struggled at times & had to look up with a look of serious ponder-idge,
she, in fact, did "it".

"It" had been done.
With ten minutes to spare.
That's right, this Anna had listed all fifty states in under 40 minutes; with no map, no help.

Of course, Anna was simply elated & had a hard time containing her excitement in the last ten minutes of lecture.
once the class was dismissed Anna turned excitedly to her friend next to her & exclaimed her feat:

His response: "Did you really come to lecture to do that?!"
Anna's response: "Oh, so clearly you came to improve on YOUR doodling."

but nevertheless Anna was quite proud of herself.

xo-

cherished chats.

[part of daisy hill on the west side of campus, august 2009.]

Today after my math lecture i hopped on the bus & rode to west campus to stop by my dad's office. I made sure that his schedule was open around noon so I could come by to eat lunch with him before my next lecture at 1pm. {I've made the mistake of stopping by unexpectedly and ended up sitting outside of his office for an hour waiting for a student to finish meeting with him...& then, of course, times when other professors stop by his office for "professor-y" things.} evidently he is very popular.

I love going to my dad's office. but even more so, I love chatting with him about various things.

today we discussed my Berlin lecture & how American universities were modeled after the University of Berlin.
last week we talked typography.

and i loved every minute.

xo-

"teacher marks our height against the wall."

I start back to school tomorrow.
summer really flew this year- but i suppose i'm ready...clearly not as ready as i was on my very first day of school in 1992-- seeing as how my outfit tomorrow will not be anywhere as cool as the one i'm rocking in the picture below.
{oh & my hair just won't do the old "mushroom top" as well as it used to...}

{me & geoff, 1992}
first day of preschool.

in lieu of
my rekindled white stripes obsession,
i've been listening to
this song a lot today.
it is so delightful.

We're Going To Be Friends
-the white stripes-

Fall is here, hear the yell
back to school, ring the bell
brand new shoes, walking blues
climb the fence, books and pens
I can tell that we're going to be friends

Walk with me, Suzy Lee
through the park and by the tree
we will rest upon the ground
and look at all the bugs we found
then safely walk to school
without a sound

Well here we are, no one else
we walked to school all by ourselves
there's dirt on our uniforms
from chasing all the ants and worms
we clean up and now its time to learn

Numbers, letters, learn to spell
nouns, and books, and show and tell
at playtime we will throw the ball
back to class, through the hall
teacher marks our height
against the wall

And we don't notice any time pass
we don't notice anything
we sit side by side in every class
teacher thinks that I sound funny
but she likes the way you sing

Tonight I'll dream while in my bed
when silly thoughts go through my head
about the bugs and alphabet
and when I wake tomorrow I'll bet
that you and I will walk together again
cause I can tell that we're going to be friends.

xo-