Loving Like Him

 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] Matt 22:37-39

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
Last week in church we began a series titled "The Reckless Ones" and essentially it's about challenging us as Christians to love more like Christ.  Statistics show that there is an increasing number of people who identify themselves as atheist or no longer go to church.  One of the major reasons for this is that Christians today don't love as Christ loved.  Religion has complicated what Jesus made simple.  We took the 10 commandments and turned them into hundreds of laws, most of which people can't even seem to agree upon.  Now there are things that Jesus requests of us that aren't included in the 10 commandments but you get the point.  We have so many rules and regulations and we condemn so many people that they can't see the love of God through us, they only see judgement and condemnation. Even Christ himself did not come to condemn us but to save us and because of his grace he declared us righteous, not because of anything we did or anything we changed about ourselves (Refer to "Living a life of thank you" blog entry about god's grace).  

If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

This tells us that whatever we SAY, KNOW, BELIEVE, GIVE, AND DO means NOTHING if we don't love.  As Christians today we are educated beyond our obedience.  We bounce from church to church for "deeper" teachings and study and memorize scripture and modify what we eat and what time of day we deem holy and condemn those who sin but still aren't obedient to the most simple request God asked of us which was to love.

⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:8-11

 We throw the term "love" around so loosely that it's desensitized...it's lost it's meaning.  "I love your shoes!"  "I love ice cream"  "I love God"  "I love my kids"   One of the things I've noticed is that today our love is conditional. As kids we are only nice to those who are nice to us,  as adults we enter into relationships and as soon as one of the conditions of the relationship is broken we divorce or end friendships.  Some of us have probably lost out on some really great friends over something petty.  Part of loving is learning to forgive without keeping record of wrongs...just as God has forgiven us.  We then go to church and are educated beyond our obedience quoting almost every scripture ever written posting it to our facebook, instagram, and twitter accounts and yet we don't reflect his love in our lives.  We don't associate ourselves with people who don't love just like us or live just like us.  The truth is that we are to learn to love UNconditionally as Christ did.  Jesus dined and hung out with murderers, prostitutes, sinners, etc and he never condemned them he only loved them and through his love and grace they were changed and followed him.  His love covered their sins.  One thing that we mistaken as Christians is that if we associate with these types of people we are somehow condoning what they do and that couldn't be further from the truth.  For one, if we're honest most Christians were probably out participating as a side kick.  You can accept someone and love someone without always approving of what they do.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Roman 5:8

THE ONLY THING THAT CAN CONVICT SOMEONE AND TRANSFORM THEIR HEART IS THE HOLY SPIRIT.  You shoving scripture at someone, judging, or condemning them is not going to change them.  We are to love them just as Christ loved us while we were and still are out sinning so that just as God's love and mercy has covered and forgiven our sins we can mirror that same love to someone else.  Our love is proof that He even existed to people who don't know Christ.  I have fallen victim of trying to get people to change for God but what I had to realize is that I'm not the holy spirit.  All I can do is love people. tell them how good God is and who He is, and pray for them and treat them right...God will work out their salvation and convict their hearts and even then it's still up to them to work out their own salvation.  Truth be told I'm still working out my own salvation.  No one's perfect...no one.  We're all in this together but we can encourage each other and lift each other up in love.  Loving makes it that much easier for people to be willing to accept Christ and follow Him.  You can still tell people about themselves but in EVERYTHING you do, do it in love.

Ok I'm done.  I feel like this entry is a tad bit all over the place but hopefully you guys at least somewhat get what I'm trying to say.     Most times I just type as things come to mind so ideas may seem sporadic.  Anywho, I'm in the process of learning how to love but I'll most certainly share what I learn along the way.  I'm excited about the next 6 weeks and all that it has in store.  Peep the YouTube video below...I heard this song at church and again on the radio here in Nashville and fell in love with lyrics and couldn't think of a song more fitting for this entry :)

PS - for starters if you want to learn more of what love looks like check out 1 Corinthians 13

