Puppy Digression

My dogs bring so much joy into my life. I could not imagine it feeling like home if it weren't for them being here.

Jack is the white one. He is pure love.
Bear is the black one. He is so goofy, grumpy, and affectionate.
Jack will run in circles if he is excited.
Bear will sit next to you with his paw up so you can hold hands with him.
Jack is a therapy dog and smart as a whip.
Bear will lean against the piano bench when I'm playing.
Jack loves people and is willing to do what it takes to bring them joy.
Bear has big paws and the biggest teeth on a dog you've seen, and he's incredibly fast.
Jack tries to dig through the bottom of the bathtub during his baths.
Bear will push the bathroom door open with his paw so he can come hang out with you while you're in there.
When Jack visits my mom's classroom, he makes sure to visit each student's desk throughout the class time.
Bear is afraid of the dark, but he is so black that we have a glow-in-the-dark collar on him to see him outside at night.
They both love the water and will swim for hours.
They both love their kennel and go in it on their own time to chill with the door open.
They both go crazy after baths.
They both are incredibly smart and loving.

Am I completely nerdy for posting this entry?

Re-fuel

Just finished my accounting exam.
I really can't say how it went, but I think all will be well.




For those of you who don't know, I have test-anxiety... basically, I get extremely nervous before a test; hand shaking, nauseous nervous... and sometimes I can't help but think about how I got like this... I really don't know... maybe it's because I spent growing up in Montessori schools and tests were not really a part of the curriculum, and I kind of got slapped in the face with them when I transferred to high school.


Well, Im sitting here at the coffee shop listening to an old friend play some awesome music; Im going home tomorrow. Home is always a good place to re-fuel and get straight again. Good food, good family.



I hope everyone out there who reads this remembers that there is more to life then school, then 'drama,' then scheduling, then time management, then all of that fluff that magically becomes important when we get a little older. It's not worth getting shaky hands over.

Close Call of the Week

Dang.

So, I have been kind of overwhelmed by homework this week (and it's only Wednesday)... and I had this pretty long assignment due for my Marketing class today... actually about a half-hour ago. So I worked on it last night when I should have been studying for my two exams tomorrow, and it took longer then I was hoping it would, but I finished it up last night, printed it out this morning, and thought I was set when I turned it into the teacher at the beginning of class today at two... only to find out that I had done the wrong set of questions at the end of the chapter (I thought I had to do the set of sixteen at the end, but I had to only do this set of three pertaining to a specific section...). So off I sprint to the Library, belly full of omelet, wearing my slippery black boots, and completely not caring if the people who saw me though I was a looney-bird.

Thankfully the class is two hours long.
Thankfully I find out about the mix-up right at the beginning.
Thankfully the girl next to me had her book with her and kindly let me borrow it for a hot-second.
Thankfully my classroom was only a hop-skip-and-jump away from the library.
Thankfully there was an open computer as I bursted through the doors.
Thankfully there were no problems with the printers (which can happen sometimes in the library).
Thankfully the teacher was only halfway through his power-point.
Thankfully people also turn things in at the end of class so it was a swift and easy transfer to trade the mess-up homework with the proper assignment.

Oi Vey.
Problem solved though.

I have two really hard exams tomorrow; please pray for me.

I Think They Can Read My Mind

I really do.

"If there were no instruments, no verse or chorus sung
Our hearts still would resonate with flowing rhythms
Can you hear it? I can hear it now

Our bodies sing in silent melody
Our bodies sing in symphony

If sound wasn't in existence and nothing could be heard
Our bones they would still echo gracefully in turn
Can you feel it? I can feel it now

Our bodies sing in silent melody
Heartbeat, the tempo, love, the crescendo
In symphony
Oh, our bodies sing

Can you hear my heart beating?
I hear the sound you're making

In symphony ... "

-Our Bodies Sing by Edison Glass

89th

"Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite."
-Thomas Carlyle


So according to blogspot, I have posted 88 times. Weird.




I have written numerous times about God being involved in creativity, how He is intertwined with the work of our hands, and when we create something, we are following in His image, since He is the Ultimate Creator. The sky, the earth, our bodies, everything points to a creative God who put love into what He made.

I forget about that sometimes, and I really haven't been doing much creativity-wise here this quarter and... I miss it.

There are these moments involving creativity, a specific piece of music, a split-second of a song, a photograph...when something just reaches into the deepest and darkest parts of my soul. Something that causes me to feel it with more then just my ears or eyes, but to really feel it; experience it as a whole, with my whole being and brain connected with it.
Those are the moments that I strive for.
That is the Joy that I believe God put me on this earth to help bring into the world.
That is the spirit that drives everyone who is creative, whether they believe in the Lord or not, that drives them and they are doing God's work, sometimes unknowingly.
That is truly the purpose for which God made them.
In Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell describes is as being what brings heaven down here to earth.
So that feeling that I get... that is a little minute sliver of what heaven is going to be, and it's going to be glorious.
Unimaginably glorious.

What a gift we have; the ability to create.
Lord please help me to use that to glorify you,
because it is the purpose of our hearts and hands.

I go to school here.

This is Athens.
(Cliche pictures, I know, I'm sorry)

Every day walking to class, there is so much beauty to see here. It kills me how when people think of Ohio University, the only words that come to mind are 'party-school,' 'halloween,' 'illegal music downloading,' etc.

When I look eventually back on my time here in Athens, I guarantee you, the warmth and the spirit of this place will come rushing back, and the hard times that happened will only help with those feelings because there is healing and realness in Athens too.

I was ready to throw in the towel a few weeks ago.
I was ready to be done with it here.
But God completely blessed me with Athens, and I could not see myself anywhere else for my education.

"In Our Cold Condition...

...We need You to visit us, we need warmth to come.."

The Warmth came... God is good.
What a relief.





So last week was One Of Those Weeks.
But it's over now, and I can breath.
I can release my tense shoulders and really smile, not forced, but fully smile and enjoy the day.
I can look at the sky and appreciate it without a time-limit; I can smell the leaves for longer then just passing.
This feels good.



Athens is absolutely the most beautiful place in the fall. If anyone want to refute it, I invite them come and look out my window at this moment.

To catch up:

My classes this quarter are

Accounting
Microeconomics
Marketing
Sign language

Total hours: 16 (They had said that there is no way to pass accounting with more then 16 hours)

We bought a pumpkin and named it Margot.
I am going to see Underoath at the end of the month (their new album is so epic).
I have made a lot of new friends this week.
I apologize for the terrible complaining I have been doing to everyone these last few weeks. Life is really good, there are just so many things my heart and brain can handle at once. You understand, yes?

Lord, thank you for bearing all this with me.
Thank you for blessing me with the beauty of this world, and with the people who help me see it.
Thank you for the opportunity to go to school and help me to not take it for granted.
Please be with me when it is cold, thank you for bringing your warmth.
Amen