see ya, break.

I was honestly dreading coming back to school this week. Unlike most schools we had the amazing advantage of an entire week off for Thanksgiving. This was amazing as I turned 18 Wednesday (WHOA! ha.) and was able to spend time with my family AND go to Nashville for 2 1/2 days. Yet with the break being so long I was a little sad to get back in the swing of school...

not anymore!

Coming back and getting right back to class wasn't as bad as I thought. Even though I'm a sophomore and totally experienced this last year...haha; seeing my friends was incredible though. Something about not seeing the people you see five or six times a day for an entire week...

In other news, it's currently 12:30 and I totally started this post at two hours ago... that was sort of irrelevant.

Gotta go now - off to lunch!

New Moon, Parties & Other Collegiate Topics.

Listening to: Breathe - Superchic[k]

Can I bullet point this blog post? Thanks. :)

New Moon (the seconds Twilight movie... ya ya)

• came out 44 minutes ago and a bunch of people went to see it! I have an 8 and 9am class so I wasn't sure that was the best idea. Yet I'm not exactly asleep now...I will be soon though! I also just didn't connect with Twilight very well. I'm the kid that get's excited when Hallmark Channel has movie marathon's so... haha.
• wasn't my kind of movie plus I have class so I am instead staying with my parentals :) and i left my pajamas - good thing i discovered some Hannah Montana pants (with the tag still on, no lie) and a random t-shirt. Don't know where the pants came from though, haha.
  

Parties - gotta love them. (I'll start ahead and go backward!)

• 
Christmas is an incredible Holiday. Of course because of Jesus! But also because of the happiness... Hallmark movies... Elf (Will Ferrell) and the music! I have the incredible privilege of leading the music for the Christmas-themed Sunday Nights (weekly service/hang out @ ACC) and it will be a PAR-TAY!
• I turn 18 next week (November 25th - omg) and I'm gonna hang with some friends. I'm not very good at the whole party thing though so who knows how it'll turn out?? Hopefully with a complete taco bar (compliments of my mom!) and a great iTunes playlist (Needtobreathe, Lady Antebellum, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus... haha) it won't be too ridiculous?
• And last and maybe least? *wink* is the party at ACC. I wrote a parody ("Party @ ACC") to the tune of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" and made a lil video to it. Some of my fellow classmates and some professors, people at other schools... haha - the kind of liked it. I feel kind of awkward posting it but you know it's all about the awesome time I've had and the awesome times I'm planning to have at Atlanta Christian and I want to share that with you!

Well, that's all! not sure if the video above will show up or just be a conglmaoration of codes and all. Hopefully it will work? I really need some sleep - I do not want to fall asleep in class that would just not be cool.

Video to check out: Here @ ACC people are always hanging in McKinney's and it's so much fun. My friends John & Morgan showed me this video while hanging in there the other day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeImRbv1Bqs

Giving Thanks for Pop Culture Obsessions.

This week? Is the week that I lose my mind. I've got three tests, one of which is a final, coming up in the next two days and a response paper I need to write. Not to mention that Thanksgiving thing. I need to pack, get things ready to head home (and to take a LOT of stuff home with me. You'd be surprised how much I brought that I don't need), find some sort of peace and quiet because my mind is about to EXPLODE!! That's hyperbolic, by the way. My head isn't really about to explode (You knew that? Oh. Okay).

On the upside, and there is a very definite upside, I get a week and two weekends off for Thanksgiving. I've not been home for that type of time in a really long time. Not since September, when I first came here. I've been home a couple of weekends, but the majority of my time has been spent here, at ACC where I belong. I think we're going to my grandparent's house, in Kentucky, which is one of my top five favorite places in the world. It's a whole-family Thanksgiving, which is, in itself, something to give thanks for.