Introspection and Empty Promises

     Every time I think I've advanced in my walk with Christ I realize I have SO far to go.  I'm at a point where I'm really examining myself to get my heart and my mind in the right place.  So as of late I've been doing a bit of soul searching and questioning my life.  In church we've been speaking about idolatry and I've come to find that I had a lot of things that I need to work on
     As we began to look at idolatry we looked at things like success, our desire to please others, relationships, approval, our appearance, money etc.  Essentially idolatry is when we look to things to give us what only God can give us.  We always have that desire for more.  I'm guilty of this.  The whole attitude of "when I get this job/promotion/ when I get into school /if this person would just notice me/ when I get married / when I get this money then things will be okay for me...I'll be genuinely happy, my happiness and self worth will be fulfilled.   We get these things only to want for the next thing in line hoping that with these accomplishments comes the promise of love the promise of fulfillment the promise of acceptance...whatever you've promised yourself.
     The truth is that the more that we look to these things the emptier the promises become.  We get that job or that promotion or that guy/girl or we lose the weight and then we just want more because when we obtain it we didn't get the fulfillment that we thought would come with it...it soon after fades.  A good measure of determining what your idols are is to examine your thoughts.  What do you spend most of your time thinking about?  What do you put all of your energy towards?  Is God REALLY first in our lives or are we just lying to ourselves knowing He comes in a close 2nd or 3rd?  As much as I LOVE God the truth is that I'm not putting him first (I would put this in past tense but I'm just being honest with myself...still working on this...in the process of learning about myself).
     My idolatry came in the form of success and vanity/my appearance.  No I'm not addicted to retail or anything but the truth is that I very much so value it...my funds go towards it, my thoughts, my time etc.  It's easier/more comfortable for me...I'm more willing I should say to dedicate these things to my appearance than I am to dedicate the same things to God.  I put more time, energy, thought, and prayer into success and my appearance.  When that continued to give me empty promises I shifted my focus on strengthening my walk with Christ by being celibate, opting to not drink liquor and curse etc.  In doing so I became so focused on "following the rules" that I forgot about Him (if this is you read Galations 3, Paul tells us how the law won't save you but Christ will).  None of these things fulfilled me like only God can.
     Solomon talks about this in Ecclesiastes 1-2.  Solomon had become so RICH and denied himself NOTHING.  Anything you could think of he bought and anything there was to accomplish he accomplished it...yet there was nothing gained under the sun.  He found that wisdom, pleasure, folly, EVERYTHING was meaningless.  ²⁴ A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
     Essentially what Solomon found was that only God could give him the promise of happiness, fulfillment, love, grace.  He could not find it in success, in working, in pleasuring himself, in drinking, in wisdom, in anything....but God.  
     So yea I guess my challenge to you is that you take time to really examine yourself and find out what your idols are.  Perhaps you're so focused on finding a husband, getting a job, how you look....whatever it may be.  I can only tell you from my own experiences but if you don't take my word for it listen to Solomon or anyone else in the Bible for that matter...don't continue on with the empty promises.  Put God first in your life and allow Him to fulfill you.  And I'll close with this:

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs Jonah 2:8

I went to the Zoo!

So yesterday after leaving from my scheduled doctor's appointment, I decided to go to the Nashville Zoo!  It was REALLY nice!  I thought it would be kinda HOT and that I'd be all sweaty but for the most part the zoo is pretty shaded with lots of trees and bamboo.  It doesn't even stink there becuase they've planed so many honeysuckle and other sweet smelling plants which really masks well...everything.  Afterwards I went thrifting and bought lots of fruit to make smoothies and I picked out the SWEETEST pineapple!  I did the absolute MOST with HOURS of walking yesterday in the WRONG shoes so by the time I got home and actually sat down my poor feet were DONE.  Woke up this morning and they are just defeated, I'm even walking with a limp :/ so I'm relaxing today and finishing up some reading.  The weather is cooler today so I'll probably go for a jog later this afternoon.  I've always known that I enjoy outdoor activities but now I just LOVE outdoor activities whether it be hiking, running, sightseeing...I'm just a country girl.  So yea anywho thought I'd share a few pics I took yesterday!  Hope you enjoy and God bless!  Take some time out of your busy schedule to do something random and kinda fun to relax as well!  For the most part I just stood in awe of how beautiful the natural scenary was.  God is good :)

Golden Yellow Blouse $5   Blue Pencil skirt $3

GAP pink button up $4  GAP sleeveless button up $4

CROCS $5 *happy feet*

Shoes I wore to the zoo = FAIL!

