The season will be full of stories, of family and friends, of Christmases long ago, of memories and hopes and half forgotten days gone by. And in the midst of them, we must take care that we do not neglect the telling of the story. We must be present to its telling, if we hope for it to touch our hearts. We are the ones who must ponder in our hearts what all of this has to teach us about the Story of us all.

It will be up to us to leave our flocks unattended for a while. It will fall to us to manage our time and our energy and our calendars and our schedules. We are the ones who must make sure that there is a place and the time to be silent and thoughtful, to rest and contemplate. We are the ones who must seek out the time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Night of the Child.

-Night of the Child by Robery Benson

deux mois plus tard

"Now if God can take a tiny seed and, in the process of giving it his life, endow it with a knowledge of what it is supposed to be; if he can give it the purpose and strength and fruitfulness to not only accomplish it all, but to perpetuate itself as well; and if he can give it an inner calendar to tell it when all of this is supposed to be done, why is it so hard to believe he has done the same for our hearts?

Since he has done this for tomatoes and thistles and beans and dandelions, it shouldn't stretch our credibility to much to believe that his his image in us, the image inherent in the life he gives to each of us, is calling us to be.

The trick is to hear his voice, to believe it, and to trust it."

See You at the House by Bob Benson

j'ai des bottes de pluie jolies.

When you aren't always the fashion forward female of the group, it is always surprising and refreshing to be told that what you are wearing is cute.

Today, though, brought the rain, so I brought out my RAIN BOOTS!

Many thanks for the complements.

quelque chose à partager

Just wanted to share this with you. It's an excerpt from C.S. Lewis' "The Silver Chair". As a kid I remember reading "The Magician's Nephew." and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe." A couple years ago "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was the first book I bought in France, in French, to read for fun. I never ended up reading "The Silver Chair," though, as a kid because I did see the movie and it scared me. Well, most movies scared me as a kid, but I still have a mental picture of a scene. I have no idea what happens in the movie/book, but I do remember a silver chair. Anyways, I was reading yesterday in the Word along with The Blue Book, a devotional guide compiled by my friend J.L.B. Part of this excerpt was in the 'readings for reflection' section. I had just spent time in John 4. Then I read this...

“If you are thirsty, you may drink.”

[...] For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken. Then the voice said again, “If you are thirsty, come and drink,” [...] [she] realised that it was the lion speaking. [...] [T]he voice was not like a man’s. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the lion.

“May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realised that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion – no one who had seen his stern face could do that – and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.

Unbelievable. What a beautiful imagination Lewis was created with to aid in unveiling so much about John 4. I wrote in my journal that sentences like "There is no other stream." and "You are that girl." (from Gene Edwards' A Divine Romance) and "Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am He.'" (John 4:26) will, I think, forever be with me, and I am eternally grateful.

Glad I could share. Today I also babysat the triplets and was reminded of how much sharing is crucial to their lives, was to my growing up, and is now as I live in community.

Love,

pourquoi est tout que je veux si cher ?

There comes a time in a girl's life when she knows what she wants....and that time usually comes before birthdays and Christmas. Unfortunately for me, my list is short, but the total is, well, très grand.

1. My very own sewing machine. I've recently picked up the skill from my youth. My Nina taught all the grandkids when we were small. I am working on the quilt (some of my quilt squares are pictured below) from this post and also just finished this shirt (pictured below), both from designer Anna Maria Horner. I also splurged and bought this pattern yesterday. The mother-like-no-other has let me run off with her sewing machine for a while, which is lovely, but having one to my name would be great, yes?

Love,

c'est le pays orange

Just put on my orange outfit to start tailgating for the Tennessee v. Oregon game! There is absolutely nothing like walking with 100,000 (or more) people to cheer on the Vols.

LET'S GO BIG ORANGE!

love,

des choses

just a few things to put fingers to keys:

I took my last 'first test' of my last year of college today. Psychology 110. I know, it's a core freshman level class, and I am taking it as a 5th year. It was pouring outside. I had to put the scantron underneath my shirt under my dripping raincoat. Psychology scantrons are special. They are skinny, and the psychology folks make you bubble in rectangles which is much harder than circles.

