30 Day Music Challenge

Day 01- A song that makes you happy

"Wildfire" by John Mayer 

Day 02- A song that helps you clear your head

"Breakdown" by Jack Johnson
"The Wonderful Unknown" by Ingrid Michaelson

Day 03 - A song that makes you laugh

"Ticks" by Brad Paisley

Day 04 - A song that reminds you of something sad

"A Heartbreak" by Angus and Julia Stone

Day 05 - A song that has a new meaning to you every time you hear it

"The Weight of Lies" by The Avett Brothers

Day 06 - A song you can always relate to

"Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey Musgraves

Day 07 - A song that is your guilty pleasure

"Faith" by George Michael
"Rich Girl" by Hall and Oates
"Bennie and the Jets" by Elton John
"Jack and Dianne" by John Mellancamp
(I couldn't narrow that one down...)

Day 08 - A song you liked when you were younger

"Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney....anything by Jesse McCartney

Day 09 - A song that makes you want to dance

"Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar 

"Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias 

"Title" by Meghan Trainor 

"Fireball" by Pitbull

Day 10 - A song that makes you cry

"There You'll Be" by Faith Hill

"More Time" NeedtoBreathe 

Day 11 - A song that reminds you of summer

"Hello You Beautiful Thing" by Jason Mraz

"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson 

Day 12 - A song that reminds you of your best friend

"Us" by Regina Spektor (because she played it all the time in her car when we were in high school)

Day 13 - A song you sing to in the shower

"Love Song" by Sara Barielles

Day 14 - A song you like hearing live

"Songs like This" by Carrie Underwood. (Hands down the best concert I've ever been to)

Day 15 - A song people wouldn’t expect you to like

"We don't eat" by James Vincent Morrow"Somethin' Stupid" by Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra"Moondance" by Van Morrison

Day 16 - A song that holds a lot of meaning to you

"Rock of Ages" by Sandra McCracken"O love that will not let me go" by Indelible Grace

Day 17 - A song that annoys you

"What Does the Fox Say?" by...I don't even know...or care.

Day 18 - A song you have as your ringtone/want to be your ringtone

"Wordplay" by Jason Mraz was mine for a long time, but now it's a default

Day 19 - A song you’re currently obsessed with

"I know places" by Taylor Swift 

"Paper Doll" by John Mayer 

"I See Fire" (originally by Ed Sheeran, but I LOVE the Peter Hollen version) 

"Rainy Day Woman" by Kat Edmondson

Day 20 - A song from a new album you are waiting for to come out

"Dear Future Husband" by Meghan Trainor

Day 21 - A song you want to dance to at your wedding

"You are the best thing" by Ray LaMontague 

"You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson 

"Until You Came Along" by JJ Heller 

"Now That I've Found You" by Paul McDonald and Nikki Reed

Day 22 - A song that would be the theme song to a TV show about your life

"The Broken Beautiful" by Ellie Holcomb

Day 23 - A song that makes you angry

"Take Me to Church" by Hozier(Not angry so much as disappointed)

Day 24 - A cover song

"Apologize" by Kacey Musgraves 

"Use Somebody" by Laure Jansen 

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by Peter Hollens

Day 25 - An acoustic song you love

"Lost Stars" by Kierra Knightly 

"Billie Jean" by the Civil Wars 

"Rather Be" Jasmine Thompson 

"XO" by John Mayer

Day 26 - A song by your favorite band 

"Stones Under Rushing Water" by NeedtoBreathe

Day 27 - A song you make fun of

"It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls

Day 28 - A song that reminds you of your boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other

"Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland 

"Can't Stop Loving You" by Phil Collins 

"Friends" by Michael W. Smith

Day 29- A song currently stuck in your head

"Crazy Love" by Van Morrison...or Michael Buble"That's What's Up" by Lennon and Maisy

Day 30- A song that you haven’t listened to in awhile

"Move it Like this" by The Baha Men 

"Spiderwebs" by No Doubt 

"Umbrella" (Christ Mix) by Coffey Anderson

A BRIEF Recap of 2014

The Christmas season is upon us! The first semester of my sophomore year is behind me and I am currently keeping busy with church choir, work, christmas parties, weddings, baby showers, and many other exciting events. It's a busy season of life, but I'm really enjoying it and can't imagine it any other way. Here's a quick glimpse at some things I did this semester...

Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) is a group that meets at school on Thursday nights for worship, fellowship, and bible study. I would definitely say it has kept me sane this semester. I looked forward to going every Thursday night, and got involved in a small group that met on Monday afternoons that I absolutely loved. It has been a HUGE blessing and I am so so thankful for everyone I've met so far in RUF.

The Christ Church College and Career Class (C4) has been keeping busy. I'm thankful for my church family and all the friends I've made over the years at Christ Church, and the college class is definitely no exception. From our Wednesday night bible studies to our murder mysteries at halloween; I'm thankful for all the memories we've made so far and look forward to all the memories we will get to create in the future.

