whoseits and whatsits.

i've been procrastinating updates on my blogsite, basically because i soaked my antiquated camera with water. not intentionally of course. although that would have been smart demising on my part to justify the purchase of a new camera. note to self: store your nalgene bottle on the side of your backpack that is designed specifically for holding water bottles, not in the main compartment with your precious belongings (i.e. camera). i have already been camera shopping, and have the perfect one picked out. just waiting on it to go on sale...perhaps i'll be one of those 'crazy' individuals who camps outside of Best Buy waiting for the day after thanksgiving sales to begin. a practical thought, in efforts to save money. however, i'll probably be snoozing the day after thanksgiving from a turkey (tryptophan) induced slumber.

i'm just thrilled about the arrival of fall. cannot put into words how incredibly happy i get when i see the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees. also the anticipation of thanksgiving and Christmas! which, by the way, Christmas is only 65 days away. i have stocked my fridge with the once a year seasonal creamers from coffeemate. and i've been baking pumpkin muffins quite a bit.

the countdown to Revolve here in Atlanta is 44 days and counting. my sister, Carrie, and I have attended this fabulous conference for the past few years in Atlanta, and both of us enjoy it so much! it is such a convenience that i'm living less than 2 miles away from the Gwinnett Arena (which is where the event will take place). despite the fact that carrie has her license and a car, i'm presuming my mom will be strongly opposed to her driving herself to Atlanta. so, i'll be making a trip to Chattanooga to pick up carrie and her cargo and we'll make a road trip to Atlanta! i'm so looking forward to it!!

another trip i'm looking forward to making is the one i've made for the week before Christmas to New York City to visit my dear friend Meredith. it is insane to think i haven't seen her since March. well, i actually didn't know her prior to march, we met while i was visiting my friend Zach in Berkeley, CA this past spring. but we spent the whole week together and it was a delight getting to know her. she was such an awesome hostess, and very generous of her time and her living space. made my trip that much more enjoyable. can't wait to see her in December! i'm stoked that she invited me up to see her, and definitely looking forward to seeing what New York looks like at Christmastime. oh, and did i mention Natalie Grant is performing at the Town Hall Theatre about a mile away from Mere's apartment the week that i'll be in NYC? it's like a Christmas present from God.

Mon(Fun)day

Mondays and Tuesdays I get to hang out with one of the coolest 2 1/2 year olds i've ever met. She's such a mess. a FUN mess. The above photo is our favorite hang out at her house. We enjoy at this location collecting imaginary blueberries, bug-hunting, and hosting dinners and even tea parties on occasion. As you will see, Monday's for Syvon and I are quite eventful.

Making necessary phone calls to ensure the pretend hospital's awareness of our forthcoming visit to deliver imaginary peanut butter muffins to the sick people. hopefully no patients with peanut allergies...

What would a day with Miss Brittany be without learning something new? We worked on shape recognition and shape formation using jumbo popsicle sticks.

Until next time...

what now?

now that i've finished viewing the entire four disc set of season four: the office, i'm at a loss of what to do with myself to wind down at night. pathetic? yes. although, i am finishing up a phenomenal book, Soul Cravings by Erwin McMannus. A superbly written book! And not one of those 'self help' books, or 'motivational' reads that leaves you feeling inadequate...on the contrary, Mcmannus alerts his readers on how to be self-aware and able to understand the thoughts/cravings that exist in our conscious minds. so...all of that to say, i suppose it would be a more advantageous use of my time to read than to re-watch episodes of the office. so that's what i'll be doing tonight. reading my own bedtime story.

the weather today was absolutely lovely! i don't believe the temperature rose about seventy five degrees. and the humidity was seemingly nonexistent. i wore a summer scarf to celebrate the seasonal transition, and the little girl i nanny for on mondays and tuesdays decided to mimic my style. she dug into her winter belongings and wore her christmas dress (fur collar) from last year with a scarf/glove set and snow boots. hoping this weather is here to stay!!! september 23 is the offical day of autumnal equinox (i think?), so hopefully this weather is a precursor to many more days of sunny with a high of 75!

i went shopping yesterday (surprise, surprise) while waiting on meredith get off of work. a newly developing shopping center including a tj maxx, ross, and target (my 2nd home) close to mere's house was calling my name, so i answered. at target i bought just what was on my list, which is an amazing feat for myself. however, at ross i managed to justify buying two pairs of jeans and a pair of boots. yes, they were priced to sell, but i really didn't need them. it's almost impossible for me to see high-end name brand clothing at a ridiculously low price and leave it on the rack for someone else. so sickening, and account draining. sooo, i decided when i got home to try on the jeans again. and reconsider the boots. and ended up taking back all but one pair of jeans (come on, they were union jeans msrp $185, got them for less than $30). turns out, my survival isn't dependent on an ever-expanding wardrobe. what a relief.

having a 'reel' good time at the movies..