I just ended a major game of phone tag with my friend R.S.D. It was such a wonderful time of sharing where we are. I love how the Lord expresses his love for us through friendship.

If you really knew me, you'd know that me and music have never really been that close. But I have realized that when I do need a little tunage in my life, Pandora's Harry Connick, Jr. station does the trick for me---a mix of H.C.Jr. himself, some Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat King Cole, and the list of old greats continues.

Now I am off to read my French homework for tomorrow and get a glass of water.

Love,

l'avenir vert

I was listening to the radio the other day while traveling back from the beach. It wasn't regular radio, though. It was XM, which we collegeish-age folk don't normally have the moolah to pay for. We were tired of listening to music, so we turned it to one of those stations that just tells you to stories. I am pretty sure we caught some big idea convention somewhere on the West Coast.

Of the many compilation of stories that were told, one caught my imagination and took me back to a dream I had for a while back when I was younger.

A man with a very energetic and adventurous voice began his speech on how to get kids excited about a Green Future. Seeing as that is the most obvious marketing trend, this man talked about how to continue to further the green initiative, we have to get kids excited.

This was his idea. He said, the most energy efficient modes of transportation (to move people) are....roller coasters and zip lines. (Yes, you can now get really excited along with me). Then he said, just tell kids that in the green future you can go to school on a roller coaster or a zip line.

That was pretty much his speech, but it took me back to when I was little and dreamed of hooking my backpack on the power lines and riding it to school. I realize that power lines aren't really that safe, but I didn't realize that then. I was just envisioning the future.

Here's to the future He has planned!

Love,

Le mariage: une coversation avec mes triplés

I babysit triplets, 4.5 years old, two girls (K & R), one boy (J). Two weekends ago they were in a wedding. Ever since it is all we've talked about. I'd like to share their interpretation of the ceremony.

K came to me this morning to tell me that Muno & Toodee and Plex & Foofa were going to be married. Brobee, however could not get married because there was not another girl member of the Gabba Gang. I suggested that Brobee should be the pastor. She asked what a pastor was. I told her that the pastor was the person who stood with the bride and groom and got to say, "You may now kiss the bride." She clearly remembered that part because she then divulged that at the wedding she was in, the bride and groom 'fancy kissed'. I found out later that if you are ever dipped while being kissed, you are being 'fancy kissed'. Brobee became the pastor.

We gathered up several Disney princesses, Jesse from Toy Story, and a Playmobile Sheriff to be in the audience. J, the boy, was the announcer and K and R commented on what was going on.

First, the Ring Barrel goes down with the pillow with the flower girls.

Next they drink the blood of Jesus when he died.

Then they eat the bread.

Then the Pastor (Brobee) says, "You may now kiss the bride."

Then they 'fancy kiss'.

We had several ceremonies this morning. Each couple that got married were extremely patient and attended the others' ceremonies. Well, all except Polly Pocket Ariel, who simply would not wear the same dress to two weddings in a row.

As cute as this was, I think it was amazing what elements of the wedding they remembered. The Rings, signs of commitment; Communion, the first act as a married couple together remembering the sacrifice, work and great love of Jesus Christ; and The Kiss, an outward expression of love.

On a side note, but still to do with weddings, yesterday I met a sweet 7-year-old.

She asked how old I was. I told her 22.

She said, "And you're not married yet????"

Then she told me I was beautiful.

"Thank you," I replied.

"You have big ears," she said next.

"Maybe that's why I'm not married," I thought.

What an eventful, humbling, and sweet past two days.

Love,

projets d'été.

I wouldn't normally say that I'm a huge goal setter or dreamer, but mid-summer I had two ideas that I really wanted to see through: I wanted to cut the legs off the bed in my room that stood at about 4 feet and I wanted to sew my own quilt.

Project 1: Baissez le lit. (Lower the bed.)

