HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Things I am Thankful for...
1. My Savior... I don't just know that Jesus saved me, but I get to have a personal relationship with my creator and the lover of my soul. I cannot believe that He chose me and pursues me and is absolutely crazy about me. I also am thankful that He knows the WORST things about me and it doesn't change His love for me ONE BIT!!!

2. My amazing family. My parents are two of the most fun, most creative, loving, and supportive parents in the entire world. They have never put expectations on what I HAD to do with my life, but instead they encouraged and fed my excitement for all my endeavors. They have never once said they were disappointed in me, even though I know at times they didn't quite agree with the decisions I made. They trust me and know that God has His hand in each of their children's lives. There is an incredible safety that comes with that. I know I can be real with my parents and my brothers and I don't have to perform for them or try to be something I am not

3. My friends. The same thing I just said about the safety I feel with my family, I also feel with my friends. I get to be genuine and at times messy, and imperfect, but they love me!! I have so much fun with them and they make me laugh so hard and bring such wisdom and joy to my life.

4. England. You have no idea what a dream come true my trip to England will be!! I have dreamed so long and hard about this incredible adventure. It still blows me away that God is taking me on this journey and that he wants to show me the world!! I also am thankful that this trip is just me and God, and that I am getting to do this on my own. I can't wait to see the lessons I learn and the things God will reveal to me on this journey - both good and bad. All of it will just draw me closer to Him that I may fall in love more deeply with Him.

5. I didn't kill myself on tuesday. You may say this is a little dramatic, but my bike accident could have been way worse and I am thankful it wasn't. I also will admit that I think it is WAY cool that I have stitches!!!

6. Christmas. Tomorrow the season begins. Well actually TONIGHT the season begins... I love Christmas!!!

pics from my birthday/Bon Voyage Party

Pictures from the damage...

the unveiling of the nastiness that is my face...

Birthday and stitches...

Well even though I am on pain killers the discomfort in my jaw and my chin is keeping me awake... so I'll blog about my many adventures over the last week.

So it was my birthday!!!! YAY!! I love birthdays and especially mine. I have tried in the past to be "grown up" and play down my birthday sticking to small dinners with friends or not doing anything special at all... but I'm over that and I like making a big deal out of my birthday. So this year I turned 24 and I am expecting quite a bit out of this year. After the tumultuous year of 23 where God taught me a lot about who He is and who I was... and was not, I am hoping 24 offers a more adventurous and less painful theme. But all in all saying good bye to 23 was bitter sweet because as hard and dramatic as the events of that age were, I really did learn so much and God revealed Himself and His power in a way I had never experienced before. But I think 24 is gonna rock!

My parents threw me a party for my birthday and we also doubled the soire as my Bon Voyage Party. Even though I am not leaving for England until January 7th, I didn't want to compete with Christmas Parties to have my going away get together. My party was WONDERFUL!! I loved having so many special people in my life there to affirm me, pray for me, and love me. It was such an honor to hear people share about who I was and how they were so excited about my trip and the great adventure God is taking me on. My mom made AMAZING food for everyone... bruschetta, which I LOVE, sweets, and we had fire pots out back. The firepots were the part I was most excited about, although I didn't get to enjoy them for very long. Thank you for all those who came and I cannot believe God would bless me with the most INCREDIBLE people to call friends and family. I will hopefully have the pictures soon from Nancy, who was SO nice to be the night's photographer, to post here. I do want to again say that this blog, come January will be entirely dedicated to my adventures overseas, so definitely check in and comment on all the pictures and stories I will post. I think I may even move into the video aspect so you'll be able to hear my voice :)

I also have my family from Oklahoma here this week for thanksgiving!! Kristen, her husband Joe and there two little girls, Kennady and Mya along with my Aunt Kathy all arrived last night!! It is so fun having them for the week. We went out to their house two years ago for thanksgiving and were so excited to have them come out to Arizona! Hopefully I'll have plenty of pics to share by week's end.

