Today's 9 Things

1. My friend, the other student worker in my office (Tiffany), OFFERED to come help me paint my room tonight. I’m thrilled at the thought of help!

2. I’m painting my room tonight. (Bet ya didn't know that one, did you!?) A lovely shade of blue grey. My bed will have a yellow duvet, with sage, brown, dark blues, and purple colors in all the various and un-matched pillows. The walls will be covered with vintage plates, antique keys, dried flowers and sepia toned old pictures.


3. My eyes are really dry today. I’m in need of some eye drops.


4. There is a potluck at The Guys House (one of the houses my pastor owns, which is rented out to 5 guys in Chi Alpha) tomorrow night. I’m making triple-chocolate peppermint trifle. It’s the best dessert I have ever made. And I am really looking forward to this fun-filled potluck – it’s going to be joy-filled!


5. I have some pretty amazing bosses. They are funny, sweet, respectable and caring. Jesus has greatly blessed me!


6. I keep thinking about all the books I have that I want to read this Christmas break (Flashbang, all the Chronicles of Narnia, little women, prophetic evangelism, velvet elvis, and another book I can’t remember that someone gave me).


7. This is the second year of my life that I did not get to decorate my home for christmas (my Murray one, which is my more permanent one; I spend the most time there). It kind of makes me sad… Decorating for Christmas and putting up a tree is one of my favorite things.

8. I have a new pen pal, her name is Julie Anderson. She lives in Ohio and we are pretty much the same person – except that she’s red haired, slim and gorgeous. I love her already. We swap recipes.

9. I have spent more time with Katie Gagel (one of my best friends) in the past week than I ever have before. And I love it. We talk, watch movies, and talk some more. Then we stare at her Christmas tree.

Go Ahead, Knock My Socks Off.

Sunday Night:
Fifteen minutes before church, I shrunk one of the two pairs of jeans I own. I thoughtlessly put them in the dryer, forgetting that they were already almost too short and were made of cotton. They shrunk three inches.

I immediately began to cry, because once again I was stressing about finances and constantly asking God why He wasn't providing for me. The Steve-Urkel-midget-jeans were just the icing on the cake of bitterness. Three days earlier I had lost a twenty dollar bill that I owed someone for a gift I bought a share in. I was starting to stress over internship clothes again. I realized that I had to buy a dress for a wedding I'm attending next week, since the only other one I own I will be wearing to the rehearsal dinner. And about two weeks ago I got a $15 dollar parking ticket that I did not deserve. I appealed the ticket, but the lady quite rudely told me that they knew the truth (which wasn't true at all) and my appeal wouldn't do squat for me. So here I am with Steve-Urkel-midget-jeans, an undeserved parking ticket, not too much money for a dress, a lost $20 bill, and worrying about internship clothes.

I reluctantly go to church after bawling my eyes out. Two songs into praise and worship I think to myself that I just need to go home and sleep. Just sleep. I don't care that I should be at church. I don't care that I'll probably hear the answer to this problem in the sermon. I just want to go ignore everything and sleep. Just as I'm about to turn and leave, a friend comes and stands next to me.

Crap. My exit way is blocked. Oh well, as soon as everyone sits down, I'll get up and leave.

As soon as we sit down, I reach my right hand to grab my keys and bible, intending to leave.

She starts scratching my back.

So I stayed for the rest of the sermon.

The sermon was, of course, about being blessed, God's provision and how God has called us to bless others. Eventually, I got over my bitterness about the Steve-Urkel-midget-jeans and other financial stress and tuned in to what was being said. After church I went directly to Walmart where I bought coffee so that I'll actually wake up in the morning. And then I went to bed.  

Monday:

Woke up one full minute before my alarm went off, thanks to the automatic brew option on the coffee pot I keep in my room. I spent some time in the Word, focused on God, and told Him I loved Him and that I really did trust Him to provide for me. After my quiet time I went up to go look at a hat that was laying on my desk, and lo-and-behold! there was my lost 20 dollar bill!!! From there on, it was kind of a snow ball effect. I got my birthday/Christmas money early from my Grandma, my ticket appeal was approved and I am being refunded $15 dollars, the dress I had picked out a week ago for the wedding was marked down from $40 to $22, and my parents let me pick out over half the clothes I will need for my internship for Christmas presents. 

So yeah. Don't let Steve-Urkel-midget-jeans send you into a tizzy... Find a friend to keep you in church by scratching you back... And thank you're Grandma for being awesome. 
Go ahead, let Jesus knock your socks off. 

Please note that this is a picture of a girl on a STORMY DAY*, standing in a CANOE* filled with VEGETABLES*, with LEAVES* falling around her, ARMS LIFTED TO THE SKY*. This was a result of typing "gratefulness" into Google Images. And I like it. A lot. It's not relevant, but I sure do like it. It's kinda... hippy-ish. *grins ear to ear* 
* These are a few of my favorite things!  

Update How-To Process for the Clumsy

1. It's important to begin with being bare-footed, as this "sets the stage" for the recommended two out of four incidents.

2. Place the pillow from the couch on the floor, stand up from current sitting place on couch, heavily step on pillow, making sure that the pillow slides quickly out from under you.

3. Crash to the floor, making sure there is a heavy impact between knees and floor, along with sliding forward... producing rug burn.

4. Wait five minutes.

5. Trip over shoes (the ones you took off from earlier, to make sure your foot had no traction when hitting the pillow), fall to your already rug-burned knees. The important difference in your fall this time around, to make it doubly treacherous, place your right hand out towards the coffee table. This ensures that the palm of your hand smashes forcibly onto a large screw-looking thing sticking out of the table.

6. Now bleed a little.

7. Regain balance and compose yourself. Pray for grace (Not the saving kind, you already have that, the other kind that keeps you on your feet)

8. Go fix hot tea to distract you from the burning on your knees. Plug you computer in, so that the cord stretches across the living room. Place a minimum of 4 items on the coffee table beside your lap top.

9. Stand in front of your laptop drinking your tea, and accidentally burp. This will cause the hot tea to spurt out your nose. Quickly turn and head towards towards a napkin, in my case it was located in the kitchen.