I live in a small room. (8'x10'') My granddad made a bed for my little sister when we moved to West Tennessee. It is an oversized twin frame that is solid wood. My mattress just sits on it and there is about a foot of space that is a built in shelf for a lamp, books, phone, etc.

First, I slept where you would sleep, on top of the bed. However, it was a hassle to climb up and study. Especially since I study late, with coffee, and coffee makes me pee. Climbing up and down late just didn't work. Also, I tended to fall asleep whenever I would try and study in bed. So then I just opted to work 100% of the time in the living room.

Then, this past Spring, I had a revelation: I'd just sleep underneath my bed and use the top to study. Well I slept well because it was darker under there, but the whole studying thing on top of the happened exactly once because it was still just a hassle to get on and off. (either that or I just didn't study much this past Spring).

So heading into next semester, I wanted to be able to get in an out of bed like a normal person. I wanted to be able to sit on my bed and hang out. I had really only been using my room to sleep and change clothes...

...But now...I feel like I have a whole new room! My sweet friend A.D.R.'s stepdad came over after I moved everything, which wasn't much, out of my room. He had all the tools and it took like 45 minutes start to finish to get the job done. I wish I had a camera, because I'd show you how fun it is to have a normal bed! I also have this awesome poster that I surrounded with scenery pictures from when I was abroad. I love it!

Project 2: Le couvre-lit (The Quilt)

I went home a few weeks ago and found this book at my little sister's sewing desk.

I loved everything in this book, but the Playing Along Quilt caught my eye the most! It looks like this:

(Anna Maria Horner has a blog, too: http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/)

I took a trip out west to Gina's Bernina and spent some moola on 6 fabrics. I started with a gray fabric with lots of colorful flowers, added a blue with white polka dots, yellow with white diamonds, green flowers, one with red couches and and white with swirly gray bicycles on it. I thought it would take a long time, but two days later I have finished cutting the pieces for the front! Now I just have to go home for a sewing machine and get to stitching! I realized that this quilt will be HUGE and not so cheap, but a good skill to learn, and something, if I do it well, that I will use for the rest of my life.

All this to say, I've realized that I have an old soul, but I'm okay with that!

Love,

ma ville

this past weekend my whole family spent the weekend in the mini van/minivan (two words/one word?) on a trip down to attend the wedding of my cousin, N.M.S., in Mobile, Alabama.

We headed south on 75, continued on 85 down through where my cousin had grown up in Hogansville in order to visit the tiny, lovable main street (home of one of the best antique stores around) and the graveside of my uncle. It was great to simply make a memory as we headed to celebrate at the wedding of my uncle's only son. So we headed down through AL on 65 and had a great time meeting is then fiance, now wife, E.S., at their God-centered wedding ceremony.

Then we turned right back around and headed north on 65, 85, 75 back home. Father's day at church was great. We got my dad a real soft Eddie Bauer loose fitting, especially around the bottom slate gray henley style shirt. He also received an honorary membership to a golf club in town. I am pretty sure the membership beat the shirt on the excite-o-meter.

Later on I drove into Chattanooga. If you have never been to Chattanooga, please visit. I love this city. It is weird though, because when I am not there I don't think about it much. I am where I am. However, when I drive away from it, I always always have an overwhelming feeling of love, good memories of THE BEST childhood, and thankfulness to my great God for the life that He's given me.

My Sunday in Chattanooga started at my second home on Missionary Ridge. I took my friend S.S. up to relax and destress. as we sat on the sun porch drinking diet cokes and looking over the Chattanooga Valley. Then I drove up the mountain where I lived for the first 14 years of my life to visit with another sweet friend. We just chatted, laughed, tried to figure a thing or two out about life, contemplated me just spending the night, decided to not, and drove on back up to Knoxvegas. It was just sweet time in my city with my sweet friends.

Off to work, discover new places in town, surprise friends at their houses, and simply move because I am able to.

