Tennessee

Well, here I am in Tennessee, sitting in Auntie Brenda's house, organizing the music on her computer. This is the first time I have had the chance to reflect on the past few days. So here is the synopsis of my fall break so far.

Friday afternoon, Brenda came to Furman to pick me up. We left Furman around 3:30, and because we decided to take the Blue Ridge parkway instead of dealing with Ashville traffic, we didn't get here until 8:30. Yes, it took 5 hours to get back, when it should have taken 2-3 hours. On the Blue Ridge parkway, we could only go 20 miles an hour because we were on this mountain and there was this incredibly thick cloud so that we could barely see the road in front of us. Needless to say, by the time we got out of the cloud, out of the boondocks of North Carolina and into civilization back onto I-26, I was ready to cry. But crying would not have helped anything, would it?

Then on Saturday Auntie Brenda, Uncle Jim, Chris and Kelly and their two kids, Tyler and Jake, went to Dollywood for the day. Then we did a little shopping in Pigeon Forge. Wow, talk about reminding me of days gone by. I was dead tired by 10 pm, and I felt like an old woman, even though I was the only not-kid who was under 30. I would start to feel like, yeah, I am catching up in age to Chris and Kelly, then Chris would say something like "I remember when you were born" or even better, "I remember when your parents got married." Well, way to put me in my place and remind me that I am still a 12 year-old in your eyes. Oh well. But it was fun.

On Sunday we went to 9 o'clock service at Celebration Church, where I saw a bunch of the adults from Shekinah that now go to Celebration. I was really happy to see the Hanors and J.R. Jones and Clayton's mom. It was super weird to be at the church and even here in Tennessee and neither Chris nor Clayton were here with me. I mean, that is who I hang out with when I visit, but they aren't here. Then Uncle Jim and I went for a drive in his 1978 Corvette. It is a sweet car, and I felt really cool while we were driving. We drove for a long time and got to talk about a lot, and it was really good. I am so grateful for him being in my life, kind of like an in-between from my dad and Grampy. We drove over Shekinah and went to my dad's parents' grave. I was like, ok, so there's the grave, I don't really know what to do now that I am here. Then when we got back from our drive, I took a nap and then we ate Sunday dinner with Chris and Kelly. Then I spent a few hours with the Hanors at their house, which was so good. I love being at their house, it feels like home to me. MJ and I got to catch up and she showed me lots of pictures of recent events in their life. Then she and David drove me to the Prieto's, where I spent an hour or so. It's so weird that the kids I used to babysit are now in high school. Then Debi picked me up and I spent a few hours with the Porches. Needless to say, when I got back last night, I was pretty tired after visiting all those people.

Today I slept in, spent the morning/early afternoon with Brenda, then Manna and I spent the afternoon together. It was so good to catch up with her. She is so cool, I feel like a nerdy Furman student and she is all into bands and music. But let it be known that I got a nose ring and a tattoo before she did. That has to count for something towards my coolness factor. Now I am back at Brenda's, eating dinner and hanging out with them. I might still get to see Abby Joy, which would be great. Then tomorrow I am going to see Laura Bush. haha, didn't think I would be doing that. Ok, it's dinner time.

sick

Well, I finally got better from my pink eye incident, now I have an ear infection in my left ear. I just cannot seem to get 100% better. I did get a prescription for an antibiotic today, so that should finally cleanse my system of whatever all these germs are. Oh, funny thing, Andrew now has pink eye. I shouldn't think that that is funny, but I do. :) I mean, none of my roommates got it, and he did. Now he gets to wear his glasses for a week, just like I did all last week.

Fall break this weekend!!! I am sooooo ready for this break! Kingsport, here I come! Oh geez, let's hope this goes well.....

Countdown to Italy: 74 days

homecoming weekend

well, this weekend was homecoming weekend. friday night merianna, annie, grace and i went out to dinner then out to the carnival on the mall. dinner was fun, but the carnival was cold and not too fun. heh....but hey, i really enjoyed dinner! then saturday i went to the pi kapp tailgate with whitney, then to the football game. the game was really fun in the beginning, really boring in the middle, then really fun in the end when we tied it up on the last possible play and had to go into overtime. it was super intense and all the fun a football game should be. and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, perfect for the game. my favorite part of the game was when the ref got hit by a ball - he was in the way of a pass and the ball just hit him. it was hilarious! i don't know if the players thought it was funny, but the crowd sure got a kick out of it. then saturday night kristin, erin, sarah and i went out to dinner then to see a movie. we saw "the departed," which i would only recommend if you like violence and bad language. the plot was very good; it had a really good story line, but i have never heard so much foul language in an hour and a half as in that movie. and it was most definately a boy movie - everyone died and nothing was really resolved relationally. to them, a solution was reached by shooting someone in the face. we came up with an alternate ending which made leonardo di caprio happy - too bad it isn't how it really ended. then we had some milkshakes and goofed off until i got tired and went to bed. this morning i had to be at the chapel at 10 for service, then i spent 4 hours, i repeat, 4 hours in the edit room working on my broadcast journalism project. it's pretty good, but i wish i had had more of a variety of shots. oh well, it's done now. now i am stalling and not doing homework....

