I know a girl named Cristina.
She has dark brown hair and glasses.
She used to wear a boot on her leg, but now she does not. She had to wear it because she ran too much and her bone got sick.
She has a brother and another brother and a sister.
She likes math but not art.
One time she went to Jamaica to tell people about Jesus.
She is my friend. Also my neighbor in my hallway.
I love my friend Cristina.
That is all.
God bless.
Music, laughter, and silence are the three best sounds in the world. Are you listening?
Monday, September 24, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
How to Make Pop Top Belts
For those of you who don't know, I have a past time of making belts.... out of pop tabs/tops. You know. These guys:
The belts are pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. If you want, I will try and be one of those super crafty bloggers who generously share all their creations with the rest of the world. At least I will for this one post. Don't expect me to be doing madness like this all the time. I am far too uncreative for that.
Without further ado, okay. (By the way, don't be discouraged by how much I write. I am going to be very thorough, but this is actually pretty easy to do.)
You want to find some sort of cord or ribbon with which to weave the pop tabs together. Something as thin as embroidery floss will not work. Find something durable, but if you go with pretty ribbon, don't choose anything wider than a quarter of an inch. Measure out four yards (or about four meters) of your cord. This will be a good length for anyone with a relatively normal waist size. I wear pant size 5-ish, and if I make a belt for a waist my size, I still have plenty of cord leftover if I wanted to make the belt longer. If you are ridiculously skinny or are making the belt for a small-ish child, you can probably get away with cutting the cord off at three yards, but if you need to make the cord be longer, say five or six yards, that's fine. It's always better to guess high and then be able to cut cord off at the end than to get to the end of your belt and realize it's too short and have to start over with longer cord.
Once you have your cord, fold it in half and tie a loop in the middle.
[Optional step]: Oftentimes, I like to add a liquid called Fray Check to the tips of my cord or ribbon. This hardens it like a shoelace after drying for about half an hour, and keeps the cord from fraying as you work. Just follow the directions for it on the bottle. You can find it in craft stores, and probably stores like Walmart too.
Now you need to gather your pop tabs. Start with about a hundred (You may only need 70 or 80 if you are super skinny), but start there and get more later if you need it.
Get your first tab and hold it under the knot where you made your loop.
Take the ends of your long cord and put one end through one hole of the pop tab, and the other through the other hole. Make sure the knot is still on top when you're done, and the shiny side of the tab is facing you.
Now flip your pop tab over. Now the knot is on bottom and the "rough" side of the pop tab is facing you. Move your cord out of the way so you can see it better.
Grab a second pop tab and line it up with the one you just did. Make sure the "bottom" hole lines up with the bottom hole of your first one, and the "top" whole lines up with the top of the first one. Your second pop tab should have the shiny side facing you. That's what makes the belt reversible.
Now you have a top cord and a bottom cord. Put the top cord through both top holes and the bottom cord through both bottom holes. Now when you let go, both pop tabs should stay on there.
Flip your belt over again. Repeat what you just did, except this time, put the bottom cord through both top holes, and the top cord through both bottom holes. This will make an X, and is also what makes the belt reversible.
Repeat over and over, with one side having "lines" (top cord through top holes, bottom cord through bottom holes), and the other side having "X's" (bottom cord through top holes, top cord through bottom holes.
Once your belt is long enough, tie the two cords together at the end of the last pop tab to keep the belt from loosening.
I'm sure you can figure out creative ways to tie your belt (and yes, it will hold your pants up!), but usually I just string the two cords through the loop, then tie the cords. You can figure out what works for you.
Something to note when you are trying to decide how long to make your belt is the fact that the length from the tip of the loop to the very last pop top will always be the tightest you can get it. You can always take pop tabs off later when you courageously lose fifty pounds, but if your trousers are too big and your belt is longer than your waist, the job won't get done. That's why you want a little bit of cord hanging off, so you can make it as tight or loose as you like. So yay! You have a belt!
