A ring by spring?

The author's friend is asked if she believes there was one true love for every person.

She said essentially, no. She said she and her husband believed they were a cherished prize for each other, and would probably drive any other people mad.

She said she had married a guy, and he was just a guy. He wasn't going to make all her problems go away, because he was just a guy.

And that freed her to really love him as a guy, not as an ultimate problem solver.

And because her husband loved her as just a girl, he was free to really love her too.

Neither needed the other to make everything ok.

They were simply content having company through life's conflicts.

--A Million Miles in A Thousand Years, by Donald Miller

Ok So I stole this from the one and only Allison Renfro but it struck me so much I just had to post it here. As I prepare to embark on my final semester at Furman I am constantly reminded of the adage- "A ring by spring or your money back!"- This happens so frequently at Furman. I am an expert at playing the "Wow I wish I had a boyfriend card" but this quote has reminded me how important it is to wait on the Lord's time. We are not completed by one person but rather we bring out the best in one another- creating something much greater than our individual selves. One person will not solve our problems but will be there with you throughout all of life's ups and downs. This is what I have learned over the past few years at Furman and for once am so excited to be single (shocking I know). I know that I can handle things with the support of my incredible friends that surround me and that one person is not going to swoop in and make everything perfect. This semester I have kept this quote from one of my favorite bands above my bed- "Before you're ready for someone else, you've got to learn to be alright by yourself." I am reminded that you cannot rely on one person but have to find your own inner strength and be ok by yourself but still finding comfort and solace in wonderful friends.
As I contemplate moving to Charleston and am overwhelmed with excitement, I am also overwhelmed with the knowledge that I will go there as someone who has grown so much even within the past year. I cannot wait to meet the person that I should share those problems with but who knows when that will happen. For now I am content to begin my final undergrad semester knowing that I don't see the whole picture and am much to small for that. I must rely on God for his timing (which is so much better than mine) and be sure of myself in Him. I do not need one boy to save me which is something I did not know for a very long time.
On that note I wanted to share how very very excited I am that my best friend Virginia has found the person that brings out the very best in her! I am so incredibly overjoyed for her and J.Mike and cannot help but beam when people ask me if she is engaged or not. I am so excited for the both of them and to share this wonderful time with them!

Hello 2010, lets be friends

New Years has always seemed like a strange holiday to me. I mean the idea of celebrating a new year and bidding goodbye to the old one seems normal enough but I have never understood why everyone thinks that they should get really drunk to do it. I mean if you’re celebrating a new year, don’t you want to remember the first part of it? Apparently some people don’t want to but to be fair I usually don’t either on account of I generally fall asleep right after the ball drops. Which is exactly what I did this past new years. Except that I was in my hometown with my parents and my dog who ironically provided plenty of entertainment. Perhaps it was the sparkling wine, but nothing can be a better new years memory that hearing your mom call your dad a butthead (Ok I said it earlier but he so deserved it) or telling him to stop doing the ice cream and cake dance to and to just drink his dang champagne. This all happened before 7:30. Our entertainment for the evening consisted of a show called My Husband’s Three Wives (creepy), the Disney channel (my choice for its optimism), and some Lifetime movie called Sorority Wars (it got points for being realistic with the foam party but an ice luge- really!?!?). Sorority Wars didn’t last long so our new years consisted mostly of my mom and I reading and my dad, well, he was still being ridiculous with the ice cream and cake dance. The dog (who by conservative estimates is absolutely worshipped) just laid on her third of the couch and watched us all like we were crazy. Our new years was mostly reading, watching ridiculous shows on TV, being half asleep until right before the ball drops, and embracing the ridiculous in all of us. In other words, it was a perfectly wonderful new years. Although the ice luge would have been a nice added touch.

Goodbye Charlie Brown...

I guess the holidays are officially over. Gone are the meticulous decorations my mother puts up, the perfect Christmas tree overloaded with ornaments, the garland I continually knock things off of. Even the faithful nutcrackers have gone. I love the holidays- not just because I like finding people presents and wrapping them or even the decorations. I personally feel the deepest love for the holiday baking season. Ahhh I can practically smell the Christmas tree cookies baking now. I love that the holidays see no reason to restrain your sweet tooth (I sometimes take it upon myself to save on the grocery bill by eating just cereal and sweets). I love when my mom makes dozens of ginger snaps that my brother’s friends fight over or when my dad eats all of the (read: my) puppy chow. But mostly I love the chex mix. For those of you who have never seen me around chex mix, I am positively useless to resist its deliciousness (we have video proof). I used to think that my mom must have done some sort of voodoo on the chex mix bowl we always used to make it come out perfect but apparently its just a lot of Worchestershire sauce (I stand my voodoo theory).

