Winter Wonderland

Well looky here!  It snowed in Nashville =)

Bongo Java looking lovely in her new White outfit

And might I say Belmont pulls of the "wintery decor"

Pattycake

What is it about finals and the ending of a semester that makes people so hilarious?  I think the whole "Yes, I am going to be out of school for about a month" begins to kick in... Whatever it is I like it a lot.

You know what else I like a lot?  College. Yes, I love my school and yes I love Nashville- but what I really love is the people around me.  Everyone is so unique and making their own paths.  Each person I meet reveals an entirely different world.  Partially because they are from places I am not familiar with and also simply because they are fresh and new.  So many times I find myself just sitting back and listening to another person tell me about their experiences or passions and I just am amazed by the uniqueness of each one.  For example, I ate lunch with the group I will be traveling to Guatemala with in January and one of the grls just mentions she's from Alaska and instantly I wanted to ask, "How did you even end up at Belmont?"  What is so funny is that the majority of people answer that question with, "I have absolutely no idea." Isn't God wonderfully creative?  I mean really... I could not tell you exactly why I chose to move here except that I was a bit too lazy to really search for other choices.

No matter where I go I feel like a freak because I am always so interested in other peoples lives that you could tell me you lived in a box for your entire life and I'd want to know every detail of what happened.  I guess because NO ONE is exactly alike nor will ever experience the same things as another person, therefore each story begins and ends in a unique way.

Unique.  

That word is just right on the dot of what I am trying to say and why everyone is beautiful.  When you move to a new place, it takes time to find your nitch, but let me tell you- searching for it almost matures you faster than a lot of other things.  I've managed to understand who God is a bit more and what He's doing with me.  I realize that my plans are so different from His and trying hard to hold on to what you've always known ends up hurting you.  My friend and I were talking about how difficult leaving our comfort zones can be and sometimes all it takes is just a "leap of faith."  Too often we sit and wait for the heavens to open up and God give us directions when in reality, He has already probably tried to steer us in the way we should go, just not in the same way we thought was the right one.  We are stubborn people and want to hold onto our choices that we have made in our lives because we don't want to know that what chose was the wrong thing to do.  How ridiculous is that?  To remain in a place simply because you do not want to take the road different from YOUR plans.  Sometimes taking our road leads us to a dead end and it is then that we realize that God is the one with the directions.  He knows the way to go and all we have to do is follow.

Like how I ramble and hop from one point to another to another? Yeah, I am weird.

On another note... it was pancake night at the caf! Bonus to finals time =)

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Let the dirty Santa parties, cider drinking, UGG boot wearing, cuddle fests and present giving begin!  Even though I have had my little Christmas tree up in my dorm since the day I returned from Thanksgiving break, I am starting to feel even more festive with the cold weather hitting Nashville! Who knew it would make me so happy to walk outside and freeze?  I LOVE seeing all the different winter attire that people wear (especially here at Belmont).  Everyone looks so cozy and I just want to go buy a coffee so my hands will stay warm... oh wait I did that yesterday? Anyways, coming from Memphis where there was absolutely no snow except the little one inch storms that came through once in a blue moon, I get overly excited at ANY sighting of snow... especially flurries.  

This weekend we had the most beautiful (non sticking) snow flurry ever and of course when I tried to take a picture it didn't show! Oh well, you can maybe see my point AT ALL?

... I even tried to show the little flakes in my hair. Fail. 

 However.... I did spot these precious kitties in a store off 21st avenue ;)

How can I not LOVE this season?

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

I went ice skating tonight and it was hilarious.  I think the over all experience of ice skating for amateurs is quite painful on many levels.  First: You have to get your skates on and walk into the ice without falling or crushing someone else's toes Then: you have to get on the ice without falling or cutting off the already skating people in the rink Then once skating you still have to focus on not falling and actually look like a total fetus trying to walk all over again.  If you look around... everyone's faces are either focused or scared to death haha Seriously though.. no one really knows what they are doing except those few people who actually ice skate or play hockey and try to show off skating between everyone else backwards and such.  But quite frankly, I envy them because I want to know how to slush my feet sideways and spray the ice like they do on TV.  Also, ice skating is tricky when it comes to what to wear because you get all bundled up but then once you start skating it gets hot and so you start to sweat under all your layers! Theres no good way to fall and I felt like I was in a war movie tonight as people would just drop left and right of me continuously as I skated on.  You want to laugh and just when you do you find yourself flat on your butt too! But I still can't help but bust out laughing when I see that grown man lose every ounce of confidence he had because he cannot control his legs! haha Ice skating is altogether just a funny situation to think about and definitely a GO TO place for people watching =)

Commitment

       What is it about being the object of someone else's love that makes us light up inside?  I think selfishly at times I even enjoy being loved more than I do loving others... I overheard someone talking earlier this evening about someone who chose a particular lifestyle so they could just find someone to love them. I have also witnessed close friends give everything away including their confidence and morals just to be loved by someone else.  I can't act like I never compromised anything to win over someone's affection, either.  That's all we wanted... to be the object of someone else's affection.  Isn't that crazy? Not really. As a human race we simply are born to be loved and are loved indeed! God loves us wholeheartedly people, we are the apple of His eye and sought after by Him.  I love watching movies or hearing love stories of a man pursuing a woman without letting anything stop him and I just think, "Wow, now that's what I want."  And then I realize that the creator of the entire universe wants me that much.
    I sometimes freak out at commitment.  For example, planning a schedule any more than a day in advance stresses me out because I feel constrained to it and that something else will come up that I want to do at that time.  I have gotten better with this silly mindset since college thanks to the whole "you have to go to class" thing and managing my time has become an easier task as well, however, I still do not like to feel constrained.  This feeling also becomes a problem in relationships for me.  When things get tough... I get out.  I freak out at times thinking about the long run because I know I will be restricted somewhere down the line.  It has been hard realizing this problem and I have some amazing friends who understand me and basically "slap me back to reality."  It is like I had a timer for all relationships and once that timer went off, I had to get out of there because I didn't know how to handle anything past that point.  Moral of the story-I had a hard time keeping in tough with God because I felt like getting closer to Him would constrict me at some point.  My goodness was I wrong.  What I was not taking into consideration was the fact that with Christ we have ultimate freedom! Our relationship with Him trumps anything else because obstacles do not exist to Him.  My mind has trouble conceiving His power but that does not stop me from believing that He can do absolutely anything.  Relationships tend to end because either both people go separate ways or the affection has died or something else but guess what?  God is the same yesterday, today and FOREVER.  That means our relationship with Him will never change from His end and can only grow and get better from ours!  I am still a child when it comes to growing in my faith, but I do know that it is the longest relationship I have ever been in and still going strong =)