I'm not particularly fond of writing about my day and all that jazz anymore. Seriously, what does that do for you, my readers? Nothing, unless I have a funny story and it brings laughter to your life.

I wish we were more real with each other. I wish that we didn't pretend that everything was fine and dandy when it's not. People that put on a show and supress what they really feel are just setting themselves up for nothing. Nothing is accomplished unless true feelings are revealed. Have you ever noticed how much more things make sense when you know the truth? Have you ever noticed how much more quickly problems reach a solution when we're honest with each other?

I bought some suspenders today.

. . . had I gotten some black and white patent leather shoes, I'd be reliving my childhood.

sometimes my life feels like one big push of the replay button

It's a shame when you realize that Halloween is a year round holiday in some people's minds.

This has been a good summer :)

I'd elaborate, but part of me wants to keep it to myself.

I've glanced back over the past four months and have seen how God has made Himself so evident in my life and the things He's doing with it. I do not know what His next move will be, but it won't be bad. How can it be?

. . . after this day two years ago, I never hear the word "cornmuffin" without thinking of precious Bruce.

 James tell us to consider it joy when we face trials. Why should we be joyful when we're right in the middle of a messy breakup? Why would we want to have joy when we learn of a lie that's been going on for six months? Who wants to express joy when we're breaking down in a mess of confusion and frustration?

Everytime we run to God with our pain and struggles, we strengthen our relationship with Him. Our perseverence through the struggles allows us to mature and be complete so that we lack nothing. That is why we should have joy.

God is preparing us for so many awesome things, and if we want it to be a perfect God written story, we HAVE to suffer. We HAVE to hurt. James doesn't say "IF you face trials", he says "WHENEVER you face trials".

When we are ready, God allows us to move to another chapter in our lives. There, once again, struggles will come up, tears will be shed, and doubts will arise. But we will have God. He is there to guide us through our story.

And then the words stop coming to mind. I guess that's all I was supposed to share. I'm sorry if it doesn't make senese. . . I was just sitting at my computer and suddenly God was like "Yeah, Anna. . . think back for a second. Yeah, you know the frustration you've felt? You know how you felt like your heart had been rippd out? That's all for a reason. You ran to Me though, you see? You ran to Me, and because of that you're being filled with more of Me. Remember James? '. . . mature and not lacking anything.' You're on that route. Keep on."

There's only so much pictures, memories, and instant messages can do.

"That can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars over the fence, world series kind of love."

Yeah. . . that's what it's about.

I can't wait.

The guy working the T-Mobil kiosk at Stones River tried to get me to walk over and talk to him. Keep in mind that he didn't try to lure me with a suave head gesture. The guy was seriously checking me out, went "pssst!!!!", and wagged his finger at me.

Something tells me he was trying to sell me more than a phone.

I'm happy to say that I did not buy one pair of jeans today. I did buy six shirts and a skirt though :)

Ridiculous doesn't even begin to cover it.

Lately, everywhere I look I see answered prayers along the journey. Things I prayed for when I was fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen years old have been revealed to me over the past year. I would suggest that we take a moment and say a few more prayers for ourselves five years from now.

God has it all covered. He's got this amazing story he's writing for us, but everytime we try to jerk the pen from His mighty hand a squiggly line is made in our story.

Do you like it when you're writing a totally awesome story, song, or poem and then have someone bump your hand causing the pen to go off the line and make a squiggly?

Neither does God.

if you're not doing anything tonight we're ((me and aimee and brian)) are going to have something of a night picnic at old fort. pizza will be provided, but please bring $2-$3 to pay aimee back. comment here or at aimee's site if you want to come. or call brian. i'll be at work and aimee is doing her lab thing.

As much as the kindergarteners annoy me, I've been realizing that I protect them the same way a mother bear protects their cubs when they are scared. If I see tears that are coming from a truly frightened or hurt child ((and no, this is not always the case, most of the time isn't not)), this savage mother bear from within wants to rip to pieces what has caused the tears and gently comfort the cub in my care.

You know, I guess that's how God feels about us too.

This really is one of the best jobs to work at if you really want more insight as to how God feels about His children. Lauren wrote an entry about it too; I've seen it in a lot of instances between myself and the kids.

. . .and I miss you

Been far away for far too long

-nickelback

WHAT in the WORLD was THAT about?!?

