"Brilliant colors I have never seen..."

Ah. Fall is here. The leaves are really beginning to be noticeably vibrant. I love this time of year!

Today the weather is actually very dreary: cloudy, windy, and cold. But, I like it. :) I AM ready for some sunshine after having had so much rain over the last month or two, but today feels like a lazy day. I'm actually going to be home most of the day to enjoy the cold weather.

I have a list of things I plan to do today:

1.) Take pictures. Surprised? Didn't think so.

2.) Go down to the creek and sit in my favorite tree and/or hammock while listening to music and reading/working on homework/thinking.

3.) Enjoy homemade chili for lunch (yum!). It's a very soup-ish sort of day....

4.) COMPLETELY FINISH some college applications.

5.) PRACTICE. Sheesh. I'm such a slacker.

6.) Go to Bible study with dear friends this evening. I haven't been to Bible study in a while and I miss it immensely!

7.) After that, who knows. :) I'm feeling like Starbucks today, but I'll have to find someone to go with. I'm not much in the mood to go alone. Maybe I'll drag my sister there or a friend after Bible study. We'll see.

So I have a very full day ahead of me today. :)

I'm excited. We have a two day break from Chatt State classes (Monday and Tuesday) next week! :) I don't get out of Hilger classes, but at least it frees up my schedule some! :)

ANDDDDD, I have a very fun weekend planned:

Tonight- Bible study then who knows....

Tomorrow- Work then Abby's birthdayyyy!

Sunday- I don't actually know.... But I know something will come up.

Monday- Cinnamon rolls with two awesome people (which should be four awesome people total, but Emily is going out of town during the most inconvenient weekend this semester. Sheesh. She'll be missed, but I envy her for getting a full fall break. MS sounds awesome. I'm jealous. It'll definitely beat our cinnamon rolls....)

Anyway, I don't know why I felt like telling my life schedule.

Okay. I HAVE to get off of here if I intend to accomplish all that I have planned for the day.

Goodbye, all!

~Sayrah

P.S.-

Here are some of my favorite song lyrics ever (I say that a lot....). The line "brilliant colors I have never seen" reminds me of the Fall leaves beginning to change.

Deep Enough to Dream by Chris Rice

Lazy summer afternoon
Screened in porch and nothin' to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin' in a plastic chair
Rakin' my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave them there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin' around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
'Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

'Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin'
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I'm breathin'
My faithful heroes break the bread
And answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart's held hostage by this love

And these brilliant colors I have never seen
I join a billion people for a wedding feast
And I reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Do I ever have to wake up
Do I ever have to wake up
Do I really have to wake up now

I just wrote this huge post on dating.

I deleted it though because I couldn't get the words to come correctly.

I'll try again another day.

For now, enjoy some song lyrics. :)

Cleanse Song by Bright Eyes (I've been addicted to this song for the past 3 weeks):

Hear the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows

It is older than Rome and all of this sorrow
See the new pyramids down in old Manhattan
From the roof of a friend's I watched an empire ending
Heard it loud and long the river's Om
Time marching on to a madman's drum

Don't forget what you've learned all you give is returned
And if life seems absurd what you need is some laughter
And a season to sleep and a place to get clean
Maybe Los Angeles, somewhere no one is expecting
On a detox loft through a Glendale Park over sidewalk chalk
Someone wrote in red, "start over"
So I muffled my scream on an Oxnard beach
Full of fever dreams that scare you sober
Into saltless dinners

Take the fruit from the tree, break the skin with your teeth
Is it bitter or sweet? All depends on your timing
Like a meeting of chance with the train station glance
Many lifetimes had past in a instant reminded
Of a millstone house in a seaside town
When your heart gave out in a mission bed
So your wife gave birth to a funeral dirge
You woke up purged as a wailing infant
In Krug Thep, Thailand

Hear the chimes, did you know that the wind when it blows
It is older than Rome and our joy and our sorrow

"And when life seems absurd what you need is some laughter"

Well, yesterday was------pretty much one of the best days ever. No joke. Two factors contributed to this.

1.) I went hang gliding. Seriously. Yup, Quiet Sara went hang gliding. Didn't see that coming, did you?

2.) Hungout with Micah. Like, REALLY hungout. It was great!

See? I bet yall are all already jealous of my day, huh?

