Blue Like Jazz

Blue Like Jazz is a phenomenal book! It is one that has challenged and shaped my faith. If you haven't read it, you need to! Even more exciting news than you reading the book is they are making a movie!!!!

Dispatch

Dispatch is one of my favorite bands! The continue to amaze me with their sound and their beats and with their heart for helping others. Itruly enjoy their music, it makes my heart and my soul very happy! This past summer, I had the chance to see Dispatch in concert at Red Rocks... One of the coolest experiences ever! One, it was Dispatch and two it was at Red Rocks. Top 10 favorite moments this summer. The concert had this awesome feel to it, it was a breezy cool summer night, I was with great people and my heart was BEYOND happy. I hope that you find as much joy and excitement from Dispatch as I d0! Here is one of the songs they played... Enjoy!

Awake My Soul... revisited

People say be careful what you wish for...well I surely got what I wished for... my soul has been awoken in wonderful, amazing ways and really really hard ways. I learned so much about myself and continue to learn more every day. I can say that these past months have not been the easiest, but I am confident that they happened for a reason and that I am meant to be here and meant to be here now.

Things I have learned these past few months....
1. Perseverance is key.... Life gets hard, but keep pushing through.
2. I am part of this HUGE epic adventure that God is creating... Being in CO is part of that epic adventure... He is doing something GREAT
3. God does speak to you, you just have to ask and maybe ask alot, but you also have to be willing to listen.
4. I miss my family... I think I meant to be close to my family
5. I love working with youth... God has made this very clear to me these past few months and I am even more confident of that now then I was 8 months ago.
6. Trusting in God is ridiculously hard, but worth it. I have to remind myself to trust God everyday... every morning.
7. It is ok to be mad at God, I just have to remember to trust through that anger.
8. Love is the most important thing Jesus taught... Love people!
9. I have been learning to find my identity in Christ and learning to love me the way that He loves me.
10. Positivity and hope are what get me through life!

The Blood - The Middle East

This song is a new favorite right now. I just LOVE the sound of it. I love the instruments and the way the song flows. I especially love the end of it. The lyrics are a little odd, but is still so good! This song really does make my heart smile!

Music

Music makes my heart so happy. I don't know if it is the beat, or the way that music puts people on the same page, or the way that it communicates on so many levels. Music has a way of connecting people to places, events, experiences, memories and so much more. I want to share my love of music with everyone, so I am going to post videos and explain why I love that said song... I hope that you enjoy an insight into my life.

The Summer Caused a Hiatus from the Blog

I survived my summer at camp! It was AWESOME! This past summer has been beyond wonderful, but I have had little time to do much of anything other than play at camp! So, hopefully, I will be more keen on blogging in the next few months... Once the snows come, there might not be a whole lot else to do other than blog and watch movies and listen to music!

Florence and the Machine

I am enjoying this song right now! The band is great too!



I hope you enjoy it as well!

Harry Potter

I know I have not posted in while, but I just wanted to share my excitement about Harry Potter!!!

I am so stoked that Harry Potter 7 part 2 is coming out this summer! It is going to be ridiculous! I do have to say, I am a little bummed that I will be unable to go at midnight, but that won't get me down, i plan to go the next night right after we are done with staff meeting!!! Oh and I plan to bring lots of people with me!!!

Here is a video to get you excited as well!!!

Enjoy!

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3414334745/

The Bachelor

So I never thought that I would be that girl that blogged about The Bachelor, but you know we all get to that point...

A few things about The Bachelor that I need to get off my chest...

1. Michelle is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! I mean for real.... She needs to be gone... She is REALLY crazy.
2. Brad and ABC, really... in the cave... WEAR CHACOS.... what is up with the sandals that brad was wearing... I mean really... chacos would have made you that much cooler, Brad.
3. Allie through a glass at a beetle... enough said.
4. These women cry a lot!
5. It was totally worth walking and running at the gym for two hours in order to watch the show!

Stars

I love stars!!! One of my favorite things about being in Colorado is the Night Sky... it is RIDICULOUSLY clear and it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I wish that I could take pictures of the Night sky, I am not that skilled of a photographer, but this one is a pretty stellar picture of the sky... It really is that clear... clear enough to see mass amounts of little white dots that COVER The sky! Can't wait for others to see it too!

Dispatch

I would love to see Dispatch in June!!! That would be stellar!

Loving People

I was on facebook the other day and my friend, Lindsey, posted this article to her wall. I read this article and it really spoke to me! It is amazing to me what impact you can have on people with just one simple act of kindness. I think that we are called to show people acts of kindness... to show them love. I mean why not love people? Why not take time out of your day to love people in the simplest of ways? What does it cost me? What does it cost anyone? I think the other reason the article spoke to me was because it involved a teen. Many people know that I have a passion for working with middle and high school students. I am amazed by the students' imagination, passion for life, willingness to learn and grow and their phenomenal way of looking at the world. They really are wonderful people that need and want love and someone to care about them... I mean who does not need and want that? It is sad to me that this teen in the article is at a point in his life that he is willing to harm others and risk going to jail or worse for just a wallet. I wonder if he felt loved and if he felt like someone believed in him!? How cool is it that this guy chose to do that and change his life with that one dinner... with that one hour out of life. He CHOSE to do that... He did not have to, but her made the CHOICE to. I guess I have rambled long enough... this article really does empower me to love teens and people! The simplest act of kindness can really change a life. It empowers me to know I have a choice... I can choose to change lives with simple actions or I can choose to do nothing. I hope I choose to change lives... I mean, how cool is that!