Love,

un aperçu de la vie nous étions destinés à vivre

a couple weeks ago I got to get really really messy having good, clean fun. GHS, where I am a Young Life leader, joined up with CHS for the end-of-the-year Ice Cream Olympics. It is literally one of my favorite nights of the entire year. I laid a blanket in the back seat of my car and put bottom-sheets on the two front seats in preparation for the night ahead. 7:30 p.m. we started with wheel-barrow races to fish swedish fish out of whipped cream ( I haaate whipped cream, but it was worth it), then an over/under block of ice cream race, then a 'make it dissappear' race,

then it was CHAOS.

but it was pure chaos.

not simply chaos. I mean pure in that there was no defilement.

this was a night of adventure. pure adventure.

we laughed because it was pure fun.

my friends experienced a glimpse of the life we were meant to live.

my sweet girls

GHS YL!

love these two!

and these three

afterwards at McDonalds

my wonderful team

so we started at 7:30 and I got back to my apt around 10:30, still covered in dried ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup to take a looong shower. I smelled interesting for days to say the least.

hope you can have a adventure soon!

love,

je prends une pause.

okaaaay. so it is finals week. everyone should clasp their hands together and shake them gallantly on either side of their head. its here...the week where all they ask of us is to study and come in and take a test for a maximum of two hours...oh wait except for Capstone French 44o, where today I frantically ravaged my brain for ideas to make 10 pages of material come from this topic:

La conversation, des éléments du discours et le discernement:

Les outils du langage pour montrer le bon goût

translations: conversations, elements of discourse and discernment: tools of language to show good taste.

well, at least I hope. please don't correct me if that is wrong. I slapped that title on as I printed in out in a far too crowded major state university library.

so basically, I used two 17th century works to prove all that, and I now want to forget it all. The beauty of how ridiculously arbitrary it was is that I can. So I am taking a break from sitting with the computer on my lap--i seriously think i the imprint stayed on my leg all day.

I still have 3 exams to go, including one tomorrow in the a.m. so i'm off to study! well maybe i'll watch the Castle episode that I missed. Please tell me you love the show Castle. If you haven't watched, its not too late, and it is wonderful!

peace,

pour dimanche

"always do the next right thing."

-my dad

à ma chérie, la seule et unique Jornado

This post is dedicated to my dear, the one and only: Jornado.

sis, I happen to love this photo. I know your hair is short and it is pre-braces, but it is soooooo you.

Let's play one of my favorite games.

If you really knew the Jornado, you would know....

...the poor girl is left all alone at home with her sisters and brother away grown up or at college, but she's handling it like a champ.

...she is mastering the piano--an actual musical instrument, ha!

...she just returned from Israel & dominated the falafel, I'm sure.

...she'll do just about anything because she is crazy fun.

...she loves to laugh and tell funny stories.

...she is real good at sewing; see folks we suddath girls all know our way around a Singer.

...she loves Jesus, and teaches me all the time things about the Heavenly Father we share.

well, folks, I could go on all day, but I am supposed to be working on a 15 page paper due thursday. oh great!

love,

un jour sans ma montre.

real quick before I head to bed, I wanted a piece of my day today.

But first of all you need to know a few things

1. I love wearing a watch. I love wearing a watch for two reasons:

a of all: I love knowing/answering if some asks the time without looking at my cell phone

b of all: the watch tan line proves I have a tan. no matter how awful it looks, it is evidence that even though my tan is your pale, I'm still tan.

2. I love analog watches. I love analog watches for two reasons:

a of all: they don't beep.

b of all: I think they are more refined. In fact, I can remember being a little girl and putting my dad's NCAA watch on--like this one : but it is all gold and it stretchs. but even with it all closed up, it was always HUGE on my arm. My mom is a fan of the gold and silver loose chain watches. I think these are rather annoying because it is always a hassle to see the time. Clearly the head of the watch falls to the low side of you arm and it jingle-jangles all day long. Still, I'd put hers on too just for kicks and pretend to be grown up.

