Pinterest Does It Again #image

I know I've already posted these posters but this one seemed like it was made for this class. 

Open Letter #graded

Dear Front Seat Driver,
I know that I will be seeing you tonight as I pick you up for our daily carpool, but I felt it was necessary to jot down a quick note of gratitude to you. After all, you deserve it. First of all, thank you SO much for enlightening me with your music taste. Honestly, the second you get into my car and switch the radio to top 40's music is like a daily wake-up call. Brittney Spears, if you can even give that level of autotune a personal name, wailing about sex and lust just warms my heart more than any other music ever could.
And once we start driving, wow. Just wow. When I first got my licence I was slightly depressed because I would never get to do behind-the-wheels again.Thankfully I now have you, because clearly getting my license doesn't signify capability of driving. Smelling your breath as you constantly lean over to check the speed is absolutely delightful (especially on the days when you have gum), and nothing makes me feel more confident than when you clutch the handle of the door with all of your might when I take a left turn as the arrow turns yellow. You may have taken it a tad too far when you assumed I didn't turn my blinker on and I definitely did. Just because your mom got a ticket from doing that doesn't mean I am going to. If time passing is directly correlated to the ridiculousness of your questions i may have to kick you out of my car. I mean, if you're so great at driving, you can drive yourself, right?
Until later,
Ruth

Smile! #holidayseason

I am obsessed with photography. I've had Stephen, my Sony, for about 3 years now and I have never used it as much as I have in the last few months. I was always just sitting around waiting for a time to take a perfect picture. Let me tell you this- that is never going to work. The most perfect pictures are the ones taken in the moment, capturing the emotions just as they are- raw, and sometimes shocking you with its beauty. Moral of the story: lugging your camera with you everywhere will be rewarding. I added a "Snapshots" section to my blog for some of my pictures.

Ok, thats enough deep writing, soul searching etc... Lets move onto something more shallow- Me! (holy cow that sounds selfish, but I guess it is my blog).

The days of being surprised on Christmas days are pretty much over. Well, I don't know exactly what I'll be getting, but I didn't have much on my list so I'm assuming that I'll get most of it. But you know what they say about assuming... either way, I'm excited!


Christmas List 2011:
* Garage door opener- I know this is the dumbest thing for a 16 year old girl to ask for BUT I'm currently parking in a third stall in our garage. One that I have to manually open. This means scurrying out of my car into the garage, yanking the door open, and then dashing back to the warmth of the heated vehicle. Doing this in the temperatures of Minnesota winter is grueling. Especially when I'm still wet after practice at night. Frozen hair is something I want to avoid.

*These Sperry Top-Siders. I'm really not a fan of how the normal ones make my feet look like Big Foot, so these high-top ones were a perfect find. And the gray glitter on them really just makes me smile.

*Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto album (2011). I have been resisting clicking "purchase album" on iTunes since the day this came out. Music is the perfect thing to put on Christmas lists because $15 is the perfect price for extended family members or secret santa things.

*Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 camera. I am SO excited for this. Its a small-ish, modern version of a polaroid camera. The exposures it prints are the size of credit cards. They're so tiny and cute. The only downside to it is the fact that film is super expensive. $15 for 20 exposures? yikes.

Everyones Doing It #procrastinate

Tis the season to be productive... tra-la-la-la-la la-la-la LA. Too bad theres so much juggling of projects to do.

Winter Break Countdown: 2 days

Amount of snow on the ground: zip

Even though taking a nap under the glow of my Christmas tree is the most appealing thought of my life I really need to get off of the interweb. This picture turned up on my daily Pinterest peruse. I guess I'll get back to work.

Work music of choice: Jeremy Messismith

Get Risky #graded

Please do not leave this post with aspirations to go drive at the speed of light around the sharp corners in your neighborhood. Thats not the type of risk I'm talking about, and I refuse to pay you're medical bill. Also, if it was then I would be a major hypocrite. Seriously, even though I like to pretend I'm good at snowboarding, I can only do a box on the park because I don't want to risk breaking any of my precious bones that I nurture with 3 servings of dairy everyday-- I really just can't do the whole physical risk type of thing.

Taking risks means waving at the shy person who sits in the back of the classroom when you see her in the hall, it means going past small talk and opening up to your friend; it is showing your true emotions. Being involved in your life. It is the development of your character. It can even be something like telling all of your avid blog readers (yeah, this is a shout-out to all like, 3 of you!) that you are a big baby when it comes to snowboarding.  How are people supposed to know who you are if you don't put yourself out there? I mean, sure you can just bumble along through life not voicing your opinion, choosing not to be yourself because it might make someone think of you differently or cause some tension...

But I'll respect you more if you don't, even if we disagree or if your story exposes something about you that isn't "normal."

So let loose; let your true self shine through. Just remember to be considerate of others, because if you get disowned by your family because you stubbornly disagree with them, I will not be blamed.

The Gift of Love #inspirationalwednesday

Love is patient;
Love is kind;
Love is not envying or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
It is not irritable or resentful;
It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth;
It bears all things
Believes all things
Endures all things. 
[ 1 Cor. 13:4-7]

That's what love is. Its not just this. Its this, and this, and this too. Actually, its a combo of all of these and more. 
Read through those verses again, but this time replace love (or the pronoun representing it) with your name.
Sound like you?
It sure doesn't sound like me. Especially not during this hectic time of year.

We're never going to be perfect, but with the potential to love like this why not try? In the end, its all that matters anyway.

