a few pictures of the semester thus far.

jeanna's 21st birthday dinner...

a little stroll through toys r us was much better than we would have expected, since they helped jeanna join geoffrey's birthday club! (doesn't she look excited!?!)


the crew at toys r us


the breakfast clubbers in raleigh....


and a little bit of sga...

my b-e-a-utiful exec


ever-so-stunning VP brent


holland and whitney after they capsized at the retreat


robert and brent...isn't that cute? 2 weeks in a row!


and last but not least

motion to GET DOWN.

hmm...

Your Birthdate: December 9

Your birth on the 9th day of the month adds a tone of idealism and humanitarianism to your nature. You become one who can work easily with people because you are broadminded, tolerant and generous. You are ever sensitive to others' needs and feelings, and you are very sympathetic and compassionate. Your feeling run deep and you often find yourself in dramatically charged situations. This 9 energy always tends to give more that it gets.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

daily renewal

i am constantly learning so much about God and about how to live my life.

it just takes me so long to actually put these things into action, which then brings understanding and complete faith. i wish my darn human nature would just hold still for a minute so i wouldn't wake up every morning and have to start all over again.

(sigh)

but, hey, that is the title of the blog isn't it?

i need Thee,
i need Thee,
i need Thee every hour

a few things

first of all, i am so impressed with everyone on sga. SO much work in SO little time. and we're all hanging out all the time. i love it.

in other news...

i read about myself in the Bible today.

basically, while Jesus was eating with the pharisees one night, an "immoral" woman came and washed His feet with her hair and poured perfume on them. the pharisees could not understand why Jesus would let someone like her touch His feet.

Jesus proceeded to tell a story to the pharisees so that they could answer their own question. two men owed money to a moneylender. one owed $500 and the other $50. they were both broke, so the moneylender decided to cancel their debts. then He asked "which one of them will love him more?"

(in case you don't know...the answer is the man who owed $500. c'mon, even the pharisees knew that)

then Jesus compared the pharisees to the woman, saying that she was a lot more loving than they were, since they didn't have that much "debt" to cancel in the first place.

"therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven -- for she loved much. but he who has been forgiven little loves little." (luke 7:47)

_______________


i've been thinking a lot about that today....

i really do think that since i haven't had a particularly rough past, at times i don't show enough mercy and forgiveness to those around me. it's very interesting to consider how much my past does effect the way i treat people now. that's why i'm REALLY focusing on getting to know people personally, so that i don't misunderstand them and so that i can respect them for who they are. when you don't take the time to understand others' perspectives, you automatically assume that they do or should have your own.

anyway, i don't really know what else to say about that...just something that really struck me today for some reason.

this pharisee's going to bed.

there is certainly a block-rockin' beat outside my window at reardon right now.

reminds me of a parking lot dance. ahhh, yeah....

RETREAT, RETREAT!

good times were had this weekend at the sga retreat.

mingling games, whitney acquiring half the deck in UNO, parliamentary procedure, canoe crashing, bonfire, "club sga" with a stunning performance by ryan jones.....priceless.

thank you everyone for such a wonderful weekend! the best part was hanging out with all of you.

and my favorite comment of the weekend?

will henley: "Motion to get down."

well, it seems as if everyone and their mother has something to say about what's happening in new orleans.

no offense to those who are expressing their opinions...
i think everyone has their own way of processing situations like this...

so what do i have to say?

do something.

- give $5 to the social work club when you see them sitting out with collection boxes
- start up a car wash in your neighborhood
- raise money through your club, residence hall, department
- sell lemonade, for crying out loud!



i've said many times that i'm glad there are other Christian people in the world cut out to be politicians, scientists, preachers, broadcasters, etc. b/c i just can't do it. and i'm thankful that someone can, b/c we certainly need a variety of Christians to reach the incredibly diverse world we live in.

and sometimes i feel like i'm too laid back about this type of situation because i don't get enthralled in the politics of it all. i just feel like it's a waste of my time b/c i know that no matter how educated i think i am, the government doesn't tell us much of anything about what's really going on. i don't know....maybe i'm just using that as an excuse or maybe i'm naive.

i just think that it's our duty to try to help in any way we can, and sometimes i wonder if the media and government are put there as barriers to distract us a little bit more from what we should be focusing on.

so, there you have it. my post on new orleans.

please let me know if you don't have anywhere on campus to get involved in the relief effort...
we can use all the help we can get!

V-A-L-L-E-Y, that's the way we spell Valley...

this large fellow played on my high school football team (my freshman/sophomore year hs)

he was also a big part in the ohio/pitt game last night.



that's sun valley high school for ya'.....the place where stars are born.

from my heart flow

my wonderful friend zack reminded me today to be thankful for the moment.

he noticed that i had been reminiscing a lot about old times in the blog lately, and reminded me to enjoy this season in my life.

we discussed how we are thankful for the people in our lives right now, and then i realized how especially thankful i am that i'm a different person than when i came to campbell. although my first few years here were awesome, i'm perfectly happy being where i am right now.

so thanks friend, i needed to hear that tonight.

ode to old skool

it's very interesting when you start realizing that you're closer to more people that work for the university than go to the university. i'm sure the numbers will start evening out here in the next month or so, but it's a totally different feeling than i've had here before.

