Snow Before Halloween?

I can't think of a time when I've experienced snow before Halloween. I totally was not expecting this yesterday. Normally, one of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning is check the weather. I've adopted this habit since coming to college because unlike high school, I actually have to walk from building to building to get to class, the library, the Dining Center, and so on. However, yesterday I forgot because I was in a hurry to catch the 8:46 SEPTA train.

Thankfully I grabbed my umbrella, but I was in for a bigger surprise than rain. 

I took this picture from my dorm window, as I was unwilling brave the cold after I returned from my adventure.

My group in my Urban Culture and Society class had to go observe Mishkan Shalom, a progressive synagogue downtown. Despite the weather, it was an interesting experience, as I had never been to a synagogue or a Bat Mitzvah before. Also, it was Shabbat Noah, so I got to read the Noah's Ark story from a Jewish perspective. I relished this short experience, and only wish that the rabbi had spent more time on the subject. However, Bat Mitzvah's incorporate many other traditions, so this was only a small portion of the service. I was definitely surprised at the length of the service--the Bat Mitzvah was two and a half hours long!

During the service, the weather took a turn for the worse. The temperature dropped, and it continued to sleet and snow. Luckily we were able to catch the bus, but the SEPTA trains had stopped running by the time we made it to the station! My group members and I waited with frozen toes for about 45 minutes, until an upperclassman friend of theirs from Bryn Mawr came to save us.

It was definitely an exhausting day, but the experience at the synagogue was worth it!

Did it snow where you live this weekend? I'm happy to say the forecast is sunny here for the next few days. I'm not quite ready for winter yet!

Food Waste Friday: Common Room Waste

Hey everyone!

This week I did pretty well with my food waste, aside from some oatmeal overflowing in the microwave. But I could still eat most of that. My hall has had a bit of waste this week (we often have shared baked goods and snacks), but I don't think this counts as my personal waste. However, I certainly would have eaten it before the mold started growing:

One of my hall mates made this really good pumpkin nut bread and brought it back with her on fall break. It was so good in fact, that it fooled me into asking her for the recipe when it actually came from a mix. This just got forgotten about.

Also, remember my post last week about wasting money by locking myself out? Well, the sign I made has prevented me from forgetting my key! Every time I see the sign, I check my pocket to make sure I have it. And I smile every time, because I saved myself another ten dollars. My mom also sent me a small clip I can use to clip my key to my belt loop, so hopefully that will help too!

On a completely random note, tomorrow I'm going to Mishkan Shalom, a progressive Jewish Synagogue to observe a service for a group project. I'm not Jewish, so I have never been to a synagogue before! I'll let you know how it goes.

How much food waste did you have this week?

Frugality and the Bible: What Do You Have?

This morning I read 2 Kings 4:1-7 during my bible study time. Though I don't share what I read every morning, I found this passage particularly insightful. This is the story of the Widow and the Oil, where a widow cries out to Elisha for help when a debt collector threatens to take her children as slaves unless she pays off her debt--and soon. (I suggest you take a look at it, the verses are much more eloquent than my summary!)

Though I've read the story before, today I read it with a new perspective. As I've gotten older, I've become fascinated with the idea of frugality. I've studied the subject for hours on end, because so much of the ideas behind living frugally, simply, and beneath your means can be applied in living a life pleasing to God. In my case, I'm passionate about serving the poor and meeting needs whenever I see them. A frugal lifestyle is perfect for me, because the more money I save, the more I can spend serving others and God.

Looking at this story again helped me to realize other reasons a frugal lifestyle can be pleasing to God. If you didn't click on the link to read the passage, watch this video. Or do both.

Notice the emphasis Elisha puts on the question, "What do you have?" (Watch closely at 0:45-0:50.) He is surprisingly forceful. But I think he does this to prove a point--we often focus on what we don't have, not on what we do have. I've found that no matter how bad my financial situation, focusing on what I don't have will not get me anywhere. However, when I stop, breathe, and pray to God to help me trust him, I often find peace, if not a simple way to take steps towards solving the issue. He may not give me the entire solution all at once, but he will give me the peace and strength to take action.

