The All-Nighter that Made All the Difference

Kelly and I were super irresponsible on Wednesday; we both had papers to write, she was mondo upset about some news, and I was just in a bad place mentally. Now with all this in mind, we decided that a roadtrip to East Palestine, my hometown, was in order. Definitely NOT the smartest thing we've ever done.

After we went to my house with John and Paul to get a bathing suit, a sleeping bag, a spatula, and some glue (haha nice combo, i know), reality set in that we HAD to do these papers. We swung by McD's to get some iced coffees and set ourselves up to camp out in Myers Lounge until our papers were done... Essentially, it was pointless to even try for sleep since we both needed to be awake in 5 hours for different commitments so we decided to just go for the classic, stereotypical, college freshman all-nighter.

We ended up having to make yet another coffee run, but we pulled through in the end and got our papers done, fairly well, too! Man, it was a sweet victory. We didn't make excuses, we didn't justify not doing them, we really just pulled through it and GOT R DONE. As the sun rose, we felt compelled to go out into the quad and just pray... the sky was SO beautiful. God is so good, guys. I mean, wow, the lyrics from "Trading My Sorrows" sparked some discussion: "Though the sorrow may last for the night, His joy comes with the morning." Seriously? This is so deep if you think about it. Things from one day are not supposed to affect the joy that we have in the Lord at the beginning of every new day! God doesn't want us to worry, we are supposed to have no fear, we're supposed to make every day a joyful one, FILLED with praise, unto the Lord!!! That's so BIG!

After this revelation happened, and after I discussed it with God, it seemed like I was being called to be more effective for the Kingdom of God every day. No more lukewarm living! My goal is to help people see that each day starts off beautifully, and FULL of true JOY, and that it's our job to see that and like my friend Corey eloquently stated, "shout praises to God at the top of our lungs from the very highest place we can get!"


It seems most appropriate to include "Trading My Sorrows" since it is, after all, what sparked the revolution in my soul! Also, I feel that I should add a disclaimer saying that there are some underlying messages of the song that I don't agree with, but the aforementioned line really means the world to me right now.

Plus, as a special treat, here's the link to Kelly's blog post about this same night! Follow her if you wish, Kubiak's Corner of the Internet is always entertaining!

I'll Take This with a Grain of Sand

Yes, sand, not salt. Wednesday in astronomy lab, we counted grains of sand for some reason or another... I really just don't know. It was the second worst lab after the one where we colored a pixelated picture of a calico cat. Yeah. Now, even though the lab was ridiculous, it provided some valuable bonding time with members of my class to whom I seldom talk. This may sound lame, but I really do treasure opportunities like that. Building relationships, getting to know people, and bonding over common ground are some of my favorite things ever. I simply love fellowshipping and that lab gave me a great opportunity to do that... even if it was pointless for my education.


The song "She's So High" by Tal Bachman has been stuck in my head for the past few days... Enjoy it! =]

Bonding With Miss Bonicky

So there's this totally rad girl that I'm friends with... her name is Elle Bonicky and today we did some marathon epic bonding. We were both working on our prayer journals for our prayer person from our Mountain Dew Thursday Bible Study and we talked and talked about sooooooo many things it was unreal. I mean, our brainstorming, web-surfing, cutting, coloring, journal time was so awesome! I'm really glad that we got to know each other better and that we both made a ton of progress on our prayer journals. I'm very thankful for her right now, haha especially after how I was feeling this afternoon as you can tell from the previous post. I LOVE YOU, ELLE!



Fave of the day: The genius work of Flight of the Conchords, "Most Beautiful Girl In the Room". So good.

Life or Something Like It.

It's rough out there, guys. Each day brings with it a new set of trials, a new batch of problems. I think that right now in my life, the major battle is dealing with the concept of battles. I feel like I'm being pulled under in a sea of battles. Relentless. Cold. Drowning. Alone.

