sbucks meditation

as i am about to embark on my last studying EVER for final exams EVER in my life, it is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that i'm going to be done with my dental hygiene school in a few weeks. it's also unnerving to think that i have been in this program for 2 years and in college for a total of 5 years. AH! and am JUST now about to have a degree. crazy.
today my friend and i went on a long walk at shelby farms- it was beautiful, kinda cool weather. it reminded me of so many good things that have happened the past 2 years in school and the good friendships i have made...and the other friendships that developed even on surface level, but where i have grown so much as a person because of them. and the calming, reassuring fact that God is in complete control of all of it- He orchestrated every single thing. every single little problem i encountered or frustration i had with a class or test or patient. He knew who He was shaping and is shaping me to become. how cool is that? today as we were walking, i was reminded of these things and of ultimately God's faithfulness. we have kindof a tight little group of friends (even though our whole class gets along). which is SO cool. and we were talking during our walk about JESUS! about our faith. about things we struggle with. about seeing our lives in perspective of what truly matters in life. and one thing my friend was talking about was sortof her "plan" for her life, and how selfishly she doesn't want the Lord to come back until after she's married and has started a fam! haha. we were laughing a little because i was thinking- well ya'll will recognize each other in heaven and your relationship will be perfect, etc!! and she responded- well it won't matter really- because in heaven CHRIST will be my focus---i will be so gazed and in awe of Him that it won't even matter if my fiance and i are "together". i was sortof taken back by that response- i got chills all up and down and felt so humbled. i get so caught up in this world and in the busyness of life and wanting things to go my way at that moment, and to think- CHRIST should be so much bigger in my life and in my focus!!! and i make everything else that is temporary my main drive and focus. what a humbling little realization we should desire to see daily. anyway, i was floored. and reminded how blessed i am for good friendships like this where we just freely talk about Jesus and in His workings in our lives.
WOW- so many things to talk about right now on this blog. about school, finals, relationships, bittersweet memories of the UT Dental Hygiene Program/Class of 2010, engagements, the weather, friendships, moving out of the Pop house in May!, hating going to the grocery store, wanting to procrastinate studying for finals. haha. and that is what my brain is churning right now---off to the counter to get a tall coffee w/2 pumps of white mocha :) yummy. oh how i will miss memphis if i'm not here in the summer/fall---especially seeing the mata bus right outside this busy starbucks right off of poplar with the traffic roaring up and down the street.

country music 1/2 2010

so this picture may be old...i couldn't upload the pic my mom took of me after the race. it was awful anyway, i'm covered with sweat and my face looks extremely swollen! haha. well this past weekend my mom and i traveled to nashvegas for the country music half marathon. this was my 5th 1/2 marathon and 3rd time to be in nashville for it. i absolutely love nashville...not only are there ALOT of things to do and places to go as a young person, but it is a beautiful city with countrysides surrounding all of it. perfect.

this year's race was a little interesting for several reasons. first of all, the weather predictions were not that great for the whole weekend. i was praying all day friday that the weather wouldn't cancel the race. well---since our hotel room was right beside the starting line, we were woken up by the volunteers testing the PA system at the crack of dawn. the race started at 6:45 due to the weather getting bad later that morning...and let me tell you, i have not had experience with more beautiful weather than i did that day. the temperature was perfect, the sky was a perfect bluish gray with some clouds, the sun was peeking through, and the wind was blowing the beautiful green leaves of the trees. it was AWESOME. my playlist consisted of ALL kinds of music. of course. nothing less is expected of my mixes...i am known for my randomness. i listened to the script- breakeven, chris brown- forever, meredith andrews- can anybody hear me?, phil wickham- safe, coldplay- loves in japan, etc. i listened to a plethora of music. as i was running, i had alot of time of meditating and praying. it was really cool---along the way i got random chill bumps and encouragement from the different worship songs i listened to. as i was running and came to a hard part in the run, i saw the coolest thing that put my life into perspective automatically. a man was in a wheelchair doing the half marathon---with no one pushing him. people were running by him encouraging him though which was SO cool. and he was nothing but smiles. it was incredible- to see that this guy who can't walk and is using his arms to do a HALF MARATHON is smiling and probably so thankful he was even there. and there i was complaining that i was really thirsty or my left ankle was getting soar. and it put into perspective the things i gripe and complain about...when there are far greater, worse things i could go through in the race the Lord has put before me.

and off the deep subject, i think i saw toby mac....i had my phone with me the whole race and took a pic with my cameraphone. AHHHH. i think it was him! haha.

anyway, until next time........

SENIORITIS!