My watch is plain, go figure. It has a dark brown leather band. It was 12 dollars at Target. The face is silver and it is small. (gotta keep the tan line visible but not dominating, you know).

Anyways, the point of this is that today I went without my watch. I spent the day not scheduled. This doesn't mean I never knew what time it was. No, I have a clock by my bed, on the oven, on the cell phone that I unintentionally, but gratefully left at the apartment both times I left today and on my computer screen which has and will be keeping me company as I drudge through multiple 10+ papers that I have to get done soon. very soon.

But, when I went for a run and when I went for ice cream, ahem Menchies, with sweet friends, I didn't worry about the time. I was just there. It was wonderful.

Now it time for bed, lots of writing to finish and start tomorrow. love,

mon cafe du jour (et parfois deux fois par jour)

ante meridiem or post meridiem (tonight for sure, thank you 10 page French paper), this stuff is my love.

I just went to their Web site to pull the photo and found there is a "Mocha" grind.

mmm! However, I do sometimes feel like I am cheating on my city, the home of JFG coffee.

here's to my fellow addicts!

love,

la vie d'une jumelle.

Well, just one bit of interesting news. But, if you really new me you'd know that the phrase, "long story short" doesn't amount to a hill of beans, so here goes.

When I was born...not kidding, we're starting here...my mom had to get a shot b/c she's Rh negative. I don't know all the science behind it, but as a result, my twin sister and I also had some blood tests done. This resulted in us knowing our blood types--hers O+ and mine A-, so my parents knew we were fraternal.

This proved to be hard to believe for most people who for the past 22 years have pretty much assumed we're identical, and we had to repeat over and over that we had different blood types.

This all changed on thursday. She had was giving blood at her college for the first time in her life. I am not sure why she'd never given before. Seems like I've given a ton of times. Anyways, they pricked her finger and squeezed it into the tubey thingy and then dropped in on a slide (ps she took the MCAT saturday; she's going to die laughing if she reads 'tuby thingy' ha!) They nurse lady dropped some other liquid, dropped it onto the slide, swirled the two together, looked under a light, and noted her findings.

My sis, being the gal who was about to take the MCAT decided to find out what the nurse lady was doing. The nurse lady said she was just determining what blood type my sis was and found that she was A-. (now quick, look back up and note that this is not the original findings from birth day.) Sis was dumbfounded, explained the situation, and asked some questions. The nurse lady proved to be not much help, and I've decided probably not the brightest of nurse ladies in the world, but we'll let it go.

Well, sis calls me with the news. This means that at the age of 22 we found out we might have an identical twin. So cool, so different. I call my roommate, text some others, and we conference call our brother. The parentals were out of the country. We were only supposed to call them if "there was blood involved, a lot of blood," (said the mother-like-no-other). I justified there being a lot of blood involved and we tried to conference them in. They didn't answer. Lame.

Skip to today: The parentals arrived home around 6 a.m. and I called around 12:30 post church. The mother-like-no-other answered and promptly called me by my sister's name. I corrected her. She apologized, then said, "Well y'all might be identical, so I guess I have more of an excuse."

The end, I'll let you know if we find out for sure. Anyone know how much DNA testing is these days?

oh and, did this today because I love not writing papers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0Mjw3SBRM

I'm a dork, enjoy!

deux petits désirs

Real quick, thought I'd share two quick wishes that I have. They are unrelated as of now. Most things in my life, however, end up being related. Perhaps by the end of this post, I'll have connected them.

The first came to me this morning in church as a result of what we've recently learned in bible study--woman's role as helper/completers. So I guess I've just been more apt to observe older female folk. I want to be like this woman someday:

We were signing a song in church, one that you would probably link to a younger generation type song, but I noticed about six rows up and to the right an older couple. The woman sat on the end of the row, in the last chair. Her husband sat next to her in his wheelchair. As I watched the two of them, I saw the man raise his hands in worship. They were not outstreched farther than just above his head. The next thing that happened almost made me cry. The lady, without looking at her husband, reached up and supported his left arm. Knowing that he lacked the strength to raise both arms till the end of the song, she held his arm in the most tender, life-giving way.

