Hello from the last Saturday of 2012! Gah, it’s been a year?! Really?! Wow, this year of blogging has gone fast.

I’m looking out my window, and I’m so happy it’s still snowing! It’s been snowing all morning and afternoon so far :) Even though it’s not really sticking because the ground’s wet, the snowflakes falling is quite beautiful and tranquil. I’m celebrating by wearing pajamas and my new bathrobe all day! (I went shopping at Kohls two days ago and saved $250+ and spent my Christmas gift cards… so worth it.)

You know, this has been quite a good year for all of us. I mean, Anna Beth studied abroad at Harlaxton, Shelby went to Haiti, Rachael went to New Zealand AND changed her majors, Amy went to Taiwan, Sara became an awesome blogger (in what was likely the most popular blog overall) with Question Tuesdays, and Jill became the official queen of Youtube! (At least, Jill, to me you are… We should work on getting you the official crown.) Not to mention, I have had an awesome year myself… and got a boyfriend. Ok, that’s a main part, and I am so blessed to know him in this way, but I’ve also had such a wonderful time blogging with you guys! It’s been a wonderful way to keep up with you all as we’ve been literally to all corners of the globe! I can’t wait to see what the next year brings… and am quite happy to be a guest blogger next year. What with my last semester and who-knows-what (semi-real life!) after that, I will be too busy to blog regularly. Still, I’ll be happy to come back and throw my two cents in. :D

I just realized that I never actually did finish compiling my “interesting facts video”… I’ll see if I can finish that before the new year!

I love you guys! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful year with me… May the next be even more amazing with such wonderful friends! *raises glass* To us!

The Rembrandts- “I’ll Be There For You”

Hello from the end of the world… Or at least, some people think that we should have been dead by now. However, I’m here to say that we’re all ok, at least in my family. If someone was abducted/zombies invaded your house/you aren’t alive, let me know. That is, assuming you’re alive. I hope I’m writing to real people. I’m not quite sure how to write to a bunch of zombies, though I do insist that a doughnut shop is a great place to hide out in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Why, you ask? Well, for one, you have a never ending supply of sweets that make both good noms and good ammo. Plus, you have huge ovens to throw zombies into and a supply of large metal objects to hit zombies with. Not to mention, have you ever seen a doughnut shop in a zombie movie? I thus prove my point. There must be something to it. ;)

On a happier note, Mark’s coming today! He’s just spending the night, as he and his family are driving up through Bowling Green to Ohio from their vacation, but I’m still quite happy to see him! We’re not exchanging Christmas presents just yet- my present hadn’t quite come by the end of the school year, so we’ll have Christmas later, after we get back to Vandy.

Speaking of getting back to Vandy, this is a terrible thing to mention during the break, but my classes start again on the 7th! Really, Vandy?! Why must you not offer a winter term?!

I really enjoyed Ab’s Christmas songs that she posted a couple days ago, so I thought I’d stay in the same theme! Only 2 days until Christmas Eve! This is a Christmas song that I actually heard for the first time a few weeks ago, and my friends couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard it, so I thought I’d spread the good cheer :) Mele kalikimaka, everyone!

Bing Crosby- “Mele Kalikimaka”

            Hello from a very long time! Ack, I am so sorry that I couldn’t post the last 2 weeks- things have been absolutely crazy! For one, two Saturdays ago I had my Victory winter concert! =D We had a lot of fun putting it on, and I couldn’t believe that we actually got it together in time! Everyone that came said that they really enjoyed it, and I was so glad to have them support us. Not to mention… Guess who officially has a CD with her voice on it?! Me + Victory! Yay! If any of you all want a free a cappella CD, let me know- we’ve got plenty! And we’re pretty good, if I do say so myself, which I do, so what’s the point of that phrase?!

            Then, ever since then, I’ve been bombarded with finals + group projects + presentations. Ugh. I don’t understand how teachers think that they can give us so much work and believe that we obviously don’t have any work in our other classes… lol. Regardless, thanks be to God- I just finished yesterday! Hooray! Next stop- grad apps… which will be done by January 1. Then, it’ll be DONE!

            So with all of that happening, plus a whole lot more, I’m taking today as a rest day. It’s Mark and I’s 10 month anniversary, so we’re going to be spending the majority of the day together, once he finishes his last essay of the semester. On the schedule today: ice skating, cooking dinner together, and a Relient K concert! It’ll be quite the day!

