merry christmas!

Luke 2:8-20

[8] And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. [9] An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [10] But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. [12] This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
[13] Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

[14] "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

[15] When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
[16] So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. [17] When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, [18] and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. [20] The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

That is my favorite part of the Christmas story. Amidst all the craziness of the holidays let us remember what the season is really all about.

texas football

Today I watched some of the state championship football games with my dad. It made me realize how much I love the importance football in Texas. I was on the drill team in high school, so naturally I went to every football game. I love whole atmosphere of a high school football game, with the band and a city that rallies behind their team. Today after one of the teams won, the coaches and the players were so emotional about their win, but it is because they put so much effort into making their team great and it paid off. It was a really special moment to see.

'tis the season

Last night was the annual candlelight carol service Hendrix does. I've gone every year that I've been here, and for some reason last night I was the most moved I've ever been by the service. I don't know if it was at a time I really needed it, or if it was the people I was sitting next to, or if I just paid more attention to the scriptures than in years past, but I was just "in it". That's the only way I know how to describe it. Not to mention, the music is BEAUTIFUL. A few of my good friends are in the choir and I know they've worked really hard on this service. Plus, it's always fun to watch someone do what they are good at. The service really just put me in the Christmas spirit.

happy birthday jonathan

I very much have a heavy heart today. One of my dear friends lost her brother last year to leukemia. Today would have been his 19th birthday.

I met Mel the summer I worked at Glen Lake. By that time Jonathan had already been in the hospital for a couple of months. I was always so moved at the amount of love and support people had for Jonathan. We all spent our summer praying he would get better, but Jonathan endured setback after setback and in October he lost his battle with cancer.

I am so amazed at the amount of faith this family has. They've been through so much, yet they continue to praise God even in the hard times. They are truly an inspiration to me.

Here is a video Mel and her sister made for their brother. I want to share it because I think it's a beautiful celebration of a life well-lived. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYc-rx3dznY

i'm not a good blogger

I really enjoy reading other people's blogs, which is why I started one of my own. However, I've realized I'm no good at it. Some of my friends write the most eloquent blogs about what's going on in their minds. I just can't do it. While I enjoy being introspective, it's never come naturally to me. I'm going to continue with this blog because I think at the appropriate time it can be therapeutic; until that time comes I'll just continue on knowing I'm not great at blogging, and that's okay with me.

daily wonderings...

I wonder if people are as weird with their friends in private as I am.
I wonder if I met the people I'm friends with now at a different point in my life if I would still be friends with them.
I wonder about the lives of the people I see at Starbucks. I wonder what they're doing or what's going on in their lives.

currently listening to...

This what I am currently listening to. I personally really like Taylor Swift, even if she is a little cuckoo. It's a good album.

dress up

Some of my favorite times in my college career have also been some of my goofiest. I've had nights spent singing along and acting out scenes from Disney movies. I've hosted a camp out in my room complete with fake leaves, fake nature sounds, fake mood lighting, and a fake camp fire. Last night my friend Eva and I got the brilliant idea to play dress up. Our friends Mika and Hannah sat in the living room and would call out a category. Eva and I would run into my room and try to find and outfit that went with said category. Then, Eva and I would walk out into the living room to model our fashions while Mika would play a song that was fitting to the theme and Hannah would take our picture. It was probably one of the more silly things I've done, but I loved it!

                                              Here we are dressed as nerds.

                                          Here we are as aerobic instructors.

                           This is me as a lawyer, serving Mika her court papers.

the unlikely disciple

Tonight I got to hear Kevin Roose, the author of The Unlikely Disciple speak. One of the things I really liked that he talked about was the notion that you don't have to agree with someone in order to respect them. I haven't read the book myself yet, but I definitely plan on doing so soon. From hearing him, I would recommend it.

lately

This weekend Sara and I helped on a family mission retreat put on by First Methodist in Conway. I'll admit I wasn't super excited about going on the retreat since school is really starting to pick up and I thought I'd be stressed out, but I'm so glad I went. Sara and I had some really good, much needed bonding time. It was also a lot of fun to play with all the kids and get to know some of the adults. I feel like I hardly get to interact with children while I'm at school (and if you know me well enough you know I really like to hang out with kiddos) so it was a lot of fun to just get to play with them. All the parents were also very nice to Sara and I, and gave us some good life advice. It's so crazy for me to think that I could be in their exact position in 15 years with a family! Since it was a mission retreat we also got to do a couple of projects. I really enjoyed that because often times I feel like I can get so wrapped up in myself, especially when I'm at school since I live there and work there and socialize there. I also think a weekend away does a person good every now and then.

On another note, we recently had a meeting for junior psychology majors and I've decided to take this coming week as a period for discernment. I'm going to OU to visit two of my best friends, so I think it will be a good time not to worry about school and just think about things. Then, when I get back to school I'm going to have some meetings with advisers to help me figure out some sort of game plan for my life. I'm actually pretty excited about it. I always feel better when I have some sort of game plan, so I really think this will help ease some of the anxiety I have.

meet henry

This is Henry. The newest member of my family.

don r. roberts elementary school

This afternoon I got the opportunity to go to the Don R. Roberts Elementary School dedication. Don Roberts is my grandfather and it was such a wonderful and emotional experience to be able to see my grandfather (I call him Papa) honored that way.