So now onto my wonderful adventure TODAY! I was on my way to school (which I has considered ditching, but decided to go anyway), and on ASU campus, right next to the parking garage on Apache, I was trying to move up to the sidewalk and instead my wheel caught the curb and I lost control and fell. I, being the genius at reflexes that I am, broke my fall with my face. I hit the sidewalk directly on my chin and slid for a couple inches. It was graceful and hilarious to witness I'm sure. Well, I got to my feet, with the help of a couple girl who had been walking past. They asked if I was okay, which I laughed and said I was fine. I felt my chin to see if I was bleed, and sure enough I was, but not too bad so I figured a quick clean up in the bathroom would do. Well the girl got all wide eyed and said, "wow, you're really bleeding, you may need stitches." Confused, I touched underneath my chin and sure enough a puddle of blood filled my hand. She helped me to the bathroom where I got a paper towel and almost fainted/threw up. I collected myself and took a couple deep breaths and then the nice girl (who I never asked her name), who was holding my bike for me, pointed out the direction to the urgent care on campus. I walked ALL THE WAY ACROSS campus with my bike and a blood filled paper towel... as I walked of course people kept staring at me. Along the way, I also noticed that my jaw felt dislocated. I got to urgent care, has the nicest nurse and a very kind doctor. I had to get 5 stitches and a tetanus shot. Turns out my jaw was NOT dislocated or fractures, but from jamming it against the ground so hard, all the muscles are firing and so my jaw is basically JACKED UP!! In two hours I was out of there, with a note that excused me from the rest of class. I had my dad pick me up and then spent the rest of the day hanging out with my family and cousins at my parents' house. It was an exhausting and eventful day and as it progresses, the aches and pains everywhere become more and more noticeable and pronounced. I can only imagine how I'll feel tomorrow when I wake up. Pictures of the face will be posted in the future also :)

I have found him...

I am now 100% sure that James Bond is the only man for me. Just got back from seeing Quantum of Solace (still have no idea what the title means) and it was really good. But, if I am being completely honest, I like Casino Royale better. But Quantum is still up in the pantheon of 007 movies for me. It was filled with action, intrigue, and Daniel Craig's dashing good looks and unmistakable charm- the best James Bond. I have decided that Mr. Bond is the man of my dreams... at least for the time being.

I figure I'll just keep posting till I run out of things to say...

So I have spent the last 4 days relaxing and cleaning, which is a form of relaxation for me.
I have cleaned out drawers, organized clothes, found things I thought I'd lost, and watched a lot of movies. It has been so wonderful. It reminds me of my life before school. Speaking of school, I love technology because I found a BUNCH of sources for my two papers due in the next couple of weeks online and therefore just put them on hold and will pick them up from the ASU library tomorrow - thank you ASU library for being awesome. If you are wondering one paper is on Courtly love as it relates to the tales of King Arthur and the other paper is covering the relations between Christians and Jews during WWII in occupied France - both topics are of my own choosing and both papers I am SUPER excited about - mostly because I rock at source finding (I think it stems from my gift of google searching and being nosey).

But anyway, back to my amazing cleaning/organizing skills... here they are - the long awaited peek at my apartment (minus my roommate Emily's room). Enjoy.












P.S. got an email from my professor tonight that I received the highest grade in my class on my debate paper - 196/200. This paper is one of two papers worth 200 pts, which will be a HUGE chunk of my grade (the other 200pt paper is the one about Jews & Christians in Vichy France). ! I also got grades from 2 other assignments I have been waiting to get back in that class - 50/50 and 47/50. She said I was doing great work!!! YAY!!

P.P.S. Next to come in a post: the results of my mock packing (I packed EVERYTHING I will be taking with me to London to see if I could fit it all in my suit cases).

For sake of being completely candid...

I found a letter I wrote to my future self when I was a senior in High School. It is dated February 2, 2003. It made me laugh and I got a little misty... so I decided to share it because I do believe it is the very first time I mentioned in writing that I wanted to study abroad. It is a letter I wrote to myself in the High School group at church after we studied Psalm 63. It was mailed to me 2 years later from Jason Ellis (thanks Jason)

(I found this in a box of stuff I was organizing and cleaning out this afternoon)

Dear future Miranda

Hey remember that depressing rut you were in? Hopefully you finally realized that God's precious love is sweeter than any love that you could experience here. Also, don't pray for brokenness... pray for constant realization. So... you're older... do you got a man? hahaha probably not! If you're not in Scotland or Ireland or have not been there yet, buy your ticket NOW! If you don't get your butt there to study for study for a semester, I will disown you! Home is good here... hope you love your mom and tell her often (love you mom). How many of your friends are close to marriage if not already married? Cinderella went great? You stole the show? Do you have a major in college? Is it journalism? (what was I thinking?) Are you still going to Hollywood? Where are your priorities? Is God #1? If not, take a break and make him your #1 love. If he already is, then you're a better woman and I... I believe in you... I trust you'll be fine. P.S. Find Collin Farrell (hahahaha)

Past Miranda

So I hope you enjoyed that... I feel good about where I am... but I am still kind of a disappointment to myself. I mean, where is Collin Farrell?

new hair...

I decided I was gonna go all out with the bangs... this is how I spend my day off - cutting my hair :)

I know it's late...

