Callie's Perspective: December 2011

I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines, and sing out loud in the car with the windows open, and wear red shoes, and stay up all night laughing, and paint my walls the exact color of the sky. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.

Things to Do Before I Die

Backpack through Europe
Be in a food fight
Be kissed at the top of the Eiffel Tower
Dance in the rain
Get a Husky with two different colored eyes
Get married
Get snowed in
Go to a lighthouse in Maine
Have a lot of kids
Have an article published in a newspaper
Hike a waterfall in New Zealand
Hike Machu Pichu
Hike/Camp all over Yosemite
Ice Skate down a canal in the Netherlands
Learn another language
Learn to play "Summer" by George Winston on the piano
Learn to play guitar
Live with my sisters in a sweet city apartment
Ride a gondola with the man I love
Ride an elephant
Ride horseback on the beach
Ride in a horse drawn sleigh in the snow
Sail in the Mediterranean
Scuba Dive in Great Barrier Reef in Australia
See a miracle
See Prince Edward Island
See the Northern Lights
Ski in the Alps (so learn to ski)
Spend a whole day taking photographs
Spend a whole summer in the Lake District
Swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
Take a painting class
Travel...travel...travel. Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe...
Work at an orphanage in Africa
Write a book

From My Favorite Book

There's our island," he said gloatingly.

Valancy looked - and looked - and looked again. There was a diaphanous lilac mist on the lake, shrouding the island. Through it the two enormous pine trees that clasped hands over the cottage loomed out like dark turrets. Behind them was a sky still rose-hues in the afterlight, and a pale young moon. Valancy shivered like a tree the wind stirs suddenly. Something seemed to sweep over her soul.

"My Blue Castle!" she said. "Oh, my Blue Castle!"

They got into the canoe and paddled out to it. They left behind the realm of everyday and things known and landed on a realm of mystery and enchantment where anything might happen - anything might be true."

--L.M. Montgomery's "Blue Castle"

Movies I Love

Amelie
An Affair to Remember
Anne of Green Gables
Beauty and the Beast
Ben Hur
Bringing up Baby
Emma
Ever After
Ferris Buellers Day Off (swing batter batter swing!) Ya shelby:)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Les Miserables
Little Women
Lord of the Rings
Meet Me in St. Louis
Moulin Rouge
Parent Trap
Philadelphia Story
Pride and Prejudice (both versions)
Princess Bride (Hello Lady)
Rear Window
Remember the Titans
Room with a View
Runaway Bride
Sense and Sensibility
Seven Pounds
Singing in the Rain
Sleepless in Seattle
While You Were Sleeping
You've Got Mail

The Perfect Man Combo

Gilbert in "Anne of Green Gables" (enemy, turned best friend, turned forever-love)
Marshall from "How I Met Your Mother" (I'm in love with Jason Segel, plus his character is sweet and hilarious. And he believes in the Loch Ness monster)
Laurie from "Little Women" (I love the goofy, little boy side of him! Plus he's a best friend)
Zachary Levi. Yep, he's my future hubby.
Mr. Knightley from Emma! (not even Gwenyth Paltrow deserves his perfectness)
Tim Riggins (mmm.)
Tom Hanks in 'You've Got Mail" (I love a man who writes and reads!)
Will in "Alias" ( especially when he wears the glasses. He's the best friend that's always there... Plus Bradley Cooper is just pretty, duh.)
Jude Law in "The Holiday" (He's a dad with blue eyes and an English accent...need I say more?)
Liam Neeson (especially in Les Miserables)
All 3 of Rory's boyfriends (Jess' intelligence, Logan's wit, and Dean's faithfulness)
Mr. Darcy (I wouldn't be a girl if I didn't put this one)
Jake in "One Tree Hill" (he's sweet and solid without drama)
Jim from "The Office"
Sandy Cohen in the O.C. (yeah, he's too old for me, but I hope my husband is strong and kind and wise and capable)
Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings" (a little badass is always good)

Things to Love in Life...

