For Christmas I got 30 movies! Good grief. So, I'm going to try to watch every single one of these movies before the break is over. I've watched a good bit already. Now, most of these I've seen before, but I'm going to watch them again. Here's a list of all of them. When I watch them, I'll change the color to yellow. Not that anyone really cares, but here is my list. :)

-Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
-Marley and Me
-Raising Helen
-Heavyweights
-The Ugly Truth
-Big Daddy
-Fantastic 4
-Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
-Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
-Blank Check
-Man of the House (with Chevy Chase)
-Star Trek
-Sydney White
-Hannah Montana the Movie (Haha.)
-Matilda
-G-Force
-Underwraps
-Toothless
-Julie ans Julia
-Up
-Big
-The Proposal
-The Polar Express
-The Hangover
-The Shawshank Redemption
-The Outsiders
-I Love You, Beth Cooper
-Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

My tattoo time is coming up soon.
I thought I knew what I wanted, but I'm not sure.
Help me decide!
Or should I not even get one?
I've been pondering on this for a couple of years.

My plan was to have the outline of a heart of top of my right foot, and it would be about 4 inches across both way. The outline would be made up of the words"He Loves Us" in Greek.
But now, I'm also thinking of getting some words on my right shoulder/upper back in pretty cursive that would say:

-The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

-With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

-Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.

-Crucified to set me free. Now I live to bring Him praise.

-Glory to God forever.

-My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His heart.

-One in himself, I cannot die.

-My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ, my Savior and my God.

Which one?

I had my first Christmas celebration of many last night with some of my family.

I got some nice gifts. You know, one or two movies, and when I say that I mean a few, haha. I think once you get to a certain age, people just buy you movies because they know everyone likes movies. And I am certainly not complaining. I own over 400 movies and I've watched all of them multiple times, but I miss the days when gifts were personal. A homemade card from your 10 year old cousin, a cute picture of you and your family......

But, the bright side being I had a great time seeing my family. My goodness! My cousins are so old now; it's crazy. There's a 10 year old girl, a 7 year old boy, a 3 year old boy, a 2 year old boy, and a girl that's due in 5 days. I remember when the oldest's mom was pregnant with her, now she's a little me. It seriously is like watching myself years ago. All the kids want to hang out with her becuase she's the oldest and she just seems like the coolest person in the world with her blonde hair and braces! (Exactly like me!) Now, I'm just the grown-up who gives cool gifts, haha. I guess that's a better reputation than I could have.

Anyway, tomorrow I finally get to go home. I'm such a homebody I feel like people are beginning to wonder if I like them or not. :/ YES, I do like you, NO, I don't want to stay at your house very long, I like my own. Sorry. Then, after spending Christmas Eve with my aunts, uncle, and mom, I'm going to my cousins house for Christmas Day--They live in Colbert, so it's not too far. Finally, after all of this, I get to go to my favorite place in the entire world--Nashville, Tennessee. Love, love, love staying at my family's house there. (This is the one place I could stay forever and not miss home too terrible much.)

Oh, in case you wanted to know exactly what I got, I'll tell you, because I know you're very interested.

Here it is:

-The Hangover (Very funny, but I wish they would cut back on the f-word, goodness.)

-Shawshank Redemption (All time favorite movie, even though it's incredibly dark.)

-Polar Express (So cute. Very Christmasy.)

-The Proposal (One of the best romantic comedies in my book, right behind Never Been Kissed.)

-The Outsiders (Classic. You can't get much better than this movie.)

-A beautiful necklace with a huge turquoise stone.

-Green converse (I was needing a new pair.)

-David Archuleta's Christmas CD (Haha, I was shocked. But he DOES have a wonderful voice.)

Well, this is all I have for now. I think I'll go enjoy a cupcake from Charleston that's been staring me down since yesterday. (I'll post a picture of it soon. Yes, I am such a dork that I took a picture of a gorgeous cupcake.)

Au revoir. :)

And Merry CHRISTmas.

"It amazes me how many women are surprised when a man is willing to defend them. Does that speak to the quality of women nowadays or the men? If a woman is ever afraid while with her man, then he is a failure as a man."

I heard a guy say this today. All I can say is wow.

