Presidental Nominees

I think that I will vote for this man because of how brilliant this ad is:



Also, I promise some Christmas Party Fun Pictures soon.

Merry Christams

Great news!!

If you are here to read my blog. . . great. But don't read my page today:

Read the great news here:

http://www.friendsofericvolz.com/updates.htm

:) I'm so thankful and praying for a safe and speedy release and trip back to Nashville for Christmas!

Almost. . .

24 hours from now I'll be 1/4 of the way home. It's been a really long last couple of days, and I have never been more excited for a break. Between 5 hour long power outages, canceled plans, food poisoning and other adventures. . I'm exhausted.

Also, I have the worst luck with cell phones. I have the same model phone as several other people I know. They drop it, keeps working, no problem. I drop it, the darn thing falls apart (ok, so it's not in pieces, but if I drop it again, it will be). Maybe I'm just that more thorough. Whatever. One more thing to make my week suck. :)

Bring on the road trip. :)

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Now playing: John Michael Montgomery - Hold On To Me
via FoxyTunes

Happy Christmas!

It won't be long and I'll be back in The South for the rest of the year. I've got mostly fun events between now and Sunday when I leave to go home. Here's the run down:

-Tonight my friend Jason and I are going to see "American Gangster". Also, I had dinner at a Hibachi grill with my practicum office staff.

-Tomorrow I have coffee with my friend Laura, lunch with my friend Peyton, and the Staff Council Banquet tomorrow night. In between I've got several AEW follow-up meetings and various other closing responsibilities.

-Friday evening I have two desert and wine socials. During the day I need to do some closing reports, start packing and doing laundry. (I just can't drive my dirty laundry 16+hours. Seems immoral.) Also, at some point I have to turn in my portfolio from this semester's practicum.

-Saturday will be spent doing my RA's closing walk-throughs, finishing my laundry/packing and my closing to do list.

-Sunday will be church, collecting my RA keys, finishing any closing things I didn't do Friday/Saturday. Sunday afternoon I check out with my supervisor. Then it's on the road.

In case your interested in what my driving route will look like here's a map, courtesy of Google:


View Larger Map
View Larger Map

A.- Is the starting location here in BCS. I'll drive through Waco to Dallas and on to Texarkana. I'm hoping to stop in Dallas and visit my friend Becky for a bit. That's still TBA. Requests for stops in Waco could also be accommodated.

B.- Is Texarkana, where I'll stop and spend the night at my usual hotel. My dad and I stopped at that particular hotel on our move to Texas. They had GREAT breakfast, which is why I always stop there. The last time I stopped by myself, it was so-so. Hopefully Monday A.M. it will be back to great condition.

C.- Is my favorite chicken place- McDougals in Hillsboro Village in Nashville. I will stop here and have chicken and beer with my friend Kristine. Hopefully I will also have coffee or ice cream with Holly. Then it's back on the road for three more hours.

D. Is my parent's home in Shelbyville. Sadly this will be the last time I'll be "home" until after I have graduated. Which, means that part of my three-ish weeks at home will be spent packing up my room. Who knows where I'm moving to in May. It may be easier for Mom and Dad to bring my stuff from KY here when they come for graduation for me to move to wherever. Therefore, it needs to be ready for them. Just in case.

