In the aftermath...

Good evening girlies.

    I don't like not posting on Mondays. This whole switching-up-the-days-thing is throwing off my groove.

Thanks Mercy.

    I don't even know what to post about- yesterday's anniversary post was beautiful, and since I don't know how to follow up such a masterpiece, and I only have 20 minutes until midnight, I think I'll just devote this post to writing letters to my fellow Foursome members, because y'all are awesome.

My dearest Mercy,
    It is a rainy Tuesday night, and when I look out my window at the misty rain, I think about how the tiny raindrops would stick in your curly-q hair and severely piss you off and make you look like a clown. I know you hate it when I say "bae," but you're my bae. And if ever you were, say, being rolled into a giant taco by a horny ogre, I would take the spoon I filched from the dining hall and dig out his toenails. You pierce my soul like lemon juice in the eye. Muah.

Rosaline,
    I've been telling my friends the "so, this one time, when I was seven," story for the past few days, and they're already memorizing it. I am raising up an army of evil followers who think I'm cute and would do my bidding if I asked them to follow me to the death. Also, I promised them a student discount at Electric Underwear. You'd better deliver. P.S, I might be bringing Becca home for Columbus Day. You will adore her.

he's bae.

Graaaaaace,
    Congrats on your employment. I'm sorry in advance for all the people you'll have to interact with on a daily basis- people suck. Also, is your new workplace the same restaurant where we first met Daniel Bag? That could be a good sign. Also, on the subject of people who suck, boys suck. Stay away. Poke them with forks and call them names and eat your food all gross and don't shower and stay single forever. Unless Tom Hiddleston tells you how ardently he admires and loves you. Then you marry that man.

I just realized how much I sounded like Rosie in the above paragraph. Weird.

    OKAY I GOT THIS IN TWO MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT WHAT NOW.
   

 
Mercy, I'll see you tomorrow.
--Laura :)

Wait... it's been a year???

Dearest Rice, Stringy, and Limpy,

Well gurls, it has been a year, a whole freaking year, since we started this blog. It's been such a wonderful year filled with many different things. Some of these things were great.

Great things that have happened on OTAS and elsewhere to the Foursome in the last twelve months:

• The Hartford Project, obviously.
• The round story. 
• Laura graduated from high school and went away to school and became somewhat of a real live adult.
• Grace turned 17, and can drive now, which is just weird and maybe not particularly great.
• Mercy, somehow, survived an entire year of real school without killing anyone, if that's not impressive, then I don't know what is.
• All of the new private jokes that were invented. (MAYOnaise, Mother Father, Tentacle).
• That time we went to go see TFIOS together. That was a glorious experience.
• The 100th post.
• That weekend in February that Shanko was birthed.

There were also some not so great things that happened this year.

Not great things that happened to the Foursome 

• That weekend in February that Shanko was birthed.
• That Shanko post.
• Yeah, nothing else particularly horrid happened this year other thank Shanko.

My point is, this year has been a superawesglamfultastic. And this blog has contributed a great deal to this. I love all of you and I can't believe a year has gone by already. I'm going to express my feelings about this blog in gif-like fashion.

Alright, gurl please y'all.

-Rosie

Dear Rose, Laura, and Mercy

Ahhh! I can't believe it's been a whole year already! I remember sitting on Mercy's bed, talking on the phone about all the possible names we could go with. We spent more time rabbit trailing than we did actually contemplating ideas. And then Laura suddenly mentions "Our Thoughts Are Stars" and it just happened. I think we said we'd "use it for now, but if we come up with something better, we can change it." But now, even a whole year later, I feel like it is still the perfect fit. All the thoughts that you girls write down on here are beautiful. I get so excited to read them and it's definitely a bright spot in my life. (And as terribly cheesy as that sounds, it's true)
The past year has been one of the hardest. Probably the hardest that I can think of. There were points where I felt like I couldn't go on because all the the bad things were piling up and crushing me. Thinking about it is making my hands shake and my head spin. But... through it all... I knew that this blog was here and that helped. I feel like I left vague posts about things or I'd just mention that I was feeling terrible and the next week of posts would be filled with so much love... and (I think I said this to Laura via text) I am eternally grateful for you guys. More Chris Eccleston GIFs were used to tell me that I am fantastic than is probably socially acceptable. Except on here, this blog, it is more than socially acceptable. It is the social norm. And I love that.

And I guess I don't have anything left to say that hasn't already been said a million times before. So thank you for an incredible year. Thank you for hitting me over the head when I'm being stupid, giving me virtual hugs when I'm feeling sad, giving me advice and taking my advice. Thanks for letting me get to know you all a bit better and for letting me share myself with you all. Thanks for helping me see that everyone is just as unsure about life as I am, and everyone is just as messed up as I think I am. Thank you for this year, and I hope we have many more to come. 

