This Tuesday feels like a Monday

So, it's getting to be that time of the semester. The sucky time when all the random things you were supposed to be "working on" all semester are due and exams are around the corner. The time when everyone's getting kind of sassy because we had to drag ourselves back here for these 2 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break and we just want to stay on break, in our own beds at home, eating real food and doing nothing. The time when the student teachers (well, at least me) are getting quite nervous about what next semester is going to entail (maybe this is because I just took a glance through the 3rd grade social studies standards, only to realize that I know, uhh, NONE of that stuff... no big deal!)

To top it all off, the Victoria's Secret fashion show is on (Emily: "How much do you think those wings weigh?" Me: "How much do you think those girls weigh?!?") So I took a break from trying to decide how many days of consecutive not eating it would take for me to look like one of those models to look at something a little more meaningful...

I've been reading a lot in Romans 12 lately. Verse 2 has been popping up EVERYWHERE lately it seems... like seriously, every person who I hear speak, everything I read, this verse has been all over the place, so I feel the need to mention it:

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world any longer, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- His good, pleasing, and perfect will."

I think that a lot of seniors (myself included... obviously) are so concerned about next year and what God's will for our lives is, but we get so caught up in all the applications, schoolwork, and our own ambitions that we get burned out and can sometimes forget to go to God for that renewing of our minds. I think that, for me at least, when I haven't spent that time praying about it and reading my Bible and experiencing that renewal, my vision of God's will gets clouded by my own desires. So right now, during this crazy time, a big challenge for me is to continually seek that renewal so that I'm not conforming to the craziness of this time... so that I can experience clarity and feel more confident about God's desire for my life.

Also, I've been focusing on Romans 12: 9- 21 lately as well. I haven't made it through the entire passage yet, as I'm trying to break it down by verse. But here are the ones that I'm currently being most challenged by:

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good" (v. 9)

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all" (v. 17)

Yeah, it's sometimes hard for me to "hate what is evil"... to really dislike the things that separate me from God enough to remove them from my life. But I think that this is a challenge worth taking, because God is good, and I want this goodness in every part of my life. Also, the importance of not repaying evil has been made abundantly clear to me over and over again over the past several months. I think that the beauty of God's grace is so awesome that it's worth at least attempting to share with everyone... and I mean EVERYONE!!

Have a fabulous Wednesday (and stay dry... if you're in Clinton!)

Break

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" -1 Chronicles 16:34

I must say, I have had a fabulous Thanksgiving break so far. I have so much to be thankful for (including the things I listed a few days ago, and more.) This Thanksgiving break, I have been so thankful to just be lazy at home with my family. To sit around playing Friends Scene It? with my sister, to shop with my mom, and to drag anyone who is willing to Cupcake/ Yoghut. Just to share a few highlights of my break so far...

1. TV with my father: Seeing as how I don't have a tv in my room at home (weird?), dad and I have spent some quality time watching tv in the living room. Fortunately for me, my dad has extremely feminine tastes when it comes to tv shows. For example, the other night we sat around watching the Dancing With the Stars finale... may I just say that the only person who was extremely emotionally invested in this little broadcast was my father. He was thrilled that Jennifer Grey won! He had some not so nice things to say about Bristol. Other examples of my father's tv tastes include but are not limited to: Rachael Ray, Friends, any and all pageants (seriously though, my dad is a pretty fun person to watch pageants with!), and 50 First Dates (which is apparently one of Dad's favorites, which I just learned when he heard some song on the radio in the car and goes, "this song is in 50 First Dates... such a great movie!") All I have to say, is thank goodness my dad had girls!

2. BLACK FRIDAY: So yesterday, we got up at 4:30 (well, some of us did... others waited until we were leaving at 5 to decide to get up) to go shopping. We went to Target first, and the line to check out ended in front of the electronics in the back of the store... to which Mandy said, not worth it and that she'd rather pay full price for the Sex and the City DVD's I wanted. So we got our Starbucks and peaced and went to the mall, where we had much better luck. HOWEVER, may I just say, that Chickfila needs to get organized for occasions such as this... the like 30 minutes we spent in line/ waiting for our food really slowed us down I feel! Also, I feel like children under the age of 10 and especially babies should not be brought out shopping on Black Friday. Period. After the mall, we headed to GB shoes and then to Target for round 2 (luckily the lines were down and they still had Sex and the City ptl!) Successful day? I think so!

