I haven't taken very many pictures since I started college. What's the world coming to? I feel so sad because I don't have enough pictures! Agh! I need to start carrying my camera around everywhere like I used to. Too bad my purse is small...

Deep question of the day: If humans were ever cloned, would they have souls?

So MTSU does not offer any musical theatre classes, but they do, in fact, offer Japanese Landscaping.

Wow.

Oh the joy of knowing that I do not have to be good enough, because Christ covers all my imperfections, and works through me in spite of me. As long as I remain in His Will, I can never be a failure.

I need to read for school... but here I am posting...

Ok, so yesterday at work I found out that a woman that comes in to work in the business office once a week fell and had a hemophobia. Things weren't looking good for her. But now things have turned around and she's doing great and talking and remembering so that's awesome! Praise God!

Oh darn it... I so had something else to talk about... *thinks*

I have to say that my history teacher is so awesome. Regardless though, I'm kinda anxious to get out of these general ed classes and move on to something more interesting. In the business office I see a lot of schedules, and sometimes I'm surprised to see freshman taking a lot of classes related to their major. And then I see sophomores and juniors that may be (or may not be) taking classes in their major, but are still taking general ed classes. It's tempting to wait until later to take some of them, but man, I would hate being a junior stuck in a class full of freshmen. Though it would be significantly easier other than my other classes... ha ha.

Ah yes, now I remember what I really wanted to talk about. Sunday, after a long weekend doing 3 for the Son, I was forced to partake of the class known an New Member Orientation. And I've been a member of Belle Aire for over two years! That's procastination for you, folks. But Lindsey, Adam, and Nate were there, and Nate and Lindsey and I totally cut up and wrote notes the whole time. Then afterwards, Nate took Lindsey and me (and Wes) to the roof! It was so awesome! Everybody should hang out on a roof somepoint in their life. It was a cool experience...

Ok... guess I oughta do that schoolwork now... bleh...

This weekend was awesome. I feel so blessed to be a part of it as a Bible study leader. I definitely hope to do it again. Here are some pictures...


This is Marshmellow, the Hornsby's adorable puppy!


This is Amy Bonin and me with Seth, our speaker for the weekend! He's an awesome guy!


Michael and Rob, two very cool guys that lead the seventh grade boys (aren't they brave).


Me with one of the girls, Hannah. She was so sweet and always attentive!


Here are all the girls Amy and I got to spend the weekend with! They're so awesome!

Do you have those days when everything is frustrating and you don't know why? That's how I feel right now...

Quote of the week (from Wednesday, I believe):
Vivian: "We've been dating since my freshman year of high school. Well, on and off. Mostly off."
Ben Williams: "Is that the way your marriage is going to be?"

Quote of the weekend (from this morning):
Brother Dean: "Everyone who comes to church this morning will be either sprinkled or immersed."

It's really great to know that God's in control and I'm not.

After being pretty darn stressed and pretty darn tired with new changes and following through on commitments, it's been great to feel God's peace today as things fall oh so perfectly into place.

Yeah... I totally dropped my acting class to add a communications class... and I know it was from God because they were all closed. And yet there was a spot right there for me, right there after I checked for it because I felt prompted and compelled to do it.

He stirred my heart and whispered that I was only meant to stay in my acting class for a short time, enough time to befriend a girl that I will still see in two of my other classes.

Next weekend I'm helping out with 3 for the Son and there's one more thing in my life I've got to let go of before then... something I will struggle with the whole weekend... but I'm going to give this to God and ask Him to work through it, because His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

And now that I've sounded way more spiritual than I really feel...

You can leave some comments and tell me about your day. :)

Anna, feel free to correct my title... ha ha...

So today was the second day back to class and my first day to experience Computer Science Orientation, Psychology, and Intro to EMC (or as Anna calls it, "intro to major").

Computer Science Orientation looks like it will be kinda boring, but probably pretty easy. At least  it's only a 55 min. class and I can leave early when we're in the computer lab (which is on Wednesdays and Fridays).

Psychology will be interesting, but does the class have to be so huge? Actually, I don't think the number of students in there bothers me too much, because I think I have just as many in my history class and I feel pretty good in there. But the room just seems to swallow everyone whole, because it's too big, so there are a lot of open seats in this overwhelming room.

