a real post

i always feel like i'm kinda cheating when i post my lists. i mean, yes, it's blogging, but i don't feel like it's :real: blogging. i mean, i'm throwing a boatload of random tidbits out to the world. doesn't feel legit. so, here is my attempt to write an honest to goodness blog post at 1:45 in the morning {yes, i know it's past my bedtime}.

it's summertime and i'm taking it easy. it feels strange. for the past 2 years, i've rushed around juggling high school, college, friends and family. now that it's all over with {high school and stage 1 of college....i kept the friends and family thing. ;)}, i actually have the opportunity to step back and breathe. interesting. i think i could get used to this. don't know how capable i'll be of handling classes once fall rolls around, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there. no need to worry about tomorrow's trouble's tonight {er, this morning}.

something i do want to accomplish this summer is making a summer bucket list. i've seen everyone else's floating around on the internet....think i shall have to jump aboard this band wagon. i have a mental list of things i want to do....so it's just a matter of communicating my thoughts to paper. that should be interesting.

i've been using my free time rather wisely. i've nearly completely caught up on my show "call the midwife". oh my garsh, i love that show! had fallen behind on it, but now that i actually have time to spare, i'm just about up to date on all the event of Jenny Lee and her friends. it's been quite the exciting season! every episode just keeps getting better and better. but don't go asking me for any details....just go watch it yourself. it'll be well worth your while. promise.

anyhooo...this summer i'm taking my first education class {yes, i know i'm supposed to be taking it easy, but i don't think 1 online class will kill me!}. it's really quite exciting. i mean, my textbook is saying things like, "as a future teacher..." and "you will need to know [blank] to intergrate into your own classroom.". eek! such statements make me very, very happy. other statements in the book make me groan. like, everything else in the book. it's a technology class....and the material is either too complex that only a nerd wearing oxford glasses and a bow tie would need to know it, or so basic that my 3-year-old cousin could master it. please, publishers...consider your audience before forcing this $100 book upon us! {you'll excuse my ranting. this week's chapter was especially mind-numbing}.


that's all my poor, over-taxed brain can muster at the moment. good night, y'all....

oh!-and happy memorial day!

Sometimes...

sometimes...i can type up a blog post no problem. my amature typing skills aren't fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. and other times...well...let's just say i wait a while for inspiration to come my way.

sometimes...i have *odd* dreams. the other day i married tim tebow (now that's a good kind of strange! :)); last night, i put out a forrest fire. yeah...i'm a little concerned too.

sometimes...i dream big. other times, i'm content to sit back and do nothing but watch blimey cow videos. {if you've never seen any of their videos, you're not living! check them out at this link}

sometimes...i can't wait to go out and conquer the world. other times...i just want to stay in my pajamas all day. maybe get a bowl of ice-cream...yeah, that's a good alternative.

sometimes....i want to have hair like rapunzel. other times, i want to shave it all off and see what color it comes back. i think that would be interesting.

sometimes...i'll think i'm turning into a semi-normal person...and then i'll have some spooky, random thought (like shaving my head just for the heck of it) and wonder if i'll ever be able to function in normal human society.

sometimes...i want to be able to function in normal human society. then other times, i'll look around and decide it's way more fun being me.

I Survived...and I'm blogging again....

Well, I'm confident that by now that the few readers I had have long since given up on me. Who can blame them, really. It has been over 3 months. And so much has happened in those 12 weeks.

Let me start off by reassuring y'all that I did indeed survive my 2 (count 'em! not 1, but 2!) math classes! God was so good to me in getting me through this semester. No, I can't say I came away with a new understanding and appreciation of and for math, but I survived. Even got a B in algebra! <<That was the most lovely suprise of the entire semester! :) I was also juggling a science and history class all semester long....science wasn't too bad, but in history, I had a massive research paper that I had to do. That was not fun. I normally enjoy writing, but that paper had me worried. But once again, God came through. :)

And because God came through for me, I sit here today a college graduate! My final semester was tough-probably the toughest I experienced at Santa Fe (yes, I said that every single semester, but this one was legit tough!). But it was so worth it when I went with my friend to pick up our cap and gown...when we decorated our caps...and of course, when I walked across that stage to get my "diploma" (a little rolled up piece of copy paper with a gold sticker on it...but still!). My graduation weekend was absolutely splendid. After the graduation ceremony that Friday night (and supper at Olive Garden!), we spent Saturday celebrating with family and friends. I was absolutely thrilled to have all the people I love all together. Couldn't have been more perfect...well, it was raining...could have done without that, but we had fun anyhow! ;)

So now that sweet summertime is here, my life has slowed down greatly. I still have some online summer classes (no rest for the weary! lol.), but it's a very light load compared to what I'm used to. I love having free time. Yes, I am one of those *strange* people who kinda enjoys school, but after 2 years of hard labor, it's nice to change things up a bit. ;)

Plans for the summer? Oh I don't know....I'll figure those out as I go along. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the opportunity to be lazy. Yes...I think that's gonna work out just fine.

So I had a bad day....

You ever have one of those days where it seemed like the whole world was against you? Where it seemed like no matter what you did, nothing turned out right? It didn't matter how hard you fought...you always got pushed down. <<That day was my day last Wednesday. I had an algebra test last Thursday, and I spent all last Wednesday studying for it. But no matter how long I spent staring at the screen (my math is online), I couldn't get it. My brain is not wired to compute numbers, so it was a very frustrating study session. I got in the car ready to give up. I called my mom and told her I just wanted to drop out of school and flip burgers for the rest of my life. I drove home, fed up with everything. I was angry, hurt and confused. I was angry at the people who invented algebra (still am!); I was hurt because no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't good enough; I was confused because even after 6 hours of studying, math still didn't make sense.

