Children of God

I love Third Day. Classic stuff.
Grateful for this truth today.

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Thank you, Davidson Odyssey for introducing me to this song. 

And I've posted a lot of music lately, so here's a few pictures for your pleasure. These are all from Odyssey which was a service trip I took as a sort of preorientation thing at Davidson. 

 All dressed up for a "night on the town." (aka a Harris Teeter run--sooooo epic.)

 Aric. So fierce.

 "There are no more hummus samples!?!"

 I'm naming my second child after him. And he'll be godfather.
Basically we're gonna change the world together.

 We love Erwin Lodge! (Where we stayed the whole week)

 Hampton is an epic elbow licker.
He's like a ninja.

 The girls! Me, Cidney (who is on my hall!), Ana (one of my leaders), Jessica, and Christina!

 This is Ian. He's from Jersey and he makes me laugh so much, I can't even handle it.

 Crew Siete! Me, Blake (my other leader and hubby), Christina, Ian, Cidney, Jess, Hampton, Aric, and Ana.

And this is Hampton. Not Ben Folds. However, he is at least as cool as Ben Folds.

But the main thing about this post is that video. Watch it. Or rather just listen to it. It's SO GOOD.

New Favorite

Love.

This Kid Is Awesome

Extraneous Lyrics

My friend Emma posted this on her blog--priceless.
(PS If you aren't familiar with popular songs, this won't make much sense to you.)

Good Stuff

I love being able to talk to people about issues and things with substance. One of my professors on my trip to England two years ago called it "ruminating conversation." I am going to miss many different people while I'm gone, but there are two people that I find particularly understand my interests and tastes in...well everything. And we always have ruminating conversations. I'm sure I'll find other people on my trip to have deep and intellectually stimulating conversations with on a regular basis (when we're not having seminars of course), and these conversations will certainly sharpen me. But I always find it a joy to discuss things with people who have the same worldview and similar ways of thinking.
So I will miss those conversations and people a lot!
Anyway. Here are some things from the past few weeks (mainly books and music and such) which have raised discussions between me and some of my friends. I hope you find them somewhat interesting!
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. This book is excellent. It's thought-provoking, interesting, well-written, and eye-opening. It has really made me think about what I believe and how I view the world that God has given us. I personally think it's worth everyone's time.
Ben Folds. He's making a new album apparently and Jaron Moore (click on the link to check out his blog--it's pretty great!) posted this video on my Facebook today. I really like this song, as well as the spoken bit. And the video is cool too!
Artist a Day. This website comes up on my google homepage, and I love it. Some of the art isn't my favorite, I guess, but every once in a while, a piece comes up that I just sit and stare at. I love that about art. When we're in NYC for TBB, I'd love to go to the Met for a day. I didn't take the chance to do that when I was last in New York, but I should have. If I had time to just do what I want (wouldn't that be wonderful?), I would spend time going to museums and learning about art. Right now it's more interesting to me than music. (If you know me, that's a big deal-ish.)
columbinus. One of my best friends, Victoria Oliver, was in this play this summer. She's a senior in high school at UNC School of the Arts this year. She's marvelous. Anyway, a friend of hers who is also going to UNCSA as a senior this year directed this show. It's about the shootings at Columbine. The cast was young (17-21 years), but they did a fantastic job. I was really impressed, and I saw it twice. columbinus is a powerful show. And everyone should see it. Literally everyone. It's raw and emotional, and exposes the stereotypes and labels we subconsciously (or even consciously) give each other. It's humbling, terrifying, and heartbreaking, all at the same time. But it was completely worth it for me.
Last, but certainly not least, I will leave you with a poem I found a couple weeks ago. It's by Emily Dickinson. I found it randomly--I believe a friend of mine brought up Emily's poetry (yes, Emily and I use each other's first names), and I just googled her. A website came up with her poems, and I saw this one.
"There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears a Human soul."
I love the language she uses and the way she capitalizes certain words. This is basically why I want to teach English Literature. Books and writing can say so much. :)

Thanks for reading my random thoughts!
One week!

Forget Me Not!

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately (obviously), music being one of them. I currently have about 10 CDs that I need to load onto my iTunes, and I just realized that I won't really be getting any new music until APRIL. Brooke Fraser's new album, Flags?? It'll have to wait. Won't be getting any new stuff from Coldplay or Ingrid Michaelson either.
But anyway. I'd never heard of The Civil Wars until like...last week when I heard they were doing a concert in downtown Raleigh. But I'd never heard any of their stuff, so I didn't go to the concert. But then I saw this video (which you should watch immediately) that my wonderful (and he would tell you favorite, of course) cousin Clayton posted on Facebook.....and now I'm just a tad obsessed.
I sort of hate people like that. Who are just that insanely talented and have voices that blend so well together. I mean I can sing and play some piano, but I just don't think I could create music like that. But it's too awesome for me to really hate them.
Anyway. I thought it was good enough to share with you good people.
I went and visited Trinity today (my old school, if you don't know). I took Joshua lunch--5 Guys. Yes, I was the cool sister today. Although Caitlin is definitely becoming much cooler since she's the one having his niece/nephew.
But yeah, it was weird. I had to sign in, and I wasn't wearing a polo (YAY!), and I sat and chatted with some of my favorite teachers while everyone else was in class.
I have to be honest, it was pretty awesome. I loved my time at Trinity (I could talk for hours about the great things I learned there), but it was just time. I am super excited to be an alum though. And I'm actually attending my first big TAR event tomorrow night! We finally have a gym (it's AWESOME)! And it's being dedicated tomorrow before the annual Back to School Picnic. Sarah Beth is coming over beforehand to help me figure out some packing stuff and then we're both going to the school for the evening. It will be great!
So yes. Life is good. I am incredibly blessed. Every time I visit Trinity, I'm reminded how grateful I should be to be surrounded by the body of Christ. It is so sweet to know that I am so loved and have so many people supporting me and praying for me. So thank you! God is good! :)