next weekend is fall break, and i am going up to tennessee for the weekend. it should be good, relaxing i hope. life has proven to be quite stressful as of late, and i need a break. this should be perfect. i am staying with Auntie Brenda and Uncle Jim, yay!!! then only a few more weeks and i get to go home for thanksgiving! then finals then Christmas then Italy!!!! i really need to learn not to live life looking to what's next without making the most of the present. i mean, i am going to be away from all the people i love for 3 months while in italy, so i should make the most of the couple months i have left here and at home.

i also want to say that i love my apartment-mates. seriously, they are amazing. (oh, and grace too, who basically lives over here!) it seems like no matter what is going on, they are here for me, never judging me or telling me what to do, but just understanding and loving me. sure, they are great to give advice when i ask for it, and they always have such good advice. heck, they let me get pink eye all over their shirts when i need to the most. :) i thank God every day for placing me in this apartment with these girls. for real, they always seem to know what to say or do to make my life just that much better. and we all really suck at galavanting. :)

countdown to italy: 77 days

some thoughts i wrote down in rhetoric today....

There are times in life when everything seems stagnant, unmoving. And there are other times when it is all I can do to hold on as life changes, as it flips upside down and I wait for it to right itself once more. It is in these holding on seasons where I tend to learn the biggest life lessons. I've learned that it is never wrong to care, to share life and to learn about another person. But at the same time, I've learned that it is sometimes wise to guard your heart. I've learned more about myself and my capacity to care for another person. I've learned the importance of communication. I've learned that tears can be healing, and in my brokenness I find strength in waiting on the Lord. That true friends don't just come and go, but remain through the trials and the changes. And I've learned that at the end of the day, it will be alright, that I'll be alright. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but over time my heart will heal and my world will right itself once more.

Sometimes change is good, but hard. But still good in the long run. And though growing pains are not fun, the fact that we are growing at all is worth the pain. God is in control, He holds our hearts and our destinies in the palm of his hand. We can rest assured that even things we cannot control or even understand, He can, and He has only our best interest in mind.

and my roommates are amazing, FYI. :)

Countdown to Italy: 82 days!

family weekend!!

so this past weekend was family weekend! it was so great to have Mom and Deborah here to see my life and apartment and friends! i enjoyed every minute of it. we did fun things like go shopping, go apple-picking, go to an opera, make apple pie and hang out with my friends and their families as well. friday night was super fun, several people came over to my apt and we ate food and talked and laughed. i loved that Mom and Deborah got to meet the people that make my life amazing. my only wish is that Dad and Kaylah could have been here too. :( i got to meet the families of my friends too, well, actually, i think i knew everyone's families except Andrew's. it was great to finally meet them and actually know who they were. and to see them talking to my family was super weird, but cool. when Andrew met Mom and Deborah, it was kind of weird because they are all important people in my life who knew about each other, but didn't know each other. and now they do. of course Mom and Deborah were very excited to see Evan again, and to meet his family. it's so great that he knows them and it was more like a reunion than a new meeting. ok, that didn't really make sense, but i'm going with it. here are a few pics from the weekend!

so tired...

so last night i went to bed around 1, which really isn't that late, not at all. but it has been this continuous going to bed late and getting up early that is catching up with me. and i think i might be getting a cold. ugh, i hope not. but this morning at 6:30, i got a phone call from an unknown caller, and for some reason i picked up. and i am so glad i did because it was necole in australia!!!! it was so cool to talk to her on the phone and know that it was 8:30 wednesday night there. she had already lived wednesday, and i was just about to start it. but anyways, it was such a great surprise to hear from her, despite the early hour. and now it is 11:15 pm and i need to go to bed, but i have to finish up some rhetoric review. then to bed in my clean sheets. :)

Mom and Deborah come tomorrow night!!!!!! I am sooooooooo excited!!!!!! And then we get to spend the weekend together and with my friends' families as well! :) I am pretty pumped. Then the next weekend is homecoming then the next weekend is fall break! October is great. :)

