Hey, guys. Another week… Another busy week has passed, and we’re finally up to the point where things start getting crazy around here. It has just hit me that the next time I blog I will have ended my job here in Columbus, traveled to Europe for the first time, moved to D.C., and started a new job a long time in the making. Consider this my apology in advance for not blogging the next three Saturdays; as you can see, I’ll be a tad busy. ;) (I’ll still try to blog irregularly and keep you all updated. :)

This last week has been hectic in its own way. I had a work collaborator fly into town and stay with me in my apartment. We had a very productive week at work, hopefully turning out a few papers within the next few months. I wish I could contribute more to them- I’m excited to see how they turn out! Plus, I’ve made a new friend. She was very sweet, and I am glad we got to spend a lot of time together.

Thankfully, it appears that I am not the world’s worst hostess, as I did not pass on the terrible viral sickness I am still suffering from to my visitor! However, being sick this full week has not been a pleasant experience- especially with long practices for England. I lost my voice completely on Wednesday, but praise God that it has recovered enough for me to sing at our last concert tomorrow. I am super excited and hope that everything goes smoothly tomorrow! As long as I have a voice that stays in tune and on pitch, I’m happy. :)

After tomorrow, things turn into a blur of packing, traveling, touring, singing, more traveling, packing, moving, unpacking, and working. Prayers and encouragement notes are much appreciated over the next 3 weeks! Going into this, I’ve had a few personal thoughts and goals:

• I want to be open to growth as a person- to not be afraid to try new things, to meet new people, to strive for new goals and to dream new dreams I’ve never thought possible. I want to be open to change- and actually do it.

• Still with that, I want to remain firmly grounded as me. There’s a quote out there that says that you can be a good version of other people, but you can only be the best at being you. I want to be the best me that I can be.
  

• I want to continue to be strong in my faith and continue to grow into a deeper knowledge of God. I pray that my future will include a wonderful church family that leads us together into a greater love for God.

• I want to continue the close relationships that I have made over the last 8 years. I want to keep being a close friend of you guys, reach back out to my UK friends, continue keeping in touch with my Vandy friends, further my Columbus relationships, and be open to new friends in DC. I love all of you dearly, and I don’t ever see my life without you all in it.

• Lastly, and somewhat controversially, I don’t want to lose my faith in people. I know this partially comes from me being an optimist, but I do truly believe that we need to see the good in others. Yes, people are human, and we all fail miserably at times, and we hurt those around us purposefully and unknowingly.  Even through all of that, past the lies, deceit, pain, and ugliness… There must be something good. Why? Because God originally created us to do his work, and he saw that it was good.
  I love that good, and I am excited to work toward that good in Washington, D.C.

Here’s to the next 3 weeks- May they be as wonderful for you as they will be for me.

With much love,

Amber

NeedToBreathe – “Feet, Don’t Fail Me Now”

Mumford & Sons – “The Wolf”

As you guys can probably guess, there’s a lot going on in my life right now, so this will be just a quick “what’s going on in the life of Amber” or WGOItLoA blog. Let’s begin!

1)      Choir rehearsals! Lots of ‘em! I’m practicing every day to get ready for England and to build up my vocal stamina. We’re doing 8 different services over the course of 6 days, with 3 on the last Sunday there. We have practice twice a week, and we are giving a final “Farewell” concert the Sunday before we leave. It’s a good thing I love to sing!

2)      ENGLAND! I’m getting quite excited to travel across the pond. :D It should make for a great summer vacation. Our main stops will be Cambridge, Lincoln, and York. York is the one that I may be the most excited about. I had a friend from church show me pictures of the cathedral there, and oh my goodness it’s GORGEOUS. :D

3)      Moving! I have secured an apartment outside of DC in VA and am working on organizing movers (not paying for them = Amazing). Besides that, I’ve got an idea of what renters insurance to buy, what cable service to contact, and the dates I’m moving. Things should settle more in the next week or so.

