Thursday, August 16, 2007

right here & now-- fragmented....

i'm living in the present. there's no better time than now. thankful for where God has me. i'm in school full-time. 5 art classes & loving every minute. overwhelmed & oftentimes exhausted by how much i'm doing and involved in: school, church, high school volleyball, friends, etc... but it's so good and i'm finally doing most of what i love. i'm trying to enjoy and soak up every moment of the season because i know it won't last that long. i love where i am-- geographically, emotionally, relationally, everything. i hate the distance there is between me and most of my close friends, but god has been so good at keeping our hearts threaded together. i'm in the middle of a lot of art projects and constantly have ideas for new ones.... it's just a matter of sorting my thoughts and trying to express them through art. tough, but oh so good. there's so much going on right now; i love it! i wouldn't have it any other way.... that's all for now.


maybe i just need to relax....

Friday, April 27, 2007

His ways are higher.

The semester's coming to a close, and I have yet to update this blogger for four months!!

I don't know where to begin, so we'll do a brief synopsis of each month, from where I left off:

December 06-Jan 07: School went out on break, ugly Christmas sweater party, and I had surgery Dec. 19th to repair my ACL & miniscus. My mother was a tremendous help in caring for me for a whole week and a half after surgery. I was so excited to be able to hang out with my home friends over break... we needed time to catch up and chill.... even if I was really doped up. Then, hesitantly, I ventured to Atlanta for New Year's Conference with Campus Outreach (the college ministry I'm involved in). Crutches and all, I made it for about 6 days on the conference and came back to buckle down on physical therapy. It hurt, but I am sooo thankful for the Phoenix, the PT place a few minutes from my mother's house, as it has helped me to recover almost fully now. I also found a place to live somewhat removed from UNCC's campus with high school friend, Carina Vinzant, and her friend (now mine too!), Meghan Tartamella. They're super cool, and it's been fun living with them. School started smoothly, and I've been going to PT almost every week since surgery.


February 07: I begin to enjoy my classes, and only taking 12 hours! ;) I especially like my studios, which are Graphic Design 1 & Painting 1. The teachers are amazing and so helpful! Valentine's Day rolls by and I have a date. I visit Chapel Hill to see my lovely friends up there. Conveniently, they were hosting a Luau in the middle of winter and did a superb job replicating Hawaii in February. I always love it in Chapel Hill.... no matter the season. Earlier that week, I had been presented with the opportunity to go to South Africa (due to a number of events out of my control, I wasn't attending Summer Beach Project as Women's Coordinator as mentioned above). After praying about it & talking with my friends about it, I decided to go to South Africa to minister to college students!! My heart is for every nation to hear the gospel and know Christ intimately, so it only seemed fitting to go.


March 07: First things first, it was my birthday month! It was fabulous. Spring break showed up quickly, and I went home and started raising support for my South Africa trip. (I am going with 11 other students & 3 staff members to Johannesburg to work with college students for a couple months. Ask me more about it!!) I also attended a Bethany Dillon concert over Spring Break at Gardner-Webb with a couple of friends, and that was amazing. My birthday came & went with some fun happenings and doing what I love most... hanging out with my family & friends. It was a blast!!


April 07: I don't remember much from April at this moment.....


May 07: I "should" be graduating this month, but I'm not. So, it's been a struggle to get over the societal pressure to move on to the "adult stage" of my life. I'm rebelling against that, mainly because I coudn't make up my mind as to which major to choose for THREE YEARS! But, it's been time well-spent. I can definitely say that after all that changing of majors, I know myself so much more and I'm getting a degree in something I love..... painting. What will I do with a BFA in Painting? I'm not sure, but does anyone really know what the rest of their life will look like?? I think not. I'm just living in reality... kind of.


[image above] (me &) Darla at the prom looking soooo gorgeous!




May 19th I leave for South Africa, returning on July 9th!!!!