an alphabet

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One of my goals this year is not to be so preoccupied with the college world - to remember that I have goals beyond this place. Because while it is a good place and I am happy to be here, I find it is easy to be all-consumed with it and to forget about the person I want to be beyond college. I want to be a better artist. I want to be a better dancer. I want to be a better writer. Etc.

And in hopes of furthering my pursuit of being a better writer, I have decided to try and be more intentional about just writing. One of the ways I hope to do this is by blogging more consistently. (Although I don't promise to always be good at this.)

So on this rainy and humid Saturday on which I don't really have anything important to say, I will instead share some random thoughts, in alphabet form, inspired by Grace. I don't usually like these things, but I just felt like doing this tonight . . .

ambition: to live gracefully and attentively and slowly. to be less consumed with myself. to travel a lot. to have a home that is welcoming and hospitable to all. to live on a farm. to adopt a child. to be a better person tomorrow than I am today. to love God more fully. to be a better photographer. to write more poetry. to have many adventures. to not always be safe and comfortable. to be a better dancer and runner. and lots of other things.

bad habit: not committing to things and changing my mind too often.

city: paris.

drink: homemade banana blueberry smoothies, or earl gray tea, depending on the day and temperature.

education: pursuing a degree in english and art.

food: strawberries. peaches. good crusty bread. scones with jam. goat's cheese. arugula.

guily pleasures: um, reading design and food blogs and snooping on other people's lives.

hometown: complicated - but I guess I'd say charlotte, north carolina

ice cream: cinnamon

jonesing for: a bicycle. or new clothes. I don't really need either though.

kryptonite: anthropologie. and jars of any kind.

look-a-like: I tend to get julia stiles or alexis bledel a lot . . . not sure how I feel about that.

movies: oh, I don't know. the tree of life and little women? I don't watch many movies.

nicknames: ceenie. jessie-lynn. pookie.

obsessions: organization. good food. summer. nature. bread. design blogs. making lists.

perfume: philosophy's "summer grace." (I think I just like the name of it.)

quirk: playing with my food after a meal or shredding paper napkins under the table. yeah.

regrets: not spending more time in prayer. not being more adventurous.

starbucks: americano - black with cinnamon on top.

talent: um, making things beautiful?

university: wheaton college

vacation: maine. or california. or the mountains. or nepal. or italy. or a cottage in france. or london.

wine: I wish.

x: x to procrastination.

years: nineteen.

zen: near bodies of water. rooms full of sunlight. my morning room. st. bartholemew's in london.

[self-portrait while on a long walk through the cobblestone streets of durham, uk]
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