“Alaska Casual”

Last night, my boyfriend and I went out to this bistro, pretty much what counts as fine dining up here. Now, we like to look nice on our dates. You know, skirts and dresses for me, nice pants and a button-up for him.

We were a little disappointed that no one else seems to be too concerned about this.

Seriously, when the poor, teenage couple is the best dressed in the bistro, people have taken “Alaska Casual” a little too far.

I mean, if people don’t have super-nice clothes, that’s fine. But I’m pretty sure they can dress better for a bistro date than a tye-dye t-shirt and denim shorts.

Do people dress up more other places? Because Alaska is super laid-back and casual, so I have no clue if this is normal for people to wear jeans on fancier dates.

It was very nice for us though 🙂

So do people dress up where you live? Do you dress up for dinner dates?

The Writer I Wish I Was

With my current reading list, I’ve come to almost idolize two writers who are completely new to me. Not the people themselves, but their flawless writing style.

These two writers are John Green and Ayn Rand.

Okay (hahahaha John Green joke. It hurts.) if you’ve read any John Green, I’m sure you’ve noticed his extensive, almost over-the-top vocabulary. Well I love it. I think it’s beautiful and charming and it added so much to the story for me. I loved his use of the English language, besides the cussing. I could do without that. Reading The Fault in our Stars was like reading poetry. Acceptable poetry.

Now, Ayn Rand is a completely different story. I’m reading Atlas Shrugged and I am constantly finding myself in awe of the woman’s genius. That’s the only way I can describe her writing. It’s bleak, and technical, yet so very descriptive. She thought of ways to describe characters that had never occurred to me before. She has created an entirely new scope of imagination for me.

I realize that, as a writer, I have to find my own voice, my own writing style. But if I could choose, it would be an equal mix between these two incredible writers.

It Takes Two

You know how people say ‘a relationship is between two people, not the world.’ Well guess what? That’s true. I suppose that’s why I don’t really like the courting idea. Because then the relationship is kind of the family’s property, not just the two people.

There are so many perks to spending most the time in a relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend and just them

 

• Builds trust

There are so many things that you just don’t feel comfortable sharing in front of family, yours or theirs. Deepest secrets, weird quirks, random things. Talking alone, just the two of you, reveals a whole new side of yourself, a side that is normally hidden away. It creates a level of trust that has no equal.

• Going beyond the surface

An extension of the previous, and biggest, reason. When you’re alone is when you show your raw personality for them to either accept or reject. You begin to learn whether or not you’re truly compatible. You discover quirks and potential conflicts. You find out what traits are endearing and which are infuriating.

• Allows the relationship to progress naturally.

When it’s just the two of you, no external influences are either forcing or stunting the progression of the relationship. You come to things as you come to things. Sure, there will be some outside expectations, but it doesn’t seem like they carry as much weight as they would if your entire relationship was on display for family.

In no way am I saying that family involvement in unnecessary or bad. I’m just saying it should be limited. You may be able to be yourself around your family, but what about your boyfriend/girlfriend? They couldn’t possibly feel comfortable sharing the weirdest, most wonderful parts of them with your entire family present. They will be opened to some, not all, of those things over time.

But definitely make sure that they are around your family an acceptable amount, especially if you’re entertaining the idea that one day you could marry that person. Because then they will be part of the family, so they better know what they’re getting into.

What are your opinions on the involvement of family in relationships?

Let that day be…

Let that day be lost to us on which we did not dance once! – Friedrich Nietzsche

How to Get Your Friends to Disapprove of You in 1 Easy Step

Step 1: Be a Christian who dates in high school. (If you’re homeschooled, this adds to the effect.)

 

Okay, so maybe this isn’t the most effective way for most of you. In order for this to work you need to be Christian, with Christian friends who aren’t allowed to date yet. And like I said, it works best if you and your friends are homeschooled.

I have nothing against my friends who think dating in high school isn’t the greatest idea. However, there are some fantastic perks to dating in high school.

• Boundaries are already set by parents.

Let’s face it, for some of us, boundaries are not easy to maintain. In dating, this can be dangerous. But, when you date in high school, your parents set the boundaries… and there are awful consequences if you step outside those boundaries. Come on, who likes getting yelled at by disappointed parents? No one? That’s what I thought.

• Your boyfriend/girlfriend has to get to know your family.

I’m not an expert in the field of college dating, but if you’re off away at college before you start dating, it gets a lot harder for your family to get to know who you’re dating.

• Makes your relationship with your parents stronger.

