Sweet Saturday

Today was so great. SO great. And it's 9:20 and I am so stinkin' tired. Well, I'm just going to give the low down of my day...

Mom woke me up at 10:30. We went to the tanning bed. Came home, got ready, went to Plato's Closet. We got some money back for some clothes we took. We went to West Town. I took my cracked Iphone to the Apple store and I got a new phone....FOR FREE!!! Yes, best news of the day. We went into Forever 21 and I saw Victoria Lambert and Maddie Davis! I miss seeing their sweet faces. And it was great catching up. We left the mall, picked up my sister, went to Wasabi's (total yum). After we left Wasabi's we went to the Cupcakery (even more yum). Then we came home. Mom and I watched Saw 7. And now we're just laying around. I think I'm ready for bed. Can't wait for church in the morning because Jane, Jess, and myself are going to try a new church. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh yeah I almost forget..I had so much fun babysitting last night. The girls' names were Maddy and Claire! They were so stinkin' cute. We had a lot of fun. Needless to say, I was very tired when I got home. We played with A LOT of toys. I hope I can babysit them again, though!


If you really knew me you would know that I love scary movies.

Seriously, TGIF

It's finally Friday! This week has been long, that's for sure. But it was a good week. Only 1 quiz, so nothing too big. I only have one more class left today before this girl goes home! Tonight I'm babysitting and I am so pumped! I haven't stopped thinking about it since Wednesday.

Today I was on Twitter and someone had retweeted a verse one of their friends tweeted. It was such an awesome verse.


In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Gosh, that's some good stuff right there. And it applies to me perfectly right now. I'm so overwhelmed about what I'm suppose to be doing with my life, and I'm trying to plan my own course. But of course, Jesus is really the one who is going to tell me when and where to go and what to do. It's something that's been heavy on my heart lately, and I'm just continuing to pray about it.

This is totally random, but lately I've been obsessed with the song "A Kiss from a Rose" by Seal. haha, I'm not even kidding. I sing it constantly and watch the video every time I'm on the computer. It's such a good, old song. I think I'll play it at my wedding. No joke :)

If you really knew me you would know that I have to have something sweet after all of my meals.

Keepin' It Short

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet because I'm tired...

Today was looooong. And rainy slash snowy and very very gloomy. I slept til 10:30 and I was still so tired all day today. Classes were okay. I had chemistry lab..... Let's just say I've never hated a lab worse than the one today. It seriously took all 3 hours. I was so frustrated. But after I went to McAlisters with Jane, Jess, Maelena, and Chelsea. And afterwards we went to Quest. So that all made up for the terrible lab. Quest was so great, as usual. Lindsay, a Quest leader, and YoungLife leader, and YoungLife staffer, talked to us about contact work. When and if we become leaders we will be doing A LOT of contact work. I mean basically you go into a new school, high school might I add, and you totally put yourself out there. It's a crazy situation. But she talked about how when you go into that school, you go in with an identity of Christ, not as you. It was really cool the way she said it. We go in to a high school of lost, broken, confused kids and show them how much we love Jesus, and how they should too. I still can't get over how AWESOME that is!

Anyways, I saw Jesus today, and it was just really cool. So I thought I'd share. Lately I have been thinking a lot about money. I hate using my moms money for everything. I mean I'm 18 years old. I am very capable of having a job and making some of my own money. And also I know that I want to live somewhere next year that isn't home...which will cost money. I can't rely on my mom to always pay for everything. But today one of my teachers from high school, Mrs. Pratt, texted me during my treacherous lab and asked if I could babysit for a friend of hers. I know it's not like an actual job, but one, I love kids, and two, it is making money. I'm just hoping that this family and their kids will like me and I can continue to babysit for them. By the way, let me add I'm not just doing this for money. I really do love kids, so I think it will be something super fun to do, and I can get out of the house for a little while. I'm just really excited, and I think Jesus knows how money has been on my heart lately. He's a good guy that Jesus is :)

Night, friends.

If you really knew me you would know that I do not know how to study. And if I actually do study I wait til the day of usually to start.

