I don't care what anybody else says, old school Disney movies have the best love songs. Driving home from Murfreesboro, I found myself sheepishly grinning as A Whole New World played.

Gawh.

. . . and may I say that finding jeans at Buckle priced under $40 definitely makes for a happy Anna.

I wrangled the pre-k and kindergardeners last week; this coming week I will take on 3rd and 4th grade. Interesting times will be had, I'm sure.

. . .we got everything we need right here, and everything we need is enough. it's so easy when the whole world fits inside of your arms. . .

i love jack johnson.

I can't decide whether I want to laugh or cry.

Nothing is wrong by any stretch of the imagination. Things keep popping up, and it's so annoying that it's almost humorous.

Almost.

Having not watched any of the games prior to today's final game for the World Cup, I really didn't have any strong ties to either team ((but I did say that the team with the hottest players would be who I rooted for ;) )). Watching Italy celebrate their win made me really happy inside. I don't know why, but I started to think about the parents of the guys on the team. The same parents who watched their sons win the World Cup are the same parents that signed their children up for soccer in the first place. The same parents that went to every practice, every game. The same parents who cheered their sons on from the stands at high school games cheered them on as they played in the biggest soccer game in the world. I can't even begin to fathom the amount of pride they must have felt in their children.

Dirty Dancing: Havanna Nights = awesome movie.

I came across these today. . .

1993. . .

1994. . .

1995. . .

1996. . .

Oh, and Aimee Davis in the middle. Don't kill me Aims :)

was being so close. . .

you know the rest of the song.

as do i :(

so i'm a little upset. it'll be okay. there are much worse things happening to people around me. i'm alright. i just needed a moment.

So. . . last night, I went to Nashville with Amy, Rachel, Dena, Jordan, Lauren, Patrick, and Aimee Davis to watch fire and tinkerbell fall from the sky. We all stopped in Smyrna and ate at Arby's ((where it took forever and a day to get our food, but that's okay because conversations were good all around)) before going to Nashville. We ate, admired the beauty of the Arby's, and I shot a bottle rocket from the inside of Jordan's car before we left :) We all arrived in Nashville around 6:15 ((I'm guessing)) and walked about two miles to get to the bridge. Not having gone to the restroom is quite some time, Rachel, Lauren, Aimee, and I walked down to Joe's Crab Shack to use their toilets. After grabbing some bottles of water, we headed back to our spots on the bridge. Many pictures were taken, lots of laughs were had, music from the amazing Josh Turner was heard, and some of us were lucky enough to have a view of a gorgeous "full moon" right next to us ;) After about two hours of laying around on the bridge, the fireworks started, and I wondered how much of our tax dollars went into the show; then Patrick said the money was donated. Anyone know for sure? Sarah marveled at the tinkerbells and fire falling the sky and kept getting confused as to when the finale actually was. Poor Sarah. The finale came and went, and we discovered there was going to be quite a wait before the bridge was going to reopen and allow everybody to get off. What's a person to do? Eat ice cream we decided. So Patrick, Jordan, Lauren, Aimee, and I started down the other side of the bridge and walked the streets of downtown in search of a nice ice cream shop. It was found ((and even featured live music)) and we ate our "single scoop" ((it was really about five scoops, lol)) ice cream. After eating, we ventured back through downtown, across the bridge, and to the car in which everybody came in. However, we couldn't just leave when Jordan had about 278489384 bottle rockets and a huge sparkler in his trunk. So what did we do? You got it.

Pictures can be seen at my facebook because I'm too lazy to go through the whole uploading process again.

How true that is.

This past Tuesday, Lauren and I went to Starbucks and the mall. Throughout the randomness of the conversations, the idea of me calling Mrs. Dabney, the head lady of ESP, back to see if she would send me to another school for a second interview came up. While this topic had come up several times throughout the past month, I never called. Tuesday night was different; when Lauren first mentioned it, something ((God, I'm sure)) was like "Do it. Seriously, call tomorrow." Lauren and I part, and I start driving home. Suddenly, I start talking outloud to God ((I rarely pray out loud, btw)). I'm earnestly asking him that I at least land an interview by Friday because I can't stand not having a job. So Wednesday rolled around, and at about 9:00, I called Murfreesboro City Schools and asked to speak with someone in ESP, believing that I would have to leave about three messages with the secretary throughout the day because Mrs. Dabney never answers her phone. Who do you think picked up? Not the secretary. Dabs herself. I explained what was going on, she tooky my number and said she'd pull my file and that she'd most certainly send me to another site. Cool beans. I figured she'd call back Thursday or Friday, and if she didn't, I'd give her a call back. I got a call Thursday and she said that there was a position at Cason Lane that she had for me if I wanted to interview for it the following day. . . Friday. I agree to an interview, and I'm to go in at 11:00. Friday rolls around, I go to the interview, and I have the job in less than twenty minutes. In fact, when she let me know I had the position, it was 11:16.

So needless to say, being twenty has gotten off on a great start.