I didn't want to go to church that night....but I did. I didn't think I would hear anything revolutionary that would change my perspective, but I did.

Our pastor told us to open up to Exodus that night...Exodus 14. So I did, and the first verse I landed on was this:

The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.--Exodus 14:14

 

 

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was. I felt like God gave this verse especially to me. I just felt so relieved--yes, I was still stressed, but not AS stressed. I just felt like God was right there with me, saying, "I know it's overwhelming, but I'm right there with you....every step of the way".

So here I am now...sitting in the college's computer lab, continuing my college adventure. Things are still stressful; there are moments where I am extremely overwhelmed. I made not such a good grade on that algebra test, but I'm ok. I know I'm not in this alone. God has given me so much peace about the whole matter.

I know He's here fighting for me.

 



This Semester...

I seem to do this every single semester. I cry "woe is me-this is the hardest semester of my life". My first semester at the college wasn't too bad, but my 2nd one, I thought I was going to die. My summer semester, I took on 3 six week classes and was convinced I was enduring a long and painful death. Last semester, the first one where I took math, I was sure that my algebra teacher would kill me. Looking back, I can only sigh and wish things were as easy now as they were then.

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This semester, I'm on my way to finishing up my AA degree. I'm taking 4 classes: Physical Science, World History, College Algebra and Statistics.<<Sounds like lots of fun, huh? Well....let's just say, don't bother being jealous. lol. I have some great professors this year. My algebra and science teachers are both great ladies who are helping me get through the material. I'm very thankful for their help,and hope that between them and God, I'll survive yet another semester.

 

 

I'm overwhelmed this semester, but at the same time, excited. Remember me posting about applying to a university? Well, guess what? Got accepted! Whoo-hoo! Just have to finish up here at my little ol' community college, then I'm off to get started on my Elementary Education degree! Is that not amazing? I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I've been dreaming of going off to college for years, and now, it's here!

 

Well, gots me a study group to get to, so I'll talk to y'all later on! :)

Why I Don't Wanna Grow Up...

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1. Because goldfish is the best snack ever. You can get away with goldfish being the main staple of your diet when you're a kid, but when you grow up...people look at you funny. :(

 

2. Because I still love cartoons. 8 years ago, my mom wouldn't bat an eye if I told her I wanted to watch Toy Story. Now...she looks at me funny.

 

3. Because kids don't worry about what they're gonna wear the next day. You can get away with wearing stripes and plaid together when you're 5...now, if I don't match perfectly, my sister looks at me funny.

 

4. Because when you're a kid, you're still capable of enjoying the little things life has to offer. Now, if you try to go out and play in the rain puddles...all of nature looks at you funny.

 

5. Because when you're a kid, you can gorge yourself on candy and get away with it. Now....my my dentist looks at me funny.

 

...And that's where my list ends cause my fantasy is being interrupted by my college statistics class. :( Bye, y'all! :)

Current Happenings in the Life of Emily....

I know it's been a while. Life has been so crazy these past few days. College classes started back up Monday, and with 4 fairly hard classes (physical science, statistics, college algebra and world history), it's already giving me a run for my money! I was feeling kinda stressed, but I have my schedule mapped out, so I think I'm going to be okay.

              

 

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So have you seen "Brave"? My sisters went to see it earlier this summer, and came home raving about how good it was. Of course, I was dying to see it, and we started counting down the days till it came out in Redbox. The Scottish accents in this movie are AMAZING...the story line's pretty cute too...not my very favorite movie, but it was still good!

 

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On my list of New Year's resolutions was to read more. One of the books I started this month was Elisabeth Elliot's "Passion and Purity". I've heard great things about it, so I decided that it must be worth reading....it is so good! Haven't finished it quite yet, but everything I've read of it thus far has been excellent! Filled with some pretty amazing quotes...like...“But the question to precede all others, which finally determines the course of our lives is What do I really want? Was it to love what God commands, in the words of the collect, and to desire what He promises? Did I want what I wanted, or did I want what He wanted, no matter what it might cost?” 

 

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Well, I have a fairly long to-do list...so toodles, y'all! :)

 

Looking Back...

2012...

I laughed. I cried.

I made new friends. I lost a friend. I grew closer to "old" friends.

I completed my junior year of high school and my freshman year of college <all in one semester, peeps! :)>

I began my senior year of high school and sophomore year of college.

Too many nights, I stayed up late. Too many mornings, I woke up too early.

I drank coffee. Lots of coffee.

I shook my fist at algebra. I sweated my way through biology.

I prayed over tests. I applied to a university.

I made mistakes. I made memories. I learned lessons the hard way.

I accepted the fact that I am not perfect, nor will I ever be.

This year had it's hardships. It had it moments where I didn't think I was going to survive (mostly in regards to that math class I was required to take this fall! :P), but guess what? God came through. He guided me through this year, and for that, I am so thankful. I honestly do not know where I would be without my Jesus, y'all! I mentioned earlier that I'm not perfect, but through His grace, I'm going to work towards glorifying Him in ALL that I think, say and do. I pray that throughout 2013, He will help me to just that.

Happy New Year, peoples!