Oh, Smile.

I started my day in a weird funk and ended it with a great memory that encompasses the whole day.

Here it is in brief (but it was so much better than what I'm about to detail!):

I worked from 5:30am to 12:30pm and then met up with Christy-Anne, George, our friend Tony and his friend in downtown Chattanooga for shopping at the marketplace and coffee at this beautiful cafe. I had an irish cream steamer and it was delicious.

Afterwards, we took a stroll up to Tony's apartment, which is a lot like mine, but with several cooler aspects! However, he did lack the hardwood floors, which I so adore in my place... Nonetheless, we sat back and lavished in every minute of conversation. Again, it was great.

Then, Christy-Anne, George, and I continued on to a schmansy Italian restaurant, where I had a Shirley Temple for the first time in ages! Excuse me for indulging in a little carbonation. I've done so well and it felt like a special occasion, so please ignore my willingness to drink something besides water.

Afterwards, we went to the Rave, which is a movie theater, where we saw the movie, Stick It!, which, I simply must confess, was so cool. The way it was shot and the surprising acting skills by the lead character! She was beautiful and she could act! AND she could do gymnastics! And you know how I am when it comes to stuff like gymnastics... Anything with an Olympic flavor and I'm all for it. It was like getting a preview to the 2008 Summer Olympics two years early! I'm pumped!

Today was the most fun I've had in... Well, find the last post I wrote "Today was the most fun I've had in..." and you'll say it's been "a long time."

Strangely Enough.

I had a really great day today and for some reason, I feel angsty and kind of mad. I haven't a clue as to why.

What's with my funk?

Tonight...

...I danced.

Well.

More like frolicked.

More Pop-Talk With Jets.

Via MSN Messenger.

Jets: send me some pics, you hippie. I want to see the new non-carbonated you
carly: Uh... Sure.

carly: That's all I've got since I quit drinking pop... The weight is still dropping. I've only been off pop about 3 weeks.
Jets: {...hot...} you better buy a taser
carly: HA!
Jets: I'd totally hit on you if we reached for the same book at Chapters...
carly: Yeah right! You're so full of it!
Jets: nope. I'd be fearless and irrespressably cheesy as ever

Rue Rules!

It was interesting day today. I took my Math final, passed, and ended the class with a C, which is acceptable to me considering math doesn't sit well with me. Tomorrow, I'll take my Old Testament final. Next Tuesday, I'll finish up with my French final. And then, school's out. Fantastic!

After I finished at school today, I went home and went back to sleep. I was exhausted from staying up all night studying. When I woke up, I decided to go shopping, because Mom had given me money to treat myself. Thanks, Mom!

I ventured to Rue21 and ended up purchasing a lot of clothes. But there were couple cool things as a result of my purchase! First of all, I had to purchase pants one size smaller than what I normally buy because yay! I've gone down a size! And if that wasn't great enough, I ended up spending enough to get the whole purchase knocked down to half-price! So what would have been $120 worth in clothes, I only spent $65 total! Unbelievable right? Yeah, I thought so. You gotta love Rue.*

After my spree, I met up with Christy-Anne at Starbucks and went with her on her lunchbreak to see a dog she'd found earlier today. It's an old beagle that's super cute and sweet. She might keep her. But while on her break, Christy-Anne and I discussed the cool times to be had this summer, including our intentions on finding a house to move in together. We're really excited about it. The time we plan to move is right around the time my lease is up, so it'll work perfectly. Having a roommate again and a house is going to be exactly what I need at this time in my life. I've been alone long enough now and I could use the company, as well as the accountability. It's gonna be awesome.

*Excuse my overly buff looking arm in the photo. I was just trying to show off one of my new shirts from Rue.

It's Finals Week and I'll Be Up All Night!

I'm busting my arse to get through the next few days! I have never struggled this hard in school before! But it's going to be okay! In the end, it'll all turn out okay! If I keep telling myself that, eventually I'll believe it!

And I need want some snuggle time but my cat isn't in the mood. Darn those times when you need want snuggle time! It's almost too much to bare! Oh well, it'd only distract me from my studies. Right? Right. (I'm trying so hard to convince myself of stuff, it's getting close to ridiculous. Haha.)

I wish I could get into my car and start driving and just keep driving until I see coastline. I'm salivating for it even... Wow. Salivate. Great verbage, Car. That was awesome.