I have decided that I will not be going to school tomorrow... two of my classes were canceled and in the other two classes we have nothing special going on except just continuation of whatever we talked about on tuesday... so I am taking a day off!!! YAY!!

But what I am really blogging about is my excitement about finding a church in Egham, Surry!! YAY! It is just a couple miles off campus from Royal Holloway and it looks pretty non-denominational. I read their statement of faith and it's legit plus they have a pretty strong outreach to Royal Holloway so this will help me meet fellow university students. Check out their site here.

Now I am still planning on taking this opportunity abroad to explore other churches and see what's out there... as far as church styles, not religions, but I am excited to find at least one church (or at least a website) that proves I will meet believers abroad. Yay. Let me know what you think.

Top 5 Top 5

Okay I was inspired by my mom and Alicia... and I can't help myself, I LOVE movies... so here are my Top 5 Top 5's

Top 5 movies I watch to believe in Love:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Chocolat
3. The Holiday
4. The Notebook
5. Pretty Woman

Top 5 movies I watch to believe in Magic:
1. Peter Pan (2003)
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Nanny McPhee
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcere's Stone
5. Enchanted

Top 5 movies I watch to feel Epic:
1. Count of Monte Cristo
2. The Last of the Mohican
3. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. Braveheart

Top 5 movies I watch to feel Girly:
1. Sleeping Beauty
2. The Princess Bride
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Anne of Green Gables

Top 5 movies I watch when I want to blow things up:
1. Mr and Mrs Smith
2. Casino Royale
3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider (1 or 2 - just depends if I'm in a Daniel Craig or Gerard Butler phase)
4. Batman Begins
5. The Italian Job

WOW, that was hard... I like so many movies. There are of course more movies and categories to name... so I may do another one of these again.
Let me know how you feel about my choices, or what you'd like to add :)

I feel so patriotic today. I am sitting here in my living room in my sweats and adorned with my "I voted today" sticker. Up until about 4 days ago I was not planning on voting today. I believe that voting is a right of every citizen and if you have a passion for something you should take part in it's coming to fruition, but I was apathetic to the entire political thing and quite frankly uneducated, so I felt that I shouldn't vote (you shouldn't vote unless you know what you're voting for). But 4 days ago I began to think of the magnitude of this election. Either way it would be completely historic and I would feel incredibly disappointment if I was unable to tell my children that I voted in this election. I would regret it... so I decided to vote. I read stuff, educated myself on the candidates and decided what my choice would be.
As I looked at my choices, I came to realize that the idealized presidencies of the past were just that... idealized. Think about it - we look back in our history and praise the likes of men like Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt... but let's take a closer look.
Abraham Lincoln - A HUGE chunk of the nation disagreed with Lincoln's policies so much that they started a civil war - a virtual blood bath!!
Franklin D. Roosevelt - he had very strong socialist views and was allied with Stalin - come on.
So as I studied up on these candidates for Election 2008 I was saddened... I didn't particularly think either one represented what I would like for this nation... I agreed with both on some issues and disagreed just the same on others. But I knew what my choice would be.

And now I sit in my living room and have watched history being made... regardless of the fact that it was not my choice, I still am hopeful of our nation. I am fearful for the changes and the possible future that is in store and I doubt it will be very good, because regardless of what happened tonight, this world is spiraling downward. This world is not my home and I will never feel the acceptance and the comfort from this place that I wish and long for... but I have hope. Why? because my God still reigns. No matter what happens and no matter what policy is passed, Barak Obama answers to my creator! I will take heart in that fact that my Savior "has overcome the world" (John 16:33).
So I look forward to the future of this nation and am still proud that I am here and not elsewhere (well of course England is pretty awesome). I think that we will look back and be proud that our nation is a place where the foundational concept of this nation - "all men are created equal" - is true and truer today! I watch Barak Obama give his victory speech and I am in awe that we as a nation have come so far! What a momentous occasion which calls for reverence and a moment of reflection... regardless of what your vote was, this is historical... this is amazing!!

Halloween...

It has come and gone and I have now changed all the calendars in my house to November. I LOVE november... I pretty much love all the months from October to December, but of course November has my birthday in it, so it holds a particularly special place in my heart. Also when I think of November I immediately think about the cool weather, wearing sweaters, turning off the air in my apartment... NONE of these I can do yet. You know why?? Because it's 90-something degrees outside!! I am disappointed in Arizona this year because it failed me. I can always time it perfectly that Halloween night will be chili - no dice. It was warm and is still warm today... now it's not HOT but it is not sweater-wearing weather which is what I want.

Anyway, now that I have ranted, here are some lovely pics from Halloween. My costume, you may be curious to know, is Twiggy.