i really miss the "old school" people who have departed from campbell. it's weird to be the "oldest" when you still feel like you felt 3 years ago at this time. i wish there were still "experienced" people that i could talk to and get advice from; people that could pick on me for being naive and 18 years old. people that started nicknames like "efird" and "sunshine" that have carried over but still don't seem quite right (besides the occasional greeting from butta).

but this is probably exactly how they felt when i was a freshman...missing those who came before them. and hopefully i'll be able to do the same things for new students that they did for me.

and hopefully they'll come back to visit this year (i.e. homecoming, random weekends, spring formal, etc).

and to see me graduate.
(cough, cough) MAY 15, 2006 (cough, cough)

so here's to the old schoolers. may you thoroughly enjoy what you're doing right now, but still miss campbell enough to come back and see the few of us that are left...

the opposite of the "great life" is the "good life"

thoughts?

thank you, word, for reminding me that i'm not a freshman anymore.

but here's when i was:





oh, i LOVE it.

happy end-of-the-first-week-of-class

breakfast club.

toniiiiiiiiiight!

carpe diem

so i'm out and about today -- freshman move-in day -- the usual: riding on the golf cart with mrs. debbie, taking pictures, greeting people, having fun visiting all my favorite RAs/RDs.

and now i sit at my computer after move-in, freshman cookout & ice breakers and i realize i'll never get to do that again.

after 3 years here... of being involved in the same things year after year and enjoying them more and more each time... i finally appreciate the value of tradition as well as the importance of the newness that comes from older people moving on and younger people coming in.

i intend to publish a full list in the next few weeks, but a few things that i need to do this year so that i don't wish i had:

- give lots of hugs
- leave "conversation time" in my schedule...long conversation time. one-on-one is the best way to communicate.
- participate in as many Mexican Mondays as possible
- meet grown-ups at church (and by that i mean "non-college students")
- go see shannon in d.c.
- take LOTS of pictures (mostly hilarious ones that make me laugh until my stomach hurts)

those are just a few of the things i need to decide now so that i don't regret later.

i can't believe i'm already thinking about all this stuff, but i feel like as soon as i go to my first class on wednesday, school will fly by. man.

p.s. -
to any of you "older kids" out there that might read this, don't laugh at my seniorness. let me have my catharsis. ;)

party ova here

last night, the bff came over so i could dye her hair. the following pictures came from this adventure.

BEFORE



HAIR DYING PROCESS



POST-SCENE KID MAKEOVER



also joining us were melinda, katie, jana, betty, makayla, and lindsay, our wonderful photographer!

OH MY GOSH

i have been so busy at work this week

thank goodness for one more year of college...the real world is crazy. ;)

one week until my senior year starts

that's crazy

it's that friendly! (insert smiley-face sunshine here)

it's monday and i'm in kentucky...

(and it's katie's birthday...yippeeeeee!)

kt, clayton, and i are having a great time thus far and we will continue until we leave on wednesday.

miss everyone in the lbc! (and can't wait until everyone moves back for school)

it's off to the races tomorrow

and happy birthday to katietibbitts on monday.....
yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

this city's made us crazy and we must get out

katie and i got back today from our weekend in charlotte, which was quite wonderful if you ask me.



we had a late-night dinner at hickory tavern with our good 'ol CU alumni crystal, katie p, and adrienne which was SUCH a good time. crystal is engaged, so they were all spending the weekend finding her a dress. FUN TIMES...i miss the "older" people around here b/c, well, that's me now.

saturday was spent at south park mall after we finally decided to get out of bed. then we came home and had a wonderful dinner with the fam, then headed back out to surprise out long-lost costa rican melinda at the airport! i was seriously SO happy to see her....and i think she was happy to see us too. ;)

then i went the wrong way on the interstate (surprising) and we ended up getting back to the house really late and holding up

LISA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

where we went downtown and had a grand 'ol time. it was so much fun and i got to see so many friends that i don't normally get to see very often. it definitely made me want to go back to charlotte more often. it was nice to be downtown...pretty city with good friends.

yesterday we slept until about 2:00pm (since we were out until 4am thanks to tommy's fuel pizza craving) and then headed out to buy apartment things. then we had dinner at macaroni grill/starbucks with claire, bracken, and matty oak. i love, love, love them.

i was especially glad to see claire -- she just came home from africa on wednesday so i was SO thankful to be able to see her while i was home. i got a chance to hear some about her time there and what's going on in her life. i am really lucky to have a really close friend like her at home.

then we packed up katie's car with my stuff, slept for a few hours, and headed to the elbow doctor for my check-up this morning. we stopped by the mall again for a last-minute kt purchase, ate lunch, then headed back here.

the car ride was absolutely hilarious. we were tired in the beginning, but then i requested a little maroon 5. we listened to the whole cd, followed by daniel beddingfield, john mayer, and then the bff's "random hotness" cd. i honestly think tears were coming out of my eyes.

katie is quite the motor mouth. together we were unstoppable.

and this afternoon i moved into reardon with makayla. now we're just waiting on lindsay, who i miss SO much. i cannot wait to have her here again. :)
_____

three cheers for our weekend excursion! and four cheers for the fact that we're going to kentucky on saturday for 4 days for kt's 22nd. hip-hip-hip-hip HOORAY!
_____

here's your chance, do your dance, at the space jam, alright...