Now, maybe this isn’t true for everyone, but it has been very true for me, especially with my mother. I get a ton of guidance from her, guidance that I probably wouldn’t get if I was moved out. I tell her practically everything that goes on with me and my boyfriend. She laughs with me when something great happens, and helps me to be reasonable when something not-so-great happens. This has all helped along the inevitable transition from parent/child to friends.

• You see your parents’ marriage in a new light.

Being in a relationship has given me an entirely new perspective on my parents’ relationship. It has made me appreciate how much work it takes to stay in love with someone and shown me how to appreciate my boyfriend’s strengths and weaknesses. 

• Parents’ experiences can help the young couple

Your parents’ are pretty good at recognizing issues early on, especially if they had to go through the same things. In these cases, your parents can give super helpful insight about how to solve these problems. And my mom has given me quite a few pointers on dealing with men 😛

So yes, I have reasons for why I think dating in high school isn’t a terrible idea, I’m not just some love-struck teenage girl who decided that her way was the right way.

Opinions, people? I’m sure you have them 🙂 

 

The ‘D’ Word

Dun dun dunnnnnn…..

DATING

*Gasp* oh dear, oh dear, the controversy is boundless. Everyone has their opinion about it, and very few are shy about sharing it. So why should I be?

I already realize that a lot of you, especially Facebook friends, will disagree with me, but just keep in mind that it’s my opinion, and that I have reasons.

Ok, so first and foremost, when is dating okay? High school? College? After college? Never, instead do ‘courting’?

Well, obviously it depends on the parents and the religious views, but personally I think dating is just fine in high school. Not required as a part of some social ritual, but acceptable.

Under conditions.

I do not approve of any sort of dating, no matter the age, if you’re dating just to date. If it’s super casual. Like, “Hey, that guy’s cute, I’ll flirt with him until he asks me out because I haven’t kissed a guy in two weeks.” Yeah, let’s not do that. That’s just leading up to emotional damage for one or both parties.

But, if you and this other person realize that there could be a lot to the relationship, then by all means, date each other and find out. What’s the point in waiting until you’ve both graduated high school and wasting those years that could be used to get to know each other on a deeply personal level.

Some might say that those two people could just hang out a lot and talk, get to know each other that way.

But wait… isn’t that practically the same thing as dating, at least on that level?

Haha, yeah. Yeah, it is. So that doesn’t work.

Oh, but isn’t courting more biblical? Doesn’t it give the family a chance to get to know the couple together?

Actually, before tackling courting, I would like to point out the Bible doesn’t deal with dating. It wasn’t an issue back then! So if you really want to be Biblical, marry your daughters off to the man with the most camels.

Courting sounds great, the boy interested in the girl comes over to the house, eats dinner with the family, endures awkward social situations with said family, then goes on his merry way, only to do it again the next week.

But, I’m sorry, the girl and the boy are just not getting a chance to get to know each other personally. There’s no talking about feelings for each other when your dads asking him about sports and your little brother is trying to show him his favorite toy car.

 And physical contact is practically off-limits. How can you know you’d be okay with investing enough time with somebody with the intention of marrying them, if you don’t even know if you can stand their kissing. It is a problem.

Courting and dating can be very similar. Because, guess what? If two people are ‘dating’ then they can spend time at one another’s houses to get acquainted with the families, but they also get time to themselves where they get to be them. Not them plus family.

And, just a little side note about my personal life; I’m in high school, I’m dating someone, and we’ve been together for a year. Now, it wasn’t a year straight, we had a bump or two. But, he has been the only guy. I mean, I had crushes before, but he’s the first guy I’ve ever liked this much or dated. I love my boyfriend, and I see us sticking together a long time. Maybe that counts as bias, or maybe it proves my points.

There’s my stand on dating. Pick it apart, argue with me, agree with me, ask me questions. I’m up for a lively discussion if you are 🙂

 

 

Feels-Crushing books… that you’ll absolutely love.

I do try to stay away from books that leave emotional scars, but I just can’t help myself. They’re too fantastic. Here’s my top picks for books that will make you cry, but you won’t regret it.

