check out all my cool links....i just figured out how to fix up my site a little bit. i know i'm slow...but i had some time to fiddle with it! ;) oh and if you are in need of radio...check out the 'positive hits' link. you can choose between Z-radio, Y-hot (pop), and Y-rock (rock).

oh by the way...the extended version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is finally out. it came out yesterday! and there are officially 111 days till the next movie is in theatres! check out the website its awesome, and Orlando Bloom welcomes you to the sight if you're lucky. ;)

the coolest website that everyone should see!

well recruitment is over and God definitely answered prayers. we have an awesome pledge class, one of the biggest on campus! (61 girls!) I also received a personal blessing...a girl named Brigitte. She is a SOLID Christian girl whose main purpose in going through recruitment was to minister to the Greek system. I am SO EXCITED about her being my future sister, once she is initiated. God is going to do a mighty work here. I can't wait to see what He has planned. :) I also realized one thing these past two weeks. Rush isn't as easy as it looks. Some might question the 'intensity' that could be involved with rush...but believe me, as a girl just coming out of practicing for this thing, it was not easy. We definitely used every spare hour in the day to practice. and for those of you who think you are a people-person. think again. try being around girls for two weeks. yeah that really increases your patience level and causes you to become a loner in your free time quickly. don't get me wrong, it was a great sisterhood bonding experience and i'm glad i went through it, its just one of those instances where i'm happy that it only happens once a year.

Today i did a very exciting thing. Now it may not seem that big to many, but to me it was. I used the FSU bus system. yay! The reason this is such an accomplishment is because i normally do first time things with other people...because i'm the type of person who likes having others around me who sort of reassure me that i'm doing the right thing. yes i know its probably a bad part of my personality or some sort of lack of confidence thing. but anyways...i did it all by myself and it was great. now i am going to definitely use the buses for my wednesday schedule. i have an 8:00 class on the opposite side of where i sleep. so knowing that i can just fall out of bed and ride a bus to class is a great thing. :) And now after this wonderful bus experience...I definitely feel more in tune with the mass population of students at Florida State. hahaha. that sounds so ridiculous! oh well! i'm a werido.

So far school has been fine. One thing i noticed though, was that I have muchos amounts of strange teachers in my schedule...i don't know whether that means that i just happened to get into the weird teacher classes...or that the major i picked (Education department) is just full of strange teachers. In which case, if the latter is true...than I better get used to them because i'll be with them for the next two years. But anyways...i like my classes for the most part and am looking forward to learning the material...except for one computer class i have which is going to be VERY boring...this is partly due to the fact that the class is 2 hrs. and 45 minutes long! ugh. and my teacher is one of the strangest men i have met yet...another being my astronomy teacher from last year. but i won't go into that. all i can say is that we (the 4) called him Pinky. i shall have to come up with a nickname for this new strange one...hmm. it will probably require a lot of thought. to give you an idea of how strange he is...he kept using the words "ain't," "studenting," (ex: 'which is more important to you, your studenting or your job?') and "over yonder." (ex: 'you can go visit the desk over yonder.') yeah...its definitely going to be an interesting semester.

I absolutely love guitars and pianos! I really do hope that one day I will be able to play the guitar and that my future husband will be able to play either the guitar or piano. I know that sounds like the wishings of a young girl...but hey i can dream right? one of my favorite things to do is just sit and listen to someone play. there is something relaxing and calming about it...it also amazes me. God is so awesome the way he talents certain people with gifts.

Today I had an awesome quiet time. I'm going through this book called An Invitation to Eavesdrop, finding yourself in the Psalms by Barbara Francis. It is totally amazing! It has helped my spiritual walk grow tremendously this summer and even continue to grow this summer. Because I've been so busy, and tired...my quiet times have turned into either short reads of the Psalms of quick jots in my prayer journal...nothing fulfilling. So this morning I prayed that God would give me time with Him today during my lunch break. And it was simply amazing the time we spent together...I learned a lot about His character and had just a peaceful, fulfilling, intimate moment with Him. I was so excited to see my new-self coming out when I felt that desire and urge to read His Word and to spend time with Him. I'm discovering how much He truly desires me and my company. I am constantly reminded by the Holy Spirit throughout the day that He is my strength and my joy. Pre-rush is very difficult and trying on my patience, nerves, mind...etc. But God is soo faithful. He really is...He has been my joy these past few days. I seriously could NOT deal with this week and all the stress if I didn't continually give up control of my life to Him.