10. Entwine your feet in the computer cord, tripping yourself, and causing all items that you had previously set on the table to fall off.

11. Give up with staying at the house, and go to dinner at the local College Cafeteria.

12. Walk out to your car to head over to a night of fun games at your Christ Ambassador house, and step in a pothole. It's important to note several things at this point. 1) You should already be sore from the previous falls. 2) You should have considerably weak knees. 3). It should be pitch black out, so that you are not expecting the pot hole.

13. After your foot hits the hole, let your knee give out so that you crumple to the ground in a heap. Scrap skin off of your knee cap and elbow. Meanwhile, slightly twist your ankle.

14. Lay on the ground for several minutes, groaning in pain, bighting your lip to stop crying.

15. Bleed a lot.

16. Get a bandaid.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is some advice on how to be clumsy... of course, this information is gathered from my own personal experience. I wouldn't want to mislead you. No, no. I make sure that all of my "How-To's" are taught from my own mistakes, I mean lessons.
Good day.

Today's Thoughts

• New glasses are making me quite naseous and head-achy.
• Cravings for Diet Coke really don't go away very easily.
• What hits the spot is a pumpkin scented candle.
• It's time to wash (or fold) some of my socks...
• Petting a calm but fearless armadillo in my yard two weeks ago was fantastic! He even walked over my foot!
• I've never changed back into my comfy clothes so many times in one day!
• Coffee would be pretty close to perfection right now...
• Jesus cares about the little things in my life.. it's pretty perfect and romantic.
• Being back in my own bed at night is delightful.
• The game "Bricks Breaking" on Facebook is addictive.
• 20 days before visiting Duluth for Thanksgiving!
• I wish I had some really beautiful flowers right now... and maybe some lace.
• I'd give anything for Peter Pan to be real...

Fall, Nat King Cole and Bare Feet

Today just seems really fall-ish. All day at work today (a total of 6 hours) I listened to the Nat King Cole Pandora radio station. All day long I felt the cool breeze blowing through the window from outside... and all day long I thought about fall.
And these are the things that I think of.

• Nat King Cole/Ella Fitzgerald/Bing Crosby type music
• Crisp Apples
• Coffee mugs
• Pine scented Candles
• Grass
• Baking with pumpkin in my kitchen -bare-footed and apron-clad
• Reading Jane Austin on a quilt in the grass
• Taking a walk through the woods
• Sleeping at night with all the windows open - bundled up in my feather blanket
• Painting... with anything: finger paints, acrylics, water colors, etc.
• Making hand-painted chocolates
• Blue silk scarves
• Old-fashioned cameras
• Your grandpa's sweater that's too big, but still fits just right
• Brown toe nail polish
• Picnics with a best friend
• Antique shopping
• Opening all the windows so that the earthy smell from outside will come inside
• Hippies playing guitars under beutiful old trees
• Blondies (a type of brownie) chalk full of pecans
• Hearts carved into trees
• Clothes lines
• Hammocks
• Caramel
• Campfires

Honestly... this list could go on and on for pages and pages... so I'll just leave it at that and say again how delightfully cheery and fall-ish today has been.

She Had Restroom Problems

This is the conversation that I had with the Walmart cashier, Leetta, this morning.

Me: Good morning, how are you? Leetta: I'm good, I had some restroom problems yesterday though.
*awkward pause*
In my head: Do I respond to that? Just show... compassion, Savannah. It's only awkward if you make it awkward.
Me: Oh. I'm sorry. Hope it's better today.
Leetta: Oh, it is. Although it wasn't this morning.
Me: Hmm. Well.
Leetta: Yesterday was by far the worst. There was this one time where I almost didn't even make it through one transaction with a customer. I was lucky that I did.
In my head: oh my... please... don't go any farther. Why are you saying this?
Me: *sympathetic head nod*
Leetta: Yeah, and then, one time, I had to call over a CSM (Customer Service Manager) to help me out. It was rough.
In my Head: You really don't look like a person who would share too much information. Hmm. Guess you can't judge a book by the cover.
Me: Uh-huh.
Leetta: And like I said, it happened again this morning when I got here. Darn register problems. Had to get the computer tech out here twice to fix it. But I can finally get through a transaction without the computer shutting down. 
*stunned silence*
Today's grateful thought: That I didn't say anything about restrooms... or Gas-X. Or fiber. Because that would have been awful.
I'm glad it was "register" problems and not "restroom" problems that were ailing my cashier.

A Wise Woman Actually Picks Up the Hammer and Nails...

I have an aerial view of a massive warehouse... it's as if I'm suspended from the ceiling and have super-power eyesight... I can see every corner of this gigantic place.
In the middle of this concrete expanse is a woman. She's standing with her arms at her side, her face in a mournful expression. Surrounding her, and covering the floor of the warehouse, are supplies. An immense amounts of supplies. In my opinion, you could probably build a whole house with what I see placed around her. Not that I'm some kind of construction guru... but still. There are hammers, nails, power-tools, drills, and a LOT of wood, siding, roof shingles and even some plumming things. It's pretty much an endless supply.
As I look down at this woman, however, I realize that I can hear what she's saying. She's pacing around in the tiny amount of space that she has (the only space not covered in building material) and moaning, groaning and complaining. She's saying that she's inadequate and ill-equipped to build her house. I gasp in surprise and shock! How can she say that? She's surrounded by everything she could possibly need? And now that I think about it, aren't those construction and architecture geniuses in each corner of the room? How can she possibly say this!? She has everything she needs!!!?
Proverbs 14:1a "A wise woman builds her home"
I'm that woman in this story.
I struggle with some feelings of inadequacy... It's an attack that I have been feeling lately.
I'm not wise enough to lead a Bible Study.
I don't have more than 5 Bible verses memorized, so what right do I have to be a leader?
I don't ask ALL of my classmates to come to a Wednesday night Word & Worship, so how come I am supposed to encourage others to be bold and do that exact thing?
I'm ill-equipped. I can't do it. I can't do these tasks. I can't have this responsibility. I'm inadequate.
These are the thoughts that have quietly been sneaking in my head for the past two months. And this morning in my quiet time was the first time that I really brought this up with Jesus. In my conversation with Him this morning, I started telling Him of my feelings... And I just began to ask Him to look inside my heart, observe and scrutinize it all, and come back and tell me what He found that was not in His will. Whether it was something that I wasn't doing, something that I was doing that I shouldn't be, or if it was some kind of thought that wasn't founded in Him, I wanted Him to pick it out and reveal it.
Proverbs 3:11-12 says, "My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when He corrects you. For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a Father corrects a child in whom He delights." I know that my whole thought process of "I'm ill-equipped"is messed up. It's not right. But I couldn't for the life of you tell you why. So I wanted (and still want) God to come in and see and judge my heart, correcting me in His loving and merciful way. His correction is only going to hurt if I let it. I can take His corrections and use them to get closer to Him. Psalm 139:23 [Amplified Bible] says "Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!" I wanted this, and I got it.
I felt like I just needed a verse to meditat on, so I turned to the proverb of the day... and got through half of the first verse.
Proverbs 14:1a - "A wise woman builds her house"
How do you build a house? With supplies and tools, and by picking those things up and using them.