Currently listening to:

Death Cab for Cutie
Plans

This is a Happy Post.

You'd miss it too.

Oh, the Drama!

This last weekend was rough. Not just emotionally. But it's being taken care of. Call me if you're wondering what happened. Or email me (carly@carlybish.com). Either way. I didn't think there was anything more to worry about, but I was wrong. But now, I know it's certain. I won't be hurt anymore and I'm feeling a lot better.

Not to mention the fact that the picture above really makes me happy too.*

I've registered for Fall semester. I'm taking Human Biology, French 200, Intro. to Theology, and a Global Perspectives class necessary for the trip I'm required to take later to graduate--Hello, London!--and I also get to take that class with some friends, which makes it that much better. Heck yah.

Mom is going to visit me in June! Her words, "And we'll go shopping!" I am so excited for her to come visit with me, stay at my apartment, and get to know my friends and the area I've been living. She's so great. I love her so much.

And! My friends Christy-Anne and George and I are planning a roadtrip to Virginia Beach for the Fourth of July weekend! I cannot tell you how stoked I am about this. It is going to be so amazing... On the beach, with fireworks, and two incredible friends... It won't get much better than that. Hopefully, I'll have been able to purchase a new video camera by that time and I'll be able to start taping digitally. I've been wanting to do that again for a really long time. I make awesome home videos. I really do. You should watch them. Maybe you can if I ever figure out how to vlog. That would introduce a whole new dynamic to blogging for me, holy cow...

Maybe when my tax return gets here. Maybe I'll get a digital camera then. Good plan!

*Hover over picture for caption.

Ouch.

Ouch.

A Totally Random Rant.

I'm in a serious writing mood. Can't tell you where it's coming from. Why is it always at night that I feel most creative and ready to get things down? Not even necessarily creative, but simply ready to write things out, think, and possibly expand on those thoughts.

Whatever. I don't know what it is. Doesn't really matter. So here goes.

Firstly, I miss Ryan Wiedmaier (pictured above, New Year's 2004). I mean, don't get me wrong. I miss all my dearest friends. I don't get the chance to talk to Leah nearly enough and my Stephanie has been in Spain for the last five months, so I can't talk to her either. But I don't get to interact with Ryan hardly at all except for a few comments left here and there via blogs and MySpaces. He's married to a wonderful girl now and pursuing a life in ministry and he's super busy and I have no idea what's going on with all that, but I know he's doing great. I just miss the guy! Lately, I've been thinking about certain memories of him, including one that had us venturing to Alki to take over a fire in a barrel on the beach and stay up the rest of the night to eventually go to IHop (my first time there) to eat pancakes and finally back to his parents' place where I crashed for a while and then woke up to my parents' calling my phone because I was in trouble for staying out all night... Man, that was great! So, so, so great! Not the part about getting in trouble with my parents, but all the rest was just so fun! He is just, such a wonderful friend. And I miss him a lot. A whole lot. I know he'll read this and I don't care. He should know.

Ryan, I miss you a lot! You are amazing and I love you.

Okay. Nextly. I'm really looking forward to next month. I just want April to be over and done with and get on with May. School will be over around the start of next month and then summer will be just around the corner and I am so ready for summer. Even though it's going to be blistering hot, I've experienced a Tennessee summer before and honestly, it wasn't that terrible. Yeah, it's hot, humid, sticky and kind of gross, but I'm going to be having fun, swimming, sunbathing, and roadtripping. So the heat is going to be completely worth it. I never knew how badly I could want a month to be finished with... I mean, I'm being patient. Really, I am. I'm taking everything in stride and pursuing the things I need to be pursuing, like God's guidance and wisdom. Because those are things I need and desire right now. But I'm still allowed to look forward to when it's May. May is a good month. My old dog's birthday was in May. It was May 3rd. And "Yogi" was the best dog on the planet. Ever. So I'm looking forward to celebrating his birthday. Yes, I will celebrate it. I'm telling you, that's how amazing this dog was. Ask anyone.

And you know what else is in May?? That Imogen Heap concert I mentioned a week or so ago. Yeah! See?! I'm telling you, May is going to be great!

