Thanks Rach :)

There's a time to live and a time to die,
There's a time to laugh and a time to cry,
There's a time for war, and a time for peace,
There's a hand to hold in the worst of these,
In the worst of these.

He is with you when your faith is dead
And you can't even get out of bed
Or your husband doesn't kiss you anymore
He is with you when your baby's gone
And your house is still and your heart's a stone
Cryin' God, what'd you do that for?
He is with you.

There's a time for yes and a time for no,
There's a time to be angry and a time to let it go,
There's a time to run and a time to face it,
There is love to see you through all of this.

He is with you in the conference room when the world is coming down on you,
And your wife and kids don't know you anymore.
And he is with you in the ICU,
When the doctors don't know what to do,
And it scares you to the core.
He is with you.

We may weep for a time, but joy will come in the morning.
The morning light

He is with you when your kids are grown
When there's too much space and you feel alone
And you're worried if you got it right or wrong
Yes he is with you when you've given up on ever finding your true love,
Someone who feels like home.
He is with you.

When nothing else is left
And you take you final breath
He is with you.

-- "He Is With You" by Mandisa

True faith

"Trusting even when it appears you have been forsaken; praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers; believing that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for live or moving one inch in response to your petitions; desiring only what God's hands have planned for you; waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with your fear only being that your faith might fail - "this is the victory that has overcome the world"; this is genuine faith indeed."

-George Macdonald

And the lists continue

Alright so maybe I've been a little obsessed with lists recently, but this is my blog right? So I can write whatever I want. :)

Next on my list of lists is a list of current "don't you just hate that's?" Everyone has them, and I know mine is especially long, seeing as I'm annoyed easier than anyone I know.

So here goes...

1. People who drive slow in the left lane/drive 5 under the speed limit. Okay I'm sure I've been guilty of it at some point too, but really...if it takes you twenty extra minutes to get somewhere you should start to think about speeding up.

2. Guys in big trucks that think they're so cool/they own the road. You aren't, and you don't. Get over it. Just because you could crush me with your car doesn't give you the right to ride my bumper.

3. People who wear my clothes and don't return them (ahem, Jenna).

4. The words lol, jank, and merk, if they even qualify as words.

5. People who are rude no matter how friendly or nice you try to be to them. Really, do you think it's easy to be nice to you? Show some respect please.

6. Season finales of TV shows. I know, it's petty.

7. People who are continually disappointing.

8. People who think cussing is cool in some odd way.

9. Smokers. Sorry, it gives me a headache.

10. Creepy old golfers. Please hit on someone your own age, thanks.

11. Goodbyes.

12. Ancient history.

I should probably go ahead and hop off my soapbox now. :)

You're an uncut diamond, you're the rarest star...

favorite song... of the week :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4lLf2984A

Cleanin' Out My Closet

As I stated in my previous post, one of my favored daily activities is cleaning. Today, I decided to tackle the three giant sterilite containers under my bed containing the remnants of my childhood and teen years. Needless to say, I encountered some memories: good and bad, and a whole lot of dust. I also had quite a few self realizations, including but not limited to...

a) I keep EVERYTHING, and by everything I really mean everything. Newspapers, magazines, receipts, pictures, notes, tapes, old phone boxes, AIM conversations from freshman year, movie stubs, plane tickets, artwork...the list could continue forever.

b) When going back through the massive amounts of crap that I have accumulated since the beginning of highschool, I still can't seem to throw anything away. I just take everything out, reread the old notes, look at the old pictures, and reorganize the clutter.

c) I used to think I was really cool. And believe me, I was not. My hair was several different kinds of awful, I didn't have a clue what I was talking about, and I definitely didn't have any idea what was to come in the next 5 years.

d) I used to be obsessed with passing notes. I must have 1,000 random little notes, probably passed when I should've been paying attention. One of the notes I found from Freshman year consisted of a nameless boy asking me if I still liked him, me telling him that I still liked him, but I also liked two other guys, and him telling me that he liked me but couldn't decide whether or not to let go of another girl. Oh, to be young and naive again.

e) I collect very strange things. I found an empty Dasani water bottle that I believe was from my plane ride from Atlanta to California. I remember not being able to throw that thing away, thinking that I would treasure it forever. I'll just go ahead and admit that I'm a pretty weird person.