I'm surrounded by equipment and building materials.
I am involved in one of the most out-reach and ministry oriented campus ministries in the nation.
My pastor is legendary (ha, literally... this is what people in Duluth told me when they found out who my pastor was).
I am completely surrounded by people who are chalk-full of wisdom, and who basically hand it out like free candy.
I have like ten Bibles. Plus, a really great study Bible. 
I have access to all sorts of podcasts, and sermon series from every major church in America.  
And Jesus equips me everday.
It's just those days that I choose not to pick up what He gives me and use it that I am "ill-equipped".
A wise woman builds her house... so I need to start building mine.
I need to pick up the materials (books, God's Word, Sermons on CD's, worship music) and apply it to my life.
A house isn't built unless you spend time and effort doing so.
I'm not going to have the knowledge and wisdom that I want unless I am willing to put time into reading His word.
I'm not going to become even more closer to Him, unless I pick up my responsibility in our relationship. He doesn't want a one-sided friendship or a one-sided conversation.
I'm not going to be ill-equipped any longer. I'm picking up the tools that surround me, and putting them to use.
I'm going to be the wise woman that builds her house.

Word to the Wise

Dear friends,

  
   Here is a lesson learned from my own personal experience...
      
When you are normally in the habit of calling your mother on the phone around the time before you go to bed, and you forget and lay down in bed without calling her... don't. Set some type of alarm that will remind you, or place a sticky-note by your pillow. Why such a big deal you ask? I'll tell you. If you go to bed at 9:45 without remembering to call your mother... she'll call you at 10:08 wondering why you sound so groggy. If you tell her you were asleep... be prepared for her to gasp in shock and say "You forgot about me??". And worst of all, for the next three days that you call her she'll answer the phone by saying, "Forgotten Mother's Association, how may I help you?". You might even get the supposed voicemail; which says, "You have reached the Forgotten Mother's Association. Unfortunately, either all phones are busy or all Mothers are meeting to lament their lost identity. Please, leave a message after the beep."

                           Yours sincerely and regretfully,
                                                    Savannah Sooter

Cheney Anastasia Duvall M.D.

Has there ever been a book that you have read over and over, until you have basically memorized the pages? I read the Cheney Duvall M.D. series multiple times when I was around 12 and 13. I thought that this blog could be about an old memory of mine... and while talking with a friend several days ago, I remembered this series of books.
I'm not sure that I can bring you to a full understanding of how much I loved these books... If you go to the library and pick one up off the shelf... that grape juice stain on the back of "In the Twilight In the Evening", yeah that's me. The wear and tear seen on "Shadow of the Mountains" is because I hauled that book around in my purse everywhere I went. I read them over and over and over.
The Cheney Duvall M.D. series is the story of a young girl who graduates from the first women's medical school in the United States. The time period is the late 1800's. With her ambitious degree and shocking independency, Dr. Duvall sets off on a medical adventure in each of her books (eight total). It wasn't just the stories that I loved... I'm pretty sure I adored everything about these books. It was pure delight to read the details about each exquisite party gown she wore... I enjoyed every drop of blood and slice of the scalpel (you have to remember that I wanted to be a general surgeon from the age of 11 to the age of 17... I wonder why?)... I loved Cheney. She was strongwilled, independent, beautiful, had a beauty-mark on her cheek, craved blood and guts, and loved God. And did I mention that she could shoot a gun better than any man she encountered?
There was even a point where I would have loved to change my name to Cheney Anastasia Duvall! I knew in my 12 year old mind, however, that my parents wouldn't be happy that I wasn't a Sooter anymore; therefore, I grudgingly decided to only change my first and middle name. (I'm guessing that I thought at that time it wouldn't offend my parents to change all but my last name.)

All of those things I loved... but there was something I liked even better about these books. His name was Shiloh Irons. Yes. My first "fictional character" crush was on the man in this book. He was Cheney's nurse... (see how the roles were switched?) and boy, was he great. According to the book (and my own visualization of him) he was 6'4'', blond, buff, and manly. He was a former boxer who had no nursing experience, and was suffering from a loss of identity. He grew up in an orphanage in Louisiana, and never knew who is family was. He didn't even know his real name. He was named Shiloh because of the company name that was printed on the box he was found in, and his last name came from his fame in fighting. He was loyal, mysterious, and he wore flannel. What more could a 12 year old want?

I eventually got over my love for Shiloh... and stopped reading the books once I was remembering words and quotes... and I haven't read them since. But that will always be a fond and funny memory that I have... and could possibly explain why I still like shaggy hair and flannel shirts.

You Can Fall at His Feet and Call Him Lord and God...

"...that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. "



- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Thoughts...

1. I woke up this morning and realized that I have a TON of stuff to get done before school ends... and guess what!? Next week is the last week of classes.

2. I bought a Yoga DVD -- I need it to get rid of all these knots in my back and shoulders.

3. I love reading. And when I read, I lose track of time. It's not that I mean to, or even that I know in the back of my mind that I have been reading for a while... It's that I get so consumed by the story, that I am the story, that I lose track of time. This, for the average person that has a life, is not a good thing.