Anyway, I'll start with the hang gliding. It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time. Like, years. My flight was tandem (with an instructor) cause I'm not certified. We started in the valley behind Lookout Mountain cause all tandem flights are towed up to 2000 ft instead of jumping off the mountain at 1300 ft.

I was really surprised.... I thought I'd at least get nervous or anxious, but I was totally calm the entire time. haha :) The guy I flew with was really nice! He was probably 25 or so and it turns out he used to live on the same street as me! Weird, I know. lol

So, we (me and my family) arrive at the flight school at the bottom of the mountain and after getting all geared up (harness, helmet, and these oh so hott goggles) the take me to the glider. Mine was red and cool looking! haha :) I was shorter was the instructor anticipated so it took a little adjusting of the harness on the glider before I was at the right height. But, once everything was fixed, he signaled the glider (the thing towing us) that we were ready to go.

The climb up 2000 was really fast so the pressure was really high. I think we reached 2000 ft in about 1 or 1 1/2 minutes. Me ears were popping like crazy and I was FREEZING cause the wind was REALLY strong. I was wearing, jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a fleece and jacket and I was seriously shivering and chattering (which, come to think of it is not all that uncommon for me). Once we reached the 2000 ft mark which was right over the flight school on top of the mountain, the unltralight released our hang glider which caused a loud snap. As soon, as we were free, we practically stopped in mid air. Which was a really weird feeling. Cause here you are, dangling above people's heads on Lookout Mountain, 2000 ft in the air, being held by nothing but a carabiner.

Once you are released and get a feel for the wind around you (which only take about 5 seconds) you start to move. To steer the glider to move your hips which is actually a LOT harder than it sounds. haha After a couple of minutes in flight, the instructor let me take over the flying for bit which was kind of unsuccessful. haha I steered if correctly and all, but getting it go in the right direction was harder than it sounds. In my defense, the wind was really strong yesterday..... the instructor even said so. haha

After I controlled the glider for a bit, he asked if I wanted to do some tricks which I responded to with a "HECK YES". haha He did something that was like a nose dive then pushed the bar forward which pulled us to a stop in then did a quick turn and repeated this a few times. IT WAS AWESOME! haha

After about 15 minutes in the air or so, we had lost altitude to the point where we needed to land. The landing itself was pretty cool cause he got really close to the building/shelter where people were. It was also a lot smoother than I expected. You come in pretty quick and when the wheels hit the ground you roll for a bit at a pretty good pace. My knees were dragging the ground at first but then I switched to using my chacos as extra landing gear. haha

Overall, hang gliding is a LOT safer and smoother than most people think. It's totally worth every penny! I really want to become a certified hang gliding pilot but it's SOOO expensive. Hopefully one day. AND, if I go to Covenant, the school is only a couple of miles down the road. hehe :)

Anyway, after hang gliding, Micah wanted to hangout. Which I was super excited about cause I hadn't hungout like this since Summer. When I got in the car with him, he had Bright Eyes playing (who I've actually been addicted to lately!). As you probably could guess, we went to Moe's. haha Then we headed to the play ground which was really nice. Then to his house. hahaha I love his family. They're like my second one! We walked in and they were like "MICAH! AND SARA!!!!". It was really funny. haha Andrew was like "Brother!!..... SISTER!" haha. We stayed and talked for about an hour before we had to head back to Covenant.

In all, yesterday was amazing. Enjoy the pictures! :)

-Sara Nade

"Elevator, DUH!"

"WUHOO! It's an apple on wheels!"

Kids? For sale????

STEWART!

coffee, cameras, phones, and cool bags. :)

This past weekend was Campus Preview Weekend at Covenant College. I went into the weekend having prayed that God would have me either love Covenant or hate it. Well, I loved it. Which I thought might happen. Actually, I almost thought I'd hate it.... I don't know why. I have always had this ongoing battle with Covenant for whatever reason. I'm kind of a rebel when it comes the the topic. It's the one school I hate and love. AH. It really is what I want in a school. However, it's going to take a miracle for me to be able to go there. $32,000.00 a year is NOT cheap (not that any college is exactly affordable these days). If God wants me there, He can easily provide the miracle needed. I'm not completely ruling out other colleges because there might be something better out there for me (which is hard to fathom right now). I'm going to continue my applications for a few other schools, but Covenant is DEFINITELY at the top of the list.

