The City That Stole My Heart

Hi friends!

I had been doing so well with updating my blog, but I know I went MIA the last few days. I promise you though, it was for a very good reason. Well... kind of :)

Last Friday was my Senior Sorority Formal! It was on the riverboat, and it was so much fun! We went to dinner first at Wasabi, which was delicious, then went on to the riverboat. We sailed away from 10-12 then ventured to Waffle House for some yummy eggs and bacon! I like IHOP more, but everyone else wanted to go to the Awful Waffle. I sure did eat it though..

I haven't added my pictures yet, but here are two of me with some of my sisters.

Oh Chelsea Lane.. You have a piece of my heart

The Lovely Courtney Holder!

I had a great time with some great friends, then got to sleep all day Saturday! I also went to dinner at O'Charleys and watched Napoleon Dynamite with my friend Michelle. It was great to just hang out and do nothing with some awesome friends.

Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. I went to Church of the Cove for Sunday morning service and was tremendously blessed. We had a "guest preacher" named Rusty and he was very refreshing. He came up and the CSI theme song "Whoooooooo Are You? Who who? Who who?" Come on. Just imagine me singing that right now in my BEAUTIFUL voice. Haha

He talked about who we are in Christ. He really emphasized that we are CHILDREN of God! It is definitely good to be encouraged and be reminded of how amazing God is, and all the things He means to me. Rusty was also wearing a cape and had not mentioned it the entire service, so of course, I'm sitting there in my chair wondering why in the world this grown man has a red cape on! At the end of his sermon, he finally discussed the cape.

He told us a story of a man that wore a cape everywhere that he went. When the man was asked why he said, "because when you see someone with a cape on, you think, something good is about to happen." Shouldn't that be what Christians look like? When a person professes Christ, shouldn't people around them say oh yeah, something good is about to happen.

This definitely changed the way I think. I so often live my life as if no one around me is watching. Not that I do anything ridiculously bad, but people don't look at me and say, SOMETHING good is about to happen, whether it be encouragement, a friendly smile, or anything! I have missed so many opportunities to be nice, and share Christ, but I miss them because of my mood. I need to be nicer, I need to encourage people, and I need to LOVE. Rusty really blessed me and I'm so glad that the Lord placed him in that church that specific morning to minister to me.

Sunday night the youth group went to feed the homeless in Knoxville. That is definitely always a blessing. I always "help" Mr. Jack cook, but I get to stand there and talk to him and really be encouraged by his sweet words. Not only were the youth talking with the homeless and forming relationships, but we were helping people out, and that is an awesome feeling.

Before I left I didn't realize something. That was probably my last time to feed the homeless with Church of the Cove since I'm leaving Knoxville soon. I've had so much fun feeding the homeless with them, and I might even make a special trip just to minister to those people with them.

Monday dragged on.. like most. But Kaitlin and Caroline came over to watch Dancing With The Stars, where we laughed a lot and made fun of Kate Gosselin. For real... she's terrible. But she was better this week than last week when she walked around the dance floor with an angry glare.

Please watch and enjoy this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIIxcihGiGo

Tuesday has been my favorite day, by far, in a really long time. I went to my child psychology class, which wasn't half bad that day, then hit the road for Nashville. I got home and me, my mom AND my DAD (he was so very helpful) put together all of my graduation invitations. Talk about a WEIRD feeling. We got all of the done except for about 9 that I have to do now that I'm back in Knoxville. After we finished my mom cooked this awesome meal of grilled chicken and smoked sausage, yummy noodles, beans and cornbread, deviled eggs, and cottage cheese. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal for once.

After dinner, I went to Trevecca Nazarene University to see my friend Jacob Perry perform his senior recitation. I’ve always known that Jacob has written poetry, but I have never really heard or read any of his stuff. I was so excited to see him because I had not seen him in over a year, maybe two. He began with some songs that he had written, and then moved on to reading part of a collection of poetry that he wrote.

After being blown away by his talent, we went to the hallway to eat yummy treats that his mom made for us. I had this AMAZING brownie and some wonderful punch. I got to see a bunch of old friends from high school and got to chat and hang out with them for a while.

Jacob had asked me a few days before his shindig if I wanted to grab coffee and hang out after he got done, so we went to café coco. That place is probably one of my favorite places in the world. It’s so chill and relaxing and we got to talk about life, love, and everything else going on in our lives. It was so refreshing to talk to a boy (excuse me, man) that really loves the Lord and strives to do His will, and His will alone. As Christians, a lot of us talk the talk but don’t walk the walk, and I can truly say that Jacob is a man that does both.