4. I just bought a book off Amazon.com for $0.01. WoOpWoOp! Yes, I paid shipping.. but still, that's awesome.

5. I feel like I could pass out every time that I eat. Anytime I eat, whether it's a snack or meal, I get so sleepy I could fall out of my chair.

6.  I'm completely ready for summer.

7. My favorite color nail polish is black. And, according to my friend Bryce, that would make me Emo. But, alas, I am not.

8. Today, in my weekly reminder to my Fusion (Bible Study) group, the subject line (which is always random. always) was this: "Are you wearing space pants? Because your butt is out of this world!" I laughed for a full 10 minutes afterwards. Picking my subject line for my reminder email is a favorite part of the week.

9. Don't eat pixie sticks. They make you sick.

10. I love chatting with people on Gmail Chat. It makes me feel close to them, and I always get either a good laugh or some wise advice.

11. Jesus has set me free. He broke the chains that no one else can see, and released me. It's so much easier to run to Him now.

One Last Time...

Dear friends-who-are-unable-to-post-on-my-wall,

I think I have fixed it finally.

So try again, you can practice on this blog post. =)

Go down to where it says "comments".

Click.

Scroll down, and enter your comment into the text bos.
Underneath the text box it says "Comment as:" use the arrow down and select Name/URL.
Enter in your name, and leave the URL box blank.
Click the "Post Comment" button.

I believe this should work.
I disabled an extra add-on that requires you to write the messed up letters that appear in a box.
This should make it easier for you to comment.

If this doesn't work... I enjoy the comments that you send via email. =) Thank you.

I got the favor!

Philippians 4:19: And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.



Malachi 3:10-11: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now in this,'' says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,'' says the Lord of hosts;



1 Peter 5:7: casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.



Proverbs 8:35: For whoever find me finds life, and recieves favor from the Lord.

Proverbs 3:3-4 (New Living Translation): 3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. 4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.


Psalms 5:12: For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.
 
 
How could anyone ever possible say that God doesn't want to give us favor? That He wants to pour out His blessings on us? He cares for us, and He wants our lives to be filled with Him and be filled with good and happy things. And I believe that this favor is evident in our day to day lives. Let me share a story.
 
My best friend, Jennifer, was eating at a restaurant in Murray with a group of old high school friends and somehow got into this same discussion... Jennifer simply said, "I have the favor of God." Her friend said that wasn't true... and that she couldn't just say that. It went back and forth and the whole while Jennifer was insistant upon the fact that she had the favor of God on her life. That she was blessed. This favor/blessing showed up daily, she said. There would be certain situations where she would either recieve something, be protected, or simply blessed. Her friend simply would not believe her. Several minutes later, a waitress walked by with a yummy looking dessert. Jennifer, my always vocal friend, said out loud that it looked amazing. The next time the waitress came back through, she brought Jennifer this exact dessert... free of charge. The reason? She said she felt that Jennifer was favored. Had she heard the conversation and tried to help prove a point? Nope. Not at all. She had no clue.
 
I have a similar story that happened last week. Due to some inconsistancy, forgetfullness and the mistake of "making assumptions" with the head of the social work department, several of the Junior class had some trouble. Apparantly the head advisor didn't inform the students a year ago that they needed to make sure to take so many hours... in order to graduate. Well, right now I can think of about 5 students that this happened to. Everyone was freaking out. Plans were being made for summer classes and 18 hours the next semester. Tempers were rising, brows were lowering, mouths were pouting. The entire classroom was buzzing with the "excitement" of it all. I was getting anxious as well, wondering if the same was going to happen to me, when all of the sudden I remembered that I had the favor of God! And I began claiming it over my life and my situation. I didn't complain with the rest of the class. I simply said that I knew I wasn't going to have to stress about it.... it was going to be allright, no matter how it turned out for me.
 

Well guess what? Due to the amazing Miss Meagan Short, I am perfectly on time to graduate! Two semesters ago I had Meagan, who worked in Sparks hall at the time and helped students with their MAP reports (a "map" that shows you classes and hours you have had or still need to take), look over my classes with me. While everyone else is going to be cramming in summer classes and taking 18 hours next semester in order to graduate on time... I'm relaxing through the summer with no classes. Oh, and I'm only takin 12 hours next semester. It's simply lovely.

 

Now that's favor!!

 

Adding to my book collection...

So today I finish classes and come back to my cozy house... my attention is immediately grabbed by this facinating brown cardbord box that is sitting on the dining room table. Dare I hope it's for me? Ah! It is! I give a shout of delight and race to find a knife to open it with! Inside *gasp!* are B-O-O-K-S.

They are from my dearest Aunt Julie. And I am awfully excited! (See picture below)

(my excited face, but with no makeup - sorry)

She bought me three books!
1) same kind of different as me - by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, with Lyan Vincent
2) A Girl of the Limberlost - by Gene Stratton Porter
3) No Compromise: the life story of Keith Green

I'm pretty excited to read these lovely books... unfortunately it is going to have to wait until summer. *sigh* School beckons...




Blog topic for tomorrow: I got the Favor!

Horses, Job Offers, and Brilliant Ideas

This is Danni. She lives on a farm. Well, she lives in Murray, but her parents live on a farm. And this weekend, we got to go to her house.

Danni's family is absolutely amazing, and are some of the best hosts and hostesses I have ever met. They are warm and welcoming, honest and genuine, sweet and sassy. And they randomly ask people to come live with them. (I'll explain that later)

I can easily and truthfully say that Danni's house is one of my all-time favorite places to visit.

This is city-girl-J-lo, my best friend. Jennifer was born to live in the city.... you have no idea how true this statement is.

This weekend when we went to Danni's, Jennifer came along and we had a wonderful time. A highlight that, of course, included Jennifer was watching a highly suspenseful movie, "When a Stranger Calls" and watching Jennifer jump out of her seat (she was laying down) and give a gut-wrenching throaty scream. =) How fun!

And this is me with my new best friend, Duster.

