2 down, 3 to go!

I have finished my two hardest finals! Now I have two easy ones and one more hard one until I am officially done with college! What an AMAZING feeling!

I think I'm going to go to Nashville this weekend to celebrate mothers day with my wonderful mother and grandmother! I'm so excited about seeing them and taking some time away from school!

I'll be able to blog more when I get done with finals! Until then..

Happy Mothers Day!

Blahhhh

So this has been a super rough couple of weeks. I'm finally at my breaking point where I need to just go sleep for a few days and then I'll be ok, but of course, with my hectic schedule, that will not happen.

Last week, my situation analysis was do in my very last PR class. It was pretty much a 7 page analysis of a company that I had never heard of. No outline, no instruction. Just had to do it. Hopefully, I did ok and got a good grade. It's hard to focus on what "real life PR" looks like, because all I really want to do is move the the Philippines.

Also, one of my very good friends, Emmanuel, collapsed and his heart stopped last week. Those of you that know me, know that I value my relationships and don't deal well with my friends being hurt or sick, so of course that has been on my mind. He is going to be ok, thank the Lord. I've only gotten to see him twice since it happened, and his spirits have seemed low, but I am thanking the Lord that he is even alive!

This is Emmanuel after the library rave last semester.

This week has been soooooo stressful. I have had 3 tests and 1 quiz, all by Wednesday! I don't know what is wrong with me because I usually have anxiety and don't sleep before a big test, but lately all I have been doing is sleeping! My body is shutting down and I'm exhausted, but I took the last test today, so I am done for the week.

BUT! I found out today that I have ANOTHER test Monday! Geez. I don't think it ever ends. I'm just too excited for fall break!

It's seven more days until I am on a plane and off to Haiti, and I CANNOT wait! I talked to my mom yesterday and she said that she is going to come up on Monday to help me pack and wish me a good trip before I actually leave. I know that missions is something I will be doing for a long long time, and I'm excited to get a little taste of it for fall break!

I'm also teaching tonight at Church of the Cove, which I am super excited about. I am going to be talking about relationships and why it is important to have uplifting people in your life, and to rid the bad in your life. Hopefully the Lord will use me.

We play Georgia this weekend, which I'm super pumped about! I'll be adding pictures from previous games as soon as I find that pesky little camera cord :)

Sleepy Days

For some reason, I have been so tired lately. It's probably because I haven't slept much in the past week, but hopefully that will change soon. I have 3 midterms next week, but I'm going to try to study all weekend so that I don't freak out the day before.

I really want to go home and crawl in my snuggie and be lazy tonight, but of course, I cannot. I somehow got roped into playing slow pitch softball tonight. Don't get me wrong, I'm semi-athletic, but I have never hit a ball before in my life, so this should be pretty interesting. For some reason, I think it is going to be more of a laugh-fest than anything. Hopefully I won't make a complete fool out of myself!

Something really cool happened last night. I was looking through my mail and I got something from my old apartment complex. I thought it was going to be a bill for something so I was hesitant opening it. Finds out, it is a 368 dollar check from them! I'm not entirely sure why either. I didn't overpay my rent, so I'm a little confused, but super excited!

I've been stressing out a lot lately about going to Haiti, and having the money to pay for it. Since my parents don't want me to go, I am responsible for coming up with 800 dollars so that I can go. This money is just a blessing from the Lord, and I am so happy to see him provide even when I'm doubting. Needless to say, it has really lifted my spirits about this trip, and lets me know that this trip will be the Lord's.

Thats really all for now because I must study for these 3 tests. Grace and peace!

>K

I know I'm a slacker..

Since Jessie has been mean to me because I haven't written a blog in a while, I figured I would write a short one for now until I have a little more time to write an update on my life. As you can probably guess, I have been super super busy lately. Between work and school and being sick, life has been put on hold so I can focus on more important things.

First important thing that happened... I was attacked with the swine. Cool.. I know. Here is a nasty picture of me with the swine.