History:
I started making belts when I was in 8th grade after I saw them at a craft show. I made them for all my friends for Christmas that year, and didn't stop. I have been making them for the last seven years. I give them as gifts, sell them for $5, or donate them (so the organization/whatever can sell them and make money.) I made one special belt last summer out of all colored tabs, and it is my pride and joy (you can see it on the right in the photo). Sometimes I teach my campers at camp how to make them (it's amazing how many ways they find to mess it up). Making belts haven't had any profound impact on my life, but it's something "unique" that I like to share.
The belts are pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. If you want, I will try and be one of those super crafty bloggers who generously share all their creations with the rest of the world. At least I will for this one post. Don't expect me to be doing madness like this all the time. I am far too uncreative for that.
Without further ado, okay. (By the way, don't be discouraged by how much I write. I am going to be very thorough, but this is actually pretty easy to do.)
You want to find some sort of cord or ribbon with which to weave the pop tabs together. Something as thin as embroidery floss will not work. Find something durable, but if you go with pretty ribbon, don't choose anything wider than a quarter of an inch. Measure out four yards (or about four meters) of your cord. This will be a good length for anyone with a relatively normal waist size. I wear pant size 5-ish, and if I make a belt for a waist my size, I still have plenty of cord leftover if I wanted to make the belt longer. If you are ridiculously skinny or are making the belt for a small-ish child, you can probably get away with cutting the cord off at three yards, but if you need to make the cord be longer, say five or six yards, that's fine. It's always better to guess high and then be able to cut cord off at the end than to get to the end of your belt and realize it's too short and have to start over with longer cord.
Once you have your cord, fold it in half and tie a loop in the middle.
[Optional step]: Oftentimes, I like to add a liquid called Fray Check to the tips of my cord or ribbon. This hardens it like a shoelace after drying for about half an hour, and keeps the cord from fraying as you work. Just follow the directions for it on the bottle. You can find it in craft stores, and probably stores like Walmart too.
Now you need to gather your pop tabs. Start with about a hundred (You may only need 70 or 80 if you are super skinny), but start there and get more later if you need it.
Get your first tab and hold it under the knot where you made your loop.
Now flip your pop tab over. Now the knot is on bottom and the "rough" side of the pop tab is facing you. Move your cord out of the way so you can see it better.
Grab a second pop tab and line it up with the one you just did. Make sure the "bottom" hole lines up with the bottom hole of your first one, and the "top" whole lines up with the top of the first one. Your second pop tab should have the shiny side facing you. That's what makes the belt reversible.
Now you have a top cord and a bottom cord. Put the top cord through both top holes and the bottom cord through both bottom holes. Now when you let go, both pop tabs should stay on there.
Repeat over and over, with one side having "lines" (top cord through top holes, bottom cord through bottom holes), and the other side having "X's" (bottom cord through top holes, top cord through bottom holes.
Once your belt is long enough, tie the two cords together at the end of the last pop tab to keep the belt from loosening.
I'm sure you can figure out creative ways to tie your belt (and yes, it will hold your pants up!), but usually I just string the two cords through the loop, then tie the cords. You can figure out what works for you.
Something to note when you are trying to decide how long to make your belt is the fact that the length from the tip of the loop to the very last pop top will always be the tightest you can get it. You can always take pop tabs off later when you courageously lose fifty pounds, but if your trousers are too big and your belt is longer than your waist, the job won't get done. That's why you want a little bit of cord hanging off, so you can make it as tight or loose as you like. So yay! You have a belt!
History:
I started making belts when I was in 8th grade after I saw them at a craft show. I made them for all my friends for Christmas that year, and didn't stop. I have been making them for the last seven years. I give them as gifts, sell them for $5, or donate them (so the organization/whatever can sell them and make money.) I made one special belt last summer out of all colored tabs, and it is my pride and joy (you can see it on the right in the photo). Sometimes I teach my campers at camp how to make them (it's amazing how many ways they find to mess it up). Making belts haven't had any profound impact on my life, but it's something "unique" that I like to share.
God bless.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Dreadiversary
Wrote this only a few days afterward, but didn't have the cord to hook up my camera to get the photos on there. Sorry for the delay, but please enjoy!
