Happy Belly

This picture pretty accurately sums up my past two weeks... Getting really excited about Christmas and enjoying the spirit, but, still alone. It definitely won't feel like Christmas until you all are back. Which better be soon.

I've eaten really well lately. Friday was our crazy Spanish party so I ate loads and loads then. Saturday night I went to the McCroskey's neighbourhood party, so I ate tons more there. Lots of delicious desserts, mmm. Sunday was Mrs. Jennifer's 50th surprise party, so again, more food. Monday the guidance office put together a really nice meal for all of the office workers so I ate lots and lots. My belly has definitely been happy. I guess its just that time of year.

I'm almost done and so excited about it. Some of my classes are pretty much done entirely for the semester, others are slowing, and others are still chugging along maniacly. Plus, I was planning on skipping monday, which is our review day for exams, since I'm exempt from all of them, but now i'm not so sure if i'll be able to. Its so dumb because I could be on break three days earlier, but a lot of my classes have things due and quizzes and stuff. And by a lot I mean Spanish (a quiz, multiple NSE's due, etc), although Huddleston is threatening to have a quiz and I'm not sure if we'll still have our weekly "White-Book Mondays" in calc. It frustrates me, because technically the teachers aren't allowed to give quizzes or anything and are only allowed to review, but all of my teachers are the ones that don't pay attention to rules.

Our spanish party was awesome, I think it went really well. I particularly enjoyed missing all of my classes and eating lots of fantastic food. Here is the final product of my window. Its not fantastic, but it was good enough. I ran out of black tape at the end so I couldn't go back and line in black the layers of mountain and sky. Ah well.

I miss you all more than you know. I hope you're all getting excited for the Holidays and I hope you have a relatively stress-free final weeks. Call me call me call me

For your enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-NjNkrW7dE&feature=fvste3

:) Trust me, although it might seem a little boring and repetitious, it is totally worth it.

Hey, Rainy Day

I got back to Athens and Poplar Sunday night, and spent my time getting my life organized for the school week and unpacking.  As everyone arrived back at our home, we started pulling out the Christmas decorations...we have a lot.  Christmas wreath on the front door, stars and lights hanging, and a miniature Christmas tree.  Precious.  I love the holiday feelings of being festive and cozy and all that.  I went with Olivia to her new house!  They had some furniture to move in from a truck, so I helped her organize the space and direct where the boys could move the furniture to.  Unlike Lindsey, I am not much in the muscle department.  Tseehehehehe.  Anyways, the week seems to be going by pretty fast so far.  I don't even remember Monday.  Oh wait, I do, I wrote a paper.  Later that night Becca, Ellyn, and I went to a bonfire at our old friends' house- it was so random.  The people we hung out with freshman year- Josh, Tyler, Levi, and all those guys.  It was fun to hang out since we don't really see them anymore.

Yesterday was long.  I didn't sleep well Monday night, and woke up at 6 am Tuesday, so I was tired before I even got started.  Class was boring, but that afternoon I went to a jewelry/ art sale where Livs and Kaylyn had stuff on sale.  I bought earrings that are cute.  Last night we made pasta and salad and bread for supper club and blondies for dessert.  It was a first- we had boys present.  Supper club is always girls only.  It was fine though.  I didn't have homework so we watched He's Just Not That Into You, which none of us had ever seen.  It wasn't bad.

{Also, yesterday evening I was picking up pizzas at Papa John's to drop off at Redeemer, and while there, an older 40's ish southern/ redneck man starts talking to me.  I keep in line with polite, short answers.  Then he asked me if I "go downtown" (as in go to bars).  I said, "No, not really that often."  To which he replied, "Yeah, it's crazy downtown...real crazy.  Like Disneyland with alcohol."  I kid you not.  I awkwardly laughed but didn't say anything, and then just prayed really hard that the pizzas would be ready faster.  That is my life.}

Today it's raining like crazy and I'm home- and kind of wet- from classes.  The last time I showered I was in Nashville, sick hahah.  I'll probably procrastinate/ pretend to do work this afternoon.  It's that kind of day.



I want to have Emily Haines's voice/ job.  I'm obsessing over this acoustic version lately.  Homegirl.



I miss ya'll already.  I like December.  I need to think about how I'm going to order my room once Olivia's stuff is gone...I will have much more room.  My back is sore and I have no clue why.

OMG technology

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tv/TED-India-Pranav-Mistry/videoshow_ted/5231080.cms

Tape People

I got something very exciting in the mail on Thursday: my first acceptance letter! It's just UTK, but still, I'm officially going to college now!

Last night was our playoff game against Franklin (semi-finals). It was absolutely insane. One of the most entertaining games I've watched in a while. We we're tied 7-7 during the final quarter. Then we lost possession without 3 minutes to go, so we were all getting more and more nervous. With about 16 seconds left on the clock, they were around 20 yards away from the end-zone with a fourth down. They brought out their kicker (who had already missed an easy one earlier in the game, due to nerves most likely). So in attempts to psych him out again, we used all of our remaining time outs. And then, instead of kicking for the 3 points, they decided to go for it on the fourth down. And to our luck, they didn't get it! Bring on the overtime. So for the overtime, both teams got a chance on the 10 yard line to try to score. Franklin went first. They got the touchdown on the first down, and then the extra point was good. On our turn, it took us 3 downs, but we got the touchdown and the extra point. Bring on more overtime. This time we went first, and it took us all 4 downs to get it, but we got the touchdown and extra point. Then, Franklin once again got it on the first down. Then, I guess they decided they wanted this game to end on their terms, so they went for the extra 2 points and missed!!! Thus we won! It was crazy, everyone rushed the field, so excited. Next weeks we play White Station, and if we win, we go to state!

After the game, everyone went to Starbucks. We were sitting outside, and we stayed forever for some reason. We ran into a couple other people, and for some reason we ended up sitting in the middle of the parking lot until around 12:30. We had dance parties to people's car music, drew with sidewalk chalk, and played with bubbles. I love my friends.

Dad and I have watched Star Trek five times since it came out on Tuesday... my schoolwork has noticed =].

This week, our school put up all of these tape people things, representing people killed through smoking, and had little informational sheets in them about the dangers of smoking. Here's an example of one, which happens to be me! They traced me during my first period (when I office work for guidance). Aren't I cute?
Anyways, so every day during seventh period (my other office working period) I always meet up with a lot of people and have fun. Kelsey, Mariam, Melissa, and more people also office working during that class (although for various teachers) and Nikhita and Carolyn both of study hall. So oftentimes, we go to Adams room and have an impromptu dance party (since thats his planning period and nothing is happening in there) or go to the senior courtyard and do other various, equally random things. Its definitely my favorite class of the day. So anyways, on Wednesday, we were feeling especially energized. This was around the time that all of the tape people went up, and some how, Kelsey Mariam Melissa and I came up with yet another ridiculous passtime. Here are the results:

It was incredibly amusing, and for about an hour, there were two tape people of me in our school. Unfortunately, it got taken down about halfway through eighth period. We were bummed. We thought it was a good-natured joke, apparently the administration didn't agree. Ah well, what can you do?

