Summer nights!

I figured since I was already avoiding my chores for the week, I might as well do something semi-productive and write a blog entry about my summer, since I just now realized it's almost over *sobs*. This has probably been my favorite summer thus far in my short lifespan. I chose not to work this summer, and while that means I'm going to have to do a work/study program at Meredith in the fall, it was entirely worth it. I spent most of my summer hanging out with friends, and traveling to Richmond to visit my grandma.

I was blessed to be able to work into my schedule all but one of our swim meets this summer. Seahawks were blessed to be given their second undefeated season in a row!!! :) The last meet was definitely one no one will be forgetting for a while. Season's technically over, but there's still a two week pre-season class thingie, and I'm fairly certain I'm doing that. (yes, kara and jess, I am going to be swimming *shock*. ;) )

I also got to go to see Sound of Music with my friends a week ago. That was probably the best night of my life. God totally allowed us to be given 6 free tickets when we got to Memorial Auditorium. The show wasn't my favorite, but the sets were incredible!! And there's nothing like driving around downtown afterwards, eating at IHOP, and getting home well past midnight. :)

I've started to realize that I drastically needed to get my priorities in line. My junior year, I took a civics class from TCC. The first book we read was called, "The Pursuit of Happiness" by J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler. I've read that book at least 5 times since then, but I never let one of the lessons in that book hit me until this summer. The one about Godly friendships. I've always had Godly friends, but rarely have I personally taken the time to cultivate my friendships. I assumed they would always be there. And then this past year, I learned that sometimes the people you thought would be your friends weren't really friends, and the ones you might have overlooked would end up being friends for life. This summer, I've deepened some friendships I had before, and became friends with some people I wasn't friends with before. I have the best friends in the world, and I am so blessed to have all of them in my life. :) Y'all should know who you are.

All that to say, I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for every single one of us. And with that said, I'm going to go get back to work on my chores. :P Later, y'all!! :)

Top 25 movie quotes

I'm a huge quote person. And so here's a few of my top list of movie quotes, in no particular order.

1: "Here's looking at you, kid." ~Casablanca
2: "Noah:My Dearest Allie. I couldn’t sleep last night because I know that it’s over between us. I’m not bitter any more, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I’ll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent the summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that’s what you’ve given me. That’s what I hope to give to you forever. I love you. I’ll be seeing you. Noah. ~the notebook
3: "I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but in one respect I've succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough." ~ The Notebook
4: "Noah: Well that's what we do, we fight... You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you're back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing.
Allie: So what?
Noah: So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out." ~Notebook
5: "You had me at 'hello'." ~Jerry McGuire
6: "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." Animal Crackers
7: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." ~Casablanca
8: "My mother always said, life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" ~Forest Gump
9: "The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club." ~Fight Club
10: "Yo, Adrian" ~Rocky
11: ot that far from me, for trouble is near; haste Thee to help me. Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me" ~Saving Private Ryan
12: "It doesn't matter if the guy is perfect or the girl is perfect, as long as they are perfect for each other." ~Good Will Hunting
13: " I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." ~When Harry Met Sally
14: "Our love is like the wind... I can’t see it, but I sure can feel it." ~A Walk to Remember
15: "This house is so full of people it makes me sick. When I grow up and get married, I'm living alone." ~Home Alone
16: George Downes: The misery, the exquisite tragedy. The Susan Hayward of it all. I can just picture you there, sitting alone at your table in your lavender gown.
Julianne Potter: Did I tell you my gown was lavender?
George Downes: Hair swept up. Haven't touched your cake. Probably drumming your fingernails on the white linen tablecloth, the way you do when you're really feeling down. Perhaps looking at those nails thinking: 'God, I should have stopped in all my evil plotting to have that manicure, but it's too late now.
Julianne Potter: George, I didn't tell you my dress was lavender.
George Downes: Suddenly, a familiar song. And, you're off your chair in one, exquisite movement... wondering, searching, sniffing the wind like a dapple deer. Has God heard your little prayer? Will Cinderella dance again? And then, suddenly, the crowds part and there he is: sleek, stylish... radiant with charisma. Bizarrely, he's on the telephone. But then, so are you. And then he comes towards you... the moves of a jungle cat. Although you quite correctly sense that he is... gay... like most devastatingly handsome single men of his age are, you think... what the hell. Life goes on. Maybe there won't be marriage... maybe there won't be sex... but, by God, there'll be dancing. " ~My Best Friends Wedding
17: “Shaw was right. As we strain to grasp the things we desire, the things we think will make our lives better, – money, popularity, fame – we ignore what truly matters. The simple things. Like friendship, family, love. The things we probably already had.” One Tree Hill
18: "Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth. I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you... I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony.
Elizabeth Bennet: I don't understand.
Mr. Darcy: I love you. " ~Pride and Prejudice
19: "Mr. Darcy: You must know... surely, you must know it was all for you. You are too generous to trifle with me. I believe you spoke with my aunt last night, and it has taught me to hope as I'd scarcely allowed myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." ~Pride and Prejudice
20: Scarlett: As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. " ~Gone with the Wind
21: "Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts. " ~Gone With the Wind
22: There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South... Here in this pretty world Gallantry took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind... " ~Gone with the Wind
23: "This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. This hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here you can build a home. But it's not the land. There's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we're fighting for, in the end, is each other. Sorry. Didn't mean to preach. " Gettysburg
24: "In the Army of the Shenandoah, you were the First Brigade! In the Army of the Potomac you were the First Brigade! In the Second Corps of this Army, you are the First Brigade! You are the First Brigade in the affections of your general, and I hope by your future deeds and bearing you will be handed down the posterity as the First Brigade in this our Second War of Independence. God Speed! " Gods and Generals
25: " This is for kids shinin' shoes in the streets with no shoes on their feet everyday. This is for guys sweatin' blood in the shop while the bosses and cops look away. This is to even the score. This ain't just Newsies no more. This ain't just kids with some pies in the sky, this is do it or die, this is WAR! Once and for all, we'll be there to defend one another. Once and for all, every kid is a friend, every friend a brother. Five thousand fists in the sky, five thousands reasons to try. We're going over the wall. Better to die than to crawl. Either we stand or we fall, for once, once and for all!" ~Newsies