I definitely didn't know that I had it, so I went and hung out with some friends. Luckily, none of the people in this picture got sick, but I did accidently get quite a few people sick. Hopefully none of them hate me.

Another important thing that I'll expand on in another blog are the camps that I went to. The first camp I went to was called Super Summer. It was my third summer to do this and it was a lot of fun. Here's a picture of my awesome family.

Aren't they beautiful

This is husband Greg sitting on me

This camp was a lot of fun, and I think that one of the coolest things that came out of this camp was my awesome husband. We found out on the first day that he lived about 45 minutes away from Knoxville and then we ended up being small group leaders together, so it was a lot of fun to get to work with him. On the last day of camp, he asked me if I wanted to go to camp with their church, called M-fuge. I told him that I would absolutely love to, and it was a great decision. I went knowing very few people, but gained a ton of friendships through it. Here is a picture of everyone on the bus.

I had so much fun serving alongside these people and had a lot of fun especially with my roommate that week. Greg's "real wife" Michelle was my roommate for the week, and I'll just add a couple of pictures to show you what went down a couple of nights.

But we also had some good pictures taken too....

But like Super Summer, I am going to write another blog on M-fuge very very soon. After we got back from M-Fuge, I started attending Greg's Church, Church of the Cove.

I've been going there and hanging out with their youth ever since then and I absolutely love it. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone there, and there is a lot happening that could influence my future a TON, but I'll talk more about that later :) Always have to keep you guessing!

The other big big thing that happened this summer is that I turned 21! My day was pretty good. I drove all the way to Nashville so that I could spend the day with my family. We went to Kabuto, which is my FAVORITE restaurant in Nashville. In honor of my 21st, I got a drink called the Volcano, which was humungous, and I hardly drank any of it! We shared all of it around the table but it got finished. Here are some pictures from dinner.

So there's just a few of the pictures from my birthday. It was a lot of fun and I'm so glad that my family was there to celebrate with me.

So this past weekend, my dad got the privilege of being on David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, and Huckabee. I am so proud of him and he did an awesome job on all three shows! I also got to go see him play this summer in Pigeon Forge and I took a couple of pictures so I'll share those too!

My dad's name in LIGHTS!

Me and Mom before the show

George and Nancy

My dad singing!

The Man Himself!

So thats pretty much my summer. Now that I'm back in school, all I see are books, teachers, and my desk at work. But I'm making it. I applied to graduate today which is super super exciting so I'm just waiting for that day in May. So as I mentioned before hand, some of my future is up in the air, but big things are happening.

This summer, I was talking to my mentor, Lisa, and I told her that I really just wanted to get involved in a student ministry and I was going to try to help with a church in Knoxville. So after being at the Church of the Cove for a few weeks, Greg asked me if I would be a part of their student ministry and help with their middle school aspect. God truly answered prayer in that. So another thing that I have been worried about is what I am going to do in my future. I had been thinking for a while that I wanted to travel and do missions somewhere. I was talking to Greg about it and he mentioned that he was very involved in ministries in Haiti and India. So God is definitely opening doors and helping to to figure out things. I have such a peace about leaving America to go minister to those who do not know him, whereas before I was freaking out about it. I honestly think that by this time next year, I may be overseas somewhere doing the Lord's work, and that excites me!

Well, it's about time for me to be off work, so that's all for this blog. As soon as I have so more time, I will definitely update with a full update on Super Summer and M-Fuge! Hope you all have a good day :)

>K

It's Been A While

It has been quite some time since my last post. As much as I hate to say it, I really shouldn't be blogging right now. I SHOULD be studying for my exams on Monday and Tuesday. My mind is kind of in a whirl though. So much has been going on in my life, and I haven't even had time to just be still and reflect back on what has been going on. I'll do my best to explain all the wonderful and not so wonderful happenings of my life.

