"She's a Bad Mama Jama"

Friday night, the lovely ladies of Alpha Delta Pi toured, dined and danced at what was the seniors' last formal in River Mill in Columbus, GA.

I have the best friends in the world, as I say often, but I have proof to back it up: Mitch came down after his last class in med school in Bham to take me to my last formal.

Not to mold my gal pals into the typical sororitycollegegirl, but we have done the same routine for the past four years from freshman years swaps to formals to socials to the infamous Mallard Ball to cocktail parties.

(If it ain't broke, don't fix it... Am I right, or am I right?)

We smudge eyeliner, blow dry hair and zip up our fabulous BCBG dresses to songs ranging from "Sugar" by Stevie Wonder to ke$ha's "Tik Tok" to "Queen of my Double Wide Trailer" by Sammy Kershaw.

The last is a Mallard Ball must...

This year was no different except that it was our last.

It was bittersweet, but it didn't stop us from scarfing down our fruit and pasta plates and hitting the dance floor like it was 1999.

Tim Tyler and Nick Snow dueled it out on their pianos while girls and dates shouted requests.

Every girl radiated as her date twirled and dipped her under the canopy of lights.

I think it's safe to say, we left it all on the dance floor. But I did remember to grab my shoes...

So that chapter of my life is over, but hey, if you haven't read my blog, keep scrolling down and save the tears because I have enough weddings in the next little while to keep my hips swinging...

Finished

2.08...

Too tired to write anything else, but I am not too tired to check running my first half-marathon off my bucket list.

My quads hate me for this...

But my butt is thankful for my New Year's Resolution- a half marathon.

In middle and high school I ran track, but I competed in events like the 100 m and 300 m hurdles, the 200 m relay and for one night only the 400 m relay.

At about the 200 m mark, I promised the Lord never to do X, Y, and Z ever again, if He would never punish me with the 400 m ever again...

Honestly, I chose them because I was decent and got our team points.

Upon entering college, I started running for longer distances. I am slightly athletic and slightly competitive, so it was experimental and a new way to keep in shape with my new college friends who are also athletic and competitive.

Besides, I love the way running shoes make my legs specifically my calves look.

I soon grew to love the feeling of my legs burning, face sweating and side cramping. Not only do I enjoy the physical aspect, but I love the mental and spiritual space running affords me.

The Avett Brothers have a line that I think about when I run. It says,

"So when you run make sure you run

to something and not away from

cause lies don't need an aeroplane to chase you anywhere."

I love running to think. I don't run to a specific destination or away from my problems, but I run to "walk it out" as DJ UNK, another respected artist, says in clubs and dance floors across the US of A.

It helps that Auburn stays beautiful, and I can run outside most of the year, if I time it right. Summer-morning and night

Winter-mid-afternoon

So the half-marathon is this weekend. If I survive, which is highly likely considering my running partner, Brittany, and I have already gotten to 10.75, I shall blog all about it.

And yes, if i could, I would share the serious calories we're going to burn with y'all.

If you are inspired by my truly touching story and want to run yourself today, I have found this little site to be pretty helpful when designing a training schedule.

Live in love...

http://www.mapmyrun.com/create_new

Winter Wonderland and Auburn's year of precipitation

For the few who follow and don't personally know me or know where the Heart of Dixie is (you should be ashamed of yourself not to know that one, but i digress)... I don't live in the Northeast or West or anywhere near. The snow above is uniquely Auburn.

So naturally, schools closed at the mere whisper of "icy conditions," the grocery stores ran out of gallon-sized waters and college kids traded Northface backpacks for ski shells.

It was a true winter wonderland, and my friends and I made the most of our snow day here on The Plains.

I love how people from the South have such a picturesque view of snow... It makes me think of hot chocolate, fires, scarves and 1993-the year of the blizzard.

I love even more that I can appreciate this weather one day every 2-3 years, but I get to layout as early as March and as late as October...

To that, let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow!

a convenient Valentine

So after an amazingly inspirational breakfast with passionate, Christ-filled friend, Abby S., the Love station on XM tainted my perfect snow-filled morning. Firefall's "You are the Woman" is still ringing when a commercial comes over the airwaves and unfortunately into my ears.

Excuse my ignorance, if I get this wrong, but I'll take a stab... It was a woman who has recently written (and published) a self-help book telling women how to find men and get them to marry us in a reasonable amount of time.

Seriously? That sounds preposterous. ridiculous. luda...

There are so many things wrong with this picture.

If you charm Mr. Right This Minute so stratigically that he decides you are marriage worthy-however low that standard is- what do you do once you have him?

Does this book have a sequel titled How to Keep Your Husband or How to Make Him Actually Love You, So you Don't Get a Divorce?

Maybe I am being pretentious, but I along with most socially adept women could go to the local bar, bookstore, grocery store or online chat room and find someone desperate enough to marry us. This doesn't mean we should... or he should take us.

That is the culture we live in: obsessed with instant gratification in every aspect of life.

Love is not instant gratification by definition.

Using God's standard to measure love, 1 Corinthians 13 says love is PATIENT among a list of many things love is and is not.

It actually says patient first, before many other attributes.

It's patient not instantly gratifying.

Love is also kind.

It is not envious or boastful (except in the cross, praise Jesus), nor is it arrogant or rude. Unlike me most of the time, it doesn't insist on it's own way. It's never irritable even before coffee or resentful even after an ugly public fight. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices in truth.

My favorite attributes of love from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and never fails.

This personification making love into a perfect human-Christ-convicts and encourages me with every reading. Feel free to raise your hands at this point and give the sister an "Amen."

My Bible study last semester went through Ephesians with Precepts teaching. We looked at 1 Corinthians 13 and inserted our own name for every "it" or "love."

Exercise time: Yourname is patient, kind... etc.

Even Merriam-Webster defines love as: 1. 1) strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties 2) affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interest

Obviously, love is a cultivation... It requires time to acquire this admiration or affection by most standards Christian or secular.

So this book baffled me so much, I came home and went straight to iGoogle for some more info... Unfortunately, I couldn't find the exact book I was looking for.

I did find some other humorous titles that preach and teach about the same idea: check-list love. What a constraining though...

If you have read any of these and the message is different from my idea... by all means, enlighten me. I have a strong inclination I am right on this one.

The above pics are all from Amazon.com.

live in love,

grace

Everything I need to know...

Series Part II: Everything I need to know I learned from the U.S. Constitution.

My Constitutional law professor Dr. Steven Brown told our class something I doubt I'll ever forget. This class is absorbed with anything and everything 14th Amendment/equal protection/due process... You got it. Reading cases from Marbury v. Madison to Roe v. Wade to Planned Parenthood v. Casey to Stenberg v. Carhart is vital to understanding where America stands on this issue. Having an opinion is one thing, but if you can't back it up, does it matter? Our class depends on discussion, but the discussion depends on educated responses... That's why Dr. Brown so eloquently told us,

"Not everything true is useful."

Moral: Think before I talk... Does what I say benefit anyone else? Does it have to benefit anyone else?

live in love,

grace

Celeb twin

Sooo which celeb do you look like??

Saved-by-the-Bell sweetheart Tiffani is pretty legit.

I also got Snoop Dog and Ron Howard. Is that some kind of sick joke? Not too funny...