Tales of the Kingdom memories

~The Green Dragons and their attempt to eat the Knights of the Pink Table.
~The Barely Blue Banners winning
~The duck walk
~Suicides
~A.C, Me, Taylor, and Justus doing the death crawl
~Army crawls (why is this starting to sound like military camp??)
~Shaky beds
~Josh falling asleep on stage during the show
~Taylor discovering he had 4 costume changes in the same scene
~Love Game and Josh's variations of it
~A.C.'s birthday
~Firemen trying the locked door while Alex had a boxcutter and I had an axe
~Setting up headquarters in the kitchen
~"Angus Barn, Goodberry's, Coup!"
~Josh's ever present headset comments. Let's just leave it at that.
~Tim's long breaks
~Sam's music
~Sweet tea
~Rocking out while working on set
~Learning how to Greek Dance
~Everyone's methods of de-stressing
~"Alex and Allie are making out!" "Can you guys stop laughing backstage?" (not really, had to put this one on here for Josh's benefit)
~"WTF are you doing?????" Alex's moment of losing it.
~Tim's That's What She Said jokes
~Josh's mouse
~Jake's slightly off color jokes
~The sacred flames
~Michael's costume being lost
~Not being able to find A.C. ;)
~How fast can we eat?
~Naptime
~Almost falling asleep while striking sets
~Our few moments of facebook time
~Wondering who had seen the scene we were running
~Josh getting hurt (even though that's a sad memory)
~The boys "breaking" flowers for the fans
~Kaitlin and I spinning around
~Josh's awesome light tossing
~Mollie, Josh, Alex, and I and the pail. ;)
~Goodberry's certificates

Sunday Southern Thoughts

"You get a line, I'll get a pole We'll go fishing in the crawfish hole Five-card poker on a Saturday night Church on Sunday morning"

I am so blessed to have grown up here in the South. Particularly to have grown up in a Southern family in the heart of the Bible belt. Nothing will ever beat a relaxing saturday night with a group of friends, then a Sunday church service. The summers in the South, as hot as they may be sometime, are the best ever. It's perfect for going down to a creak and swimming in (making sure to avoid all snakes of course). We have the culture, the manners, and the relaxation. Yes, there is nothing better than being a Southerner. :)

Narcissism?

I've been going back over my own blog, and some of my friends old blog entries. Particularly some of my old TCC friends. I came across one entry about life, and in there this person talked about how cool it would be to completely put your faith in God. Sell all your possessions, and head off to the middle of nowhere to preach the good news. And that's when it hit me. Americans are so narcissistic. I knew this, but I hadn't thought about it in this way. No one in our country would actually sell their possessions and live off nothing. Money becomes way too important in our lives. Things become too important. We expect to have a 2 story house, a new car for each person in our family, a chance to do whatever we want. But in reality, that stuff doesn't really matter. What matters is God and doing His work. Taking the time to eat dinner with our family instead of rushing off to do something else. Rather than going shopping, just going out to a lake and walking around with your best friend talking about life.

Also, how much we spend on things we don't need. I can count on just one of my dresses at least 15 things that I don't need. Why do we spend money on these things? Why not spend money on things we actually need? Or why not donate more to the poor?

On top of all that, why is no one willing to take risks? We prefer to play it safe. Always stay within our boxes, never willing to step out of those and embrace our full potential. Oftentimes, that potential is just outside our reach, and all it takes is a simple step beyond our comfort zone to grasp it. God's given all of us talents, so why are so many people passive now? Chivalry, in many ways, is a lost art. Most guys (for those of you who don't fit this category, I commend you) are perfectly fine with us girls taking the drivers seat. I have a huge problem with this, because I don't feel like that's fitting into God's plan. I guess I'm just really frustrated with this culture. I want the culture prior to the 1900's. One where boys were young men of valor, where girls were young ladies of virtue. Where dancing wasn't considered feminine by the standards of society, and where girls didn't have to make the first move in things.