It's the End-of-the-Year Again

I just finished my eleventh grade year of high school! Some highlights in the link below...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.361709353989743.1073741832.100004520433826&type=1&l=880f93a555

I couldn't possibly capture every amazing moment in this album. There are a special few that come to mind, that I can only wish I had photographic evidence for. But while this album can't wrap up my eleventh grade year into a nice little box with a neat little bow, it does offer a glimpse of some really cool people that I've met. Here's to a beautiful summer!

xoxo.

Ireland

Book Review(s): Wonderland and Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are undoubtedly classics, but they have never been the kind of books that let me lose myself within their pages. I held out hope that by reading Wonderland a second time (I read that one once several years ago), it would become more enjoyable. But alas, while I gave Carroll my best effort, my main incentive to finish the books remained the same: simply to say that I had. The Alice stories are such an important part of our culture that I felt it my duty as a book lover to experience them first-hand. And sure, there were amusing moments, but only when taken out of context.

While I truly do appreciate Carroll's style of storytelling, the nonsensicality of it all was a little too much for my taste. What can I say? I'm more into plots. And while countless arguments have been made about the hidden complexity of these two books— from philosophies regarding everything from self-discovery, to miscommunication, to madness— Carroll's original intent was simply to entertain, and I just wasn't feeling it.  Anyway, I'm not sure I'll ever care to understand the Matrix.

By reading Wonderland and Looking Glass, I had wanted to expand my literary comfort zone, but I'm afraid that's not exactly what happened. (*they are chock full of excellent quotes, however... see above*) I guess I still have hopes of falling in love with the Alice stories one day, like so many seem to have done, but until then, I think I'll cut my loses and just go read some chick lit.

 

Your thoughts?

xoxo,

Ireland

Here's to Us.

I woke up this morning with a to-do list about five miles long, a to-do list so extensive that even if I found the motivation to attack it with every ounce of my being, I'm not sure if would even finish. And anyway, who really wants to sit down and bust through five or more consecutive hours of mind-numbingly boring work? Umm.. I'd rather watch Netflix.

I'm blogging today not to fulfill some responsibility, or to check something off my list (since it's been two months since my last post, I think it's safe to say that that ship sailed a long time ago), but because I needed to. I needed to connect with you guys.

They say that social media doesn't really connect us to people-- it makes us feel connected, while we isolate. On a surface level, that's something I agree with: simply scrolling through feeds and liking different posts doesn't constitute as human interaction. But blogging is different. Blogging lets us express who we are, sometimes even down to the recesses of our souls, and lets connect with other people who go through the same things.

At least, that's what it does for me.

My word for 2015 is connect. I was deciding between connect and trust, but connect came to me first, and I'm told it's better to choose the "wrong" word than not choosing one at all.

Connecting is important. Because people need people. And... I guess today, I just want to take another step forward in making it a forever-part of my lifestyle.

So here's to connecting. Here's to loving our neighbors as ourselves. Here's to rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep. Here's to fighting for what is beautiful, and never forgetting to share what we find with each other. Here's to family canoe trips and sunny days and shared memories.

Here's to you, me, and we. Here's to us.

xoxo,

Ireland

Vous Etes Mon Coure // Outfit Post

 

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I don't know about you, but I love this holiday. And not just because of the candy hearts and chocolate roses and little stuffed bears. Today is beautiful because it is dedicated to Love.

 

The amazing thing about Love is, it is our bottom line. 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (MSG) reminds us of that:

 

"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

 

Just something to explore and embrace, especially today, on this day of love.

 

xoxo,

Ireland

 

Outfit credits:
Fit-and-flare dress: Forever21

Pumps: Worthington (JCP), borrowed

Ring (right hand): jewelry shop outside of Dublin

Ring (left hand): gift

 

Title credit:
"Vous Etes Mon Coure (You Are My Heart)"  by Gungor

 





Book Review: Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery

{Source}

This childhood classic came to life in my hands for the first time when I read it last year. As I delved deeper into each chapter of Anne Shirley’s formative years, her character became a part of me, and until I finished the very last sentence of the book, her story was also my story. Excitable and imaginative, Anne was the perfect heroine of Avonlea, and she had this undeniable ability to captivate both her readers and her fictional friends. She was far from perfect, and she made a lot of mistakes, but she was relatable. In her, I found a louder, bubblier, red-headed version of myself, and she inspired me to hold onto my childhood, because it will not last forever. When L.M. Montgomery created Anne Shirley, she gave life to a character that I connected with on a deep level—one that made me laugh, one that made me think, and one that made me better. In my opinion, discovering characters like that is the best part of reading fiction.

Click here to check out Anne of Green Gables on BN

I'm so glad everyone liked the book review idea! Hope you like this one too. Keep me posted...

xoxo,

Ireland

P.S. All the reviews I'm doing are for the sake of you, me, and the blog. I receive no compensation for them, and the opinions are purely my own. Feel free to leave your recommendations or requests! :)

Book Review: Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis

The honesty and vulnerability with which Katie Davis writes her first memoir has made a significant impact on the way I view and handle life. Within the first few chapters, I was immersed in her beautiful, courageous story, and I felt myself being transformed by her example of what it looks like to truly be a follower of Christ.

{{Source}}

At age 18, upon graduating high school, Katie decided to take a gap year and spend it teaching young children at a school in Uganda. The degree of poverty that she was suddenly surrounded with was beyond anything I had ever imagined: babies infected with HIV and AIDS, women turning to prostitution to feed their children, and starving masses of people with distended stomachs, various diseases, and no hope of life getting better.

Katie realized then that God was calling her to Uganda permanently. So she “said yes”, and by the time she was twenty-two, she was in the process of adopting thirteen orphans into her home and had founded Amazima Ministries, an organization whose goal is to feed, educate, and empower the people of Uganda. In fact, the entire premise of the book is summed up in Katie’s consistently “saying yes” to God; Davis argues that while she is just an ordinary woman, she serves an extraordinary God.

Her message is not for all so-called Christians to become exactly like her—leaving home, selling her possessions, and moving to a third-world country where she lives as a single mother to thirteen girls— but to simply say yes to whatever God is asking of them. It is a stunningly simple way of living, but it has a truer purpose than any other.

Click here to check out Kisses from Katie on Amazon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


This is my first book review on the blog! If you would like to see more of these, let me know in the comments. Have a great Friday!


xoxo,
Ireland

thursday.

Remember this: behind the skinny actress with the Oscar win; behind the joke you think is stupid; behind the girl with reputation that is falling apart in public; behind the tears of the girl being bullied and the harsh words of the mean girl who bullies her; behind the woman at the Food Lion who scans the cereal and the man sitting in the Oval Office—behind all of those images that people craft for themselves, there is a person, seen by God, created in his image, and longing to be loved and accepted. Just like you. No matter what their reputation, no matter what image they so desperately want to show you, there is a person. Don’t forget to see them.

--Emily P. Freeman, Graceful

I'm back from my unannounced, self-imposed blogging hiatus, and wanted to share this beautiful excerpt from one of my favorite books with you. Hope you have a beautiful Thursday.


xoxo,

Ireland