What a day to appreciate.

christmas is beautiful in every way. jesus became flesh. he made his home with us. -scotty.

happy birthday baby jesus.

i have been observing mrs patton and her 2nd grade class at smcs for a class. i just wish i could skip the rest of school and have my own class. i have to have 50 hours of observation.

david brasher plays wonderfully on his guitar.

me and brittany moore made a beautiful memory tonight. if i told you what we did it wouldnt be a secret. which is part of the fun for us. it had to do with a certain magical christmas song.

i still dont think ill be done with christmas songs after christmas. this could be a problem. a sad problem.

noah dollar is so funny. he is in mrs pattons class.

i love hiking. i wish i lived in tennessee so i could run through mountains. like they do in last of the mohicans.

i went to the sec game. i love bama. and i love winning. and it snowed the same day. what a day.

i love writing letters. i have written a lot of christmas letters. i will mail them tomorrow i think. my farthest letter is going down to bolivia.

i want to dress like something christmassy. like a reindeer. but i dont have any creative ideas. maybe i could dress as a christmas list. a nice one of course. or i could dress as egg nog. or the north star. or a shepherd. or baby jesus. maybe a christmas frenchman. or a mustache. moustache. moostache.

i saw all the geese at star lake today fly away together. i wanted to fly away with them.

finals make me want to kill myself. this is currently my life. wish me luck.

thanksgiving break was stupendous. stupid. stupidous. it was the least of stupid. a lot of events took place. a lot of good memories took place.

christmas is nearly here. i have already celebrated it thousands of times already. ive made 4 sets of paper snowflakes. i am ahead of schedule.

i was at the nielsens playing with the kids and shelly and dave were putting up the christmas tree. me and si and leah all sat in the christmas tree box and pretended we were a bobsled team. i love them so much.

i have a new book. its a stroke of a genius book. huh?

thanksgiving was excellent. not for the food but for the family. i love my family. and my grandmother. it should be the day we celebrate grandmothers. i want to be just like her. and my mom put together.

animals have much nicer souls than humans do. they never tell lies. or blow anybody up.

i went into the woods. with kristin at oak mountain. it was good to explore. florida doesnt have too many woods. we were walking and this biker guy rode by and said "do you have a license for those legs?" aka my life is complete.

one time when i was little i wished i had muscles like popeye.

my ambidextrous hand is doing quite well, thank you for asking.

i gave blood today. im such a great american. God bless the USA. God bless the blood givers. for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. ps the man that was taking my blood was sooooooo hilarious. i joked with him the whole time.

i love history of small towns. it is so beautiful to me.

i always feel really sad when i see live chickens that are being shipped somewhere else. i drove by some the other night and they were on a truck as big as an eighteen wheeler in cages. i just felt sorry for them. although they might enjoy it. they probably think its adventurous. i wonder if they are trying to figure out where theyre going.

i have been celebrating christmas a lot. and drinking coffee late at night.

the weather today is splendid.

my friend mackenzie got me a goldfish. el luchador died last week. i will post his eulogy on here soon. she brought me a very tiny goldfish. i named him el pez dorado. the gold digger.

i finished a book. it was the greatest book ever read. i wanted to run away and search for adventure when i finished. i nearly did. “I was feeling wonderful. It seemed that the wind in my fur and the wild sea beneath me existed solely to transport me into a world of adventure. Could anything be more exciting than a journey into the unknown, a voyage of discovery across the great, wide ocean?”

i am back in the ambidextrious business.

i do love beards.

if i drove a beetle bug i would feel like im constantly racing in mario kart.

what if in football there were guns. the players could have guns. the only way to get a touchdown is to get to the other side without getting killed. and when you get a touchdown you automatically get ammo. or that was the only way to get ammo.

candy corn flavored pringles. delicious.

i got a new fish. el guapo is still alive but i got him a friend. i named the new one el luchador. the wrestler. the handsome and the wrestler. perfect. he is sort of albino. he is white with orange on top. they kissed once.

i received a 'happy' in the mail last week. it was exhilarating.

the peanut festival. i touched an elephant. i was watching it give rides and i went up to it and it stuck out his trunk and became best friends with me. it was one of my top 5 favorite moments in my entire life. elephants never forget. i sure hope that is true.

camping. wet. cold. rainy. fire. hot chili. smores. grilled cheese. bedtime. wet. 3:00am. blue van. morning. no fire. cracker barrell. campsite. clean up. rainy. old chili. yuck. however we had such a fun time being together. adventures.

i was nacho libre for halloween. it was da baayste. i wore a curly wig. and everything else that he wears. including a very nice moustache. which was my favorite part. i will soon have a real one. no shave november.

today i played ultimate frisbee against the greatest team of the country. my team lost. obviously.

in one of my education courses i sit by this girl. she drinks 2 chocolate milks and a mountain dew every monday and wednesday. jet packs.

Jesus said to eat a lot of candy. it is good for the mind. soul. and body. and heart.

rock band. they should come out with rock orchestra.

antelope dogs.

So the church I go to in Dothan is a sister church to Andy Stanley’s church in Atlanta, North Point Community church. Every Sunday instead of the pastor preaching we pull down a huge screen and hear from Andy. He shared from Matthew 14, the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, and he put this passage in a different perspective than what I’ve always thought. So what I am about to say came completely from Andy. I just wanted to share bc I thought it was neat.

Verse 13

“As soon as Jesus heard the news he left in a boat to a remote place to be alone. But crowds heard where he was going and followed him on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped off the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Now. First off, if I am going somewhere to be alone…I want to be alone! Jesus was going to a remote place so he could mourn the loss of John the Baptist…I mean, I think he needed to be alone. But when he got off the boat he was basically surrounded by tons of people. It says he had compassion on them and healed their sick…that would be the last thing I would want to do. If I were going somewhere to be by myself I would be extremely frustrated to find 5,000 people follow me and then heal them!

“That evening the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and its already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to their villages and buy food for themselves.”

Aka so we can eat. That’s probably what they were thinking…we are hungry, let them go get food so we can get food.

“But Jesus said, ‘That isn’t necessary-you feed them.” “But we only have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish!”

Here it is. The invitation that will change everything. Jesus invites them to feed 5,000 people. In their minds they are thinking what are you talking about, we can’t do it, we only have 5 loaves and 2 fish! Jesus invites them to get out of their comfort zone. So many times we feel God nudging at us to do something but we come to him with all these excuses…I can’t teach middle schoolers! What if they ask me questions that I don’t know the answers too! Jesus says well bring me the answers that you do have. I’m not experienced enough! Jesus says well bring me the experience that you do have. I can’t go on a mission trip! I’m super afraid of planes! Jesus says well bring me that fear. I can’t do that! I’m not smart enough! Jesus says well bring me what you know. We always have excuses. All Jesus wants us to do is to take that very first step and He will do the rest. Sometimes that will be filling out a volunteer form to help in Sunday school. That’s all. Fill out the form. He will do the rest.

