go...

"Oh, Jo. Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts; how can you expect to lead an ordinary life? You're ready to go out and - and find a good use for your talent... Go, and embrace your liberty. And see what wonderful things come of it." -little women

hello fall...

we greet thee with open arms!

I went home to Franklin, Tennessee for fall break and the only thing that could have made it better would have been temperatures below 70s. Leiper's Fork is always beautiful, but once those leaves start changing it is absolutely breathtaking. Man's best friend and I went hiking on the Natchez Trace. (Hiking with my sweet dog Moose means traipsing through rivers and various otherwise non-hikable places such as through large drainage pipes. It's quite exciting.) I have taught my dear Moose so well; he somehow maneuvered out of his collar somewhere along our expedition. Clever one, that dog.
My heart was simply giddy looking at the colorful trees against the blue blue sky.

I went on a walk yesterday to take pictures of some places that make me smile here in Knox. It made me appreciate my surroundings a little bit more, but also made me realize my desire for a better camera: a more legit camera if you will. So, as of late, I am trying to figure out ways I can earn money for the camera of my dreamsssss. (Nikon D3000 anyone?) Soooo if anyone has any ideas besides selling my clothes/my plasma let me know. (that last one about the plasma is a semi joke. we'll see how desperate I get...)

The weather is making it terribly hard to stay on task in the world of academia. I've always struggled with this, but wanting to be outside 24/7 sure isn't feeding the flame of desire to study. Along with fall, I have embraced the fact that growing up means making decisions. This has also left me extremely distracted and seemingly absent minded when it comes to my studies. Soon it will all work out and my future self will look back and laugh at my past self.

At least I hope so.

-hv

it's beginning to feel like...

fall. FINALLY. even the fact that it's rainy and drab outside can't kill my mood today.

I almost didn't wake up this morning because the rain was coming down so hard the sun didn't rise! (I mean, I'm sure it did, but I couldn't see it. Therefore I was unable to greet and salute said sunrise, leading to my inability to wake up/get out of bed... ever.) However, I have tried to make the most out of this rainy monday by wearing my new trench coat (THANKS LISA... MOM). The only problem was that this coat did not have a hood to protect my sweet little head from Knoxville's acidic rain.
Problem easily solved: take hood off of another jacket and simply place it on head like hat. BADABING: hood. Nevermind the color difference, because who really cares if I match anyways? If there is actually a person out there who TRULY cares if I match every day or not, I pity the quality of your life. And sorry.

I love it when I ask permission to do something and the response I receive is "go for it".

Like:
Question:"Is anyone sitting here?"
Response: "No. Go for it!"

It's like a little pep talk. Like I have people throughout my whole day whose sole purposes are to give me that one encouraging phrase and smack my butt to get ready for game time. (just kidding about that last part). GO TEAM :)

I just realized I have been sitting here at Starbucks in John Hodges with my head phones on for fifteen minutes... without music. After realizing this, I open my itunes only to have my ears blasted with the highest volume of tunes.

And with that last bit of entertaining news, my table companion puts up her hood and tucks her hair in... to go outside?

false. She just was preparing for the next level her extreme studying sesh. I am now intimidated.

go team. -h.

lessons learned...

so here are a few lessons learned today:

#1: never wear your favorite shirt (or your brand new one) to do the dishes. you will ALWAYS get soapy suds on it. alwaysalwaysalways. don't do it.

#2. ALWAYS wear pants. you never know who might stumble into your room. (this particular lesson was not necessarily LEARNED today, but I was reminded of that one time I learned this lesson before...)

lesson #3; if you have homework, do NOT (and I repeat DO NOT) even think about getting on Facebook. whatever you need to do will never be done... until maybe 3 o'clock.

#4. It is always okay to go into someone else's room when they aren't there. Always. (perhaps to use a can opener or to eat some of their applesauce? just saying...)