Clearly, I'm enjoying senior year. I love my friends. We're so comfortable in our nerdiness.

I'm so so thrilled about Thanksgiving coming up. I still have a bunch of work to get done before, but that's okay. I can't wait to see all of you, it makes me so happy thinking about it. I love you, and will see you soon!

Free Willy song

Hey beautiful girls.

This week has been very tiring, but I'm almost done! and it feels great. I procrastinated a ton and had lots of studying for my stats test tuesday, a spanish essay for wednesday, an art history essay for thursday. skipping classes... i'm a bad kid.

However. Today is very exciting. Its sunny for like the first time in weeks! this year has been a record breaking year for rain. we've gotten like 13 inches this month when the avg is 2. And i'm currently freaking out cause i only have 8 DAYS OF CLASS LEFT! what the heck! i feel like i still just got here. also, registration was today. I'm in most of the classes i would like for next year, minus a cultural anthro class and a drawing class. i really want to get off the waitlist. 

This week we've been having inside winter training for crew which involves running, biking, erging, crunches, waitlifting, etc. Surprisingly, i've come to love running! it feels so good in comparison to erging (i think erging is appropriately named for my feelings for it). It feels good to be forced to exercise, my pants are looser! also, i'm getting to know some of the varsity women too! last night i sang karaoke with anne and aj (novice crew) for michael jackson karaoke night. we sang this song, which you all know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFli8LgG9ng&feature=related

it's so good :] also. last weekend we had a crew drag party- which was... quite an experience. overall, most people were super drunk, and there were tons of guys that were way to comfortable in women's clothing. it was hilarious/ridiculous/insane. as scene in the pictures below... 

also, my roommates and i have just been very comfortable with each other. I'm so lucky that i got phoebe and munira, and sarah who has pretty much been adopted into our room. almost every night we'll stay up watching some random reality tv show (minus this week because of crazy homeworkness) or talking and laughing at funny youtube videos, while eating brownie sundaes!

i'm gonna go nap. i cant wait to see all of you. seriously.

Coco

I am laying under all of my covers in my bed right now.  Hehe.  I had a test this morning at 8, so my wormy brain decided to set an alarm for 5 am to wake up and study.  I'm glad that I did because I def. think it helped, but I am so sleepy now!  I am basically home free now and ready for Thanksgiving break.

I saw Coco Before Chanel last night, it was so good I am obsessed.  Because of the clothes, but also because the guy in it is wayy attractive.

Coco Before Chanel


On Friday night I went to Clemson for Hannah's birthday.  We celebrated by making pizza, Andes mint brownies, and going to see Men Who Stare at Goats, which was funny.  Oh and we dyed my hair darker!  I likes it.  Sunday, Olivia's boss at plainjane threw her and Andrew a party.  It was out at a farm- cold night, warm fire, and really good food.  It was a good time.  Our group of girls had Thanksgiving dinner on Monday night, which was fun because it's tradition, but kind of rushed.  Mainly because it's hard to get all of us together anymore cause everybody has such different schedules.

I am esited to see home and ya'll and be together and not do anything schooly!  WOOO.  P.S. Should I go to my 2:00 class?  I am so comfy...I have ten minutes to decide.

Love yous.

Mary

words i have been feasting on

I talked to Mary tonight for a long time, and she inspired me to post up several quotes and things I've written as I've been drawing closer to God the past few months.



These are from Mom's bible study:

"As we go to new dimensions in our relationships with the Lord, God often asks us to embrace a new phase of the journey that sometimes requires that we leave behind the familiar to embrace the new. While such steps are often painful, each is necesssary if our spiritural growth is to continue unhindered."

She had us answer the following question: "What has God asked you to relinquish as you journey on with Him? From the list in the margin, circle all that apply. (a person, a relationship, an ambition, a life goal, a habit, a lifestyle choice, a religious comfort zone, control of your time, other)

Then she asked, "How did you cope with those losses?" and "Briefly explain the danger of not letting go of the things God asks us to give up."

"Mourning is a healthy expression of sadness that assists us in moving on."

"While we should definitely take the time to mourn our losses, we must also come to accept them and use them as a springboard in the future."

"The loss of your Moses may be difficult, but take courage; Joshua is coming! As we grieve those things that must die so that we can move more fully in to the Spirit-filled, abundant life, let's remember that better things are on the horizon. Make a wise decision when to choose to stop the actions of mourning so that yhour heart can be encouraged and begin to heal. Lift up your head, my friend. God is up to something new and you won't want to miss it. May God heal our hearts so that we can fully embrace the next leg of our journey."



Here are some things I wrote in an email to a friend (John) at work about a Christ Community sermon we both listened to online:

"I will say that so far, the most thought-provoking soundbite from the sermon is this: "God never says "no" to something unless it is for our good and His glory... God never says "yes" to something unless it is for our good and His glory." This is just one of the many points and not the big picture theme, but wow... somewhat convicting, especially considering the ways I sometimes try to justify all the ways in which I not only fall short, but actively make poor decisions.

I'm about to start the "part 2" of the sermon - legalism vs. license."

"Holy cow, just finished the sermon. That third part kind of blasted me away... I never really have taken notes during the sermons because a) I am lazy and b) I think... when am I going to look at this again and c) I don't want to be one of "those people" but wow, I noticed so much more doing that tonight! (Also I really liked being able to pause and re-listen to parts the way you can't do when you are actually there live.)

I know you haven't listened yet, but keeps your ears perked for how the quote I picked out earlier, after all of the talk about legalism vs. license and how the law drives us to Jesus (which really drives us back to obedience - becoming eager to do what is good), comes back to this: "Lord, *whatever* is for Your glory is ultimately for my good!"



I have so much more to write but not enough time to do it!!! I may get back on later tonight and post a bit more.
Love you girlies.

Rabies.

I'm leaving in a few minutes to go to Frankie's birthday party. Its been a long time since I've seen her, so I'm excited to see her, though a little bummed because I'm missing a lot of other stuff that's going on today.

I'm spending the majority of this weekend trying to read Prodigal Summer, its due Monday along with two projects and a test. I just hit the halfway point. I wish I was a faster reader.

Thursday was Christmas Village. It was pretty sentimental since we both knew it was our last. I'll definitely miss going and seeing the usual people (most of whom I only see that one time a year). I also  have my solo recital coming up, but I'm a little worried for a reason I'll explain later in this message.

Our football team won again last night (although I didn't go) so we're still in the playoffs, and we get to play Franklin this friday. I'm excited about it, and I'll definitely go. Its weird thinking that one of these games is going to be my last. 