(Excuse me while I go cry now) 

<3 G



GOOD EVENING GURLS/LAURA, ROSE, AND GRACE! It's Sunday. Wow.
Feels weird saying (typing?) that...
I can't believe it's been a year! Like, it honestly feels like yesterday that Grace and I were crowded around the den computer, the very one I'm sitting at now, talking to Laura and Rosie on the phone, with Lydia hovering over our shoulder, while we worked on setting up this beloved blog. Picking out themes and colors, assuring the two on the other line that they could change whatever they wanted and "Our Thoughts Are Stars" would just be a temporary name till we all thought of something better. But as fate would have it, there was nothing better because the title we so carelessly picked just happened to be the perfect fit.
And that's okay, because it really is the best name for this small third space on the internet that us four share.
So gurls, in honor of this day (okay last week actually) we all should celebrate (aside from this post, obviously)- and it doesn't matter that it will most likely be celebrating individually, because even when we're not physically together, we're mentally together because #samebrain.
So celebrate in whatever what you feel fit- each a carton of ice cream while having a Supernatural marathon by yourself.
Steal your sisters iPod for the day and jam out to k-pop while you create something delicious in the kitchen.
Get out and take a break from crazy, stressful college life and get a cake with a friend.
But either way, do something that makes you happy. That's all.
I'm celebrating by bombarding you with gifs.

I love you gurls.
xoxo, Mercy




It's the Laura! Gurls, has it already been a year? Time seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. And yet it has dragged on all at once. Milkshakes melt. People change (Rosie is now muttering to herself, and you dumped me on my birthday). And here we are today- some things are the same, yet many of them are different.
    Gracie is driving, guys. How weirdly awesome is that? She is a brave high school senior, taking a gap year and fantastically figuring out just what it is that God wants for her life. She is in danger of becoming seriously beautiful, an advocate for the needy with potential to change the world. And I am in awe of her.
    Mercy has a life now. How did she become a sophomore with a dramatic flair and an affinity for leggings as pants? I don't even know. It's like I blinked and now she's almost a grown-up. What is this? It's freaking me out, man. Next time I turn around she'll be a famous Broadway actress with no time for her starving, normal friends. I guess I'll have to just live with that.
    Rose has moved onto my top bunk and into 10th grade, and it's a little sad and strange to be experiencing this first year of my life without her. If my roommate wasn't the sexually explicit carbon copy of Rose, I would probably have dropped out of college by now. I can't wait to come home in two weeks and see how she's changed. It's all lovely and sad and bittersweet, like the final installment in a well-loved book series (Rose is now muttering to herself, Harry freaking Potter).
    I am one-quarter done with my first semester of college, and it has been more than I could ever have hoped for. I'm finally surviving nursing school and taking up a minor in music. I have met some of the best people in the whole world, right here on this little campus that feels more like home than my parents' house. Everything has been slightly unexpected, but I love where God is taking me. And when I think back on where I was this time last year, I am grateful for all the stress and disappointment and confusion. It was well worth it.
    And, you know where all of our experiences from this past year have been documented? Right on this here blog. Going back and reading our old posts makes me happy, because I see God's hand in all of this- in all of our heartaches, trials and triumphs, God was there. He had us write on this blog, to process and grow and lean on one another through it all.
    I can't wait to see what this next year brings. I have no idea what to expect, and half of me is terrified by that but the other half is willing to "just let it happen," as a dear THP leader of ours used to say.
    I don't know about you gurls, but I am so ready to let it go and watch what God does with us. And I hope that on September 23rd, 2015, we can celebrate our anniversary again. I cannot wait.
--Laura :)

"Two were blonde and two were brunette but they all had stars in their eyes and thoughts."

Hello lovelies, 

I have been thinking about this post for a really long time and I still don't know what it's going to be about. I was writing about us today but I decided I didn' like any of it except the opening line with is what I decided to title this post... just incase you were wondering about that.

I guess I'll just start by replying to your posts because I feel like I haven't actually done that in awhile. Laura, yours was short, but nice. Like you
Mercy.... awkward. this party just got awkward.
Rose.... yeah. this is still awkward. 

But okay I decided what I'm going to do. 

I made a list of 12 things I love about this blog. 12, obviously, for the number of months we've been here. 

1- I like how it keeps us all connected even though we live in separate places and have separate lives. 

2- I like how it keeps us informed and up to date on each others lives.

3- I like how you three blog. You each have different styles of getting your message across and I like them all.

4- I like that we all accept each other and the different ways we blog. None of you seem to mind (well, comment) on how scattered my posts usually are, which is very much appreciated. 

5- I like the diversity of music. From different Christian bands, to boy bands, indie music, foreign music, YouTube artists, whatever it is, there's always something new and interesting to listen to even if I don't always listen. 