My one-year anniversary of getting dreadlocks was August 28th. I celebrated by going to my second day of classes of my fifth semester of college. I went to creative writing, biopsychology, and American Sign Language. I ran three miles, sat by the fountains on campus sipping a caramel frappuccino and later ate ice cream with Cru where I introduced myself and talked to a ton of freshmen. Oh, and I took photos of my dreadlicious hair (my beloved roommate, Amy, helped me with the back of the head ones):
Out of my 65 total dreadlocks, I now have several dreads with names. If you remember when you see me (if, indeed, you have ever or ever will meet me), ask me to introduce you to Lumpy, SquigglyPants, Elaine, Greta, Graft, Fatty, Levi, or Horatio.
While eating my delicious ice cream that evening, I met a cool freshman named Garrett, who was curious about my dreads. He asked me if I got them just for the style or if I was doing it to promote some sort of lifestyle. ("Like vegetarianism?" I suggested jokingly. I'm not a vegetarian.) I know I've written something like this in my blog before, but this is how I answered him (roughly, and in fewer words):
"Well, at first I got dreads because I loved the style; I thought they looked so cool. But after having them awhile, I realized they did a lot more for who I was. I became more "approachable" to people. Instead of just being this cute little middle-class white girl, I was suddenly less bland and had an instant conversation starter. It no longer appeared that I have the perfect life or have nothing interesting to say. It helps a lot of people relate to me better. I get to talk to more people despite my shy nature, which in turn opens up more opportunities to share Christ. So that's not why I got them, but that's why I'm keeping them for a while."
And, in case you were wondering, I still wash and tend to them regularly, so they are, for the most part, clean.
If you are reading about my dreads for the first time and are curious about how they are made or how I adjusted to them, feel free to read these other posts:
http://musiclaughtersilence.blogspot.com/2011/09/dreadlocks.html
http://musiclaughtersilence.blogspot.com/2011/12/stereotypes-are-bad-dreadlocks-and.html
or just ask me about them! If you couldn't tell, I'd love to chat about them or anything else on your mind :)
God bless.
My one-year anniversary of getting dreadlocks was August 28th. I celebrated by going to my second day of classes of my fifth semester of college. I went to creative writing, biopsychology, and American Sign Language. I ran three miles, sat by the fountains on campus sipping a caramel frappuccino and later ate ice cream with Cru where I introduced myself and talked to a ton of freshmen. Oh, and I took photos of my dreadlicious hair (my beloved roommate, Amy, helped me with the back of the head ones):
Out of my 65 total dreadlocks, I now have several dreads with names. If you remember when you see me (if, indeed, you have ever or ever will meet me), ask me to introduce you to Lumpy, SquigglyPants, Elaine, Greta, Graft, Fatty, Levi, or Horatio.
While eating my delicious ice cream that evening, I met a cool freshman named Garrett, who was curious about my dreads. He asked me if I got them just for the style or if I was doing it to promote some sort of lifestyle. ("Like vegetarianism?" I suggested jokingly. I'm not a vegetarian.) I know I've written something like this in my blog before, but this is how I answered him (roughly, and in fewer words):
"Well, at first I got dreads because I loved the style; I thought they looked so cool. But after having them awhile, I realized they did a lot more for who I was. I became more "approachable" to people. Instead of just being this cute little middle-class white girl, I was suddenly less bland and had an instant conversation starter. It no longer appeared that I have the perfect life or have nothing interesting to say. It helps a lot of people relate to me better. I get to talk to more people despite my shy nature, which in turn opens up more opportunities to share Christ. So that's not why I got them, but that's why I'm keeping them for a while."
And, in case you were wondering, I still wash and tend to them regularly, so they are, for the most part, clean.
If you are reading about my dreads for the first time and are curious about how they are made or how I adjusted to them, feel free to read these other posts:
http://musiclaughtersilence.blogspot.com/2011/09/dreadlocks.html
http://musiclaughtersilence.blogspot.com/2011/12/stereotypes-are-bad-dreadlocks-and.html
or just ask me about them! If you couldn't tell, I'd love to chat about them or anything else on your mind :)
God bless.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Loving God
Loving God sounds easy. After all, God is God, and that's pretty awesome. He did cool stuff and he made cool stuff and he sent his son to die and whatnot, so what's not to love?