Though this story is about much more than frugality, it really reassured me choosing such a lifestyle.

How does this story inspire you? I'd love to hear your input--it's amazing how every person will learn something different from the same story!

(I'm doing a study from the Freestyle Living Blog. That's where I found the video, so I wanted to make sure and give credit! Also, credit is due to Crown Ministries for the video itself!)

Food Waste Friday and an Unexpected Expense

Hey Everyone!

It's Food Waste Friday, and I'm happy to report I have wasted no food this week!

However, I found out today that I've been wasting a lot of money indirectly. At Haverford, we have a student account that we prepay with $600 at the beginning of the year. We can spend this money at the bookstore, but it is also used for fines and other charges.

As many of you know, I can be kind of scatter-brained sometimes. Ok, a lot of the time. In high school, I always left my lights on, locked my keys in my car, and just plain lost my keys. I don't have my car anymore, but I have a new set of challenges. Namely, I will often lock my room with my key inside.

Now, if I had a roommate like the majority of other college students, this wouldn't be as much of a problem. I might have to wait until my roommate came back to get in my room, but that would be the extent of it. Since I have my own room, I have to call Safety and Security and have them unlock my door. This costs money. I just didn't realize how much.

I have locked myself out six times this semester. The first time is free, the second time is $5. Not so bad. But everytime after that? 10 bucks a pop! I've spent $45 dollars here just because I'm forgetful. That's more than I spent on my textbooks!

So I am taking some action. This afternoon, since I'm not too busy, I made myself a sign:

Yes, I'm in college and sometimes I'm just waiting for an excuse to color. But I'm really hoping this will help me save me my money.

Do you have any forgetful and costly habits?

Academic Blessings: Self Scheduled Exams

Hey everyone!

It's a beautiful Thursday here in Haverford. I think this picture captures what the weather is like today, even though I took it a few days ago. It's the Haverford Duckpond!

Anyway, I think the picture pretty much fits my mood. Which is a rarity in my crazy life. Today has been so relaxing for me, even though I had a two hour exam!

How can an exam be even remotely relaxing? At Haverford, the majority of our exams are self scheduled.  This means that the professor gives you the exam a few days a head of time and you complete it on your own time. My Abnormal Psychology professor gave us our exam on Tuesday, told us not to use our book, notes or any other resources, and told us to put it in a box outside her office by 5 pm on Thursday. It's that simple.

Most of the time when I try to explain self scheduled exams to people outside of the Haverford community, they don't understand how it works. "Don't people just cheat?" they ask. No, and that's the crucial point here. When students decide to come to Haverford, we make a commitment to abide by the Honor Code in all of our academic endeavors. The code is not a set of rules and regulations enforced by administrators, but it is a creation of students who are passionate about living and learning in a community of integrity and honesty. The Honor Code was created by students, is ratified by students, and is enforced by students. We govern it ourselves. The student body doesn't want to plagiarize or cheat, because we have created a beautifully self-sustained governing system that is too precious to jeopardize.

For the most part, our system really works, but no one is perfect. This is why we have Honor Council to help sort out disputes.

I'm excited to be living in a community with such strong values. It's refreshing to wake up on a Thursday morning, have a leisurely breakfast, then head off to the library to take an exam. I also allowed myself the time to read the Bible beforehand. I'm so thankful for this opportunity, because God gave me the words in Luke 10:38-42 that I needed to hear. I was anxious about my exam yesterday and early this morning, but Jesus said, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one." These words filled me with peace, and I was ready for my exam.

Had this been a typical, scheduled exam, I probably would have been too rushed to sit down and really absorb this passage. I wouldn't have been ready. With Haverford exams, I am assured that I will be tested on what I know, not how tired, or stressed, or rushed that I am.

Though you might still be skeptical of Haverford's Honor Code, it definitely works for me!

