I want to go back to Africa. That's all.
(Pictures courtesy of Meghan Davis)

After a week without my [still nameless] car, it is nice to be able to drive again! I was thinking today after I got dropped off at Fisher Tire that it was crazy it had already been a week- I guess a quick trip to the beach made it go by fast! The beach was wonderful and a much needed, relaxing break. Last Wednesday I tweeted about it being a perfect day and then blogged about it being not-so-perfect, but now that today is almost over I think I can safely say that today has been nearly perfect. Minus the fact that I've spent wayyy too much money.

I woke up early to get my car (Dane is such a great friend for always volunteering to help me out- I don't even have to ask!) and then had lots of time to be "productive." So... I went to the YL house to make posters when Chelc texted me to tell me she was at Panera (my second home). I joined her there where we spent some quality time talking about life and running into/scaring (Morgan) friends. Next I went to get some financial situations worked out, went to pick up a ring I special ordered months ago, went to CAK, got my car washed, visited some friends at Red Saile, went home for a few, met Chelcie at a different Panera to study, now I'm blogging/blog-reading, and then I'm ending the night by going to some friends' intramural frisbee game (I'm really excited about it because 1. I usually can't go due to small group 2. It's really nice out today 3. Dane promised he'd shave his mustache after the game), and probably getting some frozen yogurt! Told ya it was a good day!

Just because I needed a picture and this book has been getting me through the past two months! :)

For a prettier picture and to make you jealous- this was my view from our balcony this past weekend. Everything about it was perfect.

Today's Letters

We're famous (well... kind of)!!! Check it out- we were featured on "Fist Pump Friday" on Today's Letters. It's such a cool blog so go look at it if you never have before!

Turn of events...

I started my day by sleeping in but still waking up with plenty of time to get ready, getting an email from Matt, wearing chacos, burning Chasing Someday onto a cd so I could listen to it in the car, driving with the windows down (one of my favorite things ever), and heading to CAK. After tweeting about this combination of things that made it a perfect day (I also don't have class on Wednesdays and have small group tonight), for some reason, I felt the need to "knock on wood" because I had probably just jinxed the perfection of today. Well, I didn't have any wood in my car so I figured I'd be okay... since I'm not superstitious anyway. Turns out, maybe I did need to knock on wood after all.

The first thing that was the beginning of the downward slope of the day, I will not mention on my blog... but after that I got my first ever flat tire! Thank goodness I got AAA for my birthday! Being the genius that I am, I did not realize that the loud noise I was hearing was my tire- I thought something was dragging under my car (since this has happened to me multiple times), and since I was almost home I figured I'd be fine to just drive the rest of the way to my house. Got home, looked under my car, saw nothing... so I continued to explore and found that my back right tire was VERY flat. The AAA man was super nice (but very late), and put my spare on with no problem... until we realized that my spare was also very flat. He told me not to drive on it and seeing as how my dad is out of town... I don't know what to do in this situation! Also, after my trip this past weekend I am BROKE and therefore cannot afford a new tire while Padre is gone.
I've been trying to transfer money from my savings to my checking account in order to get money and buy a tire... but for some reason they have the wrong address on the application or something and me coming there with my license that says my real address is not proof enough that I am who I am and live where I live... Not too sure what to do about that!

So until next Thursday, poor ____ (I really need to name my car- she's the first one that hasn't been named!) will be sitting on the side of the road outside The Yellow House.

All in all, today really has been nice. And very relaxing since I can't drive anywhere- no productivity for me today! But... I'm going to need to find a ride to class tomorrow! :)

LAND OF THE FREE!

And home of the brave (this has a whole new meaning to Chelcie now. Ask her about it.)

Well, friends, let me tell you first about the megabus...
-it is super cheap
-it has wifi
-it has plugs
-they play movies
Why wouldn't you want to hop on and catch a ride to the Nation's capital for only a few bucks?! Check out the tweets tagged "megabusmegafun" for more details.

We arrived in DC at approximately 7:50 am and hit the town running after a quick, rejuvenating teeth brushing and face washing in the public restroom of the Double Tree. Let me tell you, we looked good as we ran this town. I'm pretty sure we saw everything there is to see in the first day alone. We walked at least 26 miles (according to Chelc... and she can't be far off), and took the most roundabout ways possible to every sight. Who knew that in actuality they're all pretty close if you don't take the longest way possible? But don't worry, by the next day we had this city down to a T.

We were really good at reading the map and knowing exactly where we were.
We started off by going to the Capitol because it looked really close. Optical illusion for sure.

Then we walked to the Washington Monument and hit up some museums on the way- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Holocaust Museum.

The Hope Diamond (It's Valentine's Day boys, and we want this.)
The only time we took the Metro was to Georgetown where we ate some lunch and shopped. We saw Georgetown Cupcakes (D.C. Cupcakes on TLC) and the line was ridiculous so we sadly decided it wasn't worth it.

Eventually we made it back to our hotel and some sweet friends of ours came to visit because thanks to Twitter we realized that they were in DC too! We hung out with them in our hotel and watched the UT game while they told us what else we needed to see while we were there. T Mo was so kind as to drive us in groups to a local pizza place for dinner. He took the first round of girls and then came back for us. As we were commenting on the amount of honking that goes on on the streets, this lady neglected to yield while turning left on green and drove right into us! Sorry, T Mo that you had to deal with that nonsense! Just added a little adventure to our overall big adventure!

The next morning, Chelcie had the brilliant idea of DC Cupcakes for breakfast! We got there about 30 minutes before they opened and got right in once they did open the doors. When traveling in a pack of ten, it makes it difficult to pile into small stores/restaurants... so we decided to keep our cupcakes and eat them as dessert once we made it to lunch.