Like me, Jacob has had a really rough year. We were able to relate to each other and talk about everything that both of us had gone through. It was so refreshing to have someone understand the struggles that we were going through. It was such a fun time to reconnect, and we’ve decided that this summer is going to be filled with fun adventures.

It was a short trip to Nashville, but totally worth every second. I’m so happy with where I am at right now, and I know that I’m making good decisions. Now if I can make it three weeks, I’ll be done with school and headed back to the city that stole my heart.

>K

HER

I just finished reading an AWESOME book by a dear dear dear friend of mine, Josh. He is an amazing guy that I've had the privilege of knowing for a few years. He and I are pretty much gangster warriors, as you can see :)

Anyway, he wrote this totally awesome book called Heaven's Earthly Romance. As a Christian, dating has always been "different." I have many of my own beliefs and morals that I formed from my faith, and that I will stick to, like I will not have sex before marriage, nor will I move in with a man until he is my husband. I will remain pure until they day "I do" comes, and I will not falter on that.

However, "dating" has always been a fuzzy subject. I will be the first to admit that I have dated some crazies, that were not seeking the Lord, and therefore ended up hurting me. Society always says that date until you find the right one, and a date won't hurt anyone, but reading this book has really put my life back into perspective.

If you read this blog then you know that I have been dealing with a lot of heartbreak. It's truth time... I have been "dating for fun" and I haven't been praying for my future husband, or really caring about dating and marriage. Josh's book just reminded me of all the reasons that I decided to be pure and to wait for the right man.

Society will not trick me into thinking I need a boyfriend or that I need to do certain things to fit in. I'm still going to be me, and I'm not going to just date for fun because it's what everyone else is doing. I want my husband to do the same, so how could I not that that.

At the end of his book, he wrote this amazing letter to his future wife (although he is married now). It was so real, and so wonderful, and what every girl dreams of having a man say to her. I realized that most of the boys I've dated or been interested in have not been fully seeking the Lord. Josh's last chapter was about settling, and I will not settle. I deserve an amazing man who will love the Lord more than me, and love me like Christ loved the church.

I will leave college without a boyfriend or fiance, and I'm actually OK with it. I know the Lord has someone awesome out there for me who is going to love every part of me, even the bad parts. I'm no where near perfect, and I know my husband will not be either, but I know that our relationship will be grounded in Christ, and we will live HAPPY. Always. Happy in Christ.

That's all for today.

I recommend EVERYONE read this book. It is so wonderful.

It's called Heaven's Earthly Romance, by Sweh.

>K

The Best Concert I've EVER seen!

On Tuesday night, I went to the Bijou theatre with my friends Chris, Courtney and Bitsy to see Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney. It was SUCH an amazing concert! When I first heard about the show I was really excited to see Mat Kearney because he is one of my favorite artists. Leaving the concert, I am now a HUGE Ingrid Michaelson fan.

Cara Salimando started off the show with an acoustic set. She is a 17-year-old singer/songwriter who opened up for Mat and Ingrid. She was super talented and her songs were super relatable. She did sing a lot about LOVE, which is not one of my favorite topics, but she was still super talented, and a joy to watch.

Sorry for the poor quality. The Bijou has a no flash photography policy.

Next up was Ingrid Michaelson. She came out and looked super cute! She has a very quirky personality, and was very funny. She compared the audience to "stuck up Brits" because we were not a were rowdy crowd. She definitely had ways to make us laugh and she even got us to sing with her a little bit. Ingrid is probably most well known for her song "The Way I Am." After performing this song, she joked about how when she was 80 she would still be singing this song to little boys at their Barmitzah's. She is definitely someone I would go see in concert again.

She ended the show with a cover of Britney Spear's Toxic, which was a JOY to watch. They even busted out some pretty sweet dance moves.

Mat Kearney was the last performer, and he was so wonderful! He is definitely a very chill performer, and we were DEFINITELY a chill audience, so he seemed a little discouraged that we weren't the rowdy kind. He even jumped off the stage and went through the audience. He was a lot of fun, and at the end of the show everyone that had been on stage came out and had an impromptu dance party. It was so much fun!

Overall, this was probably one of the best concerts I have seen in an extremely long time. Good friends and good music. Nothing beats that!