4)      Furniture…. I BOUGHT A COUCH! I FEEL SO GROWN UP! ;) Granted, I bought it now, so I have to move it, but it should be worth it (got it on sale on Wayfair). <--- Look! Pretty (and formal, but why can’t a 22yo own a pretty/formal/comfy couch? :)

5)      Work! I have about a week and a half left of work, but nothing is slowing yet. We’re having a visiting postdoc come and do some work in our lab this week, and I’m hosting her in my apartment. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. She seems nice :)

That’s the quick update… I’ve got to go start cleaning, lol. Love you guys! Have a great week!

 Amber

PS- I ordered the Hank Green Cover Album in the 2014 P4A and just got it a couple days ago… This is on it, and it is fantasticly Hank, especially the rap part. Plus, he covers “Wrecking Ball,” and it’s hilarious. As soon as someone puts it up on YouTube, I’ll share. :)

“Shake It Off” – Hank Green

Hi everyone!

As it has been quite a busy week (and busy holiday weekend currently), I am not doing a full blog post, but I did want to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day!! Hope you're enjoying celebrating on and off the continent :D

Love and fireworks,
Amber

PS- This is the song and performance that I always think of on Independence Day... Ah, American Idol. How I miss the older-you.

Carrie Underwood- "Independence Day"

So, recently I watched this Vlogbrothers video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfchH1a6XMU in which Hank shared fifteen (though at my count 14) of his favorite feelings in the world. And they were interesting, and I agreed with him, but at the end of the video he said this:

“John, I'm gonna be honest, I found this video surprisingly hard to make. Even in a little corner of the internet that we inhabit that is a very open and honest and authentic place. It was difficult to just share things that I like. I don't know why. If it's self-consciousness or if it's like I'm afraid that I'm bragging that I, like, enjoy things in my life, which is, why would you feel that way? I don't know. Apparently it's more fun to complain than to appreciate but probably not better for a person or the world in the long term.”

This has been nagging at me for a while. Why is it, exactly, that we find it easier to complain about the stuff that is bothering us than to share the happiness that we feel with others? So here’s my experiment, sharing 15 of my most favorite feelings, and we’ll see how I feel after.

• When you slowly wake up in the morning without an alarm clock, sunshine softly hitting your face, birds singing outside, and you know- for a brief instant- that you couldn’t be happier than that moment

• When suddenly things just start going right for you- Ex: Within the last couple of weeks, a stranger gave me a bouquet of roses, I found out I’m moving to DC, and I went to Nashville last weekend for a wedding of one of my favorite people from college. All of these things have contributed to a pleasant happy buzzy feeling that has lifted me up for days. :)

• When two people are so connected that you feel like you could be the same person

• When you’re trying to solve a really hard problem, and you have to try lots of different solutions and think critically about how you can solve it- and then you solve it and you get the satisfaction of knowing you figured out a pretty cool solution. I love that.

• That feeling when you’ve just told someone you love them and like them and they say that they love you and they like you too

• When you’re reading a book and you’re so into it that you feel like you are the main character

• Seeing a close friend after being apart for a really long time and reconnecting like the time and space apart never happened

• Being happy just because your friend is happy. :) I think that is a really undervalued feeling- rejoicing because someone else had something go right for them.

• Closely related to ^^, being happy for no reason at all

• Getting a secret out in the open that you’ve deliberately hidden for a long time and you can finally share it with someone and they tell you that they love you and that you’re ok- it’s normal to make mistakes and mess up and be human

• When someone tells you that they find you attractive- physically or mentally or in whatever fashion- but just that they are attracted to you in that way. That is a pretty powerful feeling.

• Smelling the first spring flowers that pop out of seemingly nowhere. They’re always so sweet.

• Smelling my shower gel (Man, I love The Body Shop. I strongly endorse their Lemon and Strawberry flavors.)

• Starting a new book. I just get so excited to go into another world and escape my reality for a little while :) [A+++++ rating this week for The Selection series by Kiera Cass- I just read the first trilogy of them in about ~12 hours and loved them so much! Many thanks to Sara for the recommendation!]

• Moving to a new place and seeing who you become in a new situation. I’ve now had a little bit of experience with this, and while there are aspects I dread, I love the idea that- if I wanted- I could reinvent myself a la Gatsby and become a new version of me. I do think I become a new version of me everytime I move and meet new people- but isn’t that what part of what life’s about? Discovering all the sharp edges, the hidden scary bits, the beautiful pieces, and the deep intense feelings that all make you you?
  