Last night I spent the night at the house of the kid cara babysits for.  She was housesitting. Well anyways, at one point I went to go love on one of their dogs, who seemed rather sad since his owners were out of town. So anyways, I was petting him, and it turns out he was a little more upset then sad, so he suddenly turned on me and bit me around my left wrist. It didn't break the surface on the front side of my wrist, but on the other side it punctured it and went fairly deep. anyways, i rushed straight towards the sink and started rinsing it off. it didn't really bleed that much, i must've missed hitting a vein, but it still was a fairly serious bite. anyways, i started to feel whoozy (you know me and any type of puncture or shot) so i sat down and kkhita got me some ice and a wet rag, which i used for the next two hours. I'm okay, the dog had its rabies shot and everything, but my wrist is still pretty sore, and its making basic tasks a littlle more difficult. i can bend my wrist forward fine, but can't bend it back. anyways, i figure it'll just heal with time, so i'm not that concerned about it, but i am a little worried about my upcoming violin concert. i should be able to hold my violin and everything okay, but my vibrato is going to really suffer. don't worry about me though, i'm fine, but i was just a little spooked. its a sweet dog, i've been to there house many times before, but it was just upset about their owners not being home. the rest of the night was largely spent making jokes about me having rabies, it was rather amusing. I was also hoping i would get super powers like spiderman when he got bit, but unfortunately, i'm just as superpowerless as always.

anyways, i have to go, but i love you all so much, and hope to talk to you soon. looking forward to thanksgiving.

the best burrito

I miss you lovelies. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving break!

Distracted

"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."
-Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll (the red queen)

Hey.  It is so fall now.  It's pretty walking around on campus with all of the trees turning yellow and orange.  This past weekend I was in New York- you all know that- and it was so incredible.  I took that picture from the rooftop of the Terrell's apartment.  We stayed with Olivia's future in-laws, who live on Roosevelt Island.  Everything about catching the F train, walking to get scones and tea for breakfast, and the energy of all the people on the streets made me want to live there so badly.  I loved it.  To sum up our trip, we did a lot of walking, eating, and discussing how to get places.  We got to go to the Museum of Modern Art, which happened to be free after a certain time (we hit that up).  We volunteered with an art therapy nonprofit- Missy Terrell knew the lady that started it- so we spent Saturday morning making jewelry kits and painting a mural.  Only Liv and I did the mural because everyone else was scared of "messing it up".

The lady wanted it to be the Statue of Liberty, "Starry night"/Van Gogh inspired.

People got crazy for Halloween.  We didn't dress up as anything.  We actually didn't do anything super exciting on Halloween in general.  We are all grandmas/old ladies.  On Sunday we went to Redeemer on the East Side and got to hear Tim Keller speak!  I was so excited, and he did a great job.  And sidenote: Olivia and I said "never fear, Brooklyn is here!" no less than 60 times throughout the weekend.  Don't worry.

I'm in a weird place right now mentally.  It is almost like I feel myself letting go of Athens and all of my holds here.  Maybe I'm just ready to see the next step for my life.  I think I am just always a restless person...I want to pick a new city, see new things, find my "place" in a different place.  I know that I am ridiculous.  Thanks for listening, hahaha.

Also, I am super excited about the new Julian Casablancas release!  I don't own it yet, but I've listened to what I can for free online...and it's sweet.

Oh dear I love ya'll so much.

pretty good lately

Hey guys! Sorry it's taken so long to post.

The last month has been very good for me. I had family weekend/home regatta two weekends ago. Then, last weekend i had a regatta in Kansas. Now, crew is taking a two week break. I'm enjoying just lazing around and watching some firefly/reading. 

Last night we had a backstreet boys dance party in our room. That shows that things have been pretty good lately.... Academically i'm a bit annoyed. I got a b- on a paper i worked super hard on when i got an a- on the last one which i barely worked on. Writing is hard! But i did get a 94 on the past psych midterm and environmental sciences midterm. 

My life isn't too interesting right now but i'll hopefully be better at keeping you all caught up  :)

Also... Im so indecisive on whether to do crew again. it's tough....

Halloween

Happy Halloween sisters!

As you know, last weekend I went to visit Lindsey! It was so refreshing to see her/you and miss a day of school. I was so excited to meet her roommates and friends, and I loved them all. Friday I went with her to her Psychology class, but unfortunately, Lindsey got me a paper with a crossword puzzle and sudoku right before class, so I ended up not paying attention. This bodes well for my coming college experience. That night, we went out to eat at the Melting Pot with Taylor and his parents. Yum. Saturday we got up early and went with Lindsey to her crew practice. Cold. Tired. Wet. Lindsey's crazy. =]. That afternoon, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Incredible. We couldn't have gone on a prettier day, the autumn colors were at their peak. I went into it thinking, "This is really pretty, I bet I could take lots of pretty pictures," but by the time I left, I wanted to chuck my camera into a pond because I knew it could never truly capture the beauty of what I was seeing. It gave me a new appreciation of the subtle parts of nature, from every blade of grass to the last leaves on an autumn tree. That night, we went to this restaurant called Oishi, which was one of those Japanese restaurants where you watch them make the food, with Lindseys roommates/friends. It was very entertaining. And her friends were very fun. Sunday morning, we got up and watched Lindsey's regatta. It was really exciting, I'm glad I got to watch. After we had to say goodbye =[. I hope I can go back at some point.

Monday afternoon, I left for Knoxville. The bus drive took way longer than it should have, but what can you do? I roomed with Nikhita, Whitney, and my friend Melissa. A lot of us were still a little restless when we got there, so we decided to explore. We weren't technically supposed to, but our hotel was literally right next to the World's Fair Park so some of us walked around there. The next morning we had to have all our stuff ready to check out by 6:30, which was 5:30 for us. That sucked, our room ended up oversleeping and woke up at 6:26, so I looked awful for the rest of the day. We took the test around 8 which was relatively difficult. I only answered 13 of 25. We got the results later, and one girl from our school made it to the next test (they only took the top 50 out of the 600 or so people that took the first test), so we were happy for her. Our quiz bowl team did decently well (I got out of doing that, phew), but eventually got out. There were just so many genius kids there that it made me feel really inferior, but that always happens at math tournaments for me. Around lunch, I got see McCall! I called her and she stopped by for a few minutes on the way to her class. It made me really happy. Overall, it was pretty fun, lots of games of presidents, ers, and mafia.

I fail at Spanish.

Last night, some friends and I went to a haunted house. It really wasn't bad at all. Compared to the one we went to last year (and that one wasn't even too bad either), this one was pretty tame. But it was still really fun, I love my friends. The number of cheezy movie references we made were rather entertaining. Such as when these creepy black cloaked figures came up to us and I shouted "Expecto Patronum" at them.

