Epiphanies and Encouragement

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with an epiphany?....this happens to me at least once a week at, like, 2am...haha. Actually, just last night I woke up, because I had several ideas for the wedding and another idea for a therapy group at my internship. I immediately wrote them in my notebook I keep beside my bed, so I wouldn't forget! For some reason, my most brilliant ideas always pop into my head when I'm getting ready to go fall asleep or when they decide to wake me up in the wee morning hours...ha...

Anyways, this week it has been extremely hard for me in gathering up enough motivation to get back in the swing of school. I have literally had to drag myself out of the bed every morning. My motivation is slowly, but surely coming back and all I need is enough to get me through the next 6 weeks and I'll be good.....I'm pretty sure I can muster up that much motivation!

It's funny how when you're having a tough day sometimes God throws some encouragement your way....and an example of this happened to me earlier this week. I went to my internship, like normal, but was feeling a great lack of motivation and was in a bad mood with anything to do with school, internship, graduate assistantship, and especially with homework. After coming home later that day, I found some flowers on the front porch that Hudson had sent me. Just for the record, I've never actually had someone send me flowers before....I've had plenty of flowers handed to me, but never delivered, so I was beyond ecstatic! The note said "Only 6 more weeks. You're almost there!"....talk about just what I needed.

Have you ever known someone who believed in you, who gave you encouragement and praise when you needed it most? Someone who made you feel like you could do it....whatever "it" was? This is the kind of person God has called us to be...and I don't know about you, but this gets me excited!....We (as followers of Christ) have the opportunity to help build others up every stinkin' day....This means that when we go to the store or get on the bus or go to work, or talk to a friend, they're opportunities for us to speak words of encouragement and praise to those around us! Even though I know Hudson believes in me, sometimes it's nice to hear it again, like with the flowers he sent. On a day when I lacked motivation and felt like giving up, he reminded me that he was cheering for me on the sidelines and believed that I could push through til graduation... it told me that someone other than myself believed in me, which is just what I needed!

Encouragement is something that has the potential to dramatically impact someone's life and I hope you'll seek opportunities to uplift and praise those around you....Be the spark in a person's life that pushes them to achieve great things because you believed in them :)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29)

Wedding Porn

So, I'm getting ready to go to bed and I can't sleep....wedding plans keep swimming around in my head and it's a lil annoying. I just want to go to sleep, is that too much to ask?! If you've ever planned a wedding, then you know how easily it can start to consume your every thought. There's a term that I've encountered that calls this phenomena "wedding porn".....yup...wedding websites, plans, DIY ideas, budgets, magazines, etc....they're everywhere and can become addicting. Especially if you're planning everything yourself and on a budget, it's hard not to research and get sucked into the black hole of never ending wedding stuff. Ughhhhh...I just want to go to bed, but I want to decide on the type of plates/utensils we're gonna have first...haha. I never knew how detail oriented I was until I began planning a wedding....anyways, I love these utensils:

Their Birch Cutlery and I think they're awesome! I think I'm gonna have to get em...they cost as much as plastic utensils, but I think they're cuter. But now I need some plates to match...any ideas?!

Slugged in the Face

The show Wipeout is the funniest show ever...there's just something about watching other people make complete fools of themselves that keeps me laughing...haha. There's one obstacle called the "punching wall" that clobbers contestants with boxing gloves until they fall in the water. I've never seen any contestant make it through the punching wall without being punched and it seems impossible for one to dodge all the boxing gloves altogether. I've planned out a strategy of how I'm going to make it through this obstacle if I'm ever on the show though...(after watching these idiots on Wipeout, you start to create strategies of how you would make it through the course yourself...don't lie, you think it would be fun)! The punching wall would not be a fun obstacle, getting puched everywhere and as far as I can tell, there's no way to avoid them, because they're unexcepted.
I've never been slugged in the face real good until the other night. Now, I know you're probably thinking I must have gotten into a fight with someone or maybe secretly I'm a boxer, but I assure you I'm not. I got slugged while watching a movie..."Megamind" to be exact (great movie if you haven't seen it)! It's quite sad to be honest...I was sitting on the couch beside my fiance, he reached over to grab something, and slugged me in the cheek with his elbow. It came out of nowhere, was unexpected, and if my guard had been up, then I might've been able to dodge it. He felt so terrible afterwards, iced my cheek and brought me Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, because that's the one thing I told him would help me feel better! I felt fine at first, but was pretty sure I'd have a nice shiner on the side of my face...it was hurtin real good...lol. Like I said....a wimpy story of getting slugged in the face, but let this serve as a warning to others "watching movies in dark lighting could result in getting punched in the face".

