Well, I am ready for school or work to start back up again. I get tired of doing nothing for the sake of doing nothing. It is more fun to do nothing when there is something to avoid.
Christmas Eve I went browsing through stores and then had lunch with Jared, Noah, Matt, Ben, and Krissy and then I had dinner with the Sheltons. I seem to have done a lot of eating this Christmas. I love food.
On Christmas, we opened our presents after we came home from church, which meant we got to sleep in. Woohoo. I have been sleeping in all week. Haha. I guess I should start waking up early or I will be in for a huge shock next week whenI have to start doing that again. :) Anyhow, after we opened presents and played with them for a while, Jared came over and we had Christmas dinner and then we watched It's a Wonderful Life. What a great movie.
The rest of the week has been relaxing in front of the Prisoner or a good book. We finished episode 10 today. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

In case I decide not to visit the computer again in the next few days.

Today I came to work and decided that it was foolish to go shopping during lunch, so I took an early lunch (9:30-10:30) and went shopping. When I came back the office was still blazing hot even though I have the windows open. REDICULOUS. I don't know what to do with this place. It is always at least 75 degrees in here.
I have spent the last two hours finishing part of a Christmas present (as Sarah would say... secret project DEF) and no it still isn't finished. Now I am going to going to turn up "We'll Understand" by Carlton Pearson on my speakers and dance around the house/office/place I work. Haha. I love having the house to myself. I was listening to Pachebel's Cannon in D as loud as I could earlier. Another example of as close to Perfection as we will ever get. Sort of like staring at the Grand Cannon or the Moutians or the Stars, all you can do is marvel at how wonderful and amazing it is.
Praise God for sending us His son so that someday, through Him, we will be made perfect.

Last couple memories...

Guess

model

reflect

light

imagine

superhero

dream

classy

experience pain

The ways of life.

In whatever you do, whether you eat or you drink, do it all to the glory of God. Be joyful. God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him. :)

Lady Hayley.

Empress of the world.

Working on our second puzzle in Williamsburg.
I don't even know what I was thinking or if I was thinking.
The first puzzle that we finished that weekend. We left it out in the rain and it swelled up.

It honor of it now being winter, some memories from the summer.

Luke bought popcorn at the campground store in Wincester and I just loved the box.

The view from out my tent door. I love having my own tent when we go camping. The view from my tent if you look door at the doorway. Old Navy Flip Flops come in such warm colors. Love them. I think I love wearing them so much because they are fun colors. Makes me smile.
Anna waiting for our food to come and one of Mom and Dad's favorite resturants in Richmond, the Strawberry Cafe. Their salad bar is in a bathtub. My parents seemed to think that was exciting, but when you don't like salad, like me, that doesn't really excite a person.
Oh that my freckles would stay all year. They are one of my favorite parts of summer.

Happy first day of Winter!

~Please have snow~

I have had no time to go get the last couple of things I wanted to at the store. And I have pretty much given up fighting the crowds. So a few of you are going to get late christmas gifts. But I always liked getting late christmas gifts because it made the holidays seem even longer. Maybe I will get all my christmas shopping finished by march. Haha, I'm dreaming. I will have to start in the summer next year. Finding time during this rediculous semester of school was crazy. I don't even want to think about next year. I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I will give you all my leftover textbooks and a few of you will be lucky enough to get some of my notes. :) I am going for a record on how long I can use the same mechanical pencil (so none of you may have that). I'm sure I can get lots of Terp gear for you or something. Go Tar Heels. I feel a little like a traitor going to Maryland. But I will get to see two UNC games in the comcast center!!! Woohoo. Of course this all depends on if they allow me into their school... I sent my application in yesterday. I'm not worried.

I had lunch Ms. Wanda today!

I wish I loved Biology. Then I could have her as a professor. She is so cute and funny. I love spending time with her.

O to grace how great a debtor

daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here's my heart, O take and seal it,

seal it for thy courts above.

I love this hymn!!