f) I appreciate the fact that I am a junkie. When I was saving all those movie stubs, plane tickets, magazine covers, old reports, cards, pictures, and notes, I never imagined I would be looking back at them after my freshman year of college. I have the worst memory in the world, but I can look at all of those things individually and vividly remember the moments when those things became important to me.

g) I used to think I was a legitimate artist. I also used to think I was going to be a famous fashion designer living in Paris with a quality fashion line. Oh, how dreams change.

h) I used to collect depressing quotes and song lyrics, thinking I was so emo and so cool. But really, I was totally fooling myself. I mean come on, my favorite color is pink and I like country music and puppies. That is so not emo.

i) What was I thinking wearing those hideous clothes?

:)

Random thoughts...

1. The old One Tree Hill was just precious, what happened to those fresh-faced, ignorant little kids that I used to obsess over? (I'm in the process of watching Seasons 1-3 since I can no longer watch Law and Order).

2. Why do TV shows always have to make something dramatic happen? Whatever happened to happily ever after...

3. Who came up with the idea to throw around the words "merk" and "jank"? Because they should be punched in the face.

4. Things cost entirely too much money these days. On that note, people struggle, work hard, and yet blow their money on such things.

5. The Big Bang Theory is absolutely ridiculous and I despise having to write about it.

6. Life is better with a tan.

7. Guys are obsessed with analyzing girls, all the time.

8. Pictures are worth 1,000 words.

9. Some people are downright rude, but be nice to them anyway, because you could be making a difference.

10. My family is the best, and I can't imagine living without any of them.

11. Guys are even more obsessed with cars.

12. The phrase "Do your best, and that's all you can do," does NOT make one feel better when his or her best isn't up to par.

13. "Man's entire life is one big struggle to not be laughed at."

14. Life is tough, get a helmet.

♥

Summa Summa

I guess since I promised I would update this thing more regularly, I should probably inform all the people that aren't reading this how my summer is going so far.

First of all, it was wonderful at first to be home...not having to worry about studying/walking to get food/wearing shoes in the shower/wearing clothes in the room/turning off the lights and the music...but then I started to miss having a roommate and being with all my friends. Don't get me wrong, I was definitely in need of a vacation, but it's most definitely a bittersweet one.

Second of all, I've basically done NOTHING of importance since I've been home. I wake up (usually), lay out, shower (sometimes), get on facebook, clean, get back on facebook, download music, get back on facebook, get my car washed (occasionally, like when people accidently pee in my seat), work (woop!), check facebook some more, watch Law and Order: SVU (which I can no longer do because I have officially watched all the episodes we have recorded...which were numerous), hang out with my sisters who are way cooler than me and actually have things to do, then play apples to apples on the regular, oh and then check facebook again (let me just tell you, facebook is only but so entertaining after a week of nothing to do). It's a pretty exciting life, I know, try not to be jealous. Needless to say, I'm missing my friends and consistently being busy and having something to do. Although it was mostly stressful and always a balancing act between working and having fun, it was much better than sitting around and twiddling my thumbs all day. I guess everyone needs a little thumb twiddling in their life though, it provides sanity. I'll appreciate this time when I get busy again.

Thirdly, I would like to point out that I have officially gone MAD deciding to take three classes this summer. Why on earth would I think that I would have the motivation to do that much work when I don't even have that much motivation during the school year? I know it's going to pay off, so I will religiously study Ancient Mesopotamia and pretend that I believe in "The Big Bang," but believe me, I will hate every minute of it. Sorry to whomever has to listen to me complain for the next two months. :)

Finals...

I'm writing this because I'm running out of other procrastination options, after spending the majority of the past three days studying/at the library I'm already sick of it, and I have three finals left. I should start some hardcore praying now. Regardless, I'm taking a break (from a break). I can't believe I'm in the single digits counting down for summer. I am so excited I could be writing in all caps right now, but that's annoying so I won't do it. I'm going to be a sophomore in college in FOUR days, if I survive finals, that is. As I'm moving stuff out of my dorm, I'm realizing how fast life goes by and I vividly remember the day I moved all of this stuff in. Although I really can't wait to be home, it's sad moving out of my dorm and away from my friends for four months. I guess it's all part of life!

Okay, enough of the nostalgia for now...Math is calling my name!