Songs I'm loving right now, and a random picture of Fall leaves!

I love music, and Fall, so this post is going to be about music, and Fall.
When it comes to music I have tons of favorites, and I love finding songs to get hooked on and listen to over and over again. Normally I'm attracted to country and acoustic-y type stuff, but I really will listen to just about everything. All of the songs I'm hooked on right now comes from lots of different genres, so I guess you could say I have pretty diverse taste.  So...here goes!


Create a MySpace Playlist at MixPod.comAugustana--Boston
I have my roommate Caroline to thank for my obsession with this song. It's currently my ringtone, and pretty much background music of my life right now.

Reba--If I Were a Boy
If anyone could cover Beyonce well, it would be Reba. She just does everything right. Oh, and I really want the green dress that she wears in the video.


Lady Antebellum--When You Were Mine
Their whole new album is awesome, but this is definitely my favorite song (right now anyways). Why am I so obsessed with heartbreaking songs??

Carrie Underwood ft. Sons of Sylvia--What Can I Say?
I've been obsessed with this one since it came out, and it still makes me cry. Their voices blend really beautifully.

Jaymee Dee--I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie)

This is a cover that I just heard for the first time a few minutes ago, but I can tell that I'm going to be obsessed with it already. I love her voice!


Jimmy Eat World--Hear You Me
This one is another one you can blame Caroline for :) It's an oldie and I've heard it before, but for some reason I'm just now becoming obsessed with it. This song is perfect for a sad drive. so lucky, so strong, so proud.

Dave Barnes--Until You
This playlist needs some happy. I could go on and on about why I love this song, but instead just listen. Love was kept from me like a secret, and I swore that I was through until you. 

Zac Brown Band--Keep Me in Mind
Try to listen to this song and not dance, seriously. I. Love. Zac. Brown. Band.

I could probably make a playlist of 42532584573042 songs that I'm obsessed with, but I won't :) 

And, since I said that I was going to talk about Fall, here's a picture I took from alumni park of our amazing colorful leaves. Seriously, is this real?! It's absolutely beautiful here.

Sometimes I just can't believe how blessed I am. Actually, all the time.

Campus

Paul Conn Student Union

For everyone who's like "What the heck is Lee University??" here you go. These are a few photos of campus that my friend Julia Jernigan took. They were taken at the beginning of the semester, so imagine this beautiful campus in Fall colors and you'll understand why I love life so much right now.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

 "But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield." -Psalms 5:11-12

Humanities; my favorite building!

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
-Galatians 2:20

Sugar Land.

Sugar Land will always be home to me. I had the most amazing Fall break in sweet Sugar Land, Texas. I got to see my family, hang out with friends (a highlight being my best friend Amy Reed;) ), and pretty much take a breathe and catch up on life in Texas. It's crazy how similar it feels to be back home, but yet how different it is. I'm not used to being in my own house and living out of a suitcase. I'm not used to going home feeling like a vacation. But even so, it was the best vacation ever.

Zach & I right after I got off the plane.

I definitely didn't realize how much I would miss Sugar Land. Family and friends aside, my favorite thing about being back was just getting to drive around in my truck to all of the places I used to go too. I'm really blessed to have such a great hometown.

Even though Sugar Land will always be my home, I know that it was the right thing for me to leave there. I know that I wouldn't have all of the opportunities I have now if I had stayed within my comfort zone. I'm back in beautiful Tennessee now, and I love it. It was really great to be home, but at the same time I wasn't dreading coming back to school. I love it here. It's crazy how I can feel so at home in two very different places. I guess I'm just doubly blessed.

To everyone I saw this past week who said they're following my blog: thanks! It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself. I love you, Sugar Land. See you at Thanksgiving!

"This is real life, Caroline. Idiot."

Those wise words came from my younger brother, Zach. He's so full of genius...

But don't be fooled by his harsh realism, he is also a lover of all things of whimsy.

He's basically awesome.
I'll be landing in Texas at around 9 PM tonight. I can't wait to see my family!!!

Remember that time I asked to be stretched?

I do. I remember saying "Hey God, use me. I want to make a difference for Your Kingdom. Take me completely out of my comfort zone."