FINALLY found a blue skater dress!!!  #YouCare

Just thought the bun was cute #random

                                   

Living A Life of Thank You

So as of late I've really been making some lifestyle changes so that I live a spirit led/filled life.  I've been celibate, I don't really drink liquor anymore (although I did have a drink Sat)..well it's few and far between I should say, my conversations have changed, my choice of diet has changed, I don't do the things I used to and I must say that I'm truly in a happy place in my life right now.  God has been good.  Things I used to struggle with are no longer a struggle...often times I may get tempted but it's no longer a STRUGGLE to resist.  Although I say all these things it was certainly a long road for me to get to this point trying to battle the demons of my past and the temptations/lusts of my flesh.  I've learned to love myself, love others, and to love God.  I don't mean to just SAY I love God and others but to TRULY love Him...and them :).  So anywho I thought I'd share a few things that have been on my heart as well as some Word that was preached.  This is for those who still struggle with sin...which essentially should be all of us...maybe it will help some of you guys but if not then yea it was certainly for me!

There are three things that sin kills in your life:

1. Your Innocence
• The effects of sin can still remain. (guilt, shame, loss of self worth, etc)
2. Your Ideals
• Our moral compass is compromised.  We now begin to compare ourselves to the World who don't know Christ instead of comparing ourselves to Christ and convince ourselves that compared to the people "out there" we're living right.  We begin to do that which we thought we'd never do and say things we thought we would never say.  We begin to now walk upright in sin saying things like "Don't judge me" or "God knows my heart".  The truth is that he DOES know our heart and it's far from Him.
3. Your Will
• Our soul then becomes enslaved to sin.  In the losing of our ideals we sinned because we ENJOYED it, now we do it because we NEED it.  We can't stand life without it and will even go through withdrawal when we can't do it/ have it.  We have now become a slave to our own nature.

At the same time that this is going on we still stumble into church for a good Word and then go home and continue to sin.  We ignore the spirit of conviction or in some cases manage to drown it out so that we don't even notice it anymore.  Oh it's always there because He never leaves us or forsakes us so when we don't hear it it's because we've walked away from it.  We become like Eutychus (Acts 20:7-12).  As Paul is preaching downstairs Eutychus sits in a window sill upstairs.  He's close enough to hear the word and yet he's in the window so that he doesn't miss the beat of the street.  Close enough to see church and close enough to touch sin.  Eutychus falls asleep and falls OUT of the window (into the street representative of his sin) to his death.  When he falls, church stops and Paul rushes outside to COVER Eutychus WHERE HE FELL and brings him to life.  In this story Paul represents the grace of God.  

The thing is...GRACE AIN'T CHEAP. It was bought with a price and it can NOT be earned.  We can't continue to live on the fringes of disobedience.  The pastor Sat. gave this example for God's grace:

A woman has a 2yr old son who is riding his tricycle in the street and is struck dead by a drunk driver.  Although the driver is convicted and serves his time in prison NOTHING he does can bring the woman's son back.  If he dedicates his life to doing good deeds for this woman and her family it will NEVER bring her son back.  He can never EARN her forgiveness.  For her to forgive him it has to be GIVEN because there is nothing he can do to earn it.

