"A fellow is more afraid of the trouble he might have than he ever is of the trouble he's already got. He'll cling to trouble he's used to before he'll risk a change. Yes. A man will talk about how he'd like to escape from living folks. But it's the dead folks that do him the damage. It's the dead ones that lay quiet in one place and don't try to hold him, that he can't escape from."
[William Faulkner]

Less of me, more of Him

I'm learning...

Suburbs are toxic

"You are God's WORKMANSHIP... His poetry, His art... called to Himself to do good works....
I just listened to Matt Chandler's sermon from September 6, and it is SO good... I would really suggest listening to it when you have a chance... it's over Luke 12:22-34. I have some of his quotes, but you should really just listen to it.
He is going to use the church to reveal the manifold wisdom of God by empowering, reaching, and saving the poor and the weak..."
"Keep coming together so that we might encourage one another and stir one another up in love and good deeds. So that when we come together, we are reminded of the gospel and what Christ did for us, in us, through us, to us, and that is to motivate us to leave this place and and do what is good, push back what is dark, and engage the orphan, the widow, the single mom, the kid that is failing out of school and doesn't have a chance."
James 1-- Look after widows and orphans in their distress and to refuse to let the world corrupt us... Right now, polluted means "we can't watch rated R movies, we can't listen to secular music, we don't drink! And we don't cuss, unless we're in our car, by ourselves, and no one else is around! And then we invent cuss words not use historic ones... Jesus said, 'no no no, we don't pursue the things the nations pursue...' you're polluted if you're chasing what the world's chasing and putting Jesus' name on it as if you're different."

This weekend was incredible... lacey's birthday... she discovered that she has been reading a fake Harry Potter book 5 this whole time... she had 20 pages left... aahahaha I was almost crying, I was laughing so hard.
Friends came from aTm!! hooray! I love them.
We slaughtered the aggies in football... it was never even close. hah. 41-7 going into the 4th quarter. I love Robert Griffin.


After we scored our final touchdown.. please take note of the aggie right behind us. hahaha

First things first: BU-41, TAMU-21. amazing.

I love Pea! :)

Blair came to town! and we danced!

So did Abby and Blake!

So did Allison!Jason...

dancin

The cake Lacey's mom ordered her!

Lacey turned 21!

We're getting stronger now, found things they never found.

I am learning to trust more than ever before... To place others' needs before my own... To pray instead of worry... To breathe instead of cry.

Greek has officially taken over my life. And it's destroying me. Sometimes, when I am writing in English, I write Greek letters. You would think that if it's unconsciously penetrated how I write, I would be good at it. False.

Taylor Swift's new cd came out yesterday. Incredible. She is so talented.

I had my final psychotherapy session last night. Ok, it's a group psychotherapy lab... whatever. I am so glad it's over.

My little Monday girls at work are getting so good! I have had them for almost a year, and I am SO proud of them... they are 6, and they are like my best friends! One(one of my old prof's daughters) stuck her cartwheel on the high beam by herself, and another almost has her roundoff backhandspring... there was much screaming and hugging and rejoicing! They bring so much joy to my life!

I went home last weekend, and got to hang out with my high school best friends. I miss them so so much. It was Caleb's 21st birthday, so I wrote him 21 memories over the past 7(omg) years, and it was a struggle to keep it at 21. Caleb, Kaitlyn, and Bryan are those best friends that we could not talk for weeks... months... and still hang out like no time has passed. I love them and all the memories we have together.

I'm ready for all my friends studying abroad to come back already!!

Steven Curtis Chapman and Robbie Seay are playing at KOT's Christmas on 5th Street! I'm so excited! And I am loving the fact that I only have 4 weeks of school left. FINALLY.

I register for classes tomorrow! 2nd semester Greek(if I make it... merr), Forensic Pyschology, Theories of Personality, Bowling, Christian Heritage, and 3 credit hours worth of clinical therapy volunteering... I have a lot of different options. I am looking at working at the Family Abuse Center, where I would babysit, interact with familys, and observe counseling sessions! Or I might work at the Waco Center for Youth and observe and assist with cottage living activities(I don't know what that is... haha), and assist with recreational, tutorial, and psychosocial skills training...

I really don't know yet... I would really like to work at the Child Advocacy Center, since that's the kind of stuff I want to do later, but it requires a full year's commitment, and I don't have a full year to commit. haha.

I am reading William Faulkner's Light in August right now. It's good.

There's something about the way the street looks when it's just rained

more political 7-year-olds... maan they just get more passionate every day.

me: did yall watch the election?
one girl: who won!?!
me: Obama
her: NNOOOOOOOOOOOO.... [literally... yelling... really really loud...] I HAATTEE HIMM... NOOOOOOOOOOOO.
me: why did you not want him to win?
her and her sister: he took my mom's job away.

me to another girl: why don't you like Obama?
her: I don't like what he stands for.
me: really? What does he stand for?
her: I don't know, that's just what my mom said.

me: What else do yall know about Obama?
girl: well, he's the first African American president.
me: yeah, how do you feel about that?
her: it's HORRIBLE.
me: why?
her: because I HATE Obama... I wouldn't want the first to be him...

me: why do you like mccain?
The only answer I really got for this besides "i dont know" or "he's nice" was "he was a prisoner of war, and survived being tortured."

One little 2nd grader liked Obama because he didn't like the war, and neither did she.

