John Milton....you are NOT my favorite author.

Poetry, as much as I appreciate the art and treasure it's beauty....it still makes me want to say: "I DON'T UNDERSTAND FISHING METAPHORS." And drop my head onto my Lit. book...I tried to tell Renneisen that I don't understand it. :\

Stupid Projects, Poetry, and Problems

I can never seem to catch up to the average pace of this race called life. And when I finally start getting into a rhythm people tell me I'm doing it wrong, or my shoe's untied, or something of the metaphorical kind. Drudgery, something I've never experienced until this year. Doing something you hate because you have to. There's not many things I hate so it hasn't been a problem for me until now.

I was in such a good rhythm and then I got distracted...and I doubt it will ever be the same again...thus, is life.

I'm so ready for college. To leave these distractions behind (and learning how to cope with different distractions) and start at a new pace, one I feel comfortable with. And being surrounded by people who are dealing with the same race. Although I must admit, the person from school I'm going to miss the most is the Doc. But I know she'll always be there to talk about fun English I'm studying and new places I'm visiting. It's interesting how God changes your life so quickly. I'm grateful for it though.

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." — Rosemary Urquico

101 Perks to Being a Maryville College Student

1. I get to be Scottish
2. Close to Grandma and Papa
3. Close to Knoxville
4. Getting to study English and share my growing knowledge with Renneisen
5. Finding Independence
6. My sister and I will have matching merchandise
7. Living in Maryville
8. Seeing squirrels and beautiful trees in the fall
9. Building relationships with fabulous professors
10. Having a Senior Study/Thesis

To Be Continued...

Now Continuing, almost exactly a year later (CRAZY!)

1. Intervarsity
1. Bob & Family
2. Patrick & Katie
3. Adam
4. Chris
5. Ryan
6. Grady & Brandy
7. Sydney
8. Eleena
9. Mary & Sam
10. Jesse
11. Natalie
2. Mercy Chapel
1. Jared, Rachel, & chillun'
2. Hannah
3. Patrick & Katie
4. Rest of Church Family
5. Celebrate Recovery
6. Paradise Valley
7. Ski Trips (Yikes)
8. Nerd Ball (Duh)
3. Amber
4. Felicity
5. Sarah &Parents
6. Small Campus (don't have to walk long when it's cold)
7. FCA & PCC
8. Sam Overstreet (Duh)
9. Vicki, Judy, and my job
10. Pearson's and Isaac's
11. Tiffany &Derreck
12. This is where God wants me to be :)

This is Not Okay! We are NOT OKAY!!!

It is not the teacher’s responsibility for the student to learn. It is the student’s. The teacher’s responsibility should be to provide the student with the tools for them to learn for themselves and to encourage them throughout the learning process. Learning and teaching are two completely different things and that is [one place] where our school system fails us. Learning involves work ethic and endurance and independence, whereas teaching involves memorization and regurgitation of facts, teaching is a “show-and-tell” of sorts. Learning produces character as much, if not more than it produces facts. Learning fills a student with wonder, whether they are learning about literature or art or science or sports, it brings passion. Apathy in the classroom is in part due to the lack of learning: students are content to just pass a test and have absolutely no initiative to further explore the subject or to apply it.

What's in a Name

I've always been proud of my name. And I've always been fascinated by the meaning of names. I love stories when God calls someone by name because names are powerful.

Here's something funny. (I love when God does stuff like this). A couple weeks ago I was really struggling, just being bombarded by evil and I had no clue what was going on. Finally one night I could not sleep at all. I got maybe 2 hours of sleep and God said "stop wrestling with me Jacob." So I got up and read the story where Jacob wrestles with God and I kept thinking "I'm not letting go until you bless me, but I'm already blessed, I don't know why I'm wrestling or what I'm wrestling for but I need to see you before I let go...do something Lord."

I know I'm going backwards but hang with me. A couple weeks before all of this I started reading through Deuteronomy. The whole time God's been showing me that I am Israel, and that my parents are Abraham, and that I've been wandering in the desert.

So I read the story where Jacob wrestles with God. And finally after the sun comes up, the Lord tells Jacob: "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome." (Genesis 32:28)

I used to always ask God to change my name. I just always wanted a special name that was given to me by God, not my parents. And I felt like I had it now, but I knew that wasn't it. I will always be Israel, God's chosen child, wanderer of the desert, destined for the promised land. But I am more than that.

I am Alexandria Nicole. You know how He works in themes? Well, this one's pretty great. Alexandria Nicole means "victorious defender of men". And recently, God's been training me for war. He's molding me into a warrior for His kingdom. And I couldn't be happier. I've still got a long way to go, but I have faith that I will be victorious with "sword of the spirit" in my right hand and the "shield of faith" in my left. Crowned with the "helmet of salvation" and girded with the "breastplate of righteousness" and the "belt of truth," as I walk with the "sandals of peace."

I am a mighty warrior for Christ. A victorious soldier at the front-lines. Psalm 45:3-4