Sunday 29 April 2012

This Week According to Instagram

This weekend I spent some great time in Amsterdam with a truly wonderful friend. It was so sweet. It made me so happy. And that is all I have to say really. And tomorrow is my birthday! Whoohoo!! This past year has been a tough one. I am looking forward to it ending and a new one beginning....here's to new adventures!

A good friend and good coffee - makes me happy / Nike Free Riders - currently lusting

My timing needs work! / A cutie at the gym

Beer and bitterballen - great pick me up after evening class / Amsterdam

Love this friend!! / Bagel + Beans = must.visit.when.possible

O'Neill shopping spree / Vineyard Church Amsterdam. A great place.

Friday 27 April 2012

T.G.I.F. - Off to the City!



Happy Friday y'all!!
And, thank goodness that it is.....and it is not just any weekend....it is my birthday weekend!!! Well, actually my birthday is Monday. But there is no reason not to make a long weekend out of it! I shall be leaving this little old town for Amsterdam this evening where I shall be spending time with a great friend, riding bicycles, drinking beer, visiting tulip fields and (of course) sitting in Starbucks. Going to be bliss. I have some study to get done on the train, but, once I pull into Amsterdam Central - I am free! Hope you have some great weekend plans also. Happy Friday!

Thursday 26 April 2012

just in case you were wondering....

Photo by Kay Marie Stroud Photography

One of the things I LOVE about blogging are the super sweet emails, comments and shoutouts that I get. Some days I struggle with the concept of blogging and think, "what am I doing? I am not sure people are actually interested in that!". Blogging is....awkward....I still feel like I am trying to figure out what I want this space to be about. I guess it is about my thoughts, my heart, my struggles. But I also want it to be a place where I can share my passion to create. One of the reasons I started Me+Life+Coffee was to do just that : actively create a place where I could share my photos, travels and art with people. I am a visual person so the blogs I tend to be most attracted to are those that have a lot of photos (I am also addicted to pinterest. Visual heaven). So.....I am trying to offer that. But, like I said, one of the wonderful by-products of blogging is meeting other bloggers and making blogging friends. It really does make my day when fellow bloggers send me emails and when readers leave such nice comments. It always makes me smile to find a way to connect with someone. A while ago someone asked me, "tell me something about yourself that I don't already know". In the spirit of getting to know y'all better, here are some random things about me that you may not know. And if you didn't want to know, then I am sorry, you can stop reading now. But in case you were wondering.....

- I often spend the entire day in my plaid pj's
- I love cheese.
- I have my bro's library of music on my iPod so that if anyone looks, they will think I have good taste.
- I collect records as I travel.
- I am that person who always feels bad if I break rules.
- I get rather angry on the inside when people skip the line.
- I work-out so that I can eat more chocolate.
- I happen to think that Radiohead's High and Dry is the best song ever.
- I have crushes on strange men like Prince and Steven Tyler. Don't ask me why.
- I still have no idea what I will major in at University.
- I milked a cow in Kenya one time.
- I use to paint. It made me happy. I don't know why I don't do it any more.
- I have broken my arm quite a few times.
- I happen to think that tampons are way overpriced in the Netherlands.


Wednesday 25 April 2012

Paris Leftovers

My first visit to Paris with The Thinker
 
My first visit to Paris was back in High School. I was 16 and about to enter into my final two years where I would complete an A level in Art. Art has always had a strong hold on my life. I am a sensitive soul. I am that person who may well tear up in the middle of the Tate or Louvre. As a child I have precious memories of watching my grandfather paint. When I would arrive at my grandparents home in Bath, England, for the summer holidays my Granddad would pass me a sketchbook and smile. "That had better be full by the end of the week" he would say. I remember walking in the woods with him and sketching the trees and hills. I remember sitting at his easel on their lawn, looking down the beautiful valley and learning about perspective. My talented mother also sculpts - her vision inspires me and her work amazes me. I like the idea of creating something. I love that we are co creators with God. God created us to be creative. I remember an artist once telling me, "if you don't create it, the world will never have it". We all have unique skills that mean that no two people will create the same thing. That is a beautiful thing.
Over Spring Break when I returned to Paris for the first time in almost six years, one thing was non-negotiable - I had to go back to Musee de l'Orangerie. The large Monet lily pads captivated me back in High School and I just had to see them again. So, on my final morning in the city, I ditched parted company with my friend Laura for a couple of hours. It was worth it.
This weekend I was watching Midnight in Paris under the stars in our local Market Square on large screen. There was a moment in the movie when the characters visit de l'Orangerie. I gasped. The paintings get me, even when they are in a movie. My friend beside me sighed. He said he didn't get it. But that is ok. We are all free to be moved by different things. We all see beauty differently.
Here are some left over snaps of Paris. This will be my last post on my trip. Promise.











