This week was a roller coaster, complete with the lowest lows and some pretty high highs. I said a very tearful goodbye to my best (cat) friend, filled my time with friends to keep the sadness away, started apartment hunting with (one of) my best (human) friend(s), picked up a ton of free books, and had some really good preschool dance parties.

Articles/blog posts:
- Why I Bought A House In Detroit For $500 at BuzzFeed – BuzzFeed isn’t just all lists and quizzes! This is a great article, inspirational and real. This guy moved in and started the process of restoration. A part of me hopes that one day I can follow in his footsteps to that great crazy city.
- Cure for the White Savior Complex at Mission Year – We can’t change who we are but we can change how we perceive ourselves and others. This article is especially important for those people who are doing things like Drew, the guy who bought a $500 house full of garbage in Detroit, moving in and putting down roots. For those of us in those cross-cultural situations, it’s important for us to realize we don’t know anything. “Sometimes I think we miss out on a lot of wisdom when we do not first become learners and humble ourselves under the leadership of those who are already here. It just might be the cure for the White Savior Complex.”
- Sure, dance with God, but not to earn a husband at Kate Schell – Oh yes, yes. It is easy to slip into thinking that I don’t have a husband because I don’t deserve one or because I haven’t earned one. Keep your eyes on God because He’s the only one worth looking to. A husband, and everything else, will come in time. Or it won’t. If it doesn’t, I won’t fall apart because my eyes weren’t on a husband, but on the One who sustains it all.
- How Did I Get Here? at Miss Melissa Teaches – This lady is one of my roommates! This is her story.
- A Title You Can’t Wash Off at A Holy Impatience – I kind of know this guy! (We had mutual friends in high school.) This is a sermon he
preachedprought about our identity in Christ, about our title of Beloved. It’s great. - The Habits Of Supremely Happy People at Huff Post The Third Metric – These are my habits! Except the one about exercise. Unless you count Just Dance 2014 and the occasional walk to McDonalds. For a large Coke.
- Hey, public schools: it’s time for a separation of sex and state at The Matt Walsh Blog – I had honestly never thought much about sex ed in public schools or about how weird it is that grown up men can talk with young girls about such private things (and grown up women with young boys). It’s interesting how much parental responsibility the American school systems have taken on.
- 30 Reasons “Now And Then” Was A Defining Childhood Movie For Girls at BuzzFeed – If you’re a girl and you’ve never seen Now And Then, I highly suggest you rectify that as soon as possible. My friends and I called it “the girl movie” and watched it a lot. For all of these 30 reasons and more.
- On Honoring Our Inconvenient Passions: A Parenting and Imperfection Post by Mary Beth Danielson at Five Kids Is A Lot Of Kids – “What most of us need is simply to pursue the things that move our individual souls. We don’t necessarily need to dazzle or triumph; we just need an occasional interlude to do the thing that reminds us who we are.”
Movies/TV:
- The Finder on Netflix – When this show was on air I used to watch it week by week on Hulu. At least, I did for four weeks. Thankfully I remembered the show’s existence this week and also thankfully Netflix has the whole first (and only) season. The way the season ended (almost!) prompted me to pull a Sheldon Cooper and call the writers to find out what happened to my beloved characters!
- Frozen in Theaters (in Spanish!) – When I don’t know what to do with myself, I go to the movies. This was my first trip to the theater in La Romana, which is the closest movie theater to San Pedro. In the past I’ve gone to Santo Domingo but going to the theater in La Romana is way simpler and closer. The movie was in Spanish, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it immensely. The soundtrack is amazing and the story is fresh and unique. I’m looking forward to watching it again one day in English. I also would like to know who among the writers is an Arrested Development fan. (“We finish each other’s… sandwiches!”)
(YouTube) Videos:
- Jasmine Thompson covers “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus at Wimp – I love this song and this video features and a cute British girl and no nudity.
- Frozen Medley (feat. Kirstie Maldonado) by SUPERFRUIT on YouTube – If you haven’t seen Frozen yet, now you don’t have to. Three-fifths of Pentatonix brings the animated movie to life (well, kind of) in this fun video.
- Asking Hipsters About Bands That Don’t Exist at Next Stop – This was so me in middle and high school. We all just want to be cool!
General good finds:
- “Your ability to talk about Jesus is only impressive to those who care. Actually living like Jesus is what impacts the people who don’t.” – KB


Also, Schmidt.