The present.

(The picture is from Ashton's Baby Shower)
At this present time, so much is happening. I find it hard to wrap my mind around it, because I am often consumed with the dreams and hopes I have for the future.
I am beyond excited about my summer plans; I am an intern for Community Outreach Agency in Jacksonville, run by the FL Methodist Conference. I will be spending my summer hanging out with youth groups, planning and organizing church events, serving at homeless shelters, and taking part in planning a camp for inner-city kids that will happen at the end of the summer.
I think one of the best parts is that I won't be sitting in an office doing monotonous filing or typing everyday; I get to do mission work along side youth and other people from the community.
Before that all begins, I will be doing the first summer session, taking two classes and subleasing Beth's apartment. Which by the way- will be my first time every living in an apartment! Kind of exciting!
Beyond the fact that this will all be very exciting in the months to come- I have so many great things happening now! School is great, dance is great, and overall I am learning so much about myself and loving where I am.
I can only imagine what it will be like 1o years from now when I am graduated and working.. maybe married, looking back on what I've been through and what I've experienced. I want to remember loving and living EACH and every moment. Life is too short not to, and we aren't even promised tomorrow, anyway.

The luck of the Irish

(left to right: Jacki, Kristi, Me, Steph)
Right before your eyes are my three best friends.
And I am lucky enough to call them that.

This st. patricks day I got to spend the night with the three of them and enjoy the company of some other friends from Jacki and I's soccer team.

I think St.Patrick's Day is a funny, and strange holiday once I sit back and look at what actually happens on this day:
1. Almost everyone you know becomes "irish."
2. Drinks are green.
3. Everyone wears green, and if you don't- you are subject to pinches. And not everyone is gentle!
4. People dress as "leprechauns," and some claim to actually see these creatures.
(which was a disney creation in all actuality)
exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8
5. Getting lucky has a whole new meaning.
6. Glasses, hats and shirts have a sudden botanical theme: the four leaf clover,
a.k.a. shamrock.
7. Many of the "traditions" of this holiday weren't even made up by the Irish; the corned beef meal was tip from the Jews in the neighborhood when the Catholics needed something cheap to eat for the holiday.
8. Green was actually considered unlucky in Ireland, so why are we wearing it again?
Kids wearing too much of the color feared being captured by faeries.

But Happy St.Patty's none-the-less!
Check this out for more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0315_050315_stpatricksday.html

welcoming warm weather

The sun has been shining over Florida consistently for a whole week: that means no rain, and best of all it is warming up!
(the pictures are of stephanie's little cousins that joined us for two days at the beach!)

I am convinced that I am a Floridian through and through. Though I loved the snow the couple of a times I was around it, I am a friend of the beach and the sun.
On my first birthday and during that week was the last time Florida saw snow. I have a total of maybe 5 pictures of the snow in my backyard, and there I am bundled up in my pink hat and jacket ready to explore this strange, cold white stuff on the ground. The only other times I have played in the snow was when I went on a ski trip to VA when I was 15, and when it snowed on my spring break trip to New York when I was 18. I remember being excited at the sight of the snow, but after 24 hours the fun wore off. Especially in NYC we had to walk through it and face the blistering winds that accompanied the icy stuff falling on us.

My memories of the beach arent all great either, like getting caught in the ripe tide when I was 12, or getting stung by a couple jellyfish in the Bahamas when I was 15. I mean, both the snow and the sun have their perks... and their downfalls.

I choose the ocean any day though!

Thankfully, I spent the majority of my spring break exploring the shorelines and sitting by the pool.

Gainesville forecast:
Today: high of 85, low 58
Monday: high of 81, low 58
Tuesday and Wednesday: high 76, low 50

It's not fairytale, take it from me.. that's the way it's supposed to be.

I have learned alot this year, as I do every year.
I think the lesson I am learning currently is humility, and thankfulness. I recently applied for a group on campus here at UF called Campus Diplomats that does programs mainly for the Dean of Students Office and I got really pumped thinking about being a part of this organization. I thought for sure that with my RA experience and leadership roles in the past, among other things that I would slide on in. I fell in love with the people and the idea of being a part of such a great group.. but little did I know I wasn't going to get to experience it after all. I wasn't picked. I don't know why except that God obviously has other plans for me. I think the hardest part is wondering why not me? I had multiple other RA friends in the organization and my best friend made it in and I didn't. Don't get me wrong, she TOTALLY deserves it & I am more than happy for her but it was really hard to be content with the outcome. It was a dissapointment for sure.
I am not saying anything bad about the group, nor that they made some mistake in not picking me.. I just have to remember at a time like this that EVERYTHING happens for a reason and that each person that was picked no matter how fair or unfair I think it was, they were also put there for a reason.
I needed to take a step back and look at why I was so dissapointed too. Had I placed myself on a pedastool above even my own friends? I have my own talents and abilities, and I know that I need to accept that they might not have been right for this group, this time.
I know one thing for sure, just because one thing goes wrong- doesn't mean I have to beat myself up over anything else that may also be going wrong at the time. There is so much in my life to celebrate. SO MUCH.
I have met so many great people this year, my dancin' gators girls, my RA friends just to name a few. I have experienced so many great things and learned so much as well. My life is great.