Tuesday 24 April 2012

Summer - Take Me Now

Photo By Kay Marie Stroud


I am more than ready for summer. I am more than ready to be doing this (above) all over again. Three more weeks of papers, presentations and exams.....what is keeping me going?
The thought of 3 WHOLE MONTHS OF NOTHING after that.
No, I am not one of those over-achieving, super powered university students who do summer research programmes or internships. Oh no. This summer shall be all about wasting days in the sunshine with good company. I shall spend two months in England before heading back state side to Boise. I can not wait to spend my days running in the sunshine, laying in the park reading, coffee dating with friends, walking in the woods, and spending my evenings drinking locally brewed beer in pub gardens. Bliss.
These thoughts are keeping me going.

Sunday 22 April 2012

This Week According to Instagram

Something magical happened this week...Instagram started working just fine on my iPhone again!! YAY! If you follow me already you may have noticed the sudden flurry of published photos! (If you don't follow me and want to, my user name is sargeantsally)
This week has gone by rather fast - it was filled with impromptu parties, down pours of rain, butt shaking classes at the gym, an outdoor movie night, and plenty of coffee drinking. I have A LOT of papers to write....they just seem to keep coming.....and I am trying to clear them in time for my birthday weekend (!!!) I shall be headed to Amsterdam on Friday to see a dear friend, visit some tulips fields and explore Amsterdam some more. I can not wait to take a few days off from studying. And then. Dun. Dun. Dun....I turn 22 on Monday. Whoa!! Where did this year go??

Hallway Shinanigins / Empty Captain Morgan...sad times

Honeypie - a dangerous place to have breakfast! / Post Gym Candy refuel

Live Music / Chucks and Pedals

My Favorite Distraction from Study / Post Running Meal

Midnight in Paris on Big Screen under the Stars with Wine

Great friends

Thursday 19 April 2012

Paris Food

I am a food person. I like to eat. A. LOT. Whilst in Paris we ate some pretty great food! On the last morning, Laura and I found the most incredible street food market......we filled our tummies to the max!! I always love tasting new and interesting foods whilst on my travels. Paris you did not disappoint!! We ate the most amazing melted cheese and ham baguettes.....sooooooo good......and of course we gorged ourselves on Parisian Macaroons.










Wednesday 18 April 2012

a little something that got me thinking today....


Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Professor : Is GOD good ?

Student : Sure.

Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?

Student : Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Is satan good ?

Student : No.

Professor: Where does satan come from ?

Student : From … GOD …

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Professor: So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them ?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student : No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student : No , sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

P.S.

I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. And if so, you’ll probably want your friends / colleagues to enjoy the same, won’t you?

Forward this to increase their knowledge … or FAITH.

By the way, that student was EINSTEIN.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Versailles

The Palace of Versailles has always been a destination on the top of my travel list - I mean, come on obviously, right?! Unless you have some how managed to avoid a multitude of spectacular movies filmed there you will know what it is worth a visit. The Palace does not disappoint at all. It is beautiful! We were blessed with great weather for our entire time in Paris, so, after a walk around the Palace, we headed to the gardens where we picnicked, napped in the sunshine, and walked around the gorgeous grounds. I happily could have spent a couple more days there, exploring and walking around imagining the extravagant (but I am certain CRAZY) parities Maria Antoinette threw.....oh to be Queen....











Sunday 15 April 2012

More Snap-Shots of Paris

It has been a few weeks now since I was in Paris. I still treasure my time there and long to go back!! It truly was a perfect Spring Break get-a-way and meet up with good friends. This weekend has been full of homework (no shocker there)....so it was nice to take breaks and look back on Paris photos and edit a few. As the semester is drawing to an end, things are stirring in my heart. I feel like a season is ending and a new one beginning. A new adventure is beckoning.

I wonder what this next adventure will be like and what it will hold......

(But as for now - here are a few more photos from spring break in Paris)