Vacation
My dad's side of the family went to Florida a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty fun. It actually stormed a couple of times, which was wonderful. It got so cold after the storms, though. We'd all be sitting on the beach with towels over us, shivering. There were so many odd people at the beach. Haha. We went to the most wonderful store at Seaside called Central Square Record Store. It was probably the best part of the trip. Francesca Battistelli (I'm not sure if that's spelled right and I don't feel like looking it up, haha) got her engagement pictures taken there and my sister and I had looked at them a few days before so we were like, "Oh my word, that sat at this couch and in front of this door and behind this bookshelf!" It was great. On the last day, we were at this pizza place and the guy who owns all the Bud and Alley's restaurants was being interviewed on camera by these two Chinese guys. It was crazy.
Illnesses
So a few days into vacation, I started having a lot of trouble swallowing. I'd sit there for like 5 minutes trying to swallow food. By the end of the week, I couldn't even drink anything. We got home Sunday morning and went to the worst doctor in the world that afternoon. She jabbed my throat with a stick, then gave me this terrible medicine to swallow, then she told me to drink as much as possible, then gave me these gigantic pills that I had to crush up, but when I did they tasted like the sewer, then she said that I was just making it up so I'd have an excuse not to eat because I'm anorexic. The next day I went to my pediatrician who was much better and agreed that the first doctor was insane. She sent me to another doctor who was wonderful. He suggested that I have a scope done, so I went in the next day and got an IV and a hospital gown and some amazing Propofol (the stuff that killed Michael Jackson, ha) and they stuck a camera down my throat and took some rockin' pictures of my esophagus. I started swallowing milkshakes and drinks a bit more easily, but I still couldn't eat solid food, so I got a CT done Monday. I went to an ENT Wednesday and he said the it might be a virus or something neurological. He wanted to do this test, but I started freaking out and crying like a baby, so I'll either go back or get it while under the influence of Propofol. I got part of a fry down the other day, and I've eaten a few cookies, so hopefully I'll just continue to get better and I'll just have to go to the neurologist. So yeah, over the past two weeks, I've literally had three small cookies and a piece of a fry. I've been living off Ensure like an old granny. lol. On top of that, I'm rockin's some killer sinus issues. Oh, and my dad found out that he has some mild skin cancer. I tell you what, we're fallin' apart.
Band
Today was the last day of band camp. We're doing The Divine Comedy this year. (That's probably supposed to be italicized or something, but it's summer and I forget these things. lol.) Everyone's so pumped and motivated. Band seems so much less intimidating this year than it did last year. It rained pretty much all week and there was a crazy tornado yesterday during practice, so yeah.
School
School starts in like two weeks. I've had a really good summer, but I'm ready to go back. I'm so excited about all my classes, and all the teachers I was worried about left the school. Which makes me even more excited because I've definitely spent some time stressing over those classes. The beginning of last year was so overwhelming and numbing, but now I sort of know what to expect and stuff. I got some cool school supplies too, so that always helps. haha. My sister is moving back to the university (ooh, I'm cool. I said university instead of college. ha) this weekend. I'm going to miss her so much. She's just the best!
Dating
I've decided not to date for a while. A long while. Like at least not in the next four years while. I want to spend my time on things that are actually worthwhile and meaningful. Plus, I'm terrible at relationships, so it would just be better for society if I refrained from dating. Pretty much everyone I've told has laughed in my face, ha. But I also want to refrain from getting too emotionally attached to people. Eh, I'm not sure if it should be worded like that, but basically I think you can give your heart to people who have no business possessing such a thing without ever even changing your relationship status on Facebook. And I don't want to do that. My youth pastor was talking about this Wednesday, actually. He said that the person's relationship with the Lord should be the thing that attracts us to them and that we need to make sure we're the type of person someone could marry before we go off looking for someone.
Beauty
I think every female musician's goal in life is to look drop-dead perfect and make us jealous and then write songs about how beautiful everyone is. A few weeks ago, Miley Cyrus posted some stuff on Twitter about how God made us beautiful and everyone is beautiful and all that jazz. Then there's the song, "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon and "Mirror" by BarlowGirl and there are books in Christian bookstores that are all about fashion tips and how to look good and feel good about yourself and have high self-esteem. I'm a teenage girl. I'm not always happy with how I look. I definitely have my "I don't feel pretty" days/weeks. But the solution isn't believing that God thinks I'm beautiful. The solution isn't buying new clothes or reading fashion magazines. The solution is getting over myself and realizing that there is more to life than how I look and how I feel. Jesus wasn't hot. And I don't want God to be just an invisible Tyra Banks or someone who gives me a little self-esteem boost when I need one.
Missions
I don't hate missions. I don't think it's a sin to go to Uganda and help in orphanages or go to Peru and witness to the locals. A team is always going out from my church and I've had a ton of opportunities to go on these trips, but I haven't been on one. I go to a Christian school and a lot of people there have "surrendered their lives to missions" and go on mission trips, and most of them pick up some pride while they're there. I think people read the "go" and miss all the other stuff. So I don't pray that God would send me on a trip, I pray that He would make me missional and have that kind of focus everyday. I don't want to go to Africa (or even Monday night outreach) and witness to people and then go home or to school and never talk about my faith. That's just not cool.
Well, I had a few more things on my list of things to write about, but I need to get ready for the band potluck. (I suppose after this post I should say "potblessing." lol.) Thanks for reading. :)
Much Love,
Marissa
