thursday at work i wrote this really cool top ten post - it included ten breaking news stories ranging from my life to ugandan virgins. maybe i'll redo it sometime this week - i have a feeling there's going to be much posting going on... this week is young life camp in georgia. now, you may not know much about yl camp, but you can probably assume that they don't have internet access. which can only lead you to another assumption - that i am not there. this is a sad, true, and long story. i don't wanna talk about it anymore.
anyhow - my #1 on my top ten was this: "LEAH'S ENGAGED!!!!" so i wanted to still get that out there. exciting!!! now you'll have to beg for the rest.
a few things bothering me tonite:
#1 - i suddenly received a subscription to sports illustrated - i figured out today that it came with my cubs credit card. and that i don't have to subscribe because they automatically charge my card. this urks me. that's right - urks.
#2 - aubree and i watched a not-so-great (actually, terrible) movie tonite - however, it contained the song "the blower's daughter" by damien rice. i love this song. and i've heard it before tonight. on something. like a tv commercial - i dunno. please help. things like this drive me crazy.
#3 - when i got to work this morning i was informed that after today the thrift store would be closing. i'm disappointed. where are all those crazy people going to get clothes for practically nothing? who are they going to entertain/drive nuts? and what am i going to do when i don't have to get up early on saturdays? hmm.. ok. but really, i was sad.
#4 - the chicago bears have arrived. this warrants an entire entry itself, so i'll save my ranting on this one.
#5 - my apartment stinks. for real. i bought bleach to attack the mold (which also lends to the centipede infestation) but i feel like it's a big project that i'm not sure i want to get into tonight. maybe tho. ugh. gross.
i'm gonna stop at 5 for a negative list. my top 10 were all good and interesting things. things that bother me don't deserve that much attention. it's gonna be a long week. however - i had a blast with aubree tonight!! she made some incredibly awesome cheesy potato soup and we snuck onto bear's territory and we took some interesting pictures with the biggest green beans ever. yeah. i'm gonna leave you with that ;)

"It’s encouraging to know that the pain we feel can be used by God in beautiful ways. He wastes nothing, not even suffering."
i ran across this last night as i was searching through old away messages (of all things!)... i have no clue what i had in mind at the time. i can't even remember how recent it was - knowing me, it was probably about something i was going through with a friend. or maybe it was in the fall when i moved-that's probable. i don't even know where it came from. but either way, it made me smile. why? because i was so unhappy! and for me to say that i'm experiencing something emotionally painful WHILE i'm going through it is a pretty big deal. but don't you see - it's not a part of me anymore. and that's not to say that it didn't affect me. because, like the quote says, God uses pain in "beautiful ways" and it's never wasted. i recognize who i have become as a result of past relationships and especially from the move. but i'm not still negatively affected by the pain. that's huge. and encouraging. to me, i see that the things i'm going through right now are not only temporarily painful, but purposeful as well. and i know this. i'm smart. ;) AND i've been raised well. AND i know what my God is capable of. but it sure doesn't hurt to be reminded of it. i've always loved the verse in james 1 that begins "consider it pure joy..." mainly because that's what my name means. but i sometimes forget about the depth of what that verse is saying. "trials" are going to come. but they also go. and i'm never alone in facing them. i have a network of support, led and built by God himself. now that's an awesome thought.
i'm so happy with my life right now. that's why i smiled.
i'm praying for you today. you think "yeah right," but if you're reading this, i promise i am. hold on to God's promise of pure joy. understand what it truly means, and cling to it. cling to him.

sooo... today has been the longest day at work EVER. i don't know what the deal is, but i feel like i've been here for weeks. hah, ok, at least longer than a day for sure. maybe it's because i took yesterday off... :) wednesday night darin and i went to see WICKED in chicago and it was awesome. i don't know what it is about broadway musicals but something absolutely thrills me when i'm there - i LOVE it! and then i spent thursday afternoon in the city, mostly at navy pier, which is one of my favorite places in the world. sounds weird, but something about chicago is almost enchanting to me. hah. i'm a dork. but the past two days were the best i've had in quite some time... and lately life has been good, so that's saying a lot!
today i ate pasta salad. this is new to me. heather stretches my boundaries.
aubree wrote a poem at work today and it's the best. kelly put it on her xanga to share, so i thought i'd share it with the phusebox world as well. so click here and check it out.
i heard the word "envelop" today and remembered my thoughts on feeling God physically envelop you. it's a good thing to be reminded of sometimes. let that one sink in today. :)

so this is phusebox, huh? i don't really think i need another distraction... what with olivet being on facebook now and all... but i'm doing this in support of nathan. even though i have no friends on here. but i will recruit, right? right. so this is my first post. exciting! how bout an intro to my life:
i'm cassie. hello. i'm studying to be an english teacher, so let's do this vocab-style... sort of word-association as well... here are a few important words in my life:
COUNTRY MUSIC. - what i'm listening to right now, and almost always, and what i miss about...
TENNESSEE. - my home. i love it, convinced it's the best place to call home. i moved there when i was 9, went to northfield, central, oakland, frcs, back to oakland, and even began my college career at...
MTSU. - where i attended for 2 years, majoring in my fair share of departments, loving every minute of it, until i moved on to...
CHICAGO. - which is my favorite place in the world. i love it here, you should come visit me. i live less than an hour outside the city where i go to...
ONU. - olivet nazarene university, that is. where i study english, or at least kinda try to. life is crazy here. kinda like...
YOUNG LIFE. - a great organization. i'm not the best leader, but i'm working on it. and i believe in their mission - high school kids are great! however, my interest lies more in jr high, but anyhow. this is also where i got to know...
DARIN. - my boyfriend. lots of you don't know him, which is a shame. but someday you'll meet him :) he's here for the summer too, delivering ice in his big truck. we have lots of fun together. much like i do with...
LAURA. - my "be fri." this year she went off to OKC, but i forgive her. i left too, right? anyway, she's awesome. the most fantastic girl you will ever meet. and i have the privilege of calling her my best friend. that rocks. she's even mailing me a skirt to borrow. now who does that? she's cool... kinda like...
KELLY. - who is sitting behind me. her name is here to represent all of the awesome girls that i have meet this summer working at the...
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND CONTINUING STUDIES. - where i pretty much scan documents for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. it's completely different from any job i've ever had, especially the one at the...
SALVATION ARMY. - where i work in the thrift store. during the school year i work with the shelter kids after school, but for the summer i'm working in the store - which provides an extreme amount of entertainment for 8 hours on saturdays. this town is nuts. i'm sure more stories are to come from this one... this week was semi-tame though. i even got to read...
AN UNQUIET MIND - which is my current book (thanks heather!) i can't wait until i get to
THE END - ok, dumb way to end this little game, but i've run out of connections. and i think i've pretty much summed up my life right now.
woah - except i left out GOD - which is before all of that junk anyway!! whew. that was close. God is top priority in my life. wait, maybe i left him out of the list because he's actually interlaced throughout every one of those things. yep - that's it! :) back to scanning!