On the OTHER upside (and this side is a lot less sweet and "AW!" inspiring) Thursday night, the CLM's are taking a group of students to go see New Moon. Now, say whatever you want to about the literary merit of the Twilight series (I've said plenty myself) or about the increasingly disturbing nature of Bella and Edward's relationship (dude. Stalker much?), but you have to admit: you're all sort of secretly cheering for Jacob. And, hello, Miss "I'm a big kid who has real movie roles that don't involve dogs." I've never been to a midnight showing of anything before (thanks, Mom, for making sure I was in bed before then) so I'm pretty psyched about this extra bit of college freedom.

All right. I think I've exhausted my linking limits for this blog, so I'm going to go.... study... or something.

Video of the Blog Post? Like you're surprised.

"Laundry Be Not Proud"

If you're anything like me (and we can all hope you're... well... not.) you like to do the same things, in the same way, at the same time. I had a habitual life in high school. I drove to school the same way every day, came home the same way. All my classes were in order, and my after-school routine followed the same pattern. The shift to college was pretty stressful, really, because of how out of the ordinary it was for me. But never fear: my obsessive personality has once again triumphed, and I've settled into a pretty firm pattern. For example? Mondays are the days I stay away from my dorm until after supper and also the days I go to devo group with some girls on my hallway. Wednesdays I go to church instead of devo group, and Thursdays have become "Blog while sitting against the washer doing laundry" days. Hello, blog. If you could see my outfit right now, you would laugh at me. Laundry needs to be done and blogging is a good filler activity.

Unfortunately, I don't want to talk about my laundry ("Unfortunately?" say the readers, "Yeah, RIGHT." I see your scoffing, readers, I do, and I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt.). Also, I don't want to talk about my classes. Or about my weekend. Or.... Yeah. This blog is going to be short. As in..... now.

And also I'd like to issue a retraction. In a former blog post, I wrote the ignominious phrase, "Me and Jess" referring to, of course, my friend and me going to see Switchfoot. I have since then been informed (as I, of course, knew) it should correctly have been stated, "Jess and me" as you always put yourself last in terms of grammar. Thanks to those who pointed out my personal flaws. It's much appreciated. ;)

Video of the Blog Post: Switchfoot's new album came out on Tuesday and now there's lots of slightly illegal music to listen to on youtube. This song in particular makes me want to scream my angst out at the world. Enjoy.

come into this broken dream - please?

Last night (this morning?) I couldn't sleep. I figured I might as well blog but couldn't pull this off on my cell phone... so I typed it as email, emailed it to myself and below is what came of it. Forgive me if it is unclear... it was getting close to 1am by the end of my paragraphs.

Listening to: Breathe by B.Reith

problem: can't sleep
solution: won't silence

Despite the dorkiness (word?) of how this may sound, I am usually sleep by 10:30 pm and am quite proud of that. However I've been doing a bit o'homework and writing for work and have whacked my sleep schedule off. So it is past midnight, and I am unfortunately wide awake.

On a positive note, I'm listening to a song off of a CD I bought this past Sunday. The CD is "Now is Not Forever" by B.Reith and the song is "Breathe." (I also bought the CD, "Introducing Ayiesha Woods" by..well...just guess.)

I tabbed (figured out the guitar solos by ear) this song earlier tonight and don't want to stop listening to it. It may seem lyrically simple, but is really getting to me... "Come into this broken dream and breathe down on me... breathe down on me."

I'll be 18 in 14 days and while people say that it's cool I'm a sophomore and may congratulate me on my music or something, I am often not convinced. I frequently remind myself of the songs I have yet to complete, the CD I have not released, the flaws I am all too familiar with... I remind myself of what I have not done compared to what other people my age or younger have done or just compared to what I had planned. - this is the perfect time to say come into this broken dream and breathe down on me...breathe down on me.

I find myself comparing myself to the singer-actor kids living their dreams and thinking "I'm nearly 18... when does my dream start?" Not to say (by any means) that I aspire to be famous or become a household name, I could do local media for all I care. I just look at the standards and all I set for my self, look at my age, and recognize their inability to line up.