If you look back over the past three monthes worth of entries, you might have seen me complain about my classes (quite a bit actually). There has been one class in particular that I have been worrying about almost minute by minute. Yes, I know, I should neither be worrying nor complaining about anything. But it is so hard to apply that to the little everyday things. I have no problem applying them to something big because it seems right (like I have not worried once about getting into University of Maryland or what I will do once I get up there). I start to think about things like that and I tell myself to stop, God will provide. But I so often fail to see that he provides for me each and every moment of every day. I so often fall prey to trusting myself in the little things. "Hey, I am alright. I can handle this." But that is sinning. I am supposed to trust him for everything. I need to continually remind myself that THROUGH Christ, I can do all things. I guess that is why pride is to hurtful. It blinds you to what is really going on.

I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.

I need thee,
O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.

I need thee every hour; stay thou nearby;
temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.

I need thee every hour, in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need thee every hour; teach me thy will;
and thy rich promises in me fulfill.

Last night Jared and I walked to Outback to meet to have dinner with Stanley and his girlfriend. Stanley is hard to explain. You just have to meet him to understand how weird it is that he and Jared get along so well at work. And he looks like a muppet. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I thought you should know. He talks, walks, and acts like a muppet. This would be more of an exciting story if something had happened during dinner. But the meal went well and I laughed a few times. I spent most of the night trying not to cough and to find a way not to have to breath through my mouth (which is incredibly hard when your nose is all stuffed up). Haha, I loath colds. And the problem with a cold is that is doesn't end, it hangs around for weeks afterwards.
After we walked home, we decorated sugar cookies for a while, picked up Anna, and then we watched episode four of the prisoner. I was saying how weird it was getting and Jared told me that I hadn't seen anything yet. I can't even imagine what they would do to make to stranger then it already is. But I guess we shall see. My siblings wanted to watch episode five, but it was 10:20 and I needed sleep. So maybe we will watch one tonight, and tomorrow, and then all day christmas!!! Heh.
AND TONIGHT... dun dun dun. We get to go to see the lights in OC with the Balls. It is tradition. I can't explain why this is so much fun either. But it is like a lot of the things my family does, there doesn't seem to be a point behind it, we just do it because we have fun doing it. And there is no way to explain why we have fun doing some of the things we do. They are so random. I think it is fun, especially now as we get older, because all of us are there. But whatever the reason, we have to see the lights in OC, no matter what. We went in the freezing rain one year. We were the only people on the train. We have gone when it is really warm outside some years, but normally it is quite brisk when we go, especially when the wind hits you from right off the water. So tonight we will drive to the Balls' farm and Mr. Ball will come out in his crazy fur hat that he wears every year and he will put his lawn chair in our van and we will pack 10 people into our van and drive to Ocean City. And the tradition shall continue...

Enya

Lazy old day
Rolling away
Dreaming the day away
Don't want to go
Now that I'm in the flow
Crazy amazing day

One red balloon
Floats to the moon
Just let it fly away
I only know
That I'm longing to go
Back to my lazy day

And how it sings and how it sighs
And how it never stays
And how it rings and how it cries
And how it sails away... away... away....

And once again...

CONGRATULATIONS to my dear little Hannah Rose!!!

*BIG HUG* I am so so so happy for you.

Well, I am finished school and my grades are supposed to be up today, but they are not. :( So here I wait. Actually I am at work. And you wouldn't think I would be happy to be at work, but when I think of the alternative of going to school today, work seems extremely welcoming. I cannot begin to express how wonderfully grand it is to be finished school this semester. This semester was the worst bunch of classes all lumped together. I feel so free now. And I have two and a half semesters down, which means I only have two and a half semesters to go. I am half way to my dual degree in Physics and Mechanical Engineering. And I grow to dislike the physics part of that more every day. I love my engineering classes.
Luke opened his birthday presents last night.

Happy Birthday Little Brother!!!

I love you.