            I hope you all have been doing well- I unfortunately haven’t had too much time to read your blogs the past bit, but I’ll try to catch up now that I have some free time!

            So the songs of the week- since I missed the past few- are all by The Civil Wars. If you haven’t listened to their album Barton Hollow, I sincerely recommend it. Below are my top pics from their album… enjoy! =D (I especially like “To Whom It May Concern.”) PS- If you like their songs, look up one of their performances on YouTube- they’re so beautiful to watch. I’ll include one such link under “20 Years.”

The Civil Wars- “Barton Hollow”

The Civil Wars- "To Whom It May Concern"

The Civil Wars- "20 Years" (The second video is a live video of them performing the song.)

Hello from my lovely second Saturday of Thanksgiving break! I’ve loved reading all of the Disney blogs this week… and staying true to theme, as well as my love of music, here’s your “Top 15” Disney songs! I thought I’d do a “Top 10” Disney songs, but it’s ended up being so hard to eliminate songs that I decided to do a “Top 15.” (Yes, I had that many! – Plus an Honorable Mention selection list below. Try ranking your favorites- it’s not easy to do at all! It took me hours!!) Eventually, though, I completed my list… and although it was extremely difficult and I’m still not sure this is the way I really want it, this was so much fun to do! Let’s be honest: Can you ever have enough Disney?

I ended up ranking them the best I could, obviously influenced by personal preference, but I tried to stay true to general opinion… yet still throw a few curve-balls in there. As always, feel free to comment on rankings and ones left out- there’s so many good ones, it’s so hard to choose! Disney’s just that fantastic at music! *runs off to update her Disney playlist…*

15) “When You Wish Upon a Star” - Pinocchio

So lovely! Plus, look at the cute animal kiss (I’ve forgotten the names of the cat and fish). Classic Disney :) To start us off a bit controversially, I apologize for it being rated lower than it definitely deserves, but I haven’t seen Pinocchio.

14) “Bare Necessities” - The Jungle Book

I had to include this one… Unfortunately overlooked at times, this is a true “Classic Disney” song!

13) “Bella Notte” - Lady and the Tramp

Included partially because I couldn’t believe no one else has noted Lady and the Tramp on their lists, this was one of my favorite childhood songs. Plus, it’s the sharing spaghetti/meatball scene! So cute, yes? :)

12) “Cruella De Vil” - A Hundred and One Dalmatians

Haha- this is a song I grew up with- it’s fantastic! :)

11) “Once Upon a Dream” - Sleeping Beauty

While perhaps not one of the most immediately recognizable as a "Top 15 Disney" song, the song and animation is fantastic. Plus, Philip joining in the duet is so cute!

10) “Colors of the Wind” - Pocahontas

This is one of those picks for me that I didn’t expect it to actually make my Top 10 list- but I grew up with this song, and it’s under-recognized in my opinion. (Plus, 1:16 is such a powerful moment!).

9) “Part of Your World” - The Little Mermaid

Every little girl dreams of being part of another, seemingly more beautiful world. On the other hand, don’t you want to be a mermaid? This song is magnificent.

8) “Circle of Life” - The Lion King

Great song, just not as… Well, out of the ones in this list, it’s just not as memorable for me- perhaps it’s the tempo being just a beat too slow, or maybe it's just because it's not as whimsical. Still, it’s a fantastic song! I’m sure others will rate it higher, but I just enjoy some of the memorable moments from other songs more…

7) “Under the Sea” - The Little Mermaid

This song is so much fun! =D It’s one of my personal favorites!

6) “Hakuna Matata” - The Lion King

“When I was a young warthog,” I loved singing along to this song! Not to mention, it’s a great friendship-sing-along song!

5) “You’ll Be in my Heart” - Tarzan

Really, can you resist Phil Collins? Pure, classic Disney magic.

