the sound of sunshine

packing my bags. cannot stop listening to this song. This beginning is a little repetitive but I particularly love the ending.

4th of July- Sunflower Festival

whimsy playful creative

Maybe it was the tall glass of iced coffee and coconut milk but my day was just full of giddiness and excitement.

I've been daydreaming about my future career as well as future travels and adventures.

Btw, How in the world did I know not that J.Crew has an (un)official blog? It's incredible.

Fairly certain I may be traveling to Birmingham, Alabama to see someone special (hope you're reading- you know who you are!) I plan on "touring" the city and thinking about if I'd like to look for jobs there.

Today, I was thinking about trying to get into medical equipment sales in South America. The idea that someone would pay me to travel around and have fun with others while also striving to improve their quality of healthcare is just ridiculous.

This evening I had the best run of my entire life. I've heard about this "runner's high" but never believed it was really possible. It sounded like a bunch of nonsense. I just didn't think my body would ever rejoice in being forced to run. Every time I'd start to walk and think about heading back towards my house I'd just keep on keeping on and just kept going. It was exhilarating in the most liberating way.

whale

The Whale… If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

Source: None via Taylor on Pinterest

Ahhhhh. Yes!

I got up at 7:30 this morning. By choice! ( I didn't have to wake up until 9)

Now I'm just enjoying hazelnut coffee and thinking about all the cool things I could do in the mornings if I could become a full time morning person!

stay

I've been taking a break from blogging for a little while. Usually it's because I get caught up in other things and don't particularly have anything I want to post about.

But usually this blog serves as some sort of outlet to elaborate on notions of idealism. I'm fond of posting ideas for days to come, pictures of my dream home, clothing, jewelry, romantic wedding pictures, places to travel, etc.

I believe in dreaming and working hard to achieve goals but this summer I just want to stop.

I want to be content with where I am. What I have. Where I go. What I go. The people around me. If anything, I want to have less.


To stay. To stay right where I am and just be here.


Sometimes I don't like having new or nice things because I'm just worried about ruining them, losing them, or breaking them.

holy city

About Rain and About Rain, Too

When I was 16 I fell in love with this song called "About Rain" by Sequoyah Prep School and I just found a new one of theirs called "About Rain, Too"


The difference between the two feels the same to me as the difference between sweet 16 and being on the verge of 22. Shudder. I haven't listened to their music really in years but it's interesting to see how much they've changed.

Maybe I'm In

today.

Today was such a fun day. One of my absolutely favorite things is being given the opportunity to meet and help tons and tons of people.

I'm currently in my own hotel room all by myself. It's the first time I've ever had my own hotel room. I'm pretending that I'm a professional business woman and I'm traveling for work. I feel so grown up.

Thankfully though I am not traveling alone and I have some wonderful traveling companions to ride back to Athens with tomorrow.

Snuggling into bed with my kindle. Pure bliss.

Goodnight! :)

It's midnight and I'm actually excited about getting to bed this early. I'm usually not excited about going to bed early because I'm tired but because it greatly increases my chances of waking up early and enjoying the morning.

I'm going to Albany tomorrow. I love meeting new people and going on trips about which I know close to nothing. It's fun because I have absolutely no expectations. With no expectations I just enjoy myself. It's great and it's rare because you can hardly plan something for yourself without developing ideas about what will happen and how it will go. Sometimes it's just fun to just say yes to something and not think about it.

Just go.

and that's exactly how I want to live my Summer. Just enjoy the moments I'm given.

bucket list for the summer coming soon.

I still don't know how to pray to You. I wish You could be here. I wish I could talk to You face to face. There is so much I would tell You.

Today was such an amazing day! One of my best friends, Holly Hess, has a graduation party at the lake. It was so incredible to catch up with friends and spend the day such kayaking, canoeing, and just enjoying each other's company. Not to mention- Addie Jones was there! Which makes everything super duper amazing.

congratulations

Congratulations to all the UGA graduates! I am so proud of all of you. I cannot believe that I'm a senior in college now. That's absolutely ridiculous.