I think we forget sometimes that kids are sponges, and while their facts might not always be straight, they read actions much better than words. Their views of the candidates reflected a less guarded version of their parents' beliefs. They didn't know the facts but what they caught onto was the emotion. Kids are smart, and they are watching.

Oh, here's another good one from one of my first graders:
me: we're doing tuck jumps, so bring your knees to your bellybutton, and keep your arms by your ears!
her: yeah! it's like your armpits and ears are married, and your knees and bellybutton are married.

you can walk away, say we don't need this...

I am trying so hard to take this week one step at a time. I have a test in my hardest class tomorrow and the biggest project of my semester due on Friday. Then I get to start all over next week. It's like a snowball effect. It doesn't end till finals.

Today at work, I asked 2 of my classes if they had watched the election...
The first class was mainly 9 year olds... They didn't have much to say, besides the fact that they didn't like Obama... so I asked them why, and they said they didn't know... so we discussed how we shouldn't just not like someone for no reason... One girl said she liked Obama because he was the first African American president. I wonder if she really is stoked about this history making election, or if she just heard that on tv.
My second class had mainly 7-year-olds... They were much more opinionated... A bunch of "OOHH MAN, I'M SO MAD, OBAMA WON." So I asked them, too... Why they hated Obama and why they liked McCain. Here is what they had to say:

me: Why did you not want Obama to win?
2nd grader: Because he wants to change the pledge of allegiance... and the flag...

me: why do you like mccain?
another girl: ...[pause]... because... he... was in the Olympics... yeah he won swimming, I think.

The first real answer... remember, these are 7 year olds...
me: Why don't you like Obama?
her: Because he lets people kill their babies.



I didn't ask my 3-year-olds what they thought... But they were still cute:
Girl named Hayley: Hey Haley...
me: Hey Hayley...
her: What's your name?
me: Haley...
her: [really amused giggle...]
she loved the fact we had the same name... she just kept saying "hey haley, hey haley" over and over again.

crayons can melt on us for all I care

I have a lot of things I could say right now... the first being: I am majorly procrastinating right now. I have no motivation to write my paper or study for my test.

Another thing is something I am just going to go right out and say: I didn't vote. I know, you can call me un-American, un-Christian, un-whatever. I could go into greater detail into why I didn't vote... and then you could argue with me over why I am dumb and should have... but I feel like that is wasting both of our time. I would never vote for Obama, because I don't agree with pretty much anything he is about. And I didn't really know what to think about McCain. This was the first time I have ever been completely apathetic about an election. So apathetic to the point that if either were to try to sway me, I would just say, "that's great, I really don't care either way." I mean, I am a pretty opinionated person, but I don't hate or love either candidate. And I don't plan on complaining if stuff goes bad because whoever I wouldn't have voted for wins... I know I don't have that right, now. If my freedom starts being taken away, I will first trust the 3-way safeguard our forefathers set up when founding the country, and then I will just move if that doesn't work. Maybe I'm stubborn, and I just didn't want to vote because people kept telling me to... I don't know. I just feel like the problems I have with America are not going to be/should not be solved by the president or government. The economy is bad because people are greedy and selfish. There are people starving because Christians are greedy and selfish. Unborn babies die every day because people are selfish... the women are selfish and the Christians who refuse to reach out as Christ's hands and feet to those struggling girls and women are selfish.
I realize that there are a lot of huge reasons why I should have still voted. I just didn't like either enough to be responsible for placing one of them in office. If I'm going to vote, I want to actually like the guy and what he stands for. Don't worry, I still love Jesus... and I haven't turned into full fledged anti-American hippie... yet. haha just kidding.

This past weekend was crazy. After a really really rough week and little sleep, I woke up at 5 on Saturday morning to get ready for the homecoming parade. That lasted until 10, then I went to the football game and worked in the biggest donors section, giving them all their hearts could desire. I have never seen so much candy and popcorn consumed by a single person. sick. The game was incredible. I am so sad I wasn't in the student section for the whole game. I was so exhausted, though. Literally, words were not able to formulate. I looked and felt like death. I slept for 13 hours that night... When I woke up, my eyes were still swollen and I still felt like death. haha. O well!

In my Bible Study, last night, we talked about humility. It was a great discussion. We basically came up with the idea that instead of trying to focus on the abstract idea of becoming more humble, focus on the more concrete idea of being less selfish... Placing others before your self... etc. etc. etc.

That's all for now. Enjoy the pics.

The grass around the bonfire caught on fire. it was a little chaotic for a few minutes. And very hot. I was secretly hoping Mars McLean or Morrison would catch fire... Not a fan of either of those buildings. Josiah and Daniel had a contest to see who could stare at the fire the longest. They were both sissies.

This pic was taken around 8:00 AM... I had already been up for 3 hours.

Besties at the bonfire

After a bike ride at 5:45 in the morning on the access road of I35, and sitting and watching the sun rise on Austin Ave, it was time to start riding...

Towers, past and present at the bonfire

That's right, I got to partake in the largest collegiate parade in America. I only almost ran over small children a couple times. Their desire for candy overruled all sense of danger. Probably the saddest thing I saw all day was the homeless adults scurrying around, fighting preschoolers for candy downtown. I am still not exactly sure how to react to that.

We just happened to be walking by and my roommate was taking this picture, so, of course I had to join... and then kept on walking... haha.

I can't believe Alyssa captured this face in a picture. This was probably right before I almost crashed into someone in front of me. That happened a lot. Click on the picture to truly appreciate my face.