Remember me?

Oh, hey there!

I don't have a good reason for not blogging all year, except for the fact that I just didn't feel like it. Also, because I truly value the art of writing, I felt like I couldn't blog unless I had something especially meaningful to write about, and that scared me. 

But then I remembered why I started this blog: to keep people from home updated on my new adventures in college. Last year this Texas girl was scared out of her mind in Tennessee, and I guess writing made home feel closer.

Then a funny thing happened: I got used to Tennessee, and Tennessee got used to me. As much as I will always love Texas, Tennessee is where I'm at right now, and I'm more than okay with it. I still cherish my home and my relationships there, but I've found other ways to stay connected to them. Writing quick updates on my life just didn't seem necessary anymore.

Yet, this week, as I've been enjoying a few calmer moments in the craziest season of my life, I realized that I still have a lot to write about. 

I can't always promise meaningful posts, or even anything on a regular basis, but I can promise that I will try. I've been wandering around quite a bit since last May, and I'd love to catch you up.

If we were children I would bake you a mudpie

"Oh what I wouldn't do

If I had you, babe, if I had you,"

What I wouldn't do - A Fine Frenzy

Hello friends :) I can't believe the end of the semester is so close! In just 10 days my roommate Caroline and I will be starting our "coffee road trip" all the way HOME to Texas. I can explain that more later. 

The Caroline's Coffee Road trip, coming May 2012

I just wanted to stop in and send out a quick update, since this next week I'll be crazy busy with finals, moving out, and getting everything ready to go HOME. Did I mention I'm going HOME soon?! I really can't wait.

When I reflect on this semester I'm overwhelmed by how much God has revealed to me. I'm exhausted, but I'm thankful. Things are already in place for next semester, which makes me excited to be back here! But, not without Summer first. 

But anyways, in the next few days, this will be me:

I promise I get some studying done...sometimes. 

Texas friends, I can't wait to see you! Contact me soon and we'll figure out a way to hang out this summer :)

Tennessee friends, I've been so blessed to get to know each and every one of you, and I can't wait for round two this fall.

Love always. 

I'm here, and it's on purpose.

"Wherever you are,

 be all there." Jim Elliott 

Well, I'm right here. Hi.

Life is really great, but really busy. Right after Spring break the thick of the middle of the semester hit really hard, and for a few weeks I was lucky if I was able to stay in one place for more than an hour. Life is finally slowing down and letting me breathe a sigh of relief - the storm has passed over. 

I had an amazing Spring break with (most of) my family in Colorado. Along with my parents and Tyler, it was so awesome to see Zach at school, and see how much he's grown as a man of God in the last few months. Next week he'll be flying to Kyrgyzstan to do missionary work for 3 months, which basically means I'll be in constant prayer for him for 3 months! 

In the midst of extreme business, roommate outings make me really happy :) 

Like I said, life at Lee since Spring break has been incredibly busy, but it's been a blessing. There are so many great opportunities for me here. I'm learning to be thankful for them even though I complain about them stealing my time. 

............

I'm homesick. The hardest part about being overloaded with school these past few weeks is that I was having trouble caring. I love being at Lee, but right now my heart and mind are resting in Sugar Land, while my body is still pushing itself in Cleveland. In four days I'll be going home for the first time all semester, and I couldn't be more excited. I could hug the whole state of Texas. 

God has really been using that quote by Jim Elliott to speak to me. When I get homesick, I tend to only think about going home, and I begin going through the minimal motions just to get through the day. That's a sorry way to live.

Like it or not, I'm here.

So now I just need to be here. 

I'm here, and it's on purpose. My resolution for the rest of the semester is to fully, whole-heartedly, un-regretfully be here, and to enjoy it. I'm so fortunate to be where I am, and a stressful season should not give me a reason to complain.

It's such a beautiful truth that the joy of the Lord is not based upon circumstance or current state of mind. He is so constant, so faithful, and so good. 

As always, I'm learning, seeking, serving, and wandering.

With love. 

Rescued: He Will Break Every Chain

Once again, I'm late. But...  Happy February!! I hope you're having a fantastic February. 


I know I've been MIA lately, but I promise I have a good excuse. The dance troupe, Unity, that I've been apart of since I've been at Lee is having our show this weekend. My schedule has been really crazy this week with rehearsals on top of school and trying to have a social life. 


I'm so excited for this show. This show is going to effect lives. God's heart is in this show, and I believe that He can use it to set the captives free. 


