Seminary grades

My first semester of Seminary has been over since December 5th. I had a crazy week of finals and I honestly thought I was not going to do so hot in a few of my classes. Well...my grades have spoken otherwise!!!!

French Vocal Literature: A- (I was the youngest by 9 years in this class)
Voice Jury: A (They grade harder on these than WVU even THOUGHT about grading, so it actually IS a big deal that I got an A)
Intro to Music Ministry: unknown at this point, but I'm assuming I got an A since I got an A- on the paper, turned in all of my assignments, and the test was open note...
Here's the kicker...
Biblical Theology of Worship: A-!!!!!!!! HOLY COW! This was the crazy class I thought I was going to fail. I looked at my test today and I got every single question right on the final! I ended up with a 92 on it *a B+* because I didn't elaborate enough on the two essays, but everything else was right!!! EVEN THE TRICK QUESTIONS!!! It was crazy!!!
I'm still waiting on Piano. I got an A- on the Jury, so I pass to level III, but I KNOW this one won't be an A. I definitely did not have the practice hours to get an A.

BUT
HOLY COW! I got almost straight As in my first semester of Seminary!
It's STILL a crazy notion!


:D


CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!!!

I said, "YES!"

Hello cyber land!
To those of you who actually read this and don't know, I'm ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!
YAY!
He really surprised me which was great AND he picked out a fantastic ring!
*the stories and picture to follow at some point*

We've decided on the end of June which gives us about 7 months to plan it. It can totally be done AND has been done in WAY less time. HOWEVER, I LOVE to plan! Like, give me a vision, and I'll get you there. That's the kind of girl I am. It's been 3 days...and I've already contacted my bridesmaids, told them about their dresses/shoes, signed up for a knot page, entered some information into our wedding website, AND started working on the guest list. I had all morning this morning with no cable and no good movies to watch...why not right!? I'm not really micro-managing anything, for example, I told my girls to buy whatever black dress they wanted. There were a few stipulations *i.e. tea length*, but nothing too much and Bryan's guys are picking out their own tuxes. Since the girls won't look the same, the guys shouldn't be stuck uncomfortable either. So I'm not being that crazy about stuff, but I just really LOVE the teeny details, and it's really hard for me not to be excited about everything. I'm not stressed out, but with the guest list, I'm trying to figure out how to keep it under control...that involves thinking and re-thinking about it - which I'm totally cool with.
I haven't really talked to many people about anything because I don't want to bug them about it, so when I talk to Bryan (my FIANCE! :D) I kind of shove him in front of a bus by bombarding him with all the details...plus the fact that I repeat everything multiple times to help myself process through it all...
Poor guy.
and yes, he does realize it WILL be like this for the rest of our lives.
haha
I already told him that I'm going to try really hard not to nag him. In doing this, I told him what my definition of "soon" was...which is much sooner than his definition...and I told him that I would try to give him specific times instead of just vague sayings like "when you get around to it." Because for ME, that means really soon because it's really important so I'll do it now, but for him it really means, when he gets around to it! SO if I say statements without clarification...I realize that I WILL nag him about it and that's the LAST thing I want to do.

I have also realized that I need to give people a cushion as far as time frame goes. Like not everyone has the time (or cares enough about it haha) to do something exactly when I ask them to do it *like respond to an email or look over music* this fact frustrates me. Partly because I think they should just do it (which is my own flaw, not theirs) and partly because I really love planning, so the more stuff I get done now, the more stuff I get to do later! haha

Oh well!
SO please pray for us all.
Not only for God to work in my and Bryan's relationship, that it would be a light to everyone around us, but also that God would help keep my ridiculous urge to plan and organize under control. I think it can be a great trait, but it can also be a bad one, and there's a delicate balance when doing a wedding. Please pray that I can find that balance without making everyone in my life miserable first!

:D
Thanks loved ones!

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!!!!!!!!!