4) “Be Our Guest” - Beauty and the Beast

LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT. Really, the animation really makes the song- what wouldn’t you give to be a dinner guest at that dinner? ;)

3) “Beauty and the Beast” - Beauty and the Beast

Ah, the song that always makes me go, “Awww…” Honestly, could anyone else but Disney create such a cute couple of a human and a beast? Plus, I’ve always wanted Belle’s dress… my Halloween Belle dress from when I was little came close… ;)

2) “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” - Mulan

SING-ALONG TIME!!! =D (The video’s not a sing-along version… but y’all know the lyrics anyway ;)

1) “A Whole New World” - Aladdin

When it comes down to it, the scenes in this song are iconic, classic Disney. Plus, it’s just so much fun to sing along to! This song likely introduced millions of children to “A Whole New World” of Disney- and I am so thankful for it! :) Plus, look at them- they’re so cute <3

Honorable Mentions (ordered alphabetically because I can’t rank any more!) are
-          “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” - Hercules
-          “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” – The Lion King
-          “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” – The Lion King
-          “Kiss the Girl” - A Little Mermaid
-          “Heigh Ho” - Snow White
-          “Someday My Prince Will Come” - Snow White
-          “Strangers Like Me” - Tarzan
-           “I See the Light” - Tangled

Of course, I couldn’t include all of my favorite songs here (though I tried to include as many as I could!), but I still hoped you enjoyed being reminded of some of your favorite Disney songs! <3 you guys! Have a great week! (Sorry this was so long, but I truly enjoyed doing it! :)

Hello from the first day of Thanksgiving break! I apologize for not doing a blog last week, but I’m afraid that a sickness like pneumonia (well, I had all the symptoms, but silly student health called it a “viral bug” and said to come back in 7 days if I was still sick… grrrr) kept me pretty much confined to sleeping all day, which I have to say, was pretty nice. Still, it meant me not doing homework until later in the week, but it still got done on time! :) Now I’m home! Yay!!!

Today was actually really nice. Getting to spend time with my family, even just nothing special, was really wonderful, and I’ve loved seeing my puppies (yes, they’re still puppies- no way are they getting old!). Fuzzy and Scooby bounded up to me as soon as I walked in last night and greeted me with lots of dog kisses and tail wags. Really, is there a better way to be greeted? ;) I can only think of one… which I got when I saw Mark today! He flew in from one of his med school interviews last night, and on his way driving up to Ohio I got to see him for lunch! =D (For his privacy, I will not mention where he’s getting interviews for med school in this blog. But you can ask me separately if you’re curious ;). It was wonderful seeing him, especially as he flew out of Nashville early Thursday morning, and my being sick all last week meant very little Mark-Amber time. Plus, it was our 9 month anniversary on Thursday, so I felt a little sad not really seeing him last week. Today made up for it- just seeing him all dapper and handsome was great, and I love that he interacts with Pleasant Voice and Lexi so well. *sighs* We’re very happy together, and I trust God will lead us to wherever we’re supposed to be next year!

Speaking of which, guess who is working on her grad school apps this week? Me! I never get a week off… But this is really the only week I have to concentrate on my future. (I’m also not going to mention potential grad schools/ jobs in this blog- again, ask me privately.) As such, I am completing all I can that is related to my part of the applications and then heading back after the break to get my recommendations, transcripts, etc. all settled for submission. It’s pretty exciting!

Even with that busyness, I’d love to see you BG people this week! Let me know if you want to get together to hang out :)

The song of the week is country… And it’s been pretty popular over the past couple of weeks since its release. When you listen to it, it may seem kind of sad/depressing. However, I thought the same until a friend of mine mentioned that it’s actually really sweet: she’s essentially saying that she loves him so much that she’d be too sad to live if he died, so she’d rather die. I'm obviously not saying it's right to kill yourself if something like that happened, but it's a sweet notion. Thoughts?

Have a great week guys!

The Band Perry- “Better Dig Two”

Hello from a random study room after Phi Lamb semi-formal!! =D Mark and I had a blast learning to line dance with Phi Lamb (Western themed!)- plus we did the Phi Lamb shuffle, which is most sensical (which is not a word, but you get the point) song to dance to ever. Essentially it’s just your morning routine… that you put into dance to the tune of Shackles (Praise You) by Mary Mary. Pretty cool. :)

I’m so happy that it’s Jill’s 21st birthday!!!!!!!!! =D Happy birthday, Jill! I hope you all have been having a wonderful time on your camping trip!! Here’s a really cute picture of a green chicken!