Over the break I plan to:
-Read. A lot.
-Knit and/or crochet a lot
-Visit family and friends. Particularly some of my older neighbors
-Pack
-Prepare my presentations for RA training, SWACUHO and my poster presentation for SWACUHO
-Do some post Christmas shopping. Maybe in Nashville out the outlets?
-Sleep. In my bed. A lot.
-Watch football and basketball games with my dad and my grandpa. Probably eat frozen pizza with them at the same time.
-Hopefully see my nieces and nephews at Christmas
-Take my Mac to the shop to see why the battery doesn't like to stay charged.
-Make a paper-chain countdown of class days left. For my enjoyment and my cohort members.
-Go to the dentist.
-Finish my parent's Christmas shopping- more likely than not on the 22-24th. (By this I mean my mom will give me cash and/or her debit card and a shopping list of the left over needs for my cousins, nieces, nephew, and probably my brother's girlfriend this year. Dad will hand me some cash and/or his debit card with his list for my Mom's Christmas list. He will do this in front of her, but she will not notice. Mom's like that. (Kinda like me.) I will then drive all over Louisville trying to find what they needs. What they need will no doubt have been readily available up until the 21st, at which point they all vanish overnight. I will get laughed at by the sales people often. I will be told, "If you want something like that you really should shop earlier". Case in point- The Wii they got for my brother (AKA he got an envelope with the cash to buy it when they reappeared on the store shelves). . . and Dad's gift to mom- an electric picture frame. Which, he found in the first store he walked in on 12/24 last year, after I drove to every single electronics store, Target and Wal-Mart in Jefferson and Shelby counties. Seriously, every single one.) Really. I'm not bitter. I drink my Starbucks No-Fat, No-Whip Peppermint Mocha, listen to my ipod in the car, and am cheerful to the mean people at the stores. I accept it as my role as the middle child, only daughter, missionary, and saint. It's fun.

Wow, hope you enjoyed that tangent as much as I did. Ha ha.

That's all I can think of. :) It's been a good week, and I am so excited to see how life changes in the first half of next year. There is so much excitement and potential! :)

By the way- Keep praying for Ukraine. Still on the fence.

.peace and love.

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Now playing: *NSYNC - Home for Christmas
via FoxyTunes

Weighted. . .

. . .is certainly how I feel. I have had several different things on my mind in the last several days. I have wanted to write about them, but I have not been able to figure out where to start. Do I start with what is most pressing, or what requires most support from others? So, we'll see how this goes.

(Sculpture is "The Weight" by T.J. Hogan).

I am praying about going on a mission trip in May. I have the opportunity to go to Ukraine in the latter portion of May to work with a computer center and English Camps. (Read about Ukraine here). In college I was on the leadership team for a traveling worship choir. We were praying very intensely about where we should take our yearly tour and the Ukraine was heavy upon our hearts for that year. When it came down to deciding, we felt leading to go another direction, and ultimately we did not go to Ukraine. Missions in this country have never left my heart or mind, even though I have never been there.

Last week I was presented with the potential opportunity to be a part of a mission team to go in May. The timing of the trip could not be better- it's the last two weeks in May. This would be after I graduate and finish my assistantship, and before any potential new job would begin (most will start June 1 or July 1).

This would be growth experience for me, which I think is part of the reason I am apprehensive. First, it costs around $2500. I have never had to raise money for something like this, and am not sure my family would understand the need to. I worry that if I went, the money wouldn't come through. Which is certainly a lack of faith and not a good reason to decide not to go on a mission trip. Secondly, It would be a long plane ride and I can barely handle the 3 hour ride back to Kentucky. Planes scare me!

If I go on this trip, I know that it would mean the Power of God living and moving and doing "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20). That is terrifying, and exciting all at once! I am a doer and a striver, this would be outside of my abilities to do so.

During church today, I couldn't get Ukraine out of my head and started to think of things I could do to earn the money to go. I even mentally calculated how much I could save if I donated plasma every week and put the money in my money market account. In the midst of calculating interest percentages, God spoke to me and said, "It's not about you earning the money and working for it. It's about you trusting that if I want you there, I'll get you there".

And that, friends, is the root of my inner struggle. I have trust issues, and I am not sure that I am strong enough to trust God enough for this. In writing that I realize how utterly ridiculous that thought is. I am not strong enough. But it is not because of strength that we trust God. It is because of our weakness that we trust. Because in those times we are able to see so clearly our need for God.

