As If You Haven't Heard Enough Christmas Music

, Sunday, December 19 3:14 PM

Being a musician, I love just about any kind of music. However, if I could only listen to one musician for the rest of my life, I would have a very hard time choosing between Alison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma.

So...guess what I found on YouTube the other day? Oh yes. Alison Krauss singing a beautiful and not-so-familiar Christmas song to Yo Yo Ma's gorgeous cello accompaniment.

It's like musical cheesecake.

Not only is the musicianship brilliant, but the lyrics of the song portray the birth of Jesus so beautifully.



How beautiful that a God gave up perfection to come down to our crazy, messy, and sad world just to show us that He loves us.
I love Christmas time. It is just so exciting. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Music City

, Thursday, November 18 10:55 PM


So I have been a very bad blogger. It has taken me about two months to put this post up, but in my defense...yeah I have no excuse.

So about two months ago, my friend and I went to Nashville for the day. We had a lot of fun visiting the little shops and walking around downtown.
I got a picture with Elvis. I don't know, but I think he may have been an impersonator...

We got pictures with the giant boot, but my favorite boot picture was the one with my friend and the random man who asked to be in the picture. Him and his friend thought it was so funny that he asked, we just couldn't tell him no.
This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We went to a little ice cream parlor (which had really good iced coffee drinks I might add). The tip jar had this sign on it:

Who can resist giving to a cause like that?
Right across the river was the Titans stadium. So cool! Too bad I'm a Steelers fan...

Since we splurged on iced coffee, we went ahead and splurged on cupcakes, too. But not just any cupcakes. Gigi's Cupcakes. Mmmm. I got the Tiramasu and my friend got the Chocolate Attack (that's not the real name, but it should have been). If you are ever in Nashville, I would encourage a pit stop at Gigi's Cupcakes. Just sayin'.

Final Verdict: Nashville is a cool place to visit. But, I better not do it too often or I will have to be there buying a new wardrobe...in a larger size.

Trick Or Treat, Trick Or Treat, Give Me A Sucker To Eat!

, Saturday, November 6 10:29 PM


I spent Halloween with my sister, her husband, and my two favorite kids. I have named my little neice. She will be Princess. This is her name because she was a princess ballerina for Halloween. She was so pretty!

My sister and I took her two days before Halloween to get her little ears pierced.

Prettiest. Baby. Ever.

For Halloween, my sister dressed up as Sleeping Beauty, and my brother-in-law was Prince Philip. They were adorable.

My brother-in-law loved his costume, except for he forgot his shoes had felt bottoms until he ran full-speed into the linoleum-floor kitchen...

Magellan was an alien robot. He loved being in his costume as much as his daddy did. He didn't fit in the carseat because he was so puffy, but he cried when we had to take it off of him!

We took him trick-or-treating around our old neighborhood after we scared some friends of ours. Magellan doesn't quite understand the goldmine of sweet treats that were at his disposal. The only candy he has discovered so far are suckers. And he loves suckers. At one house, he actually pushed the man's hand full of Snickers bars away and grabbed a sucker out of the man's bowl.

That's my nephew. He knows what he wants.

I dressed up as Medusa, the greek goddess. Not because of Percy Jackson or Clash of the Titans, though. G.I. Joe always calls me Medusa because of my crazy, curly, wild hair (especially when I first wake up...frightening! I was just about punched in the face by my brother-in-law in the middle of the night because of it!).

Here is my sister and I just before the Halloween party at our church.

My sister teased up my hair and fixed rubber snakes all in it. Then, a friend of ours did my make-up. She did an amazing job. I especially loved my fake eyelashes with golden tips.

Creepy!

The Hunt

, Monday, September 27 3:46 PM

I have not written in a long, long time. I have many reasons why, but I won't bore with my excuses. But today, I am so excited about my finds I just had to get back on here!

This morning, two friends of mine and I decided to go antique shopping. I wanted a wooden bench for my living room, and they just wanted to look. Well, we visited four stores, and they were all closed. Bum-mer.