Okay, and lastly (although I may elaborate on this more later), I'm going to end on a mellow, almost meloncholy note... I wanted to mention the fact that I feel bad for the people who've had to get to know me here in Tennessee. Because, while I may live here, work here, and go to school here, I'm not actually from here. And everyone who I've come to know here has only been able to know the Carly in Tennessee, who I'm sorry to say, is insecure about her surroundings and about herself compared to the Carly from Seattle. I'm genuinely sad that the friends I've gained here in Tennessee have such a brief history with me. I wish they knew me so much better. If only I could transport my beautiful friends from here to the time and place of my beautiful friends from CRU and have all of them inter-mingle and get to know one another and maybe compare "Carly-stories", and see that they would all get along so famously! In all honesty, I feel like my friends here in Tennessee are getting jipped. I wish I knew how to act the same way here as I do when I'm in Seattle. If I could, I'd snap my fingers and I would take both Carlys and mesh them together into one and all would be well. But I really don't know how to make myself do that... Otherwise, I would!

Man... I'd bet every dollar in my savings that if my Tennessee friends could see how I am when I'm in Seattle, they'd all say to themselves, "So that's where you've been hiding!" and they'd enjoy my company that much more.

I bet they'd call me more, too.

Currently listening to:

We Are Scientists
With Love and Squalor

Topic Miscellany.

I tried going to work today, thinking I would just push through being really sick and be fine.

Nu uh.

I worked approximately two hours before I went to Christy-Anne, who was the shift manager at the time, and begged her to let me go home early if we could get someone to come in for me. Somehow, they managed it and I got to go home.

But actually, I didn't go home. I was going to go home, but then I switched signals and drove to the doctor. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I explained to the doctor that I've been sick several times since the New Year and that I just wanted to be better already and he agreed. He gave me a shot of cortisol (or cortisone? I don't know...) and prescribed an intense cough medicine to take at night, some new antibiotic, as well as a decongestant and all that good stuff. I'm really hoping that once I get better from this, I'll stay better for the better of two weeks. Preferably even longer than that. Maybe I could stay not sick for several months. Wow, how nice that'd be.

They weighed me. I'm down nine pounds since my last visit. Yay for being pop-free!

Anyway. Subject change.

So I was thinking about some stuff and I realized that romantic relationships shouldn't be discussed on blogs. I should've picked up on that little fact when Jason Killingsworth posted one day, completely out of the blue, that he was engaged and getting married the following Spring. He dropped a bomb when he wrote that because he hadn't mentioned any involvement with a girl prior to that post. I thought to myself, "Married?! To a girl named Summer?! Who is Summer?!?! WHAT??!" It was crazy. But I understand why he did it. I respect it. It just makes sense. That kind of stuff is between you and the other person and if your close friends and family want to know about it, you can call them and dish it out there. Otherwise, it's just not for the web. So much nicer that way, I think.

Other subject change.

I talked to my dad today. He is so great. Like, he is just a really great man. Mom scored with my dad, I have to say. He's just got a huge heart and he's never afraid to embrace change or make his life better. He's always seeking to learn things and be a better person. I just love him. Just... What a great guy, my dad.

Conclusion.

I'm ready for good things.

Dot Dot Dot (...)

My heart hurts.

Grace.

Most of you have probably realized by now that this semester hasn't gone so well for me. Considering how much I wrote about my classes back in the fall, updating you on every test or essay score I received every five minutes of every day... Since you haven't read about it much since January, you may have drawn the conclusion that I just wasn't as stoked about it as I was before.

It's not that.

I still love school. I'm so glad it's there. Lee University is exactly where God wanted me to go all along. So all that time after graduating high school that I spent wondering where God wanted me to attend, knowing He wanted me to go to a Christian college, was time worth spending because it ultimately lead me to Lee. And I'm glad.

Although, just a sidenote about last semester... One thing I never told you was that I never received half my tuition money back because I was misinformed as to the terms. I said before that I would receive $2020 back on my tuition if I achieved a 3.7 GPA or higher. Well, I ended up scoring a 4.0 GPA at semester end and expected to get the money! Unfortunately, I was wrong... The 3.7 GPA is a cumulatativeGPA score, meaning an overall GPA score for all my semesters combined. Right now, I'm sitting somewhere around a 3.2 or 3.3 GPA. So even though I busted my ass and got the grades, they weren't enough to give me an overall GPA score, which would have awarded that money. So there's that. Sorry I never let you know about it. It was a pretty big let down...

