Christmas time is here, laughter everywhere!

My precious baby cousin, Lily.  Adorable, isn't she? :)

The view out my bedroom window Christmas morning. A white Christmas--- I couldn't believe it!

Wouldn't it be wonderful to own a flower shop? I'd love it.

My gorgeous sister, Hannah.

My dear friend, Stella.

Okay, this is all for now.  I just wanted to throw a couple of pics up here.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas Break! I need to go work on my New Years Resolutions.

Have a wonderful evening, friends!

~Sara~

here I go again

I need to take a lesson in forgiveness from my friend, Micah.

I honestly don't know why he forgives me every time.  This time he may not though cause I was so horrible to him.  After all, we are all human; We can only take so much from a person before calling in quits on the friendship.

I thought I had reached that point with him this week, and honestly, I still feel that way to an extent.  However, I realize that he's still the one I consider as my best friend.

I need to learn to swallow my pride more often.  I'm going to have to give this one a lot of time before asking for forgiveness.

My advice to myself: Learn to hold your tongue, you idiot.

I----

love this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Zs2vXxSUE

And I love that I can open my window the week of Thanksgiving and feel just fine (not cold!).  It's a gorgeous day here on the mountain.
Heading home for break in 2 1/2 hours.  I'm going to miss school a lot, but I'm excited to be able to take lots of pictures, hangout and do absolutely NOTHING productive.

Have a lovely day, folks!

-Sara

"the boom of the tingling strings"

Piano

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.


In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.


So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

D. H. Lawrence

I'm in the process of a writing a research paper on this poem.  I absolutely love it!  It's simple, but yet very easy to relate to--- music, memories, emotion--- oh how I love all three of them.

Adventures at the downtown public library

I've been on a desperate search for a study place that I can go without even possibly seeing anyone I know. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the downtown public library…. It's old, smells funny, and full of homeless people here--- all of those factors contribute to my love and draw to this place.

Right now I'm at study carol working on homework surrounded by homeless people who seem completely harmless.  They are interesting (sleeping, talking to themselves, wearing cool earmuffs, etc) and I sorta like them.

I know there's not a chance in the world a Covenant student would wander in here.

Every time I look up I see those statues and think they're old men standing there staring at me.

There are some interesting characters here…..

But they don't seem too bad….. 

Oh the joys of being from Chattanooga and know the secrets of the city better than most of the other locals.

Back to homework now.
Hasta leugo!

Go do.

Jonsi….. there aren't words to express his concert.
I seriously almost cried it was so good!  I received a call from a friend 15 minutes before they had to leave telling me they had an extra ticket.  Needless to say, I took it. :)

His concert blew my mind away. SO GOOD.

Less than 3 weeks til Thanksgiving Break.  Can you believe it?!

Off to class for now,

Sara

1 Peter 5:6

Today I head back to school from Fall Break.  I'm not really sure what awaits me up there on the mountain….. situations over break back here at home have made returning there even more confusing and frustrating.
As I sat down for my quiet time this morning, I wasn't really sure where to begin reading.  I decided to look up the word "strife" in the concordance in the back of my Bible.  I remember reading one verse, which led to another then another, and somehow I ended up in 1 Peter (which the concordance didn't even list as a book that had anything to do with strife).
Reading through this book proved to be exactly what I needed today.  I came across a few passages I had underlined from previous studies here.
One verse that is short and to the point that fits my situation perfectly right now is:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
                                                                     ~1 Peter 5:6
Thank you, Jesus for that reminder.
I hope this verse is in some way applicable to your life too today…. :)

Alright, I must go back to head back to my home on the mountain. :)

Oh, the many side effects of being blonde…..

Tonight I went on Anthropolgy's website---- that's always a bad idea for me.

I went straight to the dress page and didn't make it past that…. I kicked myself off the website after that.

I've been lusting after these dresses for an hour now….. online "window shopping" is an unhealthy addiction for me. Oh goodness.

I think I might go thrifting tomorrow…. It's times like these I could use a good thrifting buddy. 

One of my chief grievances in life is that I can't wear this color:

Or any yellow for that matter (note: I love that coat).  It's one of the many side effects of being blonde. 

Today has been--- rough.  After spending a fair amount of time in a horrible mood, I turned to my Bible and a hot bath and now I feel much better.  The book of Mark has never seemed so good.

Goodnight, world!

~Sara~

Matt and Kim? That would be a negative, officer.

Yesterday I was supposed to attend a Matt and Kim concert in Atlanta with my best friend, Micah.  Well, at the last minute he had to drop out due to family being in town so I found others who would like to go with me (Abby and Sammy).  We got halfway there and had to turn around to go get the keys out of my car that my sister was using cause I had locked them in there (it's a long story….).

Needless to say, I was bummed (that's an understatement).  But there was nothing we could do about it…. so, we decided to eat Chik-Fil-A, then roam around downtown and take pictures.

• Handstands on the bridge and on the street that connects to Walnut
• Walking out on the dock into the Tennessee River
• The loud high pitched beep on the Walnut St. Bridge
• Watching tourists in the guided ghost tours
• Abby freaking out over the glass bridge (as usual hehe)

Those are few of the highlights from the evening.  There were so many obstacles preventing me from attending the concert that I'm sure God didn't want me there…. I don't know why though.

Well, Fall Break is wonderful minus the setbacks.  Tomorrow I'm getting my haircut and I'm trying to decide how short to go…. hm…. ideas?

Adios!

-Sara

Proverbs 24:5-6

"A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."
-Proverbs 24:5-6

Lord,
Please give me strength and guidance.  I don't know at all what I should do or where you're taking me with this.