But, I was on my way home when I remembered the indoor flea market near my house. I was still in "hunt" mode.

After putting down the yellow, glass, Liberty Bell cookie jar and the mini moonshine jug salt and pepper shakers, I found a stepladder for $5! Something that I have been needing desperately.


And it is just so cute!

Background info: I am trying to pull a dark red into my living room and thought a red trunk under my window would look really cool. Guess what I found next? Bingo! A red trunk.


It definitely needs some work. But the best part, is that I only paid $10 for it!


Maybe I am more in love with the hunt than the stuff, but I am excited about the stuff, too!

Now I have to get to fixing them up...

Peace and Fire Shows

, Sunday, August 29 2:49 PM

Sometimes God does funny things. He really threw something at me the other day while I was driving.

I was listening to the radio, and the song "Light Up the Sky" by The Afters came on. One of the band members explained that the song was talking about how God sent a pillar of fire to the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert.

Do you ever just picture yourself in someone else's shoes, and it kind of just shocks you?
Maybe I just have a really good imagination, but I was imagining I was an Israelite during that time. I imagined myself exhausted because I was walking through the desert (one of the few things I haven ever had the desire to do). I imagined it starting to get dark and feeling worried because the pillar of clouds that was guiding us would no longer be visible.

I can hear myself going, "God...um, should we stop now? Because we can't really see where you want us to go...and I'm kinda tired anyway...the desert is really big, in case you haven't noticed...some of the kids could wander off..."

And then, out of nowhere, this giant pillar of fire comes down. I picture it kinda like "The Prince of Egypt" portrays it. Random thought, I wonder if it was hot? I've heard the desert gets cold at night. I wonder if it provided some heat, or if it was so hot they just had to stay away from it.

But more than just the cool image in my head, it made my realize something. That, and this is the point of the song. It made me realize that God is always there. And not only is He always there, He will ALWAYS show you where He wants you to go. He doesn't leave us high and dry! Even when my circumstances feel like He has. No, He has some awesome cool plan, and He will show it to us (even if it is just one step at a time). We don't have to play hide-and-seek in the dark, He will shoot down some cool fire show, send someone to encourage us down a particular path, or just give us a peace.

My fire pillar has been an incredible peace, in spite of crazy circumstances. That doesn't mean that pain from the circumstances isn't still there, because it is. But, I don't have to be afraid.

Paul said, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15 NASB).

This song inspired all of that. I hope you like it too!

Review and Opinion

, Saturday, August 28 6:42 PM

Since we got married, I have wanted a picture of my handsome G.I. Joe in his Army uniform. I couldn't talk him into the dress blues, but I did manage to get a picture while he was already dressed.



Unfortunately, not much has been happening around here. I just read the Inkheart series. When I get into a book series, I am like a kid who just got twirled around the living room. I keep coming back for more until I drive someone crazy - like my husband who wants supper and clean laundry. Oops.

Finally, I finished it. The whole series. It took about a week and a half. And yes, they were written for young adults. (I like children's books - what of it?) The first book in the series was great. I loved it. It had a great plot, the characters were a lot of fun, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.




The second and third books were disappointing. First of all, it seemed that the first book ended just fine without them. Also, the second and third books were filled with curse words, sketchy situations, and things I wouldn't want my young adult reading if I had a young adult.
One more thing, the movie just about killed the book for me. It made the characters beyond cheesy and ruined the story. In my opinion.

So that has been my last few weeks. There have been no posts because there has not been anything to post about. However, I do have a couple projects up my sleeve so hopefully those will be up soon. And I haven't forgotten about my love story series. The next installment will be soon as well!