The best part of this weekend was that we got to go horse back riding on Duster and Jake, two of LeeAnne and Patrick's horses. We road all over the farm in the most beautiful weather we have had in a while.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the fields were a brilliant green.

I love farm life. This isn't something that I just recently figured out... I have always loved being outside and I have always loved animals, and I have always wanted a cow. The fact is, this trip just intensified the desire to live on a farm. And while we were out riding I fell in love with horses. I haven't ridden a horse since my family moved away from our Mountain Shadow Manor Lane horse ranch in California, where we bred Arabians. It's been a long time, about 11 years. Well, Duster brought back that love of horses that is in my blood -- I get it from my parents. I remembered how to saddle a horse, put in the bit, and lunge the horse before riding it. I feel quite pleased with myself, since no one showed me how to do this, it was just something that I remembered to do and was good at. Nobody even had to tighten the girth on the saddle! *score*

Not only do I really REALLY want to live on a farm now, but I must own horses. It's a given. There is no way to get around it. And I need to have a dog like Rain (sorry, I don't have a picture of this golden haired beauty) to ride the trails of my 235 acre ranch with me.

Do you get the picture? I want to live on a ranch, own horses, go horseback riding, plant a garden, have a cow (not figuratively, literally), walk in the woods, and spend quiet times sitting on a log in a flower-carpeted meadow. 

To make it worse, LeeAnne offered me a job. As a live in Nanny. If you were to open up my journal and read it, you would probably find where on some dream-infested days I have entered in my desire to be a live-in Nanny. That's how much I love kids. Well, Tanner and Macy are great, LeeAnne's farm is great, LeeAnne's horses are great, LeeAnne's house is great (there are chickens under the porch!!) and LeeAnne is great. That's a lot of greatness for one farm. She said that she would pay me $25 a day and give me room and board. In return, I would "slave away" while watching the two children. I would "work" and participate in the children's daily activities to keep them safe and keep them from getting bored while the parents were at work.... The job description is gruesome, I know, but I must go on. I would have to play outside, go fishing, and ride horses all day long.

Gah. It's killing me. Unfortunately, *sob* I can't. I have to stay here in Murray and work at Sparks to earn a lot of money. If it weren't for the fact that from January to May I won't be able to work due to my social work internship, and for the fact that I will be going to grad school in May where I will also not be working.... I would call LeeAnne right now and tell her I'm there.

But it's ok. Life moves on. I'm pretty sure that I will somehow get to live on a farm someday. What would be REALLY awesome and would incorporate ALL my desires would be this (imagine with me): I could work at a residential treatment center ranch.

Here's what that would do:
1) Allow me to share the all-consuming love of Jesus with people who desperately need it.
2) Allow me to use my Masters in Social Work.
3) Allow me to be a counselor/therapist.
4) Allow me to work with eating disorders and self-injury.
5) Allow me to work in a residential setting.
6) Allow me to work in a christian work place.
7) Allow me to live on a ranch.
8) Allow me to have animals.
9) Allow me to play outside.
10) Allow me to go horseback riding. (It's a type of therapy!)

It's brilliant.

Those are basically ten things that I have wanted to do for years now....
And it would be perfect.

So instead of pining away for a summer job that I desperately want but cannot have, I will pray that maybe one day God will be able to use me in a residential center for girls.... that is a horse ranch. And has lots of animals. And a garden.

Is it enough to say that I love you?

Thursday I had two hours in the middle of the day that suddenly became free time... "Ooooo! What's that?", I wonder. "Maybe... uh, maybe I could cook! Or maybe I could..., oh! oh! I know! read! Who-oh. That's awesome."
And then, I got a better idea.
I went to get lunch, got it to go... and went home for a date with Jesus. I pulled my hammock out into the woods behind my house, grabbed my Bible, journal and food and started my date with Jesus.
I'm laying in the hammock, hat pulled over my eyes to block the bright light. My tummy is warmed by the sun shining down. It's simply glorious out. My shoe-clad toes are buried in crunchy leaves, causing the hammock to sway.
I'm happily basking in His love.
Suddenly, I'm filled with the desire to tell Jesus how much I love Him. I'm thinking, "Hm. Jesus, I love you a lot... Let me tell you how much, right now."
And although it seemed silly, here's what I did.
Jesus, I love you more than...... my love for cooking.
I love you more than........ my desire to stay in Murray and work in Christ Ambassadors forever.
I love you more than........ my Ralph Lauren "Blue" perfume that I have worn for 4 years.
I love you more than........ my favorite book.
I love you more than......... my love for laughter.
I love you more than......... walking barefoot on soft, green velvet grass.
I love you more than......... all my favorite movies.
I love you more than......... my mustard yellow cardigan.
I love you more than........ my best friend.
I love you more than........ finding a recipe that uses garlic, basil and shrimp.
I love you more than........ my family.
I love you more than........ all my hopes for my future.
I value you more than the breath that I breathe.

This weekend at a conference in Nashville, Bryan Kim taught on how God loves to hear that we love Him. Song of Solomon says that His heart is ravashed by us... and that our one glance at Him made Him hopelessly in love with us....

Song of Soloman 4:9 Message
"You've captured my heart, dear friend.

You looked at me, and I fell in love.
One look my way and I was hopelessly in love!"

In the Amplified version it says it this way,
"You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace."

One glance at God, one little "I love you" or "I miss you" makes His heart beat violently in His chest for us.
So it started off seeming a little silly, but really.... I was meant to tell Jesus how much I love Him.
I love when people tell me that they enjoy time with me... that they love me... so doesn't He love that too?
I know that He wants to know that I love Him more than all the big and little things in life that I value or enjoy the most...
I want to do this more often. I want to sit down, and tell Jesus that I love Him more than all of my favorite things.
Because He is the life-giver. He is the joy-maker. And He melts at my whispers of "I love you".

You are His Love...

Recently, it struck me how many people don't know that they are loved by Jesus. They don't see the blinding all-consuming love that He has for us. People don't realize that HE desires US... that HE wants to spend time with US. I know... its so hard to fathom... it's literally impossible to know how much He loves us. But I do know that it is quite possible to know that He loves us more than we can imagine. Listen to this...