Onto silly homework news… This has, once again, been another week where Thursday night came around, and I wondered, “Woah. How is it Thursday night? Where did my week go?” Yeah. Everything has been pretty busy and will continue to stay busy. I know y’all are coming down next weekend for a fencing competition… I’m unsure if I’m here or if I’m actually in Bowling Green lol :) It’s been a while since I’ve been home, but at the same time, Thanksgiving break starts that very next Friday for me. We’ll see. I’ll keep you updated :)

I’ll also keep you updated on next summer and what I might be doing then. I’ll give y’all a final decision next weekend…

As for my last bit of most recent happiness: well, I think most of you all have already seen what Mark and I were for Halloween. If you haven’t, you obviously haven’t been on Facebook for the past 24 hours. Lol :P. We had a lot of fun dressing up as the Phantom of the Opera and Christine Daae- Below is the full length picture of us for your viewing pleasure (and so you can see my super-poofy ball gown), but I prefer the close up one more. Plus I made Mark’s cloak and fixed my costume up into ball gown condition. So much fun!!! =D

Love you guys! Have a wonderful week! I enclose a Carrie Underwood song below for your listening pleasure… and your singing pleasure, if you are so inclined. Let’s just say that my roommate Emily and I enjoyed singing this at the top of our lungs for her to get some feelings out (obviously not about Mark lol)… so funny!!! XD

Carrie Underwood- “Cowboy Casanova”

Hello from the Saturday before Halloween! I’m in the midst of preparations for the day of costumes, candy, and general mysteriousness… Although really, since it’s happening on a Wednesday, I’m not actually celebrating Halloween until Friday, when the BCM is having its annual Barn Party. I’d tell you what it’s like except I have no idea. I’m just excited I get to be in costume!! :) I’m still not telling what my costume is… I’ll post pictures eventually ;) I will tell you it is a couple costume with Mark… *ensues giggling* Tonight I am going to finish sewing our costumes because I know I won’t have time in the middle of the week to complete them…

ALL the WORK! Oh goodness. I have no idea how this past week happened. My planner was completely full for everyday this week- so that by the time Thursday night rolled around, I had no idea that the week had happened. I was pretty much on auto-pilot- wake up, do homework, go to class, do homework, be slightly social, do homework, go to sleep at a terrible hour, wake up, repeat. Thursday was the worst- I had a homework assignment or major project or quiz in every single class due. There was no breathing time, but I was so relieved God brought me through this week. I have a test Thursday, but I’m praying this week should be better. I need some time to sleep!!!!!!!

I really don’t have much else to comment on… Oh! I turned in my absentee ballot! =D And I actually did take the time a week/2 ago to watch the 2nd Presidential debate and look up information and platforms on both major candidates… so I made an informed decision. Not the one I was expecting initially, but I’m hopeful. :) At least I voted.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!!!!!! Also, I’m so happy for Rachael- I loved looking at the pictures from your group’s runway show :) Running from your blog’s fashion tip, I’m kind of stuck. I’d love to pull off printed jeans, but I really don’t think I can, and every time I see them I really want to try them… I’ll give in next time. ;)

The song of the week… is quite terrible for me, simply because I am in general not a huge Taylor Swift fan. However, since her album came out, I thought I’d evaluate it… and unfortunately, a lot of the songs on there I came away from thinking… How were these not performed by a tweenage girl under 13?!!?! Still, there was one that I really, really liked… :) Note that I absolutely adore the bridge and its imagery. Her lyrics here are spot on- the one thing I give her credit for is having well thought up, unusual lyrics (for her songs that don’t have a lot of initial airplay).

Taylor Swift- “All Too Well”

Hello from a fairly normal Saturday. In all of the craziness that’s been going on (read: so. much. HOMEWORK!), it’s a relief to have a day to relax, work on things (it never stops), and hopefully spend tonight with Mark. Date night!!! <3

This week has been pretty much filled with homework and projects that just appear out of nowhere. Probably the #1 thing that annoys me the most in school is when a professor reassigns homework or a major project to be due sometime the next week, especially when that happens to coincide with your other 2 major projects in other classes. I promise you, if I didn’t have a planner to organize things, I would be in major trouble right now. Actually, I was wondering on how you all feel about online planners- ie Google Calendar, Apple… umm, stuff- I don’t know what it’s called on there, etc. Something about having it physically handy relieves me from having to worry about things for some reason. *shrugs*