I know, I know. I have a post every 5 minutes. But this is so very important. I have note-worthy pages. If you are EVER in this situation, then please, for goodness sake, open up your eyes! I've decided to give my response to some of these letters. Yes, me a girl which probably completely ruins the idea of the whole book, but think of me as you're best friend. This stuff needs to be said.
Page 41--The Time Traveler
Please, could you just read this again to yourself? If you had actually read what you wrote, you would be realizing that he obviously only wants the benefits. He doesn't care for you at all. I think when you pointed out that EVERYTIME you mention a "relationship" he runs. He's a runner. So I think it's about time that you put on your running shoes and get out!

Just pointing out that I skipped over the chapter entitled "He's just not that into you if he's not having sex with you." Okay, whatever. That chapter I have to say is dumb. Maybe he's not having sex with her because they're not ready meaning they believe in abstinence until after marriage! I certainly do.

Page 61- I've Gotten Fat
Who cares? If he truly loved you, then he wouldn't care! Appearance is certainly not everything. He should love you for your personality, your mind, your opinions, your little quirks, etc. Never blame yourself for something as small and shallow as that. So, I think you should find a deeper pool if he's shallow enough to only think about that.

Good advice: Don't date any man who doesn't know why he does things.

Page 63- At least he knew her
Oh my gosh! Are you joking? He knew her???? That makes it even worse. And then to top it off, he used to be married to her! The fact that someone who obviously knew he was seeing has no problem sleeping with him makes you wonder what kind of girls he hangs around (probably not the greatest ones). But just the fact he cheated! Ughhh. I'm going to have to keep the rest of my opinion to myself on this one, cheaters just make me so mad.

Page 72- At least he's not on drugs
I mean, thank goodness he isn't, but being drunk all the time isn't better! To be shallow for second, just imagine this: BEER BELLY. Yeah, he'll get one, I guarantee it. But seriously, if he only wants to see you when he's drunk, he's got tons of issues, don't keep analyzing it. Move on.

I give up on this. It's a lot harder than I thought.

So my reading on He's Just Not That Into You is going pretty well. Please note that this book isn't a "let's sit down and read a great work of literature" book. It's an actual relationship advice book, but I guess the red flag should have gone up when I had to go to the "self-improvement" section to find it. Nevertheless, it is still very interesting. I made it a few chapters into the book in about 20 minutes. Although this book is made for women in need of help, I think all men should read this too. Sure, the point is to get women to see things from a man's perspective, but shouldn't all men see it from a non-jerk point of view? Obviously if this guy is writing this book and putting his own gender down, then maybe they should be the ones also taking advice. I mean, that's just my opinion.

As I read the book, I laugh because some of these women are so blind! I begin to wonder if that's me too. In the Bible, it says to take the plank out of your eye before you point out the speck in someone else's. Have I taken my plank out? I don't know. I hope I'm not one of these women who constantly wait for a man to call, blame themselves if their husband/boyfriend cheats on them, put themselves out there all the time and for nothing. I say now that I'm not, but I if were put into a situation like that who would I be? Me? I don't think so. Probably someone else, someone very distant whom I've never met before. The lonely, needy, dependent woman I pray that I will NEVER be.

My goals for relationships and dating:
-Always be myself
-Never change for a guy
-Always ask myself if I'm pleasing God with my actions
-Be a monogamist--physically and mentally
-Never become desperate
-Don't wait around for a guy to call me, if he doesn't it means he doesn't want to
-Don't pine over ANY guy
-Wait for a guy who wants to spend time with me and doesn't feel like he has to
-Wait for the guy who will call me when he's thinking about me, instead of constantly texting
-Remain independent
-Take note that if a guy always makes me feel bad, then he really doesn't care about me
-Lastly, if he never acknowledges that he loves me, be it actions or words, he's not the one for me.
I have confidence that God will lead me to the right guy who meets this criteria.
I'm leaving it in His hands.

P.S. Some people have too many troubles than they need, as I've learned from a woman standing next to me, who shared with the whole coffee place how bad her day was, while loudly talking on the phone. Too funny....

Oh and I just found out that the guy who write my new favorite blog works at Cups! How crazy. It twas fate that brought him in front of me so I could tell him he inspired me to something this week, something that I knew was the right thing to do. I had been praying about it for a while, but then something in his blog just hit me and I realized the right choice and that it needed to be made. And I was able to share that with him.
God is so great!

