Eclipse

I saw this at midnight.

It was even better than I expected.

Thank you movie makers for not messing up my favorite of the series. (:

summer reading

First month of summer is just about over, and I've read quite a bit. (: Reading for pleasure is something I miss during the school year; it's so difficult to find time between schoolwork and dance to read what I want to read.

1. In preparation for the new Twilight movie coming out Wednesday, I reread the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I'm going with friends Tuesday night for a trilogy showing of the first three movies. Must love being a nerd.

2. I Can't Tell You by Hilary Frank is a book with a unique format, and I always like those.

3. How They Met by David Levithan is a collection of his short stories; every time one ended I wanted the story to continue.

4. Are We There Yet is also by David Levithan and tells the story of two brothers that travel to Italy together. Pretty much made me want to go to Europe even more than I usually do.

5. Surprise Me and Be the Surprise by Terry Esau deal with the idea of God and surprises. Rather than asking God for anything specific, Terry prayed every morning "Surprise me, God" for 30 days and journaled about what happened. In Be the Surprise, he looked for ways to reach out to people and surprise them with God's love.

6. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is a heart-wrenching story from the book of Hosea about God's unfailing love for us, his sin-filled creations. I had heard that I should read this book years ago, "but not yet" my friend said to me. There definitely needs to be a level of maturity before reading this story.

7. Luxe and Rumors by Anna Godberson was suggested to me last year by a lovely friend, and it's one of those books I never had time to read because of school. There are two more books in this series set in 1899 New York City high society.

There will be more to come on the summer reading front. (:

Oh shoot.

Realized I haven't posted in, uhm, months.
Also, have not really read in months either.
Yikes.
However, twitter is my daily companion. So follow me there. http://twitter.com/kinseyelise

And one day I'll have time to get back to blogger.

Happy Mothers' Day!

New York City

Spring Break 2010 started today at 12:20 when the bell rang for lunch and I left school for the day. (: Tomorrow morning, I fly to NYC with my school choir for several days full of fun (despite all the rain that the big apple is supposed to get). Our itinerary looks something like this:

Saturday
4am meet at airport
6am depart Houston
arrive and hang out at some mall in New Jersey until our second flight of kids arrives, then head to the hotel to check in and change clothes for the evening
dinner at Planet Hollywood
"Mary Poppins"

Sunday
singing at 9am service at St. John the Divine church
lunch
"In the Heights" matinee show
and something that night that I can't remember...

Monday
1pm concert at Trinity church
evening Dinner and Dance Cruise

Tuesday
tour NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall
"Billy Elliot"

Wednesday
sing at the Statue of Liberty
fly back home

there's more, but I can't remember all the details.
I just know I am super excited! (:

and I'll share pictures after the fact, of course <3

go go go

Lately, all I have wanted to do is GO somewhere far away. I have been missing England fiercely. I cannot wait to be in NYC in fifteen days. I want to visit the Carolinas again this summer; I want to be at my friend's wedding and I want to spend time with my aunt and uncle in their house that has no air conditioning because it has no need--even in August. And I'm ready to be living in Dallas; I really think I am. I'm excited to be somewhere different, live life differently, make new friends, discover things for myself. I guess I'm saying that I'm ready for change. Big change. (: Bring it on.

An Important Thing

This is very, very important:

It is important to me that I tell the people I love that I love them, often. It is more important to me to tell them I love them than to stay angry when they do annoying things. No matter what happens in the course of a day, I like to say goodnight with an "I love you" so that they know I still love them, even when I'm frustrated.

And just because I say "I love you" a lot, that doesn't diminish the truth of it. I love hard, I love a lot, I love deeply. Maybe you're not used to it, but you'll get used to it, if you let me stick around. I will love you. <3

I love stories.

Please go read this story on one of my favorite blogs, mackin ink, by the author of t.ruffles which is my little piece of beauty every day. (: The story may break your heart a little. But it's beautiful.