Tonight was an awesome night of celebration, amazing friends, lots and lots of dancing, sweaty sweaty people, meeting lots of new and super cool people, and crazy music.

Overall. Tonight was a great success. Love these nights.

P.S. The number one rule for dancing at the Loft is to never ever make eye contact- under any circumstance. Even then- you still might not be completely safe.

I love coca a cola

So I have this obsession with Coca a cola. I really do not understand it but somehow out of no where I just get in these states where I can think of nothing else aside from obtaining a fountain drink of coke. Bottled coke or coke in a can just isn't the same.

On the way to Your Pie tonight I just got ridiculously excited because I knew I was getting a fountain coke. The first sip is simply the best. It has to be through a straw. Crushed ice makes the entire experience magnificent. The "ahhhh" sound must also be made after ever sip.

It beats out coffee every time. I'm going to have coke fountain in my house one day and then I will drink coke all day every day. Until I get tired of it. I go through 3-6 month phrases of having a certain favorite and then almost not being able to stand that food anymore.

Ahhhhh Let's hope that never happens with Coke!

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to turn. Abraham Lincoln

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those are crushed in spirit- Psalm 34:18 

Maybe there is something beautiful about feeling broken. Maybe it's the only way I feel defeated enough to lay down my pride, my weapons, my desires, and my stubbornness to seek Him. I have had such a difficult time spending time with my Lord lately. My relationship with Him does not differ much from my earthly relationships in the way that I run. I do not understand His mercy. I do not understand His grace.

I pray that he'll lead me home back to Him somehow. I pray that He'll never leave me nor abandon me. 

God, I'm asking you to fight for me. To fight hard for me. You are all that I want. I just don't know how to get there. I do not know how to pursue a relationship with you. I grow weary, restless, and full of doubt. I know that it won't be a quick fix. I am so broken. My spirit is crushed and I accept that this may be Your way to speaking to me. Every time I'm reminded and the hurt comes rushing in, I feel that you're there. 

Please stay there. 

It's time

It's that time of the year....the one where we all feel so overwhelmed that we could eat an entire box of icecream or bag of potato chips....the time of the year where we suddenly become immensely aware of every little detail of our lives such a hangnail, something someone said to you yesterday, the lady making your burrito that may have given you less chicken than normal...


All in an attempt to avoid studying for exams. Aside from being Queen of Passiveagressivia, I am also Queen of Procrasta, the Nation. 


I'm refusing to be reduced to tears the night before an 8am finals. 
No, no, no, no, and more no to the following behaviors
- Painting my nails at 2am
- Red Bull and Monster Energy Drinks after not sleeping for more than 3 hours
- Analyzing every friendship/relationship I've ever had and discussing it with strangers at Jittery Joes (This one really does take up an excessive amount of time...apparently there's tons more people that also decide finals week is the time to reflect over their relationship with their 2nd grade school teacher and determine if she actually had a grudge against you)
- Tanning at TownClub pool while "reading my notes" ( I reason that Vitamin D makes me happy and that it helps me study if I'm happy, regardless this is extremely inefficient)
- Group Studying- Unless your name is Kally Woo- You are not someone I can group "study" with. Listening to what you also don't understand isn't going to help me. 
- Cooking lavish meals- Once I get tired of reading, writing, and MEMORIZING I remind myself that I need food to survive and I also need a lot of it. So I pull out my cook book and regardless of whatever am hour it is...I decide I'm going to cook myself something delicious. Very time consuming.
-Reading for pleasure- Inevitably I always get hooked on some new book that I cannot put down right in the middle of finals.  Right now, I'm packing up ALL distractions in my room. All books, papers, journals, kindles, etc. are going in the closet. 


Actually, posting and analyzing my poor studying behavior in an attempt to recognize and avoid is probably just more of an avoiding tactic.
I'm stopping.
Cleaning.
Packing up.
And heading to the library.

eric church

country music always reminds me of summer. Hurry up already.