“Bring them here.” Jesus said. (after the disciples said ‘but we only have so much’ Jesus probably said this in a very deep voice…bring them here! Bing them to me!) I’m sure the disciples weren’t surprised to hear this. I think they knew something big was about to happen.

“He then took the bread and fish and blessed them……..he gave the bread to the disciples who distributed them.” Jesus asked them to distribute the food…that’s all. That’s all they knew how to do. Then Jesus made something miraculous happen! What a story!!!

“Immediately” after this, Jesus told the disciples to go back across the lake on their boat. Jesus then “sent the people home.” I wonder how he did that. “Welp, you guys are dismissed.” Ha. I’m sure the crowd was thinking, “No, I think I’m gonna stick around with you.” I can’t imagine how that went down. So Jesus went up the hill to pray until night came. A strong wind came and the disciples were in trouble on the lake. 3:00 in the morning it says they were “fighting heavy waves.” I mean, they are fisherman aren’t they and they can’t even cross the lake. This was no surprise to Jesus. He comes out there walking on the water. “When the disciples saw him they were terrified.” Woa. How did Matthew ever admit that? He just ratted out everyone, including himself. They said “It’s a ghost!” haha. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, take courage, I am here.” Then…theeeeeeen, Peter had this brilliant idea. Peter knew that after Jesus invites them out of there comfort zone he always does something amazing! So Peter says “If it’s really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water!” wow. He is smart. Jesus said, “Yes, come.” So Peter does WHAT HE KNOWS HOW TO DO and gets off the boat and uses his legs and starts walking. But when he saw the strong waves he got scared and began to sink. He said, “Save me!” So Jesus reached down and grabbed his hand and said, “You have so little faith, why did you doubt me?” In translation Jesus probably meant, “You were so close!!! Why did you give up!!! You were almost there!!!” Then they all got in the boat and the disciples worshipped him saying “You truly ARE the Son of God!” Ha. As if they had doubted before….like when Jesus fed 5,000 people. Ha.

This is all so applicable. When Jesus nudges us to do something, even if we feel unqualified, DO IT! bc it will turn into something fantastic and of course God will be glorified! But the second we give ourselves honor, we will sink. Or the second it gets too hard and we give up, we will sink. Trust God. He only always asks us to do what we know how to do. The first step.

Friday was a very special day. It was the birthday of a man who forever changed education. His knowledge on spelling and desire for teachers to teach spelling to students will be remembered. Noah Webster is perhaps one of the greatest and smartest men who ever lived. Happy birthday from a true fan. I am going to Connecticut to celebrate his festivities. Noahs birthday festivities. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

We had our first travelling college volleyball games this last weekend. We lost all 4, but we have come a long way. We had a tournament in Montgomery this weekend. we have one game left this Thursday then our season is over.

Today was the most beautiful day ever. It was about 68. mmm. Delicious.

where the wild things are. hurry up.

apricots are made out of live apes.

i made a cake today. with blue food coloring. aka a blue cake. with funfetti. and sprinkles. it was for a class. noah websters birthday is friday.

i think i saw the great gatspy today. i was watching an old movie but is that even a movie? it was black and white.

i cant wait to carve my pumpkin. i dont even have a pumpkin yet.

i am debating about getting twitter. i dont need it. neither does everyone else.

billy jean is not my lover.

'ill take the dream i had last night
and put it in my freezer,
so someday long and far away
when im an old grey geezer,
ill take it out and thaw it out,
this lovely dream ive frozen,
and boil it up and sit me down
and dip my old cold toes in.'

i like...
fall.
boots.
art shows.
art.
homecoming games.
old friends. most.
books.
coffee.
sweaters.
water.
music.
trees.
creativity.
things that are brown.
bangs.
poems.

...and the beat goes on.

Fall is such a great season. It makes me want to travel. and wear cute scarves. And killer boots. It actually makes me want to do a lot of things. I always learn new things when fall comes. The air is different. The leaves are different. It is a new chapter. I love new chapters. Fall brings new things. Pumpkins are becoming pumpkins. Leaves turn orange and red. The sky begins to look more and more blue. Change is good. Fall is good.

soon: camping. bluff park art show. volleyball tournaments. pumpkin patch/carving.

fall brings good music too.

“The way to disengage the heart from the love of one object is to fasten it in positive love to another. It is not by exposing the worthlessness of the former, but by addressing the worth and excellence of the latter that all old things are to be done away and all things are to become new. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.”

-Thomas Chalmers

My church pastor preached about this on Sunday. The first commandment is love the Lord your God. With all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If I do this everything should fall in place. Let me try to explain as he did. If its money I’m seeking after it will undoubtedly turn out to be a mistake. It will not satisfy me in the end. It is worthless. When I put forth an effort to turn from this there might be a void inside me. I first need to focus on filling it with God. This means I am ‘addressing the worth and excellence of the latter.’ Aka God. He is the only one who makes all things new. He will start working in me. He is worthy and excellent! I should love him with all my heart. soul. mind. and strength. Now, once I do this, I will be able to fully reach out to others and love them. Which is the second greatest commandment. But is equally important. The only way to do this is loving God. Because the love of the father is in me. (1 john). Therefore it is impossible to love others without loving God first. Or at all. So instead of focusing on the current sin or struggle look to God and love him. If we love him with everything inside of us, the old thing might be done away with. Something new and good will happen. Maybe loving others.

‘The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.’

me and my bf went garage saling this weekend. or garage sailing. heh. we went to a few flea markets. one of which we saw something very beautiful inside. ten very old men gathered playing guitars and singing. they were sitting in a circle. their songs consisted of old hymns. but they were upbeat and sounded somewhat bluegrass. we walked up and started listening to them and the old man on the mic said 'hey yall get up on this stage, we could use some talent by some young people!' and we laughed. they continued to play. we continued to dance off into the rest of the flea market.

ps i found some good treausures at the flea market. one item i purchased is a mary poppins silver spoon. except it is no longer very silver. its more of a gray color. it is a beaut. i heart mary poppins.

i usually walk to dinner, if im not in a hurry. well i saw something tonight that i usually dont see. ever. i saw a girl. with a lasso. lasso-ing a park bench. this is a true story. maybe she was pretending it was a cow. i do that sometimes. she might have been trying to impress a cowboy. since there are so many of those in florida. i would like to think she was training. for the gold. my friend eric made a good point..."at least the park bench didnt get away."

i was thinking about how different colors bring out peoples eyes. what if our eyes automatically changed colors to match your shirt? woa. magical. i would wear tie dye.

my first competitive college volleyball game is thursday. double header. i am very excited. however i had to take out my nose ring. rats. it was painful. emotionally.

fall is nearly here.

pretzel. prentzel. the second is the correct form.

me- 'hi, el guapo.'
el guapo- 'hi peyton.'
me- 'i like fish.'
el guapo- 'me too. your a fish.'

this weekend.

