Lots of Stuff

ONCE AGAIN, I go weeks without blogging. I hate when I do this because things just get piled up and I don't have the patience to mention everything that has happened since the last post in my blog... SOOOO, I think I'll just hit the basics!

Warning: Sorry for going crazy on the amount of pictures here. Actually, I'm really not.

1. I made another trip to Samford.

Rodeo was last weekend, and for some reason I had no interest in going. I really had a blast last year but I just wasn't feelin' it this year. So, I went to Birmingham instead! Olivia had her semi-formal on Saturday night. I, being the obsessive-picture-taker that I am, was her photographer for the evening. I had fun hanging out with all my new Samford friends, of course!

[Olivia and Dillon]

[Montgomery kids.. Catherine Gayle, Jeffrey, Olivia, Goodson, and Me]

[Their group!]

[Goodson and I]

2. ALPHA GAM WON GREEK SING!!

I'm not about to pretend like I had anything to do with the awesome performance or the win, but for real, I'm so happy for everybody!! All the girls did an amazing job and definitely deserved the win for the 3rd year in a row! Go squirrels.

[Knockouts!]

3. I had the busiest week EVER last week.

Tests and meetings took over my week, but I made it through one step at a time. Honestly, it wasn't all that bad. This week I literally have NOTHING to do. Not one test, quiz, meeting... nothing. I'm pumped.

4. I WENT TO MY FIRST BRAVES GAME!!

Weeelllllll.. Kinda. I went to Turner Field, but the game was rained out so I didn't get to see any baseball. Oh well. It was a date function so it was fun being with friends for many, many hours!! I hope I get to go to one for real this summer. I'm really not sure why I've never been. Hmm.

[Wes, Annie, Calvin, and I]

[You owe me a real Braves game!]

[Virg and Goodson hanging out on the bus!]

5. Saturday was a blast!

Jessica, Olivia, Estes, our friend Calvin from Samford, and I went to 280 Boogie in Waverly for the afternoon. We met up with some other folks (that's my least favorite word, if anybody was wondering) when we got there. 280 Boogie is an arts and crafts/music festival that is held in the tiny, tiny town of Waverly, AL every year. I seriously had so much fun sitting on blankets with my friends and listening to great music all day.

[Perfect day for this kind of thing!]

[Olivia, Jessica, Estes, and Calvin]

[Calvin and Estes.. Go Bulldogs and Sigma Chi]

[Livvv]

[Love yall so much!]

[Jordan, Brooks, and Olivia!]

[Precious]

[Yay TPS.. Hanson, Olivia, Cam and me]

[Me and Cammyyy]

6. Sophomore year is almost over.. What the heck.

Tonight, I went on a walk around campus with my friends Brook and Erin. We started thinking about how our second year of college is coming to a close, and how in only two more years, we're all going to be parting ways and possibly never seeing each other again. Not us three specifically, but all of the great people we have formed relationships with here at Auburn. Gosh, I'm so blessed to be at this college. I seriously love everyone here and am so thankful for the Lord letting me be a part of this experience. I don't want it all to end!! 

[I was about to put a picture from graduation up, but in the process, I discovered that I miss senior year of high school so much. Sooooooooo, that led to the idea of another blog post. Coming soon: I MISS SENIOR YEAR!]

Well, that sums up the high-points! I'm going to try to be productive this week since I have nothing big going on. Maybe start packing up my room to move home (wow, that's sad), or possibly even start studying for exams.............. Yeah, doubt that will happen. 

I Love Jesus Music :)

As I'm sitting in the library, not studying but listening to music, I wanted to take some time to post about two of my new favorite songs. I give all the credit to my great friend, Kristen Stallings, for introducing me to them! I'm obsessed.. Love the lyrics, love the music, love everything about them. 

The first one is called "Divine Romance" by Phil Wickham. Here he is singing it with some candles. I love this part:

"Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life

In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied"

Such a beautiful song!!

And then, there's "Set a Fire" by Will Reagan & United Pursuit. This is a long one, but a great one. My favorite chunk of this one is:

"There's no place I would rather be,

Than here in your love, here in your love.

So, set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain and I can't control.

I want more of you, God, I want more of you, God."

Well, that's pretty much the whole song, actually. I love it!

[Thanks Krissy Boo!!]

Enjoy :)

Swampy Time!

I am in love with spring right now. I would stay outside every hour of the day if I could! I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't have allergies... Seriously, you could put pollen IN my nose and nothing would happen.