Tea. Fog. Maple trees. A purring kitten. Sleepovers. Picnics. Big hugs. Pajamas. Autumn colors. Rainy days. Chatting for hours. Black and white mocha. Bike rides. Burgandy. A good book. A day off. Kisses. Cocoa. Pillows. A favorite pen. Window seats. The smell of a bookstore. Letters. Lotion on shaved legs. Museums. Cinnamon rolls. Fruity chapstick. Stripes. Girltime. Roses. Scrabble. Breezes. Boat rides. Pumpkins. Sugar-high hyper. Poetry. Pasta. Sisters. Fun earrings. Getting dressed up. Fall leaves. Dancing. Smell of pine trees. Clean sheets. Gilmore Girls. Cute undies. Christmas stockings. Stars. Laughing too hard. Smell of burning wood. Hiking. Mexican food. A new notebook. S'mores. Smell of the air after rain. Making cookies. Siberian tigers. The energy of a city. Smell of chlorine and sunscreen. Movie days. Sunset. Scarfs. Gum. Twilight. Lake Tahoe. A kind smile. Going barefoot in the sand. Snowmen. Libraries. Curly hair. Toddlers. Driving a curvy, hilly, country road. Camping. A cute new outfit. Thanksgiving dinner. Loud music with windows open. Napa Valley. Christmas music. My pillow after a long, hard day. Cozy sweaters. Lace. Singing while doing dishes. Warm feel of the sun. Scrapbook stuff. Journaling. Shampooed hair. Socks and boots. Pride and Prejudice. Dr. Pepper. A little black dress. A good dream. A big mug. Warmth of clean laundry. Blue eyes. Spontaneous outings. Weddings. Good photography. A cozy blanket. Sketching. "I Love You." Brick covered in ivy and moss. Playing with kids. Sound of a baseball bat. Flowering fruit trees. A wink. Guitar music. Butterfingers. Long showers. Card games. Crickets and frogs on a summer night. Mashed potatoes. Swell of an orchestra. Creeks and rivers. Ribbons and fabric. Cooking. Date nights. Making up piano music. L.M. Montgomery. Scones. Old buildings. A bench under a tree. Smell of barbecue. Meadows. Hiking. Playing a favorite song over and over. Nostalgic movies. The color yellow. Sleeping in. Gardening. Holding a baby. Lemonade and ice tea. Anne of Green Gables. The beach on a cold day. Exploring. Chinese food. Waterfalls. Elephants. Orchards. Twinkle lights. Gazebos. Paintings. Holding hands.

"Without love, life is like the seasons with no summer. Without love, life is rock 'n' roll without a drummer. Cause without love, life is like a beat that you can't follow. Without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo. Without love, life is like a prom that won't invite us. Without love, life's getting my big break and laryngitis. Without love, life's a '45' when you can't buy it. Without love, life is like my mother on a diet. Like a week that's only Mondays. Only ice cream, never sundaes. Like a circle with no center. Like a door marked "do not enter!" No, no, no I don’t wanna live without love, love, love. Darling, you had best believe me and never leave me without love."

I love Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know

His house is in the village though

He will not see me stopping her

To watch his woods fill up with snow

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

A Favorite Quotation

"Why is it do you think that

people get married?

It's not because of passion.

It's because we need a witness

to our lives. There's a billion people

on the planet ...what does

any one life really mean?

But in a marriage you're promising

to care about everything...

the good things, the bad things,

the terrible things,

the mundane things...

All of it, all the time, every day.

You're saying "Your life will not go

unnoticed, because I will notice it.

Your life will not go unwitnessed

because I will be your witness."

-"Shall We Dance"

"I believe that if we cultivate a true attention, a deep ability to see what has been there all along, we will find worlds within us and between us, dreams and stories and memories spilling over. The nuances and shades and secrets and intimations of love, friendship, marriage, parenting are all action-packed and multicolored, if you know where to look. You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural."

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Changing the Educational Paradigm