"Love NEVER ends. But as for prophecies, they WILL come to an end; as for tongues, they WILL cease; as for knowledge, it WILL come to an end."
[1 Cor. 13:8]

Laugh a Little #examples

WARNING:  Dear Blank, Please Blank (most hilarious) contains addicting content. Actually, any page on this site is funny, but normally the funniest ones are found after the first page of the "Hilarious" section (that page is all "been there, heard that" boring stuff that just isn't funny anymore). I've linked you straight to that gold. Go read some.
Also, Damn You Autocorrect will give you a six-pack if you spend enough time perusing it.

Exhibit A.

 I guess that since laughing is healthy now I deserve some unhealthiness.. off to the Christmas cookie container!

Happiness Guaranteed #graded

I'm not gonna lie, Junior year had gotten pretty sucky. Allow me to spell it out for you: Junior year= homework and more swim practice= little sleep= grumpy Ruth. During Thanksgiving Break I realized that Junior year was turning me into a PESSIMIST. Which is something that I never ever, ever, ever want to be. Ever. I decided change needed to happen.

Instead of thinking "ugh, I can't wait until school is over so I can go take a nap,"
I woke up in the morning and tried thinking "Today is going to be a GREAT day!"

Yes, I know thats cheesier than Big Time Rush's performance at Jingleball but it's what I needed. Attitude really is everything. I knew this was true when even school started to get better... probably a good thing since I spend like 40 hours a week there.

I really recommend you try it sometime. 

(and if you think I'm some ignorant, naive optimist and you're laughing at this right now I guess its your loss)

"And do not be greived, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

"For the sorrowing every day is evil, but the joyous heart it  is festive always." (Proverbs 15:15)

"A cheerful heart is good medicine." (Proverbs 17:22)

My Own [Mini] Personal Dumpster #graded

When approaching this post I felt brain dead. What the heeeeckkkk was I going to observe and then explain? Honestly, Mama Schaefer likes to keep a clean house so everything is nicely in its spot on the main level. From this you could conclude that my family is organized, neat, and put together. If you want to keep that perception then I would advise you to steer clear of my room at all costs.

This is probably the cleanest its ever been. But that
one wall is entirely corkboard. Its awesome. I love it. 

My room is what I like to call messy-chic. AKA everything is strewn about, some on purpose and some not, but I really just cannot find what I need if its not where I threw it. Seriously, if that one blue sheet of paper that I got at camp this summer isn't sitting under the notebook on top of my pink striped box I wouldn't ever be able to find it. So I went up there to find some stuff to write about and then I saw this giant green bowl that I keep on my vanity. Wah-la. My own, personal dumpster.

I'm not sure why this bowl is where it is, but somehow it got there last year and ever since its been a collection spot for anything and everything. Seriously, its the first place I go to when I've lost something remotely small. Time to dig to the bottom and explain some of the utter crap tokens of goodness that lie deep down. 

• "In the Pink" Sleeping Mask: oh, thats where it went. Don't ask me why its located on the opposite side of my bed (not that it matters anyway, because sleeping masks don't work and are rediculous wastes of money). I imagine this is still here from a photo shoot I did in July- my friend put on all of the accessories she could find in my room, this included. Hah, she looked like one of my grandma's cabinets- overflowing with stuff that all has significance, but when combined just looks tacky. 
• A small key wrapped in plastic: alright, this key was paired with some piggy bank thing that my dad towed home from work. That bank had a lock on it. If you haven't picked up on the blatently obvious clues here, I am not organized enough to keep a miniscule key without losing it. So, to save myself from the event of locking some Ben Franks in that bank (JK, I'm not Cardona, I'm really just straight up broke) Ijust didn't even begin to store money in it. The bank is gone. The key remains with the hope of turning up on a piece of jewelry one day. 
• Autographed Quietdrive ("Deliverance") and Diana Birch ("Bible Belt") CD cases: These two CDs are my most precious albums ever. They are only in this dumpster because once upon a time it was nearly empty, so they sat proudly on display. The Quietdrive one is what triggered my obsession for the local Minnesota band. One day, 3 summers ago, my family decided to go to the State Fair. It was delicious, as usual, and as the night came around we saw that this band called Quietdrive was playing a free concert at one of the band shells. I had heard of them so we went. and they were AMAZING! I bought the album and went through the small line so that I could meet them; I was starstruck and partially in love. Moral of the story: go listen to them. 
• A folded, labeled, hand-drawn diagram titled "Hippie Sailboat": This is one of the most recent additions to the dumpster and I love it! It resides here temporarily; its original home was intended to be my bulletin board but I ran out of push-pins. One of my best friends started sailing this year and is obsessed (to the max), so she draws sailboats on nearly everything. On the way home from the band trip to Orlando she drew me my own personal green sailboat with a tie-die sail. Its perfectly labeled too, so if you want tot know where the tiller or the jib sheet is, just ask me! In addition to the boat there are also scribbles of color that accompany random song lyrics that are scrawled in the white space. I know, it seems dumb, but it represents our friendship AND that trip, and one day when I look back upon it I will be flooded with vivid memories of both of these things.
• A pink plastic stegosaurus, a stretched out octopus sillyband, a peace sign band-aid: No description needed. I just take a liking to the wierd little things you pick up during life. I couldn't tell you where they came from, but they're cute, have character, and I love them. 

Are you yawning to death yet? Good, you should be. These things are just plain Jane, everyday objects that, when taken at face value, don't mean much to anyone. It isn't the material or idea that makes them meaningful, it's their history. 

Thursday Night Diversion #homeworkbreak

"Keep Calm and Carry On" was actually made by the British government to boost the spirits of the public if an invasion were to happen. Little did they know that in 2011 the internet would be filled with remakes of the  original poster. And that it would be a little piece of motivation for high schoolers who just cannot manage to do homework on a Thursday night. 

(because I really wish I could surf everyday. unfortunately I live in the land of 10,000 LAKES.)