This is how we are with God.  We sin..over and over again.  Often times we think that we can make up for it by doing good deeds or making promises that we continue to break.  God's grace is bigger than our broken promises.  He died on the cross while we were yet sinners.  Our past mistakes nor our future mess ups will prevent us from communing with God (He STILL communed with His disciples KNOWING that they would deny him and betray him at the time of His death).  God's grace is given..it is never earned.  Just as we can't earn His grace, we can't earn salvation.  He ALREADY died on the cross, salvation is freely given, we simply have to accept it.  It's hard to understand how a God can offer love, grace, salvation etc to a sinner like me but this is where faith steps in.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesias 2:8) ..while you're at it go ahead and read Ephesians 2:1-10 good stuff!

In light of God's grace, mercy, and His love we are to live a life of Thanksgiving.  This is why we are obedient to Him and his commandments.  God's grace must produce in you a heart of thanksgiving.  My obedience is the result of a heart that is thankful.  I want to live a life of Thank You.  For those who come behind us, the life we live is proof that God is good and that He saves, cleanses, and redeems DESPITE our past.  This is also why it is important for you to live a life that reflects Christ because essentially we are the light of the world, the salt of the Earth.  People should see God in us through the way that we live and the love that we show them.

God's grace and His mercy has surely kept me.  At this point in my life I am determined to life a life of Thank You.  I am trying to do this in EVERY aspect of my life.  Whether it be my diet/exercise (for my body is a temple), the things I watch, the things I say, the places I go, the things I do...I want it all to say Thank You.  Question.  How many of us have role models?  There's a man/woman out there who makes you say to yourself "I want to be the kind of mom/dad that ____ is" or I want to have the kind of marriage that ____&____ have.  But how many of us have Christian role models that we look up to?  Do you have any friends that inspire you to strengthen your walk with Christ?  For many of us the answer is no.  The truth is that we should have someone like this in our lives and more importantly we should BE that person.

So yea that's my post for today..a bit lengthy and perhaps all over the place but I tried to hit on the things that I've learned.  I hope this blesses someone out there.  Have a happy Monday! :)

-Jess

Short Attention Span

So as of late I've been listening to the new Big K.R.I.T. mixtape and the Fun. album.  Got out to explore Nashville this weekend and I must say I enjoyed myself!
 This was the PLAN:
Friday- Food Trucks at the Farmers Market for dinner and live music
Saturday- Find a pair of sneakers (bright colors of course) and a jean jacket from the Goodwill.  Study/Read all the articles I did not finish during the week
Sunday-Church, cook dinner for the week and relax.
This is what ACTUALLY went down:
Friday- Ate at the food trucks at the Farmers Market for dinner and enjoyed some bluegrass music...the lyrics were actually pretty dope!
Saturday- Went for bubble tea at as Asian market...couldn't find it but I DID find some veggie dumplings and shrimp dumplings and I surely stocked up while I was there and purchased a bottle of THE BEST HOT SAUCE EVER.  Stopped by Off Broadway to see if they still had these neon green and grey sneakers I saw...NOPE!  Went to another Asian market spot and had Thai tea...and spring rolls...and a veggie curry roll...and some spicy green curry with chicken and ginger...walked outside to go to my car to head to school to read but got distracted by a live rock band playing outside across the street (weather was PERFECT)...stopped by for a while and the group was hot!  Noticed a coffee shop next door that I could have sworn I saw on Food Network so dropped by.  Noticed a used instrument store across the street so stopped by to check out some wah wah pedals for my electric guitar.  On my way out of the instrument store to my car I was stopped by a man wondering where the step show was.  Saw other Black people going to a step show as well so hey I followed the Black people! lol.  My friend and I then found ourselves at some regional step show thing where kids of all ages came from all over the US to step.  It was cool as well.  By then  I realized a COUPLE of hours had passed so I left to go to my car so I could go to school to read.  Got to school and after 2hrs and only reading 2pgs I took an L for the day.

Sunday- Church which was awesome by the way.  Talked about living a Holy life and how it should manifest in every aspect of our lives whether it be our attitudes, our work ethic, decision making etc.  Made me realize I most certainly have some areas that I need to work on that previously I just had not noticed or even thought about.  Afterwards did my usual  Sunday grocery shopping...came home...walked my dog Dino and attempted to finish the articles that should have been completed EARLIER....I completed MOST of it.  Didn't even cook dinner.  Got sleepy and went to sleep wit my articles in hand smh.