I have been finding recently that my love for God has been, well, sucky. (Pardon my french.) I'll wake up in the morning and instantly be wrapped up in my own little selfish world, with thoughts like, "What can I do to make myself happy today?" and "How does this affect me?" and "Maybe I should read my Bible today. Maybe."
And then time passes and I start to think, "I need to get my act together. I need to read my Bible and pray and go to more Christian stuff. Because I am just not loving God enough."
The ultimate goal is to love God more. But even if I try my darnedest,
I fail.
Epically.
1) I can't love God on my own accord, because the only true love comes from God anyway. My love for God has to come from God.
2) I am dumb. At least compared to our Creator. I can't even fathom the magnitude of his love and what he's done for me. So how can I love him for what he's done when I don't even know because I'm merely human with a merely human intellect? There's no way I can begin to wrap my mind around why I should love him. How can I truly "get" it?
I read an article today, and a fine one too, about how we shouldn't let the Bible get "boring" for us. And it went into great detail with all kinds of metaphors and everything about how incredibly mind-boggling Jesus' love for us is and how the story of the Gospel is too remarkable to ever get tired of. And then it ended as if he just proved to all the readers why should be totally in love with God, no excuses.
Well. Maybe some of the other people who read that article had a stunning revelation and it really did change their perspective on how significant Christ's sacrifice is. But I'm a dumb human. I'm blind to the reality of it. "Oh, yeah, another reminder that Jesus died for me. Sweet, yep, okay." Why do we get bored of its daily newness? Because we're human, and humans are sinners, and sinners, well, don't care about Christ's love for them.
That being said, do we have an excuse for brushing off the significance of the Gospel or the magnitude of Christ's love? Uh, no. Our efforts are mostly, but not entirely, in vain. We should always be striving to love God more and to see his glory and goodness in our daily lives. And no, we'll never "get it" fully, but maybe, just maybe, we'll get it a little more tomorrow than we did today, with the help of his wisdom. And although we will never, ever love him as much as he loves us, maybe, just maybe, with the help of his love, we will love him a little more tomorrow than we did today.
God bless.
I have been finding recently that my love for God has been, well, sucky. (Pardon my french.) I'll wake up in the morning and instantly be wrapped up in my own little selfish world, with thoughts like, "What can I do to make myself happy today?" and "How does this affect me?" and "Maybe I should read my Bible today. Maybe."
And then time passes and I start to think, "I need to get my act together. I need to read my Bible and pray and go to more Christian stuff. Because I am just not loving God enough."
The ultimate goal is to love God more. But even if I try my darnedest,
I fail.
Epically.
1) I can't love God on my own accord, because the only true love comes from God anyway. My love for God has to come from God.
2) I am dumb. At least compared to our Creator. I can't even fathom the magnitude of his love and what he's done for me. So how can I love him for what he's done when I don't even know because I'm merely human with a merely human intellect? There's no way I can begin to wrap my mind around why I should love him. How can I truly "get" it?
I read an article today, and a fine one too, about how we shouldn't let the Bible get "boring" for us. And it went into great detail with all kinds of metaphors and everything about how incredibly mind-boggling Jesus' love for us is and how the story of the Gospel is too remarkable to ever get tired of. And then it ended as if he just proved to all the readers why should be totally in love with God, no excuses.
Well. Maybe some of the other people who read that article had a stunning revelation and it really did change their perspective on how significant Christ's sacrifice is. But I'm a dumb human. I'm blind to the reality of it. "Oh, yeah, another reminder that Jesus died for me. Sweet, yep, okay." Why do we get bored of its daily newness? Because we're human, and humans are sinners, and sinners, well, don't care about Christ's love for them.
That being said, do we have an excuse for brushing off the significance of the Gospel or the magnitude of Christ's love? Uh, no. Our efforts are mostly, but not entirely, in vain. We should always be striving to love God more and to see his glory and goodness in our daily lives. And no, we'll never "get it" fully, but maybe, just maybe, we'll get it a little more tomorrow than we did today, with the help of his wisdom. And although we will never, ever love him as much as he loves us, maybe, just maybe, with the help of his love, we will love him a little more tomorrow than we did today.
God bless.
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