I've gotten really involved in the church choir this year and I LOVE it! It's really been an outlet for me and one of the most relaxing parts of my week. For the most part, I can now sing in front of the congregation without wanting to run off the stage, pass out, or throw up so I would say that I've definitely grown in some ways. ;-) The men and women in the choir are so supportive and are always there when I need a laugh, prayer, or anything really. It's been a big blessing as well.

Work has been wonderful! I am so thankful to have a job that I absolutely adore. It's been a huge blessing to share the love of Christ with so many children in our community, and there isn't anything I love more. I have great coworkers and supervisors, I have great kids, and I would say that I have awesome opportunities to do all sorts of things! I love it! We're already making plans for summer camp and I couldn't be more excited! "It's a beautiful thing when a passion and a career come together..." I have no doubt that I'm supposed to be an education major. :)

I finished the semester with 4 Bs, a C and an A. Not my best, but I'm really proud of how I did this semester. It was a rough round with the classes I took: 2 science classes, a philosophy class, a class every Saturday morning, and then balancing those with my 'easy' classes wasn't exciting at all.  I have all but 2 of my General Eds done and I plan to test out of one of them and take the other one in the summer. That means I can FINALLY start taking classes directly pertaining to my major and I couldn't be happier!!!  I'm so so so SO excited! I'm at the point where I'm realizing I can finally feel like I'm working towards something instead of sitting in classrooms and lecture halls where I feel like I'm wasting my time learning about things I have no interest in.

That's it I suppose. :) 2014 was nice, and I feel like I was just saying that about 2013. I have high hopes and expectations for 2015, and I am anticipating many new adventures in the very near future. <3

Fickle Feelings

This is something I started before Christmas and I'm just now getting around to posting. :)

This time of year is really hard for me. End of the semester brings finals and papers and craziness, the holiday season brings hustle and bustle, and the weather is a serious buzzkill for my mood. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder which basically means when the weather turns dreary and depressing so does my mood. It has to do with my vitamin D levels being too low and the sun not being out enough to boost them up. I've really been struggling the last few weeks with anxiety attacks and depression, and it's kind of bummed me out.

This happens every year, and its happened this way for the last several years. Right around the holiday season it hits at it's worse. So what's a girl to do? While there are days I would love to stay in my footie pajamas in my bed watching Netflix, or throw on sweatpants and a hoodie and sleep the day away those aren't options for me. I have to get up each morning, fight through it and know that these feelings are only temporary...

Feelings are fickle but the Truth is forever. 

This is one of my favorite quotations this time of year. A) It has the word fickle in it, and you honestly can't sit there and say you read that word or say that word and have no response to it. It's a funny word. It sounds like pickle. That in itself makes me smile just a tad bit. Fickle means to be indecisive and moody. So when I hear the word "fickle" I associate it with the idea of a pickle with an attitude.

      

I digress...

B) No matter what I feel: happy, sad, angry, confused, excited, upset, delighted, terrified, etc. The truth is that there is a God who loves me through it and thinks I am His wonderful daughter. There are literally hundreds of words to describe the range of human emotions: furious, exhausted, ecstatic, remorseful, isolated, hopeful, confident, eager, disillusioned, insecure, anxious, optimistic, and of course countless more. Even when we're incredibly grumpy, have a bad attitude, are ungrateful, and are just the epitome of an emotional wreck: God still loves us.

On our worst days when it took an hour and a half to muster the strength to get out of bed only to head over to Kroger and snap at the lady checking us out and head back home to take a 'well deserved nap' God still loves us.
On our days when we're disgusted with the people around us for making the choices they're making, and being distastefully judgmental- God still loves us.
On the days when we're in a spastic disarray, nothing is going right, and we don't even think about God until we're crawled up in bed but then are too tired to give Him the time of day- He still loves us.
Because no matter what we do, what we feel, what we think we know or don't know, the truth is the same: Our heavenly Father's love is vastly deep for each of his children.

On the days when it feels like the world is a dark, bleak, unhappy place I want to hide from...
On the days when I wish I was invisible so people would stop asking me what was wrong...
On the days when I can't breathe because I'm terrified of going anywhere for no concrete reason...
On the days when I think that surely I'm crazy or surely no one understands what this is like...

On the days when I simply struggle through all of daily duties because I'm emotionally drained...
I can say to myself that there is a God, my heavenly father, who loves me anyway.
My Father wants to wrap me up in His arms and give me the gift of the peace He offers, and the reassurance of His grace and love on my good days and my bad days. 

Here's to the sunshine coming out tomorrow. ;) I believe in silver linings and finding the positive in every situation, and even when things seem gray (literally and figuratively) I know there is a hope in the promise that God gave to me.