so i haven’t written in a minute…let’s do a quick update:

i am…
*currently in athens, georgia
*a graduate student at uga in social studies education
*without my computer for the time being
*unemployed for the first time in a long time
*missin’ my NC peeps, BUT lovin’ life in GA

so there we go…what is athens like? a lot like chapel hill…just bigger. the people are cool, the town is really cool and eclectic and school is good. athens feels about football the way carolina feels about basketball. so there we have it. the only way you can experience athens for yourself is to come visit…it’s a pretty nice place.

my roommates are great. ali and catherine (along with alex and kedric- if you’ve been talking to me, you know who they are too) are some fun girls who have made the transition to georgia easier. we have our bonding sessions in the kitchen…where catherine puts ketchup on everything and ali cleans up everything. i guess you’d have to be here to understand.

let’s see…so i’ve completed 2 weeks of grad school here, and i seriously feel like my carolina education has prepared me for this next phase. i’m the youngest person in my group (of about 25), but it’s a great learning experience. as i’ve said, everyone here is really nice and helpful…my professors are GREAT. so i’m giving GOD mad props for the increase of faith that He gave me that allowed me to trust what He was telling me about UGA.

hmmm…what else…yeah, i do miss being able to see my friends/talk to my friends on the regular. if i haven’t talked to you in a while…you’ll prolly be hearing from me soon. in some ways, being alone is difficult, but i’ve met people and actually doing the reading that they give me for class keeps me pretty busy. speaking of the reading…i HONESTLY feel like i am doing enough reading to compensate for EVERY slave and/or black person who wanted to read but couldn’t. for sojourner, harriet, frederick, and many others…the amount of reading is THAT serious. but i’ve got lots of time, so i’m staying on it like a champ.

random thoughts that i have:
*i miss the office for minority affairs…
*i hope that i find a job that allows me to work for an hour and take a 2 hour lunch break (kinda like the one i had at home)
*love is difficult…trying to manage love is even more difficult…
*GOD IS AWESOME (yay for meeting good people and finding a church that is CLOSE to the apartment…cause yes, gas is HIGH)
*prayers for all the victims of Hurricane Katrina
*my birthday is in TWELVE days (september 12, for those of y’all who keep up)
*the kanye west cd is classic (why do i feel like me and kanye are growing up together)…but i slept on the rihanna cd (and i’ll be going to get that soon)
*the cheapest gas in athens other than sams club is $2.93/gallon…for REGULAR…

hmmm…so that’s about all i can come up with…there’s a lot on my mind and my heart, so expect a more coherent and detailed blog in the future. maybe i’ll even be at MY computer when i do that. till then…

hugs! peace and blessings…

waiting. the whole idea of waiting isn’t one that is exactly popular with our culture. we are a culture of instant gratification…we have microwaves, cell phones, and all types of other gadgets to make sure that we can have exactly what we want whenever we want it. i mean…after all what’s worth waiting for?

i’ve been brought up in this culture, so learning how to be patient and wait for things is a challenge…to say the least. last semester in bible study, we did a series on relationships entitled “waiting for ‘the one’ from THE ONE” and we discussed the whole idea of God writing your love story and waiting for God to bring that special person into your life. it was a great series, and i learned A LOT.

all that said, i’ve been kinda thinking about that now…i’ve done a lot of reading and thinking and reflecting this summer, and i read an awesome book by elizabeth george called “a woman after God’s own heart” which talked about things that women can do to ensure that God is the center of their life and how to maintain themselves, their households, their relationships with their family and others the way God would like for them to. additionally, i heard some great sermons from Pastor Andy at WOCC and one of the things he talked about is how he’s already praying for his daughter (who is 9 or 10 years old) to have a husband who is saved, and he’s already praying for their futures. interesting concept to me, someone born in a generation that can’t think about what we want past dinnertime. so i took it all in…

all of the things that i have just said are my thoughts…and here’s what has happened with me since. i’ve had this incredible increase of faith about relationships and life in general. I’ve started praying for my future spouse, my future children, my future job…all of those things that we tend to not think about because we are so busy being caught up in instant gratification. and I’ve really taken to heart what Camille says in her facebook profile:

“waiting is not a challenge…it’s only beautiful”
…my thoughts exactly, millyboo!

other quotes:

“That relationship died, for you to be born, you worth more than anything you could cop in a store, for you to grow he had to go, so what you stoppin him for?”
~Common

“Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep… wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you’re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU… The one who turns to his friends and says, ‘That’s her’.”

“All relationships are not meant to last a lifetime, but to be a pathway to next the destination. Some will finish the journey with us, and some won’t be more than a touch of sunshine upon our hearts. Just because you believe that the person is right, guess what, they may not be. God always knows when to bring the right person in our lives and at the right season. The only thing left for you to do is trust, believe, and anticipate them coming into your life…“

“So it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be really hard. And we’re going to have to work at this every day. But I want to do that because I want you… I want all of you, forever, every day.”
~The Notebook

so there are my thoughts…i’m loving life. i’m loving this period of growth…be encouraged all!

peace and blessings