Well the awesome thing about God is that He never fails to answer prayers. The thing is, I don't think I knew just what I was praying for. While I still definitely want everything I asked Him for, to be taken out of my comfort zone, I wasn't exactly thinking about the journey it would take to get there. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

 Everything about where I am is new right now. New faces, new places, new relationships, new experiences, new struggles, new joys; it's all just a bunch of newness. (Wow, I'm eloquent).

But this is my life now, and no matter how new and different everything is, I have to adapt. I think I'm doing pretty well so far, with the help of the Lord. He's provided for me so much since I've been here; it blows my mind how much He's taking care of me. He's making me feel comfortable being outside of my comfort zone, if that makes sense.

My life here is great. I would never complain about it, because it was my choice to pack up and move so far away from home. I'm still finding my place, but I thank God everyday for what He is doing here. I have to be stretched in order for Him to fulfill His purpose with me here. Sometimes being stretched makes you sore (look out, corny analogy), but it's always worth it. You can't get anywhere by staying within your comfort zone.

Even if I have to wake up each morning and tell myself over again, I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be.

And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Well, that was a lot of disorganized rambling. This is basically what I've been thinking about a lot lately. I'm going home today, and I'm so excited. I can't wait to see all of my family and friends back in Texas, but I also can't wait to get back here and see how God continues to work in my life. He really is incredible.

You put a rift inside me everyday, but then you choose to stay.

I love this song. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with heartbreaking songs, but I am. I first heard this song in an episode of Everwood, this dramatic show I used to love because I'm super cool like that.

"I think sometimes that ignoring something gives it too much power... pretty soon all that we can remember is what it is we were trying to forget." --Andy Brown 

(As in the dad from Everwood. More cool points for me.)

In the Light of the Sun

This post is pretty much going to be a collection of my completely random thoughts about life lately.

First, I'm going home in a week!! I'm so thankful that my school has Fall break, so I get to go home for a little bit. I'm so excited to see all of these faces!

My Fall break falls on the same weekend as my high school's homecoming, so I'm really excited to go back and see a bunch of my friends still in school, as well as my family and my incredible friends who are coming down from college that weekend. I'm also pretty excited to see my cat because I'm just so cool. I really really just can't wait to be home.



While I am super excited to be home, I'm loving life here. This is definitely where God wants me to be right now, more on that later. Here's what's been going on here:

I love Tennessee.

My roommate Caroline Kindiger shared a bunch of great music with me this week because she's awesome. This is my new favorite.

 

Last night Caroline and I discovered Rainymoods.com. It's pretty much the greatest website ever. We both had it playing all night last night, and this morning we woke up to a rainy campus. Our fault? Possibly. 

That's pretty much it. Life is good, God is faithful, and I'm going to take a nap. See you soon, Texas!

Here's to being held captive in my dorm room for the next 5 hours...

This post is really just a way to procrastinate all of the work I have to do, which is about 4354305985974533 different writing assignments. That's what I get for being a journalism major.

Oh well, at least I like writing. God rewards diligence, right? Guess I better get to it then...
See you next Spring!

I hope it's nice where you are

I shared this with Caroline Kindiger this morning, and I'm pretty sure we've listened to it 57 times today.

"All that I know is I don't know how to be something you miss."

Sometimes heartbreaking songs make me happy, in a backwards sort of way. 

Oh, and apparently I only like Taylor Swift songs when other people sing them.

Peace&Love

It's Fall!!

Fall is officially here in Tennessee! Actually it's been here for about a week, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. And of course I have to blog about it because I'm so excited!!


I love everything about Fall, and I've never been more excited for a Fall season in my life. I finally get to see leaves change colors and enjoy real Fall weather! (No offense to Texas, I still love you.) But seriously, what's not to love about scarves, pumpkin spice lattes, boots, cool breezes, orange-reddish leaves and everything else that comes with the season? It's the greatest.

My favorite thing about Fall is that it means that winter is almost here, and if you think I like Fall . . . just wait till winter. I won't even get started on my love of Christmas. (Not yet, anyways. I don't want to freak out my 2 followers.)

Well, time to wrap a scarf around my neck and walk through a flurry of trees and red brick buildings to get to my New Testament class. I'm so happy.

There's always a reason to be happy.