Games, Dates, and Poison Ivy

, Monday, August 16 9:15 AM

G.I. Joe has had some time off work, so I have been spending time with him instead of writing on here. Maybe that makes me a bad blogger, but I just can't give up any time I have with him.
Even to do something as fun as blog!
G.I. Joe and I love to just hang out together. Usually, we do free at-home stuff though. We love to play games like Scrabble

(we used every single letter in this game...and were really proud of it),
Upwords, ERS (a card game), Dutch Blitz (the best card game ever invented), and now Uno.

We just added Uno over the weekend. We bought the Toy Story version. There is even a "Claw" card which, when played, the opponent has to lay down a card with a small alien in the corner. We love it.

Another thing we do in our spare time is explore. One day we walked all in the woods behind our house (ended up in the apartment complex half a mile up the road). We love to visit old army forts and parks. Swinging is my favorite.

It is kind of rare for us to go out on a "date" date, but Saturday night we did. And we had so much fun.

We went to O'Charley's. As rarely as we go out to eat, this is our restaurant of choice. Their rolls are just perfect and they have half-price appetizers from 2-7pm and 9-10pm. We usually get just appetizers. SOooo yummy. I wanted to take a picture, but all the food was gone before I remembered. Ooops.

Then we went bowling. We have only lived here for a few months, so we are still learning where things are. Saturday night we found the bowling alley. And it is adorable.

It is in a barn. They call it "The Bowling Barn". How cute is that? And only in the south do you go "bowlin".

We had a lot of fun. G.I. Joe beat me...soundly...both games. In fact, his score was double mine the first game. I never boasted of being a good bowler. Maybe I need to work on my stance...



I don't know what it is about bowling shoes, but I love them. If I could, I would wear them out. I know they're supposed to be ugly, but I have never thought so. Maybe it is just because I associate them with something so fun.

Then, to top it all off, we went and saw a movie. After a hot fudge sundae and lemonberry slulsh from Sonic. It was a perfect night.
It may seem simple, but it doesn't take much to entertain the two of us. I guess that's why we get along so well!

And an update on my poison ivy. It definitely got worse before it got better. It spread all over my legs, my arms, my shoulders look like they are just sunburnt, and my neck is covered. It is still itching like crazy, but the swelling and the redness are starting to go down.


I tried Ivy-Dry, Hydrogen Peroxide, Alcohol, Ivy-Rest, and just plain hot water. Honestly, the hot water worked better than anything. The other things were really starting to burn my arms, so I quit using any of them.

This is one of those times when, just as it starts to get better, I think "I should have gone to the doctor." Oh well.

"And Take a Glance at the Fancy Ants..."

, Wednesday, August 11 10:07 AM

I am a huge fan of Louis Armstrong. I always have been.

G.I. Joe and his mom danced to his song, "It's a Wonderful World" at our wedding.

It was really precious.

A couple of weeks ago, G.I. Joe and I were at a store here in town. It is similar to Barnes and Noble, but a little less fancy. They sell used books, CD's, movies, and games, as well as new ones. They also rent movies and TV shows.

We don't have TV so we have had fun renting TV shows.

Anyway, I found a Louis Armstrong CD. I have always wanted a Louis Armstrong CD, but I never actually bought one. Actually, I never found one, but I wasn't looking very hard.

This particular store had a three disc album for $3.99!!!

I love good deals.


I have one of the discs in my car and another in the stereo in the house.

Cooking to the horn of Louis Armstrong is one of the most fun things ever!


Because I have been enjoying his music so much, I wanted to share him on here. I found this video on YouTube and decided to post this particular song because my nephew is crazy about "The Jungle Book".


I don't know if he appreciates Louis Armstrong yet, but he is showing quite a bit of musical promise so I'm sure he will.







I just love watching him sing! He looks like he is having so much fun. And listening to him is so much fun!

My House Smells Like Calamine Lotion

, Monday, August 9 5:44 PM

Next to our mailbox is a small flower bed. Earlier in summer, the most beautiful irises bloomed there, but lately all that has been blooming in that spot is the poison ivy.



Last week, I decided I would weed the little flower bed because it was starting to look really ridiculous.