The next wish I have has been with me for a while now, just don't know when I'll get around to making it happen in my life. I really want to learn how to quilt. My favorite fabric and pattern designer, Amy Butler at www.amybutlerdesigns.com, has several free patterns to download. I know this isn't the cheapest of hobbies to get into, but I just can't shake it. I currently have 5 patterns saved to my desktop. Here's two of them:

The Sexy Hexy Quilt: & The Belle Quilt:

So maybe, to tie the two together, I just want to be an old woman who desires to help her husband and be in a quilting club. How does that work?

Je deviens ma mère.

After today, I should probably just face it. I am turning into...my mother. Not complaining, love her dearly, just never thought the wardrobe would be the tell. But here's what happened today:

I got up at 7:00 to snowflakes falling. I checked the weather and it said the snow was to stop around 8 am, so i washed my hair in the sink. (yes, the kitchen sink, because I already knew the day added up to being cold for the majority of it, so I wasn't about to add to that by undressing. you know you've done it.) So I headed to work with clean hair, and relative to the world, a clean body dressed in what i like to call...one of my outfits of diversion.

*background info: when went to interview for my sweet internship, L.D. said that I could just come in what I wore to classes, something like what she had on--oh wait--she had on black, all be it, somewhat casual pants, with a nice black and white sweater. Hahahahaha. If she only knew what I wore to class.

Thus began the expansion of my wardrobe many thanks to A.K.C and M.E.A. However with all this cold weather and my recent annoyance with dress pants, mostly because of a lack of shirts to go with them without feeling like a complete goth in the wintertime (thank you fair skin), I have been at a loss for creative work attire.

Then I realized that I could get away with wearing jeans. Well, skinny jeans with boots and a unique, catch-you-off-guard kind of shirt that stylish older women love to ask about to younger girls. The jeans are never noticed and they keep me warm and comfy.

So, back to today. I put on my skinny jeans and boots and rummaged to find this white long sleeved button down shirt that I have worn exactly once. This is not your typical polo button down. No, this one falls approximately at the half way point on the back pockets of my jeans. there is no tapering of the hemline. Meaning, the shirt by itself looks a lot like a short version of an old nurse's uniform. I added a warm dark brown wool sweater. Then my peacoat, which is a life saver.

Work went well, then I went to RUF Monday afternoon bible study. This is where it hit me. This sweet girl, L., said Julia, you look straight off the pages of the L.L. Bean catalog. Haha. I am not sure if she meant it as a compliment. But the truth of the matter is--the awkward white button down--Talbots, compliments of mama, the brown sweater, Eddie Bauer, compliments of mama's ll bean credit card, and the canvas tote--ll bean, compliments of the Ellsworth LL bean factory outlet store.

So, thank you mom. Thank you for influencing me in so many ways that are way more important than my wardrobe.

les lois de la récolte...Laws of the Harvest

Just got back from my Bible study with C.J., A.A., K.H., and led by L.M. We've just finished the second lesson--mistress of the domain: fallen (the terminology is crazy, but you fall in love with in after the first lesson). It doesn't teach how to be a godly woman, wife, friend, but it looks at what the Bible says about woman's purpose and it affects how you are a woman, wife, and friend. Thought I'd share a little.

L.M. started off by adding some additional material and learn and memorize. They are the Laws of the Harvest from Galatians 6:7-8 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

1. You cannot reap unless you sow.

2. You always reap more than you sow.

3. You always reap the same in kind as you sow.

4. You always reap in a different season.

Can I just take the time also to say how thankful I am for this Bible study and the leadership of L.M.? She loves her husband well (and he loves her so beautifully too) and her mother-in law and us 4 college-aged girls and literally everyone she comes in contact with.

et...voila!

I started the week in the library, in the commons, downloading Google Chrome (again, my obsession with Google continues) which I absolutely adore! I had a long night ahead of me. 2 presentations, 2 response paper, a 3 page extended CV, 200 pages of reading to finish, and a quiz to study for. at 3 am I went home to sleep for 3.5 hours.