Anyway, not too much to remark on besides the homework- I did, however, just get back from Phi Lamb retreat! It was a lot of fun- we got to stay in wood cabins!- and I really enjoyed the time to get away from campus, build relationships with the other girls, and spend some time talking to God. Speaking of which, have you all ever heard God tell you to “shut up and stop worrying”? The one thing that I take away from my quiet time was that, while I was praying, I just felt my thoughts stop, and I felt the overwhelming feeling that I was trying to take things into my own hands too much. So I stopped… and felt at peace. God’s pretty cool like that. :)

As there is homework to do, I will need to stop blogging, but I will leave you with 2 songs of the week! (One to make up for the 2nd song mistake last week… lol it just got annoying haha ;)

This is one of my favorite contemporary worship songs of all time… So I thought I’d share it and hope that you all also feel the same! It is that song for me- the one that comes back to you when you just feel the need to praise God. I love it so much.

Hillsong United – “Like an Avalanche"

And following on the actual connection between these 2 songs, I actually heard both of these songs at Sanctuary, the worship service I like to go to on Thursday nights when The Point isn’t meeting at the BCM… This is, again, that song for me. It just gets caught in your head, and I never want to let it go. <3

New Life Worship – “Great I Am”

Hello from the realm of black and gold! Everyone is dressed up and busy tailgating for the game tonight against Florida… Don’t ask me why this is parent’s weekend too. It just seems like a bad idea. Regardless, Victory got to sing at the BCM’s tailgate today, which was a lot of fun! My friend decided to wear her Halloween costume early- which essentially is a nude-colored full body suit (head and all) – and dress it up with black and gold. It was really hilarious! :)

I’ll be honest- life was really slow over the past week. Unfortunately, almost immediately after coming back from Colorado over fall break – which was wonderful!!!! – I caught what I consider the reverse flu. In other words, I started out by coughing a lot and having a lot of congestion in my throat, thus causing me to lose my voice for a day, and then the sickness moved upward, to where my throat was essentially fine, but my nose would not stop running, and I was sneezing ALL the time. All in all, that wasn’t a lot of fun. However, since I had all of my midterms the week before fall break, this was a really chill week for me, without a lot of studying and homework. Essentially I got to sleep a lot- as in, I’m normally awake somewhere around 16 hours+ a day, and this past week, I was only awake about 8 hours every day. I was doing a LOT of sleeping. ^_^

However, now I’m better and don’t really have a lot to report. Life’s continuing as usual… Something fun is that I went swing dancing last night on Alumni Lawn! That was cool :) Another fun fact is that I’m working on my Halloween costume… which coordinates with Mark’s costume for this year too :) (*cue the awwws for the couple’s costume*) I’m not saying what it is, but I will be sure to post a picture after we’re together wearing it :)

<3 you guys! Hope your weeks are going well! I’m giving you all two songs… 1) because I missed last week, and 2) I’m on a cover theme…

Ok. So this is a Taylor Swift song cover which actually works in my opinion, and I really like it. Plus, Victory is officially thinking about making an a cappella version, which would be fun and would be really cool. Just saying. :) So enjoy!

Taylor Swift- “Safe and Sound” – Cover by Alex Goot, Luke Conard, Chad Sugg

Hello from the BCM study room! It’s approximately 11:23pm, and I almost forgot about this blog… But I remembered! Woot! =D I hope you all have been having a good week- as usual, it’s been pretty crazy busy here… but fall break starts Thursday! Yay! I’m flying out to Colorado Springs early Thursday morning to see my brother’s new house and to help them move into it- I’m pretty excited about going out there again! My niece and nephews are so cute :)

I still have two tests, a project, and way too much homework for three days to hold. It’s ok though- I’m actually feeling pretty good about it. The most surprising part of this past week has been the career-related things that have been happening- between information sessions and the IT Career Day Vandy had, I’ve been doing a lot of life thinking. The best thing to come from all of this has been the knowledge and support from God- I know that he is in this, and though I have no idea where I’ll be next year, I know God will be with me through everything. I just have to wait and see… =D

As the week is still crazy busy, I’m leaving this blog short. However, here is a song that I think speaks volumes- please do listen to it, and know that every word is true for each of you. I don’t mean to be over-assuming, but I think almost every girl struggles with something about herself that just isn’t “right.” And it can be the hardest thing in the world to let go of that imperfection and realize that God made you that way for some reason, and he loves you in all of your flaws because to him, you are perfect. I love you guys. <3s and hugs… in everything and always.

Three Cord Wonder- “Made Perfect”