I had a lot of fun yesterday. After going to Starbucks with some good friends, I drove over to meet my family at Carrabba's. Karen and Aunt Nyla were already there, and we soon found out there was at least a seventy minute wait. A starving Anna and seventy minute waits do not go hand in hand, so I suggested O'Charley's, and off we were. It was really great; the food rocked, the waiter kicked butt, the conversation was awesome, and I was sung to:

How lovely.

Oh, btw, I was born at 11:16 in the morning.

How much does God rock?

This is THE decade ;)

Today is my final day as a teenager. . .

WHOA BABY!!!

People say 20 isn't a big deal, but am I the only one that thinks that not being a teenager anymore is a big deal?

Hot dang!

BTW, a few people and myself are going to Starbucks tomorrow at 4:00 to hang out. I guess it's "for my birthday", but it's nothing big. I just want to see people before going out to eat with my family. I don't have several numbers, so if you read this, you're welcome to come :)

I did something of a photo shoot today modeling shorts from a store called Sugarees for the Daily News Journal. Yeah, random. I know. Karen works at the store, and her boss wanted someone to model shorts for this fashion layout the DNJ was doing, so she called me up and asked if I was interested. I had nothing better to do, so I said I would. It was pretty cool. I think the pictures are going to be in Monday's paper.

So I'm having a conversation over AIM with Graham last night, and I'm right in the middle of saying that I wish I knew what God was doing and so on, when I decided to check my hotmail account. There was a message from a guy I don't know, and I started to delete it, but something told me to open it, so I did. It read:

"Faith's victory is not grounded in the act of believing but in the character and work of the One in whom we believe. We don't have to know all he knows -- we only have to trust that he knows. We don't have to be able to see all he sees -- we only have to gladly trust his vision. We don't have to morally achieve a certain standard -- we only have to trustingly commit to the standard to which he alone attained. He is our faith! His heart, his vision, his faith, his achievement -- these are the nature and essence of our faith and that is why our faith conquers the world (1 John 5:3-5)." Jim McGuiggan

Telling somebody how you feel about them face to face is a lot scarier than saying it through a text/instant message, but I've found it to be so much more satisfying.

. . .and that's all I've got to say about that.

Still unemployed. While I've been keeping a steady amount of money coming, it would be very nice to have a stable job so I would know how much money I'd be bringing in on a regular basis.

I am almost through painting my new room. Think of what a frappucino looks like, and you've got the color. I'll be using various tones of green, blue, and possibly yellow as accents. I'm looking forward to moving out there.

Life's good. Thanks be to God for that.

I really despise denominationalism.

I wish people would understand that it's not about who's a member of what denomintation.

It's about who's a member of the Body of Christ.

No wonder so many are turned off from Christianity.

Do you know what I love about our God? He's unpredictable. We never know what His next move is going to be. Despite our struggle to understand why He allows things to happen that hurt us, we all know full well that He is intricately weaving the lines of our lives in and out, until we have a beautiful God written story. The only thing we can do is trust. God loves us, and he would never allow something to happen to us unless it was for own good.

This week has been a gift from God.

There is no doubt in my mind.

Is it just me, or does a nineteen page application plus two letters of recommendation and a copy of your high school diploma seem a bit excessive when applying for a job that only allows a maximum of twenty hours a week on seven(ish) bucks an hour?

Maybe it'll be worth it, especially since I decided not to go to Impact as a roadie this year.

I have the neatest story to tell. I've shared it with just a small number of people, but my hope is that in the coming days I'll be able to share it with more of you :)

Wow.

God is so awesome.

:)

If our friends do something that isn't very wise, shouldn't we talk to them calmly about it rather than sit and blast them behind their backs for their actions?

What a concept.

Thoughts pertaining to my previous post:

As I was driving to Starbucks a couple of nights ago, Matthew West's More came on the radio. As I listened to the lyrics, "I love you more than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine. You are mine. . ." it hit me that God's intention is not to hurt me. Yes, He does things that causes our hearts to break, but ultimately it's for our own good. I may hurt right now, but it's going to be okay. No matter what happens. And I'm fine with that :)

On a different note, Karen ((who is my cousin for those of you who aren't aware)) and I hung out tonight. It was a blast. It's really neat to see how our relationship has changed and grown throughout our lives, and despite our differences in so many things, we're still able to connect on a level that doesn't exist between me and my friends. We laughed at the fact that we were starting to become very interested in bedsheets and the like when, ten years ago, it was always a shopping trip we despised with our mothers.

That potential several hundred mile thing just became a reality.

Dang.

three months.

. . . to another part of the house :) I had the brilliant idea of cleaning out our garage-turned into a normal room and letting me move all my stuff in there. I would have more space, more privacy, and my own entrance. The only problem is figuring out what to do with one of the couches and a table/chair set.

I finally got the last six months worth of pictures developed so that I could scrapbook them. I came home, planning to do at least a Taevan's Lube Center and playground layout, but when I finished the Taevan's layout and turned the page to start the playground, I realize I ran out of sheets. Now I have to go buy more. Boo.

My cousin Marla gave me the okay to take pictures of her daughters this weekend. I'm most definitely looking forward to that. I think we're going to Cannonsburgh.

Look what I did yesterday!!!

Why was I on the roof, you ask? I cleaned out all of our gutters! Unappealing as it sounds, it was actually kind of fun.