First was the Orange and White game, which would have been a whole lot of fun except for the fact that before we went into the game, I found out that a dear friend of mine was in the hospital. It is really hard for me to deal with things of that nature because I have dealt with so much death in my life. I automatically assumed the worst and assumed that Addison would soon be gone. After many deep breaths and talking to my mom, she calmed me down and told me to just breathe, and not worry because he is still alive. The next few days were filled with phone calls trying to let everyone know what happened, even though I had little information. All I knew was that his eye had swollen to the size of a golf ball, he lost vision, and that eye was also bleeding. He had massive stomach cramps and high fevers daily. He also had a bump on his temple (which made me the most nervous). Kara had told me that 4 specialists had been in to see him and none of them had ever seen anything like this before. That also scared me. I just wanted to know what was wrong with him and I wanted someone to tell me that he was going to be alright, because from that information it sounded like he was going to die at any minute. As far as I know Addison is still in the hospital. I'm going to talk to Kara this afternoon and see if she knows anything more.

Of course when I found this out, I automatically went into my little hole and didn't talk to hang out with anyone. I ended up going home last weekend because I wanted to visit him in the hospital, but he wasn't accepting any visitors.

Also, my silly car decided that she wanted to break. Thankfully, she is fixed, and the beast that I am driving right now will soon be returned to my mother. It's been kinda funny rolling in the Escalade though. I have turned many heads, but not because of what I look like, but because of what I drive. I think it shows a shallowness in some people.

The other thing that I have been really working on is my relationship with Christ. I have been so disobedient, and I finally feel like I am back on track with my life. Of course, it's not perfect, but I feel much more confident in myself as a person and my relationship with Christ. I've been hanging out with Jessie and Kaitlin more, and that has really inspired me to lead a better life. I also realized that Super Summer is coming up soon and it's my responsibility to be prepared for that, so I am getting back to where I need to be, and I'm so excited!

School is almost over for this year. Before I know it I will be a Senior in college. That is absolutely crazy for me! I began to ponder yesterday about the day that will soon be coming: the day I walk across the stage to get my diploma. It's one year away. I will have my public relations degree in hand. How crazy! I hope that I'm ready to be thrown into the real world by that point. I know that the economy is in terrible shape right now, but hopefully by the time I graduate there will be more opportunities for me to get a job.

Well, if I'm going to get that diploma I should probably start studying. It's been real.

>K

Life is fun.

I've had such a good two weeks. Although they have been filled with minor ups and downs, overall its just been amazing. Today I am so excited because my brother-in-laws parents are coming through Knoxville and they are taking me to dinner. They should actually be here at any minute. I can't wait!

My week was absolutely crazy! Monday was just a normal day. Work, school. ya know, all that jazz. Tuesday I had school all day then I had a mixer with my sorority, which was so fun! The theme was risky business so I wore an over sized oxford and some shorts and of course the aviators! It was a lot of fun though. I met a lot of cool people and had fun hanging out with my sisters.

Wednesday was a fun day too. I worked and had school, but we also had a game that night which was great. We won! That is always exciting. It was a really good game, and I got to sit next to Gus again which is always a treat!

Thursday was Bluegrass at Mellow Mushroom which was fun too. I played trivia with Josh vs. Nick so it was a lot of fun beating Nick pretty much every time. I left a little earlier than normal because I was so exhausted, but overall it was a good night.

Friday, Bethany, Jessie and I went to Mellow Mushroom and hung out for a little while, then I went to Lauren's toga party. It was pretty interesting. I didn't really want to wear a toga, so I just went in my normal clothes. Then we went over to someone's apartment and played Rock Band for like 30 minutes. It was fun too. I'm really really terrible at it.

Saturday I went to a B.A.C. party which is where you dress up as anything that starts with a B or A or C. I was a beach bum. Grace ended up spilling punch ALL over me, but it was still fun. I was super exhausted that night so I didn't stay long and ended up going home and staying up until about 3 texting. Never a good idea for me to sleep text.

Sunday I decided that I was going to take it easy, so I stayed home for most of the day then made cupcakes with Jessie and watched the fantasy factory. It was quite relaxing. I was definitely going to go to bed early and sleep a good nights sleep, which was so exciting, but again with the texting. I think I might be addicted HA!