volleyball practice til 2 am thursday night. friday morning 5 am. home. errands with mom. cookies that needed icing. rafting trip with college group. ocoee river, chattanooga. bed time 2 am. musical improv with kristin. recorder and harmonica= laughs. magical things nearly appeared that night. 7 am breakfast. rafting. glorious. river. beautiful. mountain view. yes. river guide julia. cute bus driver. mmm. home. lingerie shower for my bestest. good times. chocolate fountain. chocolate. abundance. sunday. disc golf. back to school. sunday night. play time with el guapo. he was surely missed.

i let a friend of mine give me bangs. my forehead looks so good.

i bought some china today. vintage china. 2 large plates, 4 small plates, 4 small bowls, and 4 small coffee mugs. mustard yellow with some brown designs. 5 dollars.

me and my cousin are making clothes. we got some old skirts today that will be dresses soon.

i just burried some orange seeds in my backyard hoping it will one day turn into an orange tree. i am confident.

brooke waggoner. mmm. so good to my soul.

i am painting something soon. ive got miraculous ideas.

white water rafting this weekend. this is part of my search of el dorado.

i have been thinking a lot about pleaseing the Lord. i feel like God has placed this on my heart maybe bc its something i need to work on. it is heavy. i am so corrupt. even when i do good things, they are filthy. bloody. i am working on loving more. serving more. having pure thoughts. kind thoughts. making my attitude better. i am going to carefully determine what pleases the Lord. or at least try. i want to be wise. and i want there to be purpose. i dont want to act thoughtless. change. this is good.

i am playing competitve college volleyball. bcf is starting their first team. holla. workouts are 5:30 am for the rest of the season. i am excited about getting up that early for a reason. i love the outside in the mornings especially when the sun hasnt risen yet. rose. rised. arised. everything is so peaceful. and exactly where it should be. early mornings are beautiful. the mascot for our school is the eagle. the bald eagle, of course. we shouldve been the moose. mooses. meese. mossians. moosicans.

a dear friend of mine texted me a verse a few days ago. it meant a lot to me because i know she wanted me to read it. Hosea 6:3. 'Oh that we may KNOW the Lord! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of the dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.' this was a verse i needed at the time. which is why it is now so important to me. it has meaning. God is so cool. this friend is moving to atlanta in september. even though i wont be home a lot this semester, i will miss her. she is so encouraging. her walk with the Lord is so encouraging. i know when she reads this she wont think highly of herself. i am so grateful she will be doing what God wants her to do. rachel jones. i am praying that God will give you a peace in every situation. truly. i love you!

reading is so good. i feel like its healthy. and very important. sometimes it takes me a while to read a book. sometimes it takes me 2 days. either way, its good. it makes people smarter. depending on what book it is, it helps have a better imagination. which is detrimental.

i am living in a house. "the presidents house." obama lives here. in graceville. the president of bcf used to live here. my room is almost finished. it looks so good. i am quite the decorator. although i am being swallowed by shelves. the walls...consists of only shelves. hmmm. a library perhaps? or maybe its where they stored all their food for y2k. yes. millenium= starvation. or maybe its where they kept all there beanie babies. or...or! its the room dr kinchen placed all his trophies. he held the record for possessing the worlds most saltwater aquariums. maybe he used to own a lot of cats. they needed a place to sit. the possibilities are endless.

a few nights ago i saw two shooting stars on my way home. i wasnt even looking at the sky. i think God created shooting stars just for us. just so we can look at them. shooting stars declare Gods glory.

starbucks: ground coffee. tasting notes: balanced, nutty. flavor intensity: medium. my opinion: yum.

sometimes i wish i could take a moment i love and make it last a million years. tonight i thought this many times. me and my best friend brittani sampson went to see a 10:00 movie. for free. since she works at a movie theater. we saw julie and julia. great movie. inspiring. we were the only people in the theater. which was probably a good thing. we got free popcorn and free icees. and we bought chocolate covered peanuts. near the end of the movie, we got tired and restless. we hit the first stage of deleriousness. in our case, the first stage is most likely stage five for others. we put up the arm rests and laid across the chairs. it wasnt comfortable but we both agreed it was perfect. this opened the doors for a lot of hilarious jokes. we were laughing histarically at ourselves. near the end of the movie i dozed off for a few minutes and woke up at the very end. we were thankful we didnt wake up the next morning. i know to you this doesnt seem like a cherishable moment, but it was. and is. she is my best friend and we have so many moments like these.

i havent blogged in years. welcome back party to me. welcome back to my life everyone. welcome back to my brains. all four of them.

good news. i purchased a record player. a working one. and records. working records. it is so good to be alive.

i have been reading a magical book. more books to read too.

my fish is still living. he is still handsome. hence the name el guapo. age hasnt done a thing to him.

i had the priveledge of being in a dear friends wedding from doe river gorge/tennessee last week. it was beautiful. my friends up there are so encouraging. i have missed them.

classes start monday. it makes me want to curse.

i will have to post some things about this summer soon. right now im just practicing since i havent blogged in...years.

Things from new york with the college group:

I <3 dick van dyke.

This huge [black] lady walked in to a restaurant wearing a very small very tight yellow dress. Andrew said ‘that looks like a bruised banana with a lot less peeling.’

Chunklet milk. Sick.

We went to wash dc. That’s short for Washington dc. Arlington cemetery. We saw the changing of the guards. The guards that guard the representative tomb of the unknown soldiers. These guards are real men. Real. men. We figured there is a ceremony for the changing of the grass cutters as well. heh. They are most likely in the mafia. With the same name. joe spino. (They were latino.)

My mafia name: guido. Which means moustache in Spanish.
unknown: mickey sears.
Unknown: tony.

At night I would hang my dora towel up to dry and I hung it over this standing light fixture. Dora was starring at everyone the entire night. Hilarious times.

Subway surfing. Holla.

For about 40 minutes I pretended like I was blind. We were walking around new york and Kristin was my guide. She is good. I got some weird looks. I know this bc 3 times I looked back at the people and cracked. I couldn’t handle it sometimes. THREE TIMES I looked at someone in their eye and started laughing. Luckily they were the only people that knew. The funniest times were when people would bump into me. And when I had to ‘search’ for the railing, to go down the stairs. Good times.

I know spaghetti when I see spaghetti.

Me and Andrew told everyone that a plane fell from the air and space museum. And crushed three people that were rushed to the hospital. We told everyone we witnessed it. they believed us all day. Suckers.

Gold bond peppermint makes your armpits tingle. And smell good.

I found the missing link. Gang member that got branded by two different gangs. Ball point pens.

Theme songs: superman, Jurassic park, and star wars sound the best together.

We were getting off the subway and some middle eastern man turned around to tell his wife something and then I repeated what he said and he heard me and gave me a weird look. Indian subway fiasco.