My mom and my sister have always been highly allergic to poison ivy. I never got it that bad. I might get one little spot, but it would usually go away within a couple of days.



That was my mindset going into this weeding job. Sometimes, I just do stupid things.



I did wear gloves, but also wore short sleeves and shorts.




My arms are the worst, but it is on my shoulders, my legs, behind my knees, on my neck, ears, and two small patches on my face.




Needless to say, I have been pretty miserable the last few days.


BUT on a happier note, I have to tell what my wonderful husband did for me last week!


First of all, since I moved into our house, I have had a hope of one day putting a bakers rack in the kitchen. There is a perfect spot for it, and the counter space in the kitchen is very limited. I didn't want to pay full price for one, I just kept my eyes out for one at Goodwill, consignment stores, yard sales, etc.


A couple of weeks ago, G.I. Joe and I woke up early on a Saturday morning and checked out yard sales. We were driving through our neighborhood when we noticed one house had the most beautiful bakers rack sitting outside!


I said, "Turn around! That was a yard sale, and they have a bakers rack!" I was already turned around in my seat and jumping up and down.




G.I. Joe turned around and we drove back by, but we realized that it wasn't a yard sale. There was stuff sitting outside, but the owners had apparently just set boxes and this bakers rack in the yard to get it out of the house.


We drove by that house four times trying to figure out why it was outside and to gather up the courage to ask them.


We never did get the courage.


We went home, but I could not forget about it. I called my mom, who is amazing with these types of situations, and she immediately encouraged me to knock on the door and ask, with some cash.


Well, I am a bit of a sissy and wouldn't go by myself. So I tried to talk G.I. Joe into asking, but we never had time to go.


A couple of days later, he went for a run. He came back only ten minutes later and said, "Quick, put on your shoes. I want to take you for a ride."


At first, I thought he was just being crazy, but then I remembered the bakers rack.


He had knocked on the door and asked the man who answered about the bakers rack. Apparently, they had given it to someone else, but that someone else never came to pick it up.


He said we could have it. For FREE!


I was about to flip my lid. We loaded it in the truck and brought it home. I Clorox wiped it down real well and brought it in the house.



It fits perfect in the spot I wanted it! I cannot walk into the kitchen now without a happy little sigh and a little stare. I love it.




G.I. Joe added his own little touch to the top.


That old saying, "It never hurts to ask," was definitely true for us!

A Place

, Wednesday, August 4 12:14 PM

Four months ago, yesterday, G.I. Joe and I were married. I can't believe it has already been four months! It seems like four weeks.

Ever since I moved here after our wedding, we have been searching for a church. We have visited so many in the area, and liked and disliked different aspects of all of them.

A few weeks ago, G.I. Joe's commander was telling us about the church he and his wife had been visiting. So we checked it out this past Sunday. I must say we were very impressed.

The church building itself took up several blocks downtown. We went to the contemporary service and really enjoyed it. The musicians were very talented and sincere. The pastor who spoke was not the senior pastor of the church, but did a very good job. Everyone was so friendly to us. I was so excited to discover in the bulletin there is a ladies Bible study every Wednesday, starting in two weeks, for 30 weeks!

G.I. Joe and I really enjoyed the service and were VERY excited about all of the different ministries we saw offered.
Then it got better.

Last night, G.I. Joe and I were just chilling at the house talking about his deployment. I asked him, "What happens if my car breaks down while you're gone?" G.I. Joe got sad because he hates the thought that he can't be right there to take care of me. He told me that we would sign up for Triple A and find some good towing services.

As we were talking, we saw a car pull up and two people get out. They started walking toward our door. We looked at each other, but neither of us recognized them.

There was a man and a woman at the door. They introduced themselves and explained they were from the church we had visited! We invited them in, and they proceeded to tell us all about their church and ask us if we had any questions. We had put on the card we filled out that G.I. Joe was in the Army. The woman looked at me and said, "We have all kinds of ministries for military wives, including a class for women to help them cope with deployment." Then the man said, "It seems like everything breaks down when your husband is gone. We have a ministry to help you when your fridge breaks down, the washer stops working, or if your car breaks down on the side of the road."

