Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!! I am so thankful that I got a chance to start another year. No new years resolutions, but there are things that will be accomplished in 2007. PTL for great times and great memories of 2006, but I definitely look forward to this upcoming year.

Semester number 4 starts in about 2 weeks. It should go good. I am pretty excited about it. There are a few classes that I am excited about taking, but then who knows how that will go! I did however quit DQ again. I applied to be a resident assistant, but I haven’t heard anything yet. But I still have a little bit. If I don’t get that job, then I will more than likely just take up some extra hours at the ticket office.

I have an opportunity to go to Italy in May on a UChoir tour. It’s going to be fun, but man I am already nervous about it! But how cool that I get to sing in Italy! Get excited about that!

On a more serious note, on the road trip of life, I found myself with a flat tire, and no spare. sometimes I seem to find myself feeling like that prodigal son. . . the times where he had a great life, but because he wanted more, he took it and found that all it did was bring tiny moments of excitement. But once those moments were over, and he had nothing else, it was then that he decided to go back to the good life. Every once in a while, I find myself feeling like that. Feeling like I could be doing so much better in life if I took it in my hands. All I have found is that I am super wrong, and God will use whatever he can to make me realize that.

This semester went by really fast. I did alright with grades and even did alright in the beginning with my walk. But as the semester progressed, I found that I wasn’t taking that time out to do a devotion or to say a little prayer, and even not saying a blessing before eating. It got rough. I kept finding myself further and further away from my Maker, and even though I knew that, I never did anything about it. But then I started thinking about how I needed this “divine intervention” and how I needed something big to bring me back to where I needed to be. Back to where I had begun when the semester started. Right after Caswell. Honestly, I think I spent more time looking for a big thing that I was missing the still small voice that we should be listening for.

I came to Caswell this weekend for a reunion. I came a little bit early with the boy, and we spent some time together and went to a wedding of some former staff, which was very beautiful, and we did some volunteer time, I guess you could call it that anyway, for a conference that was here. Well, last night, new years eve, I went to the service, and one thing that stuck out in my mind from it all was when the guy was talking about something, but brought up the prodigal son. Yeah, it may have been a 30 second talk about it, but that really stuck out in my mind. Well I thought about it, and a song came to mind about “When God Ran”. Read the lyrics. . . then there’s more.

Almighty God. The Great I AM. Immovable Rock. Omnipotent. Powerful. Awesome. Lord. Victorious Warrior. Commanding King of Kings. Mighty Conqueror. And the only time, the only time I ever saw him run,
Was when he ran to me. He took me in His arms, held my head to His chest, and said “my son’s come home again”, lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, and with forgiveness in his voice, he said “Son, do you know I still love you”. He caught me by surprise, when God ran.
The day I left home. I knew I’d broken his heart. And I wondered then, if things could ever be the same. Then one night, I remembered his love for me. And down a dusty road, ahead I could see. It was the only time. The only time I ever saw him run.
Was when he ran to me. He took me in his arms, held my head to His chest and said “my son’s come home again, lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, and with forgiveness in his voice, he said “son do you know I still love you”. He caught me by surprise, and he brought me to my knees, when God ran. I saw Him run to me. And then I ran to him.

He was waiting on me to go to Him. He definitely tried getting my attention, with things from finances, to stress about jobs, even to my car. All I had to do was give it up to him, and things would have been taken care of. But I didn’t, and I knew it. But what the great thing is, is that I know, and I found that talking it out with him, and asking for his help, his “divine intervention” in my life, I know now that things are going to be alright.

One thing that is great about trusting God is that he does things for you that you would have never thought of. He has definitely given me a blessing that I can’t help but thank him for. He brought me a very special person that has been nothing short of amazing. Someone that is great to talk to, and has a great heart, and tries hard to live his life according to his purpose. My prayer is that we can use what our Maker has given us together to bring glory to Him and keep our relationship focused on Him. It does take work. But with the hearts and mind sets he has given both of us, all we have to do is try. Try hard, love Jesus. You got it.

Fabulous!

The Day Before Christmas

It's almost Christmas time. . . and I am super excited. . . well,except that its only 75 degrees out and doesn't feel like Christmas at all!!! I do however love the Christmas tree, and the lights that I can stare at for hours at a time and just smile thinking about all the great memories around the Christmas tree. Pretty exciting.

This guy is probably the greatest kid I have ever met in forever. He amazes me every single day and its wonderful. . . I can't wait to see what's going to happen with this! I crack myself up sometimes, because of how nervous I get around him when I know that I will be great and its going to be very enjoyable, I mean, his company always is. . . but man do I ever get nervous! Like crazy nervous, to the point of loss of appetite. ME! Loss of appetite! Isn't that a mess! Anyway, I could probably talk about him ALL DAY, so we'll move on.