And then there's EMC. It was great to be reunited with Jolene and pretty much a third of my Understanding Mass Media class from last semester. Or maybe a fourth. But the point is, there were quite a few familiar faces in there. And while I'm still not into all the exciting stuff yet, apparently our teacher is going to make sure we get some hands-on experience, so I think that's going to be pretty cool.

AO tonight! Yay!

Rain on the first day back to school = uncool. But it was a fairly good day regardless.

My acting class seems pretty cool. It's small and I always like that. We played an icebreaker game and I already know everyone's name and guess what? There's another Amy! Ah! Figures! Most of them aren't theatre majors either, so I don't have to feel inferior... ha ha. We have to read eight contemporary (1960s to present) plays (of our choice) so if you have any suggestions please let me know.

My history teacher is waaaay cool. His class is going to be a little challenging, but I think I'm up for it. 75% of my grade is three tests... EEK! The other 25% is a research project. I think I'll learn a lot in his class though. Sarah B.'s in that class with me.

And God's up to something. There is a girl I met in my acting class and it turns out that she is in THREE of my classes! Yeah... three! And I know she's not a Christian. She cusses a lot and such... but she seemed to take to me pretty quickly (after she discovered we have the same major). So yeah... pray for her... and pray that I can be a witness to her. Because this is just too insane..

And I have to say... I love the library, and having adventures there with my friends.

MW: I have a break from 11:15 to 12:40. I think at this time I'll eat with whoever is avaliable and probably work on homework and such. I think the library and I will advance our relationship this year. It just seems like too much to rush back to work somewhere in this time period.

TR: I am avaliable after 12:45, and I'll probably take an hour (or less) break before I go back to work.

F: I'm avaliable after 11:15 and I'll probably take an hour (or less) break before I go back to work.

Let me know if you're avaliable at these times...

I wish I had something more interesting to post. I guess it's a good thing I'm not in an English class this semester considering that I have had severe writer's block: on here, in my novel, and even in my journal. How sad...

When do y'all have a break for lunch? I don't have my schedule with me at the moment so I don't remember... but I will get back to y'all on it...

Also, on MW I have a pretty darn long break between two classes (like two hours). I'm not sure if I should go back to work, eat lunch there in the break room, work, and then go to class or seize the moment as a time of rest, or maybe go to the Rec Center and do something like cycle for a while, eat, and then go to class. Of course, some of this depends on what y'all are going to be up to at the time. Let me know por favor.

So Amy Bonin, Sarah Branscom, and I had a great adventure today after work. I'll let them get into all the juicy details of our exciting time if they want to, but we totally saved a squirrel that we named Woody. He had a broken leg and we took him to a vet and they're going to take care of him. I think we deserve merit badges...

I don't like contacts. They are evil. They fold over, end up on my eyelashes, and do all sorts of other crazy things other than end up in my eye where they belong.

So where do y'all go to buy sunglasses? I need some (that aren't perscription) now that I am supposedly wearing contacts.

Today at work I discovered that there's a guy at MTSU named Michael W. Smith. How ironic...

And today is the Phantom's special day...

Phantom of the Opera will soon be the longest running Broadway musical in history, beating out Cats. I've been to NY three times and still haven't seen it... or any Broadway show for that matter. So who wants to take me to go see it? It'd be fun. I'm sure Nathan wouldn't mind us staying with him... ha ha...

I also want to see Beauty and the Beast and Little Women. I'm such a girl...

The Phantom of theOpera is here
Inside your mind...

Remember Doug?

The HTML results aren't working, but I took a Doug character and it said I was Judy:

"Judy is Doug's older sister, a self-absorbed, melodramatic, wannabe actress who never steps out of the spotlight. Although she makes life difficult and embarrassing for her brother at times, she loves him, and he digs her, too. Alas, to Judy, Doug will always be a part of the supporting cast."

I try not to be self-absorbed... but melodramatic and wannabe actress work... ha ha...

But right now I can relate to Doug's dad in that one episode when he kept crying out, "Oh my writer's block!"

*Sigh*

So guess what's cool/weird/freaky? My third grade teacher randomly e-mailed my mom this morning and said she that one of her friends, whose mom used to work with my mom, was talking about us going to the wedding and meeting MWS, and she was like, "Hey I used to teach Amy!" Totally weird... but cool. I think it's awesome that she remembers me. I think that's one perk of private school...