I looked at G.I. Joe, and he looked as shocked as I did.

I cried a little.

It is amazing how God can answer prayers, even little ones like that.

Needless to say, G.I. Joe and I are planning on joining this church. We are so excited. I already have two classes I am going to get involved in, and the children's minister is supposed to contact me soon about getting me in as a volunteer in the children's ministry (something I really enjoy).

God works in mysterious ways. Maybe not on our time frame, but He always has perfect timing.

Newest Family Member

, Saturday, July 31 12:10 PM

I have not written in a while because my beautiful neice just arrived! She was born on July 22. She is healthy and so so sweet!


G.I. Joe and I could not make it the day she was born because we had a Batallion Social that evening. Here we are all dressed up:


We were able to leave the next morning and spend the weekend with my parents. My parents had the weekend job of watching Magellan so G.I. Joe and I were able to help out.
G.I. Joe and Magellan had a lot of fun together.

Magellan is learning the sounds that different animals make:

The reason he does the "Hut, hut" for the elephant is because "The Jungle Book" is his favorite movie, and the elephants are his favorite part. He runs to the TV before the scene even begins, start dancing, and saying "Hut, hut" on beat when the elephants start marching. So because of that movie, he thinks the elephant says "Hut, hut".

It's too cute for us to correct.

On Sunday, G.I. Joe had to come back home to go to work the next day. I stayed with my sister for several days to help her with transitioning to two babies instead of one.We ran some errands and just had fun with the two babies.

Magellan is really enjoying his little sister. He is ready to share with her:

One day, my sister and I were sitting on either ends of the couch. She was holding the baby, and Magellan was crawling back and forth between us. All of a sudden, he just reached for his little sister! So we set Jack down and let him hold her for a minute.

Every time we say, "Give Sissy some love," he puts his head to her head and says "Ohhhhh". That is what he is doing in this picture. After about 30 seconds, he handed her back.

He's going to be a tough but good big brother.

My sister is an awesome mom.

Treasures

, Wednesday, July 21 8:15 PM

My house is incredibly dull.

Most blogs show these beautiful houses that are perfectly decorated.

Weclome to my blog.

Here is a picture of the view from our couch:

I can show this picture, though, because I am hopeful that it won't always be dull.

This is a Before and After event.

In my defense, we haven't even been married four months yet. And also in my defense, I have only ever decorated
a childish bedroom and a college dorm room/apartment.



Never a whole house, and never without Disney princesses.




G.I. Joe has been telling me that he really wants to see some pictures or something up
on the walls, but I am terrified of putting anything up! You would think with all of the
spackle experience that I have under my belt, I wouldn't be so afraid of holes in the
walls.


But I am.



Sometimes the only thing to do is to face your fears. My mom and sister can't come and help me because the stork will be visiting my sister's house any minute.



So I went shopping.


Adult decorating shopping.



No Disney princesses.





First I went to Tuesday Morning. One of the best stores ever.


I found this:

I love, love, love it.


(I love, love, love him too.)




I also found this adorable frame.



I am going to blow up one of our wedding pictures and put it in it.


My wish/dream/goal/plan is to get a pretty little table,
put it against a wall that I have picked out in our living room,
hang the gorgeous mirror behind it,
and put picture frames all on top of the table.




Wish/dream/goal/plan.
That means I have to find a table.




I also ran by Kirklands. Another great store. They just so happened to be having a HUGE sale



I got both of these for $35.00.

They were marked for $40, but the girl gave me a $5 coupon!

I love cool cashiers!

I hung them above our couch.

I can't decide if they need to go closer together, or if they need something in between them.

Like this amazing clock we got as a wedding present from the secretaries at my dad's church.