(I say this because I have a chem quiz Friday that I haven't studied for at all)

Long Time No Read

Dang, it's been a little minute since I've posted! It kind of has been making me a little bit sad too! It helps me get out everything I've been dying to say, just haven't had the right person to say it too or the guts to actually say it. Well I'll catch you up on what's been going down....

Over the weekend I did nothing. Nothing at all. No joke. I just sat. And watched tv. And ate. And watched movies. And ate. And played Just Dance (by myself because my sister wouldn't play with me. I know it's embarrassing). I seriously did absolutely nothing. So this weekend I'm making it a priority to get out of my house and do something!!!!

Let's see, yesterday, Monday, I only had two classes. Didn't start ti 11:15 and was done by 2:15. It was so great. I wish I only had to class every day. After class Jane, Jess, and myself worked out. It was actually really entertaining and fun. We kind of just mess around for about 30 minutes and then we actually do something productive for like 15 minutes. Oh well, who cares. At least I'm moving my body, right? We finally had small group yesterday! It was so great to see everyone and talk about break and what fun stuff we did. We just spent the whole hour and a half talking to each other and catching up since it'd been like 2 whole months!! So crazy. We also kind of talked about how this semester is going to look for those of us who plan on being a Young Life leader. Crazy stuff! I honestly never thought I'd see this! I am way too pumped. We have to start memorizing scripture once a week, and I bet you're just dying to know the verse for this week. Well here it is....

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galations 2:20

How cool is that to read?  Ponder on that.

So small group was way great. I love those girls, and I've loved getting to know them. So I'm definitely pumped to get to know them even better. After small group Jane, Jess, and myself went to Crossroads. It's like a church service held for college students at a church called Fellowship on Middlebrooke. It is so awesome. I get so much out of the services. The speaker has such a great way of saying what he's trying to say to us. No bullcrap. He just says it. Last night he did a sermon on Hell. Yeah, Hell. Scary, I know. But before he started he said that before went to that church, he realized that no other church he had ever gone to did a sermon on Hell. Why? Because people don't want to hear about it. The want to shove it to the side and pretend like it doesn't exist. Well, let me just say it does exist. He talked about how most people believe that Hell belongs to the devil and Heaven belongs to God. Wrong. Hell belongs to God. No matter what we think or believe, we will live forever...somewhere. Be it in the image of Christ or in the image of sin. That is so scary. I'm almost positive I had chill bumps the entire time he was speaking. I don't want to talk about it too much because it's kind of an intimidating subject and I don't want to freak anyone out. All in all, Monday was good.

Today has been pretty good too. I had 2 classes this morning and I have my last class tonight at 6:30. Not cool. But I've got to do it and get it over with. I'll thank myself later. And now here I am, just chatting away on the ole blog. Just a little while ago I did read Jesus Calling for the day and one of the verses to read was this...

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I wish I would think about this more. Of course, I focus on the temporary things way more than I focus on the eternal things. Grades, friends, money, school. WHY! I should be focusing on my relationship with JC. That is what really matters and that's what really counts. It's eternal.

Well, I think I'll nap before my night class. Or perhaps study for a Chemistry quiz I have coming up. Probably nap, though.

If you really knew me you would that I am left handed.

Dust & Major

Today has been a pretty great day. Long, but great. It was so good to be back at Quest this week and so all those familiar faces that we hadn't seen since break. Not to mention I missed Steph like crazy! I don't think we've ever gone that long without seeing each other.

Tonight at Quest Tim T. talked and he said something that has really been on my mind since we left. I don't remember where he heard it and such not, but basically he said it like this... back in the way way way olden days people would follow Rabbi's and other important people so closely that the dust from the rabbi would be on his followers. That is how we are suppose to be with Jesus. We are suppose to follow him so close that his dust is on us and reflects onto others. People should be able to look us and be like, oh that girl is following Jesus because I see his dust all over her. It's just a cool thought. And I want people to look at me that way.

Also tonight Tim brought up how he was an accounting major and his sophomore year he realized that he wasn't suppose to be. He was being called to be with high schoolers. So he was a math teacher for 5 years and now he has been on Young Life staff ever since. I am having second thoughts about my major, and I have been for a while now. I just don't know what I'm suppose to do. I pray about and I talk to Jesus about it, but I know I'm not just going to wake up one day with a note on my desk that says This is your major. Love, Jesus. It's hard. And I've been struggling with it for a while now. I get to the point where I am at peace and I am content with Nursing and then something like this happens. I just do not know. So it's something I'm just going to have to keep praying out. Jesus will let me know what I'm suppose to do.

