5 Minute Friday: Tired

Posted on December 2, 2011 by lucyduggar

Well this week certainly got away from me. It’s already time for another 5 Minute Friday Linkup with The Gypsy Mama! You know the drill.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Link back here

Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

TIRED

I’m so tired. A really great Beatles song starts with this line…. Let’s not got there. I really am tired. Yesterday was my last day of class for the semester. It feels like I’ve poured out all my brain on papers and group work and I have very little left with which to think and write and converse.

I wonder when there will be a day when I’m not tired. We stay up late, enjoy each other and the city of London, we sleep in (sometimes, depending on classes), we rinse and repeat. When are the days of 12 hour nights plus naps? Was that only for a brief moment, sophomore year in college? I long for days when I don’t feel tired. Or braindead. Or frustrated. Or short-tempered.

I need some perspective. Someone once told my Mama right before she had me that hopefully she had cherished a good night’s sleep because she wouldn’t have another one for 18 years…! If these are the good days of restful nights free of care and worry and limited responsibility, I need to feel less tired!

I guess the tiredness affects my attitude and sleep deprivation doesn’t help, so I will try to, a) get more sleep and, b) adjust my perspective. It’s Christmastime and in the words of Kevin McAllister’s mother, “The season of perpetual hope.” Amen.

5 Minute Friday: Grateful

Posted on November 25, 2011 by lucyduggar

From The Gypsy Mama Blog
For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just writewithout worrying if it’s just right or not.

Link back here

Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

Grateful

I am grateful for many tangible things on this earth. I have the best husband in the world, the sweetest most supportive family, and the kindest and steadfast friends a girl could hope for. Hugging their necks, holding their hands, sharing life over dinner, or grabbing a coffee together—these are the real ways I can love on these tangible people.

But I am grateful for intangibles, too. I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Godhead three-in-one, and the fellowship of believers.

I am also eternally grateful for music.

Where would I be without it? Very few things can change my mood as quickly and effectively as a song. Very few things can express the thoughts or yearnings of my heart the way a song can. Words can be so limiting—but words and melody can come together to compensate for the burden I sometimes feel stirring in my soul.

Music is my muse. Music is my inspiration. Music makes ordinary things seem extraordinary—riding to school on the tube, doing the dishes, dinner with my sweetheart. Music can represent the best and worst of things simultaneously and still be beautiful.

Music appeals to the dancer in me—the dancer that will exist long after the days of dancing, when I am stooped and arthritic.

Music brings color to my world when circumstance threatens to bleed it dry, leaving only shades of gray.

Music is incredible—its depth and its intricacies—and for it, I am grateful.

City University London

Posted on November 18, 2011 by lucyduggar

There are a few things you should know about City.

People call “college”/ “university”/ “school” “Uni” over here. So when I’m on campus, I might text a classmate saying, “I’m at uni. Where are you?” {I’m still getting used to this}

We have a student Union, like Tate at Georgia or the Ferg at Alabama, only this one is a replica of Saved By The Bell’s the Max. Let’s compare:

The Max

City Uni

Neon lights? Check.

Gaming tables? Check.

Bright colors? Check.

80s/ 90s music? Check.

Totally cool kids hangout? Like, totally.

But there are some really cool aspects to campus life. We have a square (like a quad) and it’s beautiful in the fall.

Northampton Square

{that little shack in the bottom right corner serves the best coffee}

View from the Library

It can be quite picturesque. And that’s what you need to know about City University. That, and there are so many undergrads, a trip to the library is more often an educational experience in overhearing awkward pick-up lines and teen angst than anything else. That part of school translates globally.