On our way to lunch we stopped to see where Obama resides. As we were approaching, Jessie announced that we were headed toward the back of The White House, but once we got there we realized it was, indeed, the front. We took lots of pictures and somehow escaped getting in trouble (Jessie). Only later to realize Jessie was right and we just had a bunch of picture of the back of the house. Wow.

By this time we were so tired of walking that some of our group hopped in a cab and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves. We finally all made it to the restaurant we had been looking for and it was closed so we settled in at a little taproom. Heads up, folks, people in Washington do NOT like to separate your checks for you so come prepared. We enjoyed a great lunch and amazing cupcakes. In the words of Jen, "I've never not wanted something to end so badly."

Next we traveled to the Lincoln Memorial- very memorable to all of us, especially Chelcie.


Next we saw the war memorials, and then went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. After that it was time to head back to the hotel. We grabbed some dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill- it was really nice and very yummy. Then went back to the Double Tree to utilize their public restroom again so we could get ready for bed before getting back on the megabus. We figured we could walk just a few more miles since we were about to be on a bus all night so we headed out on foot to the megabus stop. We made it to where we thought it was, but we couldn't find it and only had 15 minutes to get there so we decided we needed to find taxis. Four girls got in one taxi while Becca Jones, Chelcie, Jen, and I continued on foot ending up practically in the front lawn of The White House. The security guard had to direct us out of the gate to the sidewalk. We were on the verge of panic at this point, power-walking to try and find a cab. We found one with 7 minutes left to reach our destination before the bus departed. We got there just in time and even though the bus driver somehow thought we were scamming him, we were allowed on the bus and arrived back home at 5:30 am.

The trip was a blast, and I can't wait to take advantage of this megabus more often! I had so much fun, thanks for the great idea Becca!

Travel

I'm excited to get out of Knoxville the next two weekends! Even though it stresses me out that I won't get things done... because let's be honest... I will not be productive while I'm hanging out with friends this weekend and I definitely won't be productive while I'm on the beach the next weekend! Maybe the megabus will provide some time for productivity if I can't sleep. Except, let's be real again, I'll probably be social the whole time I'm awake. Yes, I have a test on Tuesday that's probably going to be really difficult... but how often am I going to have the chance to have girl talk on a megabus?!
Don't get me wrong, I love Knoxville...
But I think some time away will be good.

Washington D.C., I cannot wait to meet you.

Sarasota, I cannot wait to see you again. Please be warm.

I really don't like school. I wasn't made for this. I'm not good at it. I love the whole being in college, hanging out with friends thing- that's great! But the whole going to classes, taking failing tests... not fun.

Lately I've been so frustrated with school and having to learn dumb details about things that I will never need to know. Why would I ever need to know that Oslo (the capital of Norway) is 1/2 a millimeter south of where I put it? I won't.

I just want to be doing something that matters. Making a difference. Furthering the Kingdom. Teaching children. Preferably somewhere in Africa.

I do NOT want to be sitting in class, listening to lectures about the Irish banking system, reading maps, studying how Resveratrol keeps platelets from sticking together.

Just needed to get that out there!

Now off to read Jesus Calling instead of "The Slow Death of the American Dream."

Today is big for 2 reasons...

Most importantly, it's my mommy's birthday! I'm pretty sure she's still telling people she's 29... and truth is, she doesn't look much older than that! Anyway, I was hoping to celebrate with her this weekend- not only her birthday, but also that SHE IS DONE WITH CHEMO! Unfortunately, I am sick so I can't be around her. I just dropped off a milkshake at her house so that I wouldn't contaminate her and so she could get some rest. She's not feeling well either... on her birthday. So sad. So please send up a prayer that she will feel better!

Happy birthday to the best mom ever! She seriously is the strongest person I know, and words cannot begin to express how thankful I am for her. I'm so thankful for the chemo being over because I hate seeing how weak it makes her. You would never know that anything was wrong though because she holds it all together so well. She looks great and somehow doesn't let it show that she's not feeling well. I am so proud of her and how great she has been through this whole thing.

(She doesn't ever let me take pictures of her... and gets mad if I put any on here... so I'm hoping not to get in trouble for this one... that's 3 years old.)

Thanks, Mom, for everything you do. And for being such an inspiration to me and so many others. Happy birthday!! Feel better. Love you so much!

The second reason that it's a big day... is that it's Super Bowl Sunday! Finally. Click here for Chelcie's thoughts on the situation. I'm not a fan of either of these teams. Not that I dislike either of them... I just don't really have a huge preference. However, I decided a while back (once the Seahawks lost) that I would cheer for the Packers (since the Colts and Titans were out too). And since Matt's out of the country, I feel like someone needs to cheer for the Packers tonight in his place! So I will take on that role and pull for the Packers! Go Pack Go!

Peace

"Rejoice in the face of hardship, for I have overcome the world." -Jesus Calling

James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Melissa sent me this video, and I wanted to share it. What if we were as excited as these Indonesian people to receive God's word? We take it for granted because we have it in our language in front of us every.single.day. But shouldn't we still be just as excited to open up His word and receive it each day? How often do you thank God that you can read His love letter in your own language any time you want?

Dear Mr. Groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil),
Thank you oh so much for not seeing your shadow today. I really appreciate it.

Come on, Spring!

Also, happy signing day! I know this is a big deal to a lot of people... I just don't really understand enough to follow along. So someone... please fill me in on how Dooley did once this is all over. Go Big Orange.

AND happy free spicy chicken biscuit day. Even though I forgot until just now! Bummer. I hope YOU remembered!