Tonight is Halloween! We're being very low key this year. My friends and I are probably just going to stay home and watch Halloween movies. Most likely lots of Tim Burton stuff. I don't think most of us are dressing up, but I still want to. I don't know what to dress up as though. I was looking some ideas up online, and I found one that I might try if I don't get to lazy. It said to just wear all black, and then get glow sticks and make yourself a stick figure! So I'd just make a circle around my head, and straight down by legs/arms. That way in the dark I just look like a stick figure. I thought that was rather clever, but I don't know where to find glow sticks, so I'll see if I actually make the effort to do it. Are any of you dressing up?

I want to be in New York already.

Hey.  I'm in my room right now, I had class this morning.  This week is short because we get Friday off for fall break.  And on Thursday night my group will be en route to NEW YORK!! I am ecstatic.  I have 3 tests standing in my way- one tomorrow, one Wednesday, on Thursday.  Hopefully I can pull it out and not fail them all.

This past weekend Alison, Olivia, and I went to Valdosta- where Al is from- to make jelly.  It was so fun!  It was relaxing and really good to be in a home, plus Alison's mom is the most welcoming sweet person in the world (rivaled only by Sherry Kernodle).  It was great.  We sat around and ate way too much food- baked brie, mulled cider, homemade pizza, ratatouille, salmon, etc.  It was delicious.  Making jelly was actually not hard at all.  I think that's what I will have to do all the time from now on because I will now be a snob toward store-bought jelly.  Hehe.

I talked to Mom this morning and she told me that Mr. Lunsford passed away over the weekend.  We can all keep Mrs. Lunsford and their family in our prayers.  That is so sad.

Lindsey- I hope you had fun with Rebecca and mom and dad this weekend!  I am now the only family member that hasn't gotten to go to St. Louis and see you.  Not bitter.

PS.....what should I be for Halloween in New York?  There will be seven of us girls there...plus maybe Kevin (Becca's bf).  What should we all be?  On a similar note, this is something from an email that Kristin sent me the other day.  I laughed and died.  My someday child will definitely be a peep one year for Halloween.

Love you all.

Mary

captivating

Here it is, Sunday morning, and I am reading the book Captivating that mom gave all of us for Christmas (I think... well she gave it to us at some point) and I just felt compelled to share with you guys. These words are really speaking to me. Listen to this:

"Why did God curse Eve with loneliness and heartache, an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? Wasn't her life going to be hard enough out there in the world, banished from the Garden that was her true home, her only home, never able to return? It seems unkind. Cruel, even.

He did it to save her. For as we all know personally, something in Eve's heart shifted at the Fall. Something sent its roots down deep into her soul - and ours - that mistrust of God's heart, that resolution to find life on our own terms. So God has to thwart her. In love, he has to block her attempts until, wounded and aching, she turns to him and him alone for her rescue.

'Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so she cannot find her way.
She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
She will look for them but not find them.' (Hos. 2:6-7)

Jesus has to thwart us too - thwart our self-redemptive plans, our controlling and our hiding, thwart the ways we are seeking to fill the ache within us. Otherwise, we would never fully turn to him for our rescue. Oh, we might turn to him for our "salvation," for a ticket to heaven when we die. We might turn to him even in the form of Christian service, regular church attendance, a moral life. But inside, our hearts remain broken and captive and far from the One who can help us.

And so you will see the gentle, firm hand of God in a woman's life hemming her in. He'll make what once was a great job miserable, if it was in her career that she found shelter. He'll bring hardship into her marriage, even to the breaking point, if it was in marriage she sought her salvation. Wherever it is we have sought life apart from him, he disrupts our plans, our "way of life" which is not life at all."

Wow.

I imagine I'll be digesting this for a while.

I hope you girls are having a wonderful Sunday. Love you all.

apple cider and naps

hi sisters! i miss you all already. i looked pretty pathetic in the airport security line sunday, crying and just thinking about how lucky i am to have all of you.

this week has been interesting so far for me. i haven't gotten very much sleep at all (5ish hours each night) because i've just been working pretty nonstop. there are a lot of separate issues at work right now that are all stressing me out, although some may have been resolved today. once tomorrow is over i will have a bit of a breather, i think. friday will be good.

this is homecoming week at flint hill, so there have been dress-up days every day which is so fun! it's SO much nicer to wear casual/comfortable clothes. yesterday was jersey day so i borrowed a UVa jersey from another teacher (it was HUGE and awesome) and today was clash day so i wore one red chuck and one black chuck, different patterned knee-socks, my black pants with the legs rolled up, and a striped shirt. it was awesome. i can't wait for this weekend and the festivities - football isn't really a big deal at this school the way it is at brentwood because the games aren't on friday nights, they don't have a marching band, etc etc so i've been missing out on that school spirit/togetherness that comes from going to the games and getting to see all the students and families and other teachers. but i think that this weekend it will be very spirited and everyone will be there.

this past weekend was so fun, and i can't stop thinking about how much fun it was to sing and play with you. here's the vid, mar:



can't wait for thanksgiving and more family time. i talk about you girls ALL THE TIME to everyone up here so i can't wait for the day when you get to visit. love you all so much. <3

Space heater

So I love this music vid.  I think the stop motion is super.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY


Home was really fun being with you all, I think Mom wanted to freeze time.  Thanksgiving will be exciting to see ya'll again!  I am going to Al-Pal's home this weekend, Valdosta (South Georgia), with Alison and Olivia.  It will be fun- we are going there to make jam for Olivia's wedding.  Alison's mom is really good at making it.  Next week is hell I have three tests in four days.  But next weekend is New York!!!!!!!  I can't even think about how close that is.

Our house is really cold- like 56 degrees.  It's unreal.  But Olivia and I have a space heater which has magical powers, so I am staying warm and cozy.  When I am in the kitchen, I literally turn on the oven and open it so I don't die.

Rachel- email me the Belle & Seb song video, or better yet put it on here.  That way I can listen to it and it will make me happy.


Goodnight,
Mary

Punkin.

Hey hermanas.

It's raining so hard right now! My rainboots are paying for themselves we've had so much rain.  I had a real good weekend, filled with fallish activities and birthdays and wedding showers.  Thursday we made Alison coffee cake to have in the morning for her 22nd birthday, and that night we took her out for a birthday drink and made her a birthday cake (caramel).  Friday I woke up and had no voice, literally.  I felt okay except a dull headache and congestion and coughing a lot, so I've been religiously taking Tylenol cold and sinus and eating cough drops.  Friday night we held a "fall festival" at our house to celebrate Alison's birth, and the love of all things fall.  It was a lot of fun!  We carved pumpkins and ate baked brie and drank apple cider and danced to the new Jay Z album which I am currently obsessing over.  Really though, it's like on repeat in our house.  Hehe.  Saturday I went to Atlanta with Livs for a wedding shower.  I had to socialize with so many older ladies and explain that I don't normally sound like a man.  It was hilarious.  The shower was really fun though and the food was so good.  Olivia got tons of kitchen things from her registry, and I want to get married just so I can get cool gifts.  Hehe.  Since we were already in ATL, we went to Anthropologie and H&M, where I got some cute stuff.  Saturday night I was so tired getting back from Atlanta that I did laundry and went to bed.  Yesterday I still had no voice (today it's starting to come back), and by this point I was just tired of not being able to talk.  My friends called me Karla- with a K, because I sounded like a chain smoker, and I needed a more suitable name to match my husky voice.  Side note- I got so many compliments for having a "sexy" voice.  What?  Boys dig deep voices on girls...weird.  This week isn't too busy school-wise, and I am going to for sure come home this weekend.  I can't wait to see you guys!