So I definitely just tried to sit down with my journals and remember what this year was like, but I got tired with that because I wrote a whole lot. So I'll tell y'all what I remember.

January-May: I anxiously awaited graduation and college. I was stressed out often, but I also had a lot of fun. Both proms were great. Other senior activities were great. I was pretty mature, but as I look back, I was pretty darn immature compared to who I am now. (Not to say I'm always mature now, but a semester in college does a lot to a person). I grew closer to people at Riverdale, oddly enough. I loved being on yearbook staff, as crazy as it was at times. In May I finally graduated.

June: Big Stuf was good. A couple weeks later, however, a big dip in the road occured. It was one of the toughest internal struggles I've faced, but it made me a better and stronger person. I really sought God and He taught me a lot.

July: I went to Paint the Town, and it was an amazing experience. I think I was a different person afterwards. God showed me a lot through putting me in uncomfortable situations, painting for long hours, and getting lost in the Bronx at 2 AM.

August: I don't remember anything about it except starting college. I hated my first day of school but enjoyed the second. I began to grow nervous about the new expectations that would be placed on me.

September: I tried to adjust to college life. It wasn't always easy. I met a ton of people in AO and it finally began to feel like home. I instantly fell in love with my J-group.

October: I can't remember specifics, but I guess this was when I began to thrive in school and in friendships.

November: My goodness! The semester is almost over! Where has the time gone? Will I ever make an A on a paper in Dr. Therrien's class? And she's really gotten me to think a lot about my identity and who I am, about thinking for myself and not letting others tell me what to think. I realize that what I am learning in her class and in my Understanding Mass Media class is not just trivial knowledge, but lessons about life. And I decide that is why college is way better than high school.

December: School wraps up, and I'm sad to see some classes go and so happy about the others ending. I realize what I am capapble of when I see that I ended up with an A in Dr. Hardcore Therrien's class and end my first semester with a 4.0. I see God blessing me in so many ways and I finally seem to grasp the silliness of worrying. I also notice the continous struggles that I deal with over and over again, and pray and ask God to help me. I end the year realizing that I really and truly have a long way to go before I am "complete in maturity, not lacking anything". I end the year feeling happy and blessed, and wanting desperately to live a life for others and not myself. I also met Michael W. Smith the last day of the year, and that was pretty cool.

I must also say that after ninteen months with Garrett, we've both grown a lot as individuals and in our relationship. It indeed has been a blessing.



Looking forward...

This new year I want to love God first and foremost, more than anything or anyone. I want to passionately pursue Him and see His glory and live His glory.

I also want to love people with a zealous, selfless love.

I decided last night that I also want to finish (really finish it and be satisfied with) my novel (that I have been writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting since I was about 14) by the end of this year.

Happy 2006! I know 2005 was a good year for me!

Whoo boy what a day.

Who would have thunk it?

So last night, I went to Jessica Layne's wedding. I actually don't know her, but Garrett's family does so I was his wedding date. Anyhow, the wedding was so beautiful and nice and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I went to another wedding today. Since Garrett went to Knoxville this morning, it was just Mom and me. The wedding was for an old co-worker of Mom's from Houston, who also happened to move to TN a few years ago. He and his newlywed work in the Cool Springs Lifeway now. Anyhow, so the wedding was in Columbia. And in case you've never been to Columbia, let me tell you, this place is IN THE STICKS! Seriously... it was podunk. We only found the church (and on time) by the grace of God alone!

So, here we are, at this random country wedding in Columbia in this old, small church with wooden pews. The ceremony is simple and not quite as nice as the one from yesterday. So who would think that of all the people in the universe that MICHAEL W. SMITH would be doing the benediction? Yeah. Apparently they're buddies with him. Go figure, right? *FAINTS*

Anyhow, so I was like freaking out during the whole service. "I'm at a wedding with Michael W. Smith. I'm in the same room as Michael W. Smith." Holy Moley. I wouldn't get starstruck with very many movie stars I don't think, but he's a legend in Christian music. He's an icon. Who cares if I don't even listen to his music all that much?

So yeah, I got my picture taken at the reception. Thanks to mom. Ha ha. I couldn't bring myself to talk to him without my mom saying something. But he was standing behind us in the cake line (he likes chocolate cake in case you were wondering) and Mom was like so hey... can we get a picture? So when the photo uploading comes back, I will definitely post the picture. It was really funny though. He shook my hand and was like, "I'm Michael." And I was like, "I know who you are!" Craziness.