This past semester went real good I think. I did a lot better on grades than I did last semester. Been doing the Dairy Queen and Parking Office thing, which has tired me out like crazy. This next semester I am through with DQ and I did apply to be an RA, but haven't heard anything yet. . . But if I don't get that, I still won't be at DQ and will probably just pick up extra hours at the parking office. Not to bad, but I do know that living on campus has helped a lot with stress and driving, and even my grades, so thats all a plus. I just got to remember that life is all taken care of, that I just have to lift it all up to my Maker.

My sister has an appointment on January 5th to meet with the surgeon. Scares the mess out of me that she is this close to surgery, but then I think of all the things that could benefit for her out of all this, so again, I just have to trust Him to be in the midst of it all. Keep her in your prayers.

Well, life is hard, and gets harder everyday, but its those 1000 little moments that get you through. I'll take 1000 over 1 anyday, and I def get excited about that!

Fabulous!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!! It has been a great day! Thanks to all those who made it special!


Its almost Christmas time!! Get excited!!


Have a good one!


Fabulous!

Try hard, Love Jesus

I have had to repeat this to myself a lot lately. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I have had to remind myself that I can't make it in life on my own. From crazy UChoir concerts, to voice class, to finals and papers, to Dr. Appts in Va. Life is tough, but I know I can't do it on my own.

There is less than a week left. (Well, then finals). Crazy huh!? This semester has gone by fast, but I can say that it has been a good one. I have done so much better with grades than last year, which is def a great thing. Working and doing other activities have left me stressed as usual but whats new?! But you know what? I will make it. I have before and today is no different.

Christmas is coming soooon! Working on Christmas cards as we speak! I get excited, because it means school is almost over, its time to get a christmas tree, and its a great time to spend with family. . . I know I already spend a lot of time with my family, but its always different. Hey, my uncle is coming the weekend of the 8th through the 10th which we are all pretty stoked about. Haven't seen him in a while, and I think it will be good for all of us. Get excited!!

The boy is wonderful. :) Get excited!

Okay, so underware shopping is becoming a fun hobby. . .lol, but what is even cooler is that today I got a $10 dollar off coupon to use during the month of my birthday from my favorite underware place! How cool is that!? Yeah, I got excited.

Well life is a mess but it will get better if we make it better. Remember the good things and find the great things everyday and it will make life tons better. Count your blessings.

Fabulous!

New (pretty much a.d.d) Thoughts!

Is LIFE like a box of CHOCOLATES? (I mean, some days, I just can’t associate LIFE with CHOCOLATE. That could just be a sin!)

“Come on everybody, let’s go meet . . . The PANSIES!!”

: Some ways I found that I am definitely fit to be an Ed Major:
~I love cartoons and the Disney Channel.
~Phil of the Future is my favorite.
~I think pretty literally.
~Instances of this just crack me up. But CANNOT be mentioned.
~Any kind of “get together” I find myself attracted to the younger aged, rather than the ones my age.

Meditation Bracelet:
Crack me up. It was a gift from my Ma at DQ, and she def told me it was a meditation bracelet . . . which she is btw Buddhist and believes in the same God I do, which makes it even funnier.

Learning moment . . . or epiphany . . . either way you choose:
Who cares? The past is the past and CANNOT be changed. Move on. Try hard to not repeat mistakes, and LOVE Jesus. Duh.

School Days:
School is almost over. 10 more days of classes. I have a concert tomorrow that I have to be up unbelievably early to be in Gboro by 715. Makes for a long day, but it should be fun. I have done soon much better this semester too, which is def a positive . . . I sucked at life the past two, so this makes up for it lol.

All right that’s about it. . . hope your having a great week, and don’t be too distracted about where my thoughts were going on this one!!

Fabulous!

Hmm. . . Just some thoughts

I was thinking I would do something different for this one . . . but then I thought about it and it’s pretty much the same as always . . . a random bunch of Me thoughts.

Everyone has a song. . . YOUR own song . . . but has your song lost its joy? Find the joy in your song again. . . If you need help, ask. HE can show you the joy in your song again.

(Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to Him) I tell you what, my God has been MORE than GOOD to me!

Why is it that we get scared? Scared of things like getting in front of a large group of people . . . scared of walking down a walkway alone . . . scared of opening up to those close to you.
Why is it that we get this way? Is it because we then have to show weakness? I was watching a TV show the other day about how a girl was running track, but she didn’t think she could handle it and wanted to quit. . .until she finally opened up to someone close to her and found out that they felt the same way. . . all the time.

Heartbreak hurts. Everyone knows this. But . . . without hurt, there is not learning and growing.

