One thing I notice when I'm in Miami is that it's sunny nearly every day. And that surprisingly drastically decreases my stress level. When I wake up here at home and see a pinkish sky, I feel like I'm fighting with nature, trying to will the day to be sunny. There's no such strain in the Sunshine State.

But I'll take as many sunny days as I can get. :)

Snow days are sometimes very effective in rendering the grateful student nearly homework-less for an entire weekend. I've enjoyed it tremendously.

This afternoon I went to see Juno with my grandmother. We both liked it very much. It's so well made, and while not completely morally sound, it's still the kind of movie you can feel good about.

Grandma and I also had zero-calories at Starbucks while reading about the nationalistic movements in Europe from 1859-1871. And I began a new blog (though I haven't written anything in it yet) which promises to be refreshing and progressive.

Jenn and I met and discussed Song of Solomon, which is always worthwhile, and then we got caught in a small blizzard on the way home.

As the garage-door began to open, I looked up into the dark sky and let my face greet the flurries.

The LORD is altogether lovely.

-Meli

So yesterday I logged into xanga and was surprised to see two people talking on the homepage. Talking. Literally. I didn't realize there was a such thing as Xanga TV when the employees of xanga chat with people. It was really cool. For some reason, I was hooked. Even though they were just talking about random things and saying hi to peoples' moms for them, I couldn't stop watching. There's something really neat about seeing the people behind the whole xanga system.

And so I felt compelled to update my lonely xanga. :)

It's a snow day today! Which is super nice because then I don't have to go to school, but the bad roads make it difficult to do anything very interesting. I should get my homework done, which I probably will...but just not right now. I'll be going for a walk with my mom through the snow in the next few minutes, and then maybe I'll go play capture the flags? We'll see...I'm really not much of a snow angel. The cold kills me.

Lent starts on Wednesday--craziness! I've been planning for the past year to give up peanut butter. I wonder if there's something else I should do, too. I know Lent isn't about giving something up just for the sake of giving something up, so I want to do something that will bring me closer to God. Well, I've already given up checking I-Parent, which I did religiously last semester. And that, oddly enough, has actually changed my thinking quite a lot. I don't worry so much about my grades, so I don't worry so much about myself, so I can actually care and think about other people. I'm definitely still too self-centered, but it's amazing how a little thing like not checking my grades all the time can help.

I've started taking cello lessons again! It's good times, though I'm kind of frustrated with the 16th note runs that I just can't get to sound good. I should just swear off playing fast pieces for all time and eternity. =)

Okies, can't go overboard on the whole updating xanga thing, especially when everything I've said has been very inconsequential.

Enjoy the day!

-Meli