I'm Not Dead Yet! I'm Getting Better!

Ugh, I quoted Monty Python... Lord help me... I am my father's daughter. I really am feeling better, tho. After a healthy shot of Nyquil Friday night and some good, drugged sleep, I started to feel much better. Then, Saturday, I yelled and screamed at a rockin' Christian concert, crashed Saturday night, Nyquil-free, and woke up feeling much better. Today, my head is only floating a little bit. I need to be healthy for this weekend. It's another Searcy weekend! Woot!

Jeremy gets to come for Spring Break. YAY! Sad that he's 20 years old and we are still saying "he gets to come..." Ah, such is life.

Everyone's back in the office, healthy and happy, for the most part. I've been writing letters to people while I'm working diligently. Imagine that! ME AND SNAIL MAIL! Be proud, Grandma!

I get to cat sit for a little bit! WOOT! I'm pretty pumped! It's like having pets that I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for. I can dig that.

Ok, enough ADD blogging... Have a great day, folks!

Sick Chick

I was not spared from the sickness that is plagueing the general Knoxville area. It probably doesn't help that it was snowing on Saturday and has been roughly 60 degrees from Monday through today. Sweet shocker for the sinuses! So, basically, this is a request for prayers for all those that are sick! Have a great weekend, kids! I'll be in here tomorrow... Woot...

Looking Back

What a great weekend! Seriously! I think I learned more from these kids than they could ever learn from me! It was great seeing how these kids treated Phil and April. I don't know if I'm too harsh on his old youth group, but this one is amazing! They are respectful and they obey. They all hang out together and they are not divided socially into middle school and high school. I just loved seeing them interact!

The message was awesome! Don't trade your treasure for trash. Live on purpose. Let your faith not only lift you, but lower you. All things that I needed reminded of. It was good to get out of my comfort zone as well. We even danced a little... LOL, no seriously... They taught us this song that was about David dancing before the LORD and basically the song said, "LORD, I'll be undignified for you." Sweet action! Harding would have died. Sorry, David Basel Burks... We dance at Winterfest and your University was represented there... ROCK ON! I also got to see my "little" brother, Dan (or Danny as I still call him). I use the quotes because the kid is stinking 6'1"... Ridiculous. He's so awesome tho! I am so proud of how much he's grown. It's amazing! I really see God working in him. Katie and Chris were here as well. They got to see my apt! How exciting! It was a huge blessing to have them here. I forget how much I miss those two... I got to laugh with Katie and Chris and I got to have our Ben and Jerry's date that we haven't had in months. It was swell! :)

Well, back to work. I had the day off yesterday, which was nice. It was the first time I've had a national holiday off since I was a senior in high school and we got days out of school. Harding doesn't recognize national holidays like President's Day and Martin Luther King, Jr Day... Eva and I celebrated the day off by joining The Rush. Time to get in shape! Woot! :)

Have a blessed day, all!

The Prize

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14

I am slightly competitive. Those of you that know me may already know this. :) So, of course, it's in my nature to strive for the prize. When I was in high school, I swam for the prize of first place. I studied for the prize of good grades and scholarships. I smiled for the prize of close friends. So with all this striving, where does Jesus come into it? Am I striving for Heaven?

Going to Harding helped to focus my spirituality. In many ways, I could make my faith my own, not that of my parents. However, the whole University (with some exceptions) was doing this, so I still had that comfort. Now, I'm out on my own, deciding for myself where God plays into the picture. Here's the thing: He should BE the picture.

I'm not sitting here beating myself up. This is just a personal reminder, and maybe a public reminder, that while competition in the world is great (GO BLUE!), we gain so much more striving for what Jesus has to offer. Previous to the above verse, Paul says that he is forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. He doesn't say that he's forgetting just his accomplishments. He's forgetting everything that is behind. Don't let your past create drag (sorry, swimming term). Let it go and race ahead for that amazing prize that will not fade with time, because it shines for all eternity!

The theme for Winterfest this year is "The Prize." I'm excited to discover what God will put on my heart this weekend! Pray for me that I can be a good example to those around me! Have a great weekend, all!

What's in a Name?

So, in high school freshman English class, we were assigned parts of Romeo and Juliet that we had to present with a partner. My best friend Cameron and I were assigned the "What's in a name" scene. Oh, good ole balcony scenes. Anyway, we were required to memorize the lines AND create a mask to wear during our presentations. Being the overacheiver that I was as a freshman, I had my lines AND Cameron's memorized. I also had my mask done in advance. Cameron? Yeah, he made his mask at school the day of the presentation by ganking some leaves from some of the school's bushes and gluing them onto some paper. "I'm hiding in the bushes in this scene. This is perfect! Camo!" His lines? Written on the back of his mask because he had no clue... It was amazing! We got up there and rocked... Or not. Still, good memories.