Fear of hurting someone else? Messing things up? Taking things too fast. . . I was told that if both feel that way then why be afraid? Pretty much I took it as if both are on the same sheet of music and something is done wrong, both can find the mistake and fix it before moving on. . .

If it is His will, no fear . . . Consistently ask that there is no fear . . . that its never too early or too late . . . that its okay to take your time . . . things happen for a reason and it is all in a perfect plan. HIS perfect plan. HE makes things happen.

Ladies! Hold on to your teeth!!! (A lady said this on our women’s retreat) *crack up*

Yeah, I know, random . . . but it at least gives a little of what I have been thinking about lately.

Fabulous!

Thought of the day.

Hmm.

Sometimes what is on the inside isn’t always what you can see on the outside. This picture has a person you can see their whole self and then in the reflection of the window you can see something totally different; a scared face in the forward person but in the reflection a happy face. It may be usually the other way around, but this, looking at this picture randomly today, gave me a thought. Isn’t it hard to show something different on the outside than what’s on the inside? Why is it that we can’t just take what were given?

James 13-15 (The Message) says:
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing . . . Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

Every morning when you wake up you have 2 choices. Your first choice is that you can get out of bed and moan and grumble that you just might have to work or go to class. You could be sleepy, and complain about it all day. Make yourself so miserable that you have a terrible day, and then go to bed that night, still complaining, because of that waste of a day. Or, your second choice is that you can wake up first thing in the morning and tell yourself you are going to have a great day. This day was given to you. It was given so that it can be enjoyed and that you can be thankful for another day. Go to work, do what needs to be done and do it glad heartedly. Class is for your future. You go to school to get the information needed to fulfill your life to the fullest.

Be thankful.

You might only have so many left.

If you’re hurting, pray. If you feel great, sing. If you have sinned . . . you can be healed.

Fabulous!

Who knew picking someone else's nose could be funny?

Crack me up.

Fabulous!

You play with fire, you wind up burned.

Mountaintops and Valleys

I have to say that this has been the busiest, most stressful past few weeks ever!

I am still working on getting my paperwork or whatnot in for the School of Ed. It’s tripping me out because I am in the School of Ed but they still need my application form? Oh well, I just know I have till the end of the semester to turn it in. Big deal.

I got to see my special friend this past weekend, and I have to admit, I was unbelievably nervous. Don’t know why I ever get that way because I know I am really not but I sure do make a big deal about a lot of stuff on the inside.  I mean, what kind of name is Bubb Rubb anyway?! Ha-ha, Good times. . . I am hoping anyway. I hate that inner voice that is always sounding discouraging . . . for instance, this whole thing about being really far away. It’s great until I actually think about it, and then I constantly am asking myself, “is it really worth it” or “I know it seems great now, but where is this going to go?” I don’t want to sound negative or oddly discouraging, but really, where is this going to go? Then I remember that my faith relies in Him above, and that’s where I just have to let things be. My crazy, think-too-hard self has to let things be.

I got into a conversation with a great friend yesterday about missing places. I worked three very great summers at two even greater places. My first summer was spent on the mountain. Mundo’s Mountain. Phenomenal summer. I had a great time . . . but it was so hard to leave. Then the second summer was spent there again, yet this time, it really was only hard to leave a few people. I had developed friendships, but not a love for the summer like the one before. It was very stressful, but God placed people in my path that I will never in my lifetime forget the impact they had on me. They are some of my favorite people. This past summer I spent at Caswell. Amazing place. Phenomenal people. A fantastic summer. I was okay to leave however, because I knew that it wouldn’t be the last time I saw these people. It wasn’t that hard. But, this past weekend I got to see those very same people and realized it was harder to leave this time. Yeah, maybe not everyone was a good thing to see, I actually could have gone without seeing some lol. . . But there were those that also had a great impact on me that I already miss like crazy and it’s only been like 2 days!! But then I do know again that I will see them again. We were talking about mountaintops and valleys. . . Steven Curtis Chapman sings a fabulous song talking about these, and there is a link in the title where you can hear it. Just find “Mountain”. To give some of the words that really explain what “the mountain” means:

You bring me up here on this mountain
For me to rest and learn and grow
I see the truth up on the mountain And I carry it to the world far below
So as I go down to the valley
Knowing that You will go with me
This is my prayer, Lord
Help me to remember what You've shown me
Up on the mountain
Up on the mountain

I cherish these times up on the mountain
But I can leave this place because I know
Someday You'll take me home to live forever
Up on the mountain

My friend said that once people leave that you remember from the summer you have to descend back to the valley . . .or take a 4 hour drive home. You would be amazed how much you think about and talk about, by yourself, yes, in the car by yourself.