Anyway, CPW (Campus Preview Weekend) started with me arriving at Covenant at 5 o'clock Thursday afternoon. As soon as I drove up, Jillian came down to the car to help me take my stuff to her room. On our way up to her dorm, Micah met us and gave me a big hug which was WONDERFUL cause I hadn't seen him lately. Well, I had seen him a week or two earlier, but I still really miss him. Anyway, I took my stuff upstairs then headed to dinner with Jilllian, Micah, two of his friends, and one of Jillian's friends. Bethany, Jamie and Emily were there too but at a different table which I joined as soon as Jillian went upstairs to study for her Chemistry exam. The rest of the evening was filled with walking around the campus (which is absolutely GORGEOUS) and attending a TWO HOUR meeting in the chapel for all the previewers. The speakers were a little boring after a few minutes, but there were two bands that played and they were REALLY good. I seriously would buy their cd. After the meeting, me, Emily, Arthur, Jamie, and Bethany headed to the gym for Battle Ball. Which was------- dangerous. I feared for me life. Not really, but it was intimidating. haha It looked so fun though! We had planned on only staying for half of it, but ended up staying for the whole thing. After Battle Ball, we headed up to our dorms and went to sleep. Surprisingly, I got more sleep at Covenant than I do at my own home through the week. haha

Friday began at 7:30 for me. I woke up, took a shower, and headed to breakfast. I attended at Doctrine class at 10, then Chapel and 11, a Q&A session with the President at 11:45, then headed to lunch at 12:30 where I met Jamie. We had both planned on trying to go to 1 o'clock classes, but didn't even get through the lunch line till about 1:05. So, instead, we found Bethany and Emily and walked around some more. At 3 I went to an Old Testament class which I LOVED! I could seriously have sat and talked with the professor for hours. He was really interesting! After class, we walked around some more (yes, we did a lot of exploring of the campus) then headed to dinner. After dinner, Mr. Schriener had told us girls that he would take us on a tour of the tower, but he was in a golf tournament that day and he ended up playing longer than he had planned on so we weren't able to see the tower. BUT, the best of the weekend is still to come.....

Friday evening was Mountain Affair. The only word I can find to describe it is: INCREDIBLE. Seriously, Covenant College has some of the most amazing musical talent in the world. Most of the people that played (if any) weren't even music majors. I would have bought an album from every single artist that played that night. Music is definitely an important part of Covenant. Which is one of the things I love about it. Even though I'm not exactly musically talented, music is a huge part of me. I can't explain it, but it's a way I express myself. I wish I were better at playing instruments or singing or song writing or something cause there is so much I wish I could say that I can't. The music NOTES are a way I can express myself when lyrics fail. But I love all types of music... even music WITH lyrics. haha :)

After Moutain Affair, we watched UP in the Great Hall. I have never seen a group of people get so into a movie.... especially college students watching an animated movie. haha :) Once THAT movie was over, I went to watch a movie on the Chapel lawn with Jillian and a few of her friends. Everyone that I met was so cool and friendly. I saw a few people that were just NOT my type of people, but most everyone were people I could see myself hanging out with.

Saturday came and we went home. Well, for a little while. We gave Em a ride home from Covenant but instead of taking her home right away, she went to my house for an hour then we headed downtown for an adventure. We took our cameras and took TONS of pictures (as usual) and also vlogged. Which was-----funny. haha

Alright. I talked a lot. It was mostly for myself so I could have a way to remember the weekend. :) I can't wait to see where God has me in a year! Seriously, I'm excited for wherever He puts me. :D

Enjoy the pictures! :)

1,2,3,4....14,15,16, AHHH

One day, I WILL own my own kayak.

Okay. This is about THE most unflattering picture of me ever. But, Peri and I found this hat at The Knitting Mill and I thought it was adorable. haha

I love Chattanooga.....

Last week I went downtown with Peri to take pictures for a photography contest. About 10 minutes into our adventure, we lost focus of what we were supposed to be doing and started taking random pictures of random things. I was actually disappointed in how some of my shots turned out, but that's okay! I have to learn somehow. Anyway, here are just a few of the 450 pictures I took that day.

Sincerely,

Sayrah

P.S.

Unfortunately, I never got to enter the contest. :( I was so crazy busy last week with school and Covenant Preview Weekend (which I'll be blogging about next) that I wasn't able to submit my shots. Oh well, there's always next year! I think I'm going to find some other contests to enter though.... We'll see how that goes. haha :)

Okay, enjoy the pictures! :)