Countdown to Italy: 88 days

Necole

I just want to dedicate this post to my dear friend Necole. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for her friendship - she truly is irreplaceable in my life. Unfortunately, she is currently in Australia and I am in South Carolina, and I honestly don't know the next time I will see her. That's probably the saddest thought I have had in a while. When we met 5 years ago, I never thought that we would end up being such good friends. I can't believe how time has flown by, sometimes I wish we could just stop time and stay in the same place and be able to go to the MILL together and keep making memories like the fair and tattoos. I wish I could go back in time and relive all the great times we have had, I feel like the lyrics of one song:

"Give me one more day before these echoes fade away,
to take a laugh, a smile, a face, a glimpse of yesterday,
as I turn once more to where I've been,
I relive the moments yet again,
give me one more day in which to say I'll remember us this way...
...Though what's ahead I cannot see, the past, the part of who I'll be,
and when I hear it calling me, I'll remember one more day..."

But as much as I love reliving the memories we have together, I am so excited to see where God is going to take both of us. We seem to be going through exactly the same stuff in life, and her words of wisdom and advice are the best encouragement. God is going to use her to do amazing things in the lives of those kids in Australia, and He has already blessed me with her friendship. This may seem really sappy, but I just wanted to record for all time how great she is. :) Necole, I freakin' miss you, you tool!!! Righteous mac and cheese..... ;)

this week is CRAZY!!!!

ok, so i am pretty much going to have the most busy week ever. but Mom and Deborah come on Thursday night and i am sooooooooooo excited!!!! thankfully i think i can get all my reading and work done before then, but if i don't, it won't be the end of the world. and tonight all 4 of us in my apartment all hung out here for the first time, and it was super fun. :) ok, i sound really ditzy in this entry with all those exclamatory words i said. whatever. ok that made it worse. ugh.

i really have nothing more that i would like to share. good night!

countdown to italy: 90 days (as of Monday)

procrastination....

well, i really need to go study for my hinduism test, and i will, but i am going to waste some time typing on here first. i realized tonight, thanks to my financial aid coworker, that this weekend has the potential to be amazing. i have a test tomorrow, which means that i won't have religion homework over the weekend. and i finished my broadcast journalism project this afternoon that is due monday, so no homework for that class. and i don't read for my rhetoric class, so i won't worry about that! so that's like no work unless i want to read some aristotle for rhetoric! or perhaps some about rome for foreign study trip. but that is like nothing!!!! so my dear furman friends, we need to do something fun this weekend because i can. hahaha i am so self-centered, i act like no one else will have work if i don't. well, just don't work all weekend because i will get super bored with nothing to do. actually, i should catch up on my sleep even though that is impossible. maybe i will cook something... i cannot believe this week is already almost over. time is flying by at some sort of warp speed.

family weekend is next weekend! then homecoming! then fall break!!! i love october. :) and all the leaves are going to start changing colors soon! ahhhh....autumn.....

figi water is not better than dannon spring water. fyi....

and i did something this week i have never done before.... and you'll have to ask me if you want to know what...

ok, Krishna and Shiva, here i come...

countdown to italy: 94 days.

and this picture is of "gangsta swizzle" going to the kappa kappa gangsta function last night!

I survived.

I survived the retreat! Barely....

No, not really, it wasn't that bad. But it's over, so I don't care. It definately made me appreicate my friends more, though I did meet a few cool kids that I hung out with. At some point in the near future I will have to have them over for dinner, but not this week. Tonight was the only night this week I will be able to make a real dinner and have people over, which I did. I am so proud of my fettuccini alfredo success tonight. No more mac and paste! :) Though the garlic bread was a bit intense and the broccoli could have been more steamed, I thought it was pretty good, and so did my guests, I think.

This week is going to be super busy for me. Tomorrow I have normal stuff, including EVM and Engage, but I am also going to film Reilly for my Broadcast Journalism class. Then Wednesday is going to be CRAZY!! Just look at this schedule:

9-10: work
10-11: rhetoric
11-12: work
12-1: religion
1-3: broadcast journalism
3-5: EVM orientation group
5-6: religion study group
6-11:30: dinner at Erin's then Kappa Rage

Yeah, I will not stop from 9 AM to 11:30 PM! Oh, the chaos we call college life! I like keeping busy though, it keeps me from getting homesick or lonely. Only 10 days until Mom and Deborah get here!! Yay!!!!!!!!!

Italy countdown: 97 days