My Papa has been an educator his entire life. I never really knew just how much he had given to various school districts until this dedication ceremony. I was very proud to know how much he valued and demanded excellence from teachers and staff and how he felt that every child, no matter their socioeconomic status deserved a great education. This was especially meaningful to me since those exact principles have really been something that have been on my heart lately. Because of these new realizations I've decided to become an education minor and eventually work in a school setting. While I know that I'm never going to be a superintendent or a commissioner of education, I still feel like I'm able to somewhat pick up where he has left off and be the best teacher/counselor I can be by doing my best as an educator.

At this dedication ceremony they had a group of kids sing the school song, which was surprisingly emotional for me. It was a realization that these kids had their whole futures ahead of them and so much potential. Roberts elementary is now the biggest elementary school in the state of Arkansas. I know that kids that come through Roberts probably won't know anything about my Papa, but it's still beautiful to me that his legacy will remain through this school by the children that come out of it.

life is good

Lately, I've felt so blessed about where I've chosen to go to school. Last year was a real struggle for me, and I can already tell that this year is going to be better. For one, I finally feel like I have some direction in my life. That's not to say I have it all figured out (and from what I hear I don't have to yet), but I really feel like I have some sort of idea.

I also have some really great friends. I have the same closest friends from freshmen year, which I'm not sure everyone can say. I know that each of these people have my back and care for me just as much as I care for them. I'm also making some new friends. These people are really great too and I'm so glad I'm getting to be closer to them. A few weeks ago a large group of girls and myself watched Camp Rock 2 together. As silly as it was we all had a lot of fun with it. I'm glad that I am able to truly feel like myself with the people I surround myself with.

I've also decided this year that I'm going to get more involved in activities on and off campus. I'm interning for the children's ministry at a local church and I'm holding a position in the volunteer group I'm apart of at school.

I hope this post doesn't sound too much like I'm bragging about all the great things in my life. I'm just so excited and so optimistic about the year ahead that I can't keep it all in, ha.

school has begun!

I haven't been doing very well recently about updating this, so hopefully I'll get better now that I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I'm glad to be back at school. As much as I love home, I really love this place as well.

I'm pretty excited about my classes this semester. I'm taking:
1. History of Education
2. Modern Dance Technique
3. Human Sexuality
4. Educational Psychology
So far I'm enjoying my professors and the subject matter seems like it will all be of interest to me. I'm also going to be an intern at First United Methodist Church of Conway in children's ministry. I think that will be fun, plus it should definitely be a helpful tool in deciding what I want to do later in life.

Shirttails was this past weekend and it is by far my favorite Hendrix event. It's basically a dance competition for all the freshmen. I love it because it's the first big event since summer and the whole school comes out to see it. It just always reminds me what a great community we have here at Hendrix. I was lucky enough to get to choreograph for one of the girls dorms this year. Although we didn't win, it was still a lot of fun to get to know some of the freshmen and get to know the other girls I was choreographing with a little bit better.

That's really all I have for now. I'm sure I'll have more to update on as the year progresses!

healthy kids, healthy families

This summer I worked with a program called healthy kids, healthy families. It was a program created for low income children and their families to help them learn how to make healthy choices and positive changes in their health behaviors. Every Monday and Wednesday a group of about 20 kids would come for lunch, a nutrition lesson, and a physical activity. I was in charge of physical activity, so over the 10 weeks that the program lasted I really got to know the kids well.

It was so fun getting to know this group of children. All the kids were all Hispanic, which allowed me to brush up on my Spanish skills, as well as giving me insight in to their culture. Family is very important to them and it was a really neat experience to see how they took care of their siblings. I also discovered that soccer is another important thing. There was a group of boys that were about 13 and they played soccer at a park in the neighborhood every night. They kept begging me to go play, so I eventually did. If you know me at all, you know that while I may try, I am no where close to being athletic. I found myself at the park playing soccer with about 15 guys who played soccer on a regular basis. However, everyone was so kind to me even though I stuck out like a sore thumb. I appreciated them letting me in on something so significant to them.

It was sad to say goodbye to all the kids when the program ended last week and it was obvious that they cared for me too as we all said our goodbyes. I am so grateful for the opportunity to meet those kids and learn so much from them. I definitely have a special place in my heart for all of them.

Lately I've been struggling with what to do after college and what careers I might be interested in and my job this summer cleared some things up for me. I know now that whatever I do it is important that I am able to build relationships with people. At the beginning of the summer I was stressed out about what I would do for a summer job, but I really feel like God placed me exactly where I was supposed to be.

we'll see how this goes

I've always wanted to write a blog and with summer coming to an end I couldn't think of a better time to start one. I've always loved the start of school. It's a chance to start fresh. I tend to make even more resolutions for myself this time of year than I do at new years. So with this new start I hope to diligently keep this blog, not only for those who aren't near me at school to help keep up with what I'm doing (mostly my mom), but also as a way for me to express myself. With all that being said, we'll see how this goes...