Hmmm, emo much? My bad. Hopefully cheerful next time.

i hate this speech with a burning passion

ANYTHING. give me ANYTHING to stall from doing this God-forsaken speech. right now i choose blogging as a worthy distraction. see, i have to give this speech tomorrow and for me actually giving it isn't the problem... it's writing it that is the hardship.

fact: it's a persuasive speech so i have to be, well, persuasive

fact: my professor gave us the most intricate, detailed, and painful outline format possible

fact: we need to cite at least 7 sources (including one journal article) in our speeches

fact: it's an 8-10 minute long deal

fact: i'm passionate about my topic, persuading my classmates to help out St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital any way they can

myth: my HOURS of trying to write this speech have been productive

BAHHHHHHH! i can't even take it! i think i have like, two paragraphs total typed out so far. i'm really stressed out about it and i can't focus at all... maybe i could take some of my roommate's Concerta to help me out with that.

something else that hasn't been helping is my reminiscing about this past weekend which was possibly either the best or the second best i've had since coming to school. let's just say: road trip. =] but seriously, there's also this kid... oh jeez. he's been on my mind a lot lately too which is kinda rough because there's more important things to focus on here like this dang speech for example!

just kill me now... please.


hey look, a random Five Iron Frenzy song.

A Change of Season.

Plans fall to pieces a lot and I learned that tonight in a lot of ways. The first time it happened was at room draw, the second was when something else really weird happened.

The ideal was for four of us to be suite-mates next year in the New Residence Building... Things got ALL kinds of crazy, and it was established that we'd leave it in God's hands how everything worked out. His plans are basically always better anyway. So what had happened was, I drew #1. That's right, I got to pick my room first. SCORE! Ricki and I got a flippin' sweet room and we were expecting everything to work according to our agenda; God however, had something else in mind...

We are on the same floor as Kelly and Amanda, but we're not suite-mates. Our suite-mates are these two awesome girls names Lauren and Jordan. It's NOT what I expected, but I am SO confident that it's going to work out in a great way. God is so good and faithful even when we can't begin to fathom His plans or the way He's working. I'm so pumped for this change of school year, residence, and lifestyle.

I'm not going to talk much about the other way that I saw plans falling to pieces today, but i WILL say that it kept me thinking about Ecclesiastes 3. Here's the King James Version:

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

It's been a recurring theme in my life lately that times are a-changin' and that it's perfectly naturally and in God's order for them to change.The season is changing both literally and figuratively... both are changing into something more warm and beautiful than before. Thank you, Jesus!

A Change of Pace.

Things need to be different. A rescheduling has to happen and has to happen soon. There's a tiny bit more than a month left of this school year and there isn't much time to change things, but I know it can happen. More time with God, more time with schoolwork, more time building relationships, less time with my mafia, and less time with my freak-outs. These last few weeks of school are going to be crucial... I want to be held accountable. PLEASE help me if you think about it! A change is what's needed.

A Change of Clothes.

I'm finally done with wearing that stupid, annoying pink button-down. I'm NOT hand washing my outfit anymore. I can do my hair and makeup again and I can wear jewelry! But yet, strangely I'll miss the sameness of this past week. I'll miss not worrying about how I look and I'll miss pretty much telling the world, "take me or leave me, here I am with the bare minimum".

After our Mt. Dew Thursday Bible study decided that wearing one outfit for the week would be a sweet way to see how much excess we live in, we were almost all on board for the challenge. I was determined to make the absolute most of this week... like I said, no done hair, no makeup, hand washing the outfit, even my shower shoes were sacrificed because they weren't the one pair that I chose for the week. I really wanted this to be an intense week of constant reminders that I am blessed beyond reason and that I have almost a responsibility to do everything I can to bless others in the name of God.

Now that I blow dried my hair, put lotion on, and am wearing a new set of PJs it all feels like... too much. I'm so thankful for all the choices that I have, but it feels like a waste to have so many choices. Overkill. I don't know, this is a hard thing to explain. I'll stop.