Currently Listening Grace By Jeff Buckley see related

gosh, i havent done this in such a long time! & things have changed since my last entry for sure! i don't really feel like catching you up on the past months of my life, i just wanted to update a little bit.  

you know when you have those few days when all your schoolwork & stuff is due? well, it's been like that, just lasting about 3 weeks instead. so i've been keeping busy with school, trying to keep my grades afloat & my future looking bright! hah! but i've been meeting some new friends in my classes this semester & that's been fun. i'm so glad i can finally take all the RIM classes i want- it makes my life so much more interesting! :)

so i had the opportunity to go down to Biloxi, MS this past weekend w/ RUF & it was unbelievable! there is still so much work to be done & it is hard to describe how powerful the wind really was...what's really strange, is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the destruction- a once big brick house looks like it was bulldozed to the ground, and then a mere arbor or something will still be standing right next to it.  we helped do demolition/clean up type work at a few houses...my favorite was Ella's...she is one amazing woman & truly a blessing to know!!

(ok i was gonna put a few pictures from the trip on here, but it's not working for some reason unknown to me- but just ask me & i'll try to show you personally i guess unless i can figure it out!)   *** if anyone is interested at all in going down there to help out, i can't wait to get back, so maybe we can arrange something!! just let me know...

aight, back to the schoolwork- wohoo! :(-

Currently Reading The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do" By Susan Piver see related

guess what? now i have to leave TOMORROW afternoon to go get archery trained & certified in NC & then come back to m'boro for 2 days to finish moving out of my apt. before i leave for camp on friday, so i've got a LOT of packing to do tonite! robert left for alpine today & gosh it still seems too surreal b/c i've gotten really good at pushing the fears to the back of my head, but they're starting to pour out- and through my eyes!!   i'm so scared of both 12 yr old girls & relying solely on God to give me patience & endurance daily b/c i usually have very little- there's no way i'll make it all summer trying to do it all by myself & that is real scary!  

my new digital camera (b'day present from my parents) came in today & i've been trying to fool w/ that to keep my mind off being away from robert & my comfortable little selfish world all summer! but i'm still trying to figure out how to transfer pics to a computer- can't seem to do it right yet...

anyway, here is a great passage i read in this book the other day i wanna share- (it makes me happy to think about & i'm trying to stay positive here, so bear w/ me all you love-haters!)  let me know what yall think:

“ I realized that, no matter how much I might love Duncan right now, I couldn’t commit to loving him like this for my whole life,  or to sustaining any single emotion of any kind toward anyone for the rest of my life.  I would be doing him a disservice by suggesting that I could.

But what I could commit to,  what I longed to commit to, what I believed I was capable of, was acting lovingly toward him for the rest of my life.

Acting lovingly  is a highly complex & mysterious thing.  It is not a matter of always being sweet & nice.  It means being radically honest:  with ourselves, with each other, with life, forever, in every moment, & dealing together with the emotions that may arise- be they love, hate, boredom, jealousy, ecstasy, apathy, or any combination thereof- without leaving.  OK, that I could attempt.  That I trust.  That is a noble endeavor, full of grace.  That is worth a lifetime of commitment.  And, for me, that is they key to passion.”    ~Susan Piver

Currently Playing There Will Be a Light By Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of Alabama see related

- - -

when i am these 3 things:

1) a RIM student who is constantly being taught to support deserving artists & buy their albums legally,

2) for once not completely broke,            and

3) bored at work b/c there's nothing left to look at on Facebook,

then i buy these 3 things online:

1)     Anna Nalik-  "Wreck of the Day"

2)  Blue Merle-  "Burning in the Sun"

                                 and

3)    Iron & Wine-  "Our endless numbered Days".

Hope these albums are good, they were all really good prices, so i went with my whim & bought all 3! / (not sure which emotion is more prominent or appropriate)  So i have about a week left of working @ the child support office now & i'm practically done w/ school b/c my final exam in business will pretty much be a joke b/c i have about 100 extra credit points in that class & i think i've made As on all 3 tests- so life is good right now!! i also think i've finally found some roomates for the fall- Megan & Ashley- it's a pretty cool place & they seem like pretty cool & easygoing girls, which is exactly what i'm looking for, so yeah !  robert's dad & possibly both brothers are coming into town this weekend, so no telling what all we well be doing. we may even drive down to Alpine so robert can check it out- that could be fun, i love that place & that drive!! soo i think i'm gonna get off not since i'm only at work for about an hour today & have not done too much so far- woops!

