It is finished...

My first paper for Seminary is finished!! (aside from formatting it, but that doesn't require in depth study).

I feel really good about the paper! Not because I think the content is that great...because I don't necessarily think that, and not because I even think I'll get an A on it...quite frankly I feel as if a high school senior wrote it more so than a college graduate, BUT I feel good about it because I learned so much!
The topic was Worship and Creation in the Psalms and while I didn't go as in depth as I could have (7-9 pages doesn't allow for a ton of depth), I really feel like I learned a lot and my ideas of worship of God as Creator are much different than before! (Meaning, I actually think about it!)

I'm so excited about the graciousness of God! I'm completely filled UP right now!
SO even if this paper doesn't get an A, or even a B, or a C! I still learned an amazing amount of stuff about Him that I didn't realize before and THAT is the whole point...not a silly letter grade.
I'll pass the class even if my paper is sub-par, but it doesn't matter because God has revealed himself to me! Even if it was through the mediocrity of my 1st paper!!!

:D
YAY!

Praise the Lord!

Samantha

What Samantha Means
You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic “Type A” personality.

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.
You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.
You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.
Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.
Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.





I agree with some of it! Other parts not so much!
What do you think!?

Thanks Jessie!

Kitty pictures!!

She likes to sit in bags...




And the sink!


I meant to post a picture of Aria a long time ago, but I never got the chance to, then I completely forgot!

Here she is!! She's about 7.5 months old now!!!

Louisville for real

Weeks like this week really make me miss the gang in Morgantown. I got to spend an amazing week with them during the break! I got a lot of school work done, but still got to spend real quality time with some of my greatest friends. Then Sunday, the LOU came to visit me!! She was visiting campus and things, so I got to spend 2.5 days with her!! But when she left...it was back to the same thing it usually is here. Me...and that's it.

Bryan and I have such different schedules and heavy homework loads, that it's hard to spend any time together. I'm not used to living with a roommate I don't do anything with...When I lived with Danielle G. she and I had the same major, so we hung out all the time and it was wonderful! With Sommer, we had the same friends, so I always knew where we were going and what we would be doing on any given night. I actually opted out of hanging out quite a lot so I could talk to B on the phone and we STILL spent a TON of time together. There were always people to call at the last minute for dinner or a random movie. Actually, often times, I didn't have to call, they'd just be around my house. It got old sometimes, like too much of anything often can, but I loved being around them. I miss the inside jokes that keep come up in a new way every night. I miss feeling like I'm needed...I have that with Bryan. I feel like he needs me, and I need him, but like I said before, our schedules are crazy, so it's hard to spend a lot of time together...

I think I probably bring some of this on myself by opting to turn on an episode of Friends rather than call someone to do something. I'm kind of back in the same spot I was in the spring semester of my first senior year when I had my senior recital. I shut down from the outside world because I had so much stuff to get done. I realize that yes, I have a lot to do, but hiding away behind a book or piano isn't always healthy...

Pretty much I just really miss my friends right now.
I know I'm being all girly and whiny, but I don't care. I long for a real connection. I have a few girl friends here, for which I'm VERY thankful, but I guess even after 2 months, I still want that closeness I had in Morgantown. I realize that those things, the jokes and everything, take time and to be fair, I guess I'm not really giving it much time...

It seems like it's been much longer than 2 months...maybe because I can count the number of girl dates I've had on 3 fingers...or even any kind of friend time...when you're used to having that sort of thing all the time...it can be a hard thing to get used to. I think I can even count dates with B on one hand...we've been in the same room doing homework together a lot, so at least I get to see his handsome face and laugh at his ridiculous commentary!!! Even when I lived at home away from the Morgantown gang, I still was friends with the girls at work and on my softball team. Work here is different. I'm starting to feel like I fit in a little more, so that's good!

Blah!