Hopefully, I will have prettier pictures to show you of our house soon...and no more blank walls!

That Kind of Night

6:01 AM

I am married to the most patient and incredible man in the world.
I have been suspecting that, but last night proved it.
Last night was one of those nights that is funny today, but we weren't laughing last night.

In case you haven't figured out the G.I. Joe reference, my husband is in the Army. He is a Second Lieutenant. He has been commissioned for a year now, so we are Army babies.

Last night, we had our first FRG meeting.
FRG = Family Readiness Group
The FRG is what keeps family informed about what is going on with their soldiers,
especially during deployment.


Our first FRG meeting was a picnic on post. The FRG leaders split up some of the food items as potluck. I was supposed to bring a side. So I made a watermelon basket.


I am actually pretty proud of it, just don't look to closely...

We had a lot of fun. I got to meet a lot of G.I. Joe's soldiers and commanding officers and their families.

Things were great until the picnic ended.

G.I. Joe was put in charge of taking the giant grill to get rinsed out, and to count and put up all the chairs. I had to drive separately to the picnic because G.I. Joe came straight from work.
So we had two cars there.

Being the adoring wife that I am, I didn't want to go home while G.I. Joe had to run around post cleaning off the grill and putting up chairs. I wanted to go with him. Mistake #1.

Since we are Army babies, we still have a hard time finding our way around post. The picnic was at a park just inside Gate 6. (There are a lot of gates to get onto an Army post) So we left my car at the park, and I hopped into G.I. Joe's truck with just my phone and keys.

G.I. Joe decided that he would go out of Gate 6 and head up the road to the next gate because he was familiar with that particular gate. Mistake #2.

As we were pulling up to the next gate, G.I. Joe says, "Do you have your ID?"

Okay, for those of you who know less about the Army than I do, let me stop and explain something.
Everyone who is in the Army or an Army spouse must get a military ID card. Not only does the military ID card get you lots of great discounts in stores and the movies, it also is a requirement to get onto an Army post. No exceptions.

When G.I. Joe asked, I realized my ID was in my wallet, in my purse, in the floor of the back of my car. On post. I was off post. Are you understanding the problem? Mistake #3.

So G.I. Joe turned around to go back to get it. Further complication. We can't even get back through Gate 6 without the card.
Dangit.
G.I. Joe had another guy waiting to help him count and put up the chairs, so we didn't have a whole lot of time. So G.I. Joe said, "I'll just leave you at Wal-Mart, take these chairs, get your ID, then come pick you up."
Great plan.
Except for I brought my keys into Wal-Mart with me.
Mistake #4.
After an hour of shopping at Wal-Mart (most of which I enjoyed by walking around and talking to my mom on the phone), G.I. Joe came back.
We went to Gate 6, but it was closed. Certain Gates close at certain times.

So we went to the 24 hour Gate. I had to wait inside the Guard Shack so G.I. Joe could go onto post, get my ID, and bring it back, so that he could then bring me onto post, and I could drive my car home.

I walk into the Guard Shack and sit down. And guess what I am still holding.
Yes.
My keys.
Mistake #5.
I called G.I. Joe, and he answered by saying, "I know, the keys." He came back, I gave him the keys, and he left again. When he drove off the second time, I realized something else.

The whole reason that we had driven off-post in the first place was because we didn't know how to get from Gate 6 to anywhere else. Now G.I. Joe had to find Gate 6 in the dark, drive back to the Gate I was waiting at, and then Find Gate 6 again with me.
Oh, and the truck has no gas during this entire adventure. Just to make things more exciting.
Anyway, he finds Gate 6, gets my ID, comes back to get me, takes me back to Gate 6 to get both cars, and we started home.
As I am following him, the grill starts spitting out hot coals.

I took a picture.


(Don't think about the complications of my driving and taking pictures at the same time)

The arrow is pointing to the hot coals that had just fallen out of the grill. I quickly braked to miss them, so that is why everything is a little blurry.