This Friday night we had our spring formal, but it's called Swampwater. "Swampy" was tons of fun!! Before the dance, we went over to Clayton's house. All the girls made an appetizer or dessert and we brought it all together and feasted. We stayed there for a while then went out to the Grand National Marriott and partied all night! I took Goodson, and it was a lot of fun! Here are some pics. I really wish I had of taken more... I'm slacking!!

[The girls before Swampy at Clayton's!]

[Virginia, me, and Annie!]

[Goodson and I]

This coming up weekend I'm going to Birmingham, and then the next weekend Alpha Gam is going to a Braves game! I'm super pumped about both of those things!!

Better go study for my history test that I have tomorrow... Uhh I hate tests. :(

Ok, and P.S.... Have y'all been watching American Idol lately?? Ummmmm everyone on there is AMAZING. I talk about this all the time, but I'm seriously obsessed with this season. If you get a chance, either watch it one night this week or listen to some of the songs on iTunes. You won't be sorry! My favorites are Paul McDonald (Auburn alum. War Eagle!), Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Scotty McCreery, and Casey Abrams. That's a lot.. and I love the other ones too. Ok, that's all.

Sun + Good Books = :)

Sup y'all???

I'm taking advantage of this AMAZING weather and hanging out in the grassy area outside my dorm.  Seriously, how great has it felt this week?! I'm just in love with this weather.  It makes me so happy!

[Heyyyy I'm just chillin' out here!]

Last year about this time, Jessica loaned me a book.  I just started it 3 days ago... Whoops.  It was called The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers.  I'm sure many of you girls have read it, but if you haven't, seriously you should!  I couldn't put it down from the moment I started reading.

The Last Sin Eater is the fictional story of a 10 year old girl maned Cadi.  She and her family lived in the Appalachian Mountains during the 1850's.  One of the customs of their village was to, after a death, have a man called the "Sin Eater" come and "eat" the sins of the deceased.  They believed that this simple act would carry the dead to heaven.  The Sin Eater was shunned by the village, and only came down from his mountain when the death bell rang and he knew he was needed.  Cadi first encountered this man when her Granny died, and after secretly making eye-contact with him (this was probably the worst thing that could be done in the eyes of the villagers),  she had an instant connection to the man.  Cadi was bound and determined to find out who he was and learn more about him.  When an unknown and unwanted man starts hanging out around the village, Cadi is curious about him as well.  It turns out that this man was sent from the Lord, (Cadi calls him "the man of God") and his actions will change the village forever.  The book has so many twists and turns but in the end shows that there is only one way to heaven -- and it's not by having the Sin Eater take your sins away, but realizing that Jesus already did just that.

Anyways, this book has really made me think.  There are people out there all around us who truly and whole-heartedly believe that their way to heaven is the right way.  It breaks my heart for them.  God put it as simply as possible in the Great Commission:  "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  It's our job to find these people and teach them the Truth, just like the "man of God" did.  The Last Sin Eater is a great representation of this verse.  For real, read it.  I think it changed my life... not kidding.

Ok enough of the book report.  I think I'm getting sunburnt out here.  Sureeeeee makes me miss the beach!!  

Also, some girls are spray painting signs about 20 feet from me and the wind is carrying the paint STRAIGHT to me.  Cool.  Oh, and now pretty much a whole sorority is taking pictures before the formal.  I feel awkward.  So I'm gonna end this blog NOW.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

P.S. I just found out that it's a movie!! Check out the trailer!!

Spring Break, So Great

I kind of want to cry as I'm writing this.... I'm just so sad that spring break is over.  Not just any spring break, but my Sophomore one.... OF COLLEGE.  Gosh, where does the time go??  This was my 14th spring break since starting school.  Wow.  All that aside, this might have been my favorite spring break to date.  

I definitely have been on some great family vacations over the years, though.  Last year we went on a cruise to Mexico and Phillip won the jackpot in bingo so we were upgraded to the "Royal Suite" for most of the trip.  That story always makes me laugh.  Thanks again, Phil!  When I was younger, we would take scuba diving trips over spring break.  Those were always so great!  Senior year was wonderful too.  I went with the FBC seniors on a mission trip to Tucson, Arizona.  This definitely was a rewarding spring break.  Mission trips always are!

[Anne, Me, Jessica, and Becca in Tucson]

[Throughout the week, we went house to house telling people about Jesus!]