I love the holiday baking season as much as I love the way that the holidays bring out the crazy in all of us. Face it- we all have crazy families its just that some of us are a little more, shall we say, open about our eccentricities. This Christmas all of my family’s craziness was played out against the backdrop of old family movies. According to them not much has changed. Watching these delightfully embarrassing videos I have learned that there are some things that have remained consistent throughout my life. First, I sleep. A lot. I’m not really in my own christening video because I am, well, sleeping- even through the shrieks of my older brother and the commotion that comes with my family. Apparently my talent for sleep through anything, including one of the worst hurricanes in history and various fire alarms, has always been there. Second, I was horribly accident-prone and probably always will be. At my first birthday I almost fall out of chair (this is after I’ve already become close friends with the neurologist at the hospital) and am playing with forks. Yes forks. I couldn’t watch the video out of fear that I would somehow poke Even playing in the leaves I manage to gracefully dive (read slide) into the pile of leaves and sort of can’t get out. Every video we watched have some sort of disaster that seems eminent. When I dancing around being goofy in the videos, all I can think of is: Hello glass window, meet my head. Clearly my affinity for freak accidents is no accident. And finally I figured out what my roommates laugh at when I talk to anyone from my family on the phone: I have a really southern accent. Nothing quite beats hearing my 6-year-old self talk about her “TEE-AR-RAAAAH.” My accent is absolutely ridiculous and can only be described as coming from Hicksville, USA. What’s good is that these videos showed me that, hey, we’ve all got a little crazy in our families so you may as well just embrace it. Even if that means its Christmas day and you all end up dying laughing at how ridiculous/awkward you looked in the 90s or laughing at silly gifts where you receive a twitter shot glass. Ok maybe the shot glass isn’t so normal. Oh well.

The Semester in Review...

Seeing as the semester from hell is finally over, I have come back to the blogosphere after abandoning it so that I could write about physiology and cover the a room of white boards. Alas I have returned and here is a list of all I have accomplished this semester.

1. Spent the entire night in an academic building
2. - Made friends with the early morning cleaning staff
3. - Become a complete and utter diet coke addict
4. - Gone to the midnight premiere of new moon
5. - Danced like a fool on stage for a stroll
6. - Performed as The Spartan Cheerleader in front of half of the university
7. - Yelled at a football player like he was a 5 year old
8. - Managed to go an entire semester without once burning anything or causing the fire alarm to go off
9. - Discovered sparkling wine andre. For $5.
10. - Managed to get more parking tickets in 2 weeks than in entire Furman career
11. - Heard my dad’s voice for the first time and discovered that he had quite the Southern accent.
12. - Did not break a dish for an entire semester.
13. - Got to be the official elf for Christmas crunk. That’s a resume booster.
14. - Discovered that I truly missed my calling in life to be a Disney princess.
15. - Made a blog then subsequently abandoned blog. Oops.
16. - Lady Gaga followed me on Twitter. Win.
17. - Rediscovered S Club 7 episodes on Youtube.
18. - Watched both seasons of Dorm Life online within 2 days.
19. - Officially became a Gleek.
20. - Rediscovered my childhood with the 3 Ninjas Kick Back
21. - Mastered riding a bike in a skirt and with a cup of coffee in one hand.
22. - According to Sporcle am a complete expert on Disney Channel Original Movies
23. - Sang “We Didn’t Start the Fire” at karaoke
24. - Discovered Beast Mode. Greatest Video Ever.
25. - Strangely did not go to a Jonas Brothers Concert. Or the Honor Society one with T. Flood. Weird.
26. - Met the mother of my future husband Ken, aka the most wonderful, amazing, mythical boyfriend ever.
27. - Found out that as a child I apparently had the world’s thickest Southern accent.
28. - Ran into a pole with my bike. In front of people. Classic.

Sweet sweet summertime

I feel like since camp is over I should write some incredibly poignant entry about what an amazing experience I had but truthfully I don't think I can. I wouldn't be doing this summer justice by writing about how wonderful it is there, how much I've changed, etc, etc. Honestly, it was a tough summer. There were times I was so frustrated and exhausted and just wanted to sleep; I was pushed in ways I didn't know I could and did things I never thought I would ever do. But I wouldn't change a bit of it. I came to understand that our campers are more than just campers- they are colleagues, equals, friends. I worked with people this summer with such joy for the world, such hope that I couldn't help but feel happy even with very little sleep. One of my friends told me that he learned that they are not people to pity and they aren't. They are individuals who deserve love and compassion and respect just as much as the next person and one should never doubt their abilities. Camp focuses so much on abilities but reminds us that we all have our own disabilities. I wish I knew how to sum up this summer adequately but I don't think my words would do enough. I learned this summer what it means to be truly selfless and to put others before you and how liberating that can be. Spearhead claims that it is more than just a camp and it really is; it permeates your life and brings you to people who can show you more about yourself and others that you would have ever thought. I hope some day each of you can find an experience like camp but until then enjoy these:

My favorite camper/counselor quotes:

- Love me tender, love me sweet, I like you, You like me....