[Don't worry, I carved a baby pumpkin with an exact-o knife.]

I hope ya'll can breeze through this week easily and have fun.  I love you so very very much.

"May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour.  So that all may see I triumph only through His power."  (hymn, "May the Mind of Christ my Savior")

Mary

Beta bubbles and fall break excitement!

So last night was one of the best nights since I've been here! Ironically, it was because I went to a frat party :) But not just any party, but a bubble party. They filled the basement with sudsy bubbles, up to my waist and constantly regenerating from machines from the ceiling. This bubble basement also had music and lights and was a dance floor. It was sooooo fun! we stayed for like three hours, and then we had to run back to our dorm sopping wet and cold and scantily clad. pretty awesome.

Sundays are never that fun because I always feel guilty for not having done more work on saturday, and simultaneously not wanting the week's craziness to start up again. This week shouldn't be horrible workwise, but the following week is, and I want to spend as much of fall break as possible having fun. so... I'M PRETTY MUCH CRAZILYYY EEEECSTATIC ABOUT THIS WEEKEND. 

it'll be great.

Long Week, Long Day

This week has been a long one. The grading period ends next wednesday, so lots of my classes have been trying to squeeze in one final test to go on the grades. I know you guys probably won't believe me, but I'm turning into more and more of a slacker. And the true culprit is music. I come home everyday, grab food, and go straight to the piano, my violin, or guitar. Then I alternate between the three for the next couple of hours. Around six I realized that I probably should've done my homework first, and should now start on it, but I won't want to. Instead I'll spend time eating, watch one or two episodes of Bones (which I've discovered I can't do homework during Bones, not sure why, but I've given up trying), and then around nine resignedly go upstairs to start work. At this point, I conclude that I'm tired and it would be better off for me to just sleep. I don't know how this started, but I can't seem to fix it. Everyday I say I'm going to start homework before music, and then as soon as I come home, I grab food and walk up to the guitar, surprisingly not feeling that guilty. Ah well, good thing I'm a senior. Although, I hope I don't get too caught up in this slacking thing and risk my rank. Because I know there's this one really smart guy who's in a zillion AP classes and I think he's moved up to number 2, but I'm not positive. Woah, sorry to bore you guys with my school life, moving on.

I just finished taking my SAT Subject Tests this morning. I took Math 2 and Spanish. I feel fairly confident about the Math 2 (especially in comparison to the last time I took it). The way it is scored allows for you to skip 6 and still get a perfect score, and I skipped 5. I'm proud of myself, because usually when I take these and see one I don't know, I have to figure it out before I can move on (resulting in me ultimately running out of time), but this time if I didn't remember how to start it right away, I put a dot by it and moved on. Its a really good thing I did, because I was still working on the last problem when the time was called. I'd only skipped four prior to that, so overall skipped five. If I had stopped on those problems, the outcome wouldn't have been so great. For the Spanish one, I really knew nothing about it going into it. But it wasn't really that bad. It started out incredibly simple. It got somewhat harder, and there were a few I wasn't sure about, but I still think I did fairly well. Hopefully. Its harder to tell on Spanish then math. With math, you either know how to do it or you don't.

In around twenty minutes I have to leave to go to a violin concert. I basically have to go to this one because I missed the last one (which was an all-weekend thing, so I think I definitely chose right). Not really looking forward to it, mainly review pieces from a long time ago, but oh well. I'm staying content because tonight I'm going to Andrew Bird. I'm very excited, Kelsey and I are going together. Tomorrow we're making our homecoming shirts, which is always really fun. Then I'll babysit again. So basically, it's a Kelsey-filled weekend, which I have no problem with. I never get sick of her.

I'm looking forward to Homecoming week, especially since its my last one. Monday is Woodstock day, which should be exciting and Tuesday is Nerd day, which will be hilarious. I'm definitely pulling out the suspenders for this. I'm annoyed though, because they put our Career Shadow Day on Wednesday. Why they thought it was a good idea to put in Homecoming week I don't know, but I'm sad because that eliminates one of our dress-up days. But I am excited for Career Shadow day. I'm shadowing Mrs. Jennifer! So it'll be fairly low key, but still actually insightful to stuff that I'm considering doing. Plus, any excuse to get out of school is great. But most of all, I'm looking forward to this weekend. I'm annoyed though, because I couldn't find any theaters that are showing Where the Wild Things Are at midnight, which I was planning on doing. Ugh, hopefully I can go that afternoon before Homecoming that night. And the best part about this weekend is family. I really need you guys, and the prospect of next weekend is really keeping me going. Homecoming + family + McCall + Where the Wild Things Are = best day ever. Can't wait.




oops, forgot to hit the publish button, so yah. doing it now.

Grandma sweater

I am at home right now trying to study for a test tomorrow marnin'.  I like fall.  This past weekend I went to an art show Olivia was in at the art school.  They supplied Cali n Tito's food, which is this really good Mexican restaurant, so we went to that "to be supportive of Olivia" and stuff.  Hee.  On Saturday I went on a day hike with Hannah at Tallulah Falls.  I made to make Hannah keep pace with me because I am very out of shape and there were lots of stairs.  But it was prettyyy.  I went to Clemson and spent the night Saturday because Charlie Carr was in town there for a water polo match.  I was glad to see him.  The three of us just hung out and watched movies at Hannah's house Saturday night.  This week is going by fast which is nice.  I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's the other day and it made me really happy.  Rachele Giles, one of my younglife girls, and I hung out and ate dinner together last night.  She's so dear to me.

Tomorrow is AlPal's 22nd birthday and we are throwing a fall festival birthday party for her at our house on Friday.  We're making cider and spiced-type desserts and toasting pumpkin seeds.  Yay.

I'm really distracted right now and all of my roommates are home so I'm going to go and maybe write more later?  Oh and the first picture I took on a UGA game night.  The stadium lights are why it's so bright.  There is the lovely Pearl, and the last is from Tallulah Gorge.  Wooooooo.

Love ya'll.

Mary

Fall

The sun is out, though its starting to cool. Its been getting increasingly cooler here, and mornings for me are becoming more and more difficult. I'm already having to use the defrost on my car to get to school. However, everyday as I leave school I'm sitting in my car sweating, wondering why I ever needed the heat on that morning. I'm dreading when my car will really start icing over and I'll have to get up earlier to scrape it every day. Though, I am eagerly awaiting the colors of fall, despite the fact it means that winter will follow soon in its trail. I was late to school Friday, luckily it was one of the few days I didn't have a meeting (and lucky for me I have a free period first). In my defense, this is only my first time to be late, though I've cut it pretty close before.