Currently Reading Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality By Donald Miller see related

this is what i've been up to:

    <--- this is where i was for Easter weekend, @ beautiful Breckenridge, CO w/ my fam...i was reluctant to go @ first for a few reasons, but it turned out to be ok, not too cold, & now i can ski greens great!! :)    Robert bought me a copy of Blue like jazz  to read on the plane & i'm already on Chapter 9 (which is Huge for me- i think i may even actually Finish this book!!)  so watch out- i'm sure i'll be posting passages from it like CRAZY b/c it is some kinda crazy good!! And for my easter present/souvenir, my mom bought me these kickin' chaco flops!!

also, i got sucked into the Facebook ordeal a week or so ago, but it's been good so far b/c i've found some long-lost friends (camp friends & others from high school that i dont keep up with that much anymore) & i have even started making some new ones!! in fact, b/c of facebook, i spent an hour of my nite last nite in the Quad playing bluegrass (or, me Trying to play & everyone else rockin out) w/ about 15 total strangers- it was AWESOME!! :)  i cant wait til next week!!!

i also just sent my contract in the mail to the camp i'll be working @ this summer- turns out they want me to teach Archery!?! (& probably some tennis & guitar too), so i gotta go get trained & certified in may, but i'm definitely getting excited about spending my summer on a mountain in NC & getting to know some girls! www.merri-mac.com    

and now i really need a roomate for the fall b/c mine are graduating & migrating to nashville  , sooo does anyone have any ideas? 

OOOH, i almost forgot- Robert & i are going to Nashville tonite to see DOUG STONE- one of my favorite country voices! (one of my all time favorite songs is his "i never knew love", but he had a few other hits in the 90s). he is playing @ the Trap @ like 9 for $10 if anybody wants to come, please come & let me know!!!

  http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/stone_doug/bio.jhtml

Currently Playing Into the Mystery By David Wilcox see related

- 4- "Out of the Question" - - - -

just in case some of yall didnt know, i had the incredible opportunity to go on a missions trip to Belize this spring break w/ ruf @ mtsu (& wake forest took a group down there, plus 1 random but awesome vandy guy).  we did the normal construction work in the morning at one of the high schools in Corozal & then did a (too) brief VBS w/ kids at one of the elementry schools planted by MTW/ PCA.  at night, we would just walk around the neighborhood & frequent the corner market or "D'Corner Cafe" where we got coffee & ice cream, and then after dinner we would worship together. on thursday nite, we all talked about what we were thankful for during the week- that was definitely one of the highlights of the week for me! but the whole week was an AMAZING experience, one i hope i will never forget, & it's so frustrating b/c it's hard for me to articulate what all i think i learned, & it gets increasingly harder to remember them now that i'm back in the 'real world' & already getting back into my normal self-centered habits & routines! so if you would, please pray that God would press these lessons on my heart & apply them in my daily life so that i will not forget what He has shown me this past week.

here are a few pics i pulled from the RUF website, (i think these are Craft's pics, so maybe i can post some more if other folks put theirs on the site) but hopefully this will give yall just a taste of what all i was doing there:

 me & molly outside the Belize airport- just glad we finally got there safely, but about to eat some 'monkey meat'  that Mitch, from MTW, brought us!?!

 this is where we stayed- girls & all activities upstairs, guys downbelow.  we slept on air mattresses & had a heck of a time when the cold wind picked up in the middle of the nite & "the weather was changing".

 me shoveling sand into buckets to pour into concrete mixture, while molly stands there- hah, jk! i handed over to her the never-ending, frustrating task of refilling the water barrell.

 me, craft, & molly at the worksite, drinking bottled cokes (an everyday occurance after a hard day's work) & trying some fresh sugarcane (but it was too ripe, so it wasnt that great).

 brad playing with some of our kids @ VBS- check out the frat collar on the cute kid to the right of brad!

 fritz & kevin teasley (wake forest campus minister) taking a break to pray together in the 'prayer closet' while everyone else works so hard! hah-jk...actually, the prayer tree was probably one of my favorite memories & where i felt really close to God- it seems indescribable how much i think i grew just by praying 15 minutes a day!

 me, stephanie, & craft goofing off, laying on a giant sea turtle outside Fidos on San Pedro Island after a little bit of dancing & driving around crazily in the golf carts!

 shriver, molly, craft, me, lindsey, & stephanie (all the girls that went) posing for a random girl pic @ San Pedro- our last day!

 me, shriver, molly, (& robert, brad, & mitch in the back) riding around the Island in style!!

 final group pic- fritz, brad, lindsey, josh, aaron, me, robert , craft, shriver, stephanie, & molly.  fun times on the island, but definitely sad about leaving!