You know when you look at the stars, and even though you know it's impossible, you try to count a few of them and become amazed at how confused you got? You thought you could count a lot, but there are so many you lose place? Well, God wants you to be awed by His love for you... He wants you to try to count over and over how many times He trys to tell you He loves you... and be completely amazed when you see how much He does.

This might be only for some girls, romantic fools like me, but do you know the rush of emotions that flood you when you imagine a girl in a field, arms spread wide, flowers in her hair, twirling in a flowy white skirt? That's us... that picture of beauty and perfection.... and spinning in His delight... Who created that image? Who placed those emotions in our heart?

There are certain situations... certain times that create these intense emotions in us... these are some of the same feelings that Christ has for us. Here are some (slightly cheesy) examples.

...When you are playing a video game you get really caught up in the excitment and chaos of it, right? You are so overwhelmed with intensity that your eye might twitch, your shoulders and neck tense up and your heart beats faster. If you are a gamer, you understand. Well do you not think that Christ has this same intensity for us? Do you not think that when we spend time with Him, that His heart beats faster, this His eyes are focused in us to the point of crossing? His feelings are so incredibly intense for us. His love is overwhelming.

...What about when you are playing a sport, baketball for example. You have the ball, you are running down the court... You weave in and out of the defensive players, carefully aim and shoot the ball. You put all this effort in to sinking this ball from the net... and it misses. How do you feel? My intention is not to compare the strategy of basketball to Jesus' love, but to relate to the feeling or emotion of missing a shot. Jesus is constantly running beside us, throwing things in our way to grab our attention. Do you know how often Jesus talks to us, and we miss out on it? That his "ball falls short of the net"? Can you imagine how he longs to make up for that missed love song? He tries over, and over, and over and over. His love never fails. He doesn't give up when we miss out on some sweet word or favor-filled blessing that He throws our way... He keeps trying over and over.

And what about those creative talents that God has given to people? Is that not proof of His love for you?

Who else but God would give you such an artistic eye as to capture a picture with a uniqueness that no one else has?

Who else but God would give you the ability to paint a picture that awes a crowd with it's beauty?

Who else but God gives you the ability to use a piece of wood with strings and raised bumps to play a gorgeous melody?

Who else but God gives you the gift of words, that with a story you can change hearts?

Who else but God lets you clothe people with cloth material, spreading His love everywhere?

Where in the world do you think YOU got YOUR love for people?

And what about your longing to help other people? Where you the first with a servant's heart?

All these gifts, talents and characteristics He gave to you... to show you He loves you.

Black skin, freckles, red hair, almond shaped eyes, short legs, long arms... they are all beautiful to Him, because of His love for you... because He created you, designed you.

Please I beg of you... you have to know and believe that He loves you with an intense passion... Read His love letters, look at the people and creativity around you, and open your eyes and ears to what He is constantly trying to show you. If you do, you will be swept off your feet.

Thoughts for the day....

1) I love wearing the color mustard-yellow. And clothes that people wouldn't normally put together. No, I don't wear these mis-matched outfits all the time... mainly because I'm lacking on clothes right now... but when I do, I just love it. It builds confidence. Haha. That's funny. The style that most people don't like or prefer, is the one that just lets me "wear joy on my sleeves". =) For example, here is my outfit for today. I'm wearing a mustard three-quarter length sleeved shirt, with a dressy lacy short sleeve open thing, with a mint-colored bird pin, a necklace made of recycled paper by beautiful children in Sudan, and shoes with flowers on them. My friend, Andy, commented this morning and said it makes him think of Woodstock.

2) I don't blog consistantly. It's always a goal of mine, to blog more often, I just struggle with finding the time. And when I do find the time to blog, I could sit and write forever. I have revelations from my times with Jesus, 100 point lists, stories, analogys, recipes and ideas all piled up in my head... that I would love to share with you. So yeah... one more time, I'm making the goal to blog more.

3) I followed the advice of a friend, H.L. Hussmann (who has an awesome blog here), and spent time with Jesus a little bit differently. I went through my whole day with Him. I know He's always interested in my life, and wants me to share it with Him... but do I ever do that? Do I ever take the time to tell him everything I did that day, and all my thoughts and feelings that occured in the past 24 hours? Nope. I sure don't. So I did. And it was just.... really.... fantastic. Yes, I spend time with Jesus. No, I don't tell Him about my day during out talks. And when I did today, it was wonderful. I was conversing with my best friend, and I know He loved it. Not only did it feel great, but He sure did give me some revelation about some things that I never would have thought of had I not talked with Him about it.

4) Boy, am I blessed in friendships. I never have had so many best friends in my life.... it's grand.

5) I can't wait to blog about how Jesus shows us He loves us. I just want to show you how, no matter what you look at, you should see how much He loves you! It's a crazy kind of love!

6) I love all natural peanut butter. It tastes great.

There's the Wish-List, the To-Do List, and the Oh-Why-Don't-I-Have-Time-To-Do-This List and more

1. The To-Do-List

• Remember to get my Christ Ambassadors name-tag to bring to our meeting tonight... I've been "absent" for a year... oops.
• Work out at the gym with Bethany.
• Try and find one hour that I can sit down and research for my paper... the topic is "How media influences body image in America." Basically it's a paper on literature review.
• Try and find the time to eat dinner before Wednesday Word and Worship.
• After Wednesday Word and Worship read "The Case for Trent" for my social work class and review for my Com 161 quiz in the morning...
• Realize that it will be impossible to go to bed before 10:00 with a horrendous list like this.

2. The Wish-I-Could List

• I wish I was a creative photographer with the ability to take unique, and stirring photographs.
• I wish I had the time to read all the books that I want to.
• I wish I could sing... really well.
• I wish I could play the guitar... that I was so good at it that I could just sit in my room playing any and every worship song that I could imagine. And maybe write one of my own.
• I wish I had better memory skills... I wish that I could look at a Bible verse and BAM! have it memorized... that I could retain awesome and crucial information about creation and apologetics.
• I wish I could accept change more... I wish that when something new in my life happened, it didn't completely throw everything off for me... causing me to re-adjust everything... which is so difficult. I wish I liked change better. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete rebel towards change... but I can't deny the fact that big changes stress me out. It's not a bad thing, it doesn't ruin my life or my day... I just tend to be more stressed, physically and emotionally.
• I wish I could captivate an audiance with words... both verbal and written. Several of my friends have amazing blogs, and they are all spectacular writers. Yes, I write well... I'm detailed, yes. I'm creative, yes. I have a love of fairies and elves and gardens, yes. But my writings don't bring revelation to the reader.