I'm struggling in my spanish class. Its just constantly so much work that I struggle to keep up with it, and I'm getting frustrated with the constant tests. I have two tests on Monday (how that's going to work, I have no idea?), another on Tuesday, and another on Wednesday. And its not as if they're easy small ones either, they're all long and difficult. The other day he handed out an article and told us to read it, and that the next day we were to give a 2-minute speech that we make up on the spot. Now, we've done these speeches numerous times over the past two years, but usually we're supposed to write it or plan it beforehand and memorize it. So come classtime on Wednesday when we were all supposed to give our speeches, I was superbly annoyed to notice that half of my classmates had written out full speeches. About 3 or 4 of my classmates besides myself did what he actually asked, and I felt like I got punished for it. First of all, there were about 5 people who just didn't go at all when their names were called, and the rest had memorized speeches. So out of the people who actually spoke, mine was definitely the worst. He called me "una bomba". I'm frustrated, because at least I tried, unlike some of my classmates, and I actually was brave enough to try it without writing it before, unlike everyone else. So me and the 3-4 other people who did it right are all mad.

Later today Dad is going with me to Guitar Center in Nashville where I'm going to start looking at electric guitars! I decided I really wanted one a couple of weeks ago, and have been doing research on some ever since. There was this one on ebay that you have no idea how mad I am for not bidding on it. It was beautiful, barely used, and about 500 dollars cheaper than usual. Above all, I can't find it anywhere. I've looked it up online, and it doesn't exist in that color anymore. I was able to track down one picture, but thats it.
Isn't it beautiful? I want it so badly =[. Also, after I'd already missed the ebay for this one, I found another one that I also loved (though not quite as much). I actually bid on that one, and lost by a dollar in the frantic last 10 second bidding, which was really disappointing. But dad wanted to take me to an actual guitar store so I could hold some and see how they feel. I think that ultimately I'll probably just end up buying one on ebay because you can find brand new ones for half the price of retail stores, but it will still be nice to actually try some out.

Lindsey, one picture is not a substitute for two weeks worth of updates!

fantastical life

Hey.  So it's Thursday.  I have a big assignment due tomorrow that I may or may not have even started yet...but I am happy tomorrow will bring the weekend because on Saturday Kaylyn and I are seeing The Decemberists, with Laura Veirs to open.  Yay!

I feel as though I have been especially introspective this week.  Both Sunday's church service and last night's RUF topic put me into moods.  One theme that came out in both services was that as we grow in Christ, we become increasingly aware of our sin and our need for God.  It led to the question that I mulled over...are we just as certain about God's forgiveness as we are about the depth of our sin?  Not that this is a new idea or even something that I haven't considered before.  For myself, I so much focus on my sin and give brief time to the glory of God for his salvation.  But this week I came to see it in a new light: when I dwell on my sin, I continue to put the focus on myself.  But when I equally grasp the certainty that I have of Christ's forgiveness, I am focusing on Him.  And it becomes a mindset of thanks, of worship, rather than depression, which so often is my scenario.  

Life has been good here.  It rained for about 8 days straight, but the past two days have been inordinately sunny.  I may have been the only person in the entire southeast who liked how much it rained.  

In the above picture, the left is a cat creamer, a birthday gift from Ellyn.  The right are two cow-pigs, salt shakers that I got a while back.  Such is our life, at Poplar.   Literally that picture describes our life...sadly.  Sitting around at our house being antisocial and lame.  And baking a lot. 

That was my birthday cake!

I wanted to post pictures from the shower but I didn't upload them yet, sorrrry.  

How are you all? Why did the font just get smaller?  What is going on. 

Anyway, so you all know how my neighbors have tons of cats, right?  So at first we just named them: Pearl/Dwayne, Amadeus, Blanket, et cetera.  They hang out on our porch a lot, especially Pearl (the black one).  On Tuesday, Pearl and I bonded for like an hour and I gave her milk from a little saucer.  Today when I walked home from class, she was stretched out on top of the mailbox and when I walked up she greeted me!  And followed me around rubbing up against my legs.  I think it is love.  

Mary

practice- 5:00 sunrise-6:30

:)

Jodie drool on my guitar

So, this weekend Cara and I have been house-sitting for this family in Princeton Hills. Thursday night, Friday night, and tonight is our last night. It has been really fun. The bed is so incredibly comfortable, and there's a tv in the room with us, so we've just been lounging around watching tv. Last night was Battle of the Woods, and we won by a lot (35-7)! It was really exciting. Today after Cara and I managed to detach ourself from tv in bed, we went to Bruegger's for breakfast, and then came back and watched Get a Clue, which was especially entertaining. Now I'm home though, and have been messing around on the guitar and piano. Lately, I've just been taking my guitar out onto the balcony with Jodie of course and playing there, its really fun. I'm glad I'm playing again. I still can't really play that well, but its fun anyways. Actually, I have a present for you guys. I decided to record this for my 3 favoritest people in the world. Its really awful, I mess up multiple times in it, and please excuse the fact that I sang the lyrics as is (if you follow). Anyways, despite that, thought it might make you happy, so did it anyways. Enjoy:

i love reading your updates SISTERS!

(above, is ong-awesome phsyics genius on our floor, me, and phoebs)
hey.

so i am currently in the hallway working on homework due friday! i'm slightly ahead! i really like that our floor hangs out in the halls and does work and whatnot almost every night. it makes it much more enjoyable.

everyone here is very friendly, at least the ones of talked to. so i'm making moreish friends. classes aren't hard this week, but next week i have two tests and two essays :( oh, and i'm sick. but luckily my classes haven't been too hard, so i've had lots of sleeping down time. medicine is my friend.

looooove lindz

longest day ever

just got home from being at work from 7:30 am until 9:30 pm.

this is what i signed up for? WHAT?????

haha, jk. it was parent night (also known as "back to school night") so i had to meet all of my students' parents in all of my various roles... they mocked through their students schedules so i had to present info to my advisory, to my 2 classes that i teach, and then in the learning center (although i wasn't alone there, i was teaming up with karen davis and rico reed, the two other learning specialists that work in the learning center with me.)

i had a mini-panic attack about it all at about 6 o;clock, thinking omg this is so stressful ahhhh i can barely think straight and i haven't eaten dinner and i have to talk to all these scary parents ahhhh!!! then i just decided i would pretend they were all mom and i calmed down a little. and then it actually went GREAT! and my last period (7th, one of the times i teach) i made the parents laugh like 5 times!! and i didn't even think i was funny but apparently i have a middle age sense of humor haha

love you mary. hope those tests fly far far away.