Thanks linds for sharing!

Laughter Yoga

The past few days I have REALLY enjoyed laughing! I am even more convinced that my life goal should be to be a Laughter Yoga Instructor!

Things I am Thankful for Today

Laughing. The Block Family Blog. Ben and Jerry's Mud Slide Ice Cream. A day with out 22 mph winds. Lee Reece. Being productive. Tulips. Chaco's. Hiring Staff. Trips to Chattanooga!

Top 10 From the Weekend!!!

Top 10 From the Weekend!
1. My sister Jessica was here!!!
2. I got a table and a bath mat as well as some other organizing gadgets!
3. Church was pretty great this morning!
4. Jessica got to see my life here in Granby!
5. We went shopping in Denver!
6. Jessica and I visited Boulder!
7. We saw Alex (Jessica's Friend) and her ADORABLE baby!
8. It was super warm today... I mean like 30 degrees!
9. I slept in a phenomenally comfortable hotel bed!
10. I SAW GUSTER AND THEY WERE SOOOO STELLAR!!!!

SNOW!!

So I have been living in Colorado for a week now.... One of the weirdest things that I am having to adjust to is having snow on the ground 100% of the time (you can see the view off my porch)... It is weird to walk outside and tromp through snow to get ANYWHERE. It is weird that I have to brush snow off my car and scrape ice of my windshield EVERYDAY. It is weird that I have to where boots everyday so that my feet and calves stay dry and warm... because yes, when I step into the snow and it has not been "packed" down, I step into it up to my calf. So even though this has been an interesting adjustment, I have come to have an appreciation for the life of snow here compared to the life of snow in the south....

In the south when there is even a threat of snow...

EVERYONE takes a trip to the store to by milk, eggs, and bread... Here, when there is a threat of snow... everyone is surprised and even bummed that it is not guaranteed snow. These skiers love new "powder".

Schools close... automatically... Here life is normal... I was driving to lunch the other day and I saw a group of children outside walking towards camp... They were a outdoor ed group... there was LOTS of snow on the ground and somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees outside and the kids were playing outside...

In the south when there is snow....
Legitimately people can not drive on the road... Here you actually can drive on the road... in fact today I went to the grocery store and the gas station... I drove on snow... pretty crazy

Anyway, as there are some good and bad things about living in the snow... it is a new adventure and I am learning more about myself and about life.

Pray I stay warm and I will do the same for those in the south!

Happiness

So I have been cleaning through old Residence life stuff and I found a post it note entitled "Happiness"! The following were written on the post it note.
1. Seeing people enjoy life
2. People living their life for what they believe in
3. Being 100% crazy
4. Not caring about what people might think
5. Playing on the lake
6. Laughing... REALLY laughing
7. Dawson's Creek
8. Sunshine
9. Friends

Those are all still so true!!! The one that made me laugh the most... Dawson's Creek. Funny enough, I am watching it now.

Why Awake My Soul...

So I have been contemplating starting a blog for a REALLY long time! I have come to discover that the one of the things that has been holding me back was the fact that I could not think of a GOOD name for my blog... I know right... I mean really just the name... but I feel like the name is a lot. So, since I have made a big deal about having a stellar name, I figure I better explain why I think it is so stellar!!

Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to move to Colorado. I have for some reason thought that it would be a great fit for me!! Even though I feel that way, this has already been so hard! It was so hard to leave Chattanooga and family and work and friends! I am missing everyone so much and it has only been about 4 days! :) Through the hard, it still seems clear that God has something GREAT in store... I am trying to be confident that the Lord is going to awake my soul and create such a wonderful experience here. One that is going to be life altering. I am trying to be open to change and growth because through that my soul will be open to so many glorious experiences, people, things... just so much!

So there it is... Awake My Soul!

The Journey to Colorado

The Journey to Colorado was quite an eventful one! My mother and I packed up my small but beastly Honda CR-V and drove from Chattanooga to Granby in about 2.5 days!!! Needless to say we had tons of fun!!

Here are a few choice videos to sum up the trip!

The Next Big Adventure.... Blogging...

So as many of you know, I have MOVED! I have moved from my wonderful home in Chattanooga, TN to Granby, CO! For the past few months I have been contemplating starting a blog... I mean everyone is doing it!! I figure since I have made a massive life change, it might be time to start blogging as well... thus, Colorado "Awake My Soul" was born!!

I hope that you enjoy my ramblings... I have no idea what I am doing, so please share some grace with me!