I think it makes life so much easier! Why try to control it yourself, when our Father desires for us to let Him take over? What can go wrong? So what if you step out of your comfort zone a little bit. As a very wise man (Mark Z.) once said during my three weeks at CSU this summer, "Once you step out of your comfort zone and endure all of the discomfort, you experience a joy so abundant that you are willing to go through it again to experience that joy." God wants us to die to our desires and life to serve Him wholy, so that we experience the joy He has for us! That is overwhelming to think about...He has such a great joy waiting for us that He is continually asking us to trust Him enough to give over control of our daily lives. It would be like if one of your closest friends had this gift waiting for you and he/she talked about how much you'd like it and how awesome it was, but the only way you can receive it is by letting them blindfold you and guide you to it. Yes there is a little bit of fear, like "what if i run into the wall?" or something...but ultimately, your desire for that gift must surpass your fear--otherwise you'll never get anywhere. ok ok i'm stepping off my box now. I just get so excited when I have my eyes cleared a bit and I see all that God is doing in my little sphere of life. ;) This quote that will wrap this entry up is from the Psalms book and is one of my favorites:

"For me too, accepting God's love involves a relentless hushing of voices that whisper otherwise. You are not worthy. You have failed again. God cannot possibly love you. My conscience having formed under sermons portraying an Old Testament god of strict authority and punishment, I can barely grasp the reality that God has condescended to live within me and now loves me from the inside out. I must ask the God who is 'greater than our hearts' to halt that ruthless cycle of condemnation and remind me of perhaps the hardest thought to grasp, that God desires and loves me." --Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God

Its amazing how draining it can be when you are surrounded by friends or aquaintances who don't know the Lord personally. The atmosphere is really heavy...and you seem to be always on your guard...in spiritual armor. Then when you are alone...it is calming in a weird way. I feel like i'm just dazing into the distance or zoning out...sort of collecting my thoughts. But then it is hard to get down on your knees and have some personal time with God...I know this is true for me especially during this week of Pre-rush. we are so busy practicing and stuff that everytime i have a break i'm either sitting down and relaxing or staring into nothing.

well this is technically my last night of freedom until August 25th....because up here in Tally sorority pre-rush and rush starts! yay! Hopefully we'll get really great girls. I'm praying for them anyway! ;) so if you guys read this in the next two weeks keep us in mind up here in Tally!

Tonight was one of those realization times where I realized that I am a really sad person. I have like 50 hours of music on my computer and I still have problems finding something to listen to....come on! What is up with that? But it always seems to happen....but how? How in the world could I be tired of all 50 hours of that music? Then I get cravings to buy more CDs that I think I need...when in reality I don't...but I eventually buy them anyway. so really its this sick obession that never gets filled...hopefully someday this sick disease will leave me....

P. S. I'm back in Tallahasse and will definitely be writing more in my blog! stand by for more posts!

Follow-up to the Fun-noodle entry:

Since people were getting confused as to what a fun-noodle is, here is a brief description: A fun-noodle is a floating device used in swimming pools...they usually come in bright colors like red, orange, yellow, green...etc. I recently was in Target and saw that the Fun-noodle company had created twisted funnoodles. meaning instead of their surface being smooth is was a twisted up. i hope this clears some confusion as to what i was talking about. I did send two noodle-letters in the mail...and it really wasn't expensive at all! I think it was around $1.06 to mail it and i dunno....like $1.50 to buy the noodle. so all in all its a lot cheaper than buying a gift for your friends...and it is so much more fun to give! I also found out that the mail man has to hand deliver it to your door! hahaha. i thought they would put a slip in your mailbox telling you to pick it up in the postoffice. hey for $2.56 you can send your friend a gift and have it hand-deliverd! pretty sweet deal. by the way...my friends who received them thought it was hilarious and appreciated them! ;) Hope that this idea inspires people to send crazy 'letters' to their friends!