strawberry tea

dear three tests in two days,
please go away and leave me alone.
regards,
mary


i need to dye my hair real bad.

i felt that i needed to take the time to take a picture to show ya'll how bad my roots are.
...which is clearly code for 'i am procrastinating studying'.  i digress...

i have actually been really good about preparing for my tests, i started studying on monday!  i have my religion and human sexuality tests tomorrow, and nutrition on friday.

this saturday we are hosting an r. wood ceramics shower for olivia.  http://rwoodstudio.com/   i am making lemon tarts and maybe garlic feta dip for the occasion.  i think it will be fun.

it is rainy in athens right now, and i am enjoying it.  how are ya'll?


mary

tomorrow's just a song away

seeeesters!

you are all considerably OLDER than the last time we saw each other. (that = sideways way of saying happy birthday to mary and lindsey!!!) i hope you both had wonderful days!

things with me are good but i swear days are elastic - stretching longer during the week and compressing to tiny little things on the weekend. which is to say this one ended way too quickly and i still have so much work to do. today i left for work at 6:45, got home at 6:15, and then did 2 more hours of work at home (at least.) and i still don't even feel close to "on top of things." just treading water - survival mode at this point. trying to stay 1 or 2 days ahead as far as planning. giving my first test tomorrow, which is good - test days are good for teachers, means no talking and lots of time for planning while students are taking it.

this weekend was really fun for me, friday just crashed and did not much at all, but saturday went on a long run (3.5 miles! go me!!!) and went out to dinner/drinks with stephen tusken - was in the band at vandy and we were always good friends. he would share his girl troubles with me freshman/sophomore years. we went out to a bar in d.c. to watch the vandy game and i actually ran into 3 more vandy folks i knew, including one that also went to brentwood high. so cool and random. saw whitney at church sunday, and other than that really did nothing but sleep and eat over the weekend. (and eat and eat.)

getting up at 5 am tomorrow to try to work out before work. bedtime for me!
hope i can see you all reasonably soon. mary maybe your phone works now so i can call you back?

Quidditch

So, it's Monday

Life has been exciting I suppose. Friday night Becca and I went to the Frist center, but didn't stay that long because we really wanted to go to Urban Outfitters, which we did. Saturday I had my senior pictures. I thought they were at one o'clock, but mom found out a little after nine that they were actually at ten, so it was a mad dash to get ready. I showered, tried to pick out my outfits, made mom blow dry my hair while I put on make-up, frantically straightened my hair and got ready. But in the end I'm glad I had an earlier time, because then I got it over with. Not a fan of getting senior pictures. NOT FUN. After it was finally over though, I went to Kelsey's and we began preparing everything we needed for Quidditch. We were able to find enough hula hoops, so we taped them all to pvc pipes, and they looked decent. We also found some bludgers and took care of other little things like that. That night, I went to my friend Sarah's house, and we just sat around her fire outside for a long time, it was fun.

So, Sunday was the infamous Quidditch match. It was so much fun! It was fairly frantic getting everything ready, especially since we had someone cancel half an hour before, and one of our subs never showed. Plus, we had trouble securing the goals in the ground, we're going to have to think of something else for our next game. But eventually, we played! It was hilarious, it took less then a minute before people were falling over and tripping and all of that. We definitely had to revise a lot of the rules, but we got it so at least we could somewhat play. Unfortunately, the snitch thing didn't really work out. But thats just because our sub for the snitch was awful, she just stood where we all could see her so it took about three seconds for the seekers to get her. Eventually, we gave up on it because the seekers were getting annoyed with running, so they just joined in as chasers. But Gryffindor definitely won, so that was really exciting! Plus, I think everyone agreed that we should definitely play again, so in my head that means it was a success.

I love all of you so much, wish I could be in four places at once and visit all of you!

Ba nah nah nah nah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDlQm5jFL50

Oh heyyyyy.  I'm sitting on my couch at home right now, back from classes.

This weekend went by fast, but it was good.  It was a game weekend but I don't care/didn't buy tickets.  Friday night my friends took me out to dinner for my birthday and then we had people over that night.  Alison made me grasshopper cake- mint chocolate icing on chocolate cake!  I got some cool presents, including a grow-your-own dinosaur kit, and a ticket to see the decemberists in a couple of weeks.  Woop!  Hannah came and stayed with me Friday night and all of Saturday.  Saturday morning all of us ate breakfast on the porch.  My friends are ridiculous and made a ton of food for my birthday:

-asparagus and red onion frittata
-sausage
-baked oatmeal
-sweet potato hashbrowns
-monkeyyy bread

It was all delicious and made me feel special, and full, on my bday.  Hannah and I hung out and walked downtown and just caught up.  It was really good to see her.  That night, Ellyn and Al Pal went to the game and Becca, Hannah and I went to see Inglourious Basterds.  Which was awesome.  I liked it a lot.

This week isn't too exciting.  I have 3 tests in 2 days, Thursday and Friday.  Big partay!  Ah, what's new with you guys?

Weekends are.....

Hey. soooo. i'm really lazy. its exhausting having to constantly be in social situations. today was service first where we went to different st. louis underprivileged schools and painted rooms and made murals/pictures/decorations. it was all right. not as exciting as i thought it'd be. but a good way to spend a saturday.

it rained today :( and it's supposed to rain for the next four days. there might not be any zoo :(

i should be doing homework but i'm not.

 

i have been eating too much

arbitrarily posting pictures is fun! nice one mar!

i love you all so much

dude... just had a really good night watching fight club with friends on my floor!

Mom is sitting with me

"Hello to all the daughters"...says Mom.

We are sitting on the bed in the yellow room right now.  We have been busy cutting up fruit and pound cake for tonight: Olivia and Andrew's engagement partayyy.

Mom and I both hope you are enjoying your day off, long weekend.  Lindsey: have fun at the zooooo and HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYY!!!! Woo hoo.  Mom says, "She's nineteen, right?" Yes.  We miss you all and Mom wishes she could celebrate your birthday with you.  "Aww", says Mom.

Rachel: have fun at your meet and greet?  With the church.  I talked to Whitney on Thursday and I think y'all have plans.  I'm jealous tell her hey.

Love ya mucho.