New york was a good trip.

i have a quilt. a new addition to my life. my dearest mother bought it for me. we found it at an antique store. my parents came down to school the week of finals. we went antique shopping. i love antiques. i always find so many treasures. small ones like a pin that says 'elk of the month.' and big ones like this quilt. it has been on many adventures, im sure. it has so many patterns. having this makes me want to know where its been. or who owned it. maybe a grandmother used it to sleep with on her expedition around the world. she traveled and slept on the ground with it. that explains why its so dirty. or maybe it belonged to an astronaut. yes. and the quilt has been to the moon. the quilt has moon dirt. i wonder what the owners name was. lucy. maybe. beatrice. perhaps. margaret. i dont think so. constance. thats it. it was constance. she was from constancestinople. like constantinople.

i like to read at night. but im not very consistent.

im getting some toms. the shoes. but the ones i want aren’t in yet. i went today and the sign said “new shipment coming in later than expected.” the worker said “some boxes of theirs got lost or something.” i said “well is it every store or just yours?” he said “ohhh no, its all over the world.” we laughed. my shoes. i bet pirates stole them. yes. they stole the boxes and they are wearing my shoes. they need them more than me. and they need new eyes. or a new eye.

If I had one wish it would be to identify a bird when I hear one. I would hear it chirp and immediately know what bird it is. maybe I should read more books. Or download bird podcasts. Or take bird classes. Or sit outside more than I already do and have a bird book in my hand to identify the birds and their different chirps. I love birds. And their voices. God created them and they’re all so unique. Nothing is impossible. I will keep wishing this.

I went to the zoo today. I need a seal. This is serious. I need to have a seal and train it. train it to jump over me. When I raise my arms I want it to jump over me. And when I circle my hands it will flip. Also, i fed a giraffe. With my own hands. They were on the other side of the habitat, and I started waving this huge branch saying "come over here giraffes!" They came. I then broke a huge branch off and fed it to them. They ate it. And loved me.

Blueberries help you have long term memory. It’s very true.

I went to the barrons game with the nielsens last week. Josiah was petrified of the mascots. When they got close he would look at them and scream. It was a look of terror. . But then later all he wanted to do was give them a high five. I don’t know what happened.

The music to Jurassic park is inspiring. It makes me want to travel across America. On foot. With a walkie talkie in my hand. i would like to see dinosaurs. And study them. And look at how big their feet are. And look at my glass of water rippling as a dinosaur gets near.

Sunday hot dogs. Sundogs. Raindogs. Shrimpdogs.

I wish I could type out my dream as I was dreaming. Every detail. Beautiful. Dream typer. Brilliant.

Animated Lord of the Rings. Heh.

I love the rain the most. Joe purdy

i have noticed lately, it being the end of my semester, i tend to make a lot of lists.

examples:
new music i like
books to read over the summer
goals for next semester
new foods to eat
what i need to do today
quotes from movies
good lyrics to songs
adventurous things
things i want to do before i die
things to blog about
funny quotes anybody says
things im thankful for
things God has shown me
new smoothie recipes
a list of things i need to make lists about

i enjoy making lists. they make me feel organized. and wise.

2 more days.

i am highly anxious for summer. and camp.

i am going to antique stores friday. treasures to be found.

yoga is good.

so are oranges.

i just started a 1000 piece puzzle. oh my. its a picture of a boat, a house, and some tall grass.

i went on a walk yesterday and saw a dead snake.

finals next week. i am my study buddy. heh.

feliz cinco de mayo. i wish i were at home so i could go eat with all my mexican friends. i also wish i had a sombraro to wear all day. since i cant do either, i will just talk in a mexican accent all day. i bet some people arent celebrating this holiday, due to swine flu. it started in mexico you know.

do you remember when everyone was shouting my name, and i used my strength to rip my blouse.

that was from star wars. just kidding, it was from nacho libre. i will watch that movie today. and salute to all the mexicans.

two good ole friends of mine came to me this weekend. kristin and meredith. yes. we had magical times. one night we watched a documentary called 'man on wire,' about a man who wire walked between the twin towers. we were amazed. that night i wore spandex bc i was positive i was going to dream about me doing the same. unfortunately, i didnt wire walk. i thought i would be prepared just in case. we also watched the 7th voyage of sinbad. it had a cyclopse in it. duh.

we went to the beach all day saturday. we saved a sea horse. we found a fun crab on our walk. on the way back, it was being eaten by a bird. we saw a million barnacles.

we are always looking for adventures. aka im really excited about this summer.

kristin: magical x 1,000,000. holla back.

recent artists ive listened to. ryan adams. mat kearney. joshua james. brooke waggoner. noah and the whale. fats domino. dustin kensrue. andrew bird.

i have read 3 books in the past 4 weeks. i should win. an award.

abraham lincoln once said if you are racist, i will attack you with the north.

update: el guapo is still alive and has healthy bones. healthy fish bones.

i just read edgar allen poe. Jesus take the wheel.

there is a meteor shower this week. lyrids meteor shower. me and some friends rode our bikes to this place. it was full of sand piles, and small valleys. or something. anyways, we built a fire and roasted marshmallows. and we watched lyrids meteor shower til 1:30 in the morning. it is supposed to be happening for a few nights i think. so you might want to watch it. God is big. we are small.

i had the privelidge of going to see dave matthews band and old crow medicine show last night. they played at the oak mtn amphitheater. aaron spigner got two tickets. he knows a friend who knows a friend who knows the five. we got there a little late...driving from florida was a disadvantage. as we were pulling in to park i rolled down the window only to find something terrible. something so terrible we shreaked w disappointment. 'wagon wheel' coming from their instruments never made us so angry. we didnt even get to hear our favorite song. unfortunately all the parking lots were full and they directed us to park somewhere on highway 119. we sprinted all the way. literally. we screamed 'we're coming we're coming!' but i dont think the band heard us bc by the time we got in OCMS was already done. we wanted to throw up. and then die. luckily, dave matthews band was kickin. he is an amazing person in concert. one song, he got crazy and started dancing all over the place. he has rhythm. a funny rhythm. i loved it. i love him. to top it off he sang a cover...'burnin down the house' by talking heads. also, to our advantage, it was national pot day. heh.

on the way back we listened to the entire phantom of the opera soundtrack. and sang nearly every word. i was the girl. he was the...men.

I went to my first yoga class tonight. It was exactly what I expected. Except the room was smaller than I imagined. And there were not so many people. There were older people too. Our teacher, she is very nice. Funny. Easy going. Ya know, the usual yoga instructor, I guess.

When we first started she had us sit Indian style and close our eyes. To relax. She told us to focus on breathing. Well, as you already know from previous posts I don’t do this very well. there is something I find extremely funny when someone forces silence upon me. I found myself pleading with Jesus to keep me from laughing. I was literally on the verge of bursting.

She would of course name the poses we were going to do right before we did them, and I wanted to laugh horrendously every time…she would name the yoga pose while she was exhaling…in this deep raspy voice…”batsumanaha…” this is when I began praying for Jesus to help me.

A lists of some poses we did: childs pose. face cow. Mountain. Cobra. Grandfather cobra. Warrior. Bridge pose. Cat.

To be honest it did relax me, not in a religious way, but it is healthy to flex your body and stretch.

There is a new member to my family. El guapo is my fish. Gold fish.

he is made of real gold. only i know this. well, and you. he is a special fish.

