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. :)

Money Matters

I wrote this in my journal the other day and decided this wasn't something to keep to myself. You'll probably find it humorous that I write in my journal the same way I would write here, but I'm a little on the quirky side anyway.

"I was at the mall the other day, and as I walked along I slowed down a little to watch people. Rush, rush, rush. Buy, buy, buy. More and more bags. Things they need? doubtful. Things for others? Probably not. And I began to think about how God must look down watching us shop and just sigh a sad and heavy sigh because this was never what He created this life to be. It's not about accumulating things. I mean, this is what we spend our free time doing! Life is not really about us at all. How very irresponsible of us to waste such precious time, money, and energy on things that don't last. By the time you buy new things, some of your old things have gone out of syle, and you have to buy more to keep up! How exhausting!"

"The irony in this is that as I was thinking all of these thoughts, I was contemplating buying this one pair of shoes. Very cute, very comfortable, on sale, and I had seen them once before and had debated buying them then. I passed them up once, could I do it twice?? Well, I didn't need them. In fact they were probably the last thing on earth I needed to buy."

"It was then I realized how Satan uses consumerism to draw us away from Christ as we become self-centered drones of society, buying whatever they sell us and tell us is the latest and greatest thing--sometimes even slapped with a giant red sale sticker on it. Now, I know that some things are ok to buy, but I have to wonder if others cross the line into self-centered sin? Were those shoes not just shoes any more but a shiny and stylish tool of Satan? "

"Being part crazy as I am, I started calling them Satan's shoes in my head. And no, I did not buy Satan's shoes that day, but I have fallen into his traps many times before and am sure to do it again. But next time I will be better equipped against his ploys."

Any thoughts? Am I the only one spending too much time looking for things to buy? or buying things they don't really need? What's your opinion of financial sin? Is it suppose to be all black and white, or is there a grey area?

My Best Friend's Wedding

Saturday my best friend got married, and I was the maid of honor. It was a joyful but sad day to watch the "Fantastic Four" slowly but surely disbanding. All of us were in the wedding. It was truly beautiful. Jessie was absolutely gorgeous. She did a great job choosing decorations and planning the ceremony and reception, not that I doubted she would for a second. I was more stressed out than the bride, which makes me think that I will be a wreck on my wedding day. Lacie, Sarah Ann, and I were privileged to be able to sing at Jessie's wedding. It was really just a good time once things started rolling. I was even allowed to fulfill the highest of all maid of honor duties--helping the bride pee. :) O, and should I mention that I caught the bouquet? Sorry Lacie. :P

The wedding party

Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Bernier


It was a tough fight for the bouquet...

but I won!

Congratulations Jessie and Bobby! I love you both!

I wear my sunglasses at night...

Recently my sister and I took a trip across the country to San Diego. I have always loved California, but this was a special trip because our dear friends the Scott and Becky live there. Even though we got there during June gloom, I hardly remember the cold weather compared to all of the fun I had with "my peepers." :) And even better than all of the fun was all of the encouragement I recieved and the things I learned from them. Just some of the many perks of being around Scott and Becky! We took over a hundred pictures while in Cali, but I'd like to share some of my faves.

SAL & I at Point Loma overlooking all of San Diego and the surrounding area.

The first school house in historic San Diego, called Old Town. Scott only thinks he could be a mean teacher!

Having a picnic at La Jolla, right after seeing the seals and sea lions in their natural habitat. Looks like a double date with two cute blondes to me... :)

My favorite...a bonfire ON the beach!...this just happened to be right before I got a mouthful of gooey marshmellow and hair in the same bite...EW!

Balboa Park. Two words: huge and beautiful.

Getting to see the Invisible Children office. Very cool.

My 1st major league baseball game! Go Padres!

Thanks Scott and Becky for who you are and for all you do! You inspire me!

Carrie

Meet Harold and the Kids

I've picked up a new and very grandma-like hobby. I just can't seem to help myself. By the time I become an actual senior citizen I will be the best and most prepared for all of the post-retirement hobbies, a winner for sure.

The new one on the list is gardening. I was afraid that I would get tired of it or quit before the seeds were even in the ground. But I got inspired. Watch out world, here I come! The work was difficult. I had to dig up and replant the sod I moved to start my garden, which proved to be a rough start. Picking out the seeds was the most fun. I bought my own purple garden gloves. I worked the soil, added fertilizer, and planted the seeds. My mom helped since I was such a newby to the gardening world. We edged my newly formed bed and waited...

The garden is ready.

Every afternoon I would faithfully water the ground just hoping for all my hard work to produce something beautiful. I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. Was I watering too much or too little? Was the soil good enough? Maybe I should have bought one more bag of cow poo.(Why isn't this stuff free? Does other poo work the same? I have a lot more questions about this suspicious plant growing stuff.)

After a week of patiently waiting and hoping, a beautiful thing happened. I went out for daily water duty and bam! GREEN! After staring at the ground in utter amazement rather closely and holding my breath a little bit, I ran inside and yelled to my mom, "I've got babies!!"

Those teeny tiny little sprouts brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined. By the next day 10 baby plants turned into 20. And they are growing and growing. I love it. I love it!

Now I don't want to offend anyone. To each his own. But I think gnomes and other garden statues and decorations are tacky and slightly humorous. Not pretty. Not neat. So, I was in Target the other day, and being the thrifty girl that I am, I headed straight for the dollar spot. And right now they have all of this garden stuff which screamed my name. Yes, it did. That's where I met Harold and knew right away that he would make a great addition to my little garden family. Harold is a 3 inch tall garden gnome, kinda like a leprechaun gnome. He fits right in. My family is complete.

They have gotten a little bigger now, but these are some of my first pictures of them.

First Sprouts

A little bigger

Harold