[Last Year - In Our "Royal Suite" and In Some Car My Dad Rented....]

Buuuut, this year was different!  My best friends stayed with me at my beach house for a week.  I mean, what's better than that??  The weather was beautiful each day.  The only rainy day was omitted from our trip because we slept through the storm.  Whoops.  Speaking of sleeping, we slept in until around 11 or so every day which was SO nice.  With early classes, I can't tell you the last time I've slept that late!  Our moms sent some pretty awesome food that we continuously snacked on throughout the trip.  Somehow, we had tons left and had to throw it out because it wouldn't fit in the car on the way home.  That's a whole other story, though.

BBBIIIIIGGGGGG shout out to the Samford Sigma Chi freshmen! (Alpha Omicron pledge class, to be specific.)  For real, y'all are the greatest.  You are all so sweet and welcoming and personable, and just tons of fun to be around!  And good lookin' of course!  Ok, I MIGHT have gotten a LITTLE teary-eyed when I had to say goodbye Thursday night.  I give everyone who reads this permission to make fun of me all you want, but I get attached to people/things that I like!!

[Some Wonderful People Right Here!]

[Ben and Baker! Great Guys!]

[Jessica's 20th Birthday was Tuesday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!]

[Catherine Gayle and Olivia - Cutest Girls on the Beach!]

[Movie night with Kristen and Carroll Anna!]

Anyways, to sum it all up, this was the perfect spring break.  I love my family more than anything, but being with my precious friends for seven days straight just can't be beat!  Man, I could think of so many funny things that happened this week, but I have a really, really bad memory so i's kinda difficult.  Ever wonder why I'm such a bad story teller???  There ya go.  

Great Food + Sun + Funny Things Happening ("Mini's") + BFF's + New Friends + ZERO School =

HEAVEN on EARTH!

[I Just Love Y'all So Much!]

This song was played at least twice during every car ride, thanks to the coolest guy eva, Jack Poundstone.

Happy Birthday Justin!!!

Okkkkk most of y'all probably know how much I love Justin Bieber.. Not in a creepy "in love with him for real" way, but I just think he's so sweet and precious and such a great guy! So, as I get ready to go to class and get back a test that I most likely failed, I just wanted to write a Happy Birthday post for my boy.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIEBS!!!

Brook and I before his Birmingham concert in December.

He can sing AND play the piano!! Love it.

Such a great dancer...

I mean, how cute is he?!?

If you haven't seen it, go watch it TONIGHT.

Lastly, a couple model shots.. <3 ya Justin.

Here's my favorite song of his.. It's not on iTunes yet, but you can watch it on youtube any time!!

Save the Trees!!

Unless you've been hiding under a rock today, you heard about the man who poisoned the poor Toomer's Oak trees.  Obviously that man is crazy, but the whole thing really makes me sad.  It's not an "Auburn vs. Alabama" thing... More of a "what kind of person has such a cold heart that he would deliberately make SO many people sad by killing something that means so much to them" kind of thing.  Who would ruin a 130 year old tradition??  I just don't understand some people.

Anyways, everybody in Auburn is pretty much holding back tears.  But OF COURSE, being the supportive family that we are, we're loving those trees and each other even more than ever!

War Treegle

[This was some guy's facebook picture. I thought it was precious.]

Here's the man admitting what he did....

The Club Couldn't Handle Us

I've decided that being surrounded by great people can make any day amazing.  This weekend was just one of those perfect weekends!

Jessica and I had been planning a Birmingham/Samford trip for quite a while now.  Friday, we finally made it happen!  I skipped history (best decision ever... that class is miserable) and drove up on Friday afternoon.  

I met my cousin, Lauren, for lunch at Olexa's in Mountain Brook Village right when I got there.  It was the cutest place ever, and the food was delicious!  Lauren, I still laugh when I think about the conversation we had.... :) After that, I picked Olivia up and we did a little shopping then came back to Samford and met up with Jessica and everybody else.

We ate dinner at La Paz.  It was really, really good.  Wes got chicken fajitas.  They came with peppers and squash and rice and beans and everything else that fajitas come with, but he only at the chicken and tortillas.  Picky, picky, picky. (But it's okay Wes, you're still perfect. And cute.)