School Tuesday came and went, I turned all the work in, did mediocre on the quiz and headed to dinner with C.J. to meet L.M., K.?, and A.A. for our first bible study together. It was INCREDIBLE! I could maybe go on for days but I'll just say for now that I am so grateful for the time to be with these new friends and am so excited about working through the Bible and the study 5 Aspects of Woman--a study that provides a biblical and theological framework based on a Genesis-to-Revelation study of five truths on the nature of femininity. Then I came home to finally spend some quality with M.E.A. and talk to by mom and brother on the phone.

Then Today! Such a fun day! I woke early to meet with my Young Life team at the office. Then I went to work and wrote an article, well two actually, on the same thing because all my bosses were on the phone and not checking their e-mail and I didn't know what to focus on and had nothing else to finish. Wednesdays are short at work for me because I want a day in the middle of the week to go out to Gibbs. I had sweet time with K.T., B.T., S.S., H.D., E.H.,N., M.G, D.M.,L., A.W., A.P., S.P., and K. and a great ride there and back with J.T. (so thankful for her).

After running to the grocery store, I met K.M.P. for coffee at the golden roast. I love my time with her. She helped me get through this past summer like a champ. We were T's in an world filled with F's. Not wanting to get back into the real world, I impulsively drove across Knoxville to my absolute favorite shop in town: Bradley's!!!! And this is what greeted me:

They got their new spring items from market recently and let's just say that if I hadn't gone with only 20 minutes until close, I would have been in there for hours just look at everything about 20 times. It actually is like the smallest store, but I just circle and circle and circle. It is a bit on the high end of gift shops, well my high end, but I almost never leave without milk chocolate covered graham crackers.

After reluctantly leaving at closing time, I found myself heading away from my car and into JoAnn (which I call JoAnn's, which totally slaps me in the face because I have on way too many occasions made fun of K.N.F and M.E.A. to name a few who add an 's' to the end of Kroger). Anyway, I wandered and explored. I maybe could spend all day in those two stores, conveniently located in adjacent storefronts.

Anyways, I wanted to be crafty. I wanted to be crafty so bad because I did not want to do homework...thoughts of Monday night are haunting me. And this is what I found!

They are brads by my favorite fabric designer, Amy Butler (www.amybutlerdesign.com visit and let your eye feast!). Et voila! I bent the pliable metal brads around simple necklace 18'' necklaces and made 9 simple, unique gifts for around $8 total. I also found some amy butler matting paper that I'll probably just use to write notes on and who knows what else! Woo hoo!!!! Now I am writing this blog and still procrastinating.

I am grateful, it's been a while.

Je me suis googlée. (Je viens d'inventer ce participe passé)

So today in class I heard for the gajillionth time that you have to be extremely cautious with the information that you put on the internet because once it is there, it is there forever. My professor told us to go home and Google ourselves to we are up to date on the info that is up because you just never know.

Here are the results for Julia Suddath when typed into Google's search engine. (By the way I happen to love to Google anything and everything. I the queen of answering 97% of the questions that M.E.A. asks by saying, "let's look it up." I am loyal to Google. Yahoo and the others just don't measure up.)



1. Julia Suddath: Facebook--clearly Facebook pays the big bucks for their items to appear at the top.
2. Julia Suddath: $1000 in Political Contributions for 2004--well, ha, even if I did have $1000 to give away when I was 16 and a sophomore in high school, I sure would not have donated it in the same way.
3. Julia Suddath: THIS BLOG--
4. Fall 2009 Dean's List UT College of Communication and Information: Thank you, thank you. You don't need to congratulate me.
5. Malik Julia: The results for searching "Malik Julia" on 123 people dot com HAHA
6. Julia Suddath Campaign Contributions -- Huffington Post: Well, clearly distant cousin Julia is certainly doing her part for padding the political campaign wallet.
7. About USJ: dear high school, how have you been??