I have always been thankful that I wasn't born on christmas. I love my birthday. First day of Summer and almost perfectly half a year away from Christmas. :) Yeah for summer birthdays!!! Yay for summertime! For the beach, bare feet ( sandles and no shoes), fresh food from the garden, bonfires, pools, fun colors, strawberries, waterparks, rollar coasters, peaches, cookouts, sand in my shoes, camping trips, watermelons, hiking, picnics, late nights, soccer, daylight all day long, biking, vacations, fewer hours of work, no grades, no homework, NO SCHOOL!!! Man, I love the summer. SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER!!!! I can't wait for summer.
In other news, I am going out to dinner with Jared, Jared's co-worker Stanley and his girlfriend, Katie. I haven't a clue what we will be talking about. I should have some interesting stories to tell. Heh. I don't think we will have much in common, if anything. But I think it will be highly entertaining... for a while. :) Haha. I am sure I will post more about it later.
This should make Jeanne happy. My siblings and I have started watching the prisnoner series. We have finished episode 3 and hope to watch some more tonight. They make no sense and I think I am going to be disapointed in the end, but I must know what happens. Who is number one? Heh. I think I should get more points for each episode I watch without watching episode 17 first. What do you think?!?!
So now I have a cold and I am all drugged up on cold medicine and motrion. I also took a bunch of zinc and vitaman C. I am very thankful that I didn't catch a cold during school or finals. I think I would have died because right now I feel like a truck ran over me, several times. Yeah, that wouldn't have been good during the semester. I am very very thankful that I can have a cold when all I am doing is working and I don't have to think so hard that my brain hurts.
The Children's Christmas play was a church last night. Josh was amazing as the innkeeper and Hannah was an adorable little angel!!! Mark was the funniest little sheep I have ever seen and Hope was good too. She played her part pretty well. I laughed so hard last night at some of the kids. They are hilarious. Thanks for Miss Mae for putting that on. I know it took a lot of work, especially with some of those kids. :) Praise God for my talented church family. They are precious.

Happy Birthday Hannah Rose!!!

And Congratulations for other odd things.

Heh. Thanks for being you.

Hannah is 25! I feel so old. :)

Love you.

I am studing for my last exam and it just dawned on me... I am the only girl in here.
There are 10 guys and me.
Welcome to my world.
And I don't even think it is weird anymore.

Wow they are hilarious after no sleep for two straight days. I think I am like the only one that has slept even some in the past couple of days.

King Kong

I loved Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, and Andy Serkis.

I think my jaw dropped open and stayed open for the majority of this movie. I just sat there in awe. I felt like I was in the movie, on the island, on the ship, walking the streets of New York, climbing hills and skyscrapers! It was amazing. After I finish my exams (only two more left!!! WOOHOO) I want to go see this movie again. I never knew I could tear up over a silly monkey.

Exam one will be over in 19 hours.
King Kong in 27 hours and a few minutes.
~Twas Beauty that killed the beast.~

Thank you Mrs. Shelton for your amazing open house this weekend.

It was a nice break from my studying. I ate way too many pinwheel cookies.

Kudos on a job well done.

Merry Christmas!
I only have four more exams this semester.
Come to think of it... that is only four more this YEAR. wOOt :)

Narnia

~When Adam's flesh and Adam's bones sit at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done.~

It was good for a kids movie. I wasn't expecting it to be great. The special effects were pretty neat. It is amazing all the different kinds of animals they created. Lucy annoyed me at times, but so did Susan. They weren't as I expected (from my imagination). But as Sarah said or something like it, You can never really fully make Narnia. It will always be missing something from someones imagination. A few scatterbrained thoughts: Aslan was great. I Loved the music!!!! I want the soundtrack. Mr. Tumnas was cool. I loved the Beavers. They were not annoying at all. I want a talking Beaver too. Why was Peter riding a Unicorn? I wish Aslan fought more. What was up with the waterfall scene? Why didn't they have the tea party? The fox was adorable. I am thankful that they made this movie. And now I want to go read the books again. Thank God for C.S. Lewis and his amazing imagination. What fun.
And of couse, I had fun going to the movie with my siblings and Greg and Rachel. I feel like I haven't seen my "siblings", the Taylors, is years. It was nice to spend time with them watching Greg play turkey hunter. "You shot a hen... you lose a life". It was also a blast singing Prince of Eygpt songs, in the van, at the top of our lungs and acting like we nine and ten again. Oh those good old days. I think it is time for Greg and I together and destroy something again or set something on fire. Haha.
Thank God for my awesome family and for wonderful friends like the Taylors. I love them dearly.