So after that...

We went to the Cool Springs Galleria because I wanted a new outfit for tonight. So we arrived at Parisian at 5, saw an adorable black party dress, and suddenly here, "the store is closing NOW." What the heck?! Party poopers. Then we realize that the rest of the mall is closing at 6. Grrreat. If you've never tried to buy a complete outfit in one hour, you should some time. It's an experience. But we did it. Minus shoes that we got at the Boro's Target. If you've ever seen the Look for Less on Style network, what Mom and I experienced was a whole lot like that show!

So anyhow...

*Big breath*

How was your last day of the year?

Adieu, 2005... it's been a pretty good year...

Wow... so I have like 12 days to update on. Well, my haircut turned out ok. Nobody even seemed to notice it... I can easily make the short layers blend in with the rest of my hair so it looks pretty much the same.

I got a Panasonic GS150 for Christmas (it's mini-DV format, Anna). For those of you who don't know, that's a video camera. Anyhow, I took some very exciting footage of trees and stuff in Mississippi when I was down there and I started editing it together last night and I have forty seconds so far! And it's a GOOD forty seconds!

So Anna and some other people are going to have to help me out here and film more stuff with me. I want some people in there so it'll be more interesting, and so I can have a storyline. The background music is Lifehouse's "Walking Away." It goes really well with what I have now. And then after I finish this video (which is called "A Journey" by the way), I want to do a music video that is really geared towards the story in the song. Anyhow, I'm pretty excited! I still have to buy a DVD burner though, and some more memory, and a microphone...

The trip to MS was kinda hard because my granddaddy's really gone downhill with his Alheizmer's (sp?).

Oh, and in case you didn't read it on Xanga... I ended up with a 4.0 after all! *Beam*

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is officially the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Phantom Shmantom... Aslan's the man- errr- lion.

And I have concluded I am never going to try to get the same trendy haircut as some model ever again.

And Garrett, Zach, and I are going to the Siegel play tonight if anyone else wants to join us! We're gonna have a good old time with the Peanuts gang! Yay for Charlie Brown!

4.0!

So now... I just have to wait for English to come in and DESTROY it! The beautiful, sweet sound of the perfect GPA that is then crushed to the ground by the teacher who was amazing and yet... aggrivating. I don't know what's taking Abolins so long to post my grade... the final was on a scantron... did we all fail? Is he curving them? Maybe I should be happy he's curving them because I didn't think I did too horribly. But maybe I did... oh horrors... I had a 97 though, so how badly would I have to do on the final to be worried? He said it was just like another test grade, and we had so many other assignments to make tests not too huge of a deal. Well, I don't think I'm going to worry about it. I've learned at least 22,347,825 times that worrying is ridiculous!

I saw Lauren and Dr. Spires today. Dr. Spires said I did a good job. That makes me happy, because he is the head of the EMC department.

I am finally finished for the semester! And I survived!
Here's what I wish I could do to my geology book:

"To be great is to be misunderstood."

I don't remember who said it, but I sure hope they were right.

I just found out I have a 97 in geology minus my final tomorrow, so that's comforting. Yay for extra credit. I've been studying all day today and all yesterday evening for this test, so hopefully I'll do well.

I will miss hanging out with Lindsey and Page in geology.
But I will NOT miss geology class!

I will miss having a Russian teacher with random, funny stories.
I will NOT miss math!

I will miss theatre appreciation.
I will NOT be sad to move on to other aspects of theatre.

I will miss Dr. Spires.
I will NOT miss Dr. Spires' tests.

I will miss discussions in Dr. Therrien's class.
I will NOT miss Dr. Therrien's grading scale.

I will miss having two classes with Garrett.
I will NOT miss him messing with my M&M's!

I will miss helping Ms. C during scholarship work.
I will NOT miss driving off campus to go help her.

Five finals, one Friday, one Monday, and three Tuesday. Yes, three. Fun times. Pray for all of them, especially geology on Monday!

I finally got an A- on an English paper graded by Dr. Therrien! It's a miracle!

Never thought I would be happy about an A-...

I got asked today if I was ever in marching band because of the way I walk... yeah Anna... apparently I really should have been in band!

And if your heart desires, you can feel free to switch into either my psych class or computer class...