I haven't been leaving a quote for thought lately, so here's some song lyrics for thought:
He is jealous for me, love like hurricane, I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of sudden I am unaware of the afflictions eclipsed by glory. And I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me.

We are His portion, we are His prize. Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes. If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking. And Heaven met Earth when he offered his best and my heart turns violently inside my chest. And I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us!

I learned this morning something you should not do while driving.
Eat frozen blueberries out of a cup, drink coffee without a lid, and listen to music loudly. This is because when I eat frozen food it's too cold on my teeth, so I chew weird and people stare at me. No coffee because frozen food is freezing cold and coffee is hot, not a good mixture, so then I spill coffee on my self because I'm focusing on how much my mouth is in pain. And then music too loud is bad because I can't hear when people with their windows down are yelling at me to see if I'm okay because of my odd chewing. What a morning all to take a midterm, haha.

I really enjoyed the movie "He's Just Not That Into You," so I decided to buy the book today. I am going to start it tonight, and I'm very excited. It has some good advice in it. I'll let everyone know how I like it! Also, if you have an opinion (ladies or gents) on whether or not you think the BOOK or MOVIE were helpful, I would love to hear it. :)

I posted this in March about my cousin's wedding, but I felt like I should post it again because I really like the last line I wrote, and I want people to see it. And another congratulations to Carrie and Charlie because the happy couple is moving NEW YORK CITY! I'm very excited for them, especially because I'll get to visit them and because Carrie is very into fashion and designing. But yes, here is my March post again, please note the last line.

It feels like yesterday I went to see her dance at a performance. It's truly scary and exciting for me to think that Carrie is married. Exciting due to the fact that Charlie is a great guy and I know he loves her and she loves him; it amazes how perfectly made they are for each other. Scary due to the fact that life is passing by so quickly, and (hopefully) I'll be the next to get married after Carrie, it seems so surreal. I do hope that when I do meet Mr. Right, that he and I will share the same love and passion towards one another as I see in Carrie and Charlie. When Carrie looks at Charlie, she has this certain smile and a glow in her eyes that I never see otherwise. And when Charlie looks at Carrie, I think it's the sweetest thing I have ever seen, he looks at her with respect and love; two things that sadly are not as common as they used to be.
So, here's to Charlie and Carrie, may happiness always be with you, and may love always fill your hearts.


I would also like to add that I have made some changes to my view of love.
I no longer believe in the statement "Love is not a victory march, it's a cold, and it's a broken hallelujah."
I now believe that love does exist, and the day you realize you found it, is the happiest day of your life.

I never realized how much of a dork I was until I sat here for an hour while someone played Aaron Carter's "Come Get It" CD and I knew the lyrics to EVERY SINGLE SONG. Hahaha. Oh well, no one's too cool to sing along with AC.

Even though I miss the beach, it's nice that it's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTmas!

I was feeling very artistic while sitting on my couch watching "Elf."
In case anyone was wondering the scent of the candle it's Jack Frost.
How convenient, right? ;)

This house was beautiful!
But the people who live there probably thought I was a stalker.
I stopped the car in the street, got out, and began taking pictures with the flash on.

I decided to get in the spirit. (Actually it was charity work, but I had a blast!)

Although Christmas is a couple of weeks away, I hope everyone has a great one and actually thinks about the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, giving is nice, receiving is great, and spending time with family is wonderful, but take time to remember that it's Jesus' Birthday, so be sure to wish Him a good one.

How I miss the beach.
And these sea oats, which is illegal to pick.(Oops...) Haha.

My flip-flop tanned feet.

Even my jellyfish stings (meaning 8) were alright.

In my opinion, best song to serenade your boyfriend or girlfriend with.
If I was serenaded with this song, I would cry.
So sweet.

So many interesting things occur at Cups.
Yesterday, I came here and there was this creepy man who kept staring at my two friends and I, well he's back again today. And of course, I get stuck in the "quiet room." The quiet room is the place where if you make even the smallest noise, everyone glares at you, I usually try to avoid it, but there were no open tables in the main room. But back to the creepy man. He is sitting in the quiet room right now, with me, and when I walked in he stared me down, again. I don't know why, but he just truly scares me. Along with the creepy man, there is this guy wearing a shirt that says "Fukudome." Now, I don't know much about sports players names, but I'm pretty sure that's not someone's last name. Well, at least he's expressing his opinion. And then there's the one person out of everyone I know. Only one! And when I walked in I completely avoided him, that was probably dumb because now I'm awkwardly sitting alone. Lastly, my favorite Cups employee isn't here. I have no clue what his name is, but he's always so nice, to everyone. Well, that was my rant, maybe I'll get some studying done. Oh wait, here comes the creepy man, what is he doing.......don't worry, he just wanted to know what I was writing, which only made things slightly awkward since I happened to be writing about him. Haha.