I think "Breathe" is a request for God to breathe down on a broken dream because of one's unsuccessful attempts. I don't think my unsuccessful attempts are the fact that I have not done certain things by a certain date, but the mere fact that I notice it. My broken dream isn't my music or talent, but my lack of acknowledging the two.

"When I lost it all, that's when my life truly began and I found myself secure in the palm of Your hand - again." --"Breathe" by B.Reith

I don't know what B.Reith was thinking about when he wrote this song and for all I know my interpretation could be one hundred and nine percent irrelevant.

Not sure what I was thinking in reference to the last paragraph there. I guess I just forgot to finish my train of thought? Anyways, that was the way my mind was moving throughout the 12 o'clock hour last night/this morning.

In ACC related news, (buh dum chhh) we're having an open mic night tomorrow as a part of our open house where prospective students can come hang out on campus. I'm hoping to be here and I love meeting my future colleagues! Come say hey, ok? Ok good afternoon friends. :)

Autumn Always Makes Me Nostalgic.

Some of you may be wondering two things, and I hope to answer your questions in this blog post (have you ever noticed how, when you type things, you tend to mistype them the same way? I have a friend, Tim, and I regularly spell his name Time. "Saw" often becomes "was" and vice versa. Blog? I really want to tell people that I write a bog for my college. Crazy, huh?) (That was a long side note, and I'm sorry). Okay. Two things you may be wondering. ONE: Is this entry going to be as interesting as the last entry? No. No, it isn't. Sorry. And TWO: What am I doing for my birthday this weekend? VERY good question.

Tomorrow, my parents and I are going to travel to Johnson City, Tennessee to visit my brother for his and my birthdays (his is the 7th and mine is the 8th. Handy, huh?). It's his twenty-first, and my mother asked him on the phone what would make his birthday awesome and he replied that having us (Dad, Mom, and me) and my grandparents there would make it awesome and we're doing just that. It's a semi-surprise, which makes putting it up on the internet kind of foolish, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog posts, as he is a fairly busy kind of guy. I miss him, and I'm glad I'm getting to see him. There you have it. Birthday weekend.

Last night, my aunt and uncle took me to supper and then to church with them. My uncle recently was hired to be the administrator of the FISH house (connected with Jesus Place, in downtown Atlanta) and they're going to start going to Ben Hill Christian Church. Last night was their first night going, and they took me to Oz Pizza in East Point and then to church. During supper, Uncle Berry, who graduated from ACC in the '70s, told me all kinds of funny college stories, and I had a nice time.

This will come across as trite and cliched, but I'm going to just say it. Autumn is my favorite season. I love the leaves, the weather, the clothes (fall clothes are my favorite), everything. I feel very scholarly, walking around on my college campus in warm clothes and just.... In the fall, a nerd's heart turns towards school. There. I've said it, and there's nothing else to say. Oh! I lied, yes there is.

I think our fall preview day is coming up pretty soon (a week from today, actually: Thursday, November 12), and if you're a high school student who's interested in the school, then I would definitely recommend coming and looking at the campus. Let's face it: you're not going to be able to make an informed decision based on information in a brochure. You need to come to school, sit in on a class or two, see the dorms, talk to teachers, and talk to students before you can really know whether or not ACC is the right school for you. It's not too late to sign up to come. The admissions office isn't EVEN paying me to say that. But you should still come.

There won't be a video of the blog post, because my internet is messing up, and it won't let me on YouTube. I'll do two next week, okay?

The next time you see me, blog, I will be 19! Practically a woman!

scary scary.

Listening to: Jingle Bells by Ayiesha Woods

I have class in 9 minutes, but I'm already late in talking about scariness (as Halloween was so last month) so I gotta get a move on.

Growing up, Halloween to me was being a cowgirl dressed in pink and having an event at church ("Hallelujah Night" like whoa!) for the church/community kids. I still see it as the same thing. However a new aspect of something very scary was added this year.