Okay, so here's the real deal about school. I love it. I'm enjoying it. It's been really good for me. Of course, there are things I dislike about it, but that would be the case anywhere I go. But for the most part, I enjoy what I'm learning, I really like my teachers, and the fact that I'm learning about biblical texts from varying perspectives. That is extremely exciting for me. It's what I always wanted.

However, due to the difficult circumstances from the start of the winter semester up to this point, what with all the emotional turmoil and drama, I've struggled to keep up the enthusiasm I expressed last semester. It just hasn't been easy.

Last Wednesday, I had an exam in my Message of Old Testament class and I was completely unprepared for it. In the two weeks prior to the test, I hadn't achieved much sleep, missed a few classes, and lacked the notes necessary to study for the exam properly. I tried to get them from classmates, but no one would email them to me. Either they'd handwritten them or they just wouldn't respond to my request for them. So I emailed my teacher the morning of the test and I told him I was going through a "sort of emergency" and asked if I could take the test at the start of next week. He said it was fine and we would reschedule.

We had Easter break over the weekend, so we didn't have class last Friday or the following Monday. So I had a weekend to figure out what I wanted to tell my teacher or how I was going to explain my so-called "emergency."

Basically. I just came out with it.

"Dr. Alderman, I want to explain what's been going on with me in the few weeks prior to our last exam."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Well..." (deep breath), "I wasn't prepared for the test and I've had a really emotional semester and I'm completely on my own out here, without my family and all, and I went through this really dramatic time and a couple weeks ago, it reached a climax, and I've been sick at least five times since the New Year, which is probably because I'm under so much stress, but I really want to get through your class and I'm trying very hard but I know I can't take that last exam because I don't have the notes and there's no way I would know everything I'd need to know and..."

After spilling my guts over the classroom table, my teacher got a very sympathetic look on his face and he said to me, "Carly, I understand. And I really want to work with you on this. Give me until Friday to think of something and then talk to me, okay? You're going to be fine. We'll work on it."

Praise the Lord for teachers with gracious personalities. I knew if I just laid myself out there and was honest, my teacher would see that I really meant it and that I was worth helping. And I was right. He's going to help me out and I am so thankful to God for that, because otherwise, I don't know how I'd get through this semester.

So while this semester isn't going to look nearly as impressive as last semester, I'm sure I'm going to get through it and start next fall, I'll be back where I need to be. And I'll take it on full force.

Okay, so now you know what's going on school-wise. I know I've been asking for a lot of prayer lately, but it's really because I need it. I'm sick, I'm struggling in school, and I'm dealing with a lot of homesickness. I mean, I know that going through all this at once is going to make me stronger in the longrun, but I know that the prayers make the struggle and pain of it all that much easier to bare. As well as learn from. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from. Thanks.

Scissor Liberation.

I got my hair cut yesterday. Lopped off about three inches or so. It felt good. Once again, I imagine people rolling their eyes at me, thinking, Pfft! Three inches?! That's pathetic! And they're probably right, but I was really attached to my hair, okay? And it actually became symbolic to cut it because in a sense, I was forcing myself to "let go" of something I really didn't want to let go. So give me a break, alright? Am I not a girl?! Am I not allowed to act girly sometimes?!

In the end, I'm just a girl. Plain and simple. Mostly plain, but simple too.



PS. I am, officially, one week pop-free. Go me.

This is Bad!

SO. SICK. HOLY. CRAP. O. LA.

PS.

I'm sick.

Again.

Fifth time since the New Year.

Frankly, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Prayers appreciated.

Thanks.

Currently reading:

Donald Miller
Through Painted Deserts

Okay, Sea Turtle.

Last night, I dreamt of a sea turtle and he said that I was going to be okay. That all my efforts to making things right in my life, rebuilding my core and strengthening my spiritual walk with Christ, was going to see me through.

I love the sea turtle.

I've decided to move the blog here because as in almost everything else in my life, I've needed to make some changes. And the dream itself inspired the idea, so I hope you can understand that. I know that moving URL's can be a nuisance (you have to go into your templates and edit your links in case you link to this particular blog or whatever), but it was necessary.

So welcome to okay, sea turtle. Isn't that a catchy title? I like it... At least you won't have to worry about whether or not you're pronouncing "Ocoee" correctly anymore.

By the way, "Ocoee" is pronounced "oh-ko-ee", in case you never figured that one out.