Exploration, Rest & Relaxation

Over the past few days I have had the wonderful privilege of making memories and capturing joyous moments with some of my dearest friends and loved ones. Below, you will find some of those moments frozen in time and displayed unlimitedly for all to share in our enjoyment.

Due to the fact that school is over for the year, Dara (my girlfriend) was albe to come back to Asheville, NC with me for a few days before returning to her home town. While she has been here, there has been innumerable occasions for laughter, sadness, anxiety, and love. We have explored, gone out to eat together,  shopped downtown, visited the Biltmore Estate, gone shooting at a range, and had dinner with the extensions of my family. All in all, the time that we have shared together over the past few days has been refreshing and exhilarating. God has so blessed me with a girlfriend, family, and friends who love me tenderly and compassionately. I feel overwhelmed by the happiness and comfort that I gain when I spend time in their presence.

The first photos you will see are from a Goodwill photo shoot that Dara and I fashioned one afternoon before heading home. (Just so you know, it was supposed to be an ugly photo shoot- so it is intentional that our outfits look hideous) The photos following that will be from our adventures at the Biltmore House.

I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.

Thanks for reading! I do very much appreciate your loyalty and dedication to listening intently to my heart and mind as ascribed on this blog.

Spanx

At the Request of my Dearest Dara...

I am writing…

As many of you know, I am in a serious relationship with Dara Robertson, AKA the Love of my Life. Due to the fact that my blog has not been updated in quite some time, she has been slightly to severely disappointed that she can no longer read new material from my ever so interesting mind.  Upon hearing of her sadness, I too was troubled and saddened as any good boyfriend would be. It is my goal to change that.

So Dara, this one goes out to you.  I love you with all of my heart!

Mornings are always better when they aren’t so scheduled. Today, my roommate Dylan woke up earlier than usual. He could not sleep for some reason. His early rising led to my early rising. Deciding not to go get breakfast because of the accompanied requirement of getting dressed, we concluded that playing a game together would be best. I had an hour and a half to kill anyways.

After the game, I got dressed, looked super fly as usual, and walked out the door. As much as I wanted to go to the cafeteria for breakfast, the leftover cookie from Starbucks last night seemed just as appetizing. As a result, my cookie was then devoured, thus leaving me with still 30 minutes before class. Ahah! Chick-fil-A is open this time of the morning. I might as well go get a biscuit of goodness while I can before I get to eat lunch at 11 or 12 today. SO that is exactly what I did. Now I’m sitting in the computer lab, munching on a chicken biscuit and writing for my beloved.

She has juries today, meaning that she has to sing pretty much perfectly in front of a panel of judges that judge her every note and line. Pretty stressful huh? I feel for her and am praying for her continuously. She is completely capable of rocking their socks way off and then slapping them in the face with them. I know she will do well because she’s just that amazing and her voice is like that of a goddess. I just wish I could be there to see her shine! 

Today should be pretty relaxed for the most part. The sad thing is that I still have classes to go to even though we will not be learning jack squat in them –_–  so stupid… oh well! After that I get to hang with my best guy friend, and after that I get to hang with my best girlfriend! Super excited!!!! Hopefully her juries go well so that she will be in a fantastic mood and I can get and receive some real good lovin’. PG13 lovin at the most 

Well, that’s about all the time I have for now. Hope this brightens your day sweetheart! I love you!!!!

I miss you buddy.

This wonderful man allowed the world to love and appreciate the simple things. I have looked up to and learned from him in many ways, as he has been a silent inspiration in my personal life. This simple poem was written by Jimmy Stewart in loving memory of a long time companion.

This is something similar I wrote.
(For my dog, Wrigley)

Your breath was quick and constant;
Your heart could count the time.

You never said you loved me,
Yet you were always mine.

You’d lie up high, there in my lap;
Or down below, beside you sat.

We ran together, played together, rolled together, stayed together.

You were my friend, my love, my companion-

You were my therapist, my doctor, my guardian, my silence, my kleenex, my mentor, my guide, my trainer, my partner in crime, my wingman, my way in, my way out, my way out and about, my comforter, my blanket, my home away from home.

You were my friend, my love, my companion.

Your eyes were strong and sure.
Your heart was warm and pure.

Your legs took us everywhere,
And loved a good detour.

I’d scratch your back and give you some pats,
And you’d never leave me when we took our naps.

I miss your nose. I miss your ears.
I miss your startling, and all your fears.

I miss your wandering without cause.
I miss your fur and all four paws.

But most of all… I miss your voice.
Silent or loud, you spoke to me.

No mutts or hounds, whether bought or found,
Could ever match your love profound.

But now you’re buried in the ground
And when I call, you’re not around.

I can look and search and call all day,
But I know you haven’t run away.

I wish beside me you’d come and lay,
Or come and find me, sit and stay.

You’re not here anymore, but that’s okay.
I’ll always miss and love you anyway.

You were my friend, my love, my companion.

I Miss You.

On Being Used

At what point do I draw the line?
When can I say “enough is enough?”

I am too unselfish. I am used
I am too forgiving. I am taken advantage of.

I am my father’s child.
What would he do?
When would he call it quits, pull up anchor and leave?

I am my Father’s child.
What would He do?
When would self-sacrifice and servitude turn to suffering self-inflicted?

I am at an impasse.

Your Smell Lingers (unwanted)

your smell fills my mind with disgust. it squeezes my throat till I cough, wishing to forget your revolting memory. i cant cleanse the room; i cant rid my heart of your smell.

i cant spit you out. i cant cover you up with a fine fragrance. you linger here- unwanted and relentless. my mind says ignore you, but my body cannot do so. i cant rid this place of your stench, your odor, your memory.

my face contorts into complex shapes attempting to accurately depict the disgust and disdain which is rendered by such foul breathing air. covering my face is futile. preventing breath prevents smelling your smelly smell, but preventing breath prevents life. i do not wish to live with your smell, but i do wish to live…

what a dreadful burden to bear.

you dont deserve to enter into the shelter of my nostrils. nobody deserves to smell your smell.

leave me.

How We See Us vs. How God Sees Us

Our eyes are limited. They see the here and now. They see the tangible and physical. They allow us to view the world around us in an incomplete way, and as a result, the way we view ourselves is unnatural. We can try to prepare ourselves so that we look our best in our own eyes and in the eyes of those around us, but we do not know our true beauty.

If we cannot see all that we are as creations of God, we can never fully understand the love and care that He has for us. We may think that we are ugly, beautiful, cool, lame, smart, dumb, or somewhere in between, but in reality we have yet to see the magnificent glory in which God has made us.

Psalm 139

New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NKJV