Catch up - WARNING: This post may get lengthy!

 After a day like today, my brain is fried.  I cannot force one more ounce of knowledge into my brain tonight, so instead of studying into the wee hours of the morning, I thought I would catch you, my faithful readers, up on what has been happening in my life.  After class today, I headed over to Heather's for a fall Family photo shoot.  First off, let me say, taking wonderful photos is a lot more challenging than one might think - especially with a two year old.  But this child, whom you've seen in previous posts, is just so stinkin' cute!  I just love him!  I really hope I at least got a few good shots.  We'll see!

I had planned on spending this past weekend with my best friends, Brock and Jonathon, in Knoxville.  I looked forward to catching up with them all last week.  After all, I haven't seen them for almost 2 months.  I had all the logistics planned out - what time I needed to leave, what we were going to do - it was going to be a wonderful weekend full of much needed stress relief (yes I'm stressed, and it' only week 4).  My plans quickly backfired as I realized my weekend had become one scheduling disaster.  Somehow, my fool-proof method of date keeping had failed me.  Everything went wrong on Wednesday.  A professor at school first notified me of a mandatory event taking place on Friday night.  No problem, I thought.  I will just head to Knoxville early Saturday, spend the day catching up, go to the game, spend the night and come home Sunday evening.  Then, I went to church where a small child informed me that I had rehearsal Sunday afternoon.  Say what?  Rehearsal?  On Sunday?  There flew my plans, out the window.  I still went to the game on Saturday, which was fun.  Brock's Mom, Amy, came down to set with us for the second half of the game.  She took this wonderful family.

 
While at the game, we were looking through photos from the Florida game, and realized that my brother got (by accident) a wonderful shot of Brock!  Now just to get an action shot of Jonathon.  Anyway, this weekend is a big one for the Vols!  Wish I could be in GA this weekend!

The weekend before last was quite sad.  Heaven gained a wonderful angel Thursday, Sept. 13.  Dear family friend, Sue Brown is no longer in pain, after battling cancer for the past year.  Always caring and loving, Sue loved the children she taught and touched the lives of many!  I wish I could say more, but at the moment, I simply can't!  Thank you, Sue, for everything!

On a happier note, next Sunday, Oct. 7, is our first Chorale concert of the season!  All of you living in the area should come enjoy a "Choral Collage."  Director, Dr. Alan Stevens, will be showcasing the versatility of the ETSU Chorale by leading us in performing a wide and unique variety of musics including Siberian, Jamaican, and Folk.  A fun time is guaranteed!

On the "Seussical" front - I'm having a blast!  I have rehearsal tomorrow evening and we run through Act 1 Sunday afternoon!  Super exciting stuff.

I'm sure I've left out a million things - all of which I will remember as soon as I hit the publish button.  Oh well.  That's all for now.  Thanks for reading!

peace.

Blasé Monday

It was brought to my attention this evening, by my best friend Brock, that I haven't been the best blogger lately.  "Y U NO BLOG?!" he asks.  Let me catch you up on today's shenanigans. 

I've settled back into the school routine quite seamlessly and painlessly.  As painless as possible considering parking is atrocious on campus.  I feel that I have been going nonstop since 2 weeks before school even started.  Well, let me tell you.  Today was the day that it caught up with me.  We all know that Monday's are typically blasé.  Today started out fairly routinely.  I certainly was not ready to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 6:15.  I forced myself out of bed, got ready, grabbed my oh-so-wonderful Throat Coat tea and hit the road.  My first class was fine.  Boring.  Whatever.  Then I reported to my voice teacher for APS work.  He instructed me to make some copies down in the teacher work room.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Well, at least that's what I thought.  I proceeded to the workroom where I discover that the copier was experiencing some technical difficulties - difficulties that took 3 people (including myself) over 20 minutes to solve.  Darn xerox machines!  We got everything taken care of and I began copying.

Then I hear a terrible screeching sound coming from the hallway.  Great.  The fire alarm.  At this point, I was contemplating ignoring it, but as soon as I would, the building would really be on fire and it would collapse on me.  I left the copy machine running and headed out only to realize once outside that I no longer had a key to get into the teacher work room.  Great.  Luckily the sounding alarm was only a routine drill.  I tracked down a key, finished my work, and went on my daily business.  

The day had significantly shaped up until the time for Chemistry rolled around.  I proceeded to class only to be told that out of 125 students in the classroom, only 7 people were still enrolled - the rest purged from ETSU!  Say what?!  Purged?!  You heard right!  Today, thousands of students across campus were purged from records for no apparent reason.  The school worked all day to restore these issues and are just now being fixed.  It proves problematic when the majority of your homework is to be completed online.  Anyway, we are back up and running now!  My day significantly shaped up after a wonderful performance in Vocal Studio.  It was my first time singing solo French repertoire and it went surprisingly well.

Busy week ahead:  Babysit tomorrow night.  Church Wednesday.  Seuss Thursday.  And off to Knoxville for a fun weekend with my best friends on Friday!  I promise I will catch you up on my life as of late soon!

peace.

The BIG Two Zero!

Well, folks.  It's official.  I survived the dreaded teenage years - braces, acne, and all.  Last night, I was expecting to wake up this morning feeling differently, but to no avail.  I fell exactly the same.  No surprise.

Anyway, I spent my day cheering on the greatest football team in the south, the Tennessee Volunteers!  There's nothing like sitting out in the rain with thousands of other die-hard fans dressed in bright orange, doing the wave and singing Rocky Top at the tops of our lungs.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my Birthday.

Looking back, the dreaded teenage years weren't so bad in my book.  Of course they are full of changes, zits, voice cracks, and embarrassing moments, but when you have supportive friends and family, non of it is so bad.  I am incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.  I am truly thankful for each and every one of you.  Thank you for being there for me over the past 20 years.  Here's to 20 more!

peace.

#LOVE3030

As you may have already guessed, Passion City Church's #Love3030 Challenge came to a close a few weeks ago on August 22.  I've been meaning to comment on this challenge since the end date, but times has been slipping away lately.

This 30 day journey helped me stop and reflect on God's unconditional love each and every day.  I feel that His love is something we often take for granted.  Additionally, over time, we assume that our friends, family, and loved ones know that we love them.  This statement is true, but we need to remind those in our lives that we love them on a daily basis.  I promise you - they will never tire of hearing it.

For those of you that we unable to participate in this challenge, I challenge you to stop and reflect on this list of 30 Bible verses, that share God's love, for the next 30 days.  One verse a day - not too much to ask.  And if you really want to take it to the next level, remind someone each day that you love them.  You can do this through a text message, phone call, or even in person.  You will get more out of this than you would ever imagine!

Spread God's love today and always!  Have a blessed week!

peace.

Labels

The society we live in focuses entirely too much on labels.  Labels are not always bad, but for the most part, the ways in which we use labels have negative connotations.  I encourage you to watch this video, created by East Tennessee State University.  It is certainly well worth your time.

 

Think about how others classify or label you.  Think about how you label others.  Do you do this in a positive or negative manner?  Think about these types of questions next time you find yourself labeling or judging others.

peace.