3. So Sarah left yesterday to go to Clemson, and things have been much more boring since she left. So while she's up there pretending to care about the game (because let's be honest, if there's anything we're NOT, it's football fans), we've been doing some Christmas decorating (which she hates anyway and always tries to get out of). I should note, though, that I am wearing garnet and black to also act as if I care about this game... I would say that I have Carolina-ish tendencies if I absolutely had to choose, BUT I really think that my level of not caring comes in handy because I can blend in with any crowd and cheer for whoever... also, my wardrobe isn't limited to one team (because isn't football all about what you wear to the game? At least, at PC it is...)

ANYWAY, decorating. Here's a picture of our "tree" (we do fake) all decorated.

Little blurry... thanks Blackberry.

Hope everyone has had a fabulous Thanksgiving... much love!

Let us Love

"Let us love like we were children

Make us feel like we're still living

In a world, I know, that's burning to the ground"

Ok, so here are some of my recent (and not so recent) obsessions:

- Concerts

- Sushi

- Needtobreathe

- My friends

- Red velvet cake

Fortunately, my Saturday night involved ALL of these things, because a bunch of us went to see Needtobreathe at Furman!! Seriously, SO fun! The concert was awesome, and they played a bunch of stuff from their next album... which is going to be amazing, by the way.

Now, as I've mentioned, I'm TERRIBLE at taking pictures... I wish I had taken some. However, none of the pictures that I could have taken would have topped this one:

Clearly, this guy is NOT from needtobreathe. He was from the opening band (I don't even remember the name of the band.) We ran into him as we were leaving, so Sarah decided that some of our group should get a diamond pic with him? Apparently I missed his instructions not to smile. Classic.

One day til I'm home for food, family, and SHOPPING!!!

New fav

So I've found a new blog that I'm a big fan of... Things We Forget. It has all these little post-it note quotes that are pretty cute... here are some of my favs:

Have a fabulous Saturday!

I'm SO over this!

School, I mean. Now that I'm done with my capstone and almost, almost done with teacher work sample, I am ready to peace for winter break! Unfortunately, I have all these random little assignments still to do over the next like three weeks. Despite the fact that I kind of have a lot going on between school and Diamond Days, I found time to share some of my top Christmas wish list items... you know, on the off chance that any of the like 8 people who read this blog are feeling especially generous :)

Not sure why this picture is so small, but I'm loving these Jack Rogers flats!

And this David Yurman bracelet...

... and this ADPi ring. Don't hate... I legit want this.

It's really troubling me that all those pictures are different sizes...

Also, I'd love these Lilly notecards... How precious are these?! I love to write notes. I love to receive notes. Seriously, nothing makes my day more than getting a random note in my mailbox or something.

Ok... that's it for now. I promise to make this blog more substantial one day.

Thankful!

So, with Thanksgiving coming up, I'm extremely thankful for many things, several of which I will list here:

1. The most terrible week/end EVER is OVER! Ok, so Saturday, I took the Praxis and PLT, the two tests that I must pass to graduate/ get my teaching license/ be productive in life. The tests really weren't that bad or anything, but still... I had to spend a lot of time last week studying (kind of) for them, which was problematic due to the fact that I also had to prepare for my CAPSTONE PRESENTATION, which was today. My presentation was on the research I did this semester on childhood stress, anxiety, and depression. This topic, ironically, pretty much summed up this past week... well the stress and anxiety part, anyway. In and of themselves, each of these two things would have been a pretty big deal on their own. However, the combination and timing just made for a stressful last week and weekend, which PTL is over!!! Woo hoo! I could not be more pumped!

2. I'm thankful for my roommates. I'm thankful for Megan (or Megz, as she hates to be called) for being my early childhood bffl for the past 2 years and going along with my adventures all around Columbia on Friday before the praxis... especially her patience in trying to find the right color green Patagonia that I want and her willingness to accompany me to the Cupcake store, even though she wanted to sleep. What a pal! Oh, and I was especially thankful for Megan when I had a friend at the Praxis on Saturday... I think that there's always an interesting crowd when you're taking a standardized test, and Saturday was no exception. Thank goodness I had someone there with me!