So, what is in a name? Juliet made a good point. "A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." If that's the case, why does it bug us so much when our names are spelled incorrectly? With the first name Genevieve and the nickname Jenny, I am mistakenly called Jennifer all the time. (Probably doesn't help that I spell Jenny with a "J") It bugs me, but people aren't doing it to bug me. It just happens. Do we feel like we lose some of our identity if people mistakenly call us the wrong name? There's a country song out there called "My Last Name" by Dierks Bentley. Part of the song goes "Daddy always told me, far back as I recall 'Son you're part of something, you represent us all. So keep it how you got it, as solid as it came.' It's my last name." Names are important to our identity, they help define us. But let's take it easy, guys. Names are important, but it's the heart of the person behind that name that really matters. If people know that heart, your name is just an added bonus! I might correct you, but I won't ever get bent out of shape over a name again! :)

(Erik, thanks for the inspiration! I never really thought about my name and how I react to it being mispronounced. I appreciate your sense of humor at my bumble! Have a rockin' awesome day!)

Double-Fisted Drinkin and $3 Chinese

So this cheap, questionable General Tso's is HOT! And not hot like Jeremy. Although maybe he's a little spicy... Anyway, point being, I'm currently working on two open water bottles and trying to keep my lips from catching fire. Thought Burt's Bee Balm was supposed to be soothing. Yeah, that didn't help.

Does anyone else feel like it's supposed to be Wednesday? Not that I'm in any hurry for tomorrow to come. My guy is 500 miles away, so it's Valentine's Day with the people at church. Woot! You know there's love there! I really love the church I'm involved in. My small group is so fun, even if I am the only single one. Tonight, we have a women's prayer group. It won't be quite like my Shantih prayer group, but Regena says that they talk a lot, so I'm sure it will feel similar! :)

Winterfest is this weekend. After this weekend, I will have experienced WF as a high schooler, a college representative, and as a youth sponsor. I'm pumped! We're staying in the same hotel as the Rochester people, so I'll get to chill with my lil brother! Not to mention, he has his own cell phone now, so maybe we can hook up around town as well! Crazy... I just hope that I can be a good example to these kids and help encourage them during an already encouraging weekend! And hopefully, I can help them keep the right focus... aka, NOT BOYS! :) Voice of experience...

Well, back to the drawing board. Actually, I'm going to write my grandparents a letter to show them I'm capable of "old school" communication. :) Have a blessed day!

Can't Fight It Any Longer

AHHH! THE ADD!! Actually, it's called ADHD now. This has been one of those days. Actually, I only have an hour and a half left. That's not too bad. I'm almost running out of websites to keep me entertained. I get my work done and sit. Granted, my work load has gotten greater since I started working a month ago, but it's still sort of slow... Heather introduced me to online bidding for jewelry... Between that and my blog, yeah. Learning from a girl who has learned how to keep entertained at work! :) Grey's Anatomy tonight! Jeremy calls it my good Christian show. Sarcasm? No way... ;) I need to clean my apartment tonight. Jenny is coming! Woot! I haven't seen her in over a year! She and I grew up together. I've known her longer than any of my siblings. Cool, huh? :) Jenny 1 and Jenny 2. I'm Jenny 2 because I'm younger. It'll be amazing to have her here! Fourth person to see my Knoxville apartment! Matt, Derek, Sarah, now Jenny. I should start a guest book! :) LOL, ok, maybe not... Back to pretending to work. Maybe I can bid on another pretty ring... :-D

All's Well That Ends Well

So maybe that phrase has negative conotations, but not this time. I am talking about the fact that my weekend was, ummm, "well" all the way through! My previous post said I didn't get to see Jeremy this weekend. Psyche! (who says that...) I left work early on Friday and drove to good ole Searcy, AR. His response? Jaw on the floor and an astonished, "What are you doing here?!" SURPRISE!! I also got to see some of my dearest friends. My weekend included a late night in Shores 214 where I laughed more than I've laughed in a long time! It was great being around people! Harding holds such wonderful memories for me! I love it! The weekend ended with a 7 hour drive back to Knoxville on Sunday, starting at 10pm central time... Bad idea, don't ever try that... Luckily I had Jeremy there to talk to me nearly the whole way. What a good boyfriend! :) I made it back in time to sleep for an hour and then go to work! Woot! Now it's back to the office, with my fun group of coworkers who like to drop stink bombs in the office... Way to go, guys! ;)

Sad Times

It's snowing and I'm not outside playing...
Jeremy's not coming this weekend...
It's going to be a busy day at work...
Jesus loves me in spite of my sour face...
Guess it's not such a rough day afterall.