Well, that's all my dust and major post has to say.

If you really knew me you would know that I have a freckle in my eye.

Rainy Day

Yes, today was super rainy. And for most that just means that you'll put on a rain jacket before you walk outside to your car or something. Not for me. That means where a rain jacket, and rain shoes, and put on layers because the rain is cold, and carry an umbrella. Oh, and don't even think about trying to do something to your hair. I feel like I've just been playing in the rain all day. It's all good though. I was definitely prepared today. I hate when it just comes and you have no gear.

Well today was a good day. Stat went well. I had an awkward break so I read a lot of Redeeming Love. Chem went well. After class I went to my best bud Courtney's house. Believe it or not I actually met Courtney as small group this year. And let me just say, she's a hoot. I really do love her a lot. I went over to her house to help her write a personal statement for her UT application. I don't think she'd mind me sharing this, so I will. Court is having a hard time deciding where she is suppose to be next year. She keeps going back and forth to UT and ETSU. Both have their positives and negatives. But I really want her here. I NEED her here whether she knows it or not. I spend most of my spare time with her. I tell her everything. And she is always there for me. I have other people I spend time with and tell things too, but I just feel so drawn to her. We get along so well. Well anyways, today we had a good chat about her future plans. It was good. I know she'll make the right choice, and whatever that choice be, I'll be happy for her and I know she will be absolutely fine wherever she is. After I left Courtney's I came back to campus, ate dinner with Jane and Jess, bought a book, and went to class. Yes, I went to class at 6:30. It stinks. It's really scary walking back to my dorm at 7:45 at night. But I made it! And now, as I type this, I am watching Biggest Loser, yet another show I am addicted to. It's so inspiring. These people rule. I think I cry just about every episode. Also at this time UT is playing Georgia. GO VOLS! I am in love with all UT sports. Seriously. I'm proud of our teams no matter what. After Biggest Loser goes off I will be watching Teen Mom 2. I love it, too. Probably too much. Y'all probably think I'm addicted to tv, but I really only watch tv if I know a specific show is on that I want to watch.

So today when I was reading Redeeming Love I came across a verse that I just loved. At the beginning of every chapter there is always a bible verse or a quote that usually goes along with the chapter a little bit. Well at the beginning of chapter 17 it said.... You are our letter...written not in ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets, but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole time I was reading the book, so as soon as I got into class I busted out my whole and good that verse. Here's more of it......


Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Now here it is in the Message. (ps: the message is like a more modern way of saying what the Bible says. It's good stuff)

Does it sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we're not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. You very lives are a letter that anyone can ready by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it-- not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives--and we publish it. We couldn't be more sure of ourselves in this-- that YOU, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn't think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. The plan wasn't written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It's written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!

I just really liked it for some reason. I'm still researching and trying to figure out what exactly was going on. But I just liked it.


Just got some fantastic news that UT won!!! GO VOLS! This is great. I heard it was a nail-biter though. Those scare me.

Well I should probably do a little bit of school work. Tomorrow will be a long day. I have a 3 hour chem lab on my schedule :( BUT quest is tomorrow! So pumped.

If you really knew me you would know that I love chocolate chip cookies.
If you really knew me you would know that I don't shower very much.

Just Another Manic Monday

Well actually, my titled lied. It was more like a super boring Monday. As was the rest of my weekend. I did absolutely nothing. I pretty much felt bad all weekend, but I'll tell you about it anyways.