Subscribe by Email!

You can now subscribe to my blog through email! My Aunt Kathy suggested this feature (she has her own wonderful blog called Get a Job!). I'm sorry I didn't enable a subscription feature sooner. I subscribe to my favorite blogs, so it's silly that I haven't made the option available. Also, I know my posts can sometimes get sporadic, so it's hard to know when to check my site for new content. But never fear! You can now get updated on my life through emails.

To do this, go to the right-hand side panel. Underneath the "About Me" section is a "Subscribe via Email"  box. Just type in your email, and hit subscribe! Then you will be sent an email every time I publish a new post.

In addition, I am also going to try and keep my posts more consistent. The reason I write this blog is because I miss you all at home and I want to share my life with you. I think it is all too easy for college students to venture off and let their hometown relationships crumble, but I'd never want to do that--you are much too important to me! So I'm determined to at minimum post once a week, but hopefully twice or three times a week. We'll see where the rest of this semester takes me!

For your viewing pleasure, I found this beautiful tree when I was wandering around on campus yesterday. I hope you all have time to get out and enjoy the fall weather, it's wonderfully refreshing!

Haverford College Campus Tour No.1

Hey everyone!

Yesterday I went out and took some pictures of campus. It was stormy all day yesterday, and I would have taken more pictures had it not started raining. Anyway, I think Haverford's campus is really pretty over all, so it's a shame there are very few pictures of campus available online. But you're in luck--I'm going to give you a series of  insider photo tours! I hope you enjoy these pictures.

This is my dorm, Gummere. It's a strange building. Because it's built on a slope, the floors are staggered in 3 sections. There are three floors in each section, so there are 9 floors total. The floor plan and labeling system are complicated, and most people on campus don't understand it, so I'll save you from a mental headache.

I like this tree. Or is it a really big bush? . . .

Haverford's mascot is the Black Squirrel. This is an awful photo, but those little guys are too fast and too bashful for me to photo up close.

Here is Gummere again. On the right is another dorm, Leeds.

 We also have a nice little playground. What more could college kids want?

A sandbox, of course!

(Actually, the community uses campus as a park, it is that pretty. I always see families with young children wandering around.)

Did I mention Haverford is known for its trees? We're an arboretum. I really like this crazy one.

A lot of the trees have identification tags. Ever since I saw these, I wondered if it would bother the tree to have a plaque drilled into it.

Also on the playground area is this strange sculpture. I love it.

Except this side scares me.

I like it because no matter what side you are on, there is so much to look at.

Apparently kids can crawl through here. I wondered if I could fit, but I wasn't curious enough to get dirty trying.

This is Hall. I'm sure Hall was some Haverford alumnus who donated a lot of money for the building, as this is how most of our buildings are named. But don't quote me on it.

 Everything at Haverford was donated by alumni. Even the stairs.

I'm so excited the trees are beginning to change colors!

This is Founders Hall. This is the original building. Back in 1833, students lived, ate, and took classes here.

 This is Magill Library. It's the biggest library on campus--it's much bigger than it appears.

I'm fond of the windows.

This is Chase Hall. The Office of the Registrar and the Student Activities Offices are here. As you can see, Haverford is extremely fond of stone!

These are all the pictures I have for now. Check back soon for part II in my Haverford College Campus Tour!

Food Waste Friday: A Good Week and Rescued Bananas!

Hey everyone!

This week has been fall break for Haverford Students, so most of my classmates are gone. This means that the dining center is closed and I've had to fend for myself this week--I really don't mind, but it is a bit hard to eat well when you have no access to a kitchen.

Thank goodness for microwaves and mini fridges! We have a microwave on our hall and an anonymous person from back home donated two lovely mini fridges to Lacey and I. Though they were a bit dirty when we got them, the fridge has been a life saver this week.