The whole point of the trip was to go to Samford's famous Step Sing.  If you've never seen it, you definitely should go next year!  I've heard great things about it but it truly exceeded my expectations.  The groups are made up of sororities, fraternities, freshman, independents, and whatever else you can think of.  They do a dancing AND singing routine.  Each one was great in it's own way.  Jessica and I were laughing the whole time!  No offense to all the girls out there, but the boy groups were my favorite.  Something about guys getting out there and performing, giving it their all, just makes my heart melt!  If we came to watch one group, it was Sigma Chi.  Theirs was so heart-felt and sweet.  It was very different from the rest.  That's why I loved it.  And of course, Goodson's amazing voice stood out among all the guys!

After it was over, we went to some of Estes' friends' house (That's a lot of weird apostrophes).  We hung out here for a while then went back to Olivia's room and slept!  The only problem was that it got a LITTLE bit cold during the night.......... Jess and Liv were fine, but I kinda froze.  It's okay though.

So, naturally we wake up Saturday morning wondering what's for lunch.  Estes and Wes picked us up and we went to Rojo.  Seriously, Birmingham has the best restaurants ever.  I haven't been to a place that I didn't love.  Maybe it's a good thing that I don't live there.... After lunch, we went to Edgar's Bakery and got some random desserts.  Wes didn't get anything because the only dessert he likes is chocolate chip cookies.

I think the best part of the whole weekend was sitting outside on Saturday afternoon.  I can't imagine better weather!  The sunshine put everyone in a good mood.  We threw a frisbee and football around (okay not really me but I participated occasionally), and just hung out enjoying each other's company.  Like I said earlier, being with great people just makes everything so fun!

[Best Friends :)]

After a while, when the boys had to go practice, we picked up Lacey who had come to see Baby Jack in Step Sing, and went to the Summit and looked around for a little bit.  Then the Poundstone's took us to dinner at Taziki's.  Jack, you have the sweetest family ever!!  They're just so great!

Sooo, the Poundstone's had two extra tickets for Saturday Step Sing, and let us have them!  The only problem was that Jessica, Olivia, and I were three people.. so we needed one more.  Don't worry though, we used our skills and somehow I snuck in and got a seat near them.  We were there just in time to see Sigma Chi perform again, and were just as blown away as we were the night before!

Okay this is getting long like my posts always do.  After Step Sing, we went to Wendy's with Estes.  This only took about 4 hours.  No big deal.  We listened to a couple of songs over and over.... Club Can't Handle Me, Run This Town, and a little P!nk and Glee mixed in..... Don't judge.  There was a minor accident involving Estes' rearview mirror, but we won't name names.  At least it's still attached a little!  We finally made it to Burbon Street for CLAY'S BIRTHDAY!!!  So fun!

Later on, we went back to Samford, met up with Elisabeth who had come with Tucker, and went to bed.  Elisabeth joined me on the air mattress and we endured the freezing process together this time.  At least we had each other to keep warm!!

On Sunday, we (Me, Jess, Olivia, Wes (hottie), and Estes) went to lunch at a good Italian place but I forgot what it was called.  Jessica lost her phone, but no worries, she found it about an hour later in her boot.. that she was wearing.  We were all really tired, and Olivia and I had to study so we went back to campus, said our goodbyes, and left!

I miss yall already!! I just love being with my friends!!  I mean, what could be better??

Campaign Week!

It's that time of year again, guys.  Time for SGA Elections!! Wooooooo!

I'm aware that to anyone not on a campaign, this week can be the most annoying, torturous, avoid-the-concourse, Auburn-hating week of your life.  But seriously, once you're on a campaign one time you'll appreciate everything that the candidates, their Top 5, and their campaign managers go through.  It's not all easy-peasy!

Alpha Gam is so blessed to have THREE out of five girls in the running for Miss Auburn!  So exciting!!  To be fair, the sorority was split into three groups and each of us was assigned to a wonderful candidate.

Who am I supporting, you ask?? Just kidding, I know nobody truly cares.  But maybe somebody does. (Mom)  Anyways, I'm supporting MILLIE!!  Auburn students, seriously, vote for her!! Millie is so awesome and has been campaigning her little heart out this week!  Her platform is so applicable to all of us, and that really makes a difference!  VOTE FOR MILLIE!!

And to all you tweeple out there, (love yall) you can keep up with Millie's every move by following her!  @Millie4MissAu.

Weeeeeellllll that's all for now!! Remember, 

VOTE FOR MILLIE 

(BALLOT POSITION 1) 

on February 8th!!!