3. The Oh-Why-Don't-I-Have-Time-To-Do-This List

• I wish that I could bake and cook more... so many times people ask me to cook them something... they will even pay for all the ingrediants! Well, that sounds like heaven to me... but I normally don't have the time.
• I wish that I could spend infinate amounts of time with people... I want to have enough time on my hands that I could balance spending more time with people.... with my friends, with people I could pour into, with people that evoke great discussions, with people who make me laugh, and those with stories that make me cry. 
• Yet, I still wish to be able to spend more time alone... I want to be able to sit in the presence of God... meditating on Him... knowing that He is my own. I want to sit in my room, quietly with a book. I want to sit in a rocking chair, alone, and knit while talking to my Best Friend. I want to lay on my back in a graceful (yes, graceful... it works for me right now) patch of grass and flowers and stare at the sky, playing the cloud-shape game by myself...
• I wish I could go to bed earlier. I wish that I didn't have this amazing book that I want to read, no matter the price of not sleeping.
• I wish I could read more. I wish that I could read a book a day... I can read a book a day, for I am a speed reader... it's just that I don't have the time to read a book a day.

Love tinted glasses...

    A couple days ago I decided to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart... you know, the store that controls our lives? Well, I needed this to be a very quick trip. I wanted to run in, get my items of groceries, find the fastest checker I knew of, and leave as soon as I possibly could.

    As always, I quickly look to see if any of "my checkers" were there. You see, I have a "list" of WalMart employees kept in the back of my head that are the "good" ones and the "bad" ones. Unfortunately, the longest line was at the checkout station of my favorite lady but I happened to see the light next to her flash on. Dashing hopefully to the counter, I set down my groceries thinking that I would get out even quicker than I had first planned. And then... I saw who was behind the checkout stand. She was probably about 5'2'', about 80 years old, and was taking forever. Trying not to be inpatient I stand there quietly, hands folded, waiting for her to start scanning my items. Did she start by picking up my banana's and typing in the code? No, of course not. Instead, she grabs her bag from behind her computer and sets in on the belt to begin using.

    First of all, this bag is the clear, tacky plastic kind that I used to have when I was five. It's filled with gum, denture paste, lipstick, a comb, perfume, a pair of glasses and some other slightly random items. I watch as she slowly, and boy do I mean slowly, opens her shiny clear bag to get out her glasses. She then lifts the tube of lipstick out, along with a pocket mirror, and proceeds to apply her bright, ruby red makeup. Instead of finishing and turning to attend to my groceries she then pulls out a well-used kleenex and blots her lips. Thinking at last she is going to turn around and start checking me out, I watch as she instead sprays herself with perfume, get's out a watch and signs into her little computer. By this time I am itching to get this over with. The line that I had decided not to wait in has now been replaced with all new people... and I'm sitting here waiting on a little old lady to finish her "business". In my opinion, at this time, all this primping was completely uneccessary and a complete waste of my time. After a long process of entering in codes and having to take off one item that she scanned twice I get to leave.

    It's after I leave the store that I realized how precious that whole scenario was. Did it annoy me? Yes. Should it have annoyed me? No. Why not?... Because Jesus thought she was beautiful.

He loved the time that she took to bring out her purse. He loved her taste in that tacky, clear, zippered, square purse. He loved watching her enjoy primping and applying make-up. He just loved her.

    Have you ever heard the term "rose-colored glasses"? People use that phrase to say that you are looking at something as better or more special than it really is. Well, Jesus looks at us through "love-tinted glasses". I know that while I was sitting there, being incredibly impatient, thinking that her bag was stupid, and wondering why in the world she would choose that moment to apply lipstick, He was thinking how much He loves her. He doesn't see the waste of time, the imperfections, the wrinkled skin, the quirky tastes, or need to hurry in everything... He just sees His children. He sees us as His best friends. He looks at us through love-tinted glasses... And that just knocks my socks off.

David Crowder sings a song that has become a recent favorite of mine... I feel it is quite appropriate to place the lyrics in this particular blog.

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all
He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

You should watch his music video... click here.

I lay it all before you....

My palms are sweaty... My fingers are shaking. A rock is rolling around in my stomach, making me aware that something is not normal. My eyes open and I'm staring at a classroom filled students. Every one of these students are staring at me. Some look slightly interested, some eyes are filled with indifference. I realize that I am about to give my first speech to the people seated before me. I'm in COM161 (Introduction to Public Speaking) and I am nervous. I say a quick prayer and start, remembering that my first goal in this speech, according to the rubric, is to gain the audiances attention. The first thing that comes to mind is how awkward it is to carry the visual aids, necessary for this speech, around campus and into all my classes. So that's what I start with.

"Can I just say that carrying this huge, clear plastic tub is really awkward? And that I won't get to take it home until around 9 tonight?"

On to the introduction... my voice is shaking.

"Obviously, I am presenting a speech today. I will be presenting three items, and the container in which I have carried them, to you today. These three items represent my Past, my Present and my Future speech."

I feel like I need a drumroll now....

"My first item is a journal. I am an intense journaler and I spend about an hour a day writing things down in this book. I chose this item because it represents the person that I used to be. If you look in all my journals you will see times where I have been hurt, let, and more. There are stories of pain and of where there have been many broken promises. There are signs that tell, in this book, how dissatisfied I have previously been with me life."

I set the book down. I'm still nervous, but my favorite part is next... so I begin to calm down again.