Last SpRingBreAk

So...here goes my first attempt at blogging!...My last Springbreak of my college career officially started today at around 5pm right after I took my last online exam, but now that I'm free for a week I don't have a clue what to do. One thing I definitely plan on doing is getting some wedding plans together (getting my wedding dress altered, tasting food, and creating some DIY projects...like for our awesome homemade photobooth (that is still in the idea phase at the moment)). For those of you who don't know, I'm getting married June 25 of this year and planning it all while in grad school...I have a pretty hectic life right about now, but I love it! I have to say that it's very nice to have family and friends that are so willing to help out with anything and everything...it makes planning that much easier.
 I'm a grad student at USC and will be graduating in May! It's hard for me to believe that at this time last year I had just received my acceptance letter from them and was contemplating whether or not to go. Actually, I thought that I would be attending ETSU before I had heard from either school. I had already met with ETSU's professors, planned where I might live, and kind of had it stuck in my head that that was where I was going to school. I ended up applying to USC right at their deadline and heard back within 2 weeks...I was so ecstatic, but couldn't imagine moving down here by myself and going to school for a year. After not hearing from ETSU for a few months I finally received a letter in the mail that stated that I wasn't accepted. To be honest I was surprised that I didn't get in to ETSU.
 I think it's amazing how God works out every opportunity for us in our lives and places us exactly where he wants us. This time last year if someone had asked me where I would be a year from now, I would have said without a doubt ETSU...boy was I wrong...lol. I'm so very thankful for this opportunity God has placed in my life and will always look back and remember this year. This year in my life has brought an abundance of growth both spiritually and personally. I've realized that I have more strength, courage, and confidence than I ever thought I had. I moved to a new place, started making friends, got familiar with a new city, and developed and grew into more of an adult.
 I think the biggest thing this year has given me is a stronger relationship with God...being down here alone isn't always the easiest and in my many hours and days when I felt alone and lonely...I spent that time with him. There were some days when I first moved down here that were harder than others, but these were prime times when I would spend time in the word and in prayer. I'm so glad that I went through that now...at the time I would have loved to be in any situation other than mine, but if it weren't for those moments of feeling completely and utterly alone, then I might not have reached out and grown in my faith. Being down here (i say "down-here", because i'm from "up-there" in NC..lol) I think was meant for me to learn how to fully,"Fully" put my trust and faith in the Lord that everything would be alright. Everything would be alright...even though I'm lonely. Everything would be alright...even though I couldn't see it now. And everything would be alright...if I just trusted in him. These statements turned out to be true and the truth is we are never alone...God was with me the whole time, which is why I always made it through the bad day or cry spell.
 It's hard to fathom how wonderful the adventures are that God places us in and in the midst of them they don't always feel like an adventure we'd plan for ourselves. I remember when I was a little kid my sister and I use to hike up Crowder's Mtn. with my parents and I remember thinking how hard it was. I would be ok until we got near the top and there were what seemed like thousands of stairs you had to climb. I'd start climbing, take a break, climb, take a break...this went on until I didn't think I could make it any furthur and with a few steps to go I'd find the strength to make it to the top. When I finally got to the top...I had forgotten about my fatigue and just looked out over the skyline..it was beautiful. The adventures that God has in store for us are absolutely amazing and life changing....they help us grow and help us learn. And at the end of an adventure, no matter how strenuous or hard it was, we can always take something away from it. Although I probably couldn't see it last semester...I was on an adventure...a wonderful adventure, but I haven't realized it until recently, so now I'm savoring the adventure and making the most of it, until a new one begins...~