amberly and i ventured to the mall of georgia regal cinemas this evening for opening night of 'the women', starring annette bening, debra messing, meg ryan, jada pinkett, eva mendes, etc..etc... very much of a girlie movie. as a matter of fact, amberly counted the gentlemen in the theatre (which, by the way, was full of women), and there were a mere four brave souls who were most likely miserable the entire time. the movie was fabulous. it is so rare (for me at least), to leave the movie theatre thinking to myself, 'wow, that film was totally worth the overpriced ticket'. tonight, i felt like i got my money's worth. this movie made me teary eyed, had me doubled over laughing, and reminded me a lot of the movie 'steel magnolias'. well...minus the whole southern theme, and maybe also a little more added drama. but it was very enjoyable. i'll be purchasing it on dvd when it becomes available. already purchased a few of the songs from the soundtrack from itunes (lucy schwartz is an artist whose music is featured on the soundtrack, she's a newcomer and a talented girl! check her music out! you'll like her if youre a regina spektor fan)

i awoke this am with full intentions of visiting argosy university to check out the campus and meet with a member of the faculty to discuss my potential enrollment as a grad student. however, i received the office season 4 in the mail just yesterday, and am finding it difficult to leave the discs unattended by the dvd player, so i spent the day getting caught up on the show, since i missed the entire season. just feel the need to be fully prepared for the big day (sept 25, season 5 kickoff!!!). luckily, i didn't have an appointment scheduled at argosy, so i technically wasn't being irresponsible by choosing to lavish in laziness for the early part of the day. just making the choice to RELAX, which is a trade i'm learning quite well here in duluth. :-)

finally, a new post...

okay, thus far i've been quite the slacker with updating my blog. i'm hoping to become a more avid blogger this fall and winter to keep everyone back home in chatty updated on my life, since i am horrible with making phone calls. i've been in atlanta now for 3 weeks...the time has definitely flown by. i have thoroughly enjoyed being able to catch up with my georgian family (the deavours), and hanging out with two precious little girls (miss annily and miss emmalyn). ive been able to catch the hills (monday night obsession) with meredith a few times, and have loved our time together. even though the hills episodes are 75% commercials, 25% showtime (i'm obviously embellishing, but there are definitely more commericials than need be). i've missed seeing carrie (my sister) on tuesday nights for 'secret life of an american teenager' on abc family, which was a show we enjoyed watching together before i moved to duluth. however, it was a special treat tonight for me to be able to watch it with her here at my mom's house. oh yeah, i neglected to mention, i came home to chattanooga today to get the rest of my belongings. i spent the afternoon with stefanie, dominating the clearance racks of dillard's at hamilton place. afterwards, i headed to my mom's for dinner with the family (including my grandma!), which was so lovely! i am staying at my mom's house tonight, which is quite nice. it's always comforting to be in the house i spent so much time in as a child. although, it feels like it should be christmas eve, since that is typically the only time i stay the night at my mom's. i'm foreseeing myself waking up mid-slumber tonight, looking at my surroundings, and wondering where the christmas tree is. tomorrow i am going to visit my other set of grandparents, then to visit little miss emme (an almost 2 year old i babysat while i was in college) and then off to greenlife to have lunch with my dear friends amy, whitney, stefanie, and tara. soo looking forward to it! my last stop will be atop signal mountain to see jewel and ella. we are cooking dinner together and then i'll be heading south to duluth tomorrow evening.

i am quite aware that blogging shouldn't involve a play-by-play of daily activities, which can seem mundane (and i'm sure mine does), but hey, i'm just getting back into the groove of this, so patience on my blog site is a requirement.

a quick update

driving home from work today i was completely immersed in tranquility. can't quite explain it, just a peaceful resonance in my soul. all i know is MY GOD IS GOOD. and oh sooo gracious. i hadn't even spoken to my Lord at all at this point in the day, yet, He soaked my soul in his goodness by sending such a peace into my spirit that i was smiling by myself in my car from my workplace to my driveway.

i was reminded about how much of a prodigy Bethany Dillon is in the songwriting realm, after listening to her first album from start to finish for the upteenth time today on my drive home. she wrote most of the songs, and at the fragile age of 15! incredible. an album that most definitely hasn't lost it's luster.

also, on my way home i passed a vehicle with the bumper sticker "God bless every person of every nation". how completely true that statement is. it is all too often that we lose sight of the importance of praying for more than just our nation! there are struggling nations in need of our prayers, and how completely crucial it is that we are diligent in our pursuit of their deliverance!

i'm headed to rome (georgia) for a wedding this weekend. i'm thrilled to be making the trip to see a friend from duluth get married! we met at camp all american in duluth and have kept in contact since, and it is such an honor to have been invited into the presence of she and her soon to be husband to watch them be united by marraige!! both of them are such radiant reflectors of the love of Christ and i am so very excited for the both of them.

tomorrow is my last day of work at the learning center. as sad as i am about leaving all of my kiddos, i am thrilled about spending the next several weeks spending lots of time with jewel and ella....my two little obsessions, both of which have been in my pre-k class at the learning center. they have become like family to me and i'm just tickled to have the opportunity to strengthen the bond i have with the two of them!

currently, on this lovely thursday evening, i am cleaning out my summer closet, trying to consolidate my possessions to make for an easier move to duluth in the fall. the more seamless the transition, the better.

grammatical error

although i am almost certain it is unconventional to post corrections to journal entries and blogs, i have to apologize (mostly because of the prevalence of OCD in my life) for a spelling error in my first entry. "shutters" should most definitely have been written as "shudders", since i was referring to a bodily response rather than an exterior decorative addition to a house. was this post entirely unnecessary? probably. but am i completely saturated with a need to spell words as they should be spelled, yes.

that is all.