Also, I wanted to mention that I found an interesting blog to read yesterday! This guy is pretty interesting; it's amazing what awesome blogs you can find just by typing in a location (that sounds strange, but I just meant I typed in my city because I thought it might be cool to read someone else's from around here.) His blog is called "Life as a Desert Nomad." You should check it out. But some advice, which I obviously didn't follow here, try not to "follow" bloggers that you don't know. Once again, another good one is "The Apocalypse is Looking for a Few Good Clowns."

I felt the need to share some snapshots of my life. :)

Another picture of mine.

A hobby of mine.
Photography.
I'm not the best, but I enjoy it.

My sister and I.
Oh how I love her.

Symbolic meaning?
Does everything truly have it?
I'm sure complex things do, but some things just don't.
Last night while I was eating my Golden Bowl with Veggies at the Grit (best restaurant existing), I overheard some girls talking. Actually, it was kind of hard not to hear because they were really loud. I swear, they were like a movie babbling on to each other about nothingness. But, then we get to the good part of when one girl starts talking about how when her friend graduated, his graduation symbolized money, and the money represented free will, prosperity, and a new beginning. Okay, really?!? Money to a graduate, if it does symbolize anything, symbolizes freedom, parties, alcohol. (Not saying I think that it's the right thing to do, but it's true.) So yes, this was my experience with symbolism.

The reason I am awake right now is to get ready for church, so I obviously wanted to share this because I'm taking time out of the 20 minutes I set aside for myself to get ready. And yes, this was extremely important for your well-being to know how my night was.

Maybe the apple symbolizes nothing. But the apple always symbolizes something. Oh wait, it symbolizes that Marian hasn't changed and she is untouched by the event! Wow, that's right.

You know those things/people/places you build up in your mind to be great and then they don't live up? Well, I'm really not trying to be negative, but I think I'm doing that!
I do believe I watch too many movies.....about love.
All of the perfect men and happy endings.
I'm not saying I don't believe in either of those,
but I doubt it my ideas of how and what will happen are exactly what will happen.
I'm a hopeless romantic.

This is my perfect date:
Be told where to meet him, but I don't know what exactly the place is.
Wear really nice clothes and get all dressed up.
Walk inside a dark place with just a few small lights,
then see him come out of nowhere with a single red rose.
After that, we dance.
Music or no music;
it doesn't matter.
Then we look lovingly in each others eyes and know it's love.

Who knows? Maybe this could actually happen?

And I, to your dismay or content, have a quote.
It's from one of my favorite movies:
Never Been Kissed (I think it's a favorite since I have yet to be.)

That thing, that moment, when you kiss someone and everything around you becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person and you realize that that person is the only person you're supposed to kiss for the rest of your life, and for one moment you get this amazing gift and you want to laugh and you want to cry because you feel so lucky you found it and so scared it will go away all at the same time.

This time of year can be very stressful,
or not! I've chosen not to make it that way.
Even while studying for midterms, I'm making the best of it.
Cups Cafe is such a great place to study at.

Yes, I am giving some props to Athens right now.
It has a good cafe, that's an achievement. :)

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like it might snow this year.
Every time I step outside, I can just feel it.
Or
Maybe I'm completely wrong.
Only time will tell.


I feel quite silly about this, but I've never even mentioned my church as a place in Athens!
This just shows how jumbled my brain is, especially since my church's name has "Athens" in it.
Yes, I know what you're thinking, "When is she going to stop babbling about not mentioning her church and actually mention it?"
Well, now:
Life Church of Athens.

It's a really awesome place! We worship the Lord like it's going out of style. :)
We're a Southern Baptist Church, but anyone is welcome!
Services start at 10:30 and we meet at Barnett Shoals Elementary.

If you ever get the chance, join us!
I'll be there.
So if someone recognizes me, say "hello."
I LOVE to chat.

Until next time, here's my quote of the day:
Because a sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.