He isn’t like any other fish. He does tricks. He jumpz, I moves ze bowl, he jumpz back in. when I feed him, he circles around the bowl at a rate unlike any other fish. today i cleaned his bowl. it smelt like poop. i loved it. its like, when your kid poops, you still love him the same. well, thats how it is for me and el guapo.

My friend won him for me at a rattlesnake rodeo. He has had many adventures already. He is a traveler indeed. We were meant to be together.

El guapo translated means the handsome.

he really likes the oak ridge boys. or, as he calls them, the oak ridge men.

just yesterday i was driving along, on a small highway when i see this small long black thing up ahead. it was wiggling its way across the road. or slithering, should i say. it was indeed the black momba. these snakes have a wide range of known locations. savannahs, woods, and maybe rocky surfaces. notice, the road, is not one of them. when i was getting closer, it delivered multiple strikes to my car. it was obviously threatening me. i couldnt help but run over it. and it wasnt fast enough. and i hate snakes. some ask, "did you mean to hit it?" ...my answer: 'the black mamba is one of the largest and most deadliest snakes in the world...you decide for yourself.' after i hit it, i pulled over and got out of my car. i skinned it and i am making shoes and belts. it was a 10 footer. also, i checked its belly for gold. black mambas are known for eating buried treasure.

its the best day ever. in 2009 of course. aka birf birf birfday. im 21. now and forever. forever young bebeh.

I went rock climbing with aaron and Andrew spigner Saturday. it was fun. Unitl I almost plummeted to my death. I climbed 4 rocks, which is a lot for me bc my fingers get tired after the first two…and we were about to leave when aaron said “why don’t you try the cave?” I said noooo way. Its too hard and my fingers are already tired. It was one of the higher ones…I said I really shouldn’t bc im tired. Well, I usually don’t give into peer pressure, but I did. It only got me in trouble. I got to the top and got stuck. I felt like my arms/fingers were slowly giving up on my life. it was like someone sucked all the strength out of my body. I started feeling nauseated. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to give up on my life. I told Aarons brother that he was going to have to speedy on up there and help me. So he did. And he gave me a hand and pulled me out of that horrendous cave.

It was two rocks together and it made a cave. When you get closer to the top you can actually put your back on one side and your legs on the other in a sitting position. But somehow there was no strength in my body, so I was only able to be in this sitting position for so long.

Some have asked, “will you ever attempt the cave boulder again?”

I think so…i think so.

i try and seek adventure in everything i do. when i worked at doe river, this is one of the four things we go over with the kids the second day of camp. the first being, choose joy, the second, guard yourself and others, third, love your nieghbor, and fourth, seek adventure. anyways, i am always thinking of ways to seek adventure...saturday, i was driving with three kids in the car, and i thought it would be fun if we listened to disney songs loud, i put on the song from tarzan 'you'll be in my heart...' and rolled down the windows, i was listening to the kids sing when i heard 'beauty in my heart...' i started laughing. this little voice was coming from a 7 year old, she was singing so loud and beautiful. i just soaked it up.

when i was little i wanted to be a policeman bc i could run fast.

i will be at home all of next week. aka spring break bebeh! i am so excited.

the book 'the shack' is amazing. it puts things in a different perspective.

i am listening to nat king cole.

i really like chips and salsa.

and curtis take home cheff.

yesterday i saw a man with a cane walking on a dirt road. he was wearing suspenders. aka we became best friends.

i wonder what he was thinking about. maybe he was thinking what a beautiful city toronto is. and how he wishes he could be there. but maybe he is afraid of planes. and maybe he gets car sick. i wonder if he was pretending to be back in time. he was probably pretending to be a dinosaur. they used to be alive. maybe he was reminiscing. he used to be an author of 16 novels. and he used his cane to sign autographs. yes. or he was probably thinking of getting a mole removed. maybe all 12 of them. or maybe what book he should read next. or what he will be for halloween next year. the possibilities are endless.

i liked him.

my two best friends came down and spent the weekend with me. we went to panama city saturday. and it rained. and we went to destin sunday. and it rained. but being in their company was delightful. we had some pretty extraordinary memories that i will never forget.

i want a dog so bad.

i spent an hour in the dothan library last thursday. i was ready to check out three books. when i got to the front desk the lady informed me that you have to live in dothan to be able to check out books. i threw my books in her face and screamed. at least i wanted to.

i asked a little girl the other day why she thinks we dream…she said ‘so we can have fun stories to share with our friends the next day.’

my team in basketball won the championship game. aka we are the champs. my black coach was so proud of me. our team name was chocolate thunder. heh heh.

i hate grape jelly beans. they taste like tylenol.

i gave blood today. for a really good cause. aka the insane man who took 12 innocent lives. i guess a lot were injured and needed blood. the blood drive was held at a church near the small town, samson. the preacher was very thankful for all of us who came. and there were a lot. aka we waited 3 hours in the scourching sun. after we gave blood my friend was so light headed when she talked it didnt make any sense. me and my other friend were laughing extremely hard. i said, 'my arm is twitching...' she replied, 'put some ice cream on it.' (we got ice cream from chick-fa-let.) i was nearly in tears from laughing at all the funny nonsense she was saying. lets just say i drove us home in her car.

as most of you know my intramural basketball coach is black. he is so funny. im the only girl on the team and last night he told me i 'was one of them.' my life is complete.

i desparately want fresh food. vegitables. fruit.

i made a 96 on my old testament mid-term. i had to go 'back in time' as one my friends put it.

today was a very beautiful day. weather-wise.

my laundary is almost done. mmm.

i bought hippy stationary today. now i just need stamps.

the people in the room next to me are yelling. its not funny.

the other day i was out for a drive when i saw this dirt road in the distance. i decided to take it. on this dirt road i found a gynormous field that seemed to never end. and a lake. and a very cool bridge. i got out of my car to take a picture. i bent down and put my hands on the barb wire fence only to find it was an electric fence. i didnt notice. it wasnt a regular one either. the voltage made me jump in shock and fall over. as i was sitting, i started laughing. most fences arent that powerful, i mean, they just give ya a little shock. not this one. it zapped me.

i went to the beach yesterday. the ocean has a way of warming the cockles of my heart. it was relaxing. and sunny. and beautiful. the water was about 3 degrees. aka i didnt swim.

daylight savings time. i love it. for many reasons. one is that i can play outside til 7:30. i have fond memories of doing so.

i think i ate two oranges everyday this week. mmm.

last night i took benadryl. an hour later i was in a different world.

i bought some cereal at target. cashew apricot granola. soooo good.

i went to the 'graceville library' yesterday. it is the smallest public library i have ever seen. i went with a bad attitude bc i knew they wouldnt have the two books i was looking for. they did. and the old lady at the desk gave me a bookmark. it has a teddy bear on it and says 'a good book is a good friend.'

saturday im going to the beach. it is supposed to be 75 degrees. holla.

im currently dusting off my spy gear. got a mission.

me and my friend are baking our math teacher a cherry pie. aka he loves us. aka we love him. aka thats his favorite pie.