My Spanish class made, so I'll start teaching next week. I'm pretty excited, but I really don't know where to start. The students range from kindergarden through sixth grade; thankfully, I won't have anymore than fifteen. Another "class" I'll have is Molding Mania--aka, I get paid to sit and make things out of play dough. There are supposed to be two more classes for me to teach, but I haven't been told what they are yet.

I'm pretty much moved into my new room. More information on a movie night/get together will be out in the next week or so, depending on when I get everything organized.

One down, one to go.

1.You have a relative, friend, or mentor at Harding.
2.You know what Fort God and Six Flags over Jesus is.
3.Your bible comes equipped with your birthday, name in gold, and date of baptism.
4.What do you mean instruments in worship?
5.You have a religious experience every time you drive through Corinth, Mississippi.
6.Your bible is in your purse (book bag).
7.Your write both your birthdays in someone’s planner.
8.You have a poster of Jeff Walling.
9.You have a crush on Jeff Walling’s son, Taylor.
10.Three words… Sex Ed Classes.
11.Keith Lancaster doesn’t scare you anymore.
12.You stand next to a hot guy incase you have to huga huga friend huga friend next to ya.
13.M.A. kids automatically get into heaven.
14.You believe your cookie is going to hell because it was sprinkled not submerged.
15.Your ‘‘what I did last summer essay” involves Mexican children or building houses.
16.All your cloths are from old navy or GAP.
17.You wear Birkenstocks year round.
18.Bikini is not in your vocabulary.
19.15+ hour bus trips are a way of life.
20.You have a home-schooled friend that doesn’t bug you.
21.You married someone you grew up with.
22.Retreat romances are not uncommon.
23.You actually like C.S. Lewis.
24.Grits isn’t a breakfast food.
25.You know what the Bison is.
26.You sing “Roll the gospel chariot along’’ and put teachers names in the devil verse
27.Yes, vegetables can talk…. And sing!
28.When Jehovah’s witness’ come to your home and ask you if you have “found Jesus”, you come to the door naked and say “No I haven’t, why don’t you come on in and help me look for him?”
29.Instead of playing homemaker, you played communion
30.You marry before you get out of Harding
31.Dissfellowship is your worst fear
32.Your Sunday lunch motto is ‘’Beat the Baptist’’
33. Your daily ponder is “I wonder what the theme for Impact is for this year…”
34.Your brothers are named after apostles
35.The closest you get to dancing is when you sing “you have turned my mourning into dancing!’’
36.The girls always win “Satan was defeated!”
37.Music leads to dancing and dancing leads to making babies!!
38.You still haven’t been kissed and you are going on 25.
39.What happens at Impact stays at Impact
40.Instead of saying ‘Crap!’ you say ‘Snap!’
41.For Christmas you get the New Testament on CD BABY!
42.Instead of Saying OH MY GOD! You say “Oh My Stars”
43.You listen to Josh Groban… and enjoy it.
44.You own at least one shirt with a bible verse on it.
45.You are, have been, or are going to be in a “social club”.
46.You own Harding or Lipscomb apparel.
47.You can complete this sentence… “THREE SWINGS AND A ______”
48.You have skipped chapel before.
49. You know who Neal Pryor is…
50.Your mom went to Harding.
51.Your dad went to Lipscomb.
52.And your brother went to Abilene Christian.
53.YOU ARE IN DEBT…. Because of Harding.
54.You have a relative that lives in Texas.
55.You have been to a “ring ceremony”.
56.You are engaged, and you’re only 22.
57.You get laughed at when you explain you’re future college… and all its rules.
58.You get laughed at more when you explain what a dry county is.
59.You are well educated in BET, but you haven’t seen MTV in years.
60.You have cracked open a wedding magazine… on more than one occasion.
61. You know or love a Rieder.
62.You can finish this sentence: Zeta Rho, date a ___.
63.Your weekend consists of an edited movie in the Benson and sneaking to Heber to two-step.
64.Over half of your friends are married or engaged...and you're a sophomore in college.
65.You threw at least 2 wedding showers for girls on your hall freshman year of college.
66.Your college is fondly known as "The Marriage Factory."
67.You know what happens when you go under the bell tower...alone...and you take alternate routes to avoid it...

So all of four of you understood at least 75% of that. I'm not hardcore CoC, but I couldn't pass this up, lol.

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