- Miss Allison that's a rat!

- Hottie boy at 10 o'clock

- My precious cutie pie

- That's culture!

- WENIS!

- Snickers bar!

- Boobies.

- I'm having a magical time!

- Bon qui qui

- It's the climb....

- ALICE!!!!

- I love everybody.

- Those weren't real clowns.

- You're my princess.

-Let's dance up some fun!

- Can we listen to Wicked!?!?!

- Ice cream and cakey cake

- I would want to be a merperson with you...

- We Rock!

- Am I childlike in nature?

- You know what's weird, presidents poop. (seriously ben...)

- Are you my girlfriend?

- I'm gooey, chewy chocolate.

- unnawares

- Do the wookie!!

-Man, I feel like a woman.

- I just love this place...

The Life Aquatic

We found Dory!

Takin' on the Jellies- Kyle was excited

We were in awe.

Will, me, and Kyle


So last weekend me and my friend Will from camp (who should totally go to Furman by the way) went to see the awesome Kyle Synder in Atlanta and we spent most of our time there at the Georgia Aquarium. I am in no way kidding. Apparently when get 3 people who are aquarium nerds you end up there for a while. Basically we walked around and saw all of the animals and read all of the information and touched some stingrays and may have ridden down the sweet whale slide. I don’t think we could have been more enthralled by it- I maybe took about 200 pictures of the fish. The Georgia Aquarium is sweet and it sort of made me miss when I used to want to be a marine biologist, or at least a dolphin trainer.

After our aquarium adventure and the necessary shopping excursion, we ended up at a bluegrass concert. A free one. You’d think this would be a bad choice but it was some of the most fun I’ve had in a while. Everyone there was so different, the bad was good, and it was pretty fun just people watching. We ended up sitting on a Pi Kapp blanket drinking white wine we brought in in a J.Crew bag. The only thing that would have made it frattier would have been a cooler. Or a bowtie. Of course we followed this with an oyster roast/clam bake in Kyle’s back yard because that? Is the natural thing to do after a free bluegrass concert. The evening closed with a viewing of Planet Earth where I promptly fell asleep. Ultimately, I think it was a near perfect weekend- the aquarium, Atlanta, good friends, good food, and lots of J.Crew. The only thing that would have made it better? If I were a dolphin trainer for real. Oh and penguins- they were seriously lacking.

Everyday is a winding road...

Somehow camp is almost over and I have yet to figure out how it has already been 7 weeks. I’m sitting here at my dad’s mom’s house in the middle of nowhere in Virginia with very little internet access trying to convince myself that really being disconnected from the world isn’t that awful. This summer I have slowly realized that having internet constantly at your fingertips isn’t totally necessary and really, Facebook is more than a tad over-rated. Still, I find myself freaking out anytime I can actually read my email- it’s become such a special thing. Even so, it is nice to know what’s going on in the world. I really think that something massive could happen and we wouldn’t know about it; but, part of me feels that we are so wrapped up in camp world worrying about our campers that the world essentially ceases to be as important.
The past 2 weeks have been exhausting but really a lot of fun. We’ve had the older ladies for two weeks and I’ve discovered that they are perhaps some of the funniest people you will meet. I absolutely love being around them and they are usually up for taking a nap so I’m totally into that. My parents actually made it up for a talent show and I was so incredibly excited to show them what I have been doing the past 2 months. Surprisingly, my dad actually really liked it- he did get a birthday party invitation and a girlfriend so I think that he fits in pretty well. Apparently its overwhelming to see that many special people in one confined space because I have become so used it to. There are times that I think I have completely forgotten what it is like to be in a world that isn’t camp and that I may no longer be able to functioning completely in society. I’m hoping this soon comes back. But most importantly, my parents got to see why I do what I do and what a unique place Spearhead is. This week Virginia got to come and I was so happy to see her! I have gotten to see her far more this summer but it was awesome to get to show her what I’ve been doing and why I’m a total “camera whore” at camp- its true, I take a lot of pictures. It is truly exciting to get to show people you love what you are passionate about and why this population is so important and wonderful. I hope that through this blog some of you have been able to see what a wonderful place Spearhead is and how important it is to me. I wish I could share with everyone all of my pictures and stories about it because it really has been a wild ride. Somehow I went down this road in my last real summer as a college student (I’m refusing to talk about the grad school application I’ve started- its too scary) and I don’t really know where it will lead me, but I think its going somewhere good. Either way, I’ve got some great stories out of it and maybe, just maybe, cured my email addiction. Maybe not.