SO- these pictures sort of sum up the past wkend here in memphis! first of all, let me mention i have had a MAJOR case of senioritis the past week or so :)
katie's and my auburn friends came this wkend! we had a pretty busy day on saturday (on friday night we ate some good ol' memphis pizza cafe pizza and a muddy's cupcake!)---on saturday we woke up, made a big bfast, and went on our way to downtown. we were going to go see the ducks, but we ended up driving around harbor town and the square and up and down the river, and then the fresh market downtown! and then we went to swanky's for a taco and some good chips and salsa...and then we went out to my parents' house.

this crazy picture sortof sums up the night...we went back downtown for dinner. BLUEFIN! um, can i just say that the environment there is something sortof like a zoolanderish environment. i felt like we were in a movie...i wish i had taken a picture of our experience there. our food was "late" because the sushi chef was participating in a customer's bachelorette party....they were going to eat sushi off of him (he was going to be shirtless! EW!)

we rode the trolley after dinner to cheesecake corner. i wish we had a picture of all of our cheesecakes- raspberry choc, butterscotch, caramel and coffee, and german chocolate. um, yum. we sort of met the people that work there---the guy who owns this amazing cheesecake place wakes up at 5 a.m. to home-make all of the cheesecakes for that day. holy cow. and they even do special orders! it was SUCH a fun weekend, we are blessed with great friends :)

as i start sending out my resume and trying to find a job either here, in nashville, or wherever the Lord is going to lead me, i'm reminded of ALL of the great friendships i am blessed with and that they never change no matter how far away you may be from the people!

encouraging run :)

so today, i called my poopy roomie at work and asked her to map me out a run...a 10 mile run from poplar and back. WELL, this was the pathway:
l on poplar
l on goodlett
r on walnut grove
l on mendenhall
l on princeton
l on perkins
r on walnut grove
r on waring
l on sequoia
l on n graham
r on walnut grove
r on high point terrace
l on mimosa
l on highland
l on poplar and back to our humble abode.i wanted to blog about this because of the parallel i sortof drew to the long run and our walk with Christ...and i told my other roomie about my deep thoughts about this and she said BLOG ABOUT IT! so here i am.here are my deep thoughts in a nutshell: so about halfway during my run i started thinking about this little path that was planned out for me. and i had NO clue where i was but i had to trust all of these directions that em had given me for the run. i came to different obstacles---stoplights, trees in the sidewalk, trashcans, etc...but i kept on pressing on. i got really impatient at the obstacles, thinking, OK i want to just finish without all of this hard stuff in the way! well i'm treading down mendenhall, breathing pretty heavily, and i'm thinking to myself- how much further is sequoia? should i call em or just trust this little journey? should i ask this lady i see ahead of me who looks pretty friendly and is carrying a plastic bag which i'm sure was full of her cute dog's poop? YES- i'm going to ask her. so i stopped to ask and make sure sequoia was on the left- coming to realize that this is how i am in my walk with Christ---so doubtful that His plan is actually best and that people are in our lives for a reason, for advice, and for encouraging words to build us up in our walk with Him. anyway, as i kept going, i was comparing my run with how untrusting i am of the plan God already has ordained for me. and although there are little obstacles and places where we have to be patient, He is still sovereign and knows the ways that are best. even though there may be a million different turns and "trash cans" and other sticks and trees in the road, He is faithful to bring us to HIS abode. what a cool picture i had while running...and needless to say, i was successful in not bursting into tears during the run. how cool.

thank goodness it's friday!

so today i am relieved...i got 2 projects out of the way this week, one on tuesday and one on thursday. they were both pretty big projects, and they are DONE. now all i have is 2 more projects, a paper, a presentation, and finals.


but today is FRIDAY...and i can't seem to settle my brain down enough to work on anything at the moment. so i decided, why not blog?

this pic is of the fam at our annual easter tradition we have with the Atkins'. this year we went over and had a late lunch/early dinner at their house and then watched family movies from when we were little. oh my word, i've never laughed harder in my life at myself. it was almost painful! i wish there was a way to put those videos on my blog so you could join in the laughter also.

this weekend is my friend emily's birthday party celebration...i really want to start taking more pictures to document good times and then share them on the blog. i feel like this is a good way to update people on what's going on in my life.

i have some book recommendations: Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, Breaking Free by Beth Moore, and So Long Security: You've Been a Bad Friend to us by Beth Moore.

and a song recommendation: Safe in His Arms by Phil Wickham. the lyrics of this song are amazing.

i am about to venture on my 10 mile run, which will hopefully go smoothly today- the weather feels amazing and the sun is shining...i went outside today and thought to myself that it looks like a puzzle picture. the sun is so bright and it's making everything look bright and springy, which i just love.

off to shelby farms!!

Isaiah 40- "comfort, comfort, my people..."

so i found out good news today- i passed my national dental hygiene board exam! i was so relieved to find this out. as i'm working on a project, i was reminded of some verses i read this morning i wanted to share. and i also when i found out that i passed today thanked the Lord for passing and for leading me through this semester when i doubt Him so much and doubt my own confidence. these are the verses i read this morning and have been sortof thinking about them throughout the day today:

Comfort for God's People 1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD [a] ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. [b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, [c] lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has understood the mind [d] of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.