So yea that was my eventful weekend but I tell you what I most certainly woke up this morning with a crick in my neck (the worst!) but was able to complete my articles and be able to discuss them all which is a #WIN in my book.  Didn't even make it to the Goodwill to go thrifting but I will stop by there today....that's the plan at least.  Anywho I'm gonna sign out with some pics from my eventful weekend.  Oh I did wind up finding a random pair of black T-strap wedges that would go great with a red pencil dress!  Hope you enjoyed your weekend as well!  (O yea the food pics!  Thai Tea, buttermilk cheddar grilled cheese sandwhich with carmalized onion and a fried egg with a side of homemade spicy tomato soup andddd sweet potato fries with papaya ketchup...the sweet potato fries were blehhhh but everything else was DELISH!)

    

Blossom Where You Are Planted

When I was first accepted into grad school here in Nashville I was so excited.  Everything that I had been hoping and praying for was now becoming a reality.  After moving here the excitement died down as it was a completely different environment than back home in NC.  For one Nashville isn't as culturally diverse and it's made evident in it's lack of variety as far as restaurant choices and entertainment are concerned.  It seems to be exiled from all other major cities except ATL (4hr drive) and flights in and out of Nashville are pricey because well...no one flies here.  Not only that, but the stress of school also had me bogged down and I realized that all I was doing was complaining.  Crazy how prior to being accepted into grad school all I did was fast and pray about my next move in life.  I wanted to make sure that the decisions I made regarding my life all acknowledged God so that He would direct my paths.  I wanted to be in His will and I knew that he would grant me the desires of my heart.  Often times when His will is not the same as my will I complain and my attitude certainly reflects that.  I complained about how wack Nashville was, how school was stressful, how my classmates never want to go out and just EVERYTHING.

In Bible study Wednesday night at Temple we talked about forgiveness.  Truthfully I was zoning in and out of the message at times because I get forgiveness...I don't struggle with forgiving (often times to a fault but hey the Bible says we are to forgive infinitely)...I understand it.  I thought okay this message isn't for me but maybe someone else in the room can benefit from it  and randomly the minister leading the study uttered "BLOSSOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED....".  Can't tell you what part of the lesson he mentioned this in because again I was zoning in and out thinking about other things (sad but true).  As he continued to minister about forgiveness the only thing that kept playing in my mind was "blossom where you are planted".  God will speak to you anywhere...in the midst of anything.

The blossom comment really spoke to me and I realized that I was stifling my own growth here in Nashville simply with my attitude.  Flowers and grasses grow even in the crevices of concrete.  It's what they are designed to do.  It's what WE are designed to do.  It reminded me of the story in Jeremiah 29 about a people who were exiled from a good and comfortable place to a place that they did not like.  They were told to multiply and grow in the city and to seek peace and prosperity.  When you are in a place that you don't like (example being a job you hate) it is often HARD to find prosperity or even an ounce of peace for that matter. In response to this God tells them "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.  God always has a plan for us even when we aren't sure what that plan is.  We may be in an uncomfortable place but I trust in Him and His promise.  Often times, in these uncomfortable places or situations we begin to develop our character and flourish as individuals both spiritually and mentally.  The "captivity" in verse 14 is not always a physical place either; it can be a mentality or a state of mind.  So with that in mind I'm going to blossom where I am planted...here in Nashville.  I've changed my attitude about the city and just being here in general and I see changes already taking place.  I had prayed about this for a while and randomly I get the "blossom where you are planed" quote in Bible study.  He was right when He said "you will pray to me and I'll listen and bring you back".  I'm sure I was uprooted from home to Nashville for a reason...not exactly sure what that is yet but I trust that I'm in the right place at the right time and in the mean time I'll be blossoming :).  My mentality about this place has changed and I no longer feel captive in a city that seemingly had nothing to offer.  It's crazy how the passage in Jeremiah 29 also talks about not listening to the prophets/diviners/natives who were already in the city because they falsely prophesy.  When I first moved here mostly all the students who were already in Nashville told me it was boring, nothing to offer, only thing to do is go out and drink or hit up bars.  By listening to them I had unknowingly adopted the same spirit/mentality about the city.  Be careful about listening to others because even without our knowing it, words can become thoughts and we begin to adopt mentalities from people.