The video above is one of the songs we're dancing too, in the portion of the show that focuses on sex slavery.


Please be praying for the show this weekend. We're dancing for souls caught in slavery...whether it's personal slavery, sex slavery, or any other form...we're being their voice this weekend. 

Better late than never...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know, I know...it's already the middle of January. But even though my well wishes are late, they are still sincere.

I had to best month at home. It was probably my favorite Christmas break I've ever had. The fact that I live away from home now makes going back so much sweeter. Plus the fact that my whole family was together for the first time since August made it so much fun.

Displaying some Christmas gifts!
New sweater, make up and curling iron :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and that 2012 is treating you well so far. I pray that you all continue to seek Christ, and build a relationship with Him deeper than you've ever known.

I'll write a longer update about Christmas break soon, but at the moment I'm still settling in to being back at Lee and starting the brand new semester (it's going great so far!). Once I've wrapped my head around everything you'll definitely be hearing from me.

Till next time :)

Tales of Happiness

Well, my first semester of college has come to end. So...I'm done!!! In a few hours I'll be on my way to sweet Sugar Land, Texas for the holidays. A whole month of Sugar Land sounds really incredible right now.

Roommates :)

I can't believe this first semester is already over. Even though a lot has happened, it feels like just yesterday I was moving into my dorm room and meeting this curly haired girl who has the same name as me. Flash forward four months, and now my beautiful roommate Caroline is one of my closest friends, and along with that I have two incredible suit mates and a lot of other kindred spirit friends that I've made here. Moral of the story: God knows what He's doing. Always. He's never left me hanging - He's always taken care of me. It's almost as if He's in love with me or something... :)

So, in order to put off packing a little while longer, I'm going to write about a few awesome experiences that I've had here lately. I'm also writing about it because...well I love writing down my experiences and keeping everyone who is praying for me updated on what's going on in my life.

Last week I went with my friend Emily to get my guitar strings changed. One of my strings broke way back in October, but I still hadn't gotten them changed because I don't have a car and didn't even know where to go to get it done. Luckily my friend Emily needed something from a music store here in Cleveland, so she offered to give me a ride (because she's awesome). I was hoping that there would be someone in the music store who could change them for me since it's been a long time since I learned to change strings and I didn't want to mess anything up. I was expecting this to be a pretty pricey deal, but worth it all the same.

My beautiful guitar that Dub even cleaned for me!

When we got to the music store the man sold me strings for about a third of the price I would've gotten in Sugar Land, which was really awesome considering I'm a college student and money never seems to stay in my pocket. He said he didn't have anyone in the shop who could change the strings for me, but he knew someone who would do it for $5 a guitar. He gave me the man's name and number, and next thing I know I'm calling a man named Dub and asking if I could drop my guitar off at his house to get my strings changed. Dub was an adorable elderly man who used to be a preacher, and said when he was young he had hair the same color as mine. He changed both mine and Emily's guitar's for $5 each, and couldn't have been any sweeter. I just wanted to go into his house, have some tea and hear his story. I didn't, but that would've been awesome.

So, the point to this story is that I love small towns. Really, they're awesome. Everyone is friendly, and when they say "How are you doing?" they really want to know. I'm so glad that God placed me in such a sweet town. The people here are teaching me to enjoy doing things for other's just because I want to help out - without asking anything, or very little, in return.

The next story is about this weekend when I got to go to Nashville!! My friend Lisa must've known that I've been wanting to go to Nashville all semester, and that I needed a getaway from a boring finals week, because she invited me on a trip that her hall was going on over the weekend. She didn't end up going, but somehow I was still invited to go to Nashville with a hall full of girls that I had just met, and it was so much fun. We went to the Opryland hotel to look at the Christmas decorations first - it was so beautiful. Then after that we went line dancing in downtown Nashville, which was an absolute blast.

Nashville is my favorite city in the world. I blew a kiss to the Grand Ole Opry and promised I'd be back. One of my goals is to live in Nashville for a little while after college. I don't know what I'd do there yet, except I know that I'd go to the Opry as much as I could and soak up the heaven that comes out of that place.

Downtown Nashville, such a beautiful place.

Opryland Hotel!

Tennessee sunset. See you in January :)

Anyways, I've had an incredible semester, and even though I'm more than thrilled to go home for a month, I can't wait to come back here next year for part two of freshman year. You know something...God really knows what He's doing.

