Diaries

Last night I was looking through some of my old high school photos & today it occurred to me that I once had a Xanga. Yeah, remember Xanga, the online journal? Waaaaaay back in the day! Well, I found the oldest entry I had written & it was from January of 2005. FIVE YEARS AGO! It's just crazy how time flies! It's also crazy how different I was then. I haven't re-read all of it yet but what I have read has made me smile. Memories that were forgotten are now brought back to my mind. Looking back on those entries, it's great to see how I have grown & matured since that time in my life. That's the point of a diary, right? To forever capture those little, daily memories that our brain seems to forget & to see our growth. I am glad that I found it. It's like my own little time capsule. :)

Date Night

I have been so incredibly busy lately with homework, projects, & tests that Ben & I have not hung out in about a week. Needless to say, we decided to spend our Friday together. After classes we worked out at the Fitness Center where the idea of going to Panera occurred to me. I had a gift card there from Christmas (what more incentive do you need?!) so we drove to the Panera in Frankfort like we do every so often throughout the semester. It is always a real treat to have great food! :) After dinner, we returned to school & hung out at my apartment since we had open apartments that night. I had a free movie rental coupon from Family Video so we rented Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I don't know what I expected but it definitely exceeded my expectations! It was an absolutely HILARIOUS movie! Overall, it was a great night & it was great to spend some time with him!

Hope for Haiti Now

The devastation that the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti has caused & the Haitians themselves have been on my mind & in my prayers since I first heard about the disaster. Tonight, Ben & I watched the Hope for Haiti Now televised special. It was supposed to bring awareness to & raise money for the Haitians. The performances, stories, and videos were absolutely unforgettable. Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, & Matt Morris were the most moving (in my opinion) & my favorite performances of the night. At one point in the special the news reporter talked about how the Haitian's churches had crumbled but they continued to gather & worship. I was moved to tears. What true faith! It makes me realize that when comparatively small things happen to me, I sometimes question God... yet the Haitians choose to worship Him when everything they know has been destroyed! What a humbling realization! My school has been working hard the past year to raise money to dig wells to bring about fresh water for the Haitians for some time now & since the earthquake has happened, we have raised over $5400... $3400 in one day alone. Wow! I am thankful for the different outlets & the many ways for people to donate. I bought a Haiti Water Project t-shirt while others bought Ryan Dobson's books. Still others donated through the Red Cross & many other outlets. It's sad that it takes a tragedy to bring help to Haiti about but it is still moving nonetheless. I guess when it boils down to it, despite the fact that humans fight about everything, this shows that we will go to great lengths to help those who cannot help themselves. I can only pray that in all of this, God's name will be glorified.

TGIF!

I love Fridays. Seriously. On Thursdays I have three hour & fifteen minute classes and one hour and forty minute class. It's a pretty packed day. But Friday TOTALLY makes up for it! On Fridays, I only have one class to attend and it's at noon. Sah-weet, right? :) Now I am watching Rear Window with my roommates & working on homework. To be truthful, there is more watching of the movie going on than the doing of homework. :P This weekend I have a lot to do but I am still planning on making room for fun. Ben & I are going to see The Book of Eli tomorrow & then on Sunday Rachel, Caitlin, & I are going wedding dress shopping! Not for me, of course! Rachel recently got engaged & Caitlin has been engaged since October. It should be a fantastic time! :) Hope all of you are having a great day!

Well, Here Goes...

My folders & notebooks are labeled. Pens & pencils are in their rightful places. My desk is organized. Textbooks are ready. Bag is packed. Yes, tomorrow my last semester as a junior in college begins. I am actually taking fewer credits this semester than I normally do. I normally take 17 or 18 credits & am only taking 16 this semester so hopefully it will be a tad easier... I doubt it though hah! I don't really get nervous for classes like I did my freshman year but there is always a feeling of some anxiety before a new class begins. The only class I am worried about is Applied Arts for Teachers. I am only artistic in the area of music & dance. Other than that, I am not the best artist this Earth has ever seen. Don't get me wrong... I'm not HORRIBLE, but I am definitely not confident in it. So... hopefully everything will go okay. At least I have two artistic roommates to get suggestions and tips from! :) The class that I am most excited about is Sociology of Marriage. I think that, although the exams are extremely tough, I will enjoy learning the material! Wow, I cannot believe it is only 7:40 p.m. as I type this. My roommate is asleep in her bed (she is student teaching this semester.) It feels like it is 11:30 p.m.! LoL! Well, I am gonna wrap this up because I am running out of things to talk about! You can count on updates later on throughout the semester as to how my classes are going.