The Perks of Being a Racheelz

Tennessee Travels

Sun, 05 May 2013 02:04:27 -0400

Tennessee Travels:

Follow this because it’s where I’ll be posting all summer most of the time.

Blog Change

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:25:41 -0500

I never post on this blog anymore so you can follow spiritrevival.tumblr.com if you wish.

Revival

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:28:16 -0500

Just one weekend in the presence of my glorious God has made me take leaps of faith larger than I’ve ever had in my entire life.

Tired

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:01:48 -0500

I can’t tell if I’m too tired or if I’m just stronger this time but I’m not crying and I feel fine. Perhaps it’s that I know it’s a new year and God has refreshed me tonight.

Whatever the case, I will fear no trial. I will not give up easily. You fight for the things that you really care about and that’s all that really matters in the end.

Home Away From Home

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:02:36 -0500

I’m sitting at my desk once again in my dorm room. Tonight was full of eating and watching the Sugar Bowl game on my huge monitor with hall friends. WE WON!! A great way to start my return to AA.

I dreaded leaving home and my friends and parents behind. A break so full of doing absolutely nothing seems far more precious than studying here in this place I’m supposed to call home.

But it isn’t so bad as I believe it to be. I’m making changes this semester to avoid the frustrations, mistakes, and sadness of the previous. This time period of my life is still considered my “golden years” so I might as well try my best to make them as golden as possible. That way in the future I can annoy my children and grandchildren repeatedly with stories from this age.

"Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again, and meeting..."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:10:17 -0500

“Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again, and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”

- Richard Bach

New Year's Goals

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:08:00 -0500

New year’s resolutions typically fail so I’m going to hope that calling them “goals” will make me more convicted and motivated to keep them up.

- Read the entire Bible this year and actually understanding what I’m reading.
- Meet more people and hang out more…which implies that I will actually leave my dorm no matter how lazy I am.
- Keep up my current GPA or higher.
- Attempt to be more well-read.
- Be more appreciative and understanding (less bitter and complainy)
- Continue shaping the person I am and the person I want to become. Remember Proverbs 31:10-31.

2012

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 02:58:00 -0500

I almost missed the ball drop as everyone at the party went outside to watch people pop open champagne bottles and celebrate. I decided not to follow and got back down to the basement with 10 seconds to spare. The ball drop, although not particularly special in any way, seemed a lot cooler to watch than people pulling corks out of bottles. But maybe that’s just me.

Long Time No See

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:33:13 -0500

Saying hello to the end of another year. I could go on about how time flies but we know that all too well. I’m going to have the same inspiration to blog into the new year but I know it will ultimately fail.

As I entered college this year, I got more of a view of the world outside of my small mind. I know overall I became more of a bitter person. So much so that I long for childlike nature once again. Who knew so much could change? Or maybe the underlying truths were present all along and I successfully ignored them.

I’ll make an effort to alter my recluse-like self and meet people who will open my mind and my heart.

Can’t live in the past. I don’t want to end this year with downcast eyes. Here’s to the challenges and the triumphs that will come.

Sucker for Sentimental

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:12:53 -0400

Agent Booth: Well, it means, Bones, that you know, you can love a lot of people in this world, but there's only one person you love the most.
Dr. Brennan: But how do you know which person you love the most when you're confused by chemical messages travelling throughout your limbic system?
Agent Booth: You just do.
Dr. Brennan: ...What if you let that person get away?
Agent Booth: That person's not going anywhere.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:45:51 -0400

Reblog, anyone? HAHAH

Time Capsule

Sat, 14 May 2011 15:02:34 -0400

I just received this letter in the mail today.

Rachel, March 5th, 2004

Dear me in 2011,
I am in 5th grade. Miss Socier is really nice! I CAN DRIVE! :) I want nice teachers in 12th grade. I want to go to a good college too! I hope I have the same best friends I have now. I like piano still, and violin. Frank Shih and Chang-Mei-Hung are my teachers. I want Charli Milliron, Erica Porto, and Liz Siepker to still be my friends. I want a dog. I want to go to U of M! My parents will be old! :P Katy Lane sits next to me! Just remember I will always be playing violin and piano. Also I’m very specifal to have soo many friends and my family that love me very much. :) And I will always be loved by my friends! Oh and I want to be an artist!

Love,
ME!

MONKEYS RULE!

———

HAHAHAHAHA what a lovely surprise. I can’t believe a lot of this letter still pertains to me now, especially the U of M part haha. Man, I love these kinds of things.