70 days til summer.

i put some pocahontas on my ipod today. its been a good day.

holiness is hard. i knew it would be but there are a lot of things i need to be working on. controlling my tongue. thoughts. emotions. temptations. reactions. i am learning so much. and i am growing. my relationship with the lord is where it should be...he is my best friend. he is my hiding place, refuge. he is my savior. i spend a lot of my time with him. he is teaching me so much, and i praise him. holiness is something that will take a long time, and i will never reach it fully. it is something i will always struggle with. the Holy Spirit and satan are at constant war. they are constantly fighting over me. we already won. Jesus took the wheel. victory.

i have one desire. it is consuming my thoughts. holiness. i long so bad to have this. so bad that sometimes thats all i can think about. holiness is about obedience. God has commands in his word that we should really think about and try and start doing. basic things, like loving others, so many times i fall short of this. it really shouldnt be that hard. but it is, for all of us. another one is to flee from all temptation. i am tempted everyday with things. whether it be big or small. he tells us to run from it. i fail. a lot. but thats part of it. i need to start realizing that my sin grieves God. it hurts him. to be honest i dont think ill ever realize how much sin is in my life. i dont even know all the sin. but i am going to start searching. i am going to search for things that i do that pains my Savior. i am going to try and fix them. it will be hard. hence, i cant do it on my own. duh. i am going to trust God every minute of everyday. i am going to ask for strength. i am going to ask for wisdom. to make holiness a possibility, i need these things. i need to start obeying Gods word. and i need to have confidence that i can do this. it will be unbearable at times, but God is with me every step of the way. i want holiness. i really want to just have it. i dont want to go through the whole process, i just want it. instantly. however, it is the lessons i will learn and the temptations i will have that will get me to holiness. i am afraid. but excited. i want to be transformed. holiness is what i long for. my one desire.

i really do love kids. they have so much to offer. not only do they teach me life lessons, they just see life for what it is. simple. they dont complicate things, bc they cant.

somtimes all i can think about are kids. a lot of the time i think about how i wish i could be around them. they are so easy to talk to, well, some...but i love the fact that they arent thinking about what shirt you are wearing, or what you do in your spare time, or how involved you are at school or church...they just want to be with you. they want your time. they just want to use their imagination and play. they dont always need to talk.

sometimes i get really tired and annoyed with small talk. i hate it when people can spend minutes upon minutes talking about what they are going to do for the rest of the day, or what they are going to wear tomorrow or why their grandmothers friends dog got sick. if any of you know me, you know im not a deep person and i don’t spend all my time talking about deep theological things, but sometimes I want to spend time conversing with others about simple fun things, like inventions and what thoughts went through inventors minds, or why pomegranates look so different on the inside.

sometimes i can get really selfish, bc it doesn’t and shouldn’t ever matter what I want to talk about.

we should all be more like kids. just be. don’t think about things that don’t matter. i mean, i do, a lot of the time, but im trying not to.

i need to go to the zoo.

this doesn’t have anything to do with my post, I mean, its about kids, but i thought it was funny. sunday nights i help teach a little kids class, and i asked one of the boys (who sort of has special needs) to pray before we get started, and this is what he prayed…’dear God, I thank you that we love you, and i thank you that my birthday is next week, im gonna be six…..now, and forever. amen.’

this same boy is on my upward team, and he was dribbling down the court on saturday, and this boy said, ‘nathaniel! pass it to me!’ and he turned around and said, ‘I KNOW WHAT IM DOING!’ (and then he scored). so cute. i love kids.

the boy in front of me has been playing tetrus the whole time. aka an hour and 30 minutes.

the girl to the left of me has a big purple shirt. and a tilted laptop.

the chinese girl diagnal of me is falling asleep. her little eyes.

the girl across the room has a very blue streak in her hair.

my teacher has a black mark on his face from the dry eraser.

the girl to the right of me has a really tiny laptop. a leg top.

theres a woman in front of me who always wears a lot of makeup.

luckily, i am normal.

it got cold again. aka ugh. but its sunny which i love.

me and some people got tired of school food, so we went and ate at moes. and then brusters. i sat on top of the car and ate my ice cream. and then my left hand went numb.

asbestos. aka the stuff living in our dorm. aka lung cancer. that explains why everyone on my half of the dorm has been sick. including me. we are all going to have lung cancer.

early this morning i heard a knock on my door. it was the bug man. nuff said.

i painted yesterday. while my window was open. while listening to ray lamontagne.

something i need: mary poppins on dvd. duh.

if i drink milk before i go to bed, it makes me feel young. like a kid. i hope i will always have that feeling.

i am learning a song on my recorder. my recorder from elementary school. the brand is 'kingsley.' i know. such a good brand.

82 days til summer.

i am spending balumftine'th day in mississippi with a good friend. lindsey grefseng. we might hit the clubs tonight. actually we probably will. yes. we will.

happy balumftine'th day. (mexican with a lisp. duh).

weather? perfect. tennis? better serves. treasure found? always. vintage door. crystal door knob. holla. weekend? exciting. surprising lindsey grefseng. mississippi. the little rascals? last night. ray lamontagne? mmm. cannonball in the baptism? no. sunburn? yes. flipper? dolphin. upward basketball? now. bandana? perhaps.

so it was exactly two years ago today i was baptized. its a special day. it seems like forever ago. but i remember sitting in the pew and pastor harry felt the conviction of saying...'if anybody else wants to get baptized, we have extra clothes...and if you feel God telling you to come, come.' (except he used a much smart sounding language, pastoral language, if you will). this marked the first time i actually heard God say 'GO!' he spoke to me. the Holy Spirit is alive and powerful i stood up more quicker than ever and made my way down the isle. i was nervous. and my hands were shaky. i didnt want harry to ask me all those baptism questions...i remember thinking, what if i forget my name, or my age, or when i got saved, or if santa claus is real or not...stage fright. anyways, to get my mind off that, i did a cannonball right into the water. i was alive in Christ, it was an unforgetable feeling. im so glad i waited til i could really grasp and understand what was going on. so, i left that day with wet underwear. ha.

i played golf this weekend. i need to play more. i had some good hits, but most of which flew off the hill with much dirt.

today my teacher made a joke that took about 5 minutes and at the end, nobody laughed.

last night we had our 3rd intramural basketball game. my coach is black. and his name is cornelius. holla. i made two 3 pointers. he was so proud. he treated me like a gang member. in a good way. i dont hate it.

im hoping it wont get cold anymore. this weather should probably stay. or i wont be happy.

i have been really wanting to play tennis. nobody plays here, so ive been working on my serve.

there is a sign in my physical science class that reads: emergency eye wash.

