Okay.  So my room is clean.  Yes, it looks to be well-maintained and all, BUT... I know that dirtiness is lurking everywhere so tomorrow, I shall do my "spring cleaning" early.  I know I will feel much better.  I tend to hold on to papers that I don't really need.  They accumulate in my desk and, before I know it, they are spilling out onto the floor.  Okay, really not THAT big of a deal, but yeah... What better way to kick off the weekend than to clean, right? (Kayla, you're in on this)

Today was a relatively easy day--I had an early start, though.  Class (Sight-Singing and Ear-Training) began at 8:00.  After that class,  I wrapped up some Bonhoeffer reading before rehearsing w/ my accompanist at 10:30, then going to a piano lesson at 11:00.  After a nice long lunch break, I went to my Political Science class--Faith and Freedom.  Talk about intellectually stimulating conversation.  I feel like I must take extra time to process what all is said in that class.  Not a bad thing.  Next: the fun part!

I went to choir where we rehearsed our Rogers/Hart and Rogers/Hammerstein pieces that we are performing in collaboration with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

on February 7th.  Then I taught my jazz class, in which we began our recital dance.  I have a great feeling about it :) 

So it's been a pretty good day.  Honestly, I take days like these for granted.  God gives so much, and we so often overlook the good He does in/around us.  Thank you, Lord, for another beautiful, sunny day and for the people who you have placed in my life.  

Reach for a hand to hold.

One artist who I feel is overlooked/not known at all is Aqualung  (Matt Hales).  Want a refreshing not-so-run-of-the-mill (I'm sure all those dash marks aren't necessary) CD?  Try "Memory Man."  It was released in 2007.  Good Stuff.

Enough of a music plug.  Now, to the really "good stuff"!! My parents are visiting this weekend, which I'm quite excited about.  They're driving up on Saturday morning (the drive is about 4 hours long) and we're basically just gonna chill this weekend.  It is really nice to have "visitors" at school.  It makes me feel as if I'm, in ways, escaping for a weekend (although I'm not traveling anywhere).

This 3-day school week has definitely spoiled me.  I was disappointed class wasn't cancelled again today.  I guess I just feel like I still have a whole lot of work to do--now, to find time to do it!  I gotta brace myself for next week--a (gasp) 5 day school week.  ha

I have had a reading overdose the past couple days.  I'm reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Letters and Papers from Prison," for an Honors class--Faith, Freedom, and the Individual.  It is a great work, but my eyes (and mind) need a little break.  Hopefully, I can allow for one this weekend. 

I teach my favorite dance class tomorrow.  I have about 8-10 girls in my Jazz Class at Legacy Studio of Dance.  We're starting our recital piece tomorrow and I'm very excited about it!  Now, I must begin the search for costumes.  I began my Tap recital piece with the Combo class this afternoon.  It looks like it'll be a lot of work :)  but fun, of course!  

Well, I wish I had something profound to say today, but I can't muster any thought of great significance, so... I'll leave you with some lyrics: 

Aqualung--"Rolls So Deep"

I'm gonna teach myself to drive 

Down the road on the other side

I'm gonna set myself alive

To put some fire in my soul

Could've told you a million lies

Given everything to compromise

But you could run for a million miles

And still have nowhere to go

It's like lightning in a clear blue sky

There's a storm but you keep it inside

It's like thunder when I look in your eyes 

And it rolls, it rolls, it rolls so deep

You're gonna have to wait awhile 

Tune it in on another dial

'Cause every time that you make me smile

Blood bursts out of a stone

And if I have to be myself again

Drown our tears in the pouring rain

It's the end of a holiday 

and you don't wanna go home...

"Jesus, I come"

Lyrics by William Sleeper:

Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I Come;

Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee;

Out of my sickness, into Thy health,

Out of my want and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus I come to Thee. 

Out of my shameful failure and loss,

Jesus, I come, Jesus I come;

Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,

Jesus I come to Thee.

Out of earth's sorrows, into Thy balm,

Out of life's storms and into Thy calm,

Out of distress, to jubilant psalm,

Jesus, I come to Thee...

Letters, candles, and rumors

With the encouragement of a close friend, I have decided to blog.  I have resisted the urge to blog for some time now, but I have concluded recently that it will be "fun", at least, to post my scatterbrained thoughts for all to see.  I don't know exactly how often I'll post or what I will post about... perhaps this can become a means of venting, sorting my thoughts.  Wow. I have no idea what exactly I'm doing, basically.

So I'll begin with what's going on.  It's MLK day.  I slept in until noon which was a beautiful, beautiful thing.  ESPECIALLY because, when I woke up, I peeked outside the window and snow was falling.  I helped out this weekend with a D-Now retreat at Smithwood Baptist Church in Knoxville.  It was a great experience.  I worked with 8 middle school girls who are incredibly sweet--and smart, for that matter.  It ended up being the type of situation where one goes "to serve" but, in the end, finds that they have "been served".  Funny how it always works that way.  I remember going to retreats that were similar, when I was in youth group.  I left those weekends feeling like I was on a "spiritual high" of sorts.  I felt revitalized!  I also remember leaving those retreats thinking "I'm going to change!  I'm going to live a better life for Christ! Etc...Etc."  I would find, in the weeks following, that it is difficult to stay "in line" with everything I learned at the retreats.  I would go back to my old ways.  I'm praying that the girls I led this weekend will continue thinking about what they learned this weekend. 

I am currently fighting off the urge to spread a rumor that classes are cancelled tomorrow.  Wishful thinking, really.  I am optimistic, though.  It's currently 31 degrees and the temp. is dropping.  Snow is in the forecast.  It is getting slick on the sidewalks around campus... Etc... Etc.  I remember when I was a little kid, I would lay all of my snow clothes next to my bed.  We would have the sleds waiting at the bottom of the stairs, ready to go.  More often than not, I would wake up the next morning and there would be no sign of snow.  Hopefully not the case for tomorrow.

I wrote a couple of letters today.  I seem to always to unsatisfied with my letters, though.  I never write everything that I want to write.  I don't know why!  Of course nothing is better than talking in person... but I just walk away from my letters thinking that I am a shallow writer.  I'm probably just overanalyzing it. 

Well, I'm off to MCF, a campus ministry that I help out with.  Goodnight, WWW community.