I am really looking forward to this week. It should be pretty relaxing. I don't really have anything going on so I'm going to relax and catch up on homework and just enjoy these nice days that we are supposedly about to have!

How great is our God!

So lately I've been so caught up in school and work that I haven't really taken the time to just sit and think. I beat myself up so often because I know I am not giving God all of me, and it frustrates me to think that I am not. I went to church last night and we all got on our knees and just reflected on how big God is. It was exactly what I needed to refocus my heart. It was so great!

So, we definitely have a game tonight against LSU, and I'm so excited. Hopefully we can pull it out and win! I don't know why I get so excited for basketball. It's just something fun to do.

So Bethany and I decided it would be a good idea to crash diet for three days, and I didn't quite make it, but I did lose 5 pounds! That excited me greatly! I cheated a bit today, but nothing too horrible. I was just starving and I won't go home until like 10 p.m. I'm pretty much living off of unsweet tea and black coffee. It's all good though!

I just got a big wave of sleepiness. It's 2:30 and I work until 5, and the game is at 8. Boo. I keep daydreaming about Mexico. I want to go back so bad! It breaks my heart to think that I am here enjoying life, and these small kids in Mexico are starving and poverty stricken. I do admire them though. They have more joy than I can even express. I strive to be as joyful in the Lord as they are. I am going to work on that this week. I'm going to be more joyful and more loving. No more bad moods for me! Hopefully I will keep it up!

I should probably get back to doing my job. Baha!

Kristina

My first blog!

This is kind of exciting. I was sitting at work reading a blog about Africa when I decided I wanted to start my own blog. Mine will not be as intriguing as hers, but it's a start. Who knows when something will happen that is worthy of actually writing about.

I named my blog captivated because I am often captivated by many different things. I hope to share some of my passions, my happenings and other things that happen to captivate me. I'm excited to share everything, and hopefully this will be a good way to express what is going on in my life.

Currently, I am work, which is where I spend the majority of my time these days. It is a good job, but it tends to be boring sometimes, like today. We don't have anything happening at the Arena this week, so it should be pretty chill. We do have two basketball games this week, LSU and Florida. Those should be pretty good games, and hopefully we can pull them out. Memphis was a fun game, sad, but fun. Bethany and I went and it was great, except for the whole losing thing. Everyone was really intense and really into the game, so there was a lot of spirit everywhere, even for the Memphis team.

After the game, Bethany and I went to Copper Cellar and ended up eating with some people she had met the week before. It was a little awkward at first, but it ended up being really fun. I ended up talking with this girl named Sarah who graduated from UT in Public Relations (which is my major) and she asked me if I had an internship, and I haven't so she told me to send her an e-mail and she would be happy to work with me! I was so excited about that, and it is with the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation, which would be perfect for me! Hopefully that will work out.

It was a pretty good weekend though. Jessie, Bethany and I went house shopping on Sunday and found one we really liked, but we are going to continue looking until we are certain that is what we want to do. I'm excited about living with them. I'm sure there will never be a dull moment.

Speaking of dull moments, last night, Jessie and I watched Pride and Prejudice (the 6 hour movie) and it was such a good movie! Granted it was long, but I really enjoyed it. Jessie and I were being completely retarded last night and pretending like we lived in their time, but that didn't last long. It's so weird to think about living in that time. It's so different from today, and sometimes I think it would be cool to have lived back then, but I sure do love technology.

Anywho, God has really been challenging me this week. For some reason I have been slacking like crazy and being so apathetic towards everything. I have such a passion for Him, and such a joy from Him, so why am I being stubborn and not following the way I know I should be? I am praying for a soft heart so that He may speak to me. I really feel like I need to get away and just be alone with Him. I know that can't happen right this moment because of school and work, but soon enough I know that I will be able to be alone with Him and completely refocus my heart.

I'm so excited about this blog, but I should probably get back to work and do my job.

Love always,

Kristina