"This purse here represents my present. As you can see, it says 'Lover of my soul'. Pretend that it says 'Jesus' before that... it used to be on there but fell off last week. Anyways, let me explain. When you love someone, it completely changes your life. I'm sure that many of you here are in relationships right now. So you know what I mean. When you are in love with someone you put a lot of effort into the relationship. You spend time with that person. You go to them for advice. They are constantly influencing you... in every area of life. When you go through life with them, step by step you are together. You are no longer completely independent... you go through each step together. This is how I feel my relationship with Jesus is. He really is the lover of my soul, and He is constantly involved with and directing my life."

Wow. That felt good. My classmates are looking more interested... and I just really love saying that Jesus is the lover of my soul.

"This whisk represents the fact that I want to be a stay-at-home wife/mom. Since I was 12 I have wanted to stay at home... be a house wife and homeschool my kids. I love wearing aprons and cooking and cleaning... and the main reason I think I want to be a stay-at-home-wife/mom is because that is what my mom was. And I loved it."

"Lastly, this huge plastic box really represents what God has done (and is doing) in my life. This is the biggest container that I could find in my house, and I need the biggest container I can find to hold all the good things that God has poured in my life. He is constantly and consistantly blessing me. He blesses me financially, materially, spiritually, emotionally... however you can recieve a blessing, I get it. And I know it's due to the fact that I have made Him my number one priority in life, love Him, and live my life for Him."

And that's it. I gave my very first speech to my public speaking class.
I started out being more nervous then I thought I would be... but then as I began to speak of how Jesus has revolutionized my life... I became more calm and focused.
Thank you, Jesus.
You are amazing.

Tonight my roommate, Bekah (middle picture), and I were studying in our kitchen when my friend Katie Gagel (lower picture) came over to see our newly decorated living room. She came here at 3:30 and left at 9:30. The three of us sat around our kitchen table, took turns making each other dinner, and talked. We talked about books, movies, journaling, and family. We gave each other back rubs, listened to Misty Edwards, and talked some more. We talked about past experiences, stress, lessons we have learned, and ways in which we have grown in our relationships with God. We told stories, laughed, and said "mmhmm!" many times. We talked about weddings, the possibility of taking a trip to Bethel Church in Redding, CA., and how our jeans fit us.

We literally talked for 5 hours.

It was amazing, relaxing, soothing, calming, enjoyable, joy-filled, loving, and sweet.

What could be better than to spend quality time (my love language) with two people that I really really love. These are two people that I would view as some of my very best friends... and to spend time with them... is like... eating peach cobbler on a picnic blanket in the shade of a willow tree on a warm summers day. Completely wonderful.  

God has just really blessed me in my friendships.

Purple People?

Today was the second day of the new school semester.

And here are things that I have observed about my thoughts (or my classes or whatever) thus far. 

1. I am going to absolutely love my SWK 311 - Social Work Practice II - class. I love the teacher, love the assignments, love the class material, and love that 30% of my grade is participation. I'm good at that; therefore, I love it. 

2. I realized today (and yesterday) how close I have become to two of my roomies, Bekah Clay-soon-to-be-Lambert and Cassie Teague-soon-to-be-Broker. We have spent an insane amount of time together in the past week... especially over the weekend. Two of the nights Cassie and I just laid in bed talking, so late into the night that we both fell asleep! And Bekah and I have found that, among other things, we both love playing  a specific card game called NERTS. I just feel really close to these two people, and I love them fanatically. 

3. I am deathly terrified of public speaking. I'm taking an introductory course to public speaking... and I am dreading it. I don't want to stand in front of a class and talk about anything. I can't stand the layout of the room... the chairs form two rows that are in a U-shape. And I don't want to dress up for speeches. Especially since there are so many of them... And it doesn't matter that I have two friends in there (one of them is a best friend, Liz) and that I know the professor, I am still anxious. 

4. Yesterday = easy time getting up at 5:30 in the morning. Today = only got up at 6:30 because my phone had fallen between my bed and the wall and I couldn't reach it to turn the alarm off. So I had to get up, move my bed, and lo and behold! I was awake! 

5. It's amazing how Jesus is the one to truly satisfy me. Not movies, not people, not food, not anything else but Him. Jesus loves me with an insane passion. I want to love Him that much too! 
6. I had forgotten how much I hate using public bathrooms. I am typically able to refrain from using them more than neccessary. However... since I have been drinking about a gallon of water a day for about a month.... it is now neccessary. Which is quite sad. 

7. In three of my classes we are having to do all this introductory exercises and it's been refreshing. Each time I have been able to share with everyone where I go to church, what campus ministry I am in, and how I really love Jesus. It's funny how refreshing that felt to be able to say that to the entire class...

8. I am really excited about an assignment I have in my SWK 303: Methods of Research class! Our second paper is an observation paper. We have to sit at some random location (I'm choosing Fidalgo Bay, a local coffee shop) and write a "thickly detailed paper" about what we observe. Can I just say that I'm really good at that? It's creative writing! I love creative writing! So, yes. I'm very excited.

9. I like people. No, I love people. I realized this yesterday as I was working at Sparks out in the front lobby. I acted as receptionist and asked all the confused looking people, "May I help you?" and then answered their questions. I got every question possible... from "I don't know what time my next class starts.. how do I find out?", to "Where is Sparks Hall?" (hopefully you caught the fact that I mentioned I was working in Sparks Hall at the time), and "Is it too late to apply for this semester today?" (yes, classes had started that day). Anyways, as I was talking to all these people, I realized how much I enjoyed it. It's mind-blowing to think that when a grouchy and disgruntled individual comes up to you, that you can put a smile back on their face and make their day just a little bit better.... simply because of the smile that is on your face or the tone of voice in which you talk to them. I want to work the desk more. Also, there wasn't anything that I needed to be doing while sitting at the desk, so I pulled out my Bible to read... and ended up having a really great conversation with a guy who had just started reading his Bible for the first time the previous night.

10. I might possibly like the color purple. I can't believe I'm saying this... I have remained firm and steadfast in my dislike of purple and most shades of pink. (Don't worry, my favorite color still is and always will be orange!) But... there was a girl who was wearing a plum purple pea coat in my class today... and I really liked it.

Off-the-wall Note: Isn't this scrapbook page lovely? It's lovely.