Mom & Mar

welcoming labor day weekend

hello beautifuls

i'm sitting in the yearbook back-room right now during 7th period office working. I've been thinking of you guys a lot today, and realize i haven't filled you in in a while (haha, in in)

anyways, so last weekend i went to the 80s dance. it was WILD. and by wild, i mean not at all, as there were about 30 people there total. still fun though, as i always love an excuse to dress up. also, on sunday i babysat for the first time with kelsey. it completely reassured to me that i made the right choice in asking her to do it with me. she's always optimistic, works great with kids, and we never run out of things to talk and laugh about.

later today we have our first pep rally. that should be exciting to have one as a senior. but, i'm not going to the game tonight oh well. instead, i'm hanging out at kkhita's with some other people, which'll probably be more fun. then tomorrow i'm spending all day with kelsey as we're going to have a huge lord of the rings marathon. we're going to get up in the morning, go grab food someplace to go and take it back with us where we will attempt watching all 3 extended additions in one day. yes, i know i'm cool.

so, for my quidditch update, i'm beginning to get stressed about it all. we've had so many people respond to it, which is really exciting, but lots of people have been coming up and asking to join part it in. which i think would be awesome. however, some of the people we don't really know that well, and so some of our original team members don't want them to join because they'd feel uncomfortable playing against them. which i guess i understand, but i'm getting annoyed of everyone coming to me and asking me what "i'm" going to do about it. some are saying that i should tell them we already have our two teams full and that should be that. which is really irritating me because since i don't actually mind having other teams, i don't feel it should be my responsibility to make enemies by telling people they can't join. but i mean really, if i had heard someone else had thought of the idea of a quidditch team, i definitely would've wanted to join no matter who it was and would be mad if they didn't allow me. so i'm just getting a little overwhelmed with it all. sad. but i'm still really excited, our first match is a week from sunday!

anyways, i'm really excited mary to have you home tonight! yesterday for some reason felt especially weird coming home to an empty house, don't know why, but it made me think how happy i'm going to be to have someone to come home to over the next couple days. and rachel, i'm absolutely dying to hear about your first day with students. mom said it went well but she didn't hear much cause you wanted to skype us. lets make that happen! and lindsey, i love you oodles and i hope i can skype with you sometime this weekend as well. enjoy your labor day weekends, are all of you off?

pretending

hello sisters!

sorry it took me so long to post on this bloggy. i didn't even realize you had all been posting until just now when i checked it. having a job is really putting a crimp in my internet usage.

mary, i want to skype with you too! i just can't seem to catch you on it. i'm really only on my computer at home for a few hours a night, maybe 7-9ish? but i will try to do better, then i can give you a virtual tour of my apartment.

okay, so my life.

well, a week and a half ago i started work at flint hill. those first 3 days were just with new faculty and were led by shannan schuster (the woman who hired me, dean of faculty) and some of the other leaders at the school. it was really fun - honestly, we did things like scavenger hunts and multimedia projects based on fhs's mission/philosophy. (of course, we also did boring stuff like meetings about the school handbook, bloodborne pathogens, etc.)

the next full week (last week) the rest of the faculty came back to campus, so it was a little like being burst out of our little bubble. i had gotten pretty comfortable with the other new faculty members, knew their names, etc. and then i had to learn the names of soooo many more people. (still working on that.) the week was really busy, basically meetings back to back every day and it was about tuesday of this week that i started to realize how much i still had to do and how little time i had to do it. since about last tuesday i've been spending every day at school from about 7:30 am - 6 pm so that i'd have time after the meetings to to plan and figure out my crazy complicated schedule. it's been a lot of work.

this weekend was good, and i pretty much ignored work all weekend which i know i will regret (i kind of already am) since i'm not even really planned for the rest of the week. it just is a lot of work to start the year from scratch - i had to organize and buy supplies for my cubicle, organize my classroom, AND organize my desk in the learning center. i also had to develop a syllabus for the class i am teaching, decide things like class rules and punishments, systems for turning in hw, what percentage tests and homework and quizzes would be of the final grade. i had thought about a lot of this stuff before but actually getting it down on paper (and in the computer system flint hill uses) took a really long time.

anyway this weekend courtney and i went to a benefit for a friend's brother-in-law who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. the event was called "flip you, leukemia" and was a flip-cup tournament to raise money for bone marrow drives. so yeah, i spent saturday afternoon playing flip-cup (the first time i'd ever played it... haha.) and felt a little like i was in college again. except i didn't do that in college, so yeah.
p.s. i was a natural.

sunday i went on a shopping spree. (really.) i spent like hundreds of dollars on a teacher wardrobe. you should see it because it is spectacular.

tomorrow is the first day of school and while i am very ready for tomorrow, i have a ton to plan for the next 2 weeks. so i'm kind of anxious and on edge, and i doubt i will sleep very well tonight due to nerves. pray for me for my first day tomorrow and that i will be confident and clear and handle all my students and many responsibilities.

i love you all and lindsey, i can sympathize. it's a little scary every time i remember that i live far away and have no (well, one, soon to be 2 (whit)) friends.

<3

I'm so college

It's Sunday 7 pm and I'm sitting in my room drinking jasmine tea and wearing pajamas.  This weekend was the Great Cambodia Reunion sleep-over at my professor's house.  I want to cry it was so good.  Seeing everybody and all being back together again...dream.  We went to an Asian market near Atlanta- we drove there in a UGA van, talk about awesome- and shopped for ingredients to make Khmer fooood. We cooked all afternoon...no joke, it took us like 4+ hours to make all the dishes we wanted to make.  Our menu was as follows:

-mushroom & leek fried egg rolls with coriander dipping sauce
-bok choy (a green leaf type thing)
-mango & cashew chicken stir fry
-ginger chicken stir fry
-rice...
-vegetable amok (a thick soup type dish with veggies & herbs & spicesss)
-bobatanaut (dessert...rice porridge type thing)
-brownies and cookies swirled together (aka REAL dessert)
-noodle soup with veggies & chili sauce for breakfast



We were so proud of ourselves. We all caught up and talked and painted our nails...not joking...and reunioned.  It was wonderful and made me miss Cambodia all the more.  I have never felt more college in my life because we stayed up until 5 am.  Very atypical for me.  We woke up this morning, but stayed around at Dr. Lewis's house, who we refer to as Momma, talking with her and her husband until late until this afternoon.  I finally came back to the real world and drove home.  It's been really rainy all day and I took a 40 minute shower and am now writing this entry so as to continue neglecting any schoolwork that I may have for tomorrow.


This coming weekend- Rebecca- I will be back in Nashville for Andrew & Olivia's wedding shower.  I'm glad it is a three- day weekend with Labor Day.

I think of you all all the time and hope everything is starting off well.  I wish I could visit you- Lindsey- and see St. Louis and Wash. U. campus.  Friends will happen. I promise that I would tell you if there were anything glaringly awkward about you that you would want to know about...  People will see the incredible things that I love so much about you if you give them the chance. And I am so glad you are finding solace in the library, as I am also friends with the library at UGA.

Rachel, are you very stressed?  Call me.  We haven't talked at all!  Or better skype me...Rebecca and I skyped on Wednesday for a long time, it is so much better than phone calls.  In my opinion.  Whitney will be heading up to D.C. on September 2nd.  I don't know what today's date is.


(me)

I had a nightmare the other night.  I cannot remember it now.  Pray for my sleeping because it's been very poor lately, minus the forced staying up of last night's sleep-over, that was my fault.  I will leave now and clean my room, another thing to do before thinking about school work.

Love yous.