  

Result: So, at least for me, this wasn’t difficult at all. I liked sharing these feelings with you guys… and even if we had the general public reading our blogs, I wouldn’t care about them learning this stuff about me. Like I said, I feel like this is what being human is about… Of course, I am a generally optimistic and happy, energetic person. What do you guys think? Is it harder for you to share the good rather than the bad?

With love and happy feelings,

Amber

PS- As I mentioned above, I’m really sorry I didn’t get to blog last week… Going down to Nashville on Saturday and then back up Sunday kind of consumed my life. ;) But with lots of fun!

Mumford & Sons- “Believe”

10. Chester! He is just a ball of adorable fluff that I can play with and love. He has learned that even though his mom has to go away for weddings, trips, etc, I still love him and miss him and look forward to coming home to him again. :)

9. Vanderbilt is in the CWS again! We want to be national champs for 2 years in a row… Here we come!!

8. More sports! I am enjoying rooting for American Pharaoh winning the Triple Crown, Team USA in Women’s FIFA, Vandy in CWS baseball, and my hometown Columbus Clippers! I went to a Clippers game, and we won, bottom of the ninth after being down 5-4, Jerry hit one off the backboard to clinch it 6-5 over the Louisville Bats. Plus, it was “Dime a Dog” day. 5 hotdogs for 0.50? Please and Thank You!

7. Weddings! I loved being a bridesmaid in my friend Katya’s wedding in PA last weekend (That was why I didn’t blog this week/last one- my mom was visiting to watch Chester). It was wonderful being reunited with her and her new husband Jay, and I am looking forward to continuing my friendship with both of them. They’re so sweet and loving and kind to each other. I didn’t cry during the ceremony, but I cried tons when Katya danced with her dad to “Beauty and the Beast” during the reception (totally stealing that). Also, I carried a book-quet down the aisle (stealing this idea too): each of the bridesmaids got a fancy hardcover book with a flower and ribbon tied to the front, and we carried them instead of bouquets of flowers (I have Selected Plays of Shakespeare). Weddings are the best.

6. Sleeping in on Saturdays and reading until my stomach forces me to get up and get breakfast and then going back to read more. :)

5. Singing with my choir! We’re prepping for England now, and rehearsals are intense. As in, we have a rehearsal list of 10-15 different pieces that we go over each rehearsal, and I have 29 different pieces of music in my possession that I am going over in my free time outside of rehearsals too. Some of those pieces have multiple selections, so really, it’s like we’re singing closer to 40 different anthems. This includes 3 different “Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis” settings, Howell’s “Te Deum and Jubilate”, a 59-page Byrd Mass, and the beautiful Bach “Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden”. All of this is for England! It is so much fun!!! :D

4. My new camera! I took AB’s (and Jill’s- do you have it too?) advice and bought the Canon PowerShot Ellph 300HS in black. It’s older, but I couldn’t find a newer one that matched it… and I certainly couldn’t beat the price! I really love the thinness of it, and I bought it used without a scratch on it, so it’s really like it’s new. It has such great shots and video! I am definitely looking forward to using it in England.

3. Friends! I am really thankful for you guys and your support and silliness and laughter and adventures! My Columbus friends are super nice to me, Mark is a great boyfriend, my closest college friends still keep in touch, and just having friends makes me happy! I didn’t have a lot of close friends before high school, so knowing that there are people who are supporting me and loving me makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.

2. Columbus! I really love living in a city with bike trails and summer festivals almost every weekend (it’s the river-side Downtown Art Festival this weekend!). Plus, I’m happy with myself and who I am. I’ve achieved what I didn’t think was possible or likely 1.5 years ago in BG: living by myself in a new city with a stable job and being an adult and thriving happily. Thanks be to God who made all of this possible!!!

Aaaaaaaand…. *drumroll*

1. I’m moving to DC! It’s official (though I’m keeping it on the DL for a while). New job (I won’t be writing about it on here), new city, new apartment, new furniture, new adventures, new friends (and old ones!)… A dream I’ve had for several years is finally coming true. I just found out for sure yesterday and am super excited and happy and thrilled beyond my wildest imagination. August. This girl is heading to the Nation’s Capital!

The Mountain Goats- “This Year”