1. The Fault in Our Stars [John Green]

2. The Book Thief [Markus Zusak]

3. Allegiant [Veronica Roth]

4. Mockingjay [Suzanne Collins]

 

The last two are part of the Divergent and Hunger Games trilogies, respectively. Now those are all pretty mainstream reads, so if you’re feeling a little hipster, and don’t actually want to cry, look for these gems;

1. Artemis Fowl [Eoin Colfer]

2. Sphinx’s Princess [Esther Friesner]

3. Thr3e [Ted Dekker]

4. Atlas Shrugged [Ayn Rand]

5. To Kill a Mockingbird [Harper Lee]

6. Ophelia [Lisa Klein]

I hope you check out at least one of these amazing books this summer 🙂

Moving the Earth

Quote from the Iliad of Homer

The Book Thief ***SPOILERS***

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK THIEF

My review:

First off, the book was written beautifully. Story aside, the idea of Death narrating a book was absolute genius. It makes The Book Thief completely unique from any other book I’ve read. Some might say the writing was choppy or disjointed, but I think it flowed exactly how it was supposed to.

It definitely conveyed a certain feeling, from the first line of the book to the last, bold statement.

I cannot express enough how genius I think the whole thing is.

And the story itself… wow. This is not your average World War II story. It’s not about the Holocaust, or even about the Nazis specifically. It’s about Liesel. It’s about her world, her little world on Himmel, and how it was slowly, forcefully, expanded by the war. It’s about her friends, her foster family, and most importantly, her books. Her beloved books.

I don’t want to put too many spoilers in here, but I must say a few things.

Max Vandenburg. God bless his fictional soul. He was my favorite character. I simply adore Max Vandenburg.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love Hans, Rudy, and the main character herself, but Max just stole my heart.

Rudy… poor Rudy. Never got to feel his kiss from Liesel. That scene reduced me to a pathetic puddle of tears.

Again, I loved the book, though the language bugged me a little.

Please comment your thoughts on the book, I’d love to hear them 🙂

The Midnight Society {part 3}

My Monday schedule: wake up, eat breakfast, worry that I didn’t get all my projects done. Go to math class, worry that I didn’t get all my projects done. Read for an hour, worry that I’m forgetting something. Eat lunch, talk to phoebe, worry… well you get the picture.

            It’s not that I’ve ever actually forgotten an assignment or haven’t finished in time. I just worry about it. A lot.

That particular Monday however, I had an evening appointment.

            The mansion looked so different in the daylight. It was well-kept but the magic of the classical music and lanterns was gone. Phoebe and I hesitantly approached it, senses tingling. Her heels clicked against the stone walkway while my Converse remained silent.

            I was about to knock but the door was opened before my closed fist made contact with the splintering wooden door.

“Come in,” Branden himself ushered us inside. Phoebe and I exchange a wary look, but she followed closely at his heels.

“So what’s going on? You didn’t give much of an explanation last night,” Phoebe said. Branden gave her a mysterious smirk, but remained silent.

            Jason walked by us in one of the halls. I almost didn’t recognize him, if hadn’t been for those eyes. His hair was a wavy mess and he wore jeans and a V-neck tee. He glanced at Branden quickly, but other than that he remained stoic, not acknowledging me or Phoebe.

            I tried not to be bugged by it. Honestly, we had only talked for like three minutes. But we had kind of flirted. Well I flirted. Maybe he wasn’t flirting. Ugh. Whatever.

            Branden led us to the overly-large living room. It was still devoid of the usual furniture and there were nine other people there. They all gave Phoebe and I an odd glance, but then continued whispering among themselves.

            Branden gestured for us to join the tiny crowd and we did so, as he moved to the front like he had last night.

“So I’m guessing you’ve heard of the CIA?” He started.

Um, was this a trick question?

“And the FBI. And the NSA. And MI6. All those?”

Those of us in the crowd nodded warily, not positive where he was going with this.

“Well you probably don’t know that they’re constantly recruiting college kids, such as yourselves. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, which I’m sure you have or else you wouldn’t be here, my job is to seek out those worthy of recruitment.”

Ok, this had to be some sort of college prank. Branden couldn’t be serious. This was too ridiculous.

“I see your faces, your expressions of disbelief, of doubt. Rest assured, I am very serious. I am an agent for one those agencies, as is almost everyone at the gala last night.”

Jason was a secret agent? A spy?

I glanced at Phoebe to see if she was buying this. Not only was she buying it, it looked like she was stocking up on it, eyes glued to Branden. There would be no dragging her away from this.

“So, why don’t we get started. If you’ll look to the back,” All heads turned simultaneously. “You’ll find a table with a change of clothes for you. You should have no problem finding your size.”

It was obvious that was our cue. As the eleven of us headed back to find whatever he was talking about, he told us that there were plenty of rooms upstairs to change in.

On the table, there were uniform workout clothes, grey sweatpants with dark blue tanktops. Sure enough, it wasn’t hard for Phoebe and I to find the right sizes. We headed upstairs together to get changed.