But yea in the end I'm back in a happy place.  In lieu of this I've even started a pinterest board titled "Exploring Nashville" where at least once a week I want to get out and try/explore something new here.  Although school keeps me pretty busy it's certainly necessary and healthy to have balance in life so with that I'll be pinning when I can.  I'm thinking about getting one of those DLR cameras to take pictures for pinterest. With my pins I'm going to cut down on words because pictures really are worth a million words.  It's hard to capture what I want to say by finding pics online so I figure why not capture my own thoughts on film.

So yea guys that's my post for today.  I pray that  you all blossom where you are planted as well!  Have a blessed day guys! :)

-Jess

PS I forgot to tell you guys I'm a thug so 9 times outta 10 I don't use spell check because that's how I roll.  I should probably work on that but nahhhhh so yea if you notice typos or anything bless your heart lol.

Carabelli Ball

 So clearly I'm supposed to be working hard in my rotation right now...which I am.  But I wanted to put up a few pics from the Carabelli Ball thrown by the School of Dentistry here at Meharry.  I changed my blog background!  Still not what I like but hey at least it's not the default!  I have a few more pics but I'm figuring out this Google+ app that uploads all my pics directly from my phone...clearly I'm a bit challenged when it comes to all this technology.
Anywho...considering that my second rotation was quite stressful I figured it would be a good way to relax a little.  I really enjoyed myself at the ball as well as the after party.  The weekend was still stressful because I had to prepare for a presentation of basically all the research I had been doing since January.  It actually turned out well and I have no one but JESUS to thank for that!!!! sheesh!  Anywho I'm actually busy right now reading articles...normally reading articles is a drag but when it's science that really interests you then it's exciting!  Just dropping a few pics off while I had a few minutes of downtime.

My classmates and I at the ball.

Left my Bible at home this morning :/...don't feel like driving home just to drive back out this way for Bible study so I may go Bible-less orrrrr try this church down the street in Bellevue for Bible Study....still haven't found a church home here in Nashville but I really do like The Temple church.

Didn't have much time last semester to visit a lot of churches so yea prayerfully by the end of this month I can find a church home!

***Oh yea I've discovered the magic that is Evernote and Pinterest this week!...Clearly I'm behind the times!  Check me out on pinterest http://pinterest.com/missjessica2u2/  I'm just starting out so I pin when I can but it's really cool!  Evernote is GREAT for scientists that are reading tons of articles online!...helps me organize things based on subjects, lectures, classes, interests, and all that other good crap!

Yeaaaaaa about that....

Hi Guys!  So I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged but I've been adjusting to both Nashville and school....talk about STRESS sheesh!  Anywho I've decided that a means of both relaxation and having a hobby here will be blogging.  I've decided to switch up the theme of my blog to essentially a life and style blog.  I'll be blogging about food (seeing that I've changed my eating habits since fasting in January of this year and I'm really trying to stick with this whole my body is a temple thing), God and my faith (that part will remain...it's a central part of my life so yea), fashion (random crap I like), my hair (you care) and Nashville (ehhh).  Anywho all these things will culminate into something that will be glorious...or at least in my head it's glorious.  Tonight is the Carabelli ball here at Meharry and so I'm going to go with camera in tow and take pics and blog about the event as well as the after party.  As usual I'm already running behind.  It's almost 3:30pm and I have yet to shower, wash and style my hair, makeup, YIKES!  So I'm off to get ready but I shall post another entry catching you guys up on school, faith, and all that other good stuff.  In other news I never did actually design my blog so I guess I should get on that seeing that it still has the default background which has nothing to do with anything that I blog  :/