Athens Year

Time for another formspring question!
And since I'm reading them all & taking {even the silly ones} seriously, I'll answer this one... :)

Who was your favorite roommate during your year in Athens?

Gee...no idea who would've asked that question...except for maybe this girl.

If we're being honest, there are few times when I've known for sure that God was calling me to something.  At least only a few that were life-changing kinds of decisions.  The #1 time was in "my" decision (really His) to go to San Antonio on summer missions (read about that here).

But another time was in my decision to leave the comfort of North Georgia & go to Athens...changing majors, schools, cities...everything that I was comfortable with.  Em did all of this with me.

And when we talk about the Athens year, it's usually about what we learned & not about the great times we had there.  I still believe that for some unknown reason, God called me there for that time...just as He called me back to North Georgia {much to my relief}.

However, in Athens I learned the importance of having friends who are encouragers.  Mine & Em's rooms were right across the hall from each other & just knowing she was there was the best thing about that year.

Waking up many mornings to her sneaking in my room to borrow clothes & jewelry was such a nice way to start the day.

And having whole conversations by yelling from one room to the other...those were great, too.

And that year is when I began a love of Kroger {partly because I like being a "valued customer" & partly because I liked shopping with Em}.

And learned to appreciate a good park date.  

{I know this was just a few years ago, but we look so young!}

And pizza rolls {which I haven't eaten since}.

In this year when we never really found a church to call home, I felt like I was missing that community...but I never felt un-encouraged.  There were many hours of long conversations that make me who I am today.

So while that may not have been one of the best years of my life, it was a needed one & one I will never regret.

my sunshine

I love this question because it gives me the opportunity to talk about the best summer of my life, thus far. :)

Who is your favorite summer missionary ever? 
--from a totally anonymous blogger

I'd have to say that my Chloë friend is one of my very favorite people.  We met in the summer of 2006 when we were both summer missionaries in San Antonio, Texas.  

We were there with about 30 other summer missionaries divided among seven different sites.

  

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Chloë & I worked at Palisades Park, an apartment complex right outside of San Antonio.  We did a day camp ("Rainbow Day Camp") with the kids at the apartments.  Our days were filled with Bible stories, "freeze dance," construction paper & glue, animal crackers & PBJ, & more pop ice than any one person should ever consume.    

 

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I fell in love with these kids from day one & still think about them all the time.

My favorite part of every day was "Sunshine & Cloud".

Sunshine = praise

Cloud = prayer request

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 We got ALL KINDS of crazy answers.

Common Sunshines: macaroni & cheese, frogs, hamburgers with cheese

Common Clouds: no macaroni & cheese, no frogs, no hamburgers with cheese

Not only was our summer at Palisades better than words can describe, but Chloë has been such a friend to me ever since then.  I think we're closer now than we were then, & we've only seen each other 3 times since that summer.  However, she is my a constant encouragement even from afar.  

{ & she sends me letters :) }

Chloë friend, thanks for a reason to reminisce about SA.  :)  

Love you!

i'm liking this idea.

I have my first formspring question!

If you are out & about, what is one thing you cannot leave home without?
{from Missy at Love Wins}

I'm not sure I can pick one thing...but maybe I can narrow it down to three.

1. a book.  No matter where I'm going I almost always have a book in my bag, or at least in my car.  Even if I'm driving from home up to my apartment, my book is in the seat next to me just in case there's traffic.  Note that I live in Dahlonega, Georgia.  Probably the only reason that it is big enough to be considered a city is because of the college.  There's only traffic if a) it's Gold Rush weekend (a HUGE festival every October), b) a nugget (a local) is driving a tractor down the road, or c) you're on Main Street when the one local elementary school is getting out.  However, this ONE time there was construction on my way back, so I got to read a whole 3 pages.
2. camera(s).  Because sometimes you can't just settle for one.  Like moms with their kids, I love each of my cameras differently, but not one more than another.  You just never known which one you're going to need at any particular time.
3. lipstick.  My friends make fun of me for actually wearing lipstick & say that it's for old ladies, but I disagree.  Perhaps this stems from the fact that EVERYtime I get in the car with my mom to go somewhere, she tells me I need lipstick on.  And it's been like them from the time I was 13 or so.  I feel naked without it.  Not to mention the fact that I look like a ghost.

*I feel like the above definition of nugget does not do it justice, but I didn't want to interrupt my thought with a long parenthetical.  That's right, I just said that.  Yes, I have an English degree.  I don't even have to say that I'm an "English major" anymore!  So...back to defining nugget.  Dahlonega's claim to fame is being the home of the first major gold rush in the U.S. back in 1828.  So locals (or people who were born here) are referred to as nuggets, as in gold nuggets.  

Thanks, Missy for amusing me & playing along!

Type a question in the box to the left & more entertaining answers are sure to come!

Ask Away!

I admittedly stole this idea from another blog.  I keep seeing on facebook & blogs these formspring accounts & didn't really know what they were, so I decided to check it out.  If you scroll down a little you'll see on the left sidebar a box for you to type a question.  I've seen people ask really random questions, questions about likes/dislikes/favorites, & then I've also seen some really deep questions.  We'll figure out how this works...ask & I'll post an answer!

You can also figure this out for yourself & create an account at formspring.