Pretty much I'm just being whiny and need to get over it, but I think first, I'll pray.

thoughts

I've been faced recently with the depth of my own sin. It's always a good thing to know how sinful we really are, but that's been an aspect of my Christian life I've been easy to overlook. At this point in my life the overlooking is not happening as easily, and that's something I'm very grateful for.
When you stop and take a look at your heart, a lot of things come up that you thought were gone and buried a long time ago...
It's been really refreshing to see my sin in this new light, and actually own up to it and repent! I'm one of those people who doesn't repent a lot because I don't realize my need for it very often. That's NOT a good place to be, and I'm really glad God has been showing me my true nature and my desperate need for Him.
This has begun a string of repenting to people I've wrong...some YEARS ago...and I'm really glad that I'm able to do that. It sucks having to humble yourself before someone else...but it's been a really good thing to have my heart softened to this aspect.
I still have a VERY LONG way to go, but I'm really glad that I'm finally on this track in my life!

on another note:
I'm visiting The Mo next week!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Hurricane Ike

I mean that both sarcastically and sincerely.
(Yes, you can do that.)
On Sunday, Louisville was hit by the 80mph winds of Hurricane Ike who ripped up trees, knocked down power poles, and blew transformers leaving 90% of the city without power. Classes were canceled for the week due to the fact that roads were closed because of all the debris.
My apartment building of 4 apartments and a house across the alley were the only ones on the block with power, so our apartment was a revolving door of people sleeping, eating, taking showers, and plugging things in. Until early Wednesday morning when LG&E began to work on the lines outside our house. Since then, our apartment building and the house across the alley have also been without power. Nothing major was lost...a few things of frozen veggies, but we cleared the fridge out and took the contents to my roommate's parent's house. (They lost power Sunday, but got it back on Tuesday.)
Since Wednesday, I've spent a LOT of time in random dining establishments with free internet catching up on school work and reading. At the present moment, I'm at Denny's about a mile down from my house trying to finish up the last bit of reading I need to do and generally waiting until I'm tired enough to go home and sleep. My roommate (Hannah) said we should have power sometime in the morning. I'm not sure where she heard this, but I sure hope it's true!

It sucks not being able to do things (like practice for piano on your electric clavinova) or read in your own house, etc. but it really hasn't been horrible. I'm way ahead on my readings for class, which means that I will be able to concentrate on my 2 papers and creative worship project during fall break (which we still get - thank you private school!)

Other than the events of Ike, things have been going really well!
I'm working on presenting myself more seriously...I know that sounds odd, but it has been brought to my attention that I don't look like I take my school work as seriously as I actually do. I bust my butt in my classes and lessons, and my professors can tell, but according to my voice teacher, I don't come off like I take it seriously at all. I'm not really sure why it matters how I present myself...and to be honest, I'm not even 100% sure what my error has been, but *shrug*. I'm just going to observe my behaviors to see if there is something I actually need to fix, or just because I'm so laid back in my lessons she thinks I carry that out to all my other classes...Again...I'm still not 100% sure why it matters if I do in fact get everything finished...but oh well! I'm learning! :D

<3

I can't do this on my own

...and frankly, I'm sick of trying.
I realized last night at 11:30 after only 1.5 hours of 6 I was required to practice for piano by today...that I have been trying to do school/life/etc. on my own without the help of God. I didn't even notice it either. It wasn't until I was sitting on my piano bench, staring at the notes on the page in front of me, thinking about all the 23947329487 other things I needed to do aside from practicing, and how if I stayed up all night I could get them done, that I broke down and asked God to forgive me for putting Him on hold for school. I'm here to learn more about Him!! How in the WORLD could I learn more about Him without walking with Him to have His truths be given to me!? I can hear the same 23423897 things about worship, but until God allows me to understand, I can't! That's been the case actually! My two non-music classes overlap so much in the material. One is Biblical Theology of Worship and the other is a Philosophy of Music Ministry (worship) class. AND to top it all off, at the membership class for Sojourn last night, IT was about worship and all the things I'd heard so far since I've been here. Instead of feeling unintelligent because I don't grasp every little thing that my professors say, I should be grateful that I've been allowed to understand anything at all! Instead of freaking out because I was gone all weekend, then was a bad steward of my practice time for the week in piano, voice, and reading...I need to remember that it's not ALL ABOUT SCHOOL...a concept I have a hard time clinging to. I don't get Cs...I get As and SOMETIMES Bs, so it's rough to allow myself to think of being anything less than perfect, so I've been throwing myself into my homework instead of into the Word of God.
I'm SURE if I took the extra time to spend in the Word and in prayer, all the other things would line up MUCH easier.

There's my update!
I must leave for 8AM piano where I will turn in my simple *failing* 2 hours of practice for the week. (I needed 4 to get a C). That simply means that I'll be busting my butt for the remainder of the semester to make up for this week...and the only way I can do that is by the grace of God!