God gives me tons to think about, I just have the hardest time with straying away and getting away from my connections with him. Can’t ever be good. My prayer lately has been to allow myself to get off my own pedestal and allow him to be my source.

There really has been a lot of stress in my life here lately, and it’s my own fault. I allow my life to be so hectic that it gets completely full and I am running myself silly. School is stressful, relationships, finances, family, own needs . . . just too many. But they are getting in control, because slowly but surely I am able to lift them up and my Maker is taking the weight off my shoulders.

Sorry for such a long blog. . . Had a little bit of time and this allows me to get my thoughts out. Hope your having a fantastic week, if you are around here, enjoy the rain . . . and the great feel of tennis shoes!! ;) Take care of you.

Fabulous!

Ready for the Beach.

So ready.

Fabulous!

Hermits

Last year I commuted to school. . . yeah, it was a rough year, but now that I think about it, it wasn't so bad. Since I moved on campus, I can say that I have had the "college experience" where I guess you aren't experiencing college unless you live on campus? Or something like that. Well. . . I like living on campus or whatever, but sometimes I wish I could be able to just leave, and go to my home. Go back and be able to avoid some situations and even some people as bad as that sounds. Its better that I am here and have to deal with them, because otherwise I wouldn't ever learn, but man oh man do I wish I wouldn't have to deal this much. Life is great, but man the details are a mess.

I can't wait to see him. . . see you. . . Been too long since I have last seen you. . . and good gracious I don't even know what i'm gonna do when I see you!! Get excited! You know I am!!

Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Fabulous!

Wow, crazy life!

Soooo many things have gone on the past few days. SO MANY!!

I have this choir thing on Oct 14th at Elon and I am super excited about it. The song was written by one of our pro's here and I think he has done a phenominal job at it. The song has different modes in it with Orff instruments playing in it as the choir sings, along with a liturgical dance. I am really excited about singing it, and we get to practice all together tomorrow afternoon so I am super excited! PS yeah thats the same day as the day I get to see all of my friends from FC so I am even more excited about that!

I went to the doc yesterday, something I never do, because of pretty much a week long headache. He def told me that I had muscular tension because of stress which was causing the headache. So he pretty much gave me this muscle relaxer headache pill that I am not allowed to take before driving lol. Duh. Stressed. Me. Who knew?

So I def got pulled last night. Kinda funny, but I tell you what, I about wet myself. I didn't get pulled for speeding, no, cause that would have been too easy, but I did however get pulled for not completely stopping at a red light. The one right smack dab in the middle of Lillington! Go figure. Go me. PTL for a warning.

I have to tutor for 10 hours for my Ed class this semester, and I went today for my first session. I am super excited! It was so great to get to work with kids! And the teacher I got is really great, she is a CU grad, go Camels, and loves teaching. I am really glad to get to work with her, because it not only gets my energy level up about teaching, but it is going to be great experience working in a classroom setting with 3rd graders!!

So yes, that does add yet another event in my crazy life. But its going to work out. I can do it, there is nothing I can't handle lol. . . well, I hope not! I just have to remember to take it one day at a time and remember that everyday is new and I am never alone!

Miss you tons my frrriiieeennnd!

Fabulous!

Proud Supporter of Krispy Kreme!

Fabulous!

Mmm, great day.

Today has def been a much better day. Things have gone great, had an exciting morning and am finishing out my day with a fun event.

I got the opportunity to go to my old high schools See You At The Pole this morning. It turned out great. Its really exciting to see youth on fire for our Maker. Some even brought tears to my eyes realizing that they love him.

I got a chance to spend some time with my family this morning, which is always good. . . and finally got my car inspected! Yay! (since it was due in oh, i dont know, MAY!) But it feels good to finally get that, and my ma, off my back.

I miss this kid soooo much. It breaks my heart that I can't go see him this weekend. I know I am always busy and doing something, but sometimes, I have to. Its the way I am built. I am a busy girl, and love every bit of it. I can't wait however to see him. That great face. :) Big hug is on hold for that one, and its driving me crazy that I can't have one now!! (PS, just for you, I heard "Come Just As You Are" on the radio this morning, and because of a fabulous memory, you have been on my mind ALL DAY LONG!)

Its funny how people randomly come back into your life. Two instances today where people I haven't seen or heard from in forever just randomly pop up, like driving out of the bookstore parking lot today as I was walking by. . . crazy huh?! Yeah, I though so too. But who knows. My Maker may have something in store. Just got to be patient. . . especially when it comes to a boy in Boone.

So today was a great day. I am def getting ready to take a nap, because 6oclock came really early this morning! Hope you have had a great day too!!

Fabulous!