Flashback to sophomore year... Megan and I before Theta Chi Christmas party, ironically in front of our future residence, A3!

I'm also thankful for Emily... I'm so glad that we are roommates and that she likes to go to bed early like me and that she doesn't kill me for waking her up early every single day... I'm thankful that she became an RA so that we could get this townhouse. I'm also thankful that she only likes green and orange sour patch kids, which works out perfectly since I only like red and yellow! More importantly, I'm thankful that we can go to church together and that she is always such a huge source of encouragement!

Carolina Cup 2010... soo much better than Cup '09!

And of COURSE, I'm thankful for Nance... for always keeping our lives interesting. There's never a dull moment in this house, which can usually be attributed to Nancy. I'm thankful for that time she got locked in CVS and the time she got the terrible hives... those always provide great stories! I'm thankful that she loves to bake and always makes A3 seasonal treats. I'm also thankful for that time that she let me cut her hair sophomore year, because that also provides a great story!

Oh, just getting ready to go out freshman year... in SMYTH!

3. I'm thankful for Sister Wives.

4. I'm thankful that Greenville got a Yogurt Mountain. I'm also thankful for whichever one of my friends that I'm going to convince to go there with me this week.

5.

I'm so thankful I go here!

Just some pictures from my blackberry

Ok, so it all started the other day when I went to CVS to buy envelopes. I was distracted/ disturbed by the fact that they sell these at CVS of all places!!! So distracted in fact that I did NOT remember to buy my envelopes!

Genuine Leather Jackets... at CVS. Only $19.99!!!

OBVIOUSLY, I had to snap a picture of this to send to Emily. Then I realized that a. I've never deleted or uploaded any of my pictures since I got this phone 6 months ago, and b. I have some pretty awesome ones... aka, I don't know what else to do with pictures from my phone except for to post them here, for all 5 of y'alls enjoyment :)

Ever walk through the mall and see those hurricane simulator things and think to yourself, "Who would actually do that??"

Nancy would...

Look at Nance withstanding those 78.4 mph winds like a champ in the middle of a crowded mall!

Just a stalker pic I took of the ADPi house at University of Florida when I was in Gainesville this summer... I may or may not have searched for the address and used my gps specifically to find this.

Emily gets her first pedi... that she likes. ***Also, note the gentleman to her left enjoying a pedi too!***

I have another (actually pretty) one that blogger just will not upload! Maybe later...

Well, that's pretty much the highlights... hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday! Much love!

November!

It is NOVEMBER... how crazy is that?! I feel like this semester is flying by! So, I've been trying to blog for a few days now, but the other one I'm working on involves a lot of pictures... unfortunately blogger is having some issues with the uploading. But I thought that I'd provide a little update (minus pictures, which in my opinion makes blogs much less fun, but whatever) of my exciting life!

Yesterday, I headed to Charlotte to meet up with two friends from camp! It was so much fun to reunite and catch up! This was the first time I've seen anyone from this summer since I left Florida in August, so it was so great to see them. I seriously cannot believe that it has been three whole MONTHS since the summer ended. That is so crazy to me! We went to Concord Mills and shopped around and ate and saw a movie. Reunions just make my heart happy (well, except for family ones... kidding) so we must do it again soon!

After I left the Mills, I went to Southpark, aka my new favorite place to shop! If I hadn't been alone, I seriously would have stayed there until it closed. It is amazing how excited you get about chain stores and restaurants when you get out of the small town of Clinton! I also really wished that someone had been with me so that I could have eaten at the Cheesecake Factory... I just wasn't feeling dining there alone. But now that I've been there, I'm sure I'll go back that way soon. Also, my one (and only) purchase for the entire day was a J. Crew turtleneck... first one of the season, it's officially fall!

My last bit of exciting news is that I finally, FINALLY got my car back from the shop after 2 weeks! May I just say, never have I ever been so thankful for my little camry! These past 2 weeks have been rough... special thanks to EMILY for driving me around everywhere/ letting me use her car!

What a pal! Oh, look... my uploader is fixed! Thank goodness :)