Give Me Your Eyes

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:17:34 -0400

“The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”

-Their Eyes Were Watching God; Zora Neale Hurston

For the Sleepwalkers

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:36:20 -0400

Tonight I want to say something wonderful
for the sleepwalkers who have so much faith
in their legs, so much faith in the invisible

arrow carved into the carpet, the worn path
that leads to the stairs instead of the window,
the gaping doorway instead of the seamless mirror.

I love the way that sleepwalkers are willing
to step out of their bodies into the night,
to raise their arms and welcome the darkness,

palming the blank spaces, touching everything.
Always they return home safely, like blind men
who know it is morning by feeling shadows.

And always they wake up as themselves again.
That’s why I want to say something astonishing
like: Our hearts are leaving our bodies.

Our hearts are thirsty black handkerchiefs
flying through the trees at night, soaking up
the darkest beams of moonlight, the music

of owls, the motion of wind-torn branches.
And now our hearts are thick black fists
flying back to the glove of our chests.

We have to learn to trust our hearts like that.
We have to learn the desperate faith of sleep-
walkers who rise out of their calm beds

and walk through the skin of another life.
We have to drink the stupefying cup of darkness
and wake up to ourselves, nourished and surprised.

-Edward Hirsch

Photo

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:14:54 -0500

Faith

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:53:36 -0500

Owen Meany: CAN YOU SEE HER?
Johnny Wheelwright: Not anymore.
Owen: YOU CAN'T SEE HER, BUT YOU KNOW SHE'S STILL THERE--RIGHT?
Johnny: Of course she's still there!
Owen: YOU'RE SURE?
Johnny: Of course I'm sure!
Owen: BUT YOU CAN'T SEE HER. HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE'S STILL THERE IF YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY SEE HER?
Johnny: Because I know she's still there--because I know she couldn't have gone anywhere--because I just know!
Owen: YOU HAVE NO DOUBT SHE'S THERE?
Johnny: Of course I have no doubt!
Owen: BUT YOU CAN'T SEE HER--YOU COULD BE WRONG.
Johnny: No, I'm not wrong--she's there, I know she's there!
Owen: YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW SHE'S THERE--EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN'T SEE HER?
Johnny: Yes!
Owen: WELL, NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT GOD. I CAN'T SEE HIM--BUT I ABSOLUTELY KNOW HE'S THERE!

"Photography is about so much more than the posed image or what you set up; it’s about..."

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 10:18:42 -0500

“Photography is about so much more than the posed image or what you set up; it’s about capturing who people are.”

- Amelia Strauss

Visions

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:00:00 -0500

I don’t know how I first got into photography. I still don’t know why I love it so much. Something about getting the correct composition has always interested me, even when I only had my point and shoot.

Nowadays I keep having these “visions” of shots I want to capture. They’re perfectly composed and processed in my head, just waiting to be brought to life. However, that’s the difficult part…bringing them to life. I usually don’t know what I’m doing and it takes quite a bit of thinking/time to get what I want. Sometimes I get lucky and get the shot right away, but that typically happens when I have someone else with me to help or if I have a model who can pose for me. Otherwise, it’s all guesswork and trial and error.

I think that’s what makes it fun, though. You never know what you’re going to get because each shot is different. There are times I get awesome frames out of mistakes. It’s a surprise each time I press the playback button. A surprise of success or a surprise of “oh my gosh I can’t believe I even took a picture like this.”

Of course I must tie this back into life because technically this was meant to be a philosophical post or something. The “visions” that I do have are my goals and I’m consistently trying to make them real. I never truly know what I’m going to get, but the fact that I’m trying makes things a little bit more clear. Each exposure is another experience, another trial, possible error or mistake, possible success. All the while I’m getting better with each precise turn of the shutter dial, downing of f-stop, and actual click of the shutter itself.

So I’m just living life. Learning each minute, taking in all there is. But I still hope that every vision that comes into mind will become a reality.

Random Shoot

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:30:00 -0500

I’m holding my quick release remote in all of them. With that in mind, it makes all the pictures look awkward. HAHA

I Teared Up

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:01:00 -0500

Hi,

I have not left a comment on your blip. I am so sorry. I will do that tonight. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you. I am proud of you not just because you take good pictures, getting good grades, accepting by UOM and etc. All the above are excellent accomplishments. There is a side of you that you make me proud.

I am so proud of you that you are full of life. You embrace and enjoy the life and your dreams are so precious. I love you enjoying the silly Disney shows.

Love U, Mommy

—-

I love my mom, especially when she types in fob. Treat your parents well…all of you. And especially us seniors since we’re leaving soon. I’m going to miss home so much.