"David also said to Solomon his son, 'Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.'" -1 Chronicles 28:20

As if that weren't enough, we sang "In Christ Alone" today at church. The lyrics of that song were one of the ways that God broke through my heart this summer. It was not that I had stopped believing, but that I was not trusting Him as I needed to be. One beautiful summer night, this song was played at the Line Camp worship service. The lyrics brought tears to my eyes this morning like they did that night:

In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song; This cornerstone, this solid ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My comforter, my all in all— Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied; For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain; Then bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, Sin's curse has lost its grip on me; For I am His and He is mine— Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death— This is the pow'r of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home— Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

With that on my mind, I am weighed down with the decision to go or not. Perhaps this trip is the way that God will break the next layer of my heart and lead me to a place of deeper trust and faith. I ask that you would join me in prayer for this decision. I am claiming Romans 8:26 for this time,

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

Relief

I'm finished! Today I turned in my journals about my practicum at Baylor. Then had my practicum class etiquette luncheon. Then, after a four course meal (which was GOOD) I am finished with my next to last semester!!

Now I just have to close my residence hall. I don't have a lot to do with that right now, so I'm really just hanging out until next weekend. Our residents must be out of their rooms by Thursday 12/13 at 5. If they need to stay until the weekend, they have to request an extended stay. All of those folks must be out by Saturday at 7 p.m. Then, my RA staff must check every single room and make sure they completed everything. Saturday night/Sunday morning I'll be checking them out which will mean walking through every single room with them. Then they are free to go on Sunday. After that, I check out with my supervisor around 4 p.m. on Sunday the 16th and then I am home free.

Literally. :)

I'm leaving on Sunday afternoon/evening for my drive home. I'm going to stop somewhere in the middle on Sunday and then continue the trek northeastward to the real south. I'm going to do dinner at my favorite chicken place- McDougals in Nashville with Kristine. Then I'll be home for Christmas!

I, in retrospect, cannot believe how quickly this semester has gone by. Also, the fact that when I graduate I'm going to have an actual job is starting to sink in. I'm excited about it, but at the same time, all I've ever known is school. I'm going to be a for-real adult- with rent, insurance, bills, and a 8/9-5ish job. Strange. But exciting!!

But, it's still 156 days until hooding. Between now and then there will be lots of interviews, a week in Boston, holiday parties and other important things. :)

I can't really think of a good way to end this. Sorry. It's pretty random as it is. So. Until next time- peace and love!

I'm so over with. . .

this school thing. this Town. Among other things. So, in light of procrastination, here are a few places I would rather be:

My Grandpa's Farm in KY with my family- All Pictured here.

My parents' house where cats do things like this. Please note- those cats are not related.



Hillsboro Village- Nuf Said.

This Chicken Place- Home of the Best Chicken Fingers. Ever. Hands Down. Plus, they have Woodchuck Cider on Tap.

This City- (Nashville)

This City (Dallas) and That Tower


This Town (Waco)

This quaint little country town (Independence, TX)

"Be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13.5

Guess I need to work on that.


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Now playing: Rob Blackledge - Broadway
via FoxyTunes

Pachelbel Rant

This might be one of my favorite videos. :) Enjoy!

Graduate Assistants - Thriller Dance

I was just procrastinating on my law paper and thought I'd post this video. It's from Line Camp this summer. :) Awwww the memories!

Creative Jucies

My senior year at Belmont I took what turned into one of my all-time favorite classes. It was titled "Theology and the Arts" and was taught in tandem by an art professor and one of the newest religion faculty members. Our class was all about the inspiration and connection between and behind theology and the arts. Our class had the privilege to study an exhibit at Cheekwood Gardens titled 100 Artists See God where 100 artists created art work relating to their interpretation of God.

One of our assignments for this class was to do something creative in response to one of the pieces in the show. We could do anything creative- write a song, draw a picture, prose, poetry, etc. I chose to write a prose work related to Marnie Weber's The Little Girl God. While I was cleaning today I found the grade copy and my professor's comments.

While I was reading the prose piece, I felt like I was reading someone else's writing. I thought I'd share it and the artwork that inspired it. I hate to hide it in my filing cabinet.