Well it gets a bit general from there on out. However, this is my reminder to you in case you haven't been constantly reminded by many to be prudent with your online information.

Have a blessed day/night!

Quel achat! haha!

Ok so I can't believe I am admitting this, but I think it is way too funny not to go ahead and write.

Yesterday after a an early workout with M.E.A, we hit the trail to find a few books I needed for school at McKays. (P.S. I hate McKays officially now. I had my list, and even politely asked for some help upfront so I wouldn't be frustrated. The lady just replied that McKays is a 'point you in the right direction and let you pick through for yourself kind of establishement'. Which clearly made my jaw drop. So I said, well how bout you point.) Anyways, apparently McKays had already been picked through by more patient and experienced perusers. So we headed about a mile to The Bent Corner, a smaller used bookstore than McKays but with many, many more cats.

We gave up on the book search and decided to go to Target because my favorite grandmother-to-be N.U. gave me one of the best gifts ever...

This is what I bought:

and

Wait...did you get that? I got some very cute, flats (for $12.99--Impressed A.K.C.??) and new deodorant. The Scent: Sexy Intrigue. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! But it smells good, and hey, maybe it will help. Kidding, just kidding, not really, but yes I am. By the way, it is part of Degree's fine fragrance collection of Sexy Intrigue, Classic Romance, Delicious Bliss. And if you go to their website you can get a $1 coupon.

There, I admitted it. It's funny. At least I think so. All in all, a good day---except for McKays. Stupid lack of customer service.

Les ruisseaux dans le désert.

Years ago a sweet friend, B.C.C., told me about the devotional aid Streams in the Desert. She was one of those friends that came into my life for a season and I will be continually thankful for her godly influence. Anyways, I've dipped in and out of this devotional from time to time, but this morning I could hardly wait for some reason to open it (well actually bring it up online because my copy is at my apt in knox.) The words took me to the book of Hosea, the happening of a man who marries a prostitute who leaves him many times for other lovers. It is a story that many have rewritten and seen exemplified in their own lives as they look at how they have been a just as unfaithful to Jesus. But today, the excerpt focused on verses 14 and 15, "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. there I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope." Mrs. Cowman write how odd it is that there, in the desert, the Lord provides a vineyard, and there in the Valley of Achor, which means bitterness, He creates hope.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with my sweet brother J.C.S. when I went to visit him in early December. We had gone to a small hang out time with some old friends to play games and when we left he asked my one questions: "Why were you there?" He said he had been challenged by a good friend to ask that question of himself periodically to see where God had put him and for what purposes.

My answer, by the way, was, "to recognize old faces and to get a small glimpse of what the next phase of life (out of college) can look like."

The connection: I think that sometimes we walk into deserts and become consumed with our assumption of why we are there, so that when the vineyard is revealed we are uninterested and stubborn. At least I know I have.

On a completely other note, I am praying this morning for A.K.C. and M.E.A as they both are taking tests and interviewing, respectively. They are both brilliant and seeking the Lord for their futures. Much love to them.

La résolution de mon nouvel an--je veux arrêter de mordre mes ongles.

So, seeing that it now 2010, I am making 1 resolution. How in the world did 2010 get here so fast by the way? 2009 was on speed. My one resolution, however, could effect my health, my physical look, the ability of getting a job, but certainly how I deal with stress or times of anxiousness and nervousness. I want to quit biting my fingernails.

I've been doing it since forever. There has only been one time that I stopped biting 9 of my nails for longer than two weeks. That was the summer of 2008 while at Camp Vesper Point and in Maine, coming off of a semester in France and heading towards my first semester at UTK. Well once I got to Knoxville, I started biting my nails again, but that is understandable, right? I mean new school, apartment, and life. I tried to stop at the beginning of the fall semester of 2009, but it all went downhill when school got going again.

So here's to 2010 and the end to my famously short nails. I painted them a color I like two days ago in Florida and am praying, really praying for discipline in this. It may seem small, but it is huge for me.