Let's see here, Saturday I posted. I didn't feel good at all. I think I watched Dinner for Schmucks with my mom. It was actually pretty much. Sunday, I still didn't feel good. I slept a lot. Oh, and I started reading Redeeming Love! It's been really good so far. It's about a christian novel written by Francine Rivers. It's about a girl who is a prostitute and this man who feels God calling him to marry her. I've been told that I need to read it by a million people, so I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it. Later that night I watched Social Network with my mom, sister, and her friend Bailey. Today I didn't do much of anything either. As soon as I woke up this morning I bought my books for school and printed off my lectures from Stat and Chem. That was pretty depressing. Then I watched Knocked Up. I know, sounds terrible, but I am OBSESSED with Katherine Heigl. No joke. I love her. So I really had to watch it. It was cute. Not as bad as it sounds. Later, my sister and I played Just Dance 2. If you've never played....you should! Asap! It's so much fun. It's a pretty good workout too. Not only from dancing, but from laughing :) When my mom got home she asked if I wanted to go to the tanning bed. I'd been turning it down for a while, but I finally gave in today. I'm trying not to go as much as I have been in the past years. I usually tan a lot before prom and such, but since I have nothing to be tan for I'm not going to go as often. I really do love to tan though. It's relaxing. After we tanned, we went to this place called I Do Weddings. No, I'm get married. They also sell prom dresses and such, and since my sister is going to 8th grade dance this year, she's starting to look for a dress. I'm super pumped about this. I've been waiting for this day since I can remember. Okay okay, not that long, but I'm still excited to help her shop for dresses and shoes and jewelry. Once we left the shop we went to get chinese. Went back home, ate, showered, and then headed back to the dorm. So here I am, in my box, watching The Bachelor. Speaking of.....

Who doesn't love this show? I mean yeah, I hate the concept, and it usually never works out in the end, but it's so addicting. My young life leader told me about this website a year or two ago called Reality Steve. Basically, he knows everything about all the reality shows. Like who wins. So yeah, I kind of already know. I can't help it. I can't wait til the end! So I would suggest not reading it if you're one of those people who doesn't like to find out until the last episode. And don't worry, I won't spill anything on here. But I really do love the show. 

This is totally random but I am SO excited for Quest this week. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Quest is a program for people who are interested in becoming high school young life leaders. It is help just like a normal young life would be, it's just for college students. Well the reason I'm so excited is because this semester we spend every Wednesday night training to become a leader. And I could not be any more excited! I have known that I want to be a young life leader basically since I met my high school young life leader, Steph. She is the most christ-like, dependable, caring, loving, beautiful person I have ever met in my whole entire life. To be a high schooler and meet a college student who WANTS to spend time with me and tell me about Jesus and how much he loves me is the GREATEST thing ever. I've learned so much from her, and I still am. Fortunately she's still my small group leader. So I get to spend every Monday with her learning about Jesus and sharing my heart with her. I remember the first time I ever met Steph. She came to a lunch at Central, which is where I went to high school, and she came up to the table I was eating at and just started chatting with us like she had known us our whole life. I thought she was the weirdest person ever. I mean I was a sophomore, so I thought I was too cool for school. Not only was she chatting with us like nobody's business, but she asked me to go to a Smokey's Baseball game with her. Uh...no?? Why would I want to hang out with some college kid I don't even know. And better yet, why would SHE want to hang out with ME? I just thought it was really strange. Not to mention, what would I tell my mom? Oh hey mom I'm going to a Smokey's game with this girl who goes to UT that I met once. I can't imagine that would have gone over very well. Well,  I kept seeing this Steph character around school more and more. She was even coming to our cheerleading practices. So I talked to her more and more and more...and voila! Now 3+ years later we're closer than ever. Like I said before, she's one of the greatest girls I've ever met. I've learned so much from her and I don't think I could ever thank her enough for being there for me as just as she has been. Being a young life leader is such a passion of mine for this very reason. I hope I can be half as great of a leader to high school girls as Steph was to me. Also, one night at Sharp Top when I was there a week of so ago we had a Q&A session with girls who are leaders. We got to write down anonymous questions about being a leader and they answered them for us. It was so inspiring and it made me even more excited to get the show on the road. I'm just so glad that I found Jesus and that I get the chance to share Jesus with high school girls.

Well, unfortunately, I have school. So I should probably start getting ready for bed. Sorry for chatting so much. 

If you really knew me you would know that I love going to the dentist.