This is all of the fridge food I have left from grocery shopping this week. I've been fortunate that I've let none of it go to waste. I was slightly concerned that I had way more overripe bananas than I could eat, but I solved that problem with a tip I learned from The Frugal Girl blog. She slices and freezes her overripe bananas for smoothies or banana ice cream, but they also taste great by themselves. I eat frozen bananas like candy, so I'm grateful they are much more nutritious!

TIP: Don't freeze your bananas with the peel still on them. You will spend precious time struggling to peel a frozen peel, and your banana will probably suffer in the process. I learned the hard way! You can leave them whole--just make sure you peel them!

I actually love frozen banana ice cream (essentially frozen bananas with milk in a blender), and it doesn't have to be anything fancy. But play around with it--I found that just bananas and skim milk has a slight after taste, so I add peanut butter and it's awesome. You can add a lot of other ingredients too and generally it will still be much cheaper and healthier than any ice cream you can buy at the store. If you want to try it, there is a great one at a website called Pennies on a Platter. I actually don't remember whether someone posted this recipe on The Frugal Girl Blog or if I found it on Google. But if someone did suggest it to me, I'm very grateful!

Let me know if you try any experiments with frozen bananas!

Is Ceramics Dying at James House?

It's fall break!

Now that I have a whole week off, I'm planning to get organized and back into my artwork. This weekend I explored James House, a center dedicated to student arts. It's supposed to be a space stocked with art supplies where students can go and create art on their own time.

See the super cool bird on the side?

The inside is also supposed to have "rotating murals." I'm not sure if the walls were always this way, but right now, they aren't exactly my taste.

To my delight, they do have a kiln.

They also have nice Brent Wheels. . .

. . .they are just very dirty.

They have clay too!

We do have some very messy artists here. . .

But apparently there are some clean ones too.

At one point, this was an educational space.

But right now, James House and the ceramics studio seems extremely under used. I'd really like to breath some life back into this space through teaching wheel throwing, but sadly, the wheels are right-handed! They are an old Brent Model B that only go one direction, counter-clockwise. Left-handed people throw clockwise. Most newer wheels have a reverse switch, so they can go both directions. 

I think it'd be a good investment for Haverford to purchase at least one newer wheel that can be used by the left-handed and right-handed students alike. The Brent Wheels they have are good, sturdy wheels, but they are old. Eventually they will need to be replaced anyway, so it would be a good idea to invest in a newer Brent B model. These newer Brents accommodate both the left-handed and right-handed artist and even come with a 10 year warranty. The $985 price tag is small when you consider the decades of use Haverford students would get out of this wheel!

I'd like to write a proposal for funding this wheel. Though I would definitely benefit from its use, I think others would benefit much more from what I can teach them about wheel throwing. It's almost a lost art on this campus--there are no formal ceramics classes, and the ceramics club seems to have disbanded. I'd love to teach classes, and I think there is enough interest in it that it could happen. 

We'll see. I've yet to come in contact with other ceramics artists on campus, and I'm really curious to find out who, if anyone, uses the ceramics equipment.

Food Waste Friday and a Treat!

Hey everyone!

So I've been extremely busy with midterms, and I am very disappointed that my only posts in 3 weeks have been Food Waste Friday posts. I'm going to try to post more next week, because next week is Fall Break! I'm sad I don't get to come home, but I think relaxing on campus will be pretty fun too!

Anyway, this is what I wasted:

The reason I had to waste these is because they were just bad to begin with. The carrots were dry and they tasted bad and so did the apple. This is probably because the Dining Center was trying to get rid of their last produce before break, so it was borderline-bad anyway. It looks extra disgusting here because I waited until the next morning to take a picture.

But on the bright side, I got a lovely package today! This was extremely exciting for me because I wasn't expecting it. Also, this homemade granola shaped leaf is just super impressive:

I also got a tiny pumpkin, gum, and mini post its. If any of you readers out there know any college students, I think I can safely say that they would love to get a surprise package from you, even if it isn't as fancy as a homemade granola leaf. It's the thought that counts!

Have a lovely weekend!