6- I like how when someone is upset they can always count on the other 3 to encourage and uplift them. 

7- and even if someone is upset, we know how to keep each other laughing.

8- I like how even though we're out on the open internet, it feels like a really safe place to talk about anything and everything. 

9- the round story last November. Can that please happen again? 

10- the inside jokes that pile up. I'm pretty sure anyone reading this blog doesn't understand half of what we're saying. Glayglow Men

11- GIFs. Obviously. 

12- the fandom geeky-ness and acceptance of each others weird loves. 

I could go on, but I'll it at that. 

For our people, we're not sure what we're doing next week for the anniversary, so you might not see any posts, you might see a lot, you might see something completely different. We're not sure yet. But I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and I can't wait for whatever happens next.  <3 G

Also, sorry for how weird this looks. I'm finishing on my phone and it messes everything up. 

It's punishment Wednesday. (Only because Grace said I could).

Good morning gurls, it's hump day!

She's literally my favorite lady. This gif deserves to be huge because she is the best. She's also me in 20 years, but whatever

If you're an observant little reader, you would have noticed that my little welcome greeting sentence thing is both a combination of my welcome greeting thing and Mercy's. Because Mercy forgot to post yesterday, so I get to punish her, because the rule clearly states, "Anyone who fails to write on her assigned day will be punished by whoever posts the day after her, either by mockery and satire, or by a sibling who is not a member of The Foursome writing their post for them." So I get to punish Mercy, because John will not, will not, be allowed to write a post on this blog, or so help me God, I will become a homeless hermit who lives under a dumpster in the great state of Indiana trying desperately to forget the absolute horror of John Issac (yes that is how it's spelled, don't correct me) Backus's terrible awful no good very bad writing. Were was I? Ah, yes. I'm punishing Mercy. Now, I'm not really sure how I can go about this with Mercy getting upset. Honestly, I'm not sure if I can go about this without Mercy getting upset. So I apologize in advance Wifey, but you brought this upon yourself. Also you might want to not read the rest of this post for the sake of our marriage, and for the children.

(The next section of this post is Mercy's punishement, and that is why it is written this font because whenever Mercy talks I hear her in this font. Is that weird? I don't think so.)

Well I couldn't post yesterday because I was busy. I hate being bust because I have to leave the house and I hate leaving the house because I'm an introvert. Did you know I'm an introvert? Of course you didn't because I never talk about how introverted I am. But it's true. I really am an introvert. I am. I swear. 

Also, I love Harry Styles. He's my little muffin.

And Hank Green.

Did you know Judge Judy is my alter ego? Because she is. That's the real reason I couldn't post I was doing whatever Judge Judy does (what does Judge Judy do? I actually don't know). 

Okay so I'm going to go do (what does Mercy do with her time?) I'm going to go act and drink tea and listen to super awesome music and such things. 

So that was... an experience. Mercy, if you're still reading this, please don't ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever not post again because punishment is not as much fun as I thought it was going to be it's just, I just no. No. Nope. Okay, now I'm going to reply to your posts.

Grace: Your post was fantastic, and thought provoking and I really enjoyed it. But the best part was all of the gifs and pictures from this last year of our blog posts, and the best part of that was so clearly Snape.

He really can dance so well it's almost unreal. 

Laura: I'm really excited that you're coming home this weekend, but I don't appreciate the fact that you're bringing a stranger into my house. There have been too many strangers who aren't related to me in this house this week. Namely this weird rabbi named Ben. (I'm kidding I swear, I'm sure Libby is really nice.)

However there have been too many people who aren't related to me here lately. Is it too much to ask for a completely silent house devoid of people who make noises/all people? Yeah probably, but whatever.

I should probably bounce. So, sorry again Mercy. And Grace please post tomorrow because punishing people is hard and I would hate to think that Laura would have to do that. Okay? Okay.

Gurl please. -Rose

Yup. Today was bad. But I'm not getting into that. I don't have time.

    Hello my loves.

eff yeah it is.

    This will probably be a short post. I'm so done with today yet I still have a million more things to do. I just...I can't even. I am exhausted.

    There were some good things about today. I got one of the higher grades in my lab on our anatomy quiz. I chatted with my friends, who all gave me boy advice that is pretty relevant to my current situation. I am going home this weekend and bringing Libby, and Rosie, I can't wait for you to meet her. She's like Bianca with more of a crude sense of humor. Y'all will get along :)

    Some good stuff happened this weekend. Siobhany came to visit, I ran a 12-minute mile, and I laughed a little too much with The Roommate. I waltzed at twilight by the chapel with one of the guys from my ballroom class, and yes, it was like something out of a movie. 

    I am trying to focus on the good. There were some ugly, stressful, and humiliating parts of today. But there were also some wicked amazing things that happened. I'm learning to go with my gut, and to be patient- about my grades, my friendships, my involvement with a certain, incandescent boy. God has me where He wants me, and I couldn't be happier in the middle of this hot mess.