It was about 6:15 when I was asleep in my bed (like I am every morning in 6 o'clock hour...) when I heard, in a very spooky and slow voice, "softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. Calling for you and for me..." The voice was of Johnny Cash and if you know anything about me you know that I think he is an incredible person and while he had a life of some things I am not by any means a big fan of, I love his testimony, voice, lyrics, music...

but NOT as my alarm clock.

I woke up sweating and completely terrified and while this may not seem scary at all to some did I mention I am terrified of Disney Channel's Halloweentown commercials?

Must go to class, friends.
peace, love & jamie-grace

link to check out: once again from one of my friends. Her name's Ayiesha Woods and there's a free download of her song "Jingle Bells" on the Gospel Music Channel website. http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/news/insider/download-week-woods-jingle

PS... despite the way I speak very highly of Mr. Cash, I do not he is no longer on earth... people often remind me when I go on my Johnny Cash rants. I.E. Sarah H, Mandy M, Melissa T... haha...

I have one minute to get to the 400 hall from the game room. Yeah, I can do it.

Of Sales and Switchfoot

There's absolutely no way to say this without bragging. That being said, I want to take you back to last weekend, when my friends and I went to go volunteer at the Revolve Tour. ACC requires you to log fifteen (I think it's fifteen. I'm not sure) volunteer hours per semester, and, while it's not very closely monitored, they still seriously expect you to do it, and if you're a serious student, you will try to fulfill those requirements to the best of your ability. Anyway. Back to the story (and it's a pretty awesome story, mind you).

I went to the Revolve Tour, and spent all night Friday and all day Saturday selling books, t-shirts, and other pointlessly overpriced souvenirs. The story gets better, I promise. All weekend, there was a booth across the hall from us with a woman from the Gospel Music Channel and at the end of the last session, I went over to her, because she had this poster of three girls--black, Hispanic, and white--standing in front of a drawing that made them look like they had angel wings.

We started talking, and she was surprised to find out that my friends and I had chosen to spend our Saturday volunteering and even MORE surprised to find out that we lived in East Point, literally minutes away from Gospel Music Channel's headquarters. She asked if we'd be interested in doing some volunteer work at her office, specifically mentioning a taping they were having Thursday night. "I need volunteers," she said, "to run errands for me and to make sure the studio audience is content and not riotous. Oh, and if we don't have enough audience members, we might ask you to sit in on the taping." We still needed some volunteer hours, and so my friend Jessica and I agreed to go over and help her out.

You're all very smart, and I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. After Jess and I ran errands and corralled audience members, we were allowed to sit in (for FREE, mind you) on the taping of a Switchfoot concert, to be played on the Gospel Music Channel on November 27. If you happen to watch it, you very well might see me and Jessica (I'm wearing a blue t-shirt and a black cardigan. Fourth row back, on stage right) on national television.

Interesting Things About My First Live Television Taping, A List

1) They only sang twelve songs.... but we heard them all twice. Some of them were played three times.

2) This was apparently to make sure they had enough film to cut and paste all of the different angles into the final production.

3) We spent thirty minutes taping Jon Foreman taking his jacket off for the camera.

4) .... And then putting it back on.

5) Live television? No such thing. It was still really awesome, though.

At one point, I could have reached out and touched Jon Foreman. I felt like the bleeding woman and Jesus, from the Bible. ..... Or not.

Moral of the story? Sometimes when you set out to do good for other people (i.e volunteering at Revolve) you can get rewarded in a majorly unplanned way (free Switchfoot concert). Secondary moral of the story? Switchfoot is awesome.

Video of the blogpost: Is there any doubt that it's Switchfoot? This is a song off their latest album, entitled Hello Hurricane, which I will most definitely be acquiring. The song is Mess of Me, which speaks to my human condition at the moment. Rock on, Switchfoot, rock on.