Dumb Dorm

Normally I would say I love my dorm. Or should I say my box. It's a great place. However, it makes me sick! I never get sick or feel bad, but last semester I ended up getting sick like 4 times. When I say sick I don't mean I'm throwing up or anything. Typically it happens like this...I got to bed one night and wake up the next morning feeling like I was run over by an 18 wheeler. My whole body is sore, I can't breathe, and I have the worst headache ever. Finally I went to the doc about it and he said that basically I'm starting to get allergies from the dorm. I've never had any allergy problems my whole life, so this is pretty unfortunate. I should've known that after not living in the dorm for over a month that I would have problems when I went back. So, I hate to say this, but I have nothing great to say today. I feel like poo. I may write more later.

If you really knew me you would know that I'm obsessed with food.

Good day

Today has been a pretty good day so far. I mean yeah, it's day 2 of school, why wouldn't everything be good? I went to Statistics today, and I think I'll enjoy the class. A girl from my small group, Brooke, is in the class too. It was very comforting to see a familiar face.

Speaking of small group, I REALLY miss those girls! I haven't seen most of them since the end of November! That's a really long time. Too long! I can't wait until we start meeting up again so we can catch up on everyone's break. Seeing those girls for an 1 and a half once a week makes my day and my week so much better. They all have their own story and it's so great to be able to get together and talk about Jesus and how he's been in each of our lives lately. I am definitely looking forward to starting back up our small group next week!

Well...after Stat I had an awkward break. I'll probably use that term a lot, because I just do. An awkward break is when it's too short/not long enough to go back to the dorm for a reasonable amount of time before heading to the next class. So basically my stat class gets out at 9:25, but my chem class does start til 11:10. By the time I would get back to my dorm I'd only have a little over an hour before I'd have to walk an even further distance. So I just went ahead and went to Buehler, which is the building my chem class was in this semester and last semester, and calculus and biology last semester too. Basically, I love Buehler. I've spent many hours just sitting in the hall playing on my computer, or reading a book, or cramming right before a test. I secretly love it. It's never really busy, and it's always very quiet. I always seem to get a lot done. So after stat I got myself some Starbucks and read a book in Buehler for about an hour until a girl in my small group, Maelena, otherwise known as Mel, showed up and we chatted. I started reading Safe Haven, a book by Nicholas Sparks, whom I'm obsessed with, (more deets later) yesterday. Well, I'm already like 200 pages in. It's so great. So Mel showed up and we got to chat, and the more we were taking, the more we kept talking about how we're kind of pumped for chemistry again. It's just so familiar. Same room, same teacher, same building, same friends. It was so great. AND I even payed attention in class today. Sometimes I would definitely consider myself a chemistry nerd. Today was one of those days, for sure. By the way, I'm really sorry I'm boring y'all with my not so exciting life. Jesus and school are my life, so that's probably all I'll ever talk about. Well, I'm done for a while....until 6:30. Yes, I have a class at 6:30. And to be honest, I'm a little bit nervous. It's going to be dark and cold and scary! Yikes! Pray for me.

Okay so I think now might be a good time to talk about my obsession with Nick Sparks. I guess I discovered him my senior year, maybe junior, but I'm almost positive I was a senior. I realized that he wrote The Notebook and A Walk to Remember so I was like maybe I should check this guy out. I told my mom I was interested in reading his books and she was like hey, I think I have a book by him. Of course, I was like there is no way you have a book by him so don't even look. Well she did. Of course. Duh. So she handed me A Bend in the Road. It was SO great! I finished it in like 2 days. Which I basically do that with all his other books too. So after reading that book I had to read more. And I've been in love ever since. It kind of surprised me that I liked them so much because they are love stories, but they're usually intense love stories with a little mystery behind them. It's so great. I've read them all but 3 I think. I kind of got off track and started reading other books for a change. But I'm back! Safe Haven is great so far. Y'all should read it.