    Before I go, I have two things to say:

    Grace and Mercy: CONGRATS ON BEING AUNTIES AGAIN!!! The baby is perfect and adorable and I am so excited for this new life, and for your family! Just agh. The miracle of life. I am freaking obsessed with the fascinating nature of our existence- and I cordially welcome baby Liam into this phase of consciousness. I want all the details- how big is he and does he cry much and how is Charlie with him and which parent does he more resemble? Gah. I need to become a midwife.

    Our Blogiversary is a week from tomorrow. What are we going to do to celebrate? One year of blogging deserves a party. Please submit ideas in your next posts. One week goes by fast soooo I hope we have an idea by next Tuesday.

    So, since this post is relatively short I figured I would lengthen it with some pictures from my past 3 weeks at Sacred Heart:

the chapel on the first night I came

my official, first day of school picture

my view with the choir at Freshman Convocation- our class is 1,400 students.

The Roommate, Libby, and yours truly

Peace out.

--Laura :)

I think I just published the longest blog post in the history of long blog posts. Also, this post was written at 2 very different times during the day... just incase you were confused about the constant mood shifts. Which you probably weren't. I'm just weird like that. And I wanted this title to live up to the length of the post.

I just like that picture. and it feels the same way that today feels. which is hard to describe; I'll let it speak for itself. 

Gurls, I'm sort of stressed lately because of various different things. I have an endless cycle of thoughts that seems to be repeating itself and I'm stuck telling myself the same things over and over. I also feel like not only am I emotionally and mentally doing the same thing, but physically also. I'm so bored of my life and the things that are happening. I'm not sure how to describe it. I'm not sure if this is stemming from senioritis (yes, it has hit me. maybe I'll post about it next week?) and reading endless things about my all my friends new college experiences but I feel like I want to be the one at college. I know that I'm not ready for it, and it's definitely a good thing that I have at least a year left, but I feel like I need that experience of a new place or new people. I want to get out and see something. 

Our lovely friend Charlotte wrote about this on her blog and this is a bit of what she had to say 

I feel like I've been doing the same things with ALL the same people for so long that I really need to go somewhere, or do something, or meet someone, from a totally different walk of life.

And one of the reasons I decided to take a gap year is to do things I want to do. I was planning on saving up and visiting my sister in Japan for a couple months because the opportunity was there. But now they might not even be moving to Japan. And I don't have a job, despite the many places I've applied. Basically... I don't want to be feeling the way I am now, for the next 2 years. I can't handle it. I love my family to pieces but I just sometimes need to get away. I want to be involved with communities and people and yet at the same time, I wish I was living by myself with no one else to think about. Which sounds horribly rude but I'm getting so incredibly tired of people. And at the exact same time, I'm wanting to meet new people. BASICALLY I'M A BIG BALL OF NOT SURE-NESS AND STUPID NEEDLESS EMOTIONS AND I DON'T WANT ANY SYMPATHY AND YET ALL I WANT IS SOMEONE TO CUDDLE WITH ME AND TELL ME THAT I'M WONDERFULLY SPECIAL AND I'LL FIGURE OUT LIFE SOON ENOUGH. 

Oh all your posts were lovely by the way. Just incase you were wondering about them. I liked how all of them were a little longer and a little more insightful than usual (not saying that your usual posts were bad, I just think that it's a good accomplishment that, for once, all our posts impressed me thoroughly... yeah I'm just going to stop now before I offend you gurls and your posts some more.) 

Oh and another thing, I made some music today :) After writing the above rant, I had the house to myself most of the afternoon so instead of doing school, I just banged on the piano. And I had my phone recording what I did and this sort of happened.  (I was sort of going off of Rose's "give into your inner nerd") It was definitely a good thing to just give myself up to music for a couple hours and left me feeling much better. That's the funny thing about music, (it demands to be felt. hey that actually fits perfectly. TFiOS reference for everything) it always has an affect (effect? I still can't ever get it right) on me. And usually a good one. Like, right before I got on the piano, I was making myself lunch and listening to kpop and my favorite EXO song came on and I was dancing around and pretending I can sing Korean and that made me a whole lot happier. 

But I'm now going to go through every single picture on this blog (I found that magical button) and choose all my favorites and make the end of this post happy and probably as long as Repunzles hair but I have NO RAGRETS 

i don't remember the story behind this one.............

I just like all of Rose's hipster edits

pure beauty

for Mercy

For me

For Rose

For Laura

because after all those Chris Eccelston GIFs this one should OBVIOUSLY come next

TOKEN ASIAN FTW

Now if you got through all of these.... than this GIF is for you

 And because Snape is always the way to finish anything and everything 

I'm done now <3 G