92 days til summer.

this exact time last week i was headed south on a bike. me and one of my fellow dorm mates, nicole, thought it would be fun and adventurous to ride our bikes to the nearest walmart to get some essentials. aka the next town, Chipley, which is 15 miles away. we knew it was going to be hard, but in our heads we pictured highway 79 much flatter than it was in real life. florida doesnt seem that flat when biking. we struggled (and laughed) when approaching each hill. which turned out to be a mountain. however, there was never a point in time when we came to a 'descending' part. we only 'ascended.' weird huh. it was like going up stairs. we got to the top of each small (large) hill (mountain) excited to get to go downslope, but it never came. logically, we thought some of the hills we would get to coast on the way down. we were wrong in our thinking. we got about 6 miles out of graceville, which read 'one hour' on my stop watch. we passed about 7 eighteen wheelers, (or they passed us), so 7 times i tried raising my arm up and down to get them to honk, but none of them ever did. which couldve been an advantage, it probably wouldve blown me off the road. and in the end i wouldve been deaf. some road trip. we also passed countless road kill. who wouldve thought? road kill? not us. an interesting piece was a beaver. in half. even a piece of its tail was off. must have been tragic. unexpectedly we saw a field of sheep and deer. they were all sitting together. hmm. i had no idea they were friends. well, we made it to chipley, exhausted. we phoned a friend to tell him to come pick us up. we were grateful. 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 33 seconds. lance armstrong has nothing on us. duh.

i would do it again. only if i purchased a bigger bike seat. (girls, take this to heart). on a serious note, it was most definitely a learning and growing experience. you can view the world from a different perspective when using a bike for traveling purposes. more to come about this in a different post.

we even made it on the morning radio show at BCF. basically heros.

99 days til summer.

today. i went on an incredible adventure. kayaking. in the vast ocean. i went home with my roommate baxley this weekend. she lives in panama city. aka shes got connections with the pacific. doy. me, her, and another friend went kayaking to some islands. across the bay. goose bay, to be exact. however we didnt see much geese. none actually. maybe they should think about renaming it. when we pulled our kayaks onto the island, we stepped in a lot of mud. and when i say a lot, it went up to our knees. i tried running but i didnt get anywhere. we trail blazed. and saw fish bones. and rope, in which we made bracelets out of. then we traveled back across. and now we are eating chips and salsa. mmm.

things i saw on my adventure:
barnacles.
sea snails.
sailboats aka fellow seamen.
lots of dry seaweed.
manta rays.
oysters.
fish bones.
a dead crab.

ide say it was a pretty good day.

God bless sailor leo. i saw this on a sign last week.

'where are you christmas?' me and baxley just got through listening to that song. aka the celine dion version. doy.

Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where it's flat and immense
And the heat is intense
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home

i saw a book today at barnes and noble. i think i will go back and get it. it would teach me a lot of things. things that people used to do back in the old days. 101 things to be exact. like how to make a fire with only sticks. which ive always attempted doing. and mounting and dismounting a horse. and how to build a canoe. and how to act at a medieval banquet. and how to defend a castle. The time has come to reacquaint myself with the past.

im going to start using a barometer to measure my success.

ps 104 days til summer.

The story of my title is brought to you in part by my good friend Eric. He lives in TN. This christmas I gave humbly gave him a Dwight Shrute squishy head. It is now in the hands of Gumby, standing proudly on his dashboard.

Methuselah lived 968 years.

How is your left hand writing going? Im glad you asked. My ambidextrous writing is going very well.

The Australia open comes on tonight. 8pm to 5am. Ha. I guess I wont be watching the whole thing. I want to play tennis so bad.

I am going to be coaching an ‘upward basketball’ team with the church down the road that everybody goes to. I am so excited. I am going to have little ones. Also the pastor and his wife ‘adopted’ me into their family. Members from the church ‘adopt’ students from BCF. I basically have a roll in the church now. I am in the pastors family. Ha. AND im going to be helping the wife lead her little kids class on Sunday nights. A new beginning.

Curiosity= passion for exploration.

I bought a potato sack from an antique store and hung it on my wall. Its basically awesome!

CANOEING is to POPSICLE STICK as LED ZEPPELIN is to:
A. Luke skywalkers life saber
B. Dora the explorer or
C. the king of Iceland.

NO CHEAT SHEETS. NO PHONING A FRIEND. DUH.

this exact date last year i was posting my first post. january 23, 2008. i was a new one. an unexperienced blogger if you will. but now....noooooooow, im experienced. it took a lot to get here.

i remember i was at UCF (mtn brook) when rachael jones and heather talked me into getting one. i was sucked right in and didnt even know it. (please refer to my first and older posts).

its nearly 12:00 and im so ready to sleep. my roommate went home this weekend. aka its very quiet in my room. its nice. and lonely at times.

happy blogger birthday to me!

ps 109 days til summer.

last night me and my roommate baxley hung christmas lights. everywhere, literally. on the wall. on the ceiling. it looks incredible.

this morning:

alarm clock. snooze. alarm clock. snooze. shower. warm. mousse. makeup. blue dress. coffee maker. splenda. internet. overthe rhine.com. music. christmas lights: on. coffee: ready. music: playing. morning: perfect.

lets review.

christmas lights= on.
coffee= ready.
music= playing.
morning= perfect.

FISHING POLE is to HUNT as BIKE is to:

A. shark
B. mermaids
C. mittens

no cheat sheets. no phoning a friend. your on your own kids.

110 days til summer.

2 kings chapter 7:1-11. read it. before you read this post.

maybe we are wondering why the world is the way it is? why are the people acting the way they are acting? why did people vote for obama? its because of one reason. they are LOST. they are DYING. they are living in SIN.

however why don’t we ask the same thing…to ourselves…why are the lost acting in such a way? why are WE acting in such a way…? we are dying as well. we are also living in sin. why don’t we take a look at our flesh? its bc ‘we are christians. we are better than them.’ NO. we are such a selfish people. the lepers in the story were eating more than have in there entire life! …soon after that they said ‘we aren’t doing what is right! this is a day of good news and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! so they went back to the palace and told the people.’ what an incredible example of how we should live everyday! i am currently wearing jeans, a nice warm sweater, boots, and mittens. i am so rich! we are so rich friends. there are poor homeless starving people on this freezing day who, didn’t forget their coat, they don’t HAVE a coat. They don’t HAVE food. and maybe they don’t have JESUS. we need do be like the lepers and get up off our butts and go TELL! everyone.

so lets cast ourselves into the darkness! its uncomfortable. its ESSENTIAL.

we have to DARE to make the uncomfortable comfortable.

how big is our comfort zone? well, how LOST are the people outside of it?

we have to DARE to follow our unseen source. aka JESUS CHRIST.

we will DARE to share our ABUNDANT blessings. he WANTS us to.

lets go. lets go tell people. help people. take care of people. encourage people. lets be convicted. forgive us oh Lord for our laziness. and snobbishness. ‘we are keeping the GOOD NEWS to ourselves.

i am currently listening to this song. ive listened to it 6 times in a row now. my roommate is laughing at me. aka ive been dancing to it since the first time i played it.

Keith Green: You Put This Love in My Heart.