If you've stuck with me this far, congratulations, because you're about to read the most important part. Here goes: some parts of this adventure of a first semester has felt like a compete free fall. I really didn't know what I was doing when I came to Lee University in Cleveland Tennessee, except that I was going where I felt the Lord was leading me.  But the thing about free falls is that once you get over the fear of the landing, they can be an incredible experience. All you can do is enjoy the fall, and trust that someone, or something, will catch you at the end of it. The Lord has repeatedly told me that He'll be there to catch me. And even better than that, He's come in and taken over completely--acting as my wings. So now, my free fall feels more like flying.

Well, that's all. Sorry this post was such a novel. Actually I guess I'm really not sorry, but I really do hope you stayed with me!

Love always to you and yours,
Caroline.

Now playing: "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" -Alan Jackson
First semester of college: check.

Finals week!

Studious Abby

Finals week is finally here, which means my first semester of college is just about over. Crazy, right?
I still remember leaving my house on August 18th to make the 14 hour drive from Texas to Tennessee, and now I'm about to be back in Texas for a whole month.

Midnight breakfast!

My finals week is going to be really relaxed; I just have two papers due and two exams next week that won't require much studying. So I pretty much have a week of laying around ahead of me, with a little bit of studying thrown in.

But since I'm clearly not studying right now I'll just post some pictures of what's been going on in my crazy college life lately!

So much active brain power in this room

No shave November final results

Adorable Lisa

Christmas tree lighting

Quizzing Allie for her biology test at 2 AM and taking pictures...clearly productive. 

My campus loves Christmas, therefore I love my campus

Bare trees!

Emily and I, not studying

New music will definitely help this week pass quickly :)

Missions Week thoughts

Last week at Lee was Missions Week, a time when different mission organizations from around the world come to our campus to raise awareness for their cause, speak in our chapel services, etc. Our focus this year was on Haiti, with our proceeds going towards rebuilding their country.

The thing that impacted me the most was when Joan Conn, the executive director of an organization called The Restavek Foundation, spoke to my principles of journalism class. This organization is taking on a huge issue in the shadows of Haitian culture. I don't want to get any of their information wrong, so I'm going to post the description of their mission from their Facebook page:

	"The mission of the Restavek Freedom Foundation is to end child slavery in Haiti. www.restavekfreedom.org
	Over 300,000 children are living in domestic servitude in Haiti today. Restavek Freedom exists to end this cultural practice - giving children hope for a better future and helping adults find new perspectives and practices that value ALL children. It's hard to believe that a parent might be desperate enough to give a child away. Or that cowhide whips are used on children who don't complete their chores fast enough. Yet this is the real life of a restavek child. Restavek is a Creole term which literally means "stay with." An accurate term in that these children do stay with their hosts, working as domestic servants in exchange for a roof over their head, some leftover food and, supposedly, the ability to go to school. In practice, though, restaveks are easy prey for exploitation. Many are beaten, sexually abused and frequently denied access to education, since many host families believe that schooling will only make them less obedient.
	Our mission is to end child slavery in Haiti in our lifetimes."

The reason this organizations' mission has impacted me so much is because I was completely unaware that things like this were even going on in Haiti. Actually, to be completely honest, I didn't even know that Haiti is so close to The States. Why is it that the only thing I've ever heard about the country are the natural disasters they've suffered? I don't mean to discredit any Haiti disaster relief organizations whatsoever (I happen to think that what they're doing is very important), I just don't understand how an issue like childhood slavery is so prevalent in their country, yet it usually goes unmentioned.

It reminds me that Houston, which is just under 30 miles from my hometown, is one of the biggest sex trafficking hubs in United States (You can read some scary statistics here). Even though this is happening in our own backyard, it's hardly ever talked about. You could live in Texas your whole life unaware that sex slavery is going on right next to you. The same way that I wasn't aware that Haiti is so close to the States, and that childhood slavery is so prevalent in their country.

These things shouldn't be happening, and what's more, they shouldn't be ignored or swept under the rug. They are happening, so they should be talked about.

I'm in a dance troupe at Lee called Unity, and we have a show coming up in February about human sex trafficking. It's about the institution itself, and the hope of being rescued. If you go to Lee or live in the Cleveland area, please come. Information can be found here. If you aren't in Tennessee (or even if you are), find a way to get involved. Educate yourself about modern day slavery, talk about it, plug into an organization, pray. God's heart is breaking for everyone held in captivity, cry out to Him on their behalf. Slavery may be closer to us than we think it is, but so is hope.

"'They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord." - Jeremiah 1:19

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