#5: It's okay if you get lazy at night and don't charge your phone. Chances are when it dies, (and it will.... eventually) it won't even be that big of a deal and you might even get out of that one alive.

lesson #6, even if you have a scary dream, or a dream where someone does something mean to you or maybe proposes to another girl because he "thought you wouldn't care", it is not really appropriate to take it out on that person the next morning, because they didn't really do anything wrong in real life. (...or DID they? hmm...)

well, consider those lessons learned. I will now attempt to be on task.

-h.

so it's been a long time...

and even though I've been away for a long time, it's probably just because my life is so darn great. And that's not supposed to sound boastful... I've just been so blessed.
I feel a little awkward starting up again after my vow of blog-silence. Should I backtrack completely? Summarize my wonderful summer? Or should I just completely skip that part and not fill in any of the blank spaces of my blogging life?

Hmmm... I've never been good with making decisions. If you know me at all you know this is painfully true.

I guess I'll backtrack, summarize the good things, and leave out all the boring/uninteresting/embarrassing parts of my life as of late.

My summer was marvelous. It was full of laughter and tears, but mostly smiley, sunshiney days when there was nothing else I could do but love life. Camp Vesper Point will always hold a special place in the heart of my childhood, but I'm finding that it has a more lasting impact on my newly found adult life (I am now 20. no more teeny boppers for me!). Camp challenged me in ways I didn't think were humanly possible, and because of that I have learned so much. I was so blessed to be surrounded by the best of friends the entirety of the summer, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Wow... my summarizing skills surprise me. Touche self-doubting-self!

I am currently up to my old shenanigans. I have a test in half an hour, and instead of studying studiously, I am checking off things that have been collecting dust on my To Do list. Such as write a letter to my lovely pen pal, or update my dilapidating blog...

SO, as long as I'm getting SOMETHING done, my life is worth while.

SHALOM.

typical college student...

so, being the college student that I am, I am constantly moving and always have things to do. Because of this, I am forced to reconsider what I used to acknowledge as my "eating schedule".

yesterday, I was running a bit late to my first class, so I decided to have a late breakfast. So at 10 I had a bagel and coffee. I continued throughout my busy Monday, and finally finished classes at 4:30.

Now here lies the problem: I had a free dinner at 6:00, but I was STARVING. so naturally, I went to the cafeteria to consume 2 bowls of captain crunch and a couple of cookies beforehand. Of course, the whole time I was eating my subconscious was saying, "you'll be sorry... you'll be sorry... you be sorry..."

And I was.

Oh well. the 6:00 dinner was good, too. Free food is just so hard to pass up sometimes.

And here I am, in the cafeteria again. I had a lovely chat with my girl Janice. She has fly glasses. And six grand boys. We like to laugh together for thirty minutes while I hold my delicious yogurt parfait wishing I could eat it. She was hiding from me when I first came into the cafeteria, but don't worry, I found her.

Soooo... I guess I'll study now? I decided that the cafeteria is a good place to study. Probably because I've set my station up right next to the desert bar. Stellar.

These rainy days make me sleepy. I'm dreaming of spring days and summer nights. Fresh air and carelessness.

tom foolery

in light of certain events this week, (excellent weather, easter break, etc)

my word of the day is tom foolery.

the urban dictionary describes tom foolery as: Wreaking Havoc/causing general chaos/shenanigans....

First of all, may I just point out that shenanigans is an altogether stellar word. And I suppose that "tom foolery" is a phrase, not a word. However, it just seems fitting for this week.
ex. I am going home today, and much tom foolery will be going down.

You better recognize.

So, after a fun and music-filled car ride in Collin's stellar gold jeep, I am finally back home in good ole Leiper's Fork. I just finished giving my precious little sister a bath. She is absolutely gorgeous and is growing like a weed.


Currently my eight year old brother is running laps around our house because he got in trouble.

it's 10:00.

I love my family. I miss it so much. It is so so so so so good to be home. What a blessing my family is to me! THANK YOU, LORD!

In this moment, this is my shalom.

h.