I found it hard to believe
Someone like you cared for me
You put this love in my heart

I tried but could not refuse
You gave me no time to choose
You put this love in my heart

I want to know where the bad feelings go
When I'm depressed and I get down so low
And then I see you coming to me and it's alright

I want to tell you right now
I'm not afraid to say how
You put this love in my heart

There are sometimes when I doubt
But you always find me out
You put this love in my heart

Cause when I see all that you've done for me
It's hard to doubt, I just have to believe
Cause you followed and proved it all of your life

Well I know
the loneliness I had before
Is gone now
I'll never feel it anymore

Cause your love has released me
From all that's in my past
And I know I can believe you
When you say I'll never be forsaken
Your love is gonna last

There's so much more I should say
If I could just find a way
You put this love in my heart

Is all this real or a dream
I feel so good I could scream
You put this love in my heart

I want to know where the bad feelings go
When I'm depressed and I get down so low
And then I see you coming to me and it's alright

You put this love in my heart

You put this love in my heart

You put this love in my heart

ps 112 days til summer.

im all moved into my humble abode at school. things i hung up in my room: slow children at play sign. a cool 5 piece picture frame. an old painting i did at shades mtn. a vintage iron candle holder. and on each side of that, african squared plates (one has an elephant, the other a giraffe). a patch-eyed bird picture. big-bulbed satin lights. a huge picture from about 1950-its potato sack material with yarn-embroided flowers. a cross. my hippy mittens. a coloring-book picture of an indian. 9 pictures hung up by paper clips and strung by himp. and a poloroid picture.

i feel so lonely without my mandolin. i am mandolinless.

try to say 'irish wrist watch' fast.

ps this is my 113th blog post. i have 113 days til summer. weird.

i had the privelidge of watching my best friend try on wedding dresses today. i couldnt stop smiling. she is so beautiful. it was bittersweet. actually, just sweet.

rachel was taking pictures of me and ann marie last night...she adjusted the shutter speed to where it was open for a long time...she told me and ree to move our arms around...the end results? well, me and ree had nubs.

confession. i have new favorite songs each week. i try not to. but i cant help it. i mean, i do have my top 5 favorites, sort of, but for some reason i have different favorites from week to week.

i think my cat is searching for treasure. or something. shes climbing and digging through all the pillows on my bed. like shes looking for something. maybe her lost kit kat bar. or maybe her dental floss. or her favorite chili recipe. or the beetle she was playing with earlier. or...oooorrrr her magical spacesuit. y-yep. she found it.

there are paper snowflakes hanging directly above my head. i hung them a while back. speaking of which, it should probably just snow. its like 25 degrees out. it just needs to go ahead and snow. tonight. duh.

i played golden eye 007 last night. which lead to me almost peeing in my pants. me and lindsey grefseng used to play that game for hours at a time. its such an intense game. i dont think its good for my heart. however non-cooked noodles are.

so im obviously looking for a new mandolin. i went into 'fretted instraments' yesterday. i walked in, and started looking...when an old man with a sweet beard came around the corner and said, "can i help you?" i said, "well im looking for a good less-expensive madolin..." and he picked up one and said try this one...immediately after he said this, old bearded man number two said, "come o'er herr 'n sit 'n show us whatcha got!" i said "ohhhh nooo i dont 'got' anything. i can hardly play one full song...im not that good!" he replied (with a huge grin on his face) " oh thas whut e'rybody says!" in walks old bearded man number 3...he sat. then i sat. i played. they starred. i said..."see?? i told you im learning!" they complimented my playing. and then laughed. he began to tell me where i could get free lessons and when all the good bluegrass festivals are...and where they are...and what time they are...and so on. he talked for about 20 minutes. this was a fun awkward bearded experience.

yes. the birth of my mandolin. december 2007. i remember it like it was yesterday. christmas eve night...............................oh sorry. flashback. im having flashbacks. anyways, christmas eve night...i unwrapped it with much excitement. i couldnt play a note. i rushed downstairs. put in "Bert Casey Intorduction to Mandolin. For Beginners." and started learning the basics. it was my new best friend. first song: yankee doodle. second: oh suzanna. third: crippled creek. three songs! i couldnt believe it. i played those three til my fingers were bleeding. (for affect). i also played those three songs til my family nearly hated me. i dressed like a hippy, got my blue old school suit case, and wrapped that thing on my back. and hit the road... in the house, of course............................im so sorry for the flashbacks. they seem to be...........more........frequent. (confused look while reading that). well, ill just go ahead and say it, i got home for thanksgiving break...and...and...sniff sniff...it was broken. i dont know how in the world it happened. i dont like to talk about it. so anyway, it lived long and prospered much. aka a year. with its dying breath it said ".......G-Choooooorrrrrrd..." on that note, im currently writing a eulogy for my deceased mandolin. i shall do my best to put its worth into a song. or something.

This post is to my best friend Brittani Sampson. Which will soon be Brittani bailey. She sent me a picture message this weekend of her hand/ring asking me if I would be her maid of honor. I nearly started crying out of pure joy for my best friend. It happened at the top of a ski slope in Montana when Tim asked to have her hand. And her life along with it. She accepted. My best friend is getting married.

I remember like it was yesterday when I met her. It was at Shades Mountain Christian School. We were in the same class in 4th grade. That’s when it all started. Aka us having many adventures. And us getting in trouble all the time. Mrs. Martin was our teacher. Francis Martin. She had to put up with us. Those were the days when we would connect our desks with ‘bridges’ made out of paper. And when we would flick things with spoons during lunch, occasionally hitting teachers. We would innocently pass notes during social studies with Mrs. Sheridan. Poor lady. Poor us, for being separated all the time. Then, beginner band, every squeak that came from our clarinets led to uncontrollable laughter. High school. The more mature days. Or should I say the opposite? I think so. ‘Dumb math’ with Mrs. Tippins. Aka us throwing things out the window and torturing bugs by smashing then in our math books. Bible class with Quinn Hill. Aka us putting jacket fuzz on Brittany Moore’s head. Mrs. Laatsch’s math class. we had A’s but I don’t know how. Then, theeeennn, good ole Bette Brasher. One of my favorite classes. Enough said. On the weekends, we would spend all of our time going and going and going. We would never stop. Whether we would be rollerblading, making things (we always made things), playing Nintendo (aka Mario party and cruising USA), swimming, going to galleria fun country, running errands with Mrs. Sampson, playing with legos (which would always turn into us eating them, throwing them, and sleeping on them), jumping on the trampoline with 20 balls, or sleeping in round inner tubes on the same bed. We always made sure we were never bored. We would only get a few hours of sleep, then, we would wake up and start it all over again. We were best friends. We knew friendship. So much so that even when we were just sitting downstairs by ourselves doing nothing, peeing in our pants was always the result. We were always laughing. I wish I could sit here and write every memory I have with her, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough time in the world. So just believe me when I say that we have so many fun memories that I will treasure. I count them as blessings. I count Brittani Sampson as a blessing. I love her.

‘If I had a dime for every time you made me smile, Ide be rich in which I could buy the world.’
-Sampson

Its not like she died or anything, I just wanted to write this to her before she gets married.