Guess who visited me at work today?!?

Heh.

It is hard to be in a bad mood when it looks so gorgeous outside. :) Man, it is beautiful. I love snow. It is also hard to be in a "I feel sorry for myself" mood when you listen to John Piper before you go to bed. Haha. I told myself I wouldn't be able to feel sorry for myself if I listened to him and I almost didn't put him in before bed because I wanted to have a pity party for myself all day... but I did and now I feel a lot better. Blessed be.

Philiipians 2: 14 - 16
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing!

*Love Snow.* But, I am in rather a bummish mood. I think it is all these exams that I have to accomplish. My one teacher says that if the snow snows out his exam, we will have a make-up exam... I don't really see how it the world that would work and it is totally not fair. I have studied my little brain off, but I seem to still not be able to grasp certain things. God's grace is sufficent. His power is made perfect in my weakness. That has certainly been true this semester. Time and time again I have felt like I would never learn this stuff and here I am still struggling along. *sigh* I can't wait for the semester to be over with. I can't wait to Christmas. I can't wait until I have time to buy Christmas presents. *sigh* God grant me strength.
So, if you tell me something and I don't act excited... please don't get annoyed. I am just in the middle of a LOT of physics mess right now. I really don't have time to think of anything else. And especially Mom, don't tell me anything important right now, please. I won't remmeber. Haha. :) Thanks. Tell me after exams are over and I will be perfectly happy to act excited about anything you want me to.
Love you all, but I have to go study more.

Keep on keeping on.

Love Pachelbel!

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, Who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, Who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, Who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, Who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

UNC beat Tenth ranked Kentucky!!!!
Go little freshman.
Go TAR HEELS!!!
Go my favorite sports team, Go. Haha.

Sing we Noel, sing we joyously Noel. :)
David Noel is my new favorite player (since all five of my other favorites went to the NBA last year).

Hewbrews 12:1-11
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Thank God for my parents who never gave up on me throughout my childhood. I love them. They are great.

Curses. There is too much food in this house/office/work area!!! The ladies in the office made bunches of cakes, pies, cookies, and bread for the Christmas Party/open house yesterday. And now it is all leftover and I am desperately trying to avoid the kitchen and stay upstairs in my office. But they keep offering to bring me stuff. AHHHH!!! No more food. I would eat it all day, but I know that I won't feel any better afterwards. I will just feel sick and tired like I did yesterday.
I have homework due in three of my classes next week, two exams next week, and four the following week. Pray for me if you think of me. Six exams in a week and two days is not going to be fun. This is definately my hardest semester, both my classes and exams.

* Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - Mechanics Second Exam (Least favorite class ever, but this exam will be a lot easier then the final for the class, but still crazy hard compared to my other classes)
* Thursday, December 8, 2005 - Math Physics Second Exam (Challenging, but not impossible)
* Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - Statics Final (Favorite class, I love engineering classes!! Only semi-easy exam.)
* Thursday, December 15, 2005 - Math Physics Final (Again, challenging, but not impossible)
* Friday, December 16, 2005 - E and M Final (Insanity)
* Friday, December 16, 2005 - Mechanics Final (Pretty much impossible!!! This is going to be the most rediculous final I have ever taken.)

I think I am going to come home from my last final and crash. I'll just sleep for hours and hours. My brain will be so dead by that time. Or maybe I will just sit in front of the tv for hours. I haven't done that in a long time (not since surgery).
So, that is why I have banned myself from fun this weekend. So please don't ask me to do anything this weekend because I really don't want to spend the whole time studying, but I NEED to. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, to achieve goals. This is going to be one of those weekends.
God grant me strength and help me glorify you.