Well sorry for being a chatty Cathy today. But one last thing....Today Jesus Calling, you know, the day my day devotional I mentioned in my last post...today it was so great again. I mean every day is great, but them keep pertaining to my life. So I like to share. Today it basically said that we should be attentive to the days ahead. Instead of just looking at is as another lame old day, look at is as WOW! Jesus gave me yet another day, that is totally different from any other day I've ever life. Each day is precious and unrepeatable. Do we ever think of is as precious? I sure don't. And it's unrepeatable. How stinkin' cool. No two days will EVER be a like. It's crazy. If you live each day close to Jesus it will never be dull. It will always be full of surprises. This part stood out to me the most...RESIST YOUR TENDENCY TO SEARCH FOR THE EASIEST ROUTE THROUG THE DAY. We have to be WILLING to follow Him where ever he so chooses to lead us. I think that's the scariest part. Follow someone else? Seriously?  Eh, I don't know about all that. But we have to. We think we are most knowledgable and that we are best in our own care, but we aren't. We are the safest when we make the choice when we are by His side. I just thought that was so great. Obviously I think I make the best decisions for myself and that I'm safe from harm. But I'm not unless I have Him by my side. It's definitely a comforting thought.

If you really knew me you would know that it really ticks me off when girls think leggings are pants. They aren't. And I know you are not warm outside right now.

If you really knew me you would know that I love onions.

Starting over....again.

Well, today is the first day of my second semester of college. No lie, I'm nervous. Super nervous. It's not like in grade school when you walk back into the same building with all the same people and you just go to different class rooms. I have new classes, which means new buildings, which means new class rooms, which means new people, which means new professors. Oh, and I have to use a building locator in UT's website just to find where my dang classes are! Tell me this isn't scary. Fortunately, I haven't even had my first class today. Unfortunately, I'm wait listed for a class that I really want and it starts today. Boo.

So last night I was so nervous, scared, sad, mad, excited, etc. about starting school today. I could not fall asleep for anything. So I prayed. I prayed that Jesus comfort me and somehow let me know everything will be okay. Well, check this out. This morning I woke up and read Jesus Calling. It's a devotional book with a different message for everyday of the year. But the message is written as if Jesus is talking to you. So I read today's message and the very first thing it says is...Let Me Prepare You for the day that stretches out before you. Yes! Please prepare me for the today. I need guidance! So if you keep reading basically he's saying I know exactly what today has in store for you even though you don't, and I know you want a map set out of exactly the twists and turns your about to take, but to be fully prepared for whatever happens today you just need to spend quality time with me. That's all! Just spend time with Jesus and he will equip you and make you ready for whatever obstacle comes our way. At the very end it says My presence is the best road map available. How true is that. It seems so easy to say and think, but is it really that easy to do. Is it easy to just say okay, I'll spend time with you and be 100% confident and sure that everything will be okay. I know it's hard for me, but it's something I'm definitely working on.

If anything exciting happens today in class, I'll be sure to let you know.

If you really knew me you would know that I still have to make an L with my fingers to know my lefts and rights.

Our Calling

One of our quiet times at camp had to do with our "calling". We read an excerpt from a book about a man who was never really brought up believing in callings, but he soon realized that he did have a calling. He kept saying he was looking through windows of his vocation. He thought his calling was seminary, but noticed that he really got more joy out of writing that he did preaching. He was troubled by this idea, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that when he was a child he loved to read books, and he especially loved to be read books by his teacher. This man discovered that he thought he knew is own calling, but really Jesus was just telling him through these windows, and he finally discovered what his calling was.

I am in the same spot as the man right now. I just knew for sure that I wanted to go to school for Nursing and that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. But basically all semester I have doubted my decision. Is nursing really what I will get the most joy from? Is nursing really what Jesus has been trying to tell me my whole life? The reason I ask myself these questions is because I continuously keep going back to teaching. From kindergarden til sophomore year teaching is what I would've said I wanted to do with my life. But then sometime during junior year I persuaded myself differently. All through elementary school and middle school I would play school. We had two desks, a chalkboard wall that I could write on, and I would go around after school looking in teachers recycling for extra worksheets they had thrown away. I would round up my sister and he friends and we would play school. And I'm talking real school. I made them do worksheets and workbook pages, I made them get their parents signature for bad grades, and we even had pizza parties. I was the best 10 year old teacher ever. Even as I type this I have a smirk on my face because I can remember just how fun I had pretending to be a teacher. This is why I am so confused. What am I called to do?