A Prose Work Inspired by Marnie Weber's The Little Girl God (pictured at left)

The house seemed so cold this morning as I woke to face the day. And facing the day was truly what it was. The time of being a little girl, free from the struggles of life seemed like a distant dream- much like prince charming when I was playing with my Barbie dolls as a child. When you are five years old the world seems so big, beautiful and good and you can hardly contain yourself from the excitement of wanting to grow up and experience it all. It didn’t seem to take very long for that disillusionment to start to fade as elementary school kids can be so mean, of which I was defiantly the worst. Childhood begins the times of materialism because whoever had the newest Barbie doll on the playground was the coolest kid. Unless it was one of the poorer children- then we would try to steal their toys. Maybe my life now is simply a pay back for the awful ways I tormented others as a child.


There is one image that reflection on my childhood always draws- it is the memory of the sweet, sweet summer. The vibrant blue sky is lit up with the sun and the only clouds in it are the big puffy ones that I have always wished I could lounge around on. My friends and I would spend days laying on our backs staring at them, watching them change shapes and form transforming into things that were familiar to us. It was the unfamiliar shapes that seemed the most fascinating to me. They were so fresh, mysterious and captivating; I wanted to be the one who someday named those shapes. There was so much mystery in life and the cloud shapes- I was fascinated and encouraged to unravel the mystery. It seems now as an adult that the more I unravel things, the more they seem to unveil more mystery and confusion. Nietzsche once said, “There are no facts, only interpretations.” As the child that lived in that summer day I would have never believed the person who told me that, but as an adult I seem to live in the haze that a fact-less world provides. One where everyone has an interpretation, so much so that I can’t even remember what mine own interpretation was.


There was no confusion on those summer days. No cloudiness. Only long, warm days filled with endless sunshine, the feeling of freshly cut grass through my bare feet and ending the day around the dinner table with a cold glass of ice tea, a plate of spaghetti and the sensation of the summer breeze being dispersed throughout the house by a ceiling fan. Life seemed so perfect and I hated it when those summer days would end. Sometimes I try to recreate that feeling of comfort and security in my own home, but the spaghetti never tastes right and as hard as I might try, my tea is never quite like Mom’s.


Nothing is like those long, country summer days, especially long summer days in the city. The summer days here consist of too much humidity that seems trapped around the sidewalk by the buildings that are so tall, if the sun were to make an appearance you would never know. Here the sun doesn’t shine, and there aren’t white puffy clouds. Instead the sky is a constant shade of gray, one that gets lighter and darker depending on whether it’s rainy or “clear”. The only cloud is one of fog and pollution. It’s no wonder that people who live in the city don’t seem to live as long- they have no fresh air, no warm memories. Just fog and gray.

Now as an adult the world not only seems foggy and confusing, it seems so cold, frozen and lifeless. Growing up in the heart of the “Bible-Belt” faith seemed so easy and God seemed so close. Now living in the heart of this city, God is not even an afterthought. It seems that the city isn’t even an afterthought of God’s. Maybe the reason the sky is so foggy and the world is so lonely is because God is so far removed. It’s a lot easier to believe in a god when life is easy, but life isn’t easy anymore and perhaps it never was. I look around as I walk from my apartment to work, and all around me are ardent examples of how removed God is from the world. I see shells of men begging for just enough change to buy a Big Mac. Where is the providential hand of God in that? Where is the love of God in the acts of violence that rip apart lives that have so much potential? I find myself struggling as I try to unravel these mysteries. For my family and friends back home the struggle seems to be nonexistent- they know God, love God and God knows and loves them. I do not know what to believe about the things of this world and I feel as though many people are simply blind to coldness like they are still in the egg state- comfortable, blind and obvious to anything outside of themselves.


The more that this mystery is opened, the more mystery there is. I’m not sure that the problem is completely that God has turned God’s back on the world and it’s pain, but perhaps the world has also turned its back on God. I really don’t know what the answer is. I think it’s all interpretations. But there is a large part of me that longs for those naive days of Barbie dolls and sweet tea. Even if I could go back, it would never be the same.


Disclaimer: While somethings are based upon real experiences- not all are. For example, I never stole anyone's Barbie Doll.