Spring Break=Roadtrip

Back in December I decided what I wanted to do for this year's spring break. I wanted to go back to San Diego. My one stipulation: find a job. No job. No money. No plane ticket. No San Diego. Needless to say, I was disappointed when job searching kept hitting dead ends. So I made the tough call and told Becky it would have to be some other time.

I thought I was going to have a bum spring break, which the traveler in me hated, but it all worked out quite perfectly. Me and my Vibe drove all over South and North Carolina before heading back to Georgia. Florence, Charleston, Surfside, Raleigh, Wake Forest, and Greenville to be precise. And a funny thing happened, I got back my love for driving.

You see somewhere between the terribly slow Florence traffic and the standstill insane Atlanta traffic, I lost it. In fact, I dreaded getting in my car. I'd rather let anyone else drive before I would. And it's sad, because I would sometimes take the long way back to campus when I would drive through West Palm during the college days. (A weird habit that only me and one other person in the world knew until this moment) I just loved it.

That aside, I still had a great break. I got to see nearly all of my dearest friends and family, some of which I hadn't seen since last summer. It was crazy to spread my time the way I did, but I'm glad I got to see people if only for a day. It didn't matter that I was deliriously exhausted when I got back here to Atlanta. People you love make you do crazy things.

My biggest epiphany came out of a Debbie Downer moment I was having that turned my frown upside down. :) Some of my close college friends living in New Hampshire started writing these email updates on their lives, so that we wouldn't lose touch. It was a great idea, and I love them for treasuring our friendships that much. But as I read their little updates, I couldn't help but feel that my life was not nearly as outstanding or exciting. (Sometimes I have crazy thoughts, remember?)

It took until my drive back to Atlanta to realize just how full and amazing my life is right here, right now. I'm so blessed. I have loving friends and family all over the map. I may not have a job right now, but I'm working right now towards learning how to do the most fulfilling job I can imagine. I am completely loving my church, but I'm still working to find my place in it. I'm ok with that. I haven't adopted any pets. I live alone, and the answer to my favorite question, "So are there any cute boys in your life?" might always be no. Only God knows.

All I do know is that I'm surrounded by some truly amazing friends here. Some days I may struggle to stay afloat, but it has caused me to need more of God than I ever have before, to depend on Him and trust in His goodness. He's taught me things I never would have learned in my busyness and independence. He still has a lot of work to do in me and hopefully through me, and just because my life doesn't compare with someone else's, doesn't mean well...anything.

I am blessed.

I hate being cold and wet

I hope that this is the grumpiest post I will ever make. I never want to make this a space to whine and complain about my circumstances or people in my life. I want to be honest about who I am and what my life is like, but some things are inappropriate and uncalled for.

But this post is a short rant I would like to have about something trivial but nonetheless emotion provoking in me. The worst combination to me is being cold and wet. I would rather be miserably hot than miserably cold any day of the year. For four years I lived in sunny Florida, and man did I love that sun.

And now I'm in Atlanta, and even though I've heard the locals say this has been an unusual year, it has been terribly rainy and terribly cold. My first semester it rained literally every other day! I even got two days off of class for flooding. Major flooding.

And this winter, I had to buy a completely new style of clothing for me...winter wear. Ok, maybe not completely new. I did grow up in SC. Now, I can just hear the northerners scoffing at me, but it makes me miserable to have the temperature around freezing and the wind blowing in my face nearly suffocating me. I couldn't live up North. Period. ( ok, that is a dangerous thing to say, b/c God has a terrible sense of humor sometimes--but those are my feelings talking)

So it's been rainy and cold, rainy and cold, rainy and cold...and then it snows. Bam. My whole attitude changes. It's wet and cold, and I'm happy. No, more like ecstatic. Our big snow day was a couple of weeks ago right before Valentine's Day, but we had another snow yesterday and it inspired me to write. I was the crazy girl giggling and dancing in the Kroger parking lot when the snow was coming down.

In spite of all of the rain and cold that has brought on an acute case of Eeyore-itis, this is my little tribute to snow. I love you. (can you say that to precipitation?)

Beginning to snow

My apartmentNarnia
My pond

Carrie, the Event Planner...No thank you

This past weekend I celebrated the birthdays of some friends from back home. Last August, my friend Kristin and I planned and awesome surprise party for our friends Lacie and Bethanie. It was such a hit that we decided that we would do parties for the rest of our hometown friends. This time it was Kristin and Dorothy's birthdays, and I had hoped someone else would pick up the ball for this one.

It was getting too close to time, and I really wanted them to have a great surprise, so I started making some phone calls and soliciting some help. I was pretty stressed to say the least putting all of the party details together from five hours away. When I called the events coordinator at MagiQuest I think she thought I was crazy for calling a week before the party date...or maybe it was that I was planning a 21st birthday party at a children's place? I don't know, but I felt a little crazy.

Somehow, it all turned out. There was food and cake and fun all at the right time. And we had a great time at MagiQuest, even though there were four year olds that were doing better at the games than we were. I didn't take any pictures the whole weekend, because I was busy making sure everything turned out right and on time. By the time we got to MagiQuest, I just wanted to relax and have some fun! And that we did!

I'm Back & in Graduate School

Where to start? I can't believe it has been half a year and no blog updates from me...whoops!

To ease you back into my life, I'll start with grad school. In August, I moved to Atlanta and started Richmont Graduate University. Richmont is a very small school built specifically as an integrated counseling program from a Christian worldview. It's exactly what I was wanting in a graduate school but never would have found it apart from God's providence.

You see, even people in Atlanta haven't heard of it before. In a city of big name schools such as, o let's see, Georgia Tech or Emory, Richmont is an ant. We have four classrooms. FOUR! I know almost everyone in my class, and I know better than to try to study in our library. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in character. It's not perfect, but I can think of no where else I'd rather be.

Last semester was a tough one. I had decided to try and get this thing done in two years, so I took 17 hours. That was seven classes, and although I pulled through with all 'A's, it beat the life out of me. I had other students on board with me, but I was one of only a few that was new to Atlanta and living by themselves. Yes, you got that right. I haven't changed. I'm still a little crazy.

So that was me last semester. Seven classes. In a giant metropolis of new everything. Alone....only by the grace of God did I make it through.

It was no surprise that by the end of my first semester here I was reevaluating a bit. And after several chats with friends and family and the Lord, I switched to the three year plan and added a year to my stay here in order to keep what bit of sanity I already had.

Now, I am here. Year one of three. Semester two of eight. I have class two days a week. No job (currently). Plenty of time to make Atlanta my home, to get connected and live in step with the Holy Spirit. That's my desire.

I wish I had a picture of my school, but I've been slack with taking pictures. Maybe soon?


PS It feels good to be back. :)