There was a prayer at the end of the excerpt we read that was the perfect prayer for me right now:

Help me, O God, to listen to what it is that makes me heart glad and to follow where it leads. May joy, not guilt, your voice, not the voice of others, your will, not my willingness, be the guides that lead me to my vocation. Help me to unearth the passion of my heart that lay buried in my youth. And help me to go over that ground again and again until I can hold in my hands, until I can hold in my hands, hold and treasure, your calling on my life.


On a sad note, today is the last day of my break. I'm devastated. I don't want to pack up my clothes. I don't want to move in the dorms. And I definitely don't want to start class tomorrow. Oh well. It's time. On a happy note, I'm pretty pumped to go to the UT basketball game tonight.

This is random, but at the end of every post I want to start doing an "if you really knew me you would know..." so here goes.

If you really knew me you would know that I've secretly missed living on campus.
If you really knew me you would know that I love basketball, and all of UT's players.
If you really knew me you would know that I purposely run over road kill in the road.

A Fragrance of God

This past week I went to Sharp Top Cove, a younglife camp, in Georgia. I wasn't a camper though. I was there to serve as work crew. The people we were serving were people who are on YoungLife staff, meaning their job is younglife. But this week they were there to take a class where they will begin to earn a master's degree. It's kind of crazy, but I think it's awesome that people are willing to spend their lives working for YoungLife and reaching how to high school kids who don't know Jesus. This week was full of lot of hard, sometimes gross work, but I knew going in that when the times got tough that I had to tell myself I wasn't there to serve actually serve those people, I was there to serve Jesus. I was doing it for him. And when you tell yourself that, it makes the work that much better. I would find myself smiling sometimes while carrying dishes full of everyones leftover foods or wiping down all the tables. It was such a reassuring week for me, especially since school is about to start back in two days. Our work crew boss, Lindsay, reminded us that we were there to be a Fragrance of God. How much better could you say it? When you walk by someone that smells good you usually say hey, you smell good and you wonder what they're wearing, right? Well when you walk by someone who gives off a fragrance of God you can just tell. They smell of compassion and truth. They are Christ-like, and you want to be that way too. So all throughout that week that was my motto. Be a fragrance of God.

I learned so much more throughout the week as well. It was so awesome to be with 21 other girls that I barely knew and hear their stories and their struggles. It's so comforting knowing that it IS possible to find Christian women that I can surround myself with. I'm so glad I met those girls and I've very thankful for them.

Hopefully I can get some pictures from the other girls and I'll post some later!

New Years Resolution...

Hey y'all, I'm Taylor. I'm 18 years old and my new years resolution for 2011 is to, well, blog. I don't want to blog everyday, even though that'd be super cool, and I'm sure absolutely no one will be reading this. But I think it will great to just sit down and type out all of my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas about whats going on around me. TaylorSays is really just going to be anything and everything I want to say. Me being a freshman in college should be relatively easy to have lots to say on this thing. I'm pretty pumped about it. I hope this isn't just a waste of mine and everyones time. I want it to be helpful, inspirational, funny, all of the above! So here goes nothing...


Today this girl is going to the dentist, and I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty thrilled. I really do love the dentist. My mouth feels so fresh and clean. Which is totally the point of going! But I have something better to talk about than going to the dentist. Tomorrow morning I am leaving to go to Sharp Top Cove in Jasper, GA. Sharp Top is a younglife camp, but I am not going as a camper, I'm going to serve as work crew for a week. I've done this once before back in October at a younglife camp called Windy Gap in North Carolina. It was a A LOT of work. No lie. You're constantly cleaning tables, setting tables, setting table, setting tables, serving tables and then the cycle starts all over again. 3 times a day. Oh, and you have you set your own tables an hour before the camper meal and clean it up... 3 times a day. Pretty repetitive. But I'm making it sound bad, it's not at all. It's a great place to just get away from life back at home and forget about everything BUT Jesus. I mean I will literally be serving Jesus for a whole week! It just doesn't get much better than that. I'm not going to lie, this whole Christmas break I've been lacking in my quiet times with Jesus and even just talking to him throughout the days. So this week I'm hoping and praying that I get focused and back on track before school starts. I could say a ton more on the subject , but I have to go pick up my sister. Be back soon, friends.