Yes, the picture was that important.

Anyway, we finally got home. I kept waiting for G.I. Joe to explode at me for
1) insisting on going with him,
2) forgetting my ID,
3) taking my keys in Wal-Mart
4) taking my keys in the Guard Shack
5) just for being dumb,
but he didn't. We got home, and he kissed me and said, "I love you," with a smile on his face.
I said, "I wouldn't have blamed you for leaving me at the Guard Shack all night."
He pulled me really close, hugged me, kissed the top of my head, and laughed.
"I wouldn't do that."

He is incredible. Sometimes it takes that kind of night to appreciate what you have.

"We were both young when I first saw you..."

, Wednesday, July 14 9:02 PM

I have mentioned G.I. Joe in just about every post so far, but I have not explicitly said who he is. For those of you who are still confused, G.I. Joe is my husband. My fun, handsome, caring, adventurous, romantic, strong, sweet husband. Now that you are grossed out, I want to talk a little more about him. Actually, not just him, but our story. Yes, that horrible story of how a couple met. I am actually going to bore you with it on a blog. But, we happen to think that it is a really great story (especially because it ends with us and wedding bells!). Fortunately for you, I am going to stretch this out over several posts, intermixed with the everyday jazz. It is just too long for one post. So here it goes:

We both went to Liberty University as freshman in the fall of 2005.


Liberty has this cool setup for their boy and girl dorms - and no, they are definitely not co-ed. Each boy dorm has a "sister" girl dorm, and vice versa. Now you know what I am going to say. G.I. Joe was in my brother dorm. I honestly cannot tell you the first time we met, or even the second. He just became an immediate friend. Of course, I had no idea that he had intentions beyond friendship from the very first.

Pause. I have to tell a little about my roommate before I go on because she is very important to this story. My roommate and I, I'll call her Akeerisha, immediately became inseperable. She is still one of my very best friends. I would be much happier if we lived closer to eachother.


Go. So my roommate and I really enjoyed getting to know our brother dorm, but honestly were not interested in them except as friends.

Pause. G.I. Joe also had a roommate, who I will call Pics. G.I. Joe and Pics instantly became best friends as well. Pics also knew of G.I. Joe's secret intentions concerning me. (Pics is the one in the hat. G.I. Joe is in the middle.)


Go. Our brother/sister dorm was a very close brother/sister dorm. We did all kinds of things together. It also helped that Akeerisha, myself, G.I. Joe, and Pics were all prayer leaders on the leadership team of our dorms, which meant that we led small prayer groups every week. It also meant that we were even more connected to the dorm and were able to do even more activities with the brother leadership team. Hence, more time with G.I. Joe and Pics.

Every Christmas at Liberty is a very exciting time, not only because of the crazy Christmas convo (chapel) where everyone makes fun of the previous year's evangelists and happenings, not just because of the several weeks we get to go home, and not because the rot (the student's endearing name for the cafeteria) serves better food. There is one thing that stands above all else when Christmas comes to Liberty. That is Open Dorms. Open Dorms is the one time the boys get to go into the girl's dorms, and vice versa. First, the boys come and look at the girl's dorms. They have one hour to go to any girl's room they want. The girls have inevitably been spending the previous week decorating and cleaning and cooking to make their room the most memorable and exciting room. After that hour is over, the girls have one hour to visit any boy's room they want. The boys have been spending the previous week making their rooms as incredibly disgusting as they possibly can. (Okay, that's not true, but we wondered.) G.I. Joe and Pics, however, had been Christmas decorating. Their bedroom was covered in multi-colored Christmas lights, and their bathroom was entirely blue Christmas lights. Yes. Blue. I won't lie, their room was our favorite. Whether it was the Christmas lights, the hubcap collection on the wall, the fifteen million posters hanging, the pile of dirty clothes under